Is the Death Penalty Unconstitutional?
Is there ever a good reason to take a human life? If one of your relatives were murdered, what would justice look like to you? Is it wrong to take an eye for an eye? Or is it more painful, and just, to let the guilty individual rot in prison for the rest of their life?
According to U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney, today more than 900 individuals in the state of California have been sentenced to death row since 1978. But only 13 of them were executed.
This afternoon’s Los Angeles Times article reported on how Carney scrutinized this apparent flaw in administering the death penalty. He ultimately ruled that lengthy delays and resulting uncertainty as to when or even if an inmate will be executed are in violation of human rights regardless of incarceration. Carney declared the state’s death penalty is “dysfunctional” because sentences have been reduced in essence to “life in prison, with the remote possibility of death.” Read the rest of this entry »
Overcoming Hypocrisy
Deception can be cloaked in silky smooth motive, but behind what may sound exceptionally convincing is the desire to do just what one said they’d never do. It is in our DNA to make mistakes, but being human is not a “get out of jail free” card. Some of us are lucky to have never been confronted with hypocrisy, while others have faced it more times than we’d like to admit.
Hypocrisy is often linked to religion, or at least heavily associated with it, but it doesn’t necessarily need to be. We are faced with hypocrisy everyday from how our government operators to our careers to our family and friends. Politics really seems to get our collective goat. Regardless if you are on the right, left or prefer to consider yourself somewhere in the middle, there is plenty of blame, finger pointing, and “caught in the cookie jar” scenarios for just about every political party. Read the rest of this entry »
21st Century Parenting: Who’s Feeding the Family & Who’s Raising the Kids?
There are some people who just make life look so easy. Nothing personal against men, but the super humans I’ve known have mostly been of the fairer sex.
In interviewing both male and female tattoo artists during my various ink binges, I was told that women could stomach some of the most painful tattoos on the most sensitive places of the body. Women could even withstand hours upon hours of pain without even flinching. Meanwhile, I have heard testimonies from some of the oldest tattoo shops and highly talented tattoo artists in the business that they’ve had male clients actually cry or even stopped the tattoo artist because the pain was too intense. Read the rest of this entry »
Should You Second-Guess Yourself?
All you have to do is Google “Second Guessing” and you’ll find a host of articles about how to stop questioning yourself. For example, experts say that it’s better to go with your gut when taking a test. But can second guessing yourself in certain situations be a good thing? Read the rest of this entry »
Finding Treasures in the Moment
Sunday morning, I woke up with the worst stomachache and nausea. When your body isn’t well, it’s hard to do anything much less well. That’s why they say you have to take care of your physical body so that your spiritual, emotional and mental state can function properly.
Needless to say, I felt sick all yesterday and was grateful I felt better today. When you slow things down and take one moment at a time, you discover the little details of life. These details become newly discovered treasures that teach new lessons that cannot be quantified by the triviality of anything tied to human monetary means, labels or definitions. This morning I walked without my brain plugged into my iPhone, no listening to my favorite podcasts. I decided to be in the moment and what a gift an hour walk with the doggies would bring. Read the rest of this entry »
Writing With Hope 