I could really care less what people wear on their bodies. If I see someone walking around in old 70's hippie dress I would be amused, but I wouldn't judge. Times change, style changes, and people's mindsets, I think, should move with it. Accessories my parents clearly despise of are plugs and septums. Here's what I think.
Septums, if you do not know, are nasal piercings put through the nasal septum, a cartilaginous wall [1] that separate your nostrils. They have grown in popularity amongst the younger adult generation, and seem to have taken the eyes of the next generation to hit their twenties.
Plugs, also known as gauges, are ear piercings that focus on stretching the earlobe into a wider circle [2]. This is done for self-expression, for keeping a culture, or just for the sake of fashion. Plugs, or gauges (gauges referring to their sizes), are even much more so popular in the young adult population of America, and are much more accepted than a septum piercing.
There has been a problem within my family, caused by these two types of piercings. First, my brother's wife has a septum piercing. It is not big, and when she is wearing it it isn't very noticeable, yet my mother cannot stand it. Before my brother and his wife got married, my mother even threatened not to go to the wedding because my brother's wife decided she wanted to wear her septum on the big day. I just couldn't see why it was such a big problem. I mean, sure, I don't want one, but who am I to judge or care for what other people are wearing? In fact, when she wears it, it seems like a part of her-- I just don't care if she does.
The other problem is with my sister's boyfriend. He has a septum but he also has plugs, and these my mother and father seem to hate even more than my brother's wife's septum. My mother complains EVERY TIME she sees him with them in, which really bothers me. I think he is a really cool guy; he's funny and knows how to just enjoy himself. He can cook very well. He even wants to go to culinary school. He has a nice personality. Yet it seems that my mother (and to an extent, my father) can only see as far as his nose and ear piercings. To me? I just think, "big deal." I don't even notice them.
I just don't see why there is such prejudice. If someone wants to wear something as minuscule as a septum or a gauge, why make such a big deal about it? It seems even childish to me. Accept people for who they are. And here comes another cliché saying:
Don't judge a book by its cover.
-Luke
[1] Source: Nose Piercings Information
[2] Source: Ear Piercings Information
An extra thought... I haven't posted in a long time. I've been gone on trips and after I got back from them I've just been lazy. Well here I am, I'll start again!
The postings of a seemingly smart highschooler.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Oh, the Joys of Facebook
If you have seen the movie,"The Social Network," then you know about the long and dramatic feud between Facebook creator Mark Zuckerburg and a set of twins named Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss over who's idea Facebook really was.
Apparently, this years-long battle is still going on, and it may take the Supreme Court to finally settle it. They're rediculously also challenging a San Franciso federal appeals court ruling that gave them a nice $65 million cash-and-stock settlement they reached with Facebook in 2008 [1].
I'm going to be blunt. I don't care who's idea it was to create a social network website like Facebook first, I care about who made it. In other words, Winklevoss twins? Shove off of Zuckerburg, please. He made it before you two did, and that's a fact you have to accept.
I'm on Facebook right now as I write this. I gotta tell you, I love this website. I'm on it everyday, either on my computer, on my phone, or on my iPod. It's a part of my life and for the most part, part of my 420 or so friend's on the website's lives. I communicate with people on Facebook as much or more as I do with people on my phone, and that's a lot of communication! It's a part of my life, a part of people around the world's lives-- It has a 500+ million strong social network, where the users spend over 700 billion minutes per month [2]! Like I said, I don't care who's idea it was who made it, all I want to do is thank Mr. Zuckerburg FOR making it.
-Luke
[1] Source: Fox News Article
[2] Source: Facebook Statistics Page
Thursday, June 2, 2011
McDonald's, Hollywood, & Coca-Cola
Have you ever heard of the term "Eurocentric?" The term is commonly used in the historical community, meaning "everything about it revolves around Europe." Modern historians, also called Revisionists, started to bring out the rest of the world's histories and contributions to technological and idealogical advancements in the 1960's rather than use the widespread and widely accepted Eurocentric ways of teaching history. History is now most commonly taught in the Revisionist's views, as it should be.
The way that many Americans think today is Americentric, which of course, means "everything about it revolves around America." To many Americans, the world is mainly only about the US and its interests abroad. No where else, except maybe Europe or Japan on a good day (hopefully you've caught onto my sarcasm). Their thoughts are about the last proposterous thing that some talk show host said or about how "stupid" the War on Terror is (or the reverse, how incredibly superb it is).
Here's a humorous representation that the teacher in my freshman World Geography class showed us a couple of years ago, and it pretty much sums up how a lot of Americans see the world:
The way that many Americans think today is Americentric, which of course, means "everything about it revolves around America." To many Americans, the world is mainly only about the US and its interests abroad. No where else, except maybe Europe or Japan on a good day (hopefully you've caught onto my sarcasm). Their thoughts are about the last proposterous thing that some talk show host said or about how "stupid" the War on Terror is (or the reverse, how incredibly superb it is).
Here's a humorous representation that the teacher in my freshman World Geography class showed us a couple of years ago, and it pretty much sums up how a lot of Americans see the world:
The thing that took me a while to realize and something I would bet that you did not notice (and if you're an American reading this, it is ironic) is that Africa is not even represented on the map. It represents the ignorance of the American people when it comes to the terrible living conditions and wars that are present on the African continent constantly, and how Americans do close to nothing to help them while basking in their underappreciated riches.
Some Americans are great people. I don't want to say that all Americans are lazy and oblivious to any affairs other than what is going on inside their own house, but in general the American public needs to wake up. Being the superpower of the world doesn't mean we should be able to forget or ignore the hurts of the people worldwide, but should entitle us to do our best to help as much as possible.
I'm just a lowly 16-year-old writing a blog during his summer vacation, mostly just to have something to keep him busy. I don't know if my opinions will go very far, but hey, at least you know at least one American can sort of think in the right direction!
-Luke
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Civilian Casualties in Afghanistan
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)- led organization International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) told the Agence France-Presse, a news agency, that the ISAF was aware that there were reports that civilians were allegedly killed in an airstrike called in Afghanistan recently [1].
The airstrike occurred in the Helmand province's Nawzad district in southern Afghanistan after a US Marine base came under attack from small-arms fire.
During the airstrike the marines targeted two houses, which resulted in the death of 14 people-- five girls, seven boys, and two women, according to a statement sent out by the provincial government. Six others were wounded.
Since the beginning of this fighting season (the beginning of this Spring) in Afghanistan, authorities have said that NATO has killed 52 people. Most of them were civilians, who were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Occurrences such as if a Taliban insurgent runs out of ammunition, he might run into a house where a civilian is and when engaged, the civilian is mistaken to be working with the insurgent and is accidentally killed.
These NATO strikes are known to be some of the major factors that are creating a widening rift between Afghan president Hamid Karzai and his US backers. It's a sensitive issue, and one that has led Karzai to order his defense minister, Abdul Rahim Wardak, to take control of NATO night raids of civilian homes, where mistakes occur most commonly.
Civilian casualties occurring on a regular basis is unfortunate, however the reality is is that with war come these unfortunate situations. The military technology that the US possesses vastly improved the casualty ratio of not only military but also the civilian personnel. Gone are the days of unprecise droppings of bombs, because today we have at our disposal the most precise weapon systems in the world. After the World War II, there were close to 30.5 million civilian casualties. At a smaller perspective, 3.8 million civilians were killed in Germany alone over a period of only about 3 years (1942-45) [2]. Since 2001, the civilian death total in Afghanistan was 2,777 (as of May 9, 2011) [3].
I am not saying that killing civilians is okay. The work we are doing to rid the country of Afghanistan as well as the rest of the world of the evil terrorist organization of the Taliban is important. In the bigger perspective, we may be saving many more lives than the ones we are accidentally taking at this moment. A world without terror may not be at our reach now, but if we keep working at it, who knows? Our military may never need to accidentally kill a civilian again.
-Luke
[1] Source: Al Jazeera News Article
[2] Source: History Learning Site Chart
[3] Source: ABC News Article
The airstrike occurred in the Helmand province's Nawzad district in southern Afghanistan after a US Marine base came under attack from small-arms fire.
During the airstrike the marines targeted two houses, which resulted in the death of 14 people-- five girls, seven boys, and two women, according to a statement sent out by the provincial government. Six others were wounded.
Since the beginning of this fighting season (the beginning of this Spring) in Afghanistan, authorities have said that NATO has killed 52 people. Most of them were civilians, who were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Occurrences such as if a Taliban insurgent runs out of ammunition, he might run into a house where a civilian is and when engaged, the civilian is mistaken to be working with the insurgent and is accidentally killed.
These NATO strikes are known to be some of the major factors that are creating a widening rift between Afghan president Hamid Karzai and his US backers. It's a sensitive issue, and one that has led Karzai to order his defense minister, Abdul Rahim Wardak, to take control of NATO night raids of civilian homes, where mistakes occur most commonly.
Civilian casualties occurring on a regular basis is unfortunate, however the reality is is that with war come these unfortunate situations. The military technology that the US possesses vastly improved the casualty ratio of not only military but also the civilian personnel. Gone are the days of unprecise droppings of bombs, because today we have at our disposal the most precise weapon systems in the world. After the World War II, there were close to 30.5 million civilian casualties. At a smaller perspective, 3.8 million civilians were killed in Germany alone over a period of only about 3 years (1942-45) [2]. Since 2001, the civilian death total in Afghanistan was 2,777 (as of May 9, 2011) [3].
I am not saying that killing civilians is okay. The work we are doing to rid the country of Afghanistan as well as the rest of the world of the evil terrorist organization of the Taliban is important. In the bigger perspective, we may be saving many more lives than the ones we are accidentally taking at this moment. A world without terror may not be at our reach now, but if we keep working at it, who knows? Our military may never need to accidentally kill a civilian again.
-Luke
[1] Source: Al Jazeera News Article
[2] Source: History Learning Site Chart
[3] Source: ABC News Article
Monday, May 23, 2011
Bacteria Batteries?
The U.S. Department of Energy (DE) and the unheard of Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) recently revealed how the microscopic molecular structure of bacteria proteins allows for energy transfer [1]. To put it in easier wording, the DE and the BBSRC says that they can use bacteria for energy.
What does this mean? It means that our poop can be recycled to keep the lights on in our houses, by our knowledge of how bacteria transfer electrical charges. We can make fuel cells that are filled with energy of human or animal waste--something that the world definately has a lot of. Not only that, but making these cells can be cheap!
“What happens in this process is that bacteria take in organic carbon molecules and ‘chew’ them inside the cell, which then releases electrons,” explained Dr. Tom Clarke, a lead researcher on the project.
Bacteria have multiple layers of proteins that act as the powerlines of the cell, allowing the electrons produced within the cell to go back to its surface. The bacteria feed off the electrodes, generating electrons.
We can now connect fuel cells to those electrons and collect them, effectively making a 'bacteria battery.' This process has been colloquially dubbed "breathing rocks" by researchers, though its technical term is iron respiration.
“It offers a very nice method of getting ecologically sound energy,” Dr. Clark said to FoxNews.com, adding that we could use these types of batteries at waste treatment plants to produce extra energy.
The bacteria could even aid in the cleanup of oil or uranium pollution, along with an everday generator. It's all plentiful and renewable--bacteria are everywhere!
“One of the advantages of the bacteria we’re looking at is they're found everywhere already. They actually live in the ground or in very common places. If you look at a lot of the names of what we’re considering, they’re in every single lake already,” Dr. Clarke said. “All we would be doing is changing the surface that they live on.”
This is just another way to harness energy other than the dependency of unrenewable resources like petroleum and coal. Along with decreasing costs of solar panels and the growing number of other energy production methods like wind, hydro, and nuclear generators in multiple countries, it's nice to finally know that there's a way to use our poop for energy.
-Luke
[1] Source: Fox News Article
What does this mean? It means that our poop can be recycled to keep the lights on in our houses, by our knowledge of how bacteria transfer electrical charges. We can make fuel cells that are filled with energy of human or animal waste--something that the world definately has a lot of. Not only that, but making these cells can be cheap!
“What happens in this process is that bacteria take in organic carbon molecules and ‘chew’ them inside the cell, which then releases electrons,” explained Dr. Tom Clarke, a lead researcher on the project.
Bacteria have multiple layers of proteins that act as the powerlines of the cell, allowing the electrons produced within the cell to go back to its surface. The bacteria feed off the electrodes, generating electrons.
We can now connect fuel cells to those electrons and collect them, effectively making a 'bacteria battery.' This process has been colloquially dubbed "breathing rocks" by researchers, though its technical term is iron respiration.
“It offers a very nice method of getting ecologically sound energy,” Dr. Clark said to FoxNews.com, adding that we could use these types of batteries at waste treatment plants to produce extra energy.
The bacteria could even aid in the cleanup of oil or uranium pollution, along with an everday generator. It's all plentiful and renewable--bacteria are everywhere!
“One of the advantages of the bacteria we’re looking at is they're found everywhere already. They actually live in the ground or in very common places. If you look at a lot of the names of what we’re considering, they’re in every single lake already,” Dr. Clarke said. “All we would be doing is changing the surface that they live on.”
This is just another way to harness energy other than the dependency of unrenewable resources like petroleum and coal. Along with decreasing costs of solar panels and the growing number of other energy production methods like wind, hydro, and nuclear generators in multiple countries, it's nice to finally know that there's a way to use our poop for energy.
-Luke
[1] Source: Fox News Article
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
KSM Mocked Captors
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM), the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks on the United States back in 2001, was reported to have mocked his Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) interrogators [1]. His tactic was simple and silent. KSM, while being waterboarded, would count off seconds on his hands, restrained, until he got to 40, where the legal guidance says that it can go no longer.
A former aide to President George W. Bush named Marc Theissen recalled an excerpt from his best-selling book, "Courting Disaster: How the CIA Kept America Safe & How Barack Obama is Inviting the Next Attack", on Tuesday's Enterprise Blog:
Thiessen wanted people to know that it is important that interrogations of high value prisoners could be rendered ineffective if they knew the tactics. Thiessen said when it comes to these interrogations, to get good and credible information, "the key to the success of breaking these people is that they can't know what they're facing. And if they do know, they can resist it."
Osama bin Laden was the world's most wanted terrorist and criminal. The United States itself had put a $25 million bounty on his head. It is believed that his location was found by such "harsh" tactics like waterboarding.
If you can't tell by the title of Thiessen's book, he is against President Obama's decisions to scale back on some of the more confrontational methods of interrogation, which he made in 2009. General James Jones, the national security advisor for Obama at the time, however, agreed with the president's decisions. He said, "this debate will continue and we will see where it goes."
So, what is waterboarding? The process of waterboarding is pretty simple. A captive's face is usually covered with a thin material such as cloth and is immobalized on his/her back. Water is then poured over the captive's breathing passages, making the person almost immediately gag and believe that they are drowning [2]. Though it can cause brain and/or lung damage and oxygen deprivation, I believe that waterboarding is very important for the security of our country. It has allowed our authorities and armed forces, the people that keep us safe, to find out about threats against our nation and to our ground forces abroad.
It's controversial in this increasingly soft and liberal world, but sometimes things need to be done when things need to be done. The way I see it is that if it allows you to stay safe at home, watching television and playing outside with your dog, day after day, you should be thankful for it.
-Luke
[1] Source: Fox News Article
[2] Source: Book, Safire's Political Dictionary
A former aide to President George W. Bush named Marc Theissen recalled an excerpt from his best-selling book, "Courting Disaster: How the CIA Kept America Safe & How Barack Obama is Inviting the Next Attack", on Tuesday's Enterprise Blog:
"Those familiar with the CIA's interrogations say there is no way we could have gotten KSM to talk without waterboarding... A high-ranking CIA official told me, ‘Everyone will tell you, even people opposed to the program, that [KSM] was not going to talk otherwise. I mean, this was one tough mother. He would get waterboarded and they would watch his fingers because he'd figured out how long it was going to last, and he'd just count on his hands how long he had to hold out.'"
Thiessen wanted people to know that it is important that interrogations of high value prisoners could be rendered ineffective if they knew the tactics. Thiessen said when it comes to these interrogations, to get good and credible information, "the key to the success of breaking these people is that they can't know what they're facing. And if they do know, they can resist it."
Osama bin Laden was the world's most wanted terrorist and criminal. The United States itself had put a $25 million bounty on his head. It is believed that his location was found by such "harsh" tactics like waterboarding.
If you can't tell by the title of Thiessen's book, he is against President Obama's decisions to scale back on some of the more confrontational methods of interrogation, which he made in 2009. General James Jones, the national security advisor for Obama at the time, however, agreed with the president's decisions. He said, "this debate will continue and we will see where it goes."
So, what is waterboarding? The process of waterboarding is pretty simple. A captive's face is usually covered with a thin material such as cloth and is immobalized on his/her back. Water is then poured over the captive's breathing passages, making the person almost immediately gag and believe that they are drowning [2]. Though it can cause brain and/or lung damage and oxygen deprivation, I believe that waterboarding is very important for the security of our country. It has allowed our authorities and armed forces, the people that keep us safe, to find out about threats against our nation and to our ground forces abroad.
It's controversial in this increasingly soft and liberal world, but sometimes things need to be done when things need to be done. The way I see it is that if it allows you to stay safe at home, watching television and playing outside with your dog, day after day, you should be thankful for it.
-Luke
[1] Source: Fox News Article
[2] Source: Book, Safire's Political Dictionary
Monday, May 16, 2011
America the Greatest
Americans (911 registered voters chosen randomly nationwide via cell phone or landline) hold firm on the belief that the United States of America remains the greatest country in the world [1]. It’s not saying that it’s the most comfortable, the most healthy, or happy (hopefully Sweden has crossed your mind), but most likely on terms of America’s power and security that is felt by many Americans alike.
The poll, conducted jointly by Anderson Robbins Research and Shaw & Company Research, took place from April 25 to April 27, 2011. This takes us before the highly resounded and yet highly disapproved death/killing of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, the terrorist who ordered and approved the 9/11/01 attacks on the United States.
__________________________________________________
The results that I found most interesting:
-84 percent of voters think the United States is the greatest country in the world.
-89 percent of Republicans believe so as well.
-84 percent of Democrats believe so as well.
-79 percent of Independents believe so as well.
-79% of voters say that they wouldn’t leave the US, even if its financial problems were not an issue.
__________________________________________________
I believe that the United States is still the most powerful country in the world. Our economic problem is huge and we may never recover, and the country’s time as the most prominent power in the world may be limited. I find this sad, but, as some historical person put it into simple, blunt words, “All great empires must end.”
Although the US has not gone about conquering lands (to the ignorant people: no, the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan are not attempts at modern American colonization), the US has made its empire through its global companies and having military bases in seemingly every country that will let it establish one (minus Cuba).
Our currency, language, and culture is everywhere in the world. And even if the country begins to lose its economic might and eventually falls, its legacy sure will echo through time as one of the greatest civilizations to ever have existed.
-Luke
[1] Source: Fox News Poll
The poll, conducted jointly by Anderson Robbins Research and Shaw & Company Research, took place from April 25 to April 27, 2011. This takes us before the highly resounded and yet highly disapproved death/killing of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, the terrorist who ordered and approved the 9/11/01 attacks on the United States.
__________________________________________________
The results that I found most interesting:
-84 percent of voters think the United States is the greatest country in the world.
-89 percent of Republicans believe so as well.
-84 percent of Democrats believe so as well.
-79 percent of Independents believe so as well.
-79% of voters say that they wouldn’t leave the US, even if its financial problems were not an issue.
__________________________________________________
I believe that the United States is still the most powerful country in the world. Our economic problem is huge and we may never recover, and the country’s time as the most prominent power in the world may be limited. I find this sad, but, as some historical person put it into simple, blunt words, “All great empires must end.”
Although the US has not gone about conquering lands (to the ignorant people: no, the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan are not attempts at modern American colonization), the US has made its empire through its global companies and having military bases in seemingly every country that will let it establish one (minus Cuba).
Our currency, language, and culture is everywhere in the world. And even if the country begins to lose its economic might and eventually falls, its legacy sure will echo through time as one of the greatest civilizations to ever have existed.
-Luke
[1] Source: Fox News Poll
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