Dogs and Halloween

Halloween is here and kids across the United States going door to door and trick-or-treating.  This tradition has gone on for a long time, but recently more and more dogs are becoming involved in the Halloween tradition.  Yes, that's right, it's becoming very popular for families to dress their dogs up in a costume and even throw parties for them.

This is not just Halloween; anything to do with dogs is booming.  Dog fashion, which is a relatively new idea, is now becoming a huge business industry, and there a many designer dog products available now.

The reason for this?  "We love our dogs like our kids", says Kathleen Duffey, owner of a dog daycare store.  Events such as Dog Day at ballparks prove her point.  Dogs are becoming a crucial part in American's homes, and people are now treating their dogs just as they treat their children.

The idea of dog companionship isn't new at all, as pet dogs can be dated back to at least the ancient Romans and probably farther, but treating and spoiling them like humans by buying them luxurious human products certainly is.

Is bringing dogs to Halloween and dressing them up taking the tradition to far?

Remember, Halloween started as a celebration of the end of the light part of the year, summer, and the beginning of darkness and winter, a time associated with death.  Now, however, it is all about fun and candy, and, personally, I love this new Halloween tradition.  Americans may have strayed a bit off of the original focus, but they've made it their own.

With that said, I think it is taking it to far to try to incorporate dogs into the holiday experience.  Kathleen Duffey says dogs are like children so they should be treated.  I'm no dog hater, but I completely disagree with this.  Dogs are a very important part of every family and deserve plenty of attention, but I think they should be treated as dogs because, after all, they are dogs and not human beings.  Therefore, it is unnecessary to dress them up and throw dog parties for them.  I see how this can be fun, but I find it extremely pointless and not worth it to buy fancy human things for dogs.

More Than A Game

Today, the NBA officially announced the cancelation of two more weeks of the regular season.  If this lockout continues, players and owners will not be the only ones affected.  It will have serious ripple effects that will be felt by many workers and businesses.

While the money tug of war between billionaires and millionaires continues, Mary Saenz is just worried about staying afloat financially.  She works as a security guard with the San Antonio Spurs and depends on the extra money she receives from that job to support her and her family.  Without the season, it's going to be really hard for her and her family to adjust to a smaller income, and she's not alone.  There are hundreds of other workers similar to her that are out of jobs and will go through hard financial times because of this lockout.

Businesses and restaurants near stadiums will be similarly affected.  Around a basketball arena, there are a number of shops and food joints that depend on fans to stop by as they go to a game.  Without a season, these businesses will lose many of their customers and, therefore, much of their income.  Mel's Diner in Sacramento is one of many businesses that is contemplating shutting down to try to cut their losses if the lockout continues.

It sickens me that billionaire owners could be so greedy and stubborn.  They seem to be content with canceling an entire basketball season despite the terrible ripple effects it will have on so many less fortunate people.  They are not just canceling  basketball, they are robbing stadium workers and businesses of their income, and the most ironic part is that they too are losers in this lockout, as they can't make money if there are no games.

Why would they do this then if it doesn't even benefit themselves financially?  Future orientation.  Americans all seem to have this notion that sacrificing in the short term for a better future is always worth it.  Therefore, we are always making decisions based off of what will be better in the long run, and the NBA owners think that canceling games will cause the players to cave, and they will get what they want.

On the other hand, their actions are very greedy.  The fact that they are taking hundreds of people who desperately need money out of their jobs shows that Americans are also very individualistic and think only about themselves.  This is because Americans seem to have this idea that they are competing with everybody else for money rather than cooperating.  Therefore, it's every man for themselves, and decisions, like the owners decision to cancel the basketball games and take many people out of their jobs, are always made selfishly.

Stop & Frisk: Is It Right?

The Fourth Amendment of the Bill of Rights states that people's rights against unreasonable searches and seizures will be protected.  However, the stop-and-frisk law states that police have the right to stop and search anyone in public areas on account of suspicion.

This practice raises serious concerns over racial profiling and privacy laws.  Of the people stopped, around 90% of the people stopped are totally innocent, and over 50% are African-American.


“It’s used in communities where we have lots of guns and lots of murder victims," the mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, says In defense of the stop-and-frisk laws.  "And we’ve brought crime down 35 percent in the last 10 years."


I agree that the stop-and-frisk laws can be helpful, but they are severely overused.  I think that only in extreme situations, where there is obvious cause for suspicion, should the police be allowed to stop and search people.


The reason the number of people stopped-and-frisked each year has risen since 2004?  Money.  That's right, cops get rewarded bonuses for arrests made from a stop-and-frisk, and every American is incentivized by money, yes even the cops.


If police were to practice this procedure far less often, I'd be okay with it, but this is certainly not the case. Therefore, I believe the government should take away the bonuses for arrests the cops get in order to control the number of innocent people who are unfairly pulled over.  


America prides itself on freedom and being a land of opportunity for everyone, and how can minorities feel free a part of the American nation if they are searched for just walking around?


So, while reducing the number of stop-and-frisks may cause a slight rise in the crime rate, it needs to be done because the real crime is the police infringing upon the freedom of the innocent people.

Steve Bartman: The Cubs Scapegoat

Sunday, on ESPN I saw a documentary about Steve Bartman.  In case you are unfamiliar with the storyline, Steve Bartman was the infamous Cubs fan who reached over the railing for a foul ball and prevented Moises Alou from making a catch that would put the Cubs four outs away from a World Series appearance, something they haven't won in over 100 years.

Steve Bartman reaches over railing and knocks ball away
 as Moises Alou tries to make the catch.

However, Alou didn't make the catch, and whether or not he would have if Bartman didn't interfere is all speculation.  What followed was error after error, and the Marlins scored eight runs in the inning and went on to win the series.

Fans and even players singled out Bartman as the sole reason they had lost.  Never mind the fact that Cubs shortstop Alex Gonzalez botched a routine double-play ball later that would've ended the inning, Bartman was to blame.

Cubs fans came down on him hard.  In the following days, six police cars patrolled his house to keep him safe because of the numerous threats he and his family received.  Because of the dangers of living in the Chicago area, Bartman had no choice but to move.

Looking at the event rationally, not only was it not Bartman's fault at all that the Cubs lost, but also any other fan in the same situation would have done the same thing.  He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, so he was declared responsible for the Cubs loss.

I think that it's awful to be so hard on one particular fan to a point that he is no longer safe for him to live in that city.  It's ridiculous how emotionally people get involved with professional sports.  If anyone, blame a player, who has a bigger effect on the outcome game.

I'm a huge sports fan myself, but I believe it is never acceptable for people to use violence because of sports.  A month before Steve Bartman's incident, a Dodgers fan was shot and killed in the parking lot of the stadium because of a dispute with a Giants fan.  I can't think of a more pointless reason to spend a lifetime in jail than this. Sports are meant for recreation, and as a Chicagoan, it is embarrassing that people in my city were so extreme.  Even if he was the reason they lost (which I believe is completely false), Steve Bartman did not deserve to have his life significantly altered.

All Kids Can Succeed

“I'm not really that different. I don't really care about this autistic situation, really. It's just the way I am. The advice I'd give to autistic people is just keep working, just keep dreaming. You'll get your chance, and you'll do it.”  Those were the words of Jason McElwain, an autistic kid whose inspiring story has touched many.

Now that we are in October, it is Autism Awareness Month, and since I have a brother with autism, I felt compelled to write about this topic.  I'd like to start by saying that I am very impressed with how much awareness has improved over the last 20 years, but I still believe more can be done.

In the past, autism was a very unknown disorder, and support for the cause was lacking.  Jason McElwain's story, along with many others has helped get rid of the notion that autistic kids are worthless, and there is much more support and many more opportunities out there now for kids with autism.  So what about adults?

A special needs teacher who I've interviewed said, "On their 22nd birthday, the school bus stops coming, and then they really just run out of options."

Once an autistic child turns 22, he or she can no longer attend school, and the options for them become very limited.  Not much thought is ever put into this at all.  What happens to these kids when they grow up?

Well, most are put away in some developmental disabilities home where they slowly rot away.  Everybody is now thinking about the autistic kids, which is great, but there simply needs to be more opportunities for adults out there with the disorder.  Not every autistic person can pop threes like Jason McElwain, but I'm positive that if given the chance, they too can succeed somewhere.