Swine Flu

Recently, there has been a new pandemic, the Swine flu. The first dearh was a 39-year old woman in Mexico. Her name was Maria Adela Gutierrez. There are now over 100 cases in the United States and in 16 states, but these cases are still less mild than the cases in Mexico. 160 people have reportedly died in Mexico, but in Washington, 300 schools have closed down and 140 in Texas. The flu even hit the White House, infecting an aide to Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Many precautions are being taking. Scientists are trying to make a vaccine for this flu, but it will take months.

Personally, I think the media is exaggerating this. They are making it seem like everyone is freaking out and needs to stay home. All the information above I heard from the media and it's all the same; extreme. It takes a lot of research to find the facts that many doctors are treating this like a flu season and just telling people to make sure they wash their hands a lot and cover their mouths when they sneeze or cough. In my opinion, the media is in love with this story and working everyone all up for nothing.

Teacher Has Sex with Student (Week 12)

In Lexington, Nebraska, a former teacher who fled to Mexico with a 13-year old student was sentenced to 8-10 years in prison. Kelsey Peterson is 27 years old and pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree sexual assault of a minor. She also must register as a sex offender. Kelsey was the boy's teacher since he was in fifth grade and they began having sex in 2006 when he was 12. After authorites approached Peterson obout allegations for having an inappropriate relationship with the boy, she fled with the boy to Mexico. She was arrested a week later when the boy called his mother. Because he is a minor involved in a sex crime, the boy will not be named.

I think the sentence isn't enough. Peterson was his teacher and was supposed to give him a sense of security. She took her authority and abused it. She used her power to manipulate the young boy. He obviously didn't want to go with her because he called his mother a week after they got to Mexico. Eight to ten years isn't a fair punishment for what Peterson did. She tainted a 13 year old boy for life and he will never be the same. More severe consequences should have been given.

What Would You Do? (Week 11)

In one episode of "What Would You Do?" there was a scenario about two gay men in a local bar They had them men act out two different situations. In one they acted very low key and kept to themselves. The show had an actor hassel the gay couple to see how the rest of the bar would react. They people weree quick to come to the couple's defense and disagree with the badgering actor. Eventually. the people demanded the actor leave. In the second situation, the gay couple had alot of PDA and were very open about the relationship. Once again, the show had the actor start yelling things at the couple. This time, the producers expected people to be disgusted by the obvious PDA and agree with the actor, but the people's opinion didn't change. Again, they came to the couple's defense and became very angered by the actor. A person was actually brought to tears by the actor's bullying. No matter how the gay couple acted, no one was offended or disgusted.

This episode really pleased me. I cannot stand homophobic people. You can't help who you love and people that are disgusted by gay couple really upset me. I think this scenario was a really good idea and I'm glad they had it. It shows that not everyone is against gay couples which is the stereotype. I also think it will help more people accept homosexuality.