Updates, updates, updates

I got to wondering about some of the stories I’ve talked about here and decided today was as good a day as any to check up on them. I’ll stick to 2009 although it’d be very easy for me to go back to the beginning of this blog…

January 2: Locked away all these years

The Type 57s Atalante is set to go to auction February 7 in Paris. They believe it will be the most expensive car ever sold at auction with the bids going as high as £6 million or $8,576,292 U.S. dollars. That’s not too bad for a car that sat in a dark garage for 48 years. It was untouched from 1960 until it’s discovery in 2007. I’ll let you know what the actual price is when February gets here.

January 3: What is wrong with this world

I’m still upset over the treatment of the Travolta family after 16 year old Jett’s death. This is probably the fourth time I’ve written something about it. First, people in general suck (you can read my rant again if you’d like; I’m just leaving it at in general people suck).

It was reported on FOXnews.com that the document the lowlifes were using to try to extort $25 million dollars from John Travolta was a release form. Basically John Travolta was trying to figure out if it would be better to fly his son to America to be treated rather than taking the 45 minutes to drive him to the Bahaman hospital.

The document stated that the family wouldn’t hold the paramedics liable for anything that might occur if they drove Jett to the plane versus the hospital. Seems pretty standard to me. I assume ambulances are required to go to certain hospitals.

What isn’t standard is the people who were supposed to be trying to save a life using the opportunity to get some money. I believe previously I called them unscrupulous. I stand by that.

January 4: Dear soldier, thank you for my freedom

Dave and Fiona Fulton were arrested for sedition on Saturday, November 29, 2008 after writing emails about the Gambian government. They were sentenced to a year in prison with hard labor and fined £6250 or $8,933.63 U.S. dollars. They have plead with the government to allow them to return to their home in Britain but so far there has been no response. Their website, The Fultons in The Gambia states that you can help their case by writing a letter and gives instructions on how to do that if you are interested.

January 10: The dangerous seas

This is a never ending story for the ships that sail in the Gulf of Aden. Yesterday a German tanker was hijacked by pirates. The tanker has 13 crew members that are being held hostage. It was the 3rd ship seized by pirates in 2009 (I remind you January is not yet over) and more than 40 ships were taken over by pirates in 2008. Japan has now joined the fight to patrol the Gulf of Aden and along the coast of Somalia in the Indian Ocean.

January 13: Calling all beach bums!

Over 9000 people applied for the dream job in Australia and more than 2.3 million visited the website. The winner will be announced on May 6 and applications can still be submitted until February 22.

January 25: Have you seen this goat?

They still have the goat. It hasn’t changed back into a man yet. The government is conceding that it’s just a goat and are waiting for the owner to claim this now famous four legged car thief. I'm disappointed.

And finally...

January 27: This mornings headlines

The octuplets born to a California lady are all doing well. Seven of them are breathing on their own and one has an oxygen tube. The doctors are impressed with how well they are all doing. In a statement released by the family of the mother they said “The babies continue to grow strong everyday and make good progress.”

I’m happy to hear that. When I first learned of this story and the small size of the babies I was very concerned for their survival. Now I believe they will make it. They expect to keep the infants in the hospital for several more weeks. When they do go home they will have plenty of people to love them. The mother already has six children ages 7, 6, 5, 3 and 2 year old twins. 14 kids under the age of 10... I can’t even begin to imagine.

Dear soldier, thank you for my freedom

I often complain about silly things that happen. I have even been known to write long articles on the injustices that take place around me. I’ve also made big to-do’s over things I think are just ridiculous. American things.

Well, I take them back. The things I’ve said against America anyway. Not all of them, but a few. Like saying our government is too involved in our personal lives. I discovered this morning that it could be so much worse.

Gambia is a small country in Western Africa. As a matter of fact, it is the smallest country on the African mainland. A man named Yahya Jemmeh is the ruling president having siezed his power in a 1994 coup.

In 2002 he implemented a democratic civilian government and was then elected to the position he had seized. It is my opinion that he’s nothing more than a schoolyard bully and the people were afraid to not vote for him. He was quoted by a state journalist as saying “I will develop the areas that vote for me, but if you don’t vote for me, don’t expect anything.”

In 2006 a plot to overthrow him was discovered and many army officials were arrested while other prominent army officials, including the army chief of staff, were said to have fled the country.

Today Gambia is back in the news. A British couple that were running a missionary there have been arrested for talking badly about the government. Specifically they were arrested for sedition (covert conduct that is deemed by the legal authority as tending toward a rebellion against the established order). They were sentenced to one year in prison with hard labor and a fine. For writing emails. That’s all they did. Criticized the government in emails that they sent out to their followers. I couldn’t believe it.

The Fultons (he is 60, she is 46) were running an educational center there through their church Westhoughton Pentecostal Church in northwest England. They also provided medical care to prison inmates and terminally ill people that could only be reached by boat.

They officially apologized to the President and promised in a letter to never speak or write of Gambia or their government again. They also promised never to return to Gambia without his permission. They are asking for clemency and to be able to return to the United Kingdom with their young daughter.

As I sit here writing this, thoughts of my freedom are running through my head. I couldn’t imagine living somewhere that the government was so far into my life that I had to worry about what I said or wrote. Or wasn’t able to have my own opinions and express them freely.

If you ever had any doubt as to why our children, siblings, spouses and friends are fighting in wars, this should be an answer. They are fighting for our freedom. They are fighting for our rights. For our opinions and ideas. For our voice.