Video Games

Video Games are a very popular product among our youth today. Not only are male teens playing these current games, but also people between the ages of 21 and 35. I myself am not a big "gamer", but a lot of my friends are. It is amazing how much time say my roommate can spend in front of the screen killing people. The graphics these days in the current games are unbelieveable. In some of the games on Xbox and playstation 3 you feel like you are in a real life situation. So how do kids realize the difference between this violence and violence in real life. Some parents don't even know what their kids are playing. They are murdering people left and right in the game and think nothing of it. I feel that some of the violence these days is contributed to these violent video games that are on the market today. Some kids spend almost all of their waking day playing these games. When this occurs what goes through their minds afterward?

McCain ralley in Durango, CO.

On Friday, October 24, 2008 John McCain along with his wife made an appearance in our town of Durango, Colorado. The ralley was supposed to start at 5:00 p.m. but did not start until around 6:20. After waiting in line around the Durango High School for around two and a half hours we finally got into the football field where the ralley was taking place. Out on the streets was total chaos. People were yelling, marching, and waving Obama sayings with signs up and down the blocks. There was a mixture of McCain and Obama supporters standing all over the place. There was 32 blocks filled with Obama supporters. According to a New York Times reporter who has followed McCain and his team around said that out of all the ralleys Durango had the "most" Obama supporters. At the ralley here in Durango there were more people than the ralley in Denver. I would say that there were at least 2,000 people if not more in the stadium. Two people were injured as we all know. A young female driver hit an older man and a younger woman, and then vanished or at least tried to. The ralley was worth going to, but i don;t know if i would wait that long to go to another one. 

Tiger basketball player

Pierre Henderson Niles is one heavy guy to play for the Memphis tigers. He acutually cannot play for the team unless he looses 70 pounds. Pierre is too heavy according to the NCCA rules. He is currently at 350 pounds and he needs to get to 280 pounds. He even has a uniform made for him at the weight of 280 pounds. And his coach said that if he was 300 pounds the uniform would rip when he put it on. He has been practicing with the team at 300lbs. but still needs to loose that extra twenty pounds in order to play. He has until November 18, 2008 to loose a couple extra pounds so he will be capable of playing. The opeing for the basketball seaon right after then we will see what happens.

Two states let inmates vote!

The only two states this year that are letting inmates vote in are Vermont and Maine. That is because no one in the states can bring up or remember when some one has committed "election fraud." A lot fo the inmates said the the crime preventing them from voting was murder. This is not the case. The inmates that are getting the chance to vote acutallu feel as if they have or are treated liked normal citizens. Meaning that they have some of the basic rights of a US citizen. Not all prisonsers are doing it says Jeffrey Merril who is the warden of the maximum security Maine state prison. A lot of the guys in the prisons feel as if they are treated beneath other individuals. Well if you did committ a crime and are in prison what do you expect? You are locked up as a prisoner...you don't have many right when you in jail! The prisons are trying to get the inmates involved in a possitive and responsible way by incouraging others to vote. In Vermont when you vote you receive some sort of prize or you basically forfit the right to vote.

Media powerpoint projects

I thought that these presentations were very worth while and people made some very interesting points. I liked how it was in groups and every person got to say or present on their topic. How would all of us gotten through these presentations without youtube? The presentaions showed some very important and interesting topics of our current day. We all our so very much surrounded by the media, and these presentations were some good examples of how we are. I enjoyed all of these presentations and it was cool to work with some new people i did not know.

Man receives life in prison

A man in Burlington, Vermont was convicted of killing a college senior after he came in contact with her. Brian Rooney who was a 38 year old construction worker and a father of three said he did not kill the victim. On the sentencing which was today 10/17/2008 Rooney said that he is not the man responisble for this killing. He said it saddens him to say this. The girl Gardner Quinn was twenty one years old and had just transfered to the University of Vermont when she came in contact with Rooney on a downtown Birlington street on October 7, 2006. Her cell phone was dead and asked if she could use Rooney's. Both of them had been seen on a surveillance camera by a jewelry store, but then they disappeared after that. Her half dressed body was found six days later covered with leaves and stuffed into a rock crevice. There was DNA evidence found from Rooney's semen inside of Quinn's body. Quinn was sexually assaulted, beaten, and then strangled. And Rooney is still is saying he did not do this. I can't believe that there are people like this.

Connecticut Supreme court rules gay marriages OK

In Hartford, CN the supreme court ruled today that gay couples have the right to marry, which makes the state the third behind Massachusetts and California to legalize such unions through the courts. This ruling came just weeks before California residents went to the polls on a historic gay marriage ballot question. This is the first time that the issue or question was put on the the ballots. Connecticut's court ruled 4-3 that gay and lesbian couples cannot be denied the freedom to marry under the state constitution. This was a logical step for state, which passes laws affirming and protecting civil unions. A couple said Thursday " were thrilled, were absolutely overjoyed." They are finally going to be able after 33 years to get married. I wonder if any other state will come and legalize gay marriages within the next year or so. So far there are three out of 50 states where gay marriages are legal. What do you think on this issue???

Bush + administration to save market instbility

President bush announced Wednesday that he along with his admistration would act and buy parts in bank in order to save the already troubled economy. He said along with his "plan" that the government's financial rescue plan was agressive enough and big enough to work well, but it might take some time to take effect. Bush said "we can solve this crisis and we will." President Bush spoke in Washinton to the leaders of the top enconomies came together dealing with frozen credit markets, and panic selling in stock markets as well as a looming global recession. Bush added that major western countries were in route to working together to try and stabilize markets and end the spreading panic. Bush thinks that we as a world are in this financial disaster together and we will get out of it together. The U.S. , Japan, Britain, Germany, Italy, Canada, and France were all here for the weekend meeting. Bush is planning to meet with them this Saturday. Many americans are very worried about their economic future, and this does not help to try and solve the issue. I wonder how Bush may feel or think for some what leading us into this economic disaster? What has he done well that has helped the U.S. economically? Does anyone want to see a change in our country for the next four to eight years??? I sure do! Please vote on someone with much more knowledge than John Macain...and that will better lead our country into a better place! Barack Obama!

Fed. Reserve to buy massive amounts of debt!

This morning the Federal Reserve announced that it was going to buy massive amounts of "credit clog debt" in order to try and save the nation's economy. The Fed. Reserve has the power during emergency times to buy commercial paper or money in other words in order to to make things more "stable." The buying of commercial paper is something that companies do on day to day operations like buying supplies and making payrolls. Before the economy fell around $100 billion of these IOU's were given out at any time. They were sold by large companies to buyers of mutual funds, pension funds, and a variety of other investors. Usually people only buy these papers or money overnight or for a couple of days. Investors are not sure weather they want to put their money any where right now until the economy is much more stable. Many companies are very vulnerable to this whole situation. The purpose of this plan is to provide the government a "bankstop" that would help companies find a new way to get cash. I hope evrything works out with our economy becuase evn before this people were already struggling. And even if this financial crisis comes through the money is not going to the people who need it the most. It will go to the most wealthy, and not anyone else.

VP Debate tonight 10/2/08 @ 7

Don't forget to watch the VP debate tonight starting at 7. Wheather you are a republican or democrat you should watch the debate to see where you stand or might stand. Also if you are 18 years of age or older...please register to vote. Your vote does count no matter who you vote for. I think everyone in this into to mass communications class is 18 or older so this shouldn't be an issue. The deadline is this upcoming monday! That means that you people who have not registered need to get off your ass and go to the CUB lunch room and REGISTER!!! 

A Friend? or not?

This past Friday night my roomate was out at a party next door to our place. He came back when my girlfriend and i were watching a movie. He was completely belidgerent drunk. The next thing we here is someone at our door cursing him (our room mate) out. This guy next door claims that our room mate has stolen his laptop in which he is holding. Our friend says he had nothing to do with it or anything on that sort. We all go to bed and in the morning we ask where is Chad? I have to go to work, and when we get home still no word from him. It ends up that he was arrested and held on a $25,000 bond in the La Plata County jail. Our room mate stole 3,000 dollars worth of video game materials. We cannot speak with him so we ask the guy whos things were stolen. He says that he admitted to stealing his laptop plus other things and gives the police man a backpack loaded with stolen items. He made two different trips back to this person's place. The worst thing was is he lied to us about how he himself paid rent. He said that he paid for over half of his rent and it turns out his parents pay for all of it. I spoke with his parents and they told me eveything. They were astonished they he would do such a thing. The thing is this is not the first time that he has done such a thing. The moral of this is don't trust a firend too much. You never know how much you really know him even from living with him.