Finish what we started!

When searching around for a topic to talk about, I came across a very sad story about a man losing his wife in the 9/11 attacks. It's hard to read this story without getting misty eyes, because it really comes from his heart and his reasons aren't just automatically stated. He has obviously thought long and hard about his story because no human would want to put other lives in danger if there was no apparent reason. In his story, Wolf talks about his opinion on Obama's speech where he talked about the soldiers returning from Afganistan instead of staying to finish what they were deployed to do. I'm not very educated on this subject, but even since I was younger and heard the arguement whether or not we should pull out of the "war," I've had a very strong opinion that we need to finish what we went there to do. If we are going to back out without finishing our job, what happens to all the countless men and women that died for us? Do they just not matter anymore? Wolf makes a good point that many people don't hardly think about. He says, "I ask every person out there if it was your wife that went to work and never came home. . . would you do anything to make sure it didn't happen again?" After reading that, it makes me sad that people want to forget what happened on 9/11 and just return troops with work unfinished. Support the troops<3

Torture; Right or Wrong?

In Mario's his blog, he talks about whether or not torture should be allowed. He states that, "American troops risk their lives and put themselves in a dice-roll with death not knowing when danger will take its tragic toll, all for the protection of our country." I agree whole-heartedly to that statement. Some people see torture as an unreasonable solution that should be directed in a different manner. Nowadays, there might not be such manners that will be effective. In order to get the information we need to stop tragedies like 9/11 from happening, we must take every precaution starting with getting information. I do think that in order for the "torture" to be allowed, it must be from life-threatening instances. But, also if people are allowed to use the torture solution, it will be taken out of context. I definitely agree with his blog and think that he used very good examples to this question of right or wrong.

Child Abuse & Neglect

For those who have kids, "Child abuse" and "Neglect" are words and feelings they never want to encounter. According to Jeff Barnard's article entitled, State finds child abuse and neglect at school, the state found around 18 issues that violated state terms in a boarding school located in Central Oregon. After several complaints, they decided to investigate the Mount Bachelor Academy and found instances where students had to act out sexual roles, act out physical abuse and "obscene and degrading comments from the staff." Some parents interviewed actually took the stance opposite to what I was thinking. If I were a parent, and my kid's school had just been taken into investigation, I would want to take them out of that school immediately. It's one thing to do something wrong, but even to be investigated might as well say you've done something wrong. Personally, I know I would NEVER send my child to a boarding school because I would miss them too much. So, for the parents that do, I can see why they don't really care if the school they sent their child to is being investigated for making children do obscene acts. This school obviously needed to be looked at from a closer angle so that the "troubled" kid's that DO go there, will be safe from harm. This makes me wonder, what is the world coming to? The people we are supposed to trust with our children's lives are steadily proving us wrong day by day. Starting with Day-Care, School, Boarding schools, who can we really trust?

Panhandlers in Austin, Texas.

In the Austin American Statesman, the Editor writes an editorial entitled, " Who's sensibilities would be spared by expanding ban in Austin?" The discussion on whether the panhandling ban should be changed from 7-pm to 7-am to 24 hours a day. In his editorial he quotes Susan Morris saying, "I really don't think that's the issue downtown." She goes on to say, " The issue is the rising crime rate. And it's not from panhandling. It's gang activities. It's lewd and drunken behavior." I agree with Susan Morris and the Editor to an extent. Yes, a person wanting to preach about enviromental issues and someone asking for 50 cents is the same thing, but no, I wouldn't want either up in my face. Just the other day my brother's girlfriend was in a bad wreck. While we were waiting at Brakenridge, my friend and I decided to go to the store to get some food since the cafeteria was closed. When we got there, I was SO intimidated and scared of the panhandlers standing on the sidewalk. It may be because I'm not from Austin, nor live there, but these people made me feel extremely uneasy. At the end of this editorial he goes on to say that even though it is for safety measures, it doesn't make it right. I may have mixed feelings about this subject, but I do know one thing for certain, Austins safety should be the concern more than people's feelings.

Death Penalty?

In this editorial, the author discusses the high prices of putting people through trials and being put on death row. On the New York Times Website, he states facts and firugres that show just how expensive the death penalty acutally is.
The intended audience for this subject would be the taxpayers in each state that abides by the law of death penalty. He points out exact figures and shows the public that not only is it immoral, it's costly with hardly any effects.
The editor states his arguement by saying, "states waste millions of dollars on winning death penalty verdicts, which require an expensive second trial, new witnesses and long jury selections." He goes on to explain just how much each state pays for keeping inmates on death row. These examples include Florida spending $51 million, North Carolina with $2.16 million per execution, and between 1978 and 1999 Maryland has spent $186 million for five executions. He claims that the economy doesn't need to have to pay for the death row costs when we are already in a debt crisis.
I agree with the Editor of the New York Times. We ares spending so much money when we need to spend it on others much needed things. Obviously the death penalty is not scaring people because there are more and more accounts of murder, increasing every day. This is definitely a debatable topic. But, in order to make an educated decison, there has to be a lot of research and evidence done. This article made me open my eyes to a new opinion, because I have always been on the side that says, "If you kill someone, you should be killed." But, in this economic recession, we don't really have millions of dollars to spare. Instead of putting inmates on death row, we should just place them all in a prison with no parole. This would be a cost effective approach that still has the morals of the initial purpose of the death penalty.

Healthcare plan

http://caffertyfile.blogs.cnn.com/2009/09/17/should-people-be-forced-to-buy-health-insurance/

Personally, I think this article should be read because it talks about the new healthcare program that Obama is proposing. This article also includes the public’s comments. The last sentence asks a question that I have very mixed feelings about. “Should people be forced to buy health insurance?” I don’t think other people should have to pay taxes to help for when those who don’t have insurance get hurt or sick. But, on the other hand I know many people can’t afford insurance and shouldn’t be punished for it, but who’s to say we should have to be relied on to catch other people when they fall? I heard from another source that the tax will be moved healthcare, to gas prices, so basically we are still paying the same taxes. Whether that is true or not, who knows. I don’t want to have to pay for other people’s healthcare, but I don’t want to have to have the set type of insurance we can have, if I can afford to get some type of premium insurance to fit my budget. I think this article is worth reading because the people who commented on it, have some very interesting points that should be heard.