Monday, February 8, 2010

Gazette Online

This has gone on for way too long.

Can you imagine sitting for months, waiting for answers that should have been answered fourteen months ago? It’s annoying, stressful, and not very pleasant.

At least now we will have our answers.

Just a few more months of waiting.

R.I.P Daddy

Erin's "Face"

Myspace Glitter Graphics - http://www.sparklee.com


So my friend Erin has this creepy obsession with the word face. Yeah, that’s right, face. When a conversation gets awkward, or quiet, she says face as loudly as she can, and it makes it more awkward! :) She also says face when she doesn’t know the answer to the question you just asked her, or she has no idea what you just said because to her, it sounded like “blah blah blah,” when, in fact, it was something really important.
She will also reach towards the paper sitting on your desk, find a corner, and write face in big bold letters :)

Even though this is weird, it’s Erin and we all love her, so it’s all good :)

I just have one more thing to say:
FACE :)

From the Eyes of a Homicide Victim


The use of the death penalty in the United States has been discussed and re-discussed throughout all the states with each new debate this country creates. There is much logic behind both sides of this frustrating argument, but not from those who are victims themselves. I am the daughter of a homicide victim. I have more of an insight to what the death penalty really means; an opinion as to whether or not it should be legal here in the United States.

In December of 2008, a trusted “friend” assaulted my dad. He died a few hours later in a hospital bed, tubes running from his body to machines of all shapes and sizes. I was fifteen years old at the time. This experience has helped shape me into the young woman I am now, in both positive and negative ways. It has also caused my peers and other well-wishers I associate with to question my opinions. Many have asked me whether or not the death penalty should be legal in Iowa so they can kill the man that did this. Right now, it is not legal here. I have always stated “no,” without giving my reasoning. Now I’m finally ready to share my opinions on this controversial matter.
The death penalty is only legal in a few places in the United States. Other countries do not use it. These places look down upon the United States, which is considered an “uncivilized nation.” The death penalty is legal in thirty-five of the fifty states in America. The United States Government and Military also use it.

Many supporters of the death penalty say that it gives closure to the victim’s families who have already suffered so much with the murder of a loved one. This is clearly not coming from someone who has a family member that was a victim of a murder. We do not want the death penalty. Families do not find closure through the death of the criminal.

Life in prison is a worse punishment than dying, in the eyes of the families. Many criminals prefer death so they don’t have to live with what they did. But isn’t that what the criminal wants? Don’t they want to get off easy? We want them to suffer; we want them to learn that what they did was wrong. But if we kill them with the death penalty, they learn nothing. All they have received is an easy way out.

The death penalty cannot bring back the loved one, so why do we need it? When we kill people for their crimes, it makes us a little bit more like them, by doing something very similar. It accomplishes nothing, but show that the United States kills people, who kill people, to show that killing is wrong. The state is actually using murder to punish someone who committed murder. Is this right? Does this make sense? No.

Our justice system shows more sympathy for its criminals than it does its victims. Many people don’t realize this, though, until a loved one is murdered. Only then does one learn of the justice system’s misplaced sympathy. It puts the criminal out of his misery, where the victim’s family is still left angry and hurt. The victim will never be completely pain free, whether the death penalty is used or not. But to me, the knowledge that the criminal is sitting in prison with nothing to do, but think about what he did, is better than knowing he’s buried in a cemetery somewhere, feeling and learning nothing about what he did.

I believe the death penalty should be abolished worldwide. The United States is the only country still using it. It is meant to be a threat to the citizens, by telling them that if they do something wrong, the government will kill you for your wrong doings. This solves nothing. Citizens of the states where the death penalty is still legal, don’t care. They still murder, regardless of the consequences of being put on death row. In reality, it is no threat. It’s an easy way out. With the death penalty, the criminals are aware that this would mean they wouldn’t be spending their life in prison

It is actually less expensive to hold a criminal in prison for life than it is to execute them using the death penalty. The extra costs have very little to do with the costs of the actual execution, but rather with the legal costs. To house seven inmates for life, on average, it would cost less than one million dollars. To execute those same seven men, it would cost well over two hundred million dollars in legal fees. The actual drug injected into the criminal costs only eighty-six dollars. But with the option of the death penalty, the trial must decide two different matters, instead of one, like it would with no option of the death penalty. One way, is to decide the verdict of guilty or innocent, and the other is to decide the penalty.

An appeal can be made, even after a criminal is killed with the death penalty. If through this appeal, the person is found innocent through new evidence that has been found, it is already too late. The government has killed an innocent person. This wouldn’t happen if they had just put the person in jail for life, without any chance of parole.

The death penalty should be abolished in all places in America, because it accomplishes nothing, but show that the United States government kills people, who kill people, to show that killing is wrong. The death penalty costs more than it does to keep a criminal imprisoned for life. This is not right. It never will be. Therefore, coming from the perspective of a family member of a victim of homicide herself, the death penalty should be abolished.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Hurry Home: Jason Michael Carroll


Hurry Home: Jason Michael Carroll

Sorry, I know I keep posting videos. But I had to post this one. It's just so moving. It shows unconditional love towards the daughter, explaining that she can always come home and feel loved, no matter what.

It doesn't matter what you've done, I still love you
It doesn't matter where you've been, you can still come home
And honey if it's you, we've got a lot of making up to do
And I can't hug you on the phone, so hurry home


Then, by the end of the song, there’s a happy little ending. The daughter calls, even though she isn’t sure she can come back home. When she calls, the dad isn’t home. But she hears his message on the answering machine and decides so come home.

He walked in just in time to hear her say
Dad, I'm on my way

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Why Don't We Just Dance: Josh Turner


Why Don’t We Just Dance: Josh Turner

I absolutely love this music video!

Baby why don't we just turn that TV off?
315 channels of nothing but bad news on
Well it might be me
But the way I see it
The whole wide world has gone crazy.
So baby why don´t we just dance?

Just a little bitty living room ain't gonna look like much.
But when the lights go down and we move the couch
It´s gonna be more than enough
For my two left feet
And our two hearts beatin'
Nobody´s gonna see us go crazy.
So baby why don't we just dance
Down the hall
Maybe straight up the stairs?
Bouncing off the wall
Floating on air
Baby why don't we just dance?

Baby why don't you go put your best dress on
And those high heeled shoes you love to lose
As soon as the tunes come on?
On second thought
Just the way you are
Is already driving me crazy.
So baby why don't we just dance
Down the hall
Maybe straight up the stairs?
Bouncing off the wall
Floating on air
Baby why don't we just dance?

Well it might be me
But the way I see it
The whole wide world has gone crazy.
So baby why don't we just dance
[Bouncing off the walls floating on air]
Oh baby [baby] why don't we just dance?

Time Flies - But Not Always When You're Having Fun


Time can fly at times.
Or it can decide to go really slow.

I’ve seen both in the past 14 months.

Time can fly, while I’m standing completely still, watching the world zoom on past. This annoys me, because I get behind, I get stressed, and I begin to wonder what I’m going to do to keep up with this swiftness I can’t seem to keep up with.

Time can go really slow, like when you’re waiting to go out with friends, or waiting for a vacation, or even waiting for the school bell to ring at the end of the day. But I tend to feel like time’s tempo is racing, where mine is just walking behind it, trying to keep up.

What if this never changes? What if I’m always struggling to keep up with life, instead of keeping in pace of it, or even being a little ahead? What would happen to me? Would I eventually give up, never trying again to catch up with the madness?

One never knows. I guess I have to just try not to give up; try to get ahead. But with all I’m trying to do, with all that has happened in my family in the past 14 months, this will be difficult. But all I can do is try, right?

Test Stress!


I’ve been so stressed lately – I have a huge AP US History test tomorrow. And I was busy last night, so couldn’t study the whole time. And tonight I’m busy too. I will probably be up late trying to learn all the material – it’s over six chapters of history! That’s like over 90 years of stuff crammed into one test!

On top of what I had going on last night, my sister needed my help because she was having a difficult time with some stuff. I really couldn’t do anything, so I sent her to a friend… I had studying to do if I didn’t want to be grounded for the rest of my life! So yeah I felt a little bad about that. Then, I also found out this morning that my boyfriend needed me because he was having a difficult time at work. Let’s just say last night was NOT a good night.

And tonight I will be very anti-social while trying to cram for a test. This should be fun!!!!!!! Wish me luck!
I’ve been so stressed lately – I have a huge AP US History test tomorrow. And I was busy last night, so couldn’t study the whole time. And tonight I’m busy too. I will probably be up late trying to learn all the material – it’s over six chapters of history! That’s like over 90 years of stuff crammed into one test!

On top of what I had going on last night, my sister needed my help because she was having a difficult time with some stuff. I really couldn’t do anything, so I sent her to a friend… I had studying to do if I didn’t want to be grounded for the rest of my life! So yeah I felt a little bad about that. Then, I also found out this morning that my boyfriend needed me because he was having a difficult time at work. Let’s just say last night was NOT a good night.

And tonight I will be very anti-social while trying to cram for a test. This should be fun!!!!!!! Wish me luck!