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Writers  Lauren Forcella Emo TrendPromotes DepressioChic Editor’s note: Emo stands for “emotional.” Formerly a genre of music, emo is now a social movement of mostly white, affluent, suburban teens who champion melancholy, depression, cutting and suicidal thoughts. The fashion is skinny black pants and black hair covering most of the face. For further definition, see www.urbandictionary.com. Dear Straight Talk: I don’t get why everyone thinks emos are so bad. We are people, too, and we deserve the same love and respect everyone else gets. It’s not right how we are put down and even beat up for it. We are already emo enough! This just makes it worse. It makes us do things to ourselves that we don’t want to do. Why do people do that? — Breanna From Laura, 21: First of all, no one "makes" you do anything, you do that all on your own. Secondly, why should anyone give you "love and respect" if you don't love and respect yourself? Many people see emos as self-pitying whiners with no extraordinary problems who are ungrateful for the life they are given. They wallow in misery because they want attention and enjoy feeling sorry for themselves. That may be an unfair generalization, but a cultural movement that glorifies cutting and other self-destructive behaviors does not deserve respect. From Taylor, 19: Regardless of your problems, if you’re cutting as a solution it will bring you negative attention. I don’t make fun of people who cut. I talk to them about it, and it seems to make them feel better. Next time you feel put down or unloved, talk to someone, focus on what you are grateful for. From Ashley, 20: Being emo is all for attention, and that's what you’re getting. Being emo is feeling sorry for yourself, and that’s what you’re creating. What we think and feel we create in our life. Hate crimes should not be tolerated, but emos bring it on themselves. You need to find an outlet so you can happy again. From Megan, 19: Your complaint about emos getting beat up and ridiculed goes for every group of stereotyped individuals. Some people lash out at those they don’t understand. They are just ignorant. Regardless, if you are “doing things to yourself that you don’t want to do” you can’t really blame anyone else. From Nicole, 18: People diss you because it upsets you and they get amusement from that. Don't take it personally. People pick on others when they see something they resent in themselves. From Emily, 15: Emos already feel bad about themselves and I agree that dissing them makes the situation worse. Many emos come from wealthy families with big shoes to fill. A natural response is to rebel and/or become depressed. But the way emos do it is too radical to accept. Another reason people abuse emos is because (except for their music and writing) they are quiet. Like the nerd in the corner, they keep their verbal thoughts to themselves. One’s bark is bigger than one’s bite, and with no bark, one is more likely to get beat up. I wish parents would talk more with their kids. I, too, become depressed when I’m stressed, and talking with my mom totally lightens my emotional load. Dear Breanna: Sorry dear, but those who understand the emo trend find it difficult to respect. I say that with full respect for you as an individual. However, most people don’t see you. They see the tight black clothes, the black hair covering one eye. And they know this emo dress-code includes a thought-code that glorifies cutting and suicide. The emo trend has “elevated” depression into chic rebellion; the more depressed you act, the more points you get. Yes, sensitive people are searching for depth in our shallow world and yes, self-pity will take you to an emotional depth, but purposefully staying in self-pity is insanity. It is also dangerous and addicting. Your words show that. You speak to how, even when you want to stop cutting or harming yourself, you can’t. See a counselor as soon as possible. You deserve to have your joy back. Write to Straight Talk at www.StraightTalkForTeens.com or PO Box 963, Fair Oaks CA 95628.  Poppoff! Mary Jane Popp The Virus Within - Part 1 What if I told you there is a virus in almost all of us that is a hidden threat to life as we know it? For the past ten years ABC News Journalist Nicholas Regush has been on the trail of a shadow virus, one I never heard of before, that has been implicated in a varied group of conditions from Multiple Sclerosis and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome to Aids. The Virus Within: A Coming Epidemic, tells a chilling tale that could threaten public health worldwide. Nicholas Regush is an award-winning and Emmy nominated Investigative Medical and Science Journalist at ABC News, where he produces segments for World News Tonight with Peter Jennings. But this microbe is just speculation, right? Then I started to get chills up and down my spine when he told me all his information is based on Scientific evidence. Evidence is the word that got me. It seems Robert Gallo, co-discoverer of HIV back in 1986, first came across HHV-6…Herpes Virus-6. Gallo tried to tell Scientists back then what he discovered, trying to get them to consider HHV-6 as a possible co-factor in Aids. But, according to Regush, “They were too enamored at the funding they were getting for HIV, and no one wanted to hear about another HIV related Virus.” Then Regush really got to me. Some 90% of the population has it. How? It’s an old Virus that’s been around a long time. So what triggers it? Now I really got nervous. No one really knows. According to Nicholas, “What is known is that you have it, and I have it. It’s passed on from our Mother. The Virus can cause a lot of damage in young children 2-3 years old. It can cause seizures, kidney problems, blood disorders, and high fevers. But, for most of us, the Virus basically goes to sleep after a flu-like symptom or two.” So we build an immunity to it? Regush then got deadly serious, “The Virus is attacked by our immune system. For most of us, this attack works pretty well, and the immune system develops a lock on it.” What The Virus Within shows is tracking research is being done all over the world, particularly by two Milwaukee Scientists, Don Kerrigan and Konnie Knox. They have published in all top journals. What their research emphasizes is that if our immune system begins to fail, and we don’t know what that would take…a lot or a little…but when it does, there’s growing evidence this Virus can re-awaken. “So it sits there lie a ticking time bomb”, Regush explained, “and when it re-awakens, it can go after our key immune system cells and actually go after our brain cells as well. It can affect the nervous system and growing research suggests this Virus may be the actual trigger for Multiple Sclerosis.” Then Nicholas really related some frightening news. And I will have this revelation when next we meet. It will knock your socks off…guaranteed. In the meantime, stay HAPPY…HEALTHY…AND WISE !!! The Virus Within - Part 2 When last we talked, I introduced you to Nicholas Regush, Journalist with ABC News for the past ten years. In his book “The Virus Within”, Nicholas has been on the trail of a shadow virus that has been implicated in a varied group of conditions from Multiple Sclerosis to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. He tells of a coming epidemic that could threaten public health worldwide. But his book even raises the question as to what Virus is at the scene of Aids.” His words seemed almost anguished when he told me, “Believe me, what Kerrigan and Knox found, they didn’t go looking for. They were looking at bone marrow transplantation and patients with strange phenomena who had extreme immune deficiencies. When they started looking at people with Aids, they were really surprised that they found active HHV-6 infection in key areas where HIV is supposed to be doing the killing.” That’s enough to think about. I got my answer, “When people have neurological symptoms like memory loss or motor control problems, and were diagnosed as having Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, HHV-6 is very much alive and active in the body in the peripheral blood. What’s intriguing is once the Virus gets going, it seems to trigger yet another Herpes Virus called Epstein Barr Virus which probably 40% of us have. It’s fairly common, and again, it’s another one of those things that goes to sleep and can re-awaken. So, in this particular kind of case, you have two predators working together.” Now we know it exists. KISS…Keep It Simple Stupid, for me. How do we fight it? His answer was way too frank. “There are no known ways to fight it. There are anti-viral drugs being tested and none really do that well. Let me get this straight. Some 90% of us, maybe more, carry this thing called HHV-6. It sort of land locks in our immune system. It’s like a sleeping monster that can wake up…we don’t exactly know how or why…and can go on a rampage. Okay, now I’m trying to be calm. Can we test for it? Regush thinks there will eventually be a test to detect active infection, but nothing is available to regular Docs now. Besides, what difference does it make I thought, when we don’t have anything to fight it anyway? Now the hair was raising on the back of my neck as I contemplated the future. Why even write this book? To scare the you know what out of us? Regush was quite clear. This is the first book of its kind that actually explores the environment inside of us. Bottom line? This story is not going away time soon. Regush told me The Virus Within is written as a mystery story, but brings in science and sticks to science. He confided that he’s taken no leaps here. Let’s just hope and pray that when those leaps are taken, we will be ready…OR WILL WE ?!!!  Eric Hogue TRICKY 93 PROPOSITION, CAREFUL CONSERVATIVES There is an important message to send, and we have little time to lose in getting out the message to voters. We the voters must stop Proposition 93 on the February Presidential Primary ballot. Titled “Limits on Legislators’ Term in Office”, Prop 93 is easily the most deceptive ballot measure Californians have faced in a generation. While it’s described as ‘term limits reduction’, what it would really do is give the current crop of free-spending, big-government lawmakers even more time in office. Prop 93 was crafted by the same lawmakers who moved California’s Presidential Primary from June to February, at the cost of millions of dollars for the added election. The excuse for moving up the election was that California would have more say in the selecting the Presidential candidates. Well, have you seen the Presidential candidates, or even their campaign workers knocking on doors in your neighborhood? The truth is, during a period of record budget deficits created by the current lawmakers in Sacramento, we now get to pay for an expensive, extra February election, an election forced upon us by the same legislative ‘fat cats’ who brought us the deficit in the first place – Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and Senate President Don Perata. So if Prop 93 passes, these same ‘Capitol Fat Cats’ will have time to file re-election papers and get on the ballot in time for California’s real primary come June. This deceptive labeling was no accident. All ballot measures are submitted to the Attorney General, who has final say on each ballot measure “title and summary” – The name and short descriptive that appears on the ballot and the voting materials we receive before each election. Attorney General (and Democrat loyalist) Jerry Brown went right along with the Prop 93 bunch, agreeing to call it a term limits reduction. Why? Because Brown and his cronies Nunez and Perata know the people who are likely to turn out and vote in California don’t trust the legislature, and know that political corruption goes hand-in-hand with too much time in office. So, when you read voters “Limits on Legislators” on your sample ballot and in the voting booth, don’t fill in that “YES” box, don’t do it, it’s a trick. Preying upon the voter’s negative attitude toward the legislature is the lawmakers’ strategy, and it’s working. Although the latest Prop 93 polls show support for the measure is slipping, a majority of conservative voters still support it. This is why I’m releasing this statement: We must STOP PROP 93 in February, or we’ll have more budget deficits with “raise the taxes solutions” in the near future. Tell a friend, a co-worker, and a fellow church member that we must be sensible, we all want a better legislature, but this is not the way to go about it. We must STOP PROP 93 in February. Just say NO to 93!  Phil Cowan Rock On, Home Schoolers In our inexorable march toward Orwellian-style government control over all that we do and think, another attempt has been made to corral those dangerous radical anarchists, the home schoolers. Judge H. Walter Croskey, of the Second District Court of Appeals in Los Angeles, recently ruled that California law requires school-age children be taught by credentialed teachers, whether in a public or private school, or even at home. Got that, home schoolers? Without a teaching credential, you’re not qualified to teach your kids, and you might be subject to criminal prosecution if you try. This isn’t the first time the state has attempted to squash home schooling. Back in 2002, then-State Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin issued an ominous memo that said essentially the same thing, warning parents who home school that they were in violation of California law without a credential, or unless they had their child’s education supervised by a credentialed teacher. That memo didn’t change a thing, and neither will Judge Croskey’s decision. I’ve known many home school families over the years, some who are close friends, and not one of them has produced an uneducated dunderhead. One cannot say the same for the public education system, which has produced millions. For those who would point out that my evidence is purely anecdotal, I invite you to go online and look into a number of studies that clearly indicate that home schooled students achieve consistently higher scores on standardized tests than public school students. Most of these studies, especially the more recent ones, were conducted by home school advocates, but that’s largely because public education gave up such research years ago. It kept making them look bad. There is a primary reason why these kids are better educated, regardless of where the child is taught: parental involvement. In any education setting, when a child’s parents take an interest in their outcome they have a much higher opportunity for success. A public school teacher can have the highest qualifications imaginable, and it won’t matter one bit to a child whose parents don’t care. Parents willing to send their kids to private schools obviously have a keener interest in their education hence they tend to outperform public school students. Home schoolers, by definition, care deeply about their child’s education, and the results speak for themselves. The failure of kids in public schools isn’t an education problem nearly as much as it’s a parenting problem. So why, if the state is really acting in the best interest of the kids, would they attempt to undermine such success? Some of it is big government, nanny state goons, who think anybody who chooses to educate their own kids is a religious-zealot-gun-nut on a par with the Branch Davidians. Some of it is teacher’s union stooges who fear any threat to their funding or power, which is based on the universal need for more teachers, more teachers, MORE TEACHERS! The good news is this court decision won’t stand. It will be appealed, and if a higher court won’t overturn it, Governor Schwarzenegger has made it clear that the issue will be addressed in the legislature, allowing home schoolers to keep on schooling. How about that? Arnold, standing up for a conservative principle!  Catherine Moy Move America Forward Takes Action Against 'Counter-Recruitment' A well-organized campaign of anti-war, anarchist groups and homegrown terrorist groups has caused an escalation of violent attacks on military recruiting centers across the nation, according to an in-depth report by Move America Forward, the nation’s largest pro-troop nonprofit organization. Attackers since Sept. 11, 2001, have used bombs, human blood, feces, chains, guns and other weapons to destroy government property, block individuals trying to enter recruiting centers, close down recruiters, and terrorize the general public, according to the Move America Forward report being released today. “This report took a lot of work, but it was necessary to show to the public that the attacks are well-planned, well-orchestrated and they are a threat to our society,” said Melanie Morgan, chairman of Move America Forward. “The conspiracy has reached all the way to Berkeley City Hall where the City Council encourages radicals to impede recruiters and even pays their way to harass U.S. Marines.” Move America Forward (MAF) will release the report and a related TV commercial at a press conference this morning at the Press Club in Washington D.C. The commercial focuses on the growing problem of attacks on recruiters. The report highlights more than 40 recruiting sites across the nation that protesters have attacked. Some of the sites have had more than one incident, such as Berkeley, Calif., where the left-wing group World Can’t Wait has assaulted and battered people entering a Marine recruiting center and employed juveniles in masks to beat elderly people with skate boards and picket signs, set fires and hit police officers. Among the 40-plus cities and incidents in the report are:
Specifics on attacks in the report also include more on the Times Square bombing last week, a firebomb at a Texas recruitment office, a “Molotov cocktail” bomb at a Buffalo, N.Y.; recruitment office; and gunfire at a Denver, Colo., recruiters’ office. “Counter-recruitment” is so popular with anti-war activists that entire Web sites have been set up to describe the activity that often turns violent and destructive. Anarchist groups and anti-war organizations such as the radical Code Pink encourage others to attack and vandalize recruiting centers in action they call “counter-recruitment.” After completing their violent acts, the groups often post about them on web sites. Very few people are caught and prosecuted for the offenses, the report shows. “We cannot sit by as this violence continues,” Morgan said. “Law enforcement has an obligation to our society to stop these actions by capturing the suspects and prosecuting them. Lawmakers must ensure laws are in place to properly punish these deviants of society.” Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), who has introduced legislation to strip the city of Berkeley, Calif., of its federal earmarks for designer lunches and other pork because the City Council encourages forceful protests of the city’s sole recruiting center -- will speak at MAF’s press conference at 9:30 a.m. at the Press Club in Washington D.C. DeMint has been an outspoken critic of “counter-recruitment” and especially the ongoing incidents in Berkeley, where the City Council gave free parking and sound permits to Code Pink and enacted a resolution labeling the Marine recruiters there unwelcome intruders. The anti-war groups continue their siege on recruiters’ centers across the country. The fifth anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq War, March 19, 2008, will mark more attacks, according to Web sites of radical groups. The Pittsburgh Organizing Group (POG) plans to hold a “torch-lit march to a modern day castle of abominations -- our local military recruiting office,” according to its website. The POG will try to shut down the office and evict “everything inside of it.” The group will bring a “movable cage” to capture recruiters and hold them. “This violence will not stop until good Americans, lawmakers and law enforcement work together to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators of these attacks,” Morgan said. MAF is calling on U.S. Attorneys to investigate all of the incidents and prosecute the criminals participating in the violence. Catherine Moy is a nationally recognized award-winning journalist and coauthor of America Mourning: A story of two families.  Joyce Marcroft An Interview at William Jessup I wish everyone could visit the campus of William Jessup University! My previous times on the campus had been to attend a concert, a dinner, or a meeting with colleagues to plan an event. This time I arrived about 2PM during school hours to interview a student who is a senior and has attended William Jessup since her freshman year. As I entered the quad area a group of students were talking and exchanging books but stopped long enough to smile and say "hello" to an obvious stranger. A couple minutes later, approaching the door of the administration building, I saw two faculty members talking. Both turned and smiled and asked if they could help me find a specific office or person. I said that I had an appointment and had been in the office before. They then held open the door and returned to their conversation. Everyone I met had a gracious, friendly courteous demeanor that is so refreshing in this hurried, harried life we live. My interviewee, Erin O'Sullivan was waiting with a warm handshake and smile- a very poised young lady with obvious Celtic charm. With her was Christy Jewel, a William Jessup administrator. I explained that I was interested in talking to Erin about her experience at William Jessup University, reasons for her deciding on attending, and her future plans. Erin comes from a family of five- her father Mark, mother Patti, and two brothers. Dan is 37 and Mike is 34 years old so Erin was able to experience some of the "only child" feelings and yet have two older brothers to provide support and guidance. She became interested in the "generational gap" that existed not only between herself and her parents but also between her older siblings and herself. She has long been interested in the psychological differences determined by age. This explains her double major of Bible/Theology and Counseling Psychology. Growing up in Loomis, a suburb of Sacramento that has grown in population from what was once almost rural to one of the fastest growing area of California, Erin was able to experience the musical and artistic benefits of Sacramento and that of a quiet countryside. At Del Oro High School, Erin was a member of Talons- a chapter of the National Honor Society and was awarded the award of Golden Eagle of the year 2004. During her high school years, Erin's involvement with Sports Medicine and Peer Helping she says "the Lord made it extremely clear what would be her calling in life. What first showed up was my passion for people, the deep care I felt for the emotional, physical, and spiritual well being for the people with whom I spent my time". When father Mark suggested Erin think about attending William Jessup University, she was fairly resistant ( close to home, would rather experience a new area, etc.- all the reasons high school students have for selecting a college away from home). And she already had her life planned down to the most m minute detail!!! "Coming to William Jessup was a large leap of faith for me" continued Erin. " I set down the plans I had to attend a university in Washington state, a place I love very much. But I felt so strongly that WJU was the place God wanted me to be...and since being at Jessup the Lord has helped me mature so much and brought me through so many rewarding experiences." "I have been thinking a lot about graduation and evaluating my time here(at WJU) and have come to the conclusion that what I am going to miss most about being at this university is the professors! Jessup is flat out blessed. The faculty is a real gift from God. They will be truly missed and not having their influence on a daily basis will be the biggest shock for me. I have grown so fond of them and will miss them dearly... I am so thankful for the years spent at William Jessup University". Attending college not far from home has given many advantages to Erin- being close to her family, watching her three nieces grow up, while she was able to find her own independence. Erin has her post graduate studies all planned also. "I will be attending Alliant in Sacramento and getting my PsyD in Marriage and Family Therapy- and hope to practice there. It's obvious she "likes her space" and yet "appreciates the familiar". Erin looks forward to having the closeness of family and her friends from William Jessup University. Being in Sacramento will also enable her to continue attending her church The Rock of Rocklin where she is the administrative assistant to the Youth Pastor. This very mature young lade refers to her faith as a "gift from the Lord Jesus" and goes on to remark that she feels a relationship with Him that guides her through life.  Yolanda Knaak Recent LA Judges’ Decision Regarding Home-Schooling and Moms’ Options for Educating Their Children In light of the February 28th Los Angeles Judicial decision to not allow 2 children to be home-schooled, parental rights advocates are very concerned because of the wording used in the decision. The Judges in the case stated that parents have “no legal right to home-school their children”. Both the Pacific Justice Institute and the HSLDA Advocates for Home-Schooling feel they could apply the decision to the whole state and both have petitions against the decision on line. They have also vowed to fight the decision. One Folsom mom who requested to have her name be withheld, states “I’m horrified (regarding the judicial decision)”. Home-schooling works well for her, she has a Bachelors Degree and she teaches her 2 young children privately. It gives her the freedom to choose any curriculum for her children. Both her children have such a joy of learning and she presents the subjects based on their interests. Her older child is a 1st grader, but educationally is at a 3rd grade level, her younger child is at a higher level as well. Other options she had looked at before deciding to home-school were private schools, but they were very expensive and none in the area stood out for her. Then public schools she looked into had high student-teacher ratios with little private attention. She was also concerned that her advanced children would get bored. A mom in Rancho Cordova, Christi Underwood, states that she was unaware of the ruling. Home-schooling works well for her 4th grader who had been in private school in the past, but due to the cost was forced to decide on another option. After exploring public school, she felt that it was not an option since the public high school in her district was “undesirable”. Her daughter is enrolled in the San Juan School District Visions Home Schooling Program and they send a teacher to the home approximately every 20 days. Christi also has hired a teacher for tutoring. Christi’s husband who is a High School teacher also helps with the instruction on some Saturdays. Another mom in Citrus Heights, who also desires to withhold her name, states she is opposed to the ruling as well. Her daughters are in private school, but the cost is becoming a burden to her, so she’s looking at other options. She states that public school isn’t an option, because of the “homosexual influence” in surveys (allowed without parental consent in grades K-12 by SB 71), school books that teach children as young as Kindergarten about having “2 mommies”, and the undetermined influence of SB 777 (deleting gender roles from public schools), which just passed last year. With this new judicial ruling, she is actually wondering if home-schooling will be an option for her in the future. After exploring decisions moms have had to make regarding educating their children, it helps us to better understand their decision to home-school. It is too early to tell what impact the new judicial ruling will have on state-wide home-schooling, considering that 2 organizations have vowed to fight the recent decision. For comments or questions, feel free to contact me at yk@skyq.com. About the author: Yolanda Knaak has a Masters degree from UCLA in nursing. She is an elected member of the Sacramento County Republican Party Central Committee. Archives... |
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