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Posted by Melissa Norbeck

Well, maybe we can just make a few changes. What is wrong with our country?
Quite a few things come to mind: two of them are health care and greed. The health care issue here in the US is ridiculous. Some people don¹t have problems with health care and health insurance, but many do. And so what if one man has insurance and can get his teeth cleaned every six months when the child down the street just died because she doesn¹t have health insurance or enough insurance. Why is health care the way it is? Greed, plain and simple.
The higher-ups care more about money and less about helping people. Sometimes I really feel things are so bad (war, health care, greed, violence, global warming, animal cruelty, etc… that the world just needs to end and start over.

I think it¹s amazing that we the people stand for as much as we do. Supposedly we live in a Democracy ­ NOT. We do have freedom of speech, but that can only get us so far. We do what we¹re told, and that¹s the way it is. I¹ve been saying for a long time how I feel we do not live in a Democracy, and, ironically enough, I just came across a new word: Plutonomy = an economy that is largely influenced by the wealthy; where things are divided into two parts: the wealthy and the rest of us. That is definitely America.

It¹s a damn shame that people like teachers and cops -those who serve others and don¹t make much money as is- are taking pay freezes. When was the last time you heard of a CEO or someone who worked for a health insurance company or pharmaceutical company take a pay freeze?

America is the best country in the world but also the most corrupt. I wish
people worried about others not only themselves. To quote Michael Moore, I refuse to live in a country like this, and I¹m not leaving!

Posted by Melissa Norbeck

I just don’t get it! You think things are going pretty well with a guy, and you think it may actually have the potential to turn into something, but no, he just stops calling. What makes a guy decide not to call or come around anymore? What turns men off? Is it a girl who gets too drunk, a girl who does drugs, a girl who has kids, a girl who talks about an ex, or maybe a girl who’s too clingy? Really, I’d like to know.

I consider myself pretty picky when it comes to men. However, I’m not saying I always make the right choices; I definitely picked some bad ones. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever picked the right one. I guess that’s one of the reasons why I’m single. Getting married was never really high on my priority list (obviously, since I’m still not married, and I’m 33). Going to college, receiving a degree, and starting a career were important goals I set for myself. Now that I have earned two degrees and began my career, I am focused on buying my own house. I feel like the relationship and marriage thing will fall into place when the time is right. Society looks at those who are single like there’s something wrong with them. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard, “Why are you single?” or “You’re pretty. How come you don’t have a boyfriend?” It kills me because many of the people who ask those kinds of questions or who are in relationships shouldn’t even be in the relationships they’re in. Besides, what’s wrong with being single?

But anyway, except for the few long term boyfriends I’ve had, the times I start talking to guys and actually like them (which is rare), it just ends. I’m curious what makes certain guys stay with certain girls and what make other guys want to move on so quickly. There are many people who are in relationships and many guys willing to be in relationships, but I always seem to find the ones who don’t want relationships. Maybe I am too picky. Maybe I let the good ones get away. Maybe I give off the vibe that I don’t want a relationship. Oh, and I’ve heard I’m unapproachable. That’s a good one. The guys who are interested in me, I’m not interested in them. I mean it’s not hard to find a boyfriend; it’s just hard to find a good one. Also, I think many guys are mostly looking to just get laid. If a girl gives it up the first night, the guy usually doesn’t call since he already got what he wanted. But if a girl doesn’t give up enough, the guy doesn’t call anyway because why does he want to bother with a girl who won’t have sex with him. And guys say we’re hard to understand.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my life, and I enjoy being single (most of the time). I just want to know what the deal is!! So – all you men out there – what turns you off?

Posted by Melissa Norbeck

Decisions, decisions. Vanilla or chocolate? Tea or coffee? Pancakes or French toast? We are all faced with decisions in our lives, and we are forced to come up with answers to questions daily. But to wear, or not to wear, animal products is the question at hand. Deciding not to wear animal products really needs to be a conscious effort. In the picture from my last post, I wore “leather” boots, and someone asked the question that I knew would come up. Are my boots real leather? I knew the question would arise because when I was choosing my outfit, my mom also mentioned the boots. However, my boots are definitely all man-made material.
Ironically enough, I just went to see The Nutcracker Saturday at the Academy of Music, and PETA was outside handing out pamphlets about wearing fur. Years ago when people went to the Academy of Music, they got all decked out in their mink coats and diamonds. It’s not really like that anymore; still it was reassuring to see their presence. My aunt and I just had a conversation a few months back about wearing fur, and she thinks that people should not even wear fake fur. I disagree because there are now different options to choose from where people can still look just as good wearing faux fur and faux leather that they don’t have to wear the real thing.
The poor animals (cats, dogs, rabbits, fox, raccoons, etc…) whose fur is robbed from them, are skinned alive; how horrible that must be; just unimaginable. A problem is that many of the fur products are mislabeled, and people really don’t know what they’re buying. However, real is real, and it is expensive, so a person knows when he/she is buying real fur because of the cost. But many times the real fur is labeled with something like jackal when it is really cat or dog. So it is better to not buy real fur at all. I also have my list of companies who do not test on animals and try to only buy shampoo and makeup and things like that from those companies. I feel it is our duty to help animals; they have no voice and no choice – we are their voice, and we have the power of choice!

Posted By Melissa Norbeck
Animal Paintings by Joanne Hoffman

Animal cruelty is a matter I feel passionately about. Cruelty toward animals should not exist; there needs to be stiffer punishments which actually fit the crimes. Cruelty comes in many varieties: the selling of fur (cats, dogs, rabbits, etc… the animals are stuffed and piled into crates and then skinned alive), fighting of dogs, killing of wildlife, slaughtering of horses, clubbing of seals, testing on animals, and the everyday torture and neglect of family pets, just to name a few.

A big problem is over population. Between five and ten million stray cats and dogs live on the streets in America. And people are still allowing their dogs and cats to have more litters. It comes down to responsibility. The average lifespan of a stray animal is less than two years. That is an unnecessary, short, and brutal existence. To quote Bob Barker, “Help control the pet population. Have your pet spayed or neutered.”
Another form of cruelty is the killing of animals for human consumption. I have been a vegetarian for the past 17 years. I cannot make people stop eating meat, but the inhumane and cruel ways animals are killed need to stop.

More examples of cruelty: McDonald’s scolds its chickens alive. Ringling Bros. Circus beats its animals. Pigs receive no pain relief when they have their teeth removed with wire cutters. Chickens have their sensitive beaks cut off without painkillers. (Research has proved that chickens are smarter than dogs, cats, and even some primates.) Veal calves are confined to crates so small they can’t even turn around. Many companies test their products on animals. Companies need to work toward cruelty-free methods. And when it comes to fighting, people choose to fight, animals don’t.

Animals depend on us for almost everything, and we as human beings owe it to them – to protect them, to take care of them, and to not purposely put them in harmful situations. There needs to be justice. The animals do not deserve this treatment. There is just no reason for the torment and the torture, no reason at all.

The Humane Society, PETA, ASPCA, and World Wildlife Fund are just a few of the organizations who have been helping animals live better lives.
When we stop the killing and the suffering of our animals, we can restore the humanity!