Senior Sex-Ed

In Central Florida, reported cases of syphilis and chlamydia increased 71 percent among those 55 years and older. South Florida saw a 60 percent rise in those two sexually transmitted infections among the same age group. In 2010, the CDC reported that rates of STDs in seniors had doubled form 2000 to 2010. The most commonly found STD was HIV, followed by chlamydia, syphilis, and gonorrhea. While the reasons for this development aren't well understood, more divorces and better health might be the reason for the boost in sexual activity. In addition to being more interested in sex, today's seniors are extremely under educated about STDs on every level. Senior citizens are spreading STDs like wildfire. They are in competition with young people between the ages of 20 and 24 in terms of the biggest increase in STDs. The rate of STDs in older men taking erectile dysfunction drugs like Viagra is twice as high as the non-medicated peers in the same age group. The problem however is that older adults appear to flaunt safe sex practices. For instance, seniors over 50 are six times less likely to use a condom than men in their 20s. The solution is simply to have safer sex. Getting regularly tested can solve a lot of problems, people over 50 are 80 percent less likely to be tested than 20-30 year olds. Choosing sex partners who you can have honest conversations with is very important. If you don't feel comfortable, stick to less risky, non-penetrative orgasm. And always, always wear a condom if you aren't comfortable with your partner.

The Heart and the Fist-Preliminary Discussion

The thing that stood out the most to me in the first half of the book was the scene where he is training with Earl and Derrick. I thought it was a really well thought out portion of text where he has to persevere through not really knowing much about boxing. It pushes him to work harder and he feels really accomplished when he is able to get on the Oxford boxing team. I though the way his coach related everything back to a life lesson was really interesting and really smart. If you are already going to be learning how to go through these boxing motions you should at least learn something important right along with it. I think the purpose of the book is to help people decide who they want to be. There are a lot of life lessons wrapped up in the humanitarian and military work. I think that Greitens has led a very amazing life and sharing all the lessons he's learned in a book that details all of his humanitarian work is great. It seems like every chapter and every adventure moves him forward more and more and it seems to have a pretty good lesson attached to it. I think it's also trying to teach a major lesson about compassion. I think it is very important to show compassion to everyone because you can never know what that person is going through or what they've had to deal with. I think that if everyone just assumed that the other person needed an uplifting word or a nice laugh, people would just overall be better. I think the audience is high school or college students. It holds a lot of life lessons and would be a great book for the high school senior unsure of what they want to do. It also makes a good book for me as a college student because the lesson is to be strong and caring. Sometimes college students work so hard at staying strong through tough assignments that they forget how important it is to be caring towards their fellow person.

What if computers were more user friendly?

If computers were more user friendly, they might be able to process our thoughts directly from our brains or maybe just hear a command and act on it. We have the technology, people do it with our smart phones every day, why not install something like that on every computer and make it very simple to use. Being able to process our thoughts directly from our brains is a little more advanced, but can you imagine that? People unable to speak or type would be able to use a computer. It might make them feel a little more normal. We could make a lot of advancements in the way of child care as well. Being able to “read the minds” of babies and toddlers. Never having to make the guess of what’s actually wrong. We might even be able to gain insight into the minds of coma patients. Are they actually “brain dead” or are they still able to process thoughts just not being able to articulate those thoughts. We might even be able to take the idea of a robotic surgery even further. Some doctors already use robotic hands for the more technically advanced surgeries, if all they had to do was think what they wanted, it would make those surgeries a lot less complicated. If the technology was in place for computers to read our thoughts, it might only be one small jump to making the computer artificially intelligent, giving it a brain of its own. Allow it to process its own thoughts. Robotic life might not be very far off. Certainly having a robot to do things for you would be a positive thing, but people might take advantage of it.

What if books were illegal?

If books were illegal, the world would be very dumbed down. And I’m not talking about just fiction books, I’m talking about medical journals, research documents, etc. I think that we would lose a lot of the advancements we have made. Society had come so far and I believe that that is mostly credited to books. Without books, we would have no knowledge of what people in the past had done. Word of mouth is a great tool but it isn’t very accurate. We lose something along the way when Bill told Sara that Mary told him that Jack was working on a new way to do surgery. I think that everyone has played the game telephone, the phrase gets so distorted after so many people hear it and relay the message. Without books, it’s very difficult to verify your information, especially if the supposed source is dead. A lot of the information we still use today is due to someone, long dead, that has given us those words. If they were never able to write them down, it would strongly change the way that society has advanced. We might not have ever even made the computer, the MRI, the lightbulb.

What if you could only use your smart phone for an hour a day?

I think that if smart phones had limitations the world would be a much friendlier place. If everyone put down their phone and only picked it up for an hour a day, can you imagine how much more work would get done? No more endlessly scrolling through Facebook, playing the latest game craze, and no more constant text messaging. You would have to meet with your friends to talk to them rather than typing. It would also allow our time on the phones to be a little better spent. Maybe filled with reading the news, answering work emails, catching up with long distance family. Maybe if we powered down those devices a little more regularly we would gain skills and traits we didn’t know we were capable. We could potentially become famous writers, actors, CEOs. I think there is a lot of potential involved with being less addicted to technology as a whole. When we think about communication, most people immediately jump to texting, skyping, or Facebook messaging. What if we took it back a few years, to letter writing, face to face communication, or even phone calls? I think people as a whole would learn a lot about themselves, meet new friends, and possibly even become something they’d never even dream of. Technology might be setting us back more than it is launching us forward. Technology is a very powerful thing, capable of vast processing capabilities and numerous scientific capabilities. But when boiled down to its most average usage, it’s merely a tool for Facebook stalking and looking at pictures of silly animals. Having a device capable of so many things stuffed in your pocket is something that most people take for granted. But not so long ago, cell phones were attached to your car or needed their own backpack to carry them. No one really stops to think about what they are really capable of. Technology is a wonderful advancement. But with that advancement comes a price, we are losing the capability of face to face conversation. We lose the ability to talk to strangers and become friends with them, too busy with our faces stuffed in our phones.

What if?

What if…

What if evil did not exist?

What if every turn you had to make was a left?

What if our computers suddenly revolted?

What if your face randomly changed every morning?

What if the internet randomly quit working?

What if you could only use your smart phone for an hour a day?

What if every single car looked exactly the same, except for different license plates?

What if everyone wore the same outfit every single day?

What if money was nonexistent (barter and trade)?

What if everyone had gills?

What if books were illegal?

What if women still weren’t allowed to vote?

What if everything suddenly doubled in price and wages were cut in half?

What if zombies roamed the earth?

What if superheroes were real?

What if your hair was snakes?

Traits and Characteristics

Her name is Sally. She is generally a very happy person; always tries to be very friendly, especially to strangers. Sally decided to take a trip to the hair salon one day, she was very tired of having boring, straight hair. As she was driving to her favorite hair salon, she paid special attention to all the people she saw as she drove. Many people just enjoying the company of friends, walking along the sides of the street. She walked into the salon and sat down in one of the chairs to begin her wait. She picked up one of the many various hair magazines, as she flipped through the pages trying to figure out what she wanted to do to her hair, she saw a couple kissing and cuddling outside. Being as bored as she was, she found it very funny and began laughing. After recovering from her laughter attack, she took a look around at all the people in the salon, some people falling asleep in their chairs, some employees listening to music, some writing down the things they need to order for the store. Sally finally gets called back to the chair and lounges back to get comfortable. The worker asked her what she wanted. Sally decided she wanted to do something a little different. Sally has a tattoo of a mermaid on her upper arm and a fish earring in her left ear. This gave Sally an idea. She decided to use all the aquatics as inspiration. Blue and green mermaid hair. This definitely matched her bubbly, giddy personality. She told the employee what she wanted and they began talking. They were both really talkative and talked the whole time. Sally began to get sleepy towards the end of the hair dying process. Sleepiness always made Sally very giddy and with giddiness, Sally got loud. They worker thought this was very funny. She finished up Sally’s hair and Sally left the salon to enjoy a lazy evening at home with her great, new mermaid hair.