Death Penalty

Today's presenters discussed the conservative and liberal views on the death penalty and whether or not it is cuel and unusual or if it is well deserved.
Conservatives believe that the death penalty is a punishment that fits the crime and that it is not cruel and it is not unusual and that executing a murderer is the appropriate punishment for taking an innocent life.
Liberals believe that we should abolish the death penalty. This penalty is inhumane and is cruel and that it does not deter a crime. Liberals believe that imprisonment is the appropriate punishment for a murderer. Every execution risks killing an innocent person.
I definately once again take the liberal side to this argument because I think that it is hypocritical of the government and our society to put an end to someones life if that is what they were being charged for in the beginning-the death penalty would be doing exactly what we are trying to stop. All in all, I think that it is morally wrong to participate in the death penalty because doing this, would just embrace what we are attempting to say is wrong and in the end, a person who is in jail for a lifetime could learn from their mistakes while putting an end to their life would never give them a second chance.

Gun-Control

Conservatives believe that the Second Amendment gives the individual the right to keep and bear arms and that the guns are not the problem, but people are. They believe that a person has a right to defend themselves against criminals and that because there is less crime due to guns.
Liberals believe that the Second Amendment gives no individual the right to own a gun, but does allow the state to keep a National Guard. They believe that guns kill people and children and that no good comes out of owning a gun.
I personally believe that people should have something to protect themselve-however, I do not think that a gun is the right answer. I think that guns are found by small children and things can go terribly wrong. You hear about all these stories in the media today about how a young child as little as five found their relatives gun, brought it to school, and kills inocent children. What good comes out of that? It is a scary thing and I do not think that guns should be allowed. Guns kill people, innocent people for that matter. Conservatives say that guns aren't the problem, people are, but people wouldn't be the problem if they didn't have guns.

Same-Sex Marriage

Conservatives believe that marriage is suppose to be between one man and one woman. Opinions differ on support for the creation of a constitutional amendment establishing marriage as the union on one man and one woman. They also believe that same-sex relationships violates moral and religious beliefs of millions of Christians, Jews, Muslims and others who believe that marriage is only to be between a man and a woman.
Liberals believe that marriage should be legal for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and couples transgender to ensure equal rights for all. They believe that all individuals have the right to marry regardless of their sexual orientation. Not allowing same-sex marriage denies them of their civil rights. Everyone is a person and everyone has the right to marry whom ever they choose.
I believe that same-sex should most definitely be allowed to marry. I have two gay uncles and if they wanted to marry their partner, they should be allowed to. They are just people like us and if their desire was to marry another man, so be it.

Abortion: Conservative vs. Liberal

Today, Courtney, Ari, Kelsey and I presented our information on the two sides of abortion. The conservative side, pro-life and the liberal side, pro-choice. This was an interesting presentation because many people had strong opinions on what they believed.
Courtney and Kelsey were presenting the conservative side in which they were arguing that the minute that baby is conceived, it is qualified as a human life and if you get an abortion, you are killing a human life and that no one has the right to murder someone. They also made the point that if a person is partaking in unprotected sex, that they should have to deal with the consequences since they made the decision to actually have sex, they should know the risks involved. They also made the point that women have extreme emotional issues from the aftermath of having an abortion. As we saw in "Sex and the City", Carrie is talking about how she still isn't 100% better since she got hers. Conservatives believe that no matter what, if you get an abortion you are killing a human being and it should most definately be illegal no matter what the circumstances.
Ari and I presented the liberal side discussing pro-choice. We brought up the fact that before 1973 when the state legislature made abortion legal, many women were having un-safe abortions. These ways unfortunately included hangers and other objects that they believed would kill their unborn child. This created many deaths for women before abortion was legalized. We also argued that if a woman is raped and had nothing to do with it, was not consenting to intercourse, she should have the right to abort it because technically, this was out of her hands and their was nothing she could have done. Also, if a young girl girl gets pregnant and can not support it, she should have the right to abort it just as well as if a sickly woman gets pregnant and knows it will harm her child, she should be able to do what she wants to. Bottom line, women should have the option of aborting a child if they choose. Overall, we argued that the government should not have control over a woman's body-only the woman should.
This is a huge controversy because truthfully, I am pro-choice. I believe that a woman should have the choice to do what she wants to do with her own body and not have the government decide for her. I personally do not think I could ever go through with getting an abortion because I am too emotional to go through with something as intense as that. But I do think that women all around the world should have the option if they think that would be the best choice for their specific life.

My Weekend

This weekend went by way too fast, but it was really fun. On Friday, a bunch of my friends and I went downtown for dinner to celebrate Courtney and Alyx's birthday. Let's just say it turned out to be an interesting night. We were suppose to go to a restaurant called "Dick's Last Resort" but we didn't end up going there and instead we walked around for a good 45 minutes trying to find a place that would take 11 of us at 7 o'clock on a Friday night. We ended up finding a really great Italian place and they sat us down pretty quick, too! All was going great until we realized we had to catch the 8:35 train and it was 8:15 and we still weren't done. We got everything to go, got our check and jumped in two cabs. Our cab got there just in time while the other cab went to the wrong train station, but luckily somehow made it on time. Overall it was pretty chaotic but really fun.

Does Our Era Have Something to Call Our Own?

Truthfully, I do not believe that our era has our own genre or something that we can call our own. Everywhere we turn, we are constantly being bombarded by companies and businesses that are telling us how to look and act. I feel as though there is no room to be unique or different than others, even if we wanted to. I do think that everyone is different in their own way, but we tend to all fall into a similar category of our society. We can hardly think on our own because day in and day out, we are being told what is socially acceptable. However, some people do tend to rebel our culture through the way they dress and/or through different types of music. Just like in the movie, teens were interested in “IPC” because MTV hadn’t taken it over yet and teens could “call the band their own”. While many teens seem to want to call something their own, it seems that it is near impossible to actually do so. With the media constantly showing and telling us what we should think and do, it has become a true challenge to call something our own. Everything has been handed to us so even if we wanted to be different; there would not be much room to be unique. This is the sad reality to what our society has become. Imagine when our grandparents were teens and how much room they had to be whoever they wished to be. Now, with all the media down our backs, we have no other choice but to go along with what everyone else is doing.

Brands: How Far Will They Go?

When I look at the statement, "It's a shame that the people who are listening to you the most are only interested in you because they want you and your peers to buy their product." I completely agree with it and think that it is 100% valid. Advertisement companies are constantly watching and listening to what we, as a culture, have to say-especially about their product. They are always looking for different ways to attract teens and young adults into buying their new item and make it seem as though they are talking just to us. This method seems to make us feel as though they know everything about us and actually care about our needs and wants. So truthfully, I think it is sad to know that the people spending the most time listening to us and seeing what works with us only truly care because our reaction, makes their company and products better in the future.

"Maybe this year will be better than the last"

One of my heritage artists was Counting Crows and one of my favorite songs by them is definately "A Long December". The singer is singing about how own of his good friends got in a car accident and how he would sit in her hospital room and make songs and sing to her while she got better. This relates to me because one of my good friends was in the hospital for almost two months at the end of last year and my friends and I would spend all of our time in her room hoping she would get better and wishing for the best just like he does in the song. It was difficult to see because at first, she was in really bad condition where she had to get two surgeries and it took awhile for her recovery. You never know what is going to happen next so I think this is a good song to relate to and live by.

"And I would have stayed up with you all night..."

Out of all of the many amazing Fray songs, i would have to say that "How to Save a Life" has to be my favorite. Isaac Slade wrote this about his experience as a camp counselor for troubled youth. His camper was addicted to crack and in each verse he discusses his experience and what he could have done. Attached are the lyrics:


Throughout this song, he is talking about how he has to step in and help someone in need. Without saying a name, I have also assumed that role before. A friend that I was really close with had developed many issues including mental, physical and many other things that ended up hurting her. Everytime I listen to this song, it reminds me of her everyday struggle and how I had become such a big part of her life. She no longer lives here so I do not face this everyday anymore, but the memories are still with me and always will be. Though she is not 100% still, I do feel as though my family and my friends were and still are a huge part in her life who helped her get through her everyday life. It is hard listening to this song because she was so close to me and still means so much but it is difficult knowing what she was going through but hopeful to know that I was able to help her along the way.

"Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same"

For my project, I researched The Fray. They formed in 2002 when Isaac Slade and Joe King ran into each other at a Guitar Center. They are a four piece piano rock American band that are from Denver, Colorado. Since they began, they have released their very popular album, "How to Save a Life" which became a double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America and have been very successful ever since. Throughout their songs, they tend to revolve their lyrics around relationships. For instance, the song "Over my Head (Cable Car)" is about the main singer, Isaac and his brother (nicknamed "cable car" and how their relationship began to fade. In another song, "Look After You" he sings about his first love and how their relationship faded but he would always love her. As you can see, many of their songs are revolved around their lives and how they get by day-to-day. I feel as though this is a value in todays society. Too many people are hung up on pointless things that are going on around us that at some point it is important to realize what takes priority in our lives. I believe that The Fray help to do that. In "How to Save a Life" Isaac sings about how he is a camp counselor at a camp for troubled youth and he is working with a teen addicted to crack. This helps to put our lives in perspective and realize what we need to accomplish. Overall, I truly believe that The Fray is a band that does not get caught up with pointless issues that occur in our lives daily, but focus in on what we should truly value in life which is our relationships with others and the relationships with ourselves.

Elvis, the 1950's icon

Over the past week, I have learned a lot about the history of music, especially with Elvis. I always knew he was a huge hit and that everyone fawned over him (like my grandma...weird) but I did not really know the background of him and what he did. He was just like any other teenager wanting to rebel against everyone, especially his parents. He was especially rebellious when he started to play black music and when he was covering a black song. In the movie we watched, they claim it was "a black song in a white voice". In essence, he brought together african americans and whites in the way that everyone could love him and listen to him, no matter what you looked like. This was very important because it was still during major segregation and the Jim Crow laws which stated that blacks and whites would be "seperate but equal". They had seperate water fountains, bathrooms, waiting rooms, everything so Elvis really helped bring them together and finally, they were able to agree and share the same interest in something. At one point, parents began thinking that he had gone too far with his dance moves especially with his hips. Due to this, the city of San Diego banned Elvis from dancing so the new Elvis started by singing his hit, "Hound Dog" to an actual hound dog. All in all, Elvis was a icon of the 1950's and brought african american and whites together by listening to his hits.

Favorite Group

My favorite group that I can remember from when I was younger was definately the Spice Girls. I was five years old when I first heard them at summer camp and we had to sing and do a dance to "Wannabe". It became our "theme" song and I loved them ever since. It was important to me because it brought back memories from camp and all the friends I ended up making.