Should the Death Penalty be given...?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/05/nyregion/05cheshire.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

In 2007, Stephen Hayes was convicted for the murders of a woman and her 2 daughters in a 7-hour house raid.  The defense has maintained the arguement that “'Life without the possibility of release is the harshest punishment for Steven Hayes, It is a fate worse than death for him.'"  The defense is taking the route that the death penalty will be the "easy way out" for Hayes.  It would be a quick way to end his suffering and tourment from his life.  The prosecutor has argued that the crime is viscious, shocking and brutal and that the death penalty is the only reasonable choice.  But the defense had made a pretty strong statement that "the jurors could leave him to consider his crimes in prison, 'every second of every minute of every hour of every day of every month of every year.'”  Only one person has been executed in Conneticuit since 1960.  Should Hayes be the first in 50 years to be lethaly injected and put to death?  It's actually really difficult to impliment the death penalty since the jury must unanimously agree on death.  If one person does not agree then the defendant cant be given the death penalty.  Also, I've learned in my Law class from high school that it is actually much more expensive to hold a prisoner who is getting the death penalty; and unlike what some people might think, it actually takes 20-25 years until the person is put to death.  What do you think about the death penalty?  I wish I could answer but I unfortunately am uncertain about my opinion, but feel free to share yours!!

assignment 3 topic choice

So today in class we had some very interesting conversations.  I really enojoy how we can have a safe, friendly environment for everyone to speak their mind on any topic that we talk about.  At the end of a discussion, I was prompted to look up what the word "panopticon" meant.  As I read the definition out loud in class we further discussed it and how it relates to us as students and human beings.  After class, I was given the name of an author and a book that has a chapter on panopticon in it.  I find the idea of panopticon very interesting and, thus, I am going to chose that as my topic for our 3rd paper in this class.  How it affects us, where it came from, why people beleive in it and even how it relates to "1984".  I think this will be a very interesting paper.

President Obama appears on The Daily Show

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/27/obama-jon-stewart-and-change/?partner=rss&emc=rss

President Obama has made an appearance on Jon Stewarts comedy show, "The Daily Show".  This episode was taped in Washington, in a Theater a few blocks away from the White House.  This was a fun chance for Jon Stewart to give an extra plug for his Rally to Restore sanity and March to keep Fear Alive.  For Obama, as always, it was a chance to get the word out to voters to get out and vote when their voting day comes along.  "Getting out the vote is 'on the top of every to-do list of every person working in a campaign at any point in the country,’" (said by Robert Gibbs).  Of course, having a President on a "fake news show" will mean him getting poked at by the host, and Jon Stewart never fails to do that.  But, I also think its a good thing.  It shows that our President is out to show hes friendly, funny and wants to get the attention of everyone, and not just people who watch serious news shows the stereotypical late night shows.  "The lines between entertainment and news are increasingly blurred – in part because Mr. Obama has been willing to bring his presidential platform to settings his predecessors might have regarded as unconventional, to say the least."  He has also appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and on The View.  Obama is really willing to reach whatever people are watching and getting the word to go vote out.

New football regulations?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/sports/football/20hits.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

During this week, the NFL has decided that they were going to start seriously fineing players for hard hits or helment to helment hits.  My article talks about 3 players that are getting seriously fined for their hard hits.  The 3 most major fines have been one at $75,000 and 2 at $50,000.  It is all causing much reaction within the N.F.L. and even with fans from around the country.  Some coaches have called the N.F.L. inconsistant since they have failed to suspend anyone so far, and said they talk more than take action.  The administration is going to have to take a bigger stand against helment to helment hits since most players think of fines as part of business; so, simply fineing someone won't be effective.  The N.F.L. is going to have to resort right to automatic suspensions even for first time offenders.  I personally think that its a crazy new regulation for football as we know it.  I think that players just need to learn how to tackle correctly and even officiators need to learn more about what a foul is and what is not.  What defines a hard hit or an illegal hit?  These and more questions need to be answered so the officiators have an in depth knowledge of what is not allowed.  It's football for damn sake, hard hits are going to happen.  How else are you going to get a huge linebacker down?  I understand the safety issues and how it looks nice to take a stand for better safety, but the game can't change too much or soon too many kinds of hits or tackles will be illegal.

1984 character: Julia, the sexual deviant

The character that I've chosen to write about is Julia.  I think that she is an interesting character and that she might be hiding something deep down.  It is clear that she is a rebel against the government.  But she is really a driving force that is helping the story.  I feel that she might be a little too random to just be as simple as a rebel who loves being with and having sex with Winston.  I wonder what she is hiding or if she is hiding anything at all.  It's nice that Winston has someone to be with right now.  He has not shown much stress or paranoia ever since hes been hooking up with Julia.  As much as I want there to be something deep down in Julia, I also hope she is a "good character" and not an "evil" one, since she does give Winston so much happiness.  I also hope they continue to have sex.

week 7! Time for a little Broadway news

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/13/theater/13preview.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Coming soon to the Broadway stage's are 4 new musicals!  But heres the catch, they will open right on Broadway, instead of having out of town auditions or even early runs at an off Broadway theater.  This is something that has not been done for almost two decades and is risky, but can be a promising thing in the long run as well.  Since these shows are opening directly on Broadway, the shows are at it's rawest of stages and the audiences get to see a show actually grow.  A benefit for the general public is that the tickets being sold for these shows are generally around 50% off of the normal price "'People will be seeing the show pretty raw,' said the 'Spider-Man' producer Michael Cohl, 'so discounts seemed only fair.'”  Between the 70's to the early 90's, opening cold on Broadway was quite common, and some of the shows became big hits like: "Sweeny Todd" (1979) and "City of Angels" (1989).  The reason it was common to open cold on Broadway back then was because of money issues.  It was pretty expensive to do runs of shows at other theaters before moving to Broadway.  Even today its really expensive.  "Spider Man" cost $60 million for Broadway alone, so theres no way it could have runs before that.  The only other legit way to prepare a show is to run the show in Regional Theaters, just like the show "Catch Me if You Can" is doing right now.  I'm friends with one of the main producers, and got a copy of the soundtrack about a year ago, and its amazing and keeps getting amazing reviews.  I personally can't wait to see it when it opens on Broadway.  I think that this whole idea is an interesting one and a really good chance for audiences to see a show at its rawest stage in the work.  If I could go to New York and see these shows at these low prices I totally would, who knows maybe I will.

1984 book 1 thoughts

After reading the first book in 1984, I feel that it was overall a very good introduction to everything going on and the characters and their lives.  I thought that the first 3 chapters were kind of confuzing, but as I read on through our assignments, I was able to retain the information better.  I do feel that talking about what happend in the story so far really helps the flow as well.  I personally think that the life that Winston lives is a good one but full of paranoia and fear.  He is a definite Party member, but still doesn't know everything since most things are kept a secret.  I wouldnt want to live in their world.  I enjoy learning about the way Winston and other characters live.  Finding out new rules as we read keeps the book a little interesting and not just one boring line.  I think book 1 had a good ending that kept us thinking about what was to come next.  I hope that a revolution does take place at some point, just to see what the government does about it.