The Last Blog

As my last blog, I want to reflect on my semester at Western. I would have done my "I Believe" essay, but I can't copy and paste it to the blog box. Coming to Western, I didn't know what to expect. I wasn't really nervous, but the uncertainty had me uneasy. As a surprise, adapting to western wasn't all that bad. In high school, I took some tough classes because I thought I was going to go to a four year college. During my senior year though, I decided that I wanted to be a cop because being a cop would like a great job, so I decided to go to Western. The tough classes I took in high school paid off big time. College Prep. Writing in high school helped me write essays in this class, Written Comm. Taking sociology in high school obviously helped me in Sociology at western and taking Govt. in high school helped a lot because I pretty much knew everything that intro to govt had to offer at Western. I didn't like Govt. in high school cause my teacher was extremely hard and make us memorize a million things. Anyways, I want say that Written Comm. was great and doing blogs wasn't so bad as well. As I look to the future, I hope everything goes as smoothly as this semester and I wish you all good luck in the future and hopefully you will get your degree and that nice job that you worked hard for.

My Blogging Experience

Before I took written communications, I wasn't that big of a fan of blogging. I knew what it was, but I thought it was pointless. My impressions were that blogs are for people who feel so important that they want the world to conform to their ideas. But now that I took written communication, I think of blogs in a whole new light. Blogs aren't always used to persuade, but to inform as well. I've read a few blogs exaplining events or customs that I never knew about before. I think that the people who actually go through an event should be able to write about what happened, not just a reporter. I also see blogs as being a good way to write about stuff that is on my mind. For example, the world cup is always on my mind so I couldn't resist writing about it. I think that blogging is the more pure way to get news. People who write blogs tell news from their perspective and aren't held to network standards or sensored. For example, we see the middle eastern conflict in a differnt perspective as the people who actually live in Israel, Iran, Iraq, etc. So the most important thing I got from blogging is that everyone has news to share whether he or she knows it or not and blogging is more than just for ranting, it's used in positive ways as well.

The Stage is Set!

I absolutely can't wait for summer! Why, you ask? It could be because I hate cold weather. It could be because I can ride my motorcycle around without freezing my butt off. But the real reason is that from June 11th to July 11th, the 2010 Fifa World Cup will be taking place. Just recently, there was a random draw of goruping all thirty two teams into 8 groups. As it was on, I was praying that the United States wouldn't be put in "the gorup of death". The group of death is where there are two really, really, good countries that will probably make it past the stage while your country needs to pull of a miracle. For example, Group G has Brazil, North Korea, Cote d'Ivore, and Portugal. Portugal and Brazil are two very dominant countries and there is almost no chance of North Korea or Cote d'Ivore making it too the next stage. The United States got lucky. The US is in group C with England, Slovenia and Algeria. I'm glad we get to play England because there is a mini-rivalary between the England fans and the United States fans. The England fans think they are superior and that the MLS in the United States stands for Mickey-Mouse League Soccer. I think that the United States, with enough determination, can get the first spot in the group, but England will probably get first. Since the top two teams in the group advance, I'm more than confident that the US can get at least second. If we do get second and advance to the normal 16-team bracket tournament that is familar to almost all Americans, we would probably have to go against Germany. To be honest, Germany is a tough team and I'll be shocked if the US can survive the onslaught of the German attack. But anyways, if you want more information on the 2010 FIFA World Cup, I recommend going to Wikipedia because all the information that you need to know on the world cup is conviently located in Wikipedia. So from here, I can only wish the Americans good luck and hopefully the United States wil gain more respect around the world when we showcase our talents at the world cup.

Some Quick reminders

For this blog, I am going to give out some quick reminders that you may or may not care about. one reminder that you might already know is that the semester is coming to an end and you should probably start signing up for classes. I have no idea what the deadlines are so if you could tell me during class that would be great. Don't be shy, I won't bite lol. Another reminder is that there will be a draw for the world cup teams on December 4th. That's when you'll know what teams will be grouped for the world cup. I explained the whole world cup process in one of my later blogs in case if you don't know what I am talking about. Next reminder is that the Packers will be playing the Ravens on MONDAY night football so arrange your plans accordingly. For me, that means asking off on monday. For you MMA fans (which may be no one), there are going to be two fights on the next Ultimate Fighter so please dont miss it. Another reminder is that the holiday shopping season began and that it is going to be busy at the mall every weekend until January 1st. I would like to remind everyone to keep up with their blogs but if you are reading my blog then you probably are already keeping up with your blogs. And I would also like to remind people that the recession will most likely becoming to an end in early 2010. I know it seems like the recession will last forever, but considering that the DOW jones has been steadily increasing, the economy should be picking up soon. I don't know when the Unemployment rate will bottom out, but it should be soon.

Upcoming Holiday Season

If there is one thing that I am not looking for is the day after thanksgiving. On black friday, I have to work from 3:45AM-2:15PM! It sucks because I don't really get that many breaks. I get two paid fifteen minute breaks and one half hour lunch. That means I have to stand for nine and a half hours and check people out. I work in the kids department so I am not sure how busy it is going to be. I know electronics and hardware are going to be very busy, but I'm unsure about the clothing department. I actually would rather work in hardware, but I have no choice. But from the day after thanks giving until Janurary, it's going to be quite busy. I always complain about how slow it is, but after the holiday season I'll be thankful for not being in a rush all the time. Angry customers usually are the most angry during this time of year too. People hate having to wait a few minutes to check out. I use to get angry as well, but I now don't worry about it because there really is no reason to get angry. I kinda want to get another job that doesn't involve reatail, but there isn't that many jobs out there. I also don't really want to do fast food cause it seems like a hard job and that they have to deal with more angry, unreasonable people as well. The one thing I can't wait for being a police officer is making the rude people pay for their rudeness via tickets or jail time.

Greenbay Packers... loose

I can't help vent some of my frustrations from time to time and I think venting on a blog is only the normal thing to do. With that being said, I am going to vent about the packers. As of today we are only 4-4. Two of our losses have came to Brett Favre and the Vikings. Favre is a medicore quarterback at best and is disloyal to his fan base. Over in England, a soccer team called Liverpool FC is a fierce rivial to Manchester United. The rivalary is so intense that the two teams haven't traded eachother since 1964. Star striker Fernando Torres has said he wouldn't go to Manchester United cause he knew what it meant to the fans. Did Brett Favre consider the packer fans when he went to the vikings? Probably not. I think Favre went to the Vikings cause they offered him the most money and Favre doesn't know what to do in the retired life so he instead plays football. Another loss came to the Tampabay Buccaneers. They are now 1-7 thanks to that. Our special teams let us down and that's why we loss. A blocked punt for a touch down and Tampa recieved a kick off all the way to the 18 yard line near their endzone which costed the packers 14 points. There was also a dumb interception by Aaron Rodgers which also costed a touchdown. Most of are wins came from other bad teams. Lions, Browns, Bears (not all that bad), and the St. Louis Rams. To be honest, I dont think we will be making the play offs this year due to many things. Main reason, offensive line allows too many sacks. But anyways, the green and gold play the cowboys, a playoff quality team, this week. I think if the Packers come out strong and win, that would be a huge sign that things are turning around and we would be a play off caliber team. But since I think we'll loose, I am going to say, "Better luck next year."

Sears Roebuck and Co

Since you, the reader, probably don't know me, I think I'll tell you what I do for some money. For about two and a half years now (hired since April 2007), I work at the sears in the Valley View mall. Upon contrary belief, I don't go out in the mall at all but when I do, it's only for food. I could go out in the mall on my breaks but I would rather give my feet a rest in the break room instead. Anyways, to be specific, I cashier at either the hardware cash wrap or at the kids cash wrap depending on where my boss schedules me. I would much rather work at the hardware cash wrap because then I can talk to the Hardware and Lawn and Garden salespeople. In kids, I'm isolated with clothes all around me. Just outside of the kids cashwrap though is a computer with a chair. I think it's a big relief after a few hours going on the computer and looking up sales information about the store. If there is no one around, I can browse the internet a little bit. I dont go on facebook and play any games cause if caught, that would be a write up for sure. I usually catch up on my soccer news or go on wikipedia and read about random stuff. Even when I am not on the internet but on the computer, it seems like people (customers) don't want me to be sitting and not pay attention to them. It seems like customers would rather me to stand there and greet them. It just seems werid to me but I guess that is the way it is. Customers are the hardes part of my job job. When I work in hardware, customers ask me some really specific questions that a specialist would probably know but I am not a specialist, I am cashier trained to use the cash register. As they are describing their dilema, I usually interrupt them and get a sales person. Angry customers are the worse. Some customers complain if I don't give them a bag or do give them a bag. For example, an elderly couple bought a lawm mower blade and I put some tape on it so that they could just carry it. The elderly woman then asked me sarcastically if there was a bag shortage. As I was about to put it in a bag, the elderly man said that it didn't need a bag. They bickered for a few seconds then the elderly lady got annoyed and refused to carry it and made the elderly man carry two other bags and the blade. A big annoyance is when people interrupt me. I will be talking to a customer while another customer come up to the counter stares at me while I'm talking to the other person and then randomly interrupts me to ask his question. Day in and day out though, most of the customers are good people and I just forget about the few bad ones. One last thing I want to share is the time where I nearly dodged being fired. One busy day, this guy from Ireland comes in and buys some tools. He gives me a travelers check and I have no idea what to do with it. I ask and they say to do it as cash. I was still a rookie and I was really confused still and I did it as cash but I didn't know what to do with the check. I gave it back to him then a minute later he tells me that I am suppose to keep it. Even though this happened like two years ago, I still am embarassed about how stupid I was and that the store would have lost $500 if that guy wasn't so honest. I am one lucky person.

FIFA World Cup

OK, I know you probably don't pay attention to soccer. I was the same way until I actually played the game (FIFA 09 for the xbox 360 to be exact). But out of respect for the most popular sport in the world, I was to inform you, the uninterested american, about the 2010 FIFA world cup. To begin at the top, the FIFA World Cup will be taking place in South Africa one June 11, 2010 till July 11, 2010. There will be a total of 32 teams competeing for the title. Just as a quick history lesson, Italy won last world cup tourny in 2006 and Brazil has won nine times since the World Cup tourny was created (most times won of course). I Digress, the 32 teams that qualify aren't simply put into a bracket type of tournament. The 32 teams will be randomly put into 8 groups of 4. Each team will play each Country in their group once. After each team plays each other in their group, the top two teams will be put in a bracket of 16 (A win means that team recieves 3 points, if two teams tie, they each get 1 point, and obviously if a country looses, no points are awarded. So if a country wins 2 times and ties once, that country will have a total of seven points.) The bracket of the sixteen teams aren't randomized though. The winner of one group will play the runner up of another group. For example, the winner of group A will play the runner up of group B. If two teams tie while in the sixteen bracket stage, there will be a penalty shoot out. A penalty shoot out is basically the best out of seven. It's kind of difficult to explain, so I'll move on. As of today, 23 teams have qualified so far (United States being one of them). The favorites to win the tournament are Brazil, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, and Germany. The United States, though, is ranked eleventh in the world so I have high hopes for them. I know I threw a lot at you, but I hope when summer comes around, you'll know what is going on in terms of the FIFA World Cup.

Mixed Martial Arts

As a person who doesn't do karate or any type of fighting, I am surprised that I am a big MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fan. Every month, there is one saturday where me and my friends go out and watch the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) pay per view. My favorite place to go to watch is buffalo wild wings only because they have so many TV's that one can watch the fights from. But what I find sort of weird is that how I got into MMA because three years ago, I couldn't have cared less about the UFC or any other type of mixed martial arts fights. What really sparked my interest was when a man named Kimbo Slice started posting his fights on the internet. Since I usually look at break.com a lot, I remember seeing this huge, steroid induced person fighting this other person and I was actually entertained by it. I always wanted Kimbo to loose because I like to root for the under dog, but I also wanted him to loose because of the people who he would fight. Kimbo would always fight some random fat person off the street, beat him up, and then think of himself as a great fighter. So after a year of fighting street thugs, Kimbo did his first fight in actual MMA event against a mid 40 year old boxer named Ray Mercer. I was stoked to see this fight because I thought Kimbo would get his but kicked because there was no way that he could beat a boxer at his own game. Kimbo actually did win, but it was only because he got Ray Mercer in a standard issued Guillotine choke hold that Ray Mercer probably never seen before because in Boxing, you don't use choke holds. After that, Kimbo beat another 40 year old washed up fighter then he faced a person named Seth Petrozelli. I thought Kimbo was going to win because Seth was only 225 punds and he was 250 punds, but Seth did a quick jab to the face and Kimbo went down for the count. To be fair though, Kimbo is very humble and isn't a bad person, I just wanted the underdog to win for a change. But thanks to Kimbo, I actually watch MMA (mostly UFC) as a past time. If you want to get into MMA, I would reccomend watching the UFC and trying to research what happened in the past so you aren't confused as to who is good, bad, or just plain evil.

Motorcycle Saftey

As the riding season for motorcycles come to a close, I would like to talk about what I think a lot of riders sometimes ignore; which is of course motorcycle saftey. When a person first learns how to ride a motorcycle, he or she is more attuned to what is going on around them; just like when a teen first learns to drive. Sure, a beginner may make some mistakes like forgetting to shift down to first gear when he or she stops or taking a turn too wide (can be very dangerous but most riders will learn quickly on how to turn sharper). Not only is a beginner more aware, but he or she is also more likely to wear a helmet and proper clothing everytime they ride. But as the years pass, that rider is most likely not to wear any protective gear, most noteably a helmet. I tend to see it more with the cruisers, but I don't know anything for fact. But anyways, I see people on motorcycles without helmets and I can't think about how much pain he or she would be in if anything goes wrong and they happen to slide along the cement or hit an object. If he or she survives an event like that, more than likely serious injury including brain damage or severe road rash to the face. I can empathize with people about how inconvient a helmet is, but the level of risk is really high if one doesn't wear a helment. I can testify to this because I have got into an accident myself. Three days after I got my brand new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R, I was coming home from work at around 9:00 PM. I was in a hurry to make a green light because the mall stop lights dont recognize motorcycles, and as I was going around 40 out the outer streets of the parking lot, a car pulls out infront me (he didn't stop at the stop sign) and I lock up the brakes and laid my bike down and I slid across the pavement. I immediately got up, ran towards my motorcycle to see the damage, and then got angry about what happened. I wasn't angry at the driver because I knew I was going too fast and he knew that he should have stopped. The driver, though, stopped, helped me pick up my motorcycle and then gave me a ride home. Once I arrived at my house, my dad took me to the hospital, some nurses cleaned up my road rash, and then went home that same night. I had some pretty bad roadrash my both my front lower legs, my left hand (the palm and backside), my right elbow, and also tore the tip of my left middle finger up as well. I was out of school for three days but that was it. Anyways, the helmet I had basically saved my face and I am thankful that I was wearing it. I got a new bike now and it is a ZX-6R and it is in candy blue (basically the same bike I crashed but in a different color). So the moral of the story is that wearing a helmet may be a nuisance but noone ever plans to crash and you dont know when you need it before it's too late.

Here's what my motorcycle looks like:

Libertarian... what?

Even heard about the word Libertarian? Well, probably not. Most people have no clue on what a libertarian is, so as a result of not having anything else to talk about, I'm going to inform you, the reader, on what a Libertarian is. I assuming that you heard of republicans and democrats, so try to think of a Libertarian as a hybrid. In general, a Libertarian strongly supports economic freedom while also supporting liberal points of view on social issues; such as gay marriage, legalize drugs, abortions, etc. Even though that sounds good on paper, both parties are pissed off when they hear about how a libertarian votes. A libertarian won't support welfare programs, public healthcare, raising taxes, etc. Classical republican right? Not exactly. A libetarian also is in favor of removing the ban on drugs, getting out of Iraq and Afghanistan, legalizing gay marriage and polygamy, etc. So if you really want an idea of what a Libertarian supports is personal freedom. People should do whatever he or she desires as long as it doesn't impede on someone else's life. People often confuse the difference between an anarchist and a libertarian because libertarians seem to want no government. But the truth is, libertarians do want some government. Libertarians only want governement to enusre our saftey if we get invaded from another country and protect us (police) from bad people within our country. But libertarians do believe in some pollution laws because there is no incentive to be clean. So what party do you affliate with? On what issues do you disagree about Libertarians? As a side note, I hope I didn't bore you with my choice of topic because I know most people have no interest in politics.

A Modest Proposal

Ok, I know what I am about to say may sound dumb and downright awful but trust me, it will all make sense by the end of the blog. As a person who generally likes the environment, I do try to seek out solutions to common problems. I like to think about the whole situation and not come to conclusions too quickly. A major environmental problem of today is endangered species. I want all species to exist and I think it's awful, lets say, that tigers could one day extinct. But what should be the solution? Tigers have been on the protected species list for awhile now but it doesn't seem that tigers are making a rapid comeback (In fact the tiger population is still declining). I used to think that more police and military should be use to stop poachers, but that is nearly impossible considering other countries are involved; and I don't think more police would help anyways because it would cost too much money and it's not that easy patrolling the whole habitat of poachers. Since countries already banned the sale of tiger products and other endangered animal products (which really hasn't worked because the tiger population is decreasing), why can't we do the opposite and farm endangered animals? If people were to farm an animal like a tiger, that farmer would want to breed tigers and protect them from outsiders. Farming buffalo is what saved the buffalo population. During the westward expansion, the Americans slaughtered the buffalo to nearly extinction. But today, there is nearly a half of million buffalo that roam the United States today. By farming any animal, it gives people a reason to keep that animal alive. I know that most people don't want Tigers killed at all, but in some cultures, their bones can help dull their physical pain. Asking those people to change their culture I don't think is going to work and it has proven ineffective by the rapid decline inspite of tiger products being illegal. Please tell me what you think about the issue and whether you disagree or agree, I would love to hear all of your opinions.

Don't Worry!!!!

People of today like to worry about everything, and I mean everything! My aunt watches the TV in such disgust at all the bad things that happen on the news. Everytime reporters report a death, suicide, rape, abduction, etc., she mumbles about how awful the world is. Yes, every death, suicide, rape, abuction, etc., is awful, but what about he good things people do; what about lives that were saved and not lost? Do we ever about the good events in life as much as the bad ones? So on that note, I am going to clarify about some myths that people love to panic about. Everyone of these facts were reported by a 20/20 anchor, John Stossel, so I hope you know I am not talking out of my... well, you know.



The first myth I want everyone in the whole world to stop panicing about is the big cancer scare. Every day we here about new cancer cases. But what happens if one looks at actual cancer stats? If one did, it would appear that only lung cancer has really inclined since the 1930's. Other cancers such as uterine, stomach, breast, and lukemia has all stayed realatively the same since the 1930's. And also keep in mind that some people today are living long enough to have cancer. So if anyone uses cancer to try to scare you, just think to yourself about how the actual number of cancer death rates has flatlined for the past eighty years.



Another myth I want everyone to stop worrying about is that our forrests are getting diminished by the day. In grade school, I heard frighting statistics about how all the forrest lands won't be around in the next 40, 50, or sixty years. I remember actually going home and wondering about how the inevitable day that no more forrests will be around. But what I heard wasn't actually true. Today, the United States has 747 million acres of forrest. In 1920, we had 725 million acres of rainforrest. So in actuality, forrests are not actual getting cutdown, but are actually growing. The main reason for the increase of forrest is that farmers are five times more efficent, which means farms are smaller and forrests have replaced the unwanted agriculture farmers once had. And to be quite honest simply cutting down trees isn't going to deplete a forrest. For example, if people were to vanish off the face of the earth, every big city, no matter how paved it is, is going to turn into a forrest. Only problem of deforrestation has been in under developed countries where an increase population has caused and increase in food demand.

And one of the last myths I want to debunk is that the United States is getting overwhelemed of trash. This is simply not true. The whole trash crisis got started when a barge tried to dump out trash in North Carolina, but didn't get accepted there. When the barge arrived at the location is what suppose to go to in the first place, New Orleans, it didn't get accepted there either because of all the bad publicity surrounding it. In actualality, there is more than enough land to dispose our trash. According to Jeremy O'Brien, a member of the Solid Waste Association of North America, we have enough land to last for thousands of years. If you can believe this, land fill owners actually compete for our trash. Garbage crisis? Hardly not.

To end my blog, I want to answer the one big question about why would anyone want to scare us into believing in this myths. The answer is money. Associations make money off our fears. People watch the news because hearing about a murder is much more interesting than hearing about how a local school donated food to a local pantry. Think about it, would an organization get money donations if it tried to convince you that there is no problem actually happening? Of course not. I think the one thing you should learn from this is to stop worrying about what people are telling you and actually research what is actually true.

The Badger Experience

On Saturday, September the 12th, I went to one of the craziest events I've ever gone to. That event was hosted at Camp Randall stadium with 81,000 people attending. If you were a college football fan, you would know that I am talking about the Badgers game against Fresno State. On paper, it was just a college football game played between two unranked schools, but in actuality, it was a monumental game in which fans of Wisconsin cheered and chanted throughout the game. I was not ready about what was about to happen when I stepped through the gates of Camp Randall stadium.

As soon as I arrived through entrance, I was in aw of what the stadium contained. Since we arrived early, there was just a sea of bleachers waiting to get filled. Two of my friends and I found our place on the benches and waited around for the game to start. As we were waiting, my friend told me about some of the traditions that the student section did during the game. The most notable traditions are: the wave with a twist (after the whole wave goes around the stadium, the students begin a slow motion wave), jump around dance between the third and fourth quarters, and some chants that are definitely not school appropriate. After a long forty-five minute wait, the kickoff finally began. The poor badgers got unlucky and were down 0-14 midway through the second quarter. From that point, I thought that the Badgers were going to get blown out, but they made a quick comeback right before half time. After the two quarters were done, I must admit that I was a little tired from screaming out, "ooohhhhhh!" every time the defense had the ball and was thirsty due to the mid-eighty degree weather throughout the game. From the third quarter and on, I decided to lay low so that I could have a voice the next day. After the third quarter was done, the Badgers were in the lead and everyone was awaiting the "Jump Around" song and sure enough, it did. The students raised their hands and began to jump wildly in the stands. I started to jump just like everyone else, but it was awfully hard to do consecutive jumps cause the benchers were very narrow and were also bending, making it hard to stay on them. The rest of the game was filled with big plays and drama, finally coming to an end in the second overtime with the Badgers winning 34-31. After the game, everyone was excited and flocked out of the stadium. My friends and I went to the college cafeteria, got a drink, and reflected on how the game went. Overall, my first college football game was a great success and can't wait to go to more games in the future.

The Real Football

Not many people know what the real football is. If one would ask anyone around La Crosse, he/she would most likely get an answer about American football and the Green Bay Packers, which really is my favorite sport, but the real answer to what is the real football is soccer. Sounds boring right? I used to think so until I actually played a game of soccer. When I was done playing, I thought to myself, "Hey, this is fun." A short while later, I heard about the United States Men's National Team was going to play a world cup qualification game and I decided to watch it. My first thoughts about what was happening were not really all that good. I thought that the game was slow and nothing was really happening. After not liking that game so much, I decided one day to try out a game called FIFA 09. FIFA 09 is a video game for the xbox 360 that can be compared to Madden 09, but for soccer fans. Playing the game, I learned about the rules of offsides, peanly kicks, substitues, free kicks, passing, and so on. Thanks to FIFA 09, I am now a passoniate fan of soccer. Everytime the US plays a game against another country, I turn up the volume, cheer at our scored goals, curse at every concieded goal, and celebrate or weep depeneding on if the US won or not. Just recently, the United States played their arch rival Mexico and lost 2-1. It's safe to say I was very depressed that whole day. But the main reason why I am sharing this is because an event of great perportions is going to take place this summer in South Africa. Every soccer fan from the United Kingdom to Uganda are counting down the days (275 days left to be exact). That event, of course, is the 2010 Fifa World cup. Thirty two teams compete over a one month time span to see who is the best country at soccer. I am very optimistic that we will do well but I am saddened to think that I am a rare minority of people who will be yelling at TV set at every goal the US conceides and will be hurt if the US fails to win the precious world cup.