Liberia: War Underfoot

My first impression of the picture with all the bullet shell carpeting the street, was how crazy is that? That was so many bullet shells to count. How sad to live in a place where there is war going on right outside the door. I think that I can even see in the background bullet holes in the buildings that are behind the person, not sure if they are stores or actual homes. After googling Liberia in google maps, I noticed that it is a very small place near the coast, located in the west side of Africa. Also, on google website was where Liberia was founded and it states that it was founded by the United States colonization while occupied by native Africans. After watching the video I noticed that the president is a bad president. He is being linked to many crimes in Liberia. Not sure how the U.S. policy around the world affects countries like Liberia? What do you think about the situation?

Nixon Says Good bye

The first impression of the photo that I got from Nixon leaving was that he looks very happy to leave the white house. After watching the video and reading the article of the Watergate scandal. I was not surprised, the government always does things like that. The sad thing about it is that he did it for the wrong reasons. He violated the constitution because he felt threatened by his political opponent. That is truly a sad reason and they got caught which was even more disturbing. On the question of "How does Nixon's speech try to convince you of his argument of not being a quitter?" I was not able to watch this video but as for the how the scandal reshaping our idea of the government. My idea was already distorted because of other incidents but being in your class has open my mind to other out comes that can happen if we stand up for our rights as a group. In order to make a change in our community, if we know that something is not right, all we have to do is bring it to our communities attention and write petitions, with the added foot work there is nothing that can get in our way except for ourselves by lack of motivation.

Critical Analysis #5

Critical Analysis #5 The main idea of this article is to inform us of what the meat packing industry is about and how it works. It talks about how they smell, how they work, and how they profit. One of the meat packing industries it talked about was the old Chicago slaughter houses and how they were usually brick buildings, four or five stories high. Cattle were herded up wooden ramps, to the top floor, where they were struck on the head with a sledgehammer, slaughtered, and then disassembled by skilled workers. The working conditions in the meat packing plants were brutal. A book was written “The Jungle” in which Upton Sinclair described a litany of horrors: severe back and shoulder injuries, lacerations, and exposures to dangerous chemicals. There was even an accident in which a worker fell into a vat and got turned into lard. The plant went on about their business and the lard was sold to unsuspecting consumers. Can anyone say Grouse!! Any who, President Roosevelt at the time ordered an investigation in which federal agents found accuracy in the book and the Chicago meatpacking plant was found laboring workers “under conditions that were entirely unnecessary and unpardonable, and which are a constant menace not only to their own health, but also to the health of those who use the food products prepared by them.” My question or concern would be how greedy can our governments get because in a sense it is like our government also allows it, they don’t seem to be doing anything about it. It seems like they talk about it and then just try to sweep it under the floor. When instead they should be taking action and requiring more form companies or large corporations. Also, like we discuss in class we just need to stand up and rally or bring it up to their awareness as a community. This applies to us in the real world and our lives because if we just let it slide, and let it slide, then we are just letting them win but if we speak our minds as a large group and not give up we will be able to accomplish something as a community. How would you take action in a scenario like this one?

CRITICAL ANALYSIS #4

CRITICAL ANALYSIS #4 The main idea of this article is to inform us of what is really in our McDonalds fries. In the beginning McDonalds used to make their fries with a mixture of 7 percent cottonseed oil and 93 percent beef tallow. By 1990, they had to switch to vegetable oil because they were receiving a lot of criticism due to the previous choice and the amount of cholesterol in the fries. What this article also pertains to is to explain to us how much of our food is made from man-made additives. Most man-made additives are what give the processed food the majority of its taste. The flavor industry has been around since the end of World War II. The world’s largest flavor company is the International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF); it is located in Dayton, New Jersey. Basically this plant makes a variety of man-made additives for flavors and smells. They have manufactured six of the ten best-selling perfumes in the U.S. that included Estee Lauder’s Beautiful, Clinique’s Happy, Lancôme’s Tresor, and Calvin Klein’s Eternity. The IFF has also made smells for household products like deodorant, dishwashing detergent, bath soap, shampoo, furniture polish and floor wax. The basic science behind the scent of our shaving cream is the same as that governing the flavor of our TV dinner. To sum it all up the majority of our processed food is made up of chemicals that we can’t even pronounce. My concern is the secrecy of the industry. Why will they not share the precise formulas of the flavor compound or the identities of the client’s? There is a saying in Spanish “el que nada debe, nada teme” meaning “the one who doesn’t owe, shouldn’t fear.” Are they trying to hide something so severe that they know if it were to be published they could get in serious trouble? Why did they make her or him I don’t even know who wrote this article, but why did they make them sign a disclosure form? Very questionable, as is all these chemicals that we put in our bodies on a daily basis. I believe that this information is very important for us to know because once we know the real truth then we as adults can make the decision of living our lives like we have been or make a drastic change for the better of our health and our families, to be able to pass this knowledge and educate them as well. This information had helped me to think twice before I go grocery shopping and even think twice of what I am putting in my body. NO MORE JUNK FOOD!! Also this article had made think about really going green. I have had my goals to buy a home with a large back yard so that I can grow my little garden of fruits and veggies, and also I been wanting to get chickens, rabbits, ducks, and a goat, but after reading this article I am really going to push for it now. Back when I was younger my family did that and we always had food.

Everything's an Argument #4- Hitler in Paris

“EVERYTHING’S AN ARGUMENT” #4-HITLER IN PARIS My first impression of the photo where Hitler is standing near the Eiffel tower is that Hitler looks really mad. However, this could be because my vision is fogged up about all the things I know he ordered to be done to people. After reading the article of Hitler tours Paris and after watching the video clip of Hitler tours Pairs, my first thought was how did he know that there was tier missing from the opera room?, but nothing beside the ordinary. My own thought of Hitler is that he is a sorry maniac, son of a gun that should have not been born. I have trouble grasping the fact that he ordered the annihilation of the Jews. It is disturbing to know that people actually listened to his orders and would kill men, women, and children of Jewish dissent. I have nothing good to say about Hitler. Instead of killing all those Jewish people he should have just killed the Jewish men that did not approve him for the art school that he really wanted to attend. I would like to apologize in advance because I do not agree with the TIME magazine as man of the year. I am sorry I just cannot see it or accept it. It is really hard for me to view a man that killed almost a whole race of Jews that included not only men and women but also CHILDREN as man of the year, aside from all of his accomplishments, I just do not see it happening. How do you feel or think about Adolf Hitler? Do you agree with his beliefs?

Critical Analysis #3

CRITICAL ANALYSIS #3 The text that I read from my book of “Everything’s an Argument” is titled “Little girls or little women? The Disney princess effect” the main idea of this reading is targeting whether or not our little girls become little women too soon, by female characters wearing sexualized attire. For example Disney Jasmine wears a sultry off the shoulder or Miss Piggy who shows cleavage. This article also talks about studies behind the reasoning of why parents are alarmed. For example the University of Florida polled that fifty percent of 3-6 years olds worry that they are fat & the marketing group NPD reported in 2003 that more than $1.6 million is spent annually on thong underwear for 7-12 year olds. Another study that didn’t surprise me when they compared the ability of college age women to solve math problems while trying on a sweater with that of those trying on swimsuits, alone in the dressing room of course, sweater wearers far out performed the swimsuit ones. The majority of women are insecure because they are never satisfied with themselves, and I speak from experience of talking to women like family members, girl-friends, and co-workers they always complain about something. It also mentions from the Experian Simmons national consumer research that girls start wearing lip gloss when they are 6years old and the percentage of 8-12 year olds wearing mascara almost doubled between 2007 and 2009. I was still unclear about the Disney princess effect. I did not understand why the reading did not stick more towards talking about the Disney princess effect. Yes, I understand the fact that while growing up girls are into the Disney princesses but what does that have to do with growing up too fast. I have two girls one is Lizzie she is going to turn 10 this coming Friday and Lonnie she is 1year and a half. Lizzie was all into the princess things to a certain extent the dress-up, play makeup, and being lady like. She is going to be ten soon and she is nothing like materialistic. I am a firm believer that it is all in what you instill in your children. Also talking to them about things is very important. Making sure they now what is important and what is not. You must be open with them when the time is right, don’t sugar coat anything. This text is very important because it is more of an eye opener for the reader. This text is very informational for the reader especially if they don’t know what to watch for. The majority of the facts in the text make sense; I mean there is nothing extreme about it. I think that this relates to the world around our lives if we choose to let our children grow up too fast. Yes, there is all sorts of pornography that they will run into while surfing the web, but that’s when the parent must block websites that are affiliated with such things. Also, talking to your kids about nudity and it not being cool is very important. Also paying attention to the type of friends they associate themselves with and talking to them about that as well, negative decisions bring negative consequences and positive decisions bring positive consequences. Above all having an open, trusting, and good relationship with the child builds the child’s comfort zone with what they can come to the parent about.

Kent State

KENT STATE For me massacre sounds too dramatic for the image, article, and video clip I just saw. My first impression however, was of course how sad. They were standing up for what they believed and got shot down by national guards. To be honest from my point of view it seems that the government was just trying to calm things down but by them sending inexperienced guards I do believe that, that is where the government themselves dropped the ball because in the video clip it does state that the guards were in fact inexperienced. That to me was a bad idea because the guards did not know how to handle the situation and they went to the extremes before actually trying to come to a resolution. And also to shoot college students that did not even have any guns that was pretty whack. So I researched it a little more and I read a article that the actual Kent State wrote on their website: http://dept.kent.edu/sociology/lewis/lewihen.htm and it explains all the details, which is pretty much the same except a little more detailed as to who called who for back up and what not. The student s were throwing rocks and saying threats but that does not give them the right to shoot the college students. Another case that could have been prevented had the government sent national guards that were more experienced and could have maybe rationalized with the students.