Friday, October 24, 2008

The vlog of 1024





Thursday, October 16, 2008

Proposition 8: eliminates the right of same-sex couples to marry

[This was part of an assignment for my political science class, but I guess I found it blog-worthy]

I asked my parents their oppinion on the issue of same-sex marriage and they're pretty much going to vote in favor of Proposition 8. Their justification was that God was the one who set forth the laws of marriage, which guarantee it to only be between a man and a woman. Yes, marriage has always been some sort of religious ceremony and tradition. I know a lot of people care about preserving the traditional definition of marriage, but let's face it: it's the 21st century and we live in what is probably one of the most liberal states in our nation. I was pretty glad the court ruled same-sex marriage legal last May. I'm not even sure why, because I know I'm definitely not a lesbian or anything. I guess I just always valued our freedom of equality in this country, being that our country was established in order to provide its citizens the freedoms and liberties that they couldn't get anywhere else. If the law guarantees equality to every citizen, then why should every citizen not be allowed to marry the person they love? Love is love, regardless of gender. One can't help it if they fall in love with somebody of the same sex and, just like any other married couple, want to spend the rest of their life with them. Of course, there's always been legality of domestic partnership, but it's not the same as real marriage under the law. Without marriage, one can't have the security that their spouse will be there with them in hospital rooms or making life-and-death decisions without a confusion of some sort. Allowing same-sex couples the right to marry would provide them the security that they will be able to live their lives just as any other couple would. I'm definitely voting against Proposition 8 on November 4th.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Abortion

It's a controversial subject, I guess. Must be worth writing about. Let's see how this goes...


What do you think about abortion?


I think every being deserves the chance to live. A baby has no choice and cant think for him or herself. Denying somebody the right to live is pretty much taking away the first natural first freedom they are born with (life). Whether they wanna kill themselves later on in life, that's their own choice... but at least the have the choice, sorta. Anyway... that was semi off topic. I guess the point I wanna make is that because one isn't really capable of making choices before one is born, then they deserve the right to have a life of their own and explore the world for themselves.



However, I also think every woman (or girl or lady or whatever) deserves the right to chose whether she wants to have her child or not. I'm not saying I approve of abortion or anything, but I think that ultimately the woman should be held responsible for the choice. After all, this country became independent so that its citizens would have freedoms they wouldn't have else where. It sounds kinda fucked up, but even the freedom to be able to stop a life from even starting should be allowed (yay for Roe v. Wade?). I wouldn't take away anyone's right to be born unless they already knew the unborn being would be born with some sort of disease or infection or something that would make their life a living hell (like, if they knew the baby would be born with hemophilia because it's hereditary, and the father had hemophilia).



It's the 21st century. Premarital sex isn't uncommon. My guess is that the reason for a many abortions nowadays is teenage pregnancy. And believe me, nothing can ruin a few days in a sexually active teenage girl's life more than a pregnancy scare. Makes them think a lot about family, school,their social life, prior commitments, promises that were made, long-term plans that might be ruined, etc. If they don't have trust in or aren't truly in love with the male that got them pregnant, I bet abortion is definitely something they highly considered. Of course it's understandable why they would consider it. All the responsibility brought up by the birth if a child is overwhelming, even if you're an adult. But honestly, I don't think abortion is the best choice at all in this situation, even if it is an easy way out. Most likely, the child would be born healthy and probably even live a good life because the parents are so young and more open to ideas. I can actually see many reasons why being born with young parents is a good thing (not that I'm trying to promote teenage pregnancy, because I'm definitely not).



Aaaand for those of you who like to bring up the argument of "but what if the girl gets raped?" Well... dude. You can always give 'em up for adoption. Even so, I bet once the baby is born, they'd probably wanna keep it.



Garfield part two? I think not... not yet, anyway.

As I was washing the dishes, my brother walked into the kitchen and said "Heyyyy. How's life been?" To which I replied, "Boring." He responded with "Man, you're part of, like, the bored generation..." Then I explained to him that my days have pretty much only consisted of going to school, coming home, eating, washing dishes, reading or doing something online, going to sleep, and repeating the same process the next day. Then he asked me something about how ELAC is like Garfield part 2. Of course, anyone that went to Garfield High School has probably heard that comparison made at one point or another. To my surprise I responded with "No... Garfield was way better." Once again, I reminded myself how much I hate the way my life's been progressing (or not progressing) lately. Boy, do I really wish I was still in high school... or at least that I had as many things to do in college as I did in high school. It's been really slow and I hate it. There can be many reasons my time there hasn't been so great.


Maybe it's because I don't really have friends or many regulars at ELAC, so there's less people to laugh with or even talk to in class. Most of them already have cliques of their own and it seems like it'd be uncomfortable joining a new circle if they already have their own inside jokes and unofficial traditions. I mean, I'm not really a shy person. It's just really hard for me to make friends sometimes.



Maybe it's the teachers. Not to say ELAC has bad teachers or anything, I just haven't had any like the ones I've had in the past. They were the kind that, even if you weren't really into the subject, they made you not hate it as much as you would've with a regular ole' teacher. Grandpa Woessner, for example. You can tell he loved what he did and that he truly cared about his students. Just the little things he did like keeping individuals after class just to talk to them about how bad they've been doing and wondering why they do it, or compliment them and letting them know that he's proud of them... or that day nearing the last day of school when he gave all his seniors roses and gave a little speech about each one of them. Even the way he went about teaching the class and scaring the shit out of people while pretending to be some historic character. Or teachers like Ms. Gardocki, who would write advice to you on your journal entries and talk to you about it if you were comfortable enough with her, rather than just skimming through it and giving you credit for having done your assignment. Then there was Mr. Bennett... boy, could you tell he liked what he did. He didn't seem to just teach for the sake of teaching either. I loved the way he'd get all happy and excited when we brought certain things up, and suggest that we make a survey about it. Then there was Rocha... that asshole. I can see myself being the way he was with students too, though. Boy, did I love to hate him. I didn't even want to cry at graduation til is saw tears on his eyes. Ah, and Buchman. What a sarcastic and handsome old man. Hahaha. Anyway... I haven't really felt any sort of connection like that with any of my professors here. The ones involved in the arts (my dance and theater teachers); I can tell they're really dedicated their professions, but they don't make teaching their priority unless they know the person is heading in the same road of that art. I guess I don't mind. I'd probably do the same. Haha. The others just seem to teach because it pays the bills.