The Debt Ceiling

I do not understand how the U.S. can default on their loans, but if I have a student loan, I am penalized. Does this mean that we, as a country, have failed at Capitalism? We are being bad capitalists right now and the solution seems to be a government shutdown? That is written in the form of a question because this is how I understand it: we print our own currency and the US dollar is not backed by gold. Why can't more money simply be printed? As Americans, we have to undergo credit checks in order to receive employment. Wouldn't it be fair that the US government receives some form of punishment for being financially irresponsible? I also don't understand why the government shutdown merits the amount of media attention it has received because--from what I have heard, it has happened several times before!

Violence is the trend of 2011

While watching "The View," it seems that the hosts' viewpoints are all overwhelmingly in favor of Wendi deng, the wife of Rupert Murdoch, physically assualting the man who threw a shave cream pie in Murdoch's face. This is the second talk show where this viewpoint has been shared-the first being "Chelsea Lately," which I embarrassingly watch. Violence, with women as the perpertrators, seems to be more commonplace in society and it is damaging to men and women alike.

Miranda Lambert's biography on "Behind the Music" also advocated violence. Violence should not be tolerated. It is domestic violence and there is a woman who hits a man should expect that he act defensively. If a man is hit by a woman, he has the right to use a self-defense mechanism, which may result in full fledged violence.

Television shows--especially reality shows--display grown women fighting. Fighting and other forms of violence are criminal acts. Once a person reaches 18 years of age, they can have such acts accumulate on their criminal record. It concerns me that children and other influencable minds are watching these shows, but more importantly, that these viewpoints are propogated on a show: "The View," that I would expect to have atleast one female with an antithetical approach that demostrates integrity and values.

There is, sadly, an explosion of violence on television. Basketball Wives, Teen Mom, Mob Wives and other vascuous forms of entertainment encourage violence in order to increase ratings. It should not be embellished by anyone. Violence is not exclusive to a particular gender. There are consequences that some children and others could be oblivious to due to the prevalence of such violence on tv and being popularized by the corporate media and youtube.

Take care of one another. We are not all meant to get along, but to resort to violence is animalistic.

Any New Ideas?

I am jaded lately. I often wonder about how the car has not advanced beyond design and other very few other features, but the cell phone has evolved into several machines in one. I need a new idea. I used to believe that I was creative. I used to write a lot of pieces: poetry, plays, stories, journals and anything else that one could read, but we have entered an age where reading is passe-- yes, I still hate cliches despite my frequent usage of them. I am concerned about an upcoming MRI. I will not disclose too much medical information but MRIs are the machine used to check for brain tumors. I then realized that I have been around cell phones before they became a necessity. I lived in a country that people mistakenly deem "third world". This "third world" country had an article about cell phones being a necessity in 1996. I used to keep the cell phone with me at all times. My friends and I all had cell phones--when they could only place calls and leave messages. One day, a friend of my mother's warned us to put a case on the cell phone. He took a coin from his pocket and demonstrated the magnetic pull of the cell phone to the metal. It was something that I remember vividly because I was amazed how hard it was to separate the coin from the cell phone and I had never considered a cell phone as having that amount of radioactivity. When it was announced that cell phones may heighten the risk of brain tumors, that memory entered my head immediately. I was notified that a friend's child was undergoing surgeries for a brain tumor and it made me wonder about risks to an unborn fetus. I place my phone near my stomach a lot. I rest my phone on top of my stomach and it is close to my stomach when I have it in my hand. Children now use cell phones. It worries me. I have had and been around cell phones since 1996 and the only protection that I know of is to use protective cases and other such accessories to create a barrier between the radio waves and the brain.

Presidential Letters to Family Members of Military Suicides

I had a friend, who is in the Marine Corps, mention that he has been having a lot of classes dealing with suicide. I had even noticed that there were free classes being offered by the state with a limited number of slots available for suicide prevention and call centers. It is an unfortunate theme. I watch Democracy Now in order to receive unbiased news with more in-dept coverage of issues that is often ignored or reported briefly by the corporate media stations. The journalists reported that there were more suicides than combat related deaths and that President Obama will send Presidential letters exclusively to the families of those who were in a war zone when taking their lives. This will exclude any suicides that have occurred previously and those who have done it upon returning to their home or base. It is more compassionate, in my opinion, to send letters to all military members who have committed suicide. They, sadly, gave their lives for their country, too, albeit in a different manner. Mental Health is easily neglected by the military. I feel that I am not at liberty to discuss my mental health with anyone--even those that could potentially help me because stoicism is valued by military and society. I have always believed that I will be unemployable if I ever discuss my issues with anyone. I cannot imagine the psyche of those serving in the military. I used to have a friend that would tell me that he was crazy and I could not pretend to know what he had been through, but I could listen. I was sure that he had seen a lot of crazy things, having deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, but I could offer empathy. I could offer myself as someone who is trustworthy. I wish that everyone could find that in someone. I wish that the President and others would write letters to give their condolences for such veterans. The military members follow orders and these suicides demonstrate those who were also casualties of wars.

We Can Define Marriage but We Cannot Define Love

Who killed Caylee Anthony? The Anthony Case has once again made a mockery of the so-called justice system. Lindsay Lohan should play Casey Anthony in a biopic. They share the same disregard for laws and decency and they both have a tattoo that states "the good life" in Italian. Criminals that operate with impunity is good to some, but their complete lack of integrity I find, personally, disgusting.

I have strong moral convictions. I would like to think that they came from growing up in the Military community, but I believe that it has a lot to do with the journey that I have taken in becoming self-educated. I recently discovered that a friend's parents--retired military, are strongly opposed to their daughter's homosexuality. At first, I found this hard to believe, but then, I postulated that some retired military in my parents' generation share that same attitude towards homosexuals. Some people in the contemporary do, too, but thankfully there are laws being passed that will educate us all as to what it is like to be a member of humanity.

I must reiterate that it is inhumane to not consider someone's feelings. Being that we are sentient beings, how can we not find empathy in the plight of homosexuals wanting the same love and access to their government that we want for ourselves? I learned from the book, "Happy at Last: The Thinking Person's Guide to Finding Joy," by Richard O'Conner, that rats laughed. As soon as I discovered this, I felt bad. Rats are used for experimentation; rats are regarded as being lowly, disgusting creatures, but that they share this positive trait with me (their DNA is very close to humans, but this didn't have the same impact as laughing on me) made me relate to them on a level that I did not imagine possible. We need to exploit our similarities in order to appreciate our differences. 

I believe that we all know someone who is gay, but they have not come out yet. I think that is the attitude that we must have when lending empathetic ears and conversing with others. Everyone deserves love and laughter. To silence the laughter of a rat still pains me. To finally have New York legalize gay marriage and the United Nations pass laws regarding homosexuals demonstrates that we are able to exercise the neuroplasticity of our brains and  increasing the love in our hearts.