Tomorrow is my last day of anything to do with my college English 101 class and next week is Spring Break (Photo Related).
Will probably need OxiClean for those beer stained carpets.
But probably this class has probably been the most interesting and fun english class I've had. I've never blogged before (besides Facebooking) and I've never owned a journal/diary which I've always seen a blog as an online diary (Facebook shouldn't be one, just saying). I've somewhat enjoyed my time blogging, it's been fun posting about the events from my the weeks prior and trying to make it as fun as possible and because I tried to make it as fun as possible I can honestly say I didn't take it as seriously as I probably should've, as a result it did show in my grade, but that's my responsibility and only have myself to blame for that.
Take responsibility like a man!
I must also say I didn't think this would really teach anything valuable but in the end I learned how much easier it is to communicate online and how I can find other blogs that share my interests, which is really awesome. The blog assignments have probably been the coolest english assignment ever, it was definitely the most interesting and fun. This is Gomes, signing off... (Until 102, if there even is blogs in that class).
The pink slime issue was a huge issue in 2012, if you haven't heard of it just type in "pink slime" on Google and you'll find plenty of articles. Pink slime is: "The lean finely textured beef is a low-cost product rendered from the mostly fatty outside trim of cow carcasses or leftovers from other cuts. To salvage every bit of meat, the trimmings, combined with connective tissues and cartilage, are heated at a low temperature to remove about 95 percent of the fat. The resulting product is then compressed into blocks to be mixed into ground beef and treated with ammonium hydroxide (essentially ammonia and water) to kill pathogens like E. coli and salmonella that could have emerged during the rendering process." (Zhao, Emmeline 2012, Paragraph 4)
Personally, it doesn't taste as good as pure beef but, it's been used in meat since the 1990's. In fact people will state that pink slime is used because of weak regulations, but pink slime was the USDA's response to public outcry of E.Coli outbreaks from the 90's. The whole purpose is to disinfect the left overs of a cow and add to beef, presumably to get the most out of the cow. Pink Slime is gross, but it's only bad for health if processed incorrectly by the supplier. It may not be AS healthy as pure beef, may not taste AS good, but it is made for consumption. The ammonia involved is not the best thing for humans since it is a waste product of our bodies, so it is naturally not the healthiest thing. But, if you're eating nothing but McDonalds burgers, or eating nothing but ground beef, you should consider changing your diet to begin with. Pink slime or not, everything you can consume will be unhealthy if you consume too much of it.
A link to a video is uncensored and has strong language and some may see as insulting. It is used to make an educational point and not intended to insult. Do not click on the link under the name "Reggie Watts" and "7 Dirty Words" if you do not like strong language. *Note that the video by Vsauce is censored.
The other day, my uncle and I were poking fun at my grandma for what she believes is bad language, even though this sweet lady curses like a sailor, and how we came to a conclusion that the words that are considered bad are only seen as bad because of how they're used but ironically their the most flexible words in the English language. For example, the infamous "F-Word" can be used almost anywhere in a sentence and if used correctly in a lecture setting can bring the most tone and voice into your statement.
I also noticed after our discussion how people blame media for it's influence of bad words, which in a sense they're absolutely right. FCC regulations have really loosened on what words can and can not be said on TV and Radio now. When I was 10, hearing middle school grade insults on air were hilarious but now you can hear high school grade insults on air on every station. For example, certain words like a!# or b*&% are now more acceptable than in years before. See George Carlin's 7 Dirty Words.
Now, music takes this to a-whole-nother level where the amount of bad language is used just to seem edgy for their scene/genre, which comedian Reggie Watts does a good job of breaking down modern hip-hop songs. He sings with the common words that are used and how loosely and pointless those words are, and each verse he sings is a different topic, which those are the common topics sang about in modern hip-hop, poking fun at the genre which I feel he does a good job of doing so with this song. He effectively used basic rhythms to get this point across in song.
As bad words are becoming more acceptable, what we consider bad will eventually not be considered bad and other words will replace those 'Bad' words. There are always new words being created and old words will always get repurposed. A perfect example without using such words is the word "swag". The word has been repurposed as to define cleaning drapes, to define a man who is smooth with ladies, to the recent use to replace the word "cool".
In the end, no matter what society is considering what is and isn't bad language, it all depends on how you were raised, religion, and personal principles. Bad language effects each person differently, and most will (and should) agree that terms to insult specific demographics will never be acceptable. Bad words don't always bring negativity, it's how a person uses them.
