The NSA: Always watching

Washington Post
New York Times

In the Washington Post, co-authors Barton Gellman and Ashkan Soltani, emphasized how the NSA (National Security Agency) was mostly used to track down terrorists in foreign countries. As the details of how the organization works become more specified, it occurs to me that this technology is not only used on national foes, but on our own people.

The NSA themselves have claimed they have done a few practice runs on random individuals in the United States. They can track where someone has been and where they'll be. They can follow them into secret meetings and figure out who else is involved by tracking down every other cell phone in that room. Now that the world has become more dependent on technology, it makes things so much easier for others to keep track of people. The government in this case can follow anyone they wish and not be detected at all. This is none other than an invasion of privacy.

CHEATER!

The world is filled with millions of people who think they can cheat the system and get ahead, that turns out to be a horrific reality. Police officers in Winder, Ga have decided to take this path in their career. Many cheated their way through the fitness test required for a police officer to stay in office. What does this mean for everyone else? That incapable police officers are roaming the streets presumed to be physically fit enough to protect the innocent. I see this as a terrifying scenario. Imagine that your house is getting robbed and when the police show up they quiver in the corner as the robbers resume to taking your belongings and cherished memories. The world would be in chaos, everyone would commit crimes knowing that they could outrun the law, or fight against a "trained" professional and win.

It is different if a high school student cheats on a test than if a cop were to cheat on a physical test, but those who tend to cheat in high school will not stop there. Those who see cheating to be a successful method of getting ahead will most likely continue. Cheating would then affect and possibly harm thousands and millions of other people who are innocent. 

The Little Things

When it comes to the little annoyances that life brings, I am usually not one to complain. That could do with how I, and millions of other people were raised to act. The way I see it, if one one were to complain about all of the "little things," then nothing would be enjoyable because people always find some small detail to complain about. An example is found in Buckley's "Why Don't We Complain?" when he mentions that the movie is slightly out of focus. He even claims that it is not much out of focus, but someone with 20/20 vision, such as himself, could barely notice. Throughout the entire film, Buckley is focused on the fact that the shot is out of focus that he does not enjoy the film itself. He even leaves disappointed because he felt he wasn't "man enough" to bring the issue up as a formal complaint to the employees of the theater. 

There was one incident that I remember in which I mention my annoyances to someone in public, and that was at a rock concert. Me being the short 5'2'' person that I am, I have no luck when it comes to seeing demonstrations in class, and much less at a concert with seven foot walls with legs in my way. That is exactly what happened, it was the last performance of the concert and there were two tall men of roughly six feet standing in front of both my friend and me. We were shy middle schoolers at the time, and it took me about 20 minutes before I could even approach one of these monsters. I lightly tapped their mid back and as they looked down to see a scared little girl, they seemed shocked of my very existence. I asked politely if we could switch spots considering my very small stature and justified my case in pointing out that they would be able to see just fine from behind my small body. They both looked at each other before one of them replied with, "Why don't you just scoot over so you could see better." Obviously we were not in the same sausage fest because I was unable to breathe without by chest expanding in someone else's personal space.

Again, I won't bring myself to complain much about anything in public, but when I pay money to "see" a band, and then can't because there are two stubborn giants in my way, I will go out of my comfort zone to try and resolve the issue. However, I am usually not one to complain. I find that if one could deal with a small issue to keep public peace, then that's how it should be; someone shouldn't go out and make a commotion out of nothing, because in the end they are the ones who look like fools.

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

Distrusting one another is a simple technique that helps the average person survive day-to-day stresses. I have gone through some "group" projects in which I literally do everything, and yet everyone else shares my credit, but doesn't lose the same amount of hair in the process. If I were to, in this example, trust that everyone would do their part, I would be horribly stressed that my grade had gone down for something I had no control over. Instead of being heated over an obstacle, I maneuver my way around it before it is even an issue which is a common action people take in general.

originally from loveoflifequotes.com

People do not trust mainly because they know that people lie, and fail to achieve what is promised. All of this comes from past experiences of the person being told to trust the other. There are exercises to help one have faith in their fellow human being, such as the trust fall and other group activities meant for the same purpose, but is it worth the trouble to come? If one in a thousand people are naive enough to trust those around them, what is to say about their future? Those who easily trust those around them usually are the ones who fall into debt, lose their jobs, or get paid less for the same job someone else is doing. It is natural to distrust people; We all lie, cheat, and steal from one another.

Not trusting those around you is natural and necessary in this dog-eat-dog world. Many people, especially politicians use this to their advantage in manipulation. As to with everything, there are limits to how untrustworthy one should be with others. I would say, never just believe that another person could do you wrong, but don't be surprised when it does happen because chances are, they will. 

Politician's the Name and Lying's the Game

Politicians are about the lowest of the liars that anyone could ever know. They are the ones who claim to know the "greater good" for society. Behind this veil of uncertainty, there are lies and scandals. Why do Politicians lie? Many of the lies committed by politicians are meant to aid them in their own selfish advancements in the ladder of power. 

One such scandal is the Teapot Dome Scandal in the 1920's in Wyoming. Oil that is supposed to be reserved for only military use was rented out to oil companies and profited by Albert Fall, who was at the time put temporarily in charge of these oil reserves. Before the Watergate Scandal, this was considered the "greatest and most sensational scandal in the history of American politics." Lies are seen in the littlest things that people do every day, to the most extremes such as this scandal that influences and changes the lives of entire communities at a time. Is there such thing as a "good" lie? Are there instances when politicians actually lie for anything other than personal advancement? 

The Teapot Dome Scandal proves that those in power would do anything it takes to maintain their wealth and authority. Lying to the head of the oil reserves and forging documents to appear as legal documents, is a few of the untruthful acts acted by Albert Fall. 

Gender Roles

It has always been accurate to say that a woman should worry more about her physical looks than a man, but now as the years have progressed, men have been taking many measures to maintaining their outer appearance as well. When presented with the image above, why would I choose the orange pair of legs to belong to the men, if I am aware that in this day and age, there are men who shave their legs just as there are women who do not shave their legs, although the latter being less common. There are certain expectations to both genders and that classifies what society believes is masculine and feminine. 

By observing this image alone, the colors chosen to represent each pair of legs signifies what is to be expected of the genders. Orange, being close to pink in that they are both components of red, is darker and holds that non-feminine feature of boldness and strength in comparison to a heavily tinted form of red that we all know as a girl's color. It is incorporated into daily lives that certain colors belong to certain genders, such as pink, lavender, and light green being some of the few lighter colors expected to be associated with femininity. Usually, as a contrast, masculinity is associated with darker, more dirty colors. The choice of a darker color in the orange pair of legs already retains that masculinity that holds true to the answer expected of many to choose that those are the male legs.

Another major factor in this juxtaposition is body hair. Who is to say that both of these pairs of legs are female, or that both are male. A grand majority of people, if asked, would assume that men are the ones with hairy legs and that women have smoother legs. This assumption is again based on what society expects of the genders to be like. Women should groom and men should maintain their brute masculinity in its entirety with body and facial hair; although in that case, women cannot normally grow thick facial hair, so it would be safe to assume that anyone with thick facial hair is most probably a man. Even so, women can grow out their leg hair, and walk around with unshaven legs. This is definitely not common in Western culture, but many European women, and other women without those teachings are sure to have legs just as hairy as those of men. 

I thought this one long and hard, as to which is the man and which is the woman. I want to say that the pink pair of legs are female, but only because that is what I was grown to believe, and I myself expect. Although the times of sexism are coming to a close, there will always be that separation between the sexes in what is expected of them, whether that be in how they physically look, to how they should act. Stereotypes will always linger in the minds of the people.

My Own Personal Hell

When the concept of hell comes about, Dante's Inferno is one of the first images that bumps into someone's head. Flames engulfing lost souls, and torture chambers specifically designed for everlasting turmoil. Although this image has been accepted by many religious groups, I come to wonder what my personal hell would consist of. Is it filled with images I don't want to see, or is it physical torture with wounds that never heal? Taking a little more time to think about it, I would think my hell would have an underwater theme. Water would fill the chamber up until the last bubble of air bursts due to the lack of space for anything but water. This water would be ice-cold, which is ironic in that most think of Hell as a fire pit, but the lack of heat can burn just as much as fire. 

Rare creatures would live in these waters, behind the large boulders that are scattered throughout the sea floor. Plants would fill the spaces in between as to make it hard to move around, or even see for that matter. 

When someone dies, and enters my chamber of Hell, they do not grow gills, and still need air to breathe, but with no room for anything but water, their lungs will eternally burn and fill with water as to suffocate the body. The creatures mentioned above would have large eyes and small sharp teeth. Their appearances are only part of the scare, they also let out a high pitch screech that bursts eardrums to flimsy tissue. These demons lurking the waters would never eat a lost soul, but will constantly attack, only to be attracted again by the fear that soul has exerted into the waters, this fear being practically tangible and most definitely edible by the demons. 



My reasoning for choosing such a gloomy pit of eternal torture is because I have a fear of drowning and being dragged to the bottom of the ocean by some unknown creature, only to be devoured. Sharks terrify me, as well as the mysterious dark unknown that the ocean is. Not being able to breathe, is torture within itself, but adding heart-pounding sights and creatures that not even nightmares can create, this is my own personal hell.