A Sunny, Cold Day

I finished up with my last senior photo client(Jason's little sister), studied for my two exams tomorrow, and played with my cat:) Now it's time to shower, charge up my camera, and go take some photos. Wish me luck!

Photo of the day taken in Newport, Oregon on November 22, 2009



News article of the day comes from the NPR website:

FBI Report Notes Rise In Hate Crimes
by Deborah Tedford
November 23, 2009

The number of hate crimes against religious groups in the U.S. jumped more than 8 percent during 2008 — the most notable increase in a variety of hate-crime statistics reported in data released Monday by the FBI.
In all, 7,783 hate crimes were included in the FBI's 2008 Hate Crime Statistics report. The report covers crimes involving a victim who was targeted because of race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity/national origin or disability.
The FBI's report reflects only the information gathered by participating law-enforcement agencies. Experts warned that the numbers may reflect different standards for what constitutes a hate crime, as well as the inability of some law enforcement agencies to coordinate the report because of budget constraints.
"The most frightening thing about these numbers is what goes unrecorded," said Janet Murguia, president of the National Council of La Raza, the Hispanic civil rights advocacy group.

Still, the data show a 2-percent overall increase in hate crime over the previous year and a rise in each individual category, with one exception: attacks based on ethnic bias or national origin. Crimes based on racial hatred made up the largest number of reported incidents. Last year, agencies across the U.S. reported 3,992 incidents in which someone was victimized because of race — a 3-percent increase from 2007.
Heidi Beirich, director of research at the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center, said she expected to see an increase in the targeting of African-Americans because of the uptick in hate group activity before the election of President Obama.
"The anti-black numbers jumped around the elections, but we know that doesn't reflect anywhere near what (the figures) actually are," said Beirich. She said experts have noted inconsistencies in some jurisdictions, such as the relatively small number of hate crimes reports in Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, where there is a large black population and a history of racial intolerance.
Blacks have historically been the most frequently targeted group. The FBI report showed 73 percent of the victims of race-based hate crimes were black.

Poor Reporting Affects Accuracy

The biggest year-over-year increase was in attacks on religious groups, which rose from 1,400 in 2007 to 1,519 in 2008. Most of the reports involved crimes against Jewish persons, although attacks against Catholics and "anti-other religion" showed the biggest percentage increase. Crimes against Muslims fell from 115 in 2007 to 105 this year, according to the report.

Most of the crimes involve vandalism and intimidation, but they also range from assault to rape and murder.

The FBI figures also showed that there were 1,297 incidents of crimes against gay persons, up from 1,265 in 2007. That represents a 2-percent increase in the number of incidents.

But that crime may be under-reported, according to professor Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University San Bernardino, because attacks on homosexuals are not recognized as hate crimes in some states. In addition, many victims do not want to make their sexual preferences public.

lllegal immigrants are another group that is wary of involving law enforcement, said La Raza's Murguia. According to the FBI data, attacks on the basis of ethnicity and national origin went down in 2008 — from 1,007 in 2007 to 894 last year. Most of the victims in that category were Hispanic.

"We look at these numbers as the tip of the iceberg, and even then, the trend over the past five years is unmistakable," Murguía said.

The FBI does not report hate crime trends, saying differences in annual reports may be attributed to the number of agencies participating in the reporting. Of the 13,690 agencies that submitted data, only 2,145 agencies reported hate crimes in their communities.

Levin said authorities won't have a true picture of the number of hate crimes in the U.S. until reporting is standardized.

"There are problems regarding lack of uniformity and consistency of reporting," Levin said, that should be addressed in order to get a true picture of the problem. A federal survey of victims in 2005 showed there were 191,000 hate crimes in the United States, he said.

Seasonal Depression

Ever heard of seasonal depression? Most Oregonians have, considering Eugene, Oregon gets more inches of rain per year than Seattle, Washington. Oregon also has more serial killers, ghost towns, and breweries per capita than any other state. We are also the only state that has an official state nut. Wanna venture a guess as to what it is?

Anyway, everyone is always so negative about winter. Rainy and snowy days are considered bad and sun is considered good. Well I am going to toss my pitch fork and torch on the ground...that's right. I~LOVE~WINTER.

I know by now you must be in a rage pacing your living space and wondering what's wrong with me but hear me out. Fall/Winter aren't that bad.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things(about Winter):

~Cold days vs Hott Days
No matter how many layers you have on, you can always add more. When it's hott you can only get so naked and still be miserable. I don't ever get headaches, heat stress, and sweat spots from standing in the cold in a comfy jacket. To top it off, landlords are required to provide a safe living environment that includes heat(at the cost of electricity), NOT air-conditioners.

~Food
I think our ancestors created so many WINTER holidays because it made more sense stuff our faces in the winter when we are covered up by all those clothes. As soon as the leaves start to change I know I will be enjoying some of my favorite seasonal foods including: pumpkin pie(and latte), stuffing, fruit salad, cider, hot chocolate and vodka, SOUP, blackberry pie, and my personal favorite, Peppermint White Chocolate Mochas mmMMmm.

~Holidays
While were on the subject I'll just bring up holidays! Not to mention our enormous winter break(December). Holidays are one of the few times I get to be home with my family and Jason's family for a whole week. It's the time of year I reunite with old friends and distant family. I will forever associate Christmas with being reunited with my brother and having a full family again. The memories stay with me for the whole year.

~School
Here's where it get's a little weird. I like school. I miss being a busy, studying, hurried, stressed out mess but really I love learning. I love pouring over books and hot tea in a coffeehouse as it pours down rain. I love advancing my life and am so lucky for the opportunity to do that.

~Rain
Rain is one of the best sounds in the world. When I wake up to rain I tend to be in a better mood and stay in a better mood all day. Rain can lull me to sleep. One of my favorite things to do on a day to myself is curl up in a blanket, make tea, and read while it pours outside. It's incredibly soothing. I enjoy sun every once in awhile but I actually get depressed when it's sunny for too long. I know, weird.

~Miscellaneous
Finally, everything I left out: Hats, tea, snow days, rain~boots, football, umbrellas, hot baths, scarves, my birthday, changing leaves, and knee-high socks.

Whew! I feel a little better, hopefully it's enough to last me through the rest of summer...

Here are some of my favorite Fall/Winter shots:)














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~©2009 Kylie Marie Keppler. All rights are reserved.~