Texas Youth Commission's Use of Pepper Spray

After reading the Texas Youth Commission's Use of Pepper Spray, i think its wrong to use pepper spray on children. I understand the need for some sort of protection for the guards and the children who are hurting themselves or others, but I'm not sure that an expanded use of pepper spray to do so is a good idea. Not only is it painful, but it causes serious burns and it seems that TYC guards are misusing it. I actually feel that pepper spray should be used as a last resort to physical restraint.I can understand using pepper spray if the situation is getting out of hand or as a least resort for the guards, but it should not be used as a front line against the juveniles. Although they are incarcerated, they are still children and youths and should be treated as such.

death penalty

Generally I'm against the death penalty. I'm not against killing off the most violent members of society; I'm not against eye-for-an-eye revenge. But, the death penalty isn't effective at all. None of the arguments for the death penalty work. Here's all the common reasons proponents of the death penalty come up with, and my take on why they are completely bogus.
The death penalty deters crime... wrong, it only deters crime in places where it's carried out quickly and absolutely. In some countries if you are convicted of murder, you are taken outside and executed publicly, usually within 24 hours. Americans would never stand for this, so that eliminates the first argument.
I don't want my tax dollars paying to keep criminals alive... unfortunately, it costs dramatically more to kill those same criminals. The typical death penalty conviction must go through several levels of appeal. All these appeals must be heard by the courts in virtually every case. Attorneys are paid dramatically more than prison guards. One prison guard is responsible for several prisoners, where one prisoner on death row typically employs several attorneys and legal staff for many years, all while still using your tax dollars in prison. Life sentences are rarely appealed. The typical life span in prison is about two dozen years, many of the most violent prisoners get murdered in prison, often as a prowess maneuver within the convict population.
Sometimes people convicted of life sentences get paroled after many years... this is true. Unfortunately, it doesn't make much difference. Ask people who have been convicted of a life sentence if they've truly lost their life. They enter jail at 21 and leave at 55, and an old 55. Many die shortly after, and few ever transition completely into anything that resembles life. If you are sent away for life, they bleed the life out of you, then might release you. Virtually all habitual criminals are between 18 and 25. If you keep most criminals in jail until after their 25th birthday, the chances of repeat offenses drop dramatically. By the time a life sentence murderer gets released, the chances of him committing violent crime are virtually nil.
It's Democracy at work, if we vote death penalty legislation, then a jury votes for death, it's the people speaking... unfortunately, it is democracy at work, only not the democracy Thomas Jefferson envisioned. It's the politics of democracy. Governors push the death penalty to get elected, District attorneys push it to get elected, judges get elected, prison wardens get more budget money, newspapers sell more copies, local TV reporters get noticed by networks, high priced defense lawyers get more press, and professional protesters raise more money. In my opinion is the necessary evils of politics are at their worst when a death penalty case is being decided.
After guilt beyond reasonable doubt, and many appeals, they must deserve death... look at death row, three things determine if you receive the death penalty and it's carried out. You are either poor, mentally retarded, or dark skinned. If you are all three, you'll likely be executed even more quickly. I would agree with this reasoning, if it were fair. The reason that the poor, retarded, non-whites were found guilty and lost every appeal is that people dislike them more than wealthy, intelligent, Caucasians. Granted socially and economically depressed people and mentally retarded people stand a bigger chance of committing crime, they stand an overwhelming chance of being convicted of those crimes. This is particularly true in our most violent crimes. Most murders are committed by whites against people they once loved. With the exception of psychotic serial killers, these are also the most likely to commit multiple murders. Yet most of the people on death row are people who committed murder where the murderer is economically depressed and involved in crimes such as robbery or drug dealing, and commit murder, often by accident, during commission of these crimes. Much of the time the death row population are dark skinned people who committed crime against light skinned people. Until the ratio of white murderers is equal to the ratio of white people on death row, you won't convince me that anyone on death row deserves death exclusively for their crime. After all, i believe death penalty is a hard decision to make. whomever make a wrong step, then they should put in death penalty... i think

Texas Standardized Testing

After sitting here reading an article about Texas Standardized Testing is Flawed from 'TEX-as we might not know." I'm kinda agree with it because I do support standardized testing. Qualified teachers as defined by NCLB should concentrate in delivering their subject materials to full extent that would enable students to understand the subject materials thoroughly. And I also believe testing should cover all areas of study. I think teachers must structure the content of their lesson plans to engage students in learning the curriculum that both teaches the course but also prepares the student to be able to relate that knowledge in test form. That is what a good teacher does. A great teacher also gets the students to all that and excel beyond the lesson plan. I do understand that some students will be nervous during the test but this is normal in student's life. Testing is a measure of success and failure, no one will succeed by chance and no one will fail by chance. but some says Standardized testing sets up lucky schools for a few more bucks. For students, it can possibly set them up for failure more so than success.

Shoplifting a thrilling, addictive habit for students

Teen Shoplifters ignore costly consequences for stealing at Wal-Mart. "It just a testing of the waters for teenagers. All of us do something bad until we get caught...it's something we'll all outgrow - if we don't get caught first." Thirteen percent of students admit that they have shoplifted at a Wal-Mart, according to a survey. Of the students who have shoplifted at Wal-Mart store, about 58 percent of them say they have stolen items from the store location across the street from school. Almost half said they were most likely to shoplift at the store after school let out. A 2001 University of North Texas survey found 38 percent of all shoplifters are between the ages of 13 and 17. But the numbers rise higher, with 62 percent of students admitting to shoplifting at least once. A lot of teenagers shoplift because it's really easy to to. They get what they want without having to pay consequences. The more they don't get caught, the more they'll keep doing it." However, consequences for shoplifting are expensive. Fines range anywhere from $500 to $5000, plus jail time. Police are allowed to arrest minors for shoplifting - even for stealing a candy bar. " If you get away with it once, eventually you're going to think you can get away with it all the time," Wal-Mart store manager steve Higbee said. "That is what's really going to hurt you. Eventually you're going to get caught."

Ramirez convicted in death of estranged wife

"Jose Angel Ramirez was convicted this afternoon in the stabbing, strangling and burning death of his estranged wife more than 20 years ago." They found that he strangled her with a telephone cord, stabbed her with a kitchen knife and then set the house on fire, just because he getting mad at his girlfriend. Defense lawyer Ed Bartolomei urged that there wasn't enough evidence for a warrant. 'They got a break in the case in 2004 when they received a telephone call from Rebecca Tuttle, Ramirez's third of four wives, saying he told her years ago that he had killed Gladys Ramirez. Bartolomei said Tuttle was out for revenge. As for the friends and family members of Gladys Ramirez, who testified to seeing him bully, shove and threaten her, he noted that they were united in their dislike for Joe Ramirez.' The jury is scheduled to begin hearing arguments in the penalty phase of the trial Wednesday morning.

After reading the article about the conviction of Jose Ramirez of murdering his estranged wife over 20 years ago, I do not feel the author did a very good job in describing the past and present events in that the article was confusing and took reading it several times to really understand what she was trying to describe. The author seemed to be expressing more of her opinions and the opinions of others rather than stating many of the facts. As per the descriptions of the article, Mr. Ramirez was probably convicted of 1st degree murder, though the article doesn't come out directly and say that. Then in Texas, that conviction would carry a punishment of, in 2004, 1. death by lethal injection 2. life in prision, without parol 3. life in prision, with possibility of parol after no less than 30 years In my opinion, I think he should spend the rest of his life in prision because this would be an example to others that "you do the crime you'll do the time. In Texas criminal trials are two stages. First stage is the evidentiary stage in which both the defense and prosecution give opening statements. and the evidence of the case. The second stage is, if the defendant is found guilty, the penalty for the crime is determined.

Texas bests nation on testing gap

Educators are “still mulling over the results of national standardized test scores released last month, which showed an unusually clear national trend: While there have been some slight improvements in elementary and middle school math scores, the rate of gain is slowing. Meanwhile, reading scores are stagnant. These results contrast sharply with the scores of many states' own standardized tests, which purport to show clear gains. Already, some have pointed to this gap as evidence that the No Child Left Behind law, the president's plan to make states set standards and show annual academic improvement, isn't working. In a narrow sense, the critics are right: The gap is indeed evidence that many states are still using tests that are too easy, and they have not faced up to the genuinely difficult challenge of improving their schools. But the gap does not negate the value of using standards and high-stakes testing to improve student performance. The gap has also set off a discussion of what, if anything can be done at the national level to help states raise their students' achievement levels. Some are advocating the setting of national standards, a proposition that sounds nice in theory but seems politically impossible in practice. Standardized math and reading tests are, by themselves, not sufficient to improve American education. But without a recognition that higher standards are needed, improvement isn't even possible.”But by September 26th of 2007, (between 2005 and 2007), Everything has been change a little, as Michelle De La RosaExpress-News Staff Writer point out that "Students across the country are doing better than ever in reading and math, but Anglo students are still achieving at higher levels in those subjects than minorities, with Hispanics showing the least progress. Nationally, the gap in academic performance between Hispanic and Anglo students has seen little change, and it actually widened in math at the elementary school level."

Overweight trucks punish roads, bridges with states' permission

We spend millions of dollars to build roads and the state comes along and for a pittance gives out a permit to allow trucks to destroy those roads in a matter of months or years. Should they limit the overweight-load permits issued? Should they request permission to travel on a specified route for each trip?

More than a half-million overweight trucks are allowed onto the nation's roads and bridges. Some experts warned that the practice of issuing state permits that allow trucks to exceed the usual weight limits. In 2000, Milwaukee's Hoan Bridge collapsed when steel girders cracked. Several factors were blamed for the collapse, number of heavy trucks, some over the normal weight limit that routinely traveled over the bridge. The weight limit for nearly all interstate highways is 40 tons. According to a government study, one 40-ton truck does as much damage to the road as 9,600 cars. Many states charge fees ranging from $12 to $1,000 for overweight-load permits, depending on the weight of the load. Texas, granted nearly 39,000 such permits in the past year, generating $7.5 million, most of which was divided among the state's 254 counties for road maintenance. States allowed more than 500,000 overweight trucks to traverse the nation's bridges and highways in the past year, according to an AP review of figures in all 50 states. Those permits were good for an entire year. While 10 states do not issue yearlong permits, all states hand out shorter-term permits good for a few days, weeks or months. Those add up to more than 1.8 million permits not included in the AP's count. Many states as Texas increase in the number of overweight-load permits issued in recent years — a rise to a 2.5 percent to 3 percent annual increase in truck traffic because of the growing economy. In California, where about 23,000 single-trip permits are issued annually, must request permission to travel on a specified route for each trip, but in Colorado, where almost 21,000 permits are issued annually. The danger is magnified by a recent federal finding that 18 percent of the nation's bridges either do not have weight limits posted or incorrectly calculated the weight limits that are posted. Also, a federal study last year classified 26 percent of the nation's bridges as either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. In Texas, vehicles transporting ready-mix concrete, milk, solid waste, recyclable materials, seed cotton or chile pepper seedlings are not required to have an overweight permit on state roads, even if they are over the limit.

This article is worth reading it, because it’s about Thousands of overweight trucks punish roads and bridges with states' permission. Get to know what is going on with the society and the state problem, people who’s thinking about the future, they fear that we're going to have some sort of disaster because the issuing is the state permits that allow trucks to exceed the usual weight limits can weaken steel and concrete.