Farming...... Now or Later?

I think I now quite a bit about this topic, but in all reality I do not have the experience to fully answer it.  I know people who have not gone to college but have been really successful at farming and I know people on the other end of the spectrum.  I guess it comes down to is getting a college degree really worth the money for a degreeless job?  I have thought about this subject greatly because I am considering farming as an occupation.  It is almost like a tradition that has been past down for many years.  I believe I would be either a 4^th or 5^th generation farmer and I would take pride in that.  My relatives before me did not have a degree and seemed to do alright.  I am not totally sure if I can assume the same will happen for me.  Things are a hundred times different now then they were fifty years ago, at least in farming.  Everything is becoming more advanced and technical, which makes me want to get a degree.  That way I possible have something to fall back on.  However, college now a days is digging deep into people’s wallets.  I could use that money for a number of things such as: land equipment, livestock, or even a house.  Just from thinking about this I realized I do not want to grow up and make these tough decisions that I could possibly regret for the rest of my life.  I wish life was like a calculator; you plug in the problem and it gives you the answer.  Unfortunately, no such thing exists so ill have to go with my gut and hope for the best.

Legal Highs?

I have been informed that there are many products out in the market that are used for purposes no other than “getting high.”  I have no idea why these products are being sold and not banished.  Some over the counter medications, bath salts, and incenses are just some of the products that can be apparently be used for a high.  Do people who buy these objects just for the sole purpose for getting a little loopy think they are a safe high?  This is absolutely not the truth.  I just saw recently on the news how a certain type of bath salt led him to kill himself.  How is that anywhere near form safe?  Also when I was in high school we had a person come and lecture us about the danger of these products and how they can be very deadly in large amounts.  She gave facts and told stories of people who died from a product like this.  It really pulled on the heart strings.  I remember after sitting through her presentation how could products like these be legal?  Illegal drugs on the street are already a big danger because of their addictiveness and strength.  How  are these products any different from those.  They are all chemically made and deliver a high.  The only difference is you can by these products legally which is almost worse.  If kids want to try getting high now they can just go their local Wal-Mart and experiment with one of these products.  This is horrible for two reasons.  First, they are able to start getting high at an earlier age which could possible gateway them into something worse later in life. Second, at that age they are experimenting and most likely will push the limits causing the situation to get dangerous.  These products do nothing good but cause trouble.  The sooner they are banned the sooner we are safer.         

Sex is Alright; Deal with it

In his essay Sex and the Cinema, Edward Jay Epstein writes, “The absence of sex--at least graphic sex—is key to the success of Hollywood’s money making movies.”  However, I think that sex plays a bigger role than Epstein gives credit too.  Sure there are movies that just so happened to not have popularity boom and have sex in them but it works both ways.  That is just how it goes not every movie will become the next best thing.  Some people go to movies just for the sex.  Why do you think the porn industry is so big?  Not only that but Epstein argues that stores like Wal-Mart use non-offensive movies to lure customers into there stores and because of it they make a pretty hefty chunk of change.  What I don’t understand is that is how this is possible.  You will see advertisements every single day promoting something along the lines of sex.  If this strategy did not work than I am pretty sure companies would not use it.  Also there are usually two different types of the same movie if rated R.  There is the theatrical version and the unrated version.  The movie may be still rated R for violence or language or what ever but the parts that are usually the most cut out are the sex scenes.  If you do not want to watch the sex scenes simply watch the theatrical version or simply fast forward.  My final thought is that I would bet more than anything that the same amount of people would know what you talking when you say a movie like National Lampoons or American Pie instead of Shrek or Up.  This is because they are popular.  Not only that why do they keep making more of these types of movies if they are not making money?  Don’t you think they would learn after awhile? Something does not add up!

School Rules

A couple years back when I was a sophomore a kid got kicked out of all sports and clubs for the whole school year because he got into trouble with the law.  This was his second offense but it was during the summer, off of school grounds.  To me this brings up the argument of whether the school had the right to do this.  I personally believe the school had no right to interfere on the matter since it had absolutely nothing to do with school.  I believe it as more of a family matter more than anything.  Their punishment should be dealt by the law and the parents.  Why does the school feel like they have to intervene?  What good comes to the school for punishing one of their top athletes and club leader?  From what I understand the kid was punished because of the schools handbook but in my opinion the handbook can not cover every single circumstance and there are special circumstances that the super attendant or school board have to personally decide on.  One of the clubs he got kicked out of just so happen to give him a .25 worth of credit every semester.  Should this exclude that one club?  I feel it should since that goes towards his overall credit for high school.  I know every school is different and each one has there own set of rules but the line has to be drawn somewhere.  The school should not have to power to even further complicate someone’s life because of they did in the summer.  Plus isn’t the whole purpose of school to brighten someone’s future rather than put it on hold?