Category: general news

Stuff having to do with the news in general.

My First Mock Trial

rangerthecatLeave a comment

On Thursday in my Law and Society class, my class had our first mock trial. We were introduced to the idea of it the week before, and were given a whole packet of information about the case and the testimonies of witnesses. We read over it all to get a better understanding of the case.

The basic outline of the case was playing off the story Hansel and Gretel.

In this incident, they walked into a Gingerbread House shop, owned by Ms. Crueller, with the hopes of finding a job. But then, they broke some gingerbread houses, and were was a misunderstanding where Ms. Crueller ended up in her hot oven with burns on her arms, and the children ran away. Ms. Crueller pressed charges on these children, including aggravated battery, criminal mischeif, and petit theft.

We were broken into teams of the defense and prosecution; I was on the side of the defense, and was acting as an attorney. I gave the opening statement, and also cross examined the prosecution’s witnesses. There were 2 other attorneys on my team, one of which did direct questions to our witnesses, and another that did more cross examination and the closing argument. There were also 3 people acting as the witnesses, Hansel and Gretel Schmidt, and also a local shop owner that knew Ms. Crueller and met Hansel and Gretel, and thought they were good kids.

I was so intimidated in the beginning – I absolutely hate public speaking. It made it much worse, also, after the opposing team’s attorney gave their opening statement. It was much longer than mine, and he was much more confident. But I did put in hard work and effort on my own statement, and I knew it wasn’t bad in the slightest. So, I gave my opening statement, and the the questioning began.

The part I really enjoyed was the cross examination. The fact that I could, in a sense, prove my points without any cooperation from the other side was very pleasing. Also, there were many points brought up in the prosecution’s direct questioning that sparked questions of my own, and ended up helping me in my questioning and proving my client’s innocence.

There was one HUGE problem that occurred, though. A witness on my team decided to lie, and made a false statement that, in the end, lead him to incriminate himself. Despite that one mishap, everyone preformed so well, and it was a really great first mock trial. To be honest, I was impressed with my own performance, and the performance of the others on my team.

In the end, the jury that we had came to the verdict of not guilty on the charges of aggravated assault and criminal mischief, but guilty of petit theft. Which, in my book, is nothing to complain about. We did a much better job of defending than I thought we would.

Never though I’d say it, but I am SO extremely excited for the next mock trial, and beyond that, our FINAL mock trial even more. Our first one was such a success, and I can only imagine what we are going to be like on at the end of the year, when we’ve had even more practice.

The Vow

rangerthecatLeave a comment

This Saturday, I went off campus with some friends to go shopping, have dinner, and see the new movie The Vow.
I have been SO excited for this movie ever since I saw the first trailer in theaters.
First of all, the actors in it are some of my favorite. Channing Tatum is a god, and I have loved Rachel McAdams ever since the Notebook. The story also sounded so extremely cute, and I expected it to be the cutest new love story that everyone was talking about.

But to be honest, I was not impressed. I could be because I built it up so much in my head that my expectations were much too high. I was actually a little upset, especially at the end. The ending truly ruined it. I was hoping for a total cliché and cheesy romantic ending. Even if it would have been a predictable one, I wanted a real love story, and it ends leaving you wondering, and not in one of those good ways.

The story had so much potential, and I really don’t think that the movie makers took full advantage of what they had to work with. Maybe they didn’t want just another predictable, perfect Hollywood romance.

It was not terrible by any means, but it wasn’t great. I’m a bit disappointed.

Santorum?

therightliberalLeave a comment

Despite the CPAC victory for Romney, there is a challenger in Rick Santorum.

Santorum recently won three state’s GOP caucus/primaries, a big surprise for the front-runner, Mitt Romney.

Things just seem to get stranger and stranger.

Now I don’t think that Romney will lose the nomination to Santorum but I think the trend shows the real weakness in the GOP. They have become so divided that they are running into the problem that they cannot agree on the ideals they want to see from their candidates.

Romney has been having to defend his “conservativeness” to the GOP party because heaven forbid there is a moderate candidate.

I may be naive, but it seems to me like that GOP is changing very quickly and I believe it has to do with the increase in (relatively) young republicans like Sarah Palin and Santorum.   They have polarized the party between the radicals and moderates.

Similar things are bound to happen for the democrats before too long, but for now, the GOP is being put at a major disadvantage. Within a short amount of time, we could have a major change of the two-party system, potentially having more than two parties.

Change happens in politics but this seems to be happening faster than usual. We are seeing a lot of change in our country right now and this is just part of it. From changes in the economy and social standings to changes in politics, we are going to have to deal with change quickly.

Best American Idol, EVER.

rangerthecat1 Comment

I have always loved American Idol. Maybe it’s just because I personally love to sing, but I find it to be one of the best reality television shows.

I haven’t had a chance to follow it this season, but last season I was so excited when Scotty McCreery won. He was by far my favorite. There were a lot of good contestants and have been so many amazing singers and performers throughout the history of the show.

But, it it not so much the show itself that I like, but the auditions. So many of them are just downright hilarious, and there are those select few that are just plain amazing.

Bored on Youtube the other day, I decided to watch the American Idol auditions from the 2012 season, and came across quite a few amazing singers. But one that stood out to me the most was named Reis Kloeckener, a young 16 year old from Missouri. I didn’t know what to expect, but when he started singing, I could hardly believe it.

In his official audition, he sang the song “Lean on Me”

He also has other covers, my favorite being “Sunday Morning“, originally by Maroon 5.

There’s no doubt in my mind that this kid is going to be very famous one day. He is truly amazing!

EX-Caliber

venturatrekerLeave a comment


Many teenage boys are absolutely enthralled by cars.  Car that go really fast or cars that can go over almost any terrain. Most boys have a fetish towards one or the other.  Me personally, well I drive a classic.

Now when I say classic I really don’t mean a true classic but rather my way of making me feel better about my “ride.”  I drive a blue 2010 Dodge Caliber.  Just to clear it up, I love my car, the rest of the world doesn’t seem to agree with me.

In December, Dodge discontinued the production of the Caliber.  Well I took this as extraordinary news because that meant that there was now a finite number of people in the world with the same car as mine and therefore made it limited.  On top of that, with the rate at which they break down, I estimate in ten years I will be one of the last owners of an iconic American hatchback.  Therefore it will be a classic.

Now all this is assuming my car does not break down, explode, implode, catch fire, or any other nature of destruction.

Senioritis

rangerthecat5 Comments

SENIORITIS!!!!

It’s here. And it’s kicking in BIG TIME.

I was extremely motivated to do well in school in the beginning of the year. Don’t get me wrong, I still want to do well, and I haven’t completely given up. But ever since college applications have all been turned in, I have noticed a shift within me and my friends that I thought I would be able to resist.

It also could be more apparent in me than in my peers, considering the fact that I have been in high school for 5 years rather than the average 4. I have had an extra year of wanting to be out of here, and it is eating away at me little by little.

Some people might not agree, but for me, I actually like going to school for the most part. But the fact that it’s the SAME THING every single day, and the fact that I feel like there’s more and more homework each week.
SO. MUCH. HOMEWORK.

I hope that this upcoming break will help dissipate some of these feelings, at least a little bit, but I’m pretty sure it will not be solved until the day that I graduate. The more I keep thinking about it, the worse it gets. I guess I just need to try harder than ever to keep myself motivated and not slack off!

Just about 4 months and 3 days until graduation, it’ll all be over. At least, for a little bit.

Depressing Monday

thehungryrunnergirlLeave a comment

I hate Mondays. I get depressed because the weekend is over and I have to tolerate another 5 stressful days.

Here’s an interesting fact: the Ministry of Health in Japan compiled statistics on the suicide weekly rate. The statistics show that about 80.7 male and 27.3 female on average commit suicide on Mondays. On the other hand, the numbers go down on Saturdays to 53.5 male and 21.2 female. In Japan, this is known as the “Blue Monday Symptom”.

FYI: Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the world.

More interestingly, people get myocardial infraction; higher blood pressure, as well as they get into car accidents more often on Mondays.

People in Japan feel a lot more pressure and stress than they should. They excessively sacrifice themselves in order to succeed. My impression of Japanese is that they don’t simply enjoy their lives, but work and try to be beneficial for others more than they should. I want them to be more easygoing and cheerful instead of thinking about committing suicide…

No Putin

frog3Leave a comment

In the wake of the protests and rebellions that have swept the world comes a new series of protest. It is a protest of freedom occurring in Moscow, Russia. Thousands of Russians have been standing outside in Russia bitter cold to protest the elections or lack of ones.

Protesters brave frigid weather in Moscow to participate in a mass anti-Putin demonstration.

Vladimir Putin the man we have all come to know and hate is well known for being the Russian Prime minister. In 2011 an exciting piece of news came out of Russia. Prime Minister Putin would be running in the 2012 “Democratic” Elections. A major problem with the elections is that Putin controls them, showing the rest of the world how far corruption runs in the Russian government.

Demonstrators brave bitter cold temperatures Saturday as they flood downtown Moscow during a massive protest demanding fairness for next month's presidential election.

Don’t get me wrong though Putin is not without his supporters. Amidst the cry of free elections and no Putin you also hear the very opposite. There are often clashes between the groups in the streets of Moscow. These protests often end with police breakups and arrests.

It remains to be seen whether Russia will emerge democratic or if Putin’s authoritarian government will take control.

Are We Still a Democracy?

therightliberalLeave a comment

I often hear people saying “we live in an oligarchy” or “we live in a plutocracy” (or both). We title ourselves a democratic republic, but is that still the case today?

First, a few definitions (from Google) for those younger/ignorant readers:

1. Democracy: A system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives

2. Plutocracy: Government by the wealthy

3. Oligarchy: A small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution

4. Republic: A state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch

5. Totalitarian (from Wikipedia because I liked their definition better): Government regulates nearly every aspect of public and private life

6. Meritocracy: Government or the holding of power by people selected on the basis of their ability

So, now that’s out of the way we can start to look at this. Immediately we can say that we do not live in a meritocracy given that the GOP controls the House.

It would be very hard to say that we are not living in a plutocracy given that most of the politicians in Washington are extremely wealthy and the fact that it is damn near impossible to be elected into a high position without wealth from the private sector.

The debate could rage on about whether or not we live in an oligarchy or not but I would argue that if we are in a plutocracy (which we are) then it must also be an oligarchy because the elected officials are only from the top 2% or so, which is a (relatively) small group of people.

It is quite clear (just by the definition) that we do not live in democracy solely based on the definition. That being said, we do live in a representative democracy in which we vote for people that vote for us. It is not a democracy in the original sense, but it is a modification of it.

Added to that is the part of us being a republic. I think that without a doubt we are a republic if you look at the definition, there just isn’t really any arguing with that.

And then we get to my favorite, the totalitarianism. Based on that definition it would be hard to argue one way or another. Yes, the government does control much of our lives. But, we do still have freedoms that we use daily. In my mind we have not gotten to the point of being totalitarian and I feel that the American spirit will keep that away.

So what are we then? I would say we are a Demoplutoligaric Republic, but that’s just me.

We live in a society that is becoming more and more elite. Although the tone of this may sound pessimistic I am not. My feeling is that we must commit to what we want to be, we must make progress in some direction.

If we want the wealthy to rule the country, lets be honest about it and just commit to it. If we stop being closet elitists then we can decide to make progress. That being said, we must be careful what we choose.

We live in a key time where the power could switch very quickly into hands that may not use it in the way we want. We as a country must come together and decide where we need to go and how we will get there.

Mudslinging 101

therightliberalLeave a comment

Oh the GOP, how they make politics interesting.

I was recently watching Rick Santorum’s concession speech from Florida (although it was given in Las Vegas) and I was shocked to see that he was not saying anything negative. In fact it was quite the opposite, with him complimenting Mitt Romney.

But his obsequiousness is only because he knows he can’t win so he is shooting for Vice President. Hey, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.

Butt then I saw Gingrich’s speech. All I can say is wow. What an evil and stupid man.

The basis for his speech was basically saying that he could still manage to win “Evil Dictator of Whatever Country I’m Currently In”.

He said that in his first day he would overturn both “Obamacare” and the choice to delay the Keystone pipeline. He said his goal was to get the Democrats out and save America.

Well so much for bipartisanship.

Gingrich is a crazy man and to be honest he scares me. His goals are for full control by the Republicans of the government so he can get rid of every program and tax ever devised. That sure will help.

Romney and Gingrich have gone back and forth for quite a while now, slinging much mud at each other.

It doesn’t seem to have gotten them very far.

All this negativity helps no one. It may seem hypocritical coming from someone who is writing about how idiotic and unhelpful these people are, but when the stakes are as high as they are  now, some foresight would help.

Instead of proving how incapable your opponents are, why now show how capable you are?

And there is the answer: none of them are capable.