Under the Banner of Heaven: Post 2 of 5

As i continue to read through the book I can't help to wonder if there might be a hint of mormonism in me. On Christmas day I went and the saw "Little Fockers" and it shows Robert De Niro trying to finish a family tree that he has dating back to the 1600s. At the end of the movie Dustin Hoffman informs De Niro that he is 1/23rd Jewish. This also makes me wonder since there are so many Mormons out there, based on polygamy and reproduction rate, and that mormonism was actually created in Illinois, perhaps maybe I am 1/23rds Mormon. Its a possibility. It is an unfortunate possibility. Basically, the book has went into more discussion about plural marriages and all of the under the table illegaliest that go on in these FLDS clans. I cannot explain how these family trees work but in one case a woman becomes her own step-grandmother because of how she marries and re-marries and her kids marry and brothers marry and sisters and fathers and so on. It is a gross practice which leads to incest. Krakauer explains how a lot of the women in these clans are raped by the time they are 10 because of the religious practice not allowing pre-marritial sex. In the 4th chapter of the book it explains the recent story of Elizabeth Smart, the 14 year old girl who was abducted into a plural marriage. This was a very interesting chapter because I remember exactly when this was going on and hearing the stories about it. It happened in 2002, and it is a very interesting case because she had opportunities to escaped but she did not want to because she was brainwashed by the abductors mormon teachings. Her abductor, Brian Mitchell, was just recently convicted of the crimes, which also makes this interesting because it is almost current. There isn;t much really to say about the people, except that they are looney tunes. It is interesting because in the U.S. Constitution one of our first rights is the freedom of religion and that should allow the mormons to practice the religion in the way they believe it with plural marriages and what not, but then in the law it is illegal to be married to more than one person, and incest is definetly illegal, so it is a very confussing situation, and which means more than the other. I would figure that the freedom of religion is more important, but if my religion tells me to kill a bunch of people then I should not have that freedom, and this is something that will be touched on later in the book I believe. It is a very interesting debate that I am going to keep reading more about. I will have another post in a few days.

A Very Merry Christmas Blog

HoHoHo, you are all in for a very special treat today. Our very own Gato Claus is in for his once a year visit giving the stars the gifts that they have deserved this year, based of course upon the issues discussed so far in class this year. Not only does this cover the issues but this has the athletes we all hate and love getting the presents they deserve. Ok so now that you all know what the Gato Claus does, lets get down to business.

The first person to receive a present this year is my boy Timmy Tebow of the Denver Broncos. Being handed over the starting job by the fact that Kyle Orton is just miserable means he deserves some face time. Timmy gets this for a very special reason. In our more recent discussions we have been talking about abortions and whether or not they should be legal or illegal. Well Tim being the evengelical he is, we know that he is associated with Focus on the Family and therefore also pro-life. Tim has also announced to the entire world that he was a mistake, during the superbowl last year it was in an ad for the pro-life organization Focus on the Family. Tim also has assured us, in a press conference of course, that he is still a virgin and in fact saving himself for marriage. Well the Gato Claus would love to offer him a special present, for safe times during this christmas. Under his tree this year, Tim will be receiving a box of condoms and a prescription of birth control for his lady friend because that is the right thing to do. The starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos should be allowed to enjoy himself and not have to worry about pregnancy issues.

Next up is the always hated LeBron James. Although freedom of speech is a right we in America have theses days, after his charade he pulled on ESPN earlier this year announcing that he would be taking his "talents" to South Beach, he should be stripped of all speaking privelages. Thus under LeBron's christmas tree this year he will be finding a muzzle because nobody wants to hear him talk anymore. We are all tired of LeBron and we all know that he isn't going to win a championship, so when that time comes he can just strap that muzzle on and we won't have to listen to him speak. It is a good deal for everyone.

Lastly the Gato Claus will be stealing all of Brett Favre's presents and just leave a big ole lump of coal under his christmas tree because well, that is what he deserves after the year he has. The sexting incident reveiled, the comeback, the failed comeback. He just deserves this big pile of coal under his tree, and that is what he will be getting.

This was this years special edition of the Gato Claus, now back to a movie and chinese food, because that is how my family rolls on Christsmas.

Sidenote:  None of these presents (i.e. the pack of condoms) are supposed to offend anyone. Sorry ahead of time if they do.

Under the Banner of Heaven: Post 1

Under the Banner of Heaven written by Jon Krakauer is a book that jumps back and forth between the religion of Fundamentalist Mormonism (FLDS) and a story about Mormon brothers who murdered a woman and her infant child based on what they believed was a comandment from God. So far, through two chapters it has not yet touched upon the story of the Lafferty brothers. Thus far, it has basically explained the story of the split in the Mormon relgion between FLDS and LDS (Church of Latter Day Saints) and has given some background to mostly the FLDS and their beliefs. Basically from what Krakauer is telling us, I have learned that the FLDS believers are a bunch of kooks. I would like to start with a man they called "Uncle Rulon". He started the FLDS sect in Colorado City as an 82 year old accountant. People, mainly himself, believed him to be the prophet, closely related to Joseph Smith, creator of the mormon religion. His beliefs are almost amish like, the people of the religion are not allowed to use an electricity. If they are caught breaking the rules of the religion, their wives and childeren (they are thought to be possesions of the religion, not the husband) will be given to another man, more worthy. The stories that have been told in this book so far explain of old men who have married multiple wives, as many as 72 that i have heard of, with as many as 200 offspring. These men have married some off these woman at very young ages like thirteen and fourteen. Thus by the laws of the United States making these men rapists and pedophiles. Basically cheating the government for money living off a welfare checks that are not needed because the sister wives, as they are called, are by the states considered single mothers. So far there has not been much worth talking about besides the fact that this religion is very crazy and that the men and woman who have been able to get out of the religion are very lucky people. I am very interested to read on because I want to hear about this commandment from God. I'll hit you back with another post when I get done reading the next section.

Abortion: To Have or Not to Have?

NARAL: Pro-Choice America v. National Right to Life are having the fight over abortions once again. This is a never ending debate that should be put to rest. Abortions were created for the purpose of getting rid of unwanted babies and that shouldn't be changed. NARAL had better arguments than Natural Right to Life. The only argument that Natural Right to Life had was that life begins inside the the whom, and the only reason they say that is because that argument is backed by religion. People who are pro-life are the very conservative religious people. These are the crazy people who also believe in abstinence to prevent pregnancy. On the other side of things, NARAL has made the argument that abortions are needed for when a girl gets pregnant by rape and by incest. Those two reasons alone are reason enough to keep abortions legal. NARAL is winning the debate because at this point they have not be able to get rid of abortion nation wide, and it does not look like that is going to change just quite yet. National Right to Life was not able to sway my opinion what so ever, my opinions are very strong on the idea.
As an 18 year old, I believe, as I stated above, abortions should be legal. There are many circumstances in which they need to be used, and they cannot just take a way that option. Some pro-life groups say that if you cannot support the child then you give them up for abortion but who says that life is not going to be worse. Sometimes you have to make tough choices. I think that if the girl is under the age of 18 then the parents need to consent to the abortion but if the girl is legally of age then she is able to make the decision on her own without parental consent. I just think that if you are still under the residency of your parents they have the right to know. 18 year olds are old enough to vote, therefore they are old enough to get an abortion without parental consent.
In regards to the father, he does not need to consent, it is not his body that will be going through the change and perhaps he was a one time thing that girl never sees again. You can't expect the girl to keep the baby because of this.
I agree with the Illinois Abortion Law, it all seems fair and reasonable. I agree with the law that says the parental consent is needed for a minor. This is a good law because girls under the age of 18 are not ready to handle these decisions alone. They should be allowed to make their own decision and all in all it should be the girl's choice and nobody Else's.
The main problem I have with the pro-lifers is that they are all religion freaks. I cannot handle all this Jesus this Jesus that Bologna. America is not a religion specific country so the evangelicals from Focus on the Family should not be telling the Jewish girls that they cannot have abortions because Jesus wasn't aborted. Abortion is a one by one circumstantial decision. Each girl has a different case than the other and that is why it should be their decision and nobody Else's. The great thing about being Pro-Choice, is that you are pro choice. That means you are for the choice of abortion, it doesn't mean you have to get an abortion every time you are pregnant, it just means you like to have the choice. Everyone is technically is pro-choice, it just so happens that all of the pro-lifers choose to be in favor of having the baby, that is their prerogative.
That's enough with this, the pro-lifers should be embarrassed when they use Mel Gibson as part of their argument to make abortion illegal.

Domingo Beisbol Academy

I would like to take the opportunity to let you know the that The Katz Meow blog site is a proud supporter of Domingo Ayala and the Domingo Beisbol Academy. Check out his videos and credentials at domingobeisbol.com

Death Penalty 101

Welcome to Death Penalty 101:
Here are the main points of interest for today's class.

• Due to the stages of the capital crime process everything that takes place after the penalty phase trial and before the execution are in place to protect the rights of the accused. Technically the guilt phase and the penalty phase of the trial are also in place to protect the rights of the accused, but the technical defenition of "guilty beyond a reasonable doubt" has sort of disappeared these days and therefore does not protect the rights of the accused anymore. After the penalty phase you have all of the appeal phases including the direct appeal, the post-conviction review, federal habeus corpus, and the clemency phase, are all appeals that are there to make sure that the accused actually deserves to be sentenced to death. Those all are in place to insure that the right decision was made. Even though all those processes are in place to make sure that the right decision is made, there seems to still be the few innocent people being sentenced to death and some even receiving the death penalty. Therefore I still think that the system is a flaud system and that it is insufficient.
• Of the methods of execution used by the U.S. there is only one humane method. That is the execution by lethal injection. The reason that this is humane and the others are not is because this one is the one with no pain involved. The criminal is given an injection in each arm and it slowly puts them to sleep and then kills them. The other methods, those being hanging, fire squad, gas chamber, and electrocution, should all be considered cruel and unusual by definition of the 8th amendment. They all involve a painful death and therefore should be banned. Especially the execution by gas chamber, that is of too much resemblence of the Holocaust, and therefore should be the first abolished. All of them should be abolished but if there is one that were to stay, it should be lethal injection.
• I believe that when you want to look for a conclusion to come to about the death penalty you need to date all the way back to pre-Civil War to get the conclusion. It is still really the battle between the North and the South. It is no surprise that the states that have the most death row inmates and also the most executions are the states of the South. Texas, Virginia, Oklahoma, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, and Louisianna are all in the top of the statistics when it comes to inmates and use. It tells us that the North will always be the North and that the South will always be the South. What I mean by this is that things will never change. Since the 1800s we have been fighting slavery and racism. It was thought to have been overcome after the North won the Civil War and Lincoln abolished slavery, it wasn't. It was thought to be overcome after the civil rights movement and after everyone was considered to be equal. Guess what... it wasn't. There is still racism that goes on, and you can see it in the judicial system, being that most of the inmates on death row are black, and that the states with the most inmates and most executions are the southern states (i.e. the one's who were in favor of slavery).
• In comparison to the demographics of the U.S. the number of blacks on death row, although less than whites, is still a higher percentage of their population. By this I mean that there are more whites in the U.S. then blacks but that the percentage of whites on death row to number of whites in America is less than the percentage of blacks on death row in comparison to blacks in America. In recent years the numbers in favor of the death penalty have decreased, the population is quickly turning against it. The reason for this is that people are finally realizing that the death penalty is actually costing them more money than holding them in jail. Since America is a country based on making and saving money, that is a huge determining factor is whether it stays or goes. The Death Penalty center is cleary against the death penalty being that is shows all the stats about money against the death penatly. It might be convincing to those who believe otherwise, but for those like myself who already know that the death penalty should be abolished, the facts are only reassuring. They should explain to people how holding the inmates in jail costs much less than when they convicted go through the appeals process and then the actual cost of the executions. It would make a very convincing argument.

That is all for this discussion, you are now dismissed from today's lecture on Issues in the American society. Tune in next time when I will be discussing the next topic that Mr. Kramer asks us to discuss. I have to get back to watching Sunday Night Football on NBC.

Death Penalty #1 Re:

Clifford Boggess, was a murderer. He admitted to doing it. He was waiting on death row for the last of his appeals, and the only thing he could try and prove was that he was not worthy of the death penalty. He had to try and prove that he was a changed man, through his paintings and his bible studies. Clifford Boggess was a mentally unstable man, and I think that is something that should have been seen. He killed without any guilt at the time, and after the fact, years later, he hopes for the families forgiveness. Claiming to have found God, he thinks that when he gets to heaven the people he murdered are just going to forgive him. Even if that was possible, I don't think that was going to happen. In his last days, Boggess was happier then ever, accepting death, he was ready to go. He took advantage of the moment, finishing his last paintings. He had potential with those paintings, in which if he was able to keep doing I believe that there was some promise. But Clifford Boggess life had come to an end, on his birthday, the day he chose. He felt it was sort of symbolic for him to go out on the same day he came in. Clifford Boggess was given the death penalty, lethal injection, and the families of his victims were there to watch. Some of his last words were "Remember today that I'll be with Jesus in paradise." Clifford Boggess was a mentally insane man, his belief of finding God, was actually more reason to believe that he was insane. He did not deserve the death penalty, nobody does, he deserved to be sentence to the care of a mental institution because the guy was unstable. I think the fact that years later he still hadn't accepted that his murders were wrong, and that he was just going to be forgiven by the families, is the main factor that his appeals of death penalty were not held up. If he had actually learned something on his time in death row, then maybe, but he did not show any improvement, besides his artwork and his religous belief. I think originally the families were anticipating the day and wanted this guy to get what he deserved, but when it was all over, I don't think they felt the same way walking on of the building. They seemed disturbed and they think that he got the easy way out. The death penalty is creul, it is not the easy way out. The two main mitagating factors in this case are that he tries to prove to the jury that he is changed through his art and through religion. As he awaits the death penalty he has become a born again Christian and claims to have found Jesus. And his paintings, which he does of life on death row, he sells by having pen pals. The problem is that the aggrivating factors of the case are to strong on the jury. The thought that he had not learned the wrong in what he had done is strong enough for the jury to uphold the sentence.
This is where my real opinions come out to play:
Clifford Boggess was a terrible man, who killed old men with no real cause except to put money in his pockets. What he did was so terrible that he may have been worthy of capital punishment. Here is the opinion. NOBODY DESERVES THE DEATH PENALTY! It is cruel and it is basically saying that you killed someone, we are going to kill you now, on this date at this time. Nobody deserves to die that way. If there is really a God, which is in question, then it will all be made up for in the long run. Death for these actions should not be considered the easy way out, it is inhumane and that is what is in question. Clifford Bogges although his actions are terrible and horrific, he should not have gotten the death penalty.