More on Trayvon Martin

In my last post I discussed the Trayvon Martin case quite passionately. Well, it looks like I'm not the only one with strong feelings about what took place when this innocent young man was killed. Trayvon's name is showing up all over the media, which is not surprising in itself, but people have had some very different responses, some of which seemed strange to me.

Various athletes such as the Miami Heat players have been rallying for the arrest of murderer George Zimmerman, wearing hoodies like the one Martin wore and writing messages on their sneakers to promote awareness. Protestors all over the U.S. are making a stand. Even President Obama has expressed his empathy for Trayvon's mourning parents, claiming that if he had a son, he would look an awful lot like Trayvon. As a parent, even the leader of our country can appreciate just how utterly sick it is that a teenage boy is dead through no fault of his own. If only everyone would take the time to understand this simple concept.

It is wonderful to see this cause getting the publicity it deserves. However, some people have no respect for the dead and are just being flat-out nasty. Newt Gingrich is criticizing Obama for bringing Martin's looks into the equation, saying that Obama would not care about this boy if he weren't black. Okay, Newt, we get it, you don't like Obama. Now, can we please quit it with the Democrat vs. Republican war for ten seconds and think about the fact that a kid is dead? Politicians these days only seem to care about insulting each other and often forget about the bigger picture.

Stories about Martin not being the perfect student are going around. Apparently he has been suspended for missing and being tardy to class and creating graffiti and has gotten into trouble for suspicion of marijuana possession. How true this information is is questionable, but even if Trayvon was a bit of a troublemaker, does that really change anything? The fact of the matter is that he wasn't doing anything wrong on the day he was shot, and even if he was looking for pot or a wall to spray paint, he obviously wasn't the type of person to cause someone else physical harm, and minor crimes like these are nothing to shoot a kid over. Besides, how would you like it if one of your loved ones was killed and the media was obsessing over every little thing he did wrong in his life? Well, that's what Trayvon's parents are dealing with right now, and if you're besmirching the image of their deceased son, you should feel pretty bad about yourself.

 Picture courtesy of AP Photo/Martin family.

Check out the following sites:

http://espn.go.com/espn/commentary/story/_/page/hill-120326/lebron-james-other-athletes-protest-trayvon-martin-shooting-show-change-agent-power-sports
http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/26/justice/florida-teen-shooting-events/index.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/23/obama-trayvon-martin_n_1375083.html
http://news.yahoo.com/gingrich-calls-obamas-trayvon-martin-remarks-disgraceful-001455842--abc-news.html
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/26/10872124-trayvon-martin-was-suspended-three-times-from-school

People are idiots.

Apparently this is the face of a dangerous young man.

 I went to bed yesterday in a bad mood. Lately I've been thinking a lot about how, while I truly believe that humanity as a whole is good, the vast majority of those in power couldn't care less about the well-being of other human beings. Most of them only worry about money, and some of them don't seem to have any motivation at all for what they do besides some sick desire to entertain themselves in a sadistic manner. (Joseph Kony, I'm looking at you.) I think the reason everyone's so crazy about The Hunger Games these days is that it's a startlingly realistic idea of what America's future could be like. Honestly, I would not be surprised at all if, a couple centuries from now, the government maintains control by forcing innocent teenagers to slaughter each other like it's a sport.

Yeah, just because I act all cheerful and smiley most of the time doesn't mean I'm not a cynical person deep down.

As if I hadn't already lost enough faith in the world, this morning I became educated on the murder of Trayvon Martin. Martin was a seventeen-year-old Floridian known for his good grades and pleasant demeanor before some psychopath named George Zimmerman shot him in the chest just because he seemed "suspicious" while walking around a gated community to visit his father's fiancee. He was dressed in jeans, a hoodie, and sneakers, and armed with Skittles. (Yes, that's right, Skittles. Apparently rainbow-colored candy is considered a WMD in Sanford, Florida.) But according to the "Stand Your Ground" laws that exist in numerous U.S. states, a person can "defend himself" from anyone who seems like a threat by using violence. Considering the fact that what makes a person seem like a threat is highly subjective, I don't see any reason why we won't soon see cases of one kid shanking another because she sees the fact that he called Justin Bieber a bad name as hostile behavior.

Now, to be honest, I don't think George Zimmerman is a mentally stable man. The first tip-off should be that he's called 911 a whopping 46 times since January 1, 2011. How does one make that many 911 calls over the course of a year? "Hi, I'd like to report that my girlfriend just dumped me. I think we have a situation here." "Mayday, mayday! I need to relieve myself, but these public toilets are totally unsanitary!" At least, I'd like to believe that no one with fully functioning brain-cells would shoot an innocent teenager after the police specifically told him not to. I'm not saying what he did was in any way acceptable or that I forgive him for being a complete and total...Well, there's really no clean word for the type of person he is, so I'll just leave it up to you to decide what I would be calling him if this weren't a school blog. But the guy obviously has issues. And people are calling Zimmerman a racist, but I truly don't think that is the case, as his Hispanic heritage makes him a racial minority himself. The police, on the other hand? Hoooo, boy.

I hope the police where I live are not irresponsible lazy bums who just sit around eating Dunkin' Donuts all day, but I have to feel a bit concerned, since clearly this is the case with the cops in Sanford. Here's a little quiz for you: Say you're a police officer. When a woman calls 911 to report a boy screaming for help and then falling to the ground after the sound of a gunshot, do you...

A. Send an ambulance down to the scene of the crime.
B. Give the caller instructions on how she can help the boy.
C. Not care, since the boy might not be dead after all and you agreed to meet your friend for coffee in half an hour.

If you picked C, congratulations, you think just like the cops in Sanford!

Seriously, even after the fight ended and Martin was proclaimed dead, the justice system has done absolutely nothing to punish his killer or even look into the case at all. Even though Zimmerman has a criminal history and his neighbors say he is a disturbingly violent person, he was not tested for drugs or alcohol, even though that is standard protocol for such cases. The message this sends to me is, "Solve your own problems, America, because we police don't feel like bothering to help you."

Gee, my generation sure has a bright future.

Trayvon, rest in peace. I didn't know you, but it sounds like you were a good person, and I have no doubt that you were completely undeserving of your awful fate.

Pictures courtesy of eurweb.com and cfnews13.com.


To learn more about the Trayvon Martin case, visit:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/19/justice/florida-teen-shooting/index.html?hpt=hp_bn2

http://www.thegrio.com/specials/trayvon-martin/trayvon-martin-15-facts-you-need-to-know-about-teen-shot-in-sanford-florida.php

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/03/19/148905661/killing-of-fla-teen-trayvon-martin-becomes-national-story-about-race

http://www.thegrio.com/news/past-zimmerman-911-calls-war.php

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/20/10780286-florida-stand-your-ground-law-could-complicate-trayvon-martin-teen-shooting-case

The "R-Word"

Over the past few years there has been some controversy over the word "retarded." Looking at this word from a linguistic standpoint, it is merely the verb "retard" - which means "to make slow; delay the development or progress of (an action, process, etc.); hinder or impede" - used in the past tense as an adjective. This is harmless enough in itself. However, modern vernacular seems to have changed the meaning to "stupid," and created the slang noun "retard."

The problem with saying things like, "How could you get such an easy question wrong? Are you retarded?" or "That's not how you play defense, retard!" lies not only in the offensive nature of these words, but also in the way they make the speaker look unintelligent. Calling someone "retarded" as an insult is inappropriate because it is wrong to compare someone who has made a dumb mistake to someone with a legitimate mental disability, and also because it is using the word incorrectly. Plus, the noun "retard" is not an actual word.

For some reason, I doubt this cat actually has anything wrong with his brain. He is merely being a cat.

"Retarded" is not the only word that gets this treatment. Another word that I constantly see and hear used incorrectly in a similar manner is "gay." "Gay" has two grammatically correct meanings - "happy" and "homosexual" - and yet people have tacked on a third one: "stupid." If you complain about your phone being "gay" for not having enough battery power, you sound kind of ridiculous. This may come as a bit of a shock, but your phone is an inanimate object. It is incapable of feeling happy or having a sexual orientation. (Even if your phone did come to life and fall in love with a person, the phone has no gender itself, so the relationship would be neither homosexual nor heterosexual. Just sayin'.) Therefore, you are using the word "gay" improperly.

However, going back to the word "retarded," it has been seen as somewhat of a slur recently, and I don't completely agree with that. People are comparing "retarded" to the N-word, but I personally believe there is a huge difference between the two. The N-word comes from a time when black people were seen as inferior and went through a lot of hardships, and using it nowadays, in my opinion, is disrespectful to all those who suffered under slavery and the Jim Crow laws. "Retarded," on the other hand, is not necessarily a mean-spirited word (though it is sometimes used as such). Picking on the mentally challenged is like an adult bullying a child, so most people wouldn't do it, and anyone who does looks like a total jerk. So if a person is referred to as being mentally retarded (and actually is), I do not find it rude. It simply means that this person is "slow" compared to others, which is not saying he is stupid or inferior; it is simply stating that his brain works differently. For this reason, I don't think it was necessary to have the word removed from federal health, education and labor laws under Rosa's Law. Going back to what I said in my earlier post about swear words, words in themselves are not bad; it is the manner in which people use them that causes hurt feelings.

Pictures courtesy of therword.org and cheezburger.com.

Check out the following websites:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/07/living/end-r-word/index.html?iref=allsearch

http://www.r-word.og

Topic of the Day: My Teacher Won't Let Me Swear on the Internet

Disclaimer: This post contains some bleeped out swear words that are used to get a point across. If that bothers you for some reason (which it shouldn't, since I'm sure you've been exposed to much worse), don't read any further.

My policy is swearing is this: It's not the words one uses that are offensive; it's how those words are used.The way I see it, people can be just as nasty without vulgar language as they can be with a cornucopia of curses, often nastier.

Take this sentence for example:

"F*** this math  homework!"

Are these words mean-spirited? Not at all. They are simply expressing extreme frustration over math homework and are not directed toward any person. In this case, profanity is perfectly okay.

However, this statement is completely different:

"I hope you f***ing drown!"

Here, the person speaking is using the f-word to enhance an already cruel sentence. This is an awful thing to say, not because of the particular words being said, but because of what those words mean.

Now, I don't swear a lot personally. I think strong language should be used only for strong feelings or it sort of loses its effect and makes a person sound unintelligent and lacking in eloquence. And I'm too much of a goody-goody to ever use the f-bomb, aside from one time when I was two and I repeated it after my father not knowing it was a bad word. But it's perfectly fine with me if other people want to curse, as long as they aren't cursing to be mean.

Now, to elaborate on the title of this post, this blog is for my Catholic Morality class (which you probably already knew, as I doubt anybody reading this does not go to school with me), so I have to keep things family-friendly. With all the hype about ACTA, everybody is vehemently defending freedom of speech these days. I totally get that. But here's the thing: freedom of speech, freedom in general, applies to the real world, not the classroom. I also have to wear a uniform to school, a requirement that the majority of jobs do not have, but I have no complaints about that (and that's not just because uniforms save me the stress of choosing what to wear every day). If the President of the United States made a law that everyone in the country had to dress identically, that would certainly be a violation of personal liberties, but that's not what's going on here. A school, especially a private school, is like a gated community, and it can make rules that might be considered totalitarian if infringed on the majority of the population because it has a reputation to uphold.

Two days ago, I went to the big basketball game between my school and our biggest rivals. In the heat of the moment, I thoughtlessly yelled out a certain something that I now regret. I didn't swear, but what I said was still kind of tasteless. I know pretty much everyone else there was doing the same thing, and the other school was much ruder, but a lot of people heard what I said because the whole area around me just happened to be quiet when I said it (Just my luck, right?), and not all of those people were classmates who knew I would not normally act in such a way and that the worst in me came out during that game. There were a ton of adults I didn't know sitting near me, and I felt so embarrassed that they heard the insult I threw at the opposing school. I felt like I was reflecting my school poorly and making myself look no better than the people on the opposite side booing during foul shots. I know I am much classier than those people, but for that one brief moment, I wasn't acting like it, and I will be kicking myself for that forever.

That's why teachers don't want students speaking impolitely. They're not trying to take away freedom of speech; they merely want their school to look respectable. I don't want my school to be thought of the same way as the trashy public school near me either. Do you?

If not swearing is too difficult for you, try some of these substitutes, conveniently used in example sentences:

• "Holy Twilight Saga, that is an ugly shirt!"
• "That is such a load of iPhone batteries."
• "My brother is a total derpface."
• "Where the Dinkleberg did I put my keys?"
• "Oh, Spencer Pratt! I stubbed my toe!"

Hopefully this will make things a little easier.

The Disturbing Truth About Slavery

 If you have heard about Barack Obama declaring January 2012 National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, you might be confused about why our president would be concerned with such an issue. After all, slavery ended in the U.S. after the Civil War and is only occurring in remote third-world countries nowadays, right? Sadly, that is not the case. Slavery, defined by CNN as "when one person completely controls another person, using violence or the threat of violence to maintain that control, exploits them economically, pays them nothing and they cannot walk away," is a very real problem, even in present-day America; it's just that the media goes out of its way to hide the upsetting truth, using euphemisms such as "debt bondage," "bondage labor," "attached labor," "restavec," "forced labor," and "indentured servitude."

The legal definition for "chattel slavery" is surprisingly loose: "a civil relationship in which one person has absolute power over the life, fortune, and liberty of another." It would be nice if such situations were rare or nonexistent, but they are more common than most realize, with over 27 million slaves in the world today, mostly located in India and Africa, though thousands are trafficked into the U.S. annually. To truly appreciate what a large number that is, consider that there are about 32 million seconds in a year. That means that if a person were to meet one slave every second, he would spend about seven eighths of a year meeting slaves. How much do these slaves cost, you ask? About ninety dollars in average. Ninety dollars. Human beings can officially be bought for less than designer clothing, smart phones and gaming consoles. If that's not disheartening information, then I don't know what is.

Want an example of something these slaves do, the purpose they serve? Well, chocolate is made from the labor of child slaves. As much as we all love chocolate, it is far from necessary for survival. Some of these children have never even eaten chocolate before; some don't even know what chocolate is. That's right, kids are being forced to make a product they're not even familiar with. Think about that the next time you take a bite into that candy bar that you could afford to waste money on. I'm not saying eating chocolate is inherently bad, only that we need to understand just how lucky we are to be so privileged, and how wrong is is to value junk food over the freedom of innocent youth.

Despite these horrifying facts, it is important that we don't lose hope. Nothing great was ever achieved without effort, but if we band together to spread the word, surely we can put an end to slavery. I like to believe that the majority of people in the world are not sick, sadistic individuals who think slavery is right, so if the public is educated, it should be very possible to overthrow those who are okay with the ownership of one's equals. All we can do is try.

Pictures courtesy of Free the Slaves, Lisa Kristine, and Daniel Rosenthal, respectively.

To learn more about slavery and the battle to end it, please visit the following websites:

http://www.thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com

http://www.freetheslaves.net

http://www.endslaverynow.com

Merry Christmas!

There are only four days until Christmas, and that's certainly something to be excited about. I have my pretty artificial pine in the living room with boxes aplenty lying beneath it. One of those boxes contains a PS3 for my brother and me, and I'm really looking forward to some gaming over break.

But is that what Christmas is all about? Despite what the commercials may tell us, the answer is no. Just watch A Charlie Brown Christmas is you haven't done so already. (And even if you have seen it recently, it can't hurt to rewatch it.) You should be very familiar with Linus's famous speech toward the end of the cartoon:

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them,

Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

So there you have it, Charlie Brown. That's the true meaning of Christmas."

Had this special been made more recently, the creators would be afraid to include these quotes from the Bible out of fear of political incorrectness, but why should it be a problem for a character to tell the truth? News flash, people: Christmas is about Jesus. I mean, hello! The first six letters spell out "Christ." I'm not saying that everyone has to be a Christian - my dad is Jewish, so obviously I'm not someone who is prejudiced against those with different religious beliefs - but claiming that a Christian holiday is anything but just that is completely wrong.

And as for those of you who aren't Christian, don't think that's any excuse to make this season all about greed. There is nothing wrong with getting psyched about the gifts you receive, but be sure to give gifts as well. It doesn't even have to be a material present; kindness, respect, helpfulness, and love are all gifts in their own right. Spend some time with your loved ones. Bake some cookies. Sing some carols. What you give to others is what makes Christmas what it is.

That said, happy holidays to anyone who is actually reading this. Pour yourself a mug of hot chocolate (preferably with marshmallows), and enjoy your life! :)

My First World Problems

Okay, I know my last post was about how there are people in the world who are facing life-or-death issues and we shouldn't think our own troubles are significant compared to theirs, and I'm not taking that back, but I still have the right to complain about the little things that go wrong in my life. I know my quality of life is nearly perfect, and don't get me wrong, I appreciate how good I have it, but that doesn't mean I don't get frustrated once in a while. I'm human. And I think it's okay to get my anger out through blogging if that means I'm not going to be making those around me miserable.

My Thanksgiving break has been pretty mediocre. I enjoyed eating all of the yummy side dishes (No turkey for me!) and putting up the Christmas tree, but these past few days just have not felt break-like, if that makes any sense. Wednesday, I just slept all day. And if you're thinking that spending my time sleeping was a decision that I made and I'll just have to live with it, clearly you have never been in my body (which is probably a good thing; it would be pretty freaky if someone else were able to inhabit my body). You think I wanted to sleep? No. No, I did not. I never want to sleep. But my body requires a ridiculous amount of nap time. I swear there is something wrong with me. Then, at about 1:00 PM that night, I remembered, "Oh hey, I had an English assignment due at midnight tonight. Guess I'm getting a zero on that one!" And yes, I know it's my own fault for forgetting, but the second day of break is a really weird time to have a report due, don't you think?

Thursday was mainly comprised to chasing my little cousins around the house, trying to keep them entertained. They're good kids, and I love them, but I do not have the energy of a three-to-seven-year-old, and I kinda wanted to lay on the couch and watch TV with everyone else. Thursday was also an introduction to my bad luck with video games for the week, as I should have beaten Mimana Iyar Chronicle that day, but didn't because the final boss is so insanely hard that I just gave up on beating it and watched the ending on Youtube, which is something I have never had to do in my life. Seriously, I thought it was like an unwritten law of RPGs that the final boss shouldn't be able to heal itself, but I guess nobody told the makers of Mimana Iyar Chronicle that.

Friday? Eh, Friday was pretty good. Not memorable, but relaxing. No, I did not go shopping, you silly. Do you take me for the kind of person who wants to shop on the one day that shopping is not enjoyable? Because that is not my thing at all.

Yesterday (Saturday), I just watched cartoons all day, which was nice until that night, when I had a nightmare that I swear was caused by Adventure Time. (I was watching that episode with the deer. 'Nuff said.)

And then came today. I was planning on playing this game called Rogue Galaxy that I had bought a couple weeks ago, but my PS2 would not play it. Now, the last time I had used the PS2 was maybe two months ago, and it would occasionally have trouble reading the disc back then, but if I just took it out and brushed some dust off, it worked just fine. This time, I tried washing the game numerous times, and it sill refused to work. I tried putting another game in the PS2, and it had no problem starting up, so I'm sure this disc is the issue and not the PS2. So now I'm gonna have to take the stupid thing to Gamestop and hope that they can fix it or at least give me my freakin' ten dollars back. Oh, well. I'm off to try cleaning this piece of junk one more time, and if that doesn't work, I guess I'll just have to give up on it and go on with my pathetic life.