Democrats

The Democratic Party has it's strengths and weaknesses. One of their strengths is their diversity. The writer of this article mentions this diversity. Utah for example, their Democratic delegation for the upcoming summer national convention. The writer of this article said;

"Look closely. You’ll see a couple dozen Utahns – black and white, rich and poor, gay and straight, young and old, men and women, Hispanic and Anglo, Mormon and non-Mormon."

That is something I like about the Democratic Party, they are culturally diverse in their delegations. It helps getting a view from each different side and makes the decision making process a little more open minded to all of what is out there in the world that needs to be recognized when making decisions; it can benefit everyone.

Another strength of the Democratic Party is their stand on Gun Control. I like the fact that they want to "strengthen gun control to reduce violence." That is a good thing because once the control on guns is stronger, there will be a less chance of careless violence happening if it is harder for some people to buy guns; there are people who buy them illegally. But for the people who buy them at a gun shop, this is a good thing. This site said;

"We increased federal, state, and local gun crime prosecution by 22 percent since 1992. Now gun crime is down by 35 percent."

That is a good outcome of their want to strengthen gun control, and in my opinion this was, and is, one of their good strengths.

And yet, everyone has a weakness. The weakness of the Democratic Party was its "failure of the Democratic Congress to come to a real showdown with the White House over the war." The reason for the writer of the article to say that was because in 2004, when everything, the presidency, Congress and such were controlled by Republicans. The writer would have thought that the Democrats would have taken a step back and try to see what they need to do to make sure it didn't happen again, but they didn't; it happened again in 2006.

Republicans

The Republican Party has it's strengths and weaknesses, just as the Democratic Party does. A strength of the Republican Party is it's view on Education. I like their stand on promoting school choice and home-schooling. I think it is a good thing that they give the parents more control on their kid's education because some kids listen to their parents more than school authorities sometimes. And theirs also the fact that it gives the right whether or not the parent wants to home school their kid is good because a parent knows what's best for their child and the fact that they have that choice to make is good. Parents really appreciate that. I also like that they support "achievement is basis for access to college" because with the way the economy and the world is going, students need to continue on to college and get a higher education so that they can be safe when trying to find and maintain a job when it is time.

Another strength of the Republican Party is their view on Jobs. Two of their views are to "Recognize that people depend on land for livelihood" and that "Small business deserves better treatment from government." I agree that small businesses deserve better treatment because it is the small business that are family based and usually have the best to offer. It is sad to see a business that has been passed down for many generations being treated poorly and possibly getting their business taken away from them. They've worked hard to get that store and they should receive some respect. I also like their other statement where people depend on land for livelihood. Think about farmers. They make all their money off of their land and what they produce. They need to be thought about and remembered. It isn't easy for them and they do what they need to support themselves or a family, and they need to be recognized.

And then the Republican Party have their weaknesses. In my opinion, one of the Republican Party's weakness is their view on Crime, but most of all, that they support the death penalty. There have been many cases where people have been tried and sentenced to the death penalty and after they have already killed the convicted person, they have been proven innocent but it was already too late. The death penalty in my opinion is too risky to put someone's life on the line especially if later on they may end up being innocent all along, it just isn't fair.

Addicted Parents Leave Kid for Dead

I think this family shouldn't be able to have another kid. I think they deserve the 5 year sentence they may get but I don't think that it is fair for the court to use the whole "they are addicted to games so we will use that in their favor" kind of thing. What they did was wrong addicted to games or not. No parent leaves their kids at home for more than 10 hourse unattended to play games. They have to consider their priorities first, their kid.

Identity Theft Costs A Lot

It is being said that Identity Theft isn't that big of an issue to focus on. Mainly that it isn't worth it because it costs to much to do and track down the thefts.

Some words that were said in the article that stood out to me:

"A report by the Justice Department Inspector General released Tuesday cites the wide-ranging costs and dangers of ID theft. Although the report has no new numbers, the financial losses are believed to be substantially higher than the $15.6 billion documented in 2005."

"The report says "the specific crime of identity theft is not a top FBI priority." However, the report adds that the FBI often addresses the issue through the Cyber Division's criminal intrusion program, which is a priority of the agency."

"Identity theft can also be a significant element of violent crimes, such as domestic abuse, and even terrorism, and a significant number of ID theft-related crimes originate overseas," the report said.

The first quote surprised me on how much it cost for ID Thefts. The second quote was kind of funny to me, they are basically contradicting themselves, saying that it isn't the FBI's top priority when what ID Theft cases are under are one of their top priorities. And the third quote stood out the most because it is scary to think of all the things that ID Theft lead up to.

Tossing Out Babies? Really?

In China, Jining Hospital Affiliated Medical College mortuary staff have been dumping fetuses and infants off at the Guangfu River.

The statement said:

"A total of 21 bodies were found near the Guangfu River."

I think this is pretty depressing. These staff members have been disciplined because of this. I can't believe any human being could do such a thing like this. A few of the staffers were fired and have been detained according to the law. These people deserve whatever they get to them because of this. I think this whole hospital should be checked out because if they do something like this, who knows what other sick things they are doing.

Innocent People Killed

These 2 people, Arthur Redelfs (left) and Lesley Enrique (right) were shot by a gang in Mexico on their way home from a party with their adopted kid in the backseat. Lesley was pregnant.

It was said:

"For unknown reasons, the gang followed the family car through the streets and riddled it with bullets, authorities said. When it was over, 35-year-old Enriquez and Redelfs, who was 34, were dead. Their orphaned daughter was unhurt but terrified in her car seat in back, authorities said."

These innocent people were killed for no reason. A few hours before this other people were shot the same way too. All because of these drug gangs. I feel that the only way to stop things like this from happening is to legalize pot. All these drugs that are in the U.S. are coming from Mexico and these drug gangs illegally anyways. If it's legal, these drug gangs would disappear because their business would no longer be needed. And if they disppear, so will these pointless killings and deaths of innocent people.

The Remains of A Lottery Winner

The remains of a human being found in Florida were to have said to have belonged to this man, Abraham Shakespeare. He was a winner of a lottery ticket, which made him to be a millionaire. I think it is sad that someone killed him just for his money, and how the Park County Sherrif said:

"When their investigation began, they had hoped to find Shakespeare alive "and he truly had just wanted to hide from those who were asking him for money."

I can't believe someone could kill this man just for his money, are they really that desperate?? Killing someone for money is so ridiculous, it is horrible. A life for money, because he won the lottery ticket? That is sad. I hope they find the man and send him to jail with no chance of parole.

Ohio's New Way of Execution

This man was executed in Ohio with the nation's first new lethal injection, one dose of thiopental sodium. It is said that this injection is less painful than the normal "three-drug cocktail" injection, which consists of three injections. Yeah it took only 10 minutes for this to take affect and kill him, but this injection was untested, kind of risky. It took them many times to try to get to his veins, so if they say this was supposed to kill him less painfully, it didn't really. I know people will say that he deserved this either way, he shouldn't have done what he did, but he is still human.

One Dirty Man...

D'Souza, a 50 year old man was convicted for using the Internet to hook up with a 13 year old girl and just use her for sex. He pleaded guilty for using sites such as Myspace and other chat rooms to meet her. He traveled from Dublin to Truckee to pick her up and take her to a near hotel. He brought items with him to use, but trick is, she ended up being an FBI informant. There are shows out there where agencies pretend they are young females to catch "online predators" and lure them over so they can capture him. This kind of stuff isn't a joke and kids sometimes do "like" a guy through this kinda of chat rooms and sites because they think it could be true, but it ends up being some creepy guy who just wants to get with you. Kids need to be careful and stay away from online dating. If they really want a partner, look around in the world. There are plenty enough out there for someone instead of using a site. In the long run, it's much safer too.

Crazy Father Struck his Daughter and Friend with his Car

This girl, Noor, and her friend, Amal, were ran over by a car by Noor's dad, Faleh. They are Iraqi's and because the father Faleh thought that his daughter has become too "westernized," a.k.a "Americanized" and not following in their own traditional and cultural ways. And because of his assumptions, he got angry and decided to hit them with his car in a parking lot. I think this was pretty ridiculous. I myself am Muslim but my mother doesn't go around hitting me with her car because I am "Americanized," there's nothing wrong with that. Yeah i understand he wants her daughter to keep her tradition and practice that, and so do mines but living in America, it helps living by the custom ways sometimes. She's young, and sometimes depending on people it's hard to be accepted if they're all covered up, unless if they are of the same race. I kind of feel like I am just ranting on, but what I am trying to say is that it was wrong for him to what he did. He should love his daughter no matter what.

A Horrible Mother...

On October 27, police found a 7 year old boy covered with blood in a dry van while his 2 year old baby brother was laying dead outside of the van; both with slashed throats. Their mother was the one who did all of this...can anyone believe that? And sadly she has been planning all of this; buying the knife and duct tape ahead of time, and waiting for her husband to be out of the house going to his yoga class. What kind of mother would do this...and why? It was pathetic how she tried to even kill her own self, and even write a note, lying that someone ELSE was hurting them, and pretending she was saying her last words before a "the killer" finished them.

Reading this article got tears in my eyes...i felt for the little 7 year old boy who lived. Hearing him speak on the tape was depressing, and it disgusts me when the mother, while hearing it too, was upset. If she feels upset for hearing what he said why the hell on earth would she have done it in the first place? I just never understood why any person could ever do this; and i don't understand how parents, especially a mother, could ever do this to their own kids, their own flesh and blood.

I am hoping that she does get convicted of first degree murder and it not going to "oh she has mental problems" because I feel she deserves to be in prison for life WITHOUT parole.

"Balloon Boy"

Now almost everybody knows about the family who lied about their "lost boy" who flew away in a hot air balloon. I think it was so stupid on the parents part to embarrass their kids and humiliate them in public and to the media like this. And now they are having charges pressed against them. Was this all worth putting their kids through? The possibilities of their kids not having their parents? I don't think so. They did all of this just because they wanted their own reality TV show; i guess them appearing on "Wife-Swap" just wasn't enough. They got the taste of reality TV, having the spotlight on them and the taste of "being famous" and "Entertainment," they wanted more; it's just like sharks, once they get the taste of blood, they just want more.

Human Made "Sweat Box"???

In Arizona, a sauna-like "sweat box" was created, and many people participated. So far, 3 people have died from this, and 18 people have been injured.

The Sheriff's officer said:

Participants spent up to two hours inside the sweatbox, a dome-like structure covered with tarps and blankets

I think it is ridiculously stupid to do something like this. Why risk your life if you could do the same thing and probably have a better treatment and outcome by paying some money to do this "professionally"? The maker of this took the lives of 3 people and injured many others; is that seriously worth it? My advice to you: if something has already been invented and made to your convenience, use that and don't act mindlessly and create your own, especially when it is already available.

Reckless Teen Driving

Four teens were speeding and ended up crashing into the backyard of someone's house in Concord. And all of the boys were 18 years old, and one was 17. They are all young, and acting immature trying to "be cool" driving fast and what not. And look what happens, they get in an accident. That's why they post speeding limit signs everywhere for a reason. Maybe they should bump up the age limit of being able to get a license from 18 to 19; maybe the drivers would be a little more "mature." If kids just followed the limit, they would prevent hurting and risking the lives of themselves and others who are in the car with them.

Gangs in Chicago

The gang issue in Chicago is worse than everywhere else in the world.

U.S. Marshall Ed Farrel says:

"There are more gang members per citizen in Chicago than anywhere else in the country"

In Chicago, 5 people in just one day get arrest for drug-dealing, and they were all gang members. Being in a gang doesn't make a person seem more "cool" or "strong" it just makes them seem like an individual with a lost cause. Like a chicken with no head. They don't know what their purpose in life is, and they never really know that. In some cases, people who fall into being in a gang didn't have a stable family life. They act through violence and fear. Parents need to show love for their children more often. If home isn't stable, tell them you love them. We don't need more people steering themselves in the wrong direction when deep down they all have potential; they have the potential to be something great, but just aren't reaching for it.

Throat Slashing at UCLA

There has been an incident in this chem building down over at UCLA, where one student, a guy, slashed the throat of another student, a girl. The guy has been arrested. The man could of done this from too much stress? I don't know but if that turns out to be the case, don't make it too hard on the student? I mean this wasn't even a hard class. This was just an organic chemistry lab. People who take this usually just have a good time and meet new people because they have to work in groups, what is stressful about that? There is not much to say about this, but people need to open their eyes to what is going on around the world. And they need to see and know about these kind of things. Situations like these should not go unknown, it is something one must be informed about. An innocent life has been taken, and I highly doubt it was for a good enough reason. And whatever the reason is, it still doesn't give him the right to take another persons life.

Sleeping Sheriff's Deputy Hits 3 Cyclists

In Cupertino, a Sheriff's Deputy falls asleep at the wheel and hits 3 cyclists, one who was an Olympic hopeful 31-year-old Kristy Gough of Oakland, who was the third-fastest, non-professional women's triathlete in the world, and 30-year-old Matt Peterson of San Fancisco were killed. The third was injured but recovered. The mother of Kristy, Karen Clarkson, requested money and Santa Clara County gives her $1.2 million. Reading this is very depressing, innocent people died from someone not getting enough sleep. And the girl who was very athletic and hoping to be in the Olympics. Just goes to show how precious life can be. I think in order to prevent future incidents like this from happening, the law that allows truck drivers to be allowed to drive a certain amount of hours and are ORDERED to stop and sleep, should apply to police officers. Yes it is a job where an officer needs to be there when requested, but there are others on shift. Unless it is something major and threateneing to thousands of lives, give the officers a break and let them get some hours of sleep.

The Police are Over Doing It - Stopping Innocent People

Police in the big cities of New York are having a "law-enforcement practice" which basically, they "stop-and-frisk" innocent civilians who they "think" seems suspicious. But the unfair thing is that the main people they tend to stop are mostly Black and Hispanic men. The amount on people they stop and frisk have risen up to about 1 million people a year. And sadly, statistics show that while the amount of people being stopped and frisked are rising, the actually amount of crime rates are dropping. The police in my opinion should not just stop whoever they "think" is doing something bad or seems suspicious, and they especially should not stop a certain race just because they are being stereotypical. They should only have the right to stop people who actually seem suspicious or if they have a REALLY bad gut feeling about the person. Other than that, it is scaring the people who are being stopped, and making them feel bad about themselves, making them think that they actually did something wrong. Innocent people should not have to feel that way, ever.

The Imperial Sugar Co. Just Doesn't Care

The Imperial Sugar Co. in Savannah, Georgia knew about the explosive dust they had on their site. But last year in Feb. 7, 2008, the refinery experienced a disaster, in which those explosive dusts ignited into dust-fueled fireballs, and ended up killing 14 workers and injured 36, several with horrific second- and third-degree burns. The problem with this is, in a report Thursday 9/24/09, they found "warning" labels at the site informing them of these explosive dust hazards, and memos from the 1960's, and the managers and workers of this refinery ignored them! They even experienced small fires and didn't even bother to check that out. One would think maybe the managers by then would have taken at least a glance at what could be causing those little fires to be started, but no. What really ticks me off is that all those innocent people could have never had this happen to them if they had payed more attention and had weekly, or just even monthly check ups of their supplies and resources to see if they are safe, even their equipments. People can be so careless to what is going on around them, and overlook things thinking "oh nothing bad will ever happen" but when something does, they will feel guilty for never doing anything about it, and possibly could have prevented the worse from happening, especially to the victims who died or were seriously injured.