<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935426092641241304</id><updated>2009-02-21T06:43:04.733-08:00</updated><title type='text'>The Vent</title><subtitle type='html'>"The Vent," a new Teen Web initiative is written by Sarah Rivette, a 21-year-old college student who's about the leave school and enter the real world! Check it out! Stick with her as she finishes the last six months of her college career!</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://teenwebvent.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1935426092641241304/posts/default'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://teenwebvent.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Billy Hallowell</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06831733485352786796</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>13</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935426092641241304.post-8579090351286846177</id><published>2008-10-13T20:28:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2008-10-13T20:28:27.642-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Come join me on VoterWatch.org's Transparency Matters</title><content type='html'>&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="98%" style="height: 98%"&gt; 	&lt;tr&gt; 	&lt;td valign="top" style="font:12px 'lucida grande', tahoma, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; padding: 10px;"&gt; 		&lt;table width="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="border:3px solid #ccc"&gt; 		  &lt;tr&gt; 			&lt;td bgcolor="#D4E2E9" style="padding:4px 12px; color:#333333;"&gt; 	 			  &lt;div style="font-size:18px;"&gt; 				Join me on &lt;b&gt;VoterWatch.org&amp;#039;s Transparency Matters&lt;/b&gt;			  &lt;/div&gt; 			  &lt;div style="font-size:12px;"&gt;&lt;/div&gt; 			&lt;/td&gt; 		  &lt;/tr&gt; 		  &lt;tr&gt; 			&lt;td bgcolor="#ffffff" width="*" style="font-size:12px;padding: 10px;" valign="top"&gt; 			  &lt;table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%"&gt; 			    &lt;tr&gt; 				  			      &lt;td width="96" valign="top" style="font-size: 12px; padding-right: 10px;"&gt; 					    &lt;a href="http://governmenttransparency.ning.com/xn/detail/u_1hc0wvbftd1g2"&gt;&lt;img height="96" width="96" border="0" alt="Billy Hallo..." src="http://api.ning.com/files/L50DUpMAxO1HxJLtYSsEnTiqkaxlIlXORZVv7GNrEM2OUu4LMG1PbILIZnqgSDqiQ3PZkuc85p1kKGpEBVBmi6PwDMdmy8kA/Pictures085.jpg?width=96&amp;amp;height=96&amp;amp;crop=1%3A1&amp;amp;xn_auth=no"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;     &lt;div style="padding-bottom:6px;text-align:center;font-size:12px"&gt;&lt;a href="http://governmenttransparency.ning.com/xn/detail/u_1hc0wvbftd1g2" style="text-decoration:none"&gt;Billy Hallowell&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt; 			      &lt;/td&gt; 				  			      &lt;td valign="top" style="font-size: 12px;"&gt; 					&lt;div style="font-size:13px; padding:8px 16px 16px;"&gt; 						Join VoterWatch&amp;#039;s &amp;quot;Transparency Matters&amp;quot; community for journalists, npo&amp;#039;s and others who care about U.S. government transparency.  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I wanted to be away from my small town, and some where that I could fine new experiences. Little did I know that these "new experiences" would include frustration every single time a flake of snow dropped from the sky.&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;We are prepared for snow Upstate, its part of life. Six inches of snow is nothing. Twelve inches of snow is nothing. I understand that the city rarely gets blanketed in a heavy sheet of the white powder, but come on! How hard is it to clean up the streets three days after the storm?&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;That's my issue. It's not that the roads are impassable during or immediately following the snowfall. My issue is that three days later, there are still places that are impossible to get to. For example, street parking. I get that there are a lot of cars and not many places to park them, but plowing cars in only perpetuates the problem. Last night I was visiting a friend in Westchester. First of all, the sidewalks still were not shoveled. Second, I had to park on a side street that was still not clear. After visiting with my friend, I came out and my car would not move because there was no traction for the tires. I was shoveling my car out, three days after the snowstorm, for 25 minutes. Granted, maybe I should have parked elsewhere, or should have angled my car differently. But regardless of what I should have done, the streets should be a little clearer than what they are. &lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;I get it, NYC can't function in the snow, and the city becomes paralyzed when the first flake hits the sidewalk. But am I expecting too much to have the street cleared three days after the storm? Or are my expectations too high? Whichever is the case, I'm still angry.&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;Maybe I should just move back Upstate, or buy a four wheel drive car that can drive over anything. &lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;Question Everything.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;br clear="all"&gt;&lt;br&gt; &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1935426092641241304-4789255727972470162?l=teenwebvent.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://teenwebvent.blogspot.com/feeds/4789255727972470162/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1935426092641241304&amp;postID=4789255727972470162' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1935426092641241304/posts/default/4789255727972470162'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1935426092641241304/posts/default/4789255727972470162'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://teenwebvent.blogspot.com/2007/03/snowstorm-plus-three.html' title='Snowstorm Plus Three'/><author><name>Billy Hallowell</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06831733485352786796</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='12984193392732302247'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935426092641241304.post-337102639506036648</id><published>2007-03-13T10:28:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2007-03-13T10:29:02.393-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Trials and Tribulations of Travel</title><content type='html'>&lt;br clear="all"&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;This past week was spring break for many colleges, and talking to your friends you might begin to hear travel horror stories. And that is the case here. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-tab-count: 1"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;For the first weekend of the spring break, several members of the newspaper staff and me were trapped in the trials and tribulations of travel. We hit every road block imaginable in our trip across country to take part in a national newspaper convention.  &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-tab-count: 1"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Here was the round down of the ups and downs of our trip. Our first flight left JFK airport at  7am. That flight, in my opinion, was by far the best. It did have its snafus, however. It was a six hour flight to San Francisco and there was no snack served, nothing, just juice for six hours. Plus, the in-flight movie,  &lt;i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"&gt;Happy Feet&lt;/i&gt;, had some crazy messed up sound where you were hearing Spanish and English at the same time. But all in all we got to San Fran safe and sound.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-tab-count: 1"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;We exit the plane and notice that we are in the smallest terminal ever built, and we have only 35 minutes to catch our next flight to our final destination; Portland, Oregon. We asked a TSA agent where the next terminal is and their response is "You have to exit this terminal and walk to the next functioning terminal." That is correct, we had to walk through a dead terminal to get to our next flight, which also meant that we needed to go back through security. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-tab-count: 1"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;This is where it all went down hill. One of our group members, Claire Owens, had lost their ID somewhere between NY and San Fran and just realized it as we got onto the security line. At this point, the advisor, Ashley Friedman, shoves cash into my hand and says "If we don't make it on the plane, have fun in  Portland!" Ashley and Claire had to go back to the check in counter and verify that they could come on the plane. Myself, Melissa Peace and Ana Montano all got onto the security line and started taking off our shoes and the like to get through the metal detectors. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-tab-count: 1"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;The second snag of the trip. We had gotten through JFK without any problems, but at this point, Melissa and I both (who carried on our luggage) are pulled aside and told that our liquids are too large and that they need to be in clear plastic ziploc bags. The man who searched my bag did not take any of my items; I just received a stern lecture. The person who was searching Melissa's bag however, decided to take about $50 worth of makeup and perfume, but left a considerable amount of liquids with her anyway. It was very confusing.  &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-tab-count: 1"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Somehow, we all made it onto this flight to Portland. Claire was forced to go through extra security where she was puffed with air (to make sure that she didn't have any bomb making material on her clothes) and we got to  Portland safe and sound. Claire, Ashley's and Ana's luggage, however, was left behind in San Fran. We go to customer service and make sure that they will send the luggage to the hotel. It arrived later that night, at about  11pm.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-tab-count: 1"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Compared to traveling, the time spent in Portland was rather uneventful. We went about going to sessions and meeting new people and gaining new ideas and insights. But as soon as we left the hotel, the trip got even more interesting. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-tab-count: 1"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;We arrived at the Portland Airport at 9:15am for our 10:40am flight because we knew that Claire needed to go through extra security. We all get through security, where I also was forced to be puffed with air to check for bomb making material and we sit down on a bench to wait for Claire. She is surrounded by two TSA agents and we see them take away her shoes. They believed that there was something strange on her shoes and they needed to be re-x-rayed for safety. We are all, eventually, on the opposite side of security and ready to board our third flight to  San Diego.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-tab-count: 1"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Once we land in San Diego, we realize that we have to leave the terminal we flew into and go back through the security procedures, yet again. At least this time, our lay over is about two hours, instead of 35 minutes. We exit the terminal carrying out coats and scarves into 70 degree, sunny  San Diego. We board the Red Bus that transports passengers from one terminal to the other, but because the driver makes no announcements about what stop the bus is at, we end up taking a tour of the San Diego airport. &lt;/font&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-tab-count: 1"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;We enter our last and final terminal of the trip and get on the security line ready to go through "the unbuckle your belt; take off your shoes" ordeal again. But the TSA lady who is checking boarding passes informs us that our boarding pass is in fact not a boarding pass, and this is after she had let Melissa and me through, and was directing her comments to Ashley, Claire and Ana. So, to keep with the trend of the trip, Melissa and I trekked onwards as Ashley, Claire and Ana went back to the check in counter to figure the situation out. It ended with an American Airlines worker yelling at the TSA agent.  &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-tab-count: 1"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;At this point, we have gone through 4 security checks, 4 airports, countless numbers of TSA agents and had traveled thousands of miles. We thought it was over, but in fact it had not. We board our last flight from  San Diego to JFK at 2:35pm Pacific time. The plane is supposed to take off at 2:55pm and land in NY at 11pm Eastern time. But as we sit on the plane and 2:55pm passes us by, the pilot of the flight informs us that we are going to be delayed about a half an hour because our flight path changed due to a storm in the Midwest and we needed to take on more fuel. Not to mention, this plane is far smaller than any of the planes we had been on and I was squished next to this law professor who smelled a little funky and huffed and puffed every time I shifted half a centimeter in my seat.  &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-tab-count: 1"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;We finally took off and began the trip from the West coast back to the East coast. We landed an hour late at JFK, but our luggage had made it and so had all of us. When I finally got to my parents house in Upstate NY a day and a half later, my mother asked me if the whole trip was worth it. And the answer is yes, and if for no other reason, because I now know to never have a layover when flying across country. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;Question Everything. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1935426092641241304-337102639506036648?l=teenwebvent.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://teenwebvent.blogspot.com/feeds/337102639506036648/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1935426092641241304&amp;postID=337102639506036648' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1935426092641241304/posts/default/337102639506036648'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1935426092641241304/posts/default/337102639506036648'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://teenwebvent.blogspot.com/2007/03/trials-and-tribulations-of-travel.html' title='Trials and Tribulations of Travel'/><author><name>Billy Hallowell</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06831733485352786796</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='12984193392732302247'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935426092641241304.post-6252445089420434522</id><published>2007-03-06T07:19:00.001-08:00</published><updated>2007-03-06T07:19:36.705-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Wait, What?</title><content type='html'>  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;So there's this woman who wrote a book on how she felt relieved after her first husband accidentally died in a car crash more than 20 years ago. People are angry at her. Why? Because apparently they have never noticed, that relief is a typical response to grieving. &lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;I'm a little angry that people are attacking this woman, who shared her experience in a book that she co-authored and in an article published. First, if you don't like what she has to say DON'T LISTEN. Second, what she is saying is completely plausible, and any of you reading this that have dealt with the loss of someone, know this. &lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;Relief comes with grieving. It's not a nice feeling or thought when you realize it's there (its guilt inducing) but you cannot deny that on some level, at some point in time, you hear yourself say "It's better this way." And for the most part, that is the truth. For example, your grandmother, who bakes the best cookies in the world, has been in the hospital for five months and she finally passes away. At the services, how many times do you think you will hear "She's in a better place", "At least she's not suffering anymore". And that's the way it is. That's feeling relief that the person is not there. Either relief for the fact that the individual is no longer suffering, or relief that you personally no longer have to wait day in and day out for the inevitable. &lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;The woman, who wrote this book, said that she felt relief when her husband died because she was unhappy in her marriage. Why is this so wrong? Why do we care? Why are people up in arms over this? I don't understand what the big deal is, she wrote about something that she not only personally experienced, but something that she researched and something that she has observed in her field of counseling. &lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;Question Everything.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;br clear="all"&gt;&lt;br&gt; &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1935426092641241304-6252445089420434522?l=teenwebvent.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://teenwebvent.blogspot.com/feeds/6252445089420434522/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1935426092641241304&amp;postID=6252445089420434522' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1935426092641241304/posts/default/6252445089420434522'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1935426092641241304/posts/default/6252445089420434522'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://teenwebvent.blogspot.com/2007/03/wait-what.html' title='Wait, What?'/><author><name>Billy Hallowell</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06831733485352786796</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='12984193392732302247'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935426092641241304.post-8076696243670984408</id><published>2007-03-06T06:53:00.001-08:00</published><updated>2007-03-06T06:53:40.611-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Second Lives</title><content type='html'>&lt;br&gt;&lt;span class="gmail_quote"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Since I haven&amp;#39;t updated this blog in quite sometime, you can imagine that I&amp;#39;ve been busy. I&amp;#39;ve been catching up on readings for class, working on the college newspaper and writing some amazing things for that paper. It&amp;#39;s taken a lot of my time. Plus, there hasn&amp;#39;t been much to talk about (in my mind that is).     &lt;p&gt;But something hit me the other day, while I was scanning Facebook for someone&amp;#39;s contact information. How much easier our lives are because of the internet and the amount of information that we post. Facebook, MySpace, online dating…where does it end? We, as a society, have begun to have two lives. One that we live in person and one that we lead online. In fact, that idea has inspired a new online website called &lt;a href="http://secondlife.com" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"&gt;secondlife.com&lt;/a&gt;. On this website you can set up an entirely new life, a whole new person who owns things, buys things, sells things, who lives.&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;Does anyone else see something strangely wrong with this? When did leading a double life become acceptable? That&amp;#39;s exactly what is happening. People are becoming consumed with their online identity that they are losing their real identity. And I am victim to this as well. As a country we are spending more and more time online and less and less time interacting face to face.&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;Look at online dating for example. We weave this extravagant persona that is carefully crafted to present the best side of ourselves to entice and entrance members of the opposite sex (or in some cases, of the same sex) in hopes of finding our one true love. I&amp;#39;m not denouncing online dating; in fact I am trying it out. But what happened to face to face interaction? What happened to seeing someone in a store and asking them out? &lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;Try this experiment for me. Time yourself and your online usage tonight or tomorrow. See how much time you spend doing homework, or research. And then time how much time you spend chatting on AIM, or surfing MySpace or Facebook. Look at those times and then take a longer look at what that means for you. If you are spending more time sitting at your computer to surf the web and check out the new video on YouTube and less time working on your history report then I would say you are one of the victims of this online epidemic.&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;The internet is an amazing technologically advancement that is allowing people from opposite ends of the earth to communicate and share ideas. Unfortunately, it&amp;#39;s creating a rift in personal contact. I&amp;#39;m also a victim of this, I can barely go a day without checking MySpace, regardless of if someone posted something new on my comment wall or not. We are obsessed. And we need to find a way to begin reconnecting with real life, and attempt to leave our second lives behind.&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p&gt;Question Everything.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;br&gt; &lt;br clear="all"&gt; &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1935426092641241304-8076696243670984408?l=teenwebvent.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://teenwebvent.blogspot.com/feeds/8076696243670984408/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1935426092641241304&amp;postID=8076696243670984408' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1935426092641241304/posts/default/8076696243670984408'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1935426092641241304/posts/default/8076696243670984408'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://teenwebvent.blogspot.com/2007/03/second-lives.html' title='Second Lives'/><author><name>Billy Hallowell</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06831733485352786796</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='12984193392732302247'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935426092641241304.post-7939893409190805331</id><published>2007-02-13T08:04:00.001-08:00</published><updated>2007-02-12T15:23:24.980-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Valentine's Day--Who Needs It?</title><content type='html'>  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;On the eve of this Valentine's Day I find the need to curse the card companies and chocolate factories. CURSE YOU!&lt;/p&gt;        &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;Ok, I feel better. But who isn't with me on that? Don't get me wrong, I LOVE those little candy hearts that have the little messages on them and I can always go for getting a heart filled with mystery chocolates. But why make a holiday out of it?&lt;br&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br&gt;My issue with Valentine's Day is along the same line as my issue with New Years. Why do we need a special day set aside for something that we should be doing ALL OF THE TIME? Shouldn't we tell the people that are near and dear to us every day that we love them? Shouldn't we just get a gift for someone just because? Why do we make such a big deal out of February 14&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt;? &lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;We as a society are so distracted by holidays that lose their meaning before we even know what the meaning is. We get so consumed with Valentine's Day and what we are going to buy that special someone that we don't think about the bigger picture. &lt;/p&gt;        &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;The easy solutions—don't celebrate Valentine's Day. Don't wear red, don't buy a card, don't drop to one knee and offer a dozen long stem red roses (which are so over rated, I can't stand roses) to the one that you care for. Instead; wake up as you normally do and start telling the people in your life how much you care for them on a DAILY basis. Try to do something nice and unexpected every day for that someone in your life because if you did that then you wouldn't need to go overboard to try to make up for all the times that you didn't next February 14&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;Question Everything. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;br clear="all"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1935426092641241304-7939893409190805331?l=teenwebvent.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://teenwebvent.blogspot.com/feeds/7939893409190805331/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1935426092641241304&amp;postID=7939893409190805331' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1935426092641241304/posts/default/7939893409190805331'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1935426092641241304/posts/default/7939893409190805331'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://teenwebvent.blogspot.com/2007/02/valentines-day-who-needs-it.html' title='Valentine&apos;s Day--Who Needs It?'/><author><name>Billy Hallowell</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06831733485352786796</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='12984193392732302247'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935426092641241304.post-4787287301282571403</id><published>2007-02-11T20:11:00.001-08:00</published><updated>2007-01-30T11:38:28.892-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Randomness</title><content type='html'>I've spent the last week waiting for inspiration, something that made me slightly angry that I could write about for this blog. But instead of something that made me angry, I was just met by things that made me smile, and in some cases jump for joy. Like the fact that I just was admitted into Emerson  College and their Graduate  School for Journalism. Yes. I am officially going to Graduate School. I received the acceptance letter last Wednesday and there was just this huge, enormous weight lifted off of my shoulders. I can't even describe how great it felt to open that package and see CONGRATULATIONS! It's almost unbelievable.        &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;The only thing that has made me a little annoyed this past week is Ana Nicole Smith's death and the amount of coverage in the media it is receiving. Can we not just let this woman, who has been bullied by the media for years, rest in peace? It is a horrible thing that happened, and the media is behaving like a pack of wild dogs devouring this news and everything surrounding it. Who's the baby's father? Where does her money go? Did she commit suicide? Did someone murder her? Did her nurse and security guard not do enough to resuscitate her? GIVE IT A REST. She deserves to keep what last shards of dignity she has. She was beaten by the media for her marriage to an 80-year-old billionaire, for her sponsoring the weight loss pill TrimSpa, and over the death of her son while she was giving birth to her daughter. We, as a country, should not allow this to be the news that we want our on front pages. It's a shame.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;I was in a production of The Vagina Monologues this weekend. For those of you who do not know this show, it is a set of monologues written from what are called Vagina Interviews. It was written by Eve Ensler who wanted to raise awareness about violence against women in the United   States and abroad. Some of the monologues are considered risqué and offensive, and I can understand why. However, I feel that the cause is so great that the content can be overlooked. All money rose from the shows (which are done all over the country and the world on February 14—V-Day) go to organizations that fight for the rights of women. As a miniature feminist I participate in the show and donate my time, money and effort to this cause.&lt;span style=""&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;Forgive the randomness that is in this blog.    &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;Question Everything.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;br&gt; &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1935426092641241304-4787287301282571403?l=teenwebvent.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://teenwebvent.blogspot.com/feeds/4787287301282571403/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1935426092641241304&amp;postID=4787287301282571403' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1935426092641241304/posts/default/4787287301282571403'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1935426092641241304/posts/default/4787287301282571403'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://teenwebvent.blogspot.com/2007/02/randomness.html' title='Randomness'/><author><name>Billy Hallowell</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06831733485352786796</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='12984193392732302247'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935426092641241304.post-6832382207417745180</id><published>2007-01-30T11:38:00.001-08:00</published><updated>2007-01-30T11:38:29.094-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Tyra IS NOT FAT!</title><content type='html'>The news world has been buzzing lately with Tyra Banks and her supposed 40 pound weight gain. She's been featured in tabloids, she's spoken out about on several talk shows (including Larry King Live and it will be the subject of her own show on Thursday) and in People magazine.     &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;Tyra is a five foot eleven inch woman who has spent the majority of her career as a model whose natural weight rests between 136-167 pounds. She claims that she is at 161 pounds which is in her natural weight range. She is a positive role model for young girls around the globe and I think its travesty that the news is making such a huge deal about her gaining weight. Especially when the media knows what kind of influence they have on young girls who suffer from eating disorders. It's utterly disgusting that the media finds it necessary to publish this kind of thing. I'm ashamed. &lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;The media is saying that it's not ok for young women to gain weight and that if you are almost six feet tall that you are fat at 161 pounds. This is a very sensitive subject to me because I suffered from an eating disorder for several years during high school and I still have difficulties dealing with my image. And I know that there are many young women (and men) who are just as image conscious. &lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;In our "healthy" living of today, it is extremely important to not stress the number associated with weight. It's not about the number. It's about health and how you feel about yourself. People who suffer from eating disorders never feel thin; it's part of the disease. They think that they can always stand to lose more weight because they still envision themselves as fat. And when the media stresses weight, instead of health, it makes it difficult for people to get better and to get away from their disorder. It's such a vicious cycle and the media is only perpetuating it. &lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;What the media should be stressing in this situation is the kind of role modeling that Tyra is doing: she is showing the world that it is ok to fluctuate in weight and that fluctuating, is in fact, normal. They should not focus on Tyra getting "fat", because that is not what is happening. She is returning to a natural weight, something that she potentially never achieved in the tough and competitive world of modeling where your size is everything. &lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;In my opinion, Tyra is a beautiful woman, who looks like a woman. She is not a twig. She is not fat. She represents what a woman should look like. She's healthy and happy with her appearance, which is all that truly matters. &lt;/p&gt;  Question Everything.&lt;br&gt; &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1935426092641241304-6832382207417745180?l=teenwebvent.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://teenwebvent.blogspot.com/feeds/6832382207417745180/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1935426092641241304&amp;postID=6832382207417745180' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1935426092641241304/posts/default/6832382207417745180'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1935426092641241304/posts/default/6832382207417745180'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://teenwebvent.blogspot.com/2007/01/tyra-is-not-fat.html' title='Tyra IS NOT FAT!'/><author><name>Billy Hallowell</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06831733485352786796</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='12984193392732302247'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935426092641241304.post-2082397506741079454</id><published>2007-01-27T20:33:00.001-08:00</published><updated>2007-01-27T20:33:52.380-08:00</updated><title type='text'>First Week of Classes</title><content type='html'>  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;Forgive the lack of an update…I've been UBER busy with the first week of classes, meetings and I'm trying to get everything done.&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;There hasn't been much going on that I've gotten myself wrapped up in. There was the State of the Union address this week. Billy and I watched it together and ate popcorn. I was waiting for Bush to make a fool of himself, but he didn't. I feel like listening to him is what it must have felt like to be Charlie Brown listening to his teacher in class—Wha Wha Wha. I hope that everyone reading that gets that reference, otherwise that would make me feel entirely too old. &lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;I'm taking four classes this semester: Intercultural Communications, Public Relations, Sportswriting and Genocide. Yes, I am taking Genocide. I'm not a morbid freak, on the contrary I believe it is important to read and learn as much as we can about the past so that we can prevent similar atrocities from happening again. The class is dedicated to learning about the sociological and historical implications associated with genocide. For example: what exactly makes society commit genocide? How can someone have so many disregards for human life? That's the problem. Generally speaking, genocide is committed by a "superior" group on an "inferior" group; therefore the superior group doesn't see the inferior group worthy of living. To be able to accomplish genocide, you do not have to be a cold hearted killer; you just have to be a person who is incapable of accepting differences and the unknown. Scary to think, isn't it? With this theory any person is capable of committing genocide given the correct tools and opportunity. &lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;That's all I have for now. I'm exhausted—I just spent the entire day working on the layout for the school newspaper that I am the Editor-In-Chief for. That takes a lot out of you, but it's worth it, I love journalism.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;Question Everything.&lt;/p&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1935426092641241304-2082397506741079454?l=teenwebvent.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://teenwebvent.blogspot.com/feeds/2082397506741079454/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1935426092641241304&amp;postID=2082397506741079454' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1935426092641241304/posts/default/2082397506741079454'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1935426092641241304/posts/default/2082397506741079454'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://teenwebvent.blogspot.com/2007/01/first-week-of-classes.html' title='First Week of Classes'/><author><name>Billy Hallowell</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06831733485352786796</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='12984193392732302247'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935426092641241304.post-7876071896058282650</id><published>2007-01-23T06:49:00.001-08:00</published><updated>2007-01-23T06:49:47.245-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Rosie vs. Donald</title><content type='html'>&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;When did a feud between Rosie O'Donnell, Barbara Walters and Donald Trump become worthy of an article in New York Times? When did this feud become relevant enough to even talk about, much less write about? I don't even know what started the whole thing, but all I know is that it's ridiculous. Rosie is mad at Donald for allowing Miss America to stay in her position after months of rampant partying and drug use. So Donald fires back by not only insulting her appearance but by dragging Barbara into the mix by claiming that Barbara disapproves of Rosie and her job on The View. But to be honest, who isn't appalled by the job that Rosie is doing on The View? What happened to the Rosie that we all knew and loved from 10 years ago when she had her own talk show? She, along with her idol Tom Cruise, both jumped on the crazy ship and set sail for the magically island where they can insult anyone they choose and still manage to get press coverage.  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;Why do people care so much about the lives of these people? I will never get it. And here I am, finding myself dedicated brain cells and time to write a blog about it. Huh, funny isn't it? Strange world we live in when it is more important to know what celebrity hates what celebrity when more people are being sent off to war, a genocide is claiming more and more lives everyday and where countries of the world are arming themselves with nuclear weapons. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;Question Everything.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1935426092641241304-7876071896058282650?l=teenwebvent.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://teenwebvent.blogspot.com/feeds/7876071896058282650/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1935426092641241304&amp;postID=7876071896058282650' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1935426092641241304/posts/default/7876071896058282650'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1935426092641241304/posts/default/7876071896058282650'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://teenwebvent.blogspot.com/2007/01/rosie-vs-donald.html' title='Rosie vs. Donald'/><author><name>Billy Hallowell</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06831733485352786796</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='12984193392732302247'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935426092641241304.post-533721961967884099</id><published>2007-01-23T06:48:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2007-01-23T06:49:01.478-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Media?</title><content type='html'>&lt;br clear="all"&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;I am very content with the new Democratic Congress that was just sworn into office. I do not like how the media is focusing on the one Muslim Congressmen who choose to be sworn in on a Koran instead of a Bible. At least he made the effort to be sworn in on something that he believed in. I mean how would it have looked if he put his hand on the Bible and said that oath when he doesn't believe what the Bible has to say? I think it would have been hypocritical and offensive (or even more so for those who already found his actions to be so). Another thing that has been bothering me is the constant comparison of Presidential hopeful Barack Obama to Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and most recently to the President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the way he dresses. The buzz surrounding this candidate and the comparisons that are being made do not belong in politics. They belong in the tabloids and now it is safe for you to assume that they should not be written about at all.  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;Moving on now to Bush's address to the nation this past week and his "new" Iraq strategy. First things first, he finally admitted that he made a mistake. It only took four years for him to do, but I see that as a step in the right direction. However, I think he's making another mistake by suggesting that sending another 20,000 troops into the mouth of hell will fix his first mistake. We've already lost over 3,000 hard working, patriotic Americans. The number of Iraqi civilians killed is unable to be measured. It is time for Iraq to stand on its own two feet that we as a nation have forced under them. We as a country do not understand that culture and the atmosphere of their nation, and we think that by giving them the democratic freedoms that we cherish so dearly will make them like us. They don't want to be like us, and they cannot be like us. It is arrogant and pigheaded for the United States to believe that it can change the way their country functions and works. Yes, they could become a great democratic nation, but not the same democratic nation that we are.  &lt;span style="mso-spacerun: yes"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;Many Americans, politicians and analysts do not see the war in Iraq as having a favorable outcome. Not only is Bush's decision to send more troops going against what countless people have told him, but it is challenging the new Democratic Congress. I think he's testing to see if Congress will have what it takes to put an end to all of this. They can cut funding to the war, which would make it difficult to proceed with his plan, and here's an even better idea, they could use the evidence that has mounted over the past six years of his administration to perhaps impeach him…something that should have been done when it was revealed that he went behind the Congress's back and began his domestic spying endeavor. It's all turning into one big cluster that I don't think anyone will be getting out of anytime soon. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"&gt;Question Everything. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1935426092641241304-533721961967884099?l=teenwebvent.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://teenwebvent.blogspot.com/feeds/533721961967884099/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1935426092641241304&amp;postID=533721961967884099' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1935426092641241304/posts/default/533721961967884099'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1935426092641241304/posts/default/533721961967884099'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://teenwebvent.blogspot.com/2007/01/media.html' title='Media?'/><author><name>Billy Hallowell</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06831733485352786796</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='12984193392732302247'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935426092641241304.post-4568692765774065802</id><published>2007-01-23T06:47:00.001-08:00</published><updated>2007-01-23T06:47:45.426-08:00</updated><title type='text'>New Year, People!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" size="3"&gt;A new year has begun, and with that new year everyone is starting over. It's a nice idea to be able to start fresh at the beginning of every year, what I don't understand however is why don't people think that they can start over every single day? Every morning that we wake up is a fresh start where we can take what happened the day before and move on. This isn't something that happens on January first at 12am, it is something that can happen every day at 12am. That's how I like to think about it anyway. Everyday is a chance for me to start over. Forgive and forget what happened the day before and move on.  &lt;/font&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" size="3"&gt;This year is going to be a big year. It's 2007 and I graduate from undergrad. That's huge. I'm so nervous and afraid of what is out there for me. I've sent in all my graduate school applications and am just waiting to hear from them, and I'm not even sure how long that will take. This waiting game is torture; the entire process of graduate school is torture actually. From the personal statements to the GRE test to the letters of recommendation to the outrageous fees they charge you to just apply. It's ridiculous really. But if you want to continue your education I guess it's what you have to do. In the end it will all be worth it because it's what I really want to do. And anything you really want hard enough is worth whatever you have to go through to get it. If that even makes sense. I just had the realization that I am justifying cruel and unusual punishment. &lt;/font&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" size="3"&gt;Speaking of…what is with the whole Saddam execution? Honestly, he did deserve to die, but the way that it happened, the way it was rushed, the way he was mocked and ridiculed right before hand has turned him into the martyr that he always wanted to be. Hussein did some terrible things while he was alive, but people will only remember how he died, when he had more dignity that his executioners. It's a shame really. So much time and man power and effort put into his capture, his trial and to have it end in such a way is anti climatic. I sometimes think that he and the rest of the world would have been better off if he was just left to rot in that whole he was found in. He would have suffered an undignified death that no person is worthy of…which is precisely what he deserved. He didn't deserve that trial. We just allowed him to stand at a podium spouting his "wisdom" to everyone who was tuned in. We gave him the power again and he used it.  &lt;/font&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" size="3"&gt;Capital punishment in general confuses me. I grew up in a town where everyone works at the Correction Facility down the road. Great Meadow was the place where Sing Sing's rejects are sent; not a pleasant place at all in the middle of the countryside of Upstate New York. Even though New York doesn't have capital punishment anymore, it did for a very long time and there are still states out there that do. I'm divided on this issue because I can see both sides of the conflict. On the one side, capital punishment makes sense because A. the punishment should fit the crime, B. why should taxpayers pay for someone to live in a prison cell for the rest of their lives, and C. the victims' families deserve it. The other side however is rather compelling to. It can be considered cruel and unusual, but is what the person did to deserve the death penalty not the same? The person may be innocent, which has happened and unfortunately in some cases, the truth comes out too late.&amp;nbsp; And then there is the debate of rehabilitation, which I personally do not believe in. There are certain criminals out there that deserve to be punished, and perhaps even have the cruel and unusual punishment clause waved. Those criminals are rapists, murderers and child molesters. They are the lowest of the low in my opinion and deserve to suffer. Honestly, I wish we could make an island (similar to Alcatraz), ship them there, but instead of a prison, they all live in wholes in the ground where they are never allowed to see the light of day…ever again. The prison system is set up to cater to criminals. They are handed everything on the inside: a warm bed, a hot meal, a job, and sometimes even an education. That's why there are so many incidences of revolving door offenders. Granted, prison life is not the most pleasant thing to endure, but they don't have to worry about the essentials, and that is more than what half of the law abiding Americans can say.  &lt;/font&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" size="3"&gt;Question Everything.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1935426092641241304-4568692765774065802?l=teenwebvent.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://teenwebvent.blogspot.com/feeds/4568692765774065802/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1935426092641241304&amp;postID=4568692765774065802' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1935426092641241304/posts/default/4568692765774065802'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1935426092641241304/posts/default/4568692765774065802'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://teenwebvent.blogspot.com/2007/01/new-year-people.html' title='New Year, People!'/><author><name>Billy Hallowell</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06831733485352786796</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='12984193392732302247'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935426092641241304.post-3466821502924719335</id><published>2007-01-23T06:45:00.001-08:00</published><updated>2007-01-23T06:45:49.423-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Well hello blogging world!</title><content type='html'>&lt;p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;I&amp;#39;m Sarah...your normal scared to death of the real world undergraduate senior. I am finishing up my last fall semester as an undergrad and getting ready for real life. Scary. I plan on going to graduate school to not only delay the inevitable of the real world, but to hopefully better my chances at eventually becoming a professor in my field of choice; Journalism. That&amp;#39;s right ladies and gentlemen; I want to be a Journalist...the Anderson Cooper of the writing world. That&amp;#39;s the best way I can sum it up. Unfortunately, that might be able to happen. Why you ask yourself? Because the world of journalism is rapidly changing and blogs like this are making it happen.  &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;People in the profession are worried that people will only turn to what they call &amp;quot;citizen journalists&amp;quot; for their news and information. Some think that pretty soon the field of journalism will be obsolete...I however, disagree. I believe that with a society like the one that we are currently living in, needs real, fair and impartial journalists more than ever. If we relied solely on bloggers for our information, not only would we be sifting through mountains of opinions on a daily basis and never really know what was happening in the world, but we would be subjected to incorrect information. I&amp;#39;m not saying that bloggers don&amp;#39;t portray the news correctly; in fact I think bloggers can. However, I do not believe that human beings, by nature, get all the facts before reacting to some situations. We are emotional and instinctual creatures and go with our gut instincts. What I am saying is that journalists who are trained to represent the world in a fair and unbiased light are able to weed out emotion when it comes to hard news stories.  &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;I&amp;#39;m not really sure if my point is getting across to all you who may be reading this. And I&amp;#39;m not sure that I can adequately portray what I am thinking at 1am. But the coffee and the pure adrenaline of knowing that I am almost done with my undergraduate career has sparked this rant. I guess that&amp;#39;s why Billy Hallowell decided to call this The Vent: With Sarah Rivette...he knew what I would end up talking about: random things that come into my head.  &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Well I&amp;#39;ll leave you with this thought for right now: what do you think will happen in the future with how we get our news? Do you think that the internet will take over and that sooner than we think television, newspapers and magazines will be a thing of the past? Or do you think that the people who say all of this are just full of it and want to obsess over something that they won&amp;#39;t even be around to see happen? Let me know what you think...post a comment, share your thoughts, speak your mind. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Question Everything.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1935426092641241304-3466821502924719335?l=teenwebvent.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://teenwebvent.blogspot.com/feeds/3466821502924719335/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1935426092641241304&amp;postID=3466821502924719335' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1935426092641241304/posts/default/3466821502924719335'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1935426092641241304/posts/default/3466821502924719335'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://teenwebvent.blogspot.com/2007/01/well-hello-blogging-world.html' title='Well hello blogging world!'/><author><name>Billy Hallowell</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06831733485352786796</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='12984193392732302247'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry></feed>