The End :)

This blog has been interesting for me this semester.  When we first got it I was excited and thought about using it for personal purposes as well as for classroom purposes, but I decided that classroom purposes would be enough.  Part of me found writing 2 blogs a week to be very beneficial but another part of me felt that it was a complete waste of my time.

It was nice to get my feelings out in my blog.  There are some posts that were just words bottled up inside of me and then others that are just random crap.  I really enjoyed feeling caught up in the news because I knew I would have to write something that week for my blog.  I enjoyed reading the news because I always found random information and stories that I could ultimately relate to the class as well as all of my other classes. 

I also enjoyed being able to see other people’s views on things rather quickly.  If I wanted to see how people were responding to something someone said, I just have to log into my blog and I will see some.   It definitely made it much more accessible to show others how you are feeling about current issues and trends in our society. 

Part of me also felt that I was taking up important time that I could be doing something else.  To be perfectly honest, I’m doing this right now instead of studying for two big finals on Friday and a presentation that is due on Monday.  Some weeks when things got to be really hectic I found the blog to be really difficult.

I did notice that after this blog, I am much more self-conscious about my typing and grammar.  I hate the common misconception that because we are from the Midwest that we are just a bunch of redneck hillbillies who don’t know the ground from the sky.  I am very anal about things like that, and after this blog I have really started to notice it again. 

One thing I think I would do improve the idea of blogging is only require that students do one per week.  It can be really difficult to sit down and come up with two blogs for a week.  Only requiring one a week would be so much more convenient for those who don’t have a lot of free time in their schedule.  That way they still get the idea of blogging, they just do not have to do as much. 

I guess there is a chance that in the future I would blog again.  Frankly, it kinda feels like a more detailed version of Facebook.  It is still weird for me to completely grasp the idea of blogging, but there is a chance that later on down the line of life I could choose to blog again.  

Let the games begin

I’m so ready for this semester to be over. It’s been crazy and busy and it will be so nice to finally be able to see the summer.  I’ve got so much on my plate the next couple of weeks it’s making me crazy.  I’ve got observations for my education class that need to be typed up, as well as a powerpoint and presentation to have mostly completed by Monday (anyone who is an education major will totally understand.)  Then I have a student program due in my music class on Tuesday.  Then Wednesday I have a test for my education class and my last blog for this class is due.  I’ve already finished my math class so after Wednesday I’ll be finished with two classes.  Then on Thursday on dead day, I have a meeting for marching band for next year.  It’s so weird to already be talking about next year – I’ll be a junior!!!  Then first day of finals Friday I have a final in my history class as well as my music class.  Then Monday I have a presentation for my education class and I have to meet for band.  Because I am in one of the higher bands on the campus, I have to play at graduation so we meet a day during finals week to prepare for what we will be doing that day.  But after that meeting on Monday, I am done with my sophomore year of college!!! I can’t believe it is already so close to me being a junior in college.  It feels like just yesterday I was being dropped off by my parents.  But anyways, then I will be making my great trip back to Lebanon for the rest of the week.  Then I am coming down for the weekend for graduation on Saturday then it’ll be back home for the rest of the summer.  As of right now, I might have a job working at a daycare back home for the summer which would be great for me considering my major.  But I also have some big plans of working out over the summer as well.  When my boyfriend came back from his leave after boot camp, he had already lost over 20 pounds and it was guessed that he would probably lose more while he’s gone for these 3 months.  So I figured, if he is looking all nice and sexy now, I need to work out as well, to get myself going again.  Then we’ve got vacation in June.  While we’re just going to Branson for the week, we have so much planned.  From shows, to Silver Dollar City to even a Springfield Cardinals baseball game, it’ll be a great time to get away and spend some time with my family.  Then in July I turn 20 and in August Chris comes back home for good.  I can’t wait for my busy schedule to kick into gear.  

Another day that will live in history

So there is no question what the top story in the news this week is: Osama Bin Laden is dead almost 10 years after September 11^th, 2001.  Everyone has been talking about it and everyone has their own idea of what went down and everyone has their own opinion on the situation in general.  So let’s go through some of the facts.

As reported by CNN yesterday, Early Monday just outside of Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad in Abbottabad, Pakistan, Osama was in his residence when U.S. forces entered.  The U.S. Navy Seals were the ones behind the operation and after 40 minutes, the al Qaeda leader along with four others were all killed on the residence.   A woman who was in the room with Osama and believed to be his wife was shot in the leg when she rushed U.S. troops as they came in.  “There was no telephone or Internet service at the dwelling, which was valued at more than $1 million.  Its occupants burned their trash rather than leave it out for collection as other area residents did.”   A total of five people were killed within the compound: two al Qaeda couriers on the first floor, a woman caught in their crossfire, Osama bin Laden and his son.

Fox News reported that “Usama bin Laden’s Pakistan compound was “built for deception,” with barricades and a falst wall apparently intended to confuse and stall intruders, a senior U.S. official told Fox News.  The official said the compound was constructed in anticipation of a “potential assault.” Every floor had barricades and what looked like the main door of the complex had a brick wall behind it.”

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney admitted to CNN that “…we provided a great deal of information with great haste.”  Some top officials were the first to go public about the fight, including Brennan.  He said that during the assault “there was a female who was in fact in the line of fire that reportedly was used as a shield to shield bin Laden from the incoming fire.”  As soon as the news leaked, there were reports all over and every single one of them were different. 

One thing is certain: while it is a great thing that Osama bin Laden will not be able to harm us anymore, why are we rejoicing a death?  Christians to children to everyday people are rejoicing in the fact that a life was taken that day.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy he will never be able to hurt our country again, but I’m so tired of seeing “yay!! Osama bin Laden is dead.”  My friend posted this status and I really couldn’t have said it better myself, “As Christians should we be excited and celebrate murdering someone? Who are we as people to judge another mans death. We all deserve death according to God's law. So, I am not excited about osama's death cuz we all deserve the same thing.”  I understand that our country is safer but just because he is dead doesn’t mean the war is over and the troops are coming home.  Don’t get me wrong, I wish they could.  I’m praying my boyfriend doesn’t get deployed, but  it doesn’t mean that everything is right in the world again.  No matter how much we wish it was.  

So there is no question that the weather that has been happening in the South this week is something not like anything that has been seen  before.  An EF-5 tornado ripped through Alabama and literally left almost nothing standing.  As of right now there are over 300 innocent people have been killed by the storm and the number is only expecting to rise as more and more people are pulled from the debris. 

According to Fox News, “(this is)…the nation’s deadliest tornado disaster since the Great Depression.”  This quote is referring to Tuscaloosa, Alabama and the disasters they are seeing for the first time in such a great magnitude.  Everywhere is stocking up on water and basic items anyone would need to survive during this difficult situation.  Fox also said, “The death toll from Wednesday’s storms reached 328 across the seven states, including 238 in Alabama, making it the deadliest U.S. tornado outbreak since March 1932.”  Tuscaloosa has seen almost 1000 people injured by the storm alone: there are 6 other states that were also affected by these storms.  One resident reported to CNN News that the storm was “like a silent monster.  It was just moving at a steady rate and demolishing everything in its path.”

According to the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center, The Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF Scale) was first introduced in February of 1971 by Dr. T. Theodore Fujita.  His goal in categorizing these tornadoes was by their intensity and area and estimate a wind speed associated with the damage caused by the tornado.  The scale is an F0 is gale force winds, F1 is a weak tornado, F2 is strong, F3 is severe, F4 is devastating and F5 is incredible.   

On top of worrying about helping everyone affected by the tornado, there have been several eyes turned towards Athens, Alabama, where the Browns Ferry nuclear power plant is located.  There has been no radiation leaking into the atmosphere that the workers knew of but the plant is remaining in safe shutdown mode just to be safe and until things in life are closer to back to normal. 

Just thinking about a storm as big as what everyone has talked about it almost unreal to really expect to happen in our world today.  Far too often, we are too naïve to ever think that something like that could happen to us. We see things like this in movies but we never expect it to happen in real life.  All over the internet are stories of people who went through this storm and it’s heartbreaking to hear some of them.  No one ever expected a storm to produce so much for such amount of time.  These types of tornadoes are uncommon and in the South they are even rarer. It’s scary to think how something as fast moving as a tornado can totally change these people’s lives forever and how far too often it does change everything these poor people know.    

Fed Up

So there are a few things that I am really tired of, so these will be my rant for the week. 

I’m tired of hearing about the Royal Wedding.  Yes, Prince William is now married to Kate Middleton and all that fun stuff, but there just comes a point when the media exhausts the story way too much, and there is no question that the point has well passed.  I won’t lie and say it wouldn’t be cool to have your wedding shown for the entire world to see, but when there are other stories, such as the tornadoes in the South that have taken the lives of over 300 American citizens, it just seems to me that we should be using our media to find ways to help those suffering Americans and not putting all of our attention on every detail of Kate’s dress or the fact that Prince William is choosing not to wear a wedding ring. 

Another thing that really has been bothering me lately is the lack of respect for individuals displayed by so many people.  People are willing to be the first to point fingers or name names when it involves someone else, but if it involves them, they keep quiet.  I’m tired of hateful and bitter people saying rude and unnecessary things about individuals they have never met, all because they are making assumption.  They will sit there and say anything they want, just to make themselves feel better.  And these horrible decisions are without a doubt rubbing off on our little children.  Children today have got to be some of the most disrespectful little things ever.  I am an education major so I spend 32 hours in Clinical Field Experiences and some of the children I see who do things or say things to these teachers are unreal.  It’s sad that because adults are so rude, it can often and most times does, influence what your child thinks of adults or other individuals. 

I wish there was a way I could change some of this.  Like the way children treat their elders as well as the way that they treat their teachers.  It’s sad to see the things these teachers do for these children, and the children thank them by saying horrible things to the teacher’s face as well as even behind their back.  It’s just ridiculous.

Oh and another thing I am fed up with: Charlie Sheen.   I am sick and tired of the man being ungrateful and just plain rude.  He wants attention and frankly he is getting exactly what he wants.  I think after the comments he made, the fact that Two and A Half Men was only stopped for the remainder of the season was nice; they could have just plain pulled the show for good.  So he’s lucky he didn’t completely lose it.  Ugh, people like this are a disgrace to humanity. 

But this is my rant for the week.  

Is it really the answer??

One thing that I absolutely hate hearing about is someone committing suicide.  No matter the person, no matter the situation, I absolutely hate thinking about it.  Just this week Fox News posted a story about two 14 year old girls, Haylee Fentress and Paige Moravetz, from Minnesota who had been bullied by their peers so much that they felt that suicide was the only way out.  So at a sleepover they created a suicide pact and they both decided to commit suicide.  One of the young ladies’ aunt claimed that her niece was teased about her appearance quite often.  She had been expelled from her school for defending her friend in a fight as well.  Her classmates claimed she was overweight and she had bright red hair, which they also used as a source of the teasing. 

The letters both girls left were very detailed.  ABC News reports that Haylee asked for everything pink, princess and butterflies.  There is no question that these girls had this entire thing planned.  Haylee’s aunt claimed that Haylee had even written on her Facebook wall that she really wanted out of the place she was in.  

But why at the age of 14 years old, or 8^th grade even, do we have students contemplating suicide?

Suicide is a topic a lot of people try to bury their heads in the sand about, but it seems that the more that people try to avoid the emotional topic, we are losing more and more people to it.  According the website Suicide Awareness  Voices of Education (SAVE), 1 in 65,000 children ages 10 to 14 commit suicide.  Suicide is the 3^rd leading cause of death for 15 to 24 years old in the United States.  The website also says that an average of one person dies by suicide every 16.2 minutes. 

Now looking at those numbers, those statistics are absolutely horrifying.  People are really killing themselves every 16.2 minutes?  Why would they want to? What would make them want to end their life completely?  I personally don’t think that I can ever say that I have been in the situation that the people I have surrounded myself with have ever come to that feeling, but I can’t be 100% sure either.  Suicide is not an answer to taking away the pain because in reality, it is only causing pain for the rest of the family that you are leaving behind and if you were married, leaving your spouse to handle everything on their own.  There is just no positive that comes out of it.

I wish there would’ve been someone who had noticed that these girls were in danger and that the teacher would have responded and done something  to prevent this situation from getting worse or having to end up where it did.  My heart goes out to the families of these two girls.   

Mission Accomplished :)

So my week this week was definitely not like anything I ever been through before.  I have mentioned previously that my boyfriend had left for boot camp 13 weeks ago; well this week is it.  The week I have waited for the past 3 months.  My Sunday was like usual and it consisted of church at home and spending time with the family before driving back to Joplin.  Monday I went to classes like usual and that night I packed.  Tuesday morning I woke up at 6:30am and my boyfriend’s parents came and picked me up.  We went to pick up his brother from work and we started the 1600 mile trip to San Diego.  We traveled all day Tuesday.  Like Joplin time, we started at 7:45am and drove until 12:30am but in time zone time, it was only 10:30pm.  That night we stopped in Holbrook, Arizona.  I swear all I saw over half the day were cacti and dirt along with a few mountains.  And then Wednesday morning after we leave I figure out that Holbrook is home to state penitentiary.  Definitely glad I found that out the next morning.  So Wednesday we got up early and continued driving.  We traveled almost 600 miles on Wednesday and by the afternoon we had finally arrived in San Diego, California.  I had never been to California before yesterday and let me just say it is completely different than little old Joplin, Missouri.  Then last night Chris’s brother and I spent the entire evening working on our t-shirts. 

So finally we get to today (Thursday.)  I know most people aren’t extremely clued in on what happens today in the life of a new Marine so let me explain.  Today is called “Family Day” here at the MCRD.  Chris was part of the Kilo Company and they were all to be graduating tomorrow.  Family Day consists of a 5 mile run then getting to spend the rest of the afternoon with our newest Marines.  So we get up at like 7 am here and get ready.  We then go listen to the drill instructors do some more talking.  Then we can see the guys run their 5 miles, which they follow with a shower and changing into their Charlie’s.   After this we get to see our guys for the first time in 3 months.  I told Chris I wasn’t going to be able to come for graduation tomorrow (which is also his 22^nd birthday) because I just had so much homework and work to get finished.  So as we are sitting in the bleachers waiting for the guys I see a smirk on Chris’s face: I think he just saw me.  They are freed from formation and he comes straight to me and gives me the biggest hug I’ve ever had.  Then all afternoon we are walking around post and every guy that Chris introduced me to responded with “Oh, so she did get to come after all.”  It was so great to be able to really surprise him for an event as big as this.  Tomorrow the newest Marines will graduate then they have their orders.  Chris’s orders require him to leave Tuesday morning for training from anywhere to 4-10 weeks. 

While it totally stinks having to give him back after just 10 days, but the look on his face today when he saw me was absolutely priceless.  I’ve missed this kid like crazy but being in his arms today made the rough past 3 months completely worth it.  

Double Standards for Girls Today

So I am really sick of the world telling people how to look.  I’m so tired of young girls feeling that they have to show as much skin as possible to get anywhere in the world.  I’m also tired of absolutely beautiful young women feeling disgusting and useless because they are not a size 2.  I am not putting blame on these girls; I have been one of them.  I am not large but at the same time I have a shape.  I have rather large hips (and in the words of my mother “all the better for making beautiful babies.”) but that is hard to tell a young girl fighting with herself for not looking like girls at school.  I can relate all too well of leaving shopping trips crying because every piece of clothing I tried on was made for tiny little girls.  It’s depressing on the part of the young lady feeling that way and it is definitely uncalled for. 

The media is by far one of, if not, the largest factor that makes this awkward, uncomfortable time in the life of girls, just a little bit worse.  This week on American Idol was yet another example.  CNN News posted the story about 19 year old Ashley Coffman who bought tickets to American Idol with a group of her friends.  Ashley and her friends arrived to the show and went to their front row seats.  Soon after Ashley was informed that she was too big for the front row.  Ashley at 5 feet 2 inches, weighs 150 pounds, was forced to sit in the back row and give up her front row seats to one of the most controversial episodes of the season.

Seeing this story absolutely made me livid.  This is supposed to be a show that caters to the teenage population and then they have the right to tell people whether or not they are too big to sit in the front row, which could possibly be broadcasted on television.  This situation just makes American Idol look shallow.  They are ultimately going against what they supposedly stand for and it is so double sided.  I really never had a problem with American Idol before, but after this story, I’m not quite sure I can watch the show the same.

This is supposed to be a show that encourages people and now, they are telling people they must look a certain way to sit in the front row.  In the video attached, Ashley was a beautiful young lady and there is NO reason or excuse for what American Idol did to her.  It is distasteful and just plain rude.  So often today girls have extremely low self esteem and this story is just another reason for these girls to feel that way.  I wish I could change the stereotype of how girls should be.  I wish each girl would realize what makes her the way she is and that she would take pride in that thing.  It took a long time for me feel like that and I hope not every other girl has to go that long as well.  

Oh. I, um, fell down the stairs for the third time this week...NOT.

Fox News reported a story today of a mother who drove her van full of her 4 children into the Hudson River, killing herself and 3 of the 4 children.  Her four children were the ages of 10, 5, 2, and 11 months.  The 10 year old boy was able to break the window and swim through waters of 45 degrees about 25 feet to shore where he then ran to the local fire station to get help.   He suffered from mild hypothermia but was expected to be fine.  The reason why the mother did this is still under question.  But she had been described by a neighbor as “…a very good mom. (who) took care of her kids.” Police do know that 10 minutes prior to the accident, they received a domestic disturbance call to the family’s house and when they showed up, mother and children were gone. 

In the local newspaper in Sweetwater, Tennessee posted just today was an article titled “Drugs, domestic violence in Madisonville and Vonore.”  One man was arrested for threatening to kill his wife if she told cops that he was in possession of drugs.  The lady’s husband also told her she “would be dead before the police arrived.” 

According to domesticviolencestatistics.org, every 9 seconds in the US a women is assaulted or beaten.  Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women – more than car accidents, muggings, and rapes combined.  Studies suggest that up to 10 million children witness some form of domestic violence annually.  Every day in the US, more than three women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends. These are just a few statistics.

In 1983, Time Magazine published a cover story on domestic violence and even then, some of the statistics were shocking.  “A justice department survey counted 178,000 rapes during 1981, but for every woman who reported a rape to the police, perhaps nine or maybe 25 did not.”  The article also says, “The worst thing about family violence is its natural reproduction of itself, like a poisonous plant sending out spores. Most rapists were preyed upon sexually as children, and most violent criminals were raised in violent homes. Children of punched-out women, accustomed to seeing family business transacted with fists, are prone to become battered wives and battering husbands themselves. Worse, battered children grow up predisposed to batter their own offspring. Sexually abused boys often become pedophiles and rapists, while sexually victimized girls, perennial targets, are likelier to become battered wives.”  I could not have said this any better.

Domestic violence is something that so many women (and men) face on a daily basis and it’s just sick.  It’s pathetic that people feel the need to abuse their partners to the point that some are even killed.   Domestic violence towards women is significantly higher but there is still violence towards men at home as well.  All it takes is one time for a parent to freak out on another parent or the child and they could easily be doing the same thing as the young mother first mentioned, who took all by one of her children’s lives.  Hopefully, anyone who is a domestic abuse victim will stop it from happening in someone else’s and get it stopped within their own.  

Apple Juice or something a little stronger??

So I got on my computer earlier this week and my MSN Messenger came up on the screen with news stories.  MSNBC had posted a video from the Today Show dealing with drinking and texting while driving.  There is a new program out called “Every 15 minutes” and has recently started circulating in Maryland.  The school puts on a real life scenario of a drunk driving hitting a pedestrian and killing them.  It is cool that the some students in the skit are even related.  

According to the video “5100 teenage drivers were killed in alcohol or drug related accidents in 2009.”  The schools who choose to take part in “Every 15 minutes” use resources such as local law enforcement to help get the point across.  Every 15 minutes in these high schools the Grim Reaper walks around the school and pulls a student out of class, “Each one representing another classmate, another teammate, another friend who won’t be coming back.”  Then for the rest of the day (with the help of some costume makeup) these students walk to halls “dead.”  They cannot talk, receive phone calls or text for 24 hours to show what it would be like without having them around.  When the student is pulled from class, a police officer comes in a reads an obituary written by the “dead” student’s parents. 

So after watching this video, I decided to look up some statistics on my own.  I won’t personally take the time to discuss the entire page but AlcoholAlert! has some really great charts of so really interesting statistics.  I would really encourage you all to look at them.  The Century Council also has some shocking stuff on it.  It breaks it state down and the cases and has told us.  In 2009 there were 300 alcohol-impaired driving fatalities and 41 under 21 alcohol-impaired driving facilities.  72 % of alcohol-impaired driving fatalities involving high BAC drivers .  Of 12-20 years olds claimed in 2007-2008, 27% consumed alcohol and 18.4% admitted to binge drinking in the past month.  In 2009, 409 individuals under 18 were arrested for driving under the influence.  These statistics are absolutely crazy to even begin to think about. 

On www.buzzle.com they have an article about texting and driving.  One sentence states “The popular belief, that the number of teenagers texting while driving is more as compared to adults, got a major blow when the texting while driving statistics 2010 compiled by Pew Research Center revealed that 47 percent of the adults resort to texting as compared to 34 percent of the teenagers.”  I just thought that was a really interesting statistic.

I feel like texting and driving as well as drinking and driving are both problems that our society today faces.  I honestly can’t even think of a way to fix these problems.  It will be interesting over the next few years to finally see how these issues are dealt with.  

My vent for the week

So I’m definitely having a rant this week.  I cannot wait for April 22^nd to be here.  My boyfriend being gone has taken a really big toll on me emotionally.  A lot in the beginning and here lately, all I want to do is cry.  He was the one person who made everything right (besides my momma of course) but not having him here is tearing me up.

It also bothers me when girls put on Facebook all the time how they miss their boyfriend because they haven’t spoken in 12 hours.  It’s ridiculous.  It takes so much in me not to flip on them.  I’ve gone 73 days since I’ve gotten to talk him.  And what’s worse is it’s not just 73 days not talking to my boyfriend, it’s 73 days of not talking to my best friend.   I think that’s why it’s been so hard for me here lately.  I need my best friend to vent to and I haven’t had that, so I’ve bottled things up to the point it’s making me sick.

His family has been such a great support for me.  His dad was in the Army (and while the Marines are a lot different) he went through 2 tours of duty so his mom is familiar with what I’m dealing with, along with a few other people.  They frequently check on me and we go get ice cream and such, but it’s still not him.  I don’t have his hugs to make everything better.  I can’t curl up on the couch with them and watch scary movies and eat ice cream. 

Another reason I think things have been so much harder for me lately is that I haven’t gotten a letter from him in 19 days.  For those of you who don’t really know much about Marine boot camp (I sure didn’t when we 

started dating) but they go through 13 weeks of intense training and a week before graduation they go through the Crucible.  This is 54 hours of simulated combat.  If they can make it through that, they will become a Marine.  Well Chris was originally scheduled to leave April 26^th for boot camp.  On January 22^nd he found out he would be leaving January 24^th.  We had 2 days to say our goodbyes.  We went from planning movie nights for the next week, to figuring out what he needed to take with him.  It was such a shock for me; I grew up never really having anyone in my immediate family in the military.  I never knew that the military does things on their own time.  So he left me January 24^th.  Over the past 2 almost 3 months I’ve gotten 6 letters from him.  The last one I received was dated March 13^th.  I think that’s what is killing me the most.  The guys in his platoon (he is in San Diego so every recruit out there is male, unlike Parris Island, which is male and female) go through the Crucible next week.  And to ensure he will get my letters, the last ones I can mail will be this week. 

But little does he know, I am going to his graduation.  I forgot to mention, his graduation falls on his 22^nd birthday.  He thinks I have tests and homework that week which would prevent me from being able to come.  He just thinks his parents and brother will be the only ones coming.  Well, I am going to go out with his family to see him graduate.  On top of that, his best friend and her husband are also going to be there to see it as well.  I write him every night before I go to bed and it’s so hard not to mention something about being out there.

I’ve just got to stay focused for 2 more weeks then I am home free.  He will get to come home for 10 days then he goes to 2 months of job training.  But I will be able to handle that because we will get to talk every weekend.  I will be sure to keep you all up to date about how graduation goes.  

Goodbye Jacksonville. I will miss you.

So for Spring Break this year I went to Jacksonville, Florida along with 12 other students from Southern, one student from Ozark Christian College, and two mentors on a mission trip.  This was the second year that I had went with the Koinonia Christian Campus Ministry and as amazing as last year was, I think this year was even better.  My week went like this. 

I woke up at like 5am Friday the 18^th so we could all meet at the Criminal Justice Building by 6 and we were on the road by 6:30am.  We took two 15 passenger vans, one belonging to the organization and the other borrowed from a local church.  I’m pretty sure we drove all day.  I can say the 7 (not counting the driver) of us in the van slept a substantial amount of the day.  We arrived in Tiftonia, Tennessee at like 7pm (we changed time zones) and we ate dinner and crashed.  We also woke up early the next morning to get back on the road.  By Saturday afternoon, we had made it to the North Florida Christian Service Camp in Keystone Heights, Florida.  This camp is absolutely beautiful.  It consisted of an office and recreation building that literally sat on the edge of a lake, as well as the Dottie Shaw worship building, cabins to sleep in, a pool and even a human foosball court.  We went and bought groceries and just spent that night getting settled at the camp.

On Sunday we woke up, had a small service on the beach of the lake and then went to the ocean!! We went to Little Talbott Island State Park and the beach was absolutely gorgeous.  We were there and I spent the entire time walking up and down the beach.  Between the people that went with me and myself, we found about 15 sand dollars that were over 85% intact.  I even got to touch a jellyfish.   That night we went to a seafood place not far from the beach (the chicken there was really good.)

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we spent working at the camp.  We were given 27 time consuming jobs and were not intended to finish all of them.  These jobs included painting the office, putting up porch spindles, cleaning the beach, raking leaves, clearing brush from the side of the road, putting up batton strips, dry walling the office, sheet rocking the office, fixing some plumbing and so on.  By Wednesday night, after working 9-5 days in the 90 degree Florida weather we completed every task we were given.  The director of the camp told us that the work we did in three days would’ve taken him several months.  At nights, we were allowed to enjoy the lake and just have some “us” time.

Then came Thursday.  This was my favorite day of the week.  We went into intercity Jacksonville and worked with their City Rescue Mission.  Any given night in Jacksonville there is at least 4,000 homeless people.  The  CRM’s goal is to help these homeless.  For some, they offer a Life-Building program where the person must be sober from whatever they are doing for 7 days before they can enter.  They are given a bed (for up to 900) and they are started in the program. The program is like almost every other except for 2 things: they do not take any government money and they teach about Jesus.  The program is cleaning the person up, showing them a new way of life, getting them back on their feet, and placing them in a stable job for at least 6 months before graduation.  It often takes 12-18 months to complete.  The success rate of nation organizations are about 25% and the CRM has a success rate of 87% and the one difference:  Jesus.  We were able to serve the entire day sorting clothes at the goodwill and serving food to homeless.  It was by far the most humbling experience in my entire life.

If anyone who reads this would like to join Koinonia Christian Campus Ministry, we meet on Tuesday nights in the Lions Den.  At 7:15pm we have a prayer time, 7:30pm – a free meal provided by an area church and at 8pm we start our worship.  It is one of the best things I could have ever gotten involved with on this campus.   

Putting a Flag at Half-Mast

So I was on Facebook Monday and my friend posted a status saying “thoughts on having flags at half-mast for Japan today?” and I knew this would be my blog for the week.  I waited until the day today to post my blog just so I could see how people responded.  Well, first of all, I just want to make it clear that the flags were NOT at half-mast on Monday due to the disasters in Japan, they were at half-mast to honor the passing of the World War I veteran, Frank W. Buckles.  And I found that on the Missouri Office of Administration’s website http://oa.mo.gov/fmdc/flagnotifications.htm  But some of the responses to this friend’s status include “What are we supposed to think about it? There are thousands of people dead and thousands more missing, we should be in mourning as human beings” or “I was wondering why they were like that today. I think it's good. People loving and caring for other people... the way the world was meant to be” along with “I also didn't mean to suggest that I don't care about the people involved in this disaster. I'm not at all saying that showing compassion for other human beings is bad. All I'm saying is that it sets a precedent. Anytime any country has a national disaster or war or really any kind of humanitarian crisis the U.S. should fly the flag at half-mast. To do otherwise would leave us open to accusations of favoritism” or even “it’s called the AMERICAN flag...not the world flag.”  The reason I chose this is I would like to see how people respond.  How do you feel (if it were the case) that America put their flags at half-mast for a disaster in another country???

My first thought, no.  I do not feel that putting an AMERICAN flag at half-mast would mean anything to the Japanese or any other country for that matter.  I mean, I totally understand wanting to honor and respect someone injured or lost but personally, I feel that doing something like that should be for Americans.

I know, I know, this really makes me sound like I’m some cocky, insensitive American girl who only thinks about her country and not others.  But here is the deal.  I feel like we need to invent a different way to acknowledge crises in other countries but still be able to have our own acknowledgement for Americans.  I am not saying that we should not acknowledge others but I feel like every country should have their own special way to acknowledge their country members and then a way to acknowledge those from other countries.   I feel like if we use the flag at half-mast for our citizens, that there be another form of recognition for people from other countries.  I’m not sure if it would be feasible or not but I think it is really something to consider.  

Nuclear Reactors

So it is no question that the earthquake in Japan is a big deal, but at the moment I really think their nuclear reactors are definitely a bigger deal.  When I first heard about these, I didn’t even know what a nuclear reactor was.  According the World Nuclear Association, “a nuclear reactor produces and controls the release of energy from splitting the atoms of certain elements…the energy released is used as heat to make steam to generate electricity.”  Components of a nuclear reactor include fuel, moderator, control rods, coolant, pressure vessel or pressure tubes, steam generator, and containment. 

ABC News posted an article titled “Emergencies at 5 Japanese Nuclear Reactors; Radiation Levels Spike at Most-Affected Site.”  According to the article, these reactors exploded after the earthquake which caused the cooling system to lose power.  Because of this, the level of radiation in the air was over 1,000 times what it normally was.  “Officials declared a ‘nuclear emergency’ at the plant (Fukushima Daiichi), about 200 miles northeast of Toyko, amid the cooling system failure after the No. 1 reactor lost power and automatically shut down.  Later, officials announced cooling ability also had been compromised at the second reactor at the site and in three of four reactors at the nearby Fukushima Daini plant.” 

Because of the dangers of these nuclear reactors, workers have been evacuated from the plants in fear of the amounts of radiation that has been released in such a short time.  Yahoo News reported “The level of radiation at the plant surged to 1,000 millisieverts early Wednesday before coming down to 800-600 millisieverts…Experts say exposure of around 1,000 millisieverts is enough to cause radiation sickness.”  Anywhere from 30-70 percent of the reactors at each of the plants have been damaged by the earthquake and tsunami.  The idea of this is absolutely terrifying.

Why do people rely so much on nuclear power plants to supply energy? There are definitely other sources out there that could and might possibly actually be better for people and the environment.  For instance, we could use solar power.  EHow explains solar power as “Solar panels create power in direct relation to their size, latitude and weather.  These panels convert sun into power and store it in batteries that can be used at anytime.”  We could also place windows and doors in proper places around houses and businesses that would help to heat and cool that location according to the temperature at the given time.  Another option is wind power.  Wind turbines generate the power.  The other option (also from EHow) is geothermal power that uses” water heated deep in the earth to the surface and utilizing the steam to power a generator.” 

Now, granted, I am no expert on the use of nuclear power plants as opposed to solar, wind or geothermal power.  I’ve done some research but I do not know a crazy whole lot about the situation.  But these are other options.  And with the situation that the Japanese are facing at the moment, it will interesting to see what happens to the future of these plants.  

Tired of Bad Publicity

“Charlie Sheen is all over the news this week because he's a rambling train wreck. Justin Bieber was all over the news because he got a hair cut. While Andrew Wilfahrt 31, Brian Tabada 21, Rudolph Hizon 22, Chauncy Mays 25, Christopher Stark 22, Kristopher Gould 25, David Fahey 23 are all soldiers who gave their lives this week with no media mention.” 

So this quote has been circulating around people’s Facebook statuses this week and I couldn’t agree with it more.  I am so sick and tired of hearing about overpaid celebrities who are going crazy or sharing every aspect of themselves for the world to know.  All of the publicity Charlie Sheen has received for saying things about the creator of the show that made him millions and getting that show cancelled is so boring.  I don’t care what he does with his life.  He is a human being and will live his life as he pleases.  I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t even know if one of us disappeared, so why are we going to sit here and judge every decision he chooses to make with his life?  Because of his ridiculous amounts of money, he instantly gets all the media coverage from everywhere.

There are men and women sacrificing their lives each and every day and our society is so stuck on money that they focus on where wealth is rather than the people giving up their lives so we can live ours freely.  If it weren’t for these men and women, Charlie Sheen would NOT have the opportunities to say the things he has to the people he did, he wouldn’t have a job where he makes something like $1.25 million an episode or something ridiculous like that; we wouldn’t be able to get outrageously expensive haircuts, we wouldn’t have any of those things.  I’m sick of seeing these things in the news. 

Now don’t get me wrong, death is a very depressing thing and it isn’t something we want to hear about all the time.  But here’s the thing, we should be acknowledging the lives these men and women spent and the good they have done.  Yes, the circumstances aren’t the greatest, but we should be spending the time and news coverage that has been devoted to people such as Charlie Sheen, to these men and women and their suffering families. 

I feel like in society today, we are so undeserving of the military we have been blessed with.  People like Charlie Sheen make me feel guilty for having people give their lives for our freedoms because all most Americans do is take these freedoms for granted.  He says bad things about the people who have helped to bring him to where he is today and then expects them to keep his show.  Who really cares.  Why don’t we instead focus on people sacrificing their lives for our safety and why don’t we give them the publicity they deserve.  

"No Child Left Behind" is starting to get left behind...

Everyone has their opinions about how situations in our society today are handled.  Being an education major, I feel that one topic that is brought up so often in my classes is the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.  This is a very heated argument among educators today.  According to Answers.com “The ‘No Child Left Behind’ law requires states to give students in grades 3-8 an annual test in reading and math.  In 10 years, all students are supposed to test as ‘proficient.’”  So this act was established to help give every student an equal opportunity at getting the same effective education as any other student. 

Well, published just today on Fox News was an article titled “82 percent of US schools may be labeled ‘failing.’”  In this article it plainly says “The Department of Education estimates the number of schools not meeting targets will skyrocket from 37 to 82 percent in 2011 because states are toughening their standards to meet the requirements of the law.”  According to Education Secretary Arne Duncan “This law has created a thousand ways for schools to fail and very few ways to help them succeed.” 

When the No Child Left Behind Act was first put into place in 2001 by then president, George W. Bush, I truly think he had the best intentions at heart.  The idea of opening the playing field to every student, regardless of race, gender, ethnic background, or disability was something unlike anything we had seen before.  But the act was very unpolished with gaps and little things that needed to be fixed about it. 

I love the idea of boosting test scores nationwide, I really do.  I’m just not sure that the No Child Left Behind Act was the way to do it, and by statistics, I think it’s starting to show that.  I think each region of the country or even each state needs to come up with a method for increasing these scores.  People in the Northeast live a completely different lifestyle than those in the Southwest, and their test scores are going to reflect that.

Another problem being that some students just do not do well on standardized tests.  I graduated with 375 students; I was in the top 12% of my class with a 3.89 GPA.  I took honors classes all through high school in almost every subject.  I could not do well on standardized tests at all.  I took the ACT 5 times and still was not satisfied with my score.  I don’t broadcast my score but let’s just say that the score I got, most people associate with the “dumb” kids (or so it was said in my high school.)  Whenever I took a standardized test, whether the ACT or the MAP test, I froze up. I couldn’t remember anything and I got super nervous.  I even went to tutoring for them to help my scores; it didn’t work. 

So forcing children to take a standardized test every year and expecting them to be in a certain range is not realistic.  And we can only hope that maybe there will be some revisions done to the No Child Left Behind act that could help make it a lot more realistic.  

Is it Possible for our Amendments to be stretched too far?

As Americans we are given so many freedoms that most countries dream of having.  The sad part of this is that we often times take these freedoms for granted.  Just this week the U.S. Supreme Court voted 8-1 in defending freedom of speech for the Westboro Baptist Church.  Now, the name “Westboro Baptist Church” may not sound too harmful, but when they have a website with the web address www.godhatesfags.com  that puts them in a totally different light.  Now right now their website is not running, from what I read, it has been hacked so they took it down.  But the short description of this church is lead by Fred Phelps and they picket gay and military funerals.  They carry signs saying “God hates the U.S.A.,” “Thank God for 9/11” and even “Thank God for Dead Soldiers.”  According to Yahoo News, the case started when the family of slain Marine, Matthew Snyder, sued the church “for intentionally inflicting emotional distress after they picketed at his funeral.” Also stated in the article, “As appalling as most Americans would find these protests, the Supreme Court in an 8-1 decision found that the picketers could not be successfully sued because the protests were protected by the First Amendment.”

Now the Supreme Court’s ruling wasn’t supporting what this man and his followers are saying and doing at these funerals but they are saying that it is their American right to do so.  Now, I completely do not agree with what this group of people is saying at all.  There are men and women dying every day for these people’s freedoms and how do they return the favor, they picket their funerals.  It’s actually rather frustrating to think about.  But Fox News published another interesting article titled “Why the Supreme Court Decision of Westboro Baptist Church Challenges Us All.”  The following statement came straight from the article.  “It would be far easier to ban the protests by Westboro, and certainly more comforting in the short term, at least.  But, it may be that the Supreme Court has done us all a favor by taking that easy road.  In making an unpopular ruling, they are offering us all an opportunity to strengthen those laws which keep it from being abused, and strengthen our commitments to each other both as citizens and as neighbors.”

That statement is absolutely true.  I am not saying this will be easy.  But if we do our best to stop reacting to the church’s decisions, we will stop fueling their fire as much as we have been.  And with resources such as the Patriot Guard Riders who put themselves between the family of the fallen and the picketers to try and help ease the family’s distress, we can severely narrow this group’s goals of upsetting these families more than they already have.  They were granted their freedom of speech, so we are also entitled to expressing our freedoms of speech as well.  As upsetting as the ruling was, it is fair.   But instead of complaining and being mad about it, we might as well just put our foot down when it comes to dealing with them.  Then we can show them how we really feel about expressing our sacred freedoms.   

Is Spring Break Really Worth Dying For?

Personally, my Spring Breaks do not involve partying, drinking, and sex with strangers but I do know so many people who do want to do that on their week off in the middle of the spring semester.  Some people do this within their town, some choose to travel hundreds of miles across the country and even to other countries as well.  Fox News posted a story to their website just this week titled “Dangers Lurk in Some Spring Break Destinations.”  After reading this article, I wouldn’t travel south of good ole Missouri even if you paid me.  

It’s no question that Mexico is definitely a hot spot for many Spring Breakers.  I mean, really, it would be so cool to spend a week with your best friends in a foreign country.  No curfew, no parents, no classes, it would be the life.  But I can truly say that if I hadn’t read this article for my blog, I would’ve never known the dangers some of these high school and college students are going to unknowingly get themselves into, and as bad as it sounds, some of these kids could not come home.

Some known hot spots for Spring Break include Acapulco, Mexico, Jamaica, South Padre Island, Texas, Mazatlan, Mexico and the infamous Cancun, Mexico.  All of these places, including South Padre Island, are facing some rough times with drug cartels and situations students from our sheltered country could never imagine.  In Acapulco, deaths by drug cartels increased 147 percent between 2009 and 2010.  In Jamaica, there is a line in the sand where the sand changes color and that’s the line Americans are not to cross.  Just past the resort side of the line (which is safe to Americans), anything goes on the other.  There is also a warning of people being raped by the hotel or resort staff.  South Padre Island is in the United States, but just a few miles south of it are two of Mexico’s most famous trafficking hub.  Most students probably don’t know that but they do know that alcohol is much cheaper there along with a younger drinking age, so those are the things that stand out more than the fact that they could die.  Mazatlan is home to the country’s deadliest drug cartel, the Sinaloa Federation, and they are killing people so often the bodies can be found on the streets.  In Cancun, probably one of the most popular places thanks to MTV, U.S. citizens can act like they are still in the states, but don’t have the consequences which can be disastrous.  The researchers also warn that the undertow can also be deadly.

So, I can safely say, I never knew ANY of this, at all, if I hadn’t read this article.  Spring Break is supposed to be a time of fun and relaxation with family or friends.  It’s scary that the world today has to now worry about being shot or raped or something like that.  As a college student, I feel like a matter this horrific should be addressed in schools before our Spring Break.  If students really knew what was going on, I know if I were considering travelling to Mexico, I would really think otherwise.  

The Future of Our Schools

Today’s society has become a really dangerous place.  Kids are being abused at home, bullied at school and because of these things; they are bringing the violence into the schools in even more ways.  Just today, a story came up on CNN News about a teacher being shot by a student.  At a California vocational school, a 22 year old young man went to the bathroom, came back and kicked the classroom door in and began firing.  His target was his instructor and the instructor was ultimately killed.  Stories like these seem to be popping up more frequently. 

And just last year, almost a year to the date, in Tacoma, Washington a Special Education teacher was shot outside the school by a man who was infatuated with her. CBS News tell us about 30 year old Jennifer Paulson was shot by a man she went to college with.  There was no history of any romantic relationship between the two, but the killer, Jed Waits, would call her repeatedly in a day, sent her roses and a bear, and even showed up to her school unannounced (she claimed she had never told him where she worked.)

There is also the case of Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado that unfortunately so many people recognize and know.  On April 20, 1999, Dylan Lebold and Eric Harris set a goal to kill hundreds in their high school with guns, knives and bombs.  They didn’t kill hundreds, but they did take the lives of twelve students and one teacher before they  killed themselves.  The young men had the massacre planned for close to a year before actually following through with it.  They used Internet sources to show them how to create these explosives and by the day of the attack, they had guns, knives and 99 explosive devices.  They set up a pipe bomb in the cafeteria, planning to kill all 488 students eating lunch (anyone who survived, they were going to shot) but for some unknown reason it did not go off.  It was said that in that the 47 minute ordeal, 188 rounds of ammunition was fired, 30 bombs exploded and 46 did not.  The men also planted bombs in their cars and at home but none went off.  So why do people feel the need to do this?

As a future teacher, this absolutely petrifies me to even begin to think about.  All three of these cases were sad and not completely explainable.  And I only picked three; there are hundreds upon hundreds of cases such as these that happen all of the country.  It seems to me that between media and bullying, these were some, if not all, of the causes as to why these students feel the need to do such a thing.  The media boasts violence in many aspects today and “if the media says it is okay then I can do it” seems to be the mind-set of younger children.  It scares me to imagine the future if these stories are already this bad right now.

Putting a Price on Love

So I know I am not the only person in the world to see all of the advertisements for online dating sites.  These sites claim to have everything from tips to meeting the person of your dreams to even being sites exclusively for talking to people with the intention of meeting our soul mate.  I decided to do some internet searching on online dating, so I went to Google and typed in the search box “how to meet the person of my dreams”, my results were pretty interesting.  I got anything from sites with books that insist that I need that specific book to find the person of my dreams, tips on how to act, and even sites offering to help.  According to one site, The Top 10 Ways to Meet the Woman/Man of your Dreams, the top ten ways to meet the person of my dreams are "joining a community group, smiling, updating your wardrobe, getting out of everyday routines, challenging yourself to meet new people, approaching people, going to the gym, online dating, being unique and putting ideas into action."  According to the site, these are the exact things someone needs to do to meet the person of their dreams. 

On the other hand, Ehow.com also claims to have everything someone would need to meet their special someone.  How to Meet the Man of your Dreams consists of thinking about what you want in a life partner, making a list of qualities that are important to you, joining an online dating site, creating a profile that would make you proud, and meeting matches in public places.  These are mostly centered around the idea of online dating.  How to Meet the Woman of your Dreams is just a little bit longer.  The steps include getting to know yourself first before meeting her or talking to her, taking a journal to write down notes about what comes to mind for your future, talking to someone trusted about the special lady, meditate on what you learned and decide what qualities are most important to you, find the hobbies that she does, look at all the notes you’ve taken and figure out exactly what this perfect lady is like, make two lists – one with the most important qualities and one of the places she would go, and make it a point to visit those places at least once a week.  Now, the list for men to find their women was definitely different than the women’s list to find their men.  It just goes to show how every site really thinks they know what’s best.

So this may make some of you laugh, but I decided to try the online dating (yes, I am extremely happy with my boyfriend, I just said on it that I was looking for friends,) so I went to Match.com to try this out.  I made a profile two days ago and didn’t touch it until tonight.  When I went on the site it informed me that I had 43 people view my profile, 27 people were interested and 1 even “winked” at me.  So it gave me the option to see who was interested so I clicked on it.  The only way to see these people one might ask? Yep, I was going to have to subscribe to their site.  And subscribing, a minimum of 6 months for $17.99.  So all of these places tell us to try online dating and what do they do, charge to use their site.  I just don’t feel it’s right to put a price on love.  

All That Money for One Day?!?

So recently my boyfriend and I have talked about getting married and all that fun stuff.  Well, after we talked about it, me being the planner that I am, I started looking into a venue, a photographer, the dress, the cake, the flowers and all the other goods that anyone would need for a wedding.  I am a one of those girls who has had my wedding picked out and planned for as long as I can remember, but I can honestly say I never knew how expensive it was to get married. 

First we have to pick somewhere to get married.  I narrowed it down to two places but neither one is cheap.  I was raised in the church so I want somewhere that will reflect that.  Integrity Hills has the cross in the window frame but Stonegate Glass Chapel is just absolutely gorgeous.  As well as picking a place, we have to find a photographer that will be there with us.  I’m from Lebanon, he is from Neosho, and the venues we’re looking at are in Branson so if we are going to pick someone we know to take pictures they are going to have to travel as well. 

Then there is the dress.  My mom and I LOVE watching “Say Yes to the Dress” and we watch it all the time.  It wouldn’t surprise me if every girl’s dream was to get a dress from Kleinfeld’s Bridal in Manhattan, but I have to live in reality.  I cannot spend a minimum of $2000 like the dresses at Kleinfeld’s.  I couldn’t imagine spending that much on my dress alone.  It’s unreal for a girl from little Lebanon, MO to first be able to travel to New York, then to pay for the dress.  So for a dress, it looks like my choices are David’s Bridal, Norman’s or ETC Bridal in Lebanon.

And then there’s the cake.  My ideal cake would be four boxes alternating on top of each other.  The bottom layer would be marble.  The third layer would be white.  The second layer would be chocolate.  And the top layer to be red velvet.  I’m not sure what I want for the decorations or even the colors.  I’m stuck between something black and red or black and pink.

But then for my flowers, if I get my absolute favorite flowers, I have to go with black and pink.  I told my mom want kind of flowers I wanted and she looked at me like I was crazy.  Ever since our first date, my boyfriend randomly buys me flowers, just because.  I think every time but once he has gotten me pink Stargazer Lilies and if they aren’t that, they are pink roses.  Those have really just become our flowers and it’s kind of hard to imagine getting married without them.

I know, these aren’t all the expenses that are needed for a wedding. I’m also missing tuxedos, bridesmaid dresses, the rings, food, and a whole lot more.  But it’s just scary to think about all of the things that really go into a wedding.   As a little girl, I never thought it would be that hard to plan a wedding but now that the time is closer, these are all things I have to start thinking about.  

Who Are we Really Letting Adopt Children Today?

Foster children are usually placed in foster homes for all sorts of reasons, but with that, each child has their own story.  According to Child Welfare, as of September 30,2008, there were approximately 463,000 children in the United States that were in a foster home. With this many children in foster care, how much do we really know about all the families that these children stay with? Do we know if the parents are stable? As for 10 year old twins, Victor and Nubia and their adoptive parents Jorge and Carmen Barahona, we really didn’t know all the details.

According to CNN, Victor and Nubia were placed with the Barahona family in 2004 and Florida’s Department of Children and Families was called to the home several times but they could never find reason to take the children back.  Well, Monday morning Jorge Barahona’s truck parked on the  side of the interstate with Barahona and Victor covered in chemicals and Nubia dead in the back.  Jorge “told police he was distraught over the death of his daughter and had intended to commit suicide by dousing himself with gasoline and setting himself afire, the affidavit said. Barahone said he didn’t go through with his suicide plan because his son was with him, the document added.”  According to Fox News, Barahona also taped the shower curtain to the wall and burned the boy with acid.  The boy also had “previous evidence of torture all over his body: a fractured clavicle and arm, scarring on his lower abdomen and buttocks and ligature marks on his wrists, implying that this 10 year old child had been tied up like an animal, straining to break free.”  With stories like this, it makes me really question some of the families these children are placed with.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not by any meaning saying that every foster family treats their children like these parents.  I have family members who are foster parents as well as friends who were placed in foster homes.  But this is by no means an acceptable lifestyle for any human being to live.  How could the Florida Department of Children and Families not know that something was wrong?  They had received several calls over the years about issues at the home but they never could find anything wrong.  They even got a call on a weekend but said that they don’t work weekends.  And just a few days after that call, they found Nubia dead.  Just because they “don’t work weekends” doesn’t mean that they could just blow off these children.  These are lives we are talking about, and helpless children nonetheless.  It really floors me to think that the social workers put off the case until a day they worked.  There is a good chance that they could have saved Nubia’s life; but now we will never know.  I really hope that this article is a wake-up call to the many social workers out there and not putting off their cases until a week day, especially if something doesn’t seem right.  

The End of the World

The end of the world; anyone and everyone have their own opinions on the matter.  Will it be 2012, 2029, 2036, 2182 or any other year?  Well, today on Fox News an article was posted that was titled “Doomsday Determined? Asteroid Apophis Could Strike Earth in 2036.” Russian scientists are now predicting that the asteroid Apophis will hit Earth on April 13, 2036. This website also has an article posted July 28, 2010 titled “Scientist Warns Massive Asteroid Could Hit Earth in 2182.”  These are both added to the numerous suspicions that the world is going to end December 2012.  Why is it everyone thinks they can predict when the world ends?

It seems like everyone just wants to be able to put a time stamp on their life.  Like it’s better for them to know when their time on Earth is done so they can try to get everything they want done before that day.  Personally, I don’t want to live my life on a clock.  We don’t know how long we are given, so why put a time restraint on it? Why not just live?

Whenever scientists talk about “Doomsday” of whatever sort it may be, people automatically freak out.  But then if people aren’t notified when something like this is projected, they freak out.  So either way, people aren’t going to stay calm.  The scientists also try to calm fears by saying that the odds of it hitting Earth are 1-in-250,000 and that’s if it actually hits Earth.  They are also saying that it will probably disintegrate before it gets to the planet.  But honestly, how does knowing that a 900 foot long asteroid is barreling towards Earth calm anyone’s fears?

The other big talk is the world ending in 2012.  There has really just gotten to be some absolutely crazy ideas as to how this will happen.  The website is www.december212012.com and what it does is give everyone reasons why and how the world will end that “fateful” day.  Some of these disasters that are predicted to take place in North America include a 40-mile-long mudslide in Washington state, an 80-ft-high tsunami on the Atlantic Coast, a 6.9 magnitude earthquake in the Mississippi River Valley, a 195 MPH hurricane in Florida, and climate changing ocean disruptions in the North Atlantic.  There are also speculations that the magnetic poles are going to shift which will cause worldwide superstorms. 

It is so easy to sit here and guess how we’re all going to die.  Whether it is by mudslide, tsunami, earthquake, hurricane, or magnetic pole shifts, it is going to happen.  It’s just a matter of time.  And honestly, I do not want to just sit here and guess what is going to be the final factor that ends my life.  It is depressing and slightly ridiculous. Rather than sitting here and wondering, I just want to live my life for the moment, rather than always trying to guess when my last day is.  It isn’t fun and it just wastes the time we have already been given.