The Chief Source staff is encouraging readers to submit a post on any topic they choose between May 1st and Independence Day, at which point a winner will be crowned based on staff vote and your comments. The following is submission #1 from Gabriel Mann:

"I believe every person who works 40 hours a week deserves health insurance, either provided by their employer or the state.

I believe the true definition of sin is doing something that hurts other people. Too many people inflict their own definition of sin against actions that cause no harm, while not recognizing that their own actions are damaging the environment, social climate, and educational opportunities of others.

I believe we owe every child a true education. Those children should be first taught that resources are scarce; and as the providers of those resources, we will show preference to individuals that do not break the law. They may then choose their own actions with an understanding that they may be sacrificing future opportunities.

I serve no king, no master, no lord; but, I recognize that in order for my community to succeed, I need to participate in our inclusive government and encourage others to also do so.

This, I believe."

I was having trouble posting comments on Bob's post below. So I will speak for myself, and I am sure others: an excellent and accurate story. Well done Bob.

President Bush explained why he thinks the Democrats plan for ending the war in a year is a bad idea: "I'm just envisioning what it would be like to be a young soldier in the middle of Iraq and realizing that politicians have all of the sudden made military determinations. And in my judgment, that would put a kid in harm's way, more so than he or she already is." Re-read that, if you have not fallen over from your spinning head. Seriously, what an absurd statement.

Bush people are now saying the escalation will last into next year. That would mean the "surge" will probably last for about two years. What happened to the "surge" lasting for a few months - not a few years?

Oh, and a bunch of the major reconstruction projects we took on in Iraq are now crumbling. A federal oversight agency randomly examined eight projects that were deemed successes by the Bush folks. Well, 7 of the 8 are no longer working. Another scandalous failure of this administration.

Read here for another absurd/hypocritical Republican scandal. Involves a Bush person getting busted for banging hookers. This very guy has been vigilant with an anti-hooker agenda. If this were a less-scandalous administration (i.e., Clinton) this would be a much bigger headline. But with all the other crap going on, there is barely time to care about this type of disgraceful hypocrisy.

On to a lighter topic. Every basketball fan must love what is happening with the Golden State Warriors/Dallas Mavericks series. Every series has been pretty boring, except for the Warriors series, who are poised to pull of one of the biggest upsets in NBA playoff history (as I type, Dallas is losing in the 2nd half of Game 4).

Also, I never thought I could root for Stephen Jackson after his roll in the Ron Artest/crowd fight. However, he is great in Golden State, and is clearly a catalyst for their potential upset of Dallas. Unfortunately for Jackson and Golden State, he may be unavailable for the 2nd round of the playoffs - Jackson is set for a May 10th trial on felony recklessness charges.

In The China Study, Dr. Campbell explains that the harmful product of meat is not the fat. It's the protein.
According to the International Journal on Cancer, "Women who received the most calories from animal protein had twice the risk of [endometrial cancer] compared to those who took in the fewest calories from animal sources."

So what seems like a good meat to eat? Chicken? Sure, it doesn't have the bulk and fullness of beef. Well, think again - about 70% of chickens in the United States are fed food with arsenic in it. Arsenic! It's used to promote growth, make your chicken an appealing color etc, and is banned in Europe. The arsenic ends up in chicken meat (and their poop, which is turned into fertilizer, which fertilizes our vegetables, and gets into the groundwater, which becomes drinking water). Luckily, some US companies are requesting that their suppliers not use arsenic anymore. That's nice of them. "According to the Environmental Protection Agency, long-term exposure to inorganic arsenic can cause bladder, lung, skin, kidney, and colon cancer, as well as deleterious immunological, neurological, and endocrine effects. Low-level exposures can lead to partial paralysis and diabetes."

Pam Anderson credits a vegetarian diet to better orgasms. If that's not a reason to switch...

After last night, some would say that Gravel's sanity tank is half empty. If you ask me, it's half full.
For those of you who missed it, in the first Democratic Primary debate he said (or kinda barked):

GRAVEL: I got to tell you, after standing up with [the other Democratic candidates], some of these people frighten me -- they frighten me. When you have mainline candidates that turn around and say that there's nothing off the table with respect to Iran, that's code for using nukes, nuclear devices...To my mind, it's immoral, and it's been immoral for the last 50 years as part of American foreign policy."

Then later...

And you know something? Who is the greatest violator of the non- proliferation treaty? The United States of America. We signed a pledge that we would begin to disarm, and we're not doing it. We're expanding our nukes. Who the hell are we going to nuke? Tell me, Barak. Barak, who do you want to nuke?

OBAMA: I'm not planning to nuke anybody right now, Mike, I promise.

(LAUGHTER)

In all seriousness, I think that Gravel's concern with loose Nukes / proliferation and U.S. Nuclear hypocrisy is entirely too rare on Capitol Hill. Or in America for that matter. In my eyes it really should be at the very forefront of the global War on Terror.

When fighting a stateless enemy, which will never run out of recruits as long as hopelessness and anti-Americanism in the region continues, I think securing and reducing nukes is one of the tactics that has the most promise in preventing a massive attack on US soil.

Along with the studio audience, Brian Williams and Obama, I too chuckled at the exchange though. Thinking back, it wasn't really a laughing matter. I think our reaction reflects our general disconnect on this issue. I'd bet a similar exchange regarding say...terrorism or genocide, would not have drawn such laughter from the crowd, no matter how comical the delivery.

The cover of John Hersey's book Hiroshima says "Everyone able to read should read it." I agree. The book records the real-life accounts of six Hiroshima residents going about their lives on the day the bomb was dropped. It outlines what each was doing on August 6th, 1945 and shortly thereafter. The accounts are heart-wrenching, nauseating and may leave you with a newfound perception of the bomb.

In most editions, the book has a final chapter in which the author follows up, 40 years later, to find out what became of the six survivors. Like Night by Elie Wiesel, this book should be required reading in our high schools.

Sometimes I think back to situations in my past when I jokingly used the phrase "dropped bombs like Hiroshima" for a laugh. And got one. Those jokes I would very much like to take back now.

There weren't any fireworks last night, but it was a decent debate. Brian Williams did a good job moderating 8 candidates and it was a good format. Here is my analysis:

Barack Obama: On balance, I think he had a great debate. He gave great answers on Iraq, campaign finance reform, a woman's right to choose, and the Palestinian / Israeli conflict. I thought his best line was that the "confederate flag belongs in a museum." He proved why he is a top tier candidate. I don't think his microphone was turned up all the way and his voice seemed soft as a result. Also, Obama had the most presidential neck tie.

Hillary Clinton: She had a strong performance. I got a little bit squeamish when she started talking about her efforts in the 90s to reform health care, but I though she summed it up nicely as a learning experience. She seemed well prepared and was not visibly surprised by any of the questions. I thought her strongest answer was on the hypothetical bomb question. She stated that she would retaliate swiftly. I liked that answer and Governor Richardson came back to the question to basically repeat Hillary's answer. She honestly impressed me.

John Edwards: 2004 Edwards would have dominated this debate. 2007 Edwards stared like a deer in the headlights when asked about his haircuts and who his moral leader was. How do you not have a good joke response to this haircut issue yet?! Edwards seemed woefully unprepared and unpolished, which isn't like him at all. What kind of a campaign manager lets Edwards wear that unpresidential purple neck tie? Overall, I thought he had a poor performance given the expectations of a top tear candidate. I don't think this debate will hurt him that much, but I know John Edwards can do better than he did last night.

Joe Biden: He gives these "come on jack, let's get it right" type answers that work as a Senator, but not as a presidential candidate. Biden did have a great answer when asked whether he would be more careful with what he says as the nominee of the party by simply saying "yes." Brian Williams let the silence hang for a second and it got a good laugh. However, Joe Biden is not a funny guy. He tried several times to make these "but seriously" jokes that were pretty bad. Overall, an average debate for him.

Bill Richardson: Every time the camera cut to him, he had this expression on his face like he was in pain. That said, this is clearly a very smart man. He can take foreign policy questions and point to the fence with his bat and then knock it out of the park. I was surprised by how quickly Richardson wanted troops out of Iraq. He also gave a good answer when asked about the 2nd Amendment. He had a good showing.

Chris Dodd: He had a good answer on the difference between civil unions and marriage. He seems like a stand up guy who should also drop out of the race and work within the party. The reality is that no one supports him and his campaign has become a punch line for late night comics like Jon Stewart. He should save face and drop out.

Kucinich: His Iraq War plan is H.R. 1234. How was that not taken? Kucinich was his usual self. His answers to our nations problems are theories rather than applicable solutions. He should be thankful that Mike Gravel was on the stage because he made Dennis look moderate.

Mike Gravel: What a dick. He got pissy with Brian Williams because he wasn't getting enough attention. How did this guy even get on stage? Go back to Alaska.

Overall, it was a good debate. I proud that we have so many qualified candidates running and I hope the Republicans have a similar event.

I am not one of the many people wanting Al Gore in the election. I love Gore and do think Gore would be a terrific President. I have considered crying when I think of how much better things would be if he had been allowed to serve as President. But he ran a bad campaign in 2000 and he is easy to smear because there is so much disinformation on global warming. That makes him more vulnerable than Obama, Edwards and maybe even Clinton (she has issues, but people underestimate the woman voting factor). So I want Al Gore to stay on the sidelines.

Plus, if Gore runs, people like Sheryl Crow will be all over the TV. Crow is why people don't like celebrity campaigners. In my opinion, she is overall annoying and talks about global warming in too extreme of terms. On her recent Stop Global Warming College Tour, Crow spoke of requiring limits on toilet paper to one sheet per use. Maybe Crow should just make her own sacrifices from her extravagant touring requirements.

I bet eliminating toilet paper would have a great impact, but people don't want to hear that. Extreme positions are a huge turnoff. Remember, Bush brought us war without sacrifice (except for the disposable 3000 troops). Most people don't want their lives dramatically changed. Plus, I don't think it is that complicated. Everyone knows that improving raising fuel efficiency standards on cars will have the biggest impact. Any leader should just focus on that. And that is what Barack Obama's plan is.

Related: Newer Rasmussen Poll - Obama 32%, Clinton 32%, Edwards 17%.

By Guest Columnist Jung Choi

As a friend of the site and returning guest columnist, Jung shares his thoughts on the shootings at Virginia Tech.

The day of the Virginia Tech shootings, I was very saddened and shocked by what happened and also the number of students that died. One student... 2 pistols... 33 dead.

America has been through an event similar to the one that happened last week, which happened almost exactly 8 years ago from today at Columbine High School. I can honestly say that the reminder of the Columbine incident was the very first thing that came to mind on that day.The next thing of concern for me was the news stating that the mass shooter was Asian.

While mourning with the fellow students at VT and others around the country, I have to admit that I was being somewhat selfish. I was praying and hoping that the Asian student involved was not Korean, fearing possible hate towards Asians/Koreans comparable to the aftermath of 911 and the effect it had on Arab-Americans.

On Tuesday morning, the day after the shootings, the murderer's face was all over the newswire with the caption stating "VT SHOOTER OF SOUTH KOREAN DESCENT."

There was a lot of talk among my Korean-American friends that there is a chance that we might face some backlash over the whole incident. We came to the conclusion that it was just the new way of life here in the US post-911 and it's going to be something that many Koreans might have to deal with.

Bottom line - I would NOT want to be a Korean student at VT right now. After VT Shooting, Ethnic Backlash?

As I was watching the news over the weekend, the backlash seems to have already started. Arson was reported at a newly built Korean church in downtown Los Angeles (no source) on a local ABC news channel. I had no clue anything like that could happen here in LA since there is a very good chance that 25% of your neighborhood is composed of Asians. It just comes to show that ignorance is evident even in diverse cities like LA and that people will always want someone/thing to blame... whether its the Korean community, the University, the VT police, gun control... etc. I also understand the idea that if one person on a basketball team messes up a play during practice, the whole team has to run laps...

The only person that committed any wrongdoing was the shooter himself. He murdered 32 people, including Korean-American student Mary Karen Read, and no one saw it coming. It was horrible. He was a fanatic who had no sure motive due to his mental concerns and he did not discriminate his victims. Who was he to judge who lived and died that day? Now it is God's turn to judge...

This event is different from Columbine in that it happened AFTER 911. We have lived in fear since that day in September 2001, awaiting nervously for a massacre like this to happen... then for the anticipation for Americans to go straight into the offensive. We experienced "terrorism" in a different form on April 16, 2007.

What exactly are we doing to prevent a Virginia Tech, a Columbine, or even a 911 from happening again? Not to trivialize the VT tragedy (because it was effin appalling)... but how about our falling soldiers in Iraq and winning the War on Terror? It seems like almost 32 US soldiers die in Iraq every week. Please let us not forget about the issues that were important before all this happened.

Also, I am beginning to find out more and more on how an extreme American might view Koreans after this incident. I recently found a blog from a person who was expressing his extremely honest opinion: Reading something like this is very difficult because as a society, we have progressed by rejecting ignorance. I did not shoot anyone and I can not help where I am from.

I can't help the fact that historically, South Korea was a suppressed country that was attacked by its neighboring countries in Japan, China, and North Korea and that American soldiers were needed to fight and provide security for that region against the spread of Communism. Honestly, I have no clue what is going on in Korea at this moment... but the blogger above seems to know perfectly well. The South Korean government has publicly expressed their grief over the incident already and people can take it how they want to.

As an American citizen, I am very sensitive to how society perceives me and my background. It has brought me to where I am now with my friends, family, and within corporate America. I hope that no one ever uses the blogger's excuse as a reason to ship me back to Korea. Sometimes, running laps as a team after one person's mishap just isn't fair.