Tornado in Alabama

I could not imagine waking up one morning and all I had left were the clothes on my back. The tornado that occurred in Alabama, as well as, Arkansas and Mississippi, destroyed many homes leaving 333 people dead. Schools, and businesses were also destroyed, from elementary schools to Universities;The University of Alabama had to end the semester due to the tornado, as well as push graduation back to August. These people are left with no electricity and unsafe drink water. I was extremely worried, because I have family living in Alabama, thankfully they are all safe, but their are thousands of people in dire need of our help.

To Donate Click Below:

Donate to Red Cross for Alabama

Make a Gift to The University of Alabama

Monday Morning Madness

After reading the NY Metro this morning, I came across two interesting topics I couldn't go on without mentioning-

Man pingpongs for new teeth & Stomped to death.

Man pingpongs for new teeth,- At first I found this headline quiet funny, but Jamie Mandel is a Brooklyn bartender who lost his teeth in a car crash. In an attempt to raise $35,000, he will be playing pingpong for 15 hours straight at B61 next Saturday. Opponents will be charged $20 each. I will attend this event next Saturday to see what the outcome is like.

Stomped to death, on a more serious and sad note, trying to help others may not be worth the risk. Quinton Guerroro,a 61 year old man, was stomped to death after trying to break up a fight between a man and woman. Guerroro, who was only trying to help, intervened in the dispute, and the man and woman turned on him, as a result he was repeated kicked. Guerroro was severely beaten, died at Lincoln Hospital. and the couple was charged with murder. SMH - You must take responsibility for your actions.

The Royal Wedding

The big day is only a few days away! :D (I'm so excited) The Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton will take place on Friday, April 29th, at the the Westminster Abbey(It's a gorgeous church).The reception, hosted by the Queen, will take place at Buckingham Palace. Since I wasn't invited to Ms.Middleton's wedding (LOL), I will be viewing the live stream from my bed on The Royal Channel on youtube. The wedding begins at 10AM London time, which is 5AM EDT, so yes, I will be waking up early to watch the wedding before class.(lol). For all you Twitter fans, tweeting and the use of cellphones will not be allowed at the Westminster Abbey, since a signal-blocking technology will be installed in an attempt to cut down on information being release before the ceremony begins. Canada Post will also be issuing two stamps of the couple , on April 29th, to celebrate their wedding.Keep in mind that the last Royal Wedding stamp by Canada Post was in 1948 (I don't think my Mom was even born yet!)LOL.

Westminster Abbey

Buckingham Palace

LINKS:

THE ROYAL CHANNEL

THE ROYAL WEDDING WEBSITE

Transgender Discrimination

>Polis being dragged by her hair.

Chrissy Lee Polis, 22, a transgender woman, is the victim of a hate crime that occurred at a local McDonald's in Baltimore. The attack was videotaped by a McDonald's employee, and has been all over the internet since, with thousands of views. The video shows Polis brutally beaten by two females - a 14-year- old and an 18-year-old. Polis was dragged by her hair, punched, and kicked in the head. The McDonald's employee who is responsible for this video has been fired. I don't understand why people didn't help this woman! The employees shown in the video were males and instead of attempting to break up the fight, stand by doing nothing.

Based on the Baltimore Sun, the females were arrested; the 14-year-old on a juvenile assault charge and for the 18-year-old female, charges have not yet been filed. The Baltimore County prosecutors will decide by this week whether they will charge the females as a hate crime or an assault charge. I support the females being charged as a hate crime, because this incident is really sad. No one should be discriminated against based on sexual orientation, that should be their personal choice.

Links Below:

WATCH: Chrissy Lee Polis Speaks Out about the Attack

If you must watch the video of the attack, Click Here

Baltimore Sun Article

GAP'S Mobile Discount

SHOPPER'S ALERT!

To receive real time discounts and promotions from Gap, via text message, you must sign-up for Gap Mobile 4U online. Gap Mobile 4U, is a program created by the partnership of Gap and Visa. Shop at Gap and use you Visa card to receive extra discounts. After signing up for Gap Mobile 4U, customers will receive text-based offers for Gap, but they must meet the program criteria to redeem the offers. For example, a customer might have to shop within a specific Zip Code, or within a certain period of time, to receive the discounts.It may seem like a hassle, especially for only two discounts per week, but for any Gap shoppers, saving money in these economic times is a big deal to me! That extra $5 could be my lunch money.(Literally). I also recently received my first Visa credit, interest free for an entire year (big smile) and this is so much motivation for me to sign-up for Gap Mobile 4U! :)

LINK:

Sign Up For Gap Mobile 4U

Mets vs. Astros

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Today I went to my first baseball game at Citi Field. It was a great experience, and the METS WON! The field was surrounded with different ads from companies such as Delta, Verizon, Geico, Citi Bank, Subway, Dunkin Donuts, Bob's Furniture, and the list goes on. In between innings, numerous commercials were advertised. They even had the heart-shaped screen, where you would kiss your partner or the person sitting next to you (Just like the movies). I am extremely shocked that Social Media was not promoted at the game, as I anticipated. There was no promotion of the use of electronic social media at all. Both teams, as well as Citi Field, did not promote the use of live feed through Twitter or Facebook. The Mets own an active and verified twitter account but their public relations team did not encourage baseball fans to follow them on twitter or post pictures or comments about the game. This was an opportunity for the Mets to get hundreds of new followers, and pictures on their page. It appears like a HR person runs the Mets twitter account, because during the game there were NO LIVE FEED POSTS or Pictures. The Met’s Twitter page had three tweets after the game was over, which were all links to articles with the highlights of the game, very non-conversational. Social Media is way too popular not to be utilized in the correct way.

Citi Field

At the Game

Mets Tweets

Thoughts on Social Media and its affect on Social Interactions

I recently read an interesting article on the web and its affect on social interactions and was very intrigued at how it has changed society as a whole. Especially the affect on our younger generation and how they'll grow up with this new found platform of interaction i.e.. Facebook, Twitter. I remember growing up and not ever really interacting with kids my age unless they were at school or outside my house playing. Nowadays kids as young as 8 and 9 have access to these social platforms and it completely changes the way our younger generation will grow up. Will this lead to better social skills? More dependence on technology as a means communication?

“Rather than looking to experience life outside the home, study tours, and interact through face to face with others, children are more obsessed with social networking. And, this unconsciously shape their attitude and personality,”by David Rapheal.

It's still a bit premature to answer these questions, but it's still intriguing to think how human interaction will evolve with new technologies.

Here's the article I read into:

Click Here