Bullying because of sexual orientation...

There is absolutely no reason why a person should lose their life because to jerks don't agree with that person's lifestyle. If every person who thought someone else didn't something they did not believe in, there would be no one left in america. People make choices everyday that other people “hate” or “makes them sick to their stomach”. We have war with complete nations if those nations don't agree with each other. No one will ever completely agree with everyone and anyone, there is just too much diversity in this great world we live inhabit. In my opinion, no one no matter what creed, color, sexual orientation, or any other so-called definition should define us as different. We as human beings should not be tortured,discriminated, or bullied in any way shape or form. Nor should we as human beings be allowed to torture, discriminate, or bully any human being. We are all equal. No mother,father, brother, sister, or other sibling should have to lose their loved one due to their loved ones sexual orientation. Even though some people think it is ok to label other human being as being different, the people who give labels should have a label: Bully! There is no right for a person to harm another because that person see them as different.

Matthew Shepard, was a Colorado College student. He, unfortunately, was tortured to-death (it was officially declared as a homicide) in the fall of 1998 ; because of his sexual orientation. Matthew Shepard was openly gay student in his community. He was attacked by two men on the night of October 6, 1998. Around midnight he was led to a roadside robbed, pistol-whipped, and tortured; then left for dead. The two men responsible for torturing and robbing Shepard also obtained his address and had planned to burglarize his home. Shepard had suffered fractures to the back of his head and  temple region of his head. He also suffered a dozen lacerations around his head, face, and neck. He sustained severe brain-stem damage. Which impaired his body ability to function. Shepard slipped into a coma and later died in the hospital, due to the fact that his injuries were too severe to operate. Wikipedia. 2002 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Shepard.  Shepard’s attackers were later detained and named as Russell Henderson and Aaron Mckinney. Henderson pled guilty and agreed to testify against Mckinney to avoid the death penalty. Matthew Shepard’s death shocked much of the nation.

-aj

Wolf Painting

It started with the decision to use the textured side of the board instead of the smooth side.  I only had fat brushes, so I couldn’t do fine fine details.  This was definitely frustrating at first.  But, then I figured out all the things I could do with it.  Because I couldn’t do all that fine detail I had been relying on before, I was forced to get only the essence of each animal.  And I was forced to use the rough texture of the board to convey what I needed to convey: scales on a trout, speckled fur on the wolf that doubled as feathers on a grackle, as well as feathers for a night hawk.  The textured was also used to make the nose look shiny and wet.  If the board was smooth, I could never have done all those things, or it would have been harder. 

Look closely and it is just a bunch of blobs and lines of paint, but don’t be fooled.  Every line and every mark has a purpose.  It’s not just a wolf.  It’s not just forest animals hidden in a wolf.  It’s both.  If you tug on one thing in the forest or anywhere really, you tug on all the other things one by one.  And it’s incredible how fast the one change you make can affect everything.  This is the way it is in my painting.  Everything is connected to the wolf.  The wolf’s eye is like a waterhole or a spring.  So, if you take away the wolf, you take away the river and you take away the turtle and the otter and the fish.  And you take away the loon to because the loon relies on the water.  The deer relies on the wolf too.  When the wolf is gone, a deer that is sick will still be around to take up food and might get other deer sick and will still be suffering.  This way the wolf helps keep the deer stronger.  As the deer get stronger the wolf must get stronger as well.  Everything is in balance.  But, this balance is easily tipped.  

LF

reality tv

  I think reality television shows can be very entertaining to watch. Shows like the "Jersey Shore" and, of course, everyone's favorite the "Kardashians" are fun to watch because they allow people to just relax and let their brain do nothing, but watch. These shows can teach a bad message though. There are barely any people in the world who act like the people on the "Jersey Shore". They seem like their always having to hook up with girls and guys, always having to be tan and have six pack, having to be skinny. That sort of stuff can make people become anorexic and insecure about themselves. Reality shows can be fun to watch and distract us from the real world, but that's only if you know it's not real and you don't try to be like that.  If you view them as entertaining, they can be great and fun things to watch.

Br

vegetarianism

You may or may not know, dear reader, that only five to ten percent of the world’s entire population are vegetarians. I am one of them. When people ask me why, I usually say that I don’t want to kill animals and stop at that. But there is much more that I could say, which is what I’m going to tell you right now. 

First of all, most meat eaters must be clueless about the whole operation of animal processing because, frankly, if people truly knew how terribly animals, worldwide meat consumption wouldn’t have increased 400 percent in the last 50 years. Let’s start with (almost) every child’s stereotypical favorite food: chicken nuggets. In the United States, 250 chickens are killed every second. That’s means that more than 3,000 chickens have been slaughtered during the duration of time it took you to read this short paragraph (www.clearbluerecords.com). Oh, and not just adult chickens, but chicks are killed as well. Chicken industries suffocate or grind up 250 million male chicks, alive, every year because they will never produce eggs (www.upc-online.org). 

Animal mistreatment doesn’t stop at chickens- no, not even close. A report surfaced showing cows in United States slaughter houses too weak to move, being prodded, beaten, and dragged (with the help of cables), to be slaughtered. This is all after being confined in a cage just big enough for them to stand- but not move- and, of course, isolated away from any traces of sunlight (www.fao.org). When the animals became restless from being in the confined space, they began to chew or peck on the bars, themselves, or fellow prisoners, which results in their beaks or teeth being burned or broken off. Morality aside, slaughtering the animals isn't as "clean and efficient" as some might tell you. The cows- and all the others- are, in theory, meant to be stunned before the killing to ensure unconsciousness during the process. This, however, is not always the case; about one-fifth of the animals that were stunned wake up before the killing.  Though the meat industry would like us to believe the contrary, this treatment is typical of all the animals in slaughterhouses. 

Next, I am not only a vegetarian because of how animals are getting killed, but how we are slowly killing ourselves. Dr. David Brubaker from Johns Hopkins University says that we are threatening our planet by the way we breed animals for food (www.jhsph.edu). When people eat animals they are not just killing them, they are killing the earth- and ultimately the human race. Animal agriculture has caused 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions- “that is more than all the planes, trains, ships, and cars in the world combined” (thinkglobalgreen.org). However, animal agriculture is responsible for 65 percent of nitrous oxide, a gas with a global warming potential 296 times that of carbon dioxide, emissions. (http://www.livevegan.org). It’s not just the air that animal industries are polluting, according to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency); factory farming pollutes waterways more than all industrial sources combined (http://www.thinkglobalgreen.org). What are we doing to our planet?

Next, the impact of meat production on the world, created hunger. Quick question: if there is enough food produced for every single person in the world, why do we have world hunger? We have world hunger because so much of the grain and soy that is produced is fed to the animals that people breed for meat. If everyone in North America stopped eating meat for one day – just one day – we would have enough food to feed 1.5 million starving people (www.doctorsolve.com). Furthermore, the argument that we can’t solve anything when the animal is already dead, in the store, you’re wrong. Buying and eating the meat is worse. It increases the demand for meat, which in turn increases the already preposterous level of animal slaughter.

Let me sum this up for you. The meat industry is adding to the earth’s pollution, animal abuse, and human starvation  (and the demand for meat is estimated to rise further in come. This problem- these problems- are only going to worsen unless people can just start to alter their eating habits, if ever so slightly. Next time you watch television and see all of the people dying of starvation, or go to the grocery store to buy dinner, remember that the answer to all these problems is on your plate.

_KW

Bibliography:

. "100 thoughts and facts: Vegetarianism." VEGETARIANISM. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar 2012.

http://www.clearbluerecords.com/clearbluerecordscom/vegetarian/

. "Chickens." United Poultry Concerns. www.upc-online.org, n.d. Web. 23 Mar 2012. <http://www.upc-online.org/chickens/chickensbro.html>.

. "Deforestation." Think Global Green. Global Green, November 2006. Web. 23 Mar 2012. <http://www.thinkglobalgreen.org/deforestation.html>.

Huffstutter, P.J.. "Insight: The Great Northern Migration -- of U.S. Cattle." Reuters. 

. "If everyone in the United States became Vegetarian for one day… ." DoctorSolve. DoctorSolve™ Healthcare Solutions, 30 Jun 2009. Web. 28 Mar 2012. <http://www.doctorsolve.com/blog/2009/06/if-everyone-in-the-united-states-became-vegetarian-for-one-day.html>.

Reuters, 2012. Web. 23 Mar 2012. <http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/30/us-cattle-migration-idUSTRE80T07920120130>.

. "Livestock impacts on the environment." Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States. Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department, November 2006. Web. 23 Mar 2012. http://www.fao.org/ag/magazine/0612sp1.htm

. "Public Health Project to Address Problems of Animal Production." John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. John Hopkins, 19/9/1999. Web. 23 Mar 2012. <http://www.jhsph.edu/publichealthnews/press_releases/PR_1999/animal_prod.html>.

. "Why Live Vegan?." Live Vegan. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar 2012. <http://www.livevegan.org/whyvegan_climate.html>.

Erberts and Gerberts or Subway?

   Where's the best place to get a sub in Bemidji? In my opinion, Erberts and Gerbert's is the best place to eat a sub. There are a number of reasons why I would rather choose Erberts and Gerbert's than Subway, but heres just a few for now.

   For one, have you ever heard the little commercials for Subway? You know, the “eat fresh” ones? Well, Subway is not as “fresh” as you would think. Last time I went to Subway, the sub artist pulled out a “new” bag of lettuce to use, but the lettuce was pink. When lettuce is pink, it means it's going bad. Common sense would tell you to throw it away but nope, they used it anyways, where as I have never had a problem with Erberts and Gerbert's food. Erberts and Gerbert's uses fresh ingredients for their variety of subs, but its not just their subs people like, they also serve mouthwatering chilies and savory soups to go with that delicious sandwich of yours for only around $4.00! And, what do they do with the insides of the sandwich? They put it on top of your sandwich! That part of the sandwich they jokingly call "Mr. Guts.” No wasting when to comes to them.

   Another factor I would like to point out besides their food is the atmosphere! The atmosphere is much more calm with it being more in a quite and out of the way place than on a busy street like Subway. Maybe one of the reasons I find it so relaxing is because of the building itself! Erberts and Gerbert's is very clean and modern place to eat. One of my favorite parts of going to Erberts and Gerbert's is reading the unique stories on the walls on how each sandwich has gotten it's name. It's quite original and different than most sandwich shops I have been too.

Bottom line, when you want to grab a “five dollar foot long” for lunch, I recommend Erbert's and Gerberts!

-dallas

music today

    Music has been used to for so many things throughout the centuries.  From telling a story, to mobilizing a group of protesters, music has helped to shape the world into what it is today.  Yet many people believe that music is at an all time low when it comes to talent and knowledge.  I am one of those people who thinks that much of the desired now is a disgrace to the centuries of music making that have taken place on this planet.

    If you ask many of the teen stars that have come to fame in the last year if they have any real knowledge of music history or have written any of their songs based on real life events that meant something to them they might say, yes.  Most of the stars today have people who write songs for them, and do these people get any credit?  The answer is no.

    Another problem with the music of the past few generations, especially our current one, you will find that most of the big stars don't actually sing.  They perform what is called lip syncing where you mouth the words but the actual singing is being played off of a recording.  Plus, most of the songs aren't the actual person singing.  They have what's called auto-tuned recordings where the person speaks the lyrics and the programmers can make it sound like they have an amazing voice and are singing it the exact same every time.

    A big problem with the music industry is the fact that they are all beautiful people.  I mean most companies will not even consider a person if they don't have a pretty face.  If you look at the pictures of Beethoven and Bach and Mozart, they were not very attractive people.  It didn't matter though because they were so brilliant when it came to music that no one cared how they looked.  I'm not saying that everyone has to be as good as Mozart, but the fact that every celebrity is expected to be perfect is absurd.  There are so many musicians out there who will never get a chance at fame because they are considered unattractive.  It sickens me how fake musicians are being idolized by millions of people just because they have a pretty face and can dance on a stage.

    The meaning of music has changed from writing something beautiful to writing about having sex, drugs, violence, drinking, being a gangster... and other horrible things.  Yet, we listen to it and accept it as good music.  Good music is music that comes from the heart.

VF

end racism

Take a look at the world around you. Listen to your surroundings. Pay attention. Do you hear it? Racism is there, I promise. Pay attention everywhere you go. During lunch, in the morning, look around. Take note of what people are together. Do you see it? Listen to the news, music, current media. It’s there. It’s there, and it shouldn’t exist. We should be able to get along despite our race, culture, size, beliefs. We should be able to coexist. We should live in a world without discrimination.

In order to make a change, we need two things to happen: we need to educate others on racism and positive ways to take action towards a change for the better.

Talk to your family, friends, classmates, anybody. Educate. We need to get the word out. Stop telling racist jokes and point out the vulgarity that is racism when you hear others say racist jokes. Stand up for people you see being discriminated against, even if you don’t know them. It doesn’t matter if this discrimination is based on looks, ethnicity, sexuality. Let people know-it’s time to make a difference in our communities and our daily lives. Start in your community. I’ll begin with mine, Bemidji, Minnesota. We could do this, but not on our own. If we work with our own communities and grow, spreading our roots like a tree. This is possible.    

HS

check it out...

My friends that I’ve known since I was born came up to Bemidji for a visit and they needed someone to show them around because they are thinking of getting a house up here. My brother and I hung out with their son, Sebastian. First, we played some basketball and soccer outside, then we played some intense capture the flag and my team won - of course. After that we all soaked out in the jacuzzi for about five hours and then we went to bed. The next day we went to the state park. There, we went skateboarding and then busted some pretty boss flips on the beach. Later, we went to Cameron park and played some ultimate frisbee in which I did a flying ninja kick into the goal! The following day I showed them around downtown so that they could know their way around, and know all the chill places to hangout if they were to move here. The next day we went looking for houses. It was pretty boring but well worth while since they found a house for a reasonable price and I think that they might just buy it! So, I had a great time being a tour guide and hangin’ out with my friend! -lashling