Who stole the cookie from the profit jar? US? Noo..

For more than a year, I have heard the "conspiracy theories" about war profiteering in Iraq. I never took any to heart, considering the lack of national attention to the issue (only recently have I learned about the total of 4 corporations that own our media).
It seems to me a matter that needs intense investigation, but is it even possible to accomplish any of that in today's government?
Are we really so secure in our imperialistic government that we believe no one could possibly be undermining this war, not even the CEO of Halliburton whose tax payments on Iraqi reconstruction went from $302 million to zero in one year or received $85 million in refunds from the IRS?
Just last week three Texas family members were arrested on charges of bribery in Iraqi reconstruction fraud. Aparently this is the largest fraud (approx. $15 million) dedected since the last largest of $4 million. The sad part is that no one is questioning where this money the alleged are accused of accepting came from. Everyone is too worried at how apalling this is considering one suspect is a Major in the US Army who served two years in Kuwaait.
Regardless of the family's outcome, this matter is one that should continue to go unchecked.
Read the article here.
To read a related article, click here.

chcheck it out

I've created a new page element with links to all of my classmate's relevant blogs. Check them out to the right!

Pumped up? Maybe not.

Is approving the steroid-tests for fall a hasty decision by a politician's ambition or will it have its benefits to enrich our public schools' sports programs? While I would lean closer to the former, I believe the answer is neither.

Although steroid testing seems to be a great advocate for the anti-drug campaign in the Texas UIL systems, I agree with the editor here when he mentions we may have more important things to fix our focus on.

It would not be reasonable to jeopardize a student's entire sports-career based on a faulty drug-test. The fact that "not many" students actually need the over-the-counter dietary supplements which trigger the false positive is beside the point.
One advocate for administering the test for this fall's football season despite its faults suggested that "most students don't really need the supplements and they're expensive." That, unfortunately is not his decision. If a student can be suspended based on a faulty steroid test, then the test should not be administered until the faults are fixed. The $3 million/year cost of holding off the (minimum) $110 tests until they are up to par should have been considered before signing agreement to the $6 million dollar faulty program.

Again, as the editor mentioned, it seems alcohol and illegal drug abuse are a higher risk, considering their greater consumption, to our students. Why not direct extra effort to the betterment of those tests? Especially if there are very few significant cases of steroid abuse...

Click here to read the editorial "Rush to test for steroids imperils Texas athletes".

Hello!!

Thanks for viewing my blog "Deep in the Heart". Hopefully I will be able to spark a discussion once in a while, or at least give you an interesting conversation starter. I appreciate any comments and responses to my blog. Feel free to add my site to your blogroll as well!

Thanks!
-Kim Rinehart