Relief Funds for Haiti: Where Is It Going?

On a Tuesday evening, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince. Many lives were lost & many building were destroyed. A total of 3 million Haitians were effected by this disaster. The United States was the first to reach out and help the country. Many large company's have pledged money to help rebuild Haiti such as the Red Cross. The company has given more than $10 million in funds for relief efforts and $37 million to deal with the entire country.

However, many people who donated should be cautious of who they donate to. Some company's will take your money & say it's going to a relief fund, but it really isn't. They suggest you donate to a large and well known company such as UNICEF and The Red Cross. If you are still interested, you can text "Haiti" to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

The main necessity needed in Haiti is water, and since their water system is damaged. While many people look around for water in dirty places, they may catch diseases that can kill as many people that the earthquake did. The red Cross is providing water with the money donated to make sure not Haitian goes without water.

I believe it is a beautiful thing that people can come together to save another country. It shows the goodness in humanity, even throughout tragedy. This is why America is such a great country, we pull through almost anything, even if it may not concern us.

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1629828/20100115/story.jhtml

Beautiful Just Like Barbie?

Since 1952, young girls around the world have been introduced to a doll named Barbie. However, Barbie is simply not the doll we all know & love. Ruth Handler (creator of Barbie) modeled Barbie after a German doll named Lilli which was a "3-D Pin-up Bombshell” for German men after WWII. Lilli was advertised as "the star of every little bar" and did sexually explicit things. This was exposed to young girls through Barbie, who in playing with her for so long would contemplate their own appearance and compare theirs to Barbie's.



Barbie is not realistic, in any way, shape, or form. A source says that Barbie would stand about 5’6”, weigh nearly 120 pounds, and have the measurements 38-18-34. 38 inches for her chest, 18 inches at her waist, 34 at her hips. If Barbie were human, she would not be able to menstruate due to the lack of body fat percentage, stand, or even walk.

Girls constantly have to look up to figure that is non realistic, which later may result in depression, low self esteem, and some even bulimia. Timesonline.com claims that eating disorders are linked to Barbie. “These ultra-thin images not only lowered young girls’ body esteem but also decreased their satisfaction with their actual body size, making them desire a thinner body.” Some of us may have the common sense to not risk our health, but many girls growing up with Barbies suffer from problems such as these.

Mattel & Barbie are the the only ones to blame when it comes to this problem. The other culprits are Bratz and Disney Princesses, but that's only naming the mainstream company's.

This is not what real women look like and this is not what little girls should be taught to resemble.



Sources:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1083049.ece
http://www.teen-beauty-tips.com/barbie-body-image.html
http://tween-trends.suite101.com/article.cfm/barbie_and_bratz_dolls

The Lovely Bones

As I was watching this movie, it was a bit surreal to find that a girl almost my age could be taken that quickly in the 60s. It wasn't a known thing in the 1960s that children were abducted, kidnapped, molested. They pretended as if it didn't exist. Susie, the main character, is abducted, and implied that she is raped then killed. Throughout the movie, you find yourself wanting vengeance of the killer. In one occasion where the police are searching throughout the house, you're begging for them to find clues. Then the movie becomes more intriguing as the dad decides to look after the killer. The father and the sister of the girl Susie both seek vengeance against the killer, but don't have the evidence to do so. You would figure after so much chasing, and so many hints from the girl Susie that the father would kill the man who took his child. Disappointingly, the girls body is never found & the man gets away with yet another murder by moving to another state. The father goes on about his life, which is normal in any person's life, but not if they spent 90% of the movie searching for his daughter. How does the killer die you may ask? He falls off a cliff. The viewer at the end is left feeling incomplete and unsatisfied, and I do not reccommend anyone watches it.