Drinking and driving. It's been a heated topic almost since the invention of the automobile. Drinking and driving is not only illegal but it can lead to injury or worse. The strange part is, people still do it every single day and don't think they will be the one who pay the consequences. Some are right but sometimes you have to pay the piper.
Carla Atallah is learning that lesson right now as she gets ready to start a 5 YEAR prison term after driving drunk back in 2009 and flipping her SUV. That accident killed Ryan Worthington who was a passenger in the SUV and Carla has been charged with felony death by vehicle and driving while impaired.
Some may say she deserves more than 5 years for causing the death of another. Others may say she has suffered enough knowing she took a life. Personally, I think she deserves whatever she gets.
There is no excuse for driving drunk, especially in a place like Greenville where cabs are waiting outside of every bar and club or at worst are a phone call away. I've done a lot of stupid things in my life but driving drunk is not one of them. It's just a risk I'm not willing to take and this story is just one of the million examples of how big of a risk it can be.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Have the Bullies Won?
Bullying isn't a new idea. When I was a kid I had to start wearing glasses at 8 years old and was the ONLY kid in my class that had them. Needless to say, this led to plenty of being picked on. It sucked but it taught me how to deal with negative situations and in the end made me a stronger and more confident person by knowing they only picked on me to make themselves feel better. Even then it wasn't a new thing, people have been bullying others ever since cavemen would crack each other over the head to steal food from one another.
Although, living in today's society you'd think bullying was some crazy new idea that just popped up and that nobody knows how to handle it. This is not the case, the problem is that society doesn't like to deal with problems PERIOD and something like bullying can't be ignored until it goes away, quite the opposite actually. The only way to stop bullying is if those being bullied stand up to the bullies, and that only works if they know they are in the right and will be supported by authority figures like teachers, bosses, etc. Sadly, that's not always the case.
Take for example the 13 year old 6th grader in Missouri who was being sexually harassed because of her breast size. Did the teachers sit the girl down and tell her to be strong and ways to protect herself? No. Did they talk to those harassing her and punish them or threaten punishment? No. Their brilliant way to stop the harassment was to TELL THE GIRL'S MOTHER TO GET HER A BREAST REDUCTION! Are you fucking kidding me? I couldn't imagine how big someone's balls must be to have the audacity to tell mother her daughter should have unnecessary surgery that could cause her more problems in the end simply because they are too stupid, lazy, afraid, or otherwise uncaring enough to handle the actual problem.
We as a society can't keep on like this. We can't keep blaming the victims of crimes because we won't blame the perpetrators. We can't keep blaming the media and entertainment industries when they are merely giving us what we keep running back to. We need parents, teachers, and other people involved in a child's life to not only praise their accomplishments but punish their wrongdoings and point out their mistakes.
Otherwise, it's just going to get worse.
Although, living in today's society you'd think bullying was some crazy new idea that just popped up and that nobody knows how to handle it. This is not the case, the problem is that society doesn't like to deal with problems PERIOD and something like bullying can't be ignored until it goes away, quite the opposite actually. The only way to stop bullying is if those being bullied stand up to the bullies, and that only works if they know they are in the right and will be supported by authority figures like teachers, bosses, etc. Sadly, that's not always the case.
Take for example the 13 year old 6th grader in Missouri who was being sexually harassed because of her breast size. Did the teachers sit the girl down and tell her to be strong and ways to protect herself? No. Did they talk to those harassing her and punish them or threaten punishment? No. Their brilliant way to stop the harassment was to TELL THE GIRL'S MOTHER TO GET HER A BREAST REDUCTION! Are you fucking kidding me? I couldn't imagine how big someone's balls must be to have the audacity to tell mother her daughter should have unnecessary surgery that could cause her more problems in the end simply because they are too stupid, lazy, afraid, or otherwise uncaring enough to handle the actual problem.
We as a society can't keep on like this. We can't keep blaming the victims of crimes because we won't blame the perpetrators. We can't keep blaming the media and entertainment industries when they are merely giving us what we keep running back to. We need parents, teachers, and other people involved in a child's life to not only praise their accomplishments but punish their wrongdoings and point out their mistakes.
Otherwise, it's just going to get worse.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Come Together
Back in August of last year I ran across a story that blew me away. In the small African country of Togo, the people were tired of years of living under a dictatorship and the family that had control since 2005. Like any group of citizens, they fought back in the form of protests. One protest, however, really caught a lot of attention: the women refused to have sex until democracy was given a chance! There's no way to know how much the no sex protest affected things but within months not only did they hold their first election, but a woman won!
It really blows the mind to see how big of a change the "little people" can make when we unite to fight against a common evil. It got me thinking recently about how many problems we are having here in America and how quickly those problems could be fixed if we, the people, stood united against the decision makers and forced them to make the hard decisions and changes we need.
Then I heard of a group who are standing together against a common problem... and it made me angry, sad, and disappointed all at the same time:
Justin Bieber fans are CUTTING THEMSELVES to get him to quit smoking pot.
WHAT?? Let me get this straight, we have people starving in our streets, retired members of the armed forces struggling to survive, an economy circling the drain, and a nation more divided than it has been in decades and the one thing we unite to fight is some f***ing pop singer toking some reefer?
If this is seen as a cause worth fighting out of all the ones out there, it really terrifies me what the future holds for this nation and the people who call it home.
It really blows the mind to see how big of a change the "little people" can make when we unite to fight against a common evil. It got me thinking recently about how many problems we are having here in America and how quickly those problems could be fixed if we, the people, stood united against the decision makers and forced them to make the hard decisions and changes we need.
Then I heard of a group who are standing together against a common problem... and it made me angry, sad, and disappointed all at the same time:
Justin Bieber fans are CUTTING THEMSELVES to get him to quit smoking pot.
WHAT?? Let me get this straight, we have people starving in our streets, retired members of the armed forces struggling to survive, an economy circling the drain, and a nation more divided than it has been in decades and the one thing we unite to fight is some f***ing pop singer toking some reefer?
If this is seen as a cause worth fighting out of all the ones out there, it really terrifies me what the future holds for this nation and the people who call it home.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Taking the "Self" out of "Self Control"
Before I go off on this rant, let me inform anyone who has never met me that I'm a fat guy. At 6'4" I weigh in just under 300lbs. Thanks to my height I carry the weight fairly well but most of it is in my stomach area, which is bad for the heart, so I know I need to work on that. Anyway, rant time...
As previously stated, I'm a big dude. I wasn't always big though. Growing up I was always tall for my age and that constant growing kept me very thin for most of my childhood. As I got older and my growing slowed, my eating habits carried on and I started gaining size. By the end of college, and pretty much ever since, I've been about 50+ pounds overweight for my height.
Looking back on the period of time where I went from skinny to fat, I blame nobody but myself. I was the one eating fast food multiple times a day to avoid having to cook. I was the one eating snacks while playing video games and watching TV. I was the one who didn't exercise as I should have. It wasn't McDonald's fault that I got fat eating greasy burgers or any other establishment or advertising campaign.
Now to finally get to my point, there's a new fork hitting the market called the HAPIfork (or Smart Fork). It weighs the bites of food you are eating and beeps if you are eating too much or eating it too fast. I think this could be a great invention for kids. Schools could use them to teach proper eating habits and even parents could use them to help curb heavy snaking after school. BUT I think in the hands of adults, it's just going to be another way to shirk responsibility.
By having a fork that tells you to stop eating so much, people no longer have to pay attention to what they are cramming in their mouths (which, honestly, is 95% of the problem now). Just grab your handy Smart Fork and stuff your face until it beeps and tells you to pull back.
Maybe I'm being overly cynical though. Self control is a big problem in the US and maybe having a little reminder here and there is what some people need to get back on the right track. If you're willing to drop the $99 when it hits stores in April, I guess we'll find out.
Click here for more info on the HAPIfork.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Happy New Year 2013!
I really don't have much to talk about today so I figured I'd do a quick 2012 recap and 2013 kickoff type of thing.
2012 was an interesting year filled with lots of ups and downs.
On the bad side there were all kinds of fighting and turmoil popping up around the globe along with government overthrows and violence galore. There were multiple stories over the year of mass shootings here in the US in movie theaters, malls, schools, and other public places. Hurricane Sandy and other natural disasters rocked us here and across the globe.
On the good side many of the protests and fighting lead to much needed changes. We successfully landed the Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars and have been receiving tons of cool info ever since. Felix Baumgartner rode a weather balloon to the edge of outer space and did a one man free fall all the way back to Earth. The US kicked Olympic ass with 104 total medals in the London Summer Games. James Cameron dove to the deepest parts of the ocean to study life down below. The first person was cured of HIV.
Here's a really cool video Google put together that really covers a ton of 2012 in just a few minutes:
As for 2013, 13 has always been my lucky number so this year will hopefully live up to that potential. Here's to another 365 days of potential fun!
2012 was an interesting year filled with lots of ups and downs.
On the bad side there were all kinds of fighting and turmoil popping up around the globe along with government overthrows and violence galore. There were multiple stories over the year of mass shootings here in the US in movie theaters, malls, schools, and other public places. Hurricane Sandy and other natural disasters rocked us here and across the globe.
On the good side many of the protests and fighting lead to much needed changes. We successfully landed the Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars and have been receiving tons of cool info ever since. Felix Baumgartner rode a weather balloon to the edge of outer space and did a one man free fall all the way back to Earth. The US kicked Olympic ass with 104 total medals in the London Summer Games. James Cameron dove to the deepest parts of the ocean to study life down below. The first person was cured of HIV.
Here's a really cool video Google put together that really covers a ton of 2012 in just a few minutes:
As for 2013, 13 has always been my lucky number so this year will hopefully live up to that potential. Here's to another 365 days of potential fun!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)