State of Hypocrisy

The State of the Union Address by the President last night was...audacious, to say the least. It was impossibly hypocritical of Obama to say that neither party should block a bill, due to the grudges and spite of certain senators (undoubtedly referring to the recent decease of the Democratic super majority), when, should the situation be reversed, he would have absolutely no problem with the Democrats blocking a bill by filibustering to high heaven! Obama said a lot and talked a lot about all the reforms that would take place this year, but he did the same during his election campaign and what has happened thus far? He’s been in office for a year now and the most consequential thing he’s done so far is to get the Nobel Peace prize…for absolutely nothing. Obama should be ashamed for trying to humiliate the Supreme Court Justices in front of the world by criticizing them on their conclusion that there should be no restrictions on corporate spending on campaigns (advocacy ads), which only leveled the playing field with the Democratic Union unrestricted advocacy ads for 100 years. Such hypocrisy. It makes total sense that the corporations should not be entitled to the same freedoms and say in politics that unions have had for many, many years. Unions that consistently support Democrats. I think it’s safe to say that the President has made an enemy of the Supreme Court for the rest of his term, unless of course he tries to undermine the Constitution, yet again, by wiping out the Supreme Court and filling the seats with his own men. Again, may you ask? Yes, again. It was unconstitutional for the President and the Democratic Congress to attempt to mandate Healthcare to the states. The constitution clearly makes a separation between federal and state governments and power. It was unconstitutional for the President to give the unions ownership rights over GM and Chrysler that they were not legally entitled to versus the bond-holders who actually held the legal rights. Never before has there been this great of an overreach of executive branch power into the private sector in United States history—it is simply unconstitutional and undemocratic. Finally, it was unconstitutional for the President to attempt to void and nullify the contracts of bank employees, whether they be right or wrong, simply because he did not like them. Contracts are legally binding. You cannot just tear them up because you don’t agree with them! Even if you are the President.

Our Bodies Are A Wonderland...

This week in biology, we’re learning about cellular respiration and let me tell you—it is complex. It seems crazy to me that something with so many steps and processes can be a totally involuntary action that we really didn’t even know about until this week. How can we be doing something every second of every day without knowing or knowing how it works? And it happens so fast. We breath in and by the time we breath out, almost all the cells in our body (and there are trillions and trillions of them) have completed the three-process reaction (with each process containing like ten steps) to fuel enough energy to keep us living. That’s teeny, tiny, microscopic cells doing enough to make energy for us to perform basic as well as complex functions. Seems pretty crazy. It seems to me that such an important reaction inside our bodies would automatically be programmed into our brains so that we just know it, know how it works, etc. Our bodies are quite literally a wonderland.

Evolution of Music

Music: the tones or sounds employed, occurring in single line (melody) or multiple lines (harmony), and sounded or to be sounded by one or more voices or instruments, or both. What an inadequate definition. Music is much more than just a bunch of sounds. It’s a medium for expression, like poetry or painting or drawing or dancing. It’s a collection of ideas mashed into one message that means something different to everyone. Everyone knows what it’s like to find that one perfect song to match their mood or help them grieve through something difficult—like a death of a friend or family-member or the end of a relationship. Which is why it’s so sad that music has started evolving into telling stories about beating and raping women or killing people… How can something so pure in concept turn into something so devoid of any morality?

Synonyms of Love: Jealousy, Passion, Hate

We started to read Wuthering Heights in English class this week, and even after my brother told me over and over how much he hated it and how boring it was, I actually really like it. It’s intense, to say the least, but rich with universal themes we can all relate to—jealousy, revenge, love, hatred. While we may feel them slightly less intensely than the main character Heathcliff, we can still relate to how much he hates Edgar Linton and Hindley Earnshaw. We can still sympathize how it must feel for Heathcliff to love Catherine as he does, yet to be constantly reminded that he is beneath her. From what I can tell, Heathcliff’s love, hate, jealousy and blood-lust are what eventually leads him to his downfall. How perfect would the world be if there was none of that…and yet how boring it would be. We all know how wonderful it is to be in love, and we all know the excitement that comes with revenge (whether or not we should feel it is a completely different issue). While they can cause intense pain and regret, they also are what make us human.

Ignorance Is Bliss

When I was little, I was convinced that I was Snow White. It’s funny how little kids believe something, and it automatically becomes true to them. How wonderful would it be if people continued to feel that way as they grew older? There’s also no stress when you’re little. The biggest dilemmas of my childhood consisted of what to be for Halloween and what I wanted for lunch—peanut butter and jelly or a hotdog? I didn’t have to worry about schoolwork or driving or really my future when I was little. I just let my mom and dad lead the way for me and I was happy to do what they told me—except when they told me to take a nap. That I wasn’t too thrilled about. I never had to worry about failing tests or getting that dreaded B on a report card. Now, as a junior in high school I’m faced with worries about getting into the right colleges and making something of myself when I graduate. I have to worry about leaving my parents to live on my own and not becoming a complete failure in the working world. When I was in fifth grade I told my mom I didn’t want to go into the sixth grade because I didn’t want to grow up anymore. These days, I feel like saying the same thing.

PDA. Really.

I didn’t bother watching the AMAs the other night, but I certainly heard about Adam Lambert’s…shocking, to say the least, performance. As well as his comment afterward about how it’s the 2000s and people need to get with it. Sorry, but I ain’t getting with that. I have no problem with people being gay or lesbian, in fact I have a close friend who is gay. And I think it’s great that Adam Lambert is so comfortable with his sexuality. But there’s a fine line between being comfortable with your sexuality and exploiting it. It was gross, inappropriate and just completely unnecessary. Little kids could have been watching the awards show and he gets up there and sticks some guy’s head in his crotch! And he needs to get over the whole “it’s because I’m gay” thing. People were just as upset when Britney and Madonna kissed on stage and when Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson did their little number at the Super Bowl. There’s a time and place for that and it most definitely is not in public—much less on TV with young viewers watching. And I, for one, think that it’s a pretty lame excuse to justify his actions by saying that people need to “get with it”.

Attraction

This week, for “le journal” in French class, the prompt is “Could you marry someone who you do not find very attractive? Beauty—is it the most important thing in love?” This poses a very complex and difficult question. People who don’t want to seem superficial would automatically say, “Oh no! It’s not the most important thing in love! I could marry someone who I don’t find attractive!” Give me a break. Sure you could, but then you wouldn’t be in love. While attraction is not the sole most important thing in love, it’s definitely a major player. Without attraction, it’s not love—it’s friendship. I don’t care which way you spin it! Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder as well and people grow in attraction as they get to know one another, but at some point, if it’s not there, then it’s simply not there. Aren’t attraction and passion pretty much synonymous? And isn’t lack of passion a main reason why people get divorced? Of course, it seems very gentile and progressive to say that beauty is unimportant, but come on. LIESS.

Acting vs. Reality--A Fine Line

I was talking with a friend the other day about how audiences fall in love with the actors in movies. For example, Jack from “The Titanic”—Leonardo DiCaprio has become a heartthrob for women of all ages. Then we started talking about how hard it must be for the actors to separate their life on screen (well, their character’s life) from their life in the real world. Hey, I sure wouldn’t be able to do it. I suppose that was the problem for Heath Ledger, as well as others, who weren’t able to perfect this ability. But really, how did Kate Winslet not fall in love with her costar in Titanic?? I mean, I guess it’s not real life, but when you’re passionately kissing some guy, even onstage, even if you’re “just acting”, it has to get pretty hard to separate the two worlds. I guess that’s just the skills that come with being a good actor. And for that matter, how do their wives and husbands (if applicable) feel about their husband/wife pretending to be in love with someone else every day? I sure as heck wouldn’t be okay with it—look what it did to Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston…but I won’t even get started on that one…

The Dangers of Twilight

Twilight has become a huge phenomenon, not just in the United States, but all over the world. The characters are unique and unlike the typical vampires of myth. People have fallen in love with the characters Stephenie Meyer created, especially Edward, the vampire with intense good looks and the ability to read minds. How is it that people are able to fall in love with a fictional character? I just feel bad for the poor sucker who has to play him in the movie, Robert Pattinson. He will, most likely, for the rest of his life be held to such a standard that every single girl he ever becomes involved with will expect him to be perfect, just like Edward is. Not to mention the fact that men all over the world probably hate him for the impossible standards he portrays in the film. I can’t tell you how many stories I’ve heard about girls breaking up with their boyfriends because he’s “just not like my Edward”. For many women of the world, though they are unaware of this, Edward is the emotion block in front of their relationships—personifying the wonderful and most perfect guy that simply doesn’t exist. Can we get an Edward-aholic Anonymous meeting started somewhere???? Though I’m sure with good intentions, Stephenie Meyer has created the single most dangerous thing to many relationships—that kind of perfection simply doesn’t exist, and the sooner people realize that the better.