Media Frenzy

I've always looked down on how the media can take a story and blow it out of proportion. Weather they don't have the facts or they stretch the truth to put readers or viewers on a certain side of the story. Just recently, news streamed across the country about a child being carried away in a giant helium balloon. Now common sense would tell anyone that has ever taken a high school physics class that there would be no way that a balloon that size could possibly lift a child. It would take about as many balloons as one could fit in a two story house to be able to equal out the gravity holding the child down. Plus, the child would not fly off the way the balloon in the video showed; more like hover. So why would the media be so hasty to make this a breaking news story? I honestly don't blame the father of the child who knowingly filmed this hoax as much as the media for airing it. It is times like these that I feel I cannot even trust the media anymore.

Kanye West

I find it rather scary to hear that President Obama is so in tune with the world of music and media. While watching the VMA's, Kanye interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech to complain about how the award should have gone to someone else. He didn't mean to be insulting, but he knew right away he hurt Taylor's feeling when he saw the look on her face. Mr. President commented on the situation saying Kanye was a, "Jackass." I'm not sure that a political figure should be paying any attention to such irrelevant topics. They should be focused on their jobs. Maybe I'm being too critical towards my expectations of how a president should act, but I may be wrong.

Smoker's life expectancy

If a nation wide ban on outdoor smoking did come into effect, life expectancy would probably go up. Most would think that that is a good thing. I believe that it may not be a good thing. The older Americans live, the more populated the U.S. would become. Prices would go up because of demand and America would see a more expensive future. Also, I believe that America would be an even fatter nation due to people quitting smoking because of the bans. Smoking addiction and food addiction have a lot in common. It is a psychological behavior where one feels the need to involve the movement of hand to mouth. This behavior usually comes into effect when relaxed or bored. You may hear people say they smoke because it is something to do and you may hear the same from people who over-eat.

Smoking Ban

I find it a bit ridiculous that smoking is being banned on parks and beaches now. What is the purpose of that? Smoking is a personal choice and people who smoke should have the freedom to exercise that choice. It is understandable to ban smoking in buildings, but banning it outdoors is not fair. There is virtually no risk of secondhand smoke outside. Places with smoking bins outside allow for cigarette butts to be disposed of properly. I feel this ban on outdoor smoking a bit too far.

Body of Yale Student Found

In recent news I heard about a 24 year-old woman had gone missing. She was a Yale graduate student with what I can only assume had a bright future. Her body was found recently in the basement of a building inside of a wall. Today would have been the day of her wedding. I find it terribly sad to see such evil acts happening in this country. However, it happens every day. I really would like to know how somebody could do something so cynical. Especially after I saw a photograph of the victim. She was just a sweet-looking, innocent young woman. It really scares me to think of the kind of monster that could commit such an act.

Swine Flue

I am a little concerned about the swine flu. It has reached all fifty states and people my age are most susceptible to the virus. If the vaccine isn't distributed fast enough, the U.S. may be looking at a serious pandemic. Lets hope that this is not the case. I think that people need to be better informed on this situation. Nobody really knows where exactly the virus is. I would like to know how many cases have been found in the area that I live in. That information would be good to know to ensure people take necessary measures to avoid contact with this virus.

Health Care Reform

I do not find anything wrong with a new health care reform. I hope to see the day when we have free heath care just as Canada has for their citizens. If they can give us that with the same quality of care I think the U.S. would be heading in the right direction. The only thing that worries me is what may happen to the need for doctors. I think that doctor's salary will be severely cut due to this and that may turn people away from the career. I would not mind paying more in taxes to see to it that the U.S. becomes and stays a country of free heath care.

The Nostradamus Effect

I find it very hard to think that scientific observations, ancient Mayan mysteries, Biblical tellings, and Nostradamus' finding to be sheer coincidence. Everything points to one single thing beginning in the year of 2012. Scientists have discovered that there will be an alignment of the planets during that year that will set off a barrage of horrific events that could lead to the extinction of mankind. The alignment will be made right in between Sagittarius and Scorpio. Right where Sagittarius' arrow point is is where the alignment will occur. It is the center of it all in a sense. Nostradamus had found a thirteenth Zodiac located just above that center. He called it the most unlucky of Zodiacs hence, the thirteenth. But the question is: Can the future events of our world really be found in the sky?

2012

I did not believe a thing about the events presumed to happen on the year 2012. However, once I was put into the position to actually research for myself, I began to think that it all may be true after all.

It started in my high-school algebra class. At the end of the year we had to research and write a report on something pertaining to mathematics. My partner and I chose to write about Mayan Numbers. The Mayans have a mysterious history of unexplainable proportions. If you know at least a little about the calendar we use today, you will know that it is the same calendar system the Mayans created over a thousand years ago. What is amazing is how accurately they measured out the days in a year using nothing but primitive technology. There is an ancient pyramid that they build consisting of 91 steps on each side not including the top step. Added together, these steps summed up to 365. Each step represents one day out of the year, while each side represented one of the four seasons of the year. But the mystery is that the Mayans only counted out the calendars up to the year 2012. Some specialists said that that may have been around the time the Mayan civilization mysteriously became extinct. Others say it could have meaning to it. Maybe the Mayans had better technology to observe the cosmos than we thought.

Space Exploration

We definitely need to continue the exploration of space. Sure the moon is going to be a boring subject because there is simply no need to go back there. But with recent events, I believe NASA needs to get going on a new program and fast. The year 2012 is dawning on us faster than we may think. Some people I spoke with about it believe it would be a good idea. Others thought it was just nonsense. But do we really want to wait around before it is too late to find out? I would rather be safe than sorry. I think NASA needs to put together a large program to discover other worlds fit for human habitat. We have only begun to explore just a meager sliver of what we call the universe. If human life wants to continue as so I think now would be as good a time as any. Even if the research turns out to be wrong about the events that the year 2012 may have, we must look at it in the long run as well.

Earth is not destined to last forever. Just like any other planet, it's days will one day end and no longer support life. Our sun that has encouraged life on earth for so long is also reaching its final stages. Granted the sun has a very very large life span. We will never see the end of days in our lifetime or not even our great grandchildren's lifetime. But we still should encourage the thought that one day the human race will not be able to live on this planet any longer. Space exploration in my opinion is the key to the continuation of human life.

Michael Jackson

It was a sad day for me when I first heard the tragic news of the world renowned "King of Pop's" death. He had a good heart and I honestly do not believe any of the accusations against him. He is just a little different. He grew up in a hard family. His father was always pushing him so hard for success and he never lead a normal life. "With fame comes misfortune," that is an appropriate saying.

His death came as a shock to the nation and many stories were brought up about his death. Today it seems evident that he fell victim to a very potent prescription drug. That upsets me that he would let all of his adoring fans down and do something like that. However, I am more upset at the media for prying into this man's life. Too many rumers were slung about after his death and I feel it is not in good moral to speak ill of some one who has just passed. He may not always be remembered as a good role model, but he will always be the King of Pop. They can't take that away from him.

Accusation Against President Obama

It saddens me to see how many people feel so threatened by our president. The worst part of it is that people will be so quick to believe anything these days. A simple visit from the president to an elementary school to talk about how important school is was all it was. How could anybody get a mixed signal about that? I thing it is a major over-reaction. It seems way to far-fetched to think that the president is going to convey his so called, "socialist idealism" to these children.

Narcissism

Perhaps there may be more self-advertising seen today than in the past. I personally believe that as technology advances, networking and advertising just become easier. So of course I think that there has been a recent spike in Narcissistic activity. It has become as easy as typing a few short lines of information to get a message out to the masses. Free advertising has become readily available at the touch of our fingers. The past generations never had anything like this before.

Now maybe it has less to do with attention seeking and self infatuation and more to do with plain boredom. When the technology is available the way Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter are, people will use it. It doesn't have to have a valid point, the internet has become the new spot for bored people to explore and spend time.

Whichever it may be, I seem to believe that it is true that there is more attention-seeking and self-advertising going on and not so much Narcissism.

First English Comp Blog

This is my first blog. I created this for my english composition class at LRSC. I believe keeping an online journal is a unique way of improving writing and typing skills. I am looking forward to this what this class and school has to offer. I think it is going to be an interesting year.