Monthly Archives: April 2013

C.I.- Spanking vs. Abuse Continued..

So I came across this nifty website: http://kidjacked.com/legal/spanking_law.asp

It gives the specific spanking laws for each state. However there is something that i’ve noticed after skimming a few of them, and that is that they are all very vague and broad. Most of the laws include words like “reasonable and appropriate” when describing ways in which to physically discipline your child. I, for one, don’t think this is good enough. The extent to which one parent believes is “reasonable and appropriate” can COMPLETELY differ from another parents. Say you have a parent who has a child that shoplifts and this parent punishes them by smacks on the hand. Now say you have another parent with another child who commits the same act of shoplifting, but what they consider “reasonable and appropriate” is 50 whoopings on the bare behind of a child with a paddle. Heck, in some countries the penalty for stealing is cutting off the persons hand! Now, places like Arkansas and Florida (and some others) are more detailed in explaining what is appropriate/moderate punishment and what is not. These states give details that specify the limits on injury of a child due to physical punishment like “willful acts that produce the following specific injuries: sprains, dislocations, or cartilage damage; bone or skull fractures; brain or spinal cord damage; intracranial hemorrhage or injury to other internal organs; asphyxiation, suffocation, or drowning; injury resulting from the use of a deadly weapon; burns or scalding; cuts, lacerations, punctures, or bites; permanent or temporary disfigurement; or permanent or temporary loss or impairment of a body part or function.”-Florida Spanking Law

I could include other quotes like these, but what I am emphasizing for this blog post is what the majority of the states are using to define their laws. If you take a moment to scroll down the page of the website i’ve provided you can see that most of the laws for the states are rather short and underdeveloped. Then again, it is arguable that something like spanking vs. abuse is a touchy subject because the line between spanking and abuse can be misinterpreted very differently across peoples and cultures. What do you guys think? Should there be one general, yet detailed and specifically outlined law on spanking for the entire country rather than the separated state laws?

 

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wip- Portfolio

I have decided to use Weebly because it seems like a neat website. To be honest, I am still figuring out how to use it and I don’t have a complete idea of all I want to include on it. So far all I have for tabs are Academic Projects (like videos/podcasts/presentations) and Resume. I believe once I figure out everything i’ll put on the website, i’ll split up “Academic Projects” into more specific tabs.

update: Weebly was being problematic so i created my portfolio on wordpress here –>   http://brianamwhite.wordpress.com/

 

 

le’ Passion~

Can I just be like “I want to go to Eritrea” and that be my passion blog?

…no? ok it was worth a shot. SO I WANT TO GO TO ERITREA GUYS 🙂

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I have always been familiar with Eritrea since i’ve got a friend who’s from this country. My friends name is Eden, and I’ve been going to school with this lovely Eritrean lady since 5th grade. She is ALWAYS representing her beautiful country and showing that she’s proud of where her family is from. Every time we’d have a culture/heritage thing at school she’d wear the eritrean style clothing and bring eritrean food and let us listen to eritrean music…and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed it all. I enjoyed it so much that she actually made me want to visit the place myself! To be honest i’m not sure what Eritrea has to offer tourist-wise- but seeing pictures Eden took herself and hearing stories about the place and it’s generous people just made me want to visit just because. I wouldn’t go as a tourist, i’d go simply as a person wanting to learn about and enjoy an entirely different culture 🙂

 

P.S. the fondest memories I have of Eden are when she would curse EVERYONE out in Eritrean! We would be in class (in high school) and she’d literally start yelling some nonsense in Eritrean because someone made a joke about her devoted love for her country. It was all in good fun and she always had the entire class, even the teachers, laughing. These are the funny moments I think of every time I see her around campus (she came here with me, &  literally lives 2 floors below me).

P.S.S. That totally had nothing to do with my passion blog and maybe this post is more about Eden than Eritrea, but in my mind they are one in the same! 😀

passion place #9- A little closer to home :)

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I JUST WANNA GO TO DISNEY WORLDDDDD PLEASSEEEEEEEEE OMGGGGGGGGGGG

Ok, i’m sorry. I got a little carried away but…I have ALWAYS wanted to go to Disney World. Ever since I was little i’ve dreamed of meeting Cinderella and becoming a Disney World Princess and seeing Mickey Mouse and all of the other characters and riding the amazing rides and seeing the magic of the castle at night and the fireworksandijustgetsoexcitedwhenithinkaboutit.

You can probably tell by my lack of punctuation how much this place means to me, Lol. Sadly, I was always too poor -___- So no Disney World for me. I don’t even have to explain Disney World to you guys, you know what Disney World is! And for those of you out there who would say something along the lines of “Oh it’s not as great as you might think it’d be, eh it’s ok” YOU CAN SHOVE IT SOMEWHERE ELSE BUDDY ‘CUZ I DON’T WANNA HEAR IT.

I am going to Disney World some day; maybe i’ll take my children when I have the means to do so and stay for a few days 🙂 Either way, I shall relive my childhood and be 7 years old again when I finally arrive at this magical place of wonder and happiness. Thank you that is all I have for today ✌♥

wip- Advocating FIFA World Cup through SONG!! * flamboyant exclamation*

The very first thing that popped into my head when thinking about what topic i’d write about is THIS wonderful music video 🙂
What my link should have taken you to is the Waka, Waka music video on youtube by Shakira. I have always loved this song, from the very first time I heard it three years ago. It is a song advocating for the 2010 FIFA World Cup (Football or “Soccer” for those of you unaware). Everything in the video, from the lyrics to the visuals to the dancing to the actual music, is advocating and representing for AFRICA since that is where the World Cup took place that year. I’m sure some of you are familiar with this song; the lyrics act as motivation for the players (i’ll post a website with the lyrics at the end so you can understand what i’m talking about), while also placing a prideful claim on the MOTHERLAND <3
THe dances everyone are doing in the video as well as the sounds in the music are all indicative of African culture. There are also images of people wearing “This Time For Africa” shirts and shirts with an image of the motherland. There is even a bunch of African spoken/sung in the song (I am not sure which African language). All of this is done in an effort to support and therefore reinforce support for Africa, and for the World Cup taking place there. This song is meant to include everyone, not just the players, as shown by the last lyrics of the song “We Are All Africa” & the welcoming gestures Shakira makes. She is advocating for us to love and accept Africa is good nature as well as creating a motivating and positive mood for those participating in the World Cup. It’s all about support!
I think this is a VERY effective method of advocacy. Why? It’s simple:
-the song is catchy and pleasant/fun.
-a very popular artist sings it, subsequently making the song and the cause popular.
-and it is for a positive cause that is worthy of advocacy.
You can find the lyrics here – -> http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/s/shakira/waka_waka.html

Passion Place #8

Can you guess??

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Well, if you guessed Tokyo, Japan you are correct!! I know I know, it’s pretty touristy of me to pick Tokyo, Japan as one of my top passion places (especially since most of them have been discrete, breathtakingly beautiful natural places). However, Tokyo has a modern beauty about it, i’d even say a futuristic beauty. I mean c’mon, look at those pictures! Just google some more photos of Tokyo, Japan and you’ll see that it looks like a japanese, futuristic version of Times Square, New York!! There’s everything an overly-excited tourist could ever dream of, all of the attractions (traditional and modern), there’s entertainment, authentic japanese food, night-clubs, Shinjuku (a massive, crowded skyscraper district within Tokyo), strip clubs (winky face), shopping, etc. You name it and i’d probably be willing to experience it in Tokyo, Japan! I’m already working on my japanese. (I’ve been watching Heroes on Netflix and a girl can learn a lot from Hiro & Ando…just sayin’)

…If you’ve never watched Heroes and have no idea what i’m talking about just totally disregard my last statement. Lolol