Book Report part 1

Last week I started reading the book Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh. Sudhir learns a lot as a student growing up about issues like gangs, but to get a closer looks he semi-joins a gang. His main mission was to learn about how African Americans live day by day, but when he walks into a drug house, he is quickly chirped.  The man Sudhir first meets, is J.T., the gang leader. As they chat Sudhir gave him a survey to fill out and as JT reads it he starts laughing. The next day Sudhir came back with a case of beer, and was then quickly accepted.  The 2 of them become friends and Sudhir learns that JT wasn't always part of a gang and in fact he went to college on a sports scholarship, but due to racial problems didn't succeed as much as he thought he would. Due to racism in the working world, he dropped it to join a gang.

After reading the first two chapters of this book, I was really surprised on how easily Sudhir got accepted. Of course the first day he was called names and was on the verge of being beaten, but then the next time he visited, it was like he was one of them. I never imagined that a guy like Sudhir could just mingle in with a gang. Also When JT explained his life story I was beyond shocked to find out that he went to college and was on a scholarship for sports. It may be wrong but when I think of people who are in gangs, I don't think of people who were on the track to be successful. This book already has twisted my views of how life really is, and exposed a little bit about what racism does. It keeps me engaged and I'm beyond excited to find out what happens next.

2:15 AM

Alright so this blog is really gonna be something random. Right now its 2 15 in the morning and I can not fall asleep for some reason, so I'm just gonna throw out some topics that are on my mind. To start off, there are so many complications in life, and in just the past few days I have seen so many. The first one I saw, or more so heard about is the story of a girl in my church youth group. During bible study yesterday she did a rehearsal to a speech that she had do for class at Warren High School. The main question the speech had to answer is, what do you believe in? Right away you could probably jump to a ton of materialistic answers, but the way she attacked to the question was amazing. Instead of taking that approach she talked about her belief in God and all the miracles that got her to believe in that. One of the miracles that she saw in her life and really stood out to me, was when she started talking about a mission trip she took back in 6th grade. The speech went on as followed...

"In 6th grade I got in a soccer injury, while playing in a tournament for a travel team. I ended up getting stitches in my eyebrow, my jaw was misplaced, my eye and forehead black due to internal bleeding, and my teeth began to turn grey due to the cell nerve damage. As time went on I began feeling not only self-conscious, but I began to loathe myself. I got to the point where I would not smile, sing, or talk, and for 2 years I would cry myself to sleep. No doctors said they could fix my black gums, grey teeth, or eyebrow shape. And I continued to hate myself and go through life feeling unworthy. That summer was when I went on my first mission trip to the city in Michigan, with let me add, the most bars per square mile. That month was when I learned what true beauty was, because I was fortunate to be able work with a single mom who had 14 children, some hers, some she took in, and most with some kind of disability. I grew to love this woman while watching her struggle an ugly divorce, more than a handful of kids, and lawsuits on those who had raped her, stolen from her, and used her. I remember my last day with her she told me I was a beautiful girl; it was this phrase that showed me true beauty. The day of my return, my mom picked me up and said a doctor had called and said that they heard my story through mutual friends and knew how to help. Trusting this doctor, I had surgery my freshman year, realizing this was an anonymous miracle."

Now after reading that tell me that she just got lucky and at the moment she heard she was beautiful, a doctor randomly heard from another random person that there was a girl who didn't have sufficient funds and always was beating herself up about how she looked, that needed surgery that he can provide. Now I could turn this blog into one about how great God is, but quite frankly she already did that in her speech and my goal isn't to steal her thunder. Really what I want to talk about is how there are miracles around us all the time, but we often miss them or take them for granted. 
There are little miracles everyday, not all them as great as the girl in my church's youth group was, but even the small ones can turn a persons day from very shitty to not very shitty. For instance today I was having a horrible day, I started off the day by over sleeping, rushing to get ready, then rushing to school, and in result missing breakfast. So now the day already sucked, and to top it off I get assigned a project in early bird gym, assigned a new blog in issues, find out I have a math test tomorrow, and to top it all off I have an essay do in English on Friday.  So now I am beyond tired and I just cant wait to get home and nap... Well when I get home my Grandma immediately calls and the next thing I know, I am on my way over there to help them fix their Christmas lights.
Finally I finish and when I am leaving my grandma tells me, help clean the house, your mom had a bad day and needs all the help she can get. Being the great kid that I am, I once again push my nap back, and start cleaning my room for her and organizing EVERYTHING.  Then it hit me, I opened this picture book in my room and pictures from all my mission trips were in them. Looking through I saw people I was very close with and all the residents that I bonded with and helped for a week. Looking at them made me realize how foolish I was. My resident in Oklahoma, was a young man who was heading great places, until he had his car accident. It left him paralyzed and made him lose most of his memory. Seeing this picture of me and my resident Ron, made me realize how lucky I am to still be alive and what a Miracle it is that nothing like what he had faced has happened to me. Ron everyday was out helping us and engaging in everything we did, just because he embraced every minute because he knew that everything he had was a gift of God and was a miracle. 

And thats a rap...

of course forte gets injured in the first round of da playoffs... So id like to sum up my season with this.........
It was a good effort for me this season...id like to thank all my fans for their support, id like to thank my family, and of course id like to thank the players who put their heart and soul into the game in order for me to go 9-3. id also like to apologize to all my fans, I'm sorry we couldn't pull in a championship for you guys this year. Although throughout our the season I have found many flaws in our commish ( Josef Hahn ) , and often compare him to Roger Goodell, I'd like to thank him for pulling this league together and giving everyone a shot to win some cash. As the youngest player and only high schooler, I would like to thank all of you college kids for accepting me into this league. once again thank you and I'm sorry...we'll get them next year.
-Stankyfranky624

Does Money Bring Happiness?

Everyone says that money does not make people happy, but as far as I can see, people who have money get to do whatever they want, and typically are very happy. I understand that some people are not happy because of their job, but I am pretty sure it is their job that is making them unhappy and not their money. With money comes power, which is the only downside of money. Having so much money makes it easy to abuse your power and because of this people become very unhappy. Prime example number one is Lindsay Lohan, she started her acting career at such a young age that by age 20 she had so much money and the power to do what ever she wanted with it. The way in which she abused her money caused her to go to jail and be unhappy. Her life spiraled out of control because she had so much money and used it to by things like drugs. I don't care what anyone says, money does bring happiness. The real thing that I can see that doesn't bring happiness is power.

What ever happened?

Father Christmas, Saint Nick, Santa Claus, and Chris Cringle all names of the most jolly man in the world. How do people lose their belief in such a great man? As we approach the Christmas holiday I am noticing more and more people who don't believe in him. Growing up he has been the one who everyone went to see at the mall or the one everyone would send letters to, But once people hit around 10 years old they become too cool for Santa. I myself love Santa and go to see him at the mall all the time, knowing and believing that he is true. i cant think that he is not true when every year the thing I want most is under my tree on Christmas day. Also the time in which I started not believing in him, I ended up getting coal that year and the belief was right back. So I guess Santa to me is just too great and too jolly to not believe in.

Whats your thing?

Everyone has their "thing". Patrick Kane is known for not having his whole mouth guard in his mouth, Michael Jordan had both his North Carolina shorts and his tongue, and of course  Jim McMahon had his headbands. After seeing an article on these, it made me think, "what is my thing?". After thinking for a while I have come to the conclusion that no one necessarily has a "thing" it is more of superstition, and to be honest I am very superstitious. Patrick Kane said "Even if it’s beat up though, if I’m playing good at the time, I’ll stick with that mouthpiece because I think it’s good luck." And to be honest I agree with him. during football I had a little poke chip that I kept in my pants because i thought it gave me good luck, and made me play better. Also every game I made sure to wear the same shirt even if it was beat up. So I guess that that would be my "thing" because it is the only superstition that I have.  

Staying Alive....Final Post on This Dumb Punishment

I have to start by agreeing on the fact that Illinois’s banning of the death penalty was just. I absolutely hate the death penalty, and after learning more about it, I still hate it. There is a lot of Capital Punishment cases in which the man they kill is innocent, and I don’t see how a punishment this severe could have so many flaws.  Although there are flaws and it is completely idiotic, the death penalty is not going against the Constitution therefore it can stay in existence.

                Governor Ryan like myself didn’t really get the full picture behind the death penalty and of course he thought that it was a just way of punishing someone. After finding out more about it he was right in changing his mind.  When he was finally opened up to the reality of the death penalty and saw that seventeen men whom were innocent had been on death row, he finally saw that there were plenty of flaws in the system.  Also he got to see how it affects the people close to the victim of the death penalty. So Governor Ryan finally came to the realization that the death penalty sucks.

                Not only are there flaws and innocent people sentenced to death, but also after reading this speech and listening to debates in class, why does one man deserve the death penalty than the next? Listening to debates in class and having to judge if someone should be sentenced to death or not was tough enough. Especially in the case when a man killed 4 people and wounded 5 others; was sentenced to a life in prison. Why did he get that and the man that killed one lady gets sentenced to death? I don’t understand how this system is still in play. As the Governor said about these criminals spending life in jail and rotting away in a cell is better than letting them just die and have essentially no punishment.

Why do people care so much?

Over the course of this year, through both school and everyday living, I have come to realize that saying what you want doesn't really happen anymore. Everything needs to be politically correct. A prime example is the guidelines set by the school on dressing up for Halloween. One of the rules in which I found ridiculous states; students with sombreros and fake mustaches, dressing in sombreros, and guys dressing in mini-skirts is not allowed. Why can't kids dress in sombreros and fake mustaches? Its really only offensive if you make it, if you look at a main figure in the Disney World world, Donald Duck dresses like that. As he plays his role in The Three Caballeros. Also if girls can dress up like guys, why cant it be vice-verse? Girls dress up as "bros" or wear mens' clothing all the time. Also no dressing as Osama Bin Laden was a rule, and I think that is just obscure, he is a public figure and if someone wants to dress like him, then they should be allowed. In the past people have come to school dressed like President Bush, with big donkey ears, or something defacing their president. Another thing is if you like at the elementary, kids are dressed up in whatever they want and no one takes offense to it. But once you hit high school everything needs to be politically correct, so that no one gets offended.

Another thing I don't understand, is why people care so much about celebrities. Honestly everything they do, even if its horrible, makes them more famous. For example look at the Jersey Shore idiots. They are getting paid to act like complete morons on camera, and the more dumb they look the more fans they seem to pull in. I'm not saying that all celebrities are looking for attention but thanks to the news they get more than they should. These news shows need to stop caring so much and stop dissecting every part of these celebrities lives. they are still human, just because they act like morons absolutely does not mean that they should be supported. The reason this came to mind is because the other day I sat eating lunch at Egg Harbor Cafe listening to my mom and grandma bitch about how Kim Kardashian was only married for  70 something days and how much her wedding cost and blah blah blah. I stopped listening at one point because I was like really, why are you caring so much about someone you don't even know. Congrats she looks like an idiot for getting married and divorced so quickly, but that is her decision, WHO CARES!?!?

More and More Flaws

Looking at statistics and seeing the movie Deadline, I have come to the realization that our justice system is racist. I think that when a jury see’s someone of color and low-income, they are quick to judge and don’t find the person of worth to society. Due to this, right off the bat I think they get the idea of the death sentence in their head. I really cannot think of a way to cover this flaw, because there is really no way to change the jury’s perception of somebody.  I think that the only way to stop it, is to abolish the death penalty.

I find the death penalty to be “cruel and unusual” punishment, in any form of execution. I think that the Constitution is the biggest document in the US, if not the world, and in my eyes the death penalty does not follow something that our country has been built around. This makes me hate the death penalty even more, and I think that they should abolish it, because killing someone for any reason is not right, and is very cruel.

2 Wrongs Dont Make a Right

The first step of someone who is being accused is the step of being told what they are being tried for.  First of all they either can get their own lawyer, but if they are not able one will be appointed to them. Next they have a hearing where they try to plead their case and give whatever evidence they have. If the case and evidence is not significant enough, then they go in front of a grand jury and try to convince them, that they are innocent.  Finally, the prosecutor decides if they want seek death for the defendant. I personally think that the death penalty is stupid, and that many innocent people die due to it. There are many flaws to the system, and the main one is that witnesses may lie. In class we heard about a man who was sentenced to death, and even though the witnesses testified against him in court, admitted to not telling the truth. They were too late and because of this, he was sentenced to death.

The only positive thing about the death penalty these days is that they don’t do it in a cruel manner. Although I don’t agree with the death penalty, I feel that lethal injection is the most humane (even though killing in my eyes isn’t humane) way of doing it. Killing by hanging, using a fire squad, or even the electric chair sound extremely painful, and I think that if you are going to kill someone, at least have some respect and kill them in a way that is least painful.

The amount of women sentenced to death compared to the amount of men sentenced to death, did not really surprise me. Watching the news, and hearing about trials, it seems to always be men committing the crimes. So I think that women commit less crimes which makes their number lower. Also in class we talked a little about how women get more sympathy due to the fact that they are mothers.

I don’t believe that any crimes deserve the death penalty. First off, there are many flaws to the system and I feel like killing someone for doing something wrong, doesn’t really make anyone happy. I think they would be better off in prison. I also think that Illinois can see the flaws in the system which is why they don’t have it, and it seems like they don’t want to deal with all the crap that goes along with it.

pee sharing is caring

In the Board of Education vs. Earls case, students were required to take random drug tests if they were in an extracurricular activity. Two students, Lindsay Earls and Daniel James, were against the random drug testing, claiming that the schools policy of random drug testing violated their Fourth Amendment rights guaranteed to them by the Constitution. The courts held that students in extracurricular activities have less privacy, and that the policy followed one of the schools goals, which is prevent drug use among students.

I agree with the schools decision to drug test, especially for those who are in extracurricular activities for the sole reason that preventing drug use is something that communities and schools try to prevent all the time, and if educating students about what it does and promoting them to not do it doesn’t stop them then they need to take more extreme measures.  If students don’t do drugs then it isn’t a hassle to just pee in a cup, and if they do then they are hurting their team and more importantly themselves.

After reading the article about drug sniffing dogs, I think it is absurd of a school to take that extreme of measures. For starters it is a complete disruption to the learning process, and looking back at freedom of speech cases in schools, if something is disruptive to the learning process it goes against what the main purpose of the school is for. The Schools should have the rights to drug test students, but I think that taking in the dogs is just way to over the top and takes away from what the schools main job is.

NHL Under Way

The NHL season is a just under way and the Blackhawks are looking pretty good. So far Kane has been at the top of his game, and already has 6 points in just 4 games. I guess coach Q, made the right decision in switching him from a winger to the center spot. One of the things I guys I love seeing on the ice is Danny Carcillo. Last year the Hawks had no hitters, and the signing of Carcillo was huge. Every shift he busts his balls off to make hits and does all the small things right. After parting ways with guys like, Eager, Burish, and Fraser the Hawks had a very finese team. Now that they have added a little strength, I think they have a great shot at making another run for the cup.

Another team that may make a run is the Florida Panthers. After suffering numerous bad seasons, former Blackhawks GM Dale Tallon decided to make some changes. With the new slogan of "see red", and new players like Jack Skille, Brian Campbell, and Kris Versteeg, the Panthers have a brand new look to them. off to a 3-1 start the Panthers are looking promising 

My Xbox...My Best Friend

       Starting last year, I got my first Xbox 360. Previously I had a Play Station 3, but since no one else had it, I felt the need to make the switch. The first day I got it, Sam came over to help me get everything set up and to make my Xbox live account. We finally got it all together and then the question came up of what my gamertag should be. After brainstorming through plenty of names, Stankyfranky624 was born. This was just the beginning to a new hobby. Xbox is great because it allows you to do things you never really could imagine doing. Also it gives you an alter ego and allows you to express yourself in a different way. When playing: my friends and I call each other by our gamertag. Kids like Sean who never talk in public, seem to talk the most when they enter the nation. The nation allows me to essentially escape reality and also it is a way for me to talk with friends when we aren’t hanging. Every night we get on and talk about whatever we want and play games together, as if we were hanging out. Even when we aren’t playing games, it allows us to just chill in the party and talk. It also allows us to watch movies on Netflix together, so we always have something to do. Basically Xbox is my life and without the holy one, I don’t know what life would be like.

Speech Codes

After reading about and seeing the pictures from the Beta Theta Pi fraternity, I am left just very lost and confused. Honestly, what were these kids thinking? There is absolutely no way that they could have thought it wouldn’t offend people. Doing things like going as "far as to simulate the lynching of a member in blackface wearing a T-shirt bearing the name FUBU." In my opinion I found that just really dumb and cannot see what their impact was, other than trying to offend blacks. As our homecoming just passed, it makes me think of the underground senior t-shirts. The last few years the seniors have come to see that the t-shirts although very funny to the student body offends everyone else. There is just no place in schools for things like this, and the kids who run the frat, should be punished. There are plenty of ways for frats to have fun without discriminating other races.

I took a look at Illinois State University. Although it had a "fire" rating, it didn’t really concern me because looking at the other colleges, many of them were in the "fire" category. Many of the rules and freedoms were pretty basic, but the one that caught me the most was how the university, expects you to conform to their ideas. That really limits how free everyone really is, and makes it virtually impossible for one to express their ideas. Illinois State would have punished the students at Auburn very hard, for the sole reason that it goes against what the university believes in.

 College is right around the corner, and right now while I’m in the decision phase on where to go, these new sources will help me find a place to go. Obviously everyone has different opinions, and I want to go to a school that takes in the ideas of students instead of punishing them for them.  Colleges need to continue to learn from the students actions, and make their universities open and safe.

Where Has the Time Gone?

It seems like it was just yesterday that I was playing games with my brothers like Pokemon or Nintendo 64.  Now I'm the last kid in the house and I can only wonder, "where has the time gone?".  I always wanted to just grow up and become an adult so that I could do things on my own and do more, but now being 17 and in my last year of high school, I want to go back to being a kid. There are so many advantages of being a kid. When your a kid all your expected to do is live life with no stresses. With age the stresses increase and the expectations become much higher. As soon as you hit high school the stress' blow up and the pressures of being the best in sports, academics, and getting into the best possible college come upon you.  Between school and other activities the days fly by. It starts with the day flying by, then weeks, then before you know 17 years have flown by and now college is right around the corner.

Recently in English we had a free write on the toys of our childhood and the things that we did as kids. Brainstorming and reflecting on everything from the past, I remembered all the toys I had and mostly the the blanket I slept with every night. As I grew up, the free time I had to play with them lessened, and before I realized it I had grown completely apart from them. Seeing the movie Toy Story 3, made me realize how much i loved the toys and more importantly how much I missed my childhood. So maybe the time has gone so fast because of decisions I have made, and the things that are prioritized ahead of all the small things I loved as a kid.  As a concluding thought, even though we get older, it is truly our decision to stay or move past things from our childhood.

Why?

         As the horrible day of 9/11 has come and passed again, we once again for the 10th year in a row have seen our country come closer together. In class we watched the movie 9/11, and something that stuck out to me the most, was how close our country came together on the day of 9/11 and the few weeks following.  Why did it strike me? Maybe because I was so caught up in remembering 9/11 as a horrible day, or maybe it what was because I was too young when 9/11 happened to remember any of it, or probably it was the shock that we were forced to come so close together because of a tragic event. The U.S. hasn't had this big of an attack against them since 1941 when we were attacked on pearl harbor. Having 60 years of peace made everyone feel much safer. These attacks on the World Trade Center, forced us to lose a sense of security, but also forced us to become closer as a nation.
        The after math of 9/11 has been apparent for everyone. Boarding a plane used to be a no hassle procedure, but ever since than, the security has amped up a ton. Although the no hassle way was most convenient for everyone, due to the attacks, we were forced to take more procedures to insure the safety of everyone.
        Also we were forced to come together as a country, which was pretty extraordinary. All my life I have never seen our country come together more than it did that day. the next 10 years after on 9/11 we are reminded of what happened and we are brought closer together as a nation. Although 9/11 was such a horrific event the only optimistic thought that comes to mind is how it has brought our country closer together.  

Drawing a Line

Through out the past week of school we have looked at cases that questioned the first ammendment, and how free our speech truely is. In cases such as Morse v. Frederick or the Bathel School Dist. No. 403 v. Fraser, the school was forced to restrict the students rights to protect both themselves and the students. In both of these cases the courts found that the School was "just" in the actions they took. Although the kids may have been expressing their ideas or opinions, the manner in which they chose to do it was very disruptive to the learning process. so where should a line be drawn? Well I obviously think that freedom of speech should be granted to students, with certain exceptions. It is easy to see why schools restrict kids from swearing, wearing gang shirts, and promoting illegal drugs. Without these restrictions schools could easily be exposed to violence and distractions from class time. Also schools put a lot of money in to teaching kids about what drugs do and discourage drug use, so why should kids be able to go against that? I do feel that students should have the rights to express how they feel, but they should do it in a civil way. It's common sense not to yell swears or to wear a shirt that promotes drugs.

Eenie Meenie Miney Mo

Hi I'm Frank Hahn and this blog is an intro for this upcoming year in my issues class. You can also find me on Xbox live under the name stankyfranky624. I will be blogging about things that range from high school issues to issues outside of the classroom. This first blog has no general topic so im at an eenie meenie miney mo situation of choosing what i want to say. So I have decided just to leave you with the thought of in just a few short weeks the anniversary of 9/11 is rolling around. So take time when you see police officers, firefighters, and the people serving our country, to just thank them and show gratitude.