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I commented on GETSOMEYEAH's "Salvia: A Youngster's Hallucinogen".

Black Friday

I’ve never really been much of a shopper.  For my whole life, my mom would go to the store and bring home a bunch clothes for me.  It was pretty hard to find clothes I liked, so when my mom did she would buy more of them with slight differences such as color. 

            Friday, November 28, 2008, my mom woke me up at noon. She told me that my dad, grandpa, uncle, and cousins had woken up early to go to the shooting range and that I had to go shopping.  (I tried arguing, but my mom was set on me shopping)  Those people I just listed were all the guys in my family staying at our house for Thanksgiving, so I was stuck with four girls in a mall all day.  I soon came to learn that this special day was called “Black Friday”.

            After 30 minutes, I was ready to leave.  After an hour I wanted to kill myself.  We had been in countless stores and bought nothing.  I didn’t understand.  The girls could spend hours just browsing, not even looking for anything in particular.  It was like they thought if they looked long enough they would come across gold and they were having fun doing it.  After spending 6 hours in 3 different malls, I came to the conclusion that I hate shopping. 

            While the women were in one store in the 3^rd mall, I snuck away and found a tv.  The news was on and I heard a story of a man getting trampled to death when Wal-Mart opened at 5a.m. that morning.  Story   My first thought was if only that was me, but then I started thinking.  These people are crazy.  Shoppers spend all day doing practically nothing.  It’s one thing to go to a store searching for something specific, but looking for nothing.  It’s pretty weird.  And killing someone to do it is insane.  There aren’t many things I would wake up at 5a.m. to do.  I mean I like doing a lot of things besides sleeping, but they can wait until at least 8 or 9.  The fact that people are camping outside of Wal-Mart and trampling the greeter to death for just a few sales is ludicrous.  I truly believe police should look at the security cameras and arrest the first 30 or 40 people through that door.  Something needs to be done and I don’t know that I’m ever going “shopping” again.

Thanksgiving: Relaxing or Stressful?

When I thought about thanksgiving break, I was excited.  It would be my first time going home.  I would get to see my family and friends, sleep in my own bed, and eat tons of good food.  It was going to be the most relaxing week since coming to school. 

A couple days before my plane flight, I discovered my grandparents were coming in town and using m room.  So I wasn’t going to sleep in my own bed.  It wasn’t the end of the world.  Our sofa bed wasn’t too bad. 

My thanksgiving break was fun, but it wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.  There was too much to do in too short of time.  I went into the break thinking I would catch up on sleep, but it turned out that I fell farther behind.  Everyday I felt obligated to spend time with my mom, dad, sister, grandparents, and cousins, but I also wanted to see my friends.  I hadn’t seen any of these people since I left for school.  I would spend time with my family until they went to bed at 10 or 11 then I would head to friend’s houses and stay up late into the am’s.  My parents would wake me up at noon the next day telling me everybody had been waiting hours for me to get up.  I’d scramble out of bed, tired as hell and the same thing would happen that day. 

I got so tired and run down that I was having trouble enjoying myself.  I also got sick.  Who comes home from college to get run down and sick?  While I had a lot of fun seeing my family and friends, it was a little more stressful than I would have liked. Hopefully winter break will be a little more relaxing.  Luckily it’s right around the corner.

What stems Middleton's criticism

When I first read Heat-Moon's experience with Alice Middleton, my initial response was to agree with all of the points she made.  As I continue to think about her statements, I'm starting to question some of her ideas.  Does Miz Alice dislike all the change, because she can't adjust to the change.

While Miz Alice makes some good points about the deterioration of her island, I don't think things are as bad off as she makes them seem.  Miz Alice doesn't like any of the change, because she can't bring herself to change.  She points out all the problems with technology, but never thinks to mention any of the benefits that it brings not only to the island, but the entire world.  Miz Alice and her beliefs are stuck in the world she grew up in.  Her inability to adjust and keep up with the constantly changing world leads her to criticize the change, even though in many cases the change is good.

comment on Almost Famous's "Pro Blogger-Brotha Buck"

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Old Internet Poker

Around the United States thousands of people gamble online.  This new rage blew up big and fast.  Within a few years of the World Series of Poker being televised, the recognition of poker and other forms of gambling grew rapidly.  This is evident as many more people began participating in the World Series of poker and online.  Over the past couple years I have watched new poker websites sprout up all over the internet.  It seems like every week I have another friend putting their money into a new sight.

            Now Congress is trying to make it illegal.  Not just place restrictions on internet gambling, but make the practice entirely illegal. Should they have the right to do this?

            Many people believe that gamblers know what they are doing and spend their own money so they should be allowed to gamble.  But do they really know what they are doing?  Many gambling sites, while still random in distributing the cards, make there be bigger hands.  It is much more common in online poker to get straights or full houses or four of a kinds.  Why do these sights do this?  Because many of them take a small portion of each pot, so bigger pots result in more money for them.  These websites also make it so players hit streaks and win hands they shouldn’t win.  When a player hits a streak many of them keep betting even when it is over, because they think they can win with bad hands.  And once they go cold, other players start being them when they have worse hands.  Then once a player loses their money they turn around and buy back in, because they remember the hands they one and think they can do it again.  They also remember the bad beats and think that it won’t happen to them again.  It’s a vicious cycle that engulfs many of Americans.  But one could still make the argument that the government still shouldn’t ban internet poker, because it is those people’s fault for being ignorant.  This is true, however, I don’t believe the government wants people not to gamble so they save their money. The government would prefer that these people invest their money in the economy, especially in times like these.  I agree with this as I feel that the people who are willing to gamble their money could do it in ways that would be much more beneficial to the economy.  

I revised my old blog by correcting a couple grammatical errors and breaking up the big paragraph.  I also added a comment to my own blog in response to someone else's comment.

comment on other Blog

I commented on Thyrston's "Reach for the Stars"

Gun Control?

According to Just Facts About Gun Control, 49% of American households own a firearm.  Consequently, out of 15,289 murders, 10,369 were committed with a gun.  Should the US tighten gun control?

I don't think so.  The people that go through the efforts to obtain guns legally aren't the ones murdering people.  Efforts have already been made to reduce the wrong people getting their hands on guns.  Convicted felons can't legally own guns and supplying a firearm to a convicted felon comes with a 10 year sentence.  Typically the people that are out to commit crimes with their firearms obtained their gun illegally.  These people are going to find ways to get guns no matter how hard the law tries to prevent it.

Many people own firearms for self defense.  A survey from the above website showed that 34% of criminals had been scared off by an armed victim.  The ability to own a gun can make it safer for an American family.  

The right to bear arms is one of the founding principles our country was built on.  To limit the ownership of firearms would be to go against what America originally stood for.  Overall, I believe that the laws and regulations about firearms are pretty good.

Comment on other Blog

I commented on Value from capitalization of Innovation's post called "Monster Children and Happiness vs. Quality of Lifestyle".

Internet Poker

Around the United States thousands of people gamble online.  This new rage blew up big and fast.  Within a few years of the World Series of Poker being televised, the recognition of poker and other forms of gambling grew rapidly.  This is evident as many more people began participating in the World Series of poker and online.  Over the past couple years I have watched new poker websites sprout up all over the internet.  It seems like every week I have another friend putting their money into a new sight.

            Now Congress is trying to make it illegal.  Not just place restrictions on internet gambling, but make the practice entirely illegal.  Should they have the right to do this?

            Many people believe that gamblers know what they are doing and spend their own money so they should be allowed to gamble.  But do they really know what they are doing?  Many gambling sites, while still random in distributing the cards, make there be bigger hands.  It is much more common in online poker to get straights or full houses or four of a kinds.  Why do these sights do this?  Because many of them take a small portion of each pot, so bigger pots result in more money for them.  These websites also make it so players hit streaks and win hands they shouldn’t win.  When a player hits a streak many of them keep betting even when it is over, because they think they can win with bad hands.  And once they go cold, other players start beating them when they have worse hands.  Then once a player loses their money they turn around and buy back in, because they remember the hands they won and think they can do it again.  While they also remember the bad beats hey justify them in their minds and think that it won’t happen to them again. 

It’s a vicious cycle that engulfs many of Americans.  But one could still make the argument that the government still shouldn’t ban internet poker, because it is those people’s fault for being ignorant.  This is true, however, I don’t believe the government wants people not to gamble so they save their money.  The government would prefer that these people invest their money in the economy, especially in times like these.  I agree with this as I feel that the people who are willing to gamble their money could do it in ways that would be much more beneficial to the economy.  

Should the drinking age be lowered?

The US has the highest drinking age in the world.  Should the drinking age be lowered?  Some people argue that the drinking age should stay at 21, because it gives people enough time to mature both physically and mentally before consuming alcohol, while others feel that if you can die for your country you should be able to enjoy a beer.

I’m in support of lowering the drinking age, but not just because 18 year olds enlist in the military.  I feel that every kid that wants to drink under age can and will and the people that don’t want to won’t.  I don’t think many more kids would drink even if the drinking age were lowered.  Most teens that choose not to drink make that decision based on their parents or their own moral feelings, not because they think cops are going to arrest them if they take a sip of beer.  The law doesn’t have much of an affect on who drinks; it just has an affect on how they drink.  In many ways the law just forces those who consume alcohol to do it in a more dangerous way.  Teenagers trying to get away with drinking are more likely to binge drink.  If the drinking age were lowered it would change the approach society would take on alcohol.  Drinking still wouldn’t be acceptable to those who feel drinking is morally wrong, but it also give parents a chance to sit down with their kids and teach them to drink responsibly before they go out and binge with their friends. 

Many adolescents go off to college having never consumed alcohol and some of them take their first sips on a college campus.  I feel like these kids are the ones that don’t know their limits and end up in hospitals.   According to the Department of Health and Human Services, “there were 145,000 emergency room visits for youths between the ages of 12 and 20 in 2005” (http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/quickstats/underage_drinking.htm).  I feel that the only way to stop this binge drinking among teens in America is to allow them to drink.

My post to GETSOMEYEAH

I posted on GETSOMEYEAH's blog, "Death Spiral".