Hit and Run

Today, LA Times reported about a man who was arrested after fleeing from a car accident. The pedestrian, Harvey Mayo, was walking in the intersection at around 2:15 AM, when the motorist hit him. Mayo died at the scene of the crime, not even able to make it to the hospital. The driver "handed himself in" by returning to the crime scene. 38 year old Ricardo Gomez was arrested for suspision of hit and run and outstanding warrants. It turns out that no drugs or alcohol were involved in the incident on both sides. Some parts of this accident are confusing though. Was it really an acciedent? Why did the man flee from the scene? But more importantly, why did he return? Maybe the man was filled with guilt and decided that he would rather give himself up and face the consequences than have to live with himself and the ugly truth that followed him wherever. It would be nice to believe that, but a more realistic outlook of the situation would include the man deciding that the consequences he would face after giving himself up now would be much easier on him than having a worse punishment later.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/09/motorist-arrested-in-fountain-valley-hit-and-run.html

Sharing is Caring

LA Times wrote an article about the growing organization of SHARE, Self-Help and Recovery Exchange, and their "never-give-up experiment". In this experiment, homeless people or people diagnosed with mental illnesses are taken into private houses and given homes. Out of the 90,000 homeless people in Los Angeles, one-third of them have mental illnesses. This organization is only 16 years old but has open hands. There are over 1,200 people off the streets and into the about 200 private homes. The tenants of the houses are chosen by the County Department of Mental Health and independent counselors, and they need to have a monthly income of at least $500, but pay no lease. Other than that, the tenants are given a set of rules, a roommate, chores, and must attend counseling sessions. This organization is not just giving people a place to live, but it is also saving the lives and the sanity of the people living on the streets. These people will now learn what a family is. They will have a home to call their own. They will not be considered as homeless anymore, and that in itself is already a great step up.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-share-homeless-20120923,0,7734576,full.story

SOAPST: "Speech in the Virginia Convention" by Patrick Henry

Patrick Henry gave a speech during the American revolution to gather up an army to face the British. The main purpose of the speech was to persuade people to realize that there is going to be a war and that they do have to fight. There was no turning back; it came down to being treated as slaves or freeing themselves. If they did not fight, the British would not just forgive them, they would use them as slaves. Because of this, the only logical thing to do would be to fight. This theory was what Henry tried to make people accept. He wanted to inspire people to fight for liberty. During his speech, Henry was keen on addressing the President, but he was also speaking to the rest of the congressmen and the people of the, soon to be, United States. Because he was speaking to higher officials, his tone was scholarly and diplomatic, but towards the end he sounded more demanding and enthusiastic to "pump up" the audience and to make them fight for their rights and their freedom.

Is America Really Free?

Huffington Post's Valarie Plame Wilson, a former CIA operations officer, wrote about the way the United States treats their heroes. One of the soldiers present at the mission to take down Osama bin Laden decided to publish a book under a pseudonym. This book did not leak any classified information that had not already been mentioned by the government, then why is the government criticizing him cruelly? Some even went as far as calling it the "height of irresponsibility". But I do not see how that is fair at all. Do we not have a freedom of press? Do we not have the right to let our voices be heard? Especially when the author did not even harm anyone in the publishing of this book. The author of the article used to be a covert officer in the CIA, but was betrayed by the government and the white house because of her husbands actions. Her husband had spoken the truth, and the government did not want anyone to hear the truth, and because of this, they decided to punish his family. If America is considered a free and independent country, then I do not want to know what a suppressed and controlling country is like. 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/valerie-plame-wilson/bin-laden-book_b_1885408.html

BMWs + Alcohol = Bad Stuff

LA Times reported today about a car crash that happened early in the morning. Three people were killed, the driver and two passengers. Friends of the deceased told authorities that they were just going home from a 21st birthday party that took place in a restaurant. The driver and passengers had been drinking, but authorities were a little confused about how they managed to crash into Studio City pizzeria. Right after impact, the car burst into flames instantly killing the people in the car. Drunk driving kills half of all accidents in California are caused by drunk driving. That is 1,355 people! These accidents could have been prevented. Should have been prevented! Do not let your friends drink and drive. Nothing good will ever come out of it. Not only are drunk drivers a hazard to themselves, but also to all the other people on the streets. What if there had been people in that pizzeria? How many people would have died then? 

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/09/bmw-hits-studio-city-pizzeria.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+lanowblog+%28L.A.+Now%29

A Scoop of Heaven

Ice cream might just be the greatest creation made by mankind. Here in the US we produce over 1.6 BILLION gallons of ice cream a year! 40 million of it goes to other countries, while the other 60 is sold in markets, gas stations, liquor stores, ice cream trucks, food stands, and even off the streets! With this many pounds of ice cream comes thousands of different kinds of flavors. Some are wacky, others are bizarre.  New York even has flavors such as ketchup or potato chip flavor. And out of all of those flavors, which one is the best, you ask? But the, without a doubt, and without a question, - hands down - best ice cream flavor is chocolate chip ice cream. It is absolutely immoral to think that there is a flavor better than chocolate chip, but completely moral to think that there is a flavor worse than chocolate chip. Nothing can compare to it's ooey, gooey, yummy, and chewy taste.For me, ice cream is life, and life is ice cream. I completely love it, so sometimes I just eat and eat and eat and eat and eat. It seems as though I am actually in love. It seems as though I cannot get enough of it. It seem as though I had picked my favorite flavor of ice cream, but truly, the ice cream had picked me as its favorite. Spoon, bowl, ice cream, scoop, eat, slurp, lick, drink, disappointed, get more. That is my daily routine. Whenever I eat chocolate chip ice cream I remember my dad. When I was little, I would love chocolate chip ice cream so much, that sometimes I would not sleep until I got what I wanted (I was quite spoiled). My dad would always drive to the Baskin Robins on Glendale Boulevard to buy me my ice cream. We would sit by the T.V. and watch Tom and Jerry and sometimes Bugs Bunny if I was lucky. The best part of the ice cream is the bitterness of the chocolate chips mixed with the vanilla sweetness of the ice cream. The contrasting flavors make the 40 minute treadmill run worth the while. As I eat my chocolate chip ice cream, emotions like joy, and excitement, and satisfaction, and happiness, and elation, and cheer run through my mind. Call me crazy, insane, batty, bezerk, in love, obsessed. Call me whatever you want, but who asked you anyway?

SAVE THE WHALES!!!

LA Times reported today about 22 whales who were stranded on the coast of Florida's Avlon Beach State Park. No one knows what happened or why, but soon the whole beach was surrounded by people with wet towel and buckets of water. Some even managed to push the whales back into the ocean. But once the whales were back in their homes, they quickly jumped back out. Later on marine biologists explained that whales, just like wolves, have groups they travel with. They call it pods. These pods are so close and tight nit, that they cannot bear to be separated. Once one gets pushed in the water, it quickly pops back out to rejoin its family. Only five of them had survived and were taken to the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. Two of them were males while the other three female. They have made incredibly progress and are healing after only one day after being rescued. They are now being fed "fish milkshakes" every three to four hours to make sure they get their strength back. The marine biologists there believe that the whales will have a great recovery and will soon be sent back home to whatever family they have left.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-22-whales-beached-5-survivors-20120902,0,64069.story