Cruel and Unusual Punishment

I was reading an article about prisoners, and it got me thinking. It really upsets me that people are still complaining about the treatment of prisoners. I mean these people are murders, rapists, etc. They should not be treated fairly or with respect. They should not be given comfortable beds, cable, good food, etc. That is ridiculous to me. Some of these prisons are nicer than my own home. I mean I thought the point of prison was to be punished. Apparently, people want that to change because they want prisoners to have better good, comfortable beds, good food, respect, etc. I mean do these people just completely look past the fact that they, for instance, killed someone. I bet you if the person they killed was someone from their family, they would be acting completely different. I just don’t understand how people can rationalize what these people have done. I mean who wouldn’t want someone that killed your family member to suffer. No one would say “Please take good care of them, and give them good food and a comfortable bed.” I mean are you kidding me. All these people that think we should improve prison conditions make me so angry because it’s called prison for a reason. It’s not supposed to be a good thing. You are supposed to regret what you did while you are in prison. It is not supposed to be an enjoyable experience. This crap gets on my nerves, and I hope people will think about what they are doing. There are much bigger problems than fixing the living conditions for prisoners.

A City of Blue

Recently, I have been watching the news about this Memphis team. Unforunately, we lost the championship game against Kansas, but we did so much more than that. Not only did we have the most won games in a single season, but it was also the first time that all number one seeds were in the final four. Those are some pretty amazing statistics. They are definetely something to be proud of. The most important thing this team has done is unite our city with one color, BLUE. Everywhere you would go, there would be so many people wearing their blue and grey in support of such an influential team. This team brought a change in Memphis that no other person has ever done. They made people unify under one race of blue. There was no race when they played. They brought about a common love in that everyone wanted to see this team win the championship. They brought everyone together without even trying. All this team did was play the game they love, but look at how much of a change they made. You could see on tv all races cheering for the same thing. People have tried for years to unify the races, but nothing has ever worked. Now, a team from a so-called "bad" school plays their hearts out for the sport they love, and they bring about peace in a community for a little while. Honestly, it's sad that something like a sporting event can bring the races together. Why not everything else? I respect this team a lot for what they have done. I respect them for overcoming all of the people who said they would never make it. I have grown to love this school over the last year, and I thanks to this team a lot of other people have grown to love it too. I will forever bleed blue and grey!

Interesting Facts About Candles

Well of course I had to have at least one interesting facts blog, so I decided I would make one about candles. I was looking around my den, and I have seventeen candles in that one room! Can you believe that? I sure don't. I love candles, but apparently, I love them too much. I decided I would find interesting facts about them, and some of these really are interesting. Hope you enjoy! 1. The candle industry is growing mainly because of our society's stressful lives and everyone's quest for relief. 2. Candles are used in 7 out of 10 U.S. households. The majority of consumers also burn candles between 1-3 times per week, with half of these consumers burning 1-2 candles at a time. 3. Candle industry research findings indicate that the most important factor affecting candle sales is Fragrance, with color and shape taking a distant second, in the consumer selection of a candle for the home. 4. Overall candle sales are growing faster than the United States economy as a whole. 5. Consumers say they typically burn candles for just under 3 hours. 9 out of 10 candle users say they use candles to make a room feel comfortable and cozy. 6. Candle users say they most frequently burn candles in the living room (42%), by the kitchen (18%), and the bedroom (13%). 7. Candle purchasers view candles as an appropriate gift for the holidays (76%), house-warming gifts (74%), a hostess/dinner party gift (66%), a thank you gift (61%), adult birthday gift (58%). 8. U.S. retail sales of candles are estimated at approximately $2 billion annually, excluding the sale of candle accessories. 9. There are more than 350 commercial, religious and industrial manufacturers of candles in the U.S., as well as scores of small craft producers for local, non-commercial use. 10. Candle manufacturers' surveys show that 96% of all candles purchased are bought by women. Two thirds of candle purchasers say they use candles once a week or more often. Women are more frequent users than men, and younger people tend to use candles more often than older adults. I hope you enjoyed these. I thought they were very interesting. Oh and feel free to give me any candles! I love the smell of vanilla!

Interesting Facts

It has been a while since I did an interesting facts blog, so I decided I would write one on just some interesting facts about animals. If you can't tell by now, I love animals. I wanted to be a vet for years. They are all just so sweet and loving. If I could, I would have hundreds of animals. I hope you enjoy some of these. I thought they were really neat. 1) The five most common dog names for males are Jake, Buddy, Bailey, and Sam. For females, they are Maggie, Molly, Lady, Sadie, and Lucy. 2) The ten most popular dogs in order are Labrador Retriever, Yorkshire Terrier, German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, Beagle, Boxer, Dachshund, Poodle, Shih Tzu, and Bulldog. 3) A famou Beagle you might have heard about is Snoopy. He has been in the newspaper since 1950. 4) Dalmatian puppies are pure white when they are born, and they develop their spots as they mature. 5) A dog's temperature is between 100.2-102.8 degrees Fahreneheit. 6) The American Kennel Club recognizes 150 different kinds of purebred dogs 7) Irish Wolfhounds are the tallest dogs amond all breeds. 8) Dogs were the first animals domesticated by people. 9) Dogs have been wearing collars ever since Egyptian times. 10) To keep themselves warm in the winter, dogs sometimes curl up with their tail covering their nose. 11) In many cities, there are close to 50,000 pets each year that have no homes and no one to take care of them. 12) Lassie was the first animal named to the Animal Hall of Fame in 1969. 13) Dogs have three eyelids. They have an upper and lower eyelid and a third one inside of the other two. It helps protect the eye from dirt and dust. It is also called a "haw".

Proud To Be A Tiger

In honor of our Tigers, I wanted to write a blog about them. I am so excited we are going to San Antonio. I hope we win the whole thing!! This team is really making me happy that I decided to go to Memphis instead of Mississippi State. I had decided in August to stay in Memphis, and I have never regreted it, but the basketball team is really making me proud to be at Memphis. Everyone always looks down on Memphis because they think it's a crappy college compared to Christian Brothers and Rhodes, but I don't care what other people think. I know I went to a college preparatory school, but I think Memphis' classes are hard. I mean I am making pretty good grades, but I am working a lot harder than I expected. I know a lot of people hate the people that are fans only when the team is winning, but I still appreciate all the support. A lot of people looked down on me when I moved out and went to Memphis instead of Mississippi State, but now I want to say screw all of you because my school is in the final four. Mississippi State isn't in the final four, and they are just some country school. If I had gone there, all I would of done is become an alcoholic because that's the only thing to do in Starkville, MS. I don't like to drink, and some of you may think I'm crazy, but I just don't get into it. It always makes my stomach hurt, and it takes me forever to get drunk because I can't keep drinking. It's too much work I guess. Anyway I just want to say that I am very proud to be a tiger, and I appreciate the team for making all of these people supporters. We showed all of those people that thought Memphis was some crappy school. Now look at us. We might be national champs in a few days.

3:10 to Yuma

I mentioned the other day in class the western movie 3:10 to Yuma. I know this is a horrible blog, but I really want to encourage all of you to see this movie. It's amazing. The guy from Batman and Russell Crow are the main characters. That should tell you something. Russell Crow plays an outlaw that can't figure out if he wants to be bad or good. The guy from Batman plays a poor farmer that is willing to do whatever it takes to provide for his family. Russell Crow gets arrested, and the movie is about the journey these men take to get Russell Crow on the 3:10 to Yuma (the prison train). Now that does not do the movie justice. I don't want to ruin the movie for you, but I am telling you that it is worth going to see. I really did not want to see this movie because my dad is in love with westerns, and I have been forced to watch them my whole life. He loves John Wayne. If he ever had a boy that would have been his name. So I really didn't want to see another western, but it is not like the usual westerns. This movie had a lot of good action, not the normal cheezy action. It had a good story line, and the acting is incredible. It's a great movie for anyone. I really want everyone to go see it because it is so good. I know this doesn't tell you a whole lot about the movie, but I don't want to ruin it for you. Just go see it!! I promise you'll love it!

Great Thursday Class

I just wanted to talk about how much I enjoyed class on Thursday. It was really a lot of fun! I was a little nervous when I got the email to come prepared to argue about race because it is such a touchy issue. I had sort of already argued my opinion on the issue in one of my previous blogs, but it was nice to hear someone else's opinion. It was interesting to hear what everyone said. Some people said things I was completely not expecting. I was also happy that everyone was very respectful, and it never got rude and mean. That's really what I was worried about. I had a lot of fun arguing and debating. It was like one person would say something and then someone else would have to put their opinion in, but it was never like fighting. It was really fun! It was like we had this huge intellectual argument about race without name calling and just being down right mean. If only the world could do what we did in class? The world really might be a different place if everyone could talk openly about their issues. Instead, everyone keeps their problems bottled up inside which causes ugly racism. The same thing happens with friends, wives, husbands, etc. When you keep all your problems inside, you can't help but grow hate. Problems are meant to be talked about, but they are not meant to be faught about. I think many people confuse this. I know I often fight out problems instead of talking them out, but it really does no good. I just go right back where I started. I really hope one day we can talk about race comfortably, but really it would be nice if we didn't have to talk about race. I mean who made it illegal for white people to talk about black people and vice versa. If we are all equal, why should we talk about race? Something to think about. Anyway, I just wanted to share how much I loved our class on Thursday. I hope some of you felt the same.