Hush, Don't Talk About it

As far as you banning topics in your class I think it's your right. I mean after all, it is your class. As for the topics you have choosen to ban they all have potential to be very heated topics and could easily envoke very strong opinions. My grandmother, as a true southern belle, use to tell me it's innapropriate to discuss race, religion or politics at a the table. I always thought this to be silly, but now that I am older I can understand why. Such topics, and opinions about them, could ruin a family's evening. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs. I try to respect the beliefs and opions of others; even when I have noticed others my not respect mine. Back to this being your class... the topics you have banned also have potential to be debate topics instead of discussion topics. I mean this is an English class after all. I can only imagine how hard it would be to put a grade on heavy words and angry paragraphs. I can see where these particular topics have potential to become a verbal war instead of just discussion. I am sure Miss Hall you as well have your very own opinion on these topics, and i wonder how difficult it would be to maintain unbiased. We are all after all human and subject to our own opinionated faults.This Blog may come up short, sadly because my personal opinion of this topic is short. It's your class, you can do what you want to do.

Show Me the Money

When I was younger my grandmother use to give me ten dollars for every A I brought home on my report cards. I am sure she did this as an incentive, but usually I only got excited about it at the end of the nine weeks when I was certain I was getting paid. My delayed excitement may have been due to my not so studious behavior. I think cash for grades should be up to the parents, not the school. Most school districts today struggle for funding to keep their doors open, espically in rural areas.I think the grade in inself should be the reward; the promise of college and hope of good future. I am afraid that the children who were already economically challenged would still be left out due to poor living circumstances and lack of resources. I think cash for grades is a short term incintive and I would have to see alot of research for before I would sway in my opinion that it worked. By research I mean long term results of the students and where they end up. I think it should be a parents personal decision on how to reward their children out side of school, and that traditional methods of rewards such as scholarships should remain in place. I think kids should get good grades because it is expected of them to. My father use to tell me you don't get rewarded for doing what you are supposed to do any way. I think cash for grades falls in line with what advice my dad was giving me at the time. As a mom I expect my kids to go to school, study hard, do their homework, and yes bring home good grades. As a parent I think it is my job to assist them by providing them with materials needed, answering questions, and cooperating with the school and staying informed on their progress. I understand that not all children have a support system at home. It is my hope that the children that don't would already be targeted by the school and recieve some extra incentive or assistance by the school. I think in the end education in its self is the greatest reward, and a child's drive to reach his or her goals rely greatly on many outside factors.

Smoke on that

Many states have made medical marijuana legal. I think at this point 18 states have made medical marijuana legal to smoke. But what some don't know is that in states like Arkansas we have something else called Marinol , a pill that is that is prescribed by a doctor in chronicly ill or terminal patient.Ingredients of Marinol are capsules contain man-made dronabinol (THC). THC is also a naturally occuring component of Cannabis sativa. (marijuana). So it sounds to me medical marijuana is already legal and avaliable for those who truly need it. My main concern if marijuana was legalized would me the message it would send to our youth that drugs are ok that coupled with the theory of Marijuana being a gateway drug could open our kids to other stonger drugs. My stance on this issue is on the fence. On one hand I know the sick and dying could benefit from the use of THC as pain reliever and appetite increaser. Obviously the benefits are enough for the major drug companies to want to replicate it with Marinol.
But to legalize it for the general public would be a mistake. I think it would be abused by many more then those who truly needed it, and drug dealers would have to make up in loss revenue. I think if legalized we would find an increase in addicts. Aslo there are down falls and health risks to smoking marijuana ,marijuana can cause low sperm in men and can increase the risk of cervical cancer in women.Who knows, it all comes with a risk. I am interested to see how it's working for other states before i give my vote to  jump on the puff puff train.I wonder if it would be taxed or if people could grow their own? I wonder what stiplations would be placed on it by the government?

Who to Choose

     I have some interesting people to choose from. I haven't decided for sure, but I really I reallly like Uri Geller. Uri is a magician best known for his spoon bending trick.He is also a self proclaimed psychic.Uri was born in Isreal, his father a retired military sergeant. His magic has long been a source of skeptics. Uri has taken great offense to anyone who dared to publicly doubt or criticize his talents; at times even takeing his offense to the court room and sueing his critics.There is alot more to Geller then simple hand tricks. He is able to speak English,Hebrew, Hungarian, and has written several books, he is to say the very least a gifted mind. Uri's claims to psychic ability were also backed by Stanford scientists who put him through a stream of labratory tests. However tested Geller's abilites have been hit and miss in the public eye. When asked  to help in a in a missing person case Geller failed miserably and publicly, predicting the missing would be found alive and when when in fact she had already been murdered.
   My second option would be Mother Theresa.I can personally remember the day she died and being shocked that she had spent her whole life as a humanitarian ,yet her death was over shadowed by that of Princess Diana. Mother Teresa grew up poor, her father died when she was only eight years old. Her mother taught her about the importance of giving to others, her mother even invited the homeless into their home to eat dinner.At he tender age of 18 when most girls are thinking of marriage and babies , Mother Teresa decided to be a nun and moved to Ireland.She began to teach and did so for 17 years before being called by her God again to help the poor.
   As you can see I have some very interesting subjects to choose from. I can say I am excited as there is an abundence of information about them out there.I was truly concernd I would get someone and be at a loss for something to write.

The Skinny of it

I wasn't too sure what thinspo was, but after reading the article it didn't take me long to realize it is where media and social status has once again played on the mental illness of others. I think it's sickening to take already starving images,photo shop them even more then call it a form of art. Absolutely pop culture can produce mental illness and send a pre-disposed, impressionable teenager into all out anorexia. It is a long standing stereo type I believe that over-weight people are lazy, that along with other misconceptions I think have been taught by main stream media. I myself out of curiousness googled thinspiration and was shocked. But to someone who was struggling with their weight and looking for answers could be misguided. The women I saw looked SICK, not at all beautiful. I have heard the saying pictures are worth a thousand words I agree and the women in the pictures I saw were saying "I am hungry!" It's crazy that so many can be lead to think what is beautiful. I don't understand how some ones self image can be so distorted.

Banned in the USA

If we ban books we are banning part of history. Some books like "The Diary Of Ann Frank" tell a long lost story that many need to know. Others about the underground railroad are our history. The speeches of Martin Luther King bring words of peace from a grave. No I don't think some should say the things they do, but my dad fought in two wars to make sure we all should be able to read and speak freely.The worlds our children live in now have a different out look. The only way they will ever know the past is from books and history.And a poem from Maya Angelou can place you in a time capsule to another time. No I don't think books should be banned.I think they should be read,taught, and passed on.Many stories are horrific but very true. I think if we don't pass on the injustices that have occured in our history we may be doomed to repeat it.When i was younger I read many Dean Koontz books. They did not teach me much about history, but they did spark a great interest for me in books.I also read "The Diary of  Ann Frank" and it prompted me to study about the Holocaust.It's hard to believe in todays world that things such as mass murder, starvation, and experiments were done to even the smallest of children was allowed to happen a time in history that many would like to forget. Reading use to be a privilege. A privlege that many were denied in hopes to keep them ignorant by people trying to suppress them.

The Yellow Wallpaper

I wasn't sure if the story teller was mentally ill or suffering from post-partum depression. I think she saw herself locked in the wallpaper as she was locked in the room. Her husband, a doctor, only furthered her illness by his constantly denying his wife to express herself. I think the story teller contemplated suicide to break free from her vaction style prison. But in the end found releif in helping the lady in the wallpaper who represented herself. I think there may have been alot of feminist symbolism in this story, however the narration coming from the mind of a mad women made it very hard to read and to follow. I was left confused and in the end wondering if she possibly killed her husband. The work was very descriptive as I could see the wall paper in my minds eye.