Fourth Mistrial

A mistrial is defined as an invalid trial, caused by fundamental error. When a mistrial is declared, the trial must start again from the selection of the Jury. This very thing happened to John  “Junior” Gotti after 11 days of the trial. This was no the first time it happened, there have been three that also were ended with a hung jury. It is said that John Gotti, son of a past ‘mob boss’, has acted in many violent acts including the murders of three people. In Gotti’s defense, lawyers say he has been out of the mob since 1999 and is not to blame for any of these accusations that are being put against him.

“…problem that we couldn’t come to a decision on. Six felt he did not. Five feel he did withdraw. One was undecided,” said one juror, tells CNN. This is the fifth trial that the jurors could not come to a clear verdict. John ‘Junior’ Gotti  is still not proven guilty or innocent. Many people just assume he is guilty because of his father’s past but the lawyers are fighting. Some jurors are torn, some think he is completely guilty or is innocent, others just feel it is a waste of time and money and the whole thing should be dropped. They still do not know what is to come. Gotti is out on two million dollar bail. Many are disappointed in what it has come to.

Land of Luck (:

My day was long and tiring. There was nothing more I wanted than to get a good night sleep. When I finally got into bed, I began tossing and turning with my whole day  flashing through my head. I finally clear my head and get comfortable on my right side when something hits me in the forehead. I quickly sit up and look around my entire room, with faint vision because of the darkness. I reach over to get my phone, to shine the light to see if I could spot anything, when something else hits me in the chin. I lean over to hear a little squeaky but all too deep voice say “hi! I am Murphy and I am the prince of the rainbow!” He sounded all too perky for this time at night. I asked if there is anything I could help him with and he states in a worry that he is looking for his wife, princess Gold Pot. She was taken by a dragon who put a spell on him to send him to my house. He asked if he could have a tour of the house to see if there were any clues. I scooped him up into my palm, where he sat comfortably, and took him where he wanted to go. We walked down my long hallway, and I became frightened because of the squeeky floor boards when I took a step. I began to shiver, until Prince Murphy yelled “Stop, stop!” when he saw the golden light coming from the closed basement door. As the light shined on him, I was able to see this small man wearing a formfitting green suit and top hat. He had a pale complexion with rosey cheeks and had somewhat of his own glow. He immedaitely yelled to open the door, so I began to walk as fast as I could down the stairs. He pointed his cane and said with a squeek of anxiety, “to the left, the left!” I walked around the corner, and in the corner of my eye saw something scury across my feet. I yelped, and he said “my princess, my princess! I’ll save you!” He jumped off my hand with a SPLAT on the floor and I continued to follow him around the next corner. There, under the staircase, was a little beautiful princess. She was wearing a pink poofy dress which made her sparkle. She had a jewled crown ontop of her golden locks. She was tied up but still had a twinkle in her eye which shed a tear. The prince ran to the princess to give her a kiss when FIRE shot out of nowhere! This made me fall to the ground where the prince scurried underneath me. When I looked up, I saw the dragon next to the princess. The dragon said “You know what I want, I will not let her go until I get it!” Me and the prince caught eachothers eye, and he quickly glanced over at the princess. She mouthed the words: just give it to him. She then glanced over to the far corner of the basement. The prince pointed his cane and chanted some words, when a bright light blinded me! Before my eyes was a rainbow and the pot of gold at the base. The dragon snatched the pot of gold and the prince ran over and untied the princess. The dragon was gone with a blink of an eye. The two thanked me with much gratitude and said that they would grant me one wish. I started saying… “My one wish would be…” WACK! My eyes opened and I heard my sister giggling from the foot of my bed. She was throwing hershey kisses from Halloween at me, which hit my forehead and chin. As she laughed, all I could think about was my adventure and that it was only a dream. I began to laugh, however, not with her…

College Dreams

When I was young, every month would be a different thing I would want to do in life. I wanted to be an architect, a lawyer, a doctor, and many others. Until now I was completely unsure on what I wanted to do. I have decided that I want to be in business, specifically, business consultant or management.

The field of work I want to get into requires a bachelor’s degree or higher with work experience. I am hoping to get an internship at a high up advertising business, not only for experience, but to see if business is really my passion. I am hoping that this internship will allow me to have as much experience for the job I am looking for.

Public Universities are around $7,000/year. Also, boarding is some extra. I do feel the need to have a job so I am able to contribute some money with my mother. College is expensive, obviously. I am looking into financial aid and loans to help me through my years attending, which mean LOTS of applications. I want to live at my college out of New Jersey, which is extra money to dorm, but with financial aid, loans, and a job, I feel I can really have the experience I am looking for.

I do want to attend a public college at this point, but I never really looked into a private one. They are more exclusive, which means harder to get in, but I am open-minded. I don’t think I am just going to look at pubic ones but private ones as well. Either one would be good for my major, so I am really going to look into it.

Schools are one of the toughest things to choose. High school was hard, I cannot imagine colleges. There are so many great schools that offer business that I would love to attend. It is not all about which is the most fun, or nicest, but whether or not it fits me. I need to take my major and of course finances into perspective. Even with this, I feel I will be able to find the best college for me. I want to begin searching schools and visiting them around Junior year, to get a feel of what I’m looking for.

Overall, college is a great experience as well as an expensive one. I am keeping all of my options open and really looking into my major, business. I need to learn more about the colleges that would work best for me as well as what financial aid and loans are out there for me. It is going to be stressful but I am ready to get started on my future and what I want to do with my life when I get out of high school!

 

 

“To be right is not always popular… To be popular is not always right.”

The quote above basically explains itself. When you exclude yourself from a group of people who you don’t think are doing something right in some way, it is okay to seperate yourself from the situation. If it is the best decision for you, do it. The consequences, especially in highschool, are sometimes extreme. In this instance, a right decision can cost you friends or cause a group of people to talk about you or look at you in a different way. If it was not the way the whole group turned, they may turn against you. In this situation, the right decision for you may cost you popularity. Always be true to yourself; a group of people should not turn against you because you were staying true to yourself and seperating yourself from a situation that is not at all you. If this happens, and they do turn against you… they obviously are not your friends. The other half of this quote is: To Be Popular is Not Always Right. Sometimes people do things that they don’t feel right about just to stay high up in social rankings. If a group of people are making you do something that you do not feel right about, they again obviously are not your friends. Friends should accept who you are. Doing things just to ‘fit in’ isn’t the right thing to do. This quote to me, on both sides, is saying to be true to yourself. Honor what your feeling and what you think is best for you. Don’t do things just because you want to fit in. Do things that feel right in both your mind and your heart. You don’t need the kind of friends who make you go along with everything they do. When you listen to yourself, and find friends that don’t mind if you think for YOURSELF – then you are being you and not what other people want you to be.

10 Things that Make me Laugh

1. Random funny thoughts- while you’re sitting in class and something that happened 4 days ago pops into your head and you begin laughing.

2. Comedy movies- when a movie is funny and I actually get it’s jokes, it can really make me laugh.

3. Silent moments- I end up laughing in awkward and silent situations.. which does tend to make things a little more awkward but a little less silent =]

4. Talking about memories- memories with friends or family always give me a good laugh, especially when it is about me and what I did when I was little.

5. Sarcasm- it’s always a quick thing, and it always has a little truth, but not many people get that. I always need to laugh when someone has a comeback with sarcasm.

6. ‘Knock Knock Jokes’- they are probably the least funny jokes, but always make me laugh because they are so predictable!

7. Me!- Sometimes, I will make a really awful joke which no one else would think is funny, but I will be cracking up because in my head, it made sense.

8. My Mom- My mother shares my humor, so together we laugh about the craziest things when no one else is because she is thinking exactly what I am at that time!

9. Being Tickled- I am really, really ticklish. When people even poke me where I’m ticklish, I end up laughing hysterically.

10. Questions- Everyone has their days where they ask an obvious question. Example: “Will this pencil snap if I bend it?”

Death Row Inmate Dies Naturally

John Evander Couey died of natural causes on September 30. He was convicted  of kidnapping a 9 year old girl and murdering her, which was extremely had for her family. This happened in Florida. This story is very controversial right now, because some people feel like it is unfair.

Some of Jessica’s family is happy he is dead, and others wish the wait wasn’t so long to be put to death. The wait on death row can be anywhere from 5 years to 50. John, who was convicted in 2005, was only in prison for 4 years. Should the wait on death row be shortened? Many have split decisions. Some feel he should have suffered, others are just happy he’s gone.

Correct Posture

1. Can you do these stretches sitting down or standing up? Exercises can be done both ways, standing up or sitting down.
2. What posture should you always begin at? Every exercise should begin with a neutral posture.
3. Why is breathing helpful? Never hold your breath. Breath in and then out with the movement of the stretch. It keeps your blood moving through the body.
4. Choose three of these stretches as your favorite.  Why did you select them? Rolling shoulders, reach back, and the neck stretch. I chose these because when I’m at a computer, all the tension I have is usually in my shoulders, upper back, and neck. These exercises release the tension.

St. Mary’s

I transferred to St. Mary’s last year in February, the middle of the year. The reason for this change was because my first school was “too big” in my mother’s eyes. She chose here, even though I did not want to change at all. When I got here, although I didn’t think I would, I did start to like it. It was a lot different, but in a good way. Although it is small, everyone here has a lot of school spirit. School spirit is extremely important in any school. It shows that you support the school including the athletes. The amount of that spirit is really one of the best things of coming to this school. So in the end, I am happy that I ended up coming here rather than any other school.

Good Posture

1. While you are sitting in a chair at a computer, be sure not to sit there for extended amounts of hours. Get up, walk around, get a snack, anythng to get your body circulating again.

2. Always keep your body straight. This goes for when you’re sitting and when you’re standing. It will become habitual.

3. As your at your computer, try to minimize straining. This means try not to bend your head, turn sideways, or reach for work.

4. While you aare typing, staring at your computer, you should just circulate your head muscles and neck. Look up, look down, and rotate.

5. “Avoid bending your wrists up, down, or to the sides.” If not, thy will begin to numb, making you slouch in discomfort.

http://ririanproject.com/2006/10/30/how-to-keep-good-posture-when-in-front-of-a-computer/

http://www.spine-health.com/wellness/ergonomics/ten-tips-improving-posture-and-ergonomics

Father to Children With His Own

     A man in his sixties fathered four children. Sounds like an everyday family right? Wrong. The mother of these children was his own daughter. The man was arrested for supposedly raping his daughter for over 30 years and having four children with her. CNN says the raping went on  since the woman was 11 years old. All of the the children seem to have birth defects while one child ended up dying from the defect.

     “The man was arrested on charges of rape and incest,” said a clerk with the Melbourne County Court to CNN. These are two extremely criminal things and he can be put in jail for a very long time. While I was speaking to my mom about this story, she compared it to another crime just like this one. Stange as it is, so did CNN. Both comparing it to Josef Frizal a 73 year old man who kept his daughter captive for more than 20 year. In result to this crime, they ended up having 7 children.

     The stories seem similar except Frizal kept his daughter imprisoned. In this story, the man and his daughter were living under the same roof as his mother. She tells CNN that she had no idea about the abuse because it was such a big house. She mentions that the daughter was very secretive about who fathered her 3 children. This abuse was reported once before,  but she “then refused to cooperate because she feared for her safety,” said CNN.

     The man was arrested in February, but the story just came out recently. The 3 children and the mother are now safetly in a house where no harm can be done to them. Stories like this are very hard to hear and extremely disturbing. However, they need to be brought to the public’s attention so incidents like this will not continue on. Hopefully this man will be brought to justice and the family can try and move on and start rebuilding their lives.