High School Politics

This picture is not to be misleading, every goddamn picture that came up when I googled 'highschool' came up with 'high school musical'

brandstrategy.files.wordpress.com high school musical


High school is pretty cool actually. i sort of do like it, I just deleted like almost two paragraphs because I was being so pessimistic about high school. I said I hated it and I was ready to leave, but then I realized, holy crap. I don't really wanna leave yet! I love high school. These moments are our youth and we should cherish them. I do like my youth, as onetime I heard some lame old lady say, "Oh boy, how I wish I still had my youth!" And yes, I say that high school is just a synonym for our youth. These are our times.

So when I think of what to accomplish in high school, what I think is that now is our time that we are able to just mess up as much as we want and our record will be cleaned. Maybe that's just my undeveloped frontal lobe speaking in my brain, hiding consequences. But hey, that is what high school is all about. Making stupid decisions and learning from them. Stupid decisions relating to anything can be done in high school. People are passing out on couches, and also young girls are getting pregnant. It is just a time of reckless actions. Now is our times of stupid things and even stupider things.

We need to learn to grow up. Now is our time, but it is also our time to grow up. That is scary for me, and I am sure I speak for all of the high school politicians when I say we don't want to face the future. We are perfectly content where we are right now and sometimes we sort of want to stay here. There is always the anxiety of what is waiting around the corner, good or bad. The scary is unknown, and ignorance is bliss they say.

I think I am ready to take on the world. If you can master something as complex as high school, what more can the world challenge you with? Honestly, what could possibly be harder then taking 7 finals in 2 days? Personally, I don't think it could get worse then that, so I am prepared. I am prepared for college, and maybe even for the world after that. And I think I have achieved high schools one secret goal, preparation. Thanks high school.

Call of Duty, my obsession.

bscreview.com cod:mw2

This topic isn't as serious as some of the other ones I have done this year, but it sure does hit close to home. I love to play this game, pure and simple. I play it almost everyday now, (mainly because it helps me cope with my world of warcraft addiction, but hell I do not think that a call of duty modern warfare 2 obsession is that much better.) and I play it multiple times every day. I actually wish I were playing it right now.

So yes, I can honestly say that I am obsessed with this video game. I can't understand why I want to play it everyday, but I don't seem to really have a problem with it. I mean, I get my necessary homework done every night, so what is the problem? Maybe that is why I play so much. Because I personally see no problems, but I could be crazy and have a clouded vision that blurs my perception of what is 'completed homework.' So yes maybe that is right I am not really `sure at this moment! But, heck, i don't really even care!

Everyday when I get home at 5ish I get on call of duty. There are 70 'ranks' and me, being a sort of mediocre player, am only at the rank of 66 at this moment. I just feel the need to get to 70 as soon as possible! There is no parade when i do get there, I do not get any sort of reward, but I still want to. It is like this in every video game I play. I gain no physical reward, so I guess I need to create a mental reward in my mind in order for me to be motivated to spend these countless hours playing them. I guess the simpliest reason would be this; it is fun to do. but I think it requires more then just being fun to do, the mental 'fake' reason of the thought of just being done and finished with it.

I may be pretty obsessed, but I can say I am no where NEAR as obsessed as some people. After you hit rank 70, you have the choice to 'prestige' mode and go back to level 1. Yeah, no thanks. I am not THAT obsessed with it! I do not think that I have the time and effort to get to rank 70 again.

Amazing things the Human Body can Do

systemsbiology.com



1. Support itself. That is one of the most taken for granted things we do. Imagine jumping up and down, but instead of the strong leg bones such as the femur, you would have sticks. They would snap so easily! How the hell can our legs support over one hundred pounds everyday for so many years? That is sure something that has baffled me! I mean yes, of course bones can break, but imagine the pressure it has to be under to do that!

2. The Immune system is also pretty damn amazing. I mean, how the heck can we become IMMUNE to bad illnesses? Thats crazy! As a baby, that is our weakest point in life for our health, but as we grow older and older, we begin to create antibodies and then we become more immune to these illnesses. They say that some diseases are becoming super strong to be able to be not detected by drugs such as Tylenol and stuff, but I think we are competing also with our antibodies! It is a race!

3. This almost goes hand and hand with the immune system, our ability to remain healthy by flushing out all the bad stuff. I mean it in a vague way, as such as getting the bad out by any mean necessary. A common misconception is that our body heats up during a fever due to the illness, but it is in a indirect manner, as our body is doing it on purpose to kill the bacteria. We don't even have to try to be able to survive! It is also very cool how when people gorge themselves in alcohol, their bodies tell them, "Uh no way bro, I'm not letten that get in here!" We begin to unconsciously sweat, pee, and barf to get it out. So even when our brain is saying, "Woo lets get hammered!" Our body is saying "No bro!"

4. The ability to procreate. Self Explanatory! No details necessary!

5. Our senses are also pretty damn important. I wrote my whole 1500 word paper on them so I'll keep it short. They are how we view the entire world. How we decipher the world, and how we encode it in our brain. Without our senses, there is no way we could even life. (That was pretty much my thesis sentence!)

6. Our ability to change ourselves in a physical manner is a wonder also. I do not JUST mean long term like evolving, but also short term. Such as Ultimate Fighters beat their legs with bamboo sticks to make them more resilient, guitar players acquire calluses on their fingers when they are under stress of the guitar strings. Our bodies adapt to small things, and over time they adapt to bigger things. That is why I think we would silence all the non believers if we called it not Evolution, but adaptation!


The Human body is a wonderful and amazing thing!!

Happy Thoughts!

If you think happy thoughts, you will be happy. I really do think this is true. I think it is true on many levels, such as scientifically speaking, (i know right), and also emotionally thinking. When people are sad, I think all they need to do is think of the happy times of the past, the happy times that are happening, and the happy times to come, and regardless of any sort of situation they are sitting in at the moment, the sad thoughts will fade away and the happy ones will come in and fill their places in life!



ournameismud.com



So yes, I can say I am a professional on the topic medically. My credentials are one and a half terms of AP Psychology. So let me break this extremely detailed and scientific process into 5 words.... THINK HAPPY RELEASES HAPPY HORMONES. Simple as that right? I think that when in your mind you are thinking of happy things such as daisys and puppies, your brain releases the good hormones like epinephrine and dopamine (honestly I don't remember which one, I think I got a B or C on the test) And you create happiness. It is therefore simple to be happy.. chemically speaking of course!!

So but for these so called sad people, I am sure a common theme of "i am too sad to think happy thoughts right now!" So then it is not a battle of chemical warfare, it is therefore a battle of willpower! But I do think, personally, that everybody has a will, and you know what they say, if there's a will, there is a way. When someone is able to flush the bad thoughts out, they can replace them with good ones. But they tend to be consumed by these evil malicious thoughts. When they are able to become strong enough mentally to be able to do it, there will be nothing at all stopping them or holding them back.

So that is why I always try to think positively. Yeah, I have been sad before, I think everyone has. I haven't recently, mainly because I follow my own personal guide to happiness, and I think everyone could have their own personal guide. Mine works for me, and I think it is sad for the people who do not create one. This is the true meaning to being a glass half full person, not that when it is at half you say full, but when it is at a quarter, you don't say there is only a quarter left, you say I am one quarter of the way full.

Give it to me, now!

Our generation has progressed now to that we expect things to be given to us instantly. They want to just get their stuff done so fast and get on with their life. It is a non desirable trait that we have acquired. So many things have made us become so hasty and needy, such as things being given to us at Google. If we can't find it right away, we are pissed and give up.

All the sociologists that look at our generation are saying the same thing. We just expect everything to be given to us right away. We are taught to be stubborn and corrupted from our own greed and laziness. It is because we are able to be stubborn and corrupted that we exploit this characteristic. Why wait and try very hard to find this information if not in a footnote? Or hey, better yet, skip the main information and just get the study guide, or even just the outline. We can google the details later.

There is not much to say, except we are becoming lazier and lazier. Will it become ever even worse? To what point? I imagine a future in space that we sit on a couch and are never forced to leave it. It is a bright future? Maybe not for our grandparents, but I think it is what our current generation would dream of!

I do not feel a future link this would be so negative though. A world of laziness, a world of instantaneous information, a world of instantaneous life. But that is what our grandparents and parents have lived off of, doing things themselves, and what we would consider the 'hard way'. They say it 'builds character,' yet we say it only 'wastes time'. So yes, I am biased. I am on the team of my generation. It is my generation, and we all feel the same way. I think that we can change nations. I say this because we are ALL lazy together, and we work together to be able to be lazy. Some people may say that laziness is a sin now, but I think that it is becoming more and more of a patron value. That is what our elders feel is terrifying.

Gotta go, I gotta finish my AP US History study guides by using Wikipedia.



clipartguide.com

Political Science

I hate american politics. Simple, and blunt. I dislike almost every aspect of our politicians how they use our political system. Politicians are so called speakers of the people, yet they continue to think of themselves and their reelection. Whilest watching President Obama today give a speech in order to elect Martha Coakly for MA Senator, I realized my hatred. It was not watching them that made me rage so bad at this profession that plagues our nation, but the entire aura and essence of it. These people spend day and night thinking for the nation and how they can get themselves reelected, because without their position they would be out of work.

So yes, I must admit I am pretty dimwitted in the area of politics, but I can say that I dislike the people who choose their career as a politician. The biggest reason for this random spawn of hatred is the concept of reelection. Sometimes what is best concept for their reelection is not the best for the people. Maybe what I consider a 'great government for the people' is different then what we have. I do love how the american government works, but it is not worken right. It is merely mob rule with two mobs, the reds and blues. If you arn't one, you are clearly the other, and therefor my enemy. I fail to understand why in US history there has always been multiple political parties. Imagine what could happen under just one?

When you are only given a few years with a house majority, they want to pass as many things as they can in their favor. I am so strong against this, and feel it is unfair. The men who think for our country are rather rash and rushed into important decisions. When your team is pulling for something, obviously you arn't going to be a sqaure and go with the bad guys on it. It is not land breaking, it is not extraordinary, it is not phenomenal. It is merely luck that they were able to pass something when half the country is against it.

If I was put into the position of changing these concepts, I would have no idea what to do with them. I think that these decisions for a country as a whole should be given to the country as a whole. A Representative Democratic Republican is a joke. When they created it, they were scared of Mob Rule occuring in the people, yet it has only occured in the representatives. We need some new inspiration in my opinion.


dougbelshaw

The shady lives of CR

Believe it or not, Cedar Rapids has a shady part of town. It is sad to know that there is parts of town where the income is lower, and the poverty rate is higher. It is a vicious circle that keeps continueing for the people in these neighborhoods. I wish that it was not as hard for someone to leave the ghetto.


blog.lib.umn.edu


A girl once told me that, "Poverty breeds poverty." It is really a understandable, yet awful, concept. Sometimes once you are in the ghetto, you cannot leave. There are many reasons why they are unable to leave, from family matters to just a lack of any sort of financial aid.

They are tied to this area that they call their home. The most common time for leaving your 'homeland' is leaving for college. That is just not possible. Just the amount of wealth in these areas is just too low for them to support their family alone, so multiple people in the family get jobs, and they would not be able to leave and leave the family unsupported. That is why some turn to the life of hustling. Everyday they are hustling. Hustling is just getting money by any means in any kind of shady way.

Gangs arise. Not for the sake of violence or hate, merely out of these boys need for security. That is why they join. The boys feel that there is no way out, so they might as well have people that will support him and maybe even die for him. In the absense of a family, a gang can take its place. And yet the typical view of a gang is a hustling, group of crime commiting violent boys. They take on the need to continue this view and do as what they think a gang does. And the gangs fight, why? Over turf, reputation. Nothing of value. Gangs are stupid.

So how do the people of these shady areas get out of these areas? Honestly, I have no idea. It is something that would be ten times harder then I will possibly ever do. Maybe that is why I am lucky.

REDBULLS

So, I listen to society complain to me and tell me that I am doing unhealthy things. I listen to them tell me chocolate makes me fat, and that cake goes to my stomach. I used to listen to them. It was not until a wise, and sort of older teacher, gave me a little tip of advice.

"Drink all the energy drinks you want, you're young"

This stuck me in an unusual way. It was different when he told me this, it was the exact opposite as every infomercial, every new episode of sesame street, and every magazine was telling me. I liked it, it was a new way to look at things, and let me tell you, I have been thinking this way ever sence the man told me it. I am only able to drown myself in guarana, niacin, and tetramydroflourineadrinkalinglong as a young man. Never again in my life will I be able to do this peacefully. Why the hell should I care about the future now? I mean yeah, I MIGHT have high blood pressure SOME DAY. But let me tell you, that day is NOT today. That is why I am one of those people that live for today, and by live for today I mean do stupid stuff that could affect me tomorrow. Call me crazy.

I understand they are not healthy. Some of the greatest entrepreneurial minds of our century had one thing in common, they thought of things that were small now and that could be huge in the future. I sort of am doing that in a way... but hoping that someday they will be able to make me healthy for my bad choices today. I am a genius like bill gates, except hes basking in riches, I am basking in redbull.

So yes, I again understand not all of my arguments make total sense. But that is the pure essence of being young. My thoughts do not have to make sense!! I can sit and drink this 6000mg of energy blend (whatever the hell that is) and be ready for another with the only side affect of a little twitching and ADHD. I love my youth, and everyone says you can never get it back. So I put mine in full throttle (which is a terrible energy drink by the way).

I apply these new rules I have made to everything. Highschool, we are allowed to mess up. It is our youth, who cares. Now is the time that we are supposed to mess up. If we mess up now, it doesn't change our whole life. Our immune system can help us now, when someday it will be weaker.

This post was made under the influence of red bull.

Procrastination

Sloth: It is a deadly sin. Probably the one that most affects a lot of AP Language and Composition students. This so called 'deadly' sin takes form in a word known commonly as procrastination. You always hear people saying, "Man, I didn't finish that essay until at least 11:30 last night!" You sloth, you. I think it is unavoidable. It is all about priorities.

How is procrastination unavoidable? Some people are so busy, they actually don't have enough time to finish everything! I don't necessarily consider this procrastination, but their priorities set some of the hardest things to do last. Why would we do this? Maybe because we want to save all our brain power for the last, hardest, thing we have to do? Or maybe it is because that is the only piece of work that is worth staying up for, a form of conscienceless time management.

So we battle this inanimate form of time management. It tends to be a uphill battle for both sides when the opposing enemies are in the same brain. Why do we do it? Avoidance of work. Laziness. It is a stupid to let this enemy on your team. He does nothing and is very non proactive. He doesn't get anything done, and only delays the inevitable. Tie him up and shoot him.

Guess what though, I am blogging on sunday when they are due monday, I am about to do my AP Us history homework due tomorrow that we've had for over a week, and then after I am doing the hardest part: my essay. I still do gotta think of a topic though! But hell, I'll do that later.


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bengaliboypaul

Peer Pressure: Take 2

It is sad that people are pressured into doing things. I believe there is many different forces all working in a grand circle of life, peer pressure life that is, that forces people to go against their will in a teenage situation. There is a person who initially tells you to do it, someone that chimes in and says theyre doing it, and a whole unwritten set of rules that the person has created in their head and convinced themselves so it is an 'ok' thing to do.

It is no surprise that it is happening all around the country at teenage and college parties. It is just pathetic how teens are subjecting themselves to it. The 'pressurers' feel they are helping the 'teenager' by forcing them to do things. I think this is because they like it, they like the person, and they think doing these things are cool and will help the person out.

Which side does the teenager choose? It is a debate in our culture, everytime they have to choose. right verses wrong. Myth verses fact. cool verses uncool. sober verses intoxicated. When our commercials and our parents support one side, there will always be kids on the other side that are the exact opposite. If they are doing it, doesn't that make it ok? A common justification.

What I see in these situations are the two sides. Call me biased, but I see the society and parents as the good, and the kids with the case of miller as the bad guys. If I wasn't so biased, I'd try to blow your mind saying maybe your parents were trying to peer pressure their kids, but that isn't the case.

When I see peer pressure in action, I look into someones character, how strong they are. Are they able to just say "I'm good." or will they take a drink? They can either stand out, or just become part of the pressure.

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Burger King: The King of the Dollar Menu

All my childhood I have loved one place to eat, burgerking. It has always been the best. Even when confronted with their top competitors, it always pulls out on top. In most situations, a food establishment that you can get in and out real fast is a fast food establishment. I personally say that any food opponent, the globalized menace that is taking over the world, McDonalds, I have always had the preference for the one fast food place that had long and skinny chicken nuggets, burger king, not short and fat ones like McDonalds. There are so many reasons why this is the best fast food restaurant.
The most important thing to do is define a fast food restaurant. The definition can be very vague, as some people say anything you can get that comes out of a window should be considered fast food. That is why it eliminates competition such as subway and blimpie for the best fast food establishment. They are a healthier alternative, but if you wanted healty you wouldn’t even go to a fast food place. but my favorite is subway. I prefer the spicy Italian.
BK Has many competitors that are competiting for the title of champ food distributor. The heavyweights are easily McDonalds, Wendys, and KFC. MCD is too poor of quality, Wendys is has gross meat, and KFC is too chickeny. There are many other reasons why I prefer BK. Also, there are some “gourmet” fast food establishments as I call them, such as Hardies and Culvers. All I think these places are is just versions of the heavyweights, but all their food is just bigger and more expensive. As for Arbys, no one even eats there, who cares really?
So many qualities make Burger King the best fast food joint. My favorite part is their dollar menu. As a highschool teenager, I usually only have 5 or less dollars in my wallet so I need to eat some place cheap. My eyes always automatically go straight to the bottom righthand corner of the menu where it has the dollar menu. Something that most people miss is that BK is one of the only places to have an actual ‘DOLLAR’ menu, and not a crappy value menu. Value menus have food less then 2 dollars. They should call it a 2 dollars or less menu if they wanted to be honest. Spicy Chicken Wraps from Wendys are 1.50, however Spicy Chicken Crisp Sandwiches from BK are only 99 cents. Also another thing that pisses me off about Wendys is that they raised their prices on their ‘under 2 dollars menu’ sandwhichs by 10 percent to 1.09 from .99. These burgers are just as big as BK, but more expensive. For a pennysaver like myself, this is huge.
The grossest thing about Wendys is their big sandwiches, sometimes when I am feeling luxurious, I will get a baconator. I always immediately regret buying this expensive 7 dollar meal when I take my first bite. It seems as though I am taking a bite of just straight meat. Did you know that wendys has a 4 meat patty layered sandwich named the ‘cube of meat’? Gross.
There are so many perks that BK has over other places. Their B-fast menu is so good. Cini Minis, which are miniature cinnamon rolls are so tasty. Also, the best thing of all things that BK has is that they are open 24-7. All night baby. When I am jonesn for some food at 3 am, I have nowhere to go but BK. That is when spicy chicken taste the best. Burger king is so much better then all the other places, I am a loyal burger kingian.

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business week

Staying in Iowa

Mandatory Quote:
"They say the two leading exports in Iowa are corn, and kids."

What does this mean? None of us kids wanna stay here. As soon as possible, we're out. Of course leaving iowa is not for all of us, but I am definitely fit in the category of getting the heck out of here. Every sense I started thinking of where I am going after high school, I have wanted to just get out of this corn infested boring state of Iowa. Yes, my whole life I've lived here and all my nostalgia is from my hometown of Cedar Rapids, but that is where it is going to stay. I am going elsewhere. How nice would a beach be? Its a dream that nothing is holding me back from.

As for colleges, My sister is in Virginia, and my brother is at Iowa. They obviously chose these places over the other. Let me tell you, my last. possible. resort. is iowa. It seems just like a bigger Kennedy High school but you get more people and more beer. It is most of the same people. As for me, I like exploring, love meeting new people, and sending loving emails due to being homesick. How would these be possible if I was only 30 minutes away from home? Iowa doesn't seem great.

Post College: Staying in Iowa? This is hard. I can't make this decision right now as I blog. I feel my best point in my life is to make this right after college. Some people, after they go to U of I or UNI or iState, iowa is all they know and they stay here. I think I will be able to make this decision when I have seen all around the US and where I want to stay then.

So should us kids continue to stay true to our homestate and live here? It is up to the individual. I am sure there is just as much justification to living in wyoming, or california, as there is to live in iowa. So I am telling you, to just look inside yourself and say, Is it best for my self, my future life, to be living here, whereever here might be? Do what is best for yourself.