Struggles and Facts About Left-Handed People

Did you know that there is a holiday for left-handed people? That day is August 13, known as National Left Handers Day.

Most people know at least one person in their life that is left-handed. A recent study by Harvard University shows that about 12 percent of the world's population are left-handed. 

A lot of people don't know though about the everyday struggles of being left-handed.

There are annoying struggles that left-handed people who still study in school have to face almost everyday. For example, it is a pain for them to write on a spiral notebook and in a binder because their hand and arm gets in the way of the spiral or the rings of the binder. Another example is that when left-handers write, especially with pen, their writing smears due to them using their left hand. Then the lead from the pencil or then ink from the pen transfers onto the side of the hand.

For left-handed people that do not have to study anymore, there are still life struggles that they have to face everyday that must be unbearable. 

When paying for groceries, clothes, or anything really at the checkout counter, the credit car checkouts are most likely right-handed; with the credit car slot on the right of the machine, rather then left. 

However, without minding the struggles of being a lefty, there are still some pretty cool facts about being-handed.

Some of those facts happen to include some very important people of the U.S.A. Four of the last presidents of the U.S. are left-handed. Those four presidents are Gerald Ford, H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama. 

With being left-handed there comes some advantages that right-handed people don't have. For example, left-handed people adjust more easily to seeing underwater, lefties have a higher chance of getting a higher IQ,and lefties are better able to multitask. 

So for those lefties out there that feel horrible for being left-handed, don't be because there are still cool advantages and facts about being left-handed.

False Myths 

When we were younger we were told many myths that we believed were true. Such as cutting your hair makes it grow faster or that if you eat watermelon seeds, then you'll grow a watermelon in your stomach. As we grow older and more mature many of the myths our parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, anybody who told us these types of myths or that we were taught are actually proven false. 

Chameleons actually do not change their color to hide or blend within an environment. Chameleons change the color and pattern of their skin to communicate with each other and the color of their skin is used to express their emotion and their mating behavior. 

In the bible, the apple is not really known to be the forbidden fruit because some people claim it be a fruit similar to a pomegranate or a fig, but not an apple. People only believed that the apple was the forbidden fruit because of the Latin words "evil" and "apple" in a pun. 

Humans have more than senses and are believed to have between nine to twenty senses. Some of these senses include balance, temperature, pain, and more.

Napoleon Bonaparte was known in history books to be short, like 5'4 or even shorter, but that is not true. Napoleon's height was actually 5'7. 

The number 420 is not directed for the use of marijuana. The Los Angeles Police Department, or LAPD, uses this number as a code for "juvenile disturbance."

George Washington never had teeth or dentures made up of wood. His teeth were made up of gold, ivory, led, and teeth from other people.

When we stay in the shower or swimming pool too long and our fingers start wrinkling, it is not because our fingers are absorbing water. The reason why our fingers wrinkle when they stay in water for too long is because of the "autonomic nervous system."

The myth that cracking your knuckles will give your arthritis is not true. The sound that you get when you are cracking your knuckles is due to the pockets of gas between the joints of your fingers. In the future, cracking your knuckles only leads to a lower grip strength. 

They say that if you chew a piece of gum and swallow it by accident that it will stay in your stomach forever. However, this myth is false and if someone actually swallows a piece of gum, then it will only stay in their stomach for about a week, but it will not stay in your stomach for years.

When you die, your hair and nails don not continue to grow. Once your body is dead, it will start to decay along with your skin, nails, hair, organs, etc.

When dropping a piece of food on the floor, the five-second rule does not apply because all floors are usually generally filthy. It does not matter how fast you try to save a piece of food from the floor because once that piece of food touches the floor, it immediately caught some of the bacteria from the floor.

Those are just some of the myths that are proven to to be untrue and that you probably thought were true. Hopefully in the future, you do not believe everything that someone has told you because it may not all be true and just a false myth. 

Sleep

Sleep is a very crucial part of our everyday health that I am sure most people lack of. People lack a lot of the amount of sleep due to working, doing homework, raising kids, etc. 

Adults and teens should sleep every night for an amount of at least 8 hours. However, most adults and teens do not sleep for at least 8 hours and instead I hear some teens and adults only get 5 hours or even less than that. I myself am one of those teens who only sleeps 5 hours or less sometimes.

When people have a lack of sleep it is not good for their body and with a lack of sleep, their immune system gets weaker. When their immune system gets weaker they are more prone to getting sick, like catching the flu, than a person who sleeps at least an amount of 8 hours every night. If those people who sleep so little every night get sick, then their body will not be able to function as better as it needs to during the day when they have so many things to do.

To solve this problem of having a lack of sleep, I propose that there should be sleep pods in every high school and job facility. Sleep pods are basically improvised beds that you can just use anytime you want.

With sleeping pods, the number of people who lack a number of about 8 hours of sleep everyday will greatly decrease. More sleep also decreases the chances of one getting sick because of their immune system weakening due to the lack of sleep. 

When people have more sleep they obviously have more energy that they need for their everyday lives. For example, parents will have more energy that they need when they have to take care of their children because raising a child is not easy business to deal with. Another example is that students will not have to stay up all night to finish their assignments, study for tests, and anything really that has to do with school.

With sleeping pods, it will change many peoples' lives for the better because they would not have the lack of sleep that they used to have. People do not understand how important sleep is until they get sick or faint or really any health related issue that is caused by a lack of sleep for many nights. Sleeping is hard to maintain for most teens and adults and this is due to the work or assignments or taking care of a child (or children).

Sleeping should be maintained and not underestimated. However, it is okay to stay up all night a couple of times if that person has to complete many tasks those days. As long as you make up the amount of sleep you lost,  your body will have the amount of energy it needs throughout the day.

 

The Secrets of Disneyland 

Disneyland in Anaheim, California is known to be one of the most famous theme amusement parks of the United States and is visited by an approximate of almost 16,000,000 people every year.Many people may have visited Disneyland, but that does not mean that they all know about the secrets Disneyland holds. 

Walking around Disneyland usually meant that every visitor had access to every every part of the theme park, whether it be a restaurant or a ride. Unfortunately, there are places around the park that are off-limits to ordinary visitors. 

Near the "Pirates of Caribbean" there is a members-only club called Club 33. People can only get into Club 33 if they are a member or accompanied by a member of the club. The club is also the only place where alcohol is served in the entire theme park.

Another place that is usually off-limits to ordinary visitors is a basketball court. The basketball court is located in the top of Matterhorn Mountain about 100 feet up in the sky. 

As reported by Grant Marek, "...there's a super small hoops half-court with a mounted basket that used to be reserved for the trained alpine climbers who occasionally ascend the mountain."

Above the Fire Department in Town Square of Disneyland, there used to be a secret and private apartment located there. The purpose of the secret apartment was for when Walt Disney, the creator of Disneyland, and his family wanted to stay overnight at Disneyland. 

Disneyland is known to be a family-friendly theme park, but maybe Disneyland may have not been a family-friendly theme park from the beginning if its years. 

For example, there used to be a cigar shop on Main Street that was opened for 35 years, but was taken down. Also, from 1955-1956, there used to be a lingerie shop called the Corset Shop. It was located at the Eastern side of Main Street on an elevated porch.

Disneyland parks are used to help children, and possibly adults, make the Disneyland movies come alive and have the visitors try to experience what it would be like to be from Disney princess, a pirate, to a visitor of the Haunted Mansion.

One of the most famous attractions in Disneyland is the Sleeping Beauty Castle and the castle has a drawbridge just like in the movie. What people do not know is that the drawbridge actually works. Even though the drawbridge works and can move, it was only used for the opening day in 1955 and in 1983 to show the newly remodeled Fantasyland.

Although some Disneyland secrets seem pretty awesome, some are actually quite creepy. 

An example, is when the "Pirates of Caribbean" opened in 1967, the skeletons used in the scenery of the ride used to be real skeleton. 

In the "Haunted Mansion," it is rumored that some visitors used to the throw the ashes of their dead and cremated relatives around the area of the location.

Although Disneyland is filled with cool and creepy secrets, it is still known as a great theme amusement park to take your friends or your family with you to create amazing memories with. 

A picture of the Sleeping Beauty Castle during the Christmas season and this was taken from https://plus.google.com/

  

Alternative Energy Solutions 

The amount of air pollution, such as carbon dioxide, released into the earth's atmosphere adds up everyday. For example, that there have been about 134.51 billion gallons of gasoline burned in the United States alone in 2013. If this is the case, then people have to start using alternative energy solutions to prevent much further damage to the earth's atmosphere.

Alternative energy is energy sources that do not harm the environment and energy sources that do not destroy natural resources of the planet. 

According to the Alternative Energy Organization, "By 2050, one-third of the world's energy will need to come from solar, wind, and other renewable sources. ... Alternative energy sources are renewable and are though to be "free energy resources. ... These include biomass energy, wind energy, solar energy, geothermal energy, and hydroelectric energy."

Out of all of the alternative energy sources, the best one is solar energy because it is the most environmental friendly. A very common use for solar energy is by using solar panels. "Today's solar panels are bombproof and often come with a 25 year warranty or more. Your solar panels may outlive you. They are also modular - you can start with a small system and expand over it over time. Solar panels are light (weighing about 20 pounds), so if you move you can take the system with you," stated by the Alternative Energy Organization.

Picture of solar panels used for a house from carboncycle2.lbl.gov

Another alternative energy source common is wind power. Humans have actually been using wind power for centuries because wind was used to help sail the ships in the seas for explorations and trading. Today, people receive their energy by using wind turbines because of the way they operate. As reported by the United States Department of Energy, " A wind turbine works the opposite if a fan. Instead of using electricity to make wind, like a fan, wind turbines use wind to make electricity. The wind turns the blades which spin a shaft, which connects to a generator and makes electricity."

Using alternative energy sources are not that hard to do. Every little change counts because it's for the sake of not just the environment of the earth itself, but also for the sake of everyone that lives on this planet. Once people start using alternative energy sources, the earth's atmosphere may not disintegrate as fast as it would without the use of the new sources of energy.  

Should People Be Really Scared of Ebola?

Ebola is known to be a severe and often fatal virus disease if not treated as soon as possible. The Ebola virus disease (EVD) causes symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, rash, fever fatigue, and even bleeding out from every opening of your body. The disease is also sought to come from bats. 

The largest outbreak of Ebola recorded was in the month of March 2014 in west Africa with an estimated of more than 3,850 people dead. 

According to the World Health Organization, "The most severely affected countries, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia have very weak health systems, lacking human infrastructural resources, having only recently emerged from long period of conflict instability." This means that Ebola is so common in west Africa because they lack the gear and equipment to help those who are infected by the disease. 

Ebola is also spread rapidly in west Africa due to the way they bury their dead. People in west Africa usually bury their dead in a traditional way that includes a lot of touching and kissing. The people that died due to Ebola still contain the disease and it is still possible to spread even though their bodies are dead or alive. 

An obvious solution to prevent further expansion of the disease is to create better facilities in the west Africa with better equipment that will hopefully help decrease the death toll. This solution will of course need a lot of funding for the medical equipment used to help care for Ebola patients aren't cheap and will cost millions of dollars to fund. 

The World Health Organization is also currently working on better routines to help deal with the outbreak of the virus. This is needed because some of the health-care workers that help with the disease in west Africa have died or have been infected with Ebola. 

Ebola is sought to be only transmitted through the exchange of bodily fluids, such as saliva. Ebola is not airborne which means that the virus diseases will not spread through the air. Although there have been some speculation on whether or not the virus has mutated  into being airborne. 

As reported by Dina Fine Maron, "...there is no indication that Ebola is mutating in a way that could allow it to make the leap from becoming transmittable via contact with bodily fluids (as it is now) to become a germ that could be transmitted by breathing the same are."

There are more serious viruses that people should be aware of that can be more easily spread than Ebola; viruses that are airborne. An example of an airborne virus is Influenza, which is also known as the Flu. 

People shouldn't be acting crazy for the spread of Ebola because most likely, the countries they live at have the right facilities and medical equipment to deal with such a virus disease. Unlike, countries in west Africa that suffer from lack of better routines, medical equipment, facilities, and etc. that contribute to the increase in the death toll from Ebola. 

Picture of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) from www.dailymail.co.uk

School Suspensions 

In the past few months there have been many unnecessary school suspensions made for pointless reasons. From suspending a high school student for saying bless you in class to a third grader suspended for shaving her hair off. 

According to Dylan Stableford, in the month of August 2014, a senior attending Dyer County High School was given an ISS, (In-School Suspension), for saying "Bless you" to a fellow classmate during class. Kendra Turner, the high school senior, reportedly told the news that the phrase "Bless you"  was forbidden in her teacher's class; as well as other words like "hang out" and "dumb." 

Kendra Turner was raised in a family that taught her to be polite and to display manners when needed to. Saying the phrase "Bless you" to a person that sneezed is one of the manners she was taught to do. Having said that, it doesn't make sense for the teacher to suspend Turner for being polite towards another student and showing manners to him/her. 

Turner also stated that her teacher prohibited to say any God-like things in her classroom. Turner then argued,"...we have a constitutional right. ...It's to all right to defend God and it's our constitutional right, because we have a freedom of religion and a freedom of speech." 

However, Kendra's quote on the constitution didn't convince her teacher at all. Instead she was sent to the administrator's office where she spent the rest of the period in In-School Suspension.

Picture of Kendra Turner's teacher's white board that lists all of the words and phrases banned in her classroom. (Credit: CNN)


Another case of unnecessary school suspension was issued in the month of May in 2014. As reported by Melissa Sher, Kamryn Renfro, a third grader was suspended from school for shaving off her hair. 

Kamryn Renfro didn't shave off her hair just to try it, she shaved her hair off for a brave, kind and sensitive reason, That reason was to support her friend, 11-year old Delaney Clements, who is fighting cancer. Delaney was reported to have been diagnosed with neuroblastoma since 2010. 

What Kamryn did was heroic because in the third grade she made up an adult-like decision to shave her hair off to support her friend so she wouldn't feel like she's fighting cancer alone. I myself would never have the guts to shave all my hair off like Kamryn did - and especially at that age. 

Almost all people would consider Renfro's action to be heroic, but her school thought otherwise. Her school, Caprock Academy, suspended her for shaving her hair off because it was a violation against the school's strict dress code. Her school didn't even allow her to go inside and attend class due to her shaved head. 

The website for Caprock Academy's dress code states, "Ladies Hair: Should be neatly combed or styled. No shaved heads. Hair accessories must be red, white, navy, black, or brown. Neat barrettes, headbands, and "scrunchies" are permissible. Hair should not be arranged or colored so as to draw undue attention to the student. Hair should be natural looking and conservative in its color. Radical changes in hair color during the school year are unacceptable." 

I believe that every school should have a dress code and should enforce it. However, Caprock Academy's dress code for hair promotes being conservative and formal all the time. To me this restricts the children from having the freedom to express themselves with the way they want to style themselves, let alone with their hair. 

Dyer County High School and Caprock Academy are only two of a number of other schools that give unfair and unnecessary school suspensions to their students. Schools that act like Dyer County High School and Caprock Academy should rethink their suspensions and realize if what the student(s) did is actually a valid reason to be suspended for.