It looks like this assignment is coming to an end, which means I won't be posting weekly anymore. I just wanted to make a quick post about my experience with running this blog and having a schedule.
I actually really enjoyed doing this. It was something I knew I would be doing once a week, so it wasn't a major shock or anything majorly time consuming to do, it became part of my usual weekly schedule. I was able to keep up and get all 10 of my posts done in time because of this.
It gave me a bit of structure but it also allowed me to get more insight to the things happening around me in the world. Each week I wrote about a topic I was seeing trending on Twitter or online. I can't just talk about something I read one little thing about, so it forced me to look into all the topics more in depth and I learned quite a lot from it. Some stuff I liked, some stuff I hated, some stuff I wish wasn't happening, etc. It made me learn about things I wouldn't normally just find out or be taught about. It really opened my eyes.
What I thought was cool with all of this was learning how to use and analyze analytics better. I always paid attention to analytics on youtube for example, but this was much more detailed and interesting to analyze. I noticed exactly where traffic was coming from, which helped me understand which social media platforms were most responsive to my posts.
Overall, this was fun. It was a cool way to learn how to use and understand something new that will be very useful in our future careers.
BYE GUYS!
Wednesday, 18 March 2015
Monday, 16 March 2015
#Zimmerman
Remember back in 2012 when George Zimmerman shot and killed 17 year old Trayvon Martin in cold blood? The unarmed high school kid who was, in short, shot for being black. I'm sure you remember. It caused a major uproar throughout the world, not just in the States where it happened, but throughout the world, everyone saw the injustice behind his actions.
He spent three years on trial for charges of second degree murder and manslaughter... both of which were dropped due to inssuficient evidence.. Somehow, then unnarmed young teen deserved to die in the eyes of the police. They let George walk.
Fast forward to present day.. what is happening in Ferguson right now.. A police officer shot and killed again, an unnarmed black man, Michael Brown. Since this day, the city has been in constant riots and have been being attacked by the police. I could go on and on about the injustice happening in Ferguson, but I want to stay on topic of George Zimmerman.
He was arrested in Ferguson a week ago. Ferguson, Atlanta... very, very far away from his home in Sanford, Florida. Why was he arrested?
Because he was found harassing and threatening two young, black males who were doing absolutely nothing wrong. The story of the article I read pretty much sums it up into a conversation.. a dialogue of what happened. According to the boys who were harassed and witnesses, George Zimmerman stepped out of his vehicle and started walking toward two black teens. The teens evidently recognized him right away and began backing up and walking away with their hands in the air saying "George, we don't know why you're here or what you're doing, but we are simply minding our own business. It's pretty insensitive that you're even here right now."
After this George took out his gun and pointed it at them, not saying a word.
They continued to walk away asking him why he was there, what he was doing, and pleading that they weren't doing anything wrong. That they have the right to be walking on their sidewalks. He kept approaching them with his loaded gun pointed at their heads when cops arrived and arrested him instantly.
What I hope comes of this is that the police recognize that this man is just itching to kill again... what other reason would he have for being in Ferguson where he could presumably assume he would get away with his actions due to the current circustances. They need to recognize that this man literally drew a gun on two human beings for literally standing on the sidewalk minding their own business. They begged for him to leave them alone and he drew a weapon no them. The Crown and Jury absolutely must recognize that this man is a serial killer and must be put away and kept off the streets.
source:
http://www.mywlas.com/george-zimmerman-arrested-while-visiting-ferguson/
He spent three years on trial for charges of second degree murder and manslaughter... both of which were dropped due to inssuficient evidence.. Somehow, then unnarmed young teen deserved to die in the eyes of the police. They let George walk.
Fast forward to present day.. what is happening in Ferguson right now.. A police officer shot and killed again, an unnarmed black man, Michael Brown. Since this day, the city has been in constant riots and have been being attacked by the police. I could go on and on about the injustice happening in Ferguson, but I want to stay on topic of George Zimmerman.
He was arrested in Ferguson a week ago. Ferguson, Atlanta... very, very far away from his home in Sanford, Florida. Why was he arrested?
Because he was found harassing and threatening two young, black males who were doing absolutely nothing wrong. The story of the article I read pretty much sums it up into a conversation.. a dialogue of what happened. According to the boys who were harassed and witnesses, George Zimmerman stepped out of his vehicle and started walking toward two black teens. The teens evidently recognized him right away and began backing up and walking away with their hands in the air saying "George, we don't know why you're here or what you're doing, but we are simply minding our own business. It's pretty insensitive that you're even here right now."
After this George took out his gun and pointed it at them, not saying a word.
They continued to walk away asking him why he was there, what he was doing, and pleading that they weren't doing anything wrong. That they have the right to be walking on their sidewalks. He kept approaching them with his loaded gun pointed at their heads when cops arrived and arrested him instantly.
What I hope comes of this is that the police recognize that this man is just itching to kill again... what other reason would he have for being in Ferguson where he could presumably assume he would get away with his actions due to the current circustances. They need to recognize that this man literally drew a gun on two human beings for literally standing on the sidewalk minding their own business. They begged for him to leave them alone and he drew a weapon no them. The Crown and Jury absolutely must recognize that this man is a serial killer and must be put away and kept off the streets.
source:
http://www.mywlas.com/george-zimmerman-arrested-while-visiting-ferguson/
Wednesday, 11 March 2015
#DieWithDignity
This is a rather touchy subject to me for many reasons, but I wanted to share something I read a couple weeks ago that is very good news. Actually, it's probably the best news I could have read due to the circumstances.
On February 15th 2015 The Supreme Court of Canada removed the ban on doctor assisted suicide.
“A person facing this prospect has two options: she can take her own life prematurely, often by violent or dangerous means, or she can suffer until she dies from natural causes. The choice is cruel.”
It made me really happy to see that the Supreme Court was able to recognize this issue and make a change to allow people to end their suffering and leave this world with dignity. Like other good changes being made in our province and country, some people are against it for stupid reasons which I won't get into, but what I will get into is how important this is to me, personally.
The removal of this ban is important to me because a few years ago, 2012 to be exact, I had to watch my best friends mother slowly deteriorate, suffer, and die right in front of me. I couldn't do anything to help her. She was completely fine until one day she had a stomach ache that made her throw up.. she doesn't usually throw up so she went to a walk in clinic to see if she may have gotten food poisoning or something. They ended up doing blood work and a couple days later, the results came back. Her stomach ache was actually stage 3 Leukemia. She had been "sick" for a very long time without even knowing.. at the time of diagnosis, they told us it was terminal.
At this time, they told us the only thing they could "possibly" do to "maybe help in the time being" is chemo and radiation.
Let me remind you that she was sick for a long time without knowing, because she felt okay and was non symptomatic, even after being diagnosed, she still felt fine, even though she wasn't.
She started chemo thinking it was the only thing that could buy her some more time or that it would make her feel better later on.. but unfortunately chemo did nothing we hoped for. Instead, she got really sick, really fast. She came home and didn't leave bed for almost a week. My friend didn't drive so I had to take her every 2 weeks to the hospital. She started to lose her dark skin pigment and turn grey and white. She lost a lot of weight and she was tiny to begin with. She lost her hair. She lost her energy. She lost her appetite. She lost her will to do anything. Everything that she was, wasn't anymore. This just went on and got worse and worse to the point of needing to go into palliative care. They eventually stopped chemo and said it was doing more bad than good and it's too late to save her, so they would let he be in peace in palliative care.
A few weeks go by and she isn't able to speak to us anymore. She doesn't even open her eyes or wake up when we come to visit her. She was too weak. She was a beautiful mind and soul stuck in a body that didn't work. A body that was trying to kill her..
On our way to visit her, we were told to not come. I remember the feeling of my heart sinking into the bottom of my body like it was yesterday. I've never felt so robotic in my life. I didn't react, nor did Shauna, her daughter. Her aunt came out afterwards and simply said "she's gone." We just stood there in silence. Kay's gone? All of this.. just for her to be gone? Are you kidding me right now?
As we left.. all we could think of was the fact that she wasn't able to end her life while she was proud of it and herself, while she was well and healthy, while she was strong and had her dignity, she was never given the damn option to opt out while she good, instead, she was told either she suffers or suffers even more just to die as a vegetable in a hospital bed covered in wires and machines. Kay even said herself "I wish I didn't have to do all of this.. I wish I could just go to bed like this and not wake up."
That's what she said. That's what the Supreme Court is allowing now. It's too late for her, but unfortunately, I'm next. My mother is sick. She has cancer. Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. There is no treatment for it, there is no cure for it, there is no delaying it. Cells slowly build up in every inch of her body and when it's ready, it will attack. Its what they call "dormant cancer", meaning it starts off real slow, non symptomatic, while it builds up its cells so when its ready to attack, it's as quick as a couple weeks. When my mom told me she had cancer last year, I couldn't imagine anything other than reliving the year of hell I did with my best friends mom, but with my own. I had nightmares of watching the person I love most waste away before my eyes while I helplessly watch.. Now that this has happened, her, my dad, my brother and sister, and i, have had a sit down talk with her to discuss this. Before we could even bring it up, she said "Don't worry, you won't be seeing me suffer. I'm going to go when I'm good, you are hearing me say it now, it's what I want and it's what we will do as a family. I am going to go with pride and dignity and I refuse to suffer."
As fucked up as it is to hear your mom say she will be committing suicide, it eliminated my family's worst fear of watching her suffer. This new law that some people are complaining about, is everything Kay has ever wanted, is everything my mother and my family needs. It's an insanely incredible advancement in our society. We got rid of the ban on gay marriage and abortion, now we can chose how we die.. I think Canada is setting a really good example for others to follow.
source:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/supreme-court-rules-on-doctor-assisted-suicide/article22828437/
http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/02/06/supreme-court-of-canada-strikes-down-ban-on-doctor-assisted-suicide/
On February 15th 2015 The Supreme Court of Canada removed the ban on doctor assisted suicide.
“A person facing this prospect has two options: she can take her own life prematurely, often by violent or dangerous means, or she can suffer until she dies from natural causes. The choice is cruel.”
It made me really happy to see that the Supreme Court was able to recognize this issue and make a change to allow people to end their suffering and leave this world with dignity. Like other good changes being made in our province and country, some people are against it for stupid reasons which I won't get into, but what I will get into is how important this is to me, personally.
The removal of this ban is important to me because a few years ago, 2012 to be exact, I had to watch my best friends mother slowly deteriorate, suffer, and die right in front of me. I couldn't do anything to help her. She was completely fine until one day she had a stomach ache that made her throw up.. she doesn't usually throw up so she went to a walk in clinic to see if she may have gotten food poisoning or something. They ended up doing blood work and a couple days later, the results came back. Her stomach ache was actually stage 3 Leukemia. She had been "sick" for a very long time without even knowing.. at the time of diagnosis, they told us it was terminal.
At this time, they told us the only thing they could "possibly" do to "maybe help in the time being" is chemo and radiation.
Let me remind you that she was sick for a long time without knowing, because she felt okay and was non symptomatic, even after being diagnosed, she still felt fine, even though she wasn't.
She started chemo thinking it was the only thing that could buy her some more time or that it would make her feel better later on.. but unfortunately chemo did nothing we hoped for. Instead, she got really sick, really fast. She came home and didn't leave bed for almost a week. My friend didn't drive so I had to take her every 2 weeks to the hospital. She started to lose her dark skin pigment and turn grey and white. She lost a lot of weight and she was tiny to begin with. She lost her hair. She lost her energy. She lost her appetite. She lost her will to do anything. Everything that she was, wasn't anymore. This just went on and got worse and worse to the point of needing to go into palliative care. They eventually stopped chemo and said it was doing more bad than good and it's too late to save her, so they would let he be in peace in palliative care.
A few weeks go by and she isn't able to speak to us anymore. She doesn't even open her eyes or wake up when we come to visit her. She was too weak. She was a beautiful mind and soul stuck in a body that didn't work. A body that was trying to kill her..
On our way to visit her, we were told to not come. I remember the feeling of my heart sinking into the bottom of my body like it was yesterday. I've never felt so robotic in my life. I didn't react, nor did Shauna, her daughter. Her aunt came out afterwards and simply said "she's gone." We just stood there in silence. Kay's gone? All of this.. just for her to be gone? Are you kidding me right now?
As we left.. all we could think of was the fact that she wasn't able to end her life while she was proud of it and herself, while she was well and healthy, while she was strong and had her dignity, she was never given the damn option to opt out while she good, instead, she was told either she suffers or suffers even more just to die as a vegetable in a hospital bed covered in wires and machines. Kay even said herself "I wish I didn't have to do all of this.. I wish I could just go to bed like this and not wake up."
That's what she said. That's what the Supreme Court is allowing now. It's too late for her, but unfortunately, I'm next. My mother is sick. She has cancer. Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. There is no treatment for it, there is no cure for it, there is no delaying it. Cells slowly build up in every inch of her body and when it's ready, it will attack. Its what they call "dormant cancer", meaning it starts off real slow, non symptomatic, while it builds up its cells so when its ready to attack, it's as quick as a couple weeks. When my mom told me she had cancer last year, I couldn't imagine anything other than reliving the year of hell I did with my best friends mom, but with my own. I had nightmares of watching the person I love most waste away before my eyes while I helplessly watch.. Now that this has happened, her, my dad, my brother and sister, and i, have had a sit down talk with her to discuss this. Before we could even bring it up, she said "Don't worry, you won't be seeing me suffer. I'm going to go when I'm good, you are hearing me say it now, it's what I want and it's what we will do as a family. I am going to go with pride and dignity and I refuse to suffer."
As fucked up as it is to hear your mom say she will be committing suicide, it eliminated my family's worst fear of watching her suffer. This new law that some people are complaining about, is everything Kay has ever wanted, is everything my mother and my family needs. It's an insanely incredible advancement in our society. We got rid of the ban on gay marriage and abortion, now we can chose how we die.. I think Canada is setting a really good example for others to follow.
source:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/supreme-court-rules-on-doctor-assisted-suicide/article22828437/
http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/02/06/supreme-court-of-canada-strikes-down-ban-on-doctor-assisted-suicide/
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