Movies made me do it...

I do not deny that many people take what they see in violent movies and try to enact those heinous actions in real life.  But I do not feel that it is not because those movies are corrupting all of the wholesome youths, rather they are being manipulated by impressionable youths already prone to delinquency.  In the movie we saw a person who said that he would copy whatever violent act that he saw in movies.  Who is to say that without violent movies this person would not have committed the crimes.  That person may have committed the crimes in a different manner, but I am positive that the person would still have acted out in violence.  These movies become more of an outline rather then a driving cause. The fact that people are acting out scenes from violent movies is awful and should be stopped.  No one deserves to die because some punk kids wanted to be "Scream" in real life.
I feel that we cannot blame Hollywood for making films that seem to glorify violence.  These films are in demand by the general public for their entertainment value.  In affect the public is the driving force behind the creation of such films.  Therefore, it should be the public's responsibility to teach against committing violent acts.

Md. forest aims to curb drug activity

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/15/AR2010101506699.html?nav=mbot

This article states that Maryland's National Resource Police (NRP) have decided to try and reduce the amount of drug activity in Maryland forests.  Just last Saturday the NRP made 10 drug related arrests, accompanied by the 120 arrests mad in the first 9 months of this year.  The NRP has joined with MD State Police, County Police and the State Corrections Department and says they are committed to providing a safe family environment and will continue this joint proactive law enforcement measure to ensure the safety of the patrons to the State's public land is met. 
The NRP will be using an increase of patrolling officers as well as drug sniffing dogs in an effort to deter drug use in the forest.  But as the article stated, there are a lot of unspoiled and uncharted areas that can act as a cover for those who plan to use illegal  drugs in the forest.  As we discussed in class it may be a good idea for the NRP to employ education in an effor to deter people from wanting to use illicit drugs in the forest.

(mis)Information

I agree with the article that information is too often misused and even twisted to fit preconceived notions of truth.  Far too often are sites devoted to particular sides fill their arguments with more opinions and inferences then actual raw facts of the subject matter.  Generally these sights are used to either convert others or reinforce the beliefs of others.  By employing certain tactics, such as passion over the issues, people can sway others to jump on their bandwagon.  Take the "love-able" character Brother Micah for an example of using passion to try and sway people towards his own beliefs.  He travels around college campuses all over the country preaching and trying to convert people to his version of Christianity in order to save our souls.  Although many JMU students either ignore or mess with Brother Micah, we cannot escape the fact that he picks specific portions of the bible to try and fit his argument and then uses said portions with huge passion.  In an attempt to prove this people have stood next to him and preached other portions of the Christian Bible that seem to refute Brother Micah.
Sometimes people need to have something that they can just believe in.  But it is important to not base arguments on ill conceived facts.  A department of Information could help to fight pure passion arguments, but it could be hard to make sure all sides are represented as fully as possible.

Carwash Owner Slain

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/08/AR2010100806399.html

 The article I read was about how a man was murdered in his home.  The article title is Fairfax Carwash Owner Found Slain in Home but there seems to be no connection to the murder and the man's carwash business.  I would say that this article is not much of a entertainment piece, other then the fact that the killer is still at large with no suspects.
 The article states that the police refuse to reveal the cause of death other then trauma to the upper body and that the victims car is missing.  The rest of the article seems to be about the victim, Yung S. Yun. 
I feel that this article was printed prematurely for a crime article, as there are very little crime facts.  In my opinion this is more of an obituary.  I mean no disrespect to the victim or his family, I just dont think news agencies should put out articles that basically show how little they know.

Double Murder

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/07/AR2010100706504.html?nav=mbot

A Prince Georges man was convicted for murdering his wife and a family friend.  The man killed the two because he suspected them of having an affair.  Although the story mainly sticks to the facts, the facts seem to be entertaining.
1. jealously- the distraut husband (luckett) unloads over 13 rounds at his wife and her suspected lover
2. man hunt-  Luckett was on the run from the law for two days after the shootings
3. attempted suicide- Luckett tried to use a metro train to crush himself but only lost his legs in the incident
4. insanity-  Luckett's lawyer tried to argue that his client was suffering from a mental illness

Although this case is not getting too much attention I feel that a case like this could cause officials to look more closely at insanity pleas.