Are West Virginia's Senators working for us? Spoiler: Only if you're straight

In recent months, our West Virginia State Congress has tried to push through some very questionable bills. One of the most recent of these absurd bills is Senate Joint Resolution 13, which is a bill designed to essentially "nullify all local LGBT rights ordinances." Basically, this bill would prohibit cities and towns in West Virginia from adopting their own ordinances that would extend protection to the LGBT community.

Now, last time I checked, we are living in the year 2016, and our lawmakers were elected to represent and protect everyone's rights, regardless of race, religion, sex, and yes, sexuality. The sheer fact that we we even have to have this discussion in the year 2016 is a great disappointment to me, and it's especially disappointing that lawmakers in our own state are attempting to create loopholes to allow discrimination. The LGBT community is an important part of the greater West Virginia community, and for our lawmakers to attempt to take away their right to be protected from unlawful discrimination is beyond shameful.

This may sound harsh, but I do not believe Senator C. Blair deserves to hold office if he feels that his job as our state senator is to create loopholes for certain groups of people he dislikes to be at a greater risk for discrimination. He is doing quite literally the opposite of what he is supposed to do as a state senator, and Craig Blair should be ashamed of himself for misusing his legislative power. The LGBT community of West Virginia are our neighbors, teachers, professors, babysitters, and everything else in between, and they deserve to have their rights protected just as much as any straight WV resident. And I, for one, am damn tired of the stupidity in Charleston.

I am posting this link for you all to read for yourselves so you don't have to take my word for it. If any of you are as upset as I am (and honestly, you should be), comment below and I can link you to a website that lists his office number so you can call and tell him to drop this bill.
http://www.joemygod.com/2016/02/23/west-virginia-state-sen-craig-blair-introduces-bill-to-nullify-all-local-lgbt-rights-ordinances/

Mr. Eyeborg

Recently I saw a video from Insider about a Film-maker's camera for an eye and even though I think that this is a very cool technological milestone, I'm also worried. My worry stems from the fact that now this man can take photographs really without people knowing it, and this reminded me of the NSA scandal where our government can have access to our phones and servers. This also reminded me of Google Glass and how people began to question the involvement of smartphones as being in the form of something other than a phone (like a pair of glasses).

 Now clearly this man can only take pictures with this camera eye, but what if someone chose to hack into his eye? They could see everything that he sees and he would lose his privacy without ever really knowing it. I'm still rather conflicted about what I think of this newer technology, but I can see the positives and negatives of having a camera for an eye.

Technology Lowering Our Attention Span?

I would not have thought that using technology would lower people’s attention span. I was surprised to learn quite the opposite, after reading this article. Matt Richtel, the author of the New York Times article, wrote “teenagers ages 8 to 18 has grown so fast that they on average spend twice as much time with screens each year as they spend in school.” The amount of time this generation has spent staring at a screen, whether it be a cellphone, laptop, television, or video game screen, is absolutely astonishing. If I could count how many times I glance at my phone screen or see how much time I spend looking at social media, I would definitely see how spending so much time could have a negative impact. In the article, teachers themselves are saying that students’ attention span has been drastically reduced and that teachers have to work much harder to get their students attention. I’m surprised to see such a widespread negative effect from something so useful. 

LLAMAS

Okay, I wasn't really sure at all what I wanted to write about this week, so I started to browse around on the Internet to try to find some inspiration. Eventually I came to this. Please, I beg of you, to take the time to read the entire article.

I've never particularly liked "pointless" news stories, but this is amazing. Through technology, I was able to watch this video and laugh (for an embarrassingly long time) at llamas making human lives hell. Not only was it popular for an afternoon or so, but it's freaking anniversary was recognized. The two llamas' story went viral overnight and ended up becoming entirely too (yet necessarily) popular. Gifs and tweets and ridiculous photos have been made of them over their time of fame. They even have a dang fanbase.

There are definitely lots of downfalls of technology, but this is not one of them.

Long Distance Can Work

Long distance relationships are something that works differently for every couple. Sometimes it works out and other times it doesn't. One thing that is true about it is that the relationship really does rely on technology, for the most part, to keep them connected. My sister met her husband in college and he was a couple years ahead of her in school. He's originally from England and came over to the US for a soccer scholarship. In their case if they wanted to stay together they had to make long distance dating work, and it was even harder for them because of the time difference.

I had always been skeptical of long distance dating, but seeing it actually work out first hand made me rethink my opinion. Long distance relationships are hard but they aren’t impossible. I think that if the couple truly makes an effort in the relationship that it has a great chance of working out. Technology play a key role in the relationship whether they want it to or not. It helps couples stay in touch and see each other, no matter how large the distance is.

"Bad Texting"

I wonder if anyone else has this problem? You are texting someone and their texts are just a little short. So you start thinking, what if they are mad or upset. Well, i hate to say it, but I am the person on the other side. I have been told I am a "bad texter." Now the reason I am like this is not that I have something against a person when texting. I cannot get into texting that well. I either try to give my all in a conversation and state something wrong and my message is received badly, or I do not put that effort in and then people think that I am being short with them, or that I am upset. This has always been my problem. My reason for  why I am a "bad texter" is that I cannot portray the emotion and feelings that come with verbal or face-to-face communication. I use my hands and I articulate many points that I would miss if I just type it. Just a thought, what are your opinions?

The Stuff People Post on the internet...

How can you really tell if something on the internet is true? I find myself questioning this issue a lot. As I was on the phone with my parents the other night I was also scrolling through my twitter feed. I came across this account about Donald Trump. The information on this account was funny, but how could I tell if it was true. So I read this "news paper" article to my parents and asked them for their opinion's. My Dad said, "Yeah, that's bull s***". My Mom's response was, " Well Trump is an a**. He probably pissed off his family members." So, after hearing their opinion's, I continued by asking my roommate for her opinion. She said, "there's no way that's true, but it is funny". At this point I was thinking about the different responses from my parents and my roommate. I honestly think that people have a selective perception to what they find on the internet. Based on their feelings towards the subject (Trump) I believe that they determine in their own mind if this thing is real or fake just by their own opinion on the subject. However, logically thinking. Would there really be curse words posted in a news paper article? No, I doubt it. But how can you be sure. Just like the sarcastic saying "everything that you read on the internet is true" shows how potentially dangerous the internet can be, due to the fact that NOT everything is true, and it is NOT so easy to determine if something is true or fake.