A story with a lesson

Now and again, i find myself sitting alone amongst the humming of my computer and the constant buzz of thoughts in my own head. It's pretty lonely and to be honest that's kind of how i like it. "kind of" is a very relative term though. Let me explain what i mean by "kind of". For starters, i enjoy hearing my own thoughts clearly and being able to escape the overwhelming presence of society. I especially enjoy being able to do as i please. But as much as i enjoy being alone, deep within i am a social butterfly and i enjoy chatting it up with anyone that will listen. It's almost like a hidden talent of  mine. I can talk to anyone. and believe me when I say anyone. I could present myself to a two time felon in prison for murder provoking nothing more than a thoughtful conversation that reaches deep within the grasps of their own imagination all while maintaining a composure that tells them i do not fear them. I could present myself to an outsider who dwells within their own home because they face a number of behavioral disorders that prevent them from making much contact with an average human being. This special skill is something I have never quite understood. I don't know how to utilize it properly and quite frankly it's almost useless. But as nice as it is to not fear human interaction. It sucks.


In middle school I was a victim of bullying. As funny as it is to look back at what happened, it wasn't a joke at the time. It was serious. I pulled out from seventh grade to homeschool because i didn't want to go to school. I knew that if I went to school I would be bullied. It got more serious before i pulled out as i started contemplating suicide and even though I never carried through the damage I took has left mental scars. But pulling out of seventh grade for homeschooling sounds like an easy way out and it kind of is. But it wasn't for me. I rapidly gained weight from eating too much comfort food and i didn't stop gaining. until I reached a hefty 230 pounds. However if i could go back and do it differently I wouldn't. When I started homeschooling, I also had a lot of time on my hands and with that time came lots of Xbox. When I started playing xbox it was only because it was an easy way to interact with people without leaving home. I never left home infact. I think I left home maybe five or six times that year. But i also met some of the most inspirational characters of my life. Believe me or not, I became one of the best Call of Duty players on xbox live that I knew at the time. What started as nothing more than an escape from reality became a place where no one could touch me. I played alongside some of the best gamers to ever exist. I always thought that gaming was stupid before I started and then I myself became one, only to learn that not all gamers are couch potato's with no future. The first person i met was a kid named Jon from California. Jon was the average geek who was incredibly smart and just as equally weird. Thanks to Jon, my life will never be the same. On one particular day of xbox playing, i joined Jon's xbox party to see what he was doing. At the time, kids who plated Call of Duty were also into creating short movies that focused on their gaming skills and showing off how good they were at playing the game. I found myself engulfed in the scene of gaming myself and it didn't take long to make my way in. Little did i know that when i joined the group chat Jon was hosting, i would find myself amidst some of the greatest human being's i had ever met in my life.


The first person I met was a guy who inspired me beyond all things imaginable. At the time he was known as K8PPY but to his friends he was just known as Luke. Seemingly witty and inexplicably hilarious, Luke was one of the greatest friends I've ever had and  that I've never even met. After getting to know luke for about a year, we became closer and realized we weren't too different.Through Luke I met some other great friends such as one that goes by Sebastian Knight. Now Luke was interesting, but sebastian was on a whole different level. Not only was Sebastian incredibly funny and one of the best video editors and visual artists i've ever met, but sebastian was also full of enough energy and life to power our earth using nothing but his bare hands for the next millennium. Among other friends i made such as young lad from scotland named craig who has become a well known music producer in the UK. Craig and I were very close and when his mother died we became closer than anyone i've ever been close to that wasn't family related.Now before i answer your question "what does this have to do with anything?" ,  Let me start out with saying that I am not very wealthy. I live with a single father who makes a living and has given me great opportunity to become who I am today. Eventually me and my group of xbox friends added eachother on facebook and skype to get a real taste of what each other was like. That was when i realized who i was playing xbox with daily. Let me start with Luke. Luke was an extremely rich private school student who attended an All boy private school in the hills of Pasadena, Califronia. He was good at soccer and loved adventure. A great photographer and an even better writer, Luke was destined for Greatness the moment he was born. Sebastian was also a rich Californian who attended a private school best known for it's D1 football athletes and outstanding academics ( not to mention everyone who went there also went to UCLA and was filthy rich). Sebastian was best friends with Dr Dre's son Truice and had a number of other friends whose parents were famous. Sebastian's father had started a successful clothing brand and wrote for Disney and his mom did real estate. Craig was an angry Scottish teen who was famous on youtube and loved to yell Scottish insults at anyone he could. He eventually ended up getting on BBC's Radio 1 a few times and revently started his bachelor degree for photography at a prestigious art school in his country.

All of these kids you would imagine lived perfect lives. Infact I was more stunned at the fact these people I had been befriending behind a screen were actually who they were. I was even more stunned to find out Sebastians school took three field trips a year to a different state, country, and the local college UCLA. Crazy right? So what does this have to do with culture and why am I telling you my life story? Well, i'll tell you. At a time of desperation I thought that I had the worst issues ever. I thought that getting bullied was horrible, I thought I wasn't good enough for society, my family, my friends, or myself, and at times i thought I would never make it. But these perfect people changed my outlook on life. As time went on I learned that even with Lukes seemingly perfect life attending a private school of whom played soccer against international high school teams, he actually faced depression and ended up going down a long path of drug and alcohol addiction. After not talking to Luke for almost a year i found out he went to Rehab to better himself. Craig had everything going for him until his mother died. Craig faced severe depression and at random times would break down in tears at the thought of his loss. This continued for several weeks until he went into complete isolation for a period of a few short months. But perhaps the worst of all, was my best friend Sebastian Knight. Sebastian was a pissed off Italian with no boundaries. I looked up to his confident and effortless style. I looked up to sebastian who was the same age as me yet dressed with a unique and incredibly tasteful style in expensive fashion. Sebastian was the only one of us who continued playing xbox and became well known for his video's and editing ability. He worked with the best gaming teams, he was on the best gaming teams, and together with him we played night after night day after day. Once i stopped playing xbox me and sebastian didn't talk as much but we didn't hesitate to contact each other. Especially when i lost my weight. Sebastian was one of the most proud friends i had became skinny. A handful of Sebastian's friends even added me on facebook over time because they enjoyed my personality and liked my photography. Everything seemed okay until the end of my freshman year in highschool when I read something that changed Sebastian's life forever. His father whom All of us had skyped with while talking to sebby, had passed away suddenly. It didn't take time for Sebastian to unravel. It happened instantly. Sebastian continued to play xbox for weeks without inviting anyone to play with him, he never used a microphone, and he never talked to people. Eventually he just quit getting online all together. He deleted his social media except for instagram and snapchat. I didn't talk to sebby for Two years before i got a snapchat from sebastian. It was a self portrait he had taken with an ounce of weed. He looked in not great shape, a little overweight, more facial hair than I had ever seen him with, and the worst bags under his eyes i had ever seen. I felt excited but sad all at the same time. Sebastian had what most kids would consider a perfect life, and all of that changed in an instant. Much like my friends, Much like myself.


I never thought other people endured heavy pain as I had. I never thought anyone could understand. But when i met these people, I quickly learned that these things can happen to anyone. Even if they were rich and almost famous. Even if they had everything they wanted. Even if they were popular. Even if they had talent. Even if they had a supermodel for a best friend. I learned that not everyone is perfect. I learned that everyone goes through hard times. I learned that being there for people when they need you is not just an option, but a necessity for mental health. This is something that today's society knows nothing about. It's almost as if the goal is to make others feel worse than better. We as a culture have lost all ties with mental connection. We no longer care if our peers are enduring something that is impacting their lifes on such a scale that they may not make it out alive. In fact we almost encourage this behavior. Sure we care about celebrities and music and cars and fashion and money. But we don't care about each other. I've never met people as caring and as passionate about life as these three people. These three people alone taught me a valuable life lesson that is not everyone is perfect, everyone is human. Money, Fame, none of that, will ever change the fact we are only human beings on this earth. Yet we don't respect that. We try to compete with each other over things that don't need competition, we put others down for not dressing how we dress, we lose touch with our selves simply because we think we are better than everyone around us. When in reality what we need is each other. These three people I would have never met if it wasn't for xbox, and it changed my life forever. They taught me that what matters in life is being yourself, even if it's weird, speak your thoughts, even if they aren't compatible with the people around you, and be there when they need you, because you never know when someones life could come crashing down. I think these are all valuable lessons that our society could take to heart today. When all we do is hate and ignore, we only make the problem larger in scale. It's time for us to care about reality again. It's time to drop the cell phones. It's time to forget about celebrity's. It's time to start sharing our own opinion in a non violent manner. It's time to stand up for what we believe in. It's time to help the needy. It's time to start living again. Because If there is one thing about these guys that was common between all three, it was there passion for life, and their will to live. So the next time you see someone tweeting about being upset, a girl crying in the hallway, a teacher getting angry, your family facing struggle, instead of ignoring it, ask them about it. Sometimes all people need, is to talk. You never know. You may save a life.

out of ideas

      Boredom has struck with writing blogs and i no longer know what to write about. Further more, it has dawned on me that technology is affecting the human race. We no longer know what to do, what to say, what to think, or much less how to be bored. When i was a child my father used to tell me that boredom is a good thing because it makes you think. I used to think that it was boring to be bored. But now that i am growing and understanding life with a more developed frontal cortex, i am beginning to see that boredom is disappearing entirely and it's all thinks to our technology. In the past when humans were bored it led them to the great outdoors, to the crafting table, to anywhere they could manipulate their thoughts into actions to rid of that oh so typical boredom. But now we have cell phones, laptops, televisions, endless hours upon hours of self made entertainment. But is this a good thing? What has happened to make the human race so violent, cruel, selfish, and not caring. Could it be that we are replacing our thoughts with mindless addictions to technology? Think about that the next time you pull your phone out for no apparent reason. I often notice myself mindlessly screwing around on my phone when get bored even when i am occupied with something else. I pull my phone out at doctors offices, school, driving, walking, talking to my girlfriend, talking to my parents. I practically use my phone all the time and most of the time i often catch myself in the mindless act of cell phone use and wonder why? Why am i so compelled to fill this moment of time with reading useless twitter posts and texting friends? It was when i started asking myself these questions that i also started wondering if other people do it too, so i started observing. I was astonished to see that the less time i spent on my phone, the more i noticed other people on their phones while performing easy tasks that need no phone use. I even started pointing out this behavior to some of my friends and few of them put their phones down and observed with me, only to find the astonishing scene of being engulfed in a sea of phone users. But what is wrong with this? How could something as useless as a cell phone become so overpowering to peoples everyday lifes?

   Dopamine. Dopamine is a chemical in the brain that rewards the brain when it has done something to be proud of ( to put it simply). So as you can guess our brain gives out dopamine when we check our phones because we get to interact and do all sorts of fun, crazy, and exciting things. Spending lots of time observing this odd behavior of cell phone users i noticed one thing that all shared in common. Almost everyone i watched wasn't actually texting or doing anything important, but instead was using a social media site such as twitter, Facebook, snap chat, or Instagram. It's easy to see how these sites can get addicting with how many games and pictures and fun stuff you can do. But in the long run, this is the cause of the short human attention span. Phones give us unlimited access to information and obtaining any information you want is only restricted by how far you allow your mind to go. We can have an impossible question set infront of us only to know the answer within the time it takes to type the question into the google search engine where it will almost always give you the answer at the top of the page. This seems mindless and thats because it is. It's almost as if we are replacing our brains with these rectangles of artificial intelligence. We no longer need to think to survive like we used to, We can simply type in a question and have the answer without pondering. We can easily solve boredom and we can simply search google maps to go places we may never go in our lifetime.
This is all great and exciting and cool, but that doesn't mean it is helping our brains.

I could simply go into deep detail about everything i said, but i'll summarize in my own words. Our phones are giving us ADD. Our phones have replaced our thoughts. We merely live in the world around us and spend most of our time in tune with these little devices that light up and distract us from real world problems. Centuries upon centuries ago,  we needed to survive, so we lived in a way that allowed us to adapt to where we settled. We knew nothing more than how to catch food, make food, build shelter, and drink water. We didn't have Kanye West,  Music apps, Online magazines, Or social media. We had good old fashion survival. All of these artificial things are

America: Land Of The Free, Home Of The Brave, And The Hiding Place Of The Illegal?

America without a doubt is one of the largest, most powerful, and ultimately one of the most diverse countries in the world filled that is with a vast variety of culture between all of it's citizens. But could this diversity also be what tears America apart? Some signs say yes, some signs say no,  but there are things we must observe about America that may foreshadow it's future, whether bright or dark. America may be powerful, but that doesn't mean that it is tough, and being a democracy with such a high mix of cultures comes a very high list of different demands. Sometimes these demands aren't from legal citizens, and that could create a very tense situation for america in the coming future. So why does this matter? The answer may lie deep below the books of history in lessons from previous civilizations that failed simply because one group simply out powered the other, where revolutions take place. But the ultimate question i have, is why does America cut so much slack to illegal immigrants when other countries do not tolerate and could this create further issues for America in the future?


Some may say the United States has too strict of immigration laws, but in my opinion, they are not strict enough. My reasoning for this is simple. How many other countries let illegal immigration slide like america? In most countries, Illegal Immigration is the one of the worst offenses and when those immigrants get caught, they don't just get deported, they get sentenced to time in that countries prison system. Take Russia for example. Back in 2008, a North Korean who was in Russia with a work visa was caught living illegally and was ultimately sentenced to six months in a Russian prison before being deported.( Mull, Teresa, 06/24/2014) In China, whistle blowers who identify the location of illegal immigrants get a cash reward for giving such information. These are just a couple light examples and are definitely taking it easy compared to some situations that have occurred in the past in other countries. America is known for deporting illegal citizens once found and has proven that it will many times. However, It seems that illegal immigration in America occurs quite so often that it is almost impossible to stop and perhaps this is because the United States is not as strict with it's immigration policy which may have created an illusion that is okay to illegally immigrate into the United States because the worst thing that will happen is that you will get deported back to your country. America borders Mexico which is connected by land to South America and is only about 100 miles away from Cuba where Communist dictators have ruled for years and created poor environments for its citizens and with a lack of laws that reinforce our immigration policy like no prison sentence, labor sentence, or etc, it is easy to see why the United States is an easy target for immigrants when choosing where to migrate. But maybe if we enforced immigration with more force or more reality, the problem would be solved. America is a country that has access to excessive amounts of force and with such a highly trained military, it is almost hard to wonder why illegal immigration is such a large problem for america and almost harder to wonder how it can be stopped.


Many illegal immigrants in the united states come from mexico and work on farms. This is actually very easy to do once inside the United States as most farms fail to check for credentials and quite literally do not care. Farming isn't the only work force that does this. Private contractors are also notorious for hiring and covering for illegal immigrants while they do the work. It's simple, because as long as the immigrants agree to work for these people, the employers will pay under the table and often times far less than what the immigrants deserve. It is a process that can almost be compared to slavery and in some way it is, except for these immigrants often come from poor living conditions and do not mind the cheap pay and harsh living conditions that are faced when working on farms or living in cheap housing in poor neighborhoods. But with the ever growing population of immigrants coming into the United States on work visa and going over their length of time in which their visa is accounted for, more and more immigrants are illegally making the United States their new home, and hardly anyone is doing anything about it. Another place where many immigrants come from is Cuba where communism has been a thriving form of government for quite some time. Cuba is extremely close to Florida and in the past has been the destination of immigrants who wished to escape the communist government that rules Cuba. Because America is so close to these two places it also makes America extremely vulnerable to drug smuggling and cartel activity. The cartel is extremely active in these parts and is known to use illegals to smuggle drugs through the U.S. border. Many illegals and especially those who are working with the cartels have access to fake identification, fake social security numbers, and fake aliases that allow them to navigate through America going undetected and living as if they truly were U.S. Citizens.

So how could our lack of laws affect the future of America? With many illegal immigrants wanting to prolong their stay in our country, they may take advantage of the fact that the United States is a democracy. This means that we take input from our citizens and use that input to decide how government will work for the next several years. Is it possible that illegal immigrants could vote in the United States and have an effect on these laws? While many would answer no, the sad truth is yes. In fact some states such as California don't even require a driver license or proof of citizenship when voting takes place. This creates an extremely vulnerable voting system that could have an immense impact on laws that have to do with immigration, presidential races, and other important areas that are touched on by voting. This loophole could immensely mislead illegal aliens to think that they have a right or a voice when they are residing in our country. This is should be an offense that is not tolerated within the united states and it is day after day. Aliens are also capable of obtaining welfare if they are crafty enough. Obtaining fake Social Security cards makes this possible and it is extremely easy to obtain. Whether you purchase fake identification off the deep web or are able to come in contact with someone who can create one, it is abusing the welfare system that exists only to help those in need that are citizens of the United States Of America. Abusing the Welfare system is dangerous for the economy. Money is not unlimited and when that money is going under the radar to illegal immigrants who can send that money back to family in their former country or can use it to purchase drugs, alcohol, guns, food, housing and so forth, it creates a black hole of U.S. currency that leaves the U.S. with less money than before. More specifically this affects Tax payers or citizens of the United States who lead honest lives. Ultimately if things take a turn for the worst, the more and more illegal citizens that take advantage of the poor immigration policy that seems hardly enforced by the U.S. could have a lasting impact on the say of the rules of this country. If they decide they want more and more, they may begin to use violence as a way to force their wants on this country. If more citizens find out about this and more illegals continue to follow the lead of the first immigrants, it could lead to protests, riots, and ultimately a civil war that will involve all sorts of cultures. Every culture has a way about getting offended of something that traditional U.S. Policy once enforced and if they get angry they could have a say and make Traditional citizens angry. This is a dangerous situation and one that needs more attention and action quickly.

The Future Of Snowboarding

         




               
                     The future of snowboarding? This is a question that has loomed over the heads of the snowboarding world for over a decade. Many speculate the future of snowboarding will end up somewhere between bigger contests and more trick combinations, which is a well developed and proved theory. However, there is one thing many have failed to question when it comes to the future of snowboarding and with today's progressive tricks such as triple corks, quad corks, and triple rodeos, it is almost impossible for me to ignore the bigger picture. That bigger picture is the training and diets of pro snowboarders who have rigorously trained and worked themselves past the limits of the average snowboarder. My question is: Is training the future of snowboarding?

   

    Over the years only one thing has truly changed the progression of snowboarding. Commercialized contests have consumed our television sets and video streaming sights full of mental tricks that many of today's top riders are throwing down. Often times people look at this and see it as an easy sport because of how flawless these riders can look while spinning effortlessly through the air. But like any other athletes, these riders are highly trained professionals with trainers, nutritionists, and great medical insurance. With more money being poured into snowboarding year after year, it almost seems like corporate is influencing how snowboarding is progressing. I have observed this change as numerous kids who claim to snowboard come up to me in school and try to engage in conversation about things i care absolutely nothing about. I could care less about contests, Mark Mcmorris (though he is a flawless rider outside of contests), red bull, or snow conditions. These superficial mindsets have changed the culture of snowboarding indefinitely. I will often see top athletes from high schools attempt snowboarding and end up miserably sliding themselves down what seems to be a steep slippery run that is actually nothing more than a little intermediate blue square on a trail map. The real riders like myself often find ourselves submerged into hazardous conditions along large cliffs, steep tree runs, avalanche treacherous areas outside of ski area boundaries, and hiking back up the terrain park after a short rail line that we just destroyed ourselves on only to try again and again. It takes years of hard work, a fearless mindset, and a few good injuries to get yourself to a level of riding that my friends and i have been able to put ourselves on only after enduring all of the things a snowboarder must endure during their often short lived careers. But even I, one of the above average weekend warriors knows that there is another level of effort put into those crazy double corks, triple corks, and insane rail combinations that you see on TV. To put it simply, some of the most insane things my riding buddy's or myself have ever done do not in any way compare to today's contest scene that hosts open doors to full ride sponsorship's and careers in snowboarding through riding. When i began snowboarding the biggest thing to my friends or i was having fun, and throughout time we got a bit more fearless and began doing things we never though we would do. Whether it be tearing down back diamonds in chest deep pow, hiking out of bounds to hit massive pillows, or dropping 20 foot cliffs in what we thought was intense free riding terrain, nothing compares to the riding of those who train day in and day out to achieve a higher level of riding. For one example, At mount hood this past summer, i was hiking back up the hill to get another run on the 60-70 foot kicker and as i was hiking an amateur slope style skier was running up to the jump switch (riding backwards) where he did a switch double cork 1080 (two inverted spins with three complete rotations) while clearing over 70 feet and stomping his landing. That moment it hit me that these guys were not like the weekend warriors. These highly trained athletes pour blood, sweat, and tears into their riding as if it was their lifeblood. These are the guys are the future of the front lines of televised events such as the US open, X - Games, and Dew tour, all hosted by large companies who fund millions into their riders training and salary.


      You could say that the future of snowboarding is in money and technically you would be right. But even further more, the level of training these riders have under their belt is more intense than the money put into it. The best of the best often times ride year round at resorts such as Timberline, Woodward Copper at Tahoe, Whistler, and Over seas during the winter across the ocean. Shaun White is a perfect example of this type of training. Riding High Cascade snowboard camp at Timberline throughout most of his childhood, Shaun White was able to debut in x games at only 13. Shaun white is not the only example of a young rider who trained year round at summer camps and big resorts. Today, Red Gerard is only 15 and is one of the top youngest athletes to compete with pros in large contests such as X games and the US Open. So with all of this training how much does it truly cost? Well, it's not cheap. Living in ski towns is often far too expensive for the average person and can well add up to over five hundred thousand dollars a year once you have bought a house to live in. Ski resorts are also not cheap, as most large resorts with training grounds cost around $80 per lift ticket and around $900 - $5,000 for a season pass. Most often these young guns or top athletes are payed for by their corporate sponsors such as energy drink companies, board sponsors, and boot sponsors. These companies also spend lots of money to buy out public areas for video shoots that one may dream of even going too. These include ski resorts often sell parts of property to these companies to train their athletes, such as Shaun Whites private red bull half pipe training facility that was built with a foam pit for practicing at squaw valley (Redbull, oct 30, 2009). These facilities also cost money to build with the use of snow cats with half pipe cutters and special tools to create jumps, not to mention the salary of the diggers. All of this together can easily add up to over a million dollars for one facility. Other facilities such as Woodward copper may cost an upwards of two to five million with trampolines, resis, foam pits, terrain parks, dry slopes, insurance, skate parks, and etc. It's easy to see how money can influence the contest scene and how these riders train. Not only with exercise and good diets, but with their riding as well. So, how does this affect the contest scene and the progression of snowboarding? Well, when it comes to the difference between advanced weekend warriors such as myself and the Top pros on television, I'm not hitting eighty foot jumps while spinning my body in five separate directions with only the confidence of my training to focus me on landing and riding away clean to set up my next eighty foot jump, which takes insane amounts of concentration.


                 Many of today's top contest riders who contend in events hosted by burton and the US open are young athletes who train and work hard to grab their spot on the podium which consists of the top three riders with the highest score in their category. Often times like other sports, these top riders train using cutting edge such as Olympic trampolines, resi landings, or foam pits. These riders also have daily workout routines and diets that fit their bodies needs. There is no doubt that training has become more common throughout the last decade and the fact that riders are now able to ensure their muscles will stay tight for faster spins and longer grabs, but the real question is how will similar training evolve over the next decade and how will it shape snowboarding? My theory is that training will take over the snowboarding world as the sport makes it further and further into the mainstream world of sports. Often times i see far many people who have lost touch or never understood the culture of snowboarding. When i was little i remember the culture of snowboarding that attracted me most was the punk rock feeling the video parts of my favorite riders gave off. They didn't follow the rest of the crowd and i enjoyed watching their unique parts. Some of these riders include Nick Visconti, Lucas Magoon, and Joe Sexton. The difference between these riders and top slope style riders such as Mark McMorris, Sage Kotsenburg, and Max Parrot is merely the subject of which they ride and the amount of training put into their riding. While many street riders and park riders have somewhat poor diets and lifestyles, they are able to perform technical rail tricks that slope style riders cannot perform and vice versa. So is it really training that is shaping snowboarding, or is it style? As one Yobeat.com article put it, the progression of snowboarding may simply lie in more combination's and new combinations. As put by the author Mark Sullivan: "For years now, I have been a careful observer on the progression of snowboarding, from the time you could see a picture or a video of a trick and go try it that day, until today – where stringing together tricks with 4+ full spins is the ‘state of the art.’ snowboarding for me, both on the mountain (and in business) has been about progression" (Mark sullivan, 23 February 2016)   Though i agree with Mark Sullivan, I think that these new and stylish combinations can only be achieved through harder and more intense physical and mental training to break past both physical and mental barriers that may hold back a rider from progressing themselves further in the sport.

Why I Support Depopulation And Why You Should Too.

  Could you imagine living on an earth with no fresh drinking water? Could you imagine living on an earth where days are scorching hot and nights are freezing cold? Could you imagine living in a world where medicine is scarce? Here is a better question... could you imagine living in a world where you couldn't step outside without choking on your own breath because the air is too harsh for your lungs to handle? If you answered no then you like many others are not prepared for the circumstances surrounding something that is knocking at humanity's front door. To this day billions of people choose to ignore the facts of science, thinking that global warming is just a simple problem that will blow over like any problem that humanity has faced in the past. But what they don't understand is that this problem is not that simple. This problem does not affect one cultural group, but in fact affects every cultural group. This is a problem that in all reality only has two possible solutions. Either we give up our materialistic ways or people die. I know how that sounds... It sounds harsh and unrealistic. It sounds inhumane and impossible. But it's time that our generation stop running circles around the only solution we truly have and that solution is the depopulation of the earth, but bare with me here, because i promise you it is not as harsh and inhumane as it sounds. The basic fact is that we have too many people on this earth and have far surpassed our cultural carrying capacity. For those who haven't studied environmental science, cultural carrying capacity is essentially the capacity of which earth can support a population of a species while still allowing these species to live comfortably in their environment. Saying we are surpassed our carrying capacity is essentially saying that earth is overpopulated in a fancier way. Often times uneducated peoples will hear a government official or scientists say this and start to come up with crazy conspiracy theories about how cancer was a man made disease and that the government is planning to kill everyone off and so on. The reality is cancer and other diseases that are incurable are a product of overpopulation. I often find it funny that the same people who have conspiracy theories regarding global warming and so on drive cars, smoke cigarettes, use computers, and use cancer causing chemicals to clean their own homes. These same people throw their trash away without recycling, eat meat, drink alcohol, and eat processed foods. So when i say that cancer is a product of overpopulation, it's easy to prove. We don't have enough natural resources to supply every human, we created synthetics, we use synthetics to preserve natural resources, but these synthetics activate cancer cells. Along with high population creating vectors spreading rapidly in urban or extremely poor areas because there is too many humans in a small space is just another example. So governmental conspiracy theorists, skeptics, people who don't care and still choose to lead lifestyles directed by poor life choices, i am calling on you to listen to what i am about to say or deal with fate when you choose to do otherwise. Like i said earlier, we have two solutions: Either we give up materialistic lifestyles or people die. Thankfully, if we choose to give up lifestyle choices and fix the populating problem, the solution comes rather simply. All we have to do is stop rapidly populating earth, and allow natural death to do its work. Because population = birth + immigration - death + emigration.

  It may be confusing for some to see how anything i just said ties in with culture, so i figure i will break that down for everyone right now. Culture isn't the subject being affected in this situation in fact, culture is the culprit that has led us to this problem. Since the population of the earth has rapidly grown since the industrial revolution and agricultural revolution earth has seen a rapid increase in new diseases, lack of resources, damage to environment, and a rapid rise in new "breakthrough technologies" such as microwaves, chemicals, and other dangerous hazards. But that's not necessarily the reason for this blog. My focus towards this specific blog is based on resources like agriculture, industry, and government aka my "big three" lead causes of the destruction of earth. American, Chinese, and Russian culture are especially responsible for the massive increase of carbon emissions and resource waste that we see today, but with that being said, industry isn't the only suspect. Un developed countries such as India are also especially responsible for massive populations that are uneducated and have no way of recycling,  living efficiently, or attending schools to gain an education that may lead them to a more sustainable culture or way of living. Much of these un developed countries rely on animal agriculture and farming to feed its people. Many times farming leads to a large waste of water due to poor irrigation technique. In fact irrigation is the leading cause of drought throughout the entire world. Now whether or not you choose to believe what i am writing is completely up to you, however, the consequences will not only affect these countries, but also you so be cautious with what you choose to believe. After a long few years of hard thinking i have been able to come up with only one solution and conclusion that summarizes the cause, effect, and possible outcomes of the situation we are in today as a nation, a continent, and a world. My conclusion is that the earth is facing major due to its high population, a high population means that the needs of all seven billion humans on earth is far greater than that of which earth has to offer. Attempting to meet this needs leaves earths resources strained and entirely vulnerable to going extinct forever. The problem with this is that humans cannot live entirely off of synthetics simply because we are organic, natural, living beings that thrive off of the only earth we have therefore governments must have access to the biological imperatives that are needed to keep it's country healthy and thriving, and also to ensure that they do not lose legitimacy which could lead to a revolution or a massive epidemic that leaves millions dead. Another reason that governments are so tied to resources is money. Take America for example. The tobacco industry contributes tens of millions of dollars to both the republican and democratic party's through lobbyists who use hard and soft money contributions to bribe these parties into out voting anti tobacco laws which prevent major tobacco companies from being outlawed or extremely restricted and it is 100% legal to do so thanks to lobbying laws that allow lobbyists to continue their practice as long as they register themselves, their employer, and keep receipts of their bribes.But tobacco isn't the only industry that pays out for keeping loop holes open. Logging industries, Car Industries, Paper industries, Waste management Industries, agriculture industries, and other multi billion dollar industries also have lobbyists with ties to congress who are accessible to power and money to keep these loop holes in play. The problem with this is that the EPA is also funded by major corporations that donate large funds to them to keep their mouths shut about the massive amount of carbon emissions and pollution that they produce each and every year just to keep people supplied with the resources that we eat up daily. So before you go off on the government theories, keep in mind, they don't want to kill us, but they are being paid to do essentially that, so if you think its some elaborate scheme you are very close to the right answer, but not quite, because they do not wish to kill us, they are being affected too.


   So what does depopulation have to do with this? Well, its our only solution. With such a high population of human beings on earth, we are in a constant battle between losing resources or losing human lifes. But i believe this problem could be easily solved if we just learned how to stop population at such a rapid rate. The equation population = births + immigration - death + emigration can be simplified by subtracting Births from the equation which leaves us with population = immigration - death + emigration. If we as a planet learn how to stop rapidly producing then we as a planet can slow down the growing rate of carbon emissions entirely and could see major results in as soon as ten to fifteen years. The problem with this is that undeveloped countries such as india are also plagued with culture that supports marriage and having kids almost right away after marriage. But because they are so uneducated and behind from the modern world, they lack things like birth control and family planning that can help prevent them from multiplying like rabbits. Cultures like these often don't understand that their lifes could be improved if they could just learn how to stop populating so quickly. There is no denying that a rapidly growing population eats away resources and i believe that everyone is looking for answers in all the wrong places. Many people believe that the Iraq war was based entirely off of oil and that the oil is the only reason we are still over there and the answer is yes we are, but not because of oil, because of resources. World powers are constantly battling over resources and control over parts of earth that have resources we depend on in daily life such as fossil fuels. Having power over these resources means that you also have the power to provide for your people and yourself and keep the world a happy place which wouldn't be so hard to do if we didn't have such a high population to provide for, which ultimately leads to war on resource. I could go off citing thousands of sources and tie them all together for you but i would rather you just take my word for it. I support depopulation through low birth rate because I know that if we had a smaller population to provide for then it would mean that resources would not be needed in such high amounts year after year. Earth has reached its cultural carrying capacity and when we go even more over you can expect to see massive drought, epidemic, war, famine, and even genocide. These can all be stopped though, if people were willing to give up their dreams of having children to carry on their DNA. This isn't just about saving ourselves, but also about saving the earth entirely. I know that i fail to cite sources and direct evidence from any text, but that is because everything i just said to you is something that i have created in my own brain after learning everything i have in Government, Current world problems, Environmental science, and Biology. There is no possible way i could cite any of the information or idea that i have just given, simply because it would span for quite a number of pages and be far too time consuming for one to read on their own in a timely manner and all those resources lie deep within expensive textbooks that cost hundreds of dollars to purchase.

Keep in mind. This blog is merely an idea i had based off of pure fact. We can search for solutions in smaller ways such as waste management and recycling and so on, but the fact is that if we don't stop population growth now, it may be too late and we will fall into another massive epidemic or genocide before it is too late. Some cultures will never be able to give up eating meat, farming, pollution, and in fact many of those from American culture will never understand anything i wrote in this blog at all. If it were up to me, i would favor the idea that those who choose not to be educated and lead lives of useless activity would not be allowed in my country, simply because these people are wasting valuable resources for meaningless materials and uses. Some cultures have no purpose. The culture of punk rock, the culture of dating, the culture of partying, the culture of indians, the culture of sports, the culture of government, and so on are all essentially meaningless and have no correlation to the saving of the earth before it is destroyed, therefore they are essentially useless subcultures of humanity that distract from the one thing that truly matters. The one thing that truly matters is the survival of planet earth. Humans have no other place to live deep in space like we hope and it is detrimental that we as a species fix something we caused before earth fixes it on its own by wiping out a massive amount of humans. If we can stop populating the earth at such a rapid rate, then maybe, just maybe, we can save our one and only home before it is too late. If you do wish to study more on anything i just said, simply attend college, take a government class, an environment class, and any class that may be relevant to the saving of the earth or use google and find yourself some reliable sources that can help you study further on the subjects of global warming, resource use, toxic hazards, population, government, carcinogens, hazardous chemicals, disease, drought, agriculture, and equal rights and tie it all together for yourself. I hope many of you have an open mind after reading this and take into consideration everything i just said, because it could be you, who changes the entire outcome of the world one day, and you may not even know it yet.

Pornography and It's devastating effects on marriages

     Pornography, it's a subject often overlooked by Public officials, Parent's and Doctors alike due to it's "uncomfortable" nature, but is it time we stop avoiding the "p" word and shed some light on the issue. Some people might say it's silly to question something that seems so simple. But when that "so simple" thing is being utilized by something as comprehensive and complex as the human brain, it's no longer such a silly question. Pornography is easily one of the most searched and viewed subjects on the internet in the history of internet and probably always will exist on the internet. But knowing that porn has such a large audience isn't the answer to the question i asked earlier. Knowing porn has such a large audience is simply the beginning of shedding light to much bigger issues, issues that affect moral, respect, women's rights, psychology, human trafficking laws, addiction, marriage, and the lasting effect that pornography addiction will leave on the human race. Few have attempted to shed light on such a touchy subject and even fewer have succeeded to do so. Actress Rashida Jones produced a documentary that can be found on Netflix titled "Hot Girls Wanted". The documentary goes in depth on the porn industry, showing how models are found, how the models live, how they tell their families, how their families cope, and their overall reflection after a number of months in the industry. Almost every girl that entered the porn industry in the film ultimately regretted their decision of getting involved in the industry. Many Girls enter the porn industry infatuated with the idea of being "famous" and living glamorous lives focused on money and partying. Often, girls who do get involved in porn are already in vulnerable situations. Many of them are drug abusers, alcoholics, victims of abuse, and extremely desperate. They enter the porn industry looking for ways to feed their addictions or escape their realities, ergo making them extremely vulnerable to becoming victims of abuse. As put by former star Regan Starr "I got the &*%$ kicked out of me …. Most of the girls start crying because they’re hurting so bad …. I couldn’t breathe. I was being hit and choked. I was really upset and they didn’t stop. They kept filming. [I asked them to turn the camera off] and they kept going." (FightTheNewDrug) This is a reality thousands of women deal with everyday all across the world, and the worst part is that close to no one is doing anything to stop it. But the abuse and mistreatment is only the beginning of this issue.


     One of the most undervalued issues that is provoked by the existence of pornography is the addiction. Many people don't realize that addiction to pornography is quite common, and that's probably because many porn addicts are hidden in plain sight. They are the teachers that grade our tests, the cops that protect our city from crime, the stars on the football teams, the pastors of churches, the cashier at the convenience store and etc. Many people are scared to come out in the open with their addiction in fear of judgement, shame, and embarrassment while other people don't even think about porn as addictive. Many use porn as an escape of daily life whether it be stress from work, school, home, or it lets them create a fantasy in their head that otherwise would not be possible. These fantasies or "escapes" allow the viewer to get the "feel good" sensation based off the fantasy they created in their head. However, research has proved that porn creates the complete opposite effect on the brain than what it perceives. Don't believe me? just read this excerpt from "Porn leads to violence"; a feature of the website FightTheNewDrug.com: "Our brains have what scientists call “mirror neurons”—brain cells that fire not only when we do things ourselves, but also when we watch other people do things. This is why movies can make us cry or get scared; or why some people can get so emotionally involved in watching a football game on TV. When a person is watching porn, their brain is busy wiring together whatever is happening on the screen to sexual arousal—in many ways just like if a person was actually doing what they are watching. So if they’re watching a woman get kicked around and called names while feeling aroused, they’re more likely to associate that kind of violence with being sexy.  Even when porn isn’t violent, viewers are learning to see other people as nothing more than objects made to be used for sexual pleasure." (FightTheNewDrug) This knowledge alone should be enough to bring the porn industry into question. I was unable to find accurate statistics of how many people view porn, however i can tell you that number is very high.

     Now if you are any sort of genius, you would have put together the title of this blog with the facts provided in the previous paragraph. If you haven't however done that already, i will put it simply for you. When married men watch porn, or worse, are addicted to porn, their marriage generally doesn't end well. Accounting for married men also doesn't account for the percentage of Men and Teens who watch porn alike that may be in a serious relationship. Since we know that consistently viewing porn can lead to violent behavior and extreme sexual addiction, we can assume the devastating effect porn can have on marriages. Almost all research regarding porns effect on marriages showed the same results. Marriages in which one partner is addicted to porn or sex were often plagued with secrecy, lack of trust, isolation, anxiety, and dysfunction in the relationship. Another ramification of porn addiction often leads to a weak sense of financial security, because often times an addict my end up losing their job because they were looking up porn on a company computer or the addict may end up spending loads of money on porn website memberships. Another way of seeing the issue with porn and marriages is that many women, regardless of what their religious beliefs are see looking at porn as a serious threat to being able to stay married at all. Why? For one thing, when a partner is using porn often, it takes away time they could otherwise be spending together. On top of that, many partners consider it cheating or close to cheating when their partner is using images of someone else’s body to get aroused. More studies have also shown that someone who uses porn frequently is more likely to have an affair during a marriage than someone who doesn't view porn. The reason being is because porn users are frequently seeing images of woman and sexual activity that is often far outside their boundaries or way they could treat their spouse. An example might be that a man see's violent pornography but knows that his wife would not be okay with it, therefore leading them to find a woman that they are lead to believe would enjoy that sort of violence during the act of sex such as a prostitute, which makes it easier for them to carry out these demented fantasies that porn brings to life.

     It is safe to say that pornography is not something healthy or beautiful for our generation to romanticize. With a growing trend in productions such as "Fifty shades of grey" where BDSM is very much romanticized about, It is time to truly analyze the effects of torture porn on the human brain and begin to reverse this growing trend before marriage is ruined all together. Pornography is easily accessible for minors and porn websites are easy to navigate. All a minor needs to do to access a porn website hosting tens of thousands of torture videos is simply press a button that confirms they are above age. If i was a parent, this knowledge of how easy it is to access porn would frighten me, simply because i would hope that my child would one day find a spouse and carry on the next generation of my family. But porn threatens marriage entirely. It threatens morals and demeans woman in the worst ways possible. One theory i have about porn is that if porn was to be banned all together and not exist, rape crimes would drop, divorce numbers would drop, as well as a number of mental health issues that may include depression, schizophrenia, addiction, and low self esteem. I also suspect that teen suicide rates would drop. The reason i was able to come to this conclusion is because i realized that many kids my age, more or less boys, have began to treat their female peers more as objects than human beings. They make derogatory remarks to these female peers as if they are laughing matters, when infact they are not. To a boy making a joke like that it may be funny, but to the person being laughed at, it may be provoking something far worse than what can be seen on the outside, and if you think that we don't have a serious problem here, i suggest you do some research. A problem a generation before us created is a problem that our generation must fix, and i hope that this short writing will help open some minds to a new realm of ideas and realization that will lead to a healthier society all together, and fix the rising number of divorces that seems to be growing ever so much.


For more information you may visit...


Fight The New Drug

Porn Neuroscience

   

American Obesity

      In America today over 35.7 percent of adults are obese, over 68.8 percent of adults are overweight, and over 75 percent of all Americans including children take some form of prescription drug to treat health. Many foreign country's like to poke fun at Americas obesity problem, Sadly it's no longer a joke. America is one of the only countries in the world that is as dedicated to eating fast food, processed food, and candy in extreme amounts as it could be and in fact many of us today are guilty of that quick lunchtime meal from Wendys, Mcdonalds, or even places that claim to be healthy such as Subway. But just because they say we can eat it, does it mean we should? Many studies today say no and those same studies are also showing that the American youth of today may pay the ultimate price if we do not put an end to our unhealthy eating habits. Today i am talking to you about obese America, and especially our teenage generation. Everything from processed meats, processed fruits, processed vegetables, carbonated beverages, saturated fats, trans fats, syrups, etc, can be found in almost any meal from any fast food restaurant menu or in some cases, upper scale restaurant menu's. Along with extremely unhealthy food items, many Americans eat portions far larger than but the human body can withstand. With such a high amount of diseases, cancers, and illnesses amongst Americans today perhaps its time we put down the food and began analyzing what our body are digesting.

     Did you know that meat is packaged with carbon monoxide? Did you know that the carbon monoxide gives meat the "healthy red color" that it needs to appeal to its consumer. Did you know that the same carbon monoxide has also been linked to major diseases? Well, that's just the least of it. With major food poisoning break outs such as e-coli, norovirus , and salmonella you would almost wonder how meat like this gets into fast food chains, grocery stores, and peoples stomachs when American food is supposed to meet all these "health standards" by the FDA. Well, let me tell you, money speaks louder than actions, and in a billion dollar industry, you can bet on money being the winner over safety every time. As written by ABC news, and many other well connected sources, many of the meats we eat today might not be as healthy as we think. In one ABC article, the author wrote "during the hearings some Congress members couldn't be swayed and grilled the companies about the practice. They called the practice unsafe and misleading, and to make their point, they displayed a 2-year-old package of meat that still looked pink and fresh, thanks to carbon monoxide injection." (ABC news) When you read that little bit of text from the ABC article, you begin to think back to all of the meat you have consumed in the last two years,  you wonder how old, safe, or even edible that meat was. Typically, you would judge a meat by its color. A fresh meat should display a nice pinkish red color, while an old meat should portray something that you flush down the toilet. Now, not only can red meat be tainted without a single visible sign, but red meat is an unhealthy option all together. It is now known that red meat can also lead to cancers, most commonly bowel cancer. In red meat, the problems seem to start when a chemical called haem – part of the red pigment in the blood, haemoglobin, is broken down in our gut to form a family of chemicals called N-nitroso compounds. These have been found to damage the cells that line the bowel, so other cells in the bowel lining have to replicate more in order to heal. And it’s this ‘extra’ replication that can increase the chance of errors developing in the cells’ DNA, Ultimately leading to cancer. So now we know that red meat is A) probably tainted B) Cancerous. But what about C)? Well, C) is the obesity problem.  As best said by a Harvard research team "a number of studies have found no relationship. (40,48,53,54) Fast-food restaurants are more likely to locate near schools, however, and close proximity of fast-food restaurants to schools has been linked to increased risk of obesity in schoolchildren." (HARVARD, school of public health, obesity prevention / toxic food environment)

So, now that we know that red meat is unhealthy and fast food can be linked to obesity, lets tie this into culture. In America today, 34.3 percent of American teens eat fast food everyday, 70 percent of Americans eat processed food everyday, and about 68.8 percent of adults are overweight (not including other serious health problems). Now i know i only gave you one example of food processing (which was meat), but seeing how unhealthy meat processing is, you can only imagine how unhealthy processed foods with sugar, fat, carbs, and other artificial ingredients are. Now think about how unhealthy fast food is. Every meat, bun, pickle, tomato, potato, etc on a Mcdonalds burger is processed, and quite literally artificial food. Seeing as 70 percent of Americans eat processed foods daily, it's not hard to understand why america has such a bad obesity problem. The reason why these artificial foods are so dangerous is because inside of our stomachs, we have little sensors that can detect when a stomach is full. When we eat healthy whole foods, our stomachs fill up completely and the sensors detect that and we finish our meal, However, with artificial foods, our senors in our stomach are thrown off and we don't feel full when we are finished eating, quite literally because our brain doesn't recognize that we are full. so we keep on eating, and eating, and eating stretching our stomachs out while also loading our bodies with artificial ingredients that our body cannot digest. Fake sugars and other fake ingredients often lead to blockage in coronary arteries in the heart, which can lead to heart disease,  and heart attacks. Other health issues include Diabetes, Liver Cancer, gallbladder problems, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and many other major health problems. 9.3 percent of Americans under twenty have diabetes, 41 percent of Americans will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, 48 percent of women and 46 percent of men have heart disease, and these numbers are only a small portion of how bad american health truly is.  This affects our teenage generation and our adult generation aggressively. You make think it won't affect you, but i promise you that it will. So with this all being said, as a respectable human being, i urge you to stop eating processed foods, and switch to organic whole foods because one day, it might save your life. If you do not know where to start, here are some links to help you make the switch to a healthier life style.

Obesity Prevention

Whole foods diet

Heart.org