Philanthropy

     Would you consider Bill Gates a philanthropist? According to Peter Singer, Bill Gates gave over $30 million to charity. Thats a lot of money, but it doesn't mean that he is a philanthropist. It could just be a tax write off. Bill Gates is donating money to Unicef because according to them around 10 million children will die this year. Around 30,000 per day. The money he donates won't help every child, but it will help some. He may just be donating to get better publicity for helping needy children. I don't consider Bill Gates a philanthropist, I consider him a rich person seeking publicity.

 

Teens who 'sext' more likely to be sexually active

            In  society  today  there  is  this  thing  called  “sexting.”  People  now  say  that  if  you  “sext”  a  person  you  are  more  likely  to  become  sexually  active  a  younger  age.  But  there  are  also  people  who  don’t  agree  with  this  theory.  This  did  not  become  a  problem  until  they  gave  cell  phones  to  adolescents.

            Recent  studies  show  that  "sexting"  is  not  an  alternative  to  "real  world"  sexual behavior  among  adolescents.  But,  people  have  to  remember  that  if  you  will  show  over  the  phone  then  you  have  no  problem  showing  it  in  person. While the  term  "sexting"  may  also  include  messages  also  sent  over  the  Internet,   this  particular  study  looked  solely  at  cell  phone  text  messages  and  images.  Even  though  a  minority  of  teens  sext – they  only  found  15%  - but  that  15%  are  much  riskier  with  their  physical  sexual  behaviors  as  well  as  their  digital  sexual  behaviors.  Basically  it  does  not  matter  what  teens  use,  they  will  find  a  way  to  get  the  picture  out.

            Since  the  nice  new  phones  have  come  out  like  the  Iphone,  androids,  and  blackberries  teens  have  been  getting  very  creative  with  their  pictures.  There  are  so  many  things  that  you  can  do  to  your  pictures  now.  You  can  change  the  color,  texture,  shape,  background  and  that  is  just  a  few  of  the  things  you  can  do  to  your  now.  I  personally  believe  that  cell  phones  and  the  internet  are  the  reason  that  teens  “sext.”  Parents,  clinicians,  educators  should  be  talking  about  sexting  and  the  fact  that  it's  part   of  the  risky  sex  behaviors  and  it's  not  just  something  that  exists  in  a  virtual  space,  so  to  speak.  I personally  think  that  talking  about  sexting  might  be  easier  for  parents  than  talking  about  sex  and  that  it  could  lead  into  a  larger  conversation  about  sex."

            Sexting  is  a  huge  problem  even  though  not  many  teens do  it.  As  you  can  see  in  studies  it  can  lead  to  greater  problems  like  pregnancy.  Sexting  is  a  problem  and  adults  should  tell  children  at  a  young  age  that  it  is  wrong,  and  maybe  it  won’t  happen. http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/17/teens-who-sext-more-likely-to-be-sexually-active/?iref=allsearch

The man in the picture represents Narcissus because he is absoulty tranced by the reflestion in the water. The woman in the picture must be Echo because she is starring at the man with loving eyes. By the looks these two people they must be Narcissus and Echo.

Judge postpones rape trial of Philadelphia priest

There  are  many  people  that  we  trust.  Some  more  than  others.  If  I  were  catholic  then  I  would  trust  my  priest,  but  not  in  this  case.  What  these  men  did  was  a terrible  thing.

  In  the  city  of  Philadelphia  four  men  raped  the  same  altar  boy  in  different  occasions.  The   first  two  men  were  the  catholic  priest  Charles  Engelhardt  and  the  tearcher  Bernard  Shero. They  were  the  first  two  to  do  this  to  the  young  boy.  He  was  only  10  years  old  when  this  happened.  The  young  boy  named  “Billy”  is  now  20  years  old. 

  What  the  first  priest  did  to him  was  awful.  According  to  Billy,  Engelhardt  showed  him  pornographic  magazines  before  having  him  ingage  in  oral  intercourse  in  the  room  inside  the  church  where  the  priest  prepares  for  mass.  What  the  teacher  did  was  even  worse.  The  next  year  Shero  was  giving  Billy  a  ride  home  from  school  and  stopped  at  the  park.  He  told  Billy  that  they  were  “going  to  have  a  little  fun.”  Then  he  took  off  his  clothes  and  allegedly  raped  Billy,  then  made  him  walk  the  rest  of  the  way  home.  That  is  absoultly  terrible  to  do  to  a  little  boy.  Of  course  at  first  the  two  men  pleaded  not  guilty. 

  Three  years  later  Lynn, the  first  high  ranking  church  figure  charged  with  child  endangerment  for  shuffling  predator  priests  from  parish  to  parish   was  accused  of  the  attemped  rape  the  then  14  years  old  altar  boy.  Later  on  police  found  out  that  when  Billy  was  14  years  old  Rev.  James  Brennan attemped  raping  him.  They  both  pleaded  guilty  after  admitting  they  sexually  assaulted  Billy  when  was  younger.  They  both  got  two  and  a  half  to  five  years  in  prison.

  Billy  stated  that  because  of  the  sexual  assult  when  he  was  younger  has  lead  to  a  life  of  substance  abuse,  a  suicide  attempt  and  a  criminal  history  including  drug  possession.  He  didn’t  want  to  tell  anyone  because  he  said  “I  thought  I  did  something  wrong,  and,  he’s  a  priest.”  I  feel  so  sorry  for  this  poor  boy.  He  has  been  through  a  lot  in  his  20  years  of  life.  In  the  picture  below  is  Engelhardt  (left)  and  Shero  (right).

 

My Reading Bucket List

1. The Hunger Games By Susan Collins

   I think this book sounds very interesting. I love action packed books so this series caught my eye. I also love a good book with a little love story. This book made me question a few things. One of my friends told me about this series and now I am hooked! I cant wait to start reading :)

2. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

   This book caught my eye because I questioned what it was about. When I read the back of the book I found out that it was about a girl who kills herself and she leaves tapes that kind of lead to different people. This book made me think of the time when I lost my good friend because he shot himself and I never knew why. So I choose this book hoping it would help me figure it out.

3. Jade Green by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

   I have read a portion of this book before and it seemed really interesting, but i never got to finish it. This book is a mystery (which i love). I made a personal connection to this story. When I was younger I had to stay with my grandparents on the weekends and they always told me stories. So I wanted to read this book.

4. Delirium by Lauren Oliver

  This book sounds very interesting. I personally believe that love is a very powerful emotion. In this book it is taken away at the age of 18. When I heard about this book it made me wonder what life would be like if it was taken away from us.

5. Pandimonium by Lauren Oliver

   This is the second book in a series. It comes after Delirium. Since it is the second book it made me want to read it because the first book sounded so interesting.

6. Trapped on the Titanic by Tammy K. Knox

  I absoultly love the Titanic. When I saw this book I had to get it. I love a good mystery and this book was perfect for me. I started reading it immediatly after in arrived in the mail. This book sounds very interesting :)

7. The Walk by Michael Card

  This book is a very sad but heart-warming story. I want to read this book because it reminded me of my Aunt Pammie. She is a very important woman in my life and one day a few years ago we went on a walk and she told me that she had cancer. I could relate to this book so i would like to read it.

8. He's Just not that into You by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo

   I'm pretty sure almost everyone can relate to this book. I know I can. I have had moments where I haven't liked a guy or he hasn't liked me, so when I heard about this book I decided that I wanted to read it beacuse I can relate to it.

9. Letters to my Mother by Barb Karg and Rick Sutherland

   This book has letters that people have wrote to their mothers. When I was little I wrote many letters to my mother even though I was able to see her everyday. This book is very heart-felt and kind. When I read the first few pages of this book I started to tear up because it was so sweet. I would love to finish this book.

10. The Stone Child by Dan Poblocki

   This book is very mysterious. It is no ordinary book. When I read the back of it I was intriqued by it. It seems like it would be a very interesting book even though it would probably scare me a little. I hope it's not as scary as I think it's going to be.

I just finished the most amazing book. It is called Trapped on the Titanic by Tammy S. Knox. This book takes you on a ride of emotions. It keeps you on edge and you don't want to put it down until you finish it...(or at least I didn't). I got this book this weekend when I went with my mother to see the Titanic in Branson. At the end of the tour we went to the gift shop and I saw this book and I had to get it. When we arrived home I started reading it ,and within 4 hours I was finished. It was so good. I absoultly loved this book. I would reccomend this book to anyone who loves Titanic and a good mystery.