Blogs

This year has been a crazy year for me I have learned and experienced a lot. From the transition from high school to college to all the different and harder homework assignments I have learned a lot. These blog post that we do every week are new to me. I have never blogged until this year and I must say that if I was ever asked “did I enjoy the blogs” I would say yes and no. I mean nobody really likes doing homework and that’s what the blog assignments are is homework, but at the same time homework is something you have to expect in college. It’s not like high school were you can slack off and not pay attention. Since homework is expected in college I must put the no part aside and say yes the blogs were a great experience. The assignment for each week was to write two 500 word blogs, one over anything and another over a current event. I think that this is a great idea. Being in college and having a job leaves me little time to stay up to date with current events so the fact that one of the two post had to be over a current event kept me updated with the rest of the world. That is what I enjoyed the most about the blog assignments, staying up to date with what’s going on. However, theres a few things I wish were done differently. I mean obviously I wish we didn’t have to do them every week haha, but I wish that we had more prompts to write over. I’m not saying every single week have a prompt, but maybe 4-5 times a semester. I think this would be a good idea cause us students could see what our peers think about whatever the prompt might be versus your personal opinions. I think it would give us a wider view of opinions opening our eyes to what others think. Besides that I think that the blog assignments no other changes. I also believe that writing weekly blogs improved my writing skills. I know that at the beginning of the semester it took me a lot longer to write papers and that the papers didn’t flow as well as the do after I have written all these blogs this semester. After saying all these positive facts about blogging I can honestly say that I wont continue to blog regularly if at all, even though it has helped me develop skills and probably would continue to improve though skills there is just so many other things I would rather do. I can say that if I had plenty of free time and didn’t work all the time I would probably blog a few times a year whenever im really mad about something or I think there is something that people need to know other than that I cant say I would blog. Overall, I think these blogging assignments are great! Keep assigning them.

Reality

Imagine living in a place where privacy was not a factor, where your life decisions are monitored and judged by others. Truman in the beginning though unaware of his suburbia cage had such a drive to see the world and discover what life was truly about. Its human nature to think outside the box, and thats exactly what lead Truman to his discovery. He wanted to be his own person not this monitored mediocracy where everyone was the same, and the days never changed. Personally; reality programs are wrong and are setting bad examples for kids and others who believe in it.
Jersey Shore. A television show thats broadcasted to millions of viewers throughout the world. A reality program that discriminates women, promotes alcohol abuse, and embellishes in “Hook Up” sex. Those actions though not so unapparent through stupidity effects todays youth. It puts a message out to viewer that it is ok to drink, that is ok to have sex with anyone, and that is ok to disrespect women. I don't know about you; but I sure don't want my kids thinking that.
Reality programs are putting false ideas of life in our head. Not only that but people actually think these people are “cool”. Well let me tell you right now life ain’t all fun and games. Its hard, and if you think that its all about partying and being fake with people, your in for very a rude awakening my friend. I also don't understand what drives people to reality TV, because the word reality has absolutely no factor in it. Is it reality that you can party everyday and do nothing else, or is it reality when your constantly trying to be an actor because there is clearly a camera in your face.
My point is that it really isn't reality, because of course your going to act different and do different things when millions of people are gazing upon you. I think an example of a true reality program would be the show “Dirty Jobs”. Following somebody around and experiencing what they go through everyday just to get food on the table. Thats what I call reality. Embracing the true side of life; rather than hide from it and view these fake reality shows with absolutely no subliminal meaning whatsoever. We defiantly need to bring the word “reality” back into reality TV programs, and stop hiding from what is so clearly there. Face reality, because you sure cant ignore it.
Modern day television entirely all together sends a message of sex, drug and alcohol abuse, violence, crime, etc. In todays society where we rely on machine instead of our own sweat and hard work to get things done. My point being that TV though I hate to say, places a large role in the younger generations, and these television shows that depict people doing things that are stupid and wrong wear off on the youth. Why else is our world filled with so much hate? I remember when i was a young teenager, the first time i ever saw the show “Jackass”; which is a show where all they do is stupid stuff that most of the time gets them severely hurt, me and my friends grabbed a video camera and tried it on our own. Well my best friend ended up in the hospital with a broken arm and a very angry mother. I didn't see him for weeks. So lets stop these false images of life and focus on what really is important and come together.

Diet Soda is it really better

Diet Soda
I recently had to read an article for my psychology class about diet soda and whether it’s actually better for you or not. I don’t know about you, but I know that I have always thought that drinking diet soda is healthier than normal soda, but I guess I have been wrong and so has the majority of the world. The article is very interesting and I never knew that diet soda increases your risk of a stroke. Well it actually does. It increases your chance of a stroke by 48 percent. An experiment was taken over 9.3 years with 2,564 participants during this time 559 suffered a vascular event, such as an ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke, both of which is caused by the rupture of a weakened blood vessel. America is already having enough health issues and now people who think they are being healthy by drinking diet sodas are really just increasing there risk of having a stoke by a significant amount. This is absolutely terrible! I just thought I would let everyone know that diet soda is not better for you! Besides regular soda taste better anyways. You should read this article
http://www.aolhealth.com/2011/02/09/diet-soda-stroke-risk

My plan to stay healthy over the summer

My Plan to Remain Healthy
The importance of staying physically fit is on the rise. With the easy access to unhealthy fast food and the growing technology many people are becoming unhealthy. This is my personal wellness plan and I plan on following it. The main goal of my plan is to go to the gym and workout for at 30 minutes a day five times a week. The reason why I have decided to change my normal behaviors is because I realize that with the heart problems in my family I need to remain as healthy as possible.
Working out a minimum of 30 minutes a day five times a week will keep me in shape. If I don’t follow through with my plan then health problems will arise. My dad has already had three heart attacks and nine stents, so I probably don’t have the healthiest heart. If I don’t follow this wellness plan my heart will definitely be unhealthy and my risk of having a heart attack will increase. Not only will my risk of heart failure increase, but I will be at a greater risk for diabetes and obesity.
However if I follow through with my personal wellness plan there will be benefits. Benefits such as being more active, having more endurance, strength, less chance of heart problems, and an overall better life. These benefits will help me live a better healthier life.
I have thought out three different strategies to help out with my wellness plan. The first strategy is to increase my max volume of oxygen by running every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for 20 minutes. This should increase my max V02 levels allowing more oxygen into my blood and muscles. After this has been done for several weeks I will start my second strategy which is to start lifting weights for 30 minutes a day followed by a short 10 minute jog. This should bulk me up fast. My last strategy is to slowly increase the weight that I lift and make sure Im always doing my max.
This personal wellness plan will not be the easiest thing to accomplish. There will be several obstacles in the way. Lack of time will be a huge problem which is why im going to get my workout done and out of the way before classes in the morning. Another obstacle is actually getting to the gym and doing it. For this problem I am going to workout with a friend. Having a friend to workout with makes it easier to go. The last obstacle I will run into is getting up early enough before classes. To do this I’m just going to have to do it and become accustomed to waking up an hour earlier.

I believe that this personal wellness plan will be a good thing for my overall health. I will be healthier and live a better life. This will help me remain more active and awake for all my classes and the rest of the day ahead of me. To keep myself focused on this personal wellness plan I will have a reward for myself. After each month of not missing a day I will buy myself something that I want.

Madden Cover Pick

Madden 2012 Cover Pick
The Madden video game comes out each year and every year has a player who performed outstandingly during the previous season on the cover of the game. Throughout the 2011 season there was many outstanding players. Aaron Rodgers had a phenomenal season was was voted the MVP of the Super Bowl. The Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan also had an outstanding season. He threw for 28 touchdowns, a total of 3,705 yards, and only threw a total of 9 interceptions. Even though these two players had great seasons the two players who were put up for voting was Michael Vick and Peyton Hillis. I personally believe Michael Vick should have won, but he didn’t. Vick is an amazing quarterback that really proved himself this year. Michael Vick has always been a scrambling quarterback, but this past season he became the complete quarterback. His passing game improved so much that I believe he was the biggest threat in the NFL. He could run for a gain almost every time and he could throw the perfect pass nearly everytime. Vick completed nearly 70 percent of his passes, only threw a total of 6 interceptions, threw for 21 touchdowns, a total of 3,018 yards, ran for 9 touchdowns, rushing yards totaled up to 676 yards, and he averaged 6.8 yards per carry. With those stats and the fact that I watched almost all of his games, I don’t see why he didn’t get the cover of Madden. Michael Vick was runner up to Peyton Hillis. Hillis won with 66 percent of all votes. Hillis is an amazing athlete and at the beginning of this season nobody would have guessed he would be as good as he was. It was kind of a shocker that Hillis performed the way he did. Proving people wrong is nothing new to Hillis. After being traded to Cleveland as part of a bigger deal for QB Brady Quinn, the little-known back barged his way on to the roster and ran for an impressive 1,177 yards and 11 touchdowns in a breakout 2010 season. Hillis also averaged 4.4 yards per carry , 7.8 yards per catch, and had a total of eight fumbles. These are amazing stats, but I just don’t see how he could be considered as a better asset than Michael Vick. They are both amazing athletes , and Peyton Hillis won the cover, but I completely disagree with 66 percent of the people who voted for him over Michael Vick.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=6438406

Gender Role in media

Gender Roles in the Media
Everything in the world these days seems to have been influenced by gender roles. You are always seeing things on television or in the newspaper that suggests that the creator is trying to reach out to a specific audience. There are television shows that favor the male gender; such as ‘The Man Show’, ‘Man vs. Wild’, and ‘Two and a Half Men’. These shows appeal to the stereotypical interest of men. They show masculinity at its finest. It’s either a show about babes and beer, or maybe more along the lines of outdoorsman. Then there are the television shows that attempt to appeal to the more feminine side. These shows include; ‘Sex and the City’, ‘Say Yes to the Dress’, and ‘Project Run’. These try to trace along the same line that the “male” shows do, just in favor of women instead. They show a softer and more emotional side. Whichever style of show you may be watching they both have the same implication, attempting to appeal to a specific gender audience.
Speaking for myself, I find it hard to sit and enjoy a television show that appeals to feminine styles. And in no way am I sexist, but I just don’t find interest in those types of shows. That’s how almost all men are. They just want to see hot babes, beer drinking, or things getting blown up. Just take a minute with me right now and let me break down these “man” shows. Okay, first on the platter we have ‘The Man Show’. Just by its simple name one can tell who the targeted audience is. This show preys on the instincts of all men. It shows half-naked women flaunting their bodies and showing off their assets. But not only are there women constantly paraded around the show, during random breaks the camera cuts to scenes of women in bikinis jumping up and down on a trampoline. I mean what man isn’t going to find interest in that. Now in addition to the multiple women, the hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Corrola have a fun time exploring the other interests of men. They show off cars and promote beer drinking. But what they may be known best for is their way of showing male dominance. Many of their more memorable skits all deal with the idea of “men over women”, an idea that they seem to strongly promote. Putting down women and using them as sexual favors is just one of the ways the shows appeal to men. And just like in ‘The Man Show’, the show ‘Two and a Half Men’ uses those exact tactics. The producers of the show have set up a scenario in which Alan, played by Jon Cryer, is the younger brother of a jingle writer names Charlie, played by Charlie Sheen. Alan has a son who lives with him in his brother’s beach-front house. Now while they all may live together, the two brothers could not be more opposite. Alan is an uptight chiropractor while Charlie is the ladies’ man who seems to have a different girl every day of the week. The show really spotlights on the bachelor life that Charlie leads. The producers always introduce new female interests and occasionally revolve the episode around his “party boy” behavior.

Effects of Marijuana

Effects of Marijuana
The most used drug in the world is marijuana. Did you know that on average one half of teenagers will smoke marijuana at least once before college and that one third will smoke on a regular basis? Legalization activists say that marijuana should be legal for several reasons. They believe that it will help America get out of debt and stay out of debt. I completely agree with that part of their argument, but when they go into the health issues is where I start to disagree. The activists say that marijuana has positive medical attributes. They say it helps with sleeping disorders, pain, nausea, spasticity, and relaxes the body. Although all of this may be true the side effects are not worth it. Activists even go on to say that marijuana has little to no side effects and is not addictive. They say that it doesn’t hurt your lungs; it causes no problems with your brain and doesn’t hurt your body in any other way. I completely disagree. Marijuana is a drug that has many negative effects and is addictive; it affects your lungs, throat, brain, heart and other factors of someone’s overall health.
The substance that gives you the high feeling in marijuana is tetrahydrocannabinol or THC. THC releases dopamine in your brain which then gives you the high feeling. The more dopamine released the higher you get. Releasing this dopamine over time can fry your brain and cause your brain to not release dopamine when it naturally should. Mentioned early was the fact that marijuana is not an addictive substance. False, marijuana is addictive. In 2008 marijuana was second in the polls of substance dependence. That’s right dependence, which means it’s addictive. Marijuana use accounted for 4.2 million of the 7 million people aged 12 or older classified with dependence of an illicit drug. This means that about two thirds of Americans suffering from any substance use disorder are suffering from marijuana dependence. Also, if it wasn’t addictive then why do marijuana smokers have withdrawals when they quit. That’s right if you smoke weed habitually when you quit there will be withdrawals. People have reported having problems with sleeping, not being able to eat, nausea, getting the chills, and have weird and unusual dreams. If it wasn’t addictive then these symptoms wouldn’t happen while you weren’t on the drug.
Did you know that marijuana has over three times the tar found in tobacco and over fifty percent more carcinogens? So it contains a lot more harmful chemicals, and it’s not smoked through a filter like cigarettes are. Not only is it not smoked through a filter, but marijuana smokers usually hold in the smoke for a longer time to get higher. This just leaves the tar and carcinogens in your lungs longer allowing more time for more damage. Smoking marijuana has been proven to cause daily cough and phlegm production, more frequent chest illnesses, higher risks of lung infections, and deregulated growth of epithelial cells in their lung tissue. A study of 450 individuals found that people who smoke marijuana frequently but do not smoke tobacco have more health problems and miss more days of work than marijuana nonsmokers. It doesn’t matter what marijuana activist say, marijuana can cause throat and lung problems.


http://alcoholism.about.com/od/pot/a/effects.-Lya.htm

Waka Flaka Flame

Waka Flaka
Waka Flaka Flame is a rapper whose real name is Juaquin Malphurs. He was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York City in 1986. His family eventually settled in Riverdale, Georgia. He is the son of Debra Antney, The name "Waka" was given to him by his cousin, after the Muppets character Fozzie Bear's catch phrase, "Waka Waka". The name "Flocka Flame" was given to him by rapper Gucci Mane. Even though recently he dropped the Flame from his stage name. Malphurs has been a rapper now who is singed with 1017 Brick Squad and Warner Bros. His most famous songs are "O Let's Do It", "Hard in da Paint" and "No Hands". He has been considered a mainstream rapper for about 6 years though. The reason I’m blogging about Waka is because im getting ready to go to his concert tonight in Springfield at the Shrine Mosque. Im really excited about his concert tonight. I have never actually been to a rap concert and I think its going to a lot of fun! I bought the tickets from this concert with my two best friends months ago and have been waiting for this day for awhile. His music is very up beat and energetic. I’m really thinking that this concert is going to be crazy and im so excited!!!
http://ezinearticles.com/?Waka-Flocka-Flame-Biography&id=3494787

global warming

Global Warming
Global warming is an increase in the earths average temperature. Global warming has slowing been increasing over the last several years and it’s a rising problem. A major cause of global warming is the green house effect. Also burning fossil fuels emits gases that are harmful for our environment. Your probably asking what can we do? Well there is many things that can be done. The goal is to bring global warming under control by lessening the release of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. In the US and Canada there is over 10,000 pounds of CO2 per person per year. This is needs to slow down. The best way to help is reduce our use of oil, coal, and gasoline and become more energy effeicent. To become more energy efficient you can switch to energy saving lights and turn up the temperature in the summer. To use less gasoline americans need fuel efficient cars and start carpooling. Actions need to take place and need to take place soon. Whether people start using solar energy, recycle, plant trees, and so on it needs to happen
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/kids/difference.html

Nick Schrank

NFL’s Hopeful Astonishing Training Feat

Nick Schrank has wanted to be in the NFL his whole life. Throughout high school he strived for his dream and was a very good devoted player. Schrank played middle linebacker George Mason and was doing well until an ACL injury. This injury made him lose his position and possibly a shot at the NFL. Now a Junior no school really wanted him so he went to Radford University with his wife and played some club ball there. Schrank works out all the time and to me I believe he can make it into the NFL. Especially after seeing his incredible ability to jump and land on target and his amazing balance skills. I was watching this video on youtube were Nick Schrank jumped three feet then landed on a ball and kept his balance for several seconds. This to me blew my mind. First off three feet is a very good vertical, but the fact that his balance is good enough to land on a ball and remain balanced blew my mind. With those atheletic abilities Id say he might have a chance to pursue his dream. All NFL linebackers have an impressive vertical, but I would bet the most of them cant hit there target perfectly coming down and remain balanced. This video shows he is an athlete. Schrank devotes his time to working out, running a t-shirt company to fund all his training and staying up to date on his website for NFL recruiters to look at.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Video-NFL-hopeful-s-astonishing-training-feat?urn=nfl-326452

iPhone vs. Droid

IPhone vs. Droid
When you look at the youth of today they are almost always texting, facebooking, or just playing on their cell phones. Cell phones are advancing and people today always want the newest best smart phone. For a while now IPhones have taken over, it seems like absolutely everybody has one. With all the available applications, easy access to the internet, and just the popularity they are a growing item. There are other smartphones on the market, but the IPhone has always been dominate, until now… or that’s at least what some people believe. The Motorola Droid is supposedly the “iPhone killer” or at least that’s what they are saying. After extensive research I can see where the Droid is going to hurt the IPhone’s business, it has many great features, but from what I can tell the iPhone is still the best smartphone on the market.
Apple’s iPhone has been dominating the cell phone industry for over four years now. The newest iPhone, iPhone 4, is at competition with the Motorola Droid. The iPhone is still dominating. Apple’s iPhone sports amazing features. It is considered to have to best screen display out of any phone, a five megapixel camera with an LED flash, front facing video camera (for video calls and video capture), Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth. These are only a few of the specifications of the iPhone 4. There are many things about the iPhone that even its own users don’t know.
The iPhone 4 has a lot of hidden features. It boasts a noise cancellation technology, which improves sound quality by blocking out the sounds around you, it has an amazing interface of iOS 4 (which is the software installed), and lastly it’s an Apple product which has such a great protection system that no virus to this day has breached. That fact alone, to me, is enough to just go with the iPhone, but I go on. Apple’s iPhone allows you access to the Apple Application store which has over 300,000 apps compared to the Droid’s 100,000 apps. A group of people ran an experiment in San Diego, California to compare the two phones. In seven categories: cost of ownership, connection speed, still and video image capture, display and resolution, operating system, and multitask and media playback. The iPhone 4 won nearly every category. The voice quality was better than the Droid, but not by much. The iPhone smoked the Droid in downloading speeds with its speeds reaching 1958 kbps and the Droid’s top speed only reaching 1130 kbps, which is still fast, but not iPhone fast. Once again the cost of ownership also gives the iPhone the upper edge. On the lower end data plan you would save $360 over a two year plan by having the iPhone. With the highest data plan options you will save $120 over a two year period. So not only is the iPhone better, but it cost less!

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/iphone-vs-droid.html

http://www.pcworld.com/article/199844/iphone_4_vs_droid_x_a_headtohead_comparison.html

America's Eating Habits

America’s Eating Habits

            America is full of fast food restaurants, unhealthy food choices, and increasing amount of obese citizens.  Something needs to be done soon.  Obesity increases your risk of heart disease by sixty-five percent. If you have heart disease then it increases your children’s chances of heart disease by almost twenty percent. Obeses American’s not only have an increase risk of heart disease but also diabetes, strokes, and certain forms of cancer.  America needs to become a healthier nation for our own sake. We are basically slowing killing ourselves making our nation weaker.  In a recent medical journal it showed that America is fatter than any other nation. In 1980 the average males body mass index was 4.8 percent, today it is nearly 8 percent! I am aware the convience of fast food and how cheap and good it tastes but we got to start looking out for our own bodies. Many people believe that McDonalds should be forced to be healthier or should only be able to have so many stores, but the fact of the matter is that we live in America and if McDonalds wants 1,000 stores on Rangeline they can, but that doesn’t mean you have to eat there.  The state of Missouri is considered the third fattest state in American. This to me does not make me proud to be born and raised in Missouri. Missouri per capita spends 623 dollars on fast food, buys over 61 gallons of soft drinks, and over 121 pounds of sweets. That to me is ridiculous. But wait Missouri also has the 11^th lowest rate of adults that eat the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables.  30 percent of residents in Missouri have a body mass index of over 30 percents.  The only two states that are “fatter” than us are Alabama and Mississippi. Alabama spends 649 dollars per capita on fast food, they buy 77 gallons of soft drinks and 117 pounds of sweets once again ridiculous.  Leading the pack is Mississippi they spends over 588 dollars on fast food, and they buy over 82 gallons of soft drinks and over 113 pounds if sweets.   I understand that not all obesity is caused from unhealthy eating, but the majority is.  American has got to change and the change needs to come soon.

·        http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/112083/10-states-with-the-deadliest-eating-habits

·        http://articles.cnn.com/2006-03-24/health/hb.eating.habits_1_barbara-rolls-meals-portion-size?_s=PM:HEALTH

·        http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/369416/study_reflects_on_americans_poor_eating.html

Car Wreck

Car Wreck

            As all of you know we got a lot of snow this past week and the roads have been a bit slick.  Anyways, I was driving to work, cause my boss said he still needed me, when I started sliding and couldn’t stop. I went straight into the ditch and even though I have a four wheel drive car I was completely stuck. I couldn’t even be pulled out by a friend.  So finally after two days of not having a car and not being able to work I had to call a tow truck to get me out, which means I had to pay more money!  Then, just to make the situation worse my truck had a huge dent across the front of my car, which again means more money.  So now I have my truck only to find out that it is totaled! Which means not only money, but a lot more money.  So now I missed out on work, had to pay a tow truck, and lastly my truck is totaled.  The worst thing of all is dealing with the insurance company, all they try to do is screw you over.  This past week has not been the best snow days, to me at least. I’m a college student and just cause my boss wanted me to come to work I now have to be without a car until I find a new one and I have to come up with the money for a new car. I hate the snow and I hate the insurance company!!!!!

Egypt

Egypt

The current events taking place in Egypt are of importance to me and should be of importance to everyone.  Egypt is having many of its citizen’s protest violently.  Personally I agree with the citizens of Egypt and I would probably be right there with them if I was a citizen.  I believe that Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarek has been in command for too long and if the people want a new ruler and a democracy, that’s exactly what they should get.

I believe that having the same President for 30 years is wrong and that he has too much power.  Egypt’s president, Mubarek, is also 82 years old. His life span ahead of him probably won’t be more than a few years.   Mubarek also shouldn’t have the power to stop all text messaging, Facebook, Twitter, and Blackberry messaging services. I believe that people need to be able to communicate at all times, especially in a world of growing technology.  People these days need to have communication for nearly everything, whether it’s for business, getting ahold of friends, or staying up to date with current issues people need the internet and it should be their right to always have it.

I also believe that the constitutional amendments adopted in 2005 are wrong and they benefit Mubarek.  These amendments make it hard for independents to become president.  Egypt needs to become a democracy so the people can vote for their president.  Obviously the citizens of Egypt don’t want Mubarek in power.  There have already been seven deaths, over 100 injuries and about 1000 detained.  Obviously he is not what the people want and I agree completely with them.  Mubarek has lost touch with the younger and the older people of Egypt so he should no longer be the president.

About Me

My name is Clark Bosworth and I am currently a freshman at MSSU. I was born and raised here in Joplin.