gildia's blog

This is an article I wrote for my school newspaper. It is about issues that will affect teenagers and how the new session of Congress can handle those issues. Please bare in mind this article was written in November 2006, but due to technical problems it has yet to be published. This was approved by my journalism teacher and is the final version of the article (unless something big happens before publication).

The 110th Congress is now in session and is looking to make some radical changes that will affect teenagers in many ways. A number of key issues are at the top of Congress’ list. These issues include minimum wage, illegal immigration, and the Iraq War.

Apparently, al Qaeda's leader in Iraq Abu Ayyub al-Masri, has been wounded in a firefight with Iraqi police. Al-Masri's aide, Abu Abdullah al-Majamiai, was killed in the clash. The report hasn't been confirmed by CNN but... WHO CARES?!?

Just like his father before him John A. Gotti Jr. is off again, this time due to a mistrial. The jurors sent a note stating they were deadlocked and more days of deliberations would not change the differing opinions. Gotti was charged with racketeering and ordering an attack on radio personality Curtis Sliwa back in 1992. There had already been a attempt before this but that one failed as well. Of course prosecutors are trying to get him again but Gotti and his lawyers stated that he left the mafia before 1999 and there is a statute of limitations in New York that prevents prosecution after 5-years from when a person committed the offense. The prosecution tried to compare him to his father, John "The Teflon Don" Gotti Sr., and say that he took his father's position as leader of the mafia. Gotti's defense did not deny his involvement with the mafia but, as I wrote earlier, said he had left the mafia. I didn't even know the mafia is still doing operations. I thought they had disbanded long ago but obviously I was wrong. Even if they are still around they certainly don't carry as much power and clout as they once did. I don't think they'll ever be able to get this new "Teflon Don".  Info from WLKY.com

A man was charged with two counts of felony assault with a motor vehicle and drunken driving after he was caught on a dashboard tape ramming the SUV of two pregnant women. The women were 7 1/2 and 8 1/2 months pregnant respectively. The man's motive is still not known, due to his unintelligible ranting when questioned by the police. This all happened last Saturday. The man, Earl Boyd, was ramming into the back of the two women's SUV on a freeway nearly pushing them into the oncoming lane. The women eventually pulled into a parking lot where the man continued to ram them until he pinned them against a wall. The women had called 9-1-1 and their complete phone conversation has been played on almost all major news channels along with the dashboard video. Boyd's court appearance is set for this coming Tuesday and he has been freed on a bond.

...and he is: GUILTY! The verdict was announced at 10:18 P.M. EST on March 3, 2006. He has been charged with three counts of murder in the deaths of Kim, Brad, and Jill Camm. A sentence has not been reached but it is suspected to be either 195 years in prison or life in prison without the possibility of parole. I myself am happy with the jury's conclusion. I think he'll file an appeal because that's what most people try to do. I don't know why though. He was found guilty in his first trial and sentenced to 195 years and now he has been found guilty again. It would be ludicrous to do so. This is just one of the best examples of the existence of justice in this country. After about 45 hours of deliberations, the logical verdict was found.  Info provided by: WLKY NewsChannel 32 and WLKY.com

Starting either tonight or Tuesday morning, deliberations will begin in the Camm trial. David Camm is accused of three counts of murder. The defense had many witnesses stating Camm was at the church basketball court when he sat out a game but Frank Renn, Kim Camm's father, said Camm's uncle Sam Lockhart who was a witness in the trial told him a different story than what he told the jury. Renn said Lockhart told him he played with the group of men that was with Camm at 7:15 but he told the jury he played at 8:15, when Camm sat out a game. Now, I may be totally wrong with this (then again, this is an opinion piece) but that would seriously raise some doubt that Camm stayed at those church basketball courts for that game. I would think he had ample time to go out and kill his wife and kids without anyone noticing then return. I really hope the jury comes to a logical conclusion. I'm not going to say that they come to the "right" conclusion because a person being found guilty of something is not always "right" but based on the evidence shown and the doubt in the alibis, I think the prosecution has an easy conviction.  Info from WLKY.com

Charles Boney was given a total sentencing of 225 years in prison yesterday in the murders of Kim, Brad, and Jill Camm. Last month he was convicted of three counts of murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder. He got 65 years for each murder charge, 50 years for the conspiracy charge, and another 30 for being classified as a habitual offender. (Note: I think in an earlier post on this subject I reported Boney wasn't found a habitual offender but it turns out he was) Boney had asked the judge who was sentencing him to give him the maximum sentence, which surprised many. Boney said that he wanted Kim Camm's loved ones to "have a peaceful sleep tonight". Despite his request for the max sentence, Boney is planning on filing an appeal. He had this strange statement to Floyd County prosecutor Keith Henderson: "You and I will dance again in the big ballroom towards freedom, but the next time, you'll follow my lead,".  Info from WLKY.com

A video was released last night showing British soldiers beating Iraqi civillians after a slight altercation. It has been played on Arab news networks, like Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, and British stations alike. I personally find this footage appalling and an abuse of power. It's worse than the Abu-Ghraib scandal to me. Now, supposedly, this footage was shot two years ago and is just now being released. If it was shot two years ago, then they sure took a while to find and view it. British military police have arrested one man, who they declined to identify, in connection with the video. They are looking for the others and Prime Minister Tony Blair has promised an investigation, which was backed up by a military spokesperson.