Muslim For 30 Days

Earlier this week, I watched a show called 30 Days. The show is made by someone named Morgan Spurlock. He put himself or other people, in an unfamiliar situation for 30 days to experience life from a difference perspective. The show that I saw was called Muslim for 30 days where a christian family man went to live with a Muslim family. Before he left for the airport, he had to dress like a Muslim man and follow every aspect of the culture including growing a beard and studying the Koran daily. He experienced discrimination starting at the airport where he was stopped and searched and had to endure constant stares during the whole experiment.

while watching this show, I realized that Americans have a lot of misconceptions about the Muslim culture. Some Americans have this preconceived notion that all Muslims are violent and hateful but that is far from the truth. In fact, the Muslim faith is based on five pillars which are: Faith, Prayer, Fasting, Pilgrim to Mecca and Charity. The terrorists that they are often associated with are only a small percentage of Muslims whose actions are not at all condoned by the majority.

I think it is both sad and wrong that it has somehow become ok in this country, for people of Middle Eastern decent to be prosecuted. Some Americans justify this behavior by using the unfortunate events of 9/11. Hitler along with his Army, persecuted Jews and killed hundreds of thousands of them. African Americans were used as slaved, lynched and discriminated against by White people for many years. Jews and African Americans realized that the unspeakable acts of the few are not a reflection of the race as a whole so why can't Americans do the same?

The aspect of religion has also been brought into the picture because the terrorist claim to do it in the name of Allah. There have been several people in the United States in the past that have killed supposedly in the name of religion. Saying that god told them to do it. In those instances, people saw the perpetrators as crazy and would never think to persecute all Christians because of it.

The fact of the matter is that we don't choose where we are born or what people from our country do. People should think a little more for themselves and think about how their actions effect others.

Dog Killer Police

Starting about two summers ago, I had a job at a law firm where my main responsibility was digitally archiving closed cases. Several of the cases involved police brutality. After reading several gruesome scenarios in which people had been beaten and beaten to death by police, I asked my boss more questions about the cases. He often noted that those were the hardest cases to win.

Incidents such as the Rodney King beating, the murder of Amadou Diallo, and several senselessly violent SWAT raids have brought the issue of police brutality to the table of discussion. While cases of police beating people absolutely still occur, police departments try to maintain good reputations by learning from the lessons because of well publicized mishaps. Citizen watchdog group Cop Watch serves as a way to report police misconduct. But one issue remains unchanged and largely unspoken: that police are killing dogs.

I first began to realize this problem in the summer of 2008 when the mayor of my neighboring town, Berwyn Height, MD, had his dogs killed in a SWAT raid. A package of marijuana was shipped to his address, but it was supposed to be intercepted by a drug dealer long before it had arrived in Maryland. Prince George's County Sheriff Michael Jackson did a very poor investigation and ordered a no knock warrant for a raid of mayor Chavo's house. They did not realize that he was the mayor, they did not realize that his 80 year old mother was home, and they did not realize that the marijuana was not supposed to arrive at his house anyways. The first thing the officers did upon entering was gun down the mayors dog and throw his mother on the floor, in handcuffs.

Only a few short months ago, I read a story of a SWAT raid in Missouri that was all to similar. Police produced a search warrant for a man suspected of selling marijuana. They waited a week to carry out the operation and failed to do any further research before doing so. They busted in at night, when the mans 7 year old child was asleep in the house. They shot the family dog before searching the house, only to find "less than a gram" of marijuana.

And again, just last month a cop shot a woman's pitbull and threw it down a staircase because it had a minor altercation with another woman's dog. The department offered no apology. Why has our "tough-on-crime" trend in this country grown to the point that cops can bust into anyones house and kill their dogs? It is inhumane, it is unjust, and it happens more and more every year. Police departments and officers must be able to be held accountable for the murders they commit.

The Amazon Rainforest

The Amazon Rainforest covers billions of acres and is home to millions of species and resources that help shape the world as we know it. Thousands of acres are destroyed each year to make room for the expansion of farmland so Brazil can increase its beef export. For every 1/4 pound of meat that comes from the Amazon, 55 acres were destroyed. The Amazon used to be the biggest most vivacious rainforest in the world but has rapidly started losing its size and species due to many causes. Many farmers are poor and will do anything to expand their land to help export more meat and make a better living. They get land that is usually given to them by the government, then they strip the land of trees and burn the rest. Did you know there is a difference between a man made fire and one that occurs naturally and how it affects the rainforest? Natural fires do strip the ground, shrubbery and small trees, but they do not normally grow big enough to destroy the canopies and vines, which are home to several thousands of the Amazon species. Man made fires on the other hand are usually fueled with gas and other flammable things, and grow huge in size and typically get out of hand and burn more rainforest then necessary. What do you think we can do to help protect the rainforest?

Role Model?

Young teens always grow up with someone they look up to whether it being a good role model or bad. Unfortunately there are some bad role models out there.Vanessa Hudgens being humans and making dumb choices like sending naked pictures out to someone and them getting out for the world to view (which the world cares more about than anyone regular everyday person..because they are famous). Or like Micheal Philps smoking weed. These role models that americans want there children looking up to may not be the greatest thing.

The picture on the right is a picture of Miley Cyrus at one of her concert in a very provocative outfit. Allowing young teens to see this makes them want to dress like that. Young people have sponges for brains and so they take in everything. Teens wanting to fit in so much that they will do anything to fit in and they see that people liked how Miley dressed then they will want to dress like that. Espically if their role models made them want to dress like that. This is too young and they should not be exposed of this until they are mature and can have their own mind. If you want to dress provocative when you get older and more mature then go for it but I do not think children should dress less and show body parts that are not even there. I do not believe they should dress that way period.

Children are being exposed to things that should not yet even be a problem in life. They should be able to be kids and have friends and not have to dress a certain way in order to get friends. They should not be forced into wearing barely any clothes and have creepy old men or women stare at them when they are too young(This causes many other things like rape etc.). Not only is it the clothing it is how the role models act. Like the famous saying...Actions speak louder than words. If children see how one popular actor or actress is acting then they want to be just like them and be liked by all just like the actors are liked. This may be bad because of the certain actions and movies that are out for young adults now. Role models should be more aware of how they come off across kids.

Tattoos

I'm going to start off by saying I am not against tattoo's. In fact I love tattoo's. I have one on my back and planning on getting at least 2-3 more. I'm getting a frog jumping off a daisy flower. The frog will have a halo on it. This is to always remember my sister Daisy, she loved frogs, that passed away 2 years ago from a stroke. They are a great way to express yourself, or show the people around you something that is special to you. Jose or "Moreno" as everyone calls him is a tattoo artist.

He says that most people that come to the shop where he works get a tattoo because it means something special to them and because the person wants to express how they feel about life. Although all this can be true tattoos also carry consequences. Although tattoos are an artwork and most of the time have a special meaning to the person it also carries several risks. One of the risk are that the ink put into your body carry pigments. The pigments in the ink are carcinogens according to The Dangerous Art of the Tattoo by Bernadine Healy.

According to the Red Cross a person is unable to donate blood to anyone, if you have received a tattoo in the past 12 months. This doesn't affect you directly but can greatly hurt a love one that happens to have your same blood type and is in need of blood. Although this happens on rare occasions it is a possibility. There are also diseases such as hepatitis which can kill you according to Body Piercing and Tattooing: The Hidden Dangerous of Art Work.

If you ever decide to get a tattoo make sure they are using new needle's and unused ink. This will prevent you from Hepatitis, HIV and diseases that can be transmitted with needles according to Tattooing and Body Piercing.

Also you would like to make the following questions just to make sure you won't run too many risks. Do you have a license? Does the shop follow the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Universal Precautions for blood disposal? Does the shop disinfect on the workspace before and after each client? Does each artist wash his/her hands before each and other patient?

Tattoos aren't bad. They are a great way to express yourself to all the people around you, but just like everything it carries consequences. These consequences include the possibilities to many diseases like hepatitis, cancer, and HIV. Be sure the artist uses new and sterilized equipment before he starts on your tattoo to avoid any serious infections and diseases, and overall make sure that your tattoo is worth or overweighs any of these consequences.

Moreno ( Tattoo Artist)

http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/living-well-usn/2008/07/25/the-dangerous-art-of-the-tattoo.html?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a41:g26:r13:c0.002988:b20190283:z0&s_cid=loomia:if-youre-considering-a-tattoo-read-this----------Title: The Dangerous Art of the Tattoo by Bernadine Healy.

Body Piercing and Tattooing: The Hidden Dangerous of Art Work.

Tattooing and Body Piercing.

No, I won't check your box

Why is it that every time I fill out a form theses day it asks me to check certain boxes to complete the form? I really don’t understand why we all still need to check box for race and gender. It’s 2010 and it should not be a question asked of any of us. It’s on everything, job applications, college applications, home loans, car insurance, even to apply for a food shopping card. My getting a job should be only based on whether or not I am the best candidate t for the position being filled. To be accepted at a college should be measured by my ability to perform well at that school and my academic abilities. Home loans should be approved based on my credit history, and being able to handle the amount borrowed. Car insurance based off of statistic that say young male drive crazier than females. I really don’t know why Safeway cares what race and gender I am unless they are tracking my purchases for marketing. I understand that sometimes these questions are asked because the government has special grants, and programs in place for colleges and home loans. I don’t agree with it and if we are supposed to be treated “equally” as far as race and gender, these questions should not exist.

lol =)

I am officially in love with twitter! I love to chat and exchange things with my friends. It is so easy to let them know what I'm doing without actually calling and telling them. Twitter is the best way to communicate with the people you love because you can do it publicly and privately. In January 2010 tech crunch found that found that 75 million people have visited twitter since it was created in July 2006.

Twitter is these easiest way to publish information about you. Your section of the site is completely based on what you like and the things you may value and like to share. With tools like twitpic, retweets, and trending topics; it is easy to keep in touch with your friends and yourself. "Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service that allows you answer the question, "What are you doing?" by sending short text messages 140 characters in length, called "tweets", to your friends, or "followers"(tweeternet.com).

Twitter is good for a person like me. In it is interchangeable and you can use it for what you want. You have complete control of what happens on the website; therefoe, it give you independence of not being violated. I rarely ever give out my phone number and using this website I do not ever have to. It is an easy can common way to share with my friends without getting annoyed by their text or instant messages. Sometimes I feel like too much communicating is uncomfortable, and breaks the boundaries we try to set up naturally.
When people consider giving away information to their lives they often hesitate. I personally don’t like the idea because you can trust everyone to have the best intentions for you. So when you long into a site like Twitter, you are saying that you are willing to put yourself out there for no particular reason besides entertainment. The idea seems absurd to people who are private and never really are interested in other peoples’ lives.