November 26th, 2010

Dear Sofia,

Today is your grandpa Hank's birthday (my dad). He and grandma Lynn are coming to visit you today; they haven't seen you in person yet and are very excited to! Also, your birthday was October 22nd, so you are now one month old. I can hardly believe how big you are already, though judging by how much you eat that shouldn't really surprise me. =) I love having that time with you.

Today, the British paper the Express proclaimed that England should get out of the European Union. The EU is what they call Europe now, as they are aligned together as countries with a common currency (the euro). A lot of people think that, since England's joining the EU, it has brought upon itself a number of problems that are making the country worse.

For example, the allowing of incoming immigrants (many are muslim) to reside with learning the english language, and giving them special courts to rule on crimes related to their religion (these are called sharia courts, after "sharia law," which is the Islamic code of laws). That means that muslims who commit crimes violating English law don't necessarily get prosecuted, because instead they go to sharia court and it's ruled that, according to their religion, they can do things like hurt their wives physically, etc.

Here is a link that explains why the Express newspaper thinks England should no longer take part in the EU. I think that's a great idea! England has always been a great ally with the United States and it would be wonderful to keep our neighbors across the ocean on the same page as us regarding national preservation (meaning, keeping our national culture alive through the generations).

And here is a link to the movie trailer for "This is England" which, though not related to this news bit in the slightest, is excellent and should be watched by all who read this!