Blog Post on Trayvon Martin Shooting

I've been hearing things about this shooting on the news almost every morning this week. I do not know whether or not to believe the man who says it was in self defense, for if it truly was, why did he get out of his car? He could have easily just stayed inside the vehicle and showed the kid he meant business without getting out and popping a cap in the kid. I haven't heard much about what the kid do to antagonize him, so I can not really comment on that matter. The man who shot Martin said the boy came up to his car and started punching him, and if that's true I have no problem with him defending himself. I do not care who this kid is, if someone were to assault me randomly I would do whatever it takes to get them away from me.

Blog Homework #1

I think one of the biggest issues facing the American people today is the increasing levels of obesity in Americans due to lack of proper diet, exercise, and high levels of ignorance. I do not understand how so many people can "let themselves go" (http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071002114538AAgawuR), and not realize that they are making a terribly unhealthy decision by either eating unhealthily, not exercising, or a combination of both. McDonald's may taste good but that doesn't mean you should be constantly going there and eating fast food(http://www.synovate.com/changeagent/index.php/site/full_story/fast_food_addiction_obesity_and_other_weighty_issues). It's not that hard to eat a good diet, and its just plain ignorance to pig out on junk food and expect your body to process it all without you getting large. It makes me want to scream when people complain about their body to their friends or me, and then I see that what they eat every day for lunch consists of junk food and artery-clogging cafeteria food (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6430258/ns/dateline_nbc/t/how-safe-school-cafeteria-food/). It should be everyone's goal to eat right and get proper exercise.

Blog Post #7

I recently watched an episode of "The League", and thought that it portrayed a modern group of friends in a very comical and relatable way. The episode consisted of the usual group of friends, and what happened on a particular thanksgiving dinner. One of the guys' daughters was taking care of a class pet, a guinea pig, and it was upsetting her father, who thought it was staring at him at night. The guy who was hosting the thanksgiving dinner for his friends found out his sister was coming to visit, and all the other guys got excited because she was the one who taught them all their moves back in grade school. For some reason they talked about it in front of her brother, which I found quite awkward, but they did it anyway. Another one of the guys made up some lies in order to get his family to go visit relatives so he could have the house to himself enabling him to do dirty things. Then his father shows up, having done the same thing, but expecting his son to not be home so he could do the same dirty stuff at his sons house. It was another hilarious but very awkward encounter. The one character named Taco had a very expensive mushroom called a White Truffle, that his friend, the host of the dinner, was going to buy off him, until Taco set the price of the normally $800 mushroom at $3000, claiming thats how you make a smart investment. He didn't end up selling it, and left it in the same room that the guinea pig was in, and when the cage was accidentally opened, the rodent pet got out and ate the White Truffle. The turkey was currently being basted and the guinea pig crawled inside. When one of the women walked in and noticed the turkey hadnt been put in the over yet, she put it in, with the guinea pig inside. When they all ate the turkey, people started tasting White Truffle, and having previously realizing that the guinea pig had eaten the mushroom, they all began puking. I think the episode was funny, but also something that isn't too unrealistic, no matter how rediculous it was.

Blog Post #6

I think the biggest problem in America today is that many people do not get enough excercise. America's obescity levels are skyrocketing and nothing is being done about it. People are getting fatter and fatter and not giving a crap about it. It is simply disgusting when somebody has the chance to live a healthier life style yet choose to be lazy and eat an unhealthy diet. Yes, there are cases where someone may not be able to exercise, or may have some sort of health condition that does not allow them to exercise, however these cases are rare. When people use this as an excuse for why America is becoming a nation of over-weight people, it makes me want to cry. Everyone who is able has the responsibility and SHOULD have the sensibility to try and live a lifestyle that won't end up with them looking like a flabby lab creation.

If I were to recommend something to the entire population of the world, it would be to prepare for a zombie apocalypse. The probability of one happening in our lifetime is slim, nevertheless, you should be preparing now. When the apocalypse hits, and the geeks start to eat people's brains out, you don't want to be caught off guard. Make sure to prepare a bug-out kit in case of an emergency, or for evacuation. You should keep practical things in your bug out kit such as food, bottled water, machete's, firearms, and medicine! Don't forget the medicine! When you are sleeping in the woods in some sort of makeshift shelter created by the military police, you're going to want that Advil for you're splitting headache. It is better to be prepared than not, so my recommendation for the world is to begin preparing for a zombie apocalypse now.

The thing that annoys me the most is when people constantly ask for a piece of gum, a pencil, or paper. First of all, what kind of moron comes to school without a writing utensil and paper? It's just beyond me how some people think that there is always someone out there to cater to them and give them pencils. Take care of yourself, grow up, and bring your own pencils and paper. Gum has become quite the popular commodity in school nowadays, and of course there are those people who simply can't shell out the .50 cents it takes to buy a pack, and must go around asking people for gum. It's absolutely pathetic. Buy you're own gum, be a big boy/girl, and stop mooching off others. It's probably one of the biggest fails of our generation; the tendency for people to be lazy fools and try to mooch things off others to satisfy their childish desires, or shortcomings.

Blog Post 5

Carla's identity has been shaped greatly by her experiences has had in living in the United States of America, which is much different than her life back in the Dominican Republic. One of her biggest struggles in her new country is trying to assimilate and learn english. She only knows a few phrases, and these limit what she is able to do, and who she is able to interact with. At school she learns that it is hard to pay attention to the teachers and understand a lot of the material since American nuns speak english and to her it sounds like everything they say is smashed together. She does not know how to get around very well, limiting the places she can go. Being a new immigrant to the country she is made fun of by a group of boys in her school. They call her names that she doesnt know the meaning of, and basically harass her physically as well. She is almost raped by a creepy child molester as well, who for whatever reason decided to tie string around his junk, and try to invite small children into his car. She was probably scarred for life from this horrible experience.

I think the most positive thing that has occurred in the story so far, was something that happened to all the characters. Originally living in the cities, the Garcia's lived a difficult life near racist neighbors who frequently called them 'spics'. Their life was pretty difficult, and assimilation was very trying for all of them. After a year of living in the United States of America, they found themselves living in a suburb among other families, and in much better standing than they had been before. The girls had to learn their way to school, which was tricky and ended up with Carla having a very close call with a creepy pedophile. But other than that, the girls finally had a yard to play in. Laura Garcia was especially happy about this, though the girls were growing older, and probably wouldn't play in the yard much anyway. Nevertheless, this can still be noted as a positive thing to happen to the family.

I think the reason people were so excited that Jeremy Lin was doing so well in basketball was partly due to the fact that he is Asian. It is not every day that you see an Asia basketball player attracting as many viewers as Jeremy Lin has. Why is this? It's probably because, as I mentioned before, not many Asian males play basketball at the professional level and make such an impact in the world of sports. Not to be racist, but most professional basketball players are African American, and now that a different race, an Asian, has become so popular, it has stirred up a larger rise than with most players. It is also due to the fact that he usually sat on the bench for his team, and never got much play time in or opportunites to be recognized. It is definitely an interesting concept to pay attention to, and I hope this proves that race does not dominate sports.

Blog Post #4

Article 1

This article is clearly more on the biased side of the spectrum. There is an absence of cold hard facts and statistics, but a whole lot of opinionated statements. The writing was very confusing to read and comprehend, negatively affecting my view of the article. What interests me in this article is the author's creative writing style, that not only makes it a very tricky piece to read, but gives it a different style than that of a regular blog post. I don't exactly know what to agree or disagree with, for I am not sure as to what the point is that they are trying to make. The article starts out talking about some group called MIA and then mentions Madonna, and jumps to talking about Vernon. This person obviously has way too much time on their hands, and is watching so much TV and is spending so much time on the internet I question whether or not they see the light of day very often. I would not recommend this article to anyone, for it makes little sense after the first read, and probably requires one to sit down and take it apart piece by piece to figure out what the heck the author is trying to say.

Article 2

This article I found very interesting. The author seemed to take a negative viewpoint of Valentine's day as a waste of money on a lot of silly things to shower upon your lover. She uses statistics to show how much money America spends on Valentine's day alone, and then goes on to describe the decline of marriage in America due to the failing economy. She claims that marriage has become something only the wealthy can achieve. When I scrolled down, I noticed a comment titles "Utter Crap," and read it. This three paragraph comment made more sense to me than the entire article written by the blog author. This comment ripped apart the blog, by noting points such as the fact that the 17.6 billion are being spent on Valentine's day gifts, and the blog author is complaining about this, when the comment brings up the point that we could be buying guns instead. So why is this lady complaining? He also notes that Valentine's day does not have to be an expensive affair, and that he and his spouse had a great time and he spent only $15.

Article 3

I agree totally with Eli Wiesel that performing proxy baptisms on the dead is a very wrong thing to do. First of all, these people are dead, and cannot speak for themselves, so what right do the Mormons have to just assume they would have preferred to have been baptized by someone of a religion other than their own, when they are dead? Holocaust victims included, nobody should be subject to proxy baptism, since it is an intrusion of one religion into another. Romney should definitely be taking responsibility for the foolish actions of his Church, and try to make peace with those afflicted. If someone died Jewish, why on earth would they want to be baptized Mormon? Where does the Mormon church see justification in their actions? I personally do not want the country to be lead by someone who represents a church that practices such questionable acts. Religions should not impede in each other's beliefs, and by performing proxy baptisms they are committing an act of intrusion.

Post #3

I believe that men and women nowadays do not have very different roles in society. Years ago there was a distinct separation between the sexes. Women were kitchen-bound, while men were more responsible for doing work and making money. Mother's would be responsible for raising and taking car of the children while the father's provide money and protection. Now these seperations have gone because men and women both can hold equal jobs and can earn income. Men and women both serve in the military, and there is a more diverse array of lifelong opportunities available to each sex. Men percieve women as naggy, emotional, and dramatic for the most part, while women percieve men as reckless, insensitive, and incoherent. This is basically true on both accounts. Being a man or woman nowadays doesn't really hold any special meanings besides what your gender is. As I said before the seperation between sexes is minimal now to the point that it is down only to looks. Men stereotypes include things such as being violent when participating in various activities, while women are prominently seen as the "sandwhich makers" of the day. In younger generations the same stereotypes go for men as being violent, and the same goes for women.