Month: February 2006

  • Rape Part 2

    I want to continue on this same issue. Someone mentioned in their comment on my last post the issue of the sexual history of the accuser and the alleged rapist. It was the issue that I was going to discuss next so I want to quote her comment:

    Side note- another part of rape shield laws is that during the trial, the rapers sexual past is allowed to be dragged out as evidence but the accusers isn’t. I’m for that but in case you wanted to extend this topic.

    Posted 2/28/2006 at 6:16 PM by NotWithout_Coups_Baby – delete – block user

    You will notice she brings up an interesting point. We have seen trials where the alleged rapist had his sexual history brought out as an issue in the case. On the other hand, the alleged victim is protected from that sort of testimony. Another issue that usually is left out is if the alleged victim has ever accused someone else of rape before.

    Should the sexual history of the alleged rapist and alleged victim be treated the same in a court? Another question is should it be brought out in trial if the alleged victim has accused others of raping her before?

  • Rape

    I want to talk about rape today. Actually, I want to talk about accusations of rape. You notice how the media will protect the identity of the person that is accusing a person of rape. But they don’t protect the identity of the one being accused.

    Take the case of Kobe Bryant. He is a super star basketball player. A lady accuses him of rape. His reputation is destroyed. But the lady gets to decide whether she will make herself public. I understand that we need to protect the identity of the potential victim. But it is not fair to protect the identity of the accuser and not protect the identity of the accused.

    In my opinion, we need to either protect the identity of both or neither. Both people should be protected.

    Should the identity of the accused rapist be private until he/she is convicted of the crime?

  • NASA Part 2

    A top employee of NASA is leaving the organization to work for a company that explores the possibility of life on other planets. According to foxnews.com, G.Scott Hubbard will be leaving NASA to “accept a position with an organization that studies the possibility of life beyond Earth.”

    This is my whole impression of NASA. It is my theory that most of the people who are at NASA ultimately are concerned with finding life on another planet. They grew up watching Star Trek and now they want to make the vision a reality. I don’t want to make all the Star Trek people mad at me today. But it is my opinion that we will never find life on another planet.

    They make big announcements when they find some evidence that life could have possibly existed on Mars. I think everyone knows we will never live on Mars. But we go there looking for more evidence that somewhere out there is another group of people that are trying to find us. If there was intelligent life on another planet, why would they want to find us?

    I am not saying it is impossible that there is life on another planet. I am simply saying it is highly unlikely. I just saw the movie War of Worlds not to long ago. I don’t think we want them to find us. I know you can’t base everything on Hollywood but from what I have seen on television, aliens appear to be unfriendly.

    How likely do you think it is that there is life on other planets?

  • NASA

    The Bush administration has put out plans for a budget in 2007 which include 16.8 billion dollars spent on NASA.  I am astounded that we spend so much money on space exploration.  My understanding is that a bulk of that money is spent on exploration and experiments.  It does not take much money to actually repair satellites and items that help us here.


    I have heard people express the opinion that the Space Shuttle program is very similar to what people were doing when they came over to America.  The only difference to me is that life was possible in America.  Life really will never be realistic in my opinion in space.  I believe that money would be better spent on people in our own country.


    Is space travel a waste of money?


     

  • Rich or Poor

    My sister and her husband own a home that is worth about a million dollars. I visited her once and couldn’t believe how much energy it took to get around that house. It was huge. Even if I was rich, I wouldn’t want to own a house like her house.

    I also noticed in the few times that I visited her that her husband is never home. He is always working. It makes me sad that they have all that money and yet they don’t get to spend time with each other. I imagine his job is pretty stressful too. I am sure it takes a lot of effort to keep up that lifestyle.

    I was raised poor. I don’t think I realized it at the time. By the time I was old enough to notice my dad made more money. It appeared to me that life was simpler when we were poor. The problem is no one wants to be poor.

    Then there is the middle class. They work a ton and then don’t get the full benefits of their labor. They are trying to move up in their jobs and at some point come to the realization that they may never move any higher. They will often get into debt over their heads and they will need to keep working in order to pay those bills.

    Is it easier to be rich, poor, or middle class?

  • Prenuptial Agreements

    In my last post, someone mentioned in the comment box the issue of prenuptial agreements.  I have read about 4-5 post in the last few weeks on the issue of prenuptial agreements.  I always looked at prenuptial agreements as something for the rich.  But even if I was rich, I think I would have a hard time asking a potential spouse if she would sign a prenuptial agreement.  I would think it would take out an element of trust in the relationship.


    So let us try a hypothetical related to prenuptial agreements.  Pretend you are worth 100 million dollars.  Pretend you want to marry a person who has no money.


    Would you make that person sign a prenuptial agreement before you married him/her?


     

  • Child Support

    I was talking to a lawyer recently who said that child support issues are what caused couples to fight over their children. He thought that we should just get rid of child support and it would get rid of most of the problems involved with custody issues.

    I had another friend who was mentioning that child support was financially hurting him. He thought most of the money was going to just support his ex-wife’s lifestyle with another man.

    Is child support in most cases too high?

  • Anal Retentive Part 5

    Is it weird if you don’t like to drink or eat after someone you have sex with?


     

  • Name the Mascot

    We have narrowed the names down that people suggested for naming the new xanga mascot.



    We are down to three names.  Please vote for only one entry.  If you vote for more than one, I will take the name of the first one you mention. (If you know how to set up one of those polls on your website, explain in the comment box to me and everyone else.  I am talking about those voting boxes where a person can just click their vote in a box and it records the results.  Also explain how to set it up in the post section too).


    Here are the entries:


    # 1 Flanga


    # 2 Rufus


    # 3 The Canabalistic emo pizza boxes


    What do you want to call the new mascot?


     

  • Abortion Part 4

    One of the ideas mentioned in the last few post about abortion is that men should not have a say in the issue of abortion because they are never put into that situation.

    Should men be able to help decide on the issue of abortion?