Abortion (no catchy titles this time)

Upon looking at their websites, both the NARAL and the NRA did a well rounded job of preseneting the information about their side of the abortion debate. NARAL wins the best website for bringing up the social  and legal problems surronding abortion. They try to remind people about the need for abortion with stories of certian women lining the page. The NRA did a better job of using scare tactics on their website. The most shocking part of the website was the description of abortion methods. The later into a pregnancy a woman is, the more greusome the procedures get. Once a fetus is big enough the doctor needs to pull off the limbs, and then crush the skull with forceps in order to then pull out the fetus. Both websites get across the viewpoint but the NRA was more agressive and visually descriptive. This website influened me to agree with bans on abortions past certian stages of pregnancy. 
TBC

The Red Market: Compelling the Quest (book post 1)

Although from the ceepy skeleton with a red tag and catch phrase " On the Trail of the World's Organ Brokers, Bone Thieves, Blood Farmers, and Child Traffickers." This macabre book did not turn me away. As a kid I knew death when I was seven. I knew death when in a church my family was in the pews, and the ghostly pale and manicured face of my grandpa was no longer breathing, but in a slumber I was told he would not awaken from. The thought probably didn't really register with me until at his grave, the hole in the ground, and the music of my cousnin's violin . I couldn't help but forget everything. Until I had witnessed death, I didn't really belive that people around me could instantly vanish out of my life.
Maybe it was the reruns of fear factor, my facination with urban legends, or the fact that we are constantly reminded of it. But for a while it seemed that deaths had followed me everywhere. No more I would see the grandma, grandpa, great aunt, cousin, that I had known. The dramatic that I was, I made sure we buried each of our hampsters in a shoe box . (side note; all of them had Jack in their name; Jack- o- lantern, blackjack, and flapjack). Yes there was no life in them but there was still "them". The "it" of them is somewhere in this earth/
For Scott Carney his quest seems as though he wants to bring justice to death, and investigate exactly how different people, cultures, and corporations treat death, and somehow profit off of it. As any slightly educated person knows, economics is most often based on supply and demand. When the life, and soul is gone some respect it , and others would rather have it be handled with their beliefs ( hence a living will/ dying requests). As I read on the questions flowing in my mind are what will I do when I die? or who will do what to me? For some of the people in the book they must go to extremes to get what they need to survive, for some that's giving up an organ, and for some its buying one.

Reformed Nazi....?

... Somehow I'm not convinced. After logging on to Yahoo! to check my e-mail I took a glance at some of the headlines for today and came across one incredibly shocking to me, Ex- Skinhead's Transformation. At first, seeing as it IS Halloween I thought it was probably cover up, false news, or "movie magic"; but no. This incredible transformation was the result of hours of agonizing laser tattoo removal procedures which from what I've seen on television and heard from some acquaintances, is a major pain in the arse. Aside from that I have to highly question how someone with such values could possibly turn to soemone head of an organization meant to be against discrimination. Yes, this is a little dial-emma (pun intended).

Poll in sidebar, what do you think? Would you pay for tatoo removal surgery for someone who had the complete opposite views as you?

Comment down below- what values do you think support his side, or not?

DFTBA

I am not death qualified.

Although I consider myself to look at both sides , as no case of capital punishment is black or white, there is a gray area between that holds me back - the brain. For, when can one truly put on the blindfold of justice, holding the scales of someone's life or death on either side? No matter what religion one follows there seems to be something compelling me to make decisons based on a moral sense of right or wrong. However, I cannot fully see that at our age when the hypothalmus is not developed. of course there is that fact to take into consideration but there is also the fact that we all have BIAS; you cannot deny it. From the time one is born, most are taught certian things that are bad, or good, based on image, sociey and the opinions of others that try to persuade us every day to make decisons. there is no way, that i can be objective as a lawyer under the pressure of acting either as zeus or hades, the grimm reaper or the little star that is a guardian. For i have been up late before, not quite sure what I'm doing, or what I'm supposed to do and spend much time pondering the overall question of "what should I do?"
 I would never become Wournos, certain perssures, and lack of hope certianly seem to have been left out of consideration in making a decison. Wourns was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, depression (most likley manic), physcosis, a very low IQ: 81, suicidal thoughts, and anti- social peronality disorder. She was not in any state to have given testimony, perhaps she wanted to go to jail just so that she could be alone, not raped, not having to steal and kill for money. She clearly has too many mental issuses to be a funcitional person, but does that mean that she should be killed for a chemical disorder, and s#!tty childhood she could't choose?- I would have a hard time saying she does. Alas, maybe Eileen got her wish, maybe she wanted to live a life out in prison, maybe she wanted to be put to death? One can only guess (or you could watch the movie as Hollywood publicised the trial in books, magazines, T.V. "exclusives" and the last and final nail on the coffin.... A hollywood lifetime quality - esqe retelling of Wuorno's life after she had died called Monster.)  Similar to Frankenstein, how are we supposed to reconcile the facts that this "monster" or "creation" might not have felt she had a life to begin with.

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2241462553/

Please debate, and bring new evidence.
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Death Penalty Revisited : Response to Deadline

Race and Class
Looking at the cases of David Keaton or Anthony Porter, it certainly seems that the death penalty is not equally applied, at least from these Illinois cases. Both men were wrongly accused of crimes that they did not commit and came close to being killed for them. Statistically, more low- income people, or people of color  are more likely to receive the Death Penalty. This fact for people of low income is probably a result of poor defense. A lawyer provided by the state is likely not to have any real experience for Death Row cases therefore having inadequate knowledge to defend their client. People that do not have enough money for sometimes basic living most often cannot afford the hefty fees that come with employing top attorneys. As well I can understand why race has a large impact on decisions. I think there is a hidden racism that is still present in the minds of certain people that blacks are of a lower class status than whites, and have a reputation for being violent. Therefore, a judge could make his decision arbitrarily based upon the fact the he values the life of a white man more that that of one who is black. I dont' think that there should be any excuse for our justice system not to be color blind, separating personal opinions from the law is the job of the justices system, not to impose their beliefs upon a trial.

Law and Politics
There are currently over 3,000 men and women sentenced to death in the United States. Approximately 65 percent of American voters approve of the death penalty in states where capital punishment is legal. Since the foundation of this country I believe there have been many different definitions of justice. For some people such as the 65% this means capurting a criminal, and making sure they cannot victimize someone else again. But why doesn't this propsition end at the death ? There is also a feeling among the public that crims must be met with equal punishiment. Like hamurabis code, and eye for an eye, life for a life.

( Why do you think the death penalty is so widely supported in this country? What forces do you think shape public opinion on the death penalty?)

Out with a bang, or a lethal injection, or electrocution....

The aspects of the justice system that are designed to protect the rights of the accused are the numerous trials and review. The preliminary hearing determines the basis upon which the defendant is being tried for a possible sentence of death. In order for such a case to be carried out there must be sufficent evidence that  they should have such a trial. The court would not proceed unless they were certian about the guilt of the defendant. In terms of the actuall execution of a prisoner on death row there are a few different options. The most humane and widley used is lethal injection. In this process the inmate is strapped down to a table and hooked up with intravenous needles (one as a backup). The injections start with a saline solution , and then three different drugs are injected each with a specific purpose. Sodium Thiopetol immediatley puts the recipent of the injection to sleep, therfore making the following steps painless as they are unaware of what is occouring. The rest of the cocktail stops both muscle and respiratory movements. Overall this method seems very humane, and if I were to have to pick my death it would be my primary choice. The same cannot be said of the other four methods which include : firing squad, hanging, posioning, and electrocution. All of which I would consider to be very cruel and painful- to be continued...

Urine, who gives?

In my opinion I don't really think that this should be that big of a deal. I think that the School District had a very legitimate reason to want to test students for drugs. Refering back to the case of Morse v. Frederick the school has a right to be concerned about and prevent student drug use. By iplementing this policy the hope is that more students will refrain from drug use. And, for those students that are found to be using drugs, they will recieve assistance. Who can argue with such a policy? As for comments about a lack of priviacy, I think they are not important. Every day someone decides to go to the bathroom, chances are that someone is in the stall next to them, therfore it shouldn't be a problem for them to have to produce a sample with an observer listening. The court agrees and said " we conclude that the invasion of students' privacy is not significant." The school's desire to ensure students are healthy and drug free certianly outweights any of the negatives or discomfort that may be caused to some students.

Should This Behavior be outlawed on campus?

If we are talking about Stare Decisis, then no.  Whether public or private this speech at Universities was meant to target a specific group and dehumanize them (as stated in the article). However looking at the decisons made by the courts in Dambrot v. Central Michigan Universtity, R.A.V. v. City of Saint Paul or UWM Post v. Board of Regents of University of Wisconsin the final courts said they could not hold that the speech was prohibited. In each case it was held that the First Ammendment superceded the power of the speech codes. All the justices on the Supreme court unanimiously. reversed the Minnesota ruling, each citing that it prohibited a viewpoint which people (as hateful as it may be) are allowed to express as they choose. What is right under the law is not always popular, but they have the right to do as they wish. Perhaps after K-12 college is the "real world" that we talk about. There may still be places where you cannot say anyting you wish but there will be a lot of people saying things that you don't agree with.

9/11 a day of remberance, a day of sorrow

The documentary that we watched in class this past week was especially touching. The personal and national loss suffered by Ladder 1 seemed to capture the shock and other emotions going on during the first rough week of the aftermath. To me even though some of the firefighters, New Yorkers,  or other people in America didn't personally know anyone that died , we all did in a sense. During I time of high anxiety last year I learned all of the stages, and feelings that come along with this emotional response. The highest level of anxiety should comes from the death of yourself or a loved one. It is the final destination if you will in life. you see anxiety is rated on a scale of 1-10. 1 being your average " oh my god I'm in the stall without toliet paper" moment and 10 being " I think I am going to die, or I know me or someone else is going to die". For many people 9/11 was a "10" day. Especially for the firefighers they had to attempt to hide the terror on their face to calm others down.
You know how they say that in some small way we are all related. That fact was solidified in my mind by 9/11. As cold hearted and rude as we can be to eachother many of us just wanted to make sure we were okay. But I'm not quite sure who this we encompases. At least it encompases all north Americans. Or are we an exclusive bunch. Did we start assuming who was it in our global game of tag? Profiling? Maybe, but just for that one day things seemed to change. It was a day of forced evolution that happened much faster than Darwin would argue . Symptoms: fear, depression, sadness, anxiety, horror. Diagnois: Post trumatic disorder. Treatment: ???, start from the bottom up, trying to overcome one symptom at a time. Doctors asside: this may not be entirley plaussible but I insist it is necessary for moral support. Is this what our health status would have looked like? Yes.
For people like Peter Negron the emotional response to was one of utter rejection at first. His father was gone, a dad that could not be replaced. Ever. I can't say that I know what he felt, but I can say it probably would have been way more than an 11. At 13 he tried to speak to the nation about what happened to his Dad, and again this year he did the same. He could only deliver his response pausing to regain his breath, while talking about the Dad that he can only rember, he almost began to cry again.

Rights of Students

As I student myself I believe there is a right time and place to express one's opinions, and this occasionally includes school. If students intend to speak up about an issue that is important to them they should be able to speak about it . However, if they intend to promote something illegal or highly offensivethe school has a right to restrict their freedom of speech or expression. As noted in our high school handbook student attire determined to be obscene, indecent, offensive ot any race, religion, ethinincity, gender, sexual orientation or depicting illeal items or activity wil not be permitted.
I witnessed an incident of an individual going against these rules last spring. The student wore a sweatshirt to school that had a patch advertising Malboro cigarettes sewn onto the sleeve. The teachers immediatley made him cover up his patch with tape. The student was upset because he liked the sweatshirt and didn't see anything wrong with it but according to policy it was not allowed.

100 % of my mind

The latest movie I saw was " Limitless" and I can't say understood it fully. The plot seemed to "Inception"- esque , inventing a technology that could possibly be desired but only for those who could handle the effects. In the plot a man finds a bag of pills in his friends apartment and upon taking them feels more stimulated than before. This drug nicknamed NZT has the remarkable power to allow the individual to access one hundred percent of their brain capacity. Although the concept is intriguing the thought of the outcome of such a drug is frightening. I question whether I would really want to know everything that I have ever thought, and remember everything I have ever seen. Instead of making me stronger it would most likely send me into a crippling cycle of memories. Or perhaps worse, drowning in infinite capablilites without knowing which to choose. The story makes for a decent movie but would be a terrible reality.