Rearview Mirror Distractions

The Omaha World Herald has recently sent out an article about a certain law that some people might find ridiculous and others find logical. This law or violation would be hanging air fresheners or rosaries or any other kind of decoration from your rearview mirror. Violating this law could result in a $50 fine for first-time violators and a lost point to that person's driver's license. State Senator Tanya Cook of Omaha introduced a bill this session to decriminalize this practice.
I agree with this law and I disagree with it. I do believe that hanging something from your rearview mirror can be a distraction. I only agree with that when what is hanging is big or there is a lot of whatever is hanging. I don't agree with this law because the police force doesn't do much about it. They don't enforce it and quite frankly, many people don't know about it. This was the first time I had ever heard of this law. I had no idea that you could get a $50 fine and a point taken off.
Many people don't follow this law, which is why I think it shouldn't be one. Not only because of that, but also because the police don't enforce it enough. I don't think they should be able to pull some people over and not the others. If they are going to fine some, they should fine all.

TD Ameritrade Park

Omaha World Herald just recently put out an article about the TD Ameritrade Ballpark. They say it seats 24,000 people. The new ballpark opens April 19th with an opening game between Creighton and the University of Nebraska. The TD Ameritrade Park will be the new host to the College World Series.
I was on the Omaha World Herald's website watching a video about the ballpark and I think it will be great. Don't get me wrong, I loved having it at Rosenblatt by the Henry Doorly Zoo, but this new location looks really good and will be an awesome place to have the College World Series. A contractor said in this video that seating will better, you won't feel as squished together, and fans will get the ultimate baseball experience here. I agree with him. The ballpark looks spacious and the whole new vibe about it will make it even better to experience a baseball game at.
Rosenblatt was awesome to go to for the College World Series. Sometimes the heat and the crowds of people and smell of ballpark hot dogs in the air was awesome and having the zoo right next to you was convenient also. The experience there was unlike anything else, but moving downtown, where there is more room and more parking, I think will have a greater impact on people. It's nice to keep it in Omaha, Nebraska and attract people from all over the United States to this wonderful yet crazy state.

Leaping Sea Creatures!

On March 30th, 2011 CNN released an article on leaping sea creatures. It was reported that on Friday a 300-pound eagle ray leaped onto a boat in the Florida Keys and on Sunday a 375-pound mako shark jumped onto a boat off Texas. Some people are worried we need taller boats and we aren't safe. People aren't sure why the creatures leaped up but Timothy Mullican has several reasons as to why. He believes the boat could have spooked the fish, they could have been just accelerating through a cloud of chum and leaped out of the water and happened to land in the boat, it could have been a one-in-a-million chance the two connected, and maybe they were just "flipping the fin" to the fisherman.
I find this a funny story. I don't think we need taller boats. I believe this just happened out of nowhere and it wont be a common occurance. It was a good day for the tourists on the boat in Texas. They got a special treat. Not everyone gets to see a shark leap out of the water and land on their boat. It's a rare event and not such a good outcome for the creatures that don't make it, but I don't think we need to think anything of it or worry about it. It's just leaping sea creatures.

4-year-old Girl Reunited with Family in U.S.

CNN wrote an article about a 4-year-old girl named Emily Ruiz being reunited with her family after a mix-up when trying to enter the United States. Her family is originally from Guatemala and now live in New York City. Emily was on her way back with her grandfather from recuperating from asthma when a customs officer stopped her and her grandfather and wouldn't let them return because of a violation from 20 years ago. Emily was to either return to Guatemala with her grandfather or be turned over to state custody; she went back to Guatemala. Nearly 3 three weeks later, Emily was able to return to New York City with her family. Her lawyer, David Sperling, said, "Immigration officers treated her like royalty." 
This story touches my heart. It's things like this that living worth living. This little girl was refused to return to the United States because of a violation not pertaining to her. I'm sure if Emily's parents understood their options better they would have came and got her from immigration control and not sent her back to Guatemala. It's terrible that she was turned away, but its wonderful that she was finally returned to her family. David Sperling said, "Mission accomplished." I couldn't say it any better.

Working Out to a Beat

On March 7, 2011, Micah Mertes posted an article about David Skau's findings about working out with music and what beats help and which ones don't. He says music does help, to a point, and he goes on to expain himself. He conducted an experiment by assigning a dozen people to pedal while listening to various types of music with different beats. David monitored the distance cycled, heart rate, and comfort. He found that the best work out tempo is between 120 and 240 beats per minute. He said that once you get over 480 beats per minute, it's like working out to no music at all. It was too much.
I like working out to music. It takes my mind off of what I am doing and I focus on the music, therefore, I can do more and go longer. Running without music makes it difficult and it feels like it takes forever. I focus more on what I am doing and how long it's taking and I get tired faster. I don't pay attention to what everyone else is doing and I don't get distracted when I listen to music. It helps me a great deal.

Miss America!

On February 23, 2011 the Journal Star posted an article about Teresa Scanlan coming home Scottsbluffs after winning Miss America about five weeks ago. She came back with an entourage of security guards while stepping off the plane wearing her shiny, new tiara and a pink dress. She spoke at Community Christian School on Wednesday. She talked about how nice it is to come back to Nebraska and that it is THE place to come back to. After traveling to several states in the U.S., she was happy to be home. Scanlan is the first woman from Nebraska to win the Miss America pageant.
I was sitting in a Buffalo Wild Wings with a couple of friends watching the Green Bay Packers play football on one screen and the pageant on another. When Miss Nebraska was announced the winner, every person in the restaurant clapped and cheered. It was an unforgetable evening.
It's amazing to finally have one of our own win Miss America. It proves Nebraska can produce some pretty amazing people and we aren't just a corn and farming state. We have some pretty amazing things going on here.

foreverYOU!

foreverYOU! is the name of my magazine I created.
Primary Audience: teens-late 20's
Distribution: mail, news stands, online, stores
3 Articles
1. Trends by YOU!: boys/girls send in pictures and stories about rends they created, follow, like, or dislike.
2. Celebrities Gone Wrong: interview celebrity icons about experiences, outfits, or anthing else gone wrong.
3. Embarrassing Moments: anonymous boys/girls send in gut-wrenching stories that embarrass them to shwo you're not alone, everyone gets embarrassed sometimes. Also get celebrities to offer advice to some of them.
3 Advertisers
1. clothing: Victoria's Secret, Macy's, JC Penny, Wet Seal, Aeropostale
2. personal hygene brands: Secret, Degree, Axe
3. honest food places that aren't all about worrying about your body: Pizza Hut, Healthy Choice, Ice Cream, Sobe, V8, Monster drinks.

schools to allow guns for staff

The Journal Star put out an article on February 16th, 2011 saying that Senator Mark Christensen wrote a bill stating that school staff should be allowed to carry handguns on them during school hours. This would allow school boards decide by a two-thirds vote whether to allow guns and weapons. Bill Kuehn said, "We don't want them to be armed. Their mission is not to function as a law enforcement officer. They are not trained law enforcement pros."
Why on Earth would we let teachers and staff carry weapons on school property? We are trying to eliminate that sort of thing from schools. If the adminstration at your high school has guns and weapons then it makes it that much easier for a student to get a hold of one and open fire. Some kids have real issues and they do believe that causing pain to others and using a gun is the correct answer and giving them this chance to use one is not a good idea. I think guns and weapons of such should be used by people trained to carry them, like law enforcement officers. I think this bill is a bad idea. We need more security in other ways, such as metal detectors. This is not the direction we need to go in.

Hole-in-the-floor Ashtray

On February 2, 2011, The Journal Star posted an article about a house in Portland, Oregan that had caught on fire. It seems like an ordinary fire, but it is not. Tenants had been smoking and using a hole in the ground as an ashtray for their cigarrettes. The housefire caused $30,000 worth of damage. Luckily, no one was hurt in this incident. A Fire & Rescue officer named Paul Corah sad, "That's not careless smoking, that's stupid smoking."
I agree 100% with Paul Corah. That was definitely not smart of the tenants. I'm not in favor of smoking in the first place and I can handle it because my aunt smokes, but that was not the smartest thing to do. What if someone had gotten hurt? What if someone had died? This incident could have turned out so much more worse than what it had.
I can't believe they would use a hole in the floor as their ashtray. I mean, I know people can be dumb sometimes, but this is ridiculous. Were they not thinking about the consequences? Did they not realize how dangerous this was?
They came out of that housefire super lucky that nothing else went wrong. I know $30,000 worth of damage is bad, but someone getting killed or seriously injured could have made this extremely bad and an even more stupid housefire.
I don't think certain people should have accessibility to dangerous items such as cigarrettes or they should be watched, or even stay outside, it's that simple. If you are not in the house smoking, the house has a better chance of surviving and no one gets hurt in the house.
Some people these days, they do stupid things. Maybe we all need to go back to school and learn the do's and do not's.

lethal injections for death penalty?

Recently, the Nebraska Department of Corrections received the last of its drugs to execute the death penalty. They drug was imported from a company in India. It is said that they first inject inmates with 3 grams of sodium thiopental. After one minute they check to see if he/she is conscious and if she is they inject them with another 3 grams. Once confirmation of unconsciousness is given, the inmate is injected with two other drugs to stop the heart. Nebraska received 500 grams of the drug at which it cost $2,056.
Is it worse to have to rot in jail knowing what you did or to be executed and not have to think about it or even worry about it? Is it right to kill someone? What if they are innocent? Would you be able to live with yourself if you killed someone for something they didn't even do? These are my issues with the death penalty, even if it is "only" lethal injection.
I think people who do wrong and are worthy of the death penalty should be punished, not by killing them, but by causing them pain and suffering. I don't mean by ways of torture, but by solitary confinement or therapy sessions that make them think about what they have done. I think it's worse to sit and rot in jail knowing what you have done than to be sentenced to death and be put out of your misery.
I find the death penalty wrong in many ways. I don't see how someone could intentionally kill someone else. I know the person being executed most likely killed someone or some others, but it does not justify your actions to kill them. Just because they did it does not mean we have to do it. I think we should be able to rise above it and not stoop to the level of murder. I believe America is better than that. That sounds cliche, I know, but I think it's true. People around the United States say we need to control our citizens and reduce crimes such as murder, but how can we do that when our own government won't?