Duke and Immigration

So here's my take on some current events:

• The Duke Lacrosse scandal. I have the same feeling about this situation as I did with the Kobe Bryant one. One of my best friends (female) said about the Kobe deal: "It's because of women like that that the real rape victims are not believed and have a hard time coming forward." I disagree to an extent. From the very first day that the woman came forward in the Kobe deal, she was seen as a golddigger. The woman in the current situation is being drug through the mud as well. I think in order for women to come forward with any kind of confidence that justice will be served, you have to believe their story. It sort of goes against the whole "innocent until proven guilty" concept, but women still do not come forward because they don't want the embarrassment and the ridicule from society that comes with stepping up. It's only made worse when the accused assailant is someone famous.
• That being said, I do to an extent feel badly for the players who were indicted and have their names and faces everywhere. Although part of me likes to think "well, if we did that with all accused rapists, maybe the rate of rapes would go down." A local morning show had people call in this past week regarding if it was fair or right to have the men's names and faces in the news and not the woman's. Almost all the callers (some of whom were women) said that the woman should be ok with her name and face being released. This is ludicrous. The woman has done nothing wrong and deserves to be protected.
• Immigration. I had a long talk with my father about this, and we see it very similarly. First, I will say that it is just plain wrong to arrest people who are assisting people who have already made it across the border. This means that I could be arrested if I gave someone a glass of water or a sandwich. Ridiculous. Those who are here should be able to stay under some sort of plan to get them adapted to our society while still respecting their rights to maintain their cultural heritage. More tax revenue! But I don't think the borders should be totally open. I don't know how restricted they should be, but don't open them entirely. And I still think it's hypocritical to be threatening to send back Mexican immigrants, but allow Cuban immigrants to stay under the "Wet Foot, Dry Foot" policy. But I won't start on Cuban policy. That would take days.

Hope you have enjoyed. I'm sure there will be more to come.