Marijuana law just creates criminals

In the article "Marijuana law just creates criminals" by Hakeem Jeffries talks about how it’s expensive and racist to arrest people for small amounts of marijuana. As Jeffries points out to help that cause is "50,000 people was arrested in 2011 for small amounts of marijuana, the majority of them were black and Latino." New York City spends about 75$ million dollars a year arresting people for marijuana possession. Most of the people are being stop under the "stop and frisk" policy which can be unjustified. It’s really a waste of time and the police have better things to worry about then people smoking weed. The people who are getting arrested didn't have it out in the open, and wasn't selling it so I don't see the problem.The problem is not going away but I'm not saying we should encourage it. As Jeffries say "Despite this change in law, arrests for small quantities of marijuana over the last decade have skyrocketed, with more than 400,000 people arrested and unceremoniously run through the criminal justice system. Marijuana possession is now the No. 1 arrest category in New York." I think they probably going to legalize it soon away, they already have certain laws about it so just save the money we could use it. Its getting legalized in other states recently like Colorado and Washington.

Fourth man accuses ex-Elmo puppeteer of sex abuse

In the article "Fourth man accuses ex-Elmo puppeteer of sex abuse" by Kell Kennedy talks about how  Kevin Clash resigned from Sesame Street last month after voicing the puppet Elmo for 28 years after another man sued for sexual abuse allegations. The victim is the fourth man to accuse Kevin for under age sexual activity. The three legal actions filed so far have been civil cases seeking financial compensation but the latest victim could involve criminal charges because the lawsuit claims Kevin transported him across state lines for sexual activity. "These are all vulnerable boys. None of them had father figures in their lives and they were looking for that father figure," said Herman, who represents three of the alleged victims.Herman said he's been contacted by several other possible victims and is vetting their cases. "We're confident in the actions that we took, but because this is now an issue between litigants, we're not going to comment further," said Ellen Lewis, a publicist for Sesame Street. I think this is fake and they all just want some money, one of them was suing for more then a million dollars. all the victims are at least 21 years old and older so why wait so long to finally report it. If it did happen they all knew what they was doing when engaging in those sexual acts. Why are all the victims represented by the same person. I do think Kevin Clash quitting and not responding yet is a little suspect. I just wondering who their going to get to puppeteer Elmo now.

Should 16 year-olds drive?

 

 

In the article "Should 16 year olds drive?" talks about 16 teen year olds driving because it’s a lot of teens dying in vehicle crashes every year. The state reforms included doubling the number of adult supervised hours required behind the wheel to get a driver license and tripling the length of the time a new teen driver must possess a learner's permit. Some credit those changes for significant declines in teen driving deaths in the first seven month of the year. "This is kind of the next logical step" he said of the insurance institute's push to raise the minimum age. The institute contends research shows "that licensing at later ages would substantially reduce crashes involving teen drivers. “I don’t think it matters what age you are," the Hinsdale Central High School sophomore said Monday before hitting the road for her driver's education class, "as long as you have the practice and experience." But "were still losing a lot of teens on the roads each year" Lund said. Motor vehicle crashes kill more than 5,000 teenagers every year. The example the institute uses most prominently is New Jersey, the only state with a minimum driver's license age of 17. The report cited a study from 1992-96 in which the rate of crash-related deaths among 16- and 17-year-olds was 18 per 100,000 in New Jersey, compared with 26 per 100,000 in Connecticut, which had a minimum driver's license age of 16 and 4 months. I picture myself 16 going to Dmv to get my driver license. Teen drivers can be irresponsible and distracted easy sometimes with emotional problems and constantly on their cell phones. But I do agree that you should be able to drive if you pass your test then your obvious classified. Older people get in car accidents all the time doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be able not to drive. A lot of teenagers are losing them life on the road though so I think they should find a compromise.

Marijuana legalization doesnt necessarily protect workers

In the article "Marijuana legalization doesn't necessarily protect workers" talks about how marijuana use can be dangerous for the work place. This month Colorado and Washington state agreed to make marijuana legal for recreational use. Marijuana is still a banned substance so their no rules to protect employees  in the work place. If marijuana shows up in employees system even from weeks back they still can get in trouble. some employees might not have to worry per-employment testing is rare and random testing is rarer but transporting jobs, public safety, and national employ is unlikely to flex politics. Courts across the country have upheld the right of employers to drug-test and fire workers with THC in their urine, even those with valid medical marijuana authorizations. "The issue of marijuana impairment is a really difficult issue," said Jarris. "But that's not what the federal DOT cares about, and it's not what most employers care about." "The unintended consequences are pretty worrisome at this point," said Rahr. "I've told my son and his friends: 'Don't consider it a green light on Dec. 6 unless you know what you're doing with the rest of your life.' "when I heard about this, it effecting workers was the last thing on my mind. I do think getting high before any job can be dangerous for you and everyone around you. they should have some real consequences about it though especially depending on what job you have. people should have the common sense to not show up to work depending on circumstances.

Yay! Boo! So? Reactions to Obama win vary

In the article "Yay! Boo! So? Reactions to Obama win vary" is about how voters and non-voters felt about Barrack Obama beating Mitt Romney and becoming president of the United States for four more years.

Most the people in the article were unhappy about Obama winning or didn't care who won but as you know there was people who was happy that Obama won. Chuck Rhil age 51 said "I'm not happy; I haven't had a job in over a year." Some people are worried about Obama winning because claims of empty promises, Obama care, and the Economy.

61 year old flight attendant Barbara Drucker says "I'm thrilled to death" and "I would never have voted for Romney on women's issues alone." Most voters were unhappy with Romney's opposition to funding for Planned Parenthood and PBS.

The undecided non-voters played a big part of this election too. Lisa Pierce, 30, a medical research coordinator said "Either way, they need to get their act together," and politicians are out of touch with "real life, real world" issues.

I'm happy Obama won, the first black president to be re-elected. Things personally don't really change to me no matter who's elected, if it do I just don't notice it. The main things presidents focus on is taxes, economy, and health care. I don't pay taxes, I'm not working, and other countries have free health and do fine so I don't know why America don't. I do think things would have changed if Romney won but not much.

Will Climate Change Get Some Respect Now ?

In the article "Will Climate Change Get Some Respect Now?" talks about how climate change is real and getting worst. Democrats and Republicans are really trying to avoid the subject in this campaign but hurricane sandy brought up the topic. Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York told President Obama "We have a 100-year flood every two years now". Hurricanes date back all the way to 1804 but scientists believe that rising carbon emissions could make extreme weather like hurricane sandy. We should watch out for several reasons. Computers suggest that hurricanes won’t be more frequent, but they may become stronger. "The intensity of these storms is likely to increase in this century". Climate change adds moisture to the atmosphere, which may mean that storms come with more rain and more flooding. Rising seas create higher normal sea height for future storm surges. The New York City Panel on Climate Change has projected that coastal waters may rise by two feet by 2050 and four feet by the end of the century. "For the extreme hot weather of the recent past, there is virtually no other explanation than climate change" James E. Hansen recently wrote. There are no easy solutions, but we may need to invest in cleaner energy, impose a carbon tax or other curbs on greenhouse gases, and, all above, rethink how we can reduce the toll of a changing climate. We should and been should have did something about climate change. Not sure if they don’t believe in climate change, don’t care about it, or just don’t have a solution to it but something needs to be done or we all just going to regret it in the long run.

Attention Disorder or Not, Pills to Help in School ?

In the article "Attention Disorder or Not, Pills to Help in School" By Alan Schwarz talks about doctors lying about low income patients struggling in school having A.D.H.D and giving them Adderall to do better in school.

The pill boost focus and impulse control in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. A.D.H.D is a disease but Dr. Anderson doesn’t think so but prescribes the pills to help what he says their true problem is poor academic performance. Dr. Anderson said "I don’t have a whole lot of choice" "We've decided as a society that it’s too expensive to change to change the kid's environment. So we change the kid". The idea is gaining interest among some physicians.

Experts note that wealthy students abuse stimulants to raise already good grades in high school and colleges. The low income parents with children with falling grades want their child to succeed; Dr. Anderson says "it’s just evening the scales a little bit".

They still don’t know how the drugs affect the developing of the brain. When a patient name Quinton began puberty at about 10 he started getting in to fights saying other children was talking about his mother. the problem was they wasn’t Quinton was seeing people and hearing voices that were not there, a rare but recognized side effect of Adderall. After Quinton admitted to being suicidal he spent a week in a psychiatric hospital and switched to Risperdal.

I think they shouldn’t been giving the pills in the first place. It was a bunch of steps they could have did before just prescribing the kids Adderall. If they switched Quinton to Risperdal after he started getting side effects, why didn’t he get Risperdal in the beginning. If they didn’t know how the pill affected the brain why give it to people. They had to know something was wrong if they had to lie about the kids having A.D.H.D.

90 Days without a Cell Phone, Email or Social Media

In the article “90 Days without a Cell Phone, Email or Social Media” by Brad Sylvester is about Jake Reilly, a 24-year-old copywriting student at the Chicago Portfolio School living with no electronic conveniences such as email, text, instagram, twitter and more.

It’s well known as “the Amish project”, from October to December he unplugged from social media, email, texts, etc. because he felt like we wasn’t spending enough time with the people we care about.

 This article is basically an interview where Sylvester ask Reilly a number of questions about what he learned from his experience and how it change his life. Sylvester asks him questions like what steps did he take to prepare himself? Did he ever cheat or check what messages came in? Have finishing this make your life different? What else did you learn?

Reilly says he prepared his self by “suspended service for my cell phone. I deactivated Facebook. I deactivated Twitter, deactivated Linked-In, deactivated Spotify, and anything where there was a social component. I put up an out-of-office on both of my email accounts, like, “I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but I won’t receive this until the end of the year.”

Reilly never went back on any of the social stuff. There were a few times when the bank would send me email verification but he said “I genuinely didn’t want to see what was there, because once you look you’ve got an urge to read it”.

“It’s definitely different, but I catch myself doing exactly what I hated.” “I think that’s what my biggest thing is: There’s not so much chasing for me now. I’m here now, and let’s just enjoy this. You can be comfortable with yourself and not have to go to the crutch of your phone. For me, that’s more what I will take away from this.” Reilly said.

I personally think this is really cool and makes a lot of good points. I would be open to be doing it but do think it’s going to hard. In my opinion everyone should do this and maybe we could all get more connected.

Texting Taking A Toll ? Niz Khalifa !

In the article “Texting May Be Taking A Toll” by Katie Hafner talks about how texting is hurting kids. First it talks about how the average teenager send 2,272 text messages per month also how is worrying physicians and psychologists cause they could get anxiety, falling grades, sleep deprivation etc. They also did surveys in two high schools where students admit to texting in class, proving it is a big distraction for kids and teachers say they don’t how to stop it. Then go on to say how texting is effecting how kids are growing up and helping them separate from their parents. Later on says texting is also taking a toll on teenager’s thumbs because a 15 year old ninth-grader got painful cramps in thumbs and has an iphone now but text slower. I personally I think that this article is extremely over rated to make texting really bad for you. Some of these conditions are worst case sernieros that rarely happen to anyone and don’t know in what way how texting is helping you separate from your parents the article didn’t really show any examples on that. But I do agree with some points it can be real distracting for some teenagers and a little time consuming.

Cheating

In the article Studies Find More Students Cheating, With High Achievers No Exception by Richard Perez-Pena, in the NY Times states that cheating has reached a large-scale.
  Experts say the reason is cheating has become easier and tolerated. Cheating always been a problem but now a days with the internet and phones reached a new high.
   Their saying the ones who don’t even need to cheat are because they feel pressured to do well in school by their parents, could it be the parents fault for pressuring or teachers for tolerating?
    Teachers don’t really care how u get the answers and don’t tell you what you can or can’t do. Turns out half the ways students do get their answer are cheating and don’t know it.
     I personally don’t think cheating is that big of a problem but I do think it is tolerated.