Well I have finally started writing my novel. I started writing at 4 am this morning and I just finished another page. I'm not sure what I think about it yet but only time will tell. The hardest part was actually starting it. I could'nt come up with a beginning, but since I finally thought of one I've been on a roll. I've already talked to a publishing company that might publish it for me. Which I must say has been pretty exciting. I don't really care about how it sells, of course I didn't tell them that, but the whole reason why I'm doing this is so I can say that I have written a book. Not too many people can say that. I want to be able to hold a printed edition of my book. I don't care if anyone buys it, I just want to say that I've done it. It's something I'd like to do before I die, so why not get a jump start on it? Well, I must get back to writing. I'll be sure to keep you guys updated. Who knows, I might even post a blog or two this week.


I love having people to talk to, so if you want you can email me at mksblog@ymail.com or you can also catch me on AIM at mksblogger.




Question of the Day: What is one thing you'd like to say you've done before you die?

Post your answers in comments or email them to me at mksblog@ymail.com!



Speaking Only In Vowels,
Matthew K. Snyder

Thousands of protesters roamed the streets of San Francisco and Long Beach after the passing of a measure to ban gay marriage in the state of California. Meanwhile, thousands also protested outside the headquarters of the Mormon church in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The marches in San Francisco were the latest of numerous demonstrations throughout the week after the state passed Proposition 8, which defines marriage as between man and woman. The measure overrides a previous California Supreme Court ruling in May which briefly same-sex couples the right to wed.

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I'm taking this head on. I know it's a touchy subject, but right now I could careless. I've been waiting for a big topic to post about and I feel that this is it.


Through the mist of the election, Proposition 8 was a key topic with the candidates. Should church and state be separate? I think so. Nowhere in the U.S. Constitution does it say that marriage is between a man and woman. However, it does state in the Constitutional Amendments that EVERY citizen of the United States has the right to freedom of religion.

The phrase "separation of church and state" stems from Thomas Jefferson in 1802, in which he referred to the First Amendment to the United States Constitution as creating a "wall of separation" between church and state.

Jefferson's principle has since been lost in the interpretation of the Constitution. Religion playing just as big as a part in today's politics as it did when Jefferson instilled his idea of Secularity (separation of church and state). I believe Jefferson saw this coming a mile today. He knew that not everyone would practice the same religion, if any.

In today's society the main issue that religion has a role in is the debate on gay marriage. Many quoting the bible as to saying marriage is between "man and woman".

Who's to say that your bible is my bible? Who's to say that I pray to your God, or any for that matter? Our country is the most diverse country in the world when it comes to the matter of religion. So how is it that our government can be run by religion?

Look, if God has a problem with the way that I am living my life, let him take it up with me at the given time. It's not the governments job to tell me what God thinks is right and wrong.


From what you have read, you can probably tell that I am not against gay marriage. I believe that everyone should have the right to marry who they love. Man or Woman alike. People don't realize it yet but this is a big issue. And sadly, I don't see it being resolved anytime soon. It took African-Americans almost 100 years to earn the right to vote. But we're not dealing with just the right to pick who's going to lead this country. We're dealing with the right to choose who you want to marry.



Please feel free to respond with your thoughts and comments, and don't forget to subscribe.





BTW: I plan on posting more often to hopefully get my subscribers up, so feel free to suggest my blog to your friends and family.






Speaking Only In Vowels,
Matthew K. Snyder

Hey everybody, I know it's been awhile but I'm back. Sadly Bill Gates never did come to my house, so I took my PC to my cousin's husband, Jon. I was up in Streetsboro for a LAN party on Saturday and he managed to fix it the night before. For all of you who don't know what a LAN party is it's basically a party where a whole bunch of computer nerds (myself being a lesser one) get together and play PC games for hours on end. I don't do too much PC gaming but I play console games quite a bit, so I figured I could hold my ground with Jon and his friends, I was wrong. Although I didn't do too well, I still had a lot of fun. I was able to meet some new people, play some video games, and have some great food. It made for a pretty nice weekend and I hope to be able to do it again sometime soon. Other than that, not much has been going on. If you didn't get a chance to read my last blog I am planning on writing a book. Notice how I said " Planning", I haven't begun writing it yet. Although, I did manage to get some research done. I'm trying to keep the details on the hush-hush, but what I can tell you is that it is a fiction novel. I hope to finish it and hopefully get it publish it with in the next two to three years (or sooner). I don't intend to make any profit off of it, it's just something that I would like to say that I have done. But I'll keep you guys updated on the details, and who knows, maybe even post a little bit of it on here. In the meantime, I would love to hear some suggestions or tips on going about writing it if anyone has any expeirence.




Speaking Only In Vowels,
Matthew K. Snyder

Well, I haven't been able to post in quite some time. So here's a little update for everyone. I have come up with a new project that I pray I will follow through with. I have decided that I am going to write a novel. I have taken up reading recently, and it came to me that I should write a book. I've always had a knack for writing so I'm going to put it to use. I think this is the best thing for me. To allow myself to know that I can do something with my abilities. I'm doing this mostly for fun, but it would be very cool to get it published. I think that's kinda stretching it, but who care's. I'll keep you guy's posted on the details. So wish me luck!



Any suggestions or pointers email me at mksblog@ymail.com



Speaking Only In Vowels,
Matthew K. Snyder

Hey, I just wanted to let everyone know that I may not post for a couple days. It appears that I may be interweb-less, and yes I just created a word. Anyways, to fill you guys in...I spent 2 and a half hours on the phone with Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft on Monday night. Oh what fun that was! Not to mention I did not speak to one person who actually spoke English. I even requested to speak to an American operator. I know these people need to make a living too, but it gets aggravating. It wasn't a problem when I first called. Spending nearly three hours on the phone isn't pleasant, but spending three hours on the phone with a foreigner is worse!

Anyways, back to what happened. I called HP and Microsoft on Monday night, because I needed an Windows XP recovery disk. First off, both HP and Microsoft tried to charge me 50 bucks just to talk to a technician. That's carrazy! So, I finally was able to talk to someone who I thought knew what I was asking. I was wrong. I spent 30 dollars for a Windows XP recovery kit, which consists of 12 disks. Each Recovery Kit is specialized for a certain model of computer from the way I understand it, which I may be wrong. So I paid to get it express mailed, I received the disks Wednesday. I sat down at my computer, popped disc number one in and rebooted my computer. TING! Disc is not compatible with computer model, press any key to continue...I GOT SCREWED OVER.

So tomorrow, which is actually today (considering its 3:24 am), I am going to call Microsoft and wreak havoc. I'm furious about this for some reason. Maybe it's because I spent 30 dollars for 12 discs I CAN'T USE!!!! I knew I just should've upgrade to Vista, or bought a mac. But vista would cost me $125.00 (which I don't have) and a Mac would be the cost of Vista, times like...10. Either way, I don't have the money to do either one of those. Instead I'm just going to demand Bill Gates to come to my house to fix my computer......FOR FREE!

Well I've done enough rambling tonight...So if anybody has any comments or questions you know what to do.




Oh yeah, just to make sure this isn't a completely useless post...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/10/22/eu.airport.body.scanners.ap/index.html


Read and Respond...thanks.




Speaking Only In Vowels,
Matthew K. Snyder

A day or two after I posted about the Caylee Anthony story, a missing 6 year old was reunited with his family. Cole Puffinburger, was reunited with his Las Vegas family 87 hours after his gun-point abduction. The 6 year old boy had been abducted by a suspected Mexican drug-dealer. Puffinburger had been found Saturday night on a quiet street outside a Methodist church in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Cole Puffinburger

Robert Puffinburger would not comment on Cole's mother or her father, 51-year-old Clemens Tinnemeyer, who police say may have stolen millions from dealers involved in trafficking methamphetamine. Tinnemeyer was scheduled to appear before a federal magistrate Monday in Riverside, Calif. He was arrested there Friday and was being held in nearby San Bernardino on a material witness warrant issued by a federal court in Nevada. Las Vegas police didn't know whether Tinnemeyer had a lawyer. Police have declined to elaborate on what role he played in the drug operation or whether the kidnappers had been seeking a ransom.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081019/ap_on_re_us/nevada_boy_abducted

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Once again, this is another missing children story that our media has not made us aware of. I understand that the media cannot do a story on every missing child case. But when they do, what makes that case any more important than another? When Elizabeth smart went missing, her picture was plastered all over TV's in america. Everyday the news would be Elizabeth Smart this, Elizabeth Smart that. She was abducted at the age of 14, I would be more worried about a 6 year old than a 14 year old. I know that's the wrong way to look at it, but at the age of 14, I believe you have a better chance of escaping or being found. What angers me is that not only did Elizabeth Smart get media attention while she was missing, which she should have, but she is still receiving media attention today, 6 years after the fact. She's been on the cover of People Magazine and she has appeared on numerous talk shows.

I've heard enough about Elizabeth Smart. This post isn't about me having a grudge against Elizabeth Smart, because I certainly do not. Look, I'm glad that Elizabeth was reunited with her family after being kidnapped for 9 months. But the media attention that she received was...obnoxious. Once they found her a news conference should've been held, and that should've been the last that we heard of her. I don't understand why we need to be reading about her 6 years after the fact. Instead of making americans aware of the past, make them aware of the present.

Please help find those who are lost by clicking the links below:

http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids

http://www.amberalert.gov/

Don't be afraid to voice your opinion by clicking the comment link below.

Speaking Only In Vowels,

Matthew K. Snyder

If you haven't noticed in my previous posts, I write about things that interest myself and things I think others should be made aware of. For the past 4 and a half months I have been following a story that I believe many Americans have not paid very much attention to. That story being the one of the missing 3 year old little girl, Caylee Anthony. Caylee had supposedly gone missing in the middle of June, when her grandmother, Cindy Anthony, had reported her missing. Cindy Anthony had not seen little Caylee for days and became alarmed when she smelled the odor of a "dead body" in the trunk of Casey Anthony's car. Cindy Anthony later revised her statement saying the stench was from old pizza.

When police questioned Casey Anthony on the whereabouts of her daughter, she stated that Caylee was with a babysitter. The so-called babysitter, Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, had been said to have been caring for the child for over two years. When police located a local woman named Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, the woman denied every having contact with the Anthony's. Caylee's grandmother, Cindy, said she had no reason to doubt the account of the babysitter. However, over the three year's that Caylee was alive and living at Cindy Anthony's house, Cindy had never met the alleged babysitter.

Casey Anthony

Right from the beginning of this case authorities were having problems separating fact from fiction. Especially when Caylee's grandparents, Cindy and George Anthony, told police that the last time they saw their granddaughter was on June 8, 2008, but there was evidence to the contrary. Police found a video tape, recorded on June 15th, 2008, that shows Caylee reading a book. When the Anthony's were questioned about the time discrepancy, Cindy Anthony said that she had been confused about the dates. She then remembered taking Caylee to see Caylee's great-grandfather on Father's Day. When authorities began to question Casey Anthony, they immediately found discrepancies in what she had told law enforcement in her signed statement.Much of the information Casey gave, starting with the babysitter account, turned out to be a lie. Casey also claimed she had been investigating Caylee's disappearance on her own. Therefore is why she did not contact police earlier. However, friends and family denied being asked by Casey about Caylee. Photos of Casey partying while Caylee was missing were then
published by various broadcasting stations.


During the investigation, police discovered hair samples and a stain in the trunk of Casey Anthony's car. Though there were claims that the stain was Caylee's blood, this fact has not been publicly confirmed. Instead, a lead investigator on the case said the hair was the major deciding factor leading authorities to believe that Caylee had indeed been in the trunk of Casey Anthony's car. Together with these findings, authorities "air tested" the area of the car trunk to determine if a decomposing body had been stored there. The results of the air test were sent to a "body farm" at the University of Tennesee. These results confirmed that a body had been in the trunk.


Since Caylee's disappearance, Casey Anthony has been arrested 4 times.

• August 21, 2008: Casey Anthony was released after one month incarceration. She walked out of the Orange County Jail after her $500,200 bond was posted by California Bounty Hunter Leonard Padilla and his nephew, Tony Padilla, a bail bondsman.

• August 29, 2008: Casey Anthony was arrested again at her house for charges of forgery, fraudulent use of personal information, and petty theft for forging $700 worth of checks and using her friend's credit card's without permission. Leonard Padilla subsequently rescinded the $500,200 in bail due to a lack of cooperation from Casey Anthony.

• September 5, 2008: Casey Anthony was released again on bail after being fitted with an ankle bracelet. Her $500,000 bond was posted anonymously. It was later discovered that Casey Anthony's parents, Cindy Anthony and George Anthony, signed a promissory note for the bond.The bond was posted by two separate bond offices for $250,000 each.

• September 15, 2008: Casey Anthony was arrested a third time on charges of theft.

• October 14, 2008: Casey Anthony is indicted by a grand jury to face possible murder charges and arrested for the fourth time.

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This whole case is asinine! I don't know where to start. First let's address the awareness, or lack there of, on this case. I've brought Caylee's case up in conversation plenty of times, and it seems as though most of the reactions I receive sound like the following.

"So what do you think of the Caylee Anthony case?"

"The whoey, whatty case?"

"You know the case about the little girl who went missing in Florida?"

"Didn't realize there was one."

Stuff like that bothers me, I remember years ago when Elizabeth Smart went missing and the whole country was in an uproar. Now a days I can't even carry on a conversation about it. I don't see what the difference is. Maybe it's because our country has grown used to the idea that children go missing everyday. So basically it just seems like our country has adapted a "What else is new" attitude on these sorts of things. It's a shame how I watch the news every morning, and on the day that Casey Anthony was indicted I heard nothing on the news. Instead I watched Kathy Lee Gifford's dog run on a treadmill. Seriously, who gives a f*ck.


Now back to the actual case. If you ask me, Casey Anthony undoubtedly guilty. She did, she murdered her little girl. But, I do think that there is a good chance that she may walk. From what authorities have made public, there isn't any hardcore evidence. No body, no blood, and no murder weapon. What the authorities have going for them is the samples of hair, a stain in the trunk, and it has been confirmed that there was a corpse in Casey Anthony's trunk. It's going to be a challenge to convict her unless they find the body, which sadly, will not happen. The confirmation of a body in Casey's car could potentially put her behind bars. But I don't think it's enough. I hope to god that the authorities have more evidence that they haven't made public. Even though she may walk on a murder charge, she still has charges of fraud, theft, and child neglect. So either way, Casey Anthony will be doing some prison time.


Now that you've heard my opinion on the case, allow me to hear yours. Do you think Casey Anthony murdered her own daughter? Do you think that Caylee is even dead? Should the grandparents be indicted on aiding and abetting or obstruction of justice charges?


To help find Caylee Anthony click here

You can also visit the official Help Find Caylee Anthony myspace page by clicking here



Questions? Comments? Feel free to contribute to the post, and I'll do my best to respond. Also, if you have suggestions on a new post just click the email link on my profile.




Speaking Only In Vowels,
Matthew K. Snyder

A woman admitted that she helped her troubled 14 year-old son build an arsenal of weapons by buying him a .22 calibur handgun, a .22 calibur rifle, and a 9 mm semiautomatic rifle equipped with a laser scope, and gunpowder.

Michele Cossey, age 46, pleaded guilty on child endangerment charges on Tuesday in Norristown, PA. Cossey admitted that she had previously bought her son a .22 calibur handgun, a .22 calibur rifle, a 9mm semiautomatic rifle with laser scope and gunpowder, which investigators state he was using to build grenades. Pennslyvannia State Prosecutors say her son, Dillon Cossey, came to idolize the Columbine High School Shooters and was planning an attack on Plymouth Whitemarsh High School, which some former Columbine students attended.

Bullied over his weight, Dillon Cossey had left public school in seventh grade to be home-schooled by his mother. Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney, Christopher Parisi, said he thought the purchasing of weapons was "an attempt to boost his self-esteem...".

Dillon Cossey at his October 14th court date.

Michelle Cossey's sentencing hearing won't happen until after she undergoes a psychiatric evaluation. The maximum possible prison term is 3½ to 7 years, but her defense attorney she could get less than a year or even just probation under Pennslyvannia sentencing guidelines.

Michele Cossey attending her son, Dillon, court hearing.

Dillon Cossey was sentenced to a Juvenile Treatment Facility where he could remain until the age of 21. The judge who sentenced Cossey said that Michele Cossey had fostered a "me-and-mom-against-the-world" attitude in her only child.

Authorities did not think the school attack was imminent, but the boy did amass an arsenal -- knives, swords, BB guns, .22 calibur handgun, 2 rifles and partly assembled homemade grenades -- in his bedroom at his Plymouth Township home.

Police learned of the planned attack when Cossey invited a friend to join him. The friend went to police last fall.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/09/23/bullied.student.guns.ap
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/12/student.arsenal/

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This is a story I came across today and quickly caught my interest. Over the years I have read my share of school shooting articles. It's a shame that I have read so many. I always find myself interested in why the person did it. And I always ask myself another question, where the hell were the parents? In this case the parent was buying the weapons for her son. Now I have to ask, what was the parent thinking? I understand that you love your son. If you want to buy him something, buy him something nice, like a bike. Don't go buying him a semiautomatic weapon with a laser scope. Would'nt that be a signal? I couldn't image the conversation that had occured.


"Hey mom?"
"Yes?"
"Would you buy me a semiautomatic weapon?"
"Of course I will! I'll even buy you a hand gun and some gunpowder."
"That way you can make grenades too".
"Thanks mom! You're the best!"
"I love you too son".



If the world wasn't screwed up as it was, now we're resulting to buying our children weapons. Not only are we buying them weapons, but there is no punishment. Wow, Dillon Cossey will spend the next seven years of his life in a Juvenile Treatment Facility. What makes people think that when he's 21 he'll be able to live as a functioning member of society? Oh, and the mother could get probation. All our judicial system is now a days is a slap on the wrist. We worry too much about giving people a second chance and not enough on the punishment at hand.


So what do you think? Does the Cossey family deserve harsher punishments?

Questions? Comments? Feel free to contribute to the post. I love having feedback from readers.





Speaking Only In Vowels,
Matthew K. Snyder

Hey Everybody. My name is Matt Snyder, and welcome to "Speaking Only In Vowels". For my first blog I just want to tell you a little about myself and my blog. As I said before my name is Matt. I'm 18 years old and I'm a college student attending Kent State University. I'm interested in many things...one being blogging. I've been blogging on myspace for about two years now, I came to Blogspot.com to hopefully broaden my assortment of readers. Other than blogging I'm very interested in Politics, Sports, Movies, Music, and many other things. All of these which I will write about in my blog. I'm always up for something new. I love having something new to write about. So if you would ever like to suggest a topic or comment on one of my posts feel free. I love having feedback from my readers so don't be afraid to comment or send me an email at mksblog@ymail.com. I'll try to respond to everybody to the best of my ability.





Speaking Only In Vowels,
Matthew K. Snyder