Mock Trial Recap

After the first trial, David Jones v United States i thought the outcome was right. I did not think that this case was in fact a rape. What really pushed me over was the fact that the girl did not immediatly go to police. Her reason was she did not know if she was raped and had no one to turn to. if the issue was that she was scared i do not belive her because the accused was her ex boyfriend who has zero histroy of violence. Had David Jones had a histroy of violence i could see how her life may be in danger in her mind. In todays age, i think the meaning of the word "no" has changed. People today seem more sarcastic and i think she must have showed with actions that she did not want to go any further.

I was happy with the outcome of the second trial. As the defense attorney i was happy with the verdict, obviously, but i was really not sure about the trial as a whole. While Kevin Murphy did say some questionable things, i think that Elyse Roberts handled herself very poorly. The other side mostly tried to get at the emotions of the jurors, but i was grateful for going last because i knew with the last word i could convince the jury to vote in my favor.

I do not think rape is an issue at Deerfield High School. In fact, i don't think i've ever heard of anything closely related to that. I think the second trial's issue of sexual harassment is way more common. Sexual harassment happens all day every day in high school. I would think its more of teenagers being teenagers more than a real problem though. I've never seen a person actually distraught by comments someone made, for if they did i'd step in.

State of the Union Speech

Recently President Barak Obama gave his annual state of the union speech to congress. The first thing i noticed in the speech was that the seating of congress was much different than before. Before this speech, the sides of congress were split by party. In my opinion the state of the union speech was one of the most childish things because of the congress. The side that did not have the majority only clapped for things they agreed with, but this year was different.

Here are some of the main points Obama spoke about.

FREEZING DOMESTIC SPENDING

- Obama said that by freezing annual domestic spending for the next five years the country would be able to reduce the deficit by $400 billion over the next decade. He also mentioned that the freeze will bring cuts to like community action programs and military spending. The freeze would cut about 12% of the deficit, which is projected to be something like 6.2 trillion dollars...but at least there is a start somewhere.

MILLIONARES

- Obama asked millionares to give up their tax break for the good of the country. To be honest i am not sure they should have gotton a tax break in the first place.

INVEST

- I think that Obama really pushed investing. Such as in innovative things like enviormental, education, and infrastructure. In order to help businesses Obama asked congress to lower corporate tax rates for the first time in 25 years...which is awesome.

Obama also made a bunch of pledges such as:

- Provide 80 percent of Americans with high-speed rail access in 25 years.
- Have 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015.
- Have 80 percent of the country's electricity come from clean-energy sources by 2035.
- New investment in biomedical research, information technology and clean-energy technology.
- A continuation of the $4.35 billion Race to the Top incentive program offering competitive federal grants to local school systems.
- "Redouble" efforts to repair America's aging roads and bridges.
- Make a $10,000 tuition tax credit permanent.

Whats Going On in The World (When this blog assignment was assigned)

The big issue in the world right now is the protests in Egypt. In case you live in a box and have no idea what that means, let me help you out. Hosni Mubarak became the Egyptian leader when the former leader was assasanated. He has held power since that day, thirty years ago. During that time, he has acted as more of a dictator than a leader and the Egyptian people are mad. Mubarak was grooming his son, Gamal, to be the next leader but the people of Egypt wanted to vote on the next leader. Through twitter and facebook the people organized non-violent protests of Mubarak. With pressure from foreign leaders, Mubarak stepped down. Before he stepped down, the US had to walk a fine line between siding with the protestors and Mubarak. The protestors wanted a free nation, which the US embodies in democracy. The problem is that Mubarak has been good to the US government on our war on terror.

When it was happenning i thought the best thing for the US to do was to pressure Mubarak to step down, because although there is a fear of the unknown, showing the world that we will help all those people who seek democracy obtain it is more important. Once this happens there is and will be a ripple effect throughout the Middle East that will empower the individual like never before.

Race Test and Articles

After taking the race test, the results stated that i have a slight racial bias towards african american people than europian american people. I am not too sure what exactly to convlude from the test. When i read the article "No, I don't play for the 49ers." I saw the exact light that some racism comes from. A black man was washing his nice SUV at a carwash when someone politelty asks, "Do you play for the 49ers?" The man did not get offended but he in fact does not play for the 49ers. This is a bias we have in America. That man, while a nice guy, did not stop to think that maybe this man got a college degree and has a sucsessful career rather than playing sports.

One man had a good point, he said that no one is just blatantly racist, but he is just not viewed as equal. I think that is the big problem in our country, not many are blatant racists like people once were, but most white people still find themselves considering black people as "below them." The best example is sports and movies. All of these things describe entertainment, like the person is there to entertain you. Thus making the mental justification that they are below you and are only here to serve your interests.