Black Friday Chaos

This past Friday, a “holiday” known to people all over the nation as Black Friday, stands to be the busiest shopping day of the year and the kickoff to holiday shopping season. Falling each year on the day after Thanksgiving, most major retailers open extremely early, often at 4 a.m., or earlier, and offer huge promotional sales on clothes, appliances, electronics and other valued goods. Last year, the Thanksgiving shopping weekend accounted for 12.1 percent of overall holiday sales, according to ShopperTrak, a research firm. Black Friday alone made up about half of that. These sales are often hard to miss out on considering the amount of money that is potentially saved. In this tight economy individuals are going to do whatever it takes to get the most amount of product, for the cheapest prices possible. Each year, there are even a variety of cases that make news headlines of violence, fights, and sometimes even deaths to get these goods—and nothing new has changed this year.

Scuffles broke out elsewhere around the U.S. as bargain-hunters crowded stores in an earlier-than-usual start to the madness known as Black Friday.

In Los Angeles, Walmart employees brought out a crate of discounted Xboxes, and as a crowd waited for the Xboxes to be unwrapped, a woman fired pepper spray at the other shoppers "in order to get an advantage," police said. Ten people suffered cuts and bruises in the chaos, and 10 others had minor injuries from the spray, authorities said. The woman got away in the confusion, and it was not immediately clear whether she got an Xbox.

Near Muskegon, Mich., a teenage girl was knocked down and stepped on several times after getting caught in the rush to a sale in the electronics department at a Walmart. She suffered minor injuries.

On Friday morning, police said, two women were injured and a man was charged after a fight broke out at an upstate New York Walmart. A man was arrested in a scuffle at a jewelry counter at a Walmart in Kissimmee, Fla.

Wal-Mart Stores, the nation's biggest retailer, has taken steps in recent years to control its Black Friday crowds following the 2008 death of one of its workers in a stampede of shoppers. This year, it staggered its door-buster deals instead of offering them all at once.

But is that even enough? Shouldn’t people feel completely safe when they are out shopping for gifts and should not have to feel as though their life is in danger? Do you think stores should take further measures to prevent injury and possibly even death on its customers? More security? And in the instance dealing with the pepper spray, should the women be charged, or have some sort of punishment for her harmful actions over an Xbox? Are these sorts of “accidents” justifiable to let them continue to occur every year on Black Friday?

Read more: http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/national/12005996942627/sharp-elbows-shoppers-scuffle-on-black-thursday/

New Jersey teacher mocks Special Needs Student in class threatening him

Earlier this month, an incident took place at Bankbridge Regional School in Gloucester County New Jersey. A video was released of a teacher at the school mocking and berating a special needs student. No one believed the victim, Julio Artuz, when he told friends and family that his teacher was bullying him during class. The student used his cell phone to secretly record a segment of the bullying as proof to show his parents that he wasn't lying. The video (shown through the youtube link below) shows the teacher mocking the student along with using profanity to threaten him.

The video begins with Julio asking his teacher not to call him 'special.'

This upsets the teacher causing him to respond with: 'What? Oh my God, f****** god...What does the title on the front of that school say? 'Special education.'

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfOqA6PtRaw

It is obvious that the teacher is at fault and needs to be reprimanded for his actions. The issue here is the disciplinary action that is to be taken against the teacher. It should not be hard to fire a teacher that is caught red handed bullying and threatening a special needs student. The districts school board voted to punish the teacher but the superintendent did not specify in what way. The teacher has been placed on paid administrative leave from the school, and may continue to be on the districts payroll for the next five years, even if he is fired. The reason for this, is that "New Jersey’s teacher tenure law requires school districts to follow a series of complicated, expensive and time-consuming steps before they are allowed to fire veteran teachers" (Velderman). It only takes 3 years to become a tenured teacher in New Jersey, yet it takes almost twice as long to get rid of someone while they remain on the payroll. New Jersey's teacher tenure laws contain obvious flaws and are losing the school money through the long expensive process it takes to fire someone.

More information on the issue can be found at the following sources:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2062352/Special-needs-student-secretly-video-tapes-TEACHER-bullying-class.html#ixzz1du1iE55l

http://www.theweekly.com/news/2011/November/21/NJ_Teachers.html

What is your opinion on the whole incident? What disciplinary action do you think should be taken against the teacher? What do you think about New Jersey's teacher tenure laws and how they are affecting the school systems? Do you think something should be done to fix and reform the tenure laws?

Intrusive Technology

New technology advances are being made that are invading the personal freedoms that were granted to us by the Constitution. Imagine this, you are casually walking through the mall and unbeknownst to you a scan is being made. A couple of steps further and you are looking at an advertising display that shows products geared specifically to you. Or, Click! Someone with a smart phone just took your picture which they can upload to find out more information about you. How about being identified by those surveillance cameras that are surreptitiously placed throughout myriad public places? These technologies are neither science fiction nor fantasy; some are currently being used while others are being tested for widespread use in the very near future. With today’s advancements in facial recognition technology people are being identified without their knowledge or consent. Facial recognition technology can be beneficial in certain circumstances such as criminal justice and security; however, it is currently being used in a wide variety of contexts without our knowledge and consequently our consent. As technological advances move at a rapid pace and end-user awareness, and ethical considerations lag dramatically behind, we need to work to keep better pace. With facial recognition technology, our personal privacy is at stake.
Companies that have started using this new technology are trying to increase business, according to an article printed on October 7, 2011 called Advertisers Start Using Facial Recognition to Tailor Pitches. Kraft Foods Inc. plans on starting the use of this technology in the near future to increase their sales. Kraft Company’s vice president of retail experience, Donald King, said, “If it recognizes that there is a female between 25 to 29 standing there, it may surmise that you are more likely to have minor children at home and give suggestions on how to spice up Kraft Macaroni& Cheese for the kids.” Another company interested in starting the use of recognition technology is Adidas. Adidas is planning to use this technology so, “if a woman in her 50s walks by and stops, 60% of the shoes displayed will be for females in her age bracket, while the other 40% will be a random sprinkling of other goods.” “If a retailer can offer the right products quickly, people are more likely to buy something,” said Chris Aubrey, vice president of global retail marketing for Adidas.
An additional potentially intrusive software that has been made from this facial recognition technology, is the ability to take a picture of someone on a mobile phone and then enter the picture into a web search. Within seconds, the search can yield pictures and other identifying information about the person whose picture was taken. This technology, which has not yet been approved for marketing, allows people to be able to find information about anyone else without their knowledge or consent. Although this was withheld now, in a few years this technology may be opened to everyone. Facial recognition technology needs to be regulated so people do not use this technology in potentially harmful ways. Although this technology can be helpful to both law enforcement and airport security, as it can help people be identified, these are the only potentially positive uses that could come of the development of this technology.

http://www.studentnewsdaily.com/daily-news-article/advertisers-start-using-facial-recognition-to-tailor-pitches

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-07-09/tech/face.recognition.facebook_1_facial-recognition-face-recognition-facebook/3?_s=PM:TECH

The Marijuana Petitions, by Will Morgan

Cannabis has been in our history since the beginning of America. One of the laws in the original Jamestown settlement required the colonists to grow hemp. The Constitution of the United States was drafted on hemp paper. George Washington grew hemp on Mount Vernon. And now cannabis is an illegal drug that results in over 850,000 arrests a year and costs taxpayers over ten billion dollars annually. This is probably because marijuana is the third most used recreational drug, behind alcohol and tobacco. One hundred million Americans have admitted to using marijuana, and twenty-five million have smoked in the past year. In addition, those who want to see marijuana legalized account for fifty percent of the population while those who oppose it make up only 46 percent. In light of this, it is no surprise that when the United States government released its new petition site “We the People,” American citizens expressed their immediate urge to see marijuana decriminalized.
The new site, “We the People”, is a government-run petition website that allows citizens to voice their opinions in a more direct manner. However, it does not always mean that those voices are heard. When the website was released on September 1st, 2011, there were immediately petitions that rose through the ranks. Among these few starting petitions were eight separate petitions that called for a reform on marijuana laws, and each quickly gained the 5,000 signatures required. A month later, after the petition gained almost 75,000 signatures, Gil Kerlikowske, a former police chief, issued a response that angered most of the marijuana-using community. A copy of the petition and the response issued can be found here:

https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/petition/legalize-and-regulate-marijuana-manner-similar-alcohol/y8l45gb1

Users are angry at this response for several reasons. Mainly, they are angry because the response does not answer the question about legalizing it in a manner similar to alcohol. When compared to alcohol (or tobacco for that matter), almost all of the arguments cited in the response become null and void. The people who signed the petition just want to know why alcohol and tobacco consumption is still legal when use is much worse for your health than consuming marijuana. Tobacco kills 435 thousand people a year, and alcohol kills 85 thousand. The mortality rate of marijuana, however, is zero.

http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/?q=node/30

My questions are: what do you think about marijuana and why do you think that? State all of your opinions and experiences with the drug.

Also, if interested, this is a response to Kerlikowske from Norml.org, a pro-marijuana organization.
http://blog.norml.org/2011/10/29/white-house-response-to-normls-we-the-people-marijuana-legalization-petition/

Post written by Will Morgan.

Penn State Scandal

For the past week everyone's been talking about the Penn State University scandal. Jerry Sandusky, a retired assistant football coach at the university, was accused of sexually assaulting young boys. Starting in 1994, it is said that he abused eight boys over a 15 year period. According to sources close to the investigation, he used "The Second Mile", a non profit organization that he established in 1977 for serving the youth of Pennsylvania, to "help" him do this. A grand jury investigation, that went on for two years, found that Sandusky encountered each of the victims through "The Second Mile."

What everyone's really talking about is wether Joe Paterno, head coach of Penn State Football, should be penalized. A former grad assistant caught Sandusky assaulting a 10 year old boy in the shower of the football building. The next day he reported it to Coach Paterno, who then told the athletic directors. The AD's didn't take action beyond reporting it to members of "The Second Mile." At this point, Sandusky was not permitted to bring children into the football building. So in my opinion the real question is, why didn't Paterno go further with the report when the athletic directors didn't take action? He knew what was going on, but didn't do as much as he could to fix it.

Some people believe that he's just as guilty for not reporting the incident further; where others are so supportive of him because of how long he's been at Penn State. While talking to my friends who attend the University, it seems they are really supportive of Coach Paterno and they don't want this scandal to effect their community as a whole. Hundreds of people, including students, have gathered outside his house to show their support; while there have been candle light vigils on the campus supporting the victims.

What's your opinion on this situation? Do you believe Coach Paterno is just as guilty as Sandusky? Is this a moral issue? Do you think Penn State University is going to be greatly affected by this? There are many different opinions and it is a hard topic to discuss, but while thinking about it, put yourself in the position of those families. If the boy being assaulted was your son, cousin, brother, would you think of this differently?

Here is a link to an article and video on the scandal:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/bigten/story/2011-11-06/penn-state-abuse-scandal-chilling/51100830/1

Racial Politics

In an article by the Associated Press, "Racial politics return with Cain allegations", Republican politician Herman Cain states that the recent uncovering of sexual harassment case that occurred 10 years ago is solely because he is black. Many people interviewed in the article felt that it was unfair that Cain played the "race card". Armstrong Williams, for example, said, "Why is the first response from some conservatives that this must have to do with Cain's race? That makes them guilty of the same race-baiting we accuse Democrats of". Since Cain was a front runner for the Republican party for 2012 election, I believe the sexual harassment case was brought up because people were trying to knock him down a few pegs, not criticizing his race. Cain even states in the article that he believes it is due to race, but there is no evidence to support the claim. When people are in the number one spot, opponents feel the need to find all the dirt they can in order to eliminate them from the race. Interestingly enough, Herman Cain is still in winning in the election poles.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CAIN_RACE?SITE=TXWIC&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

1. What are your views on how Cain handled the accusations?

2. Do you feel that it was because of him being the front runner or because of his race?

You do not need to base your answers off these questions. If you guys have any examples that can relate to this topic, please write them down!

Tipster Controversey

Many of you probably know that over the summer, the notorious mob leader, James “Whitey” Bulger, was caught after a decades-long chase, arrested, and is awaiting trial. Recently, the Boston Globe published an article identifying the tipster who led the FBI to Bulger and his girlfriend, Catherine Grieg. The tipster was identified as 57-year-old Anna Bjornsdottir of Iceland, who had befriended Grieg. The Globe also included a photograph of the tipster. Soon after the article was published, the Boston Globe was slammed with criticism from other newspapers as well as the FBI. The FBI issued a statement saying that the decision was solely the Globe’s, and that they do not tell the media what information to use and not to use. Many other news outlets criticized the decision for the sake of the tipster’s safety. They say that this may cause other tipsters to be afraid to come forward. One representative said, “This woman, I really feel for her because she’s going to have to look over her shoulder for a long time. I’m sure Whitey still has friend who are in the underworld. I’m sure this woman is in jeopardy” (Dwinell). The Globe defended their decision by citing freedom of speech and press.

The Boston Herald slams the Globe’s decision here: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/2011_1010safety_of_tipster_feared_huge_risk_vs_2m_reward_for_whitey/srvc=home&position=0

The Boston Globe further defends their actions here:

http://articles.boston.com/2011-10-11/news/30267469_1_bulger-and-greig-tipster-martin-baron

What do you think of the Globe’s decision? Do news outlets have the right to publish such information? Do you think the concerns for this woman’s safety are valid, or will she be more safe now that people know her identity? How do you think this will affect possible future informants, as well as the FBI?