Many of you have read this post before on my AIM profile; but for those of you that haven't, this is a classic.

In the fall quarter of my freshman year of college my class was required to watch a film about Disney films and it's effect on children. To summarize the documentary, parents were complaining that Disney is not acting responsible when they make movies targeted at little kids. They claim that Disney is making movies with racism/inaccurate history/questionable morals/stereotypical characters.

Examples included lyrics from the sountrack of "Alladin" in which the singer recites that the Arab World he lives in is "barbaric, but hey it's home". Or the greedy, cunning siamese cats with buck teeth in "All Dogs Go to Heaven".

You have seen them, you've heard them, and you've heard about them on the news too. The "sex" in the dust of the "Lion King", the sexually aroused priest in "The Little Mermaid". All acts of Disney's subliminal messaging to little kids via their movies.

A group of parents argued that their kids are learning unwanted social lessons from these movies, and blame Disney for their kids behaving according to what they saw in the Disney movies.

In order to make an argument out of this plot the parents have pieced together, I'm going to agree that Disney does implant subliminal messages into their movies and stories. However, where the parents get it wrong is when they blamed Disney for their kids behavior.

Children act and react to their environment as they are taught. It's a parent's obligation to teach their kids about social interaction. Their fickle attempt to place blame on Disney about socialization runs out of steam when you realize that these parents are attempting to blame someone else for their poor craftsmanship.

I'm not saying the kids are stupid, but they're built incorrectly. Everyone agrees that if a kid sees a scary movie that the parent should be consoling the child and reassuring them that there is no boogeyman under the bed. But all of a sudden, this same criteria doesn't apply to movies with other dimensions?

If a child sees a movie with racism or stereotypes it is the job of the parent to assure the children that such aspects of the movie are untrue in reality.

Let's assume that Disney makes wonderful movies without any of the previously stated evils, and the children who watch them grow up to be successful and caring individuals. Would these same parents give credit to Disney for teaching and raising their kids correctly? No. The parents would proudly boast that they are responsible for their child's success.

So why is it that the parents get the credit when things look good, but pass on the blame when things look glum? If you're going to take responsibility you have to take the good with the bad, something these parents fail to see.

Children are easily influenced. And the biggest influences on their lives are still their parents, and if that's not the case then these kids have bigger problems than Disney.

For anyone who has watched the news, read the news, or is even concerned with national affairs we all know that there are some troublesome times in the Middle East. Possible civil war in Iraq, the untamed nuclear proliferation of an internationally hostile Iran, and fighting between Israel and Hezbolla. Troublesome times indeed...but wait, when you think about it when has the Middle East been at rest? The only time Israel and Palestine have really been at peace has been during the Iranian hostage period, and the Persian Gulf War.

Recent history has shown that the Middle East is the powder keg for what might become an excalated conflict between more than just that region. Of course no one wants to hear about what MIGHT happen, so I'll stick with what has happened and why everyone other than myself is wrong.

So summarize the Israeli-Hezbolla conflict: Hezbolla fired 4-5 Syrian-made Iranian-issued rockets into northern Israel. In swift retaliation, Israel fired air-to-ground missles at southern Lebanon (thought to be Hezbolla's main camp). Since then attacks have been issued by both sides. To date, over 750 people have died, mostly Lebanese.

Conservatives argue that it is Israel's right to defend itself against an enemy, while liberals argue that Israel needs to go through diplomatic routes in order to solve the problem. It's basically the initial arguments to the Iraq war in 2003.

Liberals are wrong. The plan is idealistic; if a group or an individual is willing to break international borders and laws by firing a rocket into another nation, then there is probably not a single international law that they would abide by. Look at our examples at home. We don't sent a note to a mass murderer to stop, we send police to arrest him (by force if needed). The same argument stands for Hezbolla, which isn't a governing body so sanctions, restrictions and other diplomatic strains have no effect on them.

Conservatives are misguided. Yes Israel does have a right to defend its borders against enemies, but there's no justification to the complete obliteration of an area based on a hunch. After the initial attacks, Israel even tried to cover its tracks by dropping leaflets and papers telling the citizens of Lebanon to flee the area which was about to get bombed. I applaud the gesture, however it comes too late for the people who were killed on the first day of the bombings (the deadliest day of bombings). Those people were given no warning, they never had a chance to run.

Nations need a right to protect themselves and their citizens from an enemy, however as nations they are held to higher standards than any terrorist organization which may attack them. Diplomact works between nations, which is why nations are held to suh high standards of legal binding. An organization that purposely flaunts their power against international law cannot be controlled by the system it has never pledged allegiance to.

However, this does not give countries a blank check to flex their muscles and frivolessly bombard a suspected enemy with no regard for civilian casualties. Israel needs to stop the air invasion and send in troops. Troops with arms as well as aid. Of all the humaitarian crises the globe has faced over the last 5 years, this is the only one man made, and those responsible need to step it up and make an attempt to mend the damage.