A new year has begun, and with that new year everyone is starting over. It's a nice idea to be able to start fresh at the beginning of every year, what I don't understand however is why don't people think that they can start over every single day? Every morning that we wake up is a fresh start where we can take what happened the day before and move on. This isn't something that happens on January first at 12am, it is something that can happen every day at 12am. That's how I like to think about it anyway. Everyday is a chance for me to start over. Forgive and forget what happened the day before and move on.
This year is going to be a big year. It's 2007 and I graduate from undergrad. That's huge. I'm so nervous and afraid of what is out there for me. I've sent in all my graduate school applications and am just waiting to hear from them, and I'm not even sure how long that will take. This waiting game is torture; the entire process of graduate school is torture actually. From the personal statements to the GRE test to the letters of recommendation to the outrageous fees they charge you to just apply. It's ridiculous really. But if you want to continue your education I guess it's what you have to do. In the end it will all be worth it because it's what I really want to do. And anything you really want hard enough is worth whatever you have to go through to get it. If that even makes sense. I just had the realization that I am justifying cruel and unusual punishment.
Speaking of…what is with the whole Saddam execution? Honestly, he did deserve to die, but the way that it happened, the way it was rushed, the way he was mocked and ridiculed right before hand has turned him into the martyr that he always wanted to be. Hussein did some terrible things while he was alive, but people will only remember how he died, when he had more dignity that his executioners. It's a shame really. So much time and man power and effort put into his capture, his trial and to have it end in such a way is anti climatic. I sometimes think that he and the rest of the world would have been better off if he was just left to rot in that whole he was found in. He would have suffered an undignified death that no person is worthy of…which is precisely what he deserved. He didn't deserve that trial. We just allowed him to stand at a podium spouting his "wisdom" to everyone who was tuned in. We gave him the power again and he used it.
Capital punishment in general confuses me. I grew up in a town where everyone works at the Correction Facility down the road. Great Meadow was the place where Sing Sing's rejects are sent; not a pleasant place at all in the middle of the countryside of Upstate New York. Even though New York doesn't have capital punishment anymore, it did for a very long time and there are still states out there that do. I'm divided on this issue because I can see both sides of the conflict. On the one side, capital punishment makes sense because A. the punishment should fit the crime, B. why should taxpayers pay for someone to live in a prison cell for the rest of their lives, and C. the victims' families deserve it. The other side however is rather compelling to. It can be considered cruel and unusual, but is what the person did to deserve the death penalty not the same? The person may be innocent, which has happened and unfortunately in some cases, the truth comes out too late. And then there is the debate of rehabilitation, which I personally do not believe in. There are certain criminals out there that deserve to be punished, and perhaps even have the cruel and unusual punishment clause waved. Those criminals are rapists, murderers and child molesters. They are the lowest of the low in my opinion and deserve to suffer. Honestly, I wish we could make an island (similar to Alcatraz), ship them there, but instead of a prison, they all live in wholes in the ground where they are never allowed to see the light of day…ever again. The prison system is set up to cater to criminals. They are handed everything on the inside: a warm bed, a hot meal, a job, and sometimes even an education. That's why there are so many incidences of revolving door offenders. Granted, prison life is not the most pleasant thing to endure, but they don't have to worry about the essentials, and that is more than what half of the law abiding Americans can say.
Question Everything.
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