Sister's Legalization Video

Pet Peeve #1

Over time I've found that there are certain things or people that really bother me and I know you're dying to know what and who so here it goes - my first entry.

Journalists.

Journalists who insert pages of quotes and information supporting one side of a multi-faceted argument and then add a tidbit of information supporting all other sides. And then they call them selves unbiased.

I realize that everyone is biased in some sense or another (we're all human, after all), but when one writes an article with clear lines as to what they think and what they want their audience to think, that's got unethical and downright unprofessional written all over it.

Journalists who tweak the facts to make it look like what they're saying is Biblical. A statistic about Dalmations and a statistic about dogs (in general) do not say the same thing, nor does one make the other inaccurate. And yet article after article, especially those found at the most random times of day, include statistics/quotes that are written in a way so that the reader follows along and gets all riled up about something that was written incorrectly.

Which leads me to the other aspect of this pet peeve: The audience.

Articles are intentionally written to target those with a 5th grade reading level, depending on the subject and publication. We write to explain, to inform, to seek the truth in complicated situations, to understand and relay multiple sides of a hotly debated topic.

However, because we know that some journalists sway the truth to forward their own agenda (ugh), the people reading or watching anything need to be wary and read carefully, think critically.

In a world where everything needs to come at lightning speed, the internet assists journalists to write and hit send within minutes, and allows the reader to read quickly and extract the information they need to understand what's happening around them, or just to have a conversation starter.

But if we, the readers, stopped to pay attention to the details, to really figure out what's being said, to read multiple sources and use common sense to finally come to some sort of decision in our minds, we'd be the start of something great!

Imagine, a world of people who don't naively and blindly follow the media at every jump and turn, who see the dangers in reading or hearing one thing and assuming its fact. I can see the angels playing their harps and trumpets in joy at the very thought.

Until people begin to see the truth shining through the cracks of white lies and cover-ups, through the fog and filth that creates a thick film over their glasses, the world will continue to be run by people who hold the truth and know how to hide it.

Good thing there's lasik surgery nowadays.

interesting

http://financiallyfit.yahoo.com/finance/article-109945-5752-5-the-millionaires-retirement-plan

Random Experience #1

Before I jump into a riveting story about my night, I'd like to direct you avid readers out there to my online portfolio if you choose to read my more professional work there because this site will solely be put to creative use from now on. (www.dinamarie1.wordpress.com)
*****

I came home from playing a game much like bridge (called Tarneeb in Arabic) at Hacienda Starbucks (where you can run into between 1 and 45 fellow Egyptian(s) at any time of any day) and found my father in the family room watching David Letterman. I never watch this show but thought, why not? Hang out with the Pops and maybe the television will make me lol at some point. Little did I know the craziest thing would happen to me.

David decided at that precise moment that he'd engage the audience in the age-old "Current Events Quiz," the winner of which would get to introduce the guest of the show.

So this guy stands up and introduces himself as Craig from Melbourne, Australia. However, he worked in Canada so he's basically American in some way or another.

David asks him three questions:

1) The opening Wimbledon match between ____ _____ and ______ _____ lasted how long?
A: 11 Hours (I said 3 days but, whatev, close enough.)

2) People stood in long lines last week to receive what soon-to-be obsolete product?
A: iPhone 4 (Woop! Got this one! And I laugh at the obsolete joke.)

3) What free agent NBA player will the NY Knicks try and fail to sign?
A: The guy stands in silence, and gives up.
There I am sitting on the couch yelling "LeBron James!! It's LeBron! C'mon, even I know that!!"

If only I was in place of Craig last night.

It would be my pleasure to introduce... TAYLOR LAUTNER!

Members of Colleges Against Cancer share cancer stories

Relay for Life to “Celebrate. Remember. Fight Back!”


Although the stories behind those that participate in this event are endless, The California Aggie sat down with some members of Colleges Against Cancer - and those who helped organize it - at UC Davis to see why they relay for life.

Celebrate: "So basically I have some dead guy's bone in me."

"It all started when I was nine years old," said Kirollos "Cookie" Gendi, a junior neurobiology, physiology and behavior and Spanish double major. "I was playing on the cart turn and I slipped and bumped my leg. I complained that my leg was fractured but my dad said that because I could walk I was probably fine."

After complaining some more, Gendi's mother took him to the doctor to "'just get it over with.'" After examining his leg, the doctor found nothing wrong but thought that doing an x-ray couldn't hurt - a move that ended up saving Gendi's leg.

"I ended up in the pediatric oncologist's office with Dr. Yim and Dr. Jolly. Unfortunately, Dr. Jolly didn't look too jolly. He had to break the news to me and my family that I had Ewing's Sarcoma, which is cancer of the bone," Gendi said.

"Everyone was crushed but I was okay; I never really thought I was going to die even though we spent New Year's in the ICU. It definitely gave me a positive attitude."

A fairly new surgery called Limb Salvage and chemotherapy saved Gendi from having to get his leg amputated.

"They cut out a big chunk of tibia and replaced it with a cadaver's tibia, so basically I have some dead guy's bone in me."

Now as vice president of Colleges Against Cancer, Gendi speaks honestly about the Relay for Life event.
"Relay has a special culture; everyone is united under one cause. There's a common connection because you know someone who's been touched by cancer and it's affected your life somehow," Gendi said.

Remember: "He was my best friend."

"When I was eight, my adoptive father was diagnosed with a brain tumor, stage four grade four, which was inoperable," said Ashley Wyrick, senior sociology major. "They told him he had six weeks to live and ended up living another six months."

Wyrick said she became different after learning of her father's brain tumor.

"I became really shy after that and didn't know how to handle it. He wasn't just my father, he was my best friend," she said.

After Wyrick's father passed, his daughter from a previous marriage took guardianship of her until today. Although she is technically her adoptive stepsister, Ashley calls her "mom."

As fate would have it, yet another battle with cancer would ensue barely a decade later.

Wyrick's mom was diagnosed with breast cancer seven years ago, when Wyrick was just 15 years old.

"She went through chemotherapy and radiation. I was the one who took her to her appointments," Wyrick said. "The difference was that it was stage one and there was a chance to fight it out."
Although she witnessed multiple family members' battles with cancer, she feels that she has gained insight into a world where most would be lost.

"Everyone needs support in different ways and I learned how to deal with people in delicate situations," she said.

Becoming involved in Relay for Life has offered more insight into that world for Wyrick.
"I feel even more connected to Davis: I realize that I'm probably helping people out in ways that I probably couldn't have done before," she said.

Fight Back: "It's why I'm involved in cancer research."

On the other side of the world in Bulgaria, Neda Mitkova, now a senior neurobiology, physiology and behavior major, was just a little girl when her grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer.
"The medication then wasn't as good; they weren't going to accomplish much so she got a house up in the mountains and lived there for the last two or three years of her life," she said.

"Not until the very last couple weeks of her life did we notice that she wasn't able to get up and do things; I remember because I'd help her get up and go to the bathroom. I was seven and not very strong but she had gotten really weak."

Over time, Mitkova said she understood the importance of her experience with her grandmother, even after many years since her passing.

"I realized the need for support and importance of having effective treatments," Mitkova said. "It's why I got involved in cancer research of different treatments and their effects on cancer patients."

Mitkova said Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society have been great resources for cancer victims and their families.

"There's so much great information through ACS that people don't know about," Mitkova said. "Maybe if my grandma had known about it she could have fought another 10 years instead of the two or three that she did."

DINA MORCOS can be reached at features@theaggie.org.

The Fight

My shirt’s stained red from the beating
Bruises and muscles just need some kneading
My nine lives are simply waning
Just another human that needs saving

The clouds cover the sun almost daily
The book’s covers are getting dusty
As my life, I feel it sinking
A dark abyss, my heart is shrinking

The ones here are hardly worth the trouble
And yet, it’s a small and comfortable bubble
Find a niche, but don’t disagree
They’ve made a simple comment, yet set a decree

My shirt’s stained red from the beating
Bruises and muscles just need some kneading
A cold pack of ice to numb the pain
What will it do to erase the stains?

A public confession: hear it now
My head’s a mess as I take that bow
To understand the message here
The glory of being quite austere

A message I don’t completely understand
As I bring myself up and take that stand
Against the wrong but against the right
Hoping all could feel contrite

My shirt’s stained red from the beating
Bruises and muscles just need some kneading
A figure to show the light, heal my wounds
Hear the silent shrieks and croons
Understand and make it right
Strengthen me into someone that can fight

Community service taken seriously in 9-year-old case

[school assignment: not perfect b/c lack of time]

He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, Guy Griffin Sr. said Tuesday morning in the Yolo County Court in Woodland.
Griffin was arrested October 13th, 2002 for insurance fraud. Five years later, he was arrested again for violating his probation charges.
Father of two children and one of the many unemployed citizens in California, Griffin has been unemployed for the past three years “because of the court trials,” according to his testimony.
Prior to his second arrest in 2007, Griffin had been working for three years at a trucking company stationed in the Sacramento area.
“I was on probation to protect my family and had court dates every month; my boss was getting frustrated that I had to leave so often,” Griffin said.
According to Griffin’s testimony, he was already on probation due to the insurance fraud felony and a misdemeanor would violate that. But due to the fact that this new arrest in 2007 would not end well, his previous Public Defender, Hilary Davis, told him “’if you disagree to go to trial, we can get it down to a misdemeanor and even though that will violate your probation, everything will end, this will all be over.’”
“Everything” included the District Attorneys’ office threatening to arrest Griffin’s wife, which would ultimately lead to Child Protection Services taking his children as well, while Griffin himself was in holding.
He took the deal.
Now, three years later, Griffin is still paying for the consequences and also dealing with an extra issue.
His uncle Quinton Griffin, 60, has a severe seizure disorder and requires full assistance all of the time. Also, because the seizures cause short-term memory loss, he forgets to take his medication, which therefore leads to more seizures and more memory loss.
The vicious cycle can only end with in-home care on a regular basis. Guy Griffin has been taking care of his uncle since October of 2009, after Quinton’s doctor, John Dahmen, said that if the seizures occurred regularly, he could die.
Griffin stated that prior to yesterday’s hearing, he was looking into agencies that could take care of his uncle while he was at work, now that he has finally found a job at another trucking company located in Fresno. But more problems ensued.
The transportation agency takes 21-30 days to qualify a candidate, too long for Mr. Quinton to wait in going to the doctor, and the in-home care agency costs $100 per week. This would not be much of an issue now that Griffin has secured a job, but the job requires him to cross state lines, which under probation, he can’t do without being arrested in another state.
Griffin asked that he not be incarcerated for the sake of his family and especially his uncle, who needs all of the help he can get, and also because with this new job, he can pay off his restitution payments as well.
The judge, Paul Richardson, seemingly unfazed by this information, said that Griffin has been giving excuses to the court and has not even fulfilled his end of the bargain.
Required in his probation, other than attending all court dates, was completing 90 days of community service. After three years of unemployment, he completed only 10 days.
Griffin’s current public defender, Ron Johnson, made the argument that although his community service had not been completed, he would be able to provide his restitution payment creating revenue rather than adding more expense to the state through incarceration.
However, due to this lack of initiative, the Judge Richardson gave him 30 days to figure out something for his uncle, Quinton, and then sentenced him to 28 months in jail.

You're Transparent Already!

My mother, God bless her and her genes, is the skinniest person I know, at least in her age range. Most Egyptian mothers, not to stereotype or anything, are slightly overweight. And when I say slightly, I mean they all have pear-shaped bodies. Basically the bottom of the hourglass measures to about quadruple (if not more) times the size of the top, and the top is fairly large as it is.

My mom, defying all odds, looks the same as she did back in High School, and that’s not an exaggeration by any means. She gave me an old picture of her that I really liked (despite the ridiculous amount of flowers on her shirt, she looked like a model) that she thought was taken after she graduated college.

Wrong. It said “HS Grad” on the back in her same loopy cursive handwriting that covers years of birthday cards I keep under my bed.

As the years go by, I notice that the people who complain about being overweight aren’t the ones that could definitely watch what they eat and hit the gym every once in a while. They’re the ones who are genetically programmed to look perfect their whole lives, people who like my mom are on the lower end of the “normal weight” scale.

Every type of clothing, no matter what decade the shoe or skirt should have been lost in, look good on her. She could eat just about anything and her pants might feel a bit snug a few weeks later, but only after eating four or five Thanksgiving meals with each branch of the extended family.

And then, after people who actually have to work to keep in shape finally reach a point they are reasonably comfortable at, she has the audacity to say that she needs to lose weight.

As if disappearing into oblivion is a good idea, maybe even attractive, too.

Clearly something has to change. People always blame the media and the beauty industry for how women look at themselves, but in the end, how I look at myself should be determined by me.

Sure, culture definitely has an effect; back in the day people thought that being overweight was an attractive thing. It was a sign of wealth – the fatter, the better must have been their motto.

But in the end, the individual has to figure out what they are comfortable with, if they look good with their cheekbones sticking out as though nothing else is holding them back, or if maybe, just maybe, they are perfectly fine as is.

But to all women, or even men – maybe I’m a bit sexist about this subject, please don’t complain if you are 5’4’’ and 110 pounds, it’s just straight-up annoying.