Islam vs. Christianity

The relationship between different religions has caused much grief over the course of human history.  ISIS is continuing that trend by persecuting Assyrian Christians in the Middle East which is most likely going to more barbaric acts such as decapitations and people being burned alive.  The constant clash between ideologies frustrates me more than anything.  Most religions, especially Christianity  and Islam, at least the sane versions, promote religious tolerance and peace.  But religion is completely open to interpretation which has led to perpetual violence with no end in sight.

So the question is how do we repair this relationship? Maybe it's not even totally religion's fault but the grounds on which it's being invoked.  There's so much going on politically that some are using religion as grounds to retaliate or do inhumane things.  I honestly don't see the violence ending any time soon.

Oscars

With the Oscars just now ending there has been a lot of buzz around celebrities such as their outfits, jewelry and their relationships.  If you walk down any hall at Southern Miss you're likely to encounter some kind of Oscar/celebrity gossip.  "Did you say Jay Z & Beyonce?", "John Travolta was such a creep (and he was)".  Maybe I over-analyze these things, but people's obsessions with the lives of celebrities is taken too far these days.

Granted, celebrities keep elite company, make a lot of money and appear in cool movies/make cool music, but the people I see are totally avoiding their own lives wishing they could be in somebody else's shoes.  I guess celebrity obsession has always been a thing, but never more than now considering magazines, internet, cell phones etc.  In my opinion, it gets to a point where people lose their relationship with themselves.

Relationship with Roommates part 2

After a month and a half of living in a house I recently began to rent with two other guys, I am officially moving out of the house because their relationship completely deteriorated almost instantly.  It's interesting how two people who are best friends can eventually hate one anther over the smallest personal differences.  In this case, one guy couldn't deal with the other's lack of hygiene and dog.  He throws a temper tantrum that almost ends in a fist fight.  Instead, it ended with both guys wanting to move out and me left int he dust.

The same thing happened to me when I first moved from home.  I moved into an apartment with my best friend who I spent the majority of my time with.  Within a month of living together we wanted to kill each other.  By three months he was gone and our relationship hasn't been the same.  Disregard the fact that we spent a lot of time together beforehand, but as soon as you become roommates with someone it adds a dynamic that is totally unpredictable.

U.S. and Cuba

Another relationship that I find interesting is the one between the United States and Cuba.  To much attention, President Obama and Raul Castro decided to mend the U.S./Cuban relationship in an attempt to better Cuba's economy and improve U.S. relations in Latin America.  Recently, however, Castro has publicly stated his concerns related to the true motive of the U.S.  He, and many others, are labeling this move as a power play by the U.S. in order to establish a permanent presence within Cuba.

I definitely consider this a power play and one that is no different from any others.  Politically, it's probably very wise to establish a presence in Cuba.  But it also seems like it's a tricky goal to accomplish considering Cuba is already skeptical and events such as Russia invading Ukraine and our ongoing Middle-East war.  I think the global climate concerning moves like this might be wary making some fancy political maneuvering necessary.

Relationship with Patrons

I started bartending at Keg and Barrel about a year ago and I've begun to pick up on a skill that I think will benefit me in public relations.  I'm getting pretty good at being nice to and pretending to like people that rub me the wrong way.  Basically, I can form a fake relationships without the other person ever suspecting a thing.  It sounds bad but I have zero tolerance for fools.  Especially when they're drunk.

I told myself I shouldn't be hard on these people, but when you come in and give me a hard time three or four nights in a row a hatred will inevitably begin to brew.  I hope I don't have to use this new-found skill in my new profession, but realistically there's gonna be that one person that gets the fake relationship treatment.

Social Media and Relationships

I recently read an article on the effects social media has on couples' relationships.  Basically, they surveyed about 24,000 couples and determined if more or less social media interaction between the two people was beneficial or not.  The results determined the more social media interaction the more likely there will be a level of dissatisfaction between the couple.  Shocking.

This whole situation is comical to me.  In this case, if you're contacting your significant other on three different social media platforms plus text then obviously someone's going to feel suffocated. My generation is especially guilty of this.  What's wrong with not communicating with your boyfriend or girlfriend, say, for more than two or three hours? It's annoying maintaining a constant stream of interaction because within 30 minutes it's just mindless bantering.  Some people can't fathom the silence though.  I don't envy those people.

Personal relationships

I recently read an article on personal relationships and how they can positively affect your life.  I found the article as an extension of an assignment on the importance of relationships in public relations.  Beyond PR, however, I found it interesting how personal relationships actually have physical and mental health effects.  I knew that positive relationships make people happier and more productive  but studies also show things like your immune system being better, blood pressure lower and you live longer.

I tend to get paranoid about random things like this.  I try to be a health conscientious person on a regular basis but this adds an entirely different element to being healthy.  I could seriously see myself assigning health values to everyone in my life in terms of my relationship with them.  I might not ever look at people the same again.

ISIS vs. The World

If you pay any attention at all to the news you'll notice that ISIS is continually isolating themselves from the rest of the world by committing a series of barbaric events then posting it for the world to see.  The most common form of protest ISIS uses is the beheading of hostages they capture from other nations and most recently they burned a Jordanian pilot alive.  

I know despise the U.S.'s presence in their country and have a right to; after all, we're only there to exploit them for their resources.  However, by brutally murdering these people their relationships with the rest of the world has turned to hatred.  For every person that is killed each country has vowed to strike back.  Overall, I wonder what their endgame is because nothing they have done has convinced others to give into their demands.