Supreme Court Divided On Same-Sex Marriage

supreme court same sex marriage

Today was a historic day at the Supreme Court where the 9 justices discussed and were divided over the controversial issue of same-sex marriage.  The two questions that were brought before the court were whether or not states can refuse to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples and whether or not states can refuse to recognize same-sex marriage performed elsewhere. The court was extremely divided with 4 justices who were in favor of a constitutional change for same-sex marriage and 4 justices who didn't know if changes centuries of president was a proper thing to do.  In my opinion I don't think anything should matter.  Now I'm not saying pro-same-sex marriage or anti-same-sex but why does it matter? I can't understand why people care about other peoples lives so much.  If a person wants to be someone it should matter if that person is gay, straight, black, white, yellow, brown or blue.  Every person in this country should have the same rights as everyone else.  I think some people really need to get a life and stop being so concerned with how others want to live their lives.

Obama Condemns Violence In Baltimore

obama condemns violence in baltimore

President Obama was quoted in saying that there is "no excuse" for the rioting in Baltimore on Monday night.  The rioting was a form of violent protest in reaction to the death of a 25 year old black man named Freddie Grey.  Freddie Grey died from a severe spinal injury while he was in police custody.  There were over 200 hundred arrests in baltimore last night due to the rioting.  Along with looting, there were over 140 vehicles and 15 buildings that were set on fire.  All of this violence cause d a state of emergency.  Now by no means do I believe that any of this is right but I understand it.  The African-American community has always been big victim to police brutality and it continues to this day.  So I can understand why many African-American citizens are doing what they are doing.  Maybe it is because these people feel as if they have no other option because the legal system has failed them over and over again. My suggestion to the rioters would be that if they really want to obtain justice the only way to do so is by peaceful protest.  Take it from the people that have done it best.  Dr. Matin Luther King paved the way and showed that through strong will, civil disobedience and the hunger for justice anything can happen.

Dr. Oz Will Not Be Silcenced

Dr. Oz Will Not Be Silenced

The very famous Dr. Oz has been catching a lot of criticism from a group of 10 successful doctors telling him he should resign from Columbia University.  In the clip that is a part of this article, Dr. Oz focuses on how the 1st Amendment and the freedom of speech is one of the most important rights as an American and he will not be intimidated by people trying to silence him.  This is a very relevant topic in this seminar class. Freedom of speech is one of the most important rights any of us have.  Men and women have died to protect our right of freedom of speech and nobody, famous or not, should have that right taken away.  Very happy for Dr. Oz standing up for one of his most basic and important rights.  More people need to follow his lead in this day and age.  I feel as if people allow themselves to be silenced and that should never happen.  So thank you Dr. Oz for being the 1st Amendment topic of the week.

New Low For Walmart?

New Low For Walmart?

Last week Walmart randomly shut down 5 of their stores which put over 2,000 people out of work.  They said that the stores needed to be shut down due to very severe plumbing issues. Although Walmart says that it is due to plumbing issues the real reason is to punish workers for protesting for a higher wage.  The workers were awarded two-months pay after lay off.  By mid-june these workers will be out of work unless they can find a job at a new location.  To me this is ridiculous that Walmart would pull a stunt like this. Workers are being punished for wanting a higher wage for the jobs they work because they believe they are under paid.  I believe that things like this should be illegal and hopefully faces strong repercussions.  The United Food and Commercial union filed an injunction with the National Labor Relations Board on behalf of Walmart to help workers not lose their jobs.  Hopefully this works out because this is a terrible thing to do to the people who help make your business successful.

Cyber Security Failure

This Sums Up The Utter Failure of Cyber Security

Today I stumbled upon and article that shocked me.  I was looking for a Cyber Security article to write about and found "This Sums Up The Utter Failure of Cyber Security".  Jeff Moss, a former hacker who advises the Department of Homeland Security was quoted saying, “The security industry is sort of like the Band-Aid industry, We apply better, faster, bigger Band Aids….But we’re not really fixing the patient.”  To me this is shocking for a person who is very involved with this nations Cyber Security to say.  This is eye opening and needs to be corrected.  As a citizen of the United States we cannot allow this to happen.  Some of the most major corporations have been getting attacked that hold some of the most important information in the entire world.  Cyber Security in the United States is one of our largest concerns moving forward.  

Klansville USA

In class we watched a documentary called "Klansville USA" and it was about the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1960's in response to the rising of Civil Rights.  It is primarily about the North Carolina chapter of the Ku Klux Klan.  In two years of operation this organization grew from nothing to over ten-thousand members.  This documentary did not focus on the hardcore KKK but the group from North Carolina which seemed to be very organized and politically minded.  It also talks primarily about the organizations leader Bob Jones.  This documentary was very eye opening to me.  I always just looked at the KKK as a bunch of red-necked idiots who kill and terrorize innocent African Americans simply because their skin color is black.  The particular Klan that is highlighted in this documentary seemed to be a group of ordinary and simple white people who just wanted to have their voice heard.  They also seemed to be non-violent.  I guess in a certain way you cannot blame these types of people.  Back then white people who were in the middle class and up were very open-minded about African Americans making a name for themselves in society.  It was those white people who were now at the bottom of the barrel who felt like they were being attacked.  I feel like this was a perfect storm for the blossoming of the KKK in North Carolina, white people who wanted to be heard and a strong willed leader in Bob Jones.  But at the end of the day Bob Jones was just a crook and you can't build a house on bad foundation.

Plessy v. Ferguson

In class we held a mock trial for the case Plessy v. Ferguson.  This case is about a man, Homer Plessy, who was put in jail because he was an African American man riding inside of the "White's Only" train car.  This was an incident where civil rights activists purposely had Homer Plessy sit in the white's only car although he identified himself as an African American.   Lawyers on Plessy's side tried to argue that this was a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.  Although they make a fair argument, the "separate but equal" doctrine was upheld.  Thinking about this in our day and age is ridiculous.  It still to this day shocks me that a group of people were discriminated against and still are discriminated against simply because they have a different skin color.  Although African Americans are still discriminated against today the progress that has been made has been tremendous.    This case is proof of how far we have come as a society.  It is hard to believe that not too long ago if I was riding on a bus or a train that there would be different sections for myself and African Americans.  Thank you to the two teams in class that did a great job displaying this trial for us.

Los Angeles Police Shoot Unarmed Homeless Man

Los Angeles police shoot, kill man on the ground 



Early this morning I witnessed a very disturbing video.  What I witnessed was 5 to 6 police officers trying to detain a man who is apparently homeless and might quite possibly also have mental issues.  He was trying to fight them off and the police officers had multiple tasers on the man trying to control the situation.  But then out of nowhere all you can hear is 3 to 5 gunshots and the man was dead.  All the police officers backed off and many very upset citizens surrounded them trying to contest what had just been done.  They wanted their questions answered.  Was it just for that police officer to shoot and kill that unarmed man? Were the 5 officers tackling and tasing him not enough? This situation did not have to get this far and in my opinion the police officer shot and killed this unarmed man and he was not within his rights as a police officer.

In my opinion it becomes an

issue when police officers

have too much power and they

feel like they cannot be touched.

Now in no way and I against cops,

but what happened in this video

is unacceptable.  This police officer

did not have the right to shoot and 

kill that man on that day.  Something

must be done about this.  We can not

Live in a society where bad cops

can shoot and kill people and hide

behind their badges.  I say bad

cops because not all cops are

bad cops.  With the exception of a few,

many police officers are good 

people and try to do the right

thing and genuinely care about

the public and will fight to 

protect it.  

I think what happened is truly a tragedy.  A man died at the hands of a police officer who had no right in his actions.  I hope that this police officer is brought to justice because this was a despicable act.  My last thought on this topic is something to think about. Isn't it weird that when you see police officers you feel nervous instead of safe? When you're driving in your car and can see a police officer in the review you suddenly become scared? I think its time for a little change.  

Los Angeles Police Shoot and kill man on the ground

State v. Mann

My group, team trippy, was elected to be on the side of John Mann in the case State v. Mann.  During preparation for this mock trial, my fellow group members and myself researched the case and got a good understanding of the entire case.  The case was about a slave owner, John Mann, who shot and killed a disobedient slave, Lydia, and was charged and found guilty of battery.  This case was brought to the Supreme Court of North Carolina.  The case was gone over again and they ruled in favor of John Mann and declared that slaveowners have absolute power of there slave.

My team defended John Mann in the Mock Trial

and obviously won because the outcome 

was predetermined.  We reiterated that since

Lydia was a slave owned by John Mann, 

he had absolute power because she was his 

slave and his property.  He has the right to

do whatever he would like to any slave

that he owns.  The defense of the people

on the side of the state made a compelling

argument that since Lydia is a person that

this is unjust and she is more than just a 

piece of property.  This argument was shot

down by the court and we won the case.

In being a part of this mock trial it just showed how truly disgusting slavery was.  It was one of the most horrible things that has ever been apart of this Country's history.  But we have to remember it is history and you can not just undo something that was so serious.  I guess you could say that their is good and bad in everything.  At least we can be thankful that we live in a society that does not tolerate discrimination and stands up for what is right and just.(sometimes)

Cyber(security?)

The Interview was one of the most controversial movies released in the past decade.  This movie was about two hollywood journalist that set up an interview with the Leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, and assassinate him as they were instructed to by the United States Government.  As one can imagine, North Korea and leader Kim Jong-un didn't think that this comedy-action, made by the duo of James Franco and Seth Rogan, was all that funny.  A few days before the movie was to release in select theaters, Sony, the company that produced the movie, was hacked by unknown hackers.  Their is a large reason the believe that the people responsible for this hacking were North Korea.  Although this is one of the biggest public hacking to date, Cyber-Security violations and attacks are nothing new.  There are many instances of Cyber attacks on the United States and the impact of these attacks have been devastating on an economic and national interest level.  Many financial institutions have been targeted numerous times by a handful of criminal enterprises.  According to this article written by Senator John McCain, the defense sector of our government has seen an onslaught of attacks trying to siphon off information that will undermine national security.  Astonishingly their is a Chinese hacking enterprise that is traceable to a single, government-run building in Shanghai.  Indictments of five members of China's People's Liberation Army have lead to the revealing of China's attempts to hack into many businesses in many different industries in hopes of stealing intellectual property.  Because of cyber crime and espionage, it reportedly cost the global economy $445 billion annually.  Through all of this and the recent attack on Sony, it has shattered the idea that any of our personal information and data is actually personal.  Due to the fact that Sony was hacked they canceled the national theater release of The Interview and it was made only available online or in local independent theaters.  When things of this nature happen that means that the enemy wins.  These cyber hackers are almost encouraged by this countries failure to make strategy to respond to this epidemic of cyber attacks.  As time passes this issue will just become bigger and bigger, so I suggest the United States get on it or get used to it.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/20/opinion/mccain-cyber-attacks/index.html