It's the end of the world... or is it?

Why is it that modern history always is portrayed in the direst of straights and in the presence of some kind of unbeatable crisis? Somehow our problems are worse than any previously seen and we must put forth a heroic effort in order to save the world and claim our spots of glory in the annals of history. Well, this all makes for an interesting and dramatic story, but despite these epic portrayals of our past and our current situation, things always seem to pan out and work out just fine. Take an example from our history, the Cuban Missile Crisis. Although the US and Russia nearly took the world to the brink of nuclear war, they didn’t. The Cold War had been going on long enough that if the two countries really wanted to fight, they would have done so already; there would be no reason to start with the missile crisis. Our history, along with current affairs, is overly dramatized.

We are not to blame though; the entities responsible for keeping us in a constant state of panic and spoon feeding us this garbage are the cable news networks. These news networks are businesses, more concerned with profits and ratings than reporting actual news. With intense transition graphics and politically skewed “experts” these networks report the most trivial and petty news just to fill their twenty-four hour broadcast. Twenty-four hour news means that news stations are more likely to make news out of scandals and controversies than report news of actual importance because they have more time that they need to fill. This kind of news is bad especially for the viewer, because even though the news may be dumb, the general public thinks it is important because it is in the news. Take the murder of Natalee Holloway in Aruba. The hours and hours spent on news coverage for this story were astounding. Murders are bad and all, but do we need a media boom over something that will have almost no impact on our lives other than causing us to completely insane from the omnipresent coverage of this story? There are plenty of other murders around the world to report. Another example of an overblown story in more recent and relevant terms would be our country’s current “recession”. The cable news networks currently spew talk of a recession in the present and in the coming months when in reality we are no where near such a status. Sure, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is less than previous years, but it still does not signify a recession. In economic terms, a recession is marked by a negative growth in the GDP for two consecutive quarters. Amidst all of this talk about recession, the GDP growth rate has remained positive the entire time.

So what entertainment will the news come up with next? Who knows? Maybe there will be a new threat to the survival of the human race to fill a primetime slot on CNN. Oh Wait, there already is such a story- global warming. 

Climatology, the commoner's profession

Why is it that everyone seems to be a climatologist or scientist of some sort these days? Every time there is a sudden change of weather or a storm, at least one person always says, "Well, it must be global warming!" Everything is caused by global warming--hot weather, cold weather, any fluctuation in the norm. Just the other day, San Francisco was a little warm--GLOBAL WARMING shouted one of my teachers. Even those who shout that global warming causes massive hurricanes and superstorms are wrong. In fact, in a new study by Dr Knutson and colleagues from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at Princeton, New Jersey, global warming does not cause an increase in hurricanes--rather, it would decrease the numbers and increase the strength.

Since when does the common man have the authority to link global warming to any local climate change? Global warming is now a scapegoat for our problems. Soon, our failing economy, the housing crisis, the "war on terror," and even celebrity divorces will be attributed to this massive evil.

Prank Of The Week

I've laughed at my share of pranks. Table-topping the freshman, whipped cream on the nose, or even the innocent wedgie. It's all in fun. Anyway, I've decided to scrounge around, pick a funny prank for the week, and show it to the world. Who knows if this will really end up being a weekly thing? I'll probably just post whenever I feel like it (whimsical, bored, or hungover), but if someone gets owned, you'll hear it from ME--even if it's biannually. If anyone is offended by any of these pranks, or has been subject to one, we would like to kindly express that we don't give the last horse excrement. Go cry in the comments section if it makes you feel better. Without further ado, your first weekly feature of condescending goodness...

-AKA


This week's prank:

Seniors from a high school somewhere south of San Francisco staged a phenomenal prank by placing cups filled with water on EVERY stair in the school, knocking down the barriers between every bathroom stall in the school, and hanging a stuffed goat behind the front doors.

EDIT: It looks like they also duct taped essential doors shut.

Pictures:

Rant Poems

Reality TV by Nicolas Hernandez

Right now beyond the empty streets echoing phantom laughter, beyond the high gates and unbreachable walls, beyond the tick of a solitary clock

The covens of Visigoths convene, mindlessly murmuring moth eaten chants, marinates dancing to soulless rituals

Savages disguised in the latest fashions masking their bloodlust in perfumes and coveting the idols’ promise of fool’s gold

Lacking wisdom, they congregate in a fancy ballroom to pick and rip at each other in hushed voices

From the cities of sparkling lights to the hovels in the dingy hillside they retreat in solidarity watching their lord, the bright screen emanating human suffering

Blank faces blank minds, lying on floors with needles in their arms, hooked up to the latest, their souls bled out long ago, a stain and a stench that won’t come out

Rejecting the last human whisper, they bashfully deny existence and turn to the mechanical monster for an explanation

Eagerly, the claw of Charon plucks the last leaves from the dying tree, and tosses them into the river Styx

They shriek delightfully at the simple exhibition of human pain, their faces spin and voices fade as they sink into quiet insanity.

The Machine by Joe Blagga (N. Jose)

“Right now”

A phrase perverted to the American will

Dictating demands that cannot be filled.

“Right now”

Write a paper, take a test,

Take a test while writing a paper

Do it, Right now

So you’ll get into a good school, a good job.

They say, the two faces,

The angels and devils, cry.

No rest, no time to think

No time to wonder why we must do what they say.

No time to wonder where happiness flows from.

“Right now”

Give me answers the ants say,

Their puny minds not able to wait for one minute,

Until given the drug.

“Right now”

The disease infects all

Blind to everything except what lies directly

in front of the tracks of hell.

No freedom to look around or stay in place

“Right now”

Infants spit out on the assembly line

And proceed to be molded and shaped into machines

Until they break or run out of oil

The final value estimated by the efficiency and speed

That work is completed at.

The whole determines the value of one

like scientists betting on a rat race

whose rats eventually become mindless brains

Completing endless chores to

Fit the mold of the machinist

And fit the needs of those who

Say “right now”

And agree to their laws.

If not, we are filthy hobos, lazy-asses, and radical scum,

Unable to live in a planet where trash, trinkets, and HDTV’s

Are the only source of energy,

and die in the city of steel, a cold, giant machine

of locked pavement and closed doors.

Rant Subprime- Kyle Stranahan

Right now its ten thousand thundering typhoons!

Big blue blistering barnacles,

Great gatherings of Gatsbys and brimming ballrooms of bastards,

The poor people couldn’t pay the price of their preempted peril,

Like calling the lightning of lordly measure down upon themselves,

Dangerously dangling the deceptive deed to the American dream,

Cautiously carrying the coveted carrot in front of the dumb horse’s nose,

No bales of bail outs for the horse or the driver,

Too focused on the carrot and not the road ahead.

Danica!

I know I'm a bit late to rant on this, but I couldn't let it pass by. A few days ago Danica hit a member of another racing team's crew during a race. If this isn't proof as to why she shouldn't be a PROFESSIONAL driver I don't know what is. She drives for a living, you would think she could avoid hitting someone. 

I also consider her one and only victory a complete farce. As I've said before, the race wasn't even in America, where the real racing happens. As far as it being an achievement for women, that's a joke as well. Its a race for Pete's sakes, not a freaking civil rights movement on wheels. Women should be able to advance to more aspects of society, but saying this is a milestone for women is ridiculous. 

Even though it was the victim's fault for stepping in front of her vehicle, you have to admit it's pretty funny. But facetiously, Would you feel safe with this menace behind the wheel?

Eating in the Chemistry Classroom

What the heck is up with not being able to eat in the chemistry classroom? Its the only class with marble floors and there is more sinks than I can count on my one hand. There is even an eye wash station in the case that my tangerine shoots citrus juice into my eyes. Which doesn't even hurt that bad.

Am I going to get chemicals on my food? We only use chemicals at the lab station. I am not going to go up to a lab table and rub my delicious turkey sandwhich with mayonaisse, provolone, and occasionally bacon for extra protein on the gross black countertop. The people in the chemistry room more than ever should know that acids taste sour and bases taste bitter, either of the two tastes would not make a good combination with my sweet peanut butter and banana sandwhiches. Great source of calcium.

So inconclusion the chemistry classroom should have bigger concerns. Like the fact that only one person in AP chemistry will receive an A this semester.