Secession From States

Recently, I have heard a lot about counties in California and Oregon wanting to secede from their respective states and form a new state, the state of Jefferson. This was really interesting to me, because it's not everyday that a new state joins the US, and I decided to look up more about the issue. Apparently, many counties across the United States are discussing secession. In Colorado, counties have set dates to vote on whether to pursue secession or not, while in Northern California, 2 counties have officially voted to pursue secession from the state. Momentum is growing for counties in southern Oregon and western Maryland to do the same. While the secession attempts are almost certain to be rejected, as Congress and the state legislatures both have to approve the move, they do draw attention to the divide between conservative and liberal parts of some states. Almost all of the counties attempting secession are conservative and feel underrepresented and ignored by the far away liberal state governments. But, there is always the chance that Congress and the respective states do feel that the counties are right and that the states are too big to so their job correctly or that he counties are too disconnected from the rest the state, so the 51st state may not come from Puerto Rico or another place outside the country, but instead from inside the continental US. It is another example of how divided the US as a whole is. If individual states are feeling the split between liberal and conservative ideologies to the point where people are trying to form their own state, how far will the divide in the United States go?

Gun Control Laws

While I was watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart the other night, I agreed very much with one of the segments about gun control and the Navy yard shooter. Stewart talked about, in a depressingly funny way, how the shooter had been discharged from the navy for gun incidents, and had called the police a month earlier saying that his microwave was talking to him. This shooter is the ultimate example of how poor our federal gun laws are. While I don't think that the federal government should have all the power with gun laws, I do think that there should be at least a cohesive national background check system. If nothing else, can we at least make the gun laws to where the man with 10 years of documented, serious mental illness, 2 prior gun incidents, and a phone call a month earlier to the police explaining how he can hear his microwave talking to him, cannot get a gun?
Here is the video:
http://m.comedycentral.com/tds_video.rbml?id=depressingly-familiar-post-tragedy-analysis   
* disclaimer- slight liberal bias present.

Man in the Red Bandana

Yesterday marked the 12th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. I have heard and read articles and documentaries of what happened from eyewitnesses' perspectives and experts who have tried to explain exactly what happened and why. In the midst of all of this, it is easy to just pay attention to the evil that happened that day, which is rightfully so: 9/11 was one of the worse days in our nation's history, and we should never, ever, forget what happened, as well as always remember the thousands of innocent lives that were taken that day. I came across a ESPN documentary on a former Boston College lacrosse player who was working in the South Tower that day. It goes on to describe his heroic actions that day, and how he sacrificed his life to save the lives of others. This man, Welles Crowther, exemplifies the good that is inside humanity; how even in the days when our world is collapsing around us and when there seems to be no hope left, the good in people can stand out and help others, no matter the sacrifice they have to make.This weekend, fans are asked to wear red bandanas to the Boston College- Central Florida football game in Orlando, in honor of Welles Crowther and in remembrance of those who died that fateful day.

Here is the link to the video: 
http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/colleges/post/_/id/1008/video-the-man-in-the-red-bandana

Baby Messiah Name Change

This week, we have been talking a lot about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Reading and hearing about the amendments and the original Constitution made me remember a news story from Tennessee about a judge forcibly changing a baby boy's name from Messiah to Martin, because, according to the judge, there is only one individual deserving of that title. I have several problems with this decision.This judge asserted her own religious beliefs into a very personal and private matter, the naming of one's child, which I think a judge should have had no say in to begin with. She went against the ideas and rights of Freedom of Speech and the Separation of church and state, both key parts of the Constitution, and at the same time, she violated the very basic rights of that child's parents. A parent should be able to name their children whatever they want, and the government should have no say whatsoever in it. This judge violated those parents' first amendment rights to freedom of speech by restricting what they could name their children, and the right to the government not pushing religious beliefs onto its citizens by basing her decision solely on her personal religious beliefs. While I may not agree with the parents' choice of a name, I believe that they should at least have that opportunity to name their child what they want, without any level of government interfering.