Just needing to RANT AND RAVE!!

I know that now days, teens think that they know it all.  Just like we all did when we were teenagers. This is not directed at all teens, just some in general that have NO respect for anything or anyone.  Not all teens are like this, just a few.  One of them that is in the NO respect category would be my step son.  His Dad and I did not raise him to be rude and disrespectful to people. He was raised to respect his elders and use his manners. He thinks now that he is 19 that he is a "man" and does not have to respect anyone.  He tears his car up and thinks that it is still his Dads responsiblilty to have it fixed. He thinks everyone owes him something.  His Dad lets him walk all over him and treat him like dirt.  The only time he treats his Dad halfway good is when he wants something.  His Dad lets it happen repeatedly and does not understand why his son is the way he is. He enables him to do whatever he wants. Then complains when he treats him badly.  I am sorry but if you allow your child to walk all over you and not put your foot down about how they treat you, then it is your own fault that they are the way they are! Just saying!  We have a 3 year old son that is watching his older brother treat people like this and at times he thinks it is ok too to act like that.  Needless to say, I have nipt that in the bud.  I was raised to respect my elders and most definelty my parents.  I was taught that you treat people with respect and you will get it in return. You also take care of you belongings and do not expect your Dad or Mom to run and jump at your beckon call when you have torn up you car, etc.  All I know that if my husband doesn't put a stop to his son treating people this way that he is going to end up in a lot of trouble. Thanks for listening!

When a child is being bullied by their school staff or teacher?

Lately we have seen a lot about bullying in the news.  Kids used to be the only ones that I knew of that "bullied" other kids. Now it is not just kids that are bullying other kids, it is teacher too.  We send our children to school to be taught, not to be mistreated. Teachers are supposed to protect your kids and make them feel safe, not bully them like the bully on the playground does.  This teacher in New Jersey was caught on audio bullying a child that is autistic.

The former teacher said this: " CNN) -- The former teacher of a schoolboy diagnosed with autism, who is accused by the child's father of mistreating the student, has called the allegations "disingenuous," saying she wasn't there when the alleged classroom incident took place."

"The father, Stuart Chaifetz, said he put a recording device on his 10-year-old son, Akian, and recorded school staff in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, making what he described as inappropriate comments during class."

Chaifetz launched a website and a YouTube video on Monday to publicize portions of more than six hours of recordings of what he says are teachers and aides talking about alcohol and sex in front of the class, punctuated by yelling at his son to "shut your mouth."

School authorities said in a statement Friday that they are "continuing to investigate what occurred in the classroom in question."

"Since the evidence presented is audio only, it is imperative that the improper conduct identified on the recording is correctly identified to the person(s) who committed the conduct," the statement said."

I am still somewhat in disbelief that a teacher who is supposed to teach children and help them from being bullied, is a bully herself!

Mariah Cary and Nick Cannon renew Vows!

Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon renewed their wedding vows at the Eiffel Tower in France as a part of their 4 year wedding anniversay celebration.  Here is a couple that no one thought would make it together, much less be together.  They have one-year old twins that are the apple of their eye.  Maria Carey is known to not like her private life to be publicized.  She likes to keep her private lifet to herself and her family.  I think that now days when any one renews their vows or even makes it past the 3 year mark they are doing good. For celebraties to make it past that mark you know that they are really in love with each other and wanting their marriages to work.
 This is what the couple had to say:
"Tonight was an incredible night," the singer Tweeted. "I can't express how amazing it was to renew our vows in Paris at the top of the Eiffel tower."

The couple have much to celebrate beyond their four-year anniversary, which falls on Monday. Along with enjoying nearly 1-year-old twins, Cannon appears to be on the mend from frightening health problems, including kidney disease.

After leaving the hospital in January, Cannon called Carey his "hero" and "the virtuous person who is my angel." Carey returned the compliment by telling him he was her "incredible husband" who, despite his struggles, was still "all strong and healthy and big."

Finals approaching!

I do not know about you, but with finals coming up, my stress level rises!  I know that a lot of us are ready for a break from homework and the hectic schedule of homework.  I can not believe how fast this semester has flown by.  I have really learned a lot from all of my classes this semester. One thing being that I need to slow down take the time to read "all" the directions entirely and not to get a head of my self.  I hope that all of you with finals right around the corner, take the time to relax a little and not over stress your selves.  The one final that is already stressing me out is my math final.  After spring break, I began working with a tutor, because Math was seriously kicking my 35 year old butt.  Now with the help of my amazing tutor, I can do it without stressing myself out.  But I know that the final is coming and it is a major stressor for me.  With all the hard work that I have been doing, I think that I will do fine.  I just have to relax.  So I hope that with finals fastly approaching that all of you do amazing.

Zimmerman's Apology!

In Zimmerman's apology to the family of the teen that he shot, people think that it was an act just to get his bond set.  It may or may not have been.  In reading his apology, I feel that he was trying to be a sincere person.  I understand how Trayvon's family must feel towards this man and his apology.  They probably think he is full of it.  I know that if  I were in their shoes, I would be hesitant about it. In the article is has an excerpt of George Zimmerman's apology for the incident that caused Trayvons death.

"I wanted to say I am sorry for the loss of your son," Zimmerman said in an unusual appeal directly to Martin's family before he testified in the Seminole County Courthouse in Sanford. "I thought he was a little bit younger than I was, and I did not know if he was armed or not."

Zimmermans attorney also stated the following: " Mark O'Mara, said after the hearing that his client was responding to an interview in which Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, said she wanted to hear from the man who shot her son.

"He didn't want to defend himself, he didn't want to discuss the facts of the case. He heard the request of the family, and he wanted to respond to it," O'Mara said, adding that an attempt to apologize to the family in private was rebuffed."

Dick Clark dies at 82

I can remember when I was little every year we would watch Dick Clark on New Year's Eve every year.  It was tradition in our house to watch him.  I can also remember watching the 100,000  pyramid with my Grandma and her always saying how handsome he was.  All I could think of was he is old, but whatever! 
After Dick Clark suffered a major stroke in 2004 people did not think that he would come back from it.  Even though his speech was slowed and slurred, he never allowed the symptoms of his stroke get the best of him.  The following is from the article.

"Some people felt that it was bad taste on the network's part to have him return in that condition. The network got a lot of criticism for that," said Robert J. Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University. "People said, 'This is supposed to be a celebration for the new year, I don't want to see someone in that condition.'

"But I was really glad to see him do it," Thompson said of Clark, who had attended Syracuse and was a frequent guest speaker there. "Dick Clark announced to the world that people can have strokes and still continue to function."

In doing so, Clark became a symbol of hope to the millions of Americans currently struggling in the aftermath of what's known as cerebrovascular incident. Many of those stroke victims grapple with depression and become withdrawn because they feel self-conscious about the lingering side effects, experts said.

"We lost a champion and a voice for stroke," said Jim Baranski, chief executive of the National Stroke Assn., said Wednesday."

New Year's Eve will be a little different, now that the man that so many of us grew up with and watching the ball drop together is no longer with us.

Bad Weather!

Storm season is here unfortunately.  Forcasters across the country are warning people of the life threatening storms that are in the forecast for the next few days. 

"In an unusual move, national weather forecasters have issued an early warning that conditions are ripe for violent tornadoes to rip through the Midwest this weekend.

According to a story by the Associated Press, the expected weekend storms will stretch from Texas to Minnesota and could be a "high-end, life threatening event."

People in this area are still horrified when the sky becomes cloudy or dark clouds move in.  With the weather forecasters predicting bad weather, it really puts the fear in people.  If  Joplin would have had the prediction of the bad weather and storms, like we are getting now.  Things would have been very different.  People would not have lost their lives, homes may have still been destroyed, but people would have been prepared.  We would have known what to "expect" or at least be able to get to safety. 
According to the article," the warning issued Friday covers parts of Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas."

"The Storm Prediction Center advises residents in those areas should be aware of warnings and alerts and seek shelter in a safe place should severe weather hit."

So everyone stay safe this weekend. 

Mr. Chamberlain was going about his day like any other day.  He did not know that he had accidentaly pushed his life alert button.  He was as this home in White Plains, N.Y. going about his day, when his day totally was turned up side down and ended up to be his last.  The West Plains Police responded to what they thought was a medical emergency call.  When Mr. Chamberlain responded that he was fine and did not know what or why they were there is when it turned bad.  The Police reportedly said that Mr. Chamberlain had a  hatchet when he opened the door and repeatedly told them that he had been in the Marines.

" THE POLICE who arrived at the door of Chamberlain's apartment in a White Plains housing project at 5 a.m. weren't responding to reports of a crime in progress, but a possible medical problem. Chamberlain, who suffered from heart disease, wore a life alert pendant that he apparently set off the pendant in his sleep. When the medical monitoring company failed to get a response from him immediately, they notified police of a possible medical emergency.
A device in Chamberlain's home that the pendant transmitted to recorded what followed. The family was permitted to listen to the recordings, which is why we know that the police description of subsequent events were a lie.
When police arrived at his home, Chamberlain told them through a closed door that he was fine. The monitoring company also called police to tell them this was a false alarm, and to request that the call be cancelled. The police dispatcher responded, "We're not cancelling anything."
Police at the scene continued to demand entry, and refused to allow Chamberlain's niece, who lived upstairs in the same building, to speak to her uncle. According to the family, when Chamberlain said he was fine, an officer responded, "We don't give a f*%#@." An officer is heard referring to Chamberlain as "n*@!$r" and making a mocking reference to his Marine service."

This is a very sad story.  Here was a man that was probably mordified that the police were "coming" in to his home even when he had said that he was fine and had no idea why they were there. 

Grandma got busted!!

The 73 year old Grandmother, was busted with 4 pounds of marijuana and approximately $270,000.00 in cash.  Darlene Mayes is now known as a drug trafficker.  She had been under investigation for the last two years.  She was not just the run of the house drug dealer, I guess you could say.  She was not the "neighborhood" dealer, her operation was spread over the four states area. 

"Investigators say the elderly woman supplied about 40 percent of the pot circulating in the area, including the city of Tulsa and parts of nearby Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri. …

Mayes first tried to tell officers that the money was her retirement fund, [Vinita police chief Bobby] Floyd said. He said Mayes may have been trafficking marijuana for as long as two decades."

WOW!  I can understand elderly people needing to make an extra income, but this was shocking.  I understand that millions of elderly people live on amounts that are below the poverty level and often go without medications or food because their checks do not cover everything that they need.  This lady was making a killing selling marijuana, and she even tried to tell the police that the money that they found in her house was for her "retirement fund."  This had to have shocked her family, her neighbors, people that she has known for years.  You have to laugh at the very thought of this Grandma being known as a major drug dealer and supplier of at least 40% of the pot in this area.  She really does not fit the "image" of a drug dealer. I guess you never know what some people will do to make money.  I do not know what I would do if that were my Grandmother.....I think I would still be in shock,

Anniversarys!

Ten years ago today, I married my best friend.  Brad and I have been married for ten loooong years.  Now days if you make it past two years you have accomplished a lot!  When people ask you how long you have been married, and you answer ten years, the are shocked by your answer.  Now days, marriage is not the "in" thing to do for many couples and I do not see anything wrong with that.  My husband and I still think of marriage as a life long commitment that takes HARD work.  Anyone that says marriage is easy they are full of it.  Marriage is probably the hardest relationship you will ever be in.  We still have our moments where we definitely do not see eye to eye, but some how we always seem to work things out to suit both of us.  We still have very different opinion's but we value each others opinion.  I would not trade my husband for anything.  Some days it is easy to take him for granted, but I thank God for him everyday and cherish every single moment we have together.  He and I have ten years together that we worked hard for, hopefully we will have many, many more years to share.

Diabetes drug fight cancer????

If this dirt cheap diabetes drug that has been on the market since the 1990's might also have a anticancer product in it,  If this drug does work to help fight cancer, think of all the people that it would help and save.  According to the article," The first hint that metformin might also have anticancer properties came a decade later, when two research teams separately reported that diabetes patients were less likely to develop cancer, and less likely to die from the disease, if they were taking the drug.  This news wasn't entirely surprising: Metformin treats diabetes in part by lowering insulin levels, and several types of cancer -- such as those of the breast, colon, and prostate -- have been linked to high levels of that hormone."
If this drug really does help fight cancer, then it will be a dramatic life line to thousands of cancer patients worldwide.  My mom has had colon cancer, and thankfully she is in full remission.  Yet some people that have had the same cancer have not been as lucky.  If this pill that has been used to help diabetics can help cancer patients.  Think of how much money people will save.  This pill in its generic form is not expensive at all as the article states: "the generic form cost pennies a pill."  People that have had to cut corners or not take specific medications for cancer will hopefully in the near future not have to.  They will be able to take metformin and the other medications that they have to take and hopefully save a lot of money in the long run.

100 years later, Titanic's allure still alive!

I think that it would be amazing to take the Titanic Memorial Voyage.  The ship will actually take the exact same route that the Titanic took 100 years ago.   It is a little on the morbid part to be in the same spot at the exact time that tragedy struck and took so many peoples lives. The Titanic Memorial Cruise will follow the route the Titanic took, and is scheduled to be in the exact spot at the exact time the Titanic struck an iceberg close to midnight on April 14, 1912, sending it to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean a little less than four hours later. More than 1,500 people lost their lives, and about 700 -- mostly women and children -- survived.   Titanic Memorial Cruise will set sail on this memorial cruise from Southampton, England with around 1300 fanatics.
 "There is a little bit of excitement and a little bit of trepidation to be on the ship outside at night with the chaplain conducting a Christian ceremony to honor the deceased that came from all walks of life," Tom Byron says.

"To be out there and know that 100 years ago, they were not doing what we will be doing; that they were wondering how much longer they had left to live ... it's overwhelming actually."

While not everyone would go to these lengths to mark a historic disaster, it's human nature to be interested.

While I think the Titanic's story is just an interesting as the next person. I do not know how I would feel about being at the exact spot at the same time that the ship hit an iceberg and so many people lost their lives.  History is very interesting, but if for some odd reason history was to repeat itself. I for one do not want to be a part of it.