Making Money Any Means Necessary

Everyone likes to make money, whether it is an individual, corporation, or the government. Many times, people like to take the easy road either by exploiting others or doing little work and getting a big paycheck. That is the mentality of bondsmen but are they really getting that big paycheck they desire if their potential clients have no way of repaying that bond? Bonds on prisoners are set too high leading to the overcrowded jail problem. People and the government always complain about how much it is to keep a prisoner alive but they never think about why the prisoner is still in jail, especially if they are in jail for something minor, like driving without car insurance or a license. That tax payer money could be saved if bonds were lowered to the point where people in or facing jail time could actually afford to pay a bondsmen. How are bondsmen staying in business without clients jumping into their laps? Well, they are making money some how. If inmates cannot afford their bail and people and the government keep complaining about the costs to house and feed a prisoner, then the correctional system is a little backwards when it comes to commerce. According to the article, a man by the name Leslie Chew was arrested for stealing some blankets because he was getting cold sleeping in his old pick up wagon. His bail was $3500. He said that amount was like a million dollars to him. $3500 is a lot of money to anybody unless one just has money to spend. Most people do not have that much money just sitting around, even for emergency purposes. People with less money often face more consequences for their crimes. Even the down payments to the bondsmen are not really cheap if one is already struggling. To a middle class American, a down payment of $150 is not much. That is less than a down payment on a new car. I almost pay that monthly for car insurance, but that same amount seems like a whole lot more to those who cannot afford to pay for pretty much anything, like the $30 blankets Chew tried to steal. Many others are like Chew. Their consequences for their crimes are hitting them hard. Unfortunately, it seems like the rich always come up on top no matter what the case is.

Dinner Time Suicide

When most families sit down for dinner, the average question is, "How was your day?" The family then goes on about their daily activities, their favorites, and the most disliked parts of the day. Everyone is feeding off of someone else's story. Usually, dinner conversations are happy, but but for those without companionship, Stouffers has decided to add another form of food for thought to the dinner table: suicide. When I think of Stouffers, I think of the quick meals and the cheesy commercials with sayings like, "Family time anytime," and, "Eating together is better for the whole family." Suicide or anything relating to death has never crossed my mind. Maybe the boss at work is a little too much for Timmy to handle emotionally or maybe Ellen just cannot take eating another meal by herself. Being lonely is saddening but is it really worth killing yourself? One can be friends with anyone and everyone on the internet if necessary. The people on the video comment about the tips. Though one should not laugh at their despair, one might not be able to help it. One lady says something like the tips are in small print and you have to turn the light on to see them, but it is better than eating in the dark. First of all, who eats in the dark? Second of all, if someone is already depressed from eating by themselves, doesn't the darkness increase depressive feelings? I have no signs of depression, but I know I feel a little gloomy when it is dark and gray outside. Stouffers also has videos of people eating their meals on their website so people can simulate eating with other people. There are also therapy sessions in the frozen food aisles of grocery stores. According to the video, these tips and support forms are helping people. All I can say is if you really are that lonely that your dinner needs to tell you not to kill yourself then you seriously need a hug. Please find some random friends on Facebook or get a puppy. Dogs love you no matter what as long as you feed them and rub their tummies. As for Stouffers, I guess they don't want their lonely customers choking on their dinners on purpose.

Thank You, Obama

According to an article titled Obama: Loan changes make college more affordable written by Philip Elliot from the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Obama is trying to decrease the financial burden of going to college. The title alone sounds good to me because, personally, student loans are already putting me into a hole. I am pretty sure a lot of other students are in a similar position. For some reason, colleges and universities seem to think that all students have an endless supply of money somewhere. Students will be in debt before they actually find a career to help pay for their college expenses. According to the article, Obama is trying to make student loans more affordable and more manageable after graduation. President Obama's expectations for the new education bill include: more student lending, caps on those repayments, and more money for minority colleges and universities. Obama is suppose to sign this new bill into law on Tuesday. Hopefully, these new changes will be reflected in the 2010-2011 Student Aid Report from FAFSA. My existence on the Georgia State University campus is actually riding on how Georgia State processes my Student Aid Report. If another school, say Loyola University Chicago, gives me more money than Georgia State, then I will have to say my farewells to Atlanta. I cannot take another year of being dependent on student loans. Along with helping students, President Obama also says, "This reform of the federal student loan programs will save taxpayers $68 billion over the next decade." This reform sounds like a win for everyone. According to the new law, banks will no longer get fees for acting as the middlemen and Pell Grants will increase. Unfortunately, most aspects of this new law will not kick in until 2014. I will hopefully be on to Graduate school by then, but anything helps. College is suppose to help you get more out of the world, but you can't do that when you spend the rest of your adult life paying for student loans. At least Obama, understands the financial troubles that students face and is making an attempt to do something about it.

The Hours..More Like the Hours I Spent Reading It

I am not much of a book reader, but when I do read, I expect the book to grab and hold my attention. Unfortunately, The Hours by Michael Cunningham does not do either. Since it was for class, I was somewhat forced to read it. There was no putting it down when a grade depended on it. The story is about three women from different time periods whose stories begin to link up towards the end. All three women face different but similar life crisis problems. The women faced death, thoughts of suicide, and had trouble dealing with the lives they lived. It sounds like it should be a little interesting, but that is far from the truth. Most of the students in my class shared my opinion. We felt like the story was just about problems. No solutions other than suicide were ever brought to the table. The plot was basically about three emotional women who did not know how to deal with whatever problems or situations they faced in their lives. According to other ratings and the fact that it one the Pulitzer Prize, maybe this book just isn't made for the younger crowd. Maybe it's just me and my fellow peers who don't appreciate Cunningham's work. I never looked forward to reading The Hours. It was one of those assignments that I really could not wait to finish. I don't really look forward to doing most of my homework like most students, but this book was never high on my to do list. After we had finished reading the book, we watched the movie. It had good a cast with Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, and Julianne Moore, but even they were not able to liven up this book. The movie worsened our opinions. The same depressing picture is painted whether it be in writing or in film. If you like reading about middle aged women and their problems, than this might be the book for you. If you like excitement, I highly suggest you stay far from The Hours. Please don't waste your own hours on this read.

Quote of the Week

If you have ever watched The Rugrats on Nickelodeon, you might remember one of Tommy Pickles' main phrases. "A baby's gotta do what a baby's gotta do." Even though I am no longer an infant, this quote is my motivation of the week if you just substitute a few words, like baby for college student. This week is probably the most busiest week I have had in my college career. The work I have to do now is probably nothing compared to the amounts of work I have to face in the future. Right now, I have so much work that is due around the same time and me being overwhelmed has nothing to do with procrastination. I have always managed my time well but now it seems like there are not enough hours in the day to get school work done and still manage to eat, sleep, and shower on a daily basis. I guess it is time to make some sacrifices. Maybe no complete meals or a full 8 hours of sleep. I will not be happy but at least my work will be done. I can then rest easier knowing that my academic duties are completed. I will go over what I have to do so you can understand my situation a little better. I have about twenty workbook activities and a quiz tomorrow in my Italian class, a speech outline due for my Human Communication class, a rough draft, which I have already completed, and a movie analysis due in my English class on Wednesday, and about five different activities for Human Communication due Sunday. At least I am getting the blog done now. Reading over it, my workload does not seem too bad, but when it comes to actually doing it, oh, how it's a task. Yesterday, I was in the library from 1pm to 6pm. I'm in the library now writing this and I've been here since about 1pm as well, with only two things completed on my checklist. My brain cannot wait until this week is over. Once again, "A baby's gotta do what a baby's gotta do." We all wish we can return to infanthood because there is nothing like having other people do everything for you. How I wish I could say that about my homework.

Banning Police Pursuits in Australia? Should that Be an Option?

I found an article titled New South Wales police commissioner Andrew Scipione rules out ban on car pursuits despite Canberra deaths in The Australian. After a deadly accident, officials thought of banning car pursuits, but should that really be an option? Car thieves might see this as an opportunity. There is smaller chance of being caught if the cops cannot go after them. One would think that banning car pursuits would actually make roads more dangerous, but it is hard to come up with a plan where the good guy always wins. According to the article, police pursuits have decreased but police do not want the community or potential criminals to think that the police are not doing their jobs. The thought of ending police pursuits might make potential criminals think they can avoid being arrested by going a little over the speed limit. Even though the idea of banning police pursuits has good intentions, the idea is also unrealistic. It is a good thing that Scipione ruled out the ban. The roads do not need to become more dangerous because people start believing they can get away with anything if they can out speed a cop. There are not many options to stop car theft and any other crimes related to police pursuits but a complete ban is definitely not the way to go. After reading this article, it was my first time hearing about these bans. I know criminals trying to run from cops exists in the United States, too. That is where television shows like Cops and America's Most Wanted get their stars, but could such a ban exist in the United States? If police were not allowed to chase after criminals, the crime rate would most likely go up because more and more of the criminal minded would start to think they have an easy way out. Criminals should never have the joy of thinking such a thing.

YOU'LL HAVE TO EXCUSE MY SERVANT, SHE WAS TRAGICALLY BORN WITHOUT EYELIDS.

First of all, it took me a while to find someone's blog that actually worked for me. The links of many people kept bringing me to blogs that they followed rather than their own blogs. When I landed on DJ Brown's blog, it was the first one to work for me so I ran with it. His blogs are short, simple, and to the point. He does not spend much time on analysis or going into huge detail about a subject. The post I read from his blog was the one about the "invisible people." He chose to write about Michael. What I liked about this post was that he tried to understand where Michael was coming from by putting himself in Michael's shoes. He tried to relate to him by speaking about his own experiences. According to his blog, it seems like he has had some experience with going short periods of time without a place to go. His own experience made this topic a little easier to write about because he and Michael may share the same view points. I could tell that he put a lot of emotion into writing this post because it was something he had dealt with before. He breaks down why homeless people are seen as invisible and why they are not invisible. His posts are not really long enough to give a greatly detailed critique but they get the job done. Even though his blog posts are simplistic, the title sticks out. The title is a statement that most probably would not associate with an English class or anything school related. The title catches your eye. Besides the title and the emotion he seems to put in his writings, his blog is not all that interesting. The simplicity of it does not give the reader much to go on.

Where Is the Love?

Well, it is definitely not in Berkley, California. No matter where poor Sandy goes, she just cannot get a break. Even the church will not help her out. One would think that a church should be the most helpful when it comes to people in similar situations. After being charged with trespassing for sleeping in a church, Sandy really has no one else to turn to. Sandy is also forced to sleep on the sidewalk because it is illegal to sleep in your car. Why is sleeping in one's car such a bad thing? That person is not bothering anyone. Plus, one would think seeing someone sleep on the sidewalk is worse than someone sleeping in a car. It is a shame that most people only care about themselves. People who have something in life tend to look down own those who have nothing. They see these struggling people as lesser than themselves, but who really is the least humane? If a person claims they have any type of humility, then they should feel like they need to help out some type of cause. Those who claim they are humble but do nothing should really be the ones that are looked down upon. One truly experiences the real world when they are homeless. According to these videos, it seems that many homeless people can go on to do great things if someone just gives them the opportunity. Unfortunately, the world turns their backs on these people. Some people even think that people are homeless because it was their choice to be or they blame the homeless person for making a wrong decision in their lives. What happens when they have done all they can to get a better life and nothing comes out of it? Who is to blame then? What if the situation was reversed? Sandy has it especially hard since she is an older woman. Dangerous people see older women as easier targets, therefore, they are preyed on more at night. The shelters are full and Sandy does not qualify for any type of government income. If the world only meant it when it said all men and women are created equal, the world would most likely be a much better place. More needs to be done for those in need. Who are you to judge if you do nothing?

Don't Take This Guy to the Movies

On Fridays, I normally try to find a serious article, but this one caught my eye. According to Rosecrans Baldwin, the only thing worse than a bad movie itself is the popcorn that people normally get with it. In his article Popcorn: Cinema's Worst Enemy in Slate Magazine, he writes about how much he despises popcorn. Is this article really news worthy? Probably not but it still gives the reader a few laughs. He even goes as far as saying that popcorn is worse than catfish and chitterlings. He is probably the only person I have heard of that hates popcorn with a passion. The fact that he hates popcorn so much is funny but the way he describes this so-called awful snack is even more hilarious. He writes, "People say popcorn is delicious, low-calorie, and fun to chew—no, I'm joking. Anyone who would defend popcorn would also, I'm sure, sell his children for spare parts. I'm routinely surprised to see people eating popcorn—those slimy Styrofoam berries, those dehydrated sea sponges. And it's never dainty picking, the consumption of popcorn. It's gorging. It's glutton-eering. It's the cramming of greasy, tasteless florets in Natural Flavoring down the esophagus is what it is." This man has absolutely no soft spot for the snack that is common for any movie watcher. He even says that popcorn is worse than cell phones and cigarettes. According to his article, cigarettes made be bad but at least, "smoking is silent." I guess he really cannot stand the sound of people smacking and munching next to him in a movie theater. My favorite quote of all was, "I'm just a lone voice, crying in a field of exploding cobs," describing himself as one of the few that hates popcorn. Despite his paragraphs about his hatred of popcorn, he starts writing about how much his friend hates Belgium, which obviously has nothing to do with popcorn. After writing about Belgium, he returns to his popcorn story and writes about his quest to accept the snack. After his attempts of trying store bought popcorn, he returns to his original conclusion that popcorn is the devil. His advice: nachos. After reading the entire article, I noticed the only real thing worth mentioning in the article was the Academy Awards, which he brought up twice. This was a humorous article on a pointless subject. Maybe I'll go make some popcorn.

First College Spring Break..Is it Like What is on TV?

So far, it isn't. Don't get me wrong, I have been having fun. I've only been away for about two days now. Nothing much has been accomplished but I'll just go on a day by day basis to let you know what happened.

Day 1: My friends and I, more like I, spent the day driving to Orlando. Upon arrival, we stopped at my sister's house and relaxed there until it was time to check into our hotel. We ate pizza and chips and salsa and watched reruns of The Game and America's Best Dance Crew. We finally decided to leave. Once we got to the hotel, we pretty much did the same thing, sat around watching television while my friends ate Wendy's. I was tired from the drive, so I was the first one to try to close my eyes. Too bad my friends had other noisy plans and my attempt to get a good night's rest were put down. Day 2: Today I woke up before my friends just to sit there and starve until they wanted to stop being lazy and move. After we got up and about we headed to the mall to buy some much unneeded articles of clothing. After the mall, we headed to the state fair and stayed there all night. Day 3: Once again with the friends who don't know how to move in the morning. I woke up around 10:30 because I wanted to be on my way to Daytona by 1. I got dressed and went to Target. When I get back they were still in the bed with nothing accomplished. Maybe when we actually get to the beach my day will get better. Well, my mood was lifted but the beach didn't share my happiness. The shore was pretty much dead. No one was in the water and the only people one could find were the old folks. After the beach, we went to Ihop, which made everything all better. We took the drive back to Orlando and lied around the hotel room finding anything and everything to laugh at. Day4: Once again, I woke up before everyone else. I picked up my little sister and headed to the mall. The mall visit didn't last long since my sister didn't feel well. I returned to the hotel and waited for something to come up. Later on that day, I went to visit my mother's old friend. We weren't there for long. Afterwards, we made a surprise visit to my sister's house hoping to receive some dinner. We ate quesadillas, managed to rake up some free Disney tickets, and then made our way to Coldstone, diabetes in a cup. After raising our blood sugar, we just relaxed in the room. Day 5: Off to the beach again, not Daytona though. Hopefully New Smyrna Beach will have more to offer than cold waters and old people. Well, it did. Young people and a few racists ones. Some guys drove down the beach honking and waving a Confederate flag out the window. After a better day at the beach, except for the racist people part, we returned to the hotel for some chill time until we went to Bahama Breeze later on that night. After dinner, we met up with some friends and just relaxed around in their hotel room and watched Slumdog Millionaire. We didn't return to our own room until about 5am. After that, all we could do was sleep. Day 6: Woke up around 2pm because of the long night with no plans for the day. Let's see if that changes once my friends actually awake. We finally put some plans together. We met up with some more friends to play laser tag. Unfortunately, the place we we went was being remodeled. We decided to go to Fun Spot and drove go-karts and played arcade games. We returned to our friends' hotel for a while knowing we had to wake up early to head to Disney World the next day. We got back to our own hotel around 4am. Sleep was the only thing on my mind at that time. Day 7: DISNEY WORLD!!! That's all that needs to be said. It was super fun,especially the Tower of Terror. After a rainy but fun day at Disney, we went looking for a club. Too bad all the clubs we could get into closed at 12:30. Mad at the city of Orlando and there horrible club scene, we went to Ihop again and later swam in our friends' hotel's pool. Wet and tired we went back to our hotel around 5am. Day 8: We woke up around 10:45am to check out at 11. After checking out, we went to my sister's house. She treated us to Ihop and let us sleep on her couch until we were ready to head back to Atlanta. We left around 4:30pm expecting the trip to be as short as it was coming. That was not the case. I didn't get back to the dorm until 1am. Tired from the drive, I just hopped in my bed.

So, was my spring break filled with half naked people partying hard like it is on TV? No, but it was still enjoyable.

Tiger Woods..Again..Really?

Are the lives of celebrities actually more important than real news that may actually be relevant to people's lives? I guess it is since Tiger Woods is back in the headlines. I recently read an article titled 'Woods back from family counseling' from The Times of India. I thought this article was bad because it is pointless. The who, what, when, where, why, and how of Tiger Woods' life helps no one out. I understand being a little nosey at times. Sometimes other people's lives are a little more interesting than our own but are they really worth being on the home page of a news site? I think any irrelevant news pertaining to the lives of celebrities should be under a sub category, like entertainment, and kept away from the real news that may impact someone's life for real. And the funny thing about this article is that it paints Woods as the victim. It talks about his routine and how he is managing to cope with past events. He is back at home in Orlando from family counseling in Arizona. He spends his days hitting golf balls and getting in shape. Who cares? Not I. It is almost like the writer of the article feels sorry for what happened in Tiger Woods' life. I do not know why since he had nothing to do with Woods' infidelity. Maybe the author is a big fan. Whoever the author may be, they seem to have high hopes for Tiger coming back to the PGA. So much speculation, though Woods says he will not come back to golf until something has been done to try to save his marriage. Tiger states, "As Elin pointed out to me, my real apology to her will not come in the form of words; it will come from my behavior over time." Tiger tries to paint the image that he is truly sorry about his actions but his apology just is not all that believable in my opinion. The writer of the article also writes about how Tiger Woods has lost some of his sponsors because of his actions. Once again, Tiger Woods is painted as the victim. If he had never cheated, he would not have to deal with this problem. The writer needs to know that the only person to blame in this situation is Tiger Woods. In conclusion, besides giving me a topic for this blog, how will this information help me live my life again?