Let's go back to the coast, baby, westward to the ocean.

Water.  Clean and fresh, water is necessary for life, health, and basic hygiene.  On the other hand, not everyone in the world has access to clean water.  Is this a basic right, or an economic good?

My country has one of the biggest fresh water supplies in the entire world.  The human population uses a ridiculous amount of water, especially in the west, and one day our supply will run out.  What will happen then?  Will we begin to sell our water to the highest bidder, give it away, or store it jealously?

It doesn't even need to come to the world running out of water.  Countries have, in the past, charged their people for water.  Collecting rain water was illegal.

In my opinion, water is a basic human right.  It is necessary for survival.  We would never deprive another person of air - why do the same with water?

Anywho.  That's my piece for the day.  Happy Wednesday.

Girl With One Eye

You want to hear about the deal I'm making?

I'm assuming that all of you have heard about the Chilean miners who were recently rescued after spending seven weeks trapped hundreds of kilometres underground.  If you haven't, then...  Well, see the previous sentence for a pretty accurate summary.  Also, you've been living under a rock.

The rescue mission was a beautiful thing to watch.  Men were reunited with their families, crying, laughing, and praising God.  Then came the endless press photos, which were aired for hours all day.

One of these photos depicted the miners sporting Oakley sunglasses.  This picture was splashed all over news stations all day.  The cost of the glasses in total was $6,300.  The cost of the advertising Oakley received as a result of this was a cumulative $41 million.

Was this morally reprehensible?  Nay, say I!  This is simply Western capitalism at its best.  Come on - the beauty of family reunions and saved lives mixed with shameless product placement.  What could be more American?  I have no bad feelings toward Oakley.  Good for them.  They had to wear somebody's glasses, right?  Three cheers for capitalism!

Girl With One Eye

Thinking is overrated.

I have friends from a variety of social milieus.  A strong percentage of my friends are huge gamers.  So, unfortunately, a lot of my time when I'm with them is spent watching them game, or listening to them talk about gaming.  Usually, I'm okay with this.  Though I am much too busy and not nearly coordinated enough to be interested in video games, I'm usually all right with this.  I have become fairly well versed in game speak, and I'm sometimes even entertained by it.

However, a while ago, the enjoyment I found in this simple activity began to dwindle.  My normally sensitive friend sniped some guy in the head from a building.  "I just raped this guy!" he shouted to us all, laughing.

I was shocked.  I looked around the room.  Nobody else seemed to be affected the same way I was. Apparently, this was normal behaviour.  Referencing one of the most disgusting indictable crimes in a casual way?  No big d.  Everyday occurance.

At first, I just rolled with this kind of behaviour.  But then I started hearing it more and more.  And not just the word "rape" being thrown around like a casual activity.  I hear "gay," "retarded," "faggot," "jew," "pimp," even the "n" word, every day.  Realistically, the chances are that almost every person around you either has been raped, is gay or a minority, or knows someone who is.  One in three girls, for example, has been sexually assaulted by her senior year.  And yet a majority of people use these words, and nobody does anybody about it.  Why?

I don't have an answer.  All I know is, using these words is simply stupid and inconsiderate.  It's not okay.  And I'm going to start doing all I can to stop the use of these words.