The United States No Longer The Best

This is crazy. The reason why all of this speculation has came about the United States losing its dominance is because of the financial crisis that the United States is in. The future of the United States of America is not looking very good right now. They are making it seem as though we are running low on fossil fuels and will eventually run out of them in the future. They make it seem as though we will run out of fossil fuels and countries will start competing for them very soon. I do not think that this is true. I think that it will be a while, at least a hundred years from now, until the acquisition of fossil fuels will become extremely competitive. I used to think that only my children would have to worry about global warming and fossil fuels, but officials are making it seem as though I should be worried about them now because they can affect me also. I really do hope that this is not the case. Even if it is not the case, I still think that we should be careful with our usage of fossil fuels for the sake of future generations. You would think that someone would have thought of some better ways to use other sources of energy. I am sure that people have. The only thing is that those methods, if there are any, are not popular enough. I know that people have made cars that can run on water. Other people just need to work on it to make it better and more popular. It also needs to be affordable. I know that one of the cars that were made to run on water worked, but it did not go that fast. Also, there should be much more solar powered items and wind powered items. I do not know where all of the innovative minds, that the United States used to have, went. I hope that the United States does not fall off of its throne of being the most dominant country. If it does, that could only mean worse situations for us, the people who live in the United States. The United States has been a major if no the most powerful nation in the world for several years. The United States is just going through a tough time right now just as it did back in the 1930s around the time of the Great Depression. However, did not the United States bounce back? Did not it raise back up to its standing as the world’s most powerful nation. I have faith in the United States and believe that everything will be all right. Even if the financial situation of the United States becomes worse than it is today, it will eventually get better. It may take five year. I may take ten years. It may even take twenty years, but it will get better. Hopefully the use of nuclear weapons does not become more likely. I just wanted to say that I am so glad that this is our last blog entry! Hallelujah!

I Love to Eat

I am going to write about how I love eating. I really do love to eat. I will almost eat anything. Many things that my family members and other people may find nasty, I seem to like and eat it. It may not be the best thing in the world, but I will almost eat anything. The only reason why I will not eat some things is because it is not healthy for you. Lately, probably within the last year or two, I have been more conscience about eating more healthy. I have come to realize that I need to take care of my body and eat right, so that I can live a good, long, and healthy life. I have always liked to exercise, and now I do it more consciously than I used to. I still do enjoy exercising even now that I do it consciously. Throughout pretty much my whole life, I have gotten my exercise in by playing basketball. When I was younger, from about five years old up until I got to college, I used to play basketball almost everyday. Those were the good old days. However, ever since I went to college and had to work, I have not been able to play basketball nearly as much. During the school year, I will probably only play basketball (at the most) three times a week. However, I do exercise in some way everyday/night (usually at night). These nightly workouts that I do consists of abs, quadriceps, hamstrings, calf, bicep, chest, triceps, and a little bit of aerobic exercise. I remember when I was younger, from ever since I could remember up until about a year or two ago, I used to eat like crazy and until I got really stuff. Now, I realize that I can not eat like that anymore and not have any consequences with it. I have never had any weight problems; (I have never weighed over 155), but I observed this fact (that I could not just eat like I was crazy) by checking my weight almost nightly. Now I still eat a lot, but not nearly as much as I used to when I was younger and my metabolism was probably a bit faster. I think that everyone should exercise, even if they are the skinniest person in the world. Exercising helps prolong your life and helps certain body parts to perform better. I also heard that exercising helps you feel better and gives you more energy. I have not been sleeping too good or long at night when I have the chance to. I think this is because of me working out at night; (I have weights and stuff at my house). My lack of rest could also come from my body not being accustomed to getting much sleep. If I get five hours or less of sleep on most nights, then when I have the chance to sleep in one morning and get a total of ten or twelve hours of sleep, then it is probably hard for my body to do this because it is used to me getting very few hours of sleep. Despite the “healthy” way of think that I have developed over the past year or so, I still love to eat.

My Life

I am going to write about my life. I was born in Melbourne, Florida. If you do not know where that is, it is about an hour an hour and a half from Orlando. It is on the east coast. Most of the family on my mom’s side lives in Melbourne. I was not raised in Melbourne. I only lived there for about a year or two. After that, I moved to St. Petersburg, Florida. That is in the northeastern part of Florida. I stayed there for about a year or less. Then, I moved to West Palm Beach, Florida. This is about two hours away from Miami. I live there for about one year or less. From there, my family and I moved to Georgia. This took place when I was about four years old. We moved around two times in Georgia. We lived in Clayton County both times that we moved in Jonesboro. We stayed here for about four or five years, then we moved back to Florida. This time, we moved to Poinciana, Florida. Poinciana is pretty synonymous with Kissimmee, which is about thirty minutes or less away from Orlando. So, there were lots of tourists coming there. Most of the stores were like dedicated to tourists and the “great Mickey Mouse.” Like in a Wal-Mart that was there, they sold lots of tourist items and lots of items that had Mickey Mouse and other Disney related icons on them. So, as you could imagine, there were lots of people that did not know where they were going on the roads. There were also lots of Puerto Ricans and Hispanics in general in Poinciana and around that part of Florida that I lived in. This was alright though. Then, from there, my family and I moved back to Florida and live where we currently reside. We moved back to Georgia when I was thirteen years old. I had to start my second semester of ninth grade at a new school. It was kind of difficult at first, being a freshman and going to a new school without knowing anyone there, but I adjusted pretty quickly. The longest my family and I have lived in one spot will be six years in December. As you can see, my family moved around a lot, kind of like how a military family would. My dad is not in the military. He just keeps on getting job promotions that causes us to have to move. Right now, my parents are building a new house in Snellville, about five to seven minutes away from the house that we are living in now. This should be finished by the end of this year. It is a huge house. My parents said that this is the last time that they are going to move. I do not know if this is true because they always want to “grow”. By this, I mean they always want to get a bigger house with better things in it. In a sense, you can say that they are never satisfied. Well, that my life in terms of where I have lived my whole life.

Good and Bad "Art"

One of the pieces of art that I greatly despise is not really just one piece. It is rather a collection of pieces that I despise. I do not like the music that is played at Old Navy at all. This is an example of one of the pieces of music that was played at Old Navy a couple of months ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvKE5xAZttc&feature=related. This is just a little example of the many horrible songs that are played at Old Navy. Even thought this song is no longer played at Old Navy, it sounds very similar to some of the other songs that are played there. I remember when I was younger (as a child), I used to think that the music at Old Navy sounded good. I used to think that the music was bumping and the store had a great atmosphere. This was when my dad was the store manager at an Old Navy store and I would go in there every once in a while. However, now that I am working at Old Navy and have been working there for over a year now, I have had a very good chance to listen to a lot of the music that is played there, and my opinion of the music has greatly changed. I will admit that some of the music that is played there does sound good, but probably about seventy-five percent of more of it sounds bad like this music. Even though I, as well as almost all of the employees that I work with, would consider this music to be bad, this song sounds alright compared to some of the other music that is played there. I really do not think that this music makes folks dumber, but I do believe that it affects my performance and the performance of some of the other employees at my job. When I hear bad music like this, it makes me want to work less and somewhat makes me angry at the people that put that playlist together because they could have chose so many other good songs that may even encourage shoppers to shop there more often. I know that this music affects the performance of some of my fellow employees also because they told me so. One of the pieces of art that remind me that not everyone is a total knob is Lil Wayne’s music. This is an example of one of my favorite songs by him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BHgYkrn9HI. This is his is his “Walk it Out” freestyle. They should play music like this at Old Navy. They could just take out all of the curse words and play it. I know that Old Navy has to appeal to all people by playing a variety of music, but they could still play more music like this. Everyone once in a while (like every three months) a song that is almost like this (a rap song) will be played, but at least three to five rap songs should be on every playlist at Old Navy. Another piece of art that remind me that not everyone is a total knob is Lil Wayne’s “Upgrade You” freestyle ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APS9EwRlNA8 ). This is another one of my favorite songs by him. He is a genius.

Maria Full of Grace

I thought that this movie was all right. It was a lot better than that first movie that we watched. I do not even know if that should even be considered a movie, but I guess it is. I guess it could be considered a documentary. However, Maria Full of Grace was not a bad movie. Out of all the wonderful movies that you could have chose you chose this one? To add to this, the movie was in Spanish, and we had to read English subtitles the whole time. If it was in English, then I am sure that the movie would have been more enjoyable. I guess I should just be happy that we could even have the privilege of watching a movie. Thanks James. I really did not see any religious symbolism in this movie until you mentioned it at the end of class and people started pointing out different things. You said that there were crosses “everywhere” in the movie, but I really do not remember seeing one. There may have been one on the necklace that Maria was wearing, if she even was wearing a necklace. If I am not told to look for something like symbolism in a movie, then I probably am not going to notice it too much unless it is very obvious. When I watch a movie, I am expecting to be entertained. I am not trying to think that hard and that deeply into the movie to try and find something that is not obvious, especially if the movie does not really ask or want you to figure something out (with them stating it pretty explicitly in the movie). Some movies do have a pretty obvious (religious) undertone/symbolism in it, but this movie’s symbolism just was not that obvious to me. I do see how this movie does has some religious symbolism in it because of how the main character’s name is Mary and she is pregnant. This is just how Mary in the Bible was pregnant with Jesus. That is about the only way in which this movie was religiously symbolic (that I can think of). That guy does look familiar. I believe (and am pretty sure) that that is the guy that worked in that building and sat at a desk. He was the guy that tried to help Maria and Blanca find a job. It is pretty neat how this guy does what he did in the movie in real life. I think that what he does is very good. He tries to make sure that the drug mules that die receive a proper burial. I think that it is pretty sad how his mom died, but at least she was doing a good deed when she died and not smuggling over some drugs. I really do not find anything rug with people being drug mules. People are going to find illegal drugs one way or another. So, I think that they might as well be able to bring the drugs over. I do not think that it was right in the movie how the police officer, at the airport, stopped Maria just because he thought that she might be a drug mule. There really was not any sufficient evidence that would prove that she was a drug mule by just looking at her. Those are my thoughts on this movie.

Great Depression Oral Interview

I am going to write about the interview in which Horace Clayton was the interviewee. Studs Terkel interviewed him. According to the source given by this blog assignment, Horace Clayton was an African American that is talking about poverty. In my opinion, Horace Clayton sounded like a white man because of the way he said some things and what he said. He was referring to black people as “Negros.” I thought that only white people called black people Negros back in those times. I did not know that black people called other black people Negros as well. I guess I am mistaken. Also, he was saying that he dressed better than some of the other black people. In a sense it seemed as though, he looked down on the other black people, as if he was not a black person himself. He also made it seem like he was better than the other black people and looked down on them because of the tone of his voice that he used when he was saying certain things about them. I think that this is extremely wrong. I do not think that anyone should look down on anyone else no matter how much higher in society they may be. Someone should definitely not look down on someone that is within the same race that he or she is in. I like how he said that the black people stuck together when it came to laying down on the ground together. I think that people should stick together like this, no matter if it is the same race sticking together or multiple races sticking together. Americans should stick together as a whole. Hopefully, Barack Obama becoming president will help all Americans, no matter the color of their skin, stick together. I think that Americans of all races have grown closer together since the days of slavery and are continuing to grow closer together and erase race lines. This is shown through Barack Obama becoming president. Not all of the people that voted for and supported Barack Obama were black. This shows that many Americans did not care if Barack Obama was black or white, which is a great thing. I thought that it was kind of neat how Horace Clayton was with the other African Americans, but he did not get beaten like some of the other blacks did. I wonder why this was the case. Maybe it was because he was better dressed than the other black people were; or maybe it was because he was light skinned (I do not know if this is true or not). I thought that this would not matter. I thought that as long as he was black, he would be getting the same horrible treatment that all of the other blacks got. Although some of the words Horace said may have sounded like they could have came from a white person, the way in which he talked sounded like a black person. I do not know how to describe it, but the way he talks sounds like he could have been black regardless of what he actually said.

Democratic President and Congress

I think that the effects of a democratic president and a democratic congress will be dramatic. I think that they will be great also. Of course I will naturally think this because I am a democrat. Also, Bush (a republican) has been president long enough and it is about time a democrat is president again. With both congress and the president being democratic that is even better. This country under President Bush has been a mess. We have engaged in a war that was not even necessary. We have spent way too much money on a war that was not even necessary. The economy is worst than it has ever been since the great depression. All of this took place with a republican president. Hopefully, all of this will change with a democratic president (and congress). When the president and majority of congress are of the same party, (most of the time) they can get a lot more accomplished than if there is divided government. To go along with this, it seems as though Barack Obama is a very active president and will get the job done. I know that it is a little early to say this because he has not even became president yet. However, I can conclude that he will “get the job done” just by how he carries himself and by how he has acted these past few days. It has only been a few days since he was elected to be the next president of the United States and he is already appointing (or trying to appoint) people to different position in the new government that will be formed when he is president. That is very good. If he is doing this much now, just imagine how much he will do and (try to) accomplish when he is president. I am so happy that he won the election between him and John McCain. For one thing, he black. This is great for America as a whole and shows that the United States has come a long way since the days of slavery and is still growing. It is also good for blacks also. Hopefully, this will help blacks out and cause them to be better looked upon in society. If McCain became president, like Obama kept saying, it would be “eight more years of Bush’s failed policies” because “McCain voted with Bush ninety percent of the time.” He calls himself a maverick, but I do not see anything that resembles a maverick by his voting history, which coincides with Bush’s. Hopefully a democratic congress and a democratic president will bring about the needed change that needs to take place in the United States, and it is more likely to happen because their will not be a divide government. I know that this change may take some time, but I am confident that they will be able to work things out. I really do hope they do because I do not think that some people can continue to live the way in which they are living now for a long time.

No Sleep

I am not getting enough sleep at all. I heard that you are supposed to get at least eight hours of sleep a night. Instead, I usually get about four or maybe five hours of sleep per night. I know that this is very bad. This is just how much sleep I usually get. At the most, I will sleep for four to five hours a night. I heard that if you sleep more than eight and less than six hours of sleep per night, then you are more prone to be obese. This may be true, but this will definitely not be true for me. I will never become obese. I work out and play basketball too much to become obese. Anyways, I also heard that it is very important for you to get the proper amount of sleep at night so that certain parts of your body can function properly. Also, when I am sleepy, which is pretty much always, it is hard for me to stay focused in class and to work at my job (which is at Old Navy). I know that it is pretty much my fault that I do not get enough sleep. I need to stop procrastinating so much. I procrastinate with almost everything that I do. I procrastinate when I am going to work by leaving at the very last minute that I can in order to make myself right on time. I procrastinate when I am going to school by doing pretty much the same thing as I do when I go to work. I procrastinate with my homework by waiting until like five o’ clock to do it when I have off that day and when I do not have school that day as well. I also procrastinate when it comes to studying for a test by really studying only like the day before or the day of the test. When I do this, I usually only get like one hour of sleep or no sleep the day before the test. Sometimes I actually stay up twenty-four hours! That really is ridiculous, but I do what I have to in order to make a good grade. I know that I should not wait until the day before the test to study for a test though. I really do not even know if I will even do well on a test if I study for it weeks before it is actually time for me to take the test because I have never tried it. Another thing that could be keeping me from getting sleep at night is the fact that every day (usually at night time) I workout. I heard that it is not that good to workout (especially with weights) at night time because it will keep you up. I think that this may be true. This does not really have anything to do with when I actually go to sleep, but I think it does negatively affect the quality of my sleep at night. I must change my ways so that I can get more hours of sleep at night.

Congo Conflict

I really could not tell you what all of this is about. I do know that what these people are doing is extremely wrong. First, they (some of the retreating Congolese soldiers) are invading other people’s land. That alone is enough. You should never go on someone else property, of whom you do not even know, unexpectedly. They not only invaded other people’s property, but they also raped women. This is also very immoral. I think that raping a woman is one of the worst things that you can do to her. I think that this conflict that is going on is crazy. It should not be going on in the first place. This is just like the War in Iraq. All of this fighting and killing could have been avoided. Now, like the article says, several thousands of people have vanished from the refugee camps. I really do not know why this would happen. Maybe they left to find more food. Maybe some of them left also to find more medicine. I really do not know why they left the refugee camp. You would think that that would be one of the safest places for them to be staying. Maybe they believe otherwise or know that this is true but are too strong willed to stay at the refugee camps. I think that these two sets of people should resolve their problems and do so without violence being involved. For one thing, soldiers (I am sure) are getting killed pretty much for no reason because there is no need for them to be fighting. Also, innocent civilians are also being harmed by their fighting taking place. It is enough for a soldier to be harmed because they are pretty much expected to be harmed in some kind of way. However, it is even more heart crushing to know that lives of innocent people are being harmed. I am sure that innocent people have been killed and harmed in some sort of way with this current War in Iraq. (I really do not watch the news and keep up with the War in Iraq too much to know whether or not this is true). The American news programs probably do not want to report these incidences because they know that (most) Americans will look down on it. I know I do. I do not care how bad a problem may be; I think that any problem can be solved without fighting. I really did not fully understand why this conflict was taking place. However, I do know that it should stop as soon as possible so that more innocent people will not be harmed and more innocent women will not be raped. I think that they should quickly find a way to get those people more food because without it, of course, the people will die. The love ones of these people that will die from starvation will also be harmed. This is another way in which this conflict has negatively affected the lives of the people in that region of the world.

My eBay Obsession

I am going to write about eBay. I am obsessed with eBay. Well at least I used to be. I have an eBay account and have had it for a little over a year. Since then, I have been selling and buying several things on eBay. I think the total number of items that I have sold and bought on eBay is about twenty. That is nothing compared to some of the other eBay members. Some of them have made hundreds of thousands of transactions. I might get like that someday, (maybe in about fifty years)! EBay can easily get you addicted to it. You can find so many cheap items on it. I have found shoes on eBay for much cheaper than the retail price of them are. I have also found several other items on eBay that are a lot cheaper than they would be in a store (even Wal-Mart). Many people think that you can only get used items off of eBay. This is very untrue. A good percentage of the things on eBay (probably about half) are new. EBay has almost anything you can think of buying on it. Even things that can not be shipped are sold on eBay. An example of this is a tractor. I am pretty sure that I have seen tractors of some sort being sold on eBay, (not that I was looking for one). I am a big saver. I am probably the cheapest person that I have ever seen. I think I get it from my father. My dad is very cheap. However, I am pretty sure that I am much cheaper than he is. I remember back in grade school when my parents used to give me lunch money, I would save it. I would go without eating lunch just to have more money. I also used to “hustle” a lot. During the early years of me being in grade school, my mom would pack me a lunch a lot of the time. I would sell my lunch to other children. Now, I have a job at Old Navy, cut hair, and (most of the time) go without eating, until I get home, to save money. I have gotten a little looser with my money now days. A big chunk of my “looseness” can be credited to eBay. After growing up a little more and having to pay for more and more things in my life, I have gotten looser with my money and eBay has only made it worse. My looseness (I am sure) is nothing compared to most other people’s definition of being loose with money. My looseness with my money is probably still tighter than most people are with their money. Once you find a good deal on eBay, you (well I do) think of something else that you might need or want and think that you can get a good deal on eBay. Then, you end up buying another item, and the cycle keeps on going on and on. That is how the trap is. I have sold some items (two) on eBay and made a profit, but it does not outweigh the amount of money that I have spent on eBay. I still do need to sell a lot more of my stuff on eBay, mainly video games and video game systems. Now, I have gotten a lot better with saving money and not spending as much on eBay.

R. L. Burnside and His Music

The musician that I selected to write about from You See Me Laughin’ is R. L. Burnside. I chose him because it seems as though he was probably the main character of this movie. It also seems as though this movie talked more about him and focused more on his music. I chose him because I thought that he would be the easiest to write about as well. I really did not like any of the music that any of the musicians played in this movie. I think that the best music that was played was when Burnside joined with a few other musicians to form that band. Even though their music together was the best, I do not even think that their music was good. The best part about their music would probably have to be the drum player playing the drums. Maybe I feel this way because I play the drums myself and like it better than all of the other instruments that their band played. In my opinion, Burnside can not sing. He is horrible. I do not know why anyone would pay to watch him perform, especially if he is performing by himself (not in the band). I got an example of one of his songs from YouTube. Here is a link to it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8RtayjqqIw. The song that he is performing is called “Poor Black Mattie.” I really could not even tell you what this song was about. That is how horrible it was. His guitar playing is all right, but his singing is very bad. His guitar playing is boring. There is no excitement in it. I also think that there should be some type of beat or drums in this performance of his, especially if he is going to be so boring. I do not like this kind of music at all. I like hearing bass and a beat (most of the time) when I am listening to music. If there is not any bass or beat at all in a song that I am listening to, then the singer or singers that are singing the song have too be singing it very well. This guy is not even close to singing very well. I do not know why anyone would like this guy. Maybe they may like him because he is bringing some of the old music back and trying to make it popular. (I guess I would consider this old because I do not listen to it and it does not seem to be very popular). I listen to another one of his songs called “Just Like a Woman” on YouTube also, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mRTU_7M97Q. This song was all right. His guitar playing in this song was better than it was in the previous song that I listened to. His singing was still bad. He did have a little beat in this song. I think he was making it with his foot. That made a big difference in this song. I watched another one of his songs called “Poor Boy Long Ways from Home,” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjGf4AkgM4Q&feature=related. This song was just as bad as the first one, in my opinion. Overall, I think that this type of music in general (including R. L. Burnside’s music) sounds bad, is too sound sounding, and is boring.

You See Me Laughin'

I think that the movie You See Me Laughin’ is okay. I really do not like it that much. I definitely would not watch this movie on my own. Out of all of the movies that we could have watched you chose this one? I could think of so many more things that we could have watched. I do not have a clue why you chose this movie for us to watch. For one thing, I do not like the kind of music that the guys in this movie play. The guy that played the guitar with a butter knife sounded horrible in my opinion. I do not see why people would actually pay to hear him play the guitar let alone actually listen to him playing the guitar for free. I do not like the way any of these guys sound playing their type of music (which was the Blues I think). In my opinion, the best sounding music that was in this video came from when that old, fat black guy joined the group with that skinny white guy and a few other people. There music was much better than the rest of the music that was played in this video. I still do not like the music that even they played; I just think that it sounded the best. In my opinion, their music sounded closer to rock than any of the other music that was played in this video. I will listen to a very little bit of rock. That is probably why I like their music the best. I do think that some parts of this movie were funny. Overall, this movie was pretty boring. It was very hard for me to watch it. I also do not like how this movie made black people look. I am not offended at all by this movie, I just do not like the way it portrayed African Americans. I do have a few family members (that live in Florida) that live similar to how the blacks in this movie live. It kind of got on my nerve the way in which most of the black people were looking in this movie. I think that there may have been only one clean looking black person in this movie. That is the young looking boy. He looked to be in his late teen years or in his early twenties. All of the people in this movie acted and talked very country. I can not remember where this movie took place at. I am sure that has something to do with why the people acted country. It really gets on my nerves to see black people act and look the way they do in this movie. The guy that plays the guitar towards the end of the movie was one of the people that got on my nerve the most. From the way his teeth were to the way he dressed, I did not like that. I also did not like the way his hair, the way he talks, and his attitude towards life. I did not like the way he really did not care about his health and the way he did not think that he needed to go to the doctor. Maybe this aspect of him got on my nerves because I do have family members that have this mentality. I really do not have that much of a problem with this movie, I just needed find something to write about to fulfill the five hundred words that we have to write.

Back to the Future: From Nick's Blog

If I had to choose from the movies that were mentioned in other people’s blogs, I would have to choose from Nick’s movie. There were not many movies to choose from. It looks as though most people did not write their blog yet or they mentioned movies that I have not seen yet. However, Nick’s pick was pretty good. I did like the movie Back to the Future. I think that either this one or the second were my favorite ones out of the three Back to the Future movies that were made. I do agree with Nick that this movie was cool. I think the first time I saw it was maybe this year or last year. Even though I saw it kind of late I still think that it was great. I like movies about the future. I also like the concept of someone building a time machine and actually being able to travel forwards and backwards in time. I hope sometime in the near future, someone will build a time machine that works. This would nice. I highly doubt that this would happen any time soon though. I like the hover board that the boy in the movie was riding on. I would love to ride on one of those. I used to skateboard when I was younger, so this would be kind of like that, but I am sure that it would be much better. I also liked how that doctor in the movie had other kind of futuristic items that he built where he lived. I thought that it was pretty neat how he made that contraption that automatically made him breakfast when his alarm clock went off. I wish I had something like that. I also liked how they almost did not power up the time machine at the end of the movie. I believe that lightning stroke something that was connected to the time machine, which gave it the power to operate properly. This part of the movie was very suspenseful. I also agree with Nick when he basically said that trilogies are good. I believe that this is true most of the time. The Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy was great. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy was also great. I remember when I would never watch a movie like Lord of the Rings. However, now that I am a bit older and can understands things better than I could in the past, I like movies like that now. I used to wonder why my dad liked movies like that. I thought that they were boring. Now, I like them. I also like the Back to the Future movie in which the doctor dies, or it appears that he is dead. I really can not remember exactly what happened in this movie, but I know that the concept of the doctor being dead and the teenage boy later on finding him was pretty neat. All in all, all three of the Back to the Future movies were good. Here is a link to Nick’s blog: http://nickrodesney.blogspot.com/.

A Great Movie

One of my favorite movies that I have ever seen is Hide and Seek. I love this movie. I have seen this movie several times, but the last time I saw it was probably about eight to twelve months ago. Robert De Niro and Dakota Fanning are the two main actors in this movie. They played good roles in this movie. Dakota Fanning is one of my favorite actors. She acts very well to be so young. She does well in scary movies. I think I have only seen her in one movie that was not scary, Man on Fire. Robert De Niro is a good actor as well. This movie is basically about a man and his daughter (Robert De Niro and Dakota Fanning). They live in a house, but then they move into a new house in a new town to get a fresh start. They want to get a fresh start because the man’s wife, the girl’s mother, just died. So, the little girl is going through tough times and starts acting kind of badly. The father (acts as though he) does not know why she acts the way she has started acting. The little girl plays hide and seek with her imaginary friend named Charlie. She does this pretty often and really enjoys doing it. Then, weird events start happening and weird things start showing up in their house. For example, one night, the father goes into the bathroom and finds a dead cat in there tub filled with bloody water. There is also a message written with the blood on the bathroom wall. I can not remember what it was. These events happen many nights. When they happen, the father wakes the daughter up and asks her if she did it. She tells him that she did not do it. She tells him that Charlie did it. He (acts as though he) does not believe her. Then one day, the father finds a new woman and has her over for dinner with him and the little girl. Later on that day, the woman dies (maybe because she jumped out the window or someone pushed her out). The father then comes up stairs and finds out that the woman died. He thinks that the little girl did it because she did not like the woman in the first place. The viewers of this movie later figure out that the father killed the woman. The father also killed his wife. We (the viewers) also find out that the father is Charlie, and he is the one that his daughter is playing hide and seek with. He is the one that killed that cat and did all of that stuff that happened in their house and in their bathroom. When they played hide and seek, that is when all of the evil stuff took place. Towards the end of the movie, the father makes the girl play hide and seek one last time, but this time, she is the hider and she is the seeker. When the father finds the girl he will kill her. Luckily, the next-door neighbor, who suspected that something was weird about the father, interrupted this last hide and seek game of theirs and shot and killed the father before he could kill the girl. This movie was amazing. I never would have thought that the father was also Charlie and that he is the one that did all of those evil deeds. This movie was a suspense/horror movie. I love horror movie. I also like suspenseful movies. This movie has an amazing twist at the end. I think that everyone should see it. That is why I like the movie Hide and Seek. A trailer to this movie is on http://www.moviefone.com/movie/hide-and-seek/18522/trailers.

Working at Old Navy

I am going to write about where I work. I work at Old Navy. It is an all right place to work. Most of the time the bumping music encourages you to keep on working. However, at times, the music is horrible. When there is horrible music, I have to listen to it over and over because they play the same CD/playlist for about a month. I guess if there is good music, then hearing it for a month my not be too bad. However, about half of the music on the CD/playlist is terrible. Sometimes a song that I really do not like will sound better than some of the songs that are played there. Unfortunately, rap music really is not played at Old Navy. The only rap song that I can remember being played there was two Kanye West’s songs, “Champion” and “Stronger.” At Old Navy, the one thing that the managers and supervisors care about the most is getting customers to get Old Navy cards. I really do not like this aspect of my job. I do not like asking people if they want to get and Old Navy card and most likely get into debt. I know that lots of customers are annoyed when I ask the employees ask them if they would like to “save ten percent by getting an Old Navy card.” I do not think that employee performance should solely be based on how many Old Navy cards you can get people to sign up for. I do not think that this is right because the people that are on the register have an advantage when it comes to getting people to get Old Navy cards. Many people really do not think about saving ten percent until they get up to the register and see how much money they are about to spend. Most of the time, I am not on the register. I am usually folding clothes and putting them back to where they belong from in the fitting room and up front at the registers. Another aspect that is not so favorable about my job is my head manager. She has a lot of mood sings. She also talks to people any kind of way that she feels like it. Sometimes, it is not what she says, but how she says it. However, sometimes she can be all right. I do not know why she has these mood sings, but she should not take her personal issues out on her employees. Despite this, my relationship with her is better with many of the other employees’ relationships with her, so her and I get along pretty well. This may also be because I do not let issues get under my skin like many of the other employees do. I get paid pretty good for this to be my first real job. The only problem with this is that the employees get raises once a year. That is not that often at all compared to some other jobs. Overall, working at Old Navy is not too bad.

W. the Movie

The main events here are basically about George W. Bush’s life. This movie basically concerns George W. Bush. This movie looks like it shows or at least attempts to show our current president’s actions and views toward certain issues throughout his life. This movie looks to betray him as a person that has had problems with drinking too much alcohol. This is something that I thought was true about him. I believe that it is true about his wild daughters also. However, I did not know that he had drinking problems when he was growing up during what appears to be his teenage years. It looks like the long line of Bushes that he comes from is somewhat prestigious and has a lot of pride embedded in it. This movie looks as though it shows George W. Bush being very rebellious. It also looks like it shows him to be not as “great” as the other Bushes were made out to look in this movie. (I really do not know much about Bushes ancestors). In my opinion, it does seem as though Bush could have been rebellious, especially if his family had a problem with him drinking. It looks like Georg W. Bush used to get into a lot of trouble when he was growing up as a young adult. Just from looking at this trailer, I find it hard to conceive how he became a president. Maybe it was simply because his father was president, and that made it much easier for him to become president as well. I think that this is the main reason why. I believe in this trailer, someone says something like “This is my war.” I do see why he would want to claim that. I guess if everything turns out good and we actually when the war, then I guess I could see him being somewhat proud to claim this. (I am guessing that he is talking about the war in Iraq). However, if we do not win the war, I could not see him being proud of this at all. Years from now, George W. Bush is probably going to be known for two main things. Those things will probably the War in Iraq and the financial crisis. He is already looking bad with the financial crisis going on, but if we lose the War in Iraq also, then he will probably go down as one of the worse presidents in history (in my opinion). It also looks like George W. Bush may have gone to jail. If this is true, then I did not know this at all. Overall, this movie looks like it could be somewhat good. It looks as though it could be a funny movie and people would probably be interested in it because it is about our president. I am curious to see how much money this movie is going to make this weekend. It seems as though it would do good. Despite this, I do not think that I would spend money to see it.

"Getting My Act Together"

I am going to write about my need to get serious about school again (particularly my chemistry class). I really need to get more focused in my chemistry class. I do not know what is going on with me this semester. I am doing pretty well in my other classes with A’s and B’s. I really do not know what is wrong with me. Well actually I do. I have been too focused on girls and playing basketball. I need too dedicate that devotion to chemistry. Two semesters ago, in the first part to this chemistry course that I am currently taking, I received a B in that class. I am struggling right now in this second part of the class. I do not know if it is because this second part to this class is more difficult than the first part of this class. It could also be because I have a different and possibly a stricter professor. I think that my struggle is a combination of them both. In the first part of this chemistry class, I got by (making a B) by studying the night before or an hour or two before the exam or quiz. I have taken this same approach with the second part of this chemistry class that I am currently in and it is obviously not working up to this point. Right now, I think that I have a low C in this chemistry class. If the lab grade for this class (which is twenty-five percent) is put into the class grade, then I will probably have an overall grade of a B in this class. However, I do not want to rely on the possibility of my lab grade in this class bringing up my overall grade in this class to a B. I need to have a B without putting in the lab grade so that I can make an A in this chemistry class. I am trying to make all A’s this semester, but I have not been giving my classes that one hundred percent effort that I should be giving to them. I need to start studying each day for my chemistry class (and other classes) and not wait until the day before or the day of the class to study for the classes test or quiz. Sometimes, I have even been going without studying for a quiz. Sometimes I get lucky and make an A or B. Other times, I do not get so lucky, and I make a C or lower on the quiz (or test). I have to make a plan for my classes and abide by that plan so that I can get my grades up in all of my classes. I need to stop paying so much attention to girls and basketball and start paying more attention to my classes and studying. I know that it is going to be hard for me to start studying, but I have to do it. The hardest part of studying (for me) is actually getting started to study. Once I get started studying, I can continue on for about forty-five minutes to an hour (when I am not forced to study the day before the test). This may not seem like much time, but it is a lot better than me not studying, and I am sure that it will make a big difference when it comes to my performance on quizzes and test. That is what I need to do to “get my act together” in school this semester.

Beverly Hills Chihuahua

I really have no clue why this is the number one movie in America. In my opinion, it should not be. I know that I should not be judging it in this way because I have not seen it yet. To tell you the truth, I really do not want to see. At first, when I saw displays up in the movie theaters advertising this movie a while ago (when I went to go see The Dark Knight), I thought to myself and told other people that that movie look dumb. I had not even seen any previews of it at the time. Now that I saw the preview that was hyperlinked in the blog topic that was on YouTube, it kind of made me want to see it more than I wanted to see it before. I still do not want to see it that much. I definitely would not go and pay money to see Beverly Hills Chihuahua. In my opinion, that would be a big waste of money. The only way that I might view this movie is when it comes out on a regular television station for free and if I have nothing else to do that day and there is nothing else worth watching on television. Since I hardly ever have nothing to do, I will most likely never see this movie. One reason why this movie may be the number one movie in America is because there may not be any (other) good movies out to watch right now at the movies. I really do not know what is playing at the movie theaters right now because I have not really had time to go to the movies. If no other movies at the movie theater are better or more worthwhile to watch than Beverly Hills Chihuahua and people just have to go to the movie theater to watch a movie, then they may be forced to watch this movie. An additional reason why this movie may be the number one movie in America is because it is a children’s movie. Sometimes, parents will not view a particular movie at a movie theater because they may not believe that that movie is suitable for their children to watch. This movie allows parents the opportunity to go to the movies with their children and view the same movie as their children do. In addition to this movie mainly being made for children, adults could also view this movie. From what I understand from this movie and its trailer is that this movie is not fully animated. Real people and life will be in it. The dogs may be real also. They may just use some types of computer tools to cause their mouths to move and to cause them to perform certain actions. Maybe this movie being number one in America is some sort of indication that families are growing closer together than they were in the past. Whatever the reason may be, I would not ever think that this would be the number one movie in America. It seems as though it has not had that much advertisements on television and as much hype, as other “number one” movies would have.

Open-Mindedness

I am going to write about having an open mind and not being closed minded. I can think of several instances in my life in which I had a closed mind and now I am open minded in those aspects of my life. An example of this is with the food I eat. I have loved eating cereal from when I was a young child up to now. I still love eating cereal. Two cereals that I did not like as a child were Cookie Crisp and Lucky Charms. I did not like either one of these cereals. I am pretty sure that I did not like them because they were not outstandingly good the first time I tried them. Therefore, I just gave up on liking them after a spoonful or two of eating them. However, now I love these two cereals. This is most likely because now when I try something new that I have not tasted before, it usually has to be absolutely disgusting for me not to continue eating it. This could possibly be because my taste buds have changed now that I am older, but I do not think that they have. I just think that I am more open-minded now and will eat almost anything. Another example of me being closed minded in the past is with music. In the past, I used to only listen to gospel, R & B, and rap. However, now I also listen to a little bit of country. I will listen to a little bit of the Jonas Brothers, a little bit of Linkin Park, a little bit of Flobots, a little bit of Maroon 5, and a few rock songs that I find “catchy.” I think that one of the main reasons why I will accepts a little bit of rock music is because of my cousin, my sister, and me working at Old Navy. Almost every summer, my little cousin (who is a ten months younger than me) comes to my house to visit for about a month. He listens to rock music as well as the other three genres of music that I mentioned earlier. However, he listens to rock music a lot more than I do. He would be listening to rock music at my computer sometimes, and I would walk in on him listening to the music. My first instinct was to reject the music and not really want to listen to it. However, after a while of having to listen to it, some of the rock music that he played sounded kind of all right to me. This is the same with my sister. With me working at Old Navy, I had to learn to love some of the music that they play there because I have to hear it over and over again. They play the same CD for about a month. Some songs that are played at Old Navy I can not possibly learn to love, but a lot of them I learn to love (or I will end up going crazy if I do not)! I think that people should be open minded about a lot of things, like music for example. You really do not know what you are missing out on until you open your mind up to new things. In the past (about two or three years ago), I never thought that I would be listening to rock at all. (If I do listen to any kind of rock, it is mainly soft rock; I think).

Discussion of Some Possible Sources for 2nd Essay

Of course, as I mentioned in one of my other blogs, my second essay will be about racial profiling and how it has influenced my life and the lives of others. My essay will probably be focused on the racial profiling against black people that takes place in America. Today, I was looking for websites and sources for this second essay. I found one website that showed the results from I believe it was the 2002 and 2003 census. One of the important bits of information that I found from this website (http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/p60-222.pdf) was that among the reported number of black people in 2002, 23.9 to 24.1 percent of them were in poverty, according to the race definition. I am sure that this would probably shock a lot of people. It would because many people believe that most black people are poor. However, this information from this website is proof that most black people are not poor. Even though other information from this website shows that black people have the highest percent of poor people than any other nationality of people that was reported in this census. Someone being poor is determined by looking at the size of his or her family and the number of children in that family that is under eighteen years old. With these factors being taken into consideration, that family is given a threshold. If that household/family makes less than that threshold amount of money for their family, then that family is considered poor or in poverty. I am not sure why black people have the highest percentage of poor people out of all the races than any other races. I guess this could go along with one of the other stereotypes of African Americans. The stereotype that goes along with this is the one that has to do with all black people being poor. Even though this stereotype may not be true, many black people are poor, and that is probably why so many of them are poor. However, many other people are poor as well, not just black people. Many of my relatives are lazy and many of them do not work. However, I do have some relatives that are hard working and doing well financially. My family (as in my immediate family) is one of the riches in my family. My dad makes six figures and is one of the many exceptions to the idea of black people being poor. I, as well as my children, will be an exception to this stereotype. A website that I found (http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d05/tables/dt05_126.asp) shows that African Americans have the lowest test scores out of all the racial groups that took the SAT in some of the years of the 2000s. This information kind of supports the stereotypes that black people do not do well in school and on standardized tests. However, even though this information that I found from these websites does support both of these stereotypes that I stated, this does not mean that that holding these biases is all right. This is not all right because not all black people are poor and not all black people do bad on standardized test and in school. I am an exception to the last stereotype that I listed also.

I'm Acrobatic

I am going to write about me being acrobatic. For most of my life, if not all of my life, I have been acrobatic. I also like doing dangerous things. I did my first back flip in third grade. This happened when I used to run wildly on the playground at recess. I also, back when I was in eighth grade, I used to go very high on the swings (at recess) and jump off. I did this very often. My friends and I used to have contests to see who could jump the farthest and the highest off of the swings. I also used to do a back flip off of the swings. I think I was the only one of my friends that did this. I would swing very high and then jump off when I got to the top. However, when I did this, I would not just jump off, I would jump off and do a back flip in the air and land on my feet. I would also hang upside down on the handlebars with just my legs. I would also do something called a penny drop off of the handlebars. This is when you hang upside down on the handlebars with just your legs touching the handlebars. Then you swing upside down, without putting your hands on the handlebars. Then while doing this, you let go of the handlebars with your legs and swing around, doing a back flip in the process. Later on, when I used to live in Florida, I got a trampoline. I was about eleven years old when I got it. I was so happy, and I bought it with my own money (well my little sister chipped in by paying about twenty or thirty dollars). I used to do crazy stuff on this trampoline. I used to do like ten or more back flips in a row, without a bounce in between. I also used to do like ten or more front flips in a row, without a bounce in between. I also used to do double back flips and double front flips. I also used to do twists. I did a nine hundred and a ten eighty. I also used to do twist back flips and twist front flips. I did seven twenty back flips and five forty front flips. I also used to do other acrobatic flips and tricks on the trampoline. All this trampoline fun was over when my trampoline broke when I was about fourteen or fifteen, after I moved to Georgia. I was so disappointed when this happened. I wanted to still use it, but my parents thought it would be safe if I got rid of it. So, we through it in the garbage. After this, I then learned how to do a standing back flip (one without running and without doing a round off into it). Then, after this, I learned how to do a three sixty back flip. I also learned how to do a wall flip about a year or two ago. Recently I have been having back problems that will kind of limit how often I flip. I really do not flip much now that I am a little bit older, but I do flip every once in a while. I will soon learn how to do a standing three sixty back flip and a seven twenty back flip.

The Worst Thing I've Done

To tell you the honest truth, I really have not done anything really bad before, at least that I can remember. I have done some minor things before. I am far from perfect. I guess I could name one of those things. You might laugh at this because it is not really all that bad, but I guess I will tell you about it. One time, maybe this year, I was pulling into the parking lot at my job. I work at Old Navy. So, I was pulling into a parking space, and once I got into it, I was not very straight. There was a car in the parking space that was right in front of mine. So, I started to straighten myself out. The bad part about this is that I was supposed to be backing up to straighten myself out. However, I forgot to put my car in reverse. While I was going forward, I was pushing the gas pedal pretty hard because I think that I was running late for work. Next thing you know, I was going forward rather fast, and before I could catch myself to stop accelerating, I hit the back of the car that was in the front of mind with the front of my car. Thank God that my car did not get harmed. However, it appeared that the person’s car in front of mind got a little slit in its back bumper. I am saying that it appeared this way because I am not sure if that slit was already there or not. It does look like there was a good chance that my car did make that slit in that car because of the way that my bumper is made and where my bumper most likely hit the bumper of that other car. It was the area that was right below the license plate, and there was a little line of the bumper in that area. When I hit the car, it made a pretty loud sound. It also moved the car that I hit. I am surprised that no one else heard it. I was glad that no one else was around because then I would have had to respond to it. As you can probably guess, I did not tell the owner of the car, who was not in the car at the time, that I had hit his or her car. I did not even leave a note on the person’s car letting them know that I had hit it. So, to make it seem as though I had nothing to do with the slit that was in that car’s bumper, I pulled out of the space that I was in and pulled into the space that was next to the space that I was in when I hit that car. Then, I simply got out of my car and went to work like nothing happened. I felt very bad about doing this, and I thought about it many times. I should have let the owners of that car know that I hit their car. Now, I am more cautious about (attempting) to back out of parking spaces. This is probably the worst thing that I have ever done that I can remember.

The First Presidential Debate

Overall, I think that the debate was pretty good. Several people said that they thought that this first presidential debate was boring, but I think that it was pretty interesting. I do think it was boring. How exciting can a presidential debate be? I could have thought that this debate was good because it is really the only presidential that I have ever seen. I have just started getting into politics since this presidential election came about. I think that there being a black man and a woman running for president made me more interested in this election. Also, I am older now and can understand politics a lot more than I could in the past. This election is also more appealing (I think) because of all the problems going on in the world today. With the financial crisis going on, the war in Iraq, and gas problems, this election is a very important one. I used to think that politics was boring, but now I think that it is pretty interesting. I think that both of the candidates were right when they both agreed that the bailout plan would put a lot of pressure on the president and cause him to have to cut government spending. With that amount of money being spent, they would have to put a limit on government spending. Many people say that the government could make money from this whole bailout plan in the long run, but as of right now, they would have to cut government spending. I disagree with McCain wanting to basically leave the soldiers in the Middle East in the war as long as it takes for us to win the war. I do not think that it should be this way. I think that we should end this war as soon as possible, no matter whether we win or lose. In my opinion (and in the opinion of several other Americans), too many people are dying in this war. Also, entirely too much money is being spent for this war. That money could be spent else where, such as on education and other domestic things. With the economy being as bad as it is now, we really do not need to be spending extra money on a war that we really do not have to fight. I do not think that we should have gone to war in the first place. There are other ways of solving issues other than fighting. I agree with Obama saying that McCain was wrong for invading Iraq. I think that it was funny how Obama kept trying to interrupt McCain when he was talking and Obama disagreed with what he was saying. I think that neither one of the candidates won the debate. I think this because both of them did really good when they answered the questions. Neither one of them really neither stumbled over their answers nor showed that they had a hard time answering any of the questions. I think that it was pretty rude of McCain not to look at Obama during the debate. Those are my thought about the first presidential debate.

My Second Essay Possible Topic

I am not sure exactly what I am going to write my essay about, but I am pretty sure what I am going to write it on. I think that I am going to write it on racial profiling. In particular, I am going to write about how it has affected my life. Of course, I am black (African American). Throughout my life, I have been pretty good at school. Throughout grade school, I only made one B in my whole life and the rest were A’s. The B that I got was back in third grade. It was in science. I will never forget that B that blemished my nearly perfect grade school record. I was pretty upset about it when I first got it. I used to be a super perfectionist. My perfectionism extended from me keeping my room clean, to making good grades at school, to being the best at every sport I played (mainly basketball). Now, I am not as much as a perfectionist as was, but I am still a perfectionist to an extent. In college, I have been accepting B’s in some of my classes. I really need to get back to the all A’s mentality that I had back in grade school. Anyway, to go along with all of these good grades, I skipped a grade back in middle school. I skipped seventh grade. Also, I was valedictorian of my eighth grade class, and this is right after I had skipped a grade. (I went from sixth to eighth grade). In high school, I graduated fifth in my class with a 4.0 grade point average. I have never gotten in any real trouble at school. I have never gotten detention, nor have I ever gotten suspended. Now that I am finished bragging about myself, let me tell you about what the real problem is. At the beginning of a semester, I can tell by how the teachers treat me and how they look at me that they think that I will not do good in there class. However, once I talk to the teachers and start making good grades in there classes, they start treating me and looking at me in a different way. Not all teachers do this, but a good chunk of them do. I do not know if it has to do with the way I talk or the way I dress. I know that it has a lot to do with me being black. I guess I could see why they would think this way. I a lot (and maybe even most) of black people do badly in school and act a certain way. However, not all black people are like this. I think that it is wrong to prejudge a person before you even get to know them. I think that it is all right to think a certain way towards a particular ethnicity and expect them to act a certain way. This may be okay, but when you start treating them a certain way (particularly immorally) because of your assumptions, then that becomes a problem. I think that thinking negatively is a problem, but it is not nearly as bad as treating someone negatively. That is a little bit of what I think that my essay will be about.

My Encounter with the Law

I am going to write about my encounter with the law. Last year, in 2007, I was on my way to Georgia State University to take one of my finals. This was in December. I live in Snellville and take Highway 20 to get to school everyday. I was running a little late, like always. Therefore, I was speeding to try to get to my final on time. (I probably would have been speeding regardless if I was late or not). I was going over eighty miles per hour and the speed limit was sixty-five. Then, the speed limit changed over to fifty-five miles per hour, and I was still going over eighty miles per hour. I was weaving in and out of cars, having a good time. Then suddenly, I saw a black car on the left side of the road just standing still. I do not have twenty twenty vision. So, I just assumed that the car was an ordinary car that may have broken down on the side of the highway. I soon discovered that this car was a police car, and the police officer was clocking people to catch someone speeding. When I realized this, it was too late for me to slow down because the police officer already clocked me when I was going eighty-three miles per hour. Next thing you know, the police car turned on the lights, drove up behind me, and pointed for me to pull over on the right side of the highway. So, I did. When the police officer stepped out of the car and came over to my car, I asked her if she could just give me a warning, but she refused to. She said that I was going way too fast and that I knew that “the polices are out” in DeKalb county. After that, I proceeded to school and took my final. I received a court date for my ticket, which was set for some time in January and February. When I got there, they told me that my court date was rescheduled because too many people were scheduled to go to court on that day. I thought that this was pretty dumb. They told me this after I got there. They could have called me or sent something in the mail letting me know that my court date had been rescheduled, but they did not. This happened to quite a few people at the DeKalb county court. The DeKalb county court system is very unorganized. If you ever get a ticket, try your best not to get it in DeKalb County. So, I went to court on September 25, 2008, which is when my court date was rescheduled to. I was fortunate enough to get away with only having to pay ninety dollars and attend a one day class one a Saturday morning for four or five hours. I was very pleased to hear this news. I thought that I would have to pay up to four hundred dollars and possibly even go to jail for getting caught driving at the speed that I was driving at. I just thanked God for it and will attend the class soon.

U.S. Torture Video

This makes me feel pretty bad about the future. The United States should be trying to find ways to make piece with the Middle Eastern countries. However, the United States treating them in this fashion can only lead to more fighting. We should be trying to end the War in Iraq. Instead, actions like this will prolong the War in Iraq and cause the people of the Middle East to become even angrier, just as the guy at the end of the video is angry. I think that it is extremely wrong for Americans to treat those people this way. They are torturing them and treating them very cruelly. Just as one of the guys from the video said, they took some people from their homes and tortured them for basically no reason. They are punishing people for doing nothing. That is horrible. I think that those Middle Eastern people have a right to have to type of problem with American people. I do not think that they should take their anger out on all Americans, but I still do think that they have a right to be angry with Americans. This could cause them to bomb something else in America like what took place on September 11, 2001. I know that Americans would not want this to happen. However, with the actions that they are taking part in could definitely lead to something like that happening again. I really do hope that something like that does not happen again. In my opinion, this “War on Terrorism” has been going on way too long. Too many people are getting killed. Entirely too much money is being spent on it. Money that could be used for other things, like getting America out of debt and getting the economy back on track. That war money could also be used towards innovated way of getting oil. These actions of American people on the Middle Eastern people could also lead to the Middle Eastern people treating Americans in very unethical ways if they were to capture Americans and hold them as prisoners of war. Even though the events that took place on September 11, 2001 were very bad, I do not think that people that do not have anything to do with those attacks and even people that are not fighting in the war should be punished. They should treat the people of the Middle East the way in which they would want to be treated regardless of what they may have done in the past to us. The United States should be trying to consolidate its relationship with the Middle East, but instead, they are making it much worse. Actions like these are making the United States look bad as a whole because the United States soldiers over there pretty much represent all Americans. They are making us look pretty bad right about now. Therefore, the Middle Eastern may try and take their anger out on all Americans in the future, which is very bad!

White People

I think that this is pretty funny. Maybe this is because I am not white. However, even if this was about black people I am sure that I would not be offended at all. I do not get offended very easily and especially over stuff like this. The author is satirizing the way he or she thinks that white people act. I think that the part about statistics is partly true. However, not only white people do this. People of other races do this too. However, it does seem as though white people do this more often than other races do. Many white people do try to sound sophisticated and smart. I think that the part about white people comparing people to Hitler is pretty funny. This is true to an extent and is more so true in an academic setting, like at school. The part about white people being excessively early for events is also funny. It is very true. This is not true for most black people. Many black people are late to wherever they are going. Lots of black people have no sense of time. They get to wherever they are going whenever they feel like getting to that place. It might not even be not wanting to be at an event on time. I think that it has a lot to do with procrastination and waiting till the last minute to leave their house when they are going to an event. I know that is what I do. I am not bragging about that because that is not good at all. I have been trying to work on that for years (not being late to events), and I am still working on it. The part about white people liking menus with no decimal places is kind of dumb. I know that I like menus with no decimal places. It makes me seem as though I am getting a deal on the food. The part about white people liking sweaters is also funny. I think that this is true also. I does seem as though many white people wear sweaters. I am not trying to be mean, but it does seem as though white adults play children’s games when a group of them get together. The games are even sometimes dumb and make them look stupid, but they do not care. I guess as long as they are having fun and not harming anyone else. That is all that matters. It also does seem as though white people do not get offended when someone (even of another race) says a joke that could be considered offensive to white people. If something is said about black people to a black person (especially from a person of another race, particularly a white person), then that black person will probably get offended. I always did and still do wonder why white people do not get offended. Maybe it is because of all those years of them doing bad stuff to black people in slavery. Maybe they feel that that gives them no reason to get offended when they offended black people for all of those years. It does seem as though most white people talk with proper English. I found this statement funny also. Overall, this list was very entertaining and not boring at all. (Just to let everyone know, I do not have anything against white people)!

My Love for Basketball

My favorite sport and one of my favorite things in the world is basketball. I love basketball. I love everything about it. I have played basketball pretty much for my whole life. I still play now, but now, I am not on any teams. Now, I usually play at a local park and at the recreational center at Georgia State University. I like sports in general, but none compare to basketball. I watch ESPN and Sportscenter pretty much everyday. Right now they are showing and talking about nothing, but baseball and football on Sportscenter. It is really getting on my nerves. I can not stand it. I can put up with football a little more than basketball. However, they mainly show baseball clips and updates on ESPNews and Sportscenter. Baseball is one of my least favorite sports to watch. The players really do not even have to be in shape to play it. Fat people can play baseball.
Like I was saying, basketball is pretty much my life. It used to be more so in the past before I went to college because I had hopes and dreams of making it to the NBA. However, the thought of me making it to the NBA has faded away, and the realization that I will not make it to the NBA (mainly because I am too short) has sunken in. I love watching basketball on television. I like watching streetball as well as organized basketball on television. I like all the tricks that the streetball players do and know that it is not fake even though some people believe that it is. The Harlem Globetrotters is fake, but the AND 1 team is not fake. I like watching NBA basketball as well as college basketball. However, I like watching the NBA much better. This is probably because I know the NBA players the best. My favorite team in the NBA is the Los Angeles Lakers. This has been my favorite team ever since like the year 2000. Kobe of course is my favorite player on the Lakers. In my opinion and according to the opinions of many analysts, Kobe is the best player in the NBA. He is usually one of the top three scorers in the league every season. Last season, he led his team to the NBA finals, even though he had a finger injury. Even though he had that finger injury, his scoring average went up after his injury. His team loss in the NBA finals, but it was because he really did not have any help from his teammates. Lebron James is my second favorite player. He is very strong and can guard almost any position of the court. He is very good at dunking. That is probably the best thing that he does. DeWayne Wade is my third favorite player. He makes several unbelievable shots. He got injured a while ago and the superiority of his talent was shown then, but in the Olympics he showed that he is still one of the best players in the NBA. I believe that basketball season starts in October. I can not wait until it starts.

The Global Economy and Artwork

This says a lot about the disparity between the rich and the poor. This shows that there is big difference between the rich and the poor. This article shows that the even though the world has been doing badly with its economy lately, some individuals are still doing good financial wise. Even though most people are suffering and struggling to sustain themselves financially, some people are doing all right. I know that my finances are good right now despite the bad economy. My parent’s are also still doing great financially like they always have been. God has been and will continue to keep my family and I financially stable. However, I know many people that are struggling. The hours of other employees at my job have been getting cut. (I work at Old Navy). Also, the size of my store had to be shrunken due to a lack of essential sales. We will also be getting in less units of merchandise because of business being so bad. I thank God that my hours have not been cut and that I even still have a job. Maybe I need to start making and selling art so that I can make as much money as this guy makes. I find it good to still see people doing good even though the global economy may be suffering right. I do not get jealous at all of people like that man. If anyone can find a legal way to make money and are doing well at it, then I have no problem with it. Even though many people say that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, in today’s times, some of the rich are getting poorer also. I really do not know what is causing the economy to be as bad as it is right now. Perhaps it is George W. Bush. People like to blame George W. Bush for everything that goes wrong in government even though he is not the cause of everything. (I think that) he is the cause of a lot of horrible things, but he is not the cause of all bad things. We may play a role in it also. I am not sure that we do or not, but we may. Despite how the economy is doing right now or even in the future, I know that I will always be financially stable and will continue to get richer. I am not cocky, even if it may seem that way. I am just extremely confident and have faith in God that I will always be all right no matter what. I do not see how even though the economy is bad, this man still got so much money for his artwork. Maybe this goes back to what I pointed out earlier about how even though the global economy as a whole is doing badly, some people are doing well financially. I guess this would be a good example of the rich getting richer (assuming that this guy was already rich) and the poor becoming poorer.

Procrastination

This blog is going to be about how I always procrastinate. I am a big procrastinator. I am not bragging about it, but it is the truth. I have been a procrastinator ever since I remember. I think that this has a lot to do with why I am late a lot to classes and different events. This is probably because I wait to the very last minute to leave where I am to get to a certain place. I think part of it is that I love to cut it close. I like to be very close to being right on time. This can be bad and most of the time it is bad. It is because even if I calculate the right time that I need to leave a place to get to a certain destination, I could run into certain things that may cause me to be late. For example, I may run into traffic when I am going to a class. I really need to start leaving earlier to get to my destination so that I will not be late. I am late very often in my classes. It is not good to procrastinate in school. However, it seems as though I work best when I am under the pressure of knowing that I have to finish an assignment at that very instant. This is the same with me writing essays. It seems as though I can write better and be more creative when I wait to the last minute to write an essay. It is very bad for me to procrastinate in some of my other classes. I am taking the second part to general chemistry right now. I have a test two days from now and I still have not started to study for it yet. I will probably wait to tomorrow, which is the day before the exam, to study for it. I am also taking a biology class write now. I have a test a week from now in that class. The test that I am going to take in it is going to be over twelve chapters! These chapters are filled with very in dept information. I have not started studying for this test either yet. I probably will not even start studying for this test until Thursday. The reason for this is because I am not going to study for it tonight because I am too sleepy. I am not going to study for it tomorrow because I have to study for my chemistry test tomorrow. I am not going to study for it Wednesday because I have to go to work and work late after I get home from school on Wednesday. Therefore, I am pretty much forced to start studying on Thursday. Of course, I could have started studying for this test since the first day of school because my professor posts the chapters that she will go over uLearn, but I procrastinated of course. I guess I am doing all right by procrastinating. Of course I could be doing better. I have not made anything lower than a B in any of my classes in college. I guess that is okay. In high school, I did not make anything lower than an A and I procrastinated then also. However, college requires much work than high school and that is why I have not been making all A’s in college like I did in high school with my procrastinating methods of getting work done. Even though I have been doing okay, I still would like to stop procrastinating so that I can get back to making straight A’s like I used to. It is hard to stop procrastinating, but I have to put an end to it once and for all!

On a Derted Island With Ten Songs

If there were ten albums I could bring on a stranded island with me, it would be hard for me to even think of ten albums. I know I could definitely name ten songs, but naming ten albums is kind of hard. I listen to music quite a bit but I really do not buy albums nor do I really pay attention to the names of albums that a song came from. I usually just download music from my computer on to my iPod. I do not think that I have ever bought an album (a CD) in my life. However, if I did have to choose ten albums to take with me on a stranded island, they would have to consist of gospel music and rap music. I love gospel music as well as rap music. I listen to a very little bit of rock and a little bit of R&B, but I do not listen to them enough to get a whole album of a singer’s music from these genres of music. The first album I would have is Lil Wayne’s album Da Drought 3. This album has some of my favorite songs that Lil Wayne has made. I like Lil Wayne’s songs because of the nice beats that he has in his songs and his brilliant use of metaphors and similes. Some of the stuff (lyrics) that he comes up with are amazing. I wonder very often how he comes up with his lyrics. Many people say that he is high when he comes up with his lyrics, and that is how he comes up with his lyrics so brilliantly. Two of my favorite songs from this album are Upgrade You and Walk It Out. These two songs already existed, but he just took the tune and beat from them and freestyled on them. This website shows all the songs from this album, http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Lil'-Wayne-Da-Drought-3-Album/D4AB268A1055E9AA482572DC001BB8A7. The second album that I would bring is Da Drought 2. One of my favorite songs from this album is diamonds and girls. In my opinion, this album is not as good as the one I mentioned before this one, but it is still good. The third album that I would bring is Tha Carter 3. One of my favorite songs from this album is A Milli. The fourth album that I would bring is Tha Carter 2. This one is not as good as Tha Carter 3, but I would still bring it. One of my favorite songs on this album is Fly In. The fifth album that I would bring is The Drought is Over Part Over Part 4. The sixth album that I would bring is Dedication 2: Gangsta Grillz. One of my favorite songs from this album is SportsCenter. This website has links to each of Lil Wayne’s albums that I mentioned, http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Lil'-Wayne-albums/A97BADC618D91AB2482569F4001E6C51. The seventh album that I would bring is Kirk Franklin’s Hero. I would bring this album because I would need something to keep me going and keep my relationship with God good. The eighth album that I would bring is The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin. This website has links to these two albums that I mentioned from Kirk Franklin. The ninth album that I would bring is J Moss’s V2. I like J Moss music and it would encourage me to keep pressing on and living while I am stranded on the island. The last album that I would bring is The J Moss Project. This website has links to the J Moss albums that I mentioned: http://music.yahoo.com/ar-306206-discography--J-Moss. Those are the ten albums that I would bring with me if I was stranded on a deserted island.

Klan Member Free

This is not fair at all. This guy killed two teenagers. In my opinion, this man should be in jail for the rest of his life. He did not only kill one, but two people. I know people that are serving life in prison but they did not even kill anyone. However, this man killed two people and only had to do like one year in jail. That is not fair at all. Maybe he ought to have even been sentenced to death. He probably should not have been sentenced to death though. The reason for this is because when someone is killed (by an electric chair), they really do not have time to suffer and think about the wrong thing that they have done. Their death will end very soon. However, when someone has to do life in jail, they have a long time to think about the wrong thing that they did, and (most of the time) jail is an undesirable place for that person to live.
This shows how messed up and corrupt the United States legal system is. It does because this guy should have been in jail for the rest of his life after he killed those teenage males. This shows how corrupt the United States legal system was back then in the times of the civil rights movement. It also shows how corrupt the United States legal system still is. I really do not know what kind of logic they came up with to let this man free. I am not trying to be prejudice or anything, but if this was a black man, then he would have been in jail without a doubt. I am not just saying this because I am black. If this was a black man he probably would have been killed or tortured whether they are allowed to do that or not. Situations like this one are supposed to have been behind the United States and should have ended several years ago. All men and women are supposed to be treated equally. This is an example of how the United States is definitely not the perfect country that some foreign countries may believe it is. Even though a lot of the prejudice that took place in the past is no longer as strong as it used to be, there still is some in the United States. In many cases (like how this one would probably be, whites are usually treated better than blacks. If everyone in this country were really treated equally, then this guy would have been in prison as soon as he killed those teens and would still be in prison now. I think that people should be treated equally in the United States (legal system) regardless of their race or gender. I think that they should also prosecute this man’s family members that tried to cover up the fact that this guy was still alive. Those are my thoughts on this horrible situation that should not have occurred the way in which it did.

The Greatness of the Beijing Olympics

I think that the Beijing Olympics was one of the best Olympics ever. I think so probably because it is the one that I watched and paid attention to the most out of all the other ones. I also believe that this was one of the best Olympics because all the records that were broken. Bolt broke Michael Johnson’s record and became the fastest man of all time. I think that this is a great accomplishment. Most of the time, it looks like he is barely even trying to run fast. Just imagine how quick his race times would be if he actually ran his fastest the whole time. Also, Michael Phelps breaking the record for the most medals in an Olympics is also a very great accomplishment. I enjoyed watching gymnastics. I probably did because I am acrobatic myself and can do lots of flips. It is nice seeing the gymnasts in action. I do think that some of the Chinese gymnasts were under the age limit. They looked entirely too young to be in the Olympics. My favorite thing to watch was the United States men’s basketball team. They did a great job in the Olympics and beat their opponents by several points in each game. They did all types of spectacular dunks and made many great plays. Even though many of their good free throw shooters, like Kobe Bryant, struggled from the free throw line, they still did well. In the final minutes of the championship game, Kobe Bryant made a four point play that gave the team momentum to beat the Spanish team. The men won all of their games and won gold medals. The United States women basketball team also did very well, and they won gold medals as well. I also enjoyed diving. I watched the synchronized diving and the individual diving on the springboard and on the platform. The Chinese divers are good at the diving events. I liked watching table tennis. I enjoy playing table tennis myself and it was nice seeing those experts play. Water polo and handball was all right to watch. I watched a little bit of those events. The opening and closing ceremonies were amazing. I think that the opening ceremony was better than the closing ceremony. The activities that they did in the opening ceremony were amazing. They did all of there performances with precision and accuracy. I love the one with the boxes. They had people under the boxes lifting them up and making different images. I like how they made the boxes move and look like a wave. It had to take hours and hours of practice for them to get all of their movement right. I also like when they were doing some form of karate in the opening ceremony. I used to be in karate when I was younger, and I still like to watch it. I also like watching badminton and tennis. I am glad that Roger Federer got a gold in doubles because he has been struggling lately. He is my favorite tennis player, and I would like to see him do well. Those are my thoughts of the Beijing Olympics and why I think that it was one of the best Olympics ever.

The Upcoming Presidential Election

I do not think that the decision of the upcoming presidential election will come down to whether the republicans or the democrats are taking the moral high ground. I do think that this plays a role in this election, but I do not think that it will be the deciding factor. I think that one of the most important issues in this election is which one of the presidential candidates will promote and have a better plan for change to take place in the United States. This is extremely important because most Americans want change to take place. Americans are tired of high gas prices. Even though they have dropped about fifty cents, they seem to be pretty constant now around three dollars and fifty cents a gallon (for unleaded gas). This is still too high. I remember the days when people though that two dollars a gallon was too much for gas. Now, Americans would be delighted to pay two dollars a gallon for gas. I know I would. Also, many American want the war in Iraq to end. Several people have died in this war. People’s children and love ones have lost their lives in the War on Terrorism. Also, way too much money has been spent on the war that could have went on several other more valuable aspects of life taking place here in the United States, such as education. In my opinion, Obama is beating McCain in the category of “change” and wanting to change some of the negative situations that the United States is facing right now. Like Obama said, McCain voted in agreement with George Bush ninety percent of the time. This means that the United States (in most cases) will be the same as it is under George W. Bush. Most people want change. That is one of the reasons why Obama wins in the “change” category. Also, “change” is basically the one word that can sum up his campaign. Lots of people talk about a recession coming, and that has a lot to do with the election also. People want to know how McCain or Obama can make the economy of the United States better. Another big issue in this upcoming presidential election is who has the most experience. Of course, John McCain wins in this category over Barack Obama. Of course he does, in part, because he is much older than Obama is. So, he has had much more time to do different activities in government. In my opinion, experience is good, but if you are not going to change anything, then what is the use in having all of that experience the same thing could be said in vice versa with Obama. Even though experience plays an important role in this election, I think that change plays the most important role in this election. With the economy the way it is now, people want change. If this is true, then Obama should win this upcoming election. I guess we will have to wait and see in November.

Knowing When I Will Die

If I could find out the exact time, day, and means of my own death, I would want to know. I would want to know so that I could possibly try to prevent my death. If there is something I could presently to prevent my death, then I could take those precautions right now. An example of this could be death from a health condition that may come from eating the wrong foods. If I knew this, then I could start eating the right foods right now so that I will not have to die the way that I figured out that I would die. I could also not go to the place at the time where I was supposed to die in order to prevent myself from dying. An example of this would be getting in a car accident. If I knew that I was going to get into a car accident on a certain road at a certain time, then I would not drive on that road at that time. I probably would not drive on that road at all.
On the other hand, if I could not prevent my death, I would still like to know when and where I would die. I would so that I could say goodbye to all of my family members. I would also want to know so that I could live life to the fullest until that day comes that I would die. I probably would not do this until it is like six months until I die. I would spend all of my money. I would also go to Hawaii and some of the nations across the sea. I would also go skydiving and do lots of other fun activities. I would visit almost all of my family members, especially those that I am close with. I would have a good time with them and tell them that I love them and will miss them. I would not be too sad about dying because I know that I am going to heaven. Even though this is true, I would still miss my family members until they get to heaven. I think that if you know the time and the way in which you die, then you should be able to prevent it. However, if it is inevitable that I die on that particular day and at that particular time no matter what the means may be, then of course I will not be able to prevent. This is like in the Final Destination movies and how some of them some of the young adults could not prevent their deaths even though they knew about when it was going to happen. I love these movies and would do anything I could, just as the teens in the movies did, to outsmart and overcome death. The reason why I would want to know the day, time, and the way in which I would die is because I like knowing the future and when something is going to happen. Even though I do not always do such a good job at planning things and preparing for certain events, I still like to know when they will occur. That is just me.