Facebook has 100 Million monthly active users which basically means they are the shit in social networking terms. MySpace (the former biggest) is lagging behind in developing and matching Facebook’s success. Facebook allows its users to create profiles post current info, upload videos and pictures and much much more to do with social networking. People have to use their real name to sign up for Facebook this would make it easier for members to find long lost friends and reconnect with them, in the beginning people adhered to this requirement but later people started changing their names, and simply providing false names. I have experienced this first hand. Facebook has become another social competition where people are competing with each other over the number of friends they have on the profile. It has been reported that people are complaining about the 5000 friend limit. This is more than 50 times as many friends than I have in my modest inventory. My best friend first made me attentive to Facebook. I had a couple of other social networking profiles: Hi5, Tagged, etc. So I wasn’t very excited to join Facebook as well it was simply too much of a hassle I thought, but my friend told me that it was super duper easy to sign up. So screw it I gave it a shot, selected the nicest picture (sexiest picture) as my profile picture. I had no idea you could adjust so many settings, and the amount of info you can input is just ridiculous. After having updated my profile and inputted the info I was willing to, I soon started experiencing the true magic of Facebook, I was being tagged in pictures all over the place, I looked for people and within a week I had over 100 friends. The “Poke” button is simply magical, I had so many poke wars over the first few months it was ridiculous. Facebook was officially my new addiction. I am now a fully integrated daily user (I like to call myself a connoisseur) I keep up to date with everything happening and new developments on my profile; Though lately I have been using Facebook mostly for reminiscing about the past and recently finished high school career. I also use it to maintain my connections and keep my networks in touch, but it has stopped ruling my life, and it has calmed a lot since all of my friends have moved and there is no more events to take pictures of and share on Facebook.
The new generation has no problem throwing their personal details out in the open: address, phone number, age, sex, full name, family history (in matter of speaking) and in the description they try to make themselves sound the most appealing to their age group. This often means they are not in the slightest bit appealing to future employers. They post their pictures online of the weekend bash, college parties, etc. this will also reflect negatively on the person in question. I didn’t like the fact that my full name was on the listing in the directory, simply because it made me feel uncomfortable to have my entire full name on the website so that anyone could find me and friends me. I felt also increasingly uncomfortable that people could see my profile without my permission, I was even unaware that this was possible until read various articles advising the increased privacy settings. This is why I altered my privacy settings, and anyone who wants to see my profile needs to friend me, I don’t friend anyone that I do not know or have never spoken to in person, I will also accept friends from my friends, as long as I can see the connection to me then I friend them. I do not friend people simply because they are good looking or say something interesting. But with all the screening, and increased privacy I think that my profile is quite safe to future employers trying to pry in my past. Even if I friend my future employer they will still not find anything compromising about me, but there is a certain part of me that wants to keep my professional and social life separate.
Recently Facebook took a leap, and introduced the new version of Facebook. This has come across much resistance from many users, even though I was apathetic at first I am now more supportive though there are certain flaws that need be fixed when browsing photos and other aspects I think it has potential.
This concludes my haphazard article about facebook I hope you nonetheless enjoyed it.
--Roger’s Opinion
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Is Russia Preparing for Cold War nr. 2?
Please take into account before reading that even though the facts are backed up, much of this is my opinion, and is in no way backed by any formal documents. I am simply trying to convey the public message newspapers miss.
Tensions between Russia and the US have been high ever since the WWII in which they were allies, leading to the Cold War which made them enemies, and then in the 1990s the relations slowly recuperated, until now where they are at a possible crossroads. In recent months/years Russia’s economy has been growing mostly due to the fact that the price of energy and fossil fuels has risen. Russia has many natural resources located in its still much un-ventured and vast lands of Siberia. Russia is already one of the largest providers of natural gas and oil to the east bloc countries, it is producing an average 9.87million barrels per day. Their relatively low oil consumption 2 million barrels per day—ten times less than that of the United States— allows them to export about 5 million barrels per day. Also Russia’s oil reserves are 3 times larger than that of the United States, at 60 billion barrels compared to the USA’s 22 billion barrels. Russia’s natural gas consumption only exceeds that of the USA by 100 billion cubic meters per year although Russia’s natural gas reserves exceed those of the USA by about a factor of nine – 47 trillion cu m compared to the USA’s 5 trillion cu m. Oil crisis-wise Russia is in a better position than the US but economically the US controls the world. Most major corporations come from the US and have their head offices in the US. The US likes to see itself as the police of the world considering it their responsibility to control international conflict and impose democracy on all. Now not that I mind that the US is doing all the fighting all over the world for us, it’s just that some countries simply do not need policing; seriously some countries do not need the US meddling in their shit. The US is threatening their allies with economic sanctions if they do not comply with their demands for troops, for example about one or two years ago the US asked the Netherlands for support in Afghanistan, the Netherlands were apathetic to sending more troops to the conflict area, but then Donald Rumsfeld said, the Netherlands were to suffer economic consequences if they did not send more troops to the region. For me that was the defenestration of the US’ image of World Police, it immediately changed into a bully. A bully will always get what he wants, no matter how, it will. Blackmailing your allies is no small thing to do. I think the movie Team America World Police captures most of the true image of the Americans and their patriotic BS.
The US has much of the world’s governments in her grip and will not relinquish to exercise this power. Now, the Netherlands being a small country had no choice but to comply, even though we have a stable economy are quite well off we don’t need to suffer economic consequences from one of our main economic partners. Russia however does have the power to stand up and spit the US in their face (which they deserve—the government not the people, so before you start yelling at me “I’m American!! I’m not like that!! Why don’t you go suck it!!??” I have many American friends whom I do not want to spit in the face either, given they have lived in Europe for sometime granting them a different status). Russia is the world’s largest land mass, and is only separated from US territory by the Bering Strait. Russia is also connected to Asia, Europe and parts of the Middle East, though the most populated areas of Russia are towards the Eastern European borders. Russia also has a veto in the UN Security Council meaning they can veto and hence render useless sanctions, military action, and other such plans put forward by any of the other members. It is also a permanent member together with China, USA, and France. Russia recently vetoed the plan for sanctions against the Zimbabwean government simply (I think) to display their power. The US is fighting a never ending battle to force all governments of the world to surrender their nuclear programs and destroy any nuclear arms in their possession. The US now has one of the largest nuclear inventories in the world (together with Russia). The US is not likely to abolish all nuclear arms anytime soon, but yet it wants everyone else to. I find that hypocritical. Its saying, gives us all your nuclear weapons, or will make you very poor and then eventually if we feel like it we will invade your country, just because you were a threat to the world. When the US uses the word “world” it means us (America). The US wants to maintain its position as the world leader by force, not by popularity or legitimate economic dominance, or environmental awareness. The US is protecting its interests in the world and it’s doing so uncontested. It’s securing oil resources in Iraq and Georgia even though it is for the benefit of the world to a certain extent; the US is only policing those regions that are of interest to them. Where is the US in trying to police conflicts in Africa (maybe Nigeria)? Pakistan? Not there, because there’s no oil. In supporting Georgia against Russia, the US is securing a very important pipeline going through the region. The US’ reasons for commencing the Iraq war were the wrong ones, there were no weapons of mass destruction, and still none are found today, 4 years after the commencement of the war. It’s all Bullshit (notice no BS this time and a capital B) I do believe the war has been the right thing to do, but not the way it has been done, to pretend there is weapons there, and proceed even though there was heavy protest from all over the world. They should have said “we think that there is reason to believe that our oil provisions are in jeopardy with the current dictatorship in Iraq, as well as the health of the entire Iraqi nation, we therefore demand permission to declare war to Iraq” what has it brought the US? 4$ a gallon! That’s all I got to say. It has benefitted no one, caused thousands of soldiers to lose their lives and the US has also forced many other nations to join the war against their will.
All this brings me to Russia who has been dogged down and controlled by the US since 1991 (collapse of the USSR). You may not know it or see it but Russia is strong, it has 140 million inhabitants and vast amounts of resources, it also has a rapidly developing and improving economy. In the next few years Russia will yet again be the viable opponent it was to the US in the cold War period. Remember, Russia won the space race, as it won many other races, such as the race to the center of the earth (click on the title and it will link you to a WIRED article about it). Russians are known for persistence, they never ever give up. Russia has so many ways to compromise the US as in sabotage their efforts to govern the world. Russia has influence in Iran; recently Iran came by Russia to do some missile shopping. The only relations the US has with Iran are hostile, they’re just threatening Iran. Threats are not always the way to go, but it has been for the US in the past few decades or so. Remember Desert Storm 1? Russia has much influence in east bloc countries, and in Asia, remember the Korean War? Guess who backed North Korea? Guess who dropped North Korea after pressure from the US? Yup, Russia. Russia is really not as bad as you think; it’s being portrayed as bad because it is “sabotaging” the US. It’s not really sabotage because what Russia is doing is for the best of the World not only for themselves. There is so much uncovered in this piece of writing and I could go on about how selfish America is but I really need to start forming my own opinion:
America, right I don’t even know how to say this nicely… it defends its own interests and doesn’t really give a f*** if it doesn’t affect them if there is a conflict here on earth that is not sparked by oil or does not compromise oil traffic to the US then I swear the US will not try to intervene! Perhaps it will because it has to because the UN sends a peace keeping force and unfortunately the US is part of the UN. The US is incredibly hypocritical as in it doesn’t allow anyone to have what they have because it’s disadvantageous to them. If they do want to police the world, then why don’t they? Right now they are doing it so half ass it’s incredible, lately it has become extremely obvious what the US is protecting and what they are willing to fight for, fuck peace as long we have our oil. I say to the UN ban oil from the US until they are really willing to think of other countries but themselves. Now I know this sounds like a critique of the US and I know it’s wrong to judge them on just one aspect. But what I say is not untrue. I know they do many other things, and they have a strong economy (less now) and they do control much of the markets and what not. But the whole world talks of them as if they are the shit whilst if you look just THAT much closer… your vision will change. And it will. I agree with the war in Iraq, and Afghanistan. But now with Georgia… seriously… the only reason the US supports Georgia and is threatening Russia is because Georgia has this ever so important pipeline running through the country. Why doesn’t Georgia see this and tell the US to go FUCK themselves I’m 100% sure that Ukraine would support them because it’s afraid of the same thing. The US is kissing nations’ asses all over the world for oil. It’s like a crack head that doesn’t have money for crack: “please I need it, I’ll do anything, ill SUCK YOUR DICK!” come on US be a little bit more moral.
I also truly believe that Russia will soon (in the next 20 years) become yet again the nation it has always been.
I know this turned out to be more of a critique to the US, than anything else. But please don’t get me wrong on this article. I in no way wanted to pick on Americans. I was critiquing the government, and their policies. I like America as a country, most people are great. It’s just that I don’t agree with the countries current policies and actions. If you disagree I encourage you to comment, or write an E-Mail to me for personal correspondence: rogersopinion@gmail.com.
--Roger's Opinion
Tensions between Russia and the US have been high ever since the WWII in which they were allies, leading to the Cold War which made them enemies, and then in the 1990s the relations slowly recuperated, until now where they are at a possible crossroads. In recent months/years Russia’s economy has been growing mostly due to the fact that the price of energy and fossil fuels has risen. Russia has many natural resources located in its still much un-ventured and vast lands of Siberia. Russia is already one of the largest providers of natural gas and oil to the east bloc countries, it is producing an average 9.87million barrels per day. Their relatively low oil consumption 2 million barrels per day—ten times less than that of the United States— allows them to export about 5 million barrels per day. Also Russia’s oil reserves are 3 times larger than that of the United States, at 60 billion barrels compared to the USA’s 22 billion barrels. Russia’s natural gas consumption only exceeds that of the USA by 100 billion cubic meters per year although Russia’s natural gas reserves exceed those of the USA by about a factor of nine – 47 trillion cu m compared to the USA’s 5 trillion cu m. Oil crisis-wise Russia is in a better position than the US but economically the US controls the world. Most major corporations come from the US and have their head offices in the US. The US likes to see itself as the police of the world considering it their responsibility to control international conflict and impose democracy on all. Now not that I mind that the US is doing all the fighting all over the world for us, it’s just that some countries simply do not need policing; seriously some countries do not need the US meddling in their shit. The US is threatening their allies with economic sanctions if they do not comply with their demands for troops, for example about one or two years ago the US asked the Netherlands for support in Afghanistan, the Netherlands were apathetic to sending more troops to the conflict area, but then Donald Rumsfeld said, the Netherlands were to suffer economic consequences if they did not send more troops to the region. For me that was the defenestration of the US’ image of World Police, it immediately changed into a bully. A bully will always get what he wants, no matter how, it will. Blackmailing your allies is no small thing to do. I think the movie Team America World Police captures most of the true image of the Americans and their patriotic BS.
The US has much of the world’s governments in her grip and will not relinquish to exercise this power. Now, the Netherlands being a small country had no choice but to comply, even though we have a stable economy are quite well off we don’t need to suffer economic consequences from one of our main economic partners. Russia however does have the power to stand up and spit the US in their face (which they deserve—the government not the people, so before you start yelling at me “I’m American!! I’m not like that!! Why don’t you go suck it!!??” I have many American friends whom I do not want to spit in the face either, given they have lived in Europe for sometime granting them a different status). Russia is the world’s largest land mass, and is only separated from US territory by the Bering Strait. Russia is also connected to Asia, Europe and parts of the Middle East, though the most populated areas of Russia are towards the Eastern European borders. Russia also has a veto in the UN Security Council meaning they can veto and hence render useless sanctions, military action, and other such plans put forward by any of the other members. It is also a permanent member together with China, USA, and France. Russia recently vetoed the plan for sanctions against the Zimbabwean government simply (I think) to display their power. The US is fighting a never ending battle to force all governments of the world to surrender their nuclear programs and destroy any nuclear arms in their possession. The US now has one of the largest nuclear inventories in the world (together with Russia). The US is not likely to abolish all nuclear arms anytime soon, but yet it wants everyone else to. I find that hypocritical. Its saying, gives us all your nuclear weapons, or will make you very poor and then eventually if we feel like it we will invade your country, just because you were a threat to the world. When the US uses the word “world” it means us (America). The US wants to maintain its position as the world leader by force, not by popularity or legitimate economic dominance, or environmental awareness. The US is protecting its interests in the world and it’s doing so uncontested. It’s securing oil resources in Iraq and Georgia even though it is for the benefit of the world to a certain extent; the US is only policing those regions that are of interest to them. Where is the US in trying to police conflicts in Africa (maybe Nigeria)? Pakistan? Not there, because there’s no oil. In supporting Georgia against Russia, the US is securing a very important pipeline going through the region. The US’ reasons for commencing the Iraq war were the wrong ones, there were no weapons of mass destruction, and still none are found today, 4 years after the commencement of the war. It’s all Bullshit (notice no BS this time and a capital B) I do believe the war has been the right thing to do, but not the way it has been done, to pretend there is weapons there, and proceed even though there was heavy protest from all over the world. They should have said “we think that there is reason to believe that our oil provisions are in jeopardy with the current dictatorship in Iraq, as well as the health of the entire Iraqi nation, we therefore demand permission to declare war to Iraq” what has it brought the US? 4$ a gallon! That’s all I got to say. It has benefitted no one, caused thousands of soldiers to lose their lives and the US has also forced many other nations to join the war against their will.
All this brings me to Russia who has been dogged down and controlled by the US since 1991 (collapse of the USSR). You may not know it or see it but Russia is strong, it has 140 million inhabitants and vast amounts of resources, it also has a rapidly developing and improving economy. In the next few years Russia will yet again be the viable opponent it was to the US in the cold War period. Remember, Russia won the space race, as it won many other races, such as the race to the center of the earth (click on the title and it will link you to a WIRED article about it). Russians are known for persistence, they never ever give up. Russia has so many ways to compromise the US as in sabotage their efforts to govern the world. Russia has influence in Iran; recently Iran came by Russia to do some missile shopping. The only relations the US has with Iran are hostile, they’re just threatening Iran. Threats are not always the way to go, but it has been for the US in the past few decades or so. Remember Desert Storm 1? Russia has much influence in east bloc countries, and in Asia, remember the Korean War? Guess who backed North Korea? Guess who dropped North Korea after pressure from the US? Yup, Russia. Russia is really not as bad as you think; it’s being portrayed as bad because it is “sabotaging” the US. It’s not really sabotage because what Russia is doing is for the best of the World not only for themselves. There is so much uncovered in this piece of writing and I could go on about how selfish America is but I really need to start forming my own opinion:
America, right I don’t even know how to say this nicely… it defends its own interests and doesn’t really give a f*** if it doesn’t affect them if there is a conflict here on earth that is not sparked by oil or does not compromise oil traffic to the US then I swear the US will not try to intervene! Perhaps it will because it has to because the UN sends a peace keeping force and unfortunately the US is part of the UN. The US is incredibly hypocritical as in it doesn’t allow anyone to have what they have because it’s disadvantageous to them. If they do want to police the world, then why don’t they? Right now they are doing it so half ass it’s incredible, lately it has become extremely obvious what the US is protecting and what they are willing to fight for, fuck peace as long we have our oil. I say to the UN ban oil from the US until they are really willing to think of other countries but themselves. Now I know this sounds like a critique of the US and I know it’s wrong to judge them on just one aspect. But what I say is not untrue. I know they do many other things, and they have a strong economy (less now) and they do control much of the markets and what not. But the whole world talks of them as if they are the shit whilst if you look just THAT much closer… your vision will change. And it will. I agree with the war in Iraq, and Afghanistan. But now with Georgia… seriously… the only reason the US supports Georgia and is threatening Russia is because Georgia has this ever so important pipeline running through the country. Why doesn’t Georgia see this and tell the US to go FUCK themselves I’m 100% sure that Ukraine would support them because it’s afraid of the same thing. The US is kissing nations’ asses all over the world for oil. It’s like a crack head that doesn’t have money for crack: “please I need it, I’ll do anything, ill SUCK YOUR DICK!” come on US be a little bit more moral.
I also truly believe that Russia will soon (in the next 20 years) become yet again the nation it has always been.
I know this turned out to be more of a critique to the US, than anything else. But please don’t get me wrong on this article. I in no way wanted to pick on Americans. I was critiquing the government, and their policies. I like America as a country, most people are great. It’s just that I don’t agree with the countries current policies and actions. If you disagree I encourage you to comment, or write an E-Mail to me for personal correspondence: rogersopinion@gmail.com.
--Roger's Opinion
Friday, August 22, 2008
Drinking age in US
So here it goes the magical second post:
The legal drinking age in the US has been 21 since 1984, and some 14 States even ban drinking within the confines of one’s house. Have any of you seen a college movie?? Where do they all take place? In America, people getting so plastered they are throwing up all over the place, girls becoming little slutmuffins, it’s ridiculous, and then the American government proudly announces they have one of the highest drinking ages in the world, and its working gloriously even though 44%! Yes, 44% of college students have admitted to heavy drinking (in USA terms that is 5 drinks per person). I wonder if they are blind, seriously, I mean I know you have an idiot as president but a whole nation of 305M people cannot be that blind that the drinking age is working, because it’s not. I say this because Deans of prestigious colleges in the US have come together to circle a petition that will lower the drinking age to 18 (click on the title it will link you to a NYtimes article about the petition). This surprised me, because now parties with alcoholic beverages are illegal, why would you want alcohol to be legal on your campus? Would it not increase the drinking and partying? The simple answer is: NO. Ok why is that you ask, well I will tell you about a small continent called Europe (for you American’s “France”), here in Europe a majority of the countries have a drinking age of 18, many of the western countries even have 16 for liquids containing up to 15% alcohol, anything above that you have to be 18. Though in the country where I live (Luxembourg, Americans: FYI this is not in Germany it’s a separate country) the legal drinking age is 16 regardless of the strength of the beverage. The alcohol abuse is less here in Europe, this is judging by my own experience. I believe it to be ok, to sometimes abuse alcohol a little bit, because if you don’t then you might as well be drinking water. Over time I have come to appreciate the taste of wine and beer, even though I found these revolting back in my early youth. I now drink wine and beer for pleasure instead out of a necessity or as a means to get drunk. I must admit that alcohol abuse to the point where one doesn’t know his/her own name, doesn’t know where they live, can’t sit, can’t even open their eyes and the kebab is coming out, that that is irresponsible and useless. What is the point? But I also believe that it is part of a learning process that lots of teenagers go through. I have been there, and never went back because it is not a good experience. I now know my limits, know when I am starting to drink too much and must slow down, many of my friends have done the same, and most now know how to control their alcohol consumption.
This means we now go off to college and don’t meet an entirely new and glorified experience that many American teenagers encounter: alcohol. We don’t need to experience the drunkenness anymore, we already have, but we have whilst we were still protected by our parents. We always had someone that would take care of us.
Imagine this:
You decided to “do some jaegerbombs” and then a bottle of vodka as the finishing touch a keg stand, and all this in the space of about 60-80 minutes. You don’t feel anything afterwards and you are proud of your resilience you continue dancing, and then you notice you’re swaying, the floor seems to be moving, and you’re dizzy as shite, your drunk, no, wasted. You think wohooo I’m drunk, then you don’t have fun anymore, you’re tired, and the minute you go outside to get some fresh air you sit down and close your eyes, oh oh not a good plan, once they close the world is spinning ever so fast and it’s sickening, also opening your eyes doesn’t help and you can feel the nausea. You walk around a corner and yes, you guessed it: projectile vomit baby!! You feel like absolute royal ass so you decide to go home, though your dorm room is locked and putting the key in the keyhole is like a lunar landing, and seems impossible for you, the key won’t turn for some reason. You are so tired you pass out in the hallway. The next morning a man wakes you up, the alcohol is still raging through your blood, and your head is thumping, then you realize you don’t know this man, you ask him where you are and he tells you the address and you realize your 2 blocks away from the college, you of course don’t remember shit. Wow you thought I must have been wasted out of my mind last night, awesome! But now on a serious note who knows what could have happened to you?
This is what I mean, in Europe we have more controlled use of alcohol, we legally party at the age of 16, 17, 18 this means there’s always a bouncer who will put you in a taxi home, or one of your friends will call a parent/ambulance. In college none of your friends give two shits, because they are hammered as well and are too busy enjoying their new explored phenomenon alcohol. Face it MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) alcohol will be tried by young people, and if it was true that they would only start at 21 they will abuse it the same way they will when they are 16 because they need to know what it does to them. It’s much like sexual exploration, everyone does it but it’s not legal until your 16, many youths admitted to performing sexual acts at the age of 13.
Here comes Roger's opinion!!
I truly believe the stated above, one needs to be prudent with the alcohol consumption, but I believe abuse isn’t always bad; MADD supporters are attempting to prevent a valuable learning experience. By this they are saying the same thing as: once you get married you can’t get a divorce! Come on, for some a marriage is a venture not cut out for them and hence they learn something they never knew before. MADD, if something is not working then abolish it, and get rid of your fears, don’t look at newspaper statistics of Europe, because they are so called “pussy” statistics and don’t convey anything of the benefits, alcohol dependence is lower in Europe than it is in America and we have lower drinking age. I think that alone defies your claim of your majestic 21. If it aint broke don’t fix it, in this case we need to fix it.
Look out for my next entry: Russia vs. America history has a way of repeating itself.
-Roger’s opinion
The legal drinking age in the US has been 21 since 1984, and some 14 States even ban drinking within the confines of one’s house. Have any of you seen a college movie?? Where do they all take place? In America, people getting so plastered they are throwing up all over the place, girls becoming little slutmuffins, it’s ridiculous, and then the American government proudly announces they have one of the highest drinking ages in the world, and its working gloriously even though 44%! Yes, 44% of college students have admitted to heavy drinking (in USA terms that is 5 drinks per person). I wonder if they are blind, seriously, I mean I know you have an idiot as president but a whole nation of 305M people cannot be that blind that the drinking age is working, because it’s not. I say this because Deans of prestigious colleges in the US have come together to circle a petition that will lower the drinking age to 18 (click on the title it will link you to a NYtimes article about the petition). This surprised me, because now parties with alcoholic beverages are illegal, why would you want alcohol to be legal on your campus? Would it not increase the drinking and partying? The simple answer is: NO. Ok why is that you ask, well I will tell you about a small continent called Europe (for you American’s “France”), here in Europe a majority of the countries have a drinking age of 18, many of the western countries even have 16 for liquids containing up to 15% alcohol, anything above that you have to be 18. Though in the country where I live (Luxembourg, Americans: FYI this is not in Germany it’s a separate country) the legal drinking age is 16 regardless of the strength of the beverage. The alcohol abuse is less here in Europe, this is judging by my own experience. I believe it to be ok, to sometimes abuse alcohol a little bit, because if you don’t then you might as well be drinking water. Over time I have come to appreciate the taste of wine and beer, even though I found these revolting back in my early youth. I now drink wine and beer for pleasure instead out of a necessity or as a means to get drunk. I must admit that alcohol abuse to the point where one doesn’t know his/her own name, doesn’t know where they live, can’t sit, can’t even open their eyes and the kebab is coming out, that that is irresponsible and useless. What is the point? But I also believe that it is part of a learning process that lots of teenagers go through. I have been there, and never went back because it is not a good experience. I now know my limits, know when I am starting to drink too much and must slow down, many of my friends have done the same, and most now know how to control their alcohol consumption.
This means we now go off to college and don’t meet an entirely new and glorified experience that many American teenagers encounter: alcohol. We don’t need to experience the drunkenness anymore, we already have, but we have whilst we were still protected by our parents. We always had someone that would take care of us.
Imagine this:
You decided to “do some jaegerbombs” and then a bottle of vodka as the finishing touch a keg stand, and all this in the space of about 60-80 minutes. You don’t feel anything afterwards and you are proud of your resilience you continue dancing, and then you notice you’re swaying, the floor seems to be moving, and you’re dizzy as shite, your drunk, no, wasted. You think wohooo I’m drunk, then you don’t have fun anymore, you’re tired, and the minute you go outside to get some fresh air you sit down and close your eyes, oh oh not a good plan, once they close the world is spinning ever so fast and it’s sickening, also opening your eyes doesn’t help and you can feel the nausea. You walk around a corner and yes, you guessed it: projectile vomit baby!! You feel like absolute royal ass so you decide to go home, though your dorm room is locked and putting the key in the keyhole is like a lunar landing, and seems impossible for you, the key won’t turn for some reason. You are so tired you pass out in the hallway. The next morning a man wakes you up, the alcohol is still raging through your blood, and your head is thumping, then you realize you don’t know this man, you ask him where you are and he tells you the address and you realize your 2 blocks away from the college, you of course don’t remember shit. Wow you thought I must have been wasted out of my mind last night, awesome! But now on a serious note who knows what could have happened to you?
This is what I mean, in Europe we have more controlled use of alcohol, we legally party at the age of 16, 17, 18 this means there’s always a bouncer who will put you in a taxi home, or one of your friends will call a parent/ambulance. In college none of your friends give two shits, because they are hammered as well and are too busy enjoying their new explored phenomenon alcohol. Face it MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) alcohol will be tried by young people, and if it was true that they would only start at 21 they will abuse it the same way they will when they are 16 because they need to know what it does to them. It’s much like sexual exploration, everyone does it but it’s not legal until your 16, many youths admitted to performing sexual acts at the age of 13.
Here comes Roger's opinion!!
I truly believe the stated above, one needs to be prudent with the alcohol consumption, but I believe abuse isn’t always bad; MADD supporters are attempting to prevent a valuable learning experience. By this they are saying the same thing as: once you get married you can’t get a divorce! Come on, for some a marriage is a venture not cut out for them and hence they learn something they never knew before. MADD, if something is not working then abolish it, and get rid of your fears, don’t look at newspaper statistics of Europe, because they are so called “pussy” statistics and don’t convey anything of the benefits, alcohol dependence is lower in Europe than it is in America and we have lower drinking age. I think that alone defies your claim of your majestic 21. If it aint broke don’t fix it, in this case we need to fix it.
Look out for my next entry: Russia vs. America history has a way of repeating itself.
-Roger’s opinion
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Beijing Olympics Charades
So my first post what else could it be about than the Beijing Olympics and the controversies that have propelled these Olympics into the history books as one of the most remarkable ever.
Not only are athletes breaking timed records, no, they are also breaking frequency records. Michael Phelps for example has broken the record of most medals in one Olympic tournament, as well as Usain Bolt winning both the 100m and 200m respectively. Where are all these records coming from? For years it has been silent and only a few records were occasionally broken, now all of a sudden records are being broken left and right. China for example, China is half way through the Olympics and they are at 45 Gold medals whilst in 2004 they only had 39 gold medals at the END of the Olympics!!! Also in 2004 China had 63 medals in total at the end and now half way through they have above 80!! Where is this sporting excellence coming from? And yes we have all seen the TV shows where China is drilling their 6 year olds into sporting robots, but that does not constitute all their athletes of the older generation also becoming sporting icons. To understand what I am getting at I will give you a small background on China, their culture, government, and their reputation:
- China is officially called the People's Republic of China.
- China is also formally still a communist state and has a dictatorial government.
although regulations are not as strict in China as the regulations in other totalitarian states (North Korea for example) China's government still controls most of the means to communicate with the outside world, it blocks websites, sensors TV broadcasting, and any other form of communication that would allow any of the citizens to obtain a negative view of China and its government, now even though this is slightly over stated all of this does happen, and china does still control its people.
Now back to the Olympics, we are all enjoying a sports event that is being held in a totalitarian state. Ironically sports events are known for the judges' unbiased judgement and control. However how do we know that doping controllers are given free reign in China to test the people? To what extend can we trust a nation that has tried to embellish truths before? The simple answer is not simple: not to a very large extend. However being trusting people that want to get on with our lives and enjoy sports we gave china a chance to prove them. And they have!! The opening ceremony was brilliant, amazing stunning, and the cute little girl singing, oh sorry lip syncing, did a good job at it. The fireworks were also spectacular, fake! But nonetheless spectacular. This makes me think.... a country is trying to impress so bad that it is shutting down its economy for the good of the sportsmen and women, but however it is deceiving us in a way that I don't believe is good. It took the rest of the world a few days to find out the deceptions, and at first we were convinced that the Chinese just did their best until we found out they faked it, could this not also be the case with the Chinese sportsmen and women? All of a sudden China is a fantastic unbeatable nation even though it was simply outclassed by give or take 40 medals four years ago? This is what I believe to be extremely controversial about the Beijing Olympics, in the sense that the Chinese are taking over all the events (and they have every right to win) but there is no subtle advance in their winnings, some facts:
2004: 63 Medals TOTAL of which 32 gold
2008 half way through: 81 Medals of which 45 gold!!
To me it seems like there is a slight discrepancy there.
Now I could go on about China's advance and irregularities, but it would bore you immensely and we are all to infatuated by the Olympics to give a correct and unbiased view of the results. by the above I am not in any way attempting to undermine the Chinese, or their sports excellence I was simply pointing out that China has advanced at an unusual pace, and I find it odd they do so well on their own soil, I mean everyone generally is better on home soil but china has gotten 150% better gold medal-wise and who knows if china receives 65 gold medals at the end it will have performed 2 times better than four years ago, wow, that's either amazing, or a sign of deception. I am impartial in this, whether china wins or not, I support good sportsmanship, exciting matches and events, and the Dutch.
Now on to other individual sportsmen that have caused controversy:
First off Usain Bolt. This guy is the bullet of the tournament, he runs so fast it amazed all of us. He qualified for the finals with ease, and won the finals in a new world record of 9.69. Now, who has ever heard of this Jamaican guy? He came out of nowhere and schooled everyone, even the most famous runners. People expected Tyson Gay to win the 100m, he was beaten early on, but Bolt qualified with a fantastic time. Bolt has only been running the 100m for a year, changing from longer distances to focus on the shorter ones. He has a body antithetical to those of sprinters, and yet he manages to come out of the starting blocks and beat everyone in the first 20m already, ridiculous. What did the Jamaican coach think? :
Coach: "so you have one year experience?"
Bolt: "yes sir"
Coach: "and you are 1.90m tall?"
Bolt: "yes Sir"
coach: "and everything else speaks against you that you would not be fit for a sprinter?"
Bolt: "yes sir"
Coach: "Perfect, you’re in."
Come on!! The coach must have had some kind of assurance!! This is total BS; an inexperienced athlete runs a new world record. There has to be some kind of drug that he is taking in order to win, it’s a drug not yet known about, but it will be soon, and he will get busted. He can live the victory now, but he will have to return his medals soon, if not soon in 8 years like the American athlete, she admitted after 8 years. It cheating and its wrong, it ruins the sport.
Now on to Phelps. Rumor has it that he did not win the 100m Butterfly for men.
To commence, Phelps is a fantastic athlete, having worked literally his entire childhood and pissing away all the years important to a young man’s social life by training this guy has become the most accomplished and rewarded athletes in the world. The theory about Phelps does not bother me nor does it concern me very much. Phelps won 8 Gold medals, never accomplished before, and even if he didn't win the 100m Butterfly he still set 7 world records in one Olympic tournament which has also not been done before. He has literally worked his entire life to get where he is and he is only 23.
My theory is though that there is drugs that reduces the muscle fatigue and lets the athletes perform 100%, for which they pay the price later. I am quite sure that Bolt is on these kind of drugs. Now, I would not surprise me if Phelps was on the same kind of drug because this guy had so many races in only a few days any normal athlete would have collapsed long time ago. So either he is super human, or he’s on drugs too. But in today accomplishment driven world, which athlete is not on drugs? I think one of the only clean tournaments would be a high school sports day, perhaps even then kids would test positive.
That was my lengthy first entrance; I hope you enjoyed it, please leave a comment and let me know what I need to change/improve. And also leave a comment to discuss the Beijing Olympics Charades.
-Rogers Opinion
Not only are athletes breaking timed records, no, they are also breaking frequency records. Michael Phelps for example has broken the record of most medals in one Olympic tournament, as well as Usain Bolt winning both the 100m and 200m respectively. Where are all these records coming from? For years it has been silent and only a few records were occasionally broken, now all of a sudden records are being broken left and right. China for example, China is half way through the Olympics and they are at 45 Gold medals whilst in 2004 they only had 39 gold medals at the END of the Olympics!!! Also in 2004 China had 63 medals in total at the end and now half way through they have above 80!! Where is this sporting excellence coming from? And yes we have all seen the TV shows where China is drilling their 6 year olds into sporting robots, but that does not constitute all their athletes of the older generation also becoming sporting icons. To understand what I am getting at I will give you a small background on China, their culture, government, and their reputation:
- China is officially called the People's Republic of China.
- China is also formally still a communist state and has a dictatorial government.
although regulations are not as strict in China as the regulations in other totalitarian states (North Korea for example) China's government still controls most of the means to communicate with the outside world, it blocks websites, sensors TV broadcasting, and any other form of communication that would allow any of the citizens to obtain a negative view of China and its government, now even though this is slightly over stated all of this does happen, and china does still control its people.
Now back to the Olympics, we are all enjoying a sports event that is being held in a totalitarian state. Ironically sports events are known for the judges' unbiased judgement and control. However how do we know that doping controllers are given free reign in China to test the people? To what extend can we trust a nation that has tried to embellish truths before? The simple answer is not simple: not to a very large extend. However being trusting people that want to get on with our lives and enjoy sports we gave china a chance to prove them. And they have!! The opening ceremony was brilliant, amazing stunning, and the cute little girl singing, oh sorry lip syncing, did a good job at it. The fireworks were also spectacular, fake! But nonetheless spectacular. This makes me think.... a country is trying to impress so bad that it is shutting down its economy for the good of the sportsmen and women, but however it is deceiving us in a way that I don't believe is good. It took the rest of the world a few days to find out the deceptions, and at first we were convinced that the Chinese just did their best until we found out they faked it, could this not also be the case with the Chinese sportsmen and women? All of a sudden China is a fantastic unbeatable nation even though it was simply outclassed by give or take 40 medals four years ago? This is what I believe to be extremely controversial about the Beijing Olympics, in the sense that the Chinese are taking over all the events (and they have every right to win) but there is no subtle advance in their winnings, some facts:
2004: 63 Medals TOTAL of which 32 gold
2008 half way through: 81 Medals of which 45 gold!!
To me it seems like there is a slight discrepancy there.
Now I could go on about China's advance and irregularities, but it would bore you immensely and we are all to infatuated by the Olympics to give a correct and unbiased view of the results. by the above I am not in any way attempting to undermine the Chinese, or their sports excellence I was simply pointing out that China has advanced at an unusual pace, and I find it odd they do so well on their own soil, I mean everyone generally is better on home soil but china has gotten 150% better gold medal-wise and who knows if china receives 65 gold medals at the end it will have performed 2 times better than four years ago, wow, that's either amazing, or a sign of deception. I am impartial in this, whether china wins or not, I support good sportsmanship, exciting matches and events, and the Dutch.
Now on to other individual sportsmen that have caused controversy:
First off Usain Bolt. This guy is the bullet of the tournament, he runs so fast it amazed all of us. He qualified for the finals with ease, and won the finals in a new world record of 9.69. Now, who has ever heard of this Jamaican guy? He came out of nowhere and schooled everyone, even the most famous runners. People expected Tyson Gay to win the 100m, he was beaten early on, but Bolt qualified with a fantastic time. Bolt has only been running the 100m for a year, changing from longer distances to focus on the shorter ones. He has a body antithetical to those of sprinters, and yet he manages to come out of the starting blocks and beat everyone in the first 20m already, ridiculous. What did the Jamaican coach think? :
Coach: "so you have one year experience?"
Bolt: "yes sir"
Coach: "and you are 1.90m tall?"
Bolt: "yes Sir"
coach: "and everything else speaks against you that you would not be fit for a sprinter?"
Bolt: "yes sir"
Coach: "Perfect, you’re in."
Come on!! The coach must have had some kind of assurance!! This is total BS; an inexperienced athlete runs a new world record. There has to be some kind of drug that he is taking in order to win, it’s a drug not yet known about, but it will be soon, and he will get busted. He can live the victory now, but he will have to return his medals soon, if not soon in 8 years like the American athlete, she admitted after 8 years. It cheating and its wrong, it ruins the sport.
Now on to Phelps. Rumor has it that he did not win the 100m Butterfly for men.
To commence, Phelps is a fantastic athlete, having worked literally his entire childhood and pissing away all the years important to a young man’s social life by training this guy has become the most accomplished and rewarded athletes in the world. The theory about Phelps does not bother me nor does it concern me very much. Phelps won 8 Gold medals, never accomplished before, and even if he didn't win the 100m Butterfly he still set 7 world records in one Olympic tournament which has also not been done before. He has literally worked his entire life to get where he is and he is only 23.
My theory is though that there is drugs that reduces the muscle fatigue and lets the athletes perform 100%, for which they pay the price later. I am quite sure that Bolt is on these kind of drugs. Now, I would not surprise me if Phelps was on the same kind of drug because this guy had so many races in only a few days any normal athlete would have collapsed long time ago. So either he is super human, or he’s on drugs too. But in today accomplishment driven world, which athlete is not on drugs? I think one of the only clean tournaments would be a high school sports day, perhaps even then kids would test positive.
That was my lengthy first entrance; I hope you enjoyed it, please leave a comment and let me know what I need to change/improve. And also leave a comment to discuss the Beijing Olympics Charades.
-Rogers Opinion
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