Black Friday Blog Special

Well, in honor of Black Friday, it looks like we are having a 3 for 1 specialty on blog entries!
Here they are:

"100 suspects sought for Philippines massacre"
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/11/27/philippines.massacre/index.html

After the capture and murder of 57 innocent and unarmed people in the Philippines, authorities are looking for over 100 people in connection with the mass killing. Now what I'm wondering is, if so many of these suspects are supposedly members of the Philippines Police Force, as specified in the news article, who exactly is hunting them down? Who is enforcing the law, and who is willing to follow? Sounds like complete madness to me, rather frightening in fact. Even more disturbing is that violence before elections like this is a regular, even expected, occurrence in the Philippines. Thank goodness we live in a country where democracy is accepted, encouraged, and loved.


"Iraq's national museum to lure 'virtual visitors'"
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/11/24/iraq.virtual.museum/index.html

Now this article is actually very interesting. In an attempt to attract renewed interest in its collections, Iraq's national museum is planning on making a virtual museum available online through Google, with the help of the U.S. state department. To this I have to say 'bravo.' First, for recognizing the reasons many people are not able to see these collections so full of the wonderful history of the Iraqi land, especially with the recent state of the country, and then for doing something about it. Even after the wide amounts of pillaging that took place after the fall of Saddam Hussein (over 15,000 items were stolen, with only 6,000 recovered thus far), the museum is determined to stand up on its feet, proudly share its treasures with the world, and remain an icon of nationalism and rich heritage. Once again, bravo!


"Baby gorillas in Congo getting a new playpen: Paradise"
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/11/20/congo.baby.gorillas/index.html

Now this story is bittersweet, almost a mix of the tones of the last two news stories. While yes there is a focus on the sad endangerment of gorillas in a Congos, there does seem to be hope. After their mothers were killed, two baby gorillas were saved and put in captivity, without which they easily would have perished. Now the two lovelies will be getting a special sanctuary made only to nurture them and their fellow gorillas in the hopes of reviving the dwindling species. With about 200 of the remaining 700 mountain gorillas surviving in the current park and country right now, such steps as building this center seem very necessary and admirable. Hopefully there one day will be no need for such centers, the day when gorillas are once again thriving and surviving on their own.