Hispanic Heritage Month

I can't believe I almost missed Hispanic Heritage Month.  It's a weird month because it's not just September or October.  It's September 15th to October 15th.  I was thinking it was October-November but I'm glad I checked!

I decided to do a quick blog.  I wish I had remembered (and had time) to do a few different posts, so I'll just talk about two great Hispanic Americans here.

In 1990 Ellen Ochoa became the first Hispanic American astronaut.  She has logged nearly 1000 hours in space as a flight specialist and engineer.  She has developed software, hardware and robotics and is involved with testing and training.  She has been awarded numerous times by NASA.  In addition to being an astronaut, wife, and mother, she is also a classical flutist.






Born in South Bronx in 1954, Sonia Sotomayor was inspired to become a judge while watching television's Perry Mason.  After graduating from Princeton summa cum laude in 1976 she went on to Yale Law school.  She was nominated by President George H.W. Bush as the U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York City in 1992, with unanimous US Senate confirmation.  Under President Clinton's administration she became a U.S. Second circuit Court of Appeals judge.  In 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor for Supreme Court Justice.  Her nomination was confirmed in August of 2009, making Sotomayr the first Latina Supreme Court Justice in US history.

Shit That's Offensive 101: Bama

Bama.  I bet some people don't even know that the "word" is used as an insult by people from the north, east, or just other states.  (I won't start on how people from Mississippi have no room to talk about any state, and that Georgia is at the bottom of a lot of lists also.)  The problem is that as a person from Alabama, I don't like that shit.  It offends me.  Are there people here who are ignorant, country, and just overall weird? Yep.  Bet your state has them too.  Call them rednecks, ratchet, foolish, whatever... just don't call them bamas.  Usually when I see BAMA it makes me cringe for different reasons.  Many people call the University of Alabama "Bama" for short, and you all know I hate that school with a passion (that could be a post of its own).  Find another insult to use, and don't use my state as an insult to others.

Shit That's Offensive 101: The Rebel Flag

Diversity is being mentioned a lot in my life these days.  Starting with last semester's Diversity Matters Symposium at the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine, to our Diversity Seminars here at the AUCVM, to the Diversity in Veterinary Medicine club of which I am the vice president.  It's important in my life.

So I realized that I've come across quite a few people who didn't know that to a Black person, a confederate flag could be offensive.  I guess they missed that whole slavery thing.  We all know (or should know) about the civil war, the confederacy, the confederate flag, slavery.  Bottom line, the confederacy decided they wanted to keep us Negroes as their slaves, so they seceded from the nation.  They went through a few flags, but the flag that became synonymous with the confederacy is this one:

I know a lot of white people feel that we Black people need to let go of the whole slavery issue.  Maybe we could do that but racism remains alive and kicking and so it is something that will always be discussed, something we will never forget.  To me, seeing a confederate flag is just as upsetting as I would imagine a swastika would be to a Jewish person.  I see all the videos and pictures of Black people being attacked with hoses and guard dogs, I see the assassination of Dr. King.  I hear the stories told to me by my grandparents of the "White Only" water fountains and benches, how my grandmother would take water and food with her when shopping downtown to avoid having to drink from one of these fountains.  These flags can be seen flown at Ku Kux Klan rallies, and many skin heads use this flag as well as the swastika as symbols of their love for hate.  Is every White person who owns a confederate flag a racist? Certainly not.  But I personally find the symbol offensive and I know several other Blacks who do.

Now some people do claim that they fly this flag as a sign of Southern Heritage.  I know one chick who had a key chain that said she was something by choice but Southern by the grace of God-- complete with the confederate flag.  I love the non-racist aspects of the south as much as the next Southern girl, but how can one hid behind this when they are from a state that can not be mistaken for a Southern state.  and if we want to be proud of the south, there are so many great things here other than that flag! Georgia's peaches, Alabama and Florida's beaches, New Orleans Cuisine, grits- yes I said grits.

So the next time you are walking around in your confederate flag t-shirt just remember that someone might be offended by your apparel, and maybe you'll think twice.  Or maybe you won't. But you can't say you didn't know.

Press Pause...

I just wanted to take a quick moment to talk about PauseApp for Blackberry.  Someone retweeted the article from Pocket Berry talking about this the other day.  I made the tweet a favorite so I could read it later.  As I read it, I felt like this app might be worth the try so I downloaded it to my precious TootsBerry.  It’s a simple app, with a simple concept.  Most of us are addicted to our Blackberry (or other smart phones).  Turning it off Is hard for me.   I can’t really recall when I turned it off last.  I’ve had it on silent for about 4 or 5 weeks straight, but with Berry Buzz installed, the various colored blinking LED that notifies me of texts (lime green), emails (turquoise), and other incoming messages or calls draws my attention.  I rarely forget to look down to see if I’m blinking.  I figured with an addiction such as mine this new app wouldn’t help.

I was wrong.  I tried it out for a while last night while I studied.  The app does just what it says it does-puts your phone on pause.  You don’t have to hit ignore to send your mom to voicemail, or try hard to ignore that blinking light that says “hey, text message here, looooook at me!” Pause sends your calls to voicemail and “hides” your messages.  No notifications, no ringing, vibrating, or blinking lights.  Now it only takes a simple click to put your phone back into “play” mode, but for me, the lack of blinking made me forget about it.  If you find yourself spending way too much time tweeting, texting, etc, then try this app.  It may work for you.  Head over to Pocket Berry for the OTA link.  

Breast Cancer Awareness on Your Blackberry

These are screenshots from my Blackberry bold 9700.  This awesome theme for breast cancer awareness is by Cool Blackberry Themes.  The application screens have a "Save the hooters" backgroud, the outgoing calls have a "check your boo bees" background and the incoming calls have an "I walk for the cure" background.   Check out the site for more screenshots and to download this them.  Here's the link.  It's a great way to show support.  So if you have survived, have family members who have been affected, or just like boobs and want to save them, check it out.

Remember to do to monthly exams at home.  Know what "normal" feels like so you can recognize abnormal.  Peace.

Did You Go to Church Today???

There's a question that I HATE to hear... first it's none of your business, and second, does it REALLY matter? Nope.



The Eddie Long drama currently unfolding in the media has sparked lots of talk. Facebook, twitter, everyone is talking about this. Many people have found this as just another reason not to go to church.  I've seen it said over and over that you shouldn't put your faith in man, but in God. I fully agree. But that isn't the issue.  The issue, at least for me, is that a pastor is a leader.  He is a man who has supposedly been called by God to teach his word and lead his flock.  No man is perfect, and we all sin, but you just kind of expect that your pastor is at least making an attempt at being Christ-like.  Maybe the allegations aren't true, but we know things like this go on.  Pastors, priests, bishops, whoever, are out there molesting kids, sleeping w/ the secretary, fathering kids with members of the congregation while they are married, or stealing money from the church.

I've had this conversation with friends and followers, but I feel like today we put too much emphasis on traditions and the actual act of going to church.  Yes, the fellowship can be great but people often get so caught up in the tradition of "religion." Add to the fact that the people are sometimes such hypocrites! I've sat next to my own auntie only to have her talking about people while we are in church.  Or you are all about love, but you are ready to fight Sis. Jones because she sat in your seat or parked where you always parked.  Seriously people? Let's do better.

I can admit, I haven't been to church here in Auburn since I moved here august 2009.  When I go home, I do occasionally visit the church that I am a member of, because quite frankly my pastor is awesome.  But I always in the back of my head wonder when the "honeymoon" will be over.  Surely no pastor starts out horrible or their memberships wouldn't grow so large or they wouldn't be welcomed into new churches.  We have a 4 day weekend (Fall Break) coming up, so I'll probably go to church that Sunday, just to see if it's worth going more often.  And by more often I mean maybe 3 or so times a semester.  Let's face it.  I'm a vet student.  Weekends are often spent studying, cleaning, and sleeping, but I'll try to make it more than never.

America: Home of Religious Freedom... as long as you aren't Muslim

Hey America, your hypocrisy is showing!  People always talk about how America is a place for freedom.  Freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of religion.  Seems to me, however, that a lot of Americans think that it's the home of religious freedom if you are Christian.  

First let's talk about separation of church and state.  Kids don't pray at school anymore (where they probably REALLY need to be praying) but no one felt like "In God We Trust" should be removed from the money.  Yet religion becomes political when it's convenient!  One big religion topic that is political is President Obama's religious affiliation.  Polls say half of the country thinks he's Muslim.  *Insert "what the fuck" face here.*  First of all, does it matter? Secondly, that's a personal issue.  Maybe he's Muslim, maybe he's Christian.  Let him be what he is.  

The next issue is the mosque that is proposed near ground zero.  Yes, 9/11 was horrible.  No, we shouldn't forget.  But we also should not blame an entire religion for what some radicals did.  If we did that, then think about slavery and the holocaust... in that case Christians would all take the blame for what a few of their own did.  Not right.  One bad apple may spoil the bunch, but we aren't apples! We are human beings.  My problem is that a lot of people don't even realize that this mosque is already near ground zero.  It's been there for almost 30 years.  They are in a different building now but in the same general area.  Did anyone protest their continued existence in their location?  Probably not.  I bet if you polled every racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, Latino hating, Muslim hating jackass in the country, they are mostly Christian.  Probably a few atheists but I doubt it.  So you are supposed to be "Christ-like" and show people his love so that they can give their life to you, but if you are an example of Christianity, a lot of people would probably just rather go to hell!  

And last but not least, the icing on the cake that made the shit hit the fan.  "Reverend" Terry Jones of Gainesville, FL planned to burn 20 copies of the Qur'an in honor of 9/11, and I guess to protest the mosque being near ground zero.  Are you kidding me?  Is this a bad movie? (And to tie in to the hypocrisy theme, you know there'd be trouble if Muslims in another country were burning the Holy Bible!) Lots of countries already hate us.  There are terrorists just itching for a reason to blow us up.  Are the right for wanting to do so? Not really.  But they are radicals, you cannot reason with them.  So while we still have troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, while we are about to remember the 9th anniversary of our worst terrorist attack, you want to bring negative attention to us?  I read somewhere that this is the one guy who was able to unite President Obama, President Clinton, Sarah Palin, and a couple of other people.  They all think this is a BAD idea, and that this guy is basically pointing a giant neon sign at our country that says "blow this up."  Earlier today I saw an article that he'd decided not to do it.  Best news I'd heard all day.  But all good things must come to an end.  Now he's claiming that he only said he wouldn't do it because he assumed that there was a deal between him and those wanting to build the mosque in NY.  He doesn't burn the Qurans, they build their mosque elsewhere.  *insert another "what the fuck" face here*  So now that he realized that there was no deal, he's rethinking his decision to "cease fire."  (Click here to read the article on CNN.com)  At this point, I am about ready to head to Walmart to get some duct tape, rope, and twillight movies on DVD, then drive to FL, tape this guy up, and force him to watch that shit until Sunday evening.  Maybe then we can avoid any more terrorist attacks that were planned as a retaliation to his foolishness.  If he does go on with this foolish idea of is, all I have to say is Jesus be a bomb shelter, because we will need one.