Just A Friendly Reminder To Wear Sunblock

With summer just around the corner, many are looking forward to soaking up the rays, and baking their skin to the perfect shade of bronze. But it is important to remember the dangers of the sun.

On the superficial level, sunbathing is the most cosmetically damaging thing we can do to our skin, even beyond the effects of smoking (however, doing meth can also ruin your skin). "Up to 90 percent of the visible changes commonly attributed to aging are caused by the sun" according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It causes premature wrinkling, age spots (also called sunspots, liver spots, lentigo simplex and senile lentigines), uneven skin tone, depletes collagen in the skin, causing it to appear loose and saggy.

Lets not overlook the greatest danger of sun exposure, cancer. Allow me to share a shocking and tragic story of a young man whose life was cut short by skin cancer. (WARNING: This story includes an image that may be troubling for some)

Marine Sgt. Carmelo Rodriguez served his country for almost ten years, also completing a tour of duty in Iraq. The country he loved so much to risk his life for, repaid him for his service with outright medical negligence, which resulted in his highly preventable death.

Upon enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps, Rodriguez received a routine medical exam. His doctors diagnosed a blotch on his buttock as melanoma but never told him, and the military never followed up. Over the next eight years, the melanoma continued to grow until, while serving in Iraq, Rodriguez had it examined again. This time, he was told that it was just a wart and that he should have it examined upon returning to the U.S.

Tragically, by then, it was too late, and Rodriguez died 18 months later from skin cancer, holding the hand of his seven-year-old son. His once-buff physique had been whittled down to less than 80 pounds in 18 months by stage 4 melanoma.

Sgt. Carmelo Rodriguez was 19 years old when a military doctor first noticed the melanoma (but failed to take any action in order to treat the cancer or even to notify Rodriguez of his diagnosis) on his right buttock. At 29 years of age, Rodriguez succumbed to his illness.

People often associate skin cancer with the elderly, young Caucasian girls who abuse tanning beds, the fair skinned and freckled redheads. This was a young man of Hispanic dissent. He was, young, fit, healthy, and far from what is commonly associated with any risk factor for skin cancer. (I am choosing not to address at this time the horrifying negligence on the part of the U.S. military. That is a different topic, reserved for a separate article)

Some quick facts about skin cancer:

• Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United states.
• Every year 1 million Americans are diagnosed with skin cancer.
• One in five Americans will develop skin cancer in the course of a lifetime.
• Melanoma is the most common form of cancer for young adults 25-29 years old.

Here are some signs to watch out for:

I hope I have changed some minds out there about sunbathing.

http://www.justice.org/cps/rde/xchg/justice/hs.xsl/8151.htm

http://www.skinsight.com/diseaseGroups/sunDamage.htm
http://www.skincancer.org/Skin-Cancer-Facts/

Analysis of The Scene Queen

I've been analyzing this Scene Queen Pedophilia thing all day, and I think I've uncovered a genius  marketing scheme that exploits young girls' need for attention and a feeling of cultural relevance.   Applying my understanding of evolutionary biology, psychology, pornography, and marketing, I feel like I may have some solid answers to the formerly perplexing question of "What the f*ck is this sh*t??".

Analysis of The Scene Queen

   I will begin by tackling the question of why these girls' appearances are so, seemingly, conflicted (i.e. the infantilizing accessories and clothing, carrying around stuffed animals and playing with Hello Kitty crap, but in harsh contrast, wearing loads of eye make-up and often having facial piercings).

    To start with; whether they understand it in it's entirety or not, these Scene Queens are conforming to  the known  ideal associated with males' biological desire to mate with healthy and fertile females.  Men are sexually attracted to younger females, because they are more likely to be healthy and fertile.  This brings me to a concept known as "babyfaceness".

    Studies at universities in both Germany and the US found that when given a range of digitally altered images of the same face, males preferred the faces that had more childlike features (a large rounded forehead, large round eyes, a small nose, and small chin).  These findings simply support the theory that males are evolutionarily inclined to be more attracted to younger females.  For the full story of The Science Of Attraction, 

    This explains both the reason for the over sized quaff, and the heavy eye make up.  The large head of hair gives the illusion of a smaller chin.  By covering their foreheads with thick bangs, and teasing the hell out of their hair, it makes the upper region of their head appear much larger than the lower portion, simply by contrast (i.e. mimicking the symptoms of "babyfaceness").   The reason for the heavy eye make-up is that it helps to give the appearance of larger eyes.  Additionally, it obscures most of the eye area, which is where young women begin to show signs of aging first (dark circles, bags, wrinkles).

  Next we will assess the Hello Kitty and stuffed animal crap...  The bright colors, obviously, draw the eye,  but are also associated with the way that we culturally dress our children.  In pornographic films and images (the ones geared towards male who are looking for "hot petite teens xxx") you will often find that the females will be wearing brightly colored plastic bead jewelry, or cute brightly colored socks.  This part is simple.  They wear childrens' clothing and accessories in order to appear more similar to what we, culturally, consider to be a child.

  The reason for the facial piercings only serves to say, "I am a naughty girl, and I do naughty things".  It gives the onlooker permission to view them in an "adult" manner.  Its that simple.

   Well, I still feel 100% uncomfortable with this creepy Scene Queen thing, but kudos to the horny old bastard who thought it up, and somehow got it to become trendy to appeal to pedophiles.