Tag: Politics

Posted in American History, essay, history, Politics

The Amendments: Six

Posted on by sokorra

Again, I am a not someone with a law degree. This commentary/Analysis is purely amateur

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence  (source)

This basically is the amendment that gives you the right to have counsel (AKA A lawyer). You have the right not to waste in jail waiting for a trail to happen, and a right to view the evidence against you, and compile evidence in your defense.

I don’t think this amendment is much debated as much as people wonder about the limitations of the law as new technology and investigative techniques come into play.

You often hear on crime shows how they hate the fact that they can’t hold anyone longer than a law given amount of time without evidence.  This protects individuals from being imprisoned for crimes they did not commit, or being held on no charge whatsoever.  Sadly it still happens, as we have learned over the years from falsified evidence, mistrials and people who are found innocent decades later.

If you click on the source link, it has an essay there that goes over the history of the Sixth Amendment and why its different than other systems of justice.  Its an interesting read.

 

 

Posted in American History, essay, history, Politics

The Amendments: Four

Posted on by sokorra

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. (Source)

 

Every Crime shows favorite Amendment.  This Amendment is why cops have to get warrants.  Otherwise they are unlawfully seizing private property.  Debate ranges on how specific warrents need to get.

This amendment protects you from having your home invaded and “evidence” taken or being arrested without due cause. This does not protect you from having to cooperate when the police come with a warrant for your computer. It also doesn’t protect you from being arrested when there is reasonable cause to think you are involved with a crime. Or when you commit a crime in their presence.

State and local governments may have looser/stricter regulations on what is required to get a warrant or what they can take as evidence when they do have one.

This amendment is probably one of the more known and discussed from the bill of rights.

Posted in American History, essay, history, Politics

The Amendments: Two

Posted on by sokorra

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. (Source)

The Second Amendment (part of the Bill of Rights, ratified in 1791)is perhaps the most abused, debated and known Amendment.  I honestly thought about skipping this one till the end, but in the end decided to stick to the order they came in.

I’m pro-gun control.  I am not however against people having guns.  I’ve always believed this law is about being able to form a community militia.  It does not bother me that people own guns.  Some people hunt, some people use it for protection.  I do however think that there are some common sense gun laws that could go into affect that don’t affect one’s right to bear arms.

Both sides use this one a lot.  The Pro-gun lobby seems to believe that any form of gun-control (even something as restricting gun magazine sizes) is an infringement.  The Pro-Gun control group has many facets ranging from the mid-grounders like myself who just want tighter background checks, better regulation of gun ownership (basically making sure people who buy guns actually know how to use them) to the stricter varieties who want guns gone all together outside militia groups.

This Amendment protects the right of the citizen to protect themselves from military take-over. It protects the right of small militia groups to form.   It’s debatable if it protects against certain guns (Like AK-47s and more militaristic weapons) being regulated.

It also brings up the debate of whether Amendments can be timeless.  That some laws/Amendments might have to be altered, as technology improves and the country as a whole realises the original intent needs adjusting (there are several amendments which are basically  doing just that).

This is a hot button issue.

My personal belief is that one should only have the guns you need to protect yourself and/or hunt.  Unless you are some collector getting antique guns, you really don’t need to arm yourself like you are your own one-person militia.  And if you want a gun, you should take the time to learn how to properly use it, clean it and store it.  I see way too many stories on the news about people accidently getting shot because they didn’t clean it right, or they didn’t store it right and some kid got into it, or they did something stupid and ended up shooting their foot off.

I know people who believe the opposite, ranging from more open about gun use to those who make me wish guns were taken away so they didn’t have them.  I also believe this Amendment protects your right to own a gun, not your right not to have guns safety laws and regulations.

Posted in American History, essay, Politics

Voting & The Electoral College

Posted on by sokorra

(I am an American, so this post is about the United States election system.  If you are a non-American reader, I would love to hear about how your election systems differ)

Many times I have heard people claim they don’t vote because it isn’t like their vote matters anyway; in the end the Electoral college chooses, not the people.  And in a sense they are right.  Since the US is a Republic, we choose representatives based on population.  Therefore states with more population have more electoral votes in the college. Therefore places more heavily populated tend to get favored in the Electoral college.

Except for two facts:

Continue reading “Voting & The Electoral College” →

Posted in American History, history, Politics, Uncategorized

This Day In History

Posted on by sokorra

I looked up what important things happened today in history (other then it being my cousin’s birthday) and some pretty interesting things came up on the Google Search.  I took most of this information from History.com and the New York Times “On This Day” feature.

Washington

On February 4, 1789  George Washington was unanimously elected by the electoral College.  He’s the only president to do so.

Also, on this day 6 years earlier Britain formally acknowledged they were done with the Revolutionary War.

Confederate Congress

In 1861, The Confederate Congress (a provisional one anyway) opened for business, thus starting

 

Snow White

One of Disney’s most known films (probably because its one of the firsts) is released on this day in 1938

Yalta Conference

(1945)Basically this is the photo op picture we always see when talking about the end of WWII and they show us that picture of Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin sitting out on the Lawn as if they are talking about the latest football game rather then what to do in the last months of the war.  It did however start to show that the Alliance was not as strong as it could have been, and the cracks that caused the ‘Cold War’ formed.

Palestine

Yasir Arafat helps found the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1969.

Patty Hearst

I don’t really know much about what happened here, but Patty Hearst may be one of the most famous kidnapped women in American history.  Today’s the anniversary of her kidnapping in 1974, so 41 years ago.  She eventually served a prison sentence for her involvement with the Symbionese LIberation Army’s activities.  She was pardoned in 2001 by President Clinton.

Yugoslavia

Its no more as of February 4, 2003.  Its now several different countries.

For more events, try this page.

Posted in general, Politics, rant

Helping Others

Posted on by sokorra

A subject came up today on Facebook, and I felt like making my own post about it.  For those of you who didn’t know, I’m an American, therefore my knowledge base and information tends to have an US bias.  So this is more focused on my fellow Americans.

Often times, when a foreign group of people require our help, the phrase “We should help those who need it here first!” comes up.  I hate this phrase.  Why?

Because this is just an excuse by some people to not help anyone.

During the rest of the year when the crises of the world are not in our mind’s view, when things seem to be going alright, why aren’t these people actively trying to keep people thinking about the homeless or the other many needs of Americans?  If you only care about your ill-treated Veterans when someone else’s needs are being broadcast, you don’t really care.  You are just making an excuse not to help.

Right now, in Flint,  Michigan, there are many people sick because of bad water.  Its hard to believe that in this day and age, in such a affluent country, that we are reporting this.  And it was done to save money.  Yet I haven’t seen half the amount of posts about this subject as I have seen about *not* helping the refugees.

Why is this?  Why is the care of our citizens only important to people when it comes to saying we shouldn’t care about those outside our country?

I know people who said this and who *are* actively seeking people’s attention to the needs of their fellow citizens, but it seems like the majority are just seeking ways to not help and not be considered compassionate.

We are one of the richest countries in the world.  There is no reason we shouldn’t be able to help our own citizens AND help those in need elsewhere.  If you have the resources to help, you should do so, and if you don’t, it takes very little time to pass the information along to those who do by social media, or just by keeping the subject in the conversation.

For those of you who want to know how to help more those in Flint, Michigan, here’s an article on MIC about ways you can help.

And if you live in the greater Pittsburgh area, you can donate to Operation Safety Net, a program supported by Mercy Hospital to give out medical care to the Homeless of Pittsburgh.