Washington party crashers

Michaele and Tareq Salahi crashed the White House state dinner last week. The Salahis denied that they crashed the party and claimed that they were actually invited. However, they were not on the invitation list of guests. However, some of the security say that they were denied entry on several occasions. They are aspiring reality TV stars.

The article continues arguing back and forth whether or not they were invited. They appeared on morning shows and Larry King Live. First there was "octo mom", "balloon boy", now there's these two. There's a familiar pattern with people trying to become instant stars with publicity. Luckily, they haven't done any harm. They just wanted to have a good time, go to the dinner, take a couple of pictures, etc. When is it going to be enough? The White House's security should be embarrassed. However, these people aren't getting arrested or going to jail, they're going on TV shows after TV shows. In my opinion, I seriously think they got away with it because (1) they look caucasian, (2) his wife is portrayed as a beautiful, blonde woman and (3) they look harmless.

I know damn well, if I were to pop out of no where with another guy, I would instantly be denied entrance and be on the news, with myself and my partner in crime in handcuffs.

Here is the article:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/02/state.dinner.couple/index.html?iref=allsearch

New fight in gay marriage battle

The gay marriage battle now moves to New Jersey. A bill that can legalize same-sex marriage comes up in the state. Massachusetts, Connecticut, new Hampshire, vermont and Iowa are currently the only states that allow same-sex marriage legally. New York's state senate defeated the bill when it came up a week ago.

Although the story itself was relatively short, it bothered me because I honestly don't understand what the big deal is. I'm not gay and I don't undertand how gay marriage will affect me or anyone around me. With divorce rates and percentages sky rocketing, I don't see what the big deal would be. I bet their divorce rate isn't going to be nearly as high as heterosexual marriages. Denying gay people the right to marry the person they are meant to be with makes a mockery of everything this country stands for, "liberty and justice for ALL." What happened to that?

We've had a history. There was a time where interracial marriages were illegal and unimaginable. But people have fought it, and today, it is legal. For those who have went through this horrific time, they should know exactaly how same-sex marriage supporters feel.

There's always going to be something for people to argue about and fight because all Americans are crabby and insecure with themselves that they have to put others down for the taking. Our differences should be put aside and we should all just support eachother. Hopefully, one day the country will learn to come together.

Here is the article: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/12/07/new-fight-in-gay-marriage-battle/

Iphone records four men and their bias attack

I actually searched for this article when I was in class this morning after I heard it on the radio.

City police arrested four men (three were brothers and the fourth one was a friend) for an alleged bias attack against two Mexican men last month. The fight was recorded on a witness's iphone, who lived in a nearby apartment. While recording, the witness stated the blue Honda Civic's license plates. Two brothers were released on $15,000 bond and the oldest brother was held on $75,000 bond. Nothing was said about the fourth man.

This struck me because I personally know the three brothers. Whether it is a bias attack or issue, this is an example to the community that we clearly aren't united. There is a confusion of who's fault it is because it is believed that the Mexican men were the instigators and took the first swing. If someone took the first swing at me, I would sure fight them back!

However, this isn't the case. As many fights that I have been to in high school, I believe to avoid fights there must be some sort of respect. Someone in the incident must've crossed the other person's comfort zone and disrespected them.

Here's the article: http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Four-charged-with-Danbury-bias-attack-taped-on-255663.php

Being single isn't that bad

Columnist Audrey Irvine writes in her column that she's fine being single at her age. Her family and friends are desperate to find her a spouse and try to set her up on dates. When she went to a barbeque at her friend's and saw a guy that they were trying to set her up with, she asked what they had in common besides a pulse and her friend answered, "Single."

She believes in your 20's, people are busy with parties, joining sororities and graduating on time. So no one cares about dating. When you're in your 30's, it's all about work and you don't have time for a relationship. However, by the age of 35- if you aren't dating, engaged or married- it's clear to everyone that you need help.

I like this article because it reminds me of myself. I'm only twenty years old and I'm not trying to find my soulmate or anything but sometimes I feel like I'm pressured to. I'm the youngest of four kids, my oldest brother and sister married in their mid twenties and my older brother is dating. I'm no in a relationship. I haven't been in since February. But the question of my life seems to be, "Why are you single?" or "Are you dating?" "You don't want a boyfriend?" But my favorite one from guys is "Why is a beautiful girl like you single?"

Because I run into scumbags like you. I'm busy. I go to school and I work two jobs. Sometimes I feel like I don't even have time for my family. And my family comes first of course. I've had my share of dating guys, having boyfriends and a serious relationship. But guys are either: broke, unlicensed, have no car, stupid or busy on that player status. IT'S TRUE!

When I have girl friends or even my brother come running to me because they're sad about the opposite sex, I sit there and wonder why. Or how does it come to this point? If the person doesn't make you happy, why are you with them? People are sad in relationships all the time and I believe you have to be happy with yourself before you can be happy with anyone else. But what is this void- this feeling that a lot of people have that they need filled by another person? I don't need anyone to complete me, I complete myelf. And I'm happy, happier than I have ever been. And whenever Prince Charming decides to come, he'll come. He can take his time for now.

Here is the article: http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/personal/11/11/rrants.exhibit.a/index.html

Cellphones usage may cause cancer

Studies have shown that people who have been using cellphones for ten or more years are at risk of growing tumors because of raditation. It is most likely that the tumor will grow on the side of the head that the cellphone is exposed to more often. However, people who have tumors deny their claims of cellphone usage. The evidences are mixed. Furthermore, doctors believe changing cellphone use and habits don't show an incredible link. Bluetooth devices and headsets produce much less energy than cellphonse and are recommended to those who use cellphones daily. Experts suggest to get a cellphone with lower radio frequency energies.

Everyone uses cellphones even little kids. I find it surprising to see a ten year old walking around the mall with their friends and they all have cellphones. I honestly don't know which side to believe because the article also states that electromagnetic radiation given off by cellphones may be too weak to damage actual DNA but there may be indirect ways. Maybe we shouldn't be on our cellphones 24/7. There are times where I find myself talking on the phone while I'm driving (I know it's against the law, but don't lie- you do it too.) and I spot others doing it too when we come to a stop at a stoplight. And that's where the lightbulb for bluetooth or headset should come in. But we don't think of it or bother buying it because who wants to spend an extra 40 bucks on a bluetooth and spend the time trying to install it? I got a pink (ew) blue tooth for christmas last year and I haven't even used it. Nevertheless, do I even know where it is.

Cell phones that have the highest radio frequencies include Motorola V195s (being the highest), RIM BlackBerry Curve 8330 , LG Rumor 2, BlackBerry Bold, Samsung Instinct, T-Mobile Dash 3G, Sony Ericsson W350a, etc.

Here is the article: http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/11/10/cell.phones.cancer.tumors/index.html
Look up your phone: http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phone-radiation-levels/

Barbie, meet Grace, Kara and Trichelle

For generations, little girls have been playing with Barbie as they were growing up. Barbie has been seen as the ideal image of the all American girl. But what is the all American girl suppose to look like?

When I was growing up, I played with many different types of barbies. However, they were mostly blonde hair, blue eyed, pink lipstick and came with all the right clothes. There was also, Ken, her lover and Kelly, the younger teenage version of her who was also blonde hair and blue eyed. The new African American Barbies are named Grace, Kara and Trichelle. They were created with more African American like features, including fuller lips and curlier hair. Many people are cheering on the dolls and others disagree saying that the dolls should have an afro or braids, which is more common among African American woman. I believe they should extend the hair styles and allow her to have long black hair, short black hair, afroes, braids and everything! Barbie comes with one hair style, I don't think it's that big of a deal...

Many people can think that the black barbie is unrealistic but honestly, I think it's a good idea. For younger chilren to accept their color and not question why they're different. I didn't have a black barbie... nevertheless, an Asian barbie unless it was Sporty Spice from Spice Girls but I only pretended she was Asian because her hair was black. Besides judging it and giving it mixed reviews, children are simple. They're happy with whatever they can get and what can help them identify themselves.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/10/21/black.barbies.irpt/index.html

Rapper suspected in killings

On September 19, Richard Samuel McCroskey was arrested in connection with the killings of four people in Viriginia. He is a 20 year old rapper in the underground of "Horrorcore". Horrorcore isn't always referred to as rap music but is also affiliated with heavy metal. He sang and rapped about chopping people into pieces. Little is known about that kind of music because many people think it's corny.

He went by the name is Skyo Sam. Pshyco? I think so. However, he had many fans on YouTube and in one of the videos, he sings, "Last night I was the murderous rage. Now, I gotta get rid of the bodies before the corpses start to get rotting." One of his victims was emma Niederbrock, who was a fan and invtied him to frly from Calirfonia, visit and stay with her. However, the rest remains a mystery. A tow-truck driver gave the suspect a lift and said that he was the "stinkiest rascal I've ever smelled" but thought nothing of it. Investigators and authorities say that he told his friends about the killings. No other information was actually released.

For many people, music is therapy and gets the best of us. There should be appreciation for all types of music but horrorcore music gives its listeners grusome imagary. It's 2009 and people are still getting abducted, kidnapped, raped and killed for meeting up with strangers. People should learn from the news. You don't invite a stranger over your house and even allow them to stay over. I mean I love Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, Drake, Lil Wayne... even Kanye West but I'm not going to invite them over to stay over my house. Are you crazy? The kid sings about chopping people into pieces, what the hell was this girl thinking?

Parents should take a second and find out what they're kids are listening to. Or if your kid is a writer, singer or rapper- let em be! But make sure you're listening to what they're trying to say... I believe it couldn've been prevented if Emma's parents took time to see who she was talking to, find out what was going on in her life. She was only sixteen. And if Richard's parents were around- maybe they couldn've taken time to listen to him. Maybe he needed therapy? Or maybe just an ear to listen? And it all could've been prevented.

Music is going downhill nowadays. Old school hip-hop has faded and all these new upcoming artists aren't anywhere near its level. Make sure any type of music gives a positive message and doesn't encourage anything negative...

Here are the articles. http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/06/virginia.horrorcore.killings/index.html
http://www.nbc12.com/Global/story.asp?S=11197354

Tracking sex offenders? There's an app for that.

I guess nowadays you don' have to be a private investigator or even a police officer to find out where all the sex offenders are. I remember when I was finishing middle school, we got a mailing list of all the sex offenders around our area- but who has time to flip through all those pages and see where they are?

So the iPhone designed an application for it. With the touch of the screen, people can view sex offenders within a 10-mile radius of where the location.

Some BlackBerry and smart phone models are also offered crime fighting apps.

Some people may argue that it isn't necessary because you can just review the sex offenders around you online but I believe its a matter of convenience. However, criminals can use the application to avoid high crime areas.

This application is helpful in general but people shouldn't just depend on it. What happened to using your old school street smarts and knowing that you shouldn't leave your child unattended at a park or store? I think society depends too much on technology and how it can advance their lives. Not everyone has a iPhone, BlackBerry or smart phone. Those commercials show that there's an app for everything but as soon as technology slows down, crime will catch up just as fast.

here's the article.

College students vs. H1N1

Students are constantly reminded about the flu. Although swine flu is all over the media, many students don't seem too worried about it. However, the American College Health Association recorded 13,434 cases of the flu and two students have had flu related deaths.

Students don't seem worried. Dr. James Turner claims that there is plenty of oppurtunity to spread infections and germs because students "tend to socialize in large groups, frats, bars, sharing the drinking glasses, smoking material. They're in real close contact, densely packed into parties which are all breeding grounds for infections."

I think the overall problem is, many students such as myself, can't distinguish the difference between a cold, the flu and H1N1 (swine flu). Many students use the H1N1 virus as an excuse for missing class, depsite the fact that they aren't sick. This semester, many teachers and professors allowed students to only miss three days of classes or they'll assume the student has either dropped the class or fail them. Although no one on our campus has seriously been affected by H1N1, other students will continue going to class, sick or not... because for most college students- education isn't free.

So as posted in the article, "The reminders are everywhere: Wash your hands. Use hand sanitizers. Stay away from class if you're sick."

article: http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/09/22/h1n1.flu.college.students/index.html

Paul Steinmetz; public relations director, teacher, blogger, husband & father

Paul Steinmetz has been director of Western Connecticut State University Public Relations for three years.

He grew up in California, attended a community college and graduated from San Francisco State.

"I saw a news-writing course and I loved it immediately," he said.

The News Times hired him as reporter for four years and editor for ten years. However, an intern publisher fired him. With a wife and four kids, he was determined to get back on his two feet.

Six months after, he became the director of WCSU Public Relations and describes himself as feeling "better, relaxed and happy" and able to more time with his children. He write blogs for newstimes.com and finds it so much more enjoyable. He is also teaches a writing course for freshman.

'I can tell jokes and be funny," he says. "I couldn't in my column before [with The News Times]."

He represents the university and is focused promoting and telling about it.

His advice for future journalists? "Journalism is still interesting, fun, rewarding for the soul but not financially, you can still make a living. Newspaper still has yet to figure out the future and online."

Violence against women

Yale University student, Annie Le's body was found stuffed in the wall of a research building basement. It has now been released that she was strangled. The CNN article, Yale student strangled, medical examiner says, highlights that she has died from "traumatic asphyxia due to neck compression" and a Yale University worker released after recieving DNA request. However, no one has been charged yet. In the News Times article, Technician in custody in Yale grad student slaying, police say that 150 pieces of evidence have been collected from the crime scene and over 700 hours of video footage has been collected. Although the man of interest seemed to have defense marks on him, according to the New York Post, the family say that they are cat scratch marks.

An 18 year old Hofstra University female student was raped on campus around 3 a.m. Four men were arrested and charged. On an article on newsday.com, some students claim that Hofstra didn't inform them about the rape. They learned about the attack on Facebook. Additional information was not given.

These two incidents are tragedies. New Haven and Long Island aren't too far from here. Watching the news on TV while reading these articles and writing my blog, convinces that you are not safe anywhere at all. Yale University is said to be tight knit with suvelience cameras but police are still narrowing down the suspects. This reminds me of the time when I went away for school, y first semester in Southington, my brother bought me pepperspray. Although everyone tries to be safe and defend themself, you can only do so much. I hope police are able to find out and solve both cases. Leave closure for their family, friends and people who have been affected by it.

Health care for everyone.

Obama wants to provide healthcare for everyone, even for those who cannot afford it. Without competition, the prices of insurance goes up & quality goes down. The non-profit public insurance option are for those who don't have insurance & does not effect those who already have it. Some say they can't fairly compete. Obama compares it as public universities vs. private ones.

It does not include/support abortion or illegal immigrants. He hopes to end insurance company abuse and cover more Americans. Rather than making claims and fighting against it, why don't we all just work together? And for those who can't afford coverage, provide them with a choice. No one should get in the way of what YOU and YOUR needs.

How does he expect to pay? More spending cuts with the savings he promises within the healthcare system. Just like people against the Iraq war that the last decades have spent trillion of dollars on, lets take the time to spend the money in OUR country for OUR people. Furthermore, the people against this are the same people who are against medicare and medicade. The more money we make/spend doesn't make any of us any healthier. Four decades ago, it took a lifetime of hardworkers to come up and provide medicare. Seniors shouldn't struggle to pay bills, it is a sacred trust passed down from generation to generation. Obama says not a dollar from medicare will be used to help pay for his plan. American seniors get what they were promised. Seniors... let alone, anyone should have to pay thousands of dollasr a year out of their own pocket just to live life. It's hard enough.

There's plenty of arguments to fight this. But for some reason, I believe it. My grandmother lives with me and she is on medicare. She has four or five different medications she has to take and thanks to her medicare, we pay a dollar to five dollars for one.

My brother almost lost his life at the hospital. However, he did not have any insurance although he was a full-time worker. He was allergic to some medication. He spent about two weeks in ICU. Without insurance, his hospital bill was well over $40,000. That... was the price of my car. My parents work full-time at normal everyday jobs. And there was no way they could afford to pay for it in any way, shape or form. Luckily, the hospital has many payment options and plans. They ended up helping my parents & brother pay for the bill and sent monthly payments. Not all hospitals do this. LUCKILY, Danbury hospital must take people in even if they don't have insurance. Later on, my brother was diagnosed with diabetes. He went to drop off his medication at Walmart, pick it up and the price was pretty steep. The guy asked why my brother didn't have insurance and he couldn't answer it. He just didn't have it. He's an American citizen, born and raised here, graduated and works full time. Why didn't he have insurance? he went to his job, worked things out with his supervisor, and luckily, has insurance now. Although his doctor visits are pretty often, his insurance helps him a lot.

My mother lost one of her best friends due to breast cancer, because she didn't have the money or insurance to go to the doctors.

I think people that aren't a big fan of the insurance plan are people who don't know anyone on medicare, medicade or those who are suffering with hospital bills. Instead of being against it, why don't we just share ideas of ways to IMPROVE it?

Eugene Driscoll, independent writer

Eugene Driscoll, an independent writer for Vallyindy.org described his job as the "best job" he'll ever have.

His experience in online journalism and editing allowed him to launch his website on June 22. It is a "one" man newspaper with him and another woman.

His goal is to get the word out because his deepest darkest fear is that no one will no longer care about news. He also allows people to comment on his stories. Commenters are good for page views and people that comment are so much more involved with the website. Despite those who demean journalism by causing problems, including racism.

He receives community help from influential people such as local firefighters, police department and football players. With online journalism, he says people are more understanding. What he loves about his site? That it's him.

I admired that he didn't include any AP articles and kept his writing local. He gives news as it happens and works every hour of the day. Constantly updating the website, answering questions live and still loving his job even if he has to stay up until 2 or 3 a.m. editing his own stories and having to wake up early in the morning to update or write new stories. The reaction may be slow but I believe that it will be here for awhile. Everyone lives on Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and other blog sites. His job isn't only important to himself but us too, I mean, somebody has to do it.