I've heard that kids can be cruel, but I never knew it could ever reach this point. 11 year old Carl Walker hung himself in April of 2009 because kids at school were bullying him, constantly saying gay comments about Walker. The mother has pleaded with the school to put a stop to this for over six months, but unfortunately not much was done. Kids at school would tell him "You're gay, you have to be gay. You act like a girl". Carl knew exactly who was taunting him, but he didn't want to give up the names because he was afraid he'd be labeled as a a rat, or a snitch. Even after the struggles that his mom (Sirdeaner Walker) has been through throughout her life, nothing compares to watch she went through with losing her son.
Teasing, making fun of one another, bullying, and the name calling isn't right. Even adults are victims of bullying, and sometimes don't know what to do just like how Carl Walker didn't want to mention any names. Words are as hurtful as a punch or a kick. It sickens me, it even gives me goosebumps to read such a story. This young boy ended his life because some kids were constantly picking on him, and the saddest part is the fact that he was so young, he didn't even start really living yet. Jamey Rodemeyer, 14 years old, also committed suicide for the same reason Carl Walker took his life. Rodemeyers bullying went on for years, and intensified in middle school. Another victim was Seth Walsh who took his life because he was being bullied because of sexuality. Thats when they approved Seth's Law in California which updates anti harassment and anti-discrimination policies, but this should be passed worldwide. Kids are constantly being bullied EVERYWHERE. I wouldn't call myself a victim of bullying, but in middle school I was teased and made fun, not because of sexuality, but just because of how I looked. So I kind of know what these children went through, and its heartbreaking. Anyone can stop bullying, even if your not the one who's doing it. If you know someone who has a tendency to pass snide or mean comments, talk to them. Words hurt, people think its harmless, but its words that lead these kids to their death. Even Lady Gaga is against bullying, and even paid tribute at the iHeart radio concert by dedicating her song "Hair" to Rodemeyer. She even wants to talk to President Obama to try and make bullying is a crime, which I think is in fact a good idea because words were the main cause of these deaths. Bullying isn't OK! People should learn to be better then that, and maybe we would all get along a little better.
Since September 17Th, members of society have been protesting against politics, the government and have been voicing there opinion on the economies current situation. Protesters say they represent the 99 percent of the population that isn't wealthy, which is a shy one percent away from being 100%, which is pretty scary. These people chose to put there lives on hold to camp out in Zucotti park trying to send a message to the government, but it seems to me that they haven't been heard. Also, Obama has spoken about the issue (video below) and he's said that he wants a consumer watchdog, hes wants businesses and other money resources to change how they function, and they should be fair with peoples money.
And i think its a good idea to protest and to present to people with power what were going through and how we feel about the situation. But i think some people have been abusing the protesting "ways". I've seen stories on protesters going crazy in the streets, not acting in a proper manner, which causes law enforcement to come in and take control of the crowd. This protest is probably exactly what we need so that the government can think seriously on how to fix this problem. But if people can be in control, what message are we sending really? The government knows that society is frustrated because of the status of the economy, but the people need to protest in a well manner so no laws are being broken, and so that we can send a clear message so things can change. This protest has caused a world wide wake up call, and everyone sees the problem, but to seek change, i think everyone should go about it in a better more civilized manner.
Another issue concerning the Occupy Wall Street movement is the police. Police duties are to deter crime, crowd control, and to punish anyone who is breaking the law. With OWS protesters, law enforcement has been working overtime to try and keep everything under control. According to ABC news, New York City alone has spent over 6 billion dollars on costs related to Occupy Wall Street. Everyone on Wall Street is complaining that there's no money, jobs, or whatever it is that they're fighting for to change, yet they're contributing to the problem as well, making law enforcement do more than what they should. I do support occupy wall street because I'm not that 1% of wealthy people, i am also part of the 99%. I still don't know the exact message, but i do know that society is frustrated because of the economy. If they went about it in a more civilized manner, a more orderly manner, maybe they're message can be clearly understood and some change can come about, because i haven't seen or heard of any change yet.
Technology affects how we do thing and how we see things, nothing is done by hand anymore. Everything is done by computers or machines. For example, making merchandise for certain stores, like clothing, back in the day it was hand made. Now they have sewing machines to do the labor for the workers. Due to technology advancement during the years, employers need a smaller amount of people, which means more people are out of work and receiving no income. Sometimes technology makes things easier for us, but then again it would take away job opportunities.
Another piece of technology that has kind of took over what people do manually are the phones, Ipads and tablets. Now, instead only using your phone to make calls or text message, people text message a whole lot more, they use their phone to listen to music, take videos, to play games, and now to even control their car when they're not around to do it manually with car keys. Some people don't go to the movies anymore; they rather stay in their house and watch movies off of Netflix. We depend so much on different type of technology that we've lost some psychical contact with people and how we interact with different things, like unlocking your car with your car key, which now people can do with their phones.
Everything is changing. Some changes are for the better, and some for the worse. Technology makes things more accessible. But does it make us lazy? I think sometimes it does. An example would be a car. If i didn't want to walk to the store that's a block away from my house, I can just get in my car and drive. If I had to call my sister downstairs for dinner, but i didn't feel like walking upstairs, I can simply send her a text or I can call her. Technology is very useful, but then again, it kind of makes us lazy because we don't do the things by hand, instead most things we do is through a piece of technology. An example would be getting information. Instead of buying a newspaper, I can just go online and go to the Daily News website and read today's news, or I can go to weatherchannel.com to find out tomorrows weather. I mean even with simply just checking the weather online, it shows us how much we depend on technology. Everything is changing, we just have to know how to keep up.
Lies will never get you anywhere. You might not get caught at first, but in the end it always catches up to you. Cyril Kendall was convicted of grand larceny and fraud after getting money out of several charities of benefits, including burial funds and grief counseling for himself. Kendall which is the worst 9/11 scammer, and even after being discovered of this horrible selfish crime, he is being released from prison early. The Daily News has learned that he has been approved for early release from the Fishkill Correctional Facility. Why would they let him out? Especially after the 10Th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks?! Kendall made up a fake story, that his 29 year old son Wilfred was killed in the 9/11 attacks while attending an interview in the 91st floor of the north tower. It makes sense that his son died on the 91st floor, he would've never made it out in time. He presented charities, as well as the American Red Cross, with a fake photo of his son, and a birth certificate. Later investigators determined that the photo of his "son" was actually a photo of himself at a younger age, and the birth certificate was a forgery. Kendall cheated $160,000 out of kindhearted charities. How does this man have the audacity to make up such a story just to get money, when there are thousands of people in the country who've lost family members and friends who they can never see again? Unfortunately people were fooled, giving him money out of the kindness of their hearts. I know what it feels like to lose someone, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Cyril Kendall should still be in jail for committing such a crime. I think a 20 year sentence was way too lenient, and on top of that, he hasn't paid a dime back to any of the charities who gave him money for his false loss of a son that never existed. After being released from jail, he should pay back every penny back of the money that never shouldn't have been given to him in the first place.
Although he wasn't the only one who was caught, Cyril Kendall was the lowest of the low. Altogether there were 22 people arrested in March of 2002 for falsely filing death certificates for family members who never existed and collecting $759,565 in charitable funds, according to the Manhattan district attorneys office.
What I don't understand is how several people invented this selfish scam, 22 to be exact, and actually got away with it. They were all eventually caught, but why weren't they caught right there when they were signing the death certificates, while they were each trying to explain their lies, or even before that when they began the process? If 22 people got away with the crime, imagine how many more people are out there cheating innocent people out of their hard earned money. Maybe "the system", as in the charities like the Red Cross, should overlook the way they do certain things, put up more rules and regulations, and possibly set up more background checks before giving money to people who've lost family members; so they can catch criminals in the act.
Now, all we can do is keep the memory of those who were lost in the 9/11 attacks, and hope that people like Cyril Kendall are caught before doing any further damage. We will never forget September 11Th.
Troy Davis was convicted in 1991 of a homicide that occurred in 1989, where police officer Mark MacPhails was trying to help a man who was being assaulted in a Burger King parking lot.Witnesses pointed out Davis as the shooter, but what I don't understand is how a man can be executed for a homicide when no weapon or DNA was recovered from the scene. The only piece of evidence they have was from a ballistics test showing the same gun that was used in another shooting that Davis was convicted for, was used to shoot MacPhails. But was that really enough evidence to execute Davis? In New York and in other areas, we have many repeat offenders and career criminals, but they're not the ones being sent to die. They just do their time, get put into the system like every other criminal, and then they're free to walk around in society like nothing has happened. No one deserves to die because of a crime they've committed, they should just be punished accordingly. But execution should not be one of the methods of punishment. So why did he die?
A good question is why was he executed if evidence wasn't present. I mean when trying to convict a criminal, or the wrong suspect, you would need evidence to back up your claim to get the jury to rule on your behalf and convict that person. And it is very questionable on why did 7 out of 9 witnesses change part or their whole story. Was it because Troy Davis was actually innocent? This case raises so many questions, and many people have so much doubt and think he was in fact innocent. I've read about this case online and he does have a past criminal record, and I can see that that would be a reason for convicting him but to me it seems like they weren't being fair in this case. I say this because they had no evidence against him. They had no psychical evidence that would point to him as the criminal. They had a ballistics test that said that the gun that was used to shoot the victim matched a gun that he used in another crime that he committed before. But they had no gun! I don't get it, how is someone put to die when there's nothing that would help the prosecutor put this man in jail for a rational reason? Many people were outside a church not far from the prison where Davis was incarcerated in. The Department of Parolees denied him clemency. 4 out 5 of the Parole Board members of retired police officers, along with hundreds of people, and artists like Pill, Killa Mike, and Big Boi came out to show support, and try to protest and stop Troy Davis' execution sentence. After rallies, prayers, petitions and even media help and support, unfortunately after many legal setbacks, Troy Davis was executed in the state of Georgia and pronounced dead at 11:08 on September 21, 2011. I hope this case doesn't set as precedence for future cases, because in the end it might not end well for another possibly innocent inmate.
I don’t understand, I thought music was a form of entertainment? Well, it seems to be more than that. Onika Tanya Minaj, known as Nicky Minaj, has impacted her audience with her confidence and sense of style, along with calling herself a Barbie (to the left). Ever since Minaj became Young Money’s First Lady, the impressionably young crowd (mainly young adolescents) as been influenced by her style, especially African American females. I mean an artist being your role model or your inspiration, that's understandable, but trying to look like him/her? I've seen many pictures online of these young women wearing fake pink wigs, wearing chains that say Barbie on it, and "acting" just like Nick Minaj.
An example would be the picture to the right, which is either a man, or a woman posing just like Nicki Minajs album cover, with a different name. When you see Nicki Minajs videos, you can see that she puts on different acts for her songs. For example, in her video Super Bass, as she sings her chorus, you can see that she does her valley girl impression. She's the latest female rapper, and shes a symbol of female empowerment. Shouldn't women take that and learn from her instead of just copying her look? Its disappointing.
People pay attention to trends, fashion instead of paying attention to more valuable things like personality, intelligence and a persons perseverance to achieve what they want in life. Being successful in life is what should matter, not looking like a Barbie. Some people even add "Minaj" to the end of their names?! Be yourself! Its not only Nicki Minaj though, its also rappers like Wiz Khalifa that have influenced youngsters, but not in a way that is positive or useful. I personally don't really like rap music these days because it has nothing to offer. All these tracks by rap artists are about sex with "bad bitches", getting money, drugs, what they own and what they can get. Rap is ignorant and stupid now.
People should listen to what their mom told them and go to school. Same thing goes with this rapper Wiz Khalifa. Guys are putting Khalifa at the end of their names for what reason, I don't know. Artist like these have no intentions or purpose to the music they produce. They're just there in the studio bragging about their lifestyle, instead of sending a positive influential message to their audience, especially young people. A message to the people: Be who you are, not what's in style.
Teasing, making fun of one another, bullying, and the name calling isn't right. Even adults are victims of bullying, and sometimes don't know what to do just like how Carl Walker didn't want to mention any names. Words are as hurtful as a punch or a kick. It sickens me, it even gives me goosebumps to read such a story. This young boy ended his life because some kids were constantly picking on him, and the saddest part is the fact that he was so young, he didn't even start really living yet. Jamey Rodemeyer, 14 years old, also committed suicide for the same reason Carl Walker took his life. Rodemeyers bullying went on for years, and intensified in middle school. Another victim was Seth Walsh who took his life because he was being bullied because of sexuality. Thats when they approved Seth's Law in California which updates anti harassment and anti-discrimination policies, but this should be passed worldwide. Kids are constantly being bullied EVERYWHERE. I wouldn't call myself a victim of bullying, but in middle school I was teased and made fun, not because of sexuality, but just because of how I looked. So I kind of know what these children went through, and its heartbreaking. Anyone can stop bullying, even if your not the one who's doing it. If you know someone who has a tendency to pass snide or mean comments, talk to them. Words hurt, people think its harmless, but its words that lead these kids to their death. Even Lady Gaga is against bullying, and even paid tribute at the iHeart radio concert by dedicating her song "Hair" to Rodemeyer. She even wants to talk to President Obama to try and make bullying is a crime, which I think is in fact a good idea because words were the main cause of these deaths. Bullying isn't OK! People should learn to be better then that, and maybe we would all get along a little better.
