The human heart is dying

On the way to work this morning, I heard a story on the radio about the deaths of two young teenagers who were setting off (illegal) fireworks in their backyard. At first, I figured that they had burned themselves to death in an accident, blown themselves up, or done something equally stupid to deserve their fate. Instead, I was appalled when I learned that these two young boys had been murdered. Apparently, their Fourth of July ruckus had aggravated one neighbor so much that the neighbor pulled out a gun and shot the boys dead.

Gun control has been under discussion for a while now, and regardless of the outcome, the use of guns depends solely on the perpetrator. Where has the humanity in the world gone when resolving a conflict begins and ends with murder? Humans are known for their relatively high levels caring, yet why do these random and senseless acts of civilian killing remind me less of humans and more of wild beasts? The aforementioned man could have easily taken his gun and scared the kids away with it, but instead, he decided to just shoot them. Who knows what future those two young boys had ahead of them. Who knows what wonderful life was ended due to pure senselessness and stupidity.

Then comes the story of a young woman stabbed repeatedly in a convenience store. Should one witness such an act, or come across the body of the woman, the normal instinct would be to call 911 and request emergency help for the victim. Instead, surveillance cameras show how five people just stepped over her, as if it were commonplace. One even stooped to take a picture with a cell phone, a cell phone that could have been used to call emergency services. Instead, the amateur photographer decided that he or she would just grab the milk and go. It took five human beings to view the young woman's dying body before one could muster up the heart to dial three numbers and get help. The woman died of her wounds in the local hospital.

And for those of you who are muttering "bloody Yanks" under your breath, it's not isolated in America. In Britain, a young black teenager, an excellent student in school, was beaten to death by a crowd of other teenagers and one 21-year-old man. Girls on the scene, in a remarkable move, egged the aggressors on. "Kill him! Kill him!" they yelled, adding fuel to the fire as the young man died.

It's brutal, this world, but I never imagined it to be this brutal. I had expected brutality to exist only in war and dark alleys, not in convenience stores and a quiet residential area in London. Charity has become more for show and politics than anything else, and the human heart is disappearing.

Maybe we need another flood.

Healthcare system is ill

Like it or not, something is definitely wrong with America's healthcare system, which has been dominated by greedy health insurance companies since the last major reform in the 1970s. While Michael Moore's latest documentary, SiCKO, slams the American "less coverage, more money" system and praises the British, Canadian, and French "more help, more money" system, the focus of healthcare reform should not be about which system is better. Both have their goods and bads, both have their faults and issues.No, the focus of healthcare reform in these upcoming months should not be about the system, but rather about the 43.6 million who don't have any sort of coverage. The nation of No Child Left Behind needs to stop leaving behind its poor.

Moore's film goes into much detail about the various situations the uninsured are forced to go through every time a medical crisis erupts. Where is the help there? The government needs to stock bickering about socialism and their wallets and start worrying about the welfare of all its citizens. On this Fourth of July, the five hundred thirty-five representatives sitting on Capitol Hill ought to reflect Jefferson's words, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." People are being left behind. Are they not equal to everyone else because they're poor? Because they're worse off than the lawmakers in suits and ties? As the government is ignoring the cries of the 43.6 million uninsured and uncared for, they are breaking the basic tenets this nation was founded upon. The government has forgotten that eleven score and nine years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

There really is no excuse. Even though the health insurance industry has practically bought off every major political player into silence, the politicians can still act. Presidential candidate Barack Obama, among others, has discussed a plan that creates regional markets, which reduces bottle-necking and provides care for everyone: top-to-bottom. This way, they can afford to serve everyone (less competition is always good) and still maintain their massive revenue. It's a win-win, yes? Other plans exist as well. Barack Obama, John Edwards, Rudy Giuliani, and, well, unfortunately, none of the other major candidates have yet to reveal any sort of practical plan. We'll wait.

Regardless of how we do end up fixing this problem, the fact that the problem has dragged on for so long makes me wonder if money has taken over America's generous nature. Maybe it has; maybe money has become more valuable than human life. But has money grown so important that it can make people forget their falling brothers and sisters? There were times in this nation when the guy next to you would pick you up if you fell. Colonial America and the Great Depression are great examples of how this nation overcame tremendous difficulties by simply banding together.

Remember the adage, a team's only as strong as its weakest player? If it was true when you were on your high school track team, it is still true now: this nation is only as strong as its weakest citizens. If we continue to throw the poor under the truck, the upper tiers of society will grow so large that it will collapse without its base.

So on this Independence Day, while you're enjoying your hot dogs and fireworks, think about that poor guy living in the run-down house outside of town. Think about what happens if he should slip and break his leg walking down the stairs. Who will look out for him then?

According to current healthcare system? No one.

Technology and schools - not meant to be

Education and technology are supposed to be espoused. Technology helps students learn, and the students use that learning to make new and improved technology. A wonderful cycle indeed, but only in theory. In our school systems, the principals, deans, and board officials that have the final say in the use of technology are Baby Boomers, with maybe a few from Generation X. The prime of their learning ability came in the 1970s and 1980s, during which computers often spanned wall-to-wall and the mouse was still the creature that stole your cheese. Many, of course, have eagerly jumped onto the technological bandwagon, and it is these people that have really ushered in this age of near-ubiquitous use of computers and high technology throughout the developed world. Yet some of the people in this age group still struggle with the concept of e-mail, wonder what a google is, and try to dispose of their computer mouse as if it were a pest. And when you put these people in charge of a school and the technology within schools, the results aren't pretty.

To many budding 3D artists and digital designers, working with familiarity is a great way to begin. Many such people are high school kids, playing around with level-editors and other readily available 3D engineering software to give their creative side a little workout. This should be a goodthing. Engineering is a great career that has lost much glamor in the past decade or two, and this experimentation at a young age is vital to the development of the interest in such a career. Yet when one boy recreated his school in the level editor of an online shooter, he was labelled a terrorist and arrested. After the police searched his room, they discovered the almighty potential weapon: a hammer he had used to fix his bed. The boy was promptly expelled without any sort of trial or hearing.

Malware is a common thorn in the Internet user's side. School technology is, unfortunately, just as vulnerable to such infiltration as any home computer. This is exacerbated when the tech department at a school fails to update its security software. As such, when a Connecticut substitute teacher returned to her classroom to find her students crowded around a computer running a pornographic pop-up loop, rather than spurring a reinstallation of expired firewalls and out-of-date virus scanners, she was arrested, charged, and found guilty of indecent exposure. The school district admitted that its software was out of date, but still placed the blame on the teacher for voluntarily accessing the pornographic material. The teacher faces forty years in prison for her absolutely outrageous offense.

Separation of church and state has been a part of this nation since Roger Williams founded Rhode Island on that premise. Thus, when a student discovered his history teacher preaching Jesus as a savior and telling students that they belonged in Hell if they did not accept that as fact, he set out to tape record his teacher's daily sermons as proof. However, when the school board reviewed the evidence, rather than disciplining the teacher for breaking state laws, they banned tape recorders instead.

It is clear that there is an obvious disparity between the knowledge and technological savvy between students and administrators, and even between teachers and administrators. I guess the true marriage between technology and education will have to wait until the administrators of education catch up to technology and can make fair and sensible rulings regarding the use of technology.

The iPhone phenomenon

The iPhone phenomenon is the biggest news since Paris Hilton. The phenomenon - the hype, the intensity of national attention - hasn't manifested itself since the release of the Wii and Playstation 3, and is soon to besiege us once more in three weeks when the last Harry Potter novel is released. What then, is the human fascination with wasting away a day, two days, even four days for a $500-$600 piece of glorified metal? I'm sure many of these people have jobs, families, and lives to get to. Heck, they could have strolled into their local AT&T or Apple Store and picked up a brand spankin' new iPhone at 7 PM without having to wait in a ridiculous line. Perhaps people were spurred by the sellouts of the aforementioned Wii and Playstation 3, but then what spurred those people? It must be some inherent cultural tendency to be the first, or second, or fiftieth to get their hands on a shiny new product; just not the five hundredth. Never that.

I'm sure some people skipped work, left their wives or husbands and home to watch the kids, and stood, sat, leaned, or crawled their way through a predetermined line until 6 PM local time just for the experience. Some surely did it just so they can brag to their colleagues, "Remember how I skipped work on Friday 'cause I was sick? Well I wasn't. Check this out." And then when their boss comes around, they shut up immediately and start coughing. Loudly. Bragging rights is, of course, as old as humanity itself. Then there are those who tried, and failed, to cheat the system, such as the woman who tried to buy off an entire store of iPhones, even paying $800 to some lucky guy for his spot in line - only to find out there was a limit per customer. And then there are those who just have to have it first. We don't need to go there.

I guess the good thing about the phenomenon this time around is the lack of violence. There's nobody killing, beating, or stabbing someone else for an iPhone, a welcome relief from the woes of November. Beyond those stupid acts of violence, there are people who are really willing to give up one day of their lives to sit around and do nothing. Maybe it's their excuse for that vacation, that day off, that they've been meaning to treat themselves to since they got that promotion three months ago. Nevertheless, the phenomenon is here, and it appears as if it's hear to stay. It's weird, it's nonsensical, it's modern culture. Instant gratification is in, grabbing a hot new product the day after its release is out.

This topic will surely be revisited come July 21, when millions of people gather at storefronts for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. See you on the lines.