Bet you can’t do that.

Come 2012, the world will end in DOOM. The attack of the immortal jellyfish cannot be stopped, and we’re all going to die!

Seriously. Scientists have discovered a jellyfish that is immortal. It doesn’t die of old age because it can transform its cells back to it’s first stage of life, sort of like how some animals can regrow a tail or an organ. Except this jellyfish does it with its whole body. And being the nerd I am, I think this is completely awesome, and it made my day. =D And since it doesn’t die of old age, it is quickly spreading around the world. So yes, there is technically probably going to be an invasion of jellyfish.

See? I wasn’t lying.

Oh! And here is the link if you want to read the article. green.yahoo.com/blog/guest_bloggers/26/the-world-s-only-immortal-animal.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/721294

I found that article on ATT’s front page. I don’t mind the idea of a new dollar bill design at all. I think our design is kinda lame compared to other currencies anyways. If we had new bills designed by Dowling Duncan, and if they were designed this way, I wouldn’t be completely against it. I really liked the look of the 20, 50, and 5. I don’t like Obama being on the 1, but I can see the reason for it. Washington has the quarter already and the design is changing ti from the first president to the first black president. I think the 10 looks weird compared to the rest, but I like the fact that the designs kept one building on one of the dollars.

Anyways, that’s really all I had to say. Just wanted to comment on the article.

This is a homework assignment I had to write for World Religions the other day, and I thought I’d share it on here. We had to take a stance about whether Facebook would be acceptable for someone in Buddhism.

There are things I wrote I don’t agree with but wrote because I HAD to take one side. I also realize that there are Buddhists on Facebook.

Facebook is many things to different people ranging from a necessity to a way to waste time to a tool for playing games online. To a Buddhist though, Facebook would not be acceptable for a person on the path to enlightenment. It creates tanha which leads to dukkha and diverts users from the eight fold path in multiple ways.

Tanha means desire, and Facebook creates desire. Once one starts using Facebook, you feel compelled and obligated to be on it all the time and to check on what people are doing. In other words, one would then desire to be on Facebook, and desire leads to dukkha, suffering. Many on Facebook also want to, or desire to, play the games on Facebook and to do well in them. So when one misses the time for an event in a game or time deadline, it leads to suffering because said person desired to do well in the game.

Facebook also diverts one from the eight fold path in multiple ways. On Facebook, there are tools such as honesty box and links to other similar sites where people can ask questions or say things anonymously. These tools lead many people to say rude or hurtful things to one another under the cloak of anonymity. These are clearly not compassion or selfless actions because one is saying rude things as well as indulging oneself in Facebook which does not follow Right Intent. Right Speech is also not followed on Facebook. People will boast about doing well on a test in their status, spread rumors in statuses or notes, or say spiteful things about others in status. Others doing this will tempt one to do the same and to fall into a wrong kind of speech. Facebook also deters people from Right Livelihood as Facebook consumes time that could otherwise be spent meditating or helping others through volunteer activities.

Facebook has a multitude of options for one to divert from the eight fold path and to be lead to dukkha through Tanha. A Facebook user could attempt to resist temptation, but eventually, Facebook will always lead you away from the eight fold path. It is best for followers of the eight fold path to not use Facebook at all and to spend their time more productively as Buddhists.

Oil from a massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico was starting to ooze ashore, threatening migrating birds, nesting pelicans, river otters and mink along Louisiana’s fragile islands and barrier marshes.….

The leak from a blown-out well a mile underwater is five times bigger than first believed. Faint fingers of oily sheen were reaching the Mississippi River delta late Thursday, lapping the Louisiana shoreline in long, thin lines. Thicker oil was about five miles offshore…..

The oil slick could become the nation’s worst environmental disaster in decades, threatening to eclipse even the Exxon Valdez in scope. It imperils hundreds of species of fish, birds and other wildlife along the Gulf Coast, one of the world’s richest seafood grounds, teeming with shrimp, oysters and other marine life.

Read more here.

This is despicable, disgusting, and any other word you can think of relating to this disaster. While it may not turn out to be the biggest oil spill, it is definitely up there. What more evidence do we need for switching to alternative fuels? An entire ecosystem is at risk as well as food supplies and jobs for those living anywhere remotely near this spill. According to the article, there is also evidence that the oil company who owns the drill may have known something about this before it happened. This may or may not be true. Whether it is or not, something needs to be done.

Oil companies need to be pressured to regulate their drills and transportation vehicles better. I realize accidents do happen, but when these accidents threaten entire ways of lives for some people and completely destroy animal lives and their habits, it has gone too far. Better yet, we need to ween ourselves off oil dependecy. There are plenty of other enerfy sources out there. While individually these other energy sources may not be enough to sustain an entire country, the use of all the energy sources together can create tremendous amounts of energy.  If the natural, clean energy sources in every area are utilized, and if we become more efficient with our energy, we can completely ween ourselves off oil. Simple things like reinsulating your house, suing geothermal energy if it is near you, and having solar panel roofs can save tons (literally) of energy we would get from oil as well as save you money.

We cant allow oil spills like this to continue happening and endanger the lives of those working on the rig as well as the lives of animals and the jobs of people who rely on those animal populations for food and business.

I wanted to look at cute, adorable little animals, so I’mma put them in a blog post. You know you want to look and be seduced by their charm. ^^

And there is a daily dose of cuteness. ^^

Noah’s Ark Found.

Haha, yeah right.

This is just another hoax with fundie’s jumping to conclusions without the actual evidence like all the other “discoveries” of Noah’s Ark have been and like they all will be. The idea of Noah’s Ark existing in the first place is extremely improbable. There are plenty of sites on the net that explain why and you can find with a simple Google search. I’m not going to bore you with all the reasons here. Secondly, for the Ark of that size to remain (if it even existed) in a form recognizable over all these years is also extremely unlikely. Wood rots… easily. It also sets on fire… easily. It was wood already carved for building, so people would have stole some of it for easy house building. Vandalism and all that. Also, the structure they found could just as easily been another boat built in said era or a hut/house that used to be there thousands of years ago. The possibilities of what it could be if it wasn’t a total hoax are huge.

So you can believe that it is the Ark if you want, but I and many others will just laugh at you until further credible evidence is provided.

Most people in the US probably don’t know about Nawal El Saadawi. I didn’t until today, but after briefly reading about her, I decided to research her a bit more.

And this woman is no less than incredible. A true modern hero.

So a little background, Nawal El Saadawi grew up in Egypt in an fundamentalist Islamic family. In case you don’t know, many, if not most or all fundie Islamic families, value male children much more than females, and females are basically seen only as tools to serve men and further a male’s heritage (boys). Women and girls are oppressed in the most of cruel of ways and many women are no where near freedom in fundie Islamic families.

Growing up, Nawal El Saadawi faced some of these atrocities. Believe it or not, female circumcision was performed on her when she was just a little girl because it was “God’s will”. Even as a little girl, she spoke out against such things, and she continued to do so into her adulthood. This, of course, was not received well by people of the Islamic faith. She lost her job, faced death threats, and eventually had to leave the country. Despite all this, she continues to write and speak out against religious fundamentalism and the oppression of women. This woman is truly a remarkable person who in the face of danger stands up for what she knows is right. Few others growing up in the environment she did have this courage, and I hope her actions will continue to encourage others from her same background to stand up for their rights.

Nawal El Saadawi is without out a doubt one of my idols now, and I tip my hat off to you.

I was stumbling through the interwebs today when I cam across wikiHow titled “How to Impress a Girl”. I thought this might be interesting and helpful to guys out there, so I skimmed though it real fast. It turned out to be a lot of common sense suggestions guys and girls should do already or suggestions that were tailored to a certain kind of girl. I’m going to go through the list on here, with my criticism added of course.

1. Be well groomed

This should go without saying, unless you want to be a filthy pig. However, the scruffy look does work well on some guys. Since this is a given, it does not and will not impress me if you are well-groomed. Impressing me means doing something that you shouldn’t be doing already and going the extra mile.

2. Have a Great Attitude

If this “great attitude” is different from your normal self, I’ll do without. You shouldn’t change yourself just to impress a girl. If that girl doesn’t like you with your normal attitude (assuming your not some serial killer psycho), then she probably isn’t worth it. That being said, this isn’t an excuse for you to be a jerk.

3. Show Respect

See number 1 minus the pig and scruffy look comment.

4. Have good conversations

What is “good” supposed to mean her? You should have conversations you normally have with other people. Each of you taking turns speaking. Most conversations will not impress me, but showing intelligence though conversation might. This, however, is different for every girl.

5. Show interest in her- let her talk

That this has to be said is ridiculous. You should let her talk because you are already interested in her. And letting me talk will not impress me.

6. Try flirting!

Many girls like flirting and might be impressed by it. I won’t. It’s a stupid social custom. However, if you both like it, go for it.

7. She may look away and she might blush a little

Who’s writing this? A 12 year old? Why is this even included in a tutorial for impressing a girl?

8. Respect their ideas and opinions

See 1.

9. Have your friends be nice to her. It’s a fantastic thing when your friends don’t make a total fool of you.

Your friends tend to say a lot about who you are. You should let them be themselves. If I found out that you were making your friends be different than their normal selves to try and “impress” me, I’d be the opposite of impressed.

10. Be polite to her parents.

See 1.

11. Don’t criticize her.

I prefer constructive criticism over compliments. It’s easier for me to work with those comments and be a smart ass.

12. Be romantic, not over the top.

I’ll admit, romantic things impress me from a guy. But not every girl would be impressed.

13. Start talking to her casually.

How else are you supposed to talk to her? But seriously, just talking with a her girl casually usually will not impress a girl.

14. Do not play “hard to get”.

Unless she likes that…

15. Be careful with what you say.

Depends on the girl. I’d rather a guy talk about whatever and not hold back.

16. Hum in her presence. She might think of you whenever she hears that song.

That’s just stupid. So stupid. And it won’t impress many people.

17. Start an inside joke with her.

Since when have inside jokes impressed people?

18. End later meetings with a hug, or plans to meet some other time if you can.

A hug will not impress a girl. Unless you have some sort of super hugging powers.

19. Tell her that you “like her” frequently

This would annoy me quickly.

20. Touch her occasionally, like on the shoulder or hand.

This won’t impress her… But it will give her the idea that you like her. This could also do the opposite to some girls.

21. Opposites attract

The comment they added with this one was extremely sexist…. “be a courageous gentleman, not coy like a lady might be”. Really? REALLY? That being said, this will only impress certain groups of people.

22. Showing your funny side.

If you’re not funny, don’t try to be.

23. Make her feel good.

This will probably impress most girls and give them a favorable impression of you. The same would work on a guy.

24. Don’t ever make fun of her friends around her. If you do, she might think you’re a jerk.

I make fun of people all the time, but they know I’m just joking. If you’re doing it for good fun, then make sure they know that. And respect their wishes if they want you to stop.

25. Be honest. Do something creative, something extraordinary or something that others never do. That creates a question mark for the girl about you, and it also makes you interesting.

See 1 for being honest. This last one will impress most girls. Going above and beyond what other guys will do.

I guess the whole point of this was to show that everyone is different. There is no one way to impress a girl, and trying to be someone you are not just to impress a girl will only have bad results.

Obviously, this is my first post here on word press. I’ve had a few blogs before, but I either forgot the password or stopped them because I got bored with it. I hope that won’t happen with this one.

So I guess a little about me is in order.

I am a 16 year old U.S citizen. I live in the south-eastern part of the country. I’ll probably write about that later and my love-hate relationship with this part of the country. I attend a boarding school, but rest assured, I’m not a snob nor am I rich. I go to this school based purely on my own merits as a student as do all the other students. My self-esteem goes up and down as well as my feelings toward the world (optimist to pessimist). I could describe myself in many ways. Humanist, freethinker, rationalist (though I’m sure not all of my views are completely rational), atheist, bum, jock, geek, nerd… It goes on and on.

That’s enough about me for now, and I’ll probably get to posting blogs within the week.