The Issue of the Death Penalty

I have been researching the arguments of the Republican and Democratic Parties supporting their views on the death penalty. In this comparison of each party's views on this issue, the Democrats as a rule do not believe that the death penalty "is mandatory as a measure to control crime". The Republicans on the other hand believe that the death penalty is "necessary to control crime".
In a discussion of the Republican party on Sourcewatch.org, the Republican's view on the death penalty is discussed. Many Republicans view the death penalty as necessary because they think that it is truly the only way to cope with seriously criminal individuals.
Most Democrats do not believe that the death penalty is necessary or that it is an ethical response to crimes. In this discussion of the views of the Democratic party, their general view on the death penalty is discussed. The Democrats do not believe that the death penalty is something that should be practiced, many Democrats believe that death in response to killing is not the right answer,
On this issue I am fully in agreement with the Democrats. I do not believe that the death penalty is an appropriate response to any crime. The death penalty prevents criminals from ever having the opportunity to repent for their crimes. I am not saying that remorseful murderers should go free, however I do believe that it is incorrect to deprive incarcerated individuals of their remaining years, because those remaining years, even if they are spent in jail, could provide the individual with an opportunity to redeem them self in some small way.

The Strengths and Weaknesses of the Democrat Party

I personally identify more with the Democratic party than I do with the Republican party, the reasons for my preference of the Democratic party's ideology are as follow.
1.) The Democratic Party is in many ways more tolerant, more diverse and more aware of the issues of constituents from all different backgrounds. This blog representing the Utah State Democratic Party is undoubtedly biased, however it does make some good points about the differences in diversity between the two parties. I believe that diversity is an important component of being able to make decisions that are best for everyone in the country.

2.) The Democrats are also much more willing to acknowledge issues like global warming and gay marriage. Although these issues are entirely different, they both represent issues that require a stretch from the "norm", something that Democrats in general are definitely better at than Republicans are. In this article published a while ago in The Washington Post the Democrat's vow to combat Global Warming is discussed. This is one of the main reason that I prefer to identify myself as a Democrat, I believe that it is important to keep an open mind when it comes to issues like people's life style choices and the possible damage we are doing to our planet. Neither of these issues are cut and dry, they are worthy of plenty of consideration.

The main weakness of the Democratic Party in my opinion is that they are often not as firm in their opinions as the Republicans are. In an article published on the NPR website, this weakness in the Democratic Party is discussed. The Democrats need to become more confident in their ideas and more sure of their strengths, because otherwise they will fall prey to the Republicans' constant "no's"

The Strengths and Weaknesses of the Republican Party

I personally do not identify myself as a Republican. I believe that the Republican Party in general is often like an ostrich with it's head in the sand. They frequently refuse to recognize problems even as they are blowing up around them. Many Republicans refuse to raise taxes even when it is the only possible solution, many Republicans refuse to recognize that global warming is occurring and whether or not it is entirely man made, it needs to be addressed. I do recognize however that these points do not represent all Republicans and I also recognize that the Republican Party has valid strengths along with their many weaknesses.
The main problems that I have with the Republican party are as follows:

1.) The Republican Party has in many ways become "The Party of NO!", in that they simply turn down or stone wall any ideas the Democrats have. In an Op Ed Column in the Washington Post, columnist Harold Meyerson discusses the health care bill (the column was published in January, but it supports my point well). Meyerson says that as their main contribution to the bill, the "Republicans will attack the law's weaknesses (and strengths)". No where does it say that they will offer constructive criticism. The Republicans as a party do not offer solutions it seems, they only attack the solutions of their opposition.

2.) The Republican Party is, in many respects, driven by it's fringe. The most vocal representatives of the party in the media are men like Glen Beck, Bill O' Reilly and Rush Limbaugh, who do not seem to be at all well educated about the issues they are broadcasting to a public who laps up everything they say. In an article in The Daily Camera, writer and author Lou Dubose is quoted as saying "They're entitled to their own opinions, not to inject falsehoods and outright lies into the news cycle", and this is very true. Some of the main news sources for Republicans nationwide are not even news sources, they are opinion shows. In the same article a program is discussed called "Beck, Hannity, Limbaugh and O'Reilly: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse". All I have to say is that they seem about equivalent to war, pestilence, famine and death...


However, enough knocking the Republicans! They do have their strengths, one of their main positive aspects being that they have faith in their constituents. While recently reading an article in The Washington Post about the tragic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, I realized something. Although it was not at all the main focus of the article it became apparent to me that the Republicans trust the people to play a larger role than the Democrats trust them to in many respects. This faith in the intelligence of citizens is heartening, although it is counter intuitive since media outlets like FOX news are feeding people big servings of idiot pills every day..

"The Handcuffs are Off.."

In a recent article in The Economist, Republican Senator of Arizona Russell Pierce is quoted as saying that the rough immigration reform law he proposed for his state will "remove the handcuffs" from police and sheriffs deputies so that they can do their work, but who's wrists will replace those of law enforcement in these handcuffs? Apparently the wrists of anybody who looks "suspicious" or just anybody who looks Latino. This law will basically give Arizona law enforcement the power to stop anybody who is Latino who looks Latino and demand their paperwork, and in my opinion that power lends itself to incredible racism.

Community Service Paper

Part I
For many people in nations all over our world, homelessness is an ever present or looming issue. According to an article titled "The Geography of Homelessness" published on the website of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, there were approximately 671,859 men, women and children living as homeless people in the United States in 2007. For my community service project and during my research I decided to put special emphasis on San Francisco and the Bay area since it is my home region, and also because it is the area that I know best in our country. Currently the Bay Area is home to many thousands of homeless men, women and children, with my home county of Contra Costa having the eleventh highest population of homeless people in the entire nation. Right now San Francisco is home to several thousand “hard core” homeless, men and women who live in between the streets and homeless shelters year round. The many tragic facets of their day to day lives are discussed in a series called "Shame of the City" by Kevin Fagan of the San Francisco Chronicle. After reading the five installments of this series and digesting the information in each one I feel that I have gained much more perspective on the issue of homelessness and that I have a better understanding of how people feel about living without the security of a residence. Below is a photograph of the Silver family, a couple and their two children, who live out of their van in San Francisco. This family is an anomaly in that they are an entire family unit living together on the street. When thinking of the homeless I, like many others, think of lone men and women panhandling. It had barely occurred to me that there are in fact entire families who wake up on the street, send their kids to school, and live their lives as a unit just like mine, except that they are permanently without a roof over their heads.

I know that the problem of homelessness is a vast one, and that it is very important for residents of the bay area as a community to ensure that we are making progress towards alleviating the dire situations that many of our fellow citizens have become entangled in.
Sadly, many people in the community have very negative attitudes towards homeless people, often considering them to be lazy or shiftless, and saying things like “If they would just get a job..” not realizing that it is not always that simple. Disparaging remarks like these are quite often unfair because many of the men and women who are living on the streets are in their predicament because of problems with drug abuse or mental instability, two conditions which are very difficult to overcome without help. Many residents of San Francisco have come to view the homeless more or less as a plight on their city instead of as the desperate human beings that they are, which is truly tragic because without some perseverance and passion to help, the situation will never change.

Part II
Unfortunately it has been particularly difficult for a solution to this issue to be formulated in our area. The bay area (one of the areas in our nation with the most severe problems relating to homelessness) has not been particularly effective at obtaining and utilizing federal aid for the homeless because the government is wary of awarding cities funds if they do not have a solid plan to address their issue of homelessness. According to the following graphic, featured in a blog by Richard Shabazz on The Examiner.com, California is inadequately prepared to cope with their problems with homelessness, our state is in fact in the bottom third for preparedness, although we have one of the most insurmountable epidemics of homelessness.

In the fifth installment of the "Shame of the City" series, the author discussed the stunning fact that the city of San Francisco has as many as 5,000 "hard core" homeless men and women, and a population of about 800,000 overall, while New York (a city with a population of 8 million!) has a hardcore homeless population of less than 2,000. This disparity in the ratio between homeless population and overall population is due almost entirely to the fact that New York has been much more adept at utilizing government funding to remedy their situation with homelessness. The national government obviously does not want people to live on the streets, however since Regan was president and many men and women who were residing in mental institutions were in essence “turned loose” onto the streets, the problem of homelessness has become exponentially more grave. The local government in the Bay Area really needs to develop and solidify a competent plan for combating homelessness and present it to the federal government so that our region can receive the much needed federal funds to begin solving the crisis of homelessness in our area.
For my community service project, I donated two consecutive Saturday mornings and afternoons of my time to work at one of the Habitat for Humanity build sites in the bay area. The build site that I worked at on those two days was located on Edes Avenue in East Oakland. I was wary of venturing into East Oakland at first, being a sheltered suburban girl I had only driven through East Oakland on the way to the airport, and have been warned to be cautious on BART if I am passing through that area. Thankfully however, my opinions have been changed and I have realized that areas like East Oakland need to be improved, and that volunteers should not be wary of going to help. The families who live in East Oakland, just like in any intimidating area, should not be neglected or punished simply because of where they were forced to settle.
The organization Habitat for Humanity has developed a construction site on a lot near the train tracks, and they are in the process of building a lovely community with several really pretty, eco-friendly houses at the Edes Avenue site, and families without homes will be able to move into them. One of the pre-requisites for moving into one of the homes is that the family must work a minimum of 500 hours at the build site, which is really cool because then the families get to meet and interact with the volunteers working to build their future dream homes. In my opinion this program is really amazing because it basically provides families in difficult situations with the opportunity to work hard and earn themselves a beautiful, secure, new home.
Part III
For the issue of homelessness to be improved upon many things need to be set in motion. This is not really an issue which can ever be permanently resolved, but the governments in any area with a homeless population need to begin to take action. Plans to improve life for people currently living on the streets must be set in motion and local, as well as federal, governments must take responsibility and become culpable for the well being of the many human lives being affected negatively by the issue of homelessness. Also, individual citizens need to realize that we are a community. People need to understand that if someone is sleeping on a street corner, in the pouring rain, with nothing but a threadbare sleeping bad for warmth, they need help, regardless of whether they are lazy or industrious, or if they should be considered crazy or sane, they are a human being is suffering, and it is our responsibility as fellow human beings to do everything in our power to provide that man or woman with a brighter future. The citizens of the world must be shaken up and forced to recognize that their fellow human beings are suffering and that collectively it is in our power to change things.
After my experience at Habitat for Humanity, and after seeing the multitude of volunteers who had come out to donate their Saturdays, I am hopeful. I firmly believe that if enough people in a community have the desire to dramatically alter the circumstances of their neighbors for the better they will be able to. In my cumulative 15 hours of service I was able to paint wood that would soon enough be turned into somebody's home, and I was able to work together with the future occupants to erect the walls of a home. I have never been a very technical person, but at the Habitat for Humanity build site I felt like I was really making a difference.

I will definitely be returning soon to put in a few shifts at the Edes Avenue build site or any other build sites in our area. I have participated in several community service organizations, and Habitat for Humanity was one of the first during which I actually felt like I was trusted to contribute something valuable. At many organizations it seems to be more about marketing, or about simply putting in ones hours to complete their "civic duty". At Habitat for Humanity however, I felt like everything was different. Habitat for Humanity effectively creates a community of people who have the common goal of providing every family with the home that they deserve. I am so very glad that I had the opportunity to participate with this organization and that I had both opportunities to put in some time and labor at the build site. Hopefully many other people will realize how valuable it is to participate in an organization like Habitat for Humanity, and they too will be able to experience how awesome it is to work with your hands and actually see what you have created at the end of the day, and to know that your hard work will make a difference.

Hee Hee Whites Kid You Know..

The Similarities between Obama and Sarkozy..

extend to their opinions on Iran and the nuclear arms problems there, the fact that both of them are referred to as President (although in different languages) and that they can both enjoy good old fashioned bad for you food. The two presidents dined together at Ben's Chili Bowl, a Washington D.C landmark fast food joint where the presidents enjoyed hot dogs.

Where Do People Volunteer?

According to this graph published in a study by the state of Maine on volunteerism among it's citizens. I consider this graph to be fairly representative of the majority of states. What I found to be interesting was that Civic community service and volunteering for social services were not the highest, I assumed that those areas of service would be fairly high in percentage.

March 27th

On March twenty seventh I worked my second Saturday at the Habitat for Humanity build site at Edes Avenue. My second Saturday I volunteered to join the paint crew, coincidentally with the same crew leader as the previous week. We ended up having to do a little more than just painting though! We spent the first three hours cleaning up trash and decrepit furniture that homeless people had amassed on the Habitat for Humanity staging lot. This was pretty gross, there were a lot of empty pill bottles and moldy couch cushions, and after three hours I was so glad to be done. We then had our lunch break and we got to talk to some of the other volunteers and to some of the home owners, and that was really fulfilling. After lunch we began painting the wall panels, big plywood sheets that were much, much heavier than they looked. After painting panels in the direct sun for four hours I was rocking a pretty rad sunburn, which still has my left shoulder reduced to a stinging mass of redness, and some good sized blisters from the plywood. I also was basically covered in "Sea Breeze Blue" paint, which although meant for the houses ended up in my hair and all over my clothes.
I had an amazing time at both of my shifts and I feel like I will definitely be returning to volunteer my time for some shifts this summer.

Saturday March 20th

Saturday March 20th was my first day volunteering for Habitat for Humanity. At this point I feel like I have researched a lot and learned quite a bit about homelessness in our region of the world. Now I feel that I am prepared to begin chronicling my experiences at the build site. The twentieth was a really gorgeous day, not to hot but definitely not at all cold. Compared to my work the following week, this day was pretty easy breezy and the only bad side effects was some neck pain from craning my head to get paint up all day. I spent most of the day up on the scaffolds painting under the eaves and erecting walls inside some of the houses. Some of the homeowners were there and it was a really cool experience to spend the morning working on their future homes, and then share Gatorade with them at the lunch break.

The Habitat for Humanity fact sheet page pretty much outlines the program and I found it to be an excellent source of information prior to beginning work

Poor Polar Bears :(

Although some people still maintain that global warming is a myth, in my opinion it is indisputable that mankind is having some adverse on our earth's weather. This video about the effects of global warming on polar bears habitats and I found it to be very informative.

Progression in Nuclear Arms Eradication

President Obama has long espoused the rather ambitious goal of ridding the world of all nuclear weapons. A recent article in The Guardian discusses how Obama's campaign against nuclear warfare was boosted last night when Russia indicated that there has been agreement between the two nations on a historic nuclear arms reduction treaty. Although it has not been announced that any deal has been struck, White House officials did say that the two nations are "very close" to agreeing upon a treaty, going so far as to say that one of the only steps left was for the two presidents to agree upon a treaty signing date. I think it is very good that in the past couple decades our two nations have progressed so far on the issue of nuclear arms.

Hee Hee

Haha Oh I love Flight of the Conchords..

Aid To the Homeless in Contra Costa County

Several years ago I volunteered at my church tutoring homeless children and helping set out a lunch buffet. My church, Saint Perpetua's, participated in a rotation where homeless families would spend one week at a church and then move to a different church, where they were provided with food, shelter and services for their kids. Ever since then I have been curious about homeless shelters in Contra Costa County. I did some research and one organization that popped up was Contra Costa Interfaith Housing, this is a non profit organization dedicated to ending the struggles of homeless people in Contra Costa County. The program's main goal is to promote self sustainability and to break the cycle of homelessness. According to some statistics on the website Contra Costa County has the eleventh highest homeless population in our entire nation! That really shocked me.

Edes Avenue Habitat for Humanity Project

Below is a picture taken at 10800 Edes Avenue, the Habitat for Humanity home building site where I have been volunteering my time for my community service project. I went last saturday, March 20th and I will be going again this upcoming Saturday, March 27th. This was a really rewarding experience and I am excited to go back, at first I was apprehensive, especially because I manage to hammer my thumb even hanging up a poster, I more or less figured that I would be more a hinderance than a help. I really felt good though that evening when I got home and could shower off all the grime, especially since I had seen first hand the progress being made on some one's future dream home.

Hee Hee Flight of the Conchords..

Makes me laugh really hard. I love this song.

Couple Shot Dead in Cold Blood

Two families were attacked in Juarez, Mexico by probably drug cartel assassins. Each family had a spouse with ties to the United States consulate in Juarez. An article discusses the tragedy, saying that "The slayings came amid a surge in bloodshed on the border and drew condemnation from the White House". I can not believe that these terrible murders have occurred, and I am appalled that these lives were shattered because of drugs. I think that the drug trade is one of the most horrific and terrible impacts on our world. Two men and a pregnant woman were murdered, and two young children were harmed, that these people were casualties to a trafficking industry which destroys millions of lives a year is a continuation of this tragedy. I think that all drug education classes should discuss the people who are effected by the drug trade, I know that hardcore drug addicts would not be swayed by the tragic stories of the casualties of drug trade, but if it becomes part of the drug-education program then maybe a new side of the tragedy that is the drug world.

Shame of the City part 5

San Francisco needs to find a solution for the thousands of men and women who spend their times on the city's streets. Federal aid money is available but the city needs to have a solid, viable plan to cope with the issue before the government will give them money.
The fifth and final installment of the "Shame of the City" series discusses the lack of a plan in San Francisco. In recent years San Francisco passed the Care Not Cash bill, which offers the homeless services instead of welfare payments, which can arguably be used to purchase drugs or other harmful things. San Francisco needs to offer more shelter.
In New York there are less than two thousand homeless living on the streets, while San Francisco has almost 5,000 hardcore homeless. New York has 8 million inhabitants and San Francisco has 800,000, this discrepancy in homeless population with regards to total population is ridiculous. San Francisco has one of the worst problems in the entire country, and although California is well known for its altruistic citizens, and liberal "hippie" attitudes, the people in need of help are not being aided.

Shame of the City Part 4

San Francisco's homeless problem is vast, in part largely to the liberal atmosphere of the city and the temperate climate which makes the city quite tempting to homeless drifters. The fourth installment of the series I have been blogging about discusses the way that the city's aid programs and inhabitants quite frequently enable the homeless instead of doing them any real good. Homeless are issued tickets for "squatting" charging them fines that they can not pay, and they are often arrested for possession of drugs or paraphernalia, resulting in their being sent to a rehab center to be cleaned up. The rehab stays are not the problem, the fact that post-rehab the homeless are immeadiately bounced back onto the street is.
Also sympathetic passerby handing out money to the homeless often provide the men and women with means to purchase their daily supply of crack or heroin.
San Francisco needs to figure out a more viable plan for dealing with the problem of homelessness.

SHUT UP LINDSAY LOHAN!

An article in The San Francisco Chronicle discusses Lindsay Lohan's lawsuit against the E-Trade company. Claiming that the joke about one of the stock trading babies' girlfriend being "Lindsey the milkaholic" is a slur against her. I disagree however and believe that if she is actually trying to claim that no jokes can be made including the name Linsday and references to substance abuse, then she is probably just craving attention. No actual references are made to "Lindsay Lohan" or even "Lindsay the Celebrity/Pop Star" so I think she should just simmer down.