Reflection: What Is A friend ?

My ninth grade year I learned that everybody is not my friend and every friend is not a good friend. All of my life I have tried to be a good, confidence giving, loyal friend and I hoped that I would get the same in return. I've learned that is not the case with everyone. I came to Parkway West without having any friends or knowing anyone because I am not from West Philadelphia and I never lived here to know anyone. I thought I could find that one person who I would stick with throughout all of my high school years. The fist two weeks of school I tried to bond with everybody and learn the different personalities to see if I could find any potential (school) best friends.

I started to become really good friends with this one girl we became very close very fast. We shared secrets, talked on the phone and I even stayed an entire weekend at her house. In the beginning of our friendship we didn't have the same since of humor but we got along well and we had a lot of other things in common. As the school year went on I started to notice some changes in her and started to feel like the more she changed the more I changed and it wasn’t for the better. She started to act different towards me in  front of other people and she became very judgmental and argumentative, which was something that made me very uncomfortable because I don't like to argue with my friends. I cannot stand a person who likes to talk about other people to make themselves  look better and that is exactly what she always did. Every time I would confront her about it she would say "Oh I am so sorry it won't happen again" or "Oh Imani I really do care about you and your a great friend". Because we were such good friends in the beginning of the year she knew that I am a happy positive person and she knew that I had no desire to argue with her. She used it against me and took advantage of me, and it showed when other people came around.

It took me Five months to realize that She was not the kind of friend I wanted or needed in my life I always felt like she sucked energy out of me until I finally cut her off and came to the conclusion that every friend is not a good friend and that I do not need a ton of friends to be happy. Out of all of the wonderful life changing things that I have learned my ninth grade year I have to say that that to me is the most valuable lesson because I will never make the mistake of letting a "friend" change me for the worse.

The Kardashians Are Back

The famous Keeping Up With The Kardashians Is now in their seventh season after six of hit seasons. I have watched the Kardashians since their second season and I've been hooked ever since. I love the show because theres nothing but positiveity i mean yeah the family has their arguments, just like any other family but the majority of the show is based on family and happiness. In my opinion this season has the potential to be the most interesting season yet because of all the changes. Kim just had the most popular wedding and shortly after she had one of the most popular divorces, Lamar Odom, Khloe's husband was just moved from the Los Angelos Lakers to the Dallas Mavericks and the two are now living in Texas away from the rest of their families, Kourtney the oldest is now having her second child again out of wedlock and there is a big Assumption by the media that Robert Kardashian Sr is not Khloe Kardashians birth father all because of Kris Jenner memoir where she wrote that she had a affair with another man around the time Khloe was born.

The season premiere was a good start for the season. The first episode was based on Kris Jenner trying to make Khloe take a DNA test to prove to her that Robert Kardashian is her birth father but of course stubborn Khloe did not want to saying "Seriously, my dad is Robert Kardashian. My other dad is Bruce Jenner," the whole episode Khloe made it clear that she did not want to take the test and she knows that Robert Kardashian is her father. To me it seems like she is in denial and she's really not sure that he;s her father but is to scared to know for sure. It was clear to her siblings that Khloe has a insecurity issue with the subject.

Khloe Kardashian Refuses DNA Test on Keeping Up With the Kardashians - UsMagazine.com

Career Day

Last Thursday on Career day we had Three different successful adults come who have three different professions they came to tell us about their careers. Our First speaker Ms Singleton, an Attorney(Lawyer) told us about her job and explained to us that do Attorney's do more than we think, For me and several other people including Mr. Petro she showed that Lawyers don't always have an aggressive and overly- defensive attitude , she had a very kind, sweet calm approach that wasn't in anyway annoying or extra. Ms. Singleton completed 7 total years of school and not only does she appear in the court she also does mediation which is dispute resolution.

The second speaker we had was Mr. Heigler a Commercial Banker. It wasn't  Mr Heigler's dream to become a commercial banker, he got the idea from an ex-girlfriend's father who mistaken him as a commercial banker while he was working at a bank. Mr Heigler explained to us that there are many different kinds of bankers and a commercial bankers make their money from the cost of fees and funds. Mr Heigler went to Delaware State University and received a Masters degree in Business management.

Our Third speaker Mr. Hanible, he is the Owner of his own Company Hanible Enterprises. Like Mr Heigler, Mr Hanible has a very unique story, He dropped out of high school to raise his two nephews  but later received a G.E.D and a Associates degree. Mr Hanible left his good paying reliable job to start his He developed his own tax business in 2008 and took only one client with him, he didn't get discouraged and he now has 300 clients.

Afghan Girls article

"Afghan Girls, Scarred by Acid, Defy Terror, Embracing School" is very disturbing and interesting article. This article is about how the Taliban is destroying the The Afghan schools all because they don't believe that girls should get a education. According to the article there has been several attacks against the girls in the school there was a team that used a spray bottle, another a squirt gun, another a jar. They hit 11 girls and 4 teachers. The Taliban was suspected to be the ones behind this but they denied any part of it. The head boss of the school Mr. Qadari tried to comfort the parents by telling them to let there daughters to come back to school, However his three daughters go to school abroad.

I think it is a bit hypocrtitical of Mr. Qadari to tell the parents that it is safe for there children to return to school, when his children are going to school abroad. I think if he really believed that it was safe then his kids would be going to that school instead of going to school abroad. I think that it is very sad that girls have to go through this just because they want a education for themselves. In the article girl who was attacked told the author that her parents are forcing her to go to school even if she dies, so its not like she has a choice if she wants to go or not; All because no other woman in her family has a education which is the case with most of the girls that attend that school. I believe that it is very dumb that the men don't want women to have an education i think that is only not bad for them but bad for the world because it really go's to show how much rowing up some parts need.

Oprah addresses her regrets on O.W.N

Monday morning on CBS This Morning April 2nd 2012 Oprah spoke very openly about her regrets about her network O.W.N. It was recently made known that Oprah has fired more than 20% of her O.W.N staff and the cancellation of The Rosie Show and for the first time she was very open about he ups and downs of her new network. Oprah admitted her networ started a bit to soon she referred to her network as "Getting married when you know your not ready" she also stated that if she was writing a book about this journey she would name it 101 mistakes. during the interview she said she would not throw in the towel on the network because "I'm a very driven person, I believe that i am here to fulfill a calling" she said "I will die doing what I love to do." during the CBS interview Oprah acknowledged the negative press the network has been receiving referring to it as "Overwhelming". Oprah made it very cear that the network cannot just be about her it has to be based off of her philosophy. She ended the interview with "I feel better about our network today than I ever have."

As a viewer and a fan of Oprah and O.W.N I enjoyed that interview because for as long as the network has ben on Oprah has never addressed the downs of her network so it was suprising to hear finally speak about it. I totally agree with her and also think that the network started to early perhaps if she would have waited until The Oprah Winfrey Show was completely over to start the network. I think that the network got off to such a rocky start because Oprah was trying to focus on two dfferent things, the show was in its last season and the pressure was on for it to be the best one of 25 years and at the same time her network launched and there was such high expectations for it to be great. I think had Oprah waited maybe another year should would have been able to take a break after the show and do it the right way.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2012/04/02/oprah-winfrey-admits-her-own-regrets/2/

The Results to Whitney's death

Finally the shocking and sad results we've all been waiting for have come. It was recently revealed that the cause of Whitney Houston's death was her drowning in the bathtub due to her heart failure and the cocaine found in her system. I was very sad and shocked to hear this because it appeared to me on T.V that she was no longer using drugs and it made me happy to see her comeback and comeback strong. According to Coroner there was also marijuana, prescription drugs, Xanax, Flexeril was found in her system but did not contribute to her death. According to the website Daily Mail Cissy Houston was reported to be 'shocked' to learn her daughter took drugs around the time she died, and i believe tht many people were also shocked to because for the most part it seemed like Whitney Houston was doing better compared to the past. She was coming out with a new movie the remake"Sparkle" and she just had a successful comeback album "I look to you" in 2009-2010.

According to Daily Mail "Source claims someone removed all traces of cocaine from hotel room before authorities arrived."

Houston was buried in a New Jersey cemetery next to her father after the four hour fneral.

WHITNEY'S TOXICOLOGY REPORT

Official cause of death was accidental drowning

'An acute dose' of cocaine was found in the singer's system and factored into her death

Results suggest Whitney was a chronic cocaine user

Chief Coroner believes the star ingested the drug shortly before her death

Traces of marijuana, Xanax, Flexiril and Benadryl were all found but did not contribute to death

It is believed Whitney had a heart attack, fell unconscious and drowned

Heart attack may have been brought on by hardening of the arteries due to years of cocaine use

Tests did not show significant amount of alcohol in Whitney's system

Foul play and trauma did not contribute to her death

Official report expected to be released in two weeks

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2118959/Whitney-Houston-cause-death-Singer-drowned-heart-attack-chronic-cocaine-user.html#ixzz1qEX7q1M9

Bobbi Kristina's interview with Oprah

We all know the great love of Whitney Houston's life , her daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown. Bobbi Kistina Borwn is the only child of the legendary Whitney Houston. It is well known that the day after her mother died that she was sent to the hospital twice because of how depressed she was by the death of her mother. For weeks now, since Whitney Houston died there has been several ridiculous rumors about Bobbi Kristina, about what she's doing and what she's smoking, just all kinds of things. For example the day of the funeral there were rumors spreading about Bobbi Kristina leaving her mothers funeral to smoke crack.


However for the first time since her mothers death we are now going to hear her side for once. Sunday March 11th, 2012 at 9:00p.m Bobbi Kistina Brown will have her first interview along with her aunt inlaw Pat Houston and her uncle Gary Houston on Oprah: The next chapter. When asked about why did she chose to do the interview with Oprah, Brown said “[Oprah] was loyal to my mom, and never did my mother wrong, or made her look bad. She always looked out for my mom.” 


About two years ago Oprah  had a interview with Whitney and she never tried to embarrass her or exploit her. In the interview they had a very powerful connection that I myself could feel, it was probably the best interview Oprah had did and it definitely the best interview Whitney did. In  the interview Whitney even told her she loved oprah because she knows that Oprah was praying for her during her hard times and Oprah told her she was. Towards the end of the interview Oprah asked Bobbi Kristina about their mother daughter relationship and they both seemed very comfortable and honest on the topic. I 100% agree with Bobbi Kristina doing the interview and I think that her mother would be proud because her daughter is in great hands.


Bobbi Kristina: "I Trust Oprah" | News One
Watch: Oprah Gives Bobbi Kristina Brown a Big Hug | XFINITY TV Blog by Comcast

Photoshopped or Not?

The article "Photoshopped or Not" raises some very important and debatable points. I have mixed feelings about the topic because there are two sides to the story and I kind of agree with them both. The article says that sometimes women see this posters of celebrities looking so thin and it puts pressure on them to look as thin as them, However most of the time the pictures are photoshopped and to make them look different on purpose. The article says that this leads to health problems because then women stop eating or get plastic surgery, which is not for everyone. I absolutely disagree with the idea of photoshopping or editing a photo to make yourself look 'better', I believe that people should want to look like themselves. If someone is always photoshopping a picture they are not being true to themselves.

As shown in these pictures celebrities photoshop their pictures all the time.

On the other side I don't understand why women would want to look like other people anyway. I think that if everyone wanted to look like themselves the everything would be find. Its a shame that woman let pictures and weight control their lives.

R.I.P Whitney Houston

As we all know February 11th, 2012 America lost one of the greatest voices of all time. There hasn't been a clear understanding  about how she died, the only thing about her death we do know is that she was found in a bathtub lifeless in a beverly hills hotel the night of Clive Davis's (her mentor) party and the night before the Grammy's. People who saw her that day said she was acting normal and super excited to go to Clive Davis's party and went to her hotel room to freshen up. There has been rumors that she was a bit tipsy but not by reliable sources. Days before whitney passed away she was seen with blood stains on the back of her leg and cuts on her wrist. She was also allegedly clashing with a woman over her boyfriend ray j.

there's has been a lot of rumors since the singer died about her family, what she was doing, who she was, doing it to, where she was, just all kinds of dumb rumors. there has even been rumors about her daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown, and how she was out of control ever since her mom died there has even been talk about how she left her mothers funeral early and was later found in a hotel room smoking cocaine.

I think that most of the rumors are untrue and ridiculous. I think it is heartless and wrong that the media is attacking an 18 year old girl who just lost her mother. It is sad that she cannot even grief in peace.

I'm a Criminal

The article "I'm A Criminal", is a very interesting and opinionated article that really makes you think. When I read the article I thought that the author had a very good point, when she said that just because you don't get caught doing a crime doesn't mean your not a criminal. I believe that also, I think that people often believe that if they were not placed in jail their not a criminal which is not the case. The definition of criminal is a person who has committed a crime, which means everyone who commits a crime is a criminal, not  just a person who is placed in jail.

The author also made another point in the article saying that she thinks that prisoners are treated as second class citizens, and she does not agree with it. The article states that once people are labeled as felons they are ushered into a parallel social universe, they can be denied the write to vote, automatically excluded from juries and legally discriminated against in when it comes to getting jobs. Alexander also states that this is a form of discrimination, which was supposedly.

I agree with Alexander for the most part, when she talks about what a criminal actually is. I think that more people should read this article because the reality of it is so many people judge 'criminals' when they are criminals their selves.

In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an Ipad

This article is about the risk and trouble it takes to work in a Apple factory. The article talks about the many occasions were something in an Apple factory went terribly wrong, like the time when there was an explosion in building A5 last May, there was a eruption of fire. The eruption killed two people immediately and others were hurt. One man Lai Xiaodong, a 22 year old who moved to Chingdu(in southwest Asia) to be a worker for Apple, Lai's features were had been smeared by the blast, scrubbed by heat and violence until a mat of red and black had replaced his mouth and nose.

The Apple factory is located in China, I think because they can get away with having it there. Because the factory is so dangerous they couldn't have it in the USA because of the risk and for financial reasons.

This article tells how much injuries that apple staff go through just to make these Ipads, the article tells a lot of tragedies that happened in some of the factories. Personally I like apple products I think there really nice, and a great LUXURY however I don't think that they are worth the harm.

I think that f most of America had read this article Apple would lose a lot of money lose their reputation of being one of the best factories.

Cracking Teenagers

This article is about teenagers today and the internet. In the article researcher Danah Boyd, who believes that the internet is a safe haven for teens these days, she states in the article that as a kid at times she felt very lonely and the internet was an escape for her. She meant so many people and it made her realize that there are so many people out there who are smart just like her. Boyd says often on the internet children can get mentors and friends. Boyd believes that parents are worried about the wrong things these days she says that now the internet is more safe than ever, because children are now "reacting online largely to social changes that take place off line".

"We need to give our kids freedom to explore and experience things online that might happen". In the article Boyd argues that times are now better than they were when she was a kid, she thought she would be dead before the age of 21 because of how much classmates she lost to drug overdoses, suicide, accidents, and a murder". Boyd grew up in a divorced home so for that she felt that the internet was her saving grace , because it helped her realize that there were so many other smart kids out there, and helped her not feel alone.

Boyd thinks that the internet can be a safe place for kids like it was for her, but me not so much, even though studies and statistics, and test say that the violence level before was way worse, I don't think so; even though I'm only 14  to me it doesn't feel that way. I believe that if parents today let their teens "Experience" the internet they risk getting harassed, stalked, or injured. I just don't think its a good idea, I understand that maybe times have gotten better over the years but I just don't think were there yet.

Joe Paterno's death

Im sure by now we all heard about the death of the longtime Penn State coach Joe Paterno, who died on Sunday at 9:25 am, at the age of 85.

Joe Paterno was the coach of Penn States football team for a very long time, he won more games then any other college football coach. He was recently fired(after he announced he would retire) for not reporting the chid sexual abuse scandal he knew about, This ruined his legend and made millions question his integrity. After being fired Paterno Told his team to finish the season with "dignity and determination".

"The 84-year-old Paterno has been engulfed by outrage that he did not take more action after a graduate assistant, Mike McQueary, came to him in 2002 and reported seeing Sandusky in the Penn State showers with a 10-year-old boy. Paterno notified the athletic director, Tim Curley, and a vice president, Gary Schultz."

Some think that because Paterno did notify some one he shouldn't have been fired but obviously the trustees(the ones who decided Paterno's fate) did not think so.

74 days after Joe Paterno was fired he died. It was really hard and shocking to believe, for many people because of how ironic the story is, first he gets fired(ironic), then right after he got fired we find out he has cancer(ironic), then he dies(ironic).Paterno has been Penn States coach for 46 years and 74 days after he gets fired he passes. Some think its depression, stress or anger that led him to have serious complications with his lung cancer.

vh1's hit shows

2011 and 2012 has got to be two of the best years for the channel vh1(video-hits 1). Almost every night a new episode of a hit show comes on, shows like Basketball wives LA, Mob Wives, Love and hip hop and T.I and Tiny:a family hustle.

"Basketball wives LA", which season just ended was a very popular show. It's a show full of basketball player wives,girlfriends, friends, dancers, and some who are just groupies. Basketball wives LA was ranked one of the most social shows in 2011. I think it got so many viewers because of the clashing personalities and drama along with it.





Another hit show of Vh1's is "Mob Wives" which was also ranked one of the most social shows in 2011. "Mob wives" is a show that shows the life of  f a mobsters wife. The cast includes Renee Graziano who's father  and exhusband were mobsters and , Drita D'vanzo who's exhusband is  a mobster who is currently in prison, Carla Faccciolo, a wife of a former mobster, and Karen Gravano who is the daughter of "Sammy the Bull".

"Love and hip hop", a show that follows the lifes of wives and girlfriends of husbands in the industry. This cast includes the girlfriends of  Jim Jones(Chrissy), Fabulous(Emily), Juelz Santana(Kimbella). The show also includes the manager of Jim Jones( Yandy) and a singer in training (Olivia). The show is such a hit because of the fighting, arguments and the parties on the show.

Last but not least "T.I" and Tiny:A family Hustle", which is a show about the rapper T.I and his wife Tiny getting use to raising their children together after T.I getting released from prison. The show is very positive and funny which is why I think it gets so many viewers, because it shows T.I in a different light.

Timeline of Beyonce's pregnancy

Of course bye now we all know about Beyonce and Jay-z's new baby girl Blue Ivy Carter. Even though I am happy for them there has been some talk about how this whole story seems a little fishy and mysterious. The thing about it is when Beyonce first announced her pregnancy at the video music awards late August. Then she later stated that she was due in february in her interview, which means she would have been around four months pregnant. She later said the truth was that she lied to throw off the media so she can have her baby without all of the extra. Later when the 'Oh Baby' video and 'Countdown' video was shot beyonce said she was six months pregnant and that would means she would have had her baby in december some time around christmas. Ever since the interview Beyonce's pregnancy has been the topic of every conversation and has been suspicious to millions.

Another reason why everyone thinks something is a little off with this whole  beyonce pregnancy is because of a picture of he that was taking a day after she announced her pregnancy, in the picture her stomach was a lot smaller than she let everyone believe.

The big interview when beyonce leaned over to sit in her chair and her stomach folded when she bent over. So for that everyone said her stomach might have been fake and she was faking the whole pregnancy.

Along with all of that there has been some talk on wether beyonce has a surrogate mother, which really disappoints and shocks her fans because any time someone choses a route to surrogacy they are looked at as selfish people and loose respect.

The BIGGEST story of 2011: The "Oprah Winfrey show" coming to an end.

Out of the millions of big things that happened in the year of 2011 the Oprah Winfrey show ending has got to be the biggest. For me it was the worst story of 2011 because I love the show and believed that I could never possibly live without it. However on the bright side after 4,500 shows and 30,000 guest she can now get that well deserved break after 25 years. On the show Oprah has always said that ending would not be bittersweet but all sweet, but for me and probably half of America it is all bitter.

Oprah used her last show to thank the people who have been there with her throughout the years (me).her mission for the last show was to inspire her fans to pay it forward wherever they are. On the "last class" she thanked the 30,000 guest that was on her show and shared their secrets on the show. One of the most suprising things of the "Oprah" show finale was that there were no suprizes for the guest, she stated that she just wanted to thank every viewer with her words. This was the biggest story because not only was this something that lasted for a long time but because she is the queen of talk shows and like the mother of all talk show host. Since the show has always been there for like a billion years nobody ever imagined it to not be there.