Nickelback :)

Just thought you would enjoy this! :) haha 

CNN Heroes

So Inspiring... this was one of the top ten heroes of the year! :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gB3UStCW1Fw

Rick Perry - Strong

"I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a Christian, but you don't need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there's something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can't openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school. 
As President, I'll end Obama's war on religion. And I'll fight against liberal attacks on our religious heritage. 

Faith made America strong. It can maker her strong again. 

I'm Rick Perry and I approve this message." 

- Rick Perry

These are the words of Rick Perry in his campaign to become the President. I am disgusted with this commercial. I can't believe that anyone could possibly think that this would get more votes in his favor because of this. I think that the only sentence that I'm okay with, is the final one when Perry states, "I'm Rick Perry and I approve this message." I can't believe that Perry would say gay people should have to hide who they are if they are in the military if it is not allowed to say "Merry Christmas" to each other. There have been many teen suicides over the last couple years and even more in the media lately, you would think that Perry would realize that many people that have committed suicide, are gay and are bullied because of it. So, by saying that there should be no openly gay men in the military, he is saying that gay people don't deserve as much freedom as those that are straight. Another part, I don't understand is that he wants to have kids to openly celebrate Christmas at school. Does he not realize that people in every religion live in the US? Does Perry not want immigrants to come into  the US? How does he think his own family got there into the US! I hope that Rick Perry learns from this MASSIVE mistake that he has made. 

Even users on youtube hate him more than Rebecca Black! Likes: 12 472, Dislikes: 483 760. Also, no comments are allowed to be posted on the video anymore, most likely due to the many that were negative towards Rick Perry. 

http://www.salon.com/2011/12/09/rick_perry_more_disliked_than_rebecca_black/singleton/

#22 - Touchdown Story

The touchdown story is so inspirational and amazing! It was so nice of the other team to allow Chip Mullen to run a 75 yard touch down. Not only did they allow him to just run the field, they also went to the end field and congratulated him on the touchdown. This was an amazing act of leadership and such a kind action to do to allow this man to have a moment he will remember for the rest of his life.

#21 - Harassment Articles

In the first article I looked at, there was a teacher that showed a seventh grade class an inappropriate video about sexual assault. The teacher was suspended for a couple of weeks and the parents were invited to the school to talk about any concerns that they had about the situation. I think that this could be a regular occurrence in schools when teachers talk about sexual harassment as it has happened at a school I use to go to.  I don't think we will ever know the true intentions of these teachers showing these videos, whether or not it is to  educate students about the possibilities or if there are other motivations, but there are so many rules for teachers, no further steps could be taken.

The second article that I read regarded another sexual harassment case. This was a little more serious than the first, as it wasn't just a video, it was an actual assault of many children. A hockey coach abused many children over the years and was actually caught at one point and served 3 years in jail. However, once he got out of jail, he was able to go back to coaching young boys, giving him access to more victims. Now, many years later, after one of the victims wrote an autobiography describing the abuse that he suffered, the story was blown up, again. I think that it is shocking that a pedophile was caught and then let go and allowed to coach young boys again. This never should have happened, these boys should never had to experience that. 

The final article that I read was about the RCMP not responding to a sexual harassment claim for two years. A worker sent a complaint about a co-worker that was making sexual advances and leaving sex toys on her desk. She sent a complaint through the proper channels, and started waiting for a response and actions being taken. Once a letter was actually sent back to the women, it had been over two years and she wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry about the situation. In the letter, it said that this matter was taken very seriously and that they wanted to provide a safe workplace. I think that this was extremely disappointing to read about as if it takes two years for a response to go out to one of their own employees, how can we trust that they are doing a through job for society?

#24 - Challenge Day and Challenge Week

Challenge Day was UNBELIEVABLE! The opportunity to be able to hear everyone's story about their struggles and successes was so moving and inspiring. I was extremely nervous on the days leading up to Challenge Day wondering what it would be like and what in the world I would say when it was my turn to complete the sentence "If you really knew me...". The day of, there was such a high energy in the room for the first part of the morning, that there was no way that you couldn't feel excited and happy and yet I still felt anxious for what I knew was coming. Once we got into our families and started to say "If you really knew me..." all of the girls in my family were crying and all of the guys looked awkward unsure of what was coming next. When my turn came, I just started talking... I'm not really sure what I even said in those two minutes, though after, I have never felt so light. I think that this day has changed a lot of people for the better, even some that didn't attend the day were affected by the different decisions we made. The 125 people learned a lot that day... that we are like icebergs, you only get to see 10%, while the most important things about ourselves are on the 90% that people can't see and that you should actually talk to someone before writing them off as a 'loser' or 'geek'. Also, we learned about our emotional balloons, and how if we don't let some of the air out every once in a while, it will explode. These are two things that I will try to remember everyday as everyone has a story that is hidden in that 90% that we need to get to know before we judge. l,,l-

Challenge Week was AMAZING! The day after Challenge Day was overwhelming with getting the video for the assembly ready and blowing up all of the balloons. Researching to get the names of 300 teens that have committed suicide was mind-blowing. It is insane that there have been so many suicides, especially lately. Reading all of the articles about the days leading up to their deaths and how they died was very upsetting. I couldn't believe the amount of suffering that these teens had endured and what promising lives that they had given up in exchange for some peace. At IDCI however, there was the opposite of peace, many people were enraged that they hadn't had the chance to experience Challenge Day for themselves and were unsure of how to deal with all of the love that was being shared between people you would never expect. Facebook was changed instantly, there was love instead of hate, hope instead of dread and smiles instead of frowns. The majority of the school that hadn't gone to Challenge Day were angry that their place to vent was changed into a safe place of love. The 100 students that went to Challenge Day worked hard to change the opinions of those that had been close minded. The assembly on the Wednesday of that week helped show that this day was so much more than a day. It was an idea, a lifestyle, a choice to change for the better, to give a smile to that guy on the street instead of looking at him like he is to blame for all of his misfortunes. Now, I think our school is more united than is has ever been before and I am SO proud to be an IDCI Blue Bomber this year. Our school has so much spirit and inspiration for life. So, Thank-you :)

GENERATION BOMBER NATION

#23 - Joe Paterno, Penn State Scandal

The story of Joe Paterno's lack of leadership in the Penn State Scandal shocked me. As Paterno is seen as a 'God' of sorts in the US you would think that he would know right from wrong, especially when faced with such a serious situation. However, I don't think that Joe Paterno can be fully blamed for this as he wasn't the one that witnessed the assault. When the graduate assistant saw the assault in the showers, his first step may have been to tell the head coach, Joe Paterno, but if no further steps were taken, the assistant should have called the police himself. It is disgusting that Jerry Sandusky got away with sexually assaulting so many boys over the time period when Paterno knew about his secret. 1 in 6 boys are sexually assaulted in the US and 90% of the assaults are by someone the victim knows. These statistics are sad, but true. The foundation, Second Mile, set up by Sandusky for under privileged children gave him the perfect opportunity to groom and assault these boys.   This story never should have come out now. It should have been announced all those years ago when the first witnessed assault took place. It is extremely disappointing to be reminded that we have to be careful around people, even those that we trust so much as those are the people that can take everything away.

#26 - IDCIdols

One idea that I have for IDCIdols is to make a music video parody with songs from our childhood. Similar to what Mr. Tompkins and Mr. Cowel did at Coffee House. It was funny, it brought back memories and everyone enjoyed themselves that was at the coffee house, but I think that many more people would love to see something like it!

#25 - 10 Days of Festive Fun

One idea that I have for the 10 days of festive fun is to send Christmas grams! We could have little Christmas bags with a few Christmas candies and have them for sale for 50 cents each. I know that I would send them to my friends as I don't want to have to spend too much but I also want to show that I love them! :)

The Tilman Story

This is such a powerful and sad story that says a lot about the politicians and the army in the United States. I was shocked to see how many lies the army told, trying to make the death of Pat Tilman into a propaganda tool. When the media was told that the army was going to offer condolences to the family, they were actually pressuring them into having a military funeral, which Pat had clearly stated that he had not wanted when he entered the forces. Also, many of the other troops that worked with Pat Tilman were very angry about the amount of lies that were told trying to cover up the fact that Pat was killed by friendly fire, while in reality the Tilman family never wanted 'justice' on those that may have killed Pat, they just wanted to know the truth about what had happened to their son, brother and husband. I believe that if the army had told the family the truth as soon as they had suspected that anything had happened, the Tilman's never would have been so driven to go after the military. However, as there was a an extreme lack of leadership the story was hidden from the press and the family and so Pat's mother blew the whistle on the military hoping for the truth. In one of the final scenes of the documentary, in court when  the final statements were being told, the four top commanders, restated their story so that they would not be to blame. I found this to be one of the more disturbing lies that were said throughout the story, as this was the family's last hope at finding the truth about their son and those four men that have so much power, could not bear to tell the truth, to show some true leadership, in those moments to finally give a grieving family some peace.