Part 134- Death Penalty

Quick Facts:

  • Capital Punishment, or more commonly known as the death penalty is a state-sanctioned homicide as a punishment for a crime. ( Also known as death row)
  • The ordering that someone is punished with the death penalty is called a death sentence
Okay, so, big news. ( More like drastic, serious news.) A woman named Shabnam Ali has become a death row convict in Uttar Pradesh. What’s wrong with that? Well, she is on course to become Independent India’s first woman to be executed. This means that she is the first woman to be executed in India since they became independent. ( Well, there have been a few cases, but this is the first time a woman has been hanged in recent times.) Shocking, right? Here’s why.
In India, women were never, or even rarely, given the death penalty because they were seen as multifaced and indispensable members of the family. People would/could never see women as criminals, stereotyping them as caregivers and nurturers. Yes, they were arrested for crimes, but never sentenced to death. I have to ask, did they think that a woman was innocent just because she is a caregiver. Even though they take care of a family and are very precious, women shouldn’t be let go easily or not given the right punishment if they commit a terrible crime. Barbaric, inhuman ones. For instance, the Amroha Case. The one we will be talking about. 
Ms. Shabnam has been convicted of killing 7 members of her family- Father, mother, older brother, brother’s wife, elder brother’s 10-moths old son, younger brother, and her cousin- in 2008. She apparently, sedated 6 of the members- except the child- and then chopped their heads off with an ax while her lover- Saleem- held them by their hair. She then throttled her 10-months old nephew. After doing so, she would have been the sole heir to the house and property. Apparently, her family did not approve of her relationship with Mr. Saleem, a Class VI dropout. 5 days after that they were arrested, and Ms. Shabnam was found to be 7 weeks pregnant. Her 12-years old son appealed for President Ram Nath Kovind to “forgive” his mother, and that same day Ms. Shabnam filed a second mercy petition with the Governor of Uttar Pradesh. 
She initially claimed that she was the one who raised the alarm of her family’s murder and that, unknown assailants had entered her house and killed everyone. During the trial, the couple turns on each other. Ms. Shabnam claims that Mr. Saleem entered the house and killed everyone, but Mr. Saleem claims that Ms. Shabnam called him and confessed that she killed everyone. 

The Mathura Prison- the only place that has a female execution place- “prepares” itself for Ms. Shabnams’s execution. Apparently, the hanging house has not been used in quite a long time and needs maintenance. 
I actually want to know why she did this. I know that her family wasn’t in favor of her relationship and her anger could have gotten the best of her, but why? It’s even slightly possible that she is innocent. She has been doing her very best to use legal remedies so her mercy petition could be heard. Under the law, if multiple people have been sentenced to death in the same case, they have to be executed together. So, they have to be executed after they exhaust their legal resources. But, I think that she shouldn’t be forgiven. Even though the death penalty is kind of a way to get justice for murder or even free a family from the guilt of not finding the murderer, it is really extreme and inhuman. It’s been about 12 years since this has happened, and she has been in jail this whole time. During this time she might have changed and realized the gravity of her actions. I’m not saying to easily let her go. She literally murdered 7 family members, including a teenager and a mere child. Maybe life without parole would be better than the death penalty. I don’t think she or Mr. Saleem should be let go easily or even sent to rehabilitation and then be let go, but I also don’t think they should be given the death penalty. 
It doesn’t show that we are any better than those who have murdered others. Even though we are legally doing this, it is still inhuman and very extreme punishment. We’re almost the same as them when doing this. It’s like violence for violence. Except, more controlled violence for uncontrolled violence. Even if the penalty isn’t given, they should be given life without parole. To make up for the time lost for those family members. ( I know that’s not how it works.) Maybe serve to make up for the lives lost and make up the time they still had left? If given life without parole, they already would be serving prison until they die. But maybe they should do something during their time to make up for it. I’m not sure. ( It’s a bit silly, I know, but I’m just stating my mind.)
Anyway, that’s all I have to say in this case. I honestly am at a loss for words. I just don’t know what to say about this. I had to stop in between writing and think about what I mean and actually think. I could feel myself going back and forth from sides and facts, not knowing where I was going. There are so many things I wanted to talk about regarding this and I just couldn’t phrase it right. It’s so hard to believe what happened. I-I just don’t know what else to say. 

Part 133- Impeachment trial

 So, President Trump’s Second impeachment Trial has just ended, and he was acquitted. Again. If I remember well, I think it was all 48 Democrats, both Independents and 7 Republicans that said Guilty, while the other 43 Republicans that said Not Guilty. There need to be 67 votes for a conviction, and they were 10 short. ( For 2/3 majority.) There are two sides to this. One, President Trump really is guilty. Two, he isn’t. Here’s why. ( Note: In my opinion, he is guilty. But, I wanted to share both sides- possible reasons- and it’s changed my perspective a bit. ) 

Guilty:

We all know how bad the Capitol riots were. People were trashing and destroying everything in the building. It was chaos. President Trump did tell his supporters to go, storm the Capitol, and stop the vote-counting. He did provoke the violence that occurred. He was constantly claiming how the election was a lie and how there was voter fraud many times over the months, and his supporters agreed. This kind of just built up into a balloon and President Trump popped it. It was foreseeable- the riots- and was a possible consequence of the false statements. Even though President Trump had the right to speak his mind, it provoked violence. Plus, he is a public figure, to which many look up to. 

Not Guilty:

Even though President Trump said to storm the Capitol, he had made some comments before the speech calling for peace. Michael van der Veen- one of President Trump’s attorneys- says, “…Trump had a First Amendment right to use what is largely commonplace political rhetoric, calling for his supporters to ‘fight’…” He also repeatedly claimed that President Trump’s language is almost indistinguishable from similar rhetoric used by Democrats and the media. ( From ABC news link) This is similar to saying, ” Oh, you’re killing me.” It’s metaphorical and isn’t taken literally. Senators have also said this saying they want their supporters to “fight” or they would “fight” on the Senate floor. President Trump may have been just metaphorically implying to fight but was taken seriously by his supporters. 

What do you think? I personally am in the middle. I feel that President Trump was at fault for building up the amount of voter fraud claims and then provoking violence by saying to storm the Capitol. But, he could have only been metaphorically saying to fight but got taken seriously. He could have been meaning to say that we should fight for what we believe in and was implying it peacefully. He could have been taken literally and people thought he meant to fight harshly. 

Anyway, I’ve got to go. I’ve just been really busy last, and this week with the DI tournament and getting the Mian and Instant Challenge solutions recorded and uploaded. Being virtual is really hard, and it really changed DI for me. This year, my team got delayed a bit and we were on a major time crunch so things were really nerve-wracking and stressful. We just submitted our Main Challenge video yesterday, and I am really tired of it. I’m hoping to catch up on relaxing and my video hours from this and last week today and tomorrow. ( I tried to make a short yet informing blog today.) Plus, it’s snowing!!!! In Texas!! It’s a flurry Valentine’s Day! I’m not sure why I wrote a paragraph on my own life in an impeachment blog, but, yeah. Anyway, Happy Valentine’s Day everyone, and have a wonderful long weekend!

ABC News: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-donald-trump-acquitted/story?id=75853994

CNN News: https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/14/politics/donald-trump-impeachment-republican-vote/index.html

NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/02/13/us/impeachment-trial#impeachment-has-provided-the-most-comprehensive-account-to-date-of-what-happened-on-jan-6

The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/13/donald-trump-acquitted-impeachment-trial

Part 132- So…Hi?

I have no idea what to write, so yeah. I wasn’t planning on writing in the middle of the week but, things change. The best topic for a short post is some random topic. ( I think.) Even though I don’t have anything to write about, I have a question. I know that I’m still a kid, not yet a teen or whatever, but I really want to use curse words in my stories. Hear me out first! I don’t say any bad words and aren’t planning to anytime soon, but I really want to. There are always the regular words to use instead such as “dang” or “heck”, but when writing, I don’t really feel like those words give the proper emphasis and tone I’m looking for. ( Maybe that’s because I read young adult books. I’m not sure.) Here’s an example. ( Taken from my own story.)

Replacing Word:
” Dang girl. How are you so happy all the time?” Evans asked.
Curse word:
” Damn girl. How are you so happy all the time?” Evans asked. 
Here, I can’t really feel the proper tone I’m trying to create when I’m using “dang”, but can when using d-a-a-m-n. It’s not about wanting to curse, but instead for the tone. I’m not gonna use any REALLY REALLY bad ones, but instead the ones instead of dang or heck. It’s okay if it’s not the best idea and if I shouldn’t, but I just wanted to know. I’ve tried experimenting with it once or twice, and I personally find it better, but I can always keep using the regular words and wait. 
Anyway, aside from that, I don’t know what to talk about. Oh, this is really random, but I’ve started using contacts. ( I know, I know. This is not a diary but a blog post.) 
It’s been about a week or two since I’ve started using them, and it’s pretty cool. Sometimes it’s not that efficient, taking about an hour to get them in, but it’s definitely worth it. You get a wider range of clear vision without having to move your head in every direction and really helps in preventing you from crying. They also don’t fog up when drinking soup. There are a lot of great pros from contacts, but I still prefer glasses. They are much easier to wear and take off and are sometimes pretty stylish. Plus, you don’t have to go around all day, avoiding rubbing your eyes, and feeling like there is something in your eye. Well, there is something in your eye.
( Once you wear glasses for a while, it’s really shocking to see your face without them.) Even though I’m kinda used to contacts, I still get fears of irritating my eye or even somehow getting it stuck in my eye for the rest of my life. But, over time I’ll get better and those fears will start to go away. But, I definitely recommend trying them out. 
Well, that was a pretty random blog. I really didn’t have anything to write about so I just wrote what was in my head. But, like, I wanna know. Is it okay if I use some curse words in my stories, or should I wait until I’m older? Anyway, I hope you are well, and bye~.