Harassment: The effect on our country and our students

As far back as anyone can remember, teasing has been in the lives of both adults and children.  The name of this action changes many names as we grow older.  From bullying, to ribbing, to trash talk.  As adults, we deal with this type of behavior on an almost daily basis.  Men more than women engage in it, using every version of competition in order to make fun of their "opponents".  Usually, it's all in good fun, engaging from simple joking to maybe even an insult to a motherly family member.  However, as adults, we know that when we cross a line, we are warned for it, apologize, and back off.

However, as children, these types of things are taught by our parents.  When I was in school, I was instructed just to ignore it, let it go.  They'll stop.  However, this type of thing rarely ever stops, regardless of what is done by the target of the harassment.  This type of anger and hatred towards others came to a head 12 years ago, in the small town of Columbine, Colorado.  It was there that two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, stormed into their high school, using a combination of small explosives and firearms, and killed twelve students, along with one teacher.  For those of you are reading this post, beware.  It is going to get very dark, as I feel that I have to take you back a long journey in order to fully describe the message that I am trying to present.  To each story there are two sides, however, a side like this has only come from a tragic event, and I intend to bring a light to the epidemic that has reached our children.

However, before we take the trip that far back in time, I would like this post to go on a guided journey back through time, starting with a student named Gaby Rodriguez.  As a student of Toppenish High School in Toppenish, WA, she is required to do a student project for graduation.  The one she chose actually made national headlines.  Her project was titled, "Stereotypes, rumors, and statistics", in which it detailed the stereotypes and rumors that float around school, based on her "pregnancy", and recorded any comment that got back to her or her friends, in order to formulate data about how students view each other around a high school environment.  This type of study on, essentially bullying and harassment, is the first of it's kind done in a high school setting by an actual student.

For six and a half months, Gaby faked her pregnancy, telling very few people about it in order to not taint the subject pool for her experiment.  At the end of the experiment, Gaby held an assembly in front of her entire school, in which she presented cards that had comments made about her during the time of her test.  Near the end of the assembly, she took off her fake pregnancy belly in front of the entire school, to a shocked crowd.

Over the six and half months of the experiment, Gaby gave up her senior year in order to record the results and deal with the aftermath of her undertaking.  However, she faced many disparaging comments about her personality and body, with harassment from a lot of the students in the school.  This is the type of thing that happens in our schools, and it's sad.  While a pregnancy is a horrible thing to happen to a high-school student, students in schools pick out differences in a person and use them as a weapon against them.  This type of behavior has gone on for years, and no one has made any moves to stop it.

Gaby should be praised for her efforts to make moves to bring this type of harassment to light, and our psychological and sociological communities should start making strides to improve the way of life in our schools for our children.  There is a major difference between a bit of poking fun between friends, and the comments and actions taken by people we don't really know or associate with.  To illustrate my point, we need to continue down the rabbit hole to September, 2010.

Last year in September, a wave of suicides in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender community sparked attention on bullying and harassment as well.  The most prominent one was that of Tyler Clementi, a student at Rutgers University in New Jersey.  His roommate and a hall-mate streamed him having sexual relations with another man in their dorm room, against his permission and knowledge, spreading it around the internet.  Tyler learned about the first time after his roommate used his personal twitter account to tell that there was going to be a second stream going live.

Tyler went to his Resident Advisor, requesting a room change.  From an online post by Tyler, he said that the RA seemed to take if very seriously.  Now, whether or not the RA actually did take it seriously or not, I cannot find anything on the news about it.  If you find something, go ahead and comment below.  However, whether or not he did, on September 22nd, Tyler went to the George Washington Bridge and jumped into the water below, leaving his car, wallet and cell phone on the bridge where he took the plunge.  It was also discovered that he left a message on the wall of his Facebook, saying that he was going to jump off that bridge.

His death had two different effects.  In the Rutgers area, the two students who recorded Tyler surrendered to police, one of them still facing criminal charges.  However, in the more national news, more cases of suicides based on the same types of bullying that Tyler did.  The four other students, ranging from 13 years old to 19 years old, committed suicide in the same month as Tyler.  The parents of these students have all petitioned for better control and laws in order to make sure that are schools are safer for any child who passes through the doors.  I can't help but agree with them in every aspect.  The names of the students who took their lives are still remembered by many, including the band Rise Against.  In a song on their latest album, Endgame, the song 'Make it Stop (September's Children)', directly references the students by name, and speaking out against homophobia and bullying.

These events are devastating, as well as being a part of a pattern.  One of the biggest things you should notice is the use of the internet in order to stream Tyler.  As we continue our journey back to that fateful April 20th, 1999, I must go off on a small tangent of how the internet was first born, and how the internet has evolved since it's inception.

Now, I won't go as far back as 1958, in which it was known to researches as ARPAnet.  However, I will go to 1991, when the World Wide Web project was introduced by CERN, a group mainly involved in particle research.  While back then, websites were nothing more than text, images soon were able to be placed on the internet.  Within a few years, you had flash animation, and by 1996, the word 'Internet' had become commonplace.

However, in 2000, and then again in 2002, the internet and the world began into a new age.  The social media age began with Makeoutclub and then Friendster, along with the former social media powerhouse, Myspace.  After Myspace, in 2004, Facebook was launched by Mark Zuckerberg, which soon became the largest social media website in the world.  These websites sparked an entirely new wave of interaction and connection with others.  Photos that used to be put on bulletin boards or photo albums in a room could now be shared among friends online.  Public journals of thoughts could be shared with hundreds, if not thousands of people at once.

But the main thing about the internet is, while things said and used on the internet can be used in a criminal case against someone, the internet is widely uncontrolled.  And because of social media and it's uncontrolled nature, a new type of bullying has emerged.  Cyberbullying has become a staple on the internet today, ever since our society changed from meeting face to face to living almost entirely online.

To get back on track, we now have to continue our time travel to January 14th, 2010.  It was that day in which Phoebe Prince took her own life.  Students in her school harassed her endlessly, calling her names and harassing her in school.  When she got home, she would find that some of the most mean-spirited comments about her had made their way online by her classmates.  Phoebe's aunt had warned school officials to watch over her prior to her enrollment, saying that she was susceptible, but no school official stepped in to to help her.

It was on January 14th that Phoebe was walking home from school.  She had been harassed all day, when someone driving by threw an empty can at her, shouted a heinous insult, and then drove away.  This event sparked her actions later that day, in which she hung herself in the stairwell of her apartment.  The aftermath of this incident sparked outrage by other parents in her Massachusetts community.  A meeting was held at the school by other parents whose children were also harassed and felt that their concerns were particularly ignored by the administration.  State lawmakers passed anti-bullying legislation in a hurry, trying to stem a much larger epidemic.  As a help for a national anti-bullying legislation, "Phoebe's Law" has been proposed to the U.S. government.

But cyber-bullying doesn't always happen by classmates, but even by adults to children as well.  It is here we learn of the case of Megan Meier.  Megan was a 13 year old girl in Missouri who attended Immaculate Concept Catholic School.  It was a school of uniforms, no makeup, and strict guidelines.  Like any parent who is trying to help their daughter, they thought it could help her fit in.

During this time, she created a Myspace account in order to stay in touch with her friends like anyone else.  And it was on her Myspace that she was messaged by an account using the name 'Josh Evans'.  However, a neighbor of Megan's named Lori Drew confessed to actually creating the account along with her daughter and an employee of her company.  Lori Drew was the mother of one of the kids in Megan's class, and wanted to gain information about Megan, and how Megan felt about other people.  She believed that Megan spread rumors about her daughter around their school, as did her daughter.

Megan was interested in the Josh character, Lori's own daughter and an employee of hers controlled 'Josh' and made him seem convincing.  They continued to communicate through Myspace, sending messages back and forth.  However, the tone of the texts soon changed.  On October 15th, 2006, Lori used "Josh" to tell Megan that, "I don't know if I want to be friends with you anymore because I've heard that you are not very nice to your friends".  Lori then continued to share messages that she shared with Megan to others, as well as posting bulletins and other messages calling Megan more names in a more public forum.

It was learned later that the employee of Lori's had sent the final message sent to Megan before the tragic end of the story was a horrible message, stating, "Everybody in O'Fallon knows who you are. You are a bad person and everybody hates you. Have a bad rest of your life. The world would be a better place without you.".  This wasn't the first message that this employee had sent to Megan, as the Myspace account was used by Lori, Lori's daughter, and the employee. The fact that Lori, a mother of a daughter of her own, organized an event of this nature is horrifying.  This kind of message would be horrifying for anyone to read, and the fact that a grown mother of a daughter had sent that to a 13 year old girl is sickening.  A person of that age and stature in a community ought to know better than to do anything of this nature.

After Megan's suicide, Lori Drew was arrested and convicted of conspiracy and violating the terms of use set by Myspace in order to protect people online.  Her harassment fell under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and it was by that law she was charged.  However, her conviction was later overturned.  But, as a result of Megan's death, the Missouri law on bullying was amended to include online communication.  The Drew family however, has been scorned by the community, asking them to leave.  However, things did turn somewhat violent.  Death threats came to the family, a brick was thrown through their window.  Her business was forced to close as her clients all left her.

To present our last and final example before we reach our destination, I bring you the tragic suicide of 13 year old Ryan Halligan.  When he entered Middle School in 2000, he was targeted by a popular group of bullies who deemed him a target.  He did have a learning disorder, and was more into arts and crafts than in sports.  It was because of this, that a group of kids that had been bullying him on and off since fifth grade (These two did go to elementary school together), had continued to torment him.  His parents discovered that he had been bottling up his emotions, holding them back.

While his parents wanted to go to the school, Ryan had told them not to, because it would only make things worse.  Kids in this kind of situation often believe this, and I have experienced it myself when I was in school.  However, if the administration deals with the problem effectively, then bullying can actually be stopped by them.  But getting back to the story, Ryan sought to learn how to defend himself.  His parents bought him boxing gloves, a punching back, and tapes in order to help him learn.  After learning this, a fight broke out between him and the bully, which the school's vice principle broke up.

Ryan then befriended the bully, and thought that they were friends.  However, after Ryan told him an embarassing story that had happened, the bully thought that he must be gay, and decided to spread the rumor around to his classmates.  It was after this that Ryan approached a popular girl at his school online, who pretended to be interested in him.  They began to "date", well, date as much as 13 year olds really can.  But the girl only wanted to get information to pass along to other kids.  When he met her in person after the summer vacation ended, she called him a loser straight to his face, and admitted that she was only joking and wanted to embarass him.

It was all of this piling on top of Ryan, his father feels, that led Ryan to commit suicide.  And after reading his story, I can agree whole-heartedly with the assessment.  The fact that these kids, while most likely didn't mean to cause him to commit this action, did hurt him greatly.  The depression of all this caused Ryan to turn inward, which forced him to trust only himself, and that he didn't want the pain anymore.

Now we get to twelve years ago, April 20th, 1999.  I won't go into the horrific details of what happened, because it's public record and unnecessary.  However, the tragic loss of life that happened that day could've been prevented.  Things could've been changed.  The actions undertaken by Dylan and Eric are reprehensible, and they were never model citizens.  However, there were many who harassed them.  Interviews of students after the incident proved that.

However, after the incident, people went to blaming the media for the events at the school.  Movies, Video Games, and Music became the forefront in the war against violence in our media.  But in the anger and sorrow of a nation grieving the senseless loss of life that these two brought on the school, they failed to see the real target.  Could these two students have been prevent from harming others, if maybe the school had realize that people were harming them?

Their hatred was all around, they hated everyone, but that hate has to come from somewhere.  People don't just wake up one day and hate people.  They hate them for a comment said to them or about them, for seeing something horrifying that changes them.  People change because of their environment that they are placed in.  And it was this fact that was never shown on T.V.

But in this day and age, people still fail to recognize this.  Even through all the anti-bullying legislation and prosecution of students involved, many states and many schools fail to see the truth behind the issues.  School, while recognizing the laws, fail to enforce them to a level that either prevents or eliminates problems among students.  Usually, the student being harassed is the one that is sent for help, while the ones who are tormenting him are the ones that are left on their own.

It is because of this, that we see the wave of suicides that we have in recent years.  It's because, while people under duress handle problems differently, people who torment them don't care what happens.  While they may not be looking to kill, they are doing damage.  And it's because of this, that our schools don't see, or choose not to see, that when someone is fighting back, or trying to get the attention of a figure in power, they are trying to defend themselves against an attack.  While it may not be an attack on their body, it is an attack on their mind and their heart.  However, as we see in some of these cases, some people just couldn't fight anymore, and chose to go on their own terms.  Others decided to take the fight to a level beyond what is acceptable.

And yes, I know that our schools are facing cutbacks, and our teachers are trying to teach northwards of thirty plus students in a classroom.  But the thing is, they are the position of authority in a classroom.  If a student is being harassed and he goes to them for help, it is their job to maintain peace in that classroom.  If a teacher ignores that, thinking that they truly don't have control, they're wrong.  As they are the position in power, they have every right to tell that student that what they're doing is wrong and it has to end now, or there will be consequences, job be damned.  If that student decides to take the fight to the teacher instead of learning from his actions, then that teacher has every right to put that child to the floor and set him straight.

I never had that from anyone while I was in school, save one teacher.  Mr. Ngyuen was the only one who stood up for me, the only one who ever thought that I deserved to be helped.  When students made fun of me in seventh grade, and he had a chance to see it, he made sure that he acted to put at least a temporary stop on it, and I know that if I had anything happen, I could go to him for help.

There needs to be more teachers and administrators like that, willing to step in and step up to students who choose to target others for their differences.  Because in all honesty, where would we be as a country without differences?  Would we have cars, trains, airplanes, without people daring and striving to be different than the rest out there. Would we even have social media if there weren't those people aspiring to be different from the rest of us?

So, this post, I use it to honor the dead.  The ones who have lost their lives from the heartbreak of tragedy of those who couldn't rein in their children, or those who couldn't see that people didn't deserve the punishment that they got.

These are the victims of the Columbine High School Massacre.  Rest In Peace, for while Columbine still honors your memory, that day will never be forgotten

Tyler Clementi - You may be gone, but you will not be forgotten.  Equality will always be fought for, for there will always be those who will fight for it.  With you, we mourn the other four of September's Children: Asher Brown, 13, Billy Lucas, 15, Raymond Chase, 19, and Seth Walsh, 13.

Megan Meier - A victim of the brutality of those who should understand but refused

Phoebe Prince - May you rest in peace, for people mourn on both sides of the pond

Ryan Halligan - A life cut tragically short by people who can't see difference as a strength, not a weakness

Along with these tragic souls, we also mourn all those that have committed suicide because of bullying.  There are too many pictures to find, too many people to post, however, know that your families and us here on the blog mourn the loss.  Bullying is an something that can be stopped, and we urge you all to step in.  We don't want to see more people on this wall, dead for being bullied or because people didn't want to come forward and accept people for who they are.


Credits for Images:
http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2011/04/20/pregnot-toppenish-high-student-fakes-pregnancy-as-social-test-about-stereotypes-rumors - Yakima Herald Website, Article about Gaby and her Experiment

Bibliography:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/09/30/national/main6913514.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody - Article about Tyler Clementi

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/27/earlyshow/leisure/gamesgadgetsgizmos/main6146385.shtml?source=related_story&tag=related - Article about Phoebe Prince

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/17/national/main3517133.shtml?tag=mncol;lst;3
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/12/07/national/main3587960.shtml?tag=mncol;lst;5 - Articles about Megan Meier

http://www.ryanpatrickhalligan.org/ - The Website setup by Ryan Halligan's parents, telling the story of what happened to their son.

The ACLU: The Friend of our Enemies is our Enemy

In the state of Michigan, judges have the ability to sentence minors to life in prison without the possibility as long as the crime is deemed heinous enough by the judge during the trial.  The ACLU, believing that this law is unconstitutional, is working on behalf of nine inmates in Michigan prisons, and is suing the state in order to get the end that they feel.  They feel that the convictions go against the ban on cruel and unusual punishment.  The state is contesting this because they inmates took too long to challenge their convictions, and that the law is constitutional.

This isn't the first time that the ACLU has tried to bring a stupid lawsuit towards any state or federal government.  Back when the Patriot Act was released, the ACLU tried to have it blocked as unconstitutional.  When the New York City police department started doing random bag searches of civilians getting onto the subway, the ACLU tried to bring an injunction onto the department, saying that it was unlawful search and seizure.  However, both times, they were deemed unconstitutional, and the citizens that were affected by them deemed it a necessary evil in order to maintain safety.

This latest crusade by the ACLU is nothing more than another step in their agenda to turn this country into a minefield of chaos.  The fact remains that, no matter how much people place the blame on different groups, since 9/11, this country has changed.  In the case of these inmates, yes, they were deemed as children by law.  However, these children acted as adults in crimes that were violent and adult in nature.

With this lawsuit, there are hundreds of convictions that could be overturned, ruining the reputations of both cops and lawyers, both post-humorously and those still alive.  At the same time, if these types of convictions are overturned and stopped, people that are too dangerous to be in society are going to be roaming our streets once more, committing the same crimes over again.

But this is the world that we live in.  People are afraid to use judgement because their judgement might be wrong.  Groups like the ACLU come in on judgements that are clean and bring the law to a screeching halt.  The sad thing is, that our world has changed.  Back in the 50s, a crime like this wasn't thought of, but in this day and age, people only watch the horrors that are placed on our news, put onto our streets.  Personally, if a cop has to stretch the line a bit to get someone off the street, then that cop has to what is necessary.  But stretching the line is different than crossing it.

Personally, the ACLU needs to give up and drop this fight.  The "civil liberties" that they are fighting for are nothing more than a smoke screen.  They're going to make this country more dangerous, not safe for everyone else.

Random Review of the Week: The Fifth Witness

Before I start this review, I have to say this.  No, I am NOT Michael Connelly.  I just enjoy his work.  With that being said, this week's review is about the fourth book in the Mickey Haller series, entitled The Fifth Witness. This book once again follows Mickey Haller, a Los Angeles defense attorney who has been working on Foreclosure cases ever since his criminal practice took a downturn.

In this book, he works to defend a woman named Lisa Trammel, head of an organization called FLAG, a civilian group that is fighting off illegal foreclosures that plagued the Southern California area.  She accused of murdering the Senior Vice President of a Los Angeles bank.  Her case originally was Mickey's first Foreclosure case, and soon Mickey takes a very aggressive stance in it when she is charged for murder.

This book has an excellent pace, and shows various flaws in Mickey that haven't been seen before.  First off, after a few months out of practicing criminal law, we see that he's rusty at it.  Secondly, he knows that the foe he faces in the courtroom has constantly beat him in every contest with her.  However, the story progresses at a great pace, placing characters where they need to be, even a few small cameos when necessary.

The Fifth Witness flows different than the other Mickey Haller books in which he's a defense attorney.  The plot twists are smaller, aggravations to Mickey are bigger, and there isn't a looming threat towards his life.  However, there are a couple large plot twists that will shock people until the very end.

All in all, this book is excellent, and I can recommend it to anyone who has been a fan of the series

My review:
4/5 Stars

Snapshot of a Six-Year-Old: Terrorist Extraordinaire?

In the past week, the Associated Press reported on a video taken by a Kentucky family visiting New Orleans, in which their six year old daughter is frisked like a normal adult.  The video shows the young girl standing, arms out, legs spread and scared as a Transportation Security Administration official pats her down just past the metal detectors at an airport in New Orleans, Louisiana.

This video is an absolute outrage to me, since quite honestly, do we need to be frisking children like they're little terrorists in training?  This family was just walking through the security checkpoint to get to their gate, at which point I can understand if the parents are frisked.  I've been frisked before walking through security at my own airport.  I let them do their business and move on.  I have nothing to hide, no problem.  But "randomly" choosing a six year old is beyond belief.

The actions of the TSA screener who frisked the child are absolutely reprehensible.  Now, I do realize that planes are a very viable target for terrorists and terrorist activity.  The nightmarish images that came on September 11th, 2001 will never leave my memory, since terrorism of that caliber had never hit civilians.  The deaths of 3000 Americans will always be in my mind. 

However, there is a line in which security becomes tyranny.  When every single person comes under scrutiny, from 6 months to 60 years, and is subject to multiple searches and seizures just because the government can.  Once we reach that point, then our government and society have changed completely.  This type of action is just a small step towards that much larger objective.

The TSA screener was wrong, but at the same time, the statement left by the TSA is even more scary.  The Transportation Security Administration sent a press release to the media, saying that the screener acted under policy, but they were looking into reviewing security protocols.  So what our federal government just said, "This is what we want, we could care less about who you are.  We want to search you, we will."

But this is kind of action is not a stranger to law enforcement in this country.  Earlier this month, police in Colorado used pepper spray on an eight year-old boy in classroom as he was throwing a major temper tantrum.  I won't sit here and say that the child's actions and behavior in this case was that of a model child, but there were different steps that could be taken to diffuse the situation.  A police department spokesman talked to ABC news later that day, defending the actions of the officer.

The fact is, children are not adults.  Their psychology, their physiology, are all dramatically different in size and scope.  Handling a situation like they are an adult doing the same thing is the wrong thing to do.  To defend the actions of a law enforcement official who uses these extreme measures against a child is also equally wrong.  Yes, certain situations like the one with the 8 year old boy can seem very dangerous.  However, a law enforcement officer is trained to handle danger from a wide variety of attackers and in a large amount of situations. 

When a child is the subject of something like this, whether it be a search or a defense action, they need to be able to truly justify their actions.  When it involves children, the line has to be drawn farther away than where it is with an adult.  This country is not a police state, and while I understand that when airplanes are used like missiles, things change, but there is a point where the change needs to stop and we need to think where we're going.

Random Review of the Week: Metal Gear Solid 4

On June 12th, 2008, Kojima Productions and Konami released the final game in the story of Solid Snake, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.  The game released to rave reviews, including a perfect 40/40 from Famitsu magazine, making it only the 8th game in history to receive that type of review.  Hideo Kojima had the game in production for years, debuting it along with the PS3 at E3 2005, and showing a teaser trailer at TGS 2005, finally showing off the new look of Solid Snake, now being called Old Snake.

This game differs from the previous 3 iterations in the series, being told over a series of five acts.  Where MGS 2 and 3 were told in two, each of the five acts in the game have a different theme and style to them, along with different ways to play the game, both by act and throughout the entire game.  This design choice by Kojima-san and his team allows for one of the most unique and inspired gameplay styles this generation.

The story of the game follows Snake throughout 5 different locations, as he tries to take on a mission with two contradicting objectives.  His first objective involves taking down Revolver Ocelot, as he attempts to take control of the entire armed forces of select PMCs around the globe.  Ocelot has already started this, by using a mother company to take control of 5 different PMCs that you fight throughout the game.

The second involves a shadowy organization in the Government called The Patriots, and trying to gain freedom for the United States once and for all.  As the story progresses, these two different objectives dovetail nicely into an ending that wraps up every plot twist throughout the series, re-introducing old characters and introducing ones that have yet to be seen.  Each character is wonderfully acted and portrayed by their voice actors, breathing new life into characters like Snake and Otacon.

The cinematography is top notch throughout the cutscenes.  It seems that Kojima-san took all the lessons he learned through the previous titles and used that in order to make this game the best of the series.  The cutscenes are long, but each one is vital to the story, allowing glimpses into each of the characters as they build to the conclusion of the game.

Gameplay in this game is drastically different from previous titles in the series.  Instead of taking the usual top down perspective that previous games have used, this game uses an over-the-shoulder camera that allows for more of the world to be seen by the player.  This makes gameplay a lot easier, and allows the player to play the game either in a stealthy way, or in a rambo style, run-and-gun third-person shooter.  This makes MGS4 much more accessible and easy for everyone to pick up.

Other aspects of gameplay allow players to upgrade weapons, place laser sights and scopes, and increased functionality that is seen in most shooters this generation.  Using the cash by selling the guns picked up by enemies, players can buy new scopes, weapons and other items that could be useful along their journey through the five acts.  The game wasn't in any way revolutionary, but in terms of the series, it allowed a much deeper customization of Snake.  This combined with the 'Octocamo' system, which allowed Snake's camouflage to automatically change to the environment he was next to, allowed for much more diverse and open ended gameplay and challenges for the player to overcome.

Graphics in this game are top notch, holding up to games on the Playstation 3 like Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, and Killzone 3.  The gameplay and cutscenes are wonderfully animated, and rarely are there hitches.  Framerate drops to sometimes occur when there are 30-40 enemies on screen, which can happen when you aren't careful and allow enemies to sound an alert.  There are some characters that do have the standard 'shiny' and 'rubbery' looks that the next-gen has brought, but only at certain times does this occur.

Overall, this game holds a soft spot in my collection as one of the best games of all time.  I write this review trying not to spoil anything for the few people that have not played this game. The first time I beat this game was in June of 2008, the day after it released.  After playing it for 18 hours straight, I completed the epilogue on bated breath.  Every single moment of this game kept me on the edge of my seat, and I couldn't put the controller down.  Every cinematic, every action I made was one step closer to the final conclusion of a story that I had played for close to ten years.  When I finished, it was like a weight lifting off my shoulders, allowing me to rest and gain peace with an ending I was completely satisfied with.

My review:
5/5 Stars

The Government Blue Screen of Death

In the recent weeks in politics, both the Democrats and Republicans have been debating over the proposed budget that Obama wants to put into practice for the 2012 fiscal year.  The Democrats want to push the budget through, no questions asked, while the Republicans want deeper spending cuts to stop the government from doing Deficit spending.  Looking over our esteemed President's budget proposal, I would say that the need for larger cutbacks is in order.

Budget Overview - Fiscal Year 2012

From the whitehouse.gov, that is a link to the entire Fiscal Year 2012 budget as proposed by the President.  It outlines a total of 3 trillion dollars in spending, while we only have 2 trillion able to be used.  To allow this type of budget from an entity as large as our government is absurd.  Our government needs to have money to function, and President Obama during his campaign had pledged to stop this type of spending in Washington.  Apparently, like every other promise he has made, he has done little more than lie to the American People.

The fact is, that our government requires money to function.  However, when a government spends money that it does not have, it goes further and further into debt with no way to pay the debt back.    When the democrats are fine with spending a trillion dollars in excess that the government does not have.  Major cuts need to be made in order to make sure the United States doesn't go under once again.

There are many major cutbacks and repeals that could be done in order to make the country much more stable, and none of the politicians are even considering them:

A. Repeal NAFTA.  NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) has allowed private organizations to make US jobs commodities on a free trade market.  Companies like Ford and Chrysler, or Microsoft and Apple, can place factories in places that have much lower pay standards, have them manufacture materials and devices, and then ship them over to the US for a much lower cost compared to before the agreement was signed by President Clinton.

B. Shut Down NASA.  With the Shuttle Program ending, and the many, many failures in the recent years by NASA scientists, the organization is being nothing more than a money drain on the government.  We're one of the only financial backers of the International Space Station, and now NASA is looking to move their mission to the first Mars landing.  However, NASA's original purpose of landing on the moon is over.  The space race ended when the Soviet Union dissolved, and all the NASA has done is spend money and lost it in mishaps, explosions, landing failures, and everything else.  NASA however, gets it's own funding from the government, and also is able to get money from the Defense Department's black budget, allowing for increased funding from two places, funding that could be used elsewhere if space was say, privatized to corporations that actually were able to do things on their own.

C. Get out of Libya.  Even though the strikes in Libya have been put onto NATO jurisdiction from the United States, the US is still the biggest financial and military supporter of NATO.  So even though NATO is the one fighting, we're still the one paying the bills.  Getting out of Libya quickly and efficiently, as well as moving faster in the missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, would allow us to lower future proposed defense budgets.

D. Repeal the Obama Health Care Bill.  While I do agree that health care in this country is atrocious and something needs to be done, the numerous things on the health care bill make it so that the bill will cost plenty of American business owners more money than they can afford, as well as make billions more in government spending that the government can't already afford.

And finally, E.  Cut jobs.  Many of government works are either overpaid for the jobs they're hired for, or are not doing anything but playing solitaire or doing something unproductive with their time.  People in this situation need to be evaluated for either a pay cut, or even a job cut since their positions are unnecessary or give someone else a little more to do in their job.

However, these are changes that no lawmaker has even suggested to propose, and I even suspect backlash from readers on this.  But quite honestly, these cuts would make drastic improvement on the government finances as it stands.  One thing Obama is correct on though, is that a government shut down now would only hinder the financial recovery of the nation.

If the government does shut down, families that filed their tax returns by mail may not have their returns processed in enough time to get the refunds their waiting for.  People looking for mortgages would be out of luck.  A government shut down at this current time, depending on the amount of time that it shuts down, could potentially be catastrophic and cause another downward spiral.  Our elected officials need to start talking, collaborating, and working for the office they were elected to.

Random Review of the Week: The Reversal

Continuing from last week's review of The Brass Verdict, I am going to review the third book in the Mickey Haller series, The Reversal.  The major twist of this book is how Mickey's role has shifted in the criminal justice system.  While he is still a defense attorney, Haller is asked by the city of Los Angeles to be a special prosecutor in the case against previously convicted child killer Jason Jessup.  With the previous conviction being overturned, the state has decided to try the case once more, asking Mickey Haller to be on the other side of the aisle just this one time.

To help Mickey in is case, he chooses as his second chair, his ex-wife Maggie McPhearson, as well as an LAPD investigator, his half-brother Harry Bosch.  Together, the trio bring together the case of the state, using testimony from the previous trial as well as new evidence discovered by the new advancements in DNA technology in order to form a case against the defense's evidence and put Jessup behind bars once more.

After seeing two novels with Mickey on the defense side of the courtroom, Connelly makes a convincing portrayal of how a person spending years on the defense would act on the Prosecution.  Mickey keeps his usual cocky swagger as him and his team build the case, but little slip-ups in his mannerisms and speech make things fresh and keep the reader interested in whether Haller can truly pull this off.

The novel is the best work of the series, keeping a fresh tempo along with Mickey's new, one-time role.  Gone are the plot twists that made The Brass Verdict seem similar to The Lincoln Lawyer, as Connelly's writing evolved over writing this novel.  New types of twists are used, making the characters much more organic and unique.  You can feel the emotions of the characters as they work to achieve their goals, and the suspense keeps building until the very final confrontation.

This book continues on the cycle of merging two universes that Connelly set up, bringing Harry Bosch and his daughter closer to both Mickey and Maggie, as well as their daughter Hayley.  Using the case as the main story teller, Connelly uses it to perfection to bring the characters and pace to the places that he needs them to be.  Like a chess-master weaving his pieces on the board into the perfect strategy, he uses the tools at his disposal to write the most thrilling and riveting Mickey Haller/Harry Bosch story to date.

The main antagonist(s) of the book is seen in only a few speaking parts, but his main plot is through a police investigation with Bosch and SIS.  This investigation is a major suspense tool along with the courtroom work that the team has to deal with.  When Jessup does speak, his writing reflects the arrogance and anger that is riled up in him through what he portrays as being locked up for a crime that he didn't commit.

This book is a masterpiece both in the courtroom and out.  There wasn't any falter or misstep this time as Connelly wrote his most tightly wound novel to date.  I sat on the edge of my seat the whole time as I was reading, and as I put this book down, I couldn't wait for Connelly's fourth book in the Mickey Haller series, The Fifth Witness.

Educational Greed

The role of a teacher in western society is one that is supposed to be held with great prominence.  A teacher is someone who instructs people, whether they be children, adults, or the elderly.  They show us what we need and want to learn, and respect our abilities as we respect that they are trying to help us get to where we need to be.  The role of a teacher is one that demands respect from their pupils, and as such they do get it.

However, like any other form of trust and respect, this type of respect walks a very thin line.  While teachers deserve respect of pupils and parents, they are trusted to follow rules and codes of conduct.  They are trusted to make sure that their students are learning valuable skills, that a student is safe and secure when they walk into the classroom, and that the teacher will never break the rules and ethics that they are trying to instill into the class that they teach.

But in the recent weeks, major news outlets have been reporting about teachers using different ways to cheat on the standardized tests that are mandated by the No Child Left Behind act that was signed into law in 2001.  Schools in Washington D.C. have been a major headline, with a probe examining different schools in the D.C. districts.  Varying numbers of classes were tested based on school population, and the classes that were cheating were flagged by the study.  The top ten highest percentages rated from 20% to a full 100% cheating rate.

 

This type of action by teachers is unacceptable.  As I read the article, I had a hunch that cheating like this wasn't limited to the D.C. school area.  My hunch was proven to be correct.  As I continued my search, I found out that many schools nationwide, from D.C. to Georgia, to Arizona, and Michigan, have all had teachers participating in different styles of cheating on these tests.  It was something I had overlooked through a month's worth of news reports and studies.

What is the reason for these teachers to cheat?  Well, the main one is greed.  Many districts offer bonuses and raises to schools who have their students receive a certain percentage on the standardized tests.  As the a certain percentage involves increased federal funding for the school, the districts have placed incentives in order for the teachers to receive better grades.  However, instead of putting in the hard work, the teachers have just given up.

There is one way that teachers have been able to not cheat and still allow their students the ability to pass these tests with the results that they want.  That way is to focus the curriculum on the tests alone.  However, this severely affects what the students can learn in a given school year, and don't push them to expand beyond what the tests teach them.  This is a huge hindrance to a child's development, forcing them to conform to a set of standards and not exceeding them.

But either way you look at this, it sends a very clear message.  That many teachers across the country, who have taken the job of an educator, are putting their own compensation and benefits over the student.  The job of an educator is to put the student above all else as long as they're in the classroom.  If a student asks for help, wants to know more, it is their job to give that to them.  However, when a teacher erases answers on a test, or when a teacher changes curriculum to conform to a test, that shows a lack of caring for the well-being of the students.

Now, I know that a lot of teachers feel hogtied by the stipulations and limitations of their jobs.  Helping a student learn depends on both the student and teacher to work together.  If a student doesn't go for help, or doesn't want to participate in class, there is only so much that a teacher can do.  However, that shouldn't make a teacher change an entire lesson plan in order to achieve the results that they want.  A teacher has the ability to go to the child's parents, call a conference, or even meet with administrators to figure out what they can do.

On top of this, school districts are cutting budgets and time on programs that promote creativity and expanded thinking.  Art classes, physical education, after-school sports programs, these type of institutions teach different types of thinking as well as discipline and structure.  To cut these types of programs from schools is allowing schools to almost stamp out ideas like creation, strategy, and ingenuity.  These are basic fundamentals that have designed many things in previous lifetimes as well as our own.  Think about it, would something as large as Facebook.com be around is Mark Zuckerberg didn't have in ingenuity and creativeness to take a small idea from three college students and turn it into a multi-billion dollar organization?

The NCLB act is a flawed system, granted, but the idea of it is one that has been needed for a long time.  But in implementation, the schools have taken a benchmark system and turned it into a system of corruption and greed.  The sad thing is that the largest thing ever is at stake, the future of the children in the United States educational system.  The teachers that cheat, that change curriculum, are doing nothing more than throwing that future away and hoping that these students will grow up to be the people they need to be on their own.

Now with that, I do apologize for the late post, Thursday was an incredibly hectic day.  However, soon, we should be seeing the first official post from our other author, Kelly Francis, as well as my Monday review of the third book in the Mickey Haller series, 'The Reversal'.  Thank you everyone