Winter Olympics

Winter Olympics. What a hot topic! If you have recently read anything on social media or even the news for that matter, you have probably seen something about the Olympics whether it be about some awkward mistakes or even the placings, it seems there is always something being said.

One of the big things people are talking about is how there are the Olympic stars and one of them ended up not bursting to full expansion. Not only is a show a big part of the Olympics, but it is seen across the world! Therefore, if something goes wrong, there is a lot of blame put on one countries shoulders. This year it just so happened to be Russia. So there was an initial blame put on Russia in the very beginning.

There then was the fact that the skiers were so hot that they ended up having to put the snow they could have used from the slope to put down their coats and other gear so that they didn't over heat and get dehydration. This is obviously a major problem for a place where the WINTER OLYMPICS are supposed to be happening. There are a ton of events that need to happen in the snow and making Olympians over heat isn't exactly something you want your country to be known for.  Ninety eight total winter events! That's a big responsibility!

Although things may have gone wrong, I do not believe that we should judge Russia for a few things they could not have seen coming their way. Just a simple thought, if we were in their shoes we wouldn't want to be known for the Olympics that went wrong.

-Hangin' from a clothesline

Becoming a Carnivore

Recently my friend has decided to stop being a vegetarian and start eating meat again. It honestly wasn't a decision that she could make spot. She had thought about it for a long time and has consulted with many people about whether they think it would be a good idea. She had to think a lot about her health. She had gone so many years without eating meat and eating protein substitutes. While yes, the substitutes get the job done, it is still not as beneficial or satisfying as meat. When your entire family still eats meat and you are the only one who has to make back up plans for dinner on taco night or for baking classes when they use a meat, you can start missing those days when you were able to eat whatever you want, which is totally understandable.

So what do you need to do to become a carnivore again? Well, consider what made you a vegetarian in the first place. Do you still believe in the reason you stopped eating meat in the first place? Does a certain fact still bother you? If you still believe in what made you start being a vegetarian then I encourage you to not give up just due to the fact that you miss eating meat with your friends. There is a huge statement you can make by sticking to your guns even with all the pressure of your surroundings. Don't give up on yourself. However, if you aren't bothered by the reason you turned vegetarian or don't even remember for that matter, then hey, why not get the full nutrients from some nice meat?

First thing is first. Go talk to your doctor about whether or not they think it is a good idea or not. If they think that it is a good thing for you to do, you can go ahead and ask them about techniques to start eating meat again. They will normally base this on your body and how it works. They will also incorporate how long you have been a vegetarian into the math as well. The longer you have been a vegetarian and the smaller you are, the slower they will recommend you to consume meat. This is because the fact that you have not ate this item in such a long time, your body can build an intolerance to it. This means that if you go head on and eat a lot of meat at once after years of not eating it, your body can reject it and you can end up getting sick. Obviously no one wants that.

Going back to my friend, she has been a vegetarian for years. She talked to her doctor and was able to get back to eating meat with little to no problems. She and her family likes to cook, therefore you can only imagine her excitement to try all these new meals with real meat instead of meat substitutes. I wish you the best of luck!

-Hangin' from a clothesline

Military

It seems that recently more and more people are signing up to be in the military. There are also more people that are enlisting at a younger age. Technically you have to wait until you are eighteen years old to be in the military. There is an exception that you can get your parent’s consent and enlist at seventeen. The age limit is forty-one.

Why are these people signing up so young? Not only do they have pride in their country and want to defend it, but for some, it is the only way to get a college education. Some argue about whether this is the right thing to do. Some people can argue that this is taking advantage of the system and that they should be in the military just to defend and fight for their country. There is also the side that with the amount of Americans living in poverty nowadays, people should do whatever they can to get a college education so they can better themselves as well as America.

Now which one is the better side? Well, when you really think about it, if more people enlisted into the military and pursued an education through the military, surviving keep in mind, our nation could better itself as a whole. According to brillig.com their debt clock says that the United States national debt is at $17,284,793,011,987.71. That is an extremely large number. Imagine if more of our citizens were educated and could come out of poverty to have a job that allows them to live comfortably as well as give back to the economy.

Our debt could constantly be going down instead of growing larger every minute with more and more people going into poverty every day. If everyone that dropped out of high school to get a job could enlist as soon as legally possible, they could not only defend their country, but also supply for their loved ones at home while gaining an education that will take them farther in life all at the same time. They could end up supplying their family with what they need and stop struggling every day just to put a meal on the table.

There are an estimated seven thousand teenagers that dropout of high school every day according to choices.org. If half of those teens joined the military then not only would our nation have a better defense, but our entire nation could become more intelligent as a whole. Going to the military to better your life experience is not only good for you and your family, but it is also good for the country you live in.

Next time you think that people joining the military for financial help with college is taking advantage of the system, think again. There are so many benefits to this strategy. It could even benefit you, personally. Recently more and more people are enlisting into the military. So if you, yourself are sitting there reading this, wondering if you should enlist, go for it. Be that one out of seven thousand kids to better our country. Everyone makes a difference. God Bless.

-Hangin’ from a clothesline

The Bowls

Football is big in North America as you can imagine why. There are plenty of teams in the National Football Association that play against each other to see who is the best in the nation. They enter the playoffs and it comes down to two teams who go into the super bowl.

People all over the nation get together to watch this game. Some of these people watch it purely for the love of football, some people watch it for the halftime show, and some people watch it for the commercials. This year it was against the Broncos and the Sea Hawks. While I was not interested in the teams, I was interested to see what kind of commercials there would be this year due to how awesome they have been in the past. There was also the fact that Bruno Mars was performing during halftime. I was intrigued to see what kind of performance he gave because of how interested I am in him as a performer.

If you watch it purely for the love of football, chances are that you are going to like to watch this game because it is supposed to be between the two best teams of the season, therefore it should be a good game. With stress to the word SHOULD!

The Super bowl is not the only bowl that went on today. There was also a puppy bowl. The puppy bowl is like a large dog tournament where they compete for beauty and behavior, but since it was with puppies, it ended up being a little more on beauty. There were dogs that participated that were from animal shelters. Which is because this bowl was held to raise money and awareness for the animal shelters all over the area. There is a gathering where people can bring their dogs to hang out and have fun while telling stories about their pets as well as their rescue.

As you can imagine there is a lot of howling from the dogs as well as joy form the owners. It is a great gathering for an even greater cause! They really wanted to make a difference in the situations for sheltered animals and they achieved that beyond what anyone could believe they would have done. Not only was awareness raised while having a good day of fun out with their pets socializing, but they also raised up to thirty two hundred dollars! This awareness and money will help so many animals in need. It is nice to think that people can not only get together for something such as football, but a good cause as well!

-Hangin' from a clothesline

Senior Night

Everyone nation wide knows about this. Everyone in a sport has had one. I'm talking about a senior night. What is a senior night for? Well, seniors are a big part of a sports whole. This is their last year in the sport and so they deserve some recognition. It is a big night of endless turns in emotion, and for a good reason.

While the seniors are happy that their grade school years are finally at end, they also have to say good bye to a lot of their good friends as well as their coaches that they have worked with for so many years. Generally, there is a dinner before a big game or meet that the entire team or squad gets together for. This can include anywhere from just the team, to the team, coach and the teams families! As you can imagine, this can get rather large. 

Generally, the actual event then takes place with the announcement for the recognition of the seniors participating. Sometimes there is a small narration over what that senior has accomplished over the years. The parents in the audience can then shout with joy over the amount of pride they have in their child. 

There are also times where the seniors have to make boards with collages of pictures and knick knacks of things they have accumulated over the years from being in whatever sport they have participated in. Not only do friends and family of the athlete them self get to see their friend or family member and how they have transformed over the year, but the other families of other athletes get to see and learn more about the athletes their child has participated in sports with over the years. 

Another famous tradition that has happened over the years is the senior gifts and passing down of traditions. It is up to the underclassmen on the varsity team to get a gift for a certain senior on the team. After everyone is assigned they all open them around the time the board activity ends. These gifts can be anywhere from gag gifts to gifts that represent their personalities, to gifts that can get them farther in whatever they are going into after they leave this year.

It is amazing what this night can bring out in people. They can completely change perspectives on the people you have spent so long with. You can have these emotions come out that you never thought could be brought out about your friends. It also gives the athlete them self to have one last time to shine as a senior in front of all those important people.

Tears in my eyes,

-Hangin' from a clothesline

Miley Cyrus Unplugged

From dancing on a pole to cutting her hair and changing her entire style in her career, MTV has covered it all. That's right, the lovely Miley Cyrus. As I come to find out, a lot of things went down during the unplugged episode.

MTV has done unplugged episodes for years. They have covered everyone from Katy Perry to Thirty Seconds to Mars. They have even done a European one with Phil Collins. This year they decided to cover Miley Cyrus.

"Smilers" were extremely excited as you could imagine. Smilers are fans, so you can understand why they would be excited. Other people may have thought, "oh my lord, what could she possibly do now?" Well, I thought both. There was the question if she would use this as an opportunity to show she still has her old sensitive side through with her old songs. There was also the question of if she would use this to go even more extravagant and do something people would be talking about for ever and only judge her more for.

Well, guess which one she did. She used this opportunity to have a country theme and perform all sorts of her music. Including the very famous wrecking ball. There was also a duet with Madonna! She could have used this to do so much more to better and further her career. Miley said herself that she is expected to go on stage and stick her tongue out then twerk. She said she would not be doing that again. Well, surprise again! She went on stage in her cowgirl get up with a blonde wig, yelled yee haw, then proceeded to not only twerk on a horse but grind on Madonna.

While her performance was thought of as still amazing as she always does, it was a little obscure. The main things you hear about are not the ones that she did well, but the ones that were a little out there and that people will remember and gossip about for weeks later. The horse was definitely a big part of this. Miley used this horse as a dancing partner, twerking on it multiple times. She also sang to it about how it is sexy and she would do things to it. After that, she got on the horse and started sexually dancing on it.

This is not the only thing people found offensive! Miley often performs with a woman with severe dwarfism. Normally there is a line drawn for what she will do while she performs, but she smacked this woman's butt. Apparently unplugged also meant unmannerly as well. There were a few more shockers such as giving herself a minor mammogram and genital grabbing in front of the entire LIVE audience!

While yes, these things are odd, well, she is still an amazing performer and people will love her no matter what she does.

Shocked but still loving,
-Hangin' from a clothesline