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Social networking has affected to world in the positive and negative in ways we could have never imaged. In some ways, it has greatly enhanced our agencies ability to track down fugitives and communicate with the public that were difficult to reach before.

In Hawaii the military has been using social networking sites (like Facebook) to communicate with people about public safety that would have been hard to reach before: 

And here DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Project) and MIT team up to see how the internet and social networking has improved communication; the goal was for people to find 10 large balloons in undisclosed locations as quickly as possible. This task was completed in a shocking 9 hours after the balloons were released! Balloons may seem silly to find, but this demonstration showed how useful social networking would be in the search of state enemies or to track down missing persons. 

However, social networking has also affected us in the negative and created a desperate need for the development of Cyber Law (the career I am aiming for!) Cyber-bullying, child solicitation, identity theft, and various other heinous crimes have become easier than ever.

Last year a college student's suicide gained national at Rutgers University after it was discovered that his roommate had videotaped him having sexual relations with another man and then spread it all over various social networks. 

According to Bullying Statistics.org over 25% of teenagers are bullied repeatedly through their cell phones or internet and around half of all adolescents admit to having been cyber-bullied at some point (even more, around half of adolescents admit to engaging in cyber-bullying!) z

 What has become abundantly clear is that social networking has moved from being a niche between close friends to a massive force that can influence us both positively and negatively. It allows our nation of millions to communicate quickly and efficiently within hours, and keep up to date on the personal and informational news in the world. However, it also allows the scum of the world a new medium through which they can accomplish their goals.

On a more personal note, I think that social networking has greatly changed the way we see privacy. We desire to know as much as we can about our friends and peers, or delve into their lives more than we would have 20 years ago. Things that used to be said in the confidence of friends can now be spread through your whole social circle, and your head or paper has become one of the only truly private places for thoughts or ideas. I have read a few articles about how social networking has changed our view of romantic relationships, changed the way many people perceive intimacy, or encouraged personal isolation which can have numerous physiological effects.

When it comes to me, I love the versatility of social networking, Web 2.0, and the integration of technology into everyday life. As I said earlier, I want to pursue a career is Cyber Law which is founded on our physical connection with technology. I love how technology and the internet has made knowledge so much easier to access, and is improving literacy rates around the world! Cultures that were thousands of miles away can be studied in seconds now; and answers to questions are at our finger tips. I think that my "digital persona" has given me more depth as a person, I am able to explore whatever avenue I want through the internet. For example, I am able to get my bachelors degree from my couch while being a stay at home mother to my two darling angels!

"If you build it, they will come."

I am going to keep this short and sweet as it is currently in the early hours of the morning and I don’t want to go on and on. First things first however; I would love to write more but many of my posts are more of projects that involve some research, I am currently working on a novel, and I always try to have a life with my family, friends and interests!

Now if there is any subject you are interested in or points you would like to have reexamined, let me know! I often enjoy a challenge and always love a good project.

So here is my point for today; the blogging rule of thumb “Make sure that the content is there and the readers will follow”. I really don’t care if people read my blog and this post is not about technology or thought but rather  I felt that this rule of thumb applied to people’s personalities. It’s a simple concept, right? If the content is there in our actions, our thoughts, our personalities than the people will follow. You can see this time and time again with Tinsel Town’s latest and greatest jewel, but just as quickly as they came they leave. However, the people who dedicated their lives to substance and good are remembered ironically. How could you forget Mother Theresa?

Like I said, this is short and sweet. The package is all for show the immortality comes from a solid core. I encourage you to look for the quotes that truly change your life rather than pulling the first suggestion from Google. Examine your position on life, your position in the world, and all that is relative around you. What will you contribute with this short time we have? Will you be flashy but simple minded, or embrace all that the mind has to offer and maintain the simplicities of life?

Our actions are like ripples in the water. Will your ripples be gentle or deadly?

After a long day of driving around, hungry and tired children, and insane summer heat, my family was finally on our way home. Our drive included a long stretch on one of New Mexico’s highways (Paseo Del Norte). Unfortunately due to rode construction this major three lane highway that connects Rio Rancho to Albuquerque was cut down to two lanes. It is the right and middle lane that turn onto our exit and the left lane that continues on, it also happened to be the right lane that is currently closed. Normally, details like this are not important in my posts but this one needs the details explained in order to make sense.

A teenage girl with two friends in her gold van was talking on her cell phone and must have decided she couldn’t wait in the middle lane so she moved to the right lane and sped up to the front of the line. Right before the lane was blocked off by those lovely cement blocks, she switched into the middle lane (mind you, no turn signal) in an attempt to save herself time and cut everyone else off. She must have realized that there was not enough space between the car she cut off and the car in front of her to slow down; just as fast as she swerved into the middle lane, she swerved out to the left. The car she cut off tried desperately to avoid an accident and slammed on their brakes, this however caused the car behind them to crash into their rear. (This is where my family comes in.) A little red car in front of me hit their brakes and managed to swerve into the left lane. I had seconds to hit my brakes so that we did not hit the two people who just wrecked ahead of us. The woman behind me didn’t have a chance. My husband looked back in time to see this, he warned us all and we had only a second brace ourselves. 

CRASH!

Our beautiful daughters are terrified now and screaming louder than ever. Fantastic “French” is flying out of everyone’s mouth and my husband and I dart from the car. I swing the girls’ door open so that I can check on them and make sure they are okay. 

(Thank God they were.) 

Not five feet behind the woman who hit me, a truck is able to hit his brakes and stop in time to avoid a three car accident. The van behind him? No chance. They hit the back of his truck, and now there have been rear-end accidents at 40 miles per hour. 

Everyone is okay, and by some crazy Grace a police aid and EMT happen to be driving by. In 100 degree weather we sort out information, comfort crying children, and check to make sure everyone is okay. 

The beauty of this event was found in the actions of those who crashed. They were grateful, kind, and patient. As badly as I wanted to scream at the woman behind me, she greeted me with concern and worry. A young boy, who couldn’t have been more than ten, came over to make sure that everyone else was alright. (He was in the van accident). 

The ugly side to this story is that the teenage girl in the gold van probably had no idea that she facilitated three separate accidents with small children involved. It was through her reckless actions that dozens of people had to wait half an hour longer while things got sorted out. Because she was in such a rush to get wherever she was going, six cars are now wrecked. We are lucky that the incident went as well as it did; however things could have been much more tragic. 

I now come to my point. While our actions may not always affect us instantly, they do affect someone around us. Think of your choices like a pebble being thrown into the water. The pebble is gone before it ever sees the ripple of the water, but the flowers, frogs, dragon flies all feel it. That ripple shakes their world. Our actions are ripples in the world around us; they shake the lives of people we may never meet. When we make careless, vengeful, or selfish actions we hurt people who were only passing by. When we make kind, generous, and loving actions we leave an imprint of kindness on people who just happened to be in the same area. I was angry with that teenage girl earlier, but now I have let it go. I worry that her actions will lead to a ripple even worse than the one today. 

Think about that. Especially when doing things (like driving) that can affect so many people in such great ways. The few seconds you save by cutting someone off isn’t worth the your life, the life of the soccer mom, the kind Californian, the old couple, the laborer, the two beautiful girls, the concerned 10-year-old, the young married couple, or who ever… 

It takes only one second to ruin countless lives; do you think that is a second you could spare?

Tupac Was Right

My post here will be short because of the data gathered that I have displayed in this interactive time line from www.timetoast.com.

I have been thinking a lot about women's history lately. It is not uncommon in 2000-something or other to see women  dressing how they want, saying what they want, and having freedom other their bodies and choices. I was shocked to find out that this is new to our generation (Gen X) and those after us!

While this time line combines feminism and women's suffrage, it is only a very generalized collection of events that happened. I encourage you to go and look at more extensive histories. Especially those of Susan B. Anthony, who for example; was allowed to register and vote, then arrested the next day and held for the equivalent of over $75,000!

Or check out Alice Paul who was arrested for "obstructing the side walk" when she and others picketed for women's suffrage outside of the White House. She was refused a trial with a jury of her peers and force fed when she refused to eat in jail.

A very detailed post about Women's Suffrage

These are only a few of the women who gave up everything so that we could be where we are today.

Another important movement? Birth Control. While it has been around for decades now, Gen X and those after are the first to be able to get birth control without jumping through a million hoops and stigmas. While birth control is meant to prevent pregnancy it also has tons of other great affects! It is only recent that women have been able to choose when they would have children and who that would be by.

I am not saying by any means that women are better or deserve more (as is the notion associated with feminism or promotion of the female) but I certainly admire the millions of women who have laid down their life, pride, security, and freedom so that their children and maybe themselves may be equal citizens of this country!

I felt that a good visual explanation of women's rights through the last century would be demonstrated through the change in cheerleading uniforms and swimsuits. I wanted to include cheerleading uniforms because they represent what the general society is okay with seeing in a school. As a side note; the first picture in the cheerleading time line is only men, that is because it was the men who sat on the side lines that did the cheering!

I wanted to include this little bit from Tupac "Keep Ya Head Up"

And since we all came from a woman
Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman
I wonder why we take from our women
Why we rape our women, do we hate our women?
I think it's time to kill for our women
Time to heal our women, be real to our women
And if we don't we'll have a race of babies
That will hate the ladies, that make the babies
And since a man can't make one
He has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one
So will the real men get up
I know you're fed up ladies, but keep your head up

I want to pose a question for you as well; where does all the hatred towards another sex come from? Is it taught? Do we have deep within ourselves? What do you think? I will be doing some more exploring on that issue myself as well.

Tell me - what do you want to talk about?

Alright, this post is not going to have any strong social theme to it...

I am currently working on a lot of various topics that have been getting at me lately...

However, I would really love to here from my readers. (you couple people out there, I know who you are!)

What would you like to talk about? Any topics you want to go back and forth on? Let's share some thoughts here. :)

Send me an e-mail at jeaniem12@gmail.com or post on here about what interests you!

Also, I just found this wonderful template for my blog. I have been working like crazy trying to make my own layout, but all I have succeeded in is learning that code sucks!!

However, I did find this wonderful template on this website! If you ever choose to get your own blog as well (blogger being a free platform, along with many others) I would high recommended this website!

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Some Food For Thought...

It is no surprise that our society thrives on beauty. As Americans there is almost a fatal attraction when it comes to image and all things associated with it (myself of course, being no exception). However, our obsession is driving us into two very unhealthy categories. I did a little bit of research to open our eyes, and honestly even I was shocked by what I found. The chart below shows the most Googled celebrities of 2010 along with their height and weight, the column after that shows a healthy weight for the respective height. There is no surprise that the female celebrities were drastically underweight (maybe that’s why they have such problems conceiving children?) but what I was shocked to find out is that even the male celebrities barely fell within an acceptable range. People constantly ask if Hollywood is to blame for our youth’s body image issues, and in part yes. How can we expect young girls going through the rollercoaster of puberty to feel beautiful when every tabloid is focused around who has the best and worst beach body, or if “so and so” is pregnant or just fat? While it is the celebrities who are dangerously underweight and could certainly take steps to change that, they are just as influenced by our society as anyone else. There is this invisible hand that seems to push our dangerous love affair with beauty. When and where it started would be impossible to say, but at this point we are all to blame for its continuance.

Celebrity	Height (in inches)	Weight (in pounds)	Normal Weight Range (BMI 19 – 25)
Brad Pitt	5’11	174	161 - 184
Jennifer Aniston	5’6	110	140 - 159
Jessica Alba	5’7	118	146 - 163
Kelly Clarkson	5’3	165	131 - 147
Lindsay Lohan	5’5	105	137 - 155
Angelina Jolie	5’7	120	143 - 163
Adam Lambert	6’1	170	168 - 192
Paris Hilton	5’9	110	140 - 159
Kayne West	5’8	160	152 - 172
Madonna	5’4	100	134 - 151
Chris Brown	6’0	158	164 - 188
Britney Spears	5’5	105	137 - 155
Taylor Swift	5’10	120	152 - 173
Beyonce	5’5	130	137 - 155
Miley Cyrus	5’4	104	134 - 151
Michael Jackson	5’8	112	152 - 172
Lady Gaga	5’1	95	125 - 140

(The information above was collected through various websites found on www.Google.com)

(Average weights found on http://www.healthchecksystems.com/heightweightchart.htm) 

Some Facts: 

•          Estimated that 8 million Americans have an eating disorder
•          1 in 200 American women suffer from Anorexia Nervosa
•          3 in 100 American women suffer from Bulimia Nervosa
•          An Estimated 10 – 15% of people with Anorexia or Bulimia are male.
•          Eating Disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.
•          A study by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders Reported that 5-10% of anorexics die within 10 years after contracting the disease; 18-20% of anorexics will be dead after 20 years and only 30-40% ever fully recover.
•          The mortality rate associated with Anorexia Nervosa is 12 times higher than the death rate of ALL causes of death for females’ ages 15 - 24 years old.
•          20% of people suffering from Anorexia will prematurely die from complications related to their eating disorder, including suicide and heart problems.

(The statistics above were collected from the South Carolina Department of Mental Health ©2006. www.state.sc.us/dmh/anorexia/statistics.htm)

So what, they are a little underweight; what’s the big deal? I mean, it’s just a few pounds right?

Well. No.

I wanted to give a few facts on Eating Disorders too, just so we all understand how truly dangerous these disorders are. One fact that shocked me: “The mortality rate associated with Anorexia Nervosa is 12 times higher than ALL causes of death for females’ ages 15 – 24 years old.”

 Say, what now?

That is compared with domestic violence, substance abuse, car accidents, and all other causes of death.

During my research however there was one study that truly broke my heart. Recent research has found that around half of girls’ ages three to six years old believe that they are fat. Can you believe that? I have a beautiful two and a half year old daughter and I couldn’t image hearing those words come out of her mouth. On the other hand, I can remember being in grade school and worrying about my weight. There is far too much emphasis on pounds in our society, so much so that our young ones who should be care free and happy are concerned about weight and beauty. What are we as parents doing? How heartbreaking is it that our children worry about their image influencing how much they are loved? What kind of society will we create if we continue in this dangerous and shallow lifestyle?

So here are my final thoughts for all of you (men and women). You are amazing for being you. The fact that you were created from a microscopic single cell is a miracle in itself! Every body, frame, and muscle structure is unique to you and you alone. What does that mean? Well, for one, it means a chart or a magazine can’t tell you your BMI in 100% accuracy. Women; don’t forget that you have breasts which are made solely of fat. Your body is an amazing and intricate machine that should neither be starved nor overfed. We should strive to be healthy, eat well, and stay active. The emphasis is not on weight and beauty; it is on self worth and health. Never let anyone tell you who are you or who you should be. At the end of the day, you are the one looking back at yourself in the mirror; you decide your own worth. 

What, real life science fiction?

I was recently watching a series on the Science channel with my husband that talked about Quantum Physics and the way it has thrown off physicists understanding of reality. In the series they showed how simply observing something changes the way it behaves. Now, I am not going to discuss Quantum Physics or get into the discussion of existence in this post. When it comes down it, Quantum Physics is a real science that examines the laws beyond our understanding. It is not a faux science that was created for Science Fiction, and it is not a topic that can be easily explained in 30 minutes or less. For those reasons, I will not touch very much on what we have established about this mysterious science.

So here is my topic for the day; there are so many more dimensions and laws of physics then we are capable of understanding. Just because we exist only in the three dimensions does not mean that’s all there is. The dimensions of this Earth are so obvious to us because of our physical existence here. We need depth, width, and weight so that we may connect with the world around us. For example, bats use sonar to determine what is around them. By emitting a high pitched screech, they can feel the sound waves bounce back from items and potential prey around them. In a sense, they see with sound. Scientists once conducted an experiment in which they connected the hearing part of a ferrets brain with the vision part of the brain, the result was heightened brain activity in the sight area of the brain every time the ferrets heard something. Although this connection was forced and has not been found in any naturally occurring environment, the ferrets heard with sound. I think that examples like these only reaffirm that the dimensions of this world are simply to ensure we have a stable connection with the world around us.

Scientists have found that Space is much more intricate then 3D. It is in space that light move faster than anything else, time moves more slowly around black holes, and an impact of neutron stars not only creates energy beams that eradicate everything they hit but they also ripple space. I want to just repeat that last part one more time. When neutron stars collide, they ripple space. Space which is defined as nothing is shaken like water when a pebble falls in. This ripple tears apart planets and stars till it eventually loses steam and fades away.

I want to encourage you to do some looking into Quantum Physics, anomalies of space, and anything else you find along the way to be interesting. I would also like to leave you with this thought; we have such a minute understanding of existence. Our dimensions exist only to allow us connections to the world around us, however there are so many more fascinating and intricate properties outside our understanding. We must remember that we are constantly growing and evolving. We are as a species still young and far from our potential.

I found this show to provide a very easy to understand explanation of these kinds of topics. Check it out on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. Eastern Time on the Science Channel.


Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman

Upcoming topics: 

• America's Obsession With War
• The War On Intelligence (yes, I do see the irony of the first two topics... :-p) 
• The LCD Syndrome (Lowest Common Denominator Syndrome) 

"So you're smart, huh? I thought your head would be bigger." - President Camacho

U R GOING 2 LUV THIS: The Slaughter of the English Language

Sixty-thousand years ago the Earth underwent a dramatic climate change that wiped out around 90% of the species Homo-Saipan, that’s right, humans. This mini ice age left a measly 2,000 people left to struggle for their own survival. Nature is unforgiving, though this is easy to forget with our comfortable homes and amenities. Only the toughest and the lucky were left in each species; in order to continue survival some new tactic would have to be learned.


What happened next?


A guttural, primal noise slips from the mouth; the vocal cords tense and vibrate allowing sound to project from the lips – and the world changing skill of speech is formed.


That’s right: language.


Without it, our species would not have been able to survive the last ice age. It allowed the few humans left to communicate crucial locations of food and shelter. This skill is used by every living creature on earth, and has been the foundation for everything humanity has accomplished since Earth’s last global winter.


It is through language that our species flourished. As my mother puts it, “Language was our big trick…”


So why am I climbing up on my soapbox now? Well, it has to do with language! You cannot turn your head these days without seeing a slaughter of the English language. Text messaging and Instant Messaging has turned our beautiful language into a “Pigeon language” made up of short hand, slang, and numbers. That’s right, numbers! They don’t even belong in words! Numbers are meant to represent an amount of items; they are used to describe our world in mathematical terms not to replace words!


What’s worse? When people actually decide to use the extra two seconds to write out a complete word most of the time they still get it wrong!


For example: “They’re” “There” “Their”


Yes they all sound the same, but they have significantly different meanings! However, you will see these words used incorrectly all the time!


They’re - They are the “ ‘ “ replaces the “a” and allows the rest of the world “are” to move to the end of “They”.


There – In, at, or to that place or position.


Their – Belonging to or associated with a person of unspecified sex.


See? They all sound the same, but have VERY different meanings.

A few other slaps in the face of language?

Writing “i” instead of “I”, sure it seems like a simple mistake but not capitalizing the “I” takes away from its importance! The whole point of capitalizing the “I” is because it is referring to yourself! The English Language, for some silly reason, thinks that you are important and therefore when you are referenced you should have the respect of a capital letter.


“Tonite” – A common misspelling seen in e-mails, text, and status posts; not just with that word but with most words what end with a “ght”. True, phonetically it makes the same sound but it’s just wrong! The word is “Tonight”, it doesn’t take that much time to write the extra few letters.


“UR” Really? You can’t put “You’re” or “Your” is it that difficult?


I could go on and on, but I am sure you are getting the picture at this point. Language was a beautiful and epic trick that not only saved our species but has been a crucial foundation for everything we have accomplished since then. If we continue to slaughter our precious language the way we do, we will end up with something similar to the garble of Idiocracy (2006) where people spoke a clusterf**k of slang, valley girl, hillbilly, and grunts.


I think spending the extra few seconds it takes write out a whole word, spell check, and grammar check is worth it when the alternative is sounding like a complete idiot.

Click here for more examples of people making fools of themselves

Want some quick tips and help? Check out: http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/

Finally, because we all could a little practice now and then: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/

While I don't feel that foul language is needed to get a point across, and often makes some one sound less intelligent; I felt that this kid had a point behind all of the anger and crass words. Caution: Image below is rated "R".