The news of the good.

I flip through the channels in my college apartment. I love watching the news and watch it many times a days. But what i don't see on the news is the many good things that people are doing every single day of their lives. Finally i see that CNN is doing a special on Everyday heros or something of that sort. I am glad they are doing that, but there needs to be more. There are so many good people, good teenagers that are doing so much good.. You need to put them on the news! stop showing how bad teens are, but show the ones that are making a difference..FOR THE GOOD!!!! God it makes me so mad when i see them(the news agency) portrays teens as sex addicted, drug addicted, alcoholic , partying up to no good people. But that is wrong, cause there are so many people doing good things. and i just hope that people will now that, and one day the news will show that more than they show the murder and rapes and all the crap.

Buy cigs out of state...go to jail?

I live in Tennessee and recently they increased the tax on cigarettes. This has caused many Tennesseans that live close to the boarders to drive out of state and buy cigarettes cheap. But, there is a law in place that if you buy more than 2 cartons of cigs out of state and cross the boarder with them; you cigs will be confiscated, you can get fined, go to jail or even get your car impounded. I think that is ludicrous. I dont see how they can takeaway your right to drive to another state to buy cigs. Many people will loose their cigarettes to the police just cause they didnt buy them in TN. I think that is crazy. I think we should change this law. I am not a smoker, but i believe they are taking away our freedom by shopping somewhere else.

Happily Ever After

This is an essay i wrote last semester. May not be the best. But my point is clearly stated.




Happily Ever After
What if you could not marry the one you love? That would be absurd because everyone should have the right to marry whomever they chose. This is happening every day because individuals are prevented from this basic right. The United States Constitution states that all men are born free and equal. If this is true, why are they denied the fundamental right to marry? Every person, no matter their sexuality, should be able to get married and have the same rights as everyone else. The legalization of gay marriage is currently a prominent issue facing society today. Same sex marriage should be legalized because homosexuals are being discriminated against.
Discrimination is defined as: “to make a distinction in favor of or against a person or thing on the basis of the group, class, or category to which the person or thing belongs rather than according to actual merit” (discrimination). Homosexuals are being discriminated against from the government and the people.
The inability to marry has both emotional and financial consequences. Homosexuals are losing rights because they are not allowed to marry. Married couples have special privileges that non married couples have. Same sex partners miss out on those special privileges. Same-sex couples across the country are denied more than 1,000 federal protections and rights (Same-Sex Marriage is a Feminist Issue). Most states deny
committed lesbian and gay couples hundreds of additional benefits. Same-sex couples are not allowed to share social security, Medicare, family and medical leave, health care, disability, military and other benefits. They cannot inherit 401(k)s and other property from their life partners without a will. According to Lambda Legal, same-sex couples can lose more than $10,000 per year upon retirement due to a lack of social security benefits that would be bestowed upon opposite-sex married couples in identical situations (Same-Sex Marriage is a Feminist Issue). All these are rights that homosexuals are losing just because they love someone of the same sex.
A civil marriage is a marriage ceremony performed by a civil official besides a clergyman (Murch).Everyone should be able to get a civil marriage. Civil marriages should be available to everyone because everyone is equal in the eyes of the government. A religious marriage is a marriage performed by a religious official subject to applicable religious guideline(Murch).Religious marriage are totally different from civil marriage, civil marriages have no religious part in it. Civil marriages would have no effect on religious marriages unless the religious organizations would agree to marry the couple.
Many Christian churches are against the unity of same-sex couples because they do not want to marry people who are homosexuals. Churches only marry people who meet a certain criteria. For example, Catholics have the power to deny people who wish to get married if they do not meet the requirements of the church (Frequently Asked Questions About Marriage). The church already decides who can marry , and they do not have to marry anyone they do not want to. Allowing same-sex marriage will not affect the church unless the churches decide to allow the marriages. Some of those 1,000 rights lost are the gift and estate tax. When someone’s spouse dies, property transfer to the other spouse is deductible for purposes of determining the value of the decedent’s estate (Marriage Rights and Benefits). Also, gifts from one spouse to another are deductible for purposes and the gift tax. The law permits transfers of property from one spouse to another without any recognition of gain or loss tax purposes. Same-sex couples do not have the privilege of these tax breaks, which can cause a same-sex partners to have to pay more money.
Also, same sex partners do no have the same rights when it comes to the medical area. Same sex partners can not visit each other during the restricted visitations hours. If the couple was married, the partner would be able to visit anytime they wanted to. After a partner has died, they other partner is not able to make final death decision because they are not married (Marriage Rights and Benefits). Even though the two people have shared their life together, they can not even make the final decision for their partner.
Many top jobs are starting to recognize homosexuals as equal in the work place. Many jobs do not discriminate against homosexuals in their discrimination policies. Forty-nine out of the fifty Fortune 50 companies have this policies in affect (Employment Non-Discrimination Act). This shows how much support for equality is happening with the top companies in America. These companies show that homosexuals are equal just like everyone else. If all people are equal, they all should have the same right to get married? Also, opponents want to deny same-sex partners from giving marriage because the couple will not be able to have a child. If this was true, why are there 2.1 million married couples who are infertile (infertility). These couples cannot have children, but they still are
married. If this argument was true, the 2.1 million couples would not of been married.
Same-sex marriage should be legal in the United States because everyone is equal and should be treated that way. Homosexuals are losing out on many rights because they are not allowed to get married. If same-sex marriage was made legal, nothing would change but the fact that people who love one other will be marrying each other.




Works Cited


Bidstrup, Scott. "Gay Marriage: the Arguments and the Motives." Bidstrup. 2004. 12 Apr. 2007 .

"Discrimination." Dictionary. 12 Apr. 2007 .

"Employment Non-Discrimination Act." Human Rights Campaign. 11 Apr. 2007 .

"Frequently Asked Questions About Marriage." United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. 11 Apr. 2007 .

"Infertility." National Center for Health Statistics. 06 Oct. 2006. 12 Apr. 2007 .

"Marriage Rights and Benefits." Nolo. 30 Apr. 2007 .

Murch, Robert. "Definitions." Civil Marriages. 2005. 12 Apr. 2007 .

"Same-Sex Marriage is a Feminist Issue." National Organization for Women. 17 Mar. 2004. 12 Apr. 2007 .

Chicago Cops - 10,000 plus complaints

I just turned on to CNN and found a story about all the bad things that Chicago cops have done. How can cops become so bad. There are over 600 cops that have 10 plus complaints against them. How can you have so many people with complaints and nothing happens to them. I do not understand how nothing is happening to these cops. Two of the cops that have so many complaints against them have been promoted. These are the people that are supposed to protect and serve, but are doing the opposite. It always seems that nothing is ever done until a news agency brings it up. I hope now that CNN has brought it up that these officers will be reprimanded and the right action is took.