http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/28/opinion/28sun2.html?n=Top/Opinion/Editorials%20and%20Op-Ed/Editorials&_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

The state of Missouri have found success in dealing with its juvenile criminal offenders. Now other states are looking at the Missouri model as a standard to base their juvenile treatment program. The author states "Missouri was working against its own nature when it embarked on this project about 25 years ago". To me that is saying quite a bit. States that employ this model are not going to achieve overnight success. That over time, they will start reaping the positive results of creating this type juvenile rehabilitation program. I feel there are three very important reasons why Missouri is so successful. First, they favor the small community based centers instead of mass kiddie prisons. Second, they keep the treatment close to the offender's home so the parents are involved in their treatment. And third, the case manager job does not end with the offenders release. The results have proven out and only about 10 percent are recommitted to the juvenile court system. To me this program show a positive commitment to solving a problem before it became a more serious issue. It is more effective to rehabitate a juvenile offender before they lead a life of adult crime.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/23/opinion/23tue3.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

This article is about how a new law in California will require all semiautomatic weapons starting in 2010 to be equipped with new microstamping technology. I feel the writer is trying to say that any attempt to solve a crime is worth every effort. The author states "Like any other single attempt to get America's handgun crisis under control, is not a panacea." I agree with the author, that until lawmakers stand up and not be afraid to put teeth in Gun Enforcement Laws, I will settle for any temporary solution. I commend California's Governor for signing this microstamping bill. And I hope all legislators can learn from this courageous act.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/15/opinion/15mon3.html?n=Top/Opinion/Editorials%20and%20Op-Ed/Editorials

This article is about how Congress is taking a different approach to finding low income housing for the nation's neediest families. They will establish a National Housing Trust Fund. Developers that get their funding or grants from the government will be required to set aside a portionate number of units for low income families. What this program would do is help the needy families while they can help themselves. This program provides assistance before they become homeless and require even more public assistance such as Aid to Dependence Children, Welfare, or Medicare. The editorial states "This program would be a vibrant mixed income community," instead of just housing the poor among the poor. By housing the poor among other mixed income residents will demonstrate the difference of having an education, a skilled job or a real chance to excel. The continuation of mixing the poor with the poor have not been successful in the past because it did not provide the poor residents the kind of postive reenforcements they needed to make better lifestyle improvements and choices.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/03/nyregion/03boys.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

Mayor Cory Booker is to be commended for being a Big Brother and father figure to three young delinquents. Even if they don't make changes in their character, the fact that the mayor cares enough to spend time with them is very commendable and courageous. The mayor is setting an excellent example for the community but still he has critics. Mrs. Johnson is quoted as saying "Our only concern was that he might be doing it for the publicity." This criticism is the exact reason why the majority of the concerned adults don't participate in programs like Big Brothers and Big Sisters. They are afraid of being labeled or having a hidden motive. I can feel the mayor's sincerity when he missed an opportunity to help the young man named Hassan, who was gunned down in his neighboorhood. After attending Hassan's funeral, Mayor Booker said "It was the first time I cried as mayor." When the mayor asked Anthony, "Where would he get $24,000 to move out on his own?" All the mayor got was a shoulder shrug from Anthony. For that moment the mayor made that young man think! Can you imagine how many lives could be influenced if everyone had a mentor that made a young person think first about life's consequences instead of reacting after a crime is commited?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/30/opinion/30friedman.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin

This article is about how America need to move on past the horrors and tragedy of September 11, 2001. The author is being very respectful of the deceased, but is telling politician to quit using 9/11 as a ploy to keep fear and terrorism on the front burner just to get elected. The writer is saying that the gloom and doom atmosphere has ran its course and the USA need to move on pass that awful day. I feel the author is making a very good point. Politicians should not score points over this hostile act. We need to learn from the mistakes we made that let 9/11 happen and for those that lived beyond that day need to make America a vibrant society again. I feel that our borders should be crossed at checkpoints and that if we erect walls around our borders that we would become a closet society. And we fought against such acts against our enemies in the past. Where as we were once a thriving open society respecting human rights, we are using 9/11 to crush those same principles. We (American) used to be able to take a punch and get up and continue fighting, but on 9/11 we took a punch, fell down and got up staggering and weak. What we need to do is get back in shape and recapture our glory and respect.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/fashion/23whopays.html?pagewanted=1&ref=us

This article is about women that make more money than men. And how they both react because she earns more. The writer was stating that through research women would prefer a man who is sure about himself and treat her with respect over someone like a doctor that made eight times her salary, had a killer work schedule and unable to spend time with her. I felt this article was humorous and that I would not mind dating a woman that made more money than me. I am secure in myself and I could offer her support and conversation. What a person makes should not come into play as far as I am concerned. If she could accept me for me, I surely could accept her for her.

The Need for Regulation: For All of the Nation's Imports

Editorial New York Times Article
The Need for Regulation: For All of the Nation’s Imports
Published: September 16, 2007
To allay rising fears over imported products, the Bush administration has issued a “strategic framework” for improving import safety. The 22-page document contains some sensible ideas that could, if vigorously carried out, help provide better control over the flood of goods and foods that enter this country from abroad.
Editorial: The Need for Regulation: And Especially Our Children’s Toys (September 16, 2007)
Whether this is a genuine reform effort or mostly public relations will become clear in November when more detailed plans are released. The administration’s record provides grounds for skepticism.
The new plan, the product of an interagency working group, leaves little doubt that reforms are needed in the current haphazard, underfinanced and understaffed system for protecting the public. Officials are powerless to order retailers to stop selling a product that has been recalled by its manufacturer. Incompatible information systems prevent government agencies from readily sharing information.
The group’s most important proposal would shift the first line of defense from inspections at the border to broader surveillance along the supply chain: from the original grower or manufacturer to distributors abroad to American importers, manufacturers and retailers.
There is little doubt that it would be better to build safety into products before they reach our shores than to try to pick out unsafe products here. That will require a concerted effort to persuade foreign governments and companies to police themselves and provide access to American inspectors, buttressed by a willingness to reject goods from countries or companies that will not cooperate or cannot meet American standards. Under American pressure, China has belatedly signed an agreement to prohibit the use of lead paint on toys exported to this country and to inspect more of its exports.
The strategic plan is right to urge that the system be organized to identify products that pose the greatest risk, like those from a country with a record of exporting unsafe goods. It makes sound proposals for upgrading computers and devising new screening technologies.
What is worrisome is the administration’s reluctance to make any commitment to provide the additional money and staff that is needed. It has been cutting food inspection budgets and staff for many years, and it is fair to wonder how it will manage a far broader regime.
The new plan stresses the importance of cooperation with industry but leaves room to worry about officials’ willingness to get tough if voluntarism fails. Indeed, the document says the federal government lacks the resources to pursue legal action against all wrongdoers and will use targeted enforcement as a deterrent.
Congress will have to ensure that this needed reform gets enough money and clear authority. The strategic plan asserts that “it is impossible to inspect our way to safety,” which is right in the sense that inspections are not enough. That mantra must not be used as an excuse for doing less rather than more.