Communicating with angels...

....in a Dallas jail cell.

I found an interesting editorial in the Texas blog, Grits for Breakfast. While the specific person who wrote this article is not identified, I believe the author has good credibility. A man with a mental illness was arrested for assault against his mother and was sentenced to 45 days in county jail. His mother insisted that he needed to be in a mental hospital rather than a jail. Instead, the 28 year old man spent over six months in a Dallas jail waiting for our court system to find a place to put him.
The author is not completely one-sided, he tells the reader both sides of the story. Although he lets his opinion be known, he leaves it to the reader to develop their own opinion of the story. The author provides several links throughout his editorial to different websites that further explain the facts. He also provides links that lead to other editorials that have been written on the same story that go into even deeper detail of what the judge, the man's mother, the man himself, as well as several other people had to say about the case. He even went the extra mile and told the reader about the man's family history and how his father and grandfather heard voices as well. All in all, I think this is a very well written editorial.

Think before you post

"Do people think that when they post a comment, a video, a photo on the Internet, only their confidants will see it? Have they forgotten it is called the World Wide Web?" -Ann Woolner.

I found this commentary on the Statesman website titled "Think before you post" by Ann Woolner. She identifies several different situations where freedom of speech and/or posting personal pictures via Myspace or Facebook has gotten many people in trouble. The author's targeted audience is most likely teenagers and young adults. She does not go into great detail about the cases where the owners of Myspace or Facebook get screwed over for posting too much information on their sites but the point she is trying to get across is obvious, therefore I suppose she has strong credibility. She cuts to the chase and says, "The point? MySpace is everyone's space." Things posted on individuals MS/FB accounts have been used against them in court on several different occasions. Is this okay? Probably not. Is it being done often? You bet.

I strongly agree with Woolner. Although we have the right to post all of our personal business on our Myspace or Facebook, it's probably not in our best interest. According to Woolner, an honor high school student got suspended for posting on her Facebook that her teacher was the "worst ever". Perhaps it's just me, but I think this is ridiculous! Things we post on our websites should not be used against us at school nor in court. Where are we supposed to express ourselves if not on our personal pages?

Debra Medina on 9/11

I found an article on the Fox 7 News website about the republican candidate for Governor, Debra Medina. She was on the Glenn Beck show the other day when she was asked what her beliefs on the 9/11 tragedies were. She was then asked if she believed it was an inside job and her response created a spark from Governor Rick Perry. She followed up with a statement explaining her answer to whether or not she thinks 9/11 was an inside job. Medina basically claims that the question was irrelevant, she doesn't know the answer and that Americans have the right to question our Government! Go Medina! There is an audio clip as well as a link to the article with Rick Perry's feedback. Go see for yourself!