We Give Thanks

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  Every year in America, families across the USA celebrate this very important day in history by giving thanks.  As it has fallen into being a tradition, families eat Turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, and various other things that have come into being parts of a "TRADITIONAL" dinner.  The day is meant to be a day spent with family and friends remarking on what has happened over the past year, eating good food, and telling what you are grateful for.  Every year I find it to be harder and harder to say what I am thankful for.  That is not because I am becoming less grateful for some of the small things that I have, but because when I explain what I am thankful for this year I want it to be meaningful and have an impact on the people at my table.  In my family, when we sit down for dinner we go around the table and tell what we are grateful for.  It is our family tradition to do that but not everyone's tradition.  I have learned some traditions that other families have, and some of them strike me as being slightly odd.  But overall in the world, things are not going very well so I ask what are you grateful for this year?    Is it something that you thought you would be thankful for?  

WE CAN CHANGE!!

It is official!  After a nearly 22 month campaign, it is official that Barack Obama is the 44th president of the United States of America.  He is the first african-american president of the USA!  This election was a historic one no matter who won the election.  And as the election got closer and closer, the polls showed that the race was tighter than ever.  However, with almost all the states reporting, Barack Obama won the presidents race by a landslide.  With Obama having 349 electoral votes and John McCain having only 163 electoral votes, it was by any standards a landslide victory.  My dad was talking to me about how when I grow up I will be able to tell my kids and grandkids about this election and how it was so historic and that I was at an age that I not only knew what was going on, but could form my own opinion.  And I realized something, that this was a very historic election and that I will be able to tell my kids and grandkids about this but that to them, it probably won't seem like it is that big of a deal.  Why?  Because hopefully by that time this country will have had many other African-American presidents, and female presidents, and other types of presidents.  The idea of them not truly understanding what a big deal this was shocks me.  But also reminds me of how our grandparents must feel when they tell us about big things that occurred during their lifetimes that we can not relate to at all.  History has been made and it will be able to be discussed later but people truly will not understand it in the future. CONGRATS OBAMA!!

Hard Partying

Everyone knows that teens party, and drink, and try various other things that are not good for them but they do them.  But it has been getting increasingly worse over the years.  More and more teens are getting totally wasted on weekends and on week nights too!   It is becoming an epidemic and it is not going to go away by lowering the drinking age!!  I understand the idea of lowering the drinking age to give kids a chance to drink before going to college so that then they do not abuse it and then fewer college kids end up with alcohol poisoning but i don't believe that it is going to help at all.  I think that the only thing it is going to do is allow more kids to party and get wasted and drink heavily.  And it isn't as if teens do not have access to alcohol now or can get it.  Parents, older siblings, even the teens themselves can go and buy liquor and then drink it and party so what is the point in lowering the drinking age?  All it is going to do is get more and more teens to go out and get totally wasted!  And it will most likely increase the number of cases of alcohol poisoning.  I totally get the idea of exposing kids to the drinking thing to try and prevent alcohol poisoning but I do not believe that it is going to help anything.  What do you think?  Should the drinking age be lowered?  Why or why not?

Hudson Tragedy

On Friday, October 24, 2008, Jennifer Hudson's mother and brother were murdered in their South Side home and then this morning the body of her nephew was discovered.  This is a horrible thing that occurred and I hope that the person who did this will be caught and prosecuted.  However, I have to look at how hard this tragedy has hit so many not because they are related to Jennifer Hudson, but because they themselves have experienced a tragedy like this.  How many of these stories have we heard on the news every night?  How many times do you tune yourself out to hearing: "Another CPS Student Shot" or "Woman Murdered"?  Every one feels bad for the victim's families but they do not receive the same mass attention that the Hudson family is receiving.  Why is that?  Because the people who have also experienced murders and child abductions are just normal every day people and Jennifer Hudson is a celebrity.  I just can not help but think of what a horrible thing occurred to this family but how much attention this event is drawing, mostly due to Hudson's star power.  I think that maybe this mass murder will cause people to look at the world differently and realize that it can happen to anyone.  

But, I have to wonder also how the families of other tragedies like this are feeling hearing how much attention this story is getting and how little, or maybe not little, attention their own story got.  This truly reveals the biases of the media and the public to concern themselves with events that happened to celebrities.  And to also mass publicize the details and what not for everyone to read.  I truly feel for the family of Jennifer Hudson and that of the other families who have experienced such a tragedy.  

Maybe this will show what situation the country truly is in and how people are willing to do anything they can for their own possible gain.  What is your take on the media coverage of this murder?

I'm wearing a pin! And you can't stop me!!

A few weeks ago, Mr. Bolos told us about something that happened to his daughter.  She wore a button in support of a candidate, to school.  He informed us of how excited she was but that she was asked to remove the pin.  I originally thought it was strange but then I noticed something in my family.  My brother has been wearing a pin in support of Obama for a week.  I asked him if it was cool for him to wear the pin and he said it was fine.  Both of these stories absolutely shocked me!  Both of these stories take place in a public middle school and involve a child wearing a pin in support of a political candidate but each was treated differently.    

I believe that every person has a right to wear whatever pin they want whether it be for a political candidate or for something like a movie or sport.  But the argument is that these kids are not even of voting age and are supporting a candidate, and also that due to their young age, they are changing the minds of others just by wearing the pin.  I don't believe that someone, even as young as middle schoolers, should be asked to remove a pin that is in support of something they believe in!  And if it isn't a distraction in the classroom then the teachers should not bring it up because that is just creating a distraction!  Both of these issues are that of freedom of expression and in school involving students, things get o be a bit tricky!  But I believe that if a student, any student, wants to wear a pin, whether political or not, to school then unless it is disruptive to the learning environment, that they should be allowed to!! (except in private school settings)  What do you believe?  If you wore a pin to school, supporting a political candidate, would you be offended if you were asked to remove it?  I know i would be!

Size 4 the new Size 14?

Society has always been fixated with the appearance of others.  The first impression people get of others is always based off their outer appearance; whether the person is dressed in the style, or stuck in another decade, or if the person is heavy vs. being skinny, whatever they look like on the outside is the first thing that people think about each other.  But recently, I have noticed that people are calling others "fat" if they are not a size 0 or 2.  I noticed it in regards to Cheryl Burke, a dancer on the TV show Dancing With the Stars.  Over the summer, she gained a few pounds and it was only slightly noticeable to the people who have seen her in previous seasons.  But how is going from 120 pounds to 125 or 130 pounds considered fat?  

I don't understand that whole thing of being fat if you are not a size 00,0,1, or 2.  Or if now being a size 4 is like adding and entire 10 to it and making it a 14.  It has been proven that people who are larger are generally picked on and given jobs fewer times than people who are smaller and more attractive.  But why is society so fixated on the outer appearance and being skinny when the country is heading towards an obesity epidemic?  And why is there a different standard for men than for women?  What do you think?

Society's Expectations of Women VS. Men

In our society, men and women have different expectations as to what they are going to act like, dress like, and speak.  If people do not fall into these categories, or step out of their determined "role" then they are considered outcasts.  Women are expected to be: nice, not too aggressive, attractive, smart, gentle, emotional, mature, and caring.  However, men are expected to be: more aggressive, charming, intelligent, athletic, powerful, attractive, immature, lazy, and outdoors-y.  But, if a man is less athletic and more caring or emotional then they are called harsh names such as "gay", "homo", and "womanly".  And if a woman steps out of her expected "role" and is more athletic and outdoors-y then they are called: "lesbians", "manly", "transgendered".  I noticed that in the VP debate, Biden was not taking shots at Sarah Palin because he knew if he did, he would be criticized.  But he was still respectful of her and looked at her when she was speaking, but she never looked at Biden.  Sarah Palin was always looking at the camera, smiling, and winking.  And that was so that she appeared to be falling in line with what society feels are the characteristics that a woman should have and show to the world.  It is not right to expect these sorts of things from men or from women and it is becoming ridiculously annoying.  JUST STOP IT!!  Men can be gentle, caring, and athletic or any of the traits that people expect women to posses.  And women can have the same traits men have so society needs to just get over what they think is right and let people act the way they want.