Children Crimes on Halloween

http://www.suite101.com/content/children-crimes-on-halloween-a294718

This article talks about how there is actually no increase in child sex crimes with children 12 and under on Halloween night.  I was curious about this statistic, along with other crime statistics that are affiliated with Halloween itself.  I figured that the fact that everybody is dressed up as something else allows those who commit crimes to be able to cover themselves up.  I stumbled upon this article, and it said how the child sex crimes don't increase at all on this particular night, so as parents should always use precaution with trick or treating, but for the most part the crimes against children are not heightened at all on this night.

Anna Nicole Smith Conviction

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/39895977/ns/today-entertainment/?gt1=43001

There is an article that is one of the top stories for msn's home news website about how they were charging Anna Nicole Smith's boyfriend-lawyer with conspiracy.  The only conviction against Smith's boyfriend-lawyer Howard K. Stern was for giving false names and acting by fraud to obtain prescriptions. He was acquitted of seven other charges. The fact that this is still one of the top stories in the media after she had died in 2007 is astonishing to me.  They are still cracking down on her boyfriend and convicting him of charges.  The media will not let go of the Anna Nicole Smith death, again relating to how we talked about a certain case being over-publicized.  At least they are telling the public how the case has turned out after 3 years, but it is still crazy how after 3 years it is still a top story.

DVD Response

I thought that dvd was very interesting.  The fact that certain people become so obsessed with a serial killer celebrity they mimic them is crazy to me. One case that was very interesting to me was the honeymoon serial killer couples (the ones that marry people, kill them, get their money, then live together off of it).  The copycat effect is a serious problem when it comes to mentally unstable people who want to be like their idols.  Natural Born Killers is a movie that I saw when I was younger and I've always liked that movie, so I can see how if somebody was obsessed with that movie then they would want to copy the killings in the movie.  The main killers are portrayed as notoriously famous and not completely looked down upon, so I can see how that could mess with somebody's head.  I think the copycat phenomenon is interesting but I honestly don't feel that it has an extreme effect on people.  If someone is going to kill somebody, then they are going to do it.  The fact that they copycat a movie or film is interesting, but the fact is they were still going to cause harm to other people regardless if they saw the movie or not.  The copycat effect could make the killings more gruesome though, but I don't think they are the cause of the murders.

Indiana Jones

I must admit, when I was a child I was facinated with the Indiana Jones films.  I wanted to be an archeologist growing up because of those films.  I even got a whip and a hat (I thought thats what all archeologists carried with them).  I used to go on adventures in my back yard and make up the craziest scenarios.  I would even dig in our backyard hoping that I would find some bones or something crazy.  I also would bury some of my toys, then redig them later and pretend like they were some crazy new find.  Then ofcourse I would swap it with another toy, then run away as an imaginary boulder would chase me around.  My friends would join me in the fun and we would make up the funniest and most creative adventures of all time.  From the films of Indian Jones, I got the impression that archeologists go through these adventures on a daily basis.  I had a completely misconstrued idea of what archeology was.  I think archeology probably had a huge increase of applicants after these movies came out. This was my child-hood dream, and oh how I do miss it.

Harrisonburg Police Increase Patrols for Homecoming

http://www.whsv.com/news/headlines/Harrisonburg_Police_Increase_Patrols_for_Homecoming_Weekend_104899604.html

I found this article to be very interesting dealing with the police and this weekend.  They are afraid that since it's homecoming, students are going to be a bit more out of control than other weekends, so they increase patrols for the entire weekend.  The police are using the deterrence method to make sure students are safe, this is due to last year's springfest.  I think it is very interesting how different the police have been this year compared to the other years I was here.  There is a definite change in how many police there are and how frequently I see police around on the weekends.  Not even going to lie, the increase in the police force this year has made me stop and think before doing anything, especially with underage drinking.  What they are trying to do has definitely worked for me, as in the charges outway the benefits of that one decision.

Misinformation

I thought this was a very interesting article, with some great points.  I believe that a Department of Information would be a great idea, the only bad part is if they get some bad coverage of a story, or wrong facts, then they would instantly lose their credibility, so for that reason I'm not sure if this could be realistic.  The theory of a Department of Information is a great one, I just can't see it realistically happening due to facts that weren't meant to be wrong, but did turn out to be wrong.  A great example of when I was been, and still am "misinformed", is with elections of presidents or senators or any major political positions.  Especially around electioin time, I see non-stop commercials against the other person running.  They have these outlandish and bad commercials that the other person running did this, or did that.  I honestly have no idea what to believe.  Who knows if they are going off of a wrong source, and completley blowing it out of proportion.  If I talk to other people about it or look at forums, then they will say whether or not they believe these accusations, which will also sway my opinion on the matter.  If there could be a Department of Information that could give me cold hard facts without any lies, then that would be very helpful, espeically when it comes to elections.  But like I said before, I don't think it could happen.  If a Department of Information was built and everybody relied on it and said their stories were true, what if they decided to lie about something?  Then everybody would believe that lie. It could be a great idea that took a turn for the worse.

First 48

This is a reality tv show on A&E that goes through the steps and processes that detectives go through with solving murders.  They break down the murder, list all of the details, and solve the cases.  They show everything that the cops encounter; the leads they get, and even the capturing of the killers. Per episode, they have 2 cases that are being solved. I'd say more likely than not the cases get solved, but every now and then they show a case that hasn't been solved.  I feel like they did this on purpose to give the positive image of the police solving murder cases.  I feel like there are more cases that don't get solved than the ones they show, but want to focus on cases that have been solved to show the positive aspect of police work.  This could bias the public into thinking that all police cases get solved, or the majority of them.  That is at least what I get from the show.  I am not sure how many cases actually get solved, but this show makes me think that the majority of cases are solved.  One thing I have found interesting in this show is that in every episode, no matter how thug or hard a suspect/killer is, they always show them breaking down and crying.  I think they show this on purpose, to remind the public that the police will find you and are superior to the killers.  Again, this is one of my favorite shows. Every time it is on, I find myself watching it for hours at a time.  If you are interested in this type of show, then I strongly reccommend watching it.

Man Charged With Capital Murder in Home Invasion

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/10/05/connecticut.murder.trial/index.html?npt=NP1

This story is about a man named Hayes and his co-defendant invaded a home and tied up the father, while they went upstairs and found the first daughter, tied her to her bed, put a pillowcase over her head. The second was done to the other daughter, who was 17. They tied the father, and got the mother. They took the mother to withdraw 20-30,000 dollars, then took her back to the house, tied and sexually assaulted her (the story also says one of the daughters were sexually assaulted), then let the house on fire and fled. The father was the only one to escape.  This case is being presented in a typical manner, talking about murder, arson, and sex.  This captures the eye of the reader. This story is so disgusting, yet people are going to read it, expecially with the title being "Man convicted of capital murder in Connecticut home invasion case".  This catches the reader's eye, and also makes them interested because it could happen to anybody. This is presented in typical cj policy, catching the readers eye and bringing out the most disturbing stories.  This is without a doubt crime entertainment.