The pain was unbearable. I'm in a foreign country without my parents and I could not stand one more person telling me to stop complaining about a silly little rash. Well this alien on my side was bothering me and I had to go to the hospital. Immediately. When the doctor in Israel this summer told me that I had Shingles, I was so scared. I knew that in a severe case, Shingles could be deadly. But didn't only older people get Shingles? I'm 17 years old. This doesn't make any sense!
So I get home, go to my local doctor and get medication to help me recover. Since then, (August 2012) I have constantly told my parents to go get a Shingles shot. Luckily, they have not gotten Shingles yet, but there is always the possibility. The problem is, the FDA approved the vaccine for people ages 50 and up in March 2011. My parents are not 50 yet, and they are not getting the vaccine until they are that age. I'm so concerned. I don't want them to have to suffer through the Shingles like I had to. If there was a vaccine available, even if I was not old enough, I would try and get my hands on it to eliminate most of the risk factor of getting any kind of disease.
The world has a funny way of working. Vaccines don't always work. I know, because I had chicken pox twice after I had the chicken pox vaccine. Why are people exceptions? Why are there medical mysteries? People are born with two heads while some people are born without legs. I need to put my life in perspective when it comes to getting Shingles as opposed to a more deadly disease. If a person pays for the Shingles Vaccine, which is ten to twenty times more expensive than the flu vaccine, then does the doctor have a right to deny a person the vaccine even if they are under the recommended age of receiving the vaccine?
Prevention is so important and should be available for everyone regardless of age.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Scary Realities
As of November 2012, over 1,947 rockets had been launched at Israel from Gaza since January 2012. Fortunately, Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted many of the rockets. I am so concerned about my friends in Israel. I am keeping in contact with some of them and their fear is apparent. The beauty of Israel is that they always keep a calm attitude even when their innocent civilians are being hit by bombs from Gaza. I think the United States and/or Israel needs to make an immediate move on Gaza or else the situation will only get worse. It is like poking a lion in the eye. Nothing good can come out of it.
How I think of this is, what if Mexico decided to bomb Texas?
That's what this situation is like. That's not okay. It may not be the same situation because there are a lot of underlying tensions in the Middle East, but the idea of neighbors bombing each other is what I'm trying to get at. I cannot even imagine what state of chaos would erupt here if anything like that ever happened in America.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Offshore Drilling in Alaska with Obama
So, on a completely personal note, I think that Alaska is a beautiful state with many beneficial aspects. One of those aspects is obviously the oil that can be drilled out of it and create a huge business for Americans. I have visited Alaska once and remember seeing and hearing about many areas that were preserved but I truly believe if there is offshore drilling it will not ruin all of Alaska's natural habitat.
Since President Obama has won another term in office, I decided to check out what he thought about offshore drilling in Alaska. I learned a lot of new things. One of them was that President Obama did not win Alaska's vote for the electoral college. I also learned that 60% of Alaska's land is federally owned so the decisions made from the Obama Administration are crucial to Alaska's future.
Obama has "already allowed Shell to drill in Alaska's waters this year but not deep enough to hit oil, because the company's spill containment barge wasn't ready"(Kansas City Star). This was a big step for him because Alaska's leaders were complaining about how long it has taken the government to allow Arctic offshore drilling.
I am excited to follow this issue throughout the next 4 years. I can't stand thinking about how high gas prices are going to be in my college years if we don't start working, and quickly I may add, on drilling in Alaska. The environment is important but so is the well-being of our economy.
Since President Obama has won another term in office, I decided to check out what he thought about offshore drilling in Alaska. I learned a lot of new things. One of them was that President Obama did not win Alaska's vote for the electoral college. I also learned that 60% of Alaska's land is federally owned so the decisions made from the Obama Administration are crucial to Alaska's future.
Obama has "already allowed Shell to drill in Alaska's waters this year but not deep enough to hit oil, because the company's spill containment barge wasn't ready"(Kansas City Star). This was a big step for him because Alaska's leaders were complaining about how long it has taken the government to allow Arctic offshore drilling.
I am excited to follow this issue throughout the next 4 years. I can't stand thinking about how high gas prices are going to be in my college years if we don't start working, and quickly I may add, on drilling in Alaska. The environment is important but so is the well-being of our economy.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Death Penalty Info Blogpost
In a capital case, there are many aspects of the stages that are designed to protect the rights of the accused. Arraignment, when a defendant is brought before the court to hear the charges and enter a plea, is a good thing for the accused because that person may share their side of the story just incase they actually are innocent or want to plead guilty. They get a voice in their trial. A pre-liminary hearing is also helpful to the accused because it is a hearing to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to prosecute an accused person. If the accused does not have enough evidence against them, this can help them because the case will not be bound over for grand-jury review. The closing statements, during the Guilt Phase trial, also protects the rights of the accused because the lawyer for each sides asks the jury or the judge to consider the evidence and apply the law in his or her client's favor. Throughout the decision-making process, the accused always has a word in somewhere either by his/herself or by his/her lawyer. During the penalty phase trial, there is a stage called "mitigating circumstances", where there are facts that do not justify or excuse an act or offense, but may reduce the degree of moral culpability, and reduce the penalty. This includes mental impairments, deprived background, etc. The accused gets his crime factored into the big picture of their life, which can excuse them from the death penalty. The accused can also appeal to a state's highest criminal court and this could reverse a decision by bringing it to a higher authority. The defendant submits the trial court's decision to a higher court for review and possible reversal, which is extremely beneficial for the accused if their sentence is lessened. Anything under the Federal Habeas Corpus stage may be helpful for protecting the rights of the accused. This system is pretty sufficient to guarantee that only the guilty are convicted, there are many ways for a guilty person to appeal his/her case and I believe that is enough to show that someone is innocent, if they can prove that they are.
Lethal Injections are the most humane because it is the only method of killing that we are used to the method. For example, we would not be in a gas chamber or hung normally, but we go to the doctor and get IV's all the time. The IV is not the painful part, it is what they put in it that is the bad part. Firing squad and Electrocution and the Gas Chamber should be considered "cruel and unusual punishment" because they cause the accused to suffer, and not die immediately. While hanging a person or doing lethal injection is a quick process if done correctly.
There have been a lot of exonerations in response to the high number of mistakes discovered in death row, support for the death penalty has dropped in many states recently, most don't even believe that the death penalty deters crime. Most use lethal injection. The state by state data tells us that the death penalty is used but also used reluctantly sometimes and the states are trying to find other ways to get around the death penalty. For example, in North Carolina in 2002, a new law allowed life without parole as an alternative. Death sentences dropped by over 50% following the law. A trend is that the state officials have a say in the sentence, also most states have granted clemency. The data tells us that issues of equality exist everywhere and people must not be sentenced strongly based on their race or gender. the court is trying to get rid of arbitrariness so that there are less innocent people killed.
The crimes listed should have death as a potential punishment because they all include inflicting pain on other people. I don't fully understand why the capital murder statute had so many details about who the person was that was murdered, when I don't think it matters as long as someone is murdered. Each person has a valuable life. The data does not tell us anything about why the Illinois death penalty is no longer in effect but I think a good guess would be that the state came to realize that there were lots of faults with the death penalty. It started realizing this when there were only 12 executions since 1976 while there were 348 killed before 1976. There were 20 innocent people freed from death row and 187 clemencies granted in Illinois. This is a big deal because there is a huge margin for error and even the judges and court systems can make mistakes or wrongly accuse people.
The economics of the death penalty make it seem like the death penalty is not worth it compared to the money that the state puts into it. Just one example would be that the California death penalty has cost over $4 billion since 1978. Or even in Texas, a death penalty case costs an average of $2.3 million, which is about three times the cost of imprisoning someone in a single cell at the highest security level for 40 years. The data says that in most cases, the death penalty is more expensive than holding a person in jail for life. Also, the data says that the influence of race is huge on the death penalty. The race of the victims in the death penalty cases were 76% white, while the recent study said that in Louisiana, the odds of a death sentence were 97% higher for those whose victim was white than for those whose victim was black. The data says that the public opinion for the death penalty says that there is more support for life without parole plus restitution (39%) than support for the death penalty (33%). In a 2010 poll a clear majority of voters (61%) would choose a punishment other than the death penalty for murder. Overall, the point of view that the Death Penalty Information center has is a biased one that is against the death penalty. The death penalty is costly, has racist undertones, and the public opinion shows clear disapproval of the death penalty. This is convincing because it covers many aspects wrong with the death penalty, not just one. I do not need additional information, I think this is enough to make an opinion about the death penalty. Curiosity would lead me though to wonder why the people were put on death row. What was the most recurring murder and why. How can this be prevented? How can we spread awareness about murder?
Lethal Injections are the most humane because it is the only method of killing that we are used to the method. For example, we would not be in a gas chamber or hung normally, but we go to the doctor and get IV's all the time. The IV is not the painful part, it is what they put in it that is the bad part. Firing squad and Electrocution and the Gas Chamber should be considered "cruel and unusual punishment" because they cause the accused to suffer, and not die immediately. While hanging a person or doing lethal injection is a quick process if done correctly.
There have been a lot of exonerations in response to the high number of mistakes discovered in death row, support for the death penalty has dropped in many states recently, most don't even believe that the death penalty deters crime. Most use lethal injection. The state by state data tells us that the death penalty is used but also used reluctantly sometimes and the states are trying to find other ways to get around the death penalty. For example, in North Carolina in 2002, a new law allowed life without parole as an alternative. Death sentences dropped by over 50% following the law. A trend is that the state officials have a say in the sentence, also most states have granted clemency. The data tells us that issues of equality exist everywhere and people must not be sentenced strongly based on their race or gender. the court is trying to get rid of arbitrariness so that there are less innocent people killed.
The crimes listed should have death as a potential punishment because they all include inflicting pain on other people. I don't fully understand why the capital murder statute had so many details about who the person was that was murdered, when I don't think it matters as long as someone is murdered. Each person has a valuable life. The data does not tell us anything about why the Illinois death penalty is no longer in effect but I think a good guess would be that the state came to realize that there were lots of faults with the death penalty. It started realizing this when there were only 12 executions since 1976 while there were 348 killed before 1976. There were 20 innocent people freed from death row and 187 clemencies granted in Illinois. This is a big deal because there is a huge margin for error and even the judges and court systems can make mistakes or wrongly accuse people.
The economics of the death penalty make it seem like the death penalty is not worth it compared to the money that the state puts into it. Just one example would be that the California death penalty has cost over $4 billion since 1978. Or even in Texas, a death penalty case costs an average of $2.3 million, which is about three times the cost of imprisoning someone in a single cell at the highest security level for 40 years. The data says that in most cases, the death penalty is more expensive than holding a person in jail for life. Also, the data says that the influence of race is huge on the death penalty. The race of the victims in the death penalty cases were 76% white, while the recent study said that in Louisiana, the odds of a death sentence were 97% higher for those whose victim was white than for those whose victim was black. The data says that the public opinion for the death penalty says that there is more support for life without parole plus restitution (39%) than support for the death penalty (33%). In a 2010 poll a clear majority of voters (61%) would choose a punishment other than the death penalty for murder. Overall, the point of view that the Death Penalty Information center has is a biased one that is against the death penalty. The death penalty is costly, has racist undertones, and the public opinion shows clear disapproval of the death penalty. This is convincing because it covers many aspects wrong with the death penalty, not just one. I do not need additional information, I think this is enough to make an opinion about the death penalty. Curiosity would lead me though to wonder why the people were put on death row. What was the most recurring murder and why. How can this be prevented? How can we spread awareness about murder?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)