December 16, 2007
I understand that this is really long. I agree that it would be annoying and boring if I did a lot of long journals. Fortunately, I’m pretty sure that most of my journal entries are really short. It would make me very happy if you would read this.
I know I’ve mentioned this before, and I’ll mention it again. It makes me curious to think why so many people on here hate Miley Cyrus with such a passion. I doubt that any of you have ever met her. From what I understand, the only opinions that you can gather about her are from the tv show she stars in and her music. Is it possible to hate someone because you hate their music? I hate a lot of the music people on this website listen to. It doesn’t mean that I hate the singers/bands. It’s actually rather simple. I don’t like it; I don’t listen to it. Have you ever watched her tv show? Is the show so bad that it makes you hate an actress who is acting on the show? It seems that there must be something else to make you hate her. Is it because she is famous? Because she is rich? Successful? Pretty? Her style of clothes isn’t the exact same as yours? Or could it be that she’s *gasp* happy? What is it that people on here say all of the time? How many times have I seen people on here say that other people don’t like you without getting to know you, and that people only judge you by the way you look, which you claim is unfair? That makes a lot of sense to say that it’s horribly unfair when people do it to you, but it’s perfectly fine when you do it to other people. Another celebrity-related problem I have with some people is that you act like you know you’d love a celebrity because you like their music, TV show, movie, looks, etc. So you think Nick Jonas is hot. So you like his singing. That doesn’t mean that you’d like his personality nor does it mean that he would like you. Something that completely does not make sense to me is when people say, “Oh, no!!! I think that Nick and Miley are going out! Poor Nick!” First of all, just because you hate a celebrity that you don’t know doesn’t mean that everyone you like is going to hate that same person. Not to mention the fact that Nick actually knows Miley, and no one, let me repeat no one can force Nick to be with her. That’s right. If he goes out with her, it’s his choice. You might as well get over the fact that he likes her. Another celebrity-related problem that I would like to point out is when people say something along the lines of, “He/She isn’t being themself. He/She is such a poseur.” First of all, I’d like to know how you know a celebrity better than he or she knows themself. Second, it’s normal to change as you age. What would not be normal is if people remained the same for their entire lives. If that’s how you people intend to live your lives, I’m even more scared for the future than I already was. Avril Lavigne started out at what age? Seventeen? She was just a teenager with a bit of an attitude. Six years later, she has changed quite a bit. It’s not the fact that people change as they age. It’s not the fact that she went from being a bratty, immature teenager to an adult. No, I’m sure you 14 and 15 year olds are right. I’m sure that she’s just being a poseur because it’s not normal that she changed. Last but not least, celebrities are entitled to have a private, personal life just as much as you and me. If a celebrity doesn’t give permission for pictures or things about their private life to be posted (online, in magazines, etc.) then it isn’t their fault when those things are posted for the public eye.
It doesn’t seem very fair to me when people blame something that isn’t truly to blame. Here are some examples. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve come on here and seen journal posts saying something along the lines of, “Guys are stupid.” The guy and girl went out for about four days, then the guy broke up with her because he didn’t like her in that way, so now he’s stupid. Would it have been better if he had led the girl on to believe that he liked her more than he did? Of course not. The girl would have endlessly complained about that and still would have called him stupid. If the guy didn’t go out with the girl in the first place, would that have solved the problem? No, of course not. He still would be stupid. There’s really nothing in the world to please some people. Maybe you should look within yourselves and see if the problems are there. This goes for other things, too. Do you really hate the color pink so much that you hate people who like that color? I hate certain shades of purple, green, and yellow. I don’t hate people who like those colors. Consider this. Maybe for the first scenario you have issues with being insecure to the point that you don’t like being single. Maybe you’re insecure to the point that you won’t allow yourself to believe that you might be at fault for a break-up. For the second scenario, you might know someone who you dislike and they wear pink. Then for some reason, you connect that color with your dislike for that person. So then you dislike that color. Or maybe you dislike that color, and you dislike certain people who happen to like pink. Instead of maintaining a normal dislike for the color pink, you blow it out of proportion because your negative feelings are really aimed at those people you dislike who like pink. Here’s another idea. Do you really dislike the personality of everyone who you say you dislike? Or do you take out a problem that you have on them when you shouldn’t? For example, maybe you don’t feel happy, so then every happy person you see infuriates you. Is it fair to hate people for feeling the way that you want to feel? This brings me to a couple other points. First of all, some people generalize way too often. Maybe you have encountered a few guys who are jerks. That doesn’t mean that all guys are jerks. Maybe you’ve encountered a few rude people who like pink. That doesn’t mean all people who like pink are rude. There are so many generalizations in the world that I can’t possibly cover them all. I ask all of you to do your best at recognizing when you make a generalization, and fix that problem. Instead of saying, “All guys are jerks,” try saying, “That guy is a jerk.” Instead of saying, “Blondes are stupid,” say, “That person is stupid.” My second point is that not everything in life is black and white. Just because something seems simple doesn’t mean that it is. Maybe the guy had good, unknown reasons for behaving the way that he did. Wearing pink does not necessarily mean that a person is happy. So many people see people who are really thin and immediately think that they strive to be that way, and maybe they even have an eating disorder. These people are likely to believe that weight is easy to gain but difficult to lose. Life isn’t quite that simple. Some people have a much faster metabolism than other people. For some people, it’s natural to be thin. For some people, it’s natural to weigh a little more. Another thing that annoys me is when people act as though the United States is perfect and all other countries are horrible. I have news for you. Not all of the other countries are horrible. I’ve been to Canada. Would I go to Canada if it was horrible? Of course not. When I crossed the border, there was no one there to handcuff me and take me away as though I was a slave with no freedoms. There was an exchange student at my school last year from Australia, and we became okay friends. She was planning on staying in the United States to go to college. By the end of the school year, she was really homesick for Australia, and she decided to go back there because she loved it so much. Would she do that if Australia was so bad? Of course not. About a year and a half ago, a large number of people from my high school went to France during the summer. Why would they visit a country if it would take away all of their freedoms? Of course France isn’t a horrible country. The United States having freedoms doesn’t mean that other countries don’t have freedoms. Get over it. Besides that, the United States does have bad points whether or not you like it. It has a horrible problem with crime and murder. It’s quite disturbing to watch Court TV and see how many people are willing to kill people, especially their spouses. The United States has a horrible obesity problem. There is the freedom to eat whatever you want and however much you want, and then some people go overboard with that freedom. I’m fairly certain that the United States contributes more to global warming than any other country in the world. Global warming is a huge problem. Whether or not you like it, if nothing is done to stop it, it will destroy planet Earth. Maybe the worst of it won’t happen in your lifetime. Maybe it will. I find it really selfish that people don’t care about it because they think that it will happen after their lives are over. In order for you to be better informed, here’s an essay I wrote on global warming:
The spring of 1988 was much hotter than spring normally is. As spring turned into summer, and summer turned into fall, the temperatures were abnormally warm. Several scientists believed that it proved activities of humans can cause global warming. Not only were temperatures quite a bit higher than normal, but the United States had an extremely dry year. The heat and drought were bad for crops, and the heat caused massive fires and a terrible hurricane. In areas other than the United States, there were many devastating floods (Green, 2002). Global warming occurs when the sun’s radiation reaches Earth, but the greenhouse gases don’t allow radiation from the Earth’s surface to leave the Earth’s atmosphere. This causes the atmosphere to become warmer (Maslin, 2002). There are many different causes and effects of global warming, but there are also several different ways to reduce or even prevent it.
First of all, energy use and production causes global warming more than anything else does. It has caused about fifty-seven percent of global warming on Earth (Causes of global warming, n.d.b). The burning of fossil fuels causes carbon dioxide to be released into the environment. Fossil fuels include oil, gas, petrol, and kerosene (Cause and effect for global warming, n.d.). Burning fossil fuels for electricity contributed to about forty percent of carbon dioxide in the United States during 2002. Coal is horrible when it comes to how much carbon dioxide it emits. The burning of gasoline in vehicles causes large amounts of carbon dioxide to be released into the air in the United States. Vehicles such as sport utility vehicles that get poor gas mileage contribute more to global warming than other vehicles that get good gas mileage. Drivers in large cities such as Los Angeles waste a lot of gas by just sitting in traffic which is a huge cause of carbon dioxide. Oil is also not good for the environment. If the gas mileage of vehicles would increase by just a few miles per gallon, approximately one million barrels of oil would be saved each day in the United States. Unfortunately, excessive amounts of oil continue to pollute the air. Currently, airplanes contribute relatively little to global warming, but that amount could extremely increase throughout the next few decades. Methane is another greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere. It can also come from fossil fuel production. Some cars also emit Nitrous oxide which is another one of the greenhouse gases (Causes of global warming, n.d.a).
Also, there are a few other things that contribute to global warming. Chlorofluorocarbons are one of the major causes of global warming. People have recently become much more aware of this. Since people have realized that chlorofluorocarbons are dangerous for the environment, they are trying to not use things that produce that gas (Causes of global warming, n.d.b). Deforestation is a major contributing factor of global warming. It is the reason for about twenty-five percent of all carbon that enters the atmosphere. It occurs by burning and cutting down trees. Each year, millions of acres of rainforests are lost, and every time trees are cut down carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere (Causes of global warming, n.d.a). After rainforests are cut down, it is much more difficult if not impossible for the land to store carbon dioxide (Maslin, 2002). If the climate changes, permafrost might start to thaw. If that happens, carbon dioxide will be emitted into the atmosphere. Permafrost is frozen soil that has been that way for at least two years. It is under some of the land in Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia, and Siberia. About fourteen percent of all of the carbon in the world is held within permafrost. Global warming will increase greatly if permafrost thaws and carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. The tundra is another factor in global warming. The tundra contains about fifty billion tons of carbon which are kept in a frozen state. As temperatures get warmer, the tundra releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This will only increase the greenhouse effect and global warming (Causes of global warming, n.d.a).
After all of these things take place, there are many negative effects of global warming. The average temperatures will increase, and in some places they already have. Some of the most recent years have been among the warmest that the United States has ever recorded (Consequences of global warming, 2007). Scientists have estimated that average temperatures in the United States could increase from three to nine degrees by the end of the century (Global warming basics, 2007). These warmer temperatures can also make drought more common and intense. When this happens, wildfires are also more likely to occur. Over the past several years, drought has occurred much more frequently. In 2006, there were an unusually large number of wildfires. Almost ten million acres burned, and that is far more than average. When there are more destructive wildfires, a lot of money is needed considering fire-fighting expenses. Once there are higher temperatures, many species will be at an increased risk of becoming extinct. If global warming continues as it is, over one million species could be extinct by 2050. Some animals will not be able to adapt to the warmer temperatures. Since the Arctic ice cap is melting, there are some polar bears that are drowning because the distance to reach ice is too far. Many penguins are also dying in Antarctica because of the melting ice. If temperatures increase about 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, about ninety-seven percent of the coral reefs in the world will be eliminated (Consequences of global warming, 2007).
Another horrible effect of global warming is the extreme and deadly heat waves. The worse that these heat waves get, the more people’s lives will be at risk. In 2003, some of these heat waves caused approximately 35,000 people to die in Europe. The temperature went above one hundred degrees Fahrenheit, and these extreme temperatures lasted for about two weeks. Other heat waves have caused deaths in different parts of the world in recent years (Consequences of global warming, 2007). Over the past several years, a few diseases have been spreading to parts of the world where they normally don’t exist. Dengue fever is a disease that is carried through mosquitoes. Mosquitoes can only live in warmer temperatures, and as global warming gets worse, dengue fever is spreading into parts of the United States. In 1995, the disease infected people in Texas. Malaria is another disease carried through mosquitoes. If global warming continues as it is, sixty-five percent of people in the world could be at risk for getting infected with this. There have been outbreaks of this in places such as Michigan, New York, and Florida. Cholera and encephalitis are two other diseases that have been spreading in recent years because of global warming (Global warming & energy, 2007).
There are other types of extreme weather that occur as a result of global warming. Thermal expansion of the oceans, melting of glaciers, and melting of ice caps contribute to a rising sea level. This puts communities on coasts at a higher risk of being flooded. Over the past one hundred years, the sea level has risen about four to eight inches. By the year 2100, the sea level is expected to rise about ten to twenty-three inches. Due to warmer temperatures, more intense rainstorms will probably occur. Annual precipitation has increased greatly for the United States since the early 1900s. Global warming caused by humans is most likely the cause for this. Global warming causes water in the oceans to be warmer. Warmer water causes hurricanes to have more energy, and then they cause more damage. Over the past thirty-five years, many more intense and destructive hurricanes have occurred. Hurricane Katrina of 2005 was very expensive and deadly for the United States (Consequences of global warming, 2007).
There are many things that can be done to reduce or even prevent global warming. Instead of unrenewable energy sources, renewable sources such as wind and sun need to be used to operate different power companies. In places such as California and New York, getting a certain percentage of electricity from renewable sources is required. More places need to take up this policy. Using hybrid vehicles could reduce global warming by up to thirty-three percent (Global warming basics, 2007). People could also buy vehicles that are more fuel efficient. This would be very helpful in reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. People could try to drive less often or use a carpool. If someone is just going to unnecessarily idle in his or her car, he or she could turn off the engine. Keeping tires inflated can also keep pollution at a minimum (Take action!, 2007).
Several other simple things can be done to reduce global warming. Fluorescent bulbs should be used because incandescent ones waste a lot of energy on heat. Whether at home or at work, people should use ceramic cups and not disposable ones (Mitchell, 2007). People should wait to run their dishwasher until it is full of dishes. If people have old appliances, they should replace them because inefficient appliances waste energy. When people aren’t using electronics, they should unplug them because they can use up energy even when they are off. If people have their homes insulated well and have double pane windows, they won’t have to use as much energy to heat or cool their homes. Taking shorter showers would reduce the amount of energy needed to heat the water. Buying recycled paper and recycling paper would also be very beneficial. Using a push mower would be helpful in reducing the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the air. It would reduce global warming if people would air dry their clothes when there is warm weather. If everyone would plant a tree, a lot of carbon dioxide would be absorbed into the trees (Take action!, 2007).
As one can tell, several different things contribute to global warming. The potential effects are devastating. There are many things that people can do to reduce or even help to prevent global warming. Some of these things are simple. If people do these things, and convince their families and friends to do these things, it could make a big difference for the world. Some of the more difficult things could be accomplished with a president and other politicians who care about the environment. Laws should be passed to use technologies that are available and safer for the environment. Everyone needs to focus on the problem of global warming now instead of putting it off for another day.
Another thing that many people like to claim is that people have the freedom of religion in the United States. Unfortunately, many people do not respect that freedom if other people don’t believe in Christianity. If anyone does not respect the religion that someone has chosen then that person isn’t completely free to have whatever religion he or she wants. Just because the majority of people in the world believe in Christianity, that doesn’t mean that Christianity is right or better than any other religious beliefs. This brings me to another point. Something being the majority opinion does not make it right. Many times in the past there have been majority opinions that are specifically wrong, unfair, sick, twisted, and disgusting. Hmmm… let me think of a few. Slavery is one. Just because so many people accepted slavery doesn’t mean that slavery was right. Unequal rights for women compared to men would be another thing that was wrong. Segregation was another immoral thing. Believing that people have to have a god is an unfounded belief. Something being the way it is because the majority of people agree with it does not mean that that way is right. Even laws should not be viewed as right just because they are laws. This brings me to yet another point. People should not believe that everything they’re told is true. Some people will tell you things and think they’re true, but they’re really not. Some people will tell you things and know that they aren’t true. Some people will tell you that you can do something but you really can’t. Some people will tell you that you can’t do things but you really can. Whether or not people have good intentions, not everything that they say is true. That is why you should always question what you’re told. Don’t believe something for the sole reason that your parents told you so. Don’t believe something for the sole reason that your church told you so. Don’t believe something for the sole reason that your friends told you so. Don’t believe something for the sole reason that a teacher told you so. Always question things. Think about it. Many people who are truly successful are that way because they didn’t listen to what other people said. Do you think the Wright brothers were told that they could make an airplane? Do you think that singers, bands, athletes, actors, and actresses are told by everyone to go ahead with their plans and everything will work out? Do you think that Martin Luther King, Jr. was told that he should fight for the rights of African Americans? What do you really think that these people were told? I’m guessing they were told that they would never be able to make a flying machine, they would never be able to become a successful entertainer, and he had no right to believe that African Americans deserved the same rights as Caucasians. This can go for almost anything that people are told. Just because someone tells you that one religion is right doesn’t mean that you should believe them. Just because someone tells you that you should think a certain way about politics doesn’t mean that you should take their word for it. Just because someone tells you that you should go into a certain profession doesn’t mean that you should. Just because someone tells you that there’s a right and a wrong way to solve a problem or do something doesn’t mean that there is a right or wrong way. (“There’s no wrong way to eat a Reese’s.”) This can be tied into the point I made on majority opinion. Maybe a lot of people are trying to convince you of something, and you choose to believe it because it’s also the majority opinion. That’s blatantly idiotic. Don’t go along with the crowd. Question things. Investigate things. Explore things. Be willing to learn. Keep an open mind. This brings me, once again, to another point. There is quite often, possibly always, more than one side to different issues. It makes no sense to take a side without understanding the other side. You should understand all of the viewpoints of a topic before you say that you agree with one or don’t agree with one. (There are a few exceptions, such as disagreeing with something that is obviously f*cked up.) This goes for pretty much everything in life. It’s illogical to say that you take a stand on a political issue but don’t know what the other viewpoint is, just that you don’t agree with it. It’s illogical to say that you believe in one religion over the others but don’t know what the others are all about. It doesn’t make sense to say that you believe something because that’s what mommy and daddy believe. You’re your own person, so act like it. Some people might say that they know all of the viewpoints, but they might not truly know all of the different views. Consider where you are getting your information from. Are you getting the information about both sides of an argument from a biased source that already supports one side? You should either get your information from an unbiased source, or you should look at biased sources for one side of the argument and biased sources for the other side of the argument. For example, if you’re going to form an opinion on gun control, it would make no sense to agree with stronger gun control after only looking at sources that support stronger gun control. Either get information from a source that tells good and bad things about stronger gun control and good and bad things about more lenient gun control, or get information from different sources supporting the different views. Churches are biased. Believing what you believe because your parents do is childish. Believing something without knowing both sides of the story would also be like taking sides in an argument of your friends after being told the story by only one of the friends. That’s only one side of the story. Before knowing what you think about the situation, you need to understand the situation in its entirety. Hearing the story from a biased source (only one of the people in the argument) isn’t going to help you know if that’s all there is to the story. That person that you talk to could tell you the other person’s side of the story, but they could always fabricate part of the story (or all of it) to make it appear more favorable for them (or they could word it to appear better for them). Always know the entire story, not just part of it.
For some reason, many people do not seem to understand that most words have more than one definition. Not only that, but many people confuse what the actual meanings are of some words. I’m going to put some words with their definitions so that you have a better idea of how to correctly use them.
Slut - A person, especially a woman, considered sexually promiscuous.
A woman prostitute.
A slovenly woman; a slattern
Tramp - 1 a: vagrant b: a foot traveler c: a woman of loose morals; specifically : prostitute
2: a walking trip : hike
3: the succession of sounds made by the beating of feet on a surface (as a road, pavement, or floor)
4: an iron plate to protect the sole of a shoe
5: a ship not making regular trips but taking cargo when and where it offers and to any port
Wh*re - 1: a woman who engages in sexual acts for money : prostitute; also : a promiscuous or immoral woman
2: a male who engages in sexual acts for money
3: a venal or unscrupulous person
B*tch - 1: the female of the dog or some other carnivorous mammals
2 a: a lewd or immoral woman b: a malicious, spiteful, or overbearing woman —sometimes used as a generalized term of abuse
3: something that is extremely difficult, objectionable, or unpleasant
4: complaint
B*stard - 1: an illegitimate child
2: something that is spurious, irregular, inferior, or of questionable origin
3 a: an offensive or disagreeable person —used as a generalized term of abuse b: man, fellow
Hypocrite - 1 : a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion
2 : a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings
If you don’t know what a word means, don’t use it. If you don’t know the sexual life of a person, it makes no sense to call them a name relating to their sex life.
I know that few people, if anyone, will still be reading this by now. So many people will claim that it’s “too long.” Of course, if this was a lemon of the same length, I’m sure hundreds of people would read it.
WARNING: Stupid and/or ignorant comments are subject to ridicule.
posted at 4:43 pm EST | 8 comments
