Mark McGwire and Steroids

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Mark-McGwire-comes-clean-admits-to-using-steroi?urn=mlb,212896

Mark McGwire finally came clean and admitted what most everyone already knew, he used steroids. This is a big deal because he holds the single season home run record, had an hall of fame caliber career and had early refuse to discuss this matter. He expresses regret and says he wishes he would have never used steroids. He also says that he used them not to gain an advantage, but to simply stay healthy and he doesn't think the steroids helped him hit home runs, he says steroids don't change your hand-eye coordination.

Personally, I had thought all along he was on steroids. I also don't buy that they didn't help him hit home runs. His stats were up in nearly every category (most notably home runs) during the years he confessed he used steroids. Almost any player in the MLB can make contact... thats how they hit sac-flies. I believe that steroid use is the difference between a fly ball to the deep outfield, or warning track and a home run. He will most likely never get into the hall of fame because of this, and I agree with that also.

Drug Abuse

http://health.msn.com/medications/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100247883&page=2

This article talks about prescription drug abuse and teens, more specifically a drug ring that was recently busted in New Jersey. The ring was made of high school students and recent alumni, the head of the ring was a high schooler. This particular ring sold nearly $50,000 worth of vicodin and oxycodone. It did not say where or how the kid got this amount of drugs to sell. It also goes on to talk about how easy it is for kids to get their hands on these drugs, and how many parents often have some in a medicine cabinet. It discusses how kids do not know how serious these pills are, and how many parents are oblivious to the fact that this is going on.

Prescription drug abuse is becoming a bigger and bigger problem everyday in the U.S. The author is trying to reach a very large audience because it is a problem everywhere, and kids as young as 12-13 have been caught with these drugs. These drugs are even present in our own community and is a major problem.

I agree that this is becoming a big problem among teens in the U.S. Kids do not always realize the consequences of what they are doing or they just think "It won't happen to me." If nothing is done about this, then the problem will continue to grow. I think that we need to start educating kids about drug abuse at a young age, so they know it is bad.

Song Lyric Analysis

Song:Light Up Ya Lighter
Artist: Michael Franti and Spearhead
Genre: Hippie Music
Released: 2005

This song is about the War on Iraq. This artist is obviously against the war and thinks we are in the war for the wrong reasons. He says "The war for oil is a war for the beast, the war on terror is a war on peace." He talks about how politicians and people are saying this war is nothing like Vietnam. He says "This one is nothing like Vietnam, except for the bullets, excepts for the bombs, except for the youth that's gone." He obviously feels we are wasting lives on this war. Michael Franti is very anti-war. He talks about the ugly truth of war and says "Here's what you get. An M16 and Kevlar vest. You might come home with one less leg but this thing will surly keep a bullet out your chest." This whole song is full lyrics against the war, and sort of puts things into a different perspective, that I had never thought about.

This issue affects everyone in the US. Particularly the people who have family or friends in Iraq. There are both supporters of the war and people against the war. In 2005 when this was written there weren't as many people against the war as there are now. Now the majority of people want our troops to come home, and for the war to end. This is both a ethical, and social issue. We are spending a lot of money on this war, that many tax payers feel we shouldn't even be in. Especially with our struggling economy. This issue is hopefully being resolved, Obama is trying to get the troops out of Iraq as quickly as possibly.

Through my research I have found that many people agree with what I think about the song. This song is pretty straight forward and says exactly what it means. When this song came out the war on Iraq was claiming many US lives per year. In the year of 2005 there were 849 casualties. In total the war has claimed 4367 US lives claimed. This supports his thoughts that too many lives are being taken for a war he doesn't think we should be in. There are many anti-Iraq wars that help support Franti's views. On the other side, there are many pro-Iraq war sights. The US has spent $800 billion on the Iraq War. In other parts of his song he discusses how were wasting money. He talks about how we should bring the troops home, which many many people agree with.



http://icasualties.org/
http://usliberals.about.com/od/homelandsecurit1/a/IraqNumbers.htm
http://bringtroopshomenj.org/

Diversity: Hate Crime Legislation Passed

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2009/10/620000629/1

This article is about legislation that was recently passed states "After more than a decade of opposition and delay, we've passed inclusive hate crimes legislation to help protect our citizens from violence based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray or who they are." It talks about how hate crimes have increased recently. In the past ten years there have been 12,000 hate crimes reported against gays alone. This done not count all the crimes that were not reported, or crimes based on race, religion or other things. It also talked about how this legislation stems from two cases in 1998, one where a black male was tied to the back of a truck and dragged until he died. The other case a gay male was severely beaten and then tied to a fence, and left to die.

This is news because of magnitude. This affects everyone across our nation, and not just in big cities, or the south, or any isolated part of our country. Hate crimes can take place anywhere where there is a discriminatory person. I'm sure there have been several cases of hate crimes in the CF/Waterloo area.

I am glad that this legislation has been passed. No deserves to be beaten or teased or killed just because of their sexual orientation, race, or nationality. I don't think this will necessarily stop that many crimes from taking place though. I think this because if someone is going to commit a crime like this, they know they can get in serious trouble, and it hasn't stopped them in the past. However, maybe, people hearing stories about how much prison time these people get could discourage and prevent some cases from occurring. The bottom line though, is even if this prevents just 1 hate crime from being committed, then it was worth passing.

Fort Hood Shooting

1. What are your thoughts, feelings, etc, as you read these articles?
I think many of the feelings about why he did this are misplaced, I think people are looking too much into his race and religion, and not necessarily enough into his personal life.

2. What role do you think terrorism played in this massacre, if any? Why? Do you think that there was an terrorist organization behind the shooting?
I do not believe, as of now terrorism played a role in this shooting.

3. What role did racism or religious persecution play in this incident? Why?
I think racism could have played a little role in this, just because I'm sure he heard many bad stories about people of his race from soldiers. After awhile, hearing people bashing on your own kind could get to anyone. Not to mention, he didn't agree with the war in the first place.

4. Do you think a lot of Muslim Americans have the same feelings as this man? Why or why not?
I think they may because it seems like the are instantly judged, just based on their appearance which is not fair... but it's the sad truth.

5. What do you think the military could have done to prevent this from happening? Why do you believe this? Were there signs that this man had the potential to do something like this? What were they?
I do not think their is too much the military could have done, except maybe they could have granted his discharge a long time ago when he applied for it. I do not think there were signs that he would have done something of this magnitude, yes it was known that he was against the war... but not even his own family had any idea this was coming.

6. Talk about the leadership of Kimberly Munley (the woman who stopped the shooter). What did she do? How would you have reacted in the same situation?
This shows great leadership, even after being shot numerous times she was able to stop the shooter from doing more harm. I would like to think I'd do the same thing, but you can never tell unless your actually in the situation.

7. What does this incident say about race relations in America? Specifically with Arab-Americans and Muslims? Is there a reason that Muslims and people from the Arab world feel a certain way about America?
It says that we are not yet over this stereo type of muslims. If this had been a white person who was against the war, do you think as many people would have instantly assumed this was a terrorist act? I don't think so and they probably would have waited to accuse the man of this until there was actual evidence.

Leadership Article

The article that I read talks about the "7 Traits of Success Superstars." In this article, they

list the seven traits that the author finds most important in order to become a "Success

Superstar." These traits are: 1. Success superstars know exactly what they're after. 2. Success

superstars are highly ambitious, driven and motivated. 3. Success superstars don't let

them selves become sidetracked. 4.. Success superstars have amazing friends and family to

back them up. 5. Success superstars see roadblocks as objects to break and smash through. 6.

Success superstars never, ever give up, and 7. What do you think should go here?"

Leadership is often times, but not always measured by success. Generally, good leaders are

seen as those who are successful, and "Success Superstar" is just another term for great leader.

The author goes into detail about why each of these traits are important and brings up some

very valid points such as a success superstar should never give up on an ambition or goal. His

target audience is anyone who is looking to become a great leader, or "Success Superstar."

I completely 100% agree with each of these traits. I think a "success superstar" is the

same thing as a good leader. Great leaders must have all the traits that this authored

mentioned in order to be successful. However, I do not like the term "Success Superstar"

because great leaders can be measured by more than just success. I could think this way

because that is one of the main messages in the John Wooden book I am reading. For example,

a basketball team may go 0-15, but perhaps the coach changed many of the kids lives, and kept

them out of trouble... from an outsiders perspective that was a bad season, but to the kids and

the coach, i'm sure it would be a success.

1. The kid should not have done what he did, and should be charged. I was unsure until I saw the video, but the video cemented in my mind that he should get criminal charges. Headbutting someone without a helmet is not a part of football. He should be charged because this is no different then punching someone in the face... the fact it was on a football field should not change anything.

2. There should be an expectation of violence to a certain extent, within the rules of the game. This case was obviously way outside of the rules of the game. An assault of this magnitude should not be considered a part of the game, it was way away from the play and unnecessary.

3.
Headbutting Player:
1. I would feel awful about the decision I made, and I would be very remorseful.
2. I don't want charges to be pressed.
3. I would apologize to the player, and tell him what I did was very wrong and hope that was enough.
Victim:
1. I would be very mad, and really really want to hurt this kid.
2. I would want charges to be pressed because it was completely outside of the game.
3. I would press charges.
Headbutting Parents:
1. I can't believe my kid made such a dumb decision, I feel bad for the other kid and his parents.
2. I want my kid to apologize and hope that is enough that charges won't be pressed.
3. I would make my kid apologize, and try to explain why he did it.
Victim's Parents:
1. I am outraged that that kid did that. I hope my kid will be alright.
2. I want charges to be pressed and the kid to apologize, and be suspended for the rest of the season.
3. I would press charges.
Police
1. I am surprised the kid would do this.
2. I want an investigation into if what this kid did was indeed assault.
3. I would press charges
Headbutting Teammates:
1. Wow, that was dumb.. why would he do that? I'm unsure on whether or not charges should be pressed.
2. I would probably not bring it up, I'm sure he feels bad enough.
3. I wouldn't say much or anything about this to him.
Victim's Teammates:
1. I am mad that he would do something like that to my teammate and friend.
2. I want that kid to be suspended for the rest of the season and charges to be pressed
3. I would try to lay that kid out the next player.
Headbutting Coach:
1. I am saddened and upset that an athlete would do such a dumb thing.
2. I would most likely suspend him the rest of the season, he obviously can't handle competition.
3. I would make him run a lot, and leave it up to the athletic director/principal.
Headbutting Athletic Director:
1. I would be upset with this kid, and wonder why he made such a dumb choice.
2. I would hear his side of the story, see if he is truly remorseful, make him apologize then consider letting him play later in the season.
3. I would suspend him indefinitely