Merlin Buddy Weiner

Merlin Buddy Weiner was the best dog that ever walked the earth. Even if you aren’t a dog lover, you could never deny Merlin. When we got him, I was five years old. My mom and I went to the pound one day to “browse” and ended up coming home with a beautiful black lab. His arrival completely spontaneous, my dad, not a dog lover who was returning from a business trip, was shocked to see the lab rolling around in our yard as he pulled in the driveway.  However, he grew to love him just as everyone else did. Shortly after adopting him, he became my best friend. He would lay on the landing of our steps everyday and would greet anyone who came in the door with a cold wet kiss from his nose. He was perfect. He was gentle around Sam and I when we were little and was always careful not to snap. While on a walk one day, the little redheaded boy down the street started to pet Merlin. He sat patiently, tail wagging and content, and then the little boy proceeded to poke his fingers in Merlin’s little brown eyes. Still remaining patient and calm, never snarling or showing any sign of discomfort, he allowed the little boy to keep his fingers in his eyes for as long as he pleased. Last fall, we had to put our beloved dog to sleep. I never imagined it would be so incredibly hard to say goodbye to a dog, but Merlin was part of my childhood and some of my best memories of growing up included him. While we have Mr. Big and Shawnee to entertain us these days, there is not a day that my family and I don’t love and miss our dear first dog.

The Tale of Shawnee and Mr. Big

There once were two dogs named Mr. Big and Shawnee. Mr. Big was purchased as a full bred Chihuahua (ha…yea right) and Shawnee, a beagle. When the two met each other, it was like they had known each other all along. They liked to do everything together. They liked to eat, sleep, and play with the other every moment they could. Mr. Big, a native of Lexington, Kentucky, belonged to his owner, Sam. Sam attended school in Kentucky, and would only bring Mr. Big home on her breaks. Every time the two dogs would be forced to separate, Shawnee would become thoroughly depressed. He would wander through the house, wondering where his friend had gone. In May of 2010, Sam graduated and moved back home and brought back none other than Mr. Big. Shawnee’s mood was better than ever. The two were finally reunited, and Shawnee finally had reason to live. One night, as the boys were dining over a delicious meal of AIMS dog food, Shawnee told Mr. Big that he could simply not deal with the heartbreak of him leaving again. The small dog looked at the bigger dog and told him he would never leave him again. The boys have since then made other friends on the street, such as Max, a golden retriever puppy next door, or Amy, the chocolate lab down the street. Both are happier than ever and shall be best friends for the rest of their lives. 

John Boehner: New Speaker of the House

In case you didn’t know and live under a rock, John Boehner is the sixty-first speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was born in Ohio and didn’t have the easiest life growing up. He had eleven siblings and they lived in a two bedroom house right here in Cincinnati. He started working at his parent’s bar when he was just eight years old. He went to Moeller High School and graduated from Xavier University (Go Bearcats) in 1977. He is a very accomplished man given his circumstances growing up. He has really made a name for himself and the fact that he now holds a position as respectable and admirable as speaker of the House is most impressive. He is one of the few people from Ohio that have been chosen over time to hold this position. With all that being said and with all due respect, John Boehner is a cry baby. He was interviewed, on live television, and he cried. A lot. Not just a tear, but literally bawled. What grown man gets extremely hysterical on national television? John Boehner. He didn’t even make an attempt to control himself. The reporter interviewing him asked him if he was ashamed that he cried, and he simply responded that the public could take him for who he was. I for one would not like to witness a grown man, holding the third position for the presidency, to cry like a baby on national television. I mean really…has he never heard of keeping composure? 

Obama Repeals "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

Seventeen years ago, the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy was put into effect under President Clinton. Last Wednesday, President Obama signed off on repealing this law. This law allowed homosexuals to serve in the military as long as they kept their sexuality a secret. Clinton’s intentions were good:  in order to prevent gays from being ostracized from the army, he simply took out the factor of them being homosexual. However, in this day and age and considering our nation’s history with racism, segregation, and several more issues, the thing to do is not to keep someone quiet, but to get them to be open and make people accept them for who they are. Just because a person of a different sexual nature is enlisted does not mean they will defend their country any differently than a straight person. Their homosexuality does not make them any different than any other soldier on the field.  They should not be forced to live a lie or keep their life a secret just because being a homosexual is not necessarily the norm. As Obama put it, “Our people sacrifice a lot for their country, including their lives. None of them should have to sacrifice their integrity as well.” Although it will not be an entirely smooth transition among all branches of the military, people will begin to accept that it truly makes no difference whether someone is gay, straight or bisexual. Regardless, these men and women are fighting for our country, and have every right to express who they are.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/23/us/politics/23military.html 

John Irving and The Cider House Rules

John Irving was born on March 2, 1942. His fame has increased over the years and his career took off after he wrote his famous novel The World According to Garp. Two of his novels, The Cider House Rules, and A Prayer for Owen Meany have been best sellers and also made into very successful movies. Irving grew up as the son of an Exeter faculty member. It is believed that his father, Colin F.N. Irving, and uncle H. Hamiltion “Hammy” Bissel are portrayed through characters in many of his novels. The Cider House Rules movie won a 1999 Academy award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Irving began writing when he was twenty six years old and published his first book, Setting Free the Bears. The novel got fair reviews, but didn’t gain the popularity he had hoped for. John Irving published The Cider House Rules in 1985. The book is focused around abortion and many have paralleled it to Oliver Twist. The story is set in rural Maine in the first half of the century. Dr. Wilbur Larch is the founder and director of an orphanage in the town of St. Clouds. The story is about the doctor and his favorite orphan, Homer Wells, who is never adopted. Dr. Larch performs abortions secretly due to all the back-alley abortions of the time, and upon learning his secret, Homer expresses his discomfort and disapproval of the doctor’s actions. Homer then meets Candy Kendall, and they have a child named Angel. Angel then meets a girl and they get pregnant. Homer performs the abortion, and goes back to the orphanage to take Dr. Larch’s place. This book is going to be very interesting to read and I’m looking forward to learning the history behind the time period of the book and more on John Irving’s life.

http://john-irving.com/The_Cider_House_Rules.asp

MHS Needs a Snow Day

The weather reporters are calling for four to five inches of snow between now and 11 in the morning tomorrow. It’s one of those nights where all of the teenagers of Mariemont High School are desperately wishing for a snow day. So just give us one already! It’s exam week, and all of the students are cramming in preparation. As if that’s not bad enough, the seniors are absolutely swamped with work… (Thanks, Mr. Becksfort.) Not only do we have to worry about our final this week, but we are also loaded down with SRP modules, which, don’t let the name deceive you…they aren’t fun. At all. It would be so tremendous if we could have a day tomorrow to prepare just a little more for this miserable week. We would come back on Tuesday ten times stronger and ready to dominate on finals. Not to mention, an extra day off would give those hooligans who have yet to give senior items into the prized Editor-in-Chief of the yearbook, Katherine A. Weiner (ever heard of her? I heard she is an extremely dedicated staff member and never complains)…even though the deadline was DECEMBER THIRD. Nine days ago. Deadline, shmeadline...right? As I said before, hooligans. Regardless of this mindless rant that is a blog, one statement holds true: we desperately need a snow day. I say this speaking as a student whose backpack may or may not still be in her car from Friday when she left school. I’ll leave that up for debate.

http://www.weather.com/weather/today/Cincinnati+OH+45227

Lowering the Drinking Age to 18

Binge drinking is defined as:  the modern definition of drinking alcoholic beverages with the primary intention of becoming intoxicated by heavy consumption of alcohol over a short period of time.  It is a growing epidemic, especially in the United States. The legal drinking age has not always been 21, and was raised in the 70’s. The issue with the raised drinking age is that it has given drinking the contraband status, making the younger generations wanting to drink…and in excess. There are stats showing that in other countries such as Europe where the drinking age is nonexistent, there are far less issues with binge drinking. When something is permitted, it is highly less desirable to do. It does not really seem fair that at the age of eighteen, one can legally vote, smoke and buy tobacco products, get married, and enlist in the army, but cannot have a beer. If these people are granted all these rights as “adults”, it does not make sense to restrict them from legally drinking alcohol. Binge drinking would not be nearly as big of an issue as it is today if the legal age were just lowered back down to eighteen. There were of course issues back when the legal drinking age was lower, but they weren’t quite as extreme as the issues the younger generations face today. If the contraband status of drinking were eliminated, it would not be nearly as attractive and desirable, causing less and less people to be facing the dangerous consequences due to excessive drinking. 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20249460/ns/health-addictions/