http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/preps/ci_14459572

One might read this article and think that Hunter Merryman singlehandedly carried the Panthers to victory against #3 ranked Buckley with his game-high 20 points. However, being a part of that game, I know that this is not necessarily the case. This is a mistake sports media makes in almost every story and every bit of coverage they provide. I’m only using this game and article as an example because I know Hunter is a great all-around player. Points, generally considered the most glorious stat, almost always get the most attention in the media.

The issue here is that stats don’t cover everything. No solid stat exists to show a player’s efficiency on defense, nor has anyone invented a stat for things like leadership or hustle, which are key elements to any sports game. Yes, one person might have made the basket, but don’t forget about the person who passed him the ball. Yes, the quarterback might have thrown a touchdown pass, but there’s the lineman who worked his hardest for 5 seconds to allow him to do so. The forward might have scored the goal, but what about the midfielder who delivered a perfect ball?

My question is this: Who should get the credit – the person who does the most glorious job or the person who does the best?

After reading about half of Genesis, I’ve failed to see exactly what beneficial values the Bible teaches, but there have been several prime examples of values that most people wouldn’t exactly want to live their life by. It teaches that women shouldn’t have the same rights as men, that you should simply throw problems away when you confront them, and that lying and cheating is the best way to become successful.

Sometimes I think that people who look to the Bible as a source of inspiration might be a bit mislead in thinking that it teaches important life values. Of course I, who have not read the Bible before and only just started a small section of it, could be wrong; perhaps in later books or chapters their reasoning will become clear to me, but as of right now I don’t feel too confident about the life values taught in the Bible.

Early on in human history God admits that humans inevitably express evil tendencies from birth, but he doesn’t specify what causes it. Is it a natural phenomenon? Or can it be his own doing and example by putting all men before any woman, wiping out the entire species, or blessing those who resort to trickery and lies to get what they want?

Examining the Bible from a modern-day standpoint is completely different because of this issue concerning values and morals and how they conflict almost perfectly with what most people believe in today.

Today, February 2nd, a friend of mine told me to read a conversation posted on Facebook involving a group of our friends and one mutual friend who was a complete stranger to everyone involved. It started off innocently enough, beginning from a comparison between today’s music artists and The Beatles. However, this unknown mutual friend butted in and said that The Beatles were overrated and that their music “doesn’t make any sense” along with other excessively rude criticisms.

The situation quickly escalated into personal insults and soon the seven friends resorted to continuously sending insults at the one unknown person as he spit others right back. Eventually, the unknown mutual friend simply stopped commenting any further, and the others continued their previous conversation.

This incident puzzles me because I’m not quite sure what anybody’s intention was. The mutual friend if of course entitled to his own opinion, but there was absolutely no reason for him to express his thoughts the way he did. On the other hand, why couldn’t the other seven people involved simply let it go and continue their own conversation?

My personal conclusion is that many people enjoy arguing only for the sake of arguing, and most people sometimes react way too quickly and harshly towards those who have different views. Also, a lot of people aren’t able to simply let things go like I think the group of friends should have in this situation. After all, none of the people involved knew this stranger and achieved nothing by trying to insult him. I’ve seen many examples of this type of human behavior in everyday life, and sometimes I’m in the middle of it.

One huge problem throughout the course of human history is our inability to accept differences. Most wars and other conflicts come straight from this problem. However, it seems to be an inevitable fact of life and human nature that we will have to cope with from now on.

Is God So Great?: An Analysis of God’s Actual Intelligence

Disclaimer: The following regards the Bible in terms of a story book, and does not express my stance or opinion on the religion itself. I do not hold anything against Christianity, although I myself am not religious.

What about God compels people so strongly to believe in everything He commands? He does not display overwhelming intelligence or strength, although granted he DID create everything that exists. One thing that struck me as I read Genesis is God’s somewhat weak judgement at times like his decision to bring about the flood just before realizing that humans inevitably display evil tendencies from the time they arrive on Earth. This situation suggests to me that His decision to flood the earth was rushed even though annihilating all living things should really be thought though extensively.

Throughout history, examples of possibly faulty leadership pop up everywhere, yet proving this proves rather difficult. Think about any negative event in the history of the human race and try to imagine why anyone would possibly do something so terrible like killing humans or other life forms. Most likely, they had a leader who urged them on and punished anyone who doubted their cause.

This same description that might fit someone like Hitler also applies to God perfectly. Several instances in the Bible can support this, but the question I am now asking myself is: What does this make devout followers of God?

The Serpent, The Apple, and The Loss of Innocence: Eve’s Devastating Mistake

It isn’t often when we think of the Bible as a text with a lot of depth; usually we only focus on the story and don’t go in-depth about each character or other ideas. However, I think that the Bible introduced one of the most fundamental and most commonly reoccurring themes in modern literature: the theme of innocence.

Eve gets tricked by the serpent and inevitably disobeys God and eats the forbidden fruit. The reason this theme is so prominent and powerful is because this is the way human life is structured. Inevitably, all children will outgrow the guidance of their parents and become independent and disobey them, just as Eve did.

The third chapter of Genesis seems to be an accurate interpretation of a human life. Eve, newly born, still has not lost any innocence, just like a newly born baby. The difference here is that the Garden of Eden had very little evil to be corrupted by, whereas a modern newborn’s world is filled with evil, which results in their faster corruption. Just as Eve is punished by God in the Bible, people are punished as they grow older and lose their innocence as well because life seems to get harder as a person ages.

This theme of innocence appears in most literary works because it relates directly to what many believe to be the first two human beings ever created. Hence, the loss of innocence became the first impurity to humans which elevates the intensity that the theme provides.

Daemons: Love and Loyalty Personified

“[Pan] nestled in her arms, and [Lyra] knew she would rather die than let them be parted and face that sadness again;” (Pullman, 196)

Both Lyra and Pan’s feelings of extreme distress and sadness when parted even for the shortest moment effectively convey how the power of love and togetherness play a powerful role in The Golden Compass. Humans in the novel cannot comprehend life without such a loyal and dedicated companion, which leads to Lyra’s pity for Iorek and amazement at the witches’ abilities to separate themselves from their daemons. Without an effective counterpart, humans feel like an almost unfinished or incomplete being, much like how readers may feel isolated without someone loyal to them to love.

Many humans seek someone to find love in obsessively because they may feel a missing counterpart, much like the role a daemon plays in the novel. Humans who live without someone very close to them often feel isolated and full of grief much like what Lyra feels when separated from Pan. In turn, those who have found a lover often feel content and happy with their existence.  In the novel, the characters who do not have daemons, like the witches and the armored bears, are almost always described as cold because Lyra interprets the lack of a partner in that way; In her eyes, a daemon is a necessity if one wants to be viewed as a loving, caring person.

Proposition: While love is not necessarily needed to be content, the absence of it results in a lack of the extra dynamic in life, and it becomes difficult to live without it when the feeling is taken away.

Flarg’s Flight: A Different Perspective

“Red alert! Red alert! Prepare for crash landing!”

Flarg woke up in a daze, greeted by the whitest and brightest light he had ever seen; this was most definitely not his home. He cracked his eyes open for just a moment then shut them tight. He caught a glimpse of numerous strange creatures hovering above him before the bright light. Unlike the bright purple and green he was used to, most had dull, tannish colored shells, although some were a bit lighter or darker shades, and a small patch of strange furry stuff sat upon their heads. Flarg took in the situation and decided that for now it would probably be best to remain still and pretend to be asleep. He felt one of the creatures touch his body. His shell is so soft! he thought.

They continued touching him and after what Flarg felt was hours of pretending to be asleep, he sat up, and chaos erupted. The creatures ran away from him, shouting vicious battle cries that made Flarg scream in horror. This only caused more distress, since some of the creatures got as far away as possible and curled up into a ball. Flarg questioned this admittedly weak scare tactic, but these were the ones that had the loudest and harshest roars, so he was scared nonetheless. Flarg couldn’t take the noise anymore, so he grabbed the closest creature to him and threw him out of the room where he was out of earshot.  Flarg became even more scared of the increasingly terrifying roars of the creatures and tore through the wall to escape, but everywhere he went, these small, strange creatures had the same reaction. What kind of world is this? he wondered to himself.

Jealousy: A Gateway to Severe Consequences

Last weekend at a party, a friend of mine, Taylor, told Zach how much fun she had at another party that he didn’t go to. He shouted, “You suck!” and kicked her off her seat. She responded by jumping on top of him and hitting his head a few times. In the end, everybody was fine and just laughed about it, but this insignificant event provides some insight into the way humans respond to underlying feelings.

http://mashable.com/2009/09/02/facebook-murder-case/

Clearly, Zach’s actions resulting from his underlying feelings of what most likely were jealousy, anger, or annoyance caused him to react with physical aggression towards Taylor, who remains one of Zach’s best friends. While, at the time, it was all fun and games, it makes me wonder if this reaction clearly arises on this small scale, if it arises on a much larger scale as well. The news article suggests that “one of the most common motives for murder is jealousy”, and that is scary to think about. Can something we all feel so often really ruin relationships or be the cause of someone’s death?

Jealousy and anger are such common feelings in our everyday lives, yet somehow there are some people who can’t get control of them and channel their problems into extremely negative actions, one of which being perhaps murder. This is why it is so important that we all learn how to cope with our difficult issues at a young age. Many things factor into the development of this skill: parenting, personal surroundings, and the individual’s personality can all affect that person’s ability to deal with situations like this.

Proposition: Normal, everyday feelings like jealousy or annoyance can escalate into something that can be potentially life changing if not dealt with correctly.

 

How to be Popular: A Guide By Curtis

Popularity can be achieved very easily, as long as one observes the fundamental rudiments that will be covered in this guide. We all think discreetly to ourselves that we absolutely must outdo the person next us to become highly thought of by others, but in reality we only need to focus on our selves to gain the popularity we desire so intensely. What are the advantages of popularity? Well, it certainly aids in attempting to sway peers into believing your ideas and attracts throngs of eager people who are just curious to know who everyone is talking about.

In order to get our wish, we must carry ourselves in a sumptuous manner  by showing off our strongest attributes and possessions without becoming sanctimonious by looking down upon people disdainfully. Deplorable acts will definitely not help you in your journey, so you must make sure everything you do is acceptable and nice. Your image towards others carries extreme importance as well. If you are seen with copious followers then you may appear to outsiders as a likable, friendly person, and your popularity will rise as a result. Confidence is key – carry yourself with a certain degree of stoutness and you will see a complete transformation in the way others perceive you, almost as if you were a different person.

Follow these easy steps and popularity will be coming your way. Good luck in your endeavors of the future and thank you for your time.

The Fortress: Inside the Walls

“The Fortress” as he liked to call it, had hardly any space to get anything done. There were many things this bedroom was, a fortress definitely not one of them. If one wanted to enter the room, they might at first wonder why anyone in their right mind would hang a crooked “Unicorn Crossing” their door. The door only opened a fraction due to the boxes of mythical action figures and anime piled up behind the door. Trash bags strewn on the floor and dirty laundry took up most of the floor space, except for a barely noticeable narrow walkway that snaked in and out of torn up books, empty soda cans, and other junk.

Towards the back of the room where the path ended sat a small desk with a black laptop on it. Clearly this area was treated with the most respect out of any area in the room, although that isn’t exactly saying much. Only a single can and chip bag resided beside the laptop, which could almost always be found in use by its owner, and the computer had one use and one use only: video games. All the soda cans and food containers came from the mini-fridge hidden under the desk, for the convenience of its user. The results of various random and useless experiments sat all around the room, some of which including a time machine, an energy drink dispenser, and a money copier. Who could live like this? It’s hard to imagine this kind of lifestyle, but amazingly there are people that can survive this way…