Beauty

Clearly it’s not okay to age in society and that doesn’t fit in with the social norms of today’s society. With anti-aging serums, botox, make-up, anti wrinkle cream, retouching, and all the products sold on the mass market to promote staying young, and pretty, we can never be the perfect image or body that society creates.

The depiction between being accepted and looking pretty in society run close together because often enough you can’t have both. We have to stay young in society, because that is everything the popular culture promotes and sells.

Society and popular culture create this dynamic of staying pretty in the way in which woman are seen and promoted in the media world. The negative aspects of how women are displayed in ads, commercials, and movies displays a stereotype that society then takes in and creates in their own mind with what is the ideal woman, and how can I be that ideal woman.

Not being over weight, having white teeth, nice healthy hair, big breasts, dressing sexy with little or no clothing, and appealing to look at are just a few things that woman have to do to be accepted or feel pretty in society.


And as women age this cycle becomes even more impossible. Everywhere you look you see marketed ads saying what you’re supposed to do to improve your physical features to become more appealing and accepted. Buy more and do more to attain this lifestyle of being pretty and young. This impossible image that society creates dominates the lives of many women so that they feel wanted, and accepted in the world.

Social class

Social class in America is everything. Everyone is constantly trying to get higher up in the status ladder. Some people are born into wealthy families, middle class families and into poor families. It seems that the lower your social status is, the harder it is to attain a higher career path.

The U.S. Census Bureau counted that in 2009 there were 37.3 million poor people living in America. With the poor economy, there is an increase in less fortunate families living in America. The divide between the middle class and poor is closer than it has been since the Great Depression.

Tammy tells her story about how she struggles each day to put food on her table for her and her two children, and what she does to make her life a little easier. Tammy is a single woman living in Ohio, and walks 10 miles to work in rain or snow. With the little money she makes from her job at Burger King, she hope to save up money and buy a car.

Many people in America struggle day-to-day like Tammy. It’s important for her story to be heard, and for people to come together from all different social statuses.

But We Never DID Anything - The Dangers of Emotional Affairs

We often define an affair as sexual relations with someone outside of the relationship. We look for rendezvous in hotels, lipstick on collars and misspoken names during peaks of intimacy. However, while physical affairs are certainly detrimental to relationships, emotional affairs are just as destructive.

Emotional affairs are connections with others outside of the relationship that should only be with our spouse or partner. Emotional affairs are intimate conversations, anticipations, levels of trust and expectations of satisfaction that should only be with and for our special someones. True, it is not sex, but too many moments of bearing your soul with that cute coworker or too many heart-to-heart conversations about your hopes and dreams can lead to feelings shifting from your current partner. Emotional affairs start harmless by "just talking" and often find their roots in difficult moments in your present relationship. Soon enough however, just talking can lead to lunches, drinks, dinners and possibly even physical contact.

Be careful in your emotional connections. When you feel that your partner is distant, talk about how connected you both still are. Resume talking like you once did when the courtship phase was in effect and save those special anticipations, levels of trust and expectations of satisfaction for the one you're with.

Tea Party Protesters

Around 2,000 people attended this year's tax day Tea Party rally at the Daley Center in Chicago to protest "big government" and to support lower taxes. Not only were their rallies in Illinois, but they were nationwide in every major city across the U.S.

These rallies were not only a success the cities themselves, but they sparked a voice that went across to politicians and to Congress. Joe Walsh a candidate for Congress spoke at the rally in Chicago, reminding the Tea Party activists to be like President Reagans attitude for Tea Party Protesters "Lets be happy Warriors."

People need to voice their opinion, and send a message to Congress about what we think they're doing wrong that is having a negative effect on our lives. It's "We the people not we the politicians."

For many people, we have to deal with the strains of the economy, whether it be the issue with cap and trade, healthcare, fewer jobs, foreclosure, immigration reform and many other issues.

How can we be happy protesters when our lives our stricken by the poor economy and by the poor choices made by Congress and state government? Our voices and our opinions need to be said, and what better day than to make a stand on tax day.

Hate Groups on the Rise

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center Web site there are 932 known hate groups in the United States, with 28 of those being in Illinois. The state with the most hate groups is Texas, having 66.

We live in a day and age where technology is easily accessed, and so are hate websites. There are more religious hate websites than there are religious websites. This disturbs me not only because of who is getting on the hate websites, but a majority of young children have access to computers, and who says what may happen when they may come across these websites? We need to be aware of the fact that there are not only numerous hate groups out there, but there are a number of hate websites as well. Below is the number of hate groups in each state.

With hate websites and hate groups on the rise, what does this say about the future of our country? According to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s website, hate groups have increased by 50 percent since the year 2000.

The three main reasons that the percentages of hate groups have increased so much is because of the downturn of the economy, the election of the first African American president, Barack Obama, along with immigration issues that the United States has faced over the last five to ten years. This is an extreme problem to our country and to the issues our country must face in the future.

Fighting Temptations

There’s an old saying that the best way to fight a temptation is to give in to it! While obviously a humorous take on dealing with the moral struggles, there is a serious weight to these love life dangers. We all know what being tempted can lead to. Anyone remember a certain apple in a garden?

Temptations come in all shapes and sizes and could be former addictions (drinking, pornography), former lovers (ex-boyfriends, ex-girlfriends), bad habits or even potential new lovers (that cute, flirty girl at the coffee shop.) Whatever the struggle, there are several steps to dealing with temptations and how to fight them.


Identify the temptation(s) – Knowing where your weak spots are will help you protect them. Know if you’re longing for attention or if you’re in need of physical satisfaction. Being aware of your weak points will let you know if you should avoid that shoulder-to-cry-on cutie or miss hands-on-your-sore-shoulders.

Avoid them if possible – Temptations can always put a little doubt into your relationship focus but they can only do so much if you steer clear of them. If it’s someone other than your sweetheart who makes you feel the warm and fuzzies, stay away from them. If it’s someone other than your spouse who flirts with you and interests you, stay clear of this person as they can work those weak spots.

Strengthen your relationship – Weak spots and temptations can lead to love life damage if the relationship is weak itself. Do your best to strengthen your relationship emotionally and physically through communication, quality time together and a healthy sexual connection. As long as both of you are invested sincerely and strongly in your life together, temptations can try but they’ll fail.

Death Threats Over Health Care - Old Habits New Motive?

I'm not going to delve into the legal details of this situation since it is under FBI investigation - thankfully. I'm merely going to ask a question - the first question that popped into my mind when I learned of this. It is that serious? Is this worth the lives of innocents?

We know that Gregory Lee Guisti was arrested Wednesday in San Francisco for his brazen and unveiled death threats to House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi. The ridiculous phone calls were motivated by her support of the health care bill, and in one instance, Guisti stated Pelosi's home address and cautioned that if she wanted to see it again, she would not support the bill.

Coupled with that were the death threats made by Charles Alan Wilson to Democratic Senator Patty Murray, also fueled by his anger towards her support of the fiercely-debated health care bill. According to seattlepi.com, court documents reveal that Wilson made it clear in one of his expletive-laden phone calls, "I want to ... kill you." In another, he charges, "I hope somebody puts a ... bullet between your ... eyes."

Is it that serious? Is this what we've come to? This is not the wild, wild west people. We can't go around threatening to kill people simply because we don't like decisions that are being made. Well, at least that's what I thought. And please, do tell, what is it about the health bill that's warranting the death of government officials who support it? I want to know.

Funny. If Bush's policies on the "War on Terror," and his search for "weapons of mass destruction" were enough to incite some mad man into degenerating into death threats against government officials who supported them, you know what we'd call him, right. A TERRORIST! Plain and simple.

Well, when the speaker of the house receives blatant death threats because of her support of a bill; when a senator is violently threatened because of her stand on a bill proposed by the President of the United States of America, guess what people? Those are acts of domestic terrorism and those people should be prosecuted as such.

It's okay to disagree; it's fine to get upset; it's acceptable to have an opinion completely different from that of the Commander in Chief - that's why this land is called the United States of America. But it is NOT okay to handle it this way. I thought we were past the days of ignorant bigotry that dictated that any person or persons standing in the way of what WE feel is American democracy could be disposed of in the name of "love of country." I thought so ... but I guess old habits die hard.

Restoring trust in a broken relationship

Maybe it's mistrust from lies. Maybe it's hurt from deception. Maybe it's hiding money, too many nights out at the club or something as bad as cheating. Whatever the reason, once trust is lost in a relationship, restoring it is extremely difficult. When hearts hurt and relationships are broken, how can we go back to allowing ourselves to be vulnerable?

Own your feelings - You're going to be hurt. You're going to be angry. There will be disappointment and doubt. While most people may run from these emotions, you cannot bottle them up. Realizing that there are valid negative feelings will help begin the healing process within one another. Otherwise, you'll be play acting and rebuilding on a false foundation.

Both of you must be sincere - The one who screwed up must be genuinely sorry and the one who accepts the apology must genuinely accept it. Too often people accept "I'm sorry" only to secretly wait to get back at the offender with their own lying or affair. Being sincere means letting go of the past and establishing a sense of vulnerability again that the relationship will need.

Forgiveness is key - Forgiving the person who screwed up as well as they forgiving themselves is a neccessity. Holding onto resentment and harboring thoughts of revenge will deteriorate your relationship before it truly gets started. Whether it be through counseling, prayer, talking it out with friends or all of the above, forgiving one another and yourselves is a great step towards healing a broken relationship.

Old habits cannot be repeated - Nothing damages an already wounded relationship like wounding it all over again. Lying, stealing, hiding or cheating will open up wounds barely closing on the surface, much less deeper still. When trust has been broken, whatever acts that broke it cannot be repeated at all. New habits need to form which promote the relationship, not damage it.

A new relationship has to start - Many times, a wounded relationship cannot be restarted. A new one must take its place. Take the time to explore one another, date one another and discover yourselves as you move into a fresh start, leaving behind some of the pain and difficulty that lurked in the past. Don't turn a blind eye to what happen but realize that you may have been two people who need a new beginning with each other.