KRISTA GROTE did 4+1=extra credit

EXTRA CREDIT

How to say No to the President?

SUMMARY

Medellin is in a trial with the Supreme Court. The President has made binding rules by the World Court that doesn’t control effects on states’ criminal procedures. The intervention introduces domestic law, and there is also a dispute whether an international court should decide the content of American Law. America would comply with the World Court decision to give Mexicans another review of their cases in state court. Concerns have been raised twice whether the President can displace authority. The US’s agreement to the Vienna Convention agrees to abide by the World Court, but the state of Texas argues that the treaty is not the law of the land. The Vienna Convention doesn’t give foreign nations a right to claim Convention rights if such claims are barred by criminal procedures.

OPINION

I think that Medellin should be tried as guilty, because he committed a crime in America that violated the law and also took lives. The VC should go into effect for basic laws but if someone commits a crime in the US they are violating the law and should be punished appropriately according to the state he committed the crime in. It’s as if I went to Mexico and killed someone and expected to come back to America and not expect to go on death row because I didn’t do the crime in the US.

National

Yes, I love Technology

SUMMARY

Microsoft is keeping up with Macintosh; they aren’t letting the company get ahead with their little iphone, because they have created something bigger and more advanced. They have come up with the Microsoft Surface, which is a table that is an interactive computer with a built in keyboard and mouse. The applications are set up similar to the iphone, but will hopefully replace the computer in the future. HP is also getting in the competition and is coming up with something similar. A Microsoft representative said that in the past thirty years the goal was to have a computer on every desk. Their new goal for the next thirty years is to turn every desk into a computer. Although, the surface will not be available for private use for the next three to five years, hotels and casinos in Europe will be using this technology sooner.

OPINION

Just when I thought technology couldn’t get anymore advanced look what they come up with! I have to admit that I’m kind a scared to be to be living through this technological revolution we are encountering and will be for the next thirty years. Everything is becoming so technical, and when things are technical there is a lot of room for error. Let’s just hope these companies know what they are getting into before they revolutionize the world.


International

Overexposure

SUMMARY

Some Israelis think Google Earth reveals too many of Israel’s secrets, for example their Nuclear Facility, where their nuclear weapons are made, in Dimona, Israel, won’t allow hardly anyone in past its gates, yet anyone can visit it by going to Google Earth. The people that work for Google Earth ensure the people concerned in Israel not to worry, because the US government limits public images to 2yards of resolution. This program has only existed since 2005, but other similar programs have been around for decades.


OPINION

This world and the things people come up with these days are out of this “Earth”! Google has pretty much taken over the world and has even made people in Israel nervous about their secrets getting out. Maybe they shouldn’t be keeping secrets in the first place. So go Google Earth and forget about the 2 yard resolution I want to see everything! haha

National

Internet

SUMMARY

A new video of Osama Bin Laden was found on the internet in a recent video. It has been about three years since there have been any new videos of him on the internet. The thing about this video is that it was not found by the government, but by a private site called Site Institute. Government has all this power and technology, but there are people who do searches on their own to find terrorist threats on the internet who are more successful. The governments response to this was “ It doesn’t matter who finds the info as long as it ends up with the government.”

OPINION

The government should figure out the tricks that the public use to find information on terrorist threats on the internet because they are the ones who should be protecting our country. There is so much that can be done with technology these days that it should make the government more protective about what goes on in cyberspace.

International

Switched at Birth

SUMMARY

Two Czech families, who have no relation to each other, were getting criticized that there ten month old daughters did not look like their parents. When the one family went in for a DNA test they finally found out that for the past ten months they have been raising some one else’s baby. Somehow when these two girls were switched at the hospital ten months ago, and raised and breast fed by opposite families. The couples have met each other and agreed to switch back their daughters before their first birthday.

OPINION

This is crazy, although it would make for a good story, I would be very upset if I found out I was breast feeding someone else’s child. I’m glad hospitals in the US are more put together than the ones in Czech Republic.