Hi guys! Sorry I haven't posted for so long, I've had SO much going on or come up that I haven't even really thought about it to be honest with you. Sorry. At least I'm being honest...Anyway, enough of me and my excuses. I had a few blog posts in mind I've been wanting to do, but something came up and inspired me to change courses here for today.
Well, I don't know if you got wind of this news story, but there's an article on Yahoo today about a girl in Seattle, WA who, for her 9th birthday, didn't want gifts, but instead asked people if they would give her money to donate to this organization that raises money for people in the world in need of clean water. Her goal was to raise $300 by her birthday on June 12th for the non-profit organization called Charity Water to bring clean water to African villagers, but she didn't live long enough to do so.
By her birthday on June 12th, Rachel Beckwith had only raised $220 so she then decided to close her web page. But after she died in a 13-car wreck on I-80, her pastor brought back the page and promoted it on the church website. Since then, there has been a constant feed of donations and comments on her page about her selflessness and how they were inspired and touched by it.
To this point, $585,775 has been raised by her campaign, with 17,037 donors and over 29,000 people recipients are now affected by it (and still counting!). For more detailed information on Rachel's campaign and to see all the comments left on her page, or if you'd like to make a donation to Charity Water through her movement, feel free to visit her web page at this link.
Also, if you'd just like to know more about the Charity Water organization itself and the reasons behind why they do what they do, here is a video that I think was made by the organization themselves that I found on Rachel's page (along with much of this other information in this blog post) that gives you statistics, diagrams, and other animations that will help you better visualize what everyday life is like in these places:
Isn't it just amazing how just a small amount of money can help SO much?
If you're in any position to donate, I really encourage you to do so. The more money that's donated, the greater amount of people we can save from this horrible crisis!
NOTE: This post was actually published today, March 9th of 2011, not last year.
Hi guys! Sorry it's been so long, I've been so busy with school and softball that I haven't been able to post. Anyway, today's topic is abortion. There is a big controversy whether or not it should be legal, and some people base their opinions off of either false information or on very little information. So today, I'm here to fully explain abortion and educate you on what really happens when you have an abortion.
What is abortion?
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy after conception. It is a way to allow women to terminate their pregnancies, but it involves killing the fetus/embryo that is undeveloped. It is a very controversial subject for this very reason, especially in American politics. There are two sides to abortion: pro-abortion and anti-abortion. People that support abortion think that the embryo or fetus is not an actual person, and that the government should keep allowing abortion unless/until they can prove that it is a person. Opponents of abortion think that think that the embryo/fetus is an actual person, and that they should ban abortion unless/until they can prove that it's not a person.
Now, I am against abortion for many reasons. First of all, I agree that the embryo/fetus is a person. In fact, the baby's heart starts beating about the fifth week of a forty week pregnancy. The baby's body is completely formed at about the ten week period. Also, there have been electrical brain waves recorded as early as forty days into the pregnancy. Second of all, the way they kill the baby is absolutely awful and horrifying. There are many ways to kill the unborn baby, but the most common way literally dismembers its body, and is vacuumed out. Now, to me, that is both gruesome and awful.
There are multiple ways to abort the unborn child. Here they are:
WARNING: THERE ARE PICTURES OF EACH TYPE OF ABORTION BELOW THE DESCRIPTION, AND THEY ARE VERY GRUESOME TO SOME PEOPLE.
-Suction Aspiration
Suction aspiration is a procedure done within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. It is the most frequently used method, with 90% of abortions being suction aspiration. Suction aspiration is a procedure where they go in and use a suction machine (30 times more powerful than a regular vacuum cleaner) and suck out the contents of the womb. With the suction being so powerful and the baby's bones not hardened yet, it often comes out dismembered.
-Dilation and Curettage
Dilation and curettage is also done within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. It's similar to suction aspiration except they go in with a loop-shaped knife and cut the baby and placenta into pieces and remove it and put the contents into a basin.
-RU486 and Methotrexate
These procedures are done within the first 5-9 weeks of pregnancy. They are both drugs taken orally. Taking RU486 prevents nutrients from reaching the baby through the placenta, causing it to starve within a few days. Meothotrexate poisons the baby, causing it to die. Both drugs are normally accompanied by another drug called prostaglandin, which basically forces your body into labor, thus disposing of the shriveled, dead baby.
-Dilation and Evacuation
This is a diagram of the procedure:
Dilation and evacuation are done within the first 18 weeks of pregnancy, and is similar to dilation and curettage except it's done after the bones have hardened. They take a plier-like instrument with knife-edged teeth and insert it into the womb. It grabs the body and twists body parts off piece by piece until all of it is removed. They then temporarily reassemble the body to make sure all of it is cleaned out of the womb so it won't cause infection.
And this is the aborted baby...
-Salt Poisoning (saline amniocentesis)
Although this isn't used as often as it used to be because it can be dangerous, it was once the most common method for late abortions. A large needle is injected in the woman's abdomen and into the womb. A salt solution is injected into the amniotic fluid surrounding the baby. The baby then breathes and swallows the salt solution and is slowly poisoned as it painfully burns away the deteriorating tissues.
Having said that, another thing I wanted to share with you about this method of abortion is that there have been survivors of the salt poisoning and one woman named Gianna Jessen shared her story at this link.
Picture of survivor, Gianna Jessen
Long story short, her mom and her dad were 17 years old (and not married) and her mom was 7 1/2 months pregnant with her when she decided to have the salt poisoning abortion done. Gianna was in the womb for 18 hours with lack of oxygen while she was being burned alive, and nobody ever even thought of the possibility she could survive it. She was unexpectedly born alive while the abortionist was absent from the room, weighing only 2 pounds. Nobody seemed to care about her condition except the nurse, who had Gianna rushed to the hospital to hopefully be treated before it was too late. She put up a huge fight and survived all of the hell she was given the first few months of her life. She was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy due to her lack of oxygen while the salt poisoning was surrounding her with an intended death wish. It often consequently creates major medical problems (especially physically) later on in life. She is grateful for being granted a second chance every day, and hopes her story will inspire others.
There are various reasons as to why people choose to rebel. One of these include if someone were to abuse their power. How you choose to handle it is up to you, but there are certain ways that are ultimately better decisions than others.
For instance, our freshman English class is reading a book called Animal Farm. Although we have only read part of the first chapter, I can already summarize what is going on, and can predict what's going to happen throughout the rest of the story. In Animal Farm, there are animals that want to rebel against their owner (the farmer) because they feel that he is abusing his power over them. As a result, one of the animals (the pig) finally step forward and lecture the other animals about the injustices and how they should rebel against the farmer. They feel that he is neglecting them by not giving them the proper diet and by keeping certain animals just to turn around and slaughter them for his own benefit, not theirs.
We can interpret the situation in Animal Farm and compare it to real life situations. For example, if there is an instance where you feel your boss is abusing his/her power by not offering enough of a salary, you could rebel by doing a few things. A few examples are going on strike, quitting/threatening to quit, getting other people to back you up, or filing a lawsuit if what they're doing is illegal. Although it may seem beneficial to rebel, there may not be a glorious ending. Think about this. What are the possible consequences for choosing to rebel something? In this situation, if you did a few of these things, you may very likely get fired or demoted. There may be other consequences too, depending on the situation.
My suggestion to you is to think and go over the situation before you choose whether to rebel or not. And if you do, remember the consequences that may follow!
Power is gained and maintained in many ways. Whether you are talking about a person with power or a thing that holds power, it is always gained in one way or another. A person can hold power over someone else in their life in many ways, including being their parent, a role model, a leader, or just a good friend that influences them in one way or another. Believe it or not, a thing or possession can also hold power in someone else's life. It could be a high priority for them, a hobby, an important, meaningful possession of theirs, etc. In fact, I will give you an example of something that holds power in my life.
Books and music hold power in my life for multiple reasons. First of all, I just love to read and listen to music as a hobby. They also hold power in my life because a lot of times there is a great amount of meaning behind it. But mostly I dive into a book and blare music when I need to escape reality for some reason. For instance, depending on my mood or how I am feeling at the moment, I listen to certain types of music. Some examples are of times when I am angry or upset. If I'm upset for some reason, say my boyfriend broke up with me or I lost a best friend, I might listen to some sad music that talks about breakups or losing friends and how you move on like Skillet or The All-American Rejects. When I'm angry for say, my parents punished me for a stupid reason or a friend betrayed me, I might listen to some Breaking Benjamin or Bullet For My Valentine since they are kind of metal/alternative and somewhat screamo. In addition to that, I also stick my nose into an intriguing book to get my mind off whatever is bothering me and escape reality by only focusing on the story at hand.
Although music and books hold a large amount of power in my life, there are times when they lose power for me. For example, if there is a situation that I'm not sure how to handle or one that makes me have jumbled emotions that I can't decipher what exactly I'm feeling at the time, music normally doesn't help since I don't know what type to listen to. Another example would be if I had such a huge weight on my shoulders or have a thought that is extremely bothering me, a book might not necessarily catch my interest and keep my mind off of the issue.
These things might happen to you too, which is perfectly okay. Everybody goes through times where people/things gain or lose power in your life, and though you might have better times and worse times in your life, you're not dealing with it alone. Whenever you have bad times or good times in your life, you can always go with something or someone that holds power and meaning in your life to cheer you up or keep your spirits up. When in doubt, go to what holds power in your life to help you through it.
I'm sure we've all wondered what it would be like to try drugs or alcohol, especially in high school. Scenario: someone comes up to you and says, "Hey, we just got some weed, wanna get baked?" All of his friends are around him waiting for your answer. You feel extremely pressured and intimidated by them, and you feel that if you decline their offer, they will look down on you or tease you about it. So you figure, "Why not?" Okay, STOP. Right there. Rewind. Think about what you just agreed to. Think about what consequences you might face after you do it. "Will it hurt my body?" "Will it hurt me or benefit me in the long run?" "Will I get into trouble if I do drugs?" Those are some of the thoughts that probably either go through your head already or will probably go through your head after you do it. Now, the real question is, what is the right choice?
To be completely honest, drugs and alcohol are terrible for your body. Not only do they have toxic chemicals in them, they also have substances in them that frequently get people addicted to them. Now that I've said that, you probably have another handful of questions that are racing through your head. Let me go in chronological order.
1. Why do people try drugs?
That's actually a very good question. There are various reasons why people try drugs, but here are some main reasons. Here are ten reasons why people try drugs.
1) Thought: They heard that marijuana and mushrooms grow naturally, so they figure they must be safe. Real Deal: So do poison ivy and anthrax. Would you smoke them?
2) Thought: They think that drugs sold in stores without a prescription are OK. Real Deal: You can overdose on those too.
3) Thought: They think drugs will help with stress. Real Deal: Drugs don't reduce stress or fix problems. In the long run, they create more.
4) Thought: They think that drugs will make them seem rebellious or cool. Real Deal: There are better ways to get noticed.
5) Thought: They figure that it's prescribed by a doctor, so it must be OK. Real Deal: Not if it's not taken as prescribed.
6) Thought: They're bored and they think drugs will help. Real Deal: Is being bored worth the risk?
7) Thought: They heard that marijuana has been legalized in some states. Real Deal: Marijuana is illegal throughout the United States.
8) Thought: There are rumors that marijuana has medical benefits. Real Deal: Major medical organizations disagree.
9) Thought: They think that prescription drugs and steroids will improve their performance and looks. Real Deal: Only if you think acne and 'man boobs' are attractive.
10) Thought: People think drugs will help them fit in. Real Deal: Most people don't use drugs.
If you want to know more information about the real deal on people's thought processes, I got this information on this website.
2. What happens after someone tries drugs?
Another very good question with a very serious answer. Most people that try drugs do it for social reasons, but after your first time doing that drug, you will most likely become addicted to that drug. Each time that individual does that drug, it increases the chances that it will become an addiction. That leads to not being able to control your impulses, like wanting that drug. For instance, the brain is the command center of your body. It controls pretty much everything you do, including when you are sleeping. The brain is made up of many parts that all work together as a team. Each of these parts have a different, but specific job to complete. When drugs enter the brain, they can interrupt work and change how the brain performs its jobs. These changes are what lead to compulsive drug use. Now, drugs affect three primary areas of the brain:
The brain stem is in charge of all the functions in our body needed to stay alive-breathing, circulating blood, and digesting food. It also links to the spinal cord, which controls muscle movements and also let's the brain know what's happening to the body/ The limbic stem links brain structures that control emotional responses, such as the feeling of pleasure when we eat something that we really like. the cerebral cortex is the outer part of the brain that makes up about three fourths of the entire brain, at least for humans. It is divided into four lobes which control specific functions like processing information from our senses and the ability to think, make decisions, etc.
The brain is affected in many ways by the use of drugs. Drugs basically work in the brain by invading its commmunication system and interfering with the way nerve cells normally send, receive, and process information. Although all drugs have that affect on the brain, there are many different outcomes on what exactly it will do to the brain. For instance, drugs like marijuana and heroin activate neurons (nerve cells that work nonstop to send and receive messages) because of the fact that their chemical structures mimic a natural neurotransmitter. Therefore, they can "fool" receptors and lock onto them, which activates the nerve cell. Since they don't work the same way as a natural neurotransmitter, as a result, the neurons end up sending abnormal messages through the brain. Other drugs including amphetamine cause nerve cells to release very large amounts of natural neurotransmitters or prevent the normal recycling of these brain chemicals. This leads to an exaggerated message in the brain which ultimately creates a lot of problems on the communication channels. This effect is like the difference between someone whispering in your ear versus someone shouting in a microphone. Although different drugs trigger different reactions, all drugs affect the brain's "reward" circuit, which is part of the limbic system. When a normal "reward" circuit is working like it should, it responds to enjoyable experiences by releasing dopamine, which creates feelings of pleasure, and tells the brain that this is something important (to pay attention and remember it). When you start doing drugs, they hijack this system and cause unusually large amounts of dopamine to flood the system. This can sometimes last for a long time compared to what happens when a natural reward stimulates dopamine. This flood of dopamine is what causes the euphoria or "high" that is associated with taking the drug.
3. What are the different drugs that people do/try?
Well, to be honest, there are all different types of drugs that people do but the main ones are listed below:
1. Heroin
Heroin is a drug that is VERY addictive and is produced from morphine, and comes from a flower called opium poppy. There are various appearances of heroin, but the main ones are sold as either a white powder, a black, solid substance, and brown powder. Individuals of all ages use it, but statistics show that about 3,090,000 people ages 12 and up have used it at least once in their lifetime. There are three ways to intake heroin: Injection, snorting, and smoking. Many new users will either snort or smoke it because injecting it causes emotional stigma. Now, don't think that the only way you can get addicted to heroin is injection, because you can become addicted by practicing any of the ways of doing the drug. There are also many risks to doing heroin. Some of those include overdose, severe addiction and withdrawal (symptoms of withdrawal include craving, restlessness, muscle and bone pain, and vomiting), infection and diseases, and viruses. A few popular street names of heroin are Dope, Smack, Horse, Junk, and Blacktar.
This is a video of some heroin addicts that have lost everything because of the habit.
2. Marijuana
Marijuana is the most common drug that teens go in for treatment with a primary diagnosis of marijuana dependence than for all other illicit drugs combined. It can become very addictive too, just like any other drug you use incorrectly. It comes in a green, brown, or grey mixture of dried, shredded leaves, stems, seeds, and flowers from the hemp plant. It is a mind-altering drug, which changes how the brain functions. There are about 400 chemicals in marijuana, and some of which are carcinogenic (causes cancer). There are typically higher rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal thinking among those who smoke marijuana compared to those who don't. People starting before the age of 15 are more likely to suffer from those factors in their early adulthood. Studies show that marijuana is associated with a 40% increase risk of psychosis. There are many risks to using marijuana, some of which include impaired judgement, anxiety and panic attacks, increased heart rate and risk of heart attacks, increased risk for schizophrenia, problems with memory and learning, and much more. Some common street names for marijuana are Weed, Pot, Dope, and Grass.
A shocking video that really opens your eyes to the danger of smoking marijuana.
3. Cocaine
Cocaine is a stimulant that is highly addictive. There are a couple different types/forms of cocaine: powdered and crystal. Powdered cocaine can be either snorted or injected, whereas crystal cocaine (known as crack) is heated and then smoked. Regularly snorting cocaine can lead to loss of sense of smell, nosebleeds, problems with swallowing, and a chronically runny nose. Using cocaine come with many risks, such as increased body temperature and heart rate, decreased appetite, abdominal pain and nausea, parinoia, and irritability. Some common street names for cocaine are coke, snow, blow, nose candy, perico, and yayo.
A very well created video about one gram of cocaine traveling all the way from Peru and ending up in the nose of an individual at a party in Sweden.
4. Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine (or meth) is a synthetic chemical that is highly addictive and acts as a stimulant. There are several ways of using it including snorting, injecting, smoking, or swallowing. There are many dangers to using meth, some including rapid heart rate, increased blood pressure, hyperthermia (when the body overheats), confusion, anxiety, insomnia, violent behavior, hallucinations, and delusions. Statistics show that between 1998 and 2002, death from meth overdoses increased by 125 percent. Between 1998 and 2000, meth related emergency room visits doubled, and in the past few years, the use of this drug has greatly increased in people ages 12 to 17. Some popular street names for this drug are speed, crystal meth, ice, glass, crank, and trash.
A video that will definitely change the way you look at drugs.
5. Ecstasy
Ecstasy is a drug that is usually taken orally by tablet or capsule. It is a man-made drug that is similar to stimulants and hallucinogens. Ecstasy effects your mood, sleep, appetite, and pain because it releases an excessive amount of the neurotransmitter called serotonin, which causes the brain to become deprived of this neurotransmitter, which contributes to the negative behavioral problems. Some risks for using ecstasy are blurred vision, muscle tensions, increased body temperature, memory loss, involuntary teeth clenching, and dependence/withdrawal effects. A few common street names are the love drug, MDMA, XTC, hug drug, and disco biscuit.
6. Steroids
Steroids are man-made substances that that are closely linked to testosterone (a male hormone). The only time that steroids are safe is if prescribed from your doctor. If you abuse steroids (normally to gain muscle mass), it can lead to very serious effects in the aftermath of taking it, some of which are irreversible. Some physical effects in males is the shrinking of the testicles and breast development. Females experience many noticeable symptoms as well, including increased growth of facial hair, deepened voice, and menstrual changes. Other unisex symptoms include severe acne, liver cysts, oily hair and skin, baldness, hostility, violent behavior, and uncontrollable outbursts of frustration. Another risk is cardiovascular disease, like strokes and heart attacks. Some street names for steroids are roids, arnolds, gym candy, pumpers, weight trainers, stackers, juice, and gear.
Today I'm going to talk about invasive species to hopefully recieve enrichment from my English teacher. There are a lot of invasive species, but I am only going to acknowledge the top ten invasive species. I am going to explain why they are invasive and the possible causes and effects of why it's happening.
1) Asian Carp:
Although Asian Carp were used to remove algae from catfish farmers' ponds in the 1970's, over the decades catfish ponds are overflowing because of floods. As a result, the carp were released into the Mississippi river basin. The problem with that is, since Asian Carp can grow up to 4 feet long and weigh 100 pounds, it is dangerous to the fisherman because they tend to leap out of the water. Barriers were constructed to keep them contained a few years ago, but they think the fish have found a way around it. Although they wanted to close Chicago's waterways, they refused. They filed a lawsuit against them, but the court ruled against it, so they will remain open for now.
2) Rabbits:
A recent report in the New York Times concluded that up until last October, rabbits have been living in burrowed holes at a museum and World Heritage site on a piece of land off the coast of southwestern South Africa. Chris Wilke was hired and was told to help keep the population under control, and so far, 5300 rabbits have been killed and they are planning to exterminate 8000 more. After this case has been solved, he might meet with the Foundation of Rabbit-Free Australia so that he might be able to help contain another immensely overpopulated area where the rabbits are threatening the ecosystem and have caused millions of dollars in damage.
3) Cane Toads
Although they were originally introduced to control pests, they have now become one. They were brought from Central America to Australia to attempt to control the beetle population in sugar plantations, but the toads ended up taking over instead. They have very few natural enemies that aren't in Central America, and since they have sacs that contain poison, when other animals try to eat them they release the poison and it kills the predator within minutes. They tend to steal food that diminish the resources for other native animals, and will even steal pet food that is left in bowls outside houses. They are up to 6 inches in length and weigh up to 3 pounds, and are serious threats to not only Australia where there are hundreds of millions of them, but also to Florida and Texas' ecosystems.
4) Kudzu
Kudzu is a vine that is often called, "the vine that ate the South," and was first seen in the U.S. when they fell in love with the beautifully fragranced flowers and bright green leaves. Initially used in Asia for decorative purposes, the U.S. government paid farmers to plant it to avoid soil erosion. They may seem harmless, but an astonishing fact is that it grows up to 1 foot each day in the hot summer months, and is capable of breaking powerlines, killing trees and collapsing buildings. It grows too successfully outside of its original habitat, and not only does this destructive plant not have any natural predators outside of Asia, it also is difficult to uproot. As a result, this plant covers several millions of acres of the Southeast.
5) Gray Squirrel
These Gray Squirrels may seem adorable, but in reality, it is one of the most detested animals of Britain. Native from America, the Gray Squirrel carries a deadly disease called squirrel pox, to which they are immune to but the red squirrels are not. Eating seven times more per 100 acres than the red squirrel, Gray Squirrels diminish any competitors that may manage to survive the deadly plague. The people of Britain can't imagine having the red squirrel vanish forever, having been dwindled out by the "relentless northern march of the grays." The aftermath of this crisis has resulted in the consumption of the Gray Squirrel to the point where butchers could hardly keep up with the demand.
6) Killer Bees
An uprising event resulted in the creation of a horror movie based off of it and a few other incidents along the way for a reason. A catastrophe occured in 1957 when a beekeeper inadvertantly released 26 Tanzanian bees in Brazil. After being released, the queen bees mated with European honeybees to create what is now called a Killer Bee. Being a very aggressive species, they have been known to invade European honey hives and assign a new leader by killing their queen bee. They first started populating in the U.S. in the year of 1990, and have over the years spread to many states, some of which include California, Florida, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas. Although the movie Killer Bees creates a fear in most viewers that is a false accusation, there is a different issue that you should be cautious of. Killer Bees may not inject any more toxic substances than a honeybee like the movie suggests, the Killer Bee is capable of stinging multiple times, and have been known to sting victims over 1000 times. The issue is that not only are they harmful to humans, but to agriculture as well, because they don't produce an efficient amount of honey.
7) Starlings
Hoping to introduce every type of bird acknowledged by Shakespeare into North America, an individual named Eugene Schieffelin released 60 starlings in Central Park in New York. He hoped that they would develop in their new home in a different way than the skylarks and the thrushes had not, and he was successful at that. Now, instead of 60 starlings, they are now flying in mobs of up to 1 million. They are suspected to carry several infectious diseases in their droppings and they can eat up to 20 tons of potatoes in a single day. Countless attempts have been made to contain the population of this bird, but nothing siezed them; not even poisoned pellets, live wires, itching powder, Roman candles, cobalt 60 and amazingly a jetliner. They are becoming so dangerous that 62 people were killed in a disaster where a group of 10,000 starlings flew head on into a Lockheed Electra and damaging the engine to the point where the plane crashed.
8) Northern Snakehead
This carniverous fish originates from Asia but appeared in Maryland in 2002 when it disrupted wildlife in the local pond. The Northern Snakehead has teeth as sharp as a shark's, and has the unusual ability to walk on land. While most fish can travel only as far as the body of water will take them, the Northern Snakehead can live for up to four days out of water and walks on land by squirming around back and forth like a snake. Now, this snake has been seen everywhere from New York to California. Apparently, the whole cause of this was by a local resident releasing two of them after buying them from a fish market in a local New York neighborhood. Ironic, huh?
9) Zebra Mussels
Theis species is native to the Caspian Sea, and were suspected to have come to the Great Lakes by clinging to the hulls of the U.S.-bound European vessels. Although they are considered a decicacy, they have left a terrible ecological outcome. Since the incident with the vessel, they have spread to New England and feed on phytoplankton that maintains the filter feeders that support the health and diets of larger fish. Unfortunately, that causes other species to starve. It is an utter nightmare for power plants and water-consuming facilities that have invested over 500 million dollars per year battling the buildup of mussels that clog the pipelines.
10) Burmese Python
The release of counless Burmese Pythons into the wild once they are too big for their tanks has caused an even bigger issue. Usually, domesticated animals fail to survive in the wild, but the Burmese Pythons have successfully multiplied and thrived in the wild, especially in the Everglades. They are finding the pythons becoming a threat to the people in the Everglades and are feeding off of the endangered species. Despite the fact that 1300 pythons have already been removed from the Everglades, the still growing species may result to a ban of the impractical pets.
Thank you for reading. I will be posting again soon on a new topic. Thanks again (:
This is an essay I wrote for my English class to create more awareness on the dangerousness of eating disorders. Read and comment! (:
About fifty percent of Americans know a family member or friend with an eating disorder, and of those Americans, 95 percent of them are between the age of fifteen and twenty five. The three most common eating disorders are Bulimia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder, and Anorexia Nervosa. When you are Bulimic, you binge-eat and then purge. When you have a Binge Eating disorder, you eat unhealthy amounts of food at once and a lot of times are unable to stop. When you are Anorexic, you starve yourself by hardly eating any food for a long duration of time. Some people say that the cause of having an eating disorder is because they have depression, anxiety, or anger. Others think that it's because they feel lack of control in life or they feel influenced by the media. Those may be true, but the most important factor is because of teasing and low self-esteem issues.
There are a lot of factors involved with developing an eating disorder. In some cases, they might have some type of emotional issue, such as depression, anxiety, or anger. For example, if someone is going through a lot of anxiety or depression, they might relieve the stress by this approach. Others may try bingeing or purging because they feel pressured by their parents to be perfect, and they feel that the only thing they can control is their weight. Another big issue is that many girls are influenced by the media, such as beauty magazines, TV, and celebrities. Some girls look at beauty magazines and see models that are unusually skinny, and think they should look like them. This can eventually result in an eating disorder. The same thing goes for celebrities and TV. When a girl sees an advertisement on TV showing a celebrity that had lost a lot of weight and is really slim, that also might influence them to lose a lot of weight fast, which again, can result in an eating disorder.
Although those are possible factors, the main factor is because of teasing and low self-esteem. A lot of people that are overweight get teased about it. In fact, I have a friend that gets made fun of all the time by a boy who calls her 'a fat tub of lard'. He is not the only one who makes fun of her, so are all of his friends by laughing along with him. Because there is not one, but many people making fun of her, it makes it more traumatizing. That creates low self-esteem, which leads to a whole different issue. When people have low self-esteem, they tend to be more vulnerable to insults and other people's opinions affecting them. For instance, I used to have really low self-esteem. I have been working on it a lot, so it's not as bad as it used to be. But before, it was awfully bad. When I had a really low self-esteem, a lot more things affected me than they used to. When people teased me, it had a bigger impact on me than it does now. As a result, I started to think that some of the things that people were saying were true, one of those included being fat. It was torture every day having such low self-esteem that I dreaded going to school because I thought I was as bad as people said I was. I thought that a lot of people hated me. This is a HUGE cause for eating disorders. Another example of someone having low self-esteem is one of my mom's friends. She had such low self-esteem, she turned anorexic and almost died because of it. She finally overcame her low self-esteem and thus stopped those unhealthy habits.
Eating disorders are horrible disorders and are very difficult to overcome. The causes of eating disorders vary, but they can all be equally dangerous. Hence, if you know someone that you suspect might be struggling with an eating disorder, tell someone immediately.
