The Bluffer - Red Bluff, CA
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/98812
hese . I'm idn't out. Page 3 December 14, 2012 America starts Black Friday even earlier Starting earlier, even by a day, can have long term consequences Yet again, it is the time of year to pull out the holiday decorations. Generally speaking, this is also the time of year to be kind to one another, and, hopefully, still a bit grateful from Thanksgiving. So, if mankind is supposed to be kind to each other around the holidays, then why is there so little compassion in the air? That said, many are kinder to each other during the holidays; it's a matter of being grateful for what they have. The day after Thanksgiving, a holiday about being grateful, a large portion of our population goes and camps out to buy as many things as humanly possible. If they can manage to cause harm to another person for the sake of an item, or the stampede, that's just a bonus. I understand though, who doesn't want a good bargain? The economy is tough. Thanksgiving is over, so for many there is no reason to wait anymore. However, this year, stores such as Wal-Mart opened on Thanksgiving. When stores open earlier, people camp out earlier, and when people camp out When certain stores open earlier than others, they don't need to compete with each other, ergo, less need for sales. So yes, you are saving money, but if there isn't the competition of stores, you save less and less. If every store opens earlier, eventually they will become a black Thursday, then Wednesday, then Tuesday and so on and so forth. There will come a point where there isn't even a day for sales. T h e only earlier, what happens to Thanksgiving? What happens to the one day a year where people actually sit down and say what they are grateful for? Soon people won't even say that they are grateful for things like a roof over their head, or their health or friends and family- all things that some people don't have. For those who really do care about the bargain of black Friday, you actually a r e n ' t saving as m u c h t h i s way. reason that Black Fr iday exists is so that companies can make a large enough profit to stay out of debt. However, if there are no sales, people will spend less. Companies need to compete with each other, otherwise there is no influx in sales. If the companies like Wal-Mart or Target go bankrupt, then a large portion of America's income is harmed as people aren't spending as much. Though it may be an exaggeration, if America's economy goes under, this will drastically affect the world economy. This would not be good. So, let Thanksgiving have its day, then you can enjoy the holiday season as much as you want. This way everybody is happy, everybody gets their sales and people can still say they are thankful. Rebecca Blanchard Viewpoint Editor Think before you speak Internet irks Before stating an opinion everybody should be well informed many teens A T hese days, h i g h schoolers are becoming more and more involved in politics. I think that this is great. I can actually have an intelligent conversation with one of my friends about the world. But high schoolers have to be careful about their opinions. By this, I mean don't just repeat what your parents tell you. I see this too much! I see kids just saying what they've heard from their parents without really knowing what they are talking about. We've all probably been guilty of this once or twice. I know that I have made an idiot of myself more than once because I stated an opinion without any knowledge. A good example is our President, Barack Obama. I have seen lots of old issues of the Bluffer around the Bluffer room. I noticed that there was something drawn on one of them. It was on the backpage of the last Bluffer, the one which featured the story about Obama. A pair of devil horns were drawn on Obama along with the words, "LIAR". Now, I'm not saying that these people are wrong about Obama. I'm just saying that they probably didn't know what they were talking about. I can't help but think that this kid probably just heard his parents hating on Obama and j u s t copied their opinions. The Bluffer actually got several complaints about our last issue, just because it had a story featuring Obama! They didn't even read the story before expressing their negative opinion. It isn't hard to keep yourself from saying some political fact that turns out to be wrong. If you hear something your parents say or is said on a news station, look it up online before you repeat it. I'm also not saying that you should believe the opposite of what your parents tell you. I'm saying that you should develop your own opinions based upon facts. This will ensure that your opinions, no matter what side they come from, are at least correct. That way, you can have your own opinions and win arguments with your friends. And if you do have the urge to say something with nothing to back it up: Please shut up. I don't want to hear how the evil Muslim agenda is trying to take over America. Josiah Vasey A&E Editor s a teenager, I have succumbed to the peer pressure of having accounts on multiple social networking sites. The two sites I spend most of my time on are Facebook and Twitter. But there are a lot of annoying things on these sites that just make me angry and make me want to never use the site ever again because that's just how annoying it is. So, I decided I would write about all the things that irk me about social networking sites. To begin with, one of the most bothersome things on Facebook that affects everyone, not just me, is the constant game requests. Nothing is more annoying than having your account blown up with Farmville requests. I don't know if it's just me, but I use Facebook so I can keep in touch with my friends not play really stupid games such as Farmville. Another annoying thing is people posting vague statuses that make no sense. This angers me so much- why post a status on Facebook for everyone to see if it no one will understand what it actually means? Then someone comments " what? or why what's wrong?," Oh, text me I'll tell you. Most people dont want to read your annoying status that makes absolute no sense at all. Beats me. One more thing is when people share pictures of things like abused dogs and they say share or like if you're against animal abuse. Because liking pictures of mutilated animals is going to stop all animal abuse in the world. I don't know if it's just me, but when I go on Facebook the last thing I want to see is a beat up animal. Or when there's a picture that says "like if you believe in God or keep scrolling if you believe in the Devil". That annoys me so much. Just because I don't want to like a picture and keep scrolling means I'm on the Devil's side? Now on to Twitter- one thing that annoys me is when you follow someone and you think they're some famous person and their username is @TheRealSoandSo and then in their description it says I'm not the real person just an imitation account or something. Why even make an account and say its the real person, but not actually be him? Also, when people retweet like 30 non funny tweets from a person and say if you want funny tweets follow this person and they are not funny. Other than that Twitter is awesome, and now I am finished with my rants about the annoying things about the social networking sites I use. Ryan Fisher Staff Writer