BLWalker's blog

Today, I had a friend call me crying because she was being picked on at her school. She's so beautiful but, apparently a couple of girls find in necessary to do horrible things to make themselces feel better. I was, of course, concerned but, as I listened to her talk I realized that I could probably be unintentionally doing a lot of harm to people and not even knowing it. While it may, initially, be funny to call our friends names or make a snide remark when the guy who sleeps during science asks a question that feels like a waste of your life you never know how it makes that person feel.

The death penalty is a practice our nation has used since its conception. However, I believe it is one that must be abolished. We are the last western nation to still excercise the death penalty and we can count ourselves among China, Russia and Iran. As su

perior as the United States claims to be, we do not recognize that this archaic tradition fails to accomplish anything. By murdering murderer's we do not bring back deceased family members we simply kill more people. Additionally, the death penalty is much more expensive than life enprisionment considering the cost of the appeals process. It is not a deterent to crime because crime rates are lower in states without the death penalty so what are the benefits?

As spring break approaches MTV has started its quality televison. With whipped cream bikini contests. But all of this reality TV has me wondering if dignity was simply a passing trend. Society seems to preach to us that to stand out we need to strip down. That's not just in terms of clothing, it also deals with our morals.

Women are no longer given the same respect that they used to in society. While men continue to have a stronghold in the workplace, women are often not given an equal standing and are subjected to constant criticism about the validity of their position. But for all the positive advancement that's being made there is just as much regression in the female situation do to the pressure of society to be the girl it expects. The claim is that men want women that respect itself but the projection to the younger generation is that to be anyone you have to show it all.

America is undeniably one of the most influential nations in the world today. However, as a nation we are too eager to interfere in the inner workings of other nations throughout the world. Since the inauguration of George Bush, we have changed from a nation that valued the thoughts of others to one that needs to leave a mark on all of the weaker nations throughout the world. While the US formerly abided by a "big stick" policy, it seems we're carrying a club and leaving dents throughout the world.