Cyberbullying

This article addresses the growing threat in cyberstalking and cyberbullying. A girl sent a vulgar text message to another who ended up killing herself in Missouri. Missouri recently revised their harassment law to include harassment via cyber sources. 45 states have followed this trend, ever since a thirteen year old killed herself in California because her neighbor set up a fictitious Myspace account. They had a cyber relationship, and when the "boy" broke up with this girl, he said "The world would be a better place without you." The girl killed herself shortly after. The new revision has met a lot of criticism. Some people believe that the law is something that is very hard to enforce, and that what they are saying isn't illegal, but it is unethical and mean. Since the law took effect in Missouri, a few cases have started to pop up, but not an overwhelming amount.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28325107/

I don't really know how to feel about this law. For some cases I feel like it will be useful, but then so many trifle cases might pop up that really shouldn't be dealt with, and our court systems might get bogged down. I think everybody should learn some netiquette and respect each other. If the person can't say it to the other ones face, then they shouldn't be texting it or anything like that. The fake a boyfriend Myspace thing is just sick. Especially because the neighbor was a mom, and she caused the death of that girl. I would feel so guilty for the rest of my life, and feel like really lame for using Myspace as an adult. That lady should be ashamed, along with the texter. But I do feel that they didn't really break the law. It's to hard to enforce and unethical not so much illegal.

Finish Her?!

An 18 year old and his 17 year old girlfriend were babysitting the girls 6 year old sister. They beat, kick, and slammed her to the floor, apparently imitating some moves from he game Mortal Kombat. The little girl died, and the sister was accused with negligently causing a death through child abuse, and was sentenced to six years in Colorado's youth offender recovery type of program. The 18 year old man was convicted of causing death through child abuse and is awaiting his sentencing that will take place in January.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28245235/

Mortal Kombat is an awesome game, some of the moves on it are really fun to attempt, from back flips to roundhouse kicks. But on a six year old girl? I can't believe that anybody could take an obsession this far. No maybe he didn't pull a Lu Kang finisher and shoot her with a fire bolt, but kicking her would probably be enough. There has been quite debate on violent video games effects on teens, and this just supports one side very heavily. I don't believe that they have a very significant effect, but this incident does start to sway me to believe the other way. So Finish Her?

Sick Teens

Two teenage girls are charged with "assault, abuse of a vulnerable adult by a caregiver, abuse of a vulnerable adult with sexual contact, disorderly conduct and failing to report suspected maltreatment", for spitting in peoples mouths, groping, and abusing residents at a old folks home in Albert Lea, Minnesota. There were a total of eight teenagers involved, some of which were charged with not reporting these crimes. These teens reportedly would laugh about the incidents the next day at school. The two main girls are will get suspended jail sentences, and probation.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28051548/

Okay so these two girls were tried as adults, and charged with assault and all those other gross misdemeanors...and they only get a suspended jail sentence and probation?!?! I'm sure if anyone else committed these crimes, they'd probably be in jail for some time. These girls must have had quite the lawyers. This is such a sick crime to, how could someone possibly abuse these old people? They had Alzheimer's and dementia, the last thing they need is some stupid teenage girls poking and prodding them. These girls are sexual predators and I thought Minnesota was cracking down on these kinds of people. I can't believe that they would talk about it at school. I would have to call them some sick freaks and that's not JMHO, its fact.

The Wal-Mart Stampede

A Wal-Mart employee in New York was trampled to death inside the store, on the day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday. The man was doing part time maintenance work for the store, and was killed as over 200 people converged on the store at 4 A.M. when the store was opened. The police are watching to security videos, but don't expect to be able to press any charges because it will be nearly impossible to discern who was directly involved in the manslaughter. The lead investigator has called the scene "utter chaos". Several other people were injured as well, leaving them with minor injuries, one of them was a pregnant women. A women summed up the situation in these few words, "Some man lost his life because a VCR was on sale? Please. It's just too sad for words."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27996349/

I would never think that I would have to fear for my families life, or mine, when I go shopping. It's sad to think that nobody seemed to care that a man was dying beneath their feet, they were only concerned with the unbeatable deals that they were competing for. It just goes to show the value that America puts on human life. These people seemed to turn into primordial beasts when deals were waved in front of their faces. I think if charges were to be pressed, they should be imposed on Wal-Mart for setting up the circumstances for this killing to take place. They know that America runs on greed, and with a failing economy, sales. Companies took advantage of peoples drive to save money, and in return, many people were injured, and this unlucky man was killed.

Dual-wield

A man was shot and killed outside of a Scientology church in Hollywood. He approached three guards after getting out of his red convertible. One of the guards shot and killed him. The twist is that the man was wielding two samurai swords. Investigation is underway to see if the killing was justified. Surveillance footage shows the man exiting his car and walking up to the guards, he was shot when he got within striking distance. It was put into question whether the man was part of the Celebrity Centre Scientology church, and it turns out that he used to be a member a long while back. The deputy police chief judged by the video surveillance that the guards were protecting themselves, and that is why they shot and killed the man.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27877995/



This story caught my eye because of how crazy it sounded at first, and then after reading it, I still felt that it was pretty crazy. It seems like violence is getting more and more far fetched by the day. I just read another blog about some police men the tasered a man at a funeral off of, charlie's current event blog, http://charliesevents.blogspot.com/. What's happening with violence today?! I'm not sure if I'm only hearing the ridiculous stories, or if America is just going insane. I also want to talk about the Celebrity Centre Scientology church. It seems like we are putting to much power in the hands of the celebrities. It doesn't seem like they really deserve their own center. I think that the money that probably went into building this complex should have gone to build a community center in a ghetto or something to that effect. America needs to take the emphasis off of celebrities, so that they don't feel so self righteous, and feel that they can do anything they want.

"I'm going to go to juvie"

An eight year old boy was questioned in the shootings of his father and another man. At first he denied any involvement outright, saying that he came home from school and found them dead. Later he admitted to shooting each man at least twice, reloading sometimes. He went on to say that he only used guns when he hunted small game with his dad, but then contradicted this by saying that he sometimes used guns in the house, and felt bad because he didn't tell his dad. It is suspected that police may have obtained the confession in a poor manner. In the video that they took of the interview, they made the boy scared by telling him that if he didn't tell the truth, they could find out.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27783996/

I'm going to focus primarily on what should be done with this boy. It is obvious to me that he killed these two men. The boy did lie countless times, but I don't think that the boy would lie about killing people. I think that the police were able to scare him into confessing, and he told the truth at this point. Now the question will be, what do we do with him? The obvious choice would be to put him in juvie for a while, and then move him into jail. I disagree with this choice though, I think that the boy should first be admitted into a metal institution, but if he is found to be unaffected by anything, then he should be put in jail. His crime is no different than if he was twenty, he still killed two men. The jail should maybe not put him with all the adults, but I don't think that juvie will suffice.

Rebuilding Afghanistan

Rebuilding Afghanistan will be "exceedingly difficult and complex," says Arnold Fields, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. There is still and insurgency, they have very little in terms of natural resources, and they are a war torn country. The initial investment that will be put into the reconstruction currently stands at a whopping $32 billion. The United States have outspent other countries by 127%. Congress said that they would put 20 million dollars into the auditing effort, but currently have only put in $16 million.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,445908,00.html

The United States has an obligation to help to fund the rebuilding of Afghanistan, but its sad to see 32 billion dollars, that could be used to help recover our failing economy, invested in these other countries. The war here was just and necessary, but I don't think that the American people are satisfied. Osama bin Laden hasn't been found, and an insurgency still exists. It seems pointless to me to rebuild a country that at any moment could spiral back into turmoil. I don't think that the country is stable enough to start investing in rebuilding it. I don't think that the terrorists are just going to allow the United States to intervene, and be there as much. I think during these troubling times, we should turn in, and look in, and solve our own problems, before those of others.

Down To The Wire

McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, is very proud to be by McCain's side right now. He sees McCain making an epic comeback, even though he is down in the polls. It was said that McCain is closing in, and Obama is losing a little bit of ground. The polls show McCain down within the margin of error, so they are somewhat unreliable as of now. Davis seems confident that McCain can win in Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada, where the race is fairly even right now. He says the state to watch will be Pennsylvania, a Republican hasn't won here in a long time, but he feels they are doing very well here. The last part of this interview talked about what they are doing in these last moments with money. The question was if they were spending more on advertisement, or the get-out-the-vote program. Davis says that a ton of money has been pumped into the get-out-the-vote program, and some in advertisement.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,445964,00.html

I want to focus on the part of this interview where they talked about voter suppression, and voter registration fraud. Both men recognized that this was going on for both parties, but it wasn't them, it's independent groups doing it for their self-interest. This makes me almost sick to my stomach. It's very unfair to both candidates, and takes a huge crap on what our founding fathers set up in The Constitution, doing this defeats the purpose of having a democracy. All people are sovereign, and thus, should have the power to decide who will lead them. If to many lawsuits occur on election day, then we may have to wait a very long time to see who our new president will be. I feel like doing this can only hurt a candidates chances of winning because it makes the party look bad. All Americans should be allowed to cast a ballot if they feel moved to.

Ted Stevens Corruption

Ted Stevens hasn't lost hope after being convicted of having VECO, an oil company, renovate his house for free. He seemed shaken by being charged guilty, and said "I am innocent. This verdict is the result of the unconscionable manner in which the Justice Department lawyers conducted this trial." He has decided not to drop out of the race to be the Alaskan senator, but Democrats are taking full advantage of the allegations by putting out commercials of fake FBI agents and using excerpts from wiretaps. He has helped out Alaska since before it was a state, he has funnelled in a lot of federal money. He says that he will fight his case, because he says that he has paid all of his bills that were sent to him, so it wasn't his fault. His Alaskan colleagues seem to agree with him because they are standing by him through this. He also stated that some evidence had been hidden from him up to the trial. The sentencing was held off, but is said to be 5 years for each of his 7 crimes.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,444257,00.html

I question some of these allegations, because why are they coming out so close to the election? Seems to me like the Democrats are just trying to cause some controversy to help their candidate, because they know that Ted Stevens has been a powerful politician in Alaska for a very, very long time. I think that the trial should have been declared a mistrial, if it is true that some of the evidence, and a witness, were withheld from he and his attorneys. I believe that this will only slightly effect his campaign, I feel that he has built up a good enough reputation, that this won't turn all of his voters away. His colleagues are still supporting him, so this goes to show the trust that they have in him, and his abilities as a United States senator. Plus, he has been able to take in billions of federal dollars for his home state, and I don't think that the Alaskan voters will completely forget this. It shows great resilience on his part to not give his campaign, after having his name trashed. I don't think that he should just be tossed to the wind.

Foreign Aid

Bush stated that "during the past eight years, the United States has provided more foreign assistance than at any time in the past half century". He seeks to invest in the countries that have taken democracy as their own. He has given 16 billion dollars in food assistance total, for people all over the globe. Another billion dollars have been put to work with better sanitation, he's cleaning up the world. Money has gone to upgrade education in these countries. Over 700,000 teachers have been trained, not to mention the countless schools that have been built with the funding. A program to help control malaria was set up, and have reduced deaths by 50% in 15 African nations. The only downside is that the spending has been somewhat sporadic, says J. Brian Atwood, dean of the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,442502,00.html

Now more than ever the needy people in other countries need aid. A shaky economy worldwide will greatly increase the needy. Most people would turn in, and focus on themselves, but being the only remaining superpower, the United States is obligated to give a lending hand. I read a blog post by Josh Hobbs, he said, "Many democrats have been pushing for the stimulus check, but President Bush has been somewhat against the idea because of the huge federal deficit." This got me to thinking about the international aid spending, and maybe its not good to put so much money into it. I see the positive that a stimulus check could do for our economy. Maybe its time to draw in, and save our economy, because it seems like whenever America is succeeding, the rest of the world is to. Bush is in a tough position, does he continue the American way, and lend a helping hand where its needed most, or does he save his countries economy first. Personally I think that stimulating our economy, will stimulate all the other nations, and maybe we'll start to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

North Korea and Terror

Condoleeza Rice has been talking with North Korea, as a part of a six piece negotiation group, including Japan. When the idea was proposed to George Bush, he refused it on the spot. The deal made, was if N. Korea disarmed it's nuclear program, then we would remove them from our terrorist list. This would probably help our current relations with them. Satellites have picked up some images of low range missile testing. Some people are angry because the Verification bureau hasn't been involved in any of the debating. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,435463,00.html

I think that taking them off the list is a good idea, because I just read some of, "charlie's current event blog", http://charliesevents.blogspot.com/, and he stated that China canceled some of it's senior visits, and military-to-military cooperation. It would be best to try to keep some peace Asia. With the world's economy spinning out of control, it would be in the United State's best interest to keep as many of its friends as it can. If N. Korea started disarming, then it would be very wise to take them off the list, just to improve relations. It takes courage to trust your enemies, but doing so could help lead to a more peaceful world. The United States has to start taking some different risks, and I firmly believe that this is one to take a stand on.

Lieberman and McCaskill

Host of "Fox News Sunday", Chris Wallace, had two senators, Joe Lieberman and Claire McCaskill talk about the two candidates, Obama and McCain. Both senators were quick to make it clear who they were pulling for. Lieberman for McCain and McCaskill for Obama. The first topic discussed was Sarah Palings quote, "Our opponent is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country." Lieberman said that it was fair game to use this information, while McCaskill said that the American people deserve better. A few political ads were run from both campaigns, one talking about McCain being erratic, and the other about Obama voting to raise taxes 94 times. Both senators took their respective positions, and showed their colors for their favorite candidate. Both of the senators thought that these personal shots that the candidates were taking at each other might be going to far. McCain personally had one ad not aired because he felt it crossed the line. This article can be found at, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,432884,00.html.

I agree with the senators that both candidates may have crossed the line with some of their personal shots. The American people, including myself, would rather hear about where the candidates stand on issues, not the McCain doesn't wear a suit to church, or that Obama forgot to pick up his cousin from school in 1986. When I view these negative ads, it just makes me like the other candidate less. It makes me feel like neither candidate has respect for the other, when both are trying so hard for a common goal. They should know what each other is going through and be as considerate as they can be. I want to hear what their economic plans are, and what they are going to do concerning taxes. If taxes are increased on small-business as Obama has proposed, then we may see a decrease in available jobs as owners won't be able to pay for more employees, and this is exactly what we don't need during this "recession". I think that McCain has the answer, taxing the rich is unfair, the people that work the hardest for their money are the most deserving. I don't think that the people that worked hard, and are reaping the benefits should pay for the lazy, undeserving low-lifes in our society to live. Reap what you sow.

Bailout

Senator John McCain met with CEO's of big corporations like Merril Lynch, eBay, and Cisco Systems. They discussed the thought of spending $700 million dollars to bail out the U.S. financial markets. He said, "Most Americans feel very strongly this isn't their fault. It's Wall Street and Washington and the cozy insider relationships that have caused a great part of the problems." He felt that the CEO's knew pretty well the situation of the economy. He want's CEO's to be held more accountable and oversight because the citizens feel it's Wall Street and Washington's fault. The CEO of Merril Lynch was making 83.1 million dollars annually including bonuses. Thus, McCain doesn't want to give executives like this a "golden parachute", which is a payout to help them. He also stated that senior executives should not be paid more than the highest paid federal office, which is the president, who is making $400,000 a year.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26871010/

Gerald Herbert / AP


I do agree that these companies need to be bailed out, even though they dug themselves into their holes. It's gonna be rough to see that money coming out of my parents, and possibly my own pocket. It's also kinda sick to see Merril Lynch failing, when their CEO is being paid 83.1 million dollars a year. If some of that money went into the company instead of into his pocket, then maybe they wouldn't be in their current situation. I really, really like the statement made by McCain that senior executives should only be earning 400,000 dollars tops. It's wrong to think that the President of the United States is making so much less money than CEO's of companies. I think that the President has a much more important job, and thus should be making the 89.1 million dollars a year over any CEO. JMHO.

Making a Choice

Since 2003 the United States has commited forces to Iraq to fight the war on terror. The American people seem to be getting restless at this length. Both presidental candidates have their own solutions. But which one is the way to go? Obama has an 16 month plan in which all combat brigades would be removed from Iraq. Also a residual force would be left in Iraq to act quickly on conflicts and to track down potential terrorists. John McCain has said that forces can be taken out once it is clear that it won't jeopardize all that the troops have fought for already. He wants to wait until Iraqi police and military can assume more responsibilities. Both candidates have been switching positions on the war. Obama has made more switches voting to fund and then not to later on. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26689720/

I think that right now John McCain is making the right choice. If we pull out too quickly, Iran might gain a foothold and influence terrorism in Iraq. This might lead us to have to go back there anyways, and under more challenging conditions. Iraq's military needs to be well trained and well equiped before we pull out. We can't completely rely on them right now, and 16 months isn't nearly long enough to build a dependable military. We have to be timely on when we leave, and in my opinion 16 months isn't going to be long enough. I don't think that a date can be set by either candidate right now. I also feel that Obama doesn't have it all figured out in his head yet. He talks of leaving residual forces in Iraq but he doesn't have a set amount, it could be 150,000 troops for all we, or he knows. He also has switched opinions on troop withdrawl. In June 22, 2006 he voted against withdrawing troops, but he voted to cut off money to force withdrawl. This doesn't make sense to me because if he wanted the troops out he should vote for them to be directly withdrawn, instead of dangering their lives by giving them less money to obtain military equipment. I don't think that either candidate has the perfect answer, but I don't think there is one at this point.

McCain and Obama calling for change

As McCain and Obama do battle we hear them both calling for change. Senator McCain's strategist Steve Schmidt said "John McCain has a record of fighting to change," which was quickly countered by Obama's strategist David Axelrod who said "This isn't change, this is more of the same." McCain has just gotten out of Minnesota and is headed to Wisconsin to give a speech to a state leaning more towards the Democratic party, while Obama is campaigning in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Also the ever popular topic, Sarah Palin, continues to surface everywhere. This article, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26558949/, did a poll on how favorable Sarah Palin is, and it said that 85% of Republicans, 53% independent, and only 24% of Democrats are viewing her favorably, which is to be expected.


It's come to my attention that politics have lost a lot of class. Politics used to be about compromise and respect for the other nominees. But it seems like the only strategy politicians have in getting votes is to see how much they can ruin other candidates campaigns. In the article, Sarah Palin's pregnant 17 year old daughter resurfaced. And by the percentage that the Democratic party is in favor of Sarah Palin, I think this is having quite an effect. I don't think that this should even be an issue. It wasn't Palin's choice to have her daughter be pregnant, it was obviously her daughter's. Democratic operatives uncovered the rumor off of the Internet and forced Palin to reveal that her daughter was five months pregnant. This just furthers my point about the politics of today having less class. Instead of relying on their plans to better America, they dig up embarrassing information, like this, to try and ruin the Republican's campaign and make Obama's plan look more favorable and gain them more votes. It's a sad thing when people feel they have to vote one way just because they are embarrassed to vote the other, and support something that might be morally wrong, even though it doesn't directly effect a candidates ability to do their job.