Another Accused Rape in the NFL

Pro Football Hall of Fame Linebacker Lawrence Taylor was arrested early thursday after being accused of raping a 15 year old girl. Taylor is being charged with third degree rape which involves having intercourse with a minor. Taylor has had a history of drug related charges and other law breaking acts. The victim, who has yet to be named, was also supposedly beaten at the hotel where the rape took place.

Once again, another rape charge against a well known football player. Even though this time it's a former player, it's still a huge deal seeing as how he is a hall of fame player and the girl was only 15 years old. Lawrence Taylor is 51 years old. How can you seriously have the urge to do this to a 15 year old girl. It's really a shock because you would think that if you're 51 you would know better than to do these stupid acts. Some people just don't learn.

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/news/story?id=5167613

Final Atlantic Yards Holdout Will Not Budge

New Jersey Nets owner, Bruce Ratner thought he had everything moved out of way and ready to go in order to develop the Nets new arena in Brooklyn called "The Atlantic yards." That was until tuesday when property owner, Steven Williams, spoke up about him owning a Sixth Ave. lot. Williams said that the state forgot to condemn it. Williams is also suing the state because he feels that they are "stealing" his property and claiming the property as if they own it. In William's eyes they are taking something from him that is extremely valuable. Without the rights to the property, Ratner cannot build anything bigger than four stories. Williams says he is able to negotiate if Ratner wants to pay him cash for the rights.

As a huge Nets fan, I don't like this situation at all. The die hard fan of me says that this guy should just leave because he is annoying me. But in reality I see where this guy is coming from. He has lived their for years and now a money spender is kicking him out to make his dream come true. I hope they are able to come to an agreement so both of them can be happy, and in my opinion I believe that they will.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2010/05/05/2010-05-05_atlantic_yards_holdout_peter_williams_claims_developer_bruce_ratner_doesnt_own_a.html

Phillies Fan Tasered For Running on Field

During the Philadelphia Phillies game on Monday, 17 year old Steve Consalvi was tasered after deciding to run on the field. Consalvi ran onto the field after calling his father to ask him if he could do so. His father answered saying, "I don't think you should son." Consalvi did not listen to his father and ran out onto the field anyway, and was later tasered. This however has brought upon mixed opinions on the issue of the teen being tasered. The teen was tasered by a police officer who was working the game, while security guards were also chasing the teen. He meant no harm and was doing this out of pure stupidity.

In my opinion, I feel that the teen should not have been tasered. There were enough people chasing after him, so he would have been caught eventually. Not only that, but tasers can cause significant long term harm to some individuals. That seems like too big of a risk considering what this teen was doing. It was a bad idea on the teens part but having to taser him should be the last option.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5161474

ABC's "LOST" is Ending

The TV series "LOST" aired its first episode on September 22, 2004. Right now it's on its 6th season, with the series finale being aired on May 23, 2010. The show has gone through five complete seasons and the fan base is still there. The most recent episode racked in 8.8 million viewers during that hour. The finale of the series is such a big event that ABC is asking for $900,000 for a 30-second ad during the finale. That is more than four times the $213,000 they ask for during a regular "LOST" episode.
"LOST" is my favorite TV show of all time. The mysteries involved in the show are incredible. Although they aren't realistic it's still excellent storytelling. It has entertained me for almost six years, when the pilot episode first aired. I will definitely be watching the finale and the show will always hold great memories for me. I hope that in the future they come out with a show that's just like it. If you have not watched "LOST" I highly recommend it.

Man Stabs 28 Chinese Children

On thursday morning, a unemployed man entered a kindergarten in China and stabbed 28 kindergarten students, which critically wounded five of the students. This was the second mass stabbing of young students in two days. The attack came a day after a 33 year old man stabbed fifteen fourth and fifth graders at another school in China. A little over a month ago, a 42 year old man stabbed eight primary school students to death. According to authorities, two of the three attackers had confirmed mental illness. The 42 yeaold attacker, Zheng Minsheng was executed on wednesday.
The execution serves the man right. I have no idea why someone would decide to walk into a playground that have innocent children, and just decide to stab them all. Mental illness or not, a guy who is that wicked should not be able to walk the streets by himself in the first place. Where were the security guards while this man was stabbing 28 different children? That baffles me because many of the children, and hopefully none of the children would not have been in pain if their were security present. It shocks me at how sick some people are in this world. How do you guys feel about this? I bet not happy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/world/asia/30china.html?ref=world

Screening May Save Athletes

In the New York Times article, "Screening May Save Athletes", writer Nicholas Bakalar writes about how screening young athletes with an electrocardiogram can save them. He reports how around 90 young athletes die every year, often from a sudden cardiac death. According to Bakalar screening is a cost-effective way of lowering this number. Bakalar cites the controversy around this being that the cost will be too expensive for the amount of lives it will actually save. An interesting point in this article is that only screening athletes could be discriminatory seeing as how they pretty much just wipe all non-athletes to the side. The main point of this article was to show the effects of what a screening can do towards helping save the lives of athletes.

I believe screening athletes is a great idea no matter what the cost. The fact that money is an issue at all in saving someone's life is mind-boggling. That's like saying "I could save that boys life, but it's too expensive" when you have more than enough money to save him. It has been proven that it works so why wouldn't you do it? In my opinion screening is perfect if it can save any amount of life at all.

Officials Say Afghan Fight, Long Rumored, Is Coming

In the New York Times Article, "Officials Say Afghan Fight, Long Rumored, Is Coming", Journalist, Rod Nordland talks about the upcoming joint operation in Afghanistan, involving American and Afghan troops. According to Nordland, this is the biggest offensive operation that the two sides have ever done together. The operation is titled, Operation Moshtrak. The speculation is that it is on the Taliban led town of Marja. Nordland also states that the citizens of Marja, actually have known about this for quite some time now. It is unusual that something of this magnitude is publicly known, but one benefit of this is that it can give time for civilians to leave the town, so there are not many casualties.

I don't follow much about the War In Afghanistan, but this article found a way to catch my interest. I see what they mean by the benefits that can be had by making this operation publicly known, but I see plenty of risks also. What if the Taliban leave Marja and regroup somewhere else? Also, what if they use this as an opportunity to fire back with their own attack? This to me, makes this seem more risky than beneficial. I understand why they would not want lives lost, but I think this is the wrong way to go about it. In my opinion I believe they should have stuck to what they have always done and kept this a secret. No need in changing what you do this late in the war. We need to protect our own people more than theirs.

Nets Can Set An Unwanted Record

In the New York Daily News article, "For New Jersey Nets, Avoiding Mark For Fewest Wins Would Feel Like Major Victory", Flip Bondy talks about the Nets woes this season. Amid this article he states that the Nets are on pace to break the NBA record for fewest wins, set by the Clippers in '73 with a 9-73 season. Bondy States that the future is bright with a billionaire owner almost approved and a top draft pick in July.

I myself am a huge Nets fan. I am aware of the troubles the Nets are facing and am trying to keep my head up. The Nets have multiple draft picks and tons of cap space for the next two years. This in itself gives me and other Nets fans hope. the biggest glimmer of hope, Mikhail Prokhorov, the soon to be owner is a billionaire. He has said that he will do whatever it takes to win, and that is spend money. Even if the Nets break the record, there is such a bright future that they won't be bad for long.