Looting for the Lootless

Looting can be something that is ok to do, but when someone crosses the line of what they need to what they want, that is when it becomes horrible.  New York Daily News interviewed people about "thieves steeling flat screens" and posted them on their website, www.nydailynews.com.  "People were running in and out of Rent-A-Center carrying these big flat screens. They were holding on tight," said witness Aisha John, 20. Aisha was just one of the people they interviewed after the event.  When others where interviewed they said things like "Look, they've been looting our wallets for too long,", which , in a way, is true, but another thing someone saw was people grabbing bags of diapers and wipes for their kids because no stores were open to go buy them.  If no store is open to go buy things that a person needs for their family they will go into survival mode and go loot what they need to stay alive and well.  Looting is something that can be fine at times but when it comes to steeling "flat screens", instead of taking things that are appropriate to take in this time of need, is wrong and should not be done.

 

The Pink Ribbon

    The pink ribbon, one of the most well known images in the medical world.  For those who have no idea what this ribbon means or represents consider yourself lucky, but for most of us, including me, at least one of our friends or family members have had to deal with that pink ribbon.  When this ribbon pops up it represents breast cancer.  For the past six years of my grandma's life she has had to deal with the chemo and the doctors and the traveling that you have to undergo during treatments for breast cancer.  My aunt has also been suffering from this condition. The worst feeling in the world is knowing that one of your closest family members has cancer. At the same time it is a great feeling knowing that they fought through it and survived this terrible disease.
     The pink ribbon has been known in my family for at least six years.  First my grandma got diagnosed with breast cancer and had to get her hair all cut off and had to get a wig.  It was a sad day in my family to hear that my grandma may die from cancer just like her husband and my grandpa, who died from a different kind of cancer.  The next person that had breast cancer in my family was my aunt. Not long after she came back to Arkansas from California she had been diagnosed with it and since then both my grandma and aunt have over came the horrible disease. 
      When someone thinks about a pink ribbon some think about the month of October for breast cancer awareness month. Some think about just the cancer its self, but the people that have had people in their family die or get diagnosed with it then all you can think about, or at least all I can think about is my family members that have been through it and it makes me think about things like, what if I had cancer tomorrow?  Could I fight it or make it or would I die?  And I could only imagine the physical and mental pain that that individual that has cancer has to go through.  I am just happy that I have had survivors that I can look up to and be proud of and still get to see their beauty.  Every year ,in the month of October, I wear pink to show how lucky I am to have family members still here on this earth that has survived this horrible disease.

current connections #2 John L. Smith and the Razorbacks

It all began with a guy and a girl and their relationship. One of these individuals was the Head Coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks, his name was Bobby Patrino.  A Coach that had a job as the Atlanta Falcons head coach went to the Arkansas Razorbacks to improve the program. And to him, the assistants, and the fans of the Razorbacks he did just that with ten wins last year the Hogs were hoping to improve to the National Championship team that Hog nation despotically wanted.  Then that is when the relationship between Bobby and a young lady got involved   Bobby Patrino had had sexual relations with that young lady.  At first he lied about the accusations but then he came clean and that is when the NCAA and UofA said get out.  Which left the Razorbacks without a head coach that they could look up to and to teach them.  After about a month or so Hog nation got their answer for a new head coach his name was John L. Smith.  Everyone including me thought this would make us just as good if not better with him stepping up as the Razorbacks' head coach, but then the truth set in.  After losing three straight games to UofLM, Alabama, and Texas A&M Hog fans were furious.  Most fans were asking if Smith would be fired and when if he was, but Long, athletic director for UofA, confirmed to the fans that he was backing Smith and was going to let him run things until the end of the year.  His exact words were, "I am sticking with Smith until the end of his contract".  Hog fans were not happy about this decision and I was not happy with it in the slit-est.

     John L. Smith is one of the worst punishment coaches there is, in my opinion.  When players come off the field Smith tries to act like a coach but the players have so little respect for him they just walk right past without even a glance.  If you go and read more articles about how the players think of Smith more than half say they like him a lot more then they did Bobby, but is that because Bobby was a coach before a friend or is it because Smith lacks that drive to push his kids to their ability like Patrino did when he was there.  As a fan of the Razorbacks I do not think they are in the condition they use to be in and they also look like they lost some pride and without pride a football team can not survive, especially in the South Eastern Conference (SEC).  I believe that Smith is trying to hard to be a friend and not enough on being a coach.  He is more like an image then an actual coach. I mean when I would watch Bobby on the sidelines it did not matter if it was an important game, an easy game, if they were up by 25, or down by 25 he was always in their faces trying to make them a better football team.  And now when I watch a Hog game it is like Smith just babies them.  I have not seen one occasion when Smith got in someones face and just screamed and telling them what they did wrong.  And trust me this team has to be doing something wrong to be losing by the massive amounts every game.  I play football myself and if I did something wrong I knew that when I got to the sidelines I would not be babied.  I would be sat down and told why or why didn't I do something.  As far as respect if one of my coaches told me to do something I would go do it after saying "Yes Sir".  The worst part about having to watch this as a fan is that it looks like our Hogs have given up on the season already.  I can see it when they walk out of the tonal and I can see it how they play.  That kind of attitude does not come from the players themselves it starts out with the coaches attitude towards his players and team. 

        John L. Smith is a coach that seemed like he knew what he was doing at the beginning but then we saw his true color in the way he handles adversity   In my opinion, as a Arkansas Razorback fan, is that we should get a new coach that has that special "WANT" to win.  A coach can not just kinda want to win they have to know they will win no matter what.  As a guy that has grown up watching and supporting the hogs through good times and bad, I have to say that this year has by far been the hardest on me to stay fateful to my Razorbacks.  As the call for them Hog gets smaller will the Hogs do anything to keep that spirit of Razorback football high. 

http://www.rantsports.com/ncaa-football/2012/09/26/john-l-smith-gets-backing-of-arkansas-razorbacks-athletic-director-jeff-long/

Yellowstone Super Volcano

       There is a major factor that contributes to all of our lives in the United States.  Most people have no idea what this important factor is or how it came to the attention of the men and women that found this factor in one of the most beautiful places in the United States, Yellow Stone National park.  This might seem a little imaginary, but there has been scientist discover a Super volcano under the land where Yellow Stone sits.  The super volcano has not fully erupted in "640,000 years".  There has only been three eruptions recorded (estimated) and the earlier eruptions happened 1.3 and 2.1 million years ago. "Each of the three past super eruptions of the Yellowstone hotspot spewed more than 1,000 cubic kilometers of magma into the environment", "according to Jacob Lowenstern, scientist in charge at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory". If the volcano has not erupted in that long then why should the people of the United States be worried.
       There is a 1 in 10,000 chance that the Yellowstone Super volcano will erupt in our lifetime and if that does occur there will be an infinite amount of destruction caused to our nation.  The first thing that would happen, as soon as the eruption accrued, is the magma would spew out every direction and kill/demolish anything within 1,000 cubic kilometers of the volcanic eruption.  The next thing that would happen was that after the magma has came out the ash would be "thick (more than about thirty centimeters of ash)" and as it moved it would thin to a fraction of a millimeter, which could still collapse roofs close to Yellowstone.  Once the ash was in the atmosphere around the United States then vegetation and meats and all of our resources would start to die out and new resources, vegetation, and meats would not start thriving again until ten years after the eruption or when the ash would clear up.  The eruption would also contaminate the water and food supply which would mean that we would have to import more than we export which would corrupt our economy with all these extra payments the government would have to pay.  So if they had to pay extra for the food then as a nation we would have to pay the price, literally.  Everything that we would have to pay for would go up.  No more ten cent noodle meals and no more cheap food.  The dollar menu at restaurants would become non existent and there would be more and more families every night going to bed hungry. While some people would suffer others would thrive on the destruction.  People with jobs like construction, clothing, and transportation will become rich off of our sorrows.  As the ash/magma ruins most of our homes, the man in the construction business will make more homes which in turn will give him more money and the same goes for the clothing and the transportation businesses.  It is all about supply and demand effect.  If people do not have something that they need then they will call upon someone or something that does have what they need and pay the price for that object.  If this eruption was to occur in our lifetime then there would be many sides to it and not all of them would be bad or good. 
          In the article it states that "alot of people would perish" and that is true, but if this article was read and studied by the whole United States then maybe it could save the lives of thousands of people in the States.  I am glad that I have already read this article by: Natalie Wolchover, because without the information she has given me I would never be prepared for a super eruption at Yellowstone National Park.  Will Yellowstone's Super Volcano erupt in our lifetime?  Only time will tell. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/04/yellowstone-supervolcano-eruption-unlikely_n_1569214.html

I believe that the new world trade center will be very tall and will be something everyone will want to go see.  According to the infographic the center will be over 1700 feet tall. An average building will be at the most 10 stories high. So this new trade center will be bigger and better than ever.

1. The Blind Side by Michael Oher
I saw the movie so now is probably a good time to campare the book to the movie.  I loved how I could connect to the movie and Im really excited to see how well I could connect with the book. The Blind Side is going to be a great story no matter what kind of genre it is in.
2. Dream Team by Jack Mccallum
I have always loved the original dream team and now i would like to learn even mor about the players and the team.  This book should tell me in depth about how the player got onto the dream team and how they all worked together so great.
3. I beat the Odds by Michael Oher
I really like the story of Michael Oher, a man that had no quit, so I think it would be a good idea to see the bad times the he had with his father and his brothers/sisters and his mother. I am sure Micheal never dreamed that he would become this well known around the world but now everyone wants to know how he became that man that gave people hope.
4. Brian's Song by Gale Sayers/ Al Silverman
I told my dad about this assignment and all he could talk about was this true story about one of the greatest football players for the Bearss in the history of the NFL. The reason I picked this book was because of what my dad had said about it and it really sounded interesting to me.
5. The Legend of Dr. J by Marty Bell
I thought this book would be interesting because Dr. J is one of the best basketball players to ever step foot on a court. He could do just about any trick dunk or shot you could think up or dream up. In fact the only thing Dr. J knew how to do was to get up (jump). I've always wanted to learn about him as a player more, since I didnt get to watch him in his prime.
6. They Call Me Coach by John Wooden
The main reason I chose this book was because the author is John Wooden. This coach was possibly the best NCAA basketball, had ever seen. He coached the UCLA Bruins to a more than 70 game unbeaten streak in a couple of years. This book tells the ups and down of his life and being a college coach.
7. Foul! The Connie Hawkins Story by David Wolf
This book was also another book my dad wanted me to read. I don't really know who Connie Hawkins is, but I hpe to find out while reading this book.
8. Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bassinger
For me this book will probably be the best out of the ten, because I've seen the movie and watched the tv series. I 'm a huge fan of this story. It has all you could want in a book for me. There are ups and downs and mainly everything in this story.
9. When Pride Still Matter by David Maraniss
This book just popped out to me because it has a great title and I would really like to read it and see what it is really about.
10. Loose Balls by Terry Pluto
From the look of the title it maight seem like an unusual book, but the book is infact about some of the greatest basketball players of all time and the obsticles they have had to beat along the way to stardom. Such, players, as; Micheal Jordan and Larry Bird are talked about in this book