Mexican's

A few weeks ago, in class someone mention something that got under my skin. To avoid an argument or a debate I kept quiet; but figured I write about it instead. We were talking about ethnic groups that day and therefore she made her comment in regards to my race. The term “Those Mexican’s”, doesn’t bother me most of the time because I am very proud of being Mexican. However, most people use it in a derogatory manner and therefore it pisses me off! Not to mention, how do you know they are “Mexican?” Stereo types are a thing of the past (for me at least.) Not to mention that they are not 100% accurate! Let me remind you that Latin America is composed by 20 countries. So, you can’t assume that someone who “looks" Latin is automatically “Mexican.” You can’t call someone Chinese just because they “look” like one, right? They could be Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, etc. So, next time if you aren’t sure what they are just call them Latino or Hispanic. To prove my point, the picture I provided has four people in it… Could you pick out which of the four is Mexican?

I recently found out about a new “legal” drug that is used every day by many people and it could possibly be worst than some illegal drugs. It’s called Herbal Incents and technically they are supposed to be used as incents but people smoke it. After I did a little bit of research about this I found out that it is called “spice” and apparently it makes you feel high for a short period of time. Throughout my research I found out that when you smoke spice the chemical JWH-073 and JWH-018 enter your body. You could compare this to marijuana by saying that there is THC in it. But JWH-073 and 018 could cause seizures, agitation, vomiting, and jitteriness if you consume a large amount at one time. THC does not cause any of these symptoms at any amount of consumption. Spice also has been shown to cause symptoms of addiction in many everyday users. Spice is a legal substance and it is sold in many different areas of the country. You could buy it from head shops and a lot of gas stations. There is a gas station near my house in Columbia that sells it. Although it is legal, smoking or consuming it in any other way is Illegal. I don’t understand how the law could get any stupider. How could u sell 1 gram of Herbal Incents for 30 dollars?? It is obvious that everyone knows that no one uses this to make their house smell good… so my question is how is marijuana illegal when drugs like spice are legal and it has a lot more harmful effects on a person’s body than marijuana would have.

Thank You Cards: Not Just for Salad Anymore!

When did it become acceptable not to say thank you for acts of kindness. A simple thank you can really go a long way. Saying thank you doesn't take a lot of effort and it typically makes people feel good about themselves. The problem with our society now is that we put too many limitations on thank you(s). The criteria for receiving a thank you should be reevaluated and expanded, so more people can receive the thank you(s) they deserve.

With this notion in mind, I think Hallmark should have a section dedicated to Thank You cards for sex. Just think how many trips to court could be saved if people could get a thank you card for their "services". One night stands no longer have to awkward, because a Thank You card could remove all of those weird feelings. What better way to show that you appreciate someone lowering their standards for the night, than a Thank You Card.

Sample contents from the new Thank You Card:

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

I never had anyone give it up,

Quite like you.

It wasn't my best performance,

But cut me some slack,

I thought you were trying to kill me,

The way you were throw'n it back.

The whole costume thing,

I thought it was wrong,

But since it was our 1st time,

I just played along.

Before it got too weird,

You made it all fine,

Because when I asked, Who's was it?

You said it was mine.

I used my go to moves,

And you tried some things new,

Either way our weird sex was amazing,

And I just wanted to say....

THANK YOU!

Capital punishment

Capital punishment and life without parole are the two most severe forms of punishment in today’s society. Capital punishment is the legally authorized killing of someone for punishment of a crime. Life without parole is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime that commits the convicted person to remain in jail for the remainder of their life with no chance of parole. Parole is when a person is released from prison to end the maximum sentence proposed. Capital punishment has been a one of the largest social issues in the United States, its practice and use causes large commotions due to human rights activists. Over times, the American public has favored the punishment in cases of murder, however there has always been a strong opposing force against the movement. . Those two restrictions consist of a person under the age of 18 can never be sentence to death, along with anyone who is mentally retarded, i.e. someone with an IQ below 70. The death penalty honors human dignity by treating the defendant as a free moral actor able to control his own destiny for good or for ill; it does not treat him as an animal with no moral sense.

Life without parole is the second harshest punishment our government can sentence a convicted person to. Life without parole is a sentence that denies the possibility of parole, condemning the convict to spend the remainder of his or her life imprisoned. Supreme court ruled that sentencing minors to life without parole for crimes other than murder violated the Eighth Amendment’s ban on “cruel and unusual punishment”. Life without parole is generally a mandatory sentence for first degree murder in states without the death penalty.

Capital punishment versus life without parole, both two very extreme forms of punishment. One, being sentenced to death by the government for crimes committed. The other, a life with no hope; one where the convicted person is confined to a jail cell for the rest of his natural life. The governments have choices in which to choose. However, the matter should be a national decision instead of a state one. This might put slightly less doubt in anyones minds.

what the hell are we doing...

... to our own body by eating junkfood, for todays blog i would like to talk about junk food and what it does to us, i really dont see the point of eating junk food all the time. i have seen people eat nachos, potato chips, chocolate bars, popcorn, fruity twists and all similar junk food as their lunch or dinner. to eat a pack of chips while watching a movie or something like that is understandable but to let it replace our meal is a very horrible thing to do to our own body, and our stomachs lets us know that almost immediately. but considering todays world, i guess we cannot escape from the junkfood. i also consider all fast food to be very unhealthy. even though i eat quite alot of junkfood myself, i do feel guilty right after. another very popular junkfood is softdrinks. which i also drink. every time i drink a softdrink, i make sure i drink enough water to wash it away with the least amount of damage.

the following i consider junkfood:

all potato chips

all chocolate bars

licorice

twists

soft drinks

twinkies

anything you buy from mcdonalds/kfc/popeyes/burgerking/wendy's and all similar fast food chains

with all that being said, we only live once so i guess we should just eat what we want :)

Where do we go when we die?

This is a very hard question for some who does not even want to talk about it or think about it, but it is inevitable. Once everybody is born, it is the beginning of the journey. No difference from trips we take. From home to school, to work, to see friends. Means it has an end. Our life on earth also has an end.

If I back to my question "where do we go when we die?" some think or talk about it or may approach it from different angles. They may have to give explanations according to their traditions (I will back to this talking about my culture), they may explain it from religions, beliefs, what they think sounds better and make the comfortable ....

In my culture when someone die we say that "he/she has been called by God" but is it true? May be I should be the one to give the answer. I think it is a way to console or make the rest of the family feel better. Some says that even we will see our beloved one dead. Is there a life after this?

I will not give an answer to this question because i don't have one. But what I think is, that when we die it is over, and my suggestions to every one should be to do best when we still can, at least so that people could still remembers from our works. Still "Where do we do when we die?"

Diarrhea of the mouth?

My new favorite show has quickly become Modern Family. This show makes me belly laugh out loud. I love the fact that this show illustrates the diversities in the American culture. This show became a topic of conversation at work this week. I was very surprised that many of my co-workers were very offended by the stereotypes that are portrayed in this show. The show does exaggerate the family dynamics of very stereotypical relationships, but that’s what makes this show hilarious. A patient overheard our conversation and commented how disgusted she was with the “gay couple” raising a little girl. I didn’t understand how she could be so vocal about such a controversial issue. What if our family members or friends were gay men raising children?? And why would you bring this issue up in such a public setting? I don’t know if people are that crazy or just that unaware of their situation. The American population is so diverse, gay, lesbian, transgender etc.. There are always going to be those who disagree with those who challenge diversions from the norm of society, but what happened to respect for diversity. At the end of the day everyone is still a human being regardless of their race, color, gender, sexual orientations, religion etc. Some people will argue freedom of speech, which I agree that we should be able to voice our opinion. But please voice your opinion in a respectful manner. I cant imagine what it is like to be gay or lesbian and hear such derogatory comments . So please think before you speak.

Caring for our Elderly

Recently in one of my classes we were discussing the elderly and how different cultures care for them, or fail to in some cases. It is a topic that really gets to me because it amazes me to see the lack of respect and compassion, some people show toward our elderly. Elderly care, has been a hot topic in recent years, nursing home vs. home care.

I fail to understand how people today think it is okay to shove our elderly away, to be visited once a month, and forgotten the rest of the time. These are people who dedicated the best years of their life to provide for us, care for us, and make us into productive human beings. Yet when they reach old age instead of providing and supporting them, and showing appreciation for what they did for us, we are brushing them aside, as if they were disposable.

People today rationalize their behavior, by asserting that the fast paced society that we live in does not allow the time needed to care for the elderly. People are busy with their own families, their careers, that the elderly become an afterthought. It’s inconceivable to think that we are so self-involved as to not realize the value our parents and grandparents have in their old age.

Working in an ER, has opened my eyes to several things, one of them being the atrocities our elderly suffer at the hands of nursing homes. I’ve seen folks come in having sat in their filth for hours or even days, with bedsores and developing infections, alone and depressed, living their last days within the confines of four walls and among people they don’t know.

On the other hand, I have seen the elderly taken care of by family. They still live a productive life, surrounded by the people that love them. Their opinions matter, their advice is still received. When they pass, they will do so surrounded by people that love them, and not alone in an unknown place far removed from the warmth and comfort of family.

*Image borrowed from Senior Women's Health

HCC Security

I think the HCC security officers are completely rude, and unprofessional. Last year spring semester around March my acting class was performing our midterms, and like most theater students we had props. There were seven of us, and two of my friends performed scenes where they needed alcohol bottles. So, we were sitting in the café, and my two friends took out the alcohol bottles so that they could put them in their backpacks. One was a Jack Daniels bottle with coke in it, and the other was a wine bottle with water in it. We just so happen to be sitting next to HCC plant workers, and of course they thought that we had alcohol on campus. Security approached us saying that there were reports of alcohol drinking in the café, and asked us if we had seen anyone. We of course said no because we had no idea they were talking about us. One of the security guards jumped forward, and said it was your table that was drinking we saw you. This sounded insane to us so we explained to them we were all theater students, and we had a midterm. The rude security guard that accused us started telling us this was a misdemeanor, and yelling at us as if we were really drinking on campus. I said please stop screaming at us we were not drinking you can smell the bottles if you want, and of course they told us it was still illegal to have bottles on campus. The security guard started to fill out an incident report, and we were all pissed because we were getting in trouble because we were theater students with props. They asked for all of our ideas, and my one friend didn’t have hers so they rudely escorted her off campus. This was a ridiculous incident for the security guards to make a big deal about, and they were rude as hell about it. I had a hold on my account for 3 months because of the incident. Security guards need to stop worrying about little incidents on the campus, and start worrying about bigger things like sexual assaults on campus.

Is he REALLY the criminal?

On September 21, Troy Davis was executed at the state prison in Jackson, GA. Davis was arrested on suspicion of murder of a police officer, Mark MacPhail at a Burger King in Savannah, GA in 1989, and was sentenced to death in 1991.

However, he kept denying the crime of killing a police officer consistently for 22 years. According to The Guardian, British national daily newspaper interviewing with Thomas Ruffin, Davis’ lawyer, 7 out of 9 witnesses who pegged him as the criminal, changed their witnesses. Ruffle mentioned that one of the witnesses said the one who shot the police was not Davis, but a man named Sylvester Coles. Another witness witnessed that he heard Coles saying “I killed MacPhail, but Davis was accused wrongly” three times.

In this situation, Davis’ execution had delayed for three times. Millions of people signed on the petition, filed by Amnesty International to appeal for his innocence, and Pope Benedict XVI, Jimmy Carter, former U.S. President, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize winner campaigned to save his life. There were massive demonstrations as well, but the U.S. Supreme Court did not change their judgment.

Davis insisted on his innocence until before the poison injected. Also on the scaffold, he was sorry for the MacPhail family’s loss but said he was not personally responsible for the death of their son, father and brother. Also, Davis told the prison staff, "May God have mercy on your souls. May God bless your souls."

This execution has served as a momentum for abolishment of death penalty. After the execution, Michael Moore, a famous documentary director, declared the boycott against the state Georgia, and Amnesty International also supported abolishing the death penalty.

What do you think about the death penalty of Mr. Davis? Do you think that he deserved to be put to death? or was it just wrong?

Where is the sex offender?

Has anyone taken a look at the Maryland Sex Offender Registry lately? If not, you should (http://www.dpscs.state.md.us/sorSearch/). There is a link you can click to show you sex offenders that attend Maryland institutions of higher education. Let me start off by saying that I believe everyone should have a right to education no matter what their circumstances are. However, HCC didn’t tell the students that there is a Level 3 sex offender that attends school here. I understand that when you fill out the application for HCC it doesn’t ask questions about criminal background history, but I do know that HCC is fully aware of his attendance. After some thorough research, I came across the Camus Crime Annual Report which states “Sex offenders are required to register at the college’s security office prior to registering for any course or program at HCC”. If that is the case then why does HCC fail to inform us? Students are constantly bombarded with emails from Llatetra Brown in Student Life about things that I am sure about 80% don’t care about. They found it necessary to tell us about the student with a case of non-contagious tuberculosis, so why not spare one email to tell students about the rapist they’re attending school with. HCC has a page for the campus security loaded with information about safety, security escorts, safety hazard awareness and even a PDF of the campus crime reports and all of the incident forms from recent years. But, it still plagues the question; why no word of the sex offender? Sex offenders have rights just like everyone else. But, if they are forced to register and their presence is made known in the neighborhood they reside in. A lot of things can be taken into consideration. Maybe they’re afraid of people seeking him out. Maybe they’re afraid of student chaos. Does anyone agree with me? Does anyone feel that it is HCC’s duty to inform us about a sex offender attending this school?

Parent-Teen (child) Relationship

Does the title “mom” or “dad” entitle that individual to do and/or say anything to their child/children without any retaliation from them? Does the title “child” give that individual the right to be entitled to a continued education, certain clothes, etc.? Of course there exist certain actions and things to be said from a parent that should definitely go uncontested. For example, a mom and/or dad should enforce that their child does their homework or clean their room. And of course a child should be given clothes by their parent[s] and receive food from them as well. But what about the large gray area that surrounds parent-child relationships. For example, should a child who is between 16-19 and is living with their parents still, working, and going to school have to pay for certain things in the house? Should a parent be able to enforce a specific amount of money from their child every month for food, cable, internet or rent and have it go uncontested? Should a child be entitled to certain clothes because they are their child, or should this be based off of merit? Meaning, should I receive clothes from my favorite clothing line versus whatever my mom chooses to give me because I am her son and therefore deserve it; or should I have to “earn” them in her eyes. Just because a child turns 18, should a parent stop providing necessities and freedoms for that child?

This topic intrigues me because though our society in general is diverse, our class specifically is very diverse- infused with different cultures, ethnicities, ages and (more relatable to the topic at hand) parents and children- therefore there should be a multitude of opinions. Personally I do not believe a child should have to pay for certain things in the house. I do not think that it should be mandated that just because they are working a child should have to pay for the cable bill, the electric bill or rent in general- as long as they are doing “what they are supposed to be doing” (going to school, working, staying out of trouble, etc.). That being said, I believe that if a child would want to have a car, he/she should pay their own insurance and gas. Children at a reasonable age, deemed by their parent[s], should pay for their own extended freedoms, like cell phones for example. In addition I, unlike many other children, believe that you should earn certain privileges, like specific clothes or the ability to avoid paying for their insurance, cell phone bill, etc. by getting good grades, showing respect at home and consistently staying out of the way trouble. What should be the basis of a parent-child relationship?

When Puberty Starts Too Soon

For this week’s blog, I want to talk about precocious puberty occurring in little girls. Precocious puberty means having the signs of puberty earlier than usual. It is never easy to be at the age around 13 because the kids are experiencing physical changes. It was at least predictable that little girls would slowly begin the transition to teen years around after age of 11 or 12. However, some studies show that American girls are hitting puberty earlier these days than they did just a decade ago. I do not think it is only happening in America. I see many little girls in Korea with developed breast, having first menstruation, rapid growth in their early ages.
I think the childhood obesity is one of the leading factors because fat can produce sex hormones. Along with fatty tissue that may increase sex hormones, agricultural hormones found in meat and dairy products are also problems. My boyfriend and I often talk about using plastics in our daily life. He is very sensitive about using plastics for food. He always says that it may not bring any harm on me but might bring negative influence on babies. Those industrial chemicals block or interfere with the function of hormones. There may be other environmental factors as well but what is so clear about this issue is that it is becoming a serious.
No matter what the causes are, being different from their peers may be the most stressful issue for little girls. They may be teased, and may have self-esteem problems. Girls may enter into dating and sexual activity earlier as well. If these problems occur, I think it is essential to help them through the difficult time and let them understand that everyone will go through the same changes. Some studies even show that there may be a relationship between early puberty and high risk breast cancer. This topic may be easily ignored because not many people are aware of it. However, I think it is an important problem in some parts of the world.
Do you consider it as a serious problem or just a trivial issue?

making an ASS(out of)U(and)ME.

         I spent a great portion of my day today with my boyfriends brother. We lived together in their family house for about a year together needless to say he is my one of my really close friends. I always find it funny when we go ut because people assume we are together. Even recently someone reported back to my boyfriend that i was out with "some other white dude". Of course he knew it was his brother so no harm no fowl. My issue is that people do not take the time to ask before they jump to conclusions. I also hear people say that guys and girls can not be friends THIS IS FALSE! What got us to this point where being friends with the opposite sex automatically means someone is going to fall in love or atleast they are have casual sex<----not cool. I think because parents for so long have been shying away from talking about sex a lot of the younger generaation are left to figure it out on our own. When puberty strikes no one is there to explain the changes which leads to a lot of mistakes made in a series of one night stands throughout young adulthood trying to figure it out. With that said I do think it is possible to deny the temptation or not experience any at all for that matter.
          This notion of guys and girls not being able to be friends without sexual or emotional tention could also stem from curiosity, and not knowing how things would work out when a pair becomes friends. Or, the pressure from everyone else saying you and a friend would be a good couple or you "look good together".  push you together. Am I the only person who is annoyed by this assumption? Or, do you agree with this mentailty?

Teenage pregnancy

In this blog I want to discuss teenage pregnancy. This issue is very old problem and although there is sex education in schools now, it is still problem. lots of the early pregnancies are unplanned. Here some sad statistics: 70% of pregnancies end in abortion (very often - in the later stages),15% - miscarriages, 15% - giving birth. What is early pregnancy? Early or teenage pregnancy is considered to be state of pregnancy in teenage girls age 13 to 19 years. Teenage girls often have sex because of the desire "to be no worse than others". Another cause is promotion of sex on TV. According to the survey, only one third of sexually active teenagers use condoms
Very often girls do not know that that they are pregnant until it is too late. Their first reaction is shock and panic. They don’t believe that it happened. At early age it is hard for girls to deal with new problem. They become depressed. They do not know if they have to keep a child or not. It is very important to have someone a girl can trust, like mother, but girls often afraid to tell parents and problem becomes worse.
Teenage pregnancy has some risks for health, but I believe social risk is even worse. Pregnant girls often face condemnation from community. Because of early pregnancy girls drop out of school, and risking their future career.
So how to prevent teenage pregnancy? I believe the biggest influence is TV. For instance, there is a TV show “Teenage Mom” on “MTV” channel. Maybe show authors wanted to show the problems that teenage mom faces and thought that the show will help teenagers to avoid early pregnancy, but I think the effect was opposite. Teenage girls watch the show and they think that if they become pregnant they can be famous. Also if something is shown on TV it is considered normal, so because of this show many girls think that teenage moms are normal. There are some other shows that even worse, e.g. when girls watch “Kendra” they dream to get to “Playboy” show and become rich and famous.
So unless TV changes and stops telling our children that teenage sex is normal, teenage pregnancy will be always the problem.

Designer babies????

Today, people are so into the new technology that it is getting out of hand. The new advanced, medical care is getting way more advanced. I know when it comes to having a baby the parents of that child want him or her to be just like them. They want their child to have their physical features. But, when it comes to regular child development not all the physical characteristics can be accomplished. If the two parents are brown eyed children when they were born with brown eyed parents, and they want a blue eyed child it is close to impossible. This is due to their gene information and background. It is rare to all of a sudden produce a blue- eyed baby when it comes to this circumstance. Today, doctors and scientists say that they can make “designer babies”. They are on the way of creating the perfect child for the parents. We have the ability to change genes using the human genome. It is not 100 percent possible right now, but we are getting pretty close to doing this. We have technology that screen embryos for genetic disorders and see if there are any healthy embryos. We even have in some countries doctors using technology to get rid of female babies. It can be said that the technology of today is getting really close. “Designer babies” are genetically engineered by artificial selection of the genetic make up. Parents can choose the eye, skin, hair color, and gender of the baby. They can also choose if their baby will be intelligent, beautiful, tall, short, etc. It seems nearly perfect. But, when thinking more into the process this “thought” will have negative effects on society. “Designer babies” are another scary idea for a scientific movie on the Sy Fi channel. Usually, in those types of movies scientists go out of their way to come up with something that will save man kind. Instead, towards the middle of the movie they realize something as went wrong in their research. If genetic engineering of genes comes forth we might have dilemma on our hands. Biodiversity itself will be harmed. Future races might just be one certain characteristic. Population of certain racial and ethnic groups might decrease. It can cause hatred towards foreigners. It is another way of playing God. Babies are made to have what they were produced to have. Nothing should be modified to someone else’s liking. It’s just crazy and unethical to even suggest something too extreme as this.