Mug Shots for Gun Shots

While I was watching the news the other day, one of the anchors brought up a story about police officers in Miami. As I listened, I became extremely disappointed in these officers. When National Guard Sgt. Valerie Deant visited the Miami police's firearms training center, she was horrified when she noticed an old mugshot of her brother posted on the wall, a bullet hole piercing through his eye and forehead. This mugshot, taken back when Deant's brother was 18 years old, was being used for target practice. Five other photographs of black men appeared alongside her brother's mugshot, all used as targets by the Miami police.

The logic behind using these photographs for target practice is very flawed. Woody Deant, Valerie Deant's brother, is now 33 years old with a wife and children. After being arrested at the age of 18 for drag racing, he served four years in jail. Woody Deant hasn't been involved in crime since that incident. Yet, by using his old mugshot as a target, Miami police continue to portray him as a criminal. He is a real person, not just an ex-con. Deant and the five other men pictured above did not deserve to have their photographs used for target practice.

Alex Vaquez, a retired FBI agent, agrees that the use of real people's photographs as targets was not appropriate: “The police have different options for targets. I think the police have to be extra careful and sensitive to some issues that might be raised.” If the police run into Woody Deant out in Miami, they will have his image ingrained in their minds as a target they need to shoot. The police also clearly seem to be targeting blacks as the people they need to shoot down. Using these images as targets will almost definitely translate into targeting African Americans in real life. This racism needs to stop. African Americans are people; they shouldn't be targeted and shot just because of their skin color. By using photographs of black men as targets for shooting practice, the real danger to society appears to be the Miami police.

From Contestant To Judge on "American Idol"

No one I know every speaks about American Idol anymore. Once one of the most popular shows across the nation, American Idol has fallen down a steep cliff. Its finale last year became its lowest-rated episode all time of when it attracted only 6.6 million viewers. This year, American Idol is trying desperately to attract more viewers by adding new elements to the show. Tonight, I watched as American Idol made history by featuring the first judge ever to have previously competed on the show. Adam Lambert, the Idol Season 8 runner-up to Kris Allen, had the opportunity to appear on the judges' panel for an episode in place of Keith Urban. Harry Connick Jr., one of the judges on the show, told Lambert, "I cannot stop thinking about what you must be thinking sitting behind this desk because you're the only person who's done this on both sides."  Lambert could see the show in a completely different light than any other judge having experienced the Idol journey himself.

While on the show, Lambert even recreated his audition by singing "Bohemian Rhapsody" in front of his fellow judges Jennifer Lopez and Harry Connick Jr. After "auditioning" once again, Lambert claimed that he had forgotten just how many nerves everyone faced during the audition process. That moment reminded him of his life before fame; he was able to empathize with the contestants like no other judge before him. Today, Adam Lambert is fronting Queen, a gig not given to just your "ordinary singer".  After season 8, no one on American Idol has even gotten close to achieving the fame of Lambert or some of his predecessors, such as Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughtry, or Jordin Sparks. Maybe American Idol should include more of these successful former contestants on the judges' panel to attract more viewers? The show would have a completely different vibe and would probably be more interesting to watch.

Media Clearly Making Strides with "Transparent"

While watching the Golden Globes on Sunday, I was pleasantly surprised to see so many meaningful awards given out. For the first time in history, Golden Globe was awarded to a show with a leading transgender character. Amazon's Transparent ended up winning for both Best Comedy Series as well as Best Actor (Jeffrey Tambor). Now that Transparent has gained public attention and praise, more people are likely to check out the show. After all, 19 million people watched the Globes. It is almost guaranteed that at least some of those people will want to watch Transparent now that it "must be good".

Jeffrey Tambor winning Golden Globe for Transparent

If more people watch Transparent, Amazon's streaming service will also gain an influx of new viewers. Amazon now has its own Orange is the New Black, a popular show which also includes a transgender character. I hope Transparent isn't just Amazon's token show. Instead, with any luck, it might motivate more writers/directors to take risks with shows and not just to write a slight variation on the classic cop show.

Hopefully, Transparent will also inspire people to become more accepting of the transgender community. If the Hollywood foreign press can accept transgender people, why can't everyone? Leelah Alcorn, a 17-year old transgender girl, committed suicide on December 28 since her parents refused to accept her true identity. We need to prevent an incident like this from happening again. People don't have to understand, they just have to accept. After all, my cousins' father is transgender, and he only admitted his true identity years after getting married and having children. It is a concept that everyone in my family struggles to comprehend, especially my aunt and cousins. Nevertheless, they have chosen to be accepting simply because it's the right thing to do.

Disneyland Disaster

Disneyland has always been known as the Happiest Place on Earth. However, it recently experienced a major scare when a sudden measles outbreak started spreading across Disneyland and Disney California Adventure at the end of December. Despite being declared eradicated in the United States in 2000, the virus has reappeared in the USA due to people getting infected overseas before traveling to America. Yet, one or two cases doesn't cause an outbreak. The spreading of the virus is linked to people choosing not to vaccinate against measles, which is a major issue.

The "Happiest Place on Earth"

Many parents these days haven't experienced measles themselves. They don't seem to grasp just how dangerous measles can become. About 1 or 2 out of 1000 people diagnosed with measles will die. There is also no treatment for the disease. Vaccines seem like the easy solution. However, some people have been misinformed that vaccines lead to Autism and other serious health problems, which is simply not true. The more people who choose not to vaccinate, the higher the risk of the virus spreading. Babies under the age of vaccination have no defense against measles. People need to understand that just because the disease hasn't been around in the United States in a long time doesn't mean it can't still become a danger. In order to protect everyone, we need higher awareness of the dangers of measles and the safety of vaccines. If even the Happiest Place on Earth can take a turn for the worse and become infected, measles is clearly still an issue.