Blog Post 5

Men are usually in the frontline when the topic of violence arises. But according to an article in BBC News women are now taking part in violence in an increasing number. Some would argue that females historically are the more submissive sex, but now according to the BBC article, “Dr Sally Henry, a researcher from Brunel University, argues that images in the media are "feeding" aggression among girls.” And she believes the violence they become involved in is a kind of twisted feminism.” The violence that we all consume effects all people apparently pretty much equally, women and girls seem to be affected by this as well at a young age, but just aren’t as publicized for their acts as much as men usually are. This could be due to many different factors like, their violence being on a small scale, or not being reported, or that they are just better at getting away with things? Just like their counterparts it seems that modern day media and pop culture is starting to change the outlook young women have on violence.
“Dr Henry told the BBC News website: "It's not surprising these things are happening because girls are witnessing scenes on TV, in films and in music videos where it's not just men committing violence, but women too. "These girls think physical violence empowers them. It is feeding their aggression and they are misinterpreting it as some kind of feminism." The definition of feminism is the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. So does this mean that every time a group of people want something done in this world it has to result in violence in order to gain equality or fairness? The article focuses mainly on teenage girls committing  the violence, and only touches on older women committing the same acts stating that, “in fact, overall, the female prison population fell by 2% between February 2006 and February 2007, although the number of girls aged 15 to 17 in custody increased slightly from 64 to 69. “ Teenage girls are becoming more active in gangs and might at times have the false impression that when they commit violent acts that it will make boys like them, due to the attention they receive or the way their peers praise the young girls after fighting or committing a violent act.  
If the numbers are continuing to go up in violent acts being committed by girls how can we deter this issue? We need to look to education and a sense of respect for the law. Society should try and help teach not just girls but all kids about how to handle their problems, and what to do if they have some sort of issue. It seems that educating on the topic of violence in high school is a bit too late in a child’s timeline, because by then they are actively violent and have painted a picture on what violence is and can do for them. Being an empowered person should not come down to whether or not you can beat up the next guy or girl next to you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAjXJ5DezqQ
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk/6552177.stm

Blog Post 4

Protesting is something that is apart of the American culture. Protestors have caused up roars against several different topics in America’s history. Currently we have protestors vocalizing their views on America’s economic situation. These protests are not limited to just one location and they have been named the “Occupy” protests. Protests are lawful as long as they are deemed to be peaceful and do not disturb any other daily functions or laws, but it can be very difficult to play by the rules when protestors are limited by several laws. For example if there is a city curfew for a parks, then protestors are unable to assemble at the park past the open hours. Or if you are occupying a side walk and the flow of traffic is blocked you are unable to assemble at that location. With this comes frustration not only from protestors, but law enforcement as well. When laws are broken by protestors the police men and women are called in to disassemble the groups. Many times the protestors are unwilling to leave, because they feel as if their rights are being violated or that their message is being suppressed. This friction between the two groups usually ends up resulting in violence. The violence also catches the world’s attention, which in return fuels the violence of the protestor so they receive more coverage resulting in their message being heard.

            With the “Occupy Oakland” protest headlining our local news everyday for its success and violence it was clear that the protestors were gaining more exposure due to their violent mishaps. According to an article written by Jesse Strauss a girl named “Anne” was interviewed about the violence presented to her boyfriend who was apart of the protest. She went on to say this about her boyfriend, "I talked to him twice now since he’s been in Santa Rita [County Jail] and he said they were basically torturing him there. They beat him in front of a bunch of people, including a nurse, and then they took him to another room and they put his head in a toilet, put his hands in a toilet, threw him against a wall." The allegations could not be independently verified.” (Al Jazeera). Though the claims made by Anne are quite shocking about the Oakland Police Department Strauss did a good job clarifying that the statements could not be verified. Every story does have two sides and the Oakland Police Department has started investigations to make sure that misconduct is not being committed according to Chief Howard Jordan.  The protest has seemed to evolve in Oakland from being a stationary assembly like the normal protests to moving around the city, so that the protests could be held and different locations.

            Most recently the protestors have ended up at the ports of Oakland, which is the 5^th largest port in the United States. The goal of the protestors was to shut down the port from its daily operations by protesting at the port. According to BBC, “Hundreds of city workers, including teachers, in Oakland, joined the call for a strike. The crowds also stopped traffic at a junction where a military veteran was seriously injured last week as protesters clashed with police. Ex-Marine Scott Olsen, 24, is recovering in an Oakland hospital after being struck on the head with a tear gas canister fired by police. That incident catapulted Oakland, which is on San Francisco Bay, to the centre of the national Occupy Wall Street movement and has spurred fresh demonstrations across the US.” The article does not really supply the facts as too why the tear gas is being shot, but as history shows tear gas is a non lethal way of having crowds disperse. It is sad that the violence in the current “Occupy Protests” is what helps people’s voices get heard. Prior to the violence the media covered each city and their “Occupy Protest” pretty evenly. When the Oakland Police Department began to push back against the protestors and violence began to take place, then the city was propelled in to the spotlight. Peaceful protests just do not get the message across as clearly as their violent counterparts. This is our unfortunate reality, but maybe we can change it by protesting?

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2011/10/20111026135124919772.html

http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca/groups/police/documents/pressrelease/oak031967.pdf

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15568057

Blog Post 3

Violence in order to deal with violence, this concept may seem ludicrous, but in actuality it is used throughout the world. One of the hotspots for current day violence is in Mexico. With warning given every spring break to college students about kidnappings and innocent people being slaughtered on the street to notices given to families about leaving their cruise ship to tour the towns in Mexico and being harmed while on vacation. The majority of the violence is being sparked from the gangs and drug cartels in Mexico. It seems that the Mexican government has their hands full and need help in fighting the violence, which is where a new vigilante group called the Mata Zeta comes in to play. This group has a mission to help eliminate the Zeta, which is one of the most violent cartels in the Vera Cruz region. Mexico is getting a bad rap throughout the world due to the amount of violence being produced by their drug cartels. According to BBC, “The Mexican government last issued figures in 12 January 2011. Its database said 34,612 people had been killed since December 2006, including suspected drug gang members, members of the security forces and those considered innocent bystanders. It is now estimated that some 40,000 people have died during the nearly five years of Mr. Calderon's presidency.”(BBC)

An Al Jazeera article by Chris Arsenault Talks about the Mata Zetas or the “Zeta Killers” which are a sort of paramilitary group and their mission “to protect the people”. This group was dubbed the name because of the powerful gang known as Zeta. Arsenault continues in the article to state that the paramilitary group says, “They don't want to fight state security forces, they said, but called on "the functionaries and authorities who support the Zetas to stop doing so", in a digital communique read by men wearing balaclavas and toting machine guns.”We are anonymous warriors, faceless, but proudly Mexican."(Al Jazeera) This is an issue, because Arsenault in the article states that this could be some sort of front for the Mata Zetas and their actual agenda which is actually guns for hire by other cartels in order to eliminate opposing cartels and gangs. I totally agree with this assumption, because of the fact we do not know who works for whom. The Mata Zeta has remained quite anonymous, and elusive. With the group being so obscure it is extremely hard to find validity in their claims in whether their violence is to prevent cartels from terror or too be the muscle for some other cartel or gang..

There has been other cartels in the past that have gone on the mission to “protect the citizens” in the war against cartel violence, but have eventually been caught up with the law. For example the La Familia in Michoacán ultimately ended up having their leader arrested. Seems that The Mata Zetas might end up on the same road, Arsenault also has word that the men of the “Mata Zetas, also known as the New Generation Jalisco Cartel, formed a partnership with the Gulf cartel, La Resistencia and the Sinaloa cartel to take on the Zetas, Proceso magazine reported. "As far as I know, the Mata Zetas are hired guns fighting for the highest bidder," George Grayson, a drug war expert at the College of William and Mary, told Al Jazeera. "It seems like El Chapo [Joaquin Guzman, the billionaire leader of the Sinaloa cartel], is the highest bidder."(Al Jazeera). The only way to validate the arguments of Mata Zeta and their claims to help the citizens is to wait and see the outcome of their mission. Fortunately or unfortunately there just hasn’t been anything done by them to validate or invalidate their claims. Regardless of right or wrong it seems that the violence of any group in Mexico will continue to scar the country.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-10681249

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/10/2011101615958513627.html

Blog Post 2

“I am going to beat you!” When someone says a quote like that what comes to mind? For me I wonder what caused someone to say such a thing, or what the situation is that caused the person to become violent. I also wonder what this beating entitles. In the case of a Fullerton Homeless man the quote ended up meaning his life was going to be taken. In the article by Joel Rubin and Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times these men discuss how a recording ended up catching Officer Manuel Ramos stating the quote “I am going to beat you!” to homeless man Kelly Thomas. The authors really show that the recording technology helped convict the officers in this case. I believe without the recording technology it would have made it very difficult to come to a conclusion in this particular case.

After reading the article I then realized that the authors do not state whether or not Kelly Thomas was under the influence of drugs. The authors however do state that Thomas did not have any alcohol or drugs on his body. It would have made a lot more sense why Officer Ramos was being violent if Thomas was under the influence being more combative and belligerent than a normal citizen, which is why the situation ended up being escalated in to a physical altercation. Further research in the Los Angeles Huff Post stated that Thomas was actually a mentally ill man. When an officer responds to a call where they are going to be interacting with a mentally ill person the contact should be handled differently than opposed to an individual who is totally coherent and responsive.

Mentally ill individuals sometimes do no react with the same emotions as other individual, so it would have helped to know how Thomas was responding to Officer Ramos’s commands. The article states clearly that the recordings by Officer Ramos shows an aggressive tone. Without that key piece of evidence it would be a he said she said case, which would ultimately get tied up in the court system. In the article by Joel Rubin and Richard Winton they also discuss the effectiveness of personal cameras. I believe the personal Officer cameras would be a great tool in preventing unnecessary violence and bad accusations in the future. Although they are quite expensive, the investment will be well worth it. This is just another example how technology can help society.

L.A. Times- http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0923-kelly-thomas-audio-20110922,0,4325329.story

Huff Post Los Angeles- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/21/kelly-thomas-death-police-charged_n_974237.html

Blog Post 1

Violence seems to have two sides, the first being it is okay when being used to accomplish a greater goal that is socially acceptable, for example the violence taking place to overthrow  Moammar Kadafi. Then there is the violence that comes with rape and child abuse and other crimes like the shooting committed by Jared Lee Loughner. Violence can affect anyone in this world. Not only does the pain last while the actual violent act is being committed, but it can leave a wound on a persons demeanor for the rest of their life. It is important to understand why violent acts take place whether it is just or unjust. Because the more we understand violence the better we can help to further prevent it in situation where it is not necessary.

Violence is affects everyone in the 21^st century from when a child picks up a video game to play for recreational use, to the violence that terrorist are committing throughout the world. According to the Universal Crime Report there were 1,318,398 violent crimes committed in United States in 2009. That number is only the violent crimes that were committed and reported. This number is surely much higher since we know that all crimes are not reported. Sometimes the victims of violent crimes are scared to report the crime due to the retaliation, or the victim might be unaware that the violence being committed towards them is unjust.

Since violence comes in such abundance it is only accurate that it cost society a bundle of money. Phaedra Corso a lead author in a study which mapped out how much violence costs the United States estimates a figure of $70 billion. “The researchers found that most of the costs of violence stem from males and young adults. Sixty-eight percent of the costs from assaults and 63 percent of the costs from self-inflicted injuries were in males aged 15 to 44”.  Corso also states that we can save much more money if we invest a portion of that $70 billion dollars in prevention of violence. Often times the price is even higher when having to paying the price for violence, many have paid the ultimate price by giving up their lives. In the future we need to use other tools like technology and education in order to stop the violence in the world. Police officer’s now use taser’s to subdue a criminal instead of having to use violent tactics in order to get the criminal in custody. Society should continue to use their creativity in order to help prevent violence.

http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2009/data/table_01.html

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070605121002.htm