Good Point, Ron Paul.

Ron Paul, while not someone I always agree with, is someone I'm always impressed with. His ability to raise questions very few are willing to raise is a trait I believe more politicians should possess. Here are a set of questions he rhetorically asked to Congress on February 12th, 2009 that I believe we can all ask ourselves, as citizens and as students.

What if we wake up one day and realize that the terrorist threat is a predictable consequence of our meddling in the affairs of others?

What if propping up repressive regimes in the Middle East endangers both the United States and Israel?

What if occupying countries like Iraq and Afghanistan - and bombing Pakistan - is directly related to the hatred directed toward us and has nothing to do with being free and prosperous?

What if someday it dawns on us that losing over 5,000 American military personnel in the Middle East since 9/11 is not a fair trade-off for the loss of nearly 3,000 American citizens, no matter how many Iraqi, Pakistani, and Afghan people are killed or displaced?

What if we finally decide that torture, even if called "enhanced interrogation techniques," is self-destructive and produces no useful information - and that contracting it out to a third world nation is just as evil?

What if it is finally realized that war and military spending is always destructive to the economy?

What if all wartime spending is paid for through the deceitful and evil process of inflating and borrowing?

What if we finally see that wartime conditions always undermine personal liberty?

What if conservatives, who preach small government, wake up and realize that our interventionist foreign policy provides the greatest incentive to expand the government?

What if conservatives understood once again that their only logical position is to reject military intervention and managing an empire throughout the world?

What if the American people woke up and understood that the official reasons for going to war are almost always based on lies and promoted by war propaganda in order to serve special interests?

What if we as a nation came to realize that the quest for empire eventually destroys all great nations?

What if Obama has no intention of leaving Iraq?

What if a military draft is being planned for the wars that will spread if our foreign policy is not changed?

What if the American people learn the truth: that our foreign policy has nothing to do with national security and that it never changes from one administration to the next?

What if war and preparation for war is a racket serving the special interests?

What if President Obama is completely wrong about Afghanistan and it turns out worse than Iraq and Vietnam put together?

What if Christianity actually teaches peace and not preventive wars of aggression?

What if diplomacy is found to be superior to bombs and bribes in protecting America?

What happens if my concerns are completely unfounded - nothing!

What happens if my concerns are justified and ignored - nothing good!

Kiva: Where You Can REALLY Make a Difference

Most of us wonder what charity we can contribute to and which charity can contribute the most to those who need it. I asked myself this question for years and made up my mind after I spoke with my economic development professor. Organizations like the Red Cross, March of Dimes, ACS, Salvation Army, and other charitable organizations do a great job in helping out towards the causes they stand for. The problem with these types of organizations though, is we often do not see our donation make a particular difference and while we know the donations given to these charities make a major difference in the causes they work for, the lack of visible results can sometimes discourage a prospective donor from contributing. With Kiva, donors can see their contributions at work and even have their contributions returned to them after they've served their purpose and paid back.

We know families throughout the world are struggling to find adequate work and many are struggling to even feed their families. Through Kiva, we can contribute a small loan to families in need throughout the world (including the United States) and as opposed to other aid programs, these contributions often allow the borrower to become self-dependent and not rely on future donations to get by. Secondly, the contributions are paid back to us, the lenders.

Whether your passion is economic development, universal education, health care, human rights, medical causes or other social awareness causes, I truly believe organizations like Kiva provide opportunities to contribute to all these areas. Think about what you would look for in a charity and take Kiva into consideration.

Trying to make the world a better place then I found it,
- David.

Investment In The Next Generation

Improving the American Economy has been the focus of all political talk for years now, yet we've failed to understand that without first enhancing the American workforce, we can do very to little to retain our Economic advantages and edge in the global economy. I believe it's time to bring education reform to the attention of everyone from students, parents, school boards, state governments, non-profit organizations and most importantly, Congress. For too long, our American government has recklessly spent trillions of dollars that gave back to America very little in return,  and the one issue that can most significantly improve the state of our country and economy is being ignored. There should be nothing political about educating the students of our country and in education reform, partisanship and political bickering will only hurt OUR generation and the next to come. If fixing the economy is the number one issue among all Americans and American institutions, why then, do we ignore education reform? We must all realize that we cannot have one without the other.

For tomorrow's America,

- David.