Food Stamps: Americans are Sucking Us Dry

    Food Stamps: Americans are Sucking Us Dry

     Food stamps are defined as a voucher exchangeable for food, issued by the government to those below or at the poverty line. But why is it lower middle class, middle class and even upper middle class families are abusing the generosity of the federal government. The actually intent of programs like SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) is to give struggling families a chance to get back on there feet, not provide extra grocery money for families that could otherwise afford it. The government needs to wake up and realize how our tax dollars are really being spent. Too often Americans take advantage of food stamp programs funded by our tax dollars.
     Day in and day out, I work hard for my paycheck but I feel as though it is all for nothing sometimes, a percentage of my hard earned money is taken out by the government. I was fine with doing my civic duty by helping my fellow America thru taxes, until I read Alexandra Carter's article, "Food Stamps: People Abusing Taxpayer Dollars". Carter discusses how easy it is to abuse SNAP and how hard regulating recipients can be. "The Food Stamp Surfer: Californian Jason Greenslate recently caused national outrage when Fox News exposed him for using tax payer dollars to buy lobster, sushi and alcohol with his food stamp card." Greenslate is a perfectly fit and able guy, he could go out today and find a job to support himself, instead of use tax dollars. The lack of embarrassment and morals is displayed as he nonchalantly admits to not wanting a job because he can live of American tax dollars. This great country was founded on integrity, our founding fathers put their blood, sweat and tears into our future. Greenslate and millions of Americans knowingly steal money right out of the government's pocket. Unfortunately, I have had an up close and personal argument about SNAP abuse with my sister-in-law. She buys all the name brand shoes and purses her little heart desires, recently she bought a Louis Vuitton purse valued at about $2,500. Louis Vuitton or not, it doesn't make a difference to me. But what does affect me is that SNAP card at the bottom of that Louis Vuitton purse. Maybe if you didn't buy thousand dollar purse you would be able to feed your two kids just fine. A family of four can receive $450 - $650 a month! Every time she mentions grocery shopping, I feel like I am footing the bill for her family along with the other leeches sucking America dry.
     Food Stamps do keep some families' heads above water and without some help they would go hungry. I've gathered that the people abusing government assistance programs philosophy is "Why not? It's free money. That's the beauty of America!", said by my sister-in-law. I will say this over and over again until I'm blue in the face, government assistance programs are for families at or below the poverty line, not the soccer mom down the street that wants a little extra money in her pocket for a new pair of shoes. It can't just be little ole me, the government needs to grow a pair and fight back. If there were actual consequences for these actions, people would be less likely to commit the offense in the first place.
     Federal assistance programs like SNAP are the difference between a family eating that day or not. But when these same programs are continually abused time and time again, there is a problem. The government and Americans are at fault. The government needs to implement a no tolerance policy for abuse of tax funded programs. And Americans need get some integrity and stop mooching off the hard working people, and work for what they want if life.

www.thepeoplescube.com

Public vs. Private

Private vs. Public

     Private or public schools? Which one is better? Is there a better choice?  When it comes to public versus private, public is a clear winner, hands down. There is more of everything, choice in curriculum, sports programs, fine arts programs and diversity. Public school is a better route than private school because public school provides more opportunities,that private schools can't, for your child. 
     In an article written by Valerie Strauss on The Washington Post's website, Strauss shares her thoughts on public school. She believes public school students can out do private school students. A recent study done proves her theory correct, "We analyzed instruction and performance for over 300,000 elementary and middle school students in 15,108 public, charter, and private schools.  What we found surprised us.  Students in public schools actually outperform those in private schools." Better performance and little to tuition, sounds like a win-win to me. When I hear private school, I think cha-ching. It seems crazy to me, for parents to pay for their child's education prior to college, when they can get the same thing or better for free. Why rush to dish out an extra five hundred dollars every month per child from the time your child is school age, about 5 years old, until he or she graduates, about 18 years old. By their senior year you would have spent approximately $78,000, and let's not forget you have not even begun to pay for their college education, which will be an additional $240,000 if you continue on the private school route. Personally, I have attended public schools my whole life, I have been very successful in school and sports. Out of 1056 students in my graduating class, I'm in the top 8%. College-level classes have been a must since freshman year, those classes kept me challenged and continually prepare me for college. While keeping up with school work I also played soccer for my school. Being apart of a team provides you with experiences not offered anywhere else. Teammate and friend relationships leave a lasting impression and survive a lifetime.
     Don't get me wrong, there are a few perks to private school, there are smaller classroom sizes, challenging curriculum, and specific topic focus. But smaller classrooms aren't always what there are cracked up to be, just because your child is in a smaller classroom doesn't directly mean the child will be a scholar. It is up to the individual to decide their destiny no matter the obstacles. Challenging curriculum? Nothing a few AP or dual credit courses can't fix, plus possible college credit. Why spend all your time on one specific topic when you can spend time learning everything, the more you learn, the more you know.
     Choosing the "right" school is overrated and over speculated. Whether you choose public or private, your child will receive a quality education. But if the only difference is $78,000 and a few more students in the classroom, the decision seems simple. Your child's must influential years will be sent day in and day out at school, so why not provide your child with every opportunity possible. 
   

                                 

www.educationbug.com

Be Honest or Be Employed?

Be Honest or Be Employed?

     There are 3.3 million elementary and secondary school teachers in America. There are 8 million people who identity as LGBT. It is estimated that there is at least one LGBT teacher in each of the 98 thousand plus public schools in America. Being LGBT has not been proven to make you a better or worst teacher than a straight one. But why is it openly LGBT teachers are being prosecuted and pushed back in the closet by school administration. LGBT or Straight, Black or White, Male or Female, teachers should be judged for their ability to change lives and cultivate the minds of our future.
     As a junior in high school, I have come across many teachers through out the years both good and bad. One teacher in particular inspired me to become a high school teacher. She saved me from my darkest days by showing me how to overcome frivolous school drama. Now, just 5 years away from having my dream job, my dream has become obscured by some recent headlines in the media. "Gay Teacher Fired For Obtaining Same-Sex Marriage License", "Gay Teacher Canned for Pregnancy" and "Openly Gay Teacher Forced to Resign", just to name a few. When a teacher is open about their family it makes them become real people in the eyes of their students. They have a crazy cousin everyone avoids at gathering just like you, their young child gets in trouble for biting another student just like your little brother, their weekend was crazy too because of holiday shopping, these teacher 'story times' are what helps build a healthy teacher-student respect. I plan to be completely honest with my future students about my family, which I hope includes a wife and children. Before seeing the recent headlines I never thought I would have to go back in the closet just to live my dream and keep my job. 
     Many people in way higher positions than I, disagree. A North Carolinian mother of three, argued her years of Christian belief based parenting would be threatened by openly gay teachers in her sons' lives. She felt so strongly about this topic she then took it to the principal of her sons' school. As a result of her and others alike actions, a snowball of teacher resignation letters and unexplained terminations followed. Quality teachers were fired for being honest, just because a teacher is LGBT doesn't mean they are trying to teacher there students to accept the LGBT community or convince them to reconsider their sexual orientation. 
     The more than 98 thousand estimated LGBT teachers should be free to build healthy and honest teacher-student relationships without fear of being pushed back into the closet or terminated. The ability to make a positive difference in someone's life doesn't become hindered by one's sexual orientation. 

www.e-learning.com

My Reading Life

A Stolen Life - Book Trailer

    My reading life was improved dramatically, so far I have tripled the number of the books I have read compared to last year. I am falling in love with reading for the first time, I've found a genre that I actually enjoy reading. For me this feeling is uncharted territory. The best book I have ever read is "A Stolen Life: A Memoir" by Jaycyee Dugard, if I hadn't known this was I memoir I wouldnt have believed the events that accrued, Dugard's ability to always see the brighter side of things during a time of darkness is inspirational. The second best book I've read is "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls, the book reads like a novel but is also a memoir. The other books I've read this year are "The Liars' Club" by Mary Karr, "The Dictionary of High School B.S." by Lois Beckwith, and "Sula" by Toni Morrison. I'm starting to see a pattern, reading about other people' s disfunctional lives and adversities interest me the most. Reading all these books has made me realize I get bored easily when reading, a book as to be good from beginning to end for me to read it until the end. The most difficult book was "Sula" because of the dialogue. The book was set in the south, the southern droll made words difficult to recognize when written. My solution was to listen to the audio book, after jumping over that hurdle I began to enjoy the book more. The hardest part about maintaining my reading life is making time to read. Before I wouldn't be caught dead reading anywhere outside of the classroom, but now I read everywhere and anywhere. When you have a good book in hand it is easy to find time to read. I have made a lot of progress so far but I'm still a long ways away from my reading goals. Having a faster reading rate is my main goal because it will not only help me in English but also in all my other classes. My second goal is to improve my ability to spell. I could hear a word and use it correctly repeatedly but when it comes to using it in my writing I never do because spelling is an issue. As a result, I dumb down my written by only using words I know how to spell correctly. 

AWESOME!!!

The Perfect Ending To A Not So Perfect Day... AWESOME!

     It's Thursday night, just one more day until the weekend. You're working a double shift after school for the lowest remuneration legally possible, covering for your troll like co-worker you despise the most. SUBWAY, the cheapest corporation known to man, is a nightmare employer.The only reason you did is because you told yourself, "That's one less shift I have to work to get my new car." The rudest customers flood in by the the billions, each one worst then the last. Being rude back can have deleterious affects so your cheeks hurt from all the fake smiles you've dished out along side their sandwiches. The words, "Have a great night! Come again!", mean absolutely nothing by the end of the night. You are secretly wishing they will never come during your shift again, but they always do. The hebdomary ones can be the worst, they get tired of being nice to you, they expect you to look in your crystal ball and instantly know their order, like they are the one only ones that come in for a sandwich at SUBWAY. And then there's the customers who come in and tell me,"I just love SUBWAY, but only for there cookies." It's always surprising to hear their favorite item on the menu of a sandwich shop are the cookies. Mouth drooling, hungry customers can smell the freshly-frozen cookie dough baking in the oven. The line starts to back up, everyone is smacked up against each other in the match box sized store. The creation of the perfect sub is no easy task, you have to add the meat and the cheese and the vegetables and the sauces. But the real challenge is commenced when a soccer mom orders a footlong, orders a six inch, orders a kids pack, orders a dozen cookies, it is then you realize, you will need to facilitate an addition pair of hands. Finally it winds down to closing time, you wish you could bifurcate yourself in half to clean up after all the slobs that rolled in only a few minutes before closing. After consummating your long list of to-do's, you subsequently close up shop. You hop in your mom's antediluvian beat up station wagon, the engine makes its infamous CLONK sounds as you start the engine. You are not cognizant of what the future holds, in the back of your mind you hope it decides to start this time. The whole way home you mull-over the homework that's due tomorrow, the word problems for Physics, the textbook questions for Algebra II, the annotated article for English, the TRF for AVID.Then you realize the last few traffic lights were green, then the next one and the next one. The perfect ending to a not so perfect day, a non-stop trip back home. AWESOME!

www.gopherpucklive.com

My Go World Analysis

     

My Go World Analysis 

     When I was first assigned this project I was stumped. I began to think of all the eventful memories in my life; dealing with loosing a loved one, my coming out story, choosing which parent to live with, the list goes on and on but none of them seemed to really jump out at me. Until a light bulb went off the night before the best draft was due. EDUCATION! The single word that describes my motivation in life. What better story to tell then your childhood dream, that is steadily approaching completion. The next hill to climb was word choice, the make it or break it factor of the project. I can honestly say this was one of my first times writing draft after draft with different variation of diction and sentence structure. Usually my drafts are written with the one and done policy.

     The first few drafts left out small but important details, that would leave my audience with some confusion. After reading every draft I asked myself, "If I knew nothing about the story or myself would this make sense?" Many times the answer was "no" until I added very necessary details and extracted all the "fluff" words. Looking back in my writer's notebook I've written at least ten drafts, and each was an improvement from the previous one. 

     My drafts improved because each time I learned how diction, sentence structure and imagery played a huge role in bringing forth emotion. As I continuously got feedback from my peers and teacher I saw I had a good Go World story developing. Initially, I gained feedback when my class held a group discussion about the correct way to give and receive constructive criticism. After preparing my best draft and reading it aloud in class I received a plethora of sticky notes filled with critiques. I found this to be the most beneficial activity we did as a class because my classmates don't have all the background knowledge that I do so after reading their sticky notes I saw my story threw their eyes.

     Following the creation of my new best draft I started exploring the world of Animoto. Being this was my first time using the app it took me a minute to figure out what would help enhance the emotion in my story. After playing around a little I found the perfect backgrounds and sound to match. One of the trickiest steps was figuring out how to break up the sentences in sections to fit in the given text space, while maintaining the structure and flow. Finally, everything was complete! To watch my Go World video click here!

     At the end of the day I was actually proud of myself, there were times when I wasn't sure if I could make an emotional and moving video. I questioned my abilities at every turn the idea of a piece of my life being displayed for the whole class to see was a bit unsettling. I'm not the type of person who puts there feelings on display for the whole world to see but this time I am glad I did. Your peers can be the toughest critics but I now realize I had nothing to worry about. 

It's Not My Fault...

It's Not My Fault...

Are Roller Coasters As Safe As We Like To Think?

Are Roller Coasters As Safe As We Like To Think?

      The Texas Giant and Titan and Shock Wave and Superman and Aquaman are the destinations for thrill seekers all over Texas. I'm not questioning the fun factor but everything is fun until someone gets hurt. This NBC News report explains how a woman died in July of 2013 after being flung from her seat while riding the 'Texas Giant' at Six Flags Over Texas. Keep in mind a person has a better chance of getting into a car attack on their way to work but nearly everyone has to drive to work but not everyone has to ride a 65 mph roller coaster, one hundred and fifty-three feet in the air. Is this risk worth the thrill?
      Just now having my first experience on the new and improved 'Texas Giant' over the weekend, all three minutes and twenty-five seconds, I was thinking is this the part where Mrs. Esparza flew out of her seat and fell to her death. Not the typical roller coaster experience but an experience none the less. For me, the few moments of thrill was not worth a lifetime of moments and memories. 
    Some thrill seekers might disagree with my logical. Because they thrive on the rush of adrenaline  they get while on one of these death traps, thrill seekers hold this rush to a higher regard than I. Since March of 1999, twenty-two people have been killed or suffered injuries at Six Flags Over Texas as a direct result of a taking part in a ride. Twenty-two doesn't sound like a lot compared to the hundreds of people who visit Six flags daily but that's twenty-two people who could have reminded alive or unharmed if they had not taking a ride on one of the Six Flags' thrilling rides.
     Three minutes of thrill is definitely not worth ones life. But their are some that will argue until they are blue in the face that roller coaster are perfectly safe and an ride worth taking. Like me, will people see roller coasters differently now? Only time will tell. 

www.sixflags.com/overtexas

Marriage Equality: What is a "real" marriage?

           

           Marriage Equality: What is a "real" marriage?

 "Ding, Dong!" The church bells ring as the two families enter the grand doors, coming together as one family to celebrate the beginning of a new life for the happy couple. Wait, the happy couple? Couple of what? People of course but does it matter if there is one groom or two. Apparently, to some it is the defining factor of a "real marriage". Who and what defines a "real marriage"? Is it the gender of the people  in the relationship or the love that they share? These are all questions that have remained without one clear-cut answer. I believe this is because there really isn't just ONE answer to these questions. When I think of a happy newly wed couple I think of the life they will soon share together and the memories waiting to be made, not whether there is just one Mrs. or one Mr. America needs to wake up and smell the rainbow colored roses, times have changed and the laws need to change with them. Long ago, the consequence for stealing was to remove the offender's hands but as people evolved, the laws eventually evolved into the laws we know today. The same principle needs to be applied to marriage equality laws. Nancy Kalish, Ph.D., the author of "Lost Loves: Why Marriage Equality Is Important" from Psychology Today, affirms these beliefs. Kalish explains why equality is imperative to same-sex couples. www.psychologytoday.com

www.peaceproject.com