Today Hawaii. Yesterday Illinois. Tomorrow who?

Gay marriage is in full speed in recent months with the 15th state, Hawaii, agreeing to pass a bill to allow gay marriage. December 2nd will be the most recent time for a couple to be married in Hawaii and Illinois couples will be allowed to legally wed on July 1st of 2014.

It is well known that the southern US has opposed same sex marriage (the states in dark red in the picture below) in the past but with the large amount of States passing gay marriage bills now, the question arises as to if and when these southern States will continue with the gay marriage bandwagon.

Laws regarding same-sex partnerships in the United States

  Same-sex marriage^◊

  Unions granting rights similar to marriage^†

  Legislation granting limited/enumerated rights

  Same-sex marriages performed elsewhere recognized^‡

  No specific prohibition or recognition of same-sex marriages or unions in state law

  State statute bans same-sex marriage

  State constitution bans same-sex marriage

  State constitution bans same-sex marriage and some or all other kinds of same-sex unions

Texas Senator Ted Cruz, is well known for his anti gay marriage views and seems to represent a majority of the beliefs of the state of Texas. Recently, he was quoted saying, "And that's the great thing about our Constitution, is different states can make different decisions depending on the values of their citizens."

To me, Ted Cruz seems very passive aggressive in this quote and that shows he really doesn't even consider gay marriage a remote possibility to pass. As a Senator he has a lot of power into the the way in which the public views certain issues and in this instance, he is the public a very radical view against gay marriage. His use of the word, "values" really stuck out to me because although many different people have many different views, Cruz is implying that many Texas natives agree with what he is saying. Maybe they do and maybe they don't but by saying this Cruz is speaking for the state of Texas without the voices of his residents heard. 

Gay Marriage is a heavily debated issue in the US in these days, but some States have agreed to allow gay marriage pass in upcoming months. There still seems to be a lack of unity throughout the US as some states are not even close to passing gay marriage. 

When do you think gay marriage will be officially legal in all 50 states?

Stars and Stripes in Cuba

Guantanamo Bay. A military detention camp in Cuba designed to hold some of the United States' most dangerous criminals who are specifically chosen to give unfair trials. Recently on 60 minutes I watched in awe to see what really goes on at Guantanamo. The 9/11 masterminds who weren't apart of the plane crashes but coordinated the events as a whole are currently being held there and thats what 60 minutes chose to focus on for their segment. The entire video clip/transcript can be found here.

Guantanamo is notorious for being an United States operated detainment center where torture, eavesdropping and unfair trails are part of every day life. These unfair trials include criminals (mostly terrorists) not having trials for over ten years as they are forced to sit in jail cells for 23 and a half hours a day. Sounds illegal right? Wrong. Since Guantanamo is located in Cuba, its legal jurisdiction flies under the Cuban flag which allows prisoners to be detained for much more substantial amounts of time compared to the US legal system.

Commander Walter Ruiz, the attorney for one of the 9/11 leaders was featured on 60 minutes speaking of the immoral activities that go on at Guantanamo. At first, I wanted to completely disagree with what ever he had to say due to the fact that I want to see a very severe punishment to the men responsible for 9/11. As I really listened to what he had to say, I happened to change my viewpoint towards the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo.

Ruiz claimed that, "Every day we listen to the national anthem in Guantanamo... but yet the constitution has been kicked down the road." It's interesting to think about this and I do agree with Ruiz because the US shouldn't be able to have a prison run by its military in a foreign country. These men and women, regardless of their crimes are being treated unjustly.

The question i pose is: Should the United States continue using Guantanamo bay as a prison camp and if so why?