Is technology out of hand?

Recently there has been a lot of buzz in the news about the stock markets over social media. Twitter stocks are rising. I actually find this quite hilarious considering 10 years ago no one would have ever thought there would be stock in a social media website.

I think it’s very interesting how the world is evolving today. Everything is centered on social media and technology these days. Is this good or bad? What do you think?

I think it’s interesting how people from an older generation see it verses how people from my generation see it. Me, being a teenager, I think technology is a good thing.

And yes at times I am often addicted to my phone screen looking at twitter or texting my friends back. However, I do think its crazy how fast technology is advancing these days. I, also think it’s very interesting how technology is effecting world issues these days too.

Do you think our grandparents ever would’ve thought of putting stock into an app where people can “tweet” on “Twitter”? It’s almost ridiculous (though I am a Twitter user) that people have to post something to tell others their thoughts or what they are doing. I mean I guess that’s what this blog is too. So isn’t this kind of ridiculous as well?

I am a fan of technology however, I don’t know if I like the direction the world is heading in with all these social media apps and websites and all these ways to communicate with people 24/7. Do we ever get a break from it?

Even the President of the United States, Barack Obama took a “selfie” to post on social media during a celebration of the life of Nelson Mandela. Even our highest government official is letting social media be a part of his life.

Is this really necessary?

I want to know what you think.

Is technology out of hand? I do think it is. I want to argue with people about this but then I feel like I am a hypocrite because I enjoy my technology. I wish everyone in this world knew how to balance their time with technology. But to be honest, it overtakes our lives these days. I wish we all could figure out a balance.

So I encourage you and persuade you to put the phone down and talk face to face and to not get so absorbed by your technology devices. It's a challenge trust me but in the end you will be happy you did it.

Another weather rant

Cold weather, I hate it. It messes up a lot of things. Especially if snow comes with it. Many flights have been delayed recently, along with school cancellations and roads closing and many other activities have been postponed due to the cold or the winter weather.

So this is why I don’t get it when people say they like winter. Like really you like being cold and you like to have things rescheduled and you like to go to school to June? Really?

I just think that winter is ridiculous.

Weather, weather, weather. Seems to be all we ever think about anymore. Living in the Midwest during the winter sucks. It is beyond horrible. I hate cold weather. I absolutely hate icy roads. I just really enjoy being warm and wish I lived in Florida right now. But hey, I’m not the only one who hates it so I guess I better keep this rant short because I’m sure you have all heard it before about a million other times.

Today it is 35 degrees and that feels warm right now. That’s crazy! I hate it, I hate it, I hate it. Did I mention I hate the cold weather? Because I do. It’s horrible.

I mean a few weeks ago we had temperatures in the negative 30s and that didn’t include the wind chill! What ever happened to global warming?

Many news outlets all they have been reporting on is school cancellations and cold weather and roads being closed. Who honestly enjoys winter?

I have already blogged about this but I feel like this is the only thing in the media lately. So since my blog is about current events and my stand on them, I think I’m making it clear what my stand is on this even if it is just a rant.

Another point to add to this rant is that when it was in the negative 30s in Indiana it was illegal to drive. That literally meant the entire state of Indiana was shut down because it was too cold to drive and that means it was for sure too cold to walk! That is ridiculous.

So tell me again why you like winter?!

I just want that Sunny and 75 weather. Is that really too much to ask for Mother Nature?!?!

Leave them alone!

Do you ever wonder what it would be like to grow up in a different home? Like maybe your friends house? Or trade lives with someone who has more money? Or trade with someone who lives in a warmer more tropical place?

What about growing up in the spotlight? Honestly, I don’t know if I would want that. That is more common now a days with reality tv and child actors/actresses and singers and models. I think part of this has to do with the effectiveness social media has with getting the word out in a quick way to literally anyone. Because whatever you post on the internet will be there forever for anyone to see.

Do you remember the show “Jon & Kate + Eight”? This was a reality show about family that had eight kids that included a set of twins and sextuplets (six babies at one time). Can you even imagine being pregnant with six babies at once?

Anyways, that show featured this family growing up in the craziness of eight kids in their everyday life. It was actually quite entertaining. However the show ended when parents, Jon and Kate, got divorced.

Then, it turned into “Kate + Eight”, however that show is over now as well.

But now the family is trying to live a normal life, however they are still in the spotlight. Media has harassed the family for years about the show effecting their lives and now that the two twins are teenagers they’ve decided to speak out with their mom.

So mom Kate, and thirteen year old twins Mady and Cara, have done a number of interviews recently to talk about growing up in the spotlight and how it has affected their lives.

This however, is seeming suspicious to some media outlets because the girls do not say as much as their mom does on the air during these interviews.

I personally don’t think that people in the media should be that critical of Kate talking a lot during these interviews. How many normal thirteen year olds are going to be perfectly okay with speaking out about their lives on tv in front of the whole country? Like really? They are doing a great job in my opinion and I think it’s great that they are speaking out and saying that being on reality tv has not hurt them and that people do not know their whole story.

In my opinion, people need to stop being so nosey and let them be. They are doing a great job living their lives so let them be!

An article on their interviews can be found here:

http://www.today.com/moms/kate-gosselin-twin-daughters-are-really-regular-teens-2D11940194

The Outback Bowl

Over the holiday break from school, a few Kennedy students traveled south to cheer on the University of Iowa Hawkeyes football team in the Outback Bowl. I was fortunate enough to tag along with a friend to the game.

The University of Iowa Hawkeyes took on the Louisiana State University Tigers in the Outback Bowl that was held in Tampa Bay Florida on January 1, 2014. The game was played at Raymond James Stadium before a crowd of 51,296 fans.

The LSU Tigers won the game 21-14 but not without a fight. It stunk! If Iowa would’ve pulled it together in the first half we would’ve beat them!

Even though the Hawkeyes didn’t pull out the victory, the fans sure did. The University of Iowa sold 95 percent of their allotted ticket sales. This was more than any other college in a bowl game. This is amazing to me!

Louisiana is a heck of a lot closer to Florida than Iowa is. I will say though, going to the Iowa games over the years, Iowa football fans are pretty loyal to their team.

 

During the week of the bowl game there were many activities in order to get the teams and fans pumped up for the game.

There was the Outback Bowl Beach Party at Clearwater beach which hosted a battle of the bands and cheerleaders from both schools. There was also a New Year’s Eve Parade and Pep Rally. The parade had fifteen marching bands including the Hawkeyes and LSU bands.

Also the University of Iowa hosted an event called the “Hawkeye Huddle”, which was held on New Year’s Eve and featured a party for Iowa fans and had many televisions set up for fans to watch the Iowa Men’s Basketball team play. They had a huge TV, it was pretty cool to be around all those Iowa fans when watching the game!

This was a great experience for me despite Iowa loosing.

Some information on this can be found here:

http://www.outbackbowl.com/

If you are ever thinking about attending a Bowl game I wouldn’t hesitate to go!

Weather

Weather, weather, weather. Seems to be all we ever think about anymore. Living in the Midwest during the winter sucks. It is beyond horrible. I hate cold weather. I absolutely hate icy roads. I just really enjoy being warm and wish I lived in Florida right now. But hey, I’m not the only one who hates it so I guess I better keep this rant short because I’m sure you have all heard it before about a million other times.

 The weather in the winter here in the Midwest, affects us a lot. It gets kind of crazy sometimes. For example tomorrow and tonight we are expected to get a huge ice storm. They are already cancelling many things for that tonight when we haven’t gotten any bad weather yet.

Today it is 35 degrees and that feels warm right now. That’s crazy! I hate it, I hate it, I hate it. Did I mention I hate the cold weather? Because I do. It’s horrible.

They are even talking about postponing the Super Bowl in February. It isn’t even Christmas yet! Weather sucks. Unless of course its Sunny and 75.

Regarding the Super Bowl date to be moved due to weather,

“There are contingency plans for multiple different days,” Supovitz told the New York Daily News. “There is the potential of a move-up scenario, there is the potential of a move-back scenario, depending on what we are seeing coming. It could potentially be on a Saturday or it could be on the Monday or Tuesday. There is also a scenario where we could play the following weekend, a scenario that is incredibly unlikely. You’re dealing with progressively infinitesimal possibilities.”

The article this quote came from can be found here:

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/super-bowl-xlviii-nfl-could-reschedule-if-weather-becomes-issue-121813

This is crazy to me. Weather affects us so much. In fact I’m supposed to be in my third hour class right now and I’m at home with winter breaking starting a day early due to this nasty weather! But hey I guess I should not complain.

But anyways, wouldn’t it be crazy if the Super Bowl was not played on a Sunday? Seriously though, its called “Super Bowl Sunday” it wouldn’t be the same without that.

The weather does some crazy things this time of year. I hope you’re prepared to be bundled up when you go out!

Continue to stay warm and be prepared to be bundled up!

Honoring Nelson Mandela gone wrong

In the event with many major world leaders, a man used fake sign language on stage. Standing next to President Obama and many other leading officials he used fake sign language to interpret what these people were saying in honor of the fallen Nelson Mandela.

To me, when I first heard this I didn’t really believe it. However, if you go back and watch the event the man was just using common hand gestures. I don’t think this is right at all. The death people in attendance should have been able to take part in the ceremony in honor of Nelson Mandela.

He was just as much their leader as he was to people who are not deaf.

According to reports, the man’s name was Thamsanqa Jantjie who had a medical record of many mental illnesses. According to him and his wife that day he had a vision of angels flying in the room and lost his focus. Hmmmm… why would the officials hire him to sign if he had these mental illness issues?

I mean c’mon people this guy was standing next to some very prominent people around the world. What would happen to all these countries if he had gone mad and hurt their officials? That is not right. People with that status in society always have others who do not like them and want them dead. Anyone who is going to be so close to these prominent leaders should have to be background checked.

However, the South African government didn’t look into Jantjie’s medical records before hiring him for the job. I know this was probably a mistake and nothing terrible came out of it, but really? That’s putting a lot of things at risk.

Hopefully this taught the government of South Africa a lesson and other country’s officials a lesson on making sure they do full background checks and full medical checks.

This situation could’ve potentially put a lot of people in danger. Good thing in this situation it did not.

It is just horrible though that the deaf people in attendance were cheated like this. They did not get to join alongside the people of their country because they could not understand what was going on due to this. They too had the right to remember and honor Nelson Mandela but because of this mix up they did not get the chance too.

I hope somehow this can be made up to them and that everyone learns from this.

The man is now in a mental hospital and the deaf people in attendance should be paid back in some way for this event.

An article on this can be found here:

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/19/21969085-fake-interpreter-from-mandela-event-is-admitted-to-psychiatric-hospital-report?lite

Nobody likes a snorer!

Snoring. I absolutely hate when people snore. Worst thing ever. How do you sleep through someone next to you or even a room away making a loud noise all through the night? You can’t sleep!

My biggest pet peeve is when people are being loud when others are trying to sleep. Yes when this is snoring I know people can’t help it but it’s horrible.

I NEED MY SLEEP!

Snore, snore, snore, thirty seconds later, snore.

This is horrible. Biggest pet peeve.

Snoring and sleep apnea are not only bad for people’s health who are listening to it, but also bad for the person who is snoring.

They can cause diabetes, increase in blood sugar, hypertension, heart disease, depression or premature death.

Overall, snoring is just bad.

Now the FDA has approved the American Sleep Association oral appliance to eliminate or reduce sleep apnea and snoring. This oral appliance readjusts the position of your lower jaw forward, opening the back of your throat thus reducing the symptoms of sleep apnea and snoring.

This is a good thing.

According the this article: http://www.smarterlifestyles.com/2011/05/27/how-you-can-get-a-good-night%E2%80%99s-sleep-2/?fc_id=51826&fc_app_id=8035&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kcrg.com%2Fnews%2Flocal%2FBody-Found-on-top-of-Frozen-Cedar-River-235551081.html

“In normal sleep, air enters your mouth and nose freely flowing to your lungs, heart, brain and other vital organs.  However, if you have sleep apnea or snore, the muscles in the back of your throat collapse while you sleep thus obstructing air flow to your lungs.  The oral appliance repositions your lower jaw forward clearing your air passage allowing air to freely flow to your lungs thus eliminating the cause of sleep apnea and snoring and their dangerous side effects.”

This is an interesting invention.

I suggest if you know someone who is snoring you should get them one of these, or if you are snoring get one ASAP no one wants to listen to a snorer when they’re trying to sleep.

So please, get help.

Nobody likes being woken up when they sleep!