1 week hiatus

I apologize to anyone who reads posts on this blog but there will most likely be 1 week of no posts thanks to those dreaded finals.

Blue poles... Can they help us?

Chances are, if you've been on Temple's main campus, you've seen the blue poles that are strategically placed on corners and on the outer rim of campus. The idea for these blue poles is to keep the students safe. If a student runs into trouble, the idea is that they can get to the closest blue pole and press the help button. They will then be patched through to campus security.

Now this sounds like a great idea at first but when I witnessed it being tested, it turned out to be a horribly innacurate system. One day in mid-September, my mother, accompanied by my sister decided to pick me up from school after my last class instead of me taking the train. When my mother drove down part of eleventh street, her car broke down right next to one of the blue poles. Hoping to get a jump from campus security, my sister walked over to the blue pole and pressed the "help" button. After pressing the help button my sister pleaded her case to no avail. The receiver of the call did not even know where my sister was. My sister than tells the receiver which pole number she is at to the response of, "where's that?"

"Are you serious?" my sister asked before walking tot he closest corner to figure out which intersection exactly she was at. Even after telling the receiver where she was at, it still took someone with a hand held battery 10-15 minutes to find us. A campus worker driving one of those trash collecting vehicles arrived before hand and tried to help us.

What I would like to point out by making this blog is that our security system is so outdated that they don't even know which pole has had the button pressed nor where the pole even is. I find this extremely disturbing and am very thankful that I do not reside on campus.

Even an illegal immigrant can beat you in court!

In what started out as a lawsuit filed against an American family by an illegal immigrant landscaper seeking monetary support after being mauled by the family dog of one of his job sites, has turned into a large scale national immigration debate. Congo, the pet of the James family in Princeton, New Jersey has been sentenced to death after his owners lost a lawsuit (and $250,000) to Giovanni Rivera, a Guatemalan illegal immigrant.
According to the James family, Giovanni provoked Congo (Left) to attack.

Guy James claims that the landscaping workers arrived early when the dogs were in the backyard being fed by his wife. He also states that he yelled from his upstairs window for the workers to stay in their car until the dogs are back in the house. Ignoring Guy James' calls, Giovanni left the vehicle and payed dearly for doing so. In the matter of minutes, Giovanni suffered hundreds of bites which landed him in a hospital room for 5 days.

"They hit my dogs. They grabbed my wife and that's what this case is about," Guy James said.

Kevin Riechelson (Rivera's Lawyer) and Kim Otis, the prosecutor who handled the case, described the attack as unprovoked, saying Rivera never pulled Elizabeth James down to the ground. One must ask themselves here, who's to trust? An illegal immigrant here to literally take advantage of our country for his own monetary gain, or an American family who just wants to save their dog from injustice?

Now how does anyone, even an illegal immigrant for this matter, win a court case in this situation after supposedly pulling the wife down to the ground? If he did in fact pull her to the ground, then he clearly provoked the dogs to attack him, Congo was just doing what all dogs do, he was protecting his owner.

"Maybe they would have killed the dog already," said Oscar, a Guatemalan immigrant who didn't want to give his full name because he's in the country illegally. "This country values Americans." (Ashbury Park Press)

No offense Oscar but... you are in AMERICA! And amazingly enough, AMERICANS live in AMERICA. See the connection? Should we as Americans value those who come here illegally (like Oscar and Giovanni) more than we value the current legal residents? Well apparently the courts thought so, considering that they ruled in Giovanni's favor. The James family has appealed the case to a higher court in an attempt to save their dog.

Despite the James family's efforts to keep this case about saving their dog and not about immigration, Americans from all over the country are voicing their opinion on the topic.

"Why can a person who's in this country illegally get justice in our courts?" asks BinnThere, a member of APP.com. He then continues, "Let me make sure I understand this... this "immigrant" who dosen't bother to apply for immigration, but instead chooses to enter this country illegally can then turn around an use our legal system to get justice and a $250,000 settlement."

If hes here illegally, I don't see why our laws should protect him. Its like the burglar who breaks his leg robbing your house, and then sues you," sarcastically states Jerzeelove, a member of Courierpostonline.com.

Shouldn't we as Americans urge our government to deport Giovanni who was confirmed as an illegal immigrant?

Should this illegal immigrant be allowed to use the American court system to sue true Americans?

Should Giovanni be allowed to stay in this country even after the court case when he is clearly labeled as illegal?

Maybe our government is failing us and we need to take action on our own? I don't know, but maybe you do. Leave a comment!

Can good reviews be bought? (Are Journalists integrity truly for hire?)

Gamespot.com, a well renowned gaming website visited by avid gamers from around the world has found itself in the middle of a journalism controversy during the past few weeks. Recently, Gamespot has fallen victim to the gaming world's scorn after allegedly sacrificing journalistic integrity for the sake of money. This all started when a videogame development and publishing company by the name of EIDOS payed to have their ads for a newly released game (Kane & Lynch: Dead Men) plastered all over the website to attract gamers. The company also wanted it so that if the users clicked on the ads, they would then be brought to Gamespot's upcoming written and video review of the game. But, here's the catch...

Jeff Gerstmann (as seen on the Right -->), the gaming journalist who was sent out to review the game, did so, but apparently what he said about it didn't sit too well with EIDOS. According to rumor and speculation by the gaming industry and consumers alike, Jeff's rating of 6.0 and the MANY harsh words he had said about the game are supposedly to blame for CNET (owner of Gamespot) axing Jeff after an 11 year tenure. Many claim that the reason behind the firing was that EIDOS was threatening to pull its current ads and to never post future ads on the website.

Jeff Gerstmann, now the ex-senior editorial director and ex-employee of Gamespot was considered the face of the website by many gamers who respected his reviews of games whether they whole-heartily agreed with his ratings and opinions or not. Gamespot and EIDOS alike are taking heavy flak from the gaming world for the allegations. Both of these companies' websites forums have been overrun with angry gamers voicing their opinion on the topic. The response? Forum moderators locking each and every topic on the subject of course! Many gamers are boycotting EIDOS's products as well as any other company who buys ad room on gamespot in the future; gamers are also canceling their paid subscriptions to Gamespot.com. Even fellow game reviewers at the gaming website 1up.com have been acting out about the situation (below).

"Jeff was gamespot. I'm off to canceling my subscription," says Mindchamber, a member of Gamespot.com

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"I guess it just comes down to this: I’ll never ever use CNET/Gamespot again or ever buy a game from EIDOS. Now they can join the scum over at Lucas Arts and SOE [Sony Online Entertainment] on my “do not buy” list," states Dracis, a member of Gamepolitics.com

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The following is CNET's official response about the firing: "GameSpot takes its editorial integrity extremely seriously. For over a decade, GameSpot and the many members of its editorial team have produced thousands of unbiased reviews that have been a valuable resource for the gaming community. At CNET Networks, we stand behind the editorial content that our teams produce on a daily basis." Yeah, real valuable to the gaming community considering you (CNET) may have been payed of in the past for all we know. Oh, CNET stands behind the content that their editorial team produces, huh? Well then why did CNET delete Jeff's video review from the website all together? This response does not deny or acknowledge the reason for the firing of Jeff due to pressure from EIDOS besides the statement that "Gamespot takes its editorial integrity extremely seriously," then how about a straight forward response.

Is a straight forward response too much for you CNET? Is this whole debacle really worth all of the lost money and negativity from the gaming world? The act of not divulging the reason of the firing is more fuel for those who insist that CNET was pressured into firing Jeff instead of facing the risk of losing potential advertising money. Oh wait is this it?! "With respect to Jeff Gerstmann, it is CNET Networks' policy not to comment on the status of its employees, current of former," says a CNET representative. Oh, guess not.

After searching for a bit on Google and a bunch of other gaming blogs and websites that have been posting the story, I have yet to find a response by EIDOS on the whole situation. What I have found though, was this petition against Gamespot and a few banners and pictures about the situation made by members of the gaming world (below). More on this story as it unfolds, but I pose these questions to all of you readers...

Do you feel that good press can be bought?

Would you trust Gamespot reviews after this?

Who is at fault here?

Will you support Gamespot or buy EIDOS' products if this is indeed true?

Think about it, share your opinion, and comment!

(Click HERE or on the comic to go to source for better quality)