Suicide Debate

Can we take a moment and look at this lady please…What is she thinking? She’s a 91 year old who sells suicide kits to people in order to assist them in taking their lives. I mean what??? Isn’t she supposed to be knitting in a retirement home or something. What is wrong with her. The reason this is news is because it brings up the long talked about debate of the right to kill yourself. I mean she’s technically not doing the killing but she is assisting those hopeless souls. What I want to know is why this isn’t already illegal. I mean come on, how can Americans not see how messed up this is. Her “kit” consists of a plastic bag and a helium tank which she sells for 60 dollars. What a way to make a living am I right? The way I see it, is that she should not be put in jail for this ridiculous act but even more importantly she should be put in a mental institution. Who in their right mind likes to take advantage of those who are seeking their own demise.
“It was never my intention of getting into the business of killing people. I was just interested in helping people” Okay in what way did she think this would help them? She’s helping them not live! I guess if shes an optimist and see’s it like that then good for her but something is wrong with that woman.

Osama No Longer

Osama is finally out of the picture. I mean thank god, how long has it been? 10, 15 years. The death of this terrorist is definitely something to celebrate. Hopefully Al Qaeda is hit hard enough to at least slow the terrorist attacks for a bit. The American people can finally be at peace knowing that this crazy man isn’t out there terrorizing helpless individuals. The strange thing about it at least in my eyes is after his death there was such an extreme amount of information that was presented to the public. It seemed like on every channel there was some sort of documentary or biography presented about al Qaeda or Osama bin laden.
I now more about Osama and Al Qaeda and their objectives than ever. This sudden release of information to the public is extraordinary. Flipping through the channels I have also come across numerous documentaries on the special forces team that were in charge of his death.
Although this is a great feat for the American public it all but leads us to ponder about the possibility of a counter attack from those Al Qaeda members left. We can only pray that it does not come to that.

The terminator isn’t made of steel…

How does he do it? Just when things are looking good now that his term in office is up, he somehow manages to get the attention of millions in a negative fashion once again. So what did he do? Oh he just had an affair with a former employee that used to work for him and his family…you know not a big deal at all. What I don’t get is why all these high power celebrities cheat on their beautiful wives, it just doesn’t make sense to me. And what blows my mind even more is they think they wont get caught. Did they forget that the camera is always being shone on them. Needless to say the former governor managed to get away with raising this kid and providing for this family for well over 10 years, but in the long run he got caught. What did he expect to happen? Come on Arnold you of all people should know better…There is much talk about what the child looks like, whether or not he looks like Arnold or not. Ultimately, this causes the paparazzi to go absolutely nuts trying to picture after picture of this poor boy. I heard the other day that what is happening to this child is completely unfair and cruel and I completely agree. Leave the poor boy alone!

Devastation in the South East

In a radio interview, Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox said he had originally told federal emergency officials his city was a disaster. By this morning, he said he was ready to upgrade the description.

“I would classify it as a nightmare,” he said.- LA Times

I knew tornadoes were destructive but never had I pictured the type of damage these series of tornadoes have done. Obama himself even said he has never seen devastation quite like this. There have been roughly 300 deaths due to these destructive forces of nature but thousands have been injured or left homeless. The damage and costs of this deadly storm are truly breath taking, and “Officials estimate that more than a million people remain without electricity. Shelter is needed for thousands, and water, food and clothing are becoming issues.” It is hard for me to even think about not having the basic commodities such as food and water. These people must go for days and days with out even these basic of items. From what I’ve seen thus far, Obama has made a much greater effort in this relief effort over that of the Bush administration in Katrina. He has issued a disaster declaration, which would provide federal aid to those who are in need. As I sit and watch in fear and shock, it seems the only thing I can do is pray for the families that are living through this nightmare.

Ads and Youtube

Ok, so I’m sitting at home on youtube and it seems that before every video there is some kind of advertisement. Now I realize youtube needs money and advertising before your video plays is essentially the perfect time, but it’s getting extremely annoying. Its like half of the ads I end up skipping anyways along with millions of other viewers on youtube. I don’t understand, why would they start playing an ad and then give you the option to skip it? Who wouldnt?? I remember when there was a point in time when there were hardly any ads online and that ads were strictly confined to the TV. People loved the fact that we could escape all the useless advertisements online, but now that is not the situation.Now it’s like as soon as you log on one is bombarded with ads. Advertising has completely taken over every form of social media. Facebook, twitter, myspace and even email all try to sell you something now a days. It just leaves one to ponder the idea of an advertisement-less internet.

Land vs Sea to an Illegal

“The surge in smuggling at sea started in 2007, in reaction to U.S. authorities’ increasingly successful efforts at blocking traditional land routes. Smugglers at sea continually play cat-and-mouse games with Border Patrol agents, just as they do on land.”- LA Times
What else is new, I mean illegal smuggling of people into the United States is not that out of the ordinary anymore. Using boats to enter the US, I might add, is much craftier than the over done crossing of the Mexico-Arizona border where one is almost sure to get caught. It seems as if right when we think we have stumped those who wish to enter the US illegally, they come up with a new way of beating the system, so to speak.
Now, I’m not saying that this is a new way of smuggling, rather its increase in popularity is not just a coincidence with the crackdown of the border to our south. In the article presented in the LA times the author mentions prices that coyotes charge for their services and let me tell you they certainly aren’t cheap. “Smugglers charge immigrants as much as $6,000, a boatload of 20 can bring more than $100,000.” This kind of money is completely rediculous. But this leads one to wonder why these poor people are willing to essentially gamble their money away with a coyote who are notorious for their thieving ways. I certainly feel sympathy for those who wish to gain entrance to the US but you must wait in line just as everyone else does. Or you could just think of a new way to sneak yourself in…I wonder how long it is before they start to parachute into the United States

Japan and the Media

It seems as if everyone you go now one hears about the troubling events that took place in Japan over the past week. It seems that facebook and twitter have been popular forms of spreading the message and raising awareness for the destruction that has been taking place in Japan. For instance, just this week I have received numerous events on facebook seeking money and other forms of charity to be given to the people who suffer in Japan. It is quite interesting to see how social media has transformed into the what it is today. “Back in August 2010, a U.S. Red Cross survey found that social media was the fourth most popular source of emergency information for respondents.”

On my way to school earlier this week I turned on the radio to a news broadcast and heard that the relief effort in Japan, in terms of money received, is far less than that was given to the tragedy in Haiti. It was about 1/5th less in monetary value which completely surprised me. Is it because Americans “like” Haitians more than Japanese? Of course not, but could it possibly be related to media coverage of the issue. All in all I feel that the media has done it’s job in informing the American public about the issue overseas. Now it’s up to social media to do its work to raise money for the poverty stricken people of Japan.