30 Years in Jail...And for What?

In 1979, a Texas man named Cornelius Dupree Jr. was charged with rape and robbery with a deadly weapon. In 1980, he was convicted and sentenced to 75 years in prison - a lifetime sentence for the then 20-year-old. And today, 30 years later, he was declared innocent.

A few months ago, the Innocence Project ran DNA tests on 30-year-old evidence taken from the victim. And guess what? The test results cleared Dupree of the crime. Now, a hearing is being held to confirm that the biological material does indeed match the victim's DNA, which would officially exonerate Dupree.

But Dupree isn't the first Texan to be convicted of a crime that he didn't commit. Actually, far from it. Although 51-year-old Dupree did spend more time in prison than any other DNA exoneree in Texas, the state has released 41 wrongly-convicted prisoners through DNA since 2001, exceeding any other state. And in Dallas specifically, where Dupree will be exonerated, there have been 21 DNA exonerations since 2001 - more than any other county in the country. This is owed to Dallas' crime lab, which keeps biological evidence decades after a conviction.

At first glance, it seems as though Texas has wrongly convicted so many citizens because of what Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins calls "a convict-at-all-costs mentality." Shouldn't Texas, and any state for that matter, be more careful when convicting people of crimes - especially when the sentence is practically for life? Or can convicting people without sufficient evidence be justified as a protection of the people, some kind of precaution?

But there's a second idea presented in this article. Maybe Dallas has exonerated so many people because of its unparalleled crime lab. Shouldn't all counties take these steps to ensure that those wrongly convicted are eventually exonerated - even if it is 30 years later? But hey - at least now Dupree can live the rest of his years outside of a cell.

House GOP plans two-pronged attack on health law

On Wednesday, the Republicans will officially take control of the House. However, they already have plans on what they will do with their majority. The incoming House has plans to schedule a vote to repeal the sweeping health care overhaul before Obama's annual State of the Union address later this month. In march, the bill passed with only 7 votes more in favor. Incoming chairman Fred Upton said, "“If we pass this bill with a sizeable vote, and I think that we will, it will put enormous pressure on the Senate to do perhaps the same thing." After getting it repealed, they intend to go after it "piece-by-piece." Obviously their majority in the House has given them a lot of confidence in the repeal. Many of the Republicans have stated their own reason for wanting to repeal the health law: as the public learns more about it, the less they like it; costly, but doesnt yield much; doesnt fix the root of the problem (payment of billions of dollars to non-existent entities); and the common "we-could-do-so-much-better" reason. However, several Democrats say that the repeal is a lost cause. They believe that all the good that the bill has done will cause the repeal to die. Wasserman Shultz says, "It's not going to happen. If it's about jobs and the economy and reducing the deficit, wasting time and money and adding to the deficit by repealing health care reform or on the attempt is irresponsible.”

Do you think that the health law will be repealed? Should it be repealed?

What will Schwarzenegger be up to?

Oh no! Our governor of seven years, Arnold Schwarzenegger won't have a job on Monday since his term of being governor is up. What is he going to do next?
Well, according to Schwarzenegger himself, he will still be involved in political activism and possible writing an autobiography of himself. He may even start acting again if there is a good script out that suits him very well but he isn't quite sure if he will be willing to spend months filming a movie but as of right now he has no plan at all.
Schwarzenegger has always wanted reforms to happen to help with environmental issues and protecting the environment. He asked governments to address the problem of global warming and California regulators have approved a system of offering major polluters to the environment financial incentives to lower their discharge of greenhouse gases into the environment which is a big step in protecting the environment. He may possibly help promote the idea of protecting the environment more after he gives up his spot to the next governor.
As for running for office again, that would probably be very unlikely for him and plus his wife apparently never wanted to enter the world of politics anyways so I guess that's a good thing. He can spend more time with his family down south instead of having to fly to Sacramento ever so often. He doesn't know what he will be doing next but he will for sure continue with doing charity work and giving to others which is always a plus.

So....what do you guys think he should do next?

Happy 100th Birthday to the Republic of China/Taiwan

Today, the Republic of China celebrated its 100th anniversary. When the Republic was first founded by Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, it was one of the only democracies in Asia on January 1st, 1911. The Republic effectively ended the 5000 year history of monarchical rule.

Since its founding 100 years ago, the country has evolved into a high-tech industry filled with companies such as Acer, Asus, Gigabite, HTC, MSI, and Thermalright. While hosting grand events such as Computex (2nd largest electronic trade show after Cebit in Germany) and the 2010 International Floral Exhibition. The country has becoming widely known for its superb education, which according to many is among the best in the world. It has also been recognized as one of the "Four Asian Tigers" in most recent years and a defender of the traditional character system used for thousands of years.

As Taiwan looks to the future it is still the only Chinese democracy in the world, but is always under thread from its larger, richer neighbor: China.

As President Ma stated in his address today, Taiwan must be a beacon of more traditional Chinese culture, but also ideas such as freedom and democracy.

I find it quite amazing that this country has lasted so long and proves that at the end of the day, some values will never disappear. Happy New Year to all.

Thoughts? Opinions?