Foulnightharmony - Sail Away, Sail Away, Sail Away

I am grade 12 student who has just recently graduated. You might call me accomplished, and in a way, I am, but not in the way you’d think. 12 years of pouring over text books and being lined up to be judged in front of my peers has not made me any more intelligent. I can tell you the first 45 digits of Pi and I can explain to you the difference between an acid and a base, I can recite the Pythagorean Theorem in my sleep, I will recite lines out of a textbook like they are a religion. But I cannot tell you the value of security, or of kindness. The distinct contrast between personal health and personal gain. I can tell you in grade 10 four of my classmates attempted to take their own lives before finals. I can tell you our counsellors office is always booked. I can tell you how when I didn’t understand something in AP Chemistry my teacher asked me to leave if I could not participate in his class. I merely asked him to explain a question. Instead of doing his job and teaching, he told me to leave. Told me I was not good enough to be there. Mistakes are viewed as failure in these hallways. A wrong answer is a sin you must atone to, not a human error, but a flaw so grand it defines your entire life course. There is no “average” here. We all must exceed expectations. Do your parents know that a grade that is considered average is a “C”? When I got a C in fourth grade my parents grounded me for a month. They said I was lazy and stupid and incompetent and that I’d better smarten up and stop fooling around. I never fooled around. I am driven by a deep need to impress others. I never fool around. I worked and worked and worked, with a deep hollow of anxiety in my chest. I have never been good at History, but I worked and worked and I attained at best a low B. It was not good enough. It is not said but we are expected to put our education before our personal health. It is not asked of us, but it is what we must do to achieve what we are asked to achieve. Our teachers will tell you, “Oh, I only give them one hour of homework each night.” Which is essentially true, each of my five teachers only gives me one to two hours of homework each night. Hmm, that adds up to 5-10 hours of homework, and overdue classwork, and projects. Say goodbye to sleep, say goodbye to feeling calm. I’ve developed a deep rooted anxiety disorder due to school and perfectionistic tendencies. Even when you get 100 percent on an assignment they still criticise you, it is never good enough. One slip, and you are in deep deep trouble. I can tell you that 90 percent of us try our hardest, and our teachers and parents stand in the sidelines, screaming, “You can do better than that!”

Why I say our education system is flawed  (via stupidandreckless)

This is Jonathan Ferrell. He was in a car accident at 2:30 in the morning on Saturday. It was pretty bad, he was forced to climb out of the back window of his car to get out. He ran to the nearest home and knocked on the door. The woman who owned the home called the police. The police arrived and saw Jonathan nearby. Jonathan ran to them, unarmed. He was probably so happy to see someone that could help him. The police shot and killed him after they tazed him. 

Jonathan was 24-years-old and a football player at Florida A&M University. He had just gotten engaged. His friends described him as a loving, peaceful man with a bright future. 

The cop who shot him has now had voluntary manslaughter. We have to make sure that the cop, Randall Kerrick, does not get away with this. In most cases like this, the cop gets no jail time and no sentence, and in many cases, they’re let back onto the force afterwards. 

Jonathan was a good man with a clean record. He wasn’t known as being aggressive or violent. This should not have happened. 

finnkurtismydrug:

gayasthefourthofjuly7:

99% of people won’t reblog this because they think it’ll make their blog look as bad as their heart.

Reblogging because I care, not because of the guilt trip ^

Same as above.

I think it’s good tumblr is being used to raise money for someone with a disability =).

For every Reblog 1$ will be donated to my autistic brothers fundraiser :)

TYPHOON HAIYAN RIPS THROUGH CENTRAL PHILIPPINES

Typhoon Haiyan is a Category 5 storm, the strongest typhoon of 2013 and said to be the “most powerful ever” to make landfall (with winds near 195-200 mph). Perspective: Superstorm Sandy was at 95mph when it hit New Jersey; Hurricane Katrina at 129mph when it hit land.

Pre-emptive evacuations affect more than 161,000 families or more than 790,000 people in 37 provinces

Typhoon Haiyan as seen from space

Haiyan makes 6 landfalls - it affected an island chain in the central Philippines, making landfall in six islands. It gained wind power as it traversed through waters in between.

Haiyan traverses areas affected by magnitude 7.1 earthquake - The earthquake left more than 200 dead on October 16; 1000 injured; 350,000 displaced. The survivors have been living in tents and evacuation areas. It passed through Leyte, Samar, Cebu (2.5 million residents), among others. All with densely populated cities, some of which are the poorest provinces in the country.

100 people killed in Tacloban — first estimate of casualties in the city reported today, November 9. Because the communication lines are down, the news centers have yet to take stock of the full extent of the damage. But the numbers are still expected to rise. The devastation was described as if a tsunami had wracked through it.

2:03PM  11/9: An estimated 4 million people have been affected by the typhoon

4:20PM  11/9: 90% of Baco Town in Oriental Mindoro flooded

4:55 PM 11/9: Bodies still scattered in Leyte as Visayas in shock

5:19PM  11/9: Negros Occidental under a state of calamity

7:34PM  11/9: Local officials expect the number of bodies found in Tacloban to reach 500

eta: 7:45PM 11/9: Iloilo and Palawan declare state of calamity

eta: 8:04PM 11/9: Update: 134 reported dead

eta: 8:30PM 11/9: Thousands homeless in Ormoc, Leyte

The victims need all the help they can get. Cities have been leveled, buildings made of concrete were destroyed by strong winds and storm surges. Communications have yet to be reestablished in most of the areas affected by the typhoon. The full picture left behind by Haiyan has yet to be established yet the devastation reported on television is already extensive. The government is bracing for large-scale relief operations. Virtually 1/3 of the country has been ravaged by this natural disaster. And we need help.  

HOW THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY CAN HELP

donations via the Philippine Red Cross (including PayPal)

donations via Habitat for Humanity

donations via ANCOP Foundation USA

eta: donations via UNICEF Philippines

eta2: donations via CARE Australia

eta2: donations via Caritas Internationalis 

eta2: donations via GMA Network (credit card, cash, check)

eta2: donations via World Vision

eta2: donations via AmeriCares

eta2: donations via Samaritan’s Purse (Canada)

eta2: donations via Canadian Red Cross (or you can text REDCROSS or ROUGE to 30333 to donate $5)

FOR THOSE IN THE PHILIPPINES

text donations via Globe

Red Cross and DSWD relief operations (infographic)

list of ongoing relief operations via Rappler

donations via ABS-CBN News

eta: relief operations via University of the Philippines

eta: relief operations via the Department of Education

eta: pick-up locations for donations via Air 21

HOW TO FILE FOR MISSING PERSONS

via GMA Network

eta: via Philippine Red Cross

eta: via Google Person Finder

Please reblog and add other details I might’ve missed!