Teleconferencing and cash

This article is about how a prison decided to use teleconferencing instead of a court appearance for multiple murder suspect Joshua Komisarjevsky. It costs the state of Connecticut $1,600 every time this guy shows up in court according to this article. He is a high security inmate, facing charges of murder, rape and arson from a 2007 home invasion in which a woman and her two daughters were killed in Cheshire. It is expensive for this guy to go to court because at every appearance he has to have a special detail of corrections officers and two state troopers accompany him. This whole teleconferencing thing is being used in 10 other states as well: Kansas, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota and Tennessee. It supposedly saves on high fuel prices and accompaniment helping out the tight state budgets. It also improves on public safety which can never be a bad thing. The article quotes Connecticut Corrections Commissioner Theresa C. Lantz when she argues for teleconferencing with inmates by saying this, "It's vehicles, it's gasoline, it's maintenance of those vehicles, it's the driver plus another officer for security purposes, it's all the work that is involved in taking an inmate out of a facility, putting them in a secure vehicle, transporting them to another location." Opposing the argument are the inmates, some say they would rather plead their case in person and that it isn't as fair and doesn't give them their best or fairest chance.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27874874/

I think the whole teleconferencing idea is good although I kind of agree with the inmates in that if I was pleading innocence or pleading for my life I would rather it be in person. But i guess life is tough and especially tougher for those who make bad decisions. If it saves money and improves public safety I don't see why we shouldn't do it especially in a time of crisis like now. Money is becoming scarce and now we are going to spend it on someone who just killed little Betty Sue? Not according to the 10 states that are now using teleconferencing. I believe that it is good stuff to save money but we have to be careful to not take too many rights away from people in jail, for all we know they could be innocent. Let 9 guilty men go free before we jail one innocent man. We learned that in my social class in Alexandria, Minnesota which is saying that our government is based on the rights of the individual and we have a thing called rule of law that states no one is above or below the law. I am not saying I am against teleconferencing but we should just make sure we don't cross the line.Over and Out... this is Charlie Warnes.

~Charlie~

Cops gone wrong?

This article is all about how five sheriff's deputies will be disciplined after they used a taser on a man at a funeral to serve out a arrest warrant. Supposedly the man was going to surrender after the funeral but the funeral wasn't quite over when the deputies came for the arrest so the man "went wild". One officer kneed him in the back before using a taser and everything turned to chaos. The man was the pallbearer for his dad, who the funeral service was for. According to the article the mans name is Gladwyn Taft Russ III. One of the other pallbearers said this, "Everybody was so scared. We thought it was a drug deal gone bad, we almost dropped the casket." From pretty much every opinion I read in the article the deputies did the wrong thing and were stupid to even do it. They could have just waited until after the funeral when they were supposed to anyways to arrest him and all of this wouldn't have happened. New Hanover County Sheriff Sid Causey told The Star-News of Wilmington that "five of the officers involved would be disciplined, and I apologize to anyone that was there," Causey said. "Family, friends, relatives. ... That was a bad decision." He wouldn't say what or how they would be disciplined but just that they would be disciplined. The man being arrested was charged with assault on a government official, resisting an officer, disorderly conduct and felony malicious conduct by a prisoner.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27822770/

I just can't see what the heck the five deputies were thinking. I mean come on at a funeral? I understand that they guy did resist arrest but the fact that they didn't even acknowledge the fact that he said he would turn himself in after his father's funeral. Like I said before, I just don't get it. I think that what the deputies did was wrong but nonetheless the guy still was a criminal he assaulted his wife and was going to be under arrest no matter if it was 5 minutes before the funeral was over or if the funeral was over. Russ could have saved himself some pain and less prison time if he would have just went peacefully but unfortunately he didn't. He spat on the officers according to the article and no matter what the situation, you just can't do that. I feel sorry for him but at the same time despise his actions towards his wife. I can't imagine being at my father's funeral and while putting away his casket being arrested. I hope the deputies get what they deserved because Russ sure did. I understand why Russ cracked; Russ had tons of pressure, guilt, and sorrow building up inside of him and it all just came out at once it sounds like. As for the deputies... if that is how smart all of our cops are I am a little concerned for our country's safety. This is coming from the mind of a possible ignorant high school student I can only image what others think of this thing too. Until next time...

~Charlie~

Corruption once again

This article talked about a secret service officer being arrested during a prostitution sting. Brian Bray, a police investigator, said a marked Secret Service Uniformed Division patrol car pulled up to speak with an undercover female officer posing as a prostitute. This secret service sergeant supposedly asked the "prostitute" what sex acts she would perform and from there they agreed on a $20 dollar session. The sergeant then drove to meet her but before he could do so the D.C. police arrested and charged him with solicitation for the purpose of prostitution. Then the article states that a Secret Service spokesman, Darrin Blackford, said "the agency's internal affairs division is investigating the matter. The officer (whose name was not released) has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation." The article made it clear to not say who the person was because most likely they didn't know and to also show that this whole thing is still kind of up in the air.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,449169,00.html

I think that it is sad to say that a person most likely highly thought of by most people would do such a thing... you know the person who puts their life on the line to save the president or someone of equal importance. I just don't get it. But then again some people might not look down on prostitution but I'm not one of those people. I just don't agree with prostitution; sorry if you don't agree with me. Getting away from my opinion on prostitution, this Secret Service agent obviously did the wrong thing because he was arrested. It seems to me that a lot of people with power or people with responsibility have been getting in trouble with the law lately. To be quite frank, now isn't exactly the best time. I just don't get why our country is going through a huge crisis and could be affected by it for the rest of its existence and the people who are supposed to be fixing it are off with prostitutes or taking vacations form people they shouldn't be. Life in America is just a little off of its rocker right now but I am confident in saying that it will reestablish. I don't mean to disrespect the Secret Service agent who put down a $20 bill that bought him cuffed wrists but I just don't think he was thinking clearly at all. Of course I don't know what it is like to have all the power or responsibility that some of these people have but I still think that if I were to be placed in their shoes I wouldn't drive down the roads that they did. Take it or leave... that is the way the cookie crumbles in my world.
~Charlie~

North Korea back on "the list"?

This article talks about how the U.S. stopped a flight supposedly carrying parts to assemble WMD's (weapons of mass destruction) to Iran. The U.S. convinced India to not allow the Ilyushin-62 jet to fly through their air space. North Korea was just removed from the terror list that America has but it seems as though they shouldn't have. If the U.S. had reasons to stop them from "shipping" supplies to Iran then that could potentially be a huge argument for whether or not Iran is good. A senior U.S. official told the post this, "This was very, very important. It was frankly a success that we stopped North Korea from doing this." According to this article it is questionable if North Korea has kept its nose clean and been doing what the U.S. asked them to do in order for them to get off of the Black List. This whole ordeal happened on August 7th according to this article by the way. I am a little foggy as to when Iran was taken off of the black list... that would help me better understand this whole ordeal.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,446705,00.html

I just think this whole North Korea business is crazy. It just shows the true character of North Korea... they were given a second chance and failed at that! I guess this is where I really need to practice cultural relativism because according to my views as of now, I just don't get why they are doing this. Some research would help me out but as of now, without research, I think the fact that they were possibly sending supplies to make WMD's to Iran is outrageous. I think that North Korea is a threat and should be placed back on the terror list whether or not they disagree. Until they work to earn a 3rd chance...sorry North Korea back to the dog house. Sometimes old dogs just can't learn new tricks... it's too bad but I guess it is true. Part of me wants to give it another try and try to teach the dog a new trick but the other half says come on be realistic, he'll never learn. I don't really know if the plane was actually carrying sophisticated missile parts like the article said but if it was I truly want to know what North Korea was/is thinking. This has been another blog from Charlie Warnes, just another common high school student... take it or leave it.
~Charlie~

Afghanistan to be a challenge

According to this article the U.S. and staff are spending 32 billion dollars and counting on rebuilding Afghanistan. To top it off they said that it is going to take additional staff and more funding to successfully complete the job. This is all according to the new inspector general in charge of the audits. Arnold Fields, who is the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said this to congress, "rebuilding war-torn Afghanistan will be exceedingly difficult and complex, since the country has no substantial natural resources, a population devastated by decades of war and an ongoing insurgency." This report he gave to congress, according o this article, was obtained on Friday by The Associated Press ahead of its public release. U.S. has contributed $32 billion to Afghanistan's reconstruction since 2001 and other nations combined have only contributed $25.3 billion. Fields says that there will need to a minimum of 90 more employees on this whole Afghanistan effort. The initially authorized $20 million for the auditing effort but up to date has only appropriated around $16 million.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,445908,00.html

I read some of "Matt Hemingway's blog" at http://obamarejectsbushiraqwithdrawlplan.blogspot.com/ which was about the Taliban and all they have done in Iraq. The specific blog of his that I read was titled Officials: Taliban fighters ambush, kill bus passengers which pretty much speaks for itself. When Arnold Fields said it wasn't going to be an easy task reconstructing Afghanistan he was right I mean look at what the Taliban did and/or are doing. In Matt's blog he talks about a time when the Taliban captured and killed 30 to 40 bus passengers and how the Taliban spokesperson told everyone they had killed 27 Afghan soldiers too. It is said that Afghanistan has to be overrun by the Taliban but the truth of the matter is that they are and the U.S. and company are trying to stop it. Unfortunately I think that this could possibly turn into another "Iraq". I don't really know what to think but what is certain in my mind is that the U.S. keeps continuously giving out even when it hurts the most... like in times of crisis. We have very big problems of our own at the moment but we still keep trying to help others... it makes me proud to be an American. Although my patriotism is at a high right now I sill think we should make sure we are doing the right thing and not letting our American soldiers or any soldiers for that mater, die for no reason. I am just a high school student that doesn't really like war, but with that said I believe it is necessary in some situations...who knows maybe our money can fix this problem...maybe it can't. Matt and I are on the same page I believe...the only difference would be is I don't know if we should be there with troops right now. What I mean is that I don't know why we have to have our people die for other people. I get the whole "If we get out now everything will have gone to waste" idea but why the heck did we go there in the first place? I am going to research this some more and get back to you next time. Until then keep it real.
~Charlie~