My favorite part of the Holidays is seeing people’s reactions to the gifts they get. Kids tend to have the best reactions. These four kids are my favorite reactions. The Holidays really have me feeling like:
2.I personally think that everyone should get a puppy for Christmas.
3. Its the little things that matter.
4. Even if it’s just an Avocado.
5. And who could forget the Nintendo 64 kid?
Poland is a conservative country and it is a country where the Roman Catholic church has a big influence on its people. Since the Roman Catholic church does not believe in the LGBT community of Poland having rights just like every heterosexual person in Poland, it has been hard for this community to progress on their rights. But there have been some instances where the LGBT community has been given hope for change. For example, just last year, Poland elected their first openly gay mayor for the city of Slupsk, Mr. Robert Bierdon.
Robert Bierdon was elected into the position of mayor in 2014. But before that he was the first openly gay member of the Polish parliament. Throughout his journey, he has faced some cases of discrimination from other members. “I remember when I went to the parliament and had my first speech,” Bierdon said in an interview with npr.org. “I was defending one issue and I said, ‘Your arguments are below the belt.’ They all started to laugh. … They thought I’m talking about sexuality. And when they asked them why they are laughing, they said, ‘What else can a gay guy talk about?’ ”
This just shows that its not only the civilians of Poland that are facing discrimination but officials in higher positions face discrimination as well. The government has not done anything to protect this community from hate crimes and violence. And it doesn’t just stop there. The LGBT community has been denied some basic human rights.
Not only have they failed to recognize same-sex relationships and transgender people but they have also banned same-sex marriage and adoption. Recently this year in October, one of Poland’s right wing political parties has won a decisive victory in the country’s election. They are the Law and Justice Party and they are completely against the LGBT community having basic human rights. In this article from Pinknews.co.uk, it states that “Just last month, Polish President Andrzej Duda of the Law and Justice Party shattered the hopes of transgender people, by vetoing a bill which would have granted them legal gender recognition.” This political party does not want to give the LGBT community their rights. The party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski has said that they view homosexuality as “paedophilia, necrophilia and zoophilia”. They have also said that it should not promoted, just like drugs and alcohol.
But who are they to say what this community can and can’t have or who they can’t be? In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it clearly states,
“Article 2.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.”
Rights that Poland is taking away from the LGBT community such as,
“Article 7.
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.
(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.”
Article 7. of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says that everyone is equal under the law and that they are protected no matter what. So why are the hate crimes LGBT people face not treated like hate crimes? Ian Lekus, a writer for the Amnesty International, wrote an article about this where he states ,”Targeted By Hatred, Forgotten By Law shows how Poland’s legal system falls dangerously short when it comes to protecting LGBT people and other minority groups from hate crimes. Whole communities, including homeless persons, people with disabilities, and LGBT people, are excluded entirely from hate crimes legislation.” There needs to be a stop to this discrimination. No human being should ever feel scared to get help from the police or the justice system.
Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says that men and women that are old enough can marry and have a family. It does not state that a man has to get married to a woman or that a woman has to get married to a man. It says that both men and women can marry as long as they are of certain age. And both men and women are able to start a family. Thousands of people, not just in Poland, are fighting for this right because they want to start a family with the person they love. But the government is not having it.
In a article from Slate.com, “What’s it like to be Gay… in Poland?” Liam Hoare states,”There is no legislation protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination in access to goods and services, or in any sphere of life outside of employment. There are no statutes concerning hate crimes or hate speech on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. There is no legal recognition of same-sex partnerships of any sort, not even in common law, nor are same-sex couples allowed to adopt.” How can a government stop their people from living normal lives? All this community wants is to live like normal people because that is exactly what they are, normal people. Poland treats the LGBT community as a disgrace and as if they were from another planet. Poland needs to start treating the LGBT community as actual human beings who have rights.
Thousands of people are in support of the LGBT community despite half of Poland being against it. For example, when the burning of the rainbow arch happened in Warsaw,
People came to rebuild it.
This rainbow arch was seen as a symbol for LGBT rights and so on Polish independence Day it was set on fire. But in an interview with economist.com, the mayor of Warsaw, Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz states” city authorities will rebuild the rainbow “many times” if necessary. Warsaw’s citizens meanwhile continue to attach flowers to the scorched installation.” You can read more about the burning of the rainbow here.
Times like these are extremely important because when something like this happens to the LGBT community, they need to know that they are not alone in fighting for their rights. Just this year in the summer, Poland had their 15th annual Equality Parade, in which thousands of people attended. In an article from ibtimes.com about the march, it states,” Participants chanted in support of same sex marriage and called for the right of same-sex couples to adopt children, the Associated Press reported. They marched in scorching weather from the Parliament building through downtown Savior Square where a giant glittery rainbow stretched directly in front of a historic cathedral.”
The Poland government will keep trying to bring this movement down. But this community has to keep fighting for their basic human rights. Rights that me and you are entitled to from the minute we come into this world no matter who you are or where you live. These people have hope that one day the dream of marrying whom they love and starting a family will soon turn into reality. The LGBT community of Poland has hope for change and the more people that support this cause, the more the government has to realize that denying certain rights to these individuals is wrong. We have to speak out and help because they have to know that the world is watching and we will not tolerate it.
1. Baking Holiday Cookies is perfect for the kids during this time of the year. The kids will love to decorate and use cookie cutters to make the cookies look nice.
2. Posing for a Holiday Picture, is always a holiday tradition. People will send holiday pictures to friends and family members. It is a best way to say Happy Holidays.
3. Elf on the shelf: A lot of parents do this tradition to make the kids believe that a real elf is watching them. 
4. Celebrate baby’s first christmas or first christmas being married, can be personally made or bought in a store is one of the holiday traditions that people like to put on the tree. It could be any annual ornaments. 
A Christmas Tree or Lady Gaga?
When you hear your favorite Christmas Song
When your family starts getting on your nerves
When you still believe in santa
All you hear on the radio
He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake. But do you really want him watching you all year long? Taking a picture with Santa is something most people believe is going to be a great time and they’re gonna leave having cute photos of their babies with Santa Claus. For these parents, cute photos aren’t what they received. They are more creepy than anything else.
1. Since when is Saint Nick creepy af??
http://www.fosilfueled.com/tag/scary/page/2/
2. How can she be so calm around this creepy of a Santa?
http://listcovery.com/disturbingly-creepy-santa-photos/18/
3. Not a picture you want to even hang up or keep or even remember.
http://mentalfloss.com/article/29519/10-creepy-santas-whose-laps-we-want-nothing-do
4. Plot twist: that’s not a mask
http://amberleroux.com/2013/12/25/creepy-santa/
5. Saint Nick? more like Satan Nick.
http://mentalfloss.com/article/29519/10-creepy-santas-whose-laps-we-want-nothing-do
6. Where did Santa’s eyes go ?
http://www.toptenz.net/scary-santa-claus.php
7. Hes got his eyes on you all year. Have you been naughty?
http://www.ilovestickyrice.com/2014/12/24/creepy-santas/creepy-santa/
8. Zombie Santa ?
http://www.teamjimmyjoe.com/2014/11/laps-34-creepy-santas/
9. Santa’s actually Davy Jones’ brother.
10. This Santa looks like he’ll steal your gifts instead of leaving them.
11. Santa really likes watching you sleep.
http://www.creepysantaphotos.com/2014/12/11/scary-santa-has-no-face/
12. Turns out the easter bunny can be just as creepy. #eyebrowonfleek
Yeah, Because even Santa can ruin Christmas. Ho, Ho, Nooooo!
Merry Christmas to all and to all a Goodnight!
Abduction and torture is a horrible ordeal to think about or even imagine happening. But in Israel it is consistent to the point where everyday people are getting tortured and kidnapped. A local resident named Mohammad Mahsiri is an actual survivor of one of these horrific events that occurred. While on the streets he was suddenly screamed at and told to get on an unsuspecting jeep and taken away without a reason why or where he was being taken. “I was taken to a detention center and interrogated. The interrogation would begin at 2 o’clock in the afternoon and would finish after eleven pm. I was beaten all the time, especially if the soldiers did not get the answers they wanted. I was sent to be beaten by other soldiers and forced to stand in the rain with only thin clothes on. They would try to convince me that I did something that I did not do in order to get the confession they wanted. After being tortured at the detention center for one month, I was in prison for 13 months.” Mohammad explains. Now torture and abduction are two very serious cases in which have grown drastically in Israel and aren’t planning on stopping what so ever. It is an epidemic around the country and is just plain horrific what is going on in the Israel. According to the latest figures offered by an independent group, there are 398 Palestinian children currently inside Israeli detention centers and prisons. Ayed Abuqtaish, research co coordinator with Defense for Children International’s Ramallah offices, told IPS that the youngest child being held in prison is just 14 years old. Many of the younger children of Israel are kidnapped or abducted and put into prisons and cages with little food and things to drink but with continuous torture throughout stays in these prisons. No one can truly imagine the terror of being thrown in a cage or prison at 11 to 14 years old let alone being starved and beaten. Now some organizations have heard about these Cruel times for the Israeli people. Such as The NGO who called for Israel’s definition of torture to be changed after children were kept in outdoor holding pens during winter in a practice which had been going on for months. The PDO decided to take visit and see whats really going on within these prisons. “It turns out that this procedure, under which prisoners waited outside in cages, lasted several months, and was verified by other officials.” Also The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) published a report which claimed children suspected of minor crimes were subjected to public caging, threats and acts of sexual violence and military trials without representation nor legal trials or answers of why any of these things were happening to them. Children of Israel are often brought to these prisons and cages to face Military trials in Military courts to be prosecuted for interference within the system. The Defense for Children International Palestine stated in one section that “No Israeli children come in contact with the military court system.” So it seems that all it is is an excuse to torture these poor souls. Some more things that these Israeli and Palestinian children and adults are often charged with is throwing stones and physical violence during arrest. These people are just trying to fight for there lives because without an explanation there lives are at stake once realizing where they are going. A report by the United Nations lists around 200 methods of torture. Now Fouad Khuffash, director of the Ahrar Centre for Prisoners Studies and Human Rights did a report on the torture in Israel and stated that “Torture in Israeli prisons is systematic and starts from the moment a prisoner is arrested, not from the moment they begin interrogation. This is a premeditated and staged scenario that changes according to the case of the detainee and the nature of their file. Investigators alternate and play various roles assigned in advance to each investigator.” There was found to be over 200 methods of torture that these guards portray upon these people. From breaking backs, pulling fingers apart and even twisting testicles. According to statistics around 72 prisoners were killed as a result of torture in Israeli prisons since 1967 out of a total number of over 200 prisoners who died behind bars. So as you can probably tell this has been going on for decades. Many still have tried to combat this epidemic going on in Israel and though many have not been very successful organizations continue to fight such as Ahrar Center for Prisoners Studies and Human Rights, The University of Jerusalem’s Abu Jihad Center for Prisoner Affairs, and even international organizations have tried to step in. Now even though the Israeli people who keep taking these civilians and brutality torturing them are trying to find laws and other ways around there horrific behavior. They aren’t able to run from the big question. Which is Why? These people haven’t given a single answer in decades since this began. The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel has had a big role and participation in trying to stop and end this travesty . They have come back with useful and quite shocking information. They reported that of fifty-one instances of torture, there were 19 complaints of sleep deprivation, 18 of tying, 12 of beatings and 2 of shaking. In 2014 saw 59 torture complaints, which is a rise, compared to 2013 (16 instances of violent means), 2012 (30), and 2011 (27).Twenty-three Palestinians sent a number of complaints of torture they had suffered in 2014 by Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service. Each of the plaintiffs said they experienced several methods of torture. These numbers are extraordinary in these cases. More needs to be done and more organizations need to be involved with this terrible tragedy going on in Israel. This is not a big topic going on right now but as time goes something needs to be said and done. It has to stop because everyday millions of men, women, and children are being victims of these abductions and torture for no reason at all. No one deserves what these people are being put through everyday.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mylestanzer/yaaaas-gaga-is-the-perfect-way-to-tell-someone-you-love-them
Even Gaga herself is done with that one! Seriously, this meme dragged on way longer than it needed to and if I have to hear one more person scream “Yassss!!”, I might throw up.
2. The Dress
Ah, how could anyone forget the dress that divided the internet and caused us all to collectively freak out over the possibility that we see different colors. Good times (not).
3. Why You Always Lyin’?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcWM_1hBu_c
For a good few months, it was near impossible to have a normal conversation with someone without them quoting this video at least once!
4. What Are Those!?
http://www.complex.com/sneakers/2015/06/sneakerheads-what-are-those
From summer until November everyone made sure to wear their best shoes because no one wanted to get called out.
5. JOHN CENA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrPSefFLd-A
Oh, thought you were watching a video online? WRONG. John Cena was like the RickRoll of 2015 and it was horrible.
6. Shia Labeouf Nike ad
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXsQAXx_ao0
After a while, I felt bad for Shia. He didn’t know that the video would have blown up like that, but it was pretty funny while it lasted.
7. “Sure Jan…”
http://www.buzzfeed.com/awesomer/not-at-our-skule
This quote from The Brady Bunch became unnecessarily popularized.
8. Poot Lovato
http://www.j-14.com/posts/meet-demi-lovato-s-secret-twin-sister-75123
Even if you hate this meme, I can guarantee that Demi hates it more.
8. Charlie Charlie
http://ksn.com/2015/05/28/charlie-charlie-challenge-takes-over-social-media/
“Charlie, Charlie, are you there?” No. Just stop.
In Jacksonville FL, Shimeek Gridine was only 14 years old when both him and his friend were involved in a shooting. Shimeek shot a 70 year old man. Both teens decided to rob the man first before shooting him, when the man was trying to run away Shimeek shot the man , hurting the man’s head and shoulder. Thankfully the man was not badly injured but the consequences that Shimeek had to face was severe. Once the police got involved they decided that Shimeek should be prosecuted as an adult and was sentenced for 70 years without parole. Under Florida law , the police will not release Shimeek until he turns at least 77 years old. Shimeeks’ grandmother stated “They sentenced him to death, that’s how i see it”, but in 2005, the Supreme Court said that kids under the age of 18 should be treated differently than adults. Adults and offenders younger than 18 are different, adults know from right and wrong but children are still learning from right and wrong, therefore children that commit a serious crime should be sent to a juvenile center and there the adults should teach them that what they did was wrong. Now and days parents would show their a bad examples and often the kids would follow them, such as leaving dangerous weapons out like a knife or guns can jeopardize their children’s life. In Shimeeks’ case he wanted to rob a man and used a weapon which did not kill the man. Shimeek will face life and death situation. Another similar case is the story of four teens and each did a crime. On christmas night 1998, in the city of Los Altos, California, Shawn was 16 years old when he attacked his sleeping father. Shawn attacked his father by stabbing him multiple times with a knife, his father got stabbed in his arms, legs, and neck. The reason for the attack is unsure, but the relationship with him and his father was good. Shawn’s father did not die but could not remember who attacked him but then he realized it was his own son and he got really upset. Shawn’s mother waking up to a horrible nightmare seeing her husband bloody everywhere, she called the police and paramedics to arrive. When the police arrived Shawn does not remember that he attacked his father, when they arrived at the hospital the police told Shawn “you’re gonna be charged with attempted murder, and if he dies , you’re gonna be charged with first degree murder”. After discussing with his parents, Shawn plead guilty to charges and receive his punishment from the juvenile system, rather than facing life in prison. In the court hearing Shawn had told the judge that all his troubles had started with his mother, who introduced him to drinking. His mother had a drinking problem. Shawn was asked to leave two schools because of a serious marijuana use. The judge decided to a 90 day evaluation at the California Youth Authority , which is a juvenile detention center. Shawn came back to the judge to complain about a white gang that pressured him to have oral sex with his cellmate. The judge sent him to Santa Clara County’s Juvenile hall until he turns 19. The hall allowed Shawn to leave during the day to attend community college classes. Shawn was lucky enough not to go to prison and be sentenced to life in prison like Shimeek did, but later in October Shawn got in trouble again and got arrested and was sent to a juvenile center again. Being a girl in the juvenile system is not fairly easy, these girls are sent to these centers because they have been neglected by their parents , being verbally and physically abused by their parents and their parents doing drugs. The photographs were taken by Richard Ross, who went to juvenile centers in 30 states to talk to the girls there about their stories. The reason why they are sent to juvenile detention is so that they will not grow up to be like their parents who neglected them, there are girls that are young and old there. With the juvenile in justice project Richard hopes that people will think why these girls end up in detention centers, and what can be done ensure they have a better shot at the life they once lived. In the fall of 1999, Manny and some gang members attacked his family. One victim was six months pregnant, the woman was hit with a baseball bat on the stomach, four men were assaulted, two of them stabbed. Manny was charged with four attempted murder. The neighborhood that Manny comes from is pretty rough, he is part of a Hispanic gang. Manny grew up without a father and believes that violence is the key for the respect he needs from his peers. manny started running the streets when he was in the fourth grade. The attack was a second felony, when he was 14 he plead to rape in the juvenile court. If Manny gets convicted as charged he can possibly be sentenced 20 years in prison. Manny did stuff that an adult would do , that is why he can be sentenced to 20 years. Since Manny was not the one to hit the pregnant woman the judge gave him a chance, but he now has two adult violent felony convictions , since there was no evidence. In the year 2000 Manny plead guilty to seven counts of assault with a deadly weapon. If he commits a felony one more time he can be sentenced life in prison. On January 22, 2001, Manny was sentenced to nine years at state prison. In all of these cases, these teens has been treated like an adult for their poor actions. But this is not their fault, the reason why they act like this is because the way they have been raised and been influenced by bad people. If their parents were not drug addicts or alcoholics then they would not act like the way they do. Also if their parents would pay more attention to them then they would be good. But just because they act like the way they did does not mean that they can’t change, they can change. A person who did change and made differences is Francis “Frankie” Guzman, a 32 year old lawyer . When he was younger he was sentenced to 15 years at the age of 15 years old. Him and his friends did a lot of bad stuff. But after he completed his years he became a lawyer for the juvenile and he would go to the juvenile centers and prisons to talk to teenagers and talk to them about his experience in prison. Francis knows what is like the wear uniforms from the prison, and knows what it like to be in jail. Once he came out of prison he became a new person. This shows that all the cases of these teens shown above can also change their ways when they have completed their years. It does not make you a bad person just because you went to jail you can change. In conclusion, why does Shimeek have to face 70 years in prison without parole if the others teens did much worse and did not face a long time in prison? This is why there should be Juvenile justice.
Rambler Times 