Is 19 Kids And Counting relevant in today's society?

The Duggar family has nineteen children and apparently more to come. The mother, Michelle, does not believe in overpopulation and does not think there can be such a thing as too many children. While most parents struggle to raise one or two children, the thought of having so many children is simply frightening.

Is it healthy for children to grow up in such a large family? It seems like the parents would have a hard time keeping track of what is going on with each of their child and creating a strong emotional bond with everyone would be difficult. Budget would be a huge problem too.

The real issue with this family is that they are on TV. The Duggars have their own reality show, their own website and their very own homemade laundry soap recipe. I understand they have to pay the bills and feed their children, but this kind of exposure is very questionable.

Are the Duggards freaks, or are they trying to foster a new model? The content on the website does not look genuine at all. The Duggards support Rick Santorum’s campaign and Michelle has enough time to update her blog every week. I think the Duggards are getting so much attention because they seem so out of touch with everything. Our society has evolved so far away from traditional family values – and yet the Duggards are still here with their Christian values and nineteen children. Are we actually gaining anything from watching their reality show? It is a nice break from the usual representation of the modern family, but who can actually relate to the Duggards?

Bobby Rush wears a hoodie and asks for justice

Republican Bobby Rush made the headlines after wearing a hoodie and a pair of sunglasses while delivering an address to the Congress. He was escorted out of the House after asking for a complete investigation of the shooting of teen Trayvon Martin.

Has this case gone too far? The police already made their report public and are ready to move on. The death of a teenager is always a tragic thing, but nothing can bring him back now. Instead of asking for justice, we should focus on establishing communication and easing the racial tensions.

Wearing a hoodie is a strong symbol, and showing support to Martin’s community is a good thing – but there are other ways to do it. Mourning the teen’s death is the right thing to do now. Asking for justice or for the capture of Zimmerman is not going to solve anything: this is only going to lead to more violence. The case involved two more innocents as movie director Spike Lee tweeted the address of an elderly couple by mistake, believing he was revealing the location of Zimmerman.

I admire Bobby Rush for his boldness, but there is no need in creating more tensions. Asking for justice is slightly ridiculous now that a complete police report has been released and shows that Zimmerman shot in self-defense – although he was out of line and should not have been following Martin.

I think this case needs a few pacifists to get involved and talk about unity and tolerance between races. We need a strong counter-point to the New Black Panther Party and to violence.

Spike Lee tweets the address of an elderly couple by mistake...

The McClains had to flee their home when movie director Spike Lee re-tweeted their address by mistake, believing that Zimmerman was hiding there. The elderly couple is not related to Zimmerman and had to go to a nearby hotel for their safety.

Apparently, Spike Lee thought it would be a good idea to re-tweet this address so that Zimmerman could be arrested and turned to the New Black Panther Party against the $10,000 reward. So many things bother me with this action; I don’t even know where to start. First of all, Zimmerman shot Martin in self-defense. Even if Martin was completely innocent and Zimmerman had committed a racial crime, how can his capture by the New Black Panther Party be a good thing?

Spike Lee, a man who has directed many movies and is considered as a cultural icon, should know better. He endangered an elderly couple by mistake, but what if Zimmerman had actually been hiding at the address he tweeted? I think the New Black Panther Party has absolutely no right to take justice in their own hands – actually, capturing Zimmerman would probably be considered as a terrorist act. And secondly, Zimmerman already shot a person in self-defense. The man has a gun and knows how to use it: it would make sense that he is ready to defend himself should anyone try and make a citizen arrest. Anyone who showed up at the McClains home was in danger.

The McClains are suing Spike Lee, and they have my support. Stay tuned for more updates on this case.

Is Aerosmith making a comeback with Anchorman 2?

The movie Anchorman 2 is about to come out and Aerosmith is announcing the release of an album of the same title. Should rock bands be doing soundtracks for movies? The classic AC/DC songs featured in Iron Man 2 worked pretty well, but what about new songs? Queen creating a soundtrack for Flash Gordon was definitely not their  best album, but it is true that the movie was probably not quality material to work with in the first place. The same thing is true with Queen and Highlander, although 'Who wants to live forever' was pretty good.

I am waiting for the album to come out until I decide whether or not Aerosmith is still a good band - but their latest performances and Steven Tyler’s appearances on American Idol were definitely a disappointment. Most Aerosmith fans wanted Tyler to talk about rock music and give advice as a performer – we got country music instead.  Even Tyler looked bored out of his mind during most performances.

Could this be a new start for Aerosmith? I am not expecting much from the Anchorman 2 movie: part was decent at the best, and I don’t see how a sequel could be any better. Perhaps Aerosmith could have chosen a better movie to make a comeback. Even if the music is good, the album will always be associated with a low-quality comedy. Does Aerosmith need to get publicity through the release of the movie? Actually, exposing a new generation to their music through this music is a smart move, since they have been pretty much forgotten for so many years.

Do we need a Neighborhood Watch?

The movie Neighborhood Watch is coming out while the details of the Trayvon Martin case are still fresh in everyone's mind. It seems like everyone is determined to use the release of this movie as a way of questioning neighborhood watch programs. Too bad for the producers of the movie, but they truly chose the worst time possible to release it. Waiting a couple of weeks would have been a much better option, unless they hoped getting more attention through this controversial debate.

Are neighborhood watches necessary? Even if a neighborhood watch is inefficient, it gives peace of mind to the people involved and to other members of the community. If people are ready to join a neighborhood watch, they are concerned enough about their safety to need this kind of protection mechanism.

Things are different if a neighborhood watch is active and efficient. Should citizens take justice in their own hands? Police officers go through an intensive training program before joining the force: can citizens be expected to perform similar tasks without following a more comprehensive training program? Let's suppose that every neighborhood watch member is capable of making good judgments all the time: this activity is still too dangerous. Individuals who decide to take justice in their own hands without being properly trained to deal with sometimes violent conflicts are putting themselves in danger.

Neighborhood watch members are supposed to contact the police if they notice anything suspicious and to let trained officers deal with the situation, but as Zimmerman's behaviorshows, this is not what is happening.

The Black Panther Party does not back off after release of police report

Apparently, the New Black Panther Party still wants Zimmerman. A police report recently released shed light on the difficult case of the shooting of Travyon Martin. The African-American youth was shot by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman after assaulting him. Zimmerman apparently shot in self-defense, although he followed the youth because he believed Martin was suspicious.   

Before this police report was released, media portrayed Martin as an innocent teen, which lead the New Black Panther Party stepping in and offering $10,000 for the capture of Zimmerman. After the release of this new report, the party is not backing off and still calls for a citizen arrest of Zimmerman. I previously questioned the funding of the New Black Panther Party, but apparently they have managed to raise $1 million from famous artists and athletes.

Zimmerman obviously committed a mistake when he followed Martin against the advice of the 911 operator he called to report Martin’s suspicious behavior. He put himself in a dangerous situation and probably ended up shooting to defend his life – does that make him a racist? There have been some rather racist comments about the case, especially after FoxNews contributor Geraldo Rivera mentioned that wearing a hoodie was a bad choice. Did Zimmerman assume Martin was suspicious because of his hoodie? Martin ended up assaulting Zimmerman, probably because he had something to hide from the watch captain: the hoodie or the race do not make any difference.

I sincerely hope no one takes the New Black Panther Party on their offer or we will end up with a new episode in this series filled with misguided racial tensions.

The Supreme Court Health Care debate continues...

 The Supreme Court is still weighing the pros and cons of a mandatory health insurance policy for everyone. It seems like the justices are not going to support Obama’s plans. As Justice Anthony M. Kennedy puts it, ‘Can you create a business in order to regulate it?’ You could, but that would be deeply un-American.

Forcing people to subscribe to health insurance or to pay a penalty would be a good way to improve the quality of infrastructures such as hospitals throughout the country and would probably help the government reduce its deficit related to health programs. However, there is a reason why a wide majority of Americans do not subscribe to health insurance: they cannot afford to. If you take the average income and break it down into separate expenses, there is not much money left for health insurance.

The solution is not to force people to purchase a health insurance, but to establish certain guidelines for health insurance companies. We could for instance encourage these companies to create affordable health plans by giving them interesting tax incentives. The next step is to educate people and open new branches in hospitals or in other institutions to reach out to people and help them subscribe to a health insurance plan. The key is not to force and penalize but to educate and provide guidance.

Meanwhile, we are still waiting for the Supreme Court to take their final decision. It would be a smart move for presidential candidates to present an alternative to Obama’s healthcare project by putting the citizens’ interests first instead of looking for ways to get more money from taxpayers.