Is it Good We No Longer Give Lethal Injection?

Many states are having to abandon the strategy of lethal injection as a way of carrying out capital punishment because they can no longer get the necessary drugs from European pharmaceutical suppliers. The reason that States can no longer buy the drugs is because European companies that are opposed to the death penalty don't want their medicinal product to be used for murder.

These companies may have the goal of ending capital punishment but they are not succeeding. The death penalty continues, except states have now reverted back to executions by firing squad. Though I don't agree with capital punishment, if criminals do get charged with a death sentence I would argue that the companies are doing the Nation a favor. I would argue that if capital punishment has to happen, the firing squad is actually a better practice.

Firing squads are a simpler, more efficient solution. As awful as it is to call one murder better than another due to efficiency and cost effectiveness, if criminals have to be executed by law it is better to make it faster and easier. Both the executioners and the prisoner benefit from abandonment of the lethal injection. The executioners in the case of a lethal injection walk away knowing that they have murdered, in the case of a firing squad one out of the 5 marksmen shoots a blank so there is always a chance that you didn't fire the lethal shot.

Criminals in the case of both executions are allowed their last words, standing up. In both cases they get to see who is killing them. In both cases if everything goes right the criminals die very quickly and supposedly painlessly--but lethal injections more often don't meet the last condition. If the executioner misses the correct vein the prisoner will die in a very slow and painful way. A firing squad will almost never fail, and if a criminal has to pay with his life, it is done better with a firing squad.

Is American Culture Becoming Central?

Since the United States is such a young country compared to some of the other superpowers it sometimes seems that we don't have as rich of a culture. France has the largest cycling race in the world, Germany has Oktoberfest. America is a melting pot so we celebrate and recognize all cultures, but it also feels like Americans should have an event to call their own.

This year I realized that March Madness has become a cultural phenomenon for Americans. The tournament brings people together in a way nothing else can. Due to the brackets, people can come together behind teams that they would never root for, or even watch. I also think that it speaks to our focus on educational success as well since the tournament is made up of college teams rather than professionals. March Madness lets Americans cheer for their favorite teams, the teams they wagered money on, and on a different level--the up and coming generation.

As Americans come behind the common enemy, root for the underdog, all focus on the same event--the country comes together. America has always been famous for its mix of cultures, the melting pot idea is central to U.S ideology, but I think every nation--on some level--has to be a complete piece. As our country ages it gains tradition and history. March Madness, for better or for worse, has become a huge part of American culture, and it's here to stay.

Two Truths and a Lie

Recently in Photography Class we did a project mimicking the ice breaker game "two truths and a lie." For those of you who haven't played the game the premiss is a person says 3 facts about themselves and the other people playing have to guess which one of the facts is a lie. The game is fun, especially with people you have just met, but as a photography project it was especially interesting. The theory was that one picture in a series of 3 would be manipulated, and during a "critic" with the class the other students had to guess which was the manipulation, or the "lie."

At face value the project seems kind of dull, a guessing game with no real value. However when a little more thought is applied to the project, it is an interesting criticism of our modern society. The point is that the class cannot see what you have changed. The criticism is that it is so easy to fabricate events through photoshop, or even with darkroom photography; that people today never truly know what happened and can never know what is a lie. In the modern media, ideas, events, and outcomes can be changed through photo and audio editing--does this mean that the public cannot trust what we learn and see?

The idea is a frightening one, but once the class reached the end of the project, most people could see what was manipulated. Since the class was told to think critically about the 3 pieces and determine which was true and which was false, the fabrication was usually picked out. I believe the comparison of this project and the modern media holds true. If the public knows to think critically about the what they see, then they will not be convinced of false information. Nothing should be taken at face value, whether it be art or news, never be sure that something is not fabrication--is not "the lie."

Dying the River

Every Saint Patrick's Day weekend in Chicago, the Chicago River turns green. The famous tradition started when Mayor Richard J. Daley held office. He originally wanted to dye the lake, but had to settle for the river. The dye is 100% environmentally safe but I would argue that dying the river is still perilous for the Chicago River.

A river of bright green water makes the Chicago River seem like something out of fantasy, it does not show the river for what it is: an ecosystem. The idea green water reenforces is that the only relation between living organisms and the water is the waste that humans dump into it. What a lot of city residents don't realize is that there is life in the Chicago River, and despite the green dye not being dangerous it puts citizens of Chicago in a dangerous mindset.

Along withe green dye, trash gets thrown into the Chicago River. The majority of life in the river was killed when the direction of the flow was changed, and when the river pollution was at its peak. Since then the river has become clean enough to be home to beavers and even some rumored otters. The river dying is a great tradition but it is important to remember that there is life in the river, no matter what color it is.