Next Reptile Wrangler (407)

Everyone has heard of Steve Erwin. Or at least I really hope they have. I have a younger brother who was fascinated with reptiles and animals as most other boys are. I grew up with Christmases filled with Steve Erwin DVDs, episodes of all kinds, every single one there was. And Steve wasn’t the only reptile wrangler, there were plenty others, trust me. We all know that Steve and the media clashed sometimes on their point of view after his daughter was born. He would hold her dangerously close to the reptiles while he fed them or held them and her at the same time. Well whats a parent to do when your profession takes them all over the world and keeps them busy all the time but yet they need family time too. And especially with their first and only child. Steve tried to balance his job and family and to be honest, I think he did pretty well. Yeah, its dangerous to have your newborn who cant hold her head up yet in the same pin, five feet away from an alligator and his dinner but would a father so experienced do anything to risk the life of his kid? If he thought it was fine, its fine, right? Well he died messing around with animals so who knows.

An article I read mentions Australias next reptile wrangler who is 3. His parents own a reptile captivity of some sort and he is growing up with all sorts of animals. His pet is a python that weighs more than him and could kill him in an instant.

People find this controversial. I mean, who would let a 3 year old have a python for a pet? But with supervision.. is it so bad? He has pictures face to face with his buddy (his python, Pablo) and wrestling a small gator. There’s also a frog involved but im sure its harmless compared to the others. I think the gator wrestling might be pushing it but who is to deny a 3 year old boy of playing with reptiles??? Especially being around them so often with his parents owning a bunch. He has been taught safty and dangers and continues to learn. Im sure he is always supervised weather its by his dad, mom, or big brother. So I think its okay to let the kid experience something most kids will never get the chance to experience.

Grandma is Smuggling Drugs? (338)

When I think of people trading or selling drugs I think of men. I think of gangs, tattooed bodies, criminal records, and maybe even murders. I think of countries like Mexico. But it’s not like these things are required to handle illegal drugs. These are just stereotypes. But what other kinds of people handle illegal drugs? Maybe high school teens, college students… but most don’t smuggle them into other countries, they just get them off the street and do them at parties, right? What about grandmas? I’ve never thought of a grandmother smuggling drugs into other countries. An article confirmed that grandmas do illegal things too.

A lady from the UK was caught smuggling cocaine into a resort in India. She apparently hid a substantial amount of cocaine in the lining of her suitcase and they found it at the airport. There are countries in this world that have strict drug rules and some just minor punishments. India happens to have strict rules if you offend their rules? Capital punishment. After being tried in India, she was sentenced to death row.

The lady claims that a gang was threatening to hurt her kids and that is the reason she was smuggling drugs.

I’m not sure if this lady’s story is true or if there will be any investigation on it. The UK currently has someone on the case trying to work with Indian representatives to lessen her punishment but it looks like they’re not going to budge. They take this crime seriously. If this grandmothers story is true (which I don’t know why it wouldn’t be, what would her motive be?) I feel really bad for her. Im not sure how I would handle the situation but im pretty sure that id bring it to the police no matter if they told me theyd hurt my family if I did or not. It be the smartest decision because they could hurt my family no matter what and id get caught smuggling anyway. I cant lie or look non-suspicious.

Hindu Tradition (415)

There are many religions around the world, some more similar than others. Each has its own beliefs or versions of those beliefs. Hinduism is a religion I was just assigned to do a project in class about but even before I was assigned it, I found this article about a tradition that takes place every 12 years in Allahabad, India. Where the Ganges and Yamuna rivers meet along with one other river that is mythical millions and millions of people gather to celebrate Maha Kumbh Mela which translates to Great Pitcher Festival.  The article states, “Officials believe that over the next two months as many as 100 million people will pass through…” That’s a ton of people. This article talks about the things the people gathered there do. Im not even sure if I could repeat it all in my own words because I have no idea what exactly the article is telling the reader what the people are doing.

Something the article describes, im afraid, I would re-phrase wrong so ill copy it into this: “Two dreadlocked men riding horses emerged from thick camp smoke before dawn, followed by a crowd of ash-smeared and naked holy men, or sadhus, one incongruously wearing a suit jacket. At exactly five minutes past six (0035 GMT), they yelled and dashed dancing into the river.” A man is talked about who became a holy man and traveled for decades eating only nuts and fruit. Oh yeah, and he traveled by foot. Another thing the article reads: “At the riverbank, men with dreadlocked beards to their feet vied for media attention with yogis supporting heavy weights with their genitals, while others holding golden umbrellas, flags and swords rubbed sand on their bodies after the dip.” A man named Digambar Navraman Giri was interviewed and mentioned that he had not sat down in a year and slept standing up straight.

I thought that this tradition sounded really interesting. It would take so so much dedication to ones religion to do some of the things they mentioned. Maybe its just a different culture, but im pretty sure I wouldn’t ever smear ash on my body and jump naked into a river with thousands of people. And im pretty sure that most men that live in America or other places with cultures like America, wouldn’t hang weights on their genitals for the public to see even though that’s probably supposed to be impressive. It was really cool learning about the tradition though.

Religion (301)

In class right now we are watching a documentary about religion. The documentary isn’t all that great, I mean, it gets the main points across. Religion and politics are some of the most touchy subjects between us humans. We all want to be right. Our opinions obviously are the correct ones. Maybe some people even “know” exactly what is right. You know what? Who knows? Really, there are so so so many different religions and so many stories about how they came to be, its sort of impossible for them all to be true. Maybe one is true. But I think that they’re kind of just stories people have passed along to their kids. My dad said once that maybe they’re comparable to Indian legends. Im not saying that im right, those are just ideas. How would I know?

I the video people from different cultures and religions tell us when they look to their religion to overcome obstacles in their life. Some of those obstacles are disasters like Katrina, sickness, and loss. Someone says that maybe God is a scapegoat for things that go wrong. That maybe God willed it to happen. I think that God might be a comfort to them in their times of need. Religion also might be something that makes people want to be better or good and do good.

I don’t think it matters if any one religion is right or if science is right, I think people need something to believe in no matter if their belief is comfort or a scapegoat. I think religions are theories to explain things that happen or what will happen or what has happened. No one should be upset with anyone else for what they believe in because its not like anyone else knows whats right or wrong.

Where is the line? (394)

Okay so I found an article on yahoo that really has nothing to do with anything around the world, it was just an incident in a random mall in the United States. Brest feeding is legal to do in public but some people still don’t agree with that. A couple brest feeding mothers wanted to protest something that had happened in a Hollister store in a different mall where a lady was asked to leave for brest feeding in the store by brest feeding and they made signs saying “hey Hollister, my baby has the right to eat. It’s the law.” But then a mall officer asked these ladies to leave because they were believed to be exposing themselves.
The reason I thought I could do this article is because brest feeding happens all the time all around the world. Its one of the two ways babies are fed. Obviously we are decided on a law in the US where women can feed their child in public but is that really a good thing? Especially if the woman is not careful to cover herself? Where do you draw the line? Yes, its legal to feed your baby but no, its not legal to be publicly nude. In cultures around the world this really is a silly thing. I know in some cultures they really don’t wear much clothing so its not even an issue to be brought up. And in other cultures women don’t even show their legs or hair in public so im assuming that theres no question that brest feeding would be considered.

I think that its obviously important to feed your child and if they’re hungry and youre not at home, they need to eat! Which should give women the right to brest feed other places than their home but really, im willing to bet that some women take advantage of the law and are lazy, they expose themselves, probably make others around them uncomfortable. Just where is that line drawn that an officer can force the woman to stop because of a disruption?

Also, those ladies protesting look like theyre rubbing it in someones face. They don’t need to brest feed too and make a juge deal like “Hey, look at me. Im feeding my baby in your store and you cant do a thing about it!” Signs will do.

Deadly Zorb (313)

You know those big plastic bubble things that people can actually get into and roll around in? Zorbs? They’re used in the winter Olympics and for recreation. im pretty sure that zorbs are used for recreation in a bunch of places and they look pretty fun. I mean unless you get sick. But its basically a huge human hamster ball that’s protected. What could possibly beunsafe or go wrong??

In Russia, 2 men crawled into one of these balls at a ski mountain just for fun. Their friend shoots a video on their phone of the men getting inside the ball, pushed down the slope, and then suddenly veering off course into a gorge. It was fatal for one of the men and the other is still hospitalized.

Officials are still investigating who was responsible for the accident. Rules for zorbs are that it can only be released down a gentle slope with fences on either side. Also, there has to be an area where the ball can slow to a safe stop.

The zorb was invented in the 1990s and is usually rolled down grassy slopes. It has also been set as the symbol for the 2014 winter Olympics which will be in Russia.

I have seen pictures and videos and whatnot of zorbs before that make them look like a fun recreational thing. Im pretty sure, if it’s the same thing, that they can go on water too and ive always thought that they look super fun. Its kinda like zipp lining or water-jet packing or something. You cant really do it everywhere but it’s a cool tourist opportunity. I havnt seen water-jet packing disasters but zipplining has its own careless moments too.  I think it might have been a bit stupid to not have fences but its not like it’s a dangerous thing if the right precautions are made.

Illegal to be Gay? (318)

In Cameroon there are laws apparently stating that being gayis against the law. People can be arrested and put in jail for about 5 years because they “look gay”.  Recently, a judge overruled a case where two men were sentenced to 5 years in jail for “looking gay” and buying baily’s Irish cream. I’m not sure what that is but it probably shouldn’t matter in a situation like this. The men had already been in prison for about a year before they were released. They were abused by inmates and guards while they were being held. There was another case of a man being accused of being gay a while ago and he had to carry out his full five year sentence. Why he was suspected of being gay? He sent a text to another man saying “I love you”. Now, im not saying that it was a total misunderstanding and he wasn’t gay. I have no idea. But I tell my friends who are girls that I love them. I mean, they’re my best friends! Is it wrong to love someone that is the same gender as you? Whether its romantic or not?

I think it’s so wrong that people tell others what they can and cannot be or feel. A religion may think it’s wrong but that doesn’t mean you can force others to believe the same. And even if they believe in that religion, they can’t help who they are. And even if it’s not the social “norm”, it’s ridiculous that someone could be put in jail for something so uncontrollable.

Some of the comments on the article read, “What does gay look like?” That seems like a perfect question. Who can judge what gay looks like? Does gay have a look? Who gets the jurisdiction? I have no clue. Id like to ask them that myself. How could humans be so judgmental? That’s awful.

Criminal Cat and Princess Photo (336)

I found an article on yahoo that isn’t very long but I found it interesting. And since I know I wont be able to write 300 words on this one article, im going to write about 2 articles in this post.

A white cat was caught crossing into a prison in Brazil with objects taped to its body. The police found objects like a cell phone, batteries, a charger, drills, an earphone and a memory card on the cat. All of the people in the prison are suspects at the time and police are still investigating the situation.

I’m assuming that the cat was trained to deliver the objects but that would be really difficult. I don’t know if I was surprised when I saw that this cat was delivering things to the inmates. I suppose it happens though and it’s probably a good idea until they get caught. I bet a lot of other people around the world use different animals to deliver illegal things to each other weather it’s to get bed objects in the prison or to get bad objects to other people in prison. I cant imagine the work that goes into the planning to get the objects through.

There was another article about a picture of princess Diana. Only Diana wasn’t even royal yet. In the picture, Diana is lounging on what looks like a couch with a man who is believed to be her brother and near her is a bottle of alcohol. On the picture, a photo editor wrote “ not to be published”. No one is sure why they didn’t want to published the photo. The picture might have been too “intimate” is what the article said.

I think its cool to see stuff that is “behind the scenes” like that picture. Id like to know why the picture was taken or the real reason it wasn’t published but it is cool to see what her normal life would have been like anyway before she became the princess.

Dowry Traditions in China (379 words)

I am not very familiar with many customs in countries around the world but I’ve heard of a few big ones. There’s Japanese culture, Chinese, Mexican, etc. just to name a few. But I was reading something about Chinese culture that I never realized. The article doesn’t make it clear to me if its normal that everyone in china to do this or just wealthier people or what. A very rich business man gave an enormous Dowry to his daughter and son-in-law to celebrate their marriage. It was worth about 150 million dollars. A spokesperson confirmed the items given to the couple: “four boxes of gold jewelry, millions of dollars deposited into their bank account, donations to local charities in their names, shares in the ceramics firm, two cars, and ‘an impressive property portfolio.’”

The article states that this dowry giving is a tradition to ensure the bride will be treated well in her marriage by her husband and the new in-laws. Dowry can also be given by the new husband to be but the article is unclear when parents or the husband gives money and to whom. The dowry tradition is to show that the man loves the daughter and if he does not pay, they do not believe that he loves her enough.

Men sometimes have a difficult time finding a bride. The article states that “eligible brides are becoming a rarity”. Reports say men are willing to pay 30,000 dollars sometimes to find a bride.

I think that paying that much to find a bride is a little excessive. Im not sure if once he finds one hes set with that one girl or if he dates girls or how it works but maybe it’s a pride thing. I also think that paying a dowry to the parents to prove you love their daughter is ridiculous. Money has nothing to do with love and why would he give it to the parents? Its like paying to marry their daughter. And same goes with whatever the dowry was that the father paid his daughter and her husband. A gift to get the couple started would be nice and helpful but really millions of dollars is a little much, they should leave it in their will for them.