Calm Down With the Coffee All Ready

In my previous posts, I made points that I researched myself, but in this post I'm going to discuss what was pointed out in the comments for this blog. One point made was that there are many surprising sources of caffeine that most people aren't aware of, and we should know what they are. Another point was that caffeine has some positive side effects, not just negative ones. The last point I'll address is why college students have such a difficult time getting an adequate amount of sleep.

These are a few examples of sources of caffeine we should know about: Cocoa, (hot chocolate), most chocolates, excluding white chocolate, and a few pain reliever pills, the most common being aspirin. Caffeine is also in most weight loss/diet pills, in a large amount.

If caffeine is consumed in moderation, there are some benefits that can come from it. For example, obviously it makes the consumer more alert and awake, this is because it stimulates the central nervous and cardiovascular system, to wake up the body. It acts as a pain reliever, especially for headaches. Also caffeine is used for premature babies, because of it's ability to open up the airway.

Some reasons why college students aren't able to get enough
sleep are: Stress. We have too much on our plates to not be
stressed right now, and this leads to an inability to fall asleep at night. Also, work overload. We can't always get our work done in enough time to get a good night's sleep, sometimes it's necessary to stay up past a reasonable bed time. If this happens to you, just remember; caffeine is fine in the earlier hours of the day(before 2:00 p.m.), and at reasonable intervals (an hour or so), and in moderate amounts (4-6 cups).

Competition Among Citizens and Illegal Immigrants

Last week I discussed the issue with illegal immigrants and healthcare, and the week before that I discussed the competition between illegal immigrants and American citizens in the workforce. This week I am going to talk about the bush administration trying to give illegal immigrants access to social security through the Social Security Act.

Social security is a government program funded through payroll taxes by American citizens. When I hear social security, I think about the elderly and disability benefits. According to FAIR.com, under current law, an alien who worked illegally in the U.S. can only become eligible for Social Security benefits by becoming a legal U.S. resident. But officials at the State Department and Social Security Administration (SSA) are preparing a plan that would pay benefits to illegal aliens who have returned to Mexico. The bush administration wants to give benefits to illegal immigrants if they return to Mexico. This proposal is an agreement with Mexico and some Americans are furious. “Adding millions of lawbreakers to the Social Security system would be a slap in the face to our retirees”, says Dana Rohrabacher in a letter in FAIR.com. Dan Burton, Indiana’s 5th district, says, “By giving social services to illegal immigrants, we are implicitly condoning their illegal activity and undermining the efforts and commitment of immigrants who choose to respect and abide by our laws, and enter America the legal way .”

The question I want to know is: Why are we trying to give illegal immigrants so many benefits? I have discussed three topics: workforce, healthcare, and social security. All of the topics benefit illegal immigrant, but seem to be a disadvantage to American citizens in some form. Is the government on our side or theirs? Like I said in my previous blogs I do not oppose immigration because it is the reason the United States is so diverse today, but I think is time the government step up and make heavier consequences on illegal immigrants.

Can You Really Get Cancer From Eating Potato Chips?

Cancer is all around us, and no matter where we go there is a threat of getting cancer. People can try to change their odds of escaping this deadly disease, but the sad truth is that most of the things we do in our everyday life are cancer causing. According to Mayo Clinic's seven tips to reduce your risks, the only way to lessen the chances is to exercise, eat healthy, go to the doctor regularly, and stay away from high risk areas (such as power plants). Doctors are not expecting people to follow the rules all the time, they are just warning people not to live their daily life that way. The anti-cancer diet consists of all natural fruits and vegetables. People are not going to follow this diet on a everyday basis. Therefore these diets and advice from doctors are more like guidelines to staying healthy. So can you really get cancer from eating potato chips? The answer is hard to determine, but if you stay healthy there is nothing for you to worry about.

Can You Really Get Cancer From Eating Potato Chips?

Exactly, doctors are trying to scare people into taking percussions of almost everything. If we live the life that will "prevent" cancer, then would we be living a life at all? According to the article "How to Live Life to the Max with Beginners Mind," there are steps to living a full life. One of these steps is to "discard failure." This to me means not to have the fear of death or illness. Life of fear is not a life that anyone wants to live. There is a difference in being healthy and being scared of all the things that cause cancer. In a blog that gave tips on how to avoid cancer, the list of things to eat and not to eat limits your diet to just about nothing. You are right when you say "the things we are suppose to give up for prevention of cancer are not only boring, but ridiculous." Be healthy and you will live a long and healthy life and actually live it.

Robot love: Are we too dependent?

In my previous blog posts, I discussed our dependence on technology and the possible effects on our future generations. Because we have become so accustomed to technology, sometimes we fail to realize the extremes we have taken it to. According to Psychology Today, technology addiction is considered a new form of compulsive behavior. While typically when you think of addiction, you think in terms of alcohol or drugs. In a research paper published by Clinical Journal of Psychopharmachology by a psychiatrist at Tel Aviv University, stated that Internet addiction be on par with extreme conditions such as gambling and sex addiction. A technology addiction is clinically described as some one who prefer encounters with technology(Facebook, Surfing the Internet, Texting, etc..) over human contact. While technology has greatly benefited us, many people have substituted it for face to face human contact. This only leads me to fear the effect of this and our dependence on the generation to come.

Gay People are NOT Monsters!

Supporting my views on this issue, http://www.slate.com/id/2097048/, says that an article in Pediatrics pronounced that "a growing body of scientific literature demonstrates that children who grow up with 1 or 2 gay and/or lesbian parents fare as well in emotional, cognitive, social, and sexual functioning as do children whose parents are heterosexual." Yes there have been some readings that I have come across that do not directly say that nothing is wrong with children who grow up in homosexual families(http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2001-08-23-kids-gay-parents-usat.htm), but they also do not say that it would have a negative effect on the child/ren. This article (the one stated prior to this sentence) explains how children with either one or two homosexual parents are interested in jobs that are not typically associated with their gender. It also explains to its readers how it is difficult to tell what sex the child is based on a picture of their bedroom.
Though there may be a few down sides for children with homosexual parents, I have yet to read an article about it being bad for the child. Never did I read anything that says that the child would be scarred for life if their mother or father is gay.
In fact, the idea that children do worse when raised by gay parents appears to be based on the assumption that there's something inherently wrong with homosexuality, was posted on http://www.beachpsych.com/pages/cc121.html. I cannot do anything more than to completely agree with this statement. This is what I have been trying to get at the entire time! Sure homosexuality may not be accepted by you or your religion, but it does not mean that the person who chooses to be gay is horrid in any way. They are still human. They are still sane. They should still be treated like a human being. And they should STILL be able to create a family of their own.

Women .vs. Men: Who's Better?

After all the reasearch and opinions I have collected, I still feel as if women are better than men. Women are better than men at many things. We are becoming stronger and dominant in society. Yes we are better liars because we plan our lies out before we tell them, men do the total opposite. Also, women can express their feelings and be honest about it. Men, on the other hand, just tell women what they want to hear. Now, don't get me wrong, not all men are the same ! But majority are. Women and men are equal but then again their different. According to Men & Women: Differences, Women think logically and men grasp a situation as a whole and think globally. Women select the most valuable knowledge and pass it over to another generation. Men are builders and creators. Men get sick twice as often as women, but women care more about their health. Women endure pain and monotonous work better than men. As stated in the article, men are better than women just as much as women are better than men, just in different ways. But like I've said before, WOMEN ARE BETTER THAN MEN !