How Real are Gender Differences?

As sad as it is they are very real. Women are treated very differently than men are. Men get paid more for doing the same job and there are some jobs women are not allowed to do because of their gender. Some of those jobs I agree with though. I do not think it is physically responsible to let a women become a Navy Seal. Although they can shoot, blow things up, and kick an ass just as good as a man can. But, it a 250 pound guy was injured in battle what are the chances that the 150 pound female can carry his body to safety. It is not very logical nor is it going to happen. Not to say that there is a women out there that could do it, but what are the chances of that particular women being in the Navy Seals. I hope I am making my point politically clear. I think and believe that women are just as equal as men and in some cases more so, just for the simple fact that they are the reason for child birth. But there are somethings women should not do and there are somethings men should not do.

A Taboo Word?

I do not know that there is really anything I consider taboo when it comes to language. Taboo is something that is forbidden or held sacred. When it comes to speaking i do not consider anything taboo or forbidden. There is only three words that I will not say because they have such hateful meanings and they are: GD, the N-word, and Faggot. So I guess if I would consider them forbidden from my vocabulary because I do not like to hear them or nor will I say them. So, those would be the only thing I consider taboo about my language, but only because I do not use those words.

The Ad in a Magazine

My favorite magazine is "Details". A great magazine. I found an ad in one of this issues laying around the house that was very interesting. It caught my attention as soon as I saw it. The add was for some cologne. The cologne is called "Cordavon", I have it smells great. The ad has no words, just an image of a man. A very good-looking, strong, and sexy dude. He is spread out all over this rock with nice clothes on (no doubt from Banana Republic since that is who makes the cologne) soaked with water and the clothes are as if they are glued or painted onto his body. It is directed towards men, obviously since it is a man's fragrance. But, who in the hell looks like that. I mean come one give me a break. Yeah if I could have that body and face I would drink the stuff. But, that is not going to happen. But, you know I still went out and spent almost $78 on a damn bottle of cologne because the ad caught my eye and was appealing to me. I do not care who you are man or woman, you judge the same sex and if you see someone better looking you are a little envious. It's only human nature.

Internet and Success

Yes I think that in today's time there is a connection between the internet and success. The internet is a host of knowledge and opportunites. If someone is building a house, most likely they will search the internet for businesses that specialize in building houses. A women getting married will not just look in the stores at wedding dresses, she will go online and look at thousands of them and then narrow her choice down to a few in a particular store. She saves money that way by not having to drive around to tons of stores and the store she choose the dress at made money because they were on the internet. A huge portion of the success of a business has to do with the way it advertises. The internet helps that business reach millions upon billions of people. The net also increases knowledge and saves time getting that knowledge. Why spend hours in a library looking for a book that might not be there when you can go directley to it on the net. So, yes internet and success do run hand in hand.

Are Men Smarter Than Women?

Of course they are. It has been proven centuries ago that men are the superior gender. Now, it's time for me to get stomped. Of course not!!! Men are no smarter than women. Everyone has their own unique quality about them that differs from the next. Some women are smarter than men and some men are smarter than women. A persons sex does not make them smarter. All though in some cases men will say that women are smarter just to avoid a fight or conflict. I have said that to my ex-wife many times. "Yes honey, you are right, you are smarter and i am always wrong." Even though she was wrong and not smarter. But, in some things she was smarter than I, she could count calories so much better than I could. So, a person knowledge and brains is individually based. By the way this is a loaded question that will get someone in trouble later on.

To Consume

To consume is to take in or use up. I do not know if our habits of consumption can provide a pitcure of our ethical responsibilities or not, but I do think they can give insight on our environmental responsibilities. What a person consumes varies from person to person and that has really nothing to do with ethics, in my opinion. I mean some people consume too many big macs, while other consume to much porn on the internet. A person consumption of daily products in life has no ethical bearing. I suppose that if one debated on the ethical testing of cosmetics on animals, then yeah those who wear make-up might have some eithical issues with those who do not. Same goes for those who watch porn. Those who wish to see it abolished would have different ethical values from those who enjoy watching it. But, as for our ethical responsibilities our consumption does not carry much weight. However, it does have to do with our environmental responsibilities.

Media in Our Society

Oh my God...I am about to be on a soap box with this one. I cannot stand the damn media. Who gives a **** what Brittany Spears is doing, who Lindsey Loham is sleeping with, or how many time Chris Brown hit Rhianna and why she is so domb to get back with him. I do not care that is not news. It pisses me off when the media protrays what looks good and who looks good wearing it. Because now I have to work out and develop a six pack just to get laid. I mean come one the ripples on your stomach does not make you good in bed. Our society is so tangled up in the lives of movie stars, singers, politicians, and reality tv shows that they do not even know who the hell they are. We do not have individuals anymore...we have groups. We have groups that look good, do not look good, fat, thin, those that wear prada and those that wear wal-mart. The media focuses on what they want to share and they do not release all the facts about a person. The media focused so much on the fact that a few soldiers made some damn terrorists crawl on the ground with a pair of panties on their head, like it was some horrid and inhumane act against humanity. Those assholes helped to blow up the world trade center and kill 1000's of people. I say they should have been made to squill like a pig while crawling around like that. But because the media broadcasted that from breakfast to dinner world wide for weeks all of a sudden Americans are inhumane. Please give me a break. I think there ought to be censorship in what the media is allowed to release. They tell about an attack before we even do it. No wonder Bin Laden is still alive. All that asshole has to do is watch CNN or MSNBC and he knows when he has to pack up and move camp. Damn the media. There I'm done for now...lol...

Brain Having a Sex?

I do not think that the brain has a sex. I think that others and ourselves train our brain to think a certain way. It is instilled in us from before we are born blue is for boys and pink is for girls, men are the bread winner and women are the baby makers. Ideas like that. They are bogus and obsolete. I am a man and I love pink. However, I will leave the birthing of baby's up to the women. But, my point is that we allow ourselves to conform to a certain way of thinking. It is not our fault, we have been thinking that men and women are different from day one. It is hard to break 1000's of years worth of societal traditions. In the mist of the crowd their are a few individuals who believe otherwise. I see no reason why a person should be held back because of their gender. If a women wants to be a Navy Seal let and if a man wants to stay at home to cook, clean and raise the children let. Makes no difference to me. But, society does not agree and they cannot be blamed. They have been forced to think like this.

Cultural Identity

My cultural identity is not very different from anyone else. I am an American, so my cultural is American. However, the American culture is changing so my culture could possible become obsolete in the near future. I try to live by the rules that society and my family has set before me. Sometimes I am able to do so and sometimes I am not. I am a non-church going christian. I do not believe that one must sit on a pew every Sunday to get into God's kingdom. One might say that I am a non-hyprocritical sinner. I try to live my life just like the majority of everyone else in the U.S. I have family traditions, even though I will not have a family outside of my blood relatives. My beliefs are mine, some are taken from the words and ideas of others and molded into my life and then some are strickly my own. I think I have been rebelling since the day I came out of my mother's womb. So, that should clarify any doubt that I am consistent with a certain way of life. I think one should always step out of the box and be an individual even if sometime they are the only one on the outside.

Selling A&M to Future Students

One of the most important qualities of A&M is the history of the University. A&M has a wonderful past that can only inspire those who are considering attending the University to further their education. The reason the school was created and the struggles it went through to achieve it position as a Historically Black University in the U.S. Of course the history of the university alone will not be the main reason someone attends A&M, but it is a great start. Second, I would focus on the acedemics. After all that is why someone chooses a college or university to ensure they get the best education they can afford. Then, talk about the surrounding areas of A&M and what all Huntsville has to offer them while they are here.

Selling Eggs for Tuition

I see nothing wrong with women selling their eggs to pay for tuition. Men can sell their sperm, so why should women be excluded from the same right. People will do what they want in order to make money to pay for tuition. Some women strip, excort, and so do some men. If a women sells her eggs to pay for college, that is her choice and she has that right. Atleast she is not swinging around a pole to pay for her tuition. There are many women that cannot have children because their bodies will not produce the eggs, so they are helping them to possible have children. Then there is the scientific studies that could benefit from research done on the eggs, the possibilities are endless. Therefore I see no reason why women should be critizied for selling their eggs to pay for tuition.

Distance Learning

By offering more distance learning courses at AAMU will not benefit me personally, but it may help someone else. So, if more distance learning courses need to be offered then I think that they should. I have never taken an online course and never will if I can help it. I do not believe that I will like them, so I will not take one unless it is abosultley neseccary. I perfer the classroom setting for a class. If the University see that the demand for online courses has risen then they should offer more of those classes. But certain classes need to be in a classroom setting, so I think that they should really consider the classes that they will offer that way.

Caucasion or European Studies

I personally do not think that there needs to be a program that offers exclusively Caucasian or European studies. The majority of people we learn about are white and of European background. Grant you there is not a month set aside to honor great contributors of the Caucasion or European backgrounds, but I do not think one is needed. I do believe that it is important to learn about ones cultural or ethical background, but as for offering courses that teach only about caucasions I think it would be a waste of time. If one wants to learn about particular people then let them take it upon themselves to go the extra mile and do so. Our history is already full of causasions or those from European countries. I do think that studies need to be offered to really tell the truth about the life and almost complete end of the Native American Indians. But as for caucasion and European studies, no.

Octomom

I do believe that family services should intervien in this situation. There is no way that she will be able to provide an adequate living situation for these children. She has a total of 14 children. The California tax payers are going to be paying for these children. Something needs to be done because it is apparent that she is not in the right frame of mind and I think she is using these children as a means of gaining stardom. However, I do not want to see eight children that are so genetically linked to one another be split apart. But, I see no way that she will be able to care or provide a safe environment for them. So, yes I think that authorities should step in and do something about this situation. She has proven that she is spending money on friviolous and materialistic items, instead of putting the money towards much needed items to raise her children.

Education Best Provision

"Education is the best provision for the journey to old age." Aristotle.

I believe that education is a must in today's society. One does not need it to reach old age, however it should make their old age more finacially stable. In my parents and grandparents day one could make it life without an education if they were willing to work hard and had determination. In today's age an education is esstential for the journey to old age. One can live without an education, but the knowledge that one receives from his or her learning can open many doors for the future. I am a firm believer in receiving as much education as one can possible receive, but an education will not make you grow older. It just makes growing older more knowledgeable.

Greatest Influences

My past and my family are my greatest influences in my life. The reason I say my past is because I look back at the person I was and how I lived and know that I must do whatever it takes to never go back. A person's past is a powerful asset. It can either destroy them or make them grow. My past helps me to grow. My family is the other greatest influence in my life. I am not the first to graduate college on my mother's side of the family. However, I am the first on my father's side. Both families have done well with and without a college education, but it is obivious who has worked harded in life physically. I believe that my past and family will help me become the person I am supposed to be, but only I can make that happen. My past and my family represent two opposite roads in life, one good and one bad. I will not take either of them. I will be taking my own road and where that ends I do not know. My influences in life has molded me into the person that I am today and I am greatful for them.

Future Goals

My goals have been pretty consistant. I want to join the Peace Corps and go to Africa to work with HIV/AIDS patients and to do this I need to have at least a BA. Well, I have that but while I am in the school fram of mind I am going to get my MA. That will also help me attain a higher position where I am going. I am told that it is recommended. That has been my goal from the beginning and it is still my goal. I have not changed any of my goals because they have helped me to stay on track and motived. Since they are working for me I see no reason why I should alter them in any form. I do not know how long I will stay overseas. Serving one term is 27 months. I might want to come home after that and I might want to do another term. Regrdless, of how long I stay that is my goal and I am sticking with it.

Moral Dilemma

Which one do I choose? I have had a life full of moral dilemma and nine out of ten times I made what most people would call an unmoral decision. But, at that point in time of my life I had to survive and when you live on the street one has to make decisions on living or dying. I have done it all: lie, steal, cheat, con, and turn tricks to get what I needed to live the life I was living. I said it once before I have had and interesting life. There is this one decision I made that really made me proud, even though a lot of people got arrested. I was at a party about three am and there was drinking, snorting, smoking, shooting going on all of the place. I had just done a shot of coke and laid back to let it rush to my heart. As I laid back I saw a little girl sitting in the corner of the room she was staring at me with this blank look on her face. Then, her parents came into the room with an infant and as they passed the child to eachother they passed a needle and some herion. Needless to say I did not have a good high when I saw that. I waited a few minutes and did what I normally did before I left, so I would not be suppected. I then called the cops from a pay phone. I stayed in the alley to see if they would come and they did and they arrested everyone and took the kids. That was I guess one of best decisions I made or least I hope it was. At least the kids were out of those living conditions.

Family's Role

My family has been nothing but supportive of me going to college. They are just happy that I am in one place for this long of a period and that I have cleaned my life up. They have helped my emotional and I suppose by allowing me to live with them for 3 1/2 years it has helped out finicially. They are constantly telling me how proud they are that I am focused on something that will benefit me in the future. So, their encouragement has made me feel proud of myself and it has helped me strive in college. I am really happy with the fact that they are proud of me and that makes a person feel good about themselves.

Life in College

My college experience has great. I started college in January 2005 at Northeast Alabama Community College in Rainsville, Alabama. I received all of my basics and my AA and AS from that college. Life while attending there was no different really than it was before I began, excpet I had to adjust my schedule. I enjoyed it though. I did not really socialize with anyone there. My purpose was to get my two-year degree and to transfer to receive my Bacher's and Master's. So, it was basically go to class and then come home. I lived with my parents for the two years I was there. That made it easier. I transfered to A&M in January 2007 to receive my BA & MA. After I started at this university life was a little more difficult. I remained at home with my parents and commutted back and forth daily. So, I had to drive an hour and a half one way just to get to school. I did that until this past May, when I realized I could live here cheaper than I could drive. My experience at A&M has been very exciting. I have meet a lot of people and developed some very close relationships with a few. As for my life it has improved some from the beginning of college. I know have a little more freedom and for the first time I am living on my own, which is something I have never done before. I have always been married or had a roommate. So, I have really began to enjoy life a little more.

To Doublespeak

Using evasive language or to doublespeak is just a polite way of being rude or trying not to sound harsh. There are numerous ways one can doublespeak. One way that really aggrivates me is when some ask you are you feeling o.k. or are you sick. To me that is just a polite way of saying you look shit. People use this form of speaking to try and sound nice, when they are really making a stab at you. For instance, when people speak of a over weight woman they use the term full figured. I do not know any woman that wants to be called full figured. However, it sounds more polite to say that, than to just out right call her fat. The usage of this language is used in ever setting. It is used politically, socially, and economically. It is used to mislead and distort reality. Sometimes it is necessary to use this langauge to get through a conversation or statement that has to be made. For instance in the industrial world they use the term layoff, when they are really saying that you are fired. Companies temporally layoff employees with no intentions of bringing them back to work. They say temporary giving the employee a little hope. When the worker realizes that they cannot surive on unemployment after a few weeks, the majority of them will find another job. By doing this the employer will not have to keep paying unemployment on them and they come out on top. In all reality to doublespeak is just another way to be inconsiderate.

To be Scared

I try not to be scared of anything. However, I suppose the one thing that scares me the most is outliving all my loved ones. I have no desire to do this. Of course if it happens there is nothing I can do about it but to live with it. I do not handle death well. I am at ease with the fact that I will die one day and I am fine with that, but to watch everyone I love and cherish go before me is an unbearable feeling. This scares me the most out of all the things both physically and mentally that could happen in life. To be alone with out my family and the select friends that I consider family is something that I do not wish to experience. There is one thing that lives on this planet that petrifies me to death and that is the snake. I cannot handle even seeing a snake on the road while I am in my car. That is the one thing that will make the bitch trickle right out of my ass. I lose my mind everytime I see a snake. I think it is the fact that they are silent and can be right beneath you before you can know it and situations like that terrify me. Snakes are the only living thing that scares me.

Role Model

I admire many people in my life, but the one I choose to discuss is my Grandmother. She is my role model for numerous reasons. I admire her survival skills the most. She was forced to quit school in the fourth grade to care for her seven other siblings and to work in the cotton fields to help her father support the family. At 13 she moved to Florida to work in the orange groves until she saved enough money to send back to Alabama to move her parents and sibilings to Florida. She survived an abusive relationship with her first husband. She soon became friends with a woman named Kaye Byrd. He relationship with this woman blossomed into a "sisterhood". The two of them were discriminated upon because my grandmother was white and Kaye was black. They were attacked physically while working in New Orleans and through it all they remained friends because both women saw past what so many could not. They are both in their 70's and still have the strong love for each other that cemented their relationship. She is just a remarkable woman that has taught me many valuable lessons in life that I cherish and honor. She is a true surviver and that is what I love her most for.

Negative Word

Of the many words in the English language that I consider negative, one comes to mind with detestable strength...Faggot. The word faggot came about in 1279 from Britian. The original meaning of the word is a bundle of twigs bundled up. Over the years it developed meaning meanings. Around 1700 it was used in reference to a man hired into military service simply to fill out the ranks at muster. Other popular meanings of the word referenced to a young boy at a public school that was a servent to an older male student. Then in 1817 its negative form came into play when it was referenced to a male homosexual. If a man was a homosexual in England in this era he was to be punished by burning him alive at the stake. The towns people would gather around and chant the word faggot as he was burned to death. It was not until the twentieth century around 1914 that this word intergrated into the United States. It was considered to be a slang word in referenced negatively toward a woman. Now the word is used world wide as a derogatory term for gay men. The word is used by many people who do not like or have prejudices towards the gay community.

What it's like to write

Writing for me is a release of built up thoughts and emotions. At the beginning of whatever I might be writing has some level of difficulty. However, once the words start to flow everything seems to come together. I have always enjoyed writing because I am able to clear my mind as I write. I have never really enjoyed physically writing down the words on the paper and I have not written a rough draft on anything since high school. Throughout college I have always just began typing the paper on the computer and then I print it out to proof it for errors before I turn it in. I am also a last minute person. The majority of the time I wait until the night before the paper is due to write it. I have always worked better under stress, so this method has always worked for me. I believe that my strengths in writing is my imagination and ability to be creative. I love to write essays that are creative, argumentative, and persaussive. I have a strong opinion when it is something I feel deeply about and love to agrue about it. My weaknesses are many when it comes to writing. I have a very hard time with critiquing someone else work. I have never enjoyed those types of essays. I also do not like writing papers that talk about me. I do not have a problem with telling things that I have done in the past, but as for putting the words on paper I never really enjoyed it. I suppose it seems boastful to me to write about myself. Writing as a whole is something that I really enjoy though.