​Down to the Facts:

• 28% of gay/lesbian youth are forced to drop out of school because of their sexuality. (National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, 1998)
• Suicide is the second leading cause of death on college campuses (CDC 2008).
• For every completed suicide by a young person, it is estimated that 100 to 200 attempts are made (Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey 2003).
• Lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers (Massachusetts Youth Risk Survey 2007).
• LGBT youth who come from highly rejecting families are more than 8 times as likely to have attempted suicide than LGB peers who reported no or low levels of family rejection (Ryan C, Huebner D, et al - Peds 2009;123(1):346-352)
• High school students hear 25 anti-gay remarks every day. Of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) high schoolers, 42 percent have been physically harassed on the basis of their perceived sexual orientation/gender identity.
• 25 anti-gay remarks everyday, that is 175 every week, that is about 750 a month, and 9,125 a year 

Type in ‘teen suicides related to gay bullying’. There are a million links to stories about teens that died by suicide because of bullying. Those stories have links to a billion other stories. Here are some: Tyler Clementi, 18 - student at Ridgewood High School killed himself by jumping off the George Washington Bridge on September 22nd 2010, Justin Aaberg, 15, hanged himself in his room in July 2010, Kameron Jacobsen, 14 – freshman at Monroe Woodbury High School 2011, Lance Lundsten, 18 – senior at Jefferson High School 2011, and Brandon Bitner, 14 – freshman at Pennsylvania High School threw himself in highway traffic, thirteen miles from his home.  Some stories are as young as 9 years old and the deaths are brutal. One stories about a boy that was 10 and shot himself in the head, in his closet.

 

GSANI, ILGA, IGLHRC, IGLYO, ILGLaw, GRIN are gay rights organizations. People that know about the hardships gay teens face, they know the taunts and the looks the teens get nowadays, run these organizations. These organizations are trying to change the anti-gay programs in school because they know that they are not working. If these programs were working, then there would be less teen suicides. These organizations have been around since homosexuals have been openly gay, this website It Gets Better. It gives videos from actors, strangers, and friends that talk about their experiences, and how it get better, promoting the Trevor Project. This project helps homeless teens that were disowned by their family, people to talk to about gay bullying, and tries to stop teen suicides.

In my next blog, I will talk about different polices or laws that have to do with gay rights. For example, Prop 8, Don't Ask and Don't Tell policy. I will even talk about different laws in different countries all over the world, like Uganda. 

​Down to the Facts:

• 28% of gay/lesbian youth are forced to drop out of school because of their sexuality. (National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, 1998)
• Suicide is the second leading cause of death on college campuses (CDC 2008).
• For every completed suicide by a young person, it is estimated that 100 to 200 attempts are made (Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey 2003).
• Lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers (Massachusetts Youth Risk Survey 2007).
• LGBT youth who come from highly rejecting families are more than 8 times as likely to have attempted suicide than LGB peers who reported no or low levels of family rejection (Ryan C, Huebner D, et al - Peds 2009;123(1):346-352)
• High school students hear 25 anti-gay remarks every day. Of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) high schoolers, 42 percent have been physically harassed on the basis of their perceived sexual orientation/gender identity.
• 25 anti-gay remarks everyday, that is 175 every week, that is about 750 a month, and 9,125 a year 

Type in ‘teen suicides related to gay bullying’. There are a million links to stories about teens that died by suicide because of bullying. Those stories have links to a billion other stories. Here are some: Tyler Clementi, 18 - student at Ridgewood High School killed himself by jumping off the George Washington Bridge on September 22nd 2010, Justin Aaberg, 15, hanged himself in his room in July 2010, Kameron Jacobsen, 14 – freshman at Monroe Woodbury High School 2011, Lance Lundsten, 18 – senior at Jefferson High School 2011, and Brandon Bitner, 14 – freshman at Pennsylvania High School threw himself in highway traffic, thirteen miles from his home.  Some stories are as young as 9 years old and the deaths are brutal. One stories about a boy that was 10 and shot himself in the head, in his closet.

 

GSANI, ILGA, IGLHRC, IGLYO, ILGLaw, GRIN are gay rights organizations. People that know about the hardships gay teens face, they know the taunts and the looks the teens get nowadays, run these organizations. These organizations are trying to change the anti-gay programs in school because they know that they are not working. If these programs were working, then there would be less teen suicides. These organizations have been around since homosexuals have been openly gay, this website It Gets Better. It gives videos from actors, strangers, and friends that talk about their experiences, and how it get better, promoting the Trevor Project. This project helps homeless teens that were disowned by their family, people to talk to about gay bullying, and tries to stop teen suicides.

In my next blog, I will talk about different polices or laws that have to do with gay rights. For example, Prop 8, Don't Ask and Don't Tell policy. I will even talk about different laws in different countries all over the world, like Uganda. 

May 14, 2011

Welcome back ! In the previous blog, I talked about why I was so passionate about the topic and some of the stats about teens and STD's. Today, Im going to talk about the two main STD's that are effecting male and female teens in today's society. The two main diseases are gonorrhea and chlamydia. These two effect teens more than they would effect adults. Below is some more information on these STD's:

Gonorrhea is passed on through the person by either having anal, oral, or vaginal sex. By having oral sex, it can be transmitted from the genitals to the throat of the person giving the stimulation. The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that more than 700,000 persons in the U.S. get new gonorrheal infections each year and in 2009, 301,174 cases of gonorrhea were reported to CDC.

Gonorrhea can be very dangerous if it's left untreated. In girls, gonorrhea can move into the uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries causing Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) and can decrease the chance of having a baby. Gonorrhea infection during pregnancy can cause major problems for the newborn baby, including meningtis - an inflammation of the membranes around the brain and spinal cord - and possibly an eye infection that can result in blindness if it is not treated.

Gonorrhea in boys can spread to the epididymis, causing pain and swelling in the testicular area.

This can also effect other organs and parts of the body including the throat, eyes, heart, brain, skin, and joints, although it is less common.

http://kidshealth.org/teen/infections/stds/std_gonorrhea.html

http://www.cdc.gov/std/gonorrhea/stdfact-gonorrhea.htm

Chlamydia is also known as the "silent" disease because the majority of infected people have no symptoms. However, if the symptoms do occur, they usually appear within 1 to 3 weeks after exposure. Chlamydia is a common STD that infects the women's reproductive system. Chlamydia also can cause discharge from the penis of an infected man as well. In 2009, 1,244,180 chlamydial infections were reported to CDC from 50 states and D.C. Women who might have the symptoms might have an abnormal vaginal discharge or a burning sensation when urinating. For men, they might have burning and itching around the opening of the penis.

Both of these STD's are serious infections and it can effect both males and females.

Untreated, STDs can have serious side effects, including:

• unable to have a child

• brain damage

• heart disease

• birth defects

• low birth rate

• premature Birth

• increased risk for some types of cancer

• death

http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/std/std4.shtml

http://www.cdc.gov/std/chlamydia/stdfact-chlamydia.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/std/chlamydia/

​            Do you know what is truly one of the most terrible things ever?  Teen suicide.  Depression, substance abuse, and many other things cause teen suicide.  This ties directly into childhood obesity, because childhood obesity leads to depression and bullying.
            When a child is overweight, it causes them to become the center of a bullies attention.  It makes them a very easy target, and since they already have low self-esteem, it will go straight to the bullied child's head.  The overweight child will begin to think they're no good and that they should just die.  Then they contemplate suicide.
            Childhood obesity is no laughing matter.  It can be deadly both physically and mentally.  If you are reading this and are a bully, stop before you have caused a terrible thing.  If you are a parent reading this, take steps towards helping your child stay fit.  Feed them good food, limit candy, and making them exercise for at least an hour a day are all good measures that can be taken in order to overcome this illness.           
            Helping a child overcome childhood obesity is not only good for the child's state of mind, but good for their future physical health.  Obese men have a 51% increase in having the risk for heart diseases, and obese men also have a 27% increase in their death risks.  Helping a child overcome obesity could save their life.

Bibliography: http://njms2.umdnj.edu/hwmedweb/archives/big_archive.htm 

 

​Have you ever looked at the label on the back of your food at the grocery store? Most of it is “MADE IN CHINA” and then what’s the next leading brand you’ll see if you pick up the next item across from your product? “MADE IN JAPAN”, especially in supermarkets. But ever since the radiation leak, tsunami, and earthquake that happened in Japan, consumers are reluctant on buying products from Japan.

Let's start off on the history of Japan's exports and imports with different countries. In the 1980s, Japan had one of the largest economies in the world. In fact, the second largest with the Unites States being the number one in the world. The reason they were the second largest is because they had tremendous stock and property to sell in the 1980s. Though when the 1990s came along, Japan's stock and properties sold began to decrease and this became the slow but heavy decline in the once great Japan's population. Ever since the 1990s, Japan has not been able to get themselves out of their decline and in the 2010; China surpassed Japan in its economy. At the start of 2011, Japan's credit ratings company, Standard & Poor, gave the country a huge reminder of what has been bothering them for the last decade by decreasing the debt Japan owes.

Meanwhile, many people are seeing the dramatic shortage of exports and imports of Japan. This is because of the power outages, radiation levels in certain areas, drowning, and damage of property all caused by the quake and tsunami resulting in a trade discrepancy in April, May, and months to come. The March 11^th quake and tsunami devastated the economic activity in the world’s third-largest economy. This caused Toyota Motor, Honda Motor, Nissan Motor, and Sony to have a factory shut down. Many farmers, businesses, and factories had to pack up and leave their job because of the damage done to Japan’s Nation.

  In my next blog, I will bring my focus on the food in Japan and what farmers are saying about their crops and what they had to do. I'll even include a story each from a grocery consumer and a farmer.

Until then, Ellen TO 

Sites:

• MADE IN JAPAN.

Matthew Hamilton

5/14/11

 

As of today May 14, 2011 the death toll from the Japan earthquake is approximately 15,035. Authorities have stated that only 18 new bodies were found in the last 24 hours. It is a good sign that the body count is slowing down. People are working to identify the revered bodies. DNA analysis is helping with this matter. Even though many dead bodies are still being identified, the sad thing is many more people are lost at sea and will never be found or identified.

            On the other hand, Fudai, a fishing village on the coast of Tohoku lost almost every ship but no homes and only one person. How did this happen? I will tell you. Their mayor of 10 terms had a passion of a project which was to build a wall 15 feet high in case of a tsunami. He died before a tsunami ever came, however, when the March 11 tsunami did come it topped the wall by five meters but the wall held tight. Just a little water came over the top. The only person who died was someone who went outside of the wall to check on his boat. He really should of stayed home and written a blog.

 

Bibliography:

http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474979326497

In my first blog, I mentioned that I was doing a project in English class called "You and the World". I also mentioned that I was looking for information about animal abuse and wanted to let people know what is happening to the animals around them because I love animals. Also in my first blog, I found out some information that was about how some animals around the world are being treated like, the elephants in the circus and the horses in the United States.

This time I found out more information about how animals are being treated in the United States. In New York, an abuser was convicted with two cases. One case was for a cat name Scruffy who was drench with lighter fluid and then set on fire leaving the poor animal severely burned to the muscles in the legs. The other case was involved with a cat name Madea who was so viciously beaten that her lungs was ripped and had to be put down. I also found that in California, a man name Timothy Arie Kooyman was sentence d for seven years and eight months behind bars after he was found guilty of abusing cats in his motel room in Corona, California. It was said that in that motel room he would break the cats legs before cutting it off with an ax. Also where he ran over another with his truck and killing a third cat by continuing slicing her with razor blades. Lastly, a poor dog, who was renamed Angel by rescuers, escaped form his family’s yard and was found the next morning suffering deep cuts on his head, face, back, and feet apparently after being hit with a machete about six times. His tail was nearly detached and had to be amputated.

When I hear about the things that people do to these poor animals, I wonder if those people ever stop and wondered why they were doing this or what would happen if they did abuse these animals. I sometimes wonder if they would feel guilty of what they did and see that they took a poor innocent animals' life. And for what, to get even with somebody or to just take their anger out on them.

In my further research, I will continue to look for reasons why people abuse animals and how people can help things like animals abuse from happening.

If you want more information visit this website: Animal Abuse

There is a new source of energy out there and it can soon be made affordable. It is all around us and it is very numerous. It's algae. Algae, like us they can gain weight. That fat that they grow on them is could be a great biofuel.

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You know that warm blueberry muffin with melted butter permeating the insides you had this morning? Along with cheesy scrambled eggs? And the pork bacon that accompanied the two? And don't forget about cranberry juice you accidentally spilled on your white shirt that made you late for work. Well, guess what. All of these delicious things had the vegetable you hated as a kid in it, corn. 

Yup, you've been getting your vegetables in your stomach for quite a long time now. But, don't get excited because although you've been eating corn without knowing, they've been altered to be used in all those things, which takes away from it's nutrience. But, don't worry about it, it's just a starch anyway. 

Corn is in drinks, food, and even meat. This crop is America's number one grown for a reason. Corn sweetens drinks, such as the Coke you have along with that hoagie and chips you had to get because you were running late in the morning because of the purple stain, so you couldn't pack you're own lunch anyway. Again don't worry, the frozen lunch you wanted to bring also had corn in it. 

Farmers controlled by big corporations, are forced to use the corporations genetically modified seed. As for agriculture, big corporations feed their animals corn also. Although the yellow kern mil isn't great, it complies with the regulations for the slight health of animals. So, by default, your bacon and eggs have corn in them.

Resources: 

• A Zillion Uses For Corn!
• The Story of Corn

The you and the world is a project about YOU.  Well, you can kind of add the world to that statement as well, but that’s beside the point.  This project is about exploring a subject that you feel like exploring.  The only rule is that the subject has to be some type of world issue.  My topic is childhood obesity one of the biggest issues there is.

    Childhood obesity is important to me because I always feel bad about it.  Whenever I see an obese person, even if they are extremely mean, I pity them.   I wonder how they go through life without running, or any exercise at all.  I wonder what stress they must go through, and I pity them.

 

I have discovered that childhood obesity leads to depression through bullying, Heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and sleep apneal.  These are all serious problems, and just add on to the already bad reputation being fat has.

            I wonder if there is any cure for obesity.  The reason I wonder if there is a “Cure” is because obesity is both a physical, and mental disease.  If an obese person concentrates on working out and losing weight, they might slip back into it again.

            My next step will be focusing on seeing if this disease has any cure.  If it does, I will research that, and then move on to any other cures that might exist.

 

Willie Willson, Signing out