Lessons From The Warzone

Farnaz Fassihi Is An Iranian American Journalist Who Wrote An Essay Discussing What A Journalist's Job Is When Covering A War.

He Questioned What A Journalist's Job Is.

Is It To Write How The People In Journalism School Taught Him To Write?

And To Evenly Discuss Both Sides Of The Story And Avoid Giving Personal Opinions?

And Also To Report Only What The Government Officials Tell The Reporters?

When You, As A Reporter...Know What Is Exactly Going On And Know That The Government Officials Are Telling Only Half-Truths?

What Do You As A Reporter Write About And Tell The American Public?

I Guess There Is No Definite Right Answer.

It Just Depends On Your Own Ethics And Principles.

How Much Are You Willing To Stick With Those Ethics And Principles?

Are You Willing To Lose Your Job Over It?

Or Get In Trouble Over Defending Them?

That's What Happened To Mr. Fassihi While He Was Reporting The War In Iraq (9/11)

He Told Both Sides Of The Story In An Article, (Like He Was Taught) And Because Of This, He Lost His Job As A Reporter On The War In Iraq Because The Government Didn't Like How He Was Reporting And Felt He Was Not Reporting In Favor Of The Americans.

Mr. Fassihi Was Being Neutral Towards The Issue And Reporting How He Was Always Taught, And Because Of This, He Lost His Job Overseas.

Another Possible Contributor To His Firing Was Probably Having Some Racial Discrimination Because He Is Iranian American And Because He Is Reporting On The War Overseas.

The Government Felt He Was Being Unpatriotic And Defending His Country, Even Though He Was Just Doing His Job To The Best Of His Abilities.

Freedom, Liberty, And Rights...

Aryeh Neier's Essay "Freedom, Liberty, And Rights: Three Cautionary Tales" Talks Mainly On The Definitions Of The Words, "Freedom, Liberty, And Rights" As Stated In The Title.

"Freedom, Liberty, And Rights" Are Words Used To Commonly Describe The United States Of America.

But What Do These Words Truly Mean?

They Are Such A Loose Terms With No True Definition And Meaning.

Neier States His Opinion On Each Of The The Words.

He States Both His Opinion, And What The U.S. Government Thinks Of The Words.

(Bush Administration)

I Believe This Was Just Yet Another Way To Bash The Bush Administration During His Terms In Office.

Let's Add Another Person And His Opinion (Neier) To Those Who Dislike President Bush.

Just Because A Person Has An Opinion, Does Not Make That Person Right.

Yes Neier Has An Opinion About Bush, But Let's Not Be Biased And Write A Complete Essay Thinking Your Not.

Neier Is Just Another Person Complaining Yet Again About The Bush Administration, But Using The Way They Use Their Words This Time, And Not Necessarily Their Actions.

All Presidents Use The Same Words As Bush, ("Freedom, Liberty, And Rights") But They Aren't Being Complained About.

That's Why This Is Just Another Essay/Way To Bash The Bush Administration.

STOP THE MEDIA!

Martin Kaplan's Essay Called "Welcome To The Infotainment Freak Show" Talks About The Media And Its Coverage Of Stories Nowadays (Being 2009).

The Thesis I Believe Of The Whole Essay is

"In Contemporary America, And Arguably In Most Industrial Democracies, The Imperative Of Practically Every Domain Of Human Existance Is To Grab And Hold The Attention Of Audiences. In Politics, It Is Now More Important For A Candidate To Have Big Name Recognition, And The Money To Buy Big Media, Than It Is To Have Big Ideas."

I Totally Agree With Kaplan And His Ideas.

While The Whole World Is Focused On A Famous Sports Athlete Being Linked To Steriods...There Are People Dying In Africa From AIDS And Disease.

Or While People Are Wanting To Know About How Micheal Jackson Died, Or Where He Is Being Burried...There Are American Soldiers Dying Overseas.

Kaplan's Essay States That The Only Thing Contemporary America Cares About...Is Just A Juicy, Interesting Story Regarding A Person Of High Class

(Or At Least What We Think Is High Class)

I Am Tired Of All The "E! News Hollywood Stories"...And All Those Crap Magazines And TV Shows Having To Do With Celebrities.

WHO CARES?!?

There Are More Important Issues At Hand!!

And More Important Stories That NEED To Be Reported!!

It's Sad Where People In America, And Even The Rest Of The World, Put Their Priorities Of Importance.

STOP WITH THE MEDIA AND ITS CRAP STORIES!

Random Acts Of People

There Really Wasn't Anything That Caught My Eye This Week To Write About.

But I Ended Up Coming Across This Article On sbsun.com That Just Got Me Thinking How Random And Weird Some People Are.

The Article Was Titled:

"Mira Loma man killed while walking on 215 Freeway in Devore"

Written By: Josh Dulaney

Posted: 11/01/2009

Read: 11/01/2009

Here's The Link:

http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_13687695

The Article Was Short And To The Point.

Not Too Many Details Were Given Either.

But It Still Got Me Thinking, "Why Was This Man Even Walking On The Freeway?"

It Made No Sense To Me. And Now He Is Dead Because Of It.

The Man Was 47 And Was Struck By A Car And Killed At 1:42 AM.

Did He Want To Die? Is That Why The Man Was There Walking?

And It Also Got Me Thinking...Will The Man That Struck Him, Be Charged With Vehicular Manslaughter?

These Were Just Some Of The Random Thoughts I Had, For A Random Story.

Police Brutality

I Was On sbsun.com, Which Is A Local Newspaper Where I Live, And Came Across This Article:

Man whose beating by SB police was caught on videotape is released from custody

Written By:

Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell, Staff Writer

Posted: 10/24/2009

Read: 10/25/2009

Heres The Link:

http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_13635405

The Writer Does A Good Job Of Describing Both Sides Of The Story Which Is Something That I Really Liked From The Article.

The Article First Caught My Eye Because I Thought Immediately Of Rodney King And His Police Beating, As Well As It Being Caught On Tape.

What Person Wouldn't? Anytime There Is An Issue Involving A Police Beating With A Black Man...You Automatically Think, "Rodney King".

It Speaks Of A Black Man Who Was Beaten With A Baton And Had A, "broken right hand and bruises and cuts from head to toe,..." And Was Caught On Cell Phones By Two Civilians.

This Man Was Taken To The Hospital For Recovery After The Beating Which Was On A Monday (10/19).

On Friday (10/23), While Recovering In The Hospital, Sheriff's Deputies Themselves Went Into The Man's Room And Revealed He Was Released From Custody.

They Gave Some Reason For Why He Was Released, But I Think They Only Released Him Because They Felt The Man May Have Had A Case Against Them And The Cops Could Have Gotten Into Trouble Yet Again.

If You Read The Article, The Black Man Was Booked On, "suspicion of resisting arrest, transportation of cocaine and possession of cocaine."

That Sounds To Me A Good Enough Reason To Keep This Man Behind Bars. But What I Take From Their Lame Reasoning Is That The Cops Obviosly Feel They May Have Been In The Wrong And Did Not Act And React As They Should Have.

If You Ask Me...Something Sounds Fishy For Letting This Man (Who Should Be Behind Bars) Be Free After The Charges He Was Booked For.

I Guess We'll See What Becomes Of This "Rodney King-Like" Story In The Near Future.

Will Gun Ammo Restrictions Really Matter?

I Recently Found An Article In My Local Newspaper's Website Having To Do With Upcoming Gun Ammunition Restrictions.

It Was Entitled:

"Gun Stores Preparing For Ammo Restrictions"

By: James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Posted: 10/17/2009

Read: 10/18/2009

Here Is The Link To The Full Article:

http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_13588077

As Of Today Anyone Of Age Can Walk Into Any Gun Store, "pick up a box of .22 caliber rounds, walk to the checkout counter, pay and leave".

That Will All Change Come February 1, 2011.

The New Law Will Entail "anyone purchasing handgun ammunition provide his or her name, address, phone number and thumbprint. Gun stores will have to keep those records - which also include the type, brand and amount of ammunition sold to customers - and allow police to go through them".

The New Law That Will Be Coming Into Effect In The Near Future Have Many Disagreeing Whether Or Not This Law Will Make A Difference. Including Even Officials From Law Enforcement.

The Article Written, Plainly States What The Law Is For As Well As Comments From California Assemblymen And Law Enforcement Officials Who Are Either For Or Against It And Why.

One Official Summed Up How I Felt About This Topic. Assemblyman Steve Knight, R-Palmdale (Also A Former Los Angeles Police Officer)

Stated: "The bad guys don't typically go into Wal-Mart and pick up their rounds".

This Is So True. I Look At This New Law As Just A New Way To Waste Money.

Criminals Are Going To Get What They Want Regardless Of The Law And Even Create A "Black Market". Its The Same Case With Illegal Drugs.

No Matter The Law, Illegal Drugs Are About More Than Ever.

Another Example I Think Of Is Prohibition In The 1920's. The 18th Amendment Made It Illegal To Import, Export, Transport, Sell, And Manufacture Any Intoxicating Liquor.

If Anything, The 18th Amendment Caused More Problems Than It Solved. It Created A "Black Market" For Liquor Back Then. And This Is When Crime Rates Actually Went Up.

I Believe That The Same Thing Could Actually Happen With This New Law.

It Will Create More Problems Than Solve.

I Believe That These Gun Ammo Restrictions Will Not Change Anything Other Than Create More Problems For The General Public Trying To Purchase A Gun.

Were They Just Doing Their Job?

On sbsun.com I Came Across An Article That Got Me Thinking About Police Officers And If All That They Do Is Actually Necessary When Doing Their Jobs.

The Article Was Titled:

"SB Man Dropped Gun Before Being Shot By Police; Officers Cleared"

by Stacia Glenn

Posted: 10/08/2009

Read: 10/08/2009

Here's The Link For Your Viewing:

http://www.sbsun.com/search/ci_13513954?IADID=Search-www.sbsun.com-www.sbsun.com

A Man Named Christopher Mason Was In A Denny's Parking Lot Where He Was Fatally Shot May 2, 2009 By A Pair Of San Bernardino Police Officers.

A Waitress First Spotted Mr. Mason "Showing His Gun Off To A Group Of Friends", And So She Decided To Call The Cops.

Mr. Mason Was Spotted "Fumbling Around His Shirt In His Waistband" By The First Officer On Scene.

He Then Went Behind A Ford Expedition That Was Parked And Continuously Was Checking Where The Officer Stood.

While He Was "Bobbing" Up And Down...That Was When The Gun Clattered To The Ground.

The Officer Fired Two Shots In Fear That Mason Would Reach For The Gun.

Mason Then Ran To His Girlfriends Parked PT Cruiser And Failed To Follow The Cops Orders And Show His Hands And Thus Prompted The Officer To Fire Another 7 Rounds. As Well As Another Officer Firing 3 More Times.

"Mason Fell To The Ground"

Investigators Found The Gun Behind The Ford Expidition As Well As Some Ammunition.

Autopsy Results Showed Mason Had An Alcohol Level Of .12%

He Was Shot In The Forehead, Chest, Abdomen And Ligament Near The Groin.

Mason's Family Filed For A Wrongful Death Claim Against The Police Department.

Was The Cops Doing Their Jobs? Or Was What They Did, Way Out Of Line And Uncalled For?

Could This Death Been Avoided?

Many Questions Are Asked And Thought About Whenever It Comes To The Death Of A Civilian And A Police Officer Is The Cause Of It.

What Gives The Cops The Right To Kill Anyone?

Is It Because They Have A Badge And Feel That Whatever They Do Is Warranted?

Who Gives Them That Right?

It's Always Tough To Believe A Story Like This And Know Who Was In The Right And Wrong.

The Cops Say That Mr. Mason, "Had A Duty To Submit To Orders Of The Officers And In Failing To Do So Escalated A Detention Into A Deadly Encouter"

And The Family Says That It Was A Wrongful Death Claim, And So They Therefore Hired An Attorney.

One Word Against Another's.

Its Always Hard To Choose Between Who To Believe.

Families Don't Know How They Would React If They Were In The Same Position.

Whether They Were In The Cops Or The Deceased Family Members' Shoes.

I Say It Is Unfair To Have Judgement. Especially When You Don't Know And There Is No Factual Evidence Of What Happened On That Night Of May 2, 2009.

So What I'm Just Trying To Say Is...Don't Believe Everything You Read And Don't Pass Judgement Too Quickly.

I'm In Neither For Or Against These Cops That Took A Civilian's Life.

I Have No Clue What To Believe. At Least Not Until I Have All The Facts.

So I Leave You With The Question:

Were They Just Doing Their Job?

Think About It First.