Pope resignation

This could be a very good thing for the Catholic religion, and not because Pope Benedict had his flaws, but because it sets a precedent for a pope to resign if they are unfit for duty for the church.

The reason that a pope has not resigned more recently is due to a combination of reasons. One major reason is the idea of tradition. Traditionally, popes have held office until they die. Another reason is because people become addicted to power, and because they are addicted to this power they will try to rule for as long as they can even if they are not fit for the job.

Before people start yelling at me saying the Pope is infallible, we have to see the fact that he is still human. Whether you believe that the pope directly communicates with God, or if you believe in something else, or nothing at all, we all have to admit that past popes have not always been the best people. So even if they do communicate with God, it does not make them perfect. If you want an example, look at Pope Alexander VI. 

What Pope Benedict does is set a precedent for future popes to resign if they are unfit for their service to the church, which is a great step forward for the Catholic church in general. Whether or not you agree with the Vatican, it is good for the entire world if future popes begin resigning after they are unfit for service to the Catholic church.What this will actually mean for future popes and the world as a whole is unclear, but it certainly looks like a step in the right direction. 

Women in the military

Very recently women were allowed to fight in some combat military positions. This is a step for true equality among the sexes in the U.S. The fact that women were not allowed to serve in combat roles shows just how sexist our country still is.

The idea that there is equality among the sexes in the U.S. is ridiculous. While women should be equal to men, they are not in the U.S. and it will take a while longer until they are. Women are often times not as paid as much as men simply because they are not men and only recently this has gotten media attention.

It is not just how women are paid or how they are not able to do certain jobs, it is also how they are treated on a more individual level. Many people find women to be delicate and think they are not up to the tasks that men are up to. It is true that some women can't do things men can, but there are also men who cannot do the tasks that the stereotypical man can. Going off that point there are things some men can't do that women can.

While it is not official government policy to have sexist laws, the fact that just now women are able to serve in combat positions in the military show just how sexist the U.S. still is.

The truth is that there are many differences between men and women, but neither men nor women should be treated differently just because they are a certain gender. People should be judged by the skills that they have and the skills that they lack, and not by if they are a certain gender or come from a different ethnic background.

Gun control

The idea that people should be able to buy any gun they want is one of the worst ideas imaginable, but people should also be able to own some firearms. There is a happy middle ground but people seem to believe that either we should be able to own whatever gun we want or we shouldn't own any guns.

The argument that people make for no gun control is that guns don't kill people people kill people which is true but guns make it easier for people to kill people. Another argument used is that guns can protect people, but guns end up causing more deaths than they prevent.

People that are for gun control bring up the statistics showing countries with more regulations have fewer deaths caused by guns. Even though this is true people still should be able to own guns because if we make that argument it can be used on virtually anything. It just leads to the government taking away more of our liberties.

People should be able to own some guns but there has to be some regulations on it.

In regards to my last post

I am just clarifying a few things about my last post.

North Korea is not stupid; they will not go to war with the world unless there is a possibility of them winning.  There is always the possibility that diplomatic relations may change and in that case war may not be certain.

I apologize about how long it took me to clarify my last post but I was in India and was unable to access the Internet.

Syrian conflict on Turkey's border

Russia and China originally stonewalled more U.N. and NATO involvement in Syria because Russia was selling weapons to Syria. From Russia's viewpoint, the longer the war went on the more money they would make. 

Three day ago NATO moved forward with its plan to have Patriot missiles on the border between Turkey and Syria. NATO insists the only reason these missiles are being installed is to protect their ally Turkey. The main reason they have done this is to make sure Syria does not use chemical weapons deployed through missiles against the rebels. NATO is simply using the excuse of protecting Turkey so they can put more pressure on Syria without China and Russia stonewalling them by blocking the countries that are in the U.N. from taking action, effectively cutting off NATO from doing anything even though they are not NATO members. 

Russia said that Moscow would not protest Patriot missiles being put on the border between Turkey and Syria if they were for the defense of Turkey only. The only reason that NATO has the excuse that they are simply protecting Turkish citizens is because five Turkish citizens were killed by a missile that came from Syria, even though most likely that missile was a misfire.

Just hours after NATO set up Patriot missiles on the Syrian border, Russia delivered its first shipment of Iskander missiles to Syria. What NATO did ended up backfiring on them. Its true that there is slightly more pressure on Syria but Syria also now has Iskander which helps the Syrian government immensely.


Iskander missiles are designed to get past missile defense systems. They are of Russian make and are extremely successful at pinpoint accuracy and getting past missile defense systems. 

After NATO said that there were signs that Syria would begin to use chemical weapons against the rebels, Russia stated that the Syrian government had assured them that they would not use chemical weapons against the rebels.However, with the Iskander missiles that Russia sold to Syria they now have a very effective way of attacking the rebels with chemical weapons.  It remains to be seen if they will or not.

Syria is worried that the U.N. will frame them for using chemical weapons against the rebels. It is very likely that the U.N. is trying to find a way to frame Syria because if Syria uses chemical weapons the U.S. will become directly involved in the conflict there.

Russia delivered these missiles to Syria so NATO would not easily be able to shoot down missiles shot in Syria. Russia and China will now continue to stonewall the U.N. and NATO now that Russia is once again selling weapons to Syria. 

Gay rights

Homosexual people should have all the same rights that everyone else has for quite a few reasons. It is true that people who are homosexual have a trait that makes them different from the majority of people, but that does not mean they don't deserve the same rights. 

There is nothing wrong with being attracted to people of the same gender. It just means you have a trait that is different from the majority of people, but there is nothing wrong with that. Someone who is handicapped is different from the majority of people, but he or she still gets the same right as everyone else. So why shouldn't homosexuals get the same rights as well? 

Homosexuality does nothing to hurt us in any way. If anything, it helps society, because gay people cannot reproduce with each other without the assistance of technology. Therefore, they are not adding to the population burden the world is currently facing. If they are not doing anything to hurt people, they deserve all the same rights that everyone else does. 

People argue that gay people shouldn't be allowed to marry because that is not abiding by what God told us to do. Even if that is true, there is still the separation of church and state. Legal recognition of marriage is a civil agreement, not a religious one. There is absolutely no reason that homosexual people should be punished or have different rights from other people. 

Fiscal cliff

One of the major reasons that there has not been much progress on the fiscal cliff is because the republicans believe that Obama and the democrats will give in to avoid the fiscal cliff. The republicans believe that the democrats will budge because they always have in recent events. 

They believe that even though they lost the presidential election they can still act like they won, and can ignore the wishes of the American public. If Obama and the democrats wish to finally convince the American public that they are not just pushovers, they can't give in to the republicans and just cut spending without increasing taxes, even if it means going over the fiscal cliff.  

It appears, though, that the republicans might be willing to compromise, which is a step in the right direction because we can't just have tax increases or just spending cuts. Neither is enough to reduce the deficit. What we have to do is make the tax rate for the wealthy the same as it is for the middle class, and we also have to cut unnecessary spending.