kechols's blog

Smoking is a huge problem in today's youth culture. Despite constant warnings about how dangerous smoking is, young people continue to pick up the habit. Even though it is illegal for people under the age of 18 to smoke, most tobacco companies target advertising at people under 18, with the logic that if they can get them hooked young, they will have customers for life. Sick, isn't it? Candy-flavored cigarettes and ads depicting young, beautiful people are just some of the ploys used to target teens. In Texas alone, tobacco companies spend 979 million dollars on advertising that is targeted, for the most part, at young people. With that much money, you could buy all of the advertising time at the 2005 Superbowl almost six times.

No Child Left Behind testing to keep schools "accountable" also keeps students from learning. Here in Texas, we take the Texas Assesment of Knowledge and Skills (aka TAKS). Since the test was initiated 4 (maybe 5?) years ago, teachers have stopped educating students, and started year-round test prep, that teaches nothing but what a student must know to pass the TAKS. Mark Twain would be disappointed ("I have never let my schooling interfere with my education" - Mark Twain).

http://www.wmtw.com/news/8144515/detail.html?rss=port&psp=news

 That article makes me so very very very angry.  Read it, its ridiculous. I am a Christian, albiet a fairly liberal one, and it makes me sad to see people like the ones in that article give Christianity a bad name. Personally, I don't agree with the War in Iraq- I think it was a hastily made decision that was made with not enough information- whether or not that was President Bush's fault is a discussion for another day. But I do support the troops. I admire them. They fight day in and day out, risking their lives for specific causes they may or may not believe in- but they believe in America and protecting our freedoms so they do it. How could someone, who has been sitting comfortably on his or her buttocks have the audacity to protest the funeral of someone who lost their life in the service of the US Military? Protest the White House, write letters to your congress people- if you really need media coverage, run naked thru Times Square with your message painted on your body, but leave grieving families alone.

People are freaking crazy. I just saw a news story on CNN.com about a mother who decided a "fun" way of punishing her 14-yr. old daughter would be to put her in home-made shackles for trying to run away and skipping school. AND SHE WONDERS WHY HER DAUGHTER WAS TRYING TO RUN AWAY!!! thats absolutely ridiculous.  The mom doesnt even see anything wrong with it- she admitted to doing the same thing to her son! How do people get like that?  what even puts it into you head "oh hey- thats a good way to do it- ill chain her- that'll show her"??? im sorry, but to me that's bordering child abuse, which is unacceptable in any way shape or form.

The US government needs some serious introspection. i know, the bureaucracy is already crazy, BUT- FEMA spend over 500 million dollars on trailers after huricane Katrina, and of the nearly 11,000 units purchased, less than 1000 are occupied. They are sitting empty- Mostly in Arkansas, and will most likely have to be destroyed- theyre sinking into the ground. Meanwhile they (and by they i mean taxpayers) are paying 25,000 dollars a month for storage AND are still paying for evacuees to stay in hotels AND there are still people without homes in New Orleans.  FEMA claims theyve had difficulty getting around rules that prohibit putting trailers on flood plains- in that case, I have one question- Why the hell did they purchase trailers in the first place if they knew they wouldnt be able to put them where the need is/was? Its not exactly a secret that the gulf coast is a flood plain....

I'm no political extremist, but George Bush is pissing me off. How many soldiers are going to have to die before we pull out of Iraq??? Bush gave indication the other day that we might have to wait till he's out of office to get our boys home from a war that's not even ours to be fighting. I wonder if he could run again if he would be this nonchalant about public opinion. With his approval ratings hovering in the high 30s, youve got to wonder what is going through this man's head. I understand the need for the limit on presidential terms, but if bush could run again he'd be paying more attention to the attitude and desires of the American population which is what "we" elected him to do. im not 18 so the phrase "we" is loosely defined.

 AIDS is a problem of pandemic proportions. we MUST do something... while HIV/AIDS affects less than 1 percent of the american population, in some parts of the world its as common as the flu. We are truly fortunate to live in a wealthy society- it is our duty to search for a vaccine and a cure.

Below is a letter i wrote to Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX). Write your congress people- if you dont know who they are or their addresses- Google it- thats the beauty of the internet.