A Daily Cup Of Jo
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Opinion
Gay Marriage
By Mikenzi Currie
Gay Marriage has been a hot topic in the United State for years. President Obama announced in May 2012 that he supports full marriage equality for gays and lesbian. Obama is the first president to support LGBT community in such a public way. Even though many people don’t want to support them because of their sexuality. There are three things that people who are gay and hoping get married struggle with the following:1. The rhetoric that marriage is an institution between one man and one woman. 2. A same sex couple isn’t the optimum environment in which to raise children. 3. Same-sex marriage would threaten the institution of marriage.
First, were going to talk about how marriage is an institution between one man and one woman. This is one of the often argument which is recently passed U.S. federal law. But yet still easily weaken. And such simple, nebulous declarations, with no real moral argument behind them, are hardly giving reasons. The concept of not denying people their rights unless you can show a compelling reason to deny them is the very basis of the American ideal of human rights. People shouldn’t deny gay people just because of what they want to be with in life.
Same sex couples aren’t the optimum environment in which to raise children. It’s not right how the government allows a child to be adapted to only straight people. Murderers, convicted felons of all sorts, even known child molesters are all allowed to freely marry and procreate, and do so every day, with hardly a second thought, much less a protest, by these same critics. So if children are truly the priority here, why is this allowed? The fact is that many gay couples raise children, adopted and occasionally their own from failed attempts at heterosexual marriages. Scientific research shows that the outcomes of the children raised in the homes of gay and lesbian couples are just as good as those of straight couples. The differences have been shown again and again to be insignificant. Psychologists tell us that what makes the difference is the love and commitment of the parents, not their gender.
Some think same-sex marriage would threaten the institution of marriage. Threaten marriage? By allowing people to marry? That doesn't sound very logical. If you allow gay people to marry each other, you no longer encourage them to marry people to whom they feel little attraction, they most often cannot relate adequately sexually, bringing innocent children into already critically stressed marriages. By allowing gay marriage, you would reduce the number of opposite-sex marriages that end up in the divorce courts.’ But you still have numbers of heterosexual marriage that worries you, and then consider that no one would require you or anyone else to participate in a gay marriage.
The Downfall of the Cinema
By Alexis Smyser
I know I can’t be the only person that gives my local movie theater a “death stare” every time I drive by it. “Fun for the whole family!”, “Great date movie!”, “Come in and enjoy yourself!”. Yeah right. With movie tickets costing upwards of nine dollars, a family of five like mine can hardly cover the cost of going to a good ole’ family movie on the weekends. Tickets alone would cost us around fifty bucks and that’s not even including the over-priced popcorn and refreshments. According to research done by Andrea WangIn; 1929, The Great Depression popularized popcorn as a movie theater treat since it was cheap and tasty. Back then, a bag cost you about 5 cents. Now, a small bag costs you $4.75. Sour patch kids, $6 or $7. Even a regular sized water bottle can cost $5 or more…It’s freaking water, come on! Five dollars, really? I call that a setup. They make it so you’re not allowed to bring in any outside food or drinks, then they hike up the prices because they know you’re desperate. Of course everyone wants popcorn when they go to the movie theater, so they scam us and force us to pay ridiculous prices. Isn’t the customer always right? Then why are we being treated like caged animals with no choices.
Growing up, going to the movie theater with a big group of my family used to be a biweekly occurrence. The food was delicious, greasy, and cheap, tickets were reasonably priced, and my parents wouldn’t have to dish out a quarter of their paycheck just so we could have some good clean cinematic entertainment on a Friday night. Now we maybe go to the movies once every 3 or 4 months. Who wants to throw away $80 when you can rent three new movies from Redbox or stream them off Netflixs, buy a box of popcorn and frozen pizza from jewels, and cozy up on the couch in your PJ’s for pocket change? It’s just not fair what the movie theaters are doing to us, especially teenagers. You’re 17 so you’re not a child anymore, you have to pay the adult ticket price, working for minimum wage, part-time at afterschool, you just don’t have that kind of money to spend in one night, especially when you factor in the rising cost of taking the CTA. Going to the movie theater on cold winter nights is one of the only few things you can do for fun as a teenager during the harsh Chicago winters, and that right has been taken away from us. My boyfriend used to take me out to the movies all the time, we would go see the latest must see movie, on opening night, get a jumbo sized popcorn with nachos, and have a ball. Now, we barley even talk about upcoming movies because going to see them stabs our wallets, deep. Because Hollywood takes a majority of ticket proceedings and movie theater owners need to compensate, so they raise the ticket and concession prices. It’s a win-win situation for the big guys, but the little people are getting stepped on. In Google reviews for my local theater, the Regal city 14, reviewers wrote things such as “Fine theater but getting way too pricey” and “too expensive now”. Until Hollywood and the movie theater owners take into consideration how we fell and make some price changes, going to the movies will never be as entertaining as it once was, and that…that is not only a crime against the people, but it’s a crime against culture..
By Danielle McCullough
The pressure is on for the fight for new guns laws. In an article posted by CBS news, President Barack Obama is pushing for the new gun laws to prevent mass shootings and reduce gun violence in the country. The twenty first graders killed in the Sandy Hook school shooting and the twelve people killed during the Dark Night rises midnight screening premier in Aurora, Co set the stage for the proposal of new gun laws. Both of these massacres happened about five months from each other. Great intro very engaging!
Guns have become a huge part of each and every one of our lives we have become blinded to what it is doing to our world. Guns are supposed to be used for protecting yourself not for having fun or just to have one. Nowadays guns are given to people of all ages from teens to adults and we can’t just ignore that. Too many of our children dying before it is there time; I think that people should push for new guns laws, but instead they aren’t.
According to an article on CBS news, Obama has proposed to require gun purchasers to receive background checks before acquiring a weapon, enforcing and strengthening the weapon ban, setting ammunition magazines to a 10- round limit, providing schools with extra officers, and putting more policemen on the streets. I believe that this is a great idea because it would mean that a weapon of any sort could not be purchased by just anyone. The NRA has expressed that neither doing these background checks will not help nor will they stop our children from dying says a CNN article.
Though it may not keep the kids safe or protect people it will make a person feel better to know that an insane person is not walking around with a gun in there hands. It would give me a better peace of mind to know that I can feel a lot safer than I do. Plus it’s a start to help decrease the death toll of our youth. You did not mention your personal opinion until the very end. I would have liked to hear more from you in the beginning as well.
Representative Dave Reichert of the House Republicans, in a CBS news article on the proposal for new gun laws, says “The assault weapons ban, the magazine limitations, does not solve the problem of gun crime” In a CBS news article.
The Fight for New Gun Laws
By Karissa Jackson
It would be dumb to ask if anyone has ever overslept and as a result become late or completely missed work, school or an appointment. What is it about sleep that renders us completely defenseless? I can remember the countless amount of times I have told myself "Just five more minutes" or "I'm just going to rest my head on the pillow till my eyes open". I also remember waking up hours later saying "Wow! What just happened?!?!" while scrambling to get ready for school or an event. I'm sure if I hosted an international poll to calculate how many people have ever been in these situations, it would be pretty close to 100 percent.
According to talkaboutsleep.com, "Sleep is a physical and mental resting state in which a person becomes relatively inactive and unaware of the environment." To me, sleep is one of the best and most beautiful things that humans have the ability to experience at any time. Seriously, sleep is one of the best leisure activities in the world because not only is it free, it regenerates the body and you feel great both afterwards and during. The relationship that I have with sleep has been an on-again off-again one affected negatively by obligations and positively by holidays and weekends. I think my mother is jealous of my relationship with sleep.
When locked in paradoxical sleep, fifth stage of sleeping which involves dreaming, we become so engrossed that we lose track of time on our unconscious clock. Even though we are all different physically, mentally and emotionally, our susceptibility to oversleeping is the same. It matters not how intelligent or educated or emotionally stiff or whether or not your a right brain or left brain person. There are some among us who have insomnia and I weep for them as well because I could not imagine living with insomnia after experiencing the joys and beauty of sleep. Oversleeping is inevitable in this life. I don't know about you, but I never get the recommended eight hours of sleep. It's either approximately ten hours or six hours or less, mostly six hours. With school and life in itself, it's hard to complete all of your tasks for the day in 16 hours. From extra work to forgotten homework, heavy traffic to a delayed bus or train and the unavoidable boulders life throws at us, to say that the 24 hours in each day are enough is a stretch of reality. I finally got a job so just imagine the amount of sleep I will be getting soon. I weep for my beloved relationship. I take two CTA buses to and from school, I participate in at least 4 hours of intellectual stimulation at school each day, I juggle with the physical aspect of life which includes walking, running, lifting etc and with all this activity my body is totally drained of energy. When we finally lay our burnt out brains to rest for the six or so hours left in the day, our body wages war in the morning as that alarm goes off and you feel as though a ton of bricks are repeatedly being dropped on your body.
Yet still whether we get up on time or after a 'few more minutes', it won't be the last time we will be stuck in this scenario. Oversleeping is a necessary event which occurs frequently to keep us on our toes and provide that extra, precious and pricy boost our bodies needs..
Oversleeping
By Asia Dodge
There has always been a question on my mind and maybe others, ‘what’s so bad about being gay?’ I know a lot of people said that it’s bad because it is a sin to God and it’s abnormal, but what happened to spread the love, being unique and equality. What is the problem with loving the same sex? What is wrong with a man wearing women’s clothes because he feels right in them? What is wrong with a woman wearing men’s clothes because that is what she feels comfortable in? What is wrong with liking both male and females? I believe the answer is there is nothing wrong with any of these choices and behaviors.
According to a sort of recent Gallup poll more adults Americas are accepting of gays and lesbians then a few years ago. In 2002 only 38% of adults were cool with gays while 54% of adults were accepting in 2011. That said, I does feel that way to me, I still hear people at school calling people gay as an insult. I’ve also read on several Christian website which say that gays carry diseases like AIDs and STIs.
I think one way to help this issues starts at home. Parents should teach their kids to accept and love people for who they are gay, straight, blue or purple. I also think people should also stop using gay as an insult and marriage equality would be a big step in the right direction.
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What's wrong with being gay?
By Sam Smyser
By the 1960s most families had television sets in their living rooms. There were less than a handful of stations at first, but people adored TV’s and the convenient entertainment they provided. Since their initial introduction into mainstream, people have only become for infatuated, mesmerized, and paralyzed by these moving picture boxes. I am proud to say that I am not among this mindless media consuming zombie population. I will not be a hypocrite and pretend I do not watch a television show every once in a while, but I will take this opportunity to explain the difference between watching TV occasionally and being addicted to the idiot box known as “television”.
Growing up I will admit that I watched A LOT of TV. Cartoons, and Disney movies, oh boy I was hypnotized by these colorful animations and stories. I hated waking up in the morning for school or church but I would wake up extra early every Saturday morning just to turn into my favorite programs. I was sad when I had to start going to summer camp because I thought about all the cartoons and shows I was going to miss. I was addicted to the set and caught up in every story line and plot, and I know that I am not the only victim of this zombie-creating-box. Thankfully as I grew up I snapped out of my trance and became human. I began to fill my time volunteering, joining sports teams/doing yoga, reading, socializing, and so much more! I found new ways to relax and entertain myself without straining my eyes and draining my soul. I realized the mind numbing effect and all the messages being imposed on me through the ceaseless shows and infinite amount of advertisements. Now it is time for the rest of America and the world to be set free!
As a whole America watches television nonstop. There is NEVER a moment when people are not glued to the screen. WE are captivated, captured, and controlled by these fake personalities and characters presented to us. People watch TV to escape from the stresses and pressures of their lives. They watch people living lavishly to live vicariously through them, and they watch less fortunate people go through terrible situations to make themselves feel better about their own lives and struggles. They watch entire series’ that last decades and get so involved in them that they feel emotionally connected to the characters and events, yet they struggle to maintain actual emotional relationships in reality. People all around the world watch television to ignore things happening around them and feel comforted by an emotionless rectangular box. We as a society must awaken to the fact that spending hours on hours doing nothing but sitting in-front of a flashing screen with our mouths open and hand full of chips is not healthy, relaxing, or productive. There is an immense amount of positive and entertaining things that we could be doing with all the time that we spend uselessly staring.
Television sucks us in like a vacuum; it sucks our time, our minds, our youth, and ultimately our lives. The worst thing about this vacuum effect is that a majority of us Americans allow it to do this without even lifting a finger to the off switch to try and fight back. You only lose when you watch TV. You lose your time to an inanimate object, your mind to the media, and yourself to a meaningless show that will never improve your life in anyway. So next time you think about turning on the TV, just think for a moment about something else you could be doing – maybe play a sport, do yoga, or exercise, read, go for a walk, take a nice bath, check in with family or a friend, make art, listen to or make music…the list could go on and on, just get up and do something! I am glad I did..
TV: Time Vacuum
