So this past week was full of some exciting events and controversial topics and I figured I would just throw a few of those out there for you to gnaw over.

Early in the week I saw a clip concerning a man drinking his daughters breast milk. (click on the link for article and video) Later on in the week I decided to check out Toms Shoes after having seen the commercial over and over again that it made me wonder if it was portraying a real company. After checking out the website it made me wonder why more businesses weren't like Tom's. Oh, and then there was the infamous announcement of President Obama's choice for Supreme Court: Sonia Sotomayor along with the handful of questionable remarks and decisions made by her. The one that really peaked my interest though, was the situation with the Firefighters, being that we are discussing marginzalized communities. Quite the reverse situation here with white men claiming to be the marginalized ones. (listen to NPR link)

Moving on, some of you may or may not be aware of some of the major cuts our very own FIU is experiencing, dance, music and religious studies. Interestingly the Dalai Lama himself decided to come to FIU's rescue and help support the religious studies department by donating $100K. I wonder if we can get someone to do the same for the marching band?

Lastly, I thought I would share with you another blog, that of my husbands, Roger Mendoza, where he posts his paintings. Thursday morning (4am) he finished his latest painting, check him out. :)

Have a great weekend!

Think for Yourself

This weekend I give you the opportunity to blog about whatever you want to blog about. It could be about a particular issue or about yourself. The only thing I ask, as usual, it that you think and write, think and write, think and write.

Some of you might actually find this difficult to do without a prompt, sooooo if that is the case, then I encourage you to write about your essay topic as a brainstorming exercise. Or, I recommend that you visit Ted.com where you can find "Riveting Talks by Remarkable People" about everything and anything.

So think....for yourself, cuz I wanna hear from you:

And the age old argument is reignited on the sandy beaches of Miami!!!

Dun...dun..dun...!!!

Without a doubt you have all heard the latest scandal regarding Father Alberto Cutie (I find his last name to be pretty cute myself).  But in case you haven't, allow me to fill you in on the juicy gossip, otherwise known as background information.  

Padre Alberto, as he is referred to by the Latino community, is a well known, popular, and loved catholic priest.  He is known as father "Oprah" for his relationship advice, has hosted shows on Telemundo and is a syndicated spanish language columnist and author.  

So he seems important right?  If he has something to say people must be listening to him if he has these shows and columns.  Seems credible right?  I mean, just look at him!

So if this guy, this "Father", is caught cavorting with a female on the beach, a female he has reportedly admitted to having a sexua relationship with for over a year (although they have known each other for 10), even though he has taken a vow of celibacy and obedience as all Diocesan priests must do when they commit to God, ITS OK, because he is popular, and we love him and he has credibility.  RIGHT???

So all priests have to do is get on tv and write a book or a column, and their good to go....messing around.  So yes, we must support him unconditionally. (I wonder if the same would be said if he was cavorting with a man?)

Well it's better than him messing with little boys! Hmmm...now that's logical, right? Of course I would rather have the priests fooling around with women than little boys.  And while we're on that line, it's better that they fool around with the altar girls instead of the altar boys too.   

Well they need to change that stupid rule anyways!  We're in the 21st century!  Men have only recently begun to get in touch with their sexual needs.  Why would they have ever desired a woman in the past?

And he's so handsome anyways...what a waste that would be if he wasn't with a woman. 

Ahhhhh.....the arguments people make.  You think I'm making up these arguments?  See for yourself: 

c johnson, on May 7th, 2009 at 2:01 pm Said:

All have sinned and come short of God’s glory,he is no exception.We all need to pray for this man, a natural man with sexual feelings.The catholic church should be happy that this time they aren’t paying out money to some little boy and his family.

Gloria Radcliff, on May 7th, 2009 at 4:43 pm Said:

I admire Father Alberto for all of the good that he has done for our community and I will support him unconditionaly. El que sea libre de pecado que tire la primera piedra.

Jimbo, on May 11th, 2009 at 4:40 pm Said:

If Father Alberto had done this with another man, nothing would have been done….The USA is not a DICTATORSHIP-unlike the Vatican. Father Alberto did nothing wrong….the vows are wrong!

This last remark (all of which I copied and pasted from Bitten and Bound) leaves me wondering....Didn't the famous Padre Alberto read the vows before he took his oath of celibacy?  Maybe not...maybe he thought he was above them....or maybe he's just like every other man....hmmm, but.......well, I'll let you work it out a bit more.  Can you make a strong argument for Padre Alberto's risque behavior????

Dun...Dun...Dun....

Blog Prompt #1: New Semester and Blogging

Note: If you have taken a course with me in the past you will notice that this prompt sounds very familiar. Skim through it and go to the bottom that refers to those who have had a blog in the past.

It's the beginning of a new semester and with that comes the stress of delegating classes, studying, tests, maybe work, family, friends, personal and fun time along with trying to be successful in all areas. Have you ever really thought about how you manage everything in your life? Really thought about it; broken it down sort of thing? Maybe you don't have time to really think about how you manage your everyday life, and maybe it isn't that important to you to think about it. But if you're not thinking about how you manage your life and just going with the flow, chances are you probably don't really think about other issues.

And it's more than just thinking about issues, it's about challenging, questioning, analyzing and exploring issues. Breaking them down into pieces and examining each piece and how they work together to make a whole. Just like a business person or accountant would do with numbers, or how a biologist/chemist would do with cells/atoms and elements.

If this is your first time writing in a blog I challenge you to examine, question and analyze this idea of writing your thoughts or opinions on an internet blog as a journal. How does this make you feel? Uneasy, excited? Consider the fact that you have security settings that you can manipulate and that you are being required to do this for a class rather than a decision you have made on your own. Consider its purpose and who your audience is. Do you want for the whole world, or just for your teacher? What kind of style should you write in depending on that audience? Will you write in first or 3rd person, will you speak directly to an audience or not?

Will you put up a picture of yourself? Your interests? Your email address? How much information do you want people to have access to about you? What did you name your own URL? How does it make you feel to have a URL?

This isn't your first time blogging??

If you have had a blog in the past, your own, for my class or for another class, then I challenge you to examine, question and analyze your experience with having a blog. Consider why you had one, how it made you feel, and how you manipulated the security settings for your own sense of security. Consider changes you may make now that you have grown and developed as a writer/blogger. Consider how writing a blog may have helped or hindered your writing ability. Will you continue writing in the same style, tone and voice or are you going to change? Who will be your audience?

So, this is your very first blog prompt/journal entry for the semester!! Are you excited? LOL! Probably not, but that's ok. Maybe, hopefully, eventually, you will begin to actually enjoy this process. Just remember: Always think outside the box!