http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/10/26/texas.body.in.barrel/index.html
I was on CNN.com and came across this bizarre article that really caught my attention. Apparently Harris County Sherrif's Office was tipped off by CrimeStoppers about there being skeletal remains in convicted murder's, Dennis Anderson, backyard. The 64 male was not home when the police went to search the property, but his roomate let the police in to check the backyard. They found an old rusted barrel in the mans backyard and when the pried it open, they found remains of an unidentified person. The police determined that the body was female and had been wrapped in bedsheets and trashbags and her legs had been tied together as well as her neck. Dennis Anderson was not home when the police searched his home, but has been missing ever since. According to forensics, the person had been dead for several months due to the decomposition. According to court documents, the tipster who led the Harris County police to the body said Anderson had told him he had strangled a person and placed the body in the barrel. The tipster also said Anderson had told him he takes the barrel with him when he moves from state to state. Anderson is now wanted for questioning by the police.
I thought this was a really sick article that a person would stash a body in a barrel and carry it with them from state to state and the police should be doing more to catch this guy who had been convicted for double murder in the past.
Colleen
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
Bill Curtis Movie
Reflect on that awesome DVD from 1998 that we watched in class. What do you think about some of the copycat examples given in the movie? Where do you stand on the copycat phenomenon and why?
I actually really liked watching the movie from 1998 about copycating, but it would have been interesting to see one that had been made recently and see examples of people still using copycating to get out of their crimes today. I mean the film did use a lot of examples that I never heard about, probably because i was seven when this film came out, so that was insightful for me to hear. I think that some of the examples in the movie were pretty messed up. Like the two boys who just killed that guy and girl on the beach and tried to flee to mexico. Like did they honestly think that it was going to work? And that boy who killed his mom (or maybe it was his step mom, I cant remember) to reenact a scene from Scream, that was just disturbing. But when it comes to the whole copycat phenomenon, I'm sort of torn. On one hand, I think that people who are in trouble sometimes use it as a cop out, like "oh scream made me kill my mom", but then on the other hand, after watching the film in class, I realized that people get pretty obsessed with the movies and watch them over and over again and get reality and fantasy mixed up in their heads and feel so inclined to murder other people. But I do agree with the movie producers, that they should not be blamed for the killings because as the one woman producer said in the film, they just make the movies, they dont put a gun or knife in anyones hand.
Colleen
I actually really liked watching the movie from 1998 about copycating, but it would have been interesting to see one that had been made recently and see examples of people still using copycating to get out of their crimes today. I mean the film did use a lot of examples that I never heard about, probably because i was seven when this film came out, so that was insightful for me to hear. I think that some of the examples in the movie were pretty messed up. Like the two boys who just killed that guy and girl on the beach and tried to flee to mexico. Like did they honestly think that it was going to work? And that boy who killed his mom (or maybe it was his step mom, I cant remember) to reenact a scene from Scream, that was just disturbing. But when it comes to the whole copycat phenomenon, I'm sort of torn. On one hand, I think that people who are in trouble sometimes use it as a cop out, like "oh scream made me kill my mom", but then on the other hand, after watching the film in class, I realized that people get pretty obsessed with the movies and watch them over and over again and get reality and fantasy mixed up in their heads and feel so inclined to murder other people. But I do agree with the movie producers, that they should not be blamed for the killings because as the one woman producer said in the film, they just make the movies, they dont put a gun or knife in anyones hand.
Colleen
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Copy Cat
What did you copy and why? Where did the idea come from? Were others copying the same thing?
I remember last year, one of the biggest trends/ copycatting that went around my school was rockin the poof that Snooki made infamous on Jersey Shore. And of course, being from New Jersey, everyone seemed to have a poof in their hair, whether it be a little one or a huge one like Snooki had. It literally seemed like everywhere you turned in my highschool, all the girls had some form of a poof with either a hair clip or bobbypins. I will admit then when I used to have long hair in highschool, I used to copy the poof from Snooki from time to time, and no one really thought anything of it or that it was weird or anything becasue all the girls seemed to have it, especially one of my bestfriends Sarah. That girl always had one in her hair. But one thing I did notice is that the poof is more accepted in Jersey then it is in VA here at JMU. I honestly can't remember seeing anyone rocking the poof here at JMU and I think everyone would think it was weird here and not do it. But whatever, I used to rock it and so did my friends and I thank Snooki for that.
Colleen
I remember last year, one of the biggest trends/ copycatting that went around my school was rockin the poof that Snooki made infamous on Jersey Shore. And of course, being from New Jersey, everyone seemed to have a poof in their hair, whether it be a little one or a huge one like Snooki had. It literally seemed like everywhere you turned in my highschool, all the girls had some form of a poof with either a hair clip or bobbypins. I will admit then when I used to have long hair in highschool, I used to copy the poof from Snooki from time to time, and no one really thought anything of it or that it was weird or anything becasue all the girls seemed to have it, especially one of my bestfriends Sarah. That girl always had one in her hair. But one thing I did notice is that the poof is more accepted in Jersey then it is in VA here at JMU. I honestly can't remember seeing anyone rocking the poof here at JMU and I think everyone would think it was weird here and not do it. But whatever, I used to rock it and so did my friends and I thank Snooki for that.
Colleen
Monday, October 18, 2010
Facebook Privacy Leak
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/social.media/10/18/facebook.apps.privacy/index.html?hpt=T2
I was on CNN and looking at the most recent articles and came across one about facebook, which I thought would be relevant and interesting for everyone to read, considering most of us in the class, if not all have a facebook account. Apparently, some applications, including one of the very popular apps, Farmville, has been reportedly sharing identifying information about users. I thought this was a huge problem because I know for myself personally, it never really crosses my mind that people could be stealing my information via facebook, but it is important for everyone to realize that there are risks out there. I think many of us tend to not associate risk with facebook because it has become so popularized in our society. Facebook addressed the issue saying the content has been exaggerated about can be, and has been shared with third parties. This is also relavent to our course because it is not uncommon that the media tends to exaggerate stories to make them more interesting and especially something like Facebook leaking information, could cause widespread public panic. Nevertheless, Facebook addressed the issue by adding two new security tools that seem extremely necessary. The first tool, allows a person to use a temporary password while accessing the site from a public computer. The second tool allows a user to check whether their account is being accessed somewhere else. I think both of these tools are beneficial to increasing the saftey of users information.
I know that I would most likely delete my Facebook account if I found out people were hacking into my account and stealing my information.
-Colleen
I was on CNN and looking at the most recent articles and came across one about facebook, which I thought would be relevant and interesting for everyone to read, considering most of us in the class, if not all have a facebook account. Apparently, some applications, including one of the very popular apps, Farmville, has been reportedly sharing identifying information about users. I thought this was a huge problem because I know for myself personally, it never really crosses my mind that people could be stealing my information via facebook, but it is important for everyone to realize that there are risks out there. I think many of us tend to not associate risk with facebook because it has become so popularized in our society. Facebook addressed the issue saying the content has been exaggerated about can be, and has been shared with third parties. This is also relavent to our course because it is not uncommon that the media tends to exaggerate stories to make them more interesting and especially something like Facebook leaking information, could cause widespread public panic. Nevertheless, Facebook addressed the issue by adding two new security tools that seem extremely necessary. The first tool, allows a person to use a temporary password while accessing the site from a public computer. The second tool allows a user to check whether their account is being accessed somewhere else. I think both of these tools are beneficial to increasing the saftey of users information.
I know that I would most likely delete my Facebook account if I found out people were hacking into my account and stealing my information.
-Colleen
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Misinformation
I thought this was a very interesting article, considering we had talked previously in prior class periods about how the news can spread false information and shape what we believe. I agree with the author in the sense that much of the information out there today is tainted by people's view's and personal beliefs. All of these concepts discussed in the beginning of the article are very relevant to most individuals in today's society because people are either believing what they want to or because everyone else is believing it to so it must have some depth and truth to it. But that is not always the case.
In my household, I was always brought up to believe what I wanted to believe based on what I thought was right. My parent's never really instilled in me their own personal beliefs because they did not want me to believe something just because they did. But for the longest time I believed for the longest time that people from Virginia had really strong southern accents and talked extremely slow because of where I grew up. I grew up in New Jersey and my family is all from Long Island and I have just always believed when I got to college here that everyone was going to talk with strong southern accents. This was definitely due to the Bandwagon effect where all of my friends had told me that and we all believed it and all of my realitives always said people spoke like that in the South. But when I got to JMU I was completely wrong and most people sound like me and have the same misconception about people from Jersey and New York having extremely strong accents and talking really fast.
I think that having a Department of Facts could potentially be a great idea because it would help distinguish the nonsense from the credible source. But then again it comes down to, who is this person to tell me what is right and wrong? I think that it would make a lot of mad and upset but would be very useful to sort out and get rid of all the crappy information there is out there.
--Colleen
In my household, I was always brought up to believe what I wanted to believe based on what I thought was right. My parent's never really instilled in me their own personal beliefs because they did not want me to believe something just because they did. But for the longest time I believed for the longest time that people from Virginia had really strong southern accents and talked extremely slow because of where I grew up. I grew up in New Jersey and my family is all from Long Island and I have just always believed when I got to college here that everyone was going to talk with strong southern accents. This was definitely due to the Bandwagon effect where all of my friends had told me that and we all believed it and all of my realitives always said people spoke like that in the South. But when I got to JMU I was completely wrong and most people sound like me and have the same misconception about people from Jersey and New York having extremely strong accents and talking really fast.
I think that having a Department of Facts could potentially be a great idea because it would help distinguish the nonsense from the credible source. But then again it comes down to, who is this person to tell me what is right and wrong? I think that it would make a lot of mad and upset but would be very useful to sort out and get rid of all the crappy information there is out there.
--Colleen
Monday, October 11, 2010
Dad arrested for smoking weed with his 6 & 7 year old daughters
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/10/08/colorado.dad.pot.arrest/index.htmla
When I was scrolling through the CNN justice section online, this article's headline immediately grabbed my attention. A 27 year old dad in Colorado was arrested for allegdly smoking weed with his two daughters, ages six and seven.This whole incident came about when the little girl was caught trying to start a fire in the bathroom of her elementary school and when she was questioned by school administrators, she talked about smoking weed with her dad and officials were called to investigate. One of the daughters told the authorities that her dad smokes weed in front of them all of the time and blows the smoke directly in her face when she doesn't feel well. Authorities were blown away when the little girl began to explain in detail how to smoke weed and were shocked by how much she knew about it, saying that she knew more about weed then most adults. When officials investigated the home they found a digital scale, pipes, bongs, and baggies of weed.
I dont think its right for a father to expose his children to drugs especially at such a young age. If he wants to smoke weed, go ahead, but dont put your children into the mix of your drug habit.
Colleen
When I was scrolling through the CNN justice section online, this article's headline immediately grabbed my attention. A 27 year old dad in Colorado was arrested for allegdly smoking weed with his two daughters, ages six and seven.This whole incident came about when the little girl was caught trying to start a fire in the bathroom of her elementary school and when she was questioned by school administrators, she talked about smoking weed with her dad and officials were called to investigate. One of the daughters told the authorities that her dad smokes weed in front of them all of the time and blows the smoke directly in her face when she doesn't feel well. Authorities were blown away when the little girl began to explain in detail how to smoke weed and were shocked by how much she knew about it, saying that she knew more about weed then most adults. When officials investigated the home they found a digital scale, pipes, bongs, and baggies of weed.
I dont think its right for a father to expose his children to drugs especially at such a young age. If he wants to smoke weed, go ahead, but dont put your children into the mix of your drug habit.
Colleen
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Steven Hayes convicted of capital murder in Conneticut family killing
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/10/05/connecticut.murder.trial/index.html?npt=NP1
On July 23rd 2007, 47 year old Steven Hayes and his accomplice Komisarjevsky went into the house of Dr. William Petit in the middle of the night with the full intentions to commit a very violent crime. They tied William Petit in the basement of his home and beat him bloody. The two men then went upstairs into the master bedroom and found his wife, Jennifer and tied her to her bed. Her youngest daughter, 11 year old Michaela was also sleep in the bed, so the two men led the young girl into her bedroom, tied her to her bed, and suffocated her with a pillow. They then went into the bedroom of the eldest daughter, 17 year old Hayley and did the same. The men then took the mother to the bank and withdraw money in the morning and once she returned, the men set the house on fire and fled the scene. The police found evidence that the mother had been raped and strangled, and that one of the daughters had been sexually assaulted and died of smoke inhalation. As for the father, Dr. William Petit, he was able to escape to a neighbor's home and make it out alive.
In the Media and CJ Policy article, it states, "When the justic system is explicity referred to, it is usually the courts that are portrayed, not as institutions but as backdrops to present information about individual cases." (203) I believe that this statement is true for what was being explained in the article. The media used the ruling of capitol murder in the court room was used as the backdrop in order to present information about the case and allowed the media to go into specific details about the case.In my opion, this crime can be seen as entertainment. The media spins this story in an appealing manner to the reader because it is a case that will play off the readers emotions because it is an sensitive and devestating issue when a person's family is murdered and will be able to gain sympathy from the reader.
Colleen
On July 23rd 2007, 47 year old Steven Hayes and his accomplice Komisarjevsky went into the house of Dr. William Petit in the middle of the night with the full intentions to commit a very violent crime. They tied William Petit in the basement of his home and beat him bloody. The two men then went upstairs into the master bedroom and found his wife, Jennifer and tied her to her bed. Her youngest daughter, 11 year old Michaela was also sleep in the bed, so the two men led the young girl into her bedroom, tied her to her bed, and suffocated her with a pillow. They then went into the bedroom of the eldest daughter, 17 year old Hayley and did the same. The men then took the mother to the bank and withdraw money in the morning and once she returned, the men set the house on fire and fled the scene. The police found evidence that the mother had been raped and strangled, and that one of the daughters had been sexually assaulted and died of smoke inhalation. As for the father, Dr. William Petit, he was able to escape to a neighbor's home and make it out alive.
In the Media and CJ Policy article, it states, "When the justic system is explicity referred to, it is usually the courts that are portrayed, not as institutions but as backdrops to present information about individual cases." (203) I believe that this statement is true for what was being explained in the article. The media used the ruling of capitol murder in the court room was used as the backdrop in order to present information about the case and allowed the media to go into specific details about the case.In my opion, this crime can be seen as entertainment. The media spins this story in an appealing manner to the reader because it is a case that will play off the readers emotions because it is an sensitive and devestating issue when a person's family is murdered and will be able to gain sympathy from the reader.
Colleen
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