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. 

week 6 post, bill clinton apprechiated by the G.O.P.

The article I read this week talks about how former President Bill Clinton has recently been talked about by Republicans in a very positive fashion.  Many Republicans are stepping up to comment on how they miss the Clinton years and how Clinton was a much better President than the one we have right now.  Personally, I don't see what Obama could be doing that is so wrong or bad, but Clinton was seen as a better President.  Some Republicans think that Obama should study up on his Clinton years and how Clinton acted and became so well liked.  This is mainly because the Republicans might just take over the House come next election, and Bill Clinton got along with the Republican party and was able to get things done.  I personally hope that his wife, Hillary (who should be President right now!), listens to him and takes advice from him, not that she needs it though.  Many things are being blamed on Obama, but I also feel that he took office at a horrible time in our country and economy and he couldnt help it at all.  Now, things arent getting as better as they could be, but I feel that Obama is at least doing the best that he can and making some progress.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/us/politics/08clinton.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Week 5. 2nd article for my paper!

This week I found another article dealing with the same subject of the previous weeks article, "dont ask, dont tell" policy.  My original articles web address is http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/21/collins-thwarts-vote-on-dont-ask-dont-tell/?partner=rss&emc=rss  and is from the New York Times.  My second articles web address is http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/09/23/white-house-objects-federal-judges-injunction-dont-ask-dont-tell/  and is from Fox News.  Stereotypically, TNYT's are very liberal in their writing and opinions and Fox is stereotypically conservative.  This weeks article deals with some aftermath of DADT not even making the floor of the Senate.  Apparently, a California judge is trying to get the DADT policy banned nation wide.  But, being only a federal judge, she would be "overstepping her bounds if she tried to stop it in its tracks".  So this puts the White House "in the uncomfortable position of defending a policy President Obama has said he wants repealed."  Many cases are being seen throughout the U.S. about DADT and its policy.  I personally think that DADT should be repealed and removed from all military actions and rules.  I agree with Federal Judge Phillips that "the policy doesn't help military readiness and instead has a 'direct and deleterious effect' on the armed services by hurting recruiting during wartime and requiring the discharge of service members with critical skills and training."  Even though the article does explain that this will not get in the way of the Presidents fight to remove this policy, it does make you feel as if the President has no choice but to defend it right now; and that the policy will be even harder to get removed.  What do you think...?

Important vote taking place in Congress Today!! (week 4 article)

President Obama is going to be taking a step in a good direction today when he tries to fulfil something he promised to the gay community of America.  He will attempt to get the "dont ask, dont tell" policy banned from the military today, a campaign promise made years ago.  The only problem is that the Senate is full of Republicans, and they plan to stake a full on fillabuster.  If the Democrats can't get 60 people to end the fillabuster, this policy might not get banned until next year.  Unfortunately, "members of a key White House constituency fear that next year’s Congress will be less sympathetic to a repeal of the 17-year-old ban."  So, this could be a big blow to the gay community if this policy does not get banned as promised it would be.  Many senators and representatives have been stepping up either to support the legislation or be against it.  Even Lady Gaga went to Maine and gave a speech urging the legislation to be passed.  The vote is scheduled for sometime around 2:15 today...I guess we can only wait and see.

A week in review

This week in class we had some very interesting discussions.  Going back to Monday, we talked about the Mosque that is being build a block away from ground zero.  Many people in the class had very interesting things to say and a wide variety of opinions.  I personally think that it is nice that we can, as a class, get into a discussion that has to do with ethnisity and religion without anyone taking anything personally or getting hurt.  To know that we are all different with our opinions shows our diversity as a class.  I was fortunate enough to be able to share my opinion a little.  A good discussion takes time and we were lucky enough to have the entire class time to discuss our feelings on the mosque in New York and even the one from Kentucky.  Looking at Wednesday, we discussed and compared two very different presidents speeches.  The speeches were given about the same topics so it was pretty simple to compare the type of speech used and who the audiences were.  It was really interesting to watch the Daily Show clip showing how Obama and Bush do sound alike, or use the same types of words to dipict the same meaning.  Comparing Republicans and Democrats is also interesting to do because they definitly have different opinions on the same topic, like war, as we've seen.  The class also exhibited diversity with politics as well which was a nice thing to see.  After comparing the way they speak and their opinions, I really feel as though Obama has more on his plate and more to worry about; his goals are very different.  All in all, I felt that this week was a very progressive week full of discussion and knowledge.

Crime Blotter Has a Regular: Yankees Caps week 3

This week I saw an article with an interesting title (same title as this blog).  The article is about the statistics of robbers and criminals wearing Yankee hats and other Yankee clothing.  Criminologists and Police Departments have conducted studies and made theories as to why Yankee hats are the most popular.  The Yankees are obviously the most famous baseball team when it comes to selling merchandise, they rule the MLB with that.  The article explains that, "since 2000, more than 100 people who have been suspects or persons of interest in connection with serious crimes in New York City wore Yankees apparel at the time of the crimes or at the time of their arrest or arraignment."  Some New Yorkers feel that the criminals give the rest of the world the wrong image of other non-criminals.  Since the criminals wear Yankee apparel, it looks as if all New Yorkers are criminals and that New York is a rough/bad place to be.  One criminologist went as far as saying that this trend is due to the "Jay-Z effect".  When I read that, I had a crazy reaction.  Jay-Z is known for showing off his Yankee apparel and actually making it more popular than an actual Yankee can.  So, apparently the study has shown that some criminals don't wear the hat because they are fans of the team, but because they are fans of Jay-Z and the way he wears and shows it off.  I honestly didn't know what to think about that because it seems kind of crazy, but at the same time it might be true.  Even outside of New York, criminals all over the place are wearing Yankee apparel.  The man who robbed 72 banks between the 1980's and 90's had a signature look...a Yankees hat; thus nicknamed, the Yankee bandit.  There must have been something important to him about the hat or something symbolic or else I'm not sure why he'd wear it every time.  Personally I think its all a little crazy, but when actually looking at the statistics, proof exists that criminals enjoy wearing Yankee apparel the most.  But, it could just be coincidence since the Yankee organization sells the most merchandise out of all MLB teams...what do you think?

Secret Tape Has Police Pressing Ticket Quotas week #2

This article was about a secret recording made in a police department in Brooklyn.  The recording gives evidence that quotas exist in the Police Departments, dealing with tickets and traffic stops.  The tape was recorded back in April and a Police Captain was heard giving orders to his commanders.  The orders were to have the officers write more summonses per week and that an officer that works every day must be writing 20 summonses per week.  Threats were even made saying that the Captain was not afraid to fire people if they did not follow orders.  Even a few years ago, an patrol officer made a recordings accusing supervisors of manipulating crime statitics and ticket quotas.  Officers have been getting threatened with their jobs if they don't take more of an action to write more tickets and increase activity.  I personally think quotas do exist.  With all this obvious evidence with voice recordings and officers getting accused, its obvious they exist.  I don't think they should exist, cause it just puts a load onto an officer to write more tickets or lose their jobs.  I don't think we need quotas, we should just have honest officers that aren't forced to write more tickets.  It just means we have to be even more careful when we are driving and how we park our cars cause they can get us for that too.

Hostages Safe as Police Shoot Maryland Gunman, as seen in The New York Times

A man, named James Lee, decided to take manners into his own hands when he became upset with the programming on the discovery channel.  His way to do this was to go to headquarters with a gun and explosives and take a few hostages.  After being negotiaged with for a while, the officers eventually shot and killed him, rescuing all of the hostages.  Not surprisingly, this was not his first offense.  In 2008, Lee was arrested for disorderly conduct outside of the building for protesting.  It was said that he paid off homeless people to join his protest, even paying someone up to $1,000.  Lee was against discovery airing shows about war and said the channel promoted overpopulation.  He wanted shows about finding solutions for global warming and promoting sterilization.  A few of the workers for the company were interviewed about their experiences.  Everyone ended up being safe, especially the children from the day care. 

about me

Hey everyone in College Writing I!  I am from Orange, Ohio which is about 45 minutes away from campus.  I am majoring in Musical Theater.  I have 2 older siblings, ones a teacher and one will be a lawyer next year.  Something random about me...I'm a blackbelt in Taekwondoe.  I enjoy being at KSU, Manchester rules!