WonL
The random thoughts of an architect-turned- lawyer from the deep south living in Washington, DC...
Thursday, January 06, 2005
News Stories
There are a couple of things in the news right now that aren't sitting too well with me.First off, I got a CNN Breaking News Alert the other day to tell me that 36 Americans are presumed dead from the Tsunami. Are you kidding me??? Don't get me wrong, death is never insignificant and my heart feels for their families. However, I really think that the US needs to take a back seat on this one. Can we really justify that as 'breaking news' when over 155,000 died overseas? That number is pretty unfathomable to us. That is over fifty times the people that died on 9-11-01 and we all know how terrible that day was. Imagine the fear and hurt we felt and then multiply that by FIFTY with no one to take your anger out on. In some areas that were hit by the Tsunami, one in every four people died. Do you realize what a devastation that is? That would be one person from my office, one of my roommates, one person in my family, 30 people in my class and 143,000 people in Washington DC. If the tsunami had hit our country, and we lost what Banda Aceh lost, we would be living with 7.5 million less people in the United States. I cannot imagine how my I would get through life with such drastic upheaval, assuming I was a "lucky" one and made it through. (Note: The Washington Post has some amazing photographs on line to help better understand the devastation. Go go to this map and click on "Click For Satellite Images" near Banda Aceh. As you scroll from photo to photo, you can see the overwhelming destruction.)
New thought...
I do have faith in the American legal system. (I should hope so, as this is what I want to do with the rest of my life.) I also admit that the legal system is not without it's faults, as with any system so complex. Then, there are situations that come along that really make me question what in the hell is wrong with this picture. This Andrea Yates thing makes my blood boil! I cannot believe that a woman can murder her five children and then have her murder conviction overturned because some quack doctor thought he was a movie star. Now, the system has to start all over with this woman again. On the other hand, at least the system is set up so she will not be back on the streets like another time the system failed.