Blog Feed

What comes to mind when someone says  “high fashion”? Maybe a ball gown, a cashmere shirt with a pair of slacks, or maybe a 800 dollar pair of shoes, but probably not yoga leggings and a cropped sweatshirt. There is a  new take on the way people dress and it has not only changed ideas of fashion but also the clothing market. Instead of people buying jeans, which have had a very high steady market since the first pair of blue jeans were made in 1873, they are now buying more leggings and yoga pants. In recent years, people have become enthusiastic about being active and having active lifestyle. This has changed the fashion industry, going from an everyday basic glam look to, “I just worked out but still look this good” look. The idea of having a simple, active life, has changed more than just lifestyles but the way designers in fashion industry display their high fashion clothing.

At the 2014 Chanel fashion show, leggings, sneaker and cropped sweaters took the runway. Showing off every abb and other muscle was very important. These articles weren’t always worn together but apart with a pair of slack or a loose skirt, maybe for a nice lunch out with friends. Chanel is known for their high fashion clothing, purses, shoes and make up, but they are now also taking part in the sport clothing market. "We found that there was a bit of a gap in our offering for someone who loves fashion and exercise and wants to look great doing it," said Net-A-Porter President Alison Loehnis. This quote shows how the fashion industry is switching from “fancy clothes” to “fancy work out clothes”. This is a change that not only Chanel designers are making but many other designers as well. With this change that Chanel has made, being one of the bigger names in high fashion, there will, and have been more to follow in their footsteps in making this change.

At New York’s fashion week, a couple of weeks ago, leggings were seen walking down the runway side by side with ball gowns and zip ups thrown over a pantsuit. Throwing a zip up jacket on before leaving on way to work is something some may never bat an eye at, but this wasn’t always the norm. Only about 70 years ago was the trend of women dressing in more of a masculine way controversial trend. In the 50’s the trend was a tight pencil skirt. All of these changes in fashion trends changed the fashion industry. The active clothing trend seems to be different, it goes farther than clothing. This is a trend that seems to go along with a change in lifestyle as well. “A 2012 study conducted by the highly respected, San Francisco-based publication Yoga Journal estimates that 20.4 million Americans practice yoga, a 29 percent increase from 2008, when 15.8 million were attending classes.” (BOF) This trend isn’t simply about the clothes but also the lifestyle that comes with it. The change in clothing has changed people’s lifestyles because this type of clothing is made tight and fitted. It makes people want to be healthier, to look better in the clothes.  

This new active way of dressing has not only changed high fashion but has helped companies like Nike grow in crazy numbers. Lulu-lemon, is another company that has benefited from this change. They were one of the first yoga clothing stores. “From 2008 to 2013, sales increased by more than $1 billion, hitting $1.4 billion in the 2012 fiscal year.” (BOF) This is just in the past 5 years. From 1998, when the company was founded, until 2007 the company raised $327.6 million. Obviously this trend is getting more popular.  In the past few years fashion has taken a turn for the fittest. Activewear has become everyday wear, not just gym attire. This trend is related to the new obsession with an active lifestyle. More and more people are taking exercise classes, buying healthier food and looking like it while they do so. With the change in the industry the “popular” stores are changing what they carry, as well as the stores that are known for their active wear sales growing.

Although people in high fashion might not think that gym clothes matters much, his/her/its influence goes beyond that of gym rats to all clothing consumers. The lifestyle that comes with active wear is a more non-chalet way of living, a more laid back, less stressful way of living. It is also healthier, more active and eating healthier. In the past few years the popular lifestyle has changed. This has brought a change in fashion, which has helped grow many companies that before were well known but now are larger than imaginable.

Work Cited:

• BRAZILIAN, ALEXA. "The New Trend in Workout Fashion." The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 9 July 2014. Web. 21 Sept. 2014. http://online.wsj.com/articles/the-new-trend-in-workout-fashion-1404425123

• SHERMAN, LAUREN. "For the Activewear Market, There's No Way But Up - BoF - The Business of Fashion." BoF The Business of Fashion. The Business of Fashion Ltd., 15 Jan. 2014. Web. 21 Sept. 2014. http://www.businessoffashion.com/2014/01/activewear-lululemon-nike-hm-sweaty-betty.html

• Timberlake, Cotten. "Track Pants Grace Runways as Activewear Goes Up-Market." Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, 10 Feb. 2014. Web. 21 Sept. 2014. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-10/track-pants-grace-runways-as-activewear-goes-up-market.html

• "Our Story | Levi Strauss." Levi Strauss. LS&CO., 2014. Web. 21 Sept. 2014. http://www.levistrauss.com/our-story/

Hola me Nombre eres Savannah manns, Tengo Trece años. Soy de England pervivo en Filadelfia.

Soy perezosa, muy sociable , boba, más o menos alta,and muy inteligente.

Me fascina musica,Me gusta nada cantar , Me gusta  Escribir y narative y creative escribir.

¿ te gusta escribir?

The transgression that the offender has done is viewed, but the other aspects have been associated with what the punishment will be. In court, unfortunately a lot of cases have been judged by different variables rather than just what the offender has done. Race, occupation, income and religion play a huge role into a lot cases, especially when determining the death penalty. The death penalty is sentenced unfairly, causing people to be put on death row due to who they are rather than what they've done. The death penalty is unfair due to the fact that one may be on death row due to income level, race and the retribution in the hearts of victim`s family.

The death penalty is given out to certain people, not necessarily being solely based on their crime. Income level is a major factor when it comes to the death penalty. The income level of one offender is looked at based upon if they are able to afford a good attorney. If they are unable to present a good attorney the state will adjourn one making it even harder to beat the case.  Anti- death penalty activist Helen Prejean said, “After all the rhetoric that goes on in legislative assemblies, in the end, when the net is cast out, it is the poor who are selected to die in this country. And why do poor people get the death penalty? It has everything to do with the kind of defense they get. Money gets the offender good defense. Getting a defense team that will win a death penalty case will have to be anywhere from $8,000 to $50,000. People who are sentenced to death tend to be lower than the poverty line or close to it. Many of what goes into consideration is if the offender has a good attorney. A good attorney needs to be appointed due to the fact that one can not afford to have a less worthy defense team on a death penalty case. If it was a drunk driving scenario, then it would be much different.

Race can determine whether a criminal is sentenced to the death penalty or not.This next verification shows how the death sentence is unfair is because of the race of the criminal.Studies have shown jurors in Washington state are three times more likely to recommend a death sentence for a black defendant than for a white defendant in a similar case where the sentence should be the same. (Prof. K. Beckett, Univ. of Washington, 2014). This shows just how the color of a person`s skin can persuade the jurors. One may say the evidence and crime should be the only thing weighed in for a  fair trial, but there are people saying otherwise".Another quote, from NAACP said, “The U.S. Department of Justice’s own figures reveal that between 2001 and 2006, 48 percent of defendants in federal cases in which the death penalty was sought were African Americans… the biggest argument against the death penalty is that it is handed out in a biased, racially disparate manner.13 percent of our population is African American, but 50 percent of African -American make prison`s population. The death penalty is biased and is evident through the statistics. African-Americans are at a way higher risk at receiving the death penalty than a white person. The statistics are very overwhelming going off the fact that an African-American is 3 times more likely to go to death row. The jurors are chosen because they are not biased to the case, but when given all the information, like the color of the victim and or suspect, things shift a lot. Thus proving the  thesis that  race is a key component to giving one the death penalty.

The last  piece of information that may shift the decision of the death penalty is the retribution in the heart of the victim`s family. The anger in the family`s heart makes the decision of the death penalty be pushed even further.  When the loved one of a family gets killed, it is one`s instinct to want to kill the offender. People may say that sending the offender to death row is giving closure or desistance to the family, but indeed that is a lie and is only being done to get revenge back.  A professor for Humanities at St. Peter's College, Raymond A. Schroth, SJ  once said  To kill the person who has killed the loved one of a family is simply to continue the cycle of violence which ultimately destroys the avenger as well as the offender. That this execution somehow give 'closure' to a tragedy is a myth. Expressing one’s violence simply reinforces the desire to express it. Just as expressing anger simply makes us more angry. It does not drain away. It contaminates the otherwise good will which any human being needs to progress in love and understanding." ( Raymond A. Schroth, SJ) This is a cycle that must be stopped. Killing the offender is not the answer and definitely does not put heal the scar because the loved one will never come back. The anger of one, will then set off the next and will be a repeating cycle that will continue unless someone can see that is is palpable that the death sentence is just another way of violence that is justified by the court systems and by society. Also including that the testimony of the family can sway the jurors, due to the fact they may want them to feel as if they lost the loved one and to make the case sound very personal.

In conclusion, the death penalty plays a lot into the biased sides of things. Crime should be judged purely off of the evidence and how it played out, instead of the logistics of race,income and so forth. The statics are very overwhelming going off the fact that an African-American is 3 times more likely to go to death row. The atonement of losing a loved one is not by killing the offender, because it is just contradicting the entire situation and also continuing the cycle. Although the death penalty may only seem important to people on death row, it should in fact concern anyone who cares about families of the victims. People may think that the people on death row are chosen due to die due to their crime, but it also involves, race, income and the retribution in the family of the victim`s hearts.   

Works Cited:

"Death Penalty - ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Oct. 2014.

"BalancedPolitics.org - Death Penalty (Pros & Cons, Arguments For and Against, Advantages & Disadvantages)." BalancedPolitics.org - Death Penalty (Pros & Cons, Arguments For and Against, Advantages & Disadvantages). N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Oct. 2014.

"The Pros And Cons Of The Death Penalty: Two Parallel Discussions." St. Louis Public Radio. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2014.

Penalty, Death, and States (32). U.S. Military NUMBER OF EXECUTIONS SINCE 1976: 1,389 (n.d.): n. pag. Death Penalty Information Center. Web.

Hola mi nombre es Nadya,Vivo en Filadelfia.

Tengo quince anos.

Soy muy baja,simpatica,guapa y boba.

Me gusta mucho bailar. Odio ayudar en casa.

Me encanta comer.

The Spectacular Now Book Review By Kevin Horton

Ever felt as if you're the only one that has failed miserably at school but is the King Of Partying? Well, there is a tale out there, that you can relate to. The Tale Of Sutter Keely starts off with normal teenage issues. He is in a world of drama until he meets Aimee, another troubled teen trying to figure it out.

Tim Tharp was one of the most underrated Authors of this time. In The Spectacular Now, He talks about the struggles a 17 year old high school senior faces. Girls, employment, family matters and figuring it all out is just some of the issues. Tharp uses sharp and dense descriptions to create a humorous image.

This book is recommended for any young adult or teenager. This book has a captivating perspective. The Spectacular Now has a very good sense of humor, realism and imagery.

Monologue For Creative Piece

Have you ever felt you might just be the biggest joke ever? Like you want to be rich, famous and remembered for something great but all you can do is hang up shirts and get paid and be known for being an alcoholic? Well I’ve been there many times before. Like, more than I can count. Well, on my hands at least. Never have I cared about anything but downing my daily alcohol, seeing my girlfriend,  and partying with Ricky, who was my wingman. I also find myself staring at my feet when walking. Its wierd. Whatever. Anyway, I thought i was on the right track when I thought that me and my now ex girlfriend was gonna move to St Louis while she chases her dreams through college. I was about to, but once I met my father, then it hit me. I'm suppose to be a drunken failure with social smarts. So here I go, cutting my co-supportive relationship with someone who mattered the most, pushing my family away because my mom refuses to get a new job and my sister is just another bratty sibiling. Of Course, school didnt work out so i got one less burden on my back. But here I am ready to disappear. My name, is Sutter Keely. Im from Oklahoma City, and Im living the spectacular now.

Mellamo Tony Romo, el mariscal de campo numeros nueve para los vaqueros. Soy trienta y cuatro.

Soy deportista y bajo. Me gusta practicar deportes y comer. Odio cantar y nadar.

The United states is a first world country, with a relatively wealthy population in comparison to other countries. The country is considered an upstanding and prospering nation. However, the United States has the highest incarcerated population of any country in the world. The American criminal justice system has caused this large and growing amount of prisoners. The United states has an overly high incarceration rate, which is due to severe prison sentences of specific groups of people for drug related crimes, and a poor criminal reformation system which keeps them trapped in the prison system.

The United States has a population of over three hundred million people, making it the third most populated country in the world. Despite being less than a third the size of the two most populated countries, the United States has the world’s largest population of incarcerated people, around 2.3 million. More than 0.7% of Americans are currently incarcerated. One percent of adults over the age of eighteen in the United States are currently in prison. (NY Times). The fact that the United States criminal justice system puts so many offenders in prison causes the country to have an overly high crime rate because so many people are convicted.  The way that it’s criminal justice system works is what is causing this high population.

The amount of prisoners in the U.S. has increased over time. This increase isn’t entirely due to an increase of crime overall, rather the increase of a specific type of crime that has been greatly penalised by the justice system in recent years. The United states illegality on the selling and usage of certain drugs has resulted in a massive increase in the number of arrests.In 2012, 1.55 million people were arrested on drug related charges (Drug Policy.org). Penalties for drug related crimes can be severe, and have resulted in increases in the number of arrests. Introducing a new type of crime by placing such heavy penalties on drugs.

The goal of prison is to punish criminals. Ideally prisoners should leave prison with a changed attitude towards their crime, and hopefully will not commit one again. Often this isn’t the case. 68% of all released prisoners end up back in prison within three years of their release. This proves that the prison system is ineffective for most people. This is because the punishment of felons doesn’t always help them. Incarceration might make someone more wary of committing a crime, but they often they have no other ways to make a living but to live a life of crime, and that doesn’t often change after they get out of prison (Barrish). United states prison’s often do not reform criminals. Prison is a harsh place, and prisoners may feel alienated and depressed. But these emotions don’t always serve as a punishment, rather they just negatively affect the mental health of the prisoners, which doesn’t help to reform them. If anything it can make them feel like outcasts of society, which does not aid them to be productive members of it.  Also being surrounded by other criminals creates an atmosphere of concentration crime, and that doesn’t help prisoners to get away from that lifestyle (Henry).

“In seeking to severely penalize the criminals away behind safe walls actually provides them with the means of greater strength for future atrocities glorious and otherwise.” Jack Kerouac, author and former prisoner.

This is why prisoners usually end up back in the prison system.

Targeting specific ethnic groups, while unjust is an effective way of arresting a lot of people. There is racial profiling in the U.S. criminal justice system. Police specifically target neighborhoods with high black and hispanic populations, thus arresting more blacks and hispanics. Only fourteen percent of drug users are black, but forty five percent of people incarcerated for drug related offenses are black. White’s and Black’s use and sell illegal drugs about the same amount. That means that a greater percentage of blacks are being are being arrested for a crime than whites, when both actually commit the crime at the same rate (Rushing). This shows that police are racially profiling blacks. Targeting these ethnic groups has caused an increase in prison population because the police are paying a lot of attention to areas with a concentration of crime caused by non-white people. This racism allows the police to target these areas and arrest a lot of people from them.

The high prison population in the United States has to do with the fact that to many people are being sent to prison for too long, and too many people are returning after they are released. The country is trapped in a cycle of high incarceration rates. Providing for these 2.3 million prisoners is expensive and is costing taxpayers a lot of money. The police cracking down on drugs, and targeting groups of people who use them is resulting in a large number of arrests. Many prisoners are not becoming productive members of society, they’re just trapped in this cycle of crime, which will keep hurting society, both socially and economically.

Works Cited:

1. Barrish, Cris. "Study: 8 in 10 Released Inmates Return to Del. Prisons."USA Today. Gannett, 31 July 2013. Web. 30 Sept. 2014. <http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/31/delaware-prison-recidivism/2603821/>

2. Henry, Stuart, Ph.D. "Defining Punishment and How It Works." On the Effectiveness of Prison as Punishment. Wayne State University, 24 Oct. 2003. Web. 30 Sept. 2014. <http://www.is.wayne.edu/StuartHenry/Effectiveness_of_Punishment.htm>.

3. Liptak, Adam. "U.S. Prison Population Dwarfs That of Other Nations."Nytimes.com. New York Times, 23 Apr. 2008. Web. 30 Sept. 2014. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2008%2F04%2F23%2Fworld%2Famericas%2F23iht-23prison.12253738.html%3Fpagewanted%3Dall%26_r%3D1%26>.

4. Rushing, Keith. "The Reasons Why So Many Black People Are in Prison Go Well Beyond Profiling." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 23 June 2011. Web. 30 Sept. 2014. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/keith-rushing/the-reasons-why-so-many-b_b_883310.html>.

5. "Drug War Statistics." Drugpolicy.org. Drug Policy Alliance, 2014. Web. 30 Sept. 2014. <http://www.drugpolicy.org/drug-war-statistics>.

6. "Population of All Countries of the World / All National Populations Largest to Smallest - Worldatlas.com." Population of All Countries of the World / All National Populations Largest to Smallest - Worldatlas.com. Worldatlas, n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2014. <http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/populations/ctypopls.htm>. Web. 30 Sept. 2014.

Hola.  Soy Chase Utley.  Soy de Calafornia, pero vivo en filadelphia.  Tengo treinta y cinco anos.  Soy alto y deportista, porque yo juego el besibol.  Soy super famoso.  Mi equipo es los Filadelphia Phillies.  

Me gusta jugar todos los deportes, y jugar video juegos.  Mu gusta dibujar y comer un poco.  No me gusta leer o limpiar nada.  

Te gusta beisbol?

Melissa Alvarez | Earth Stream

11/5/14

No one really knew about the Swat Valley district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan, and no one really knew that the Taliban were occupying this Pakistani Province, or the type of limits and restraints the women were being forced to live by. No one really ever knows about what’s really happening worldwide unless it’s in front of their own eyes. In front of 15 year old Malala Yousafzai’s eyes before everything changed in her life, was a gun at point-blank range and the sound of a bullet ringing through her ears.

In the year 2009, 11 year old Malala Yousafzai wrote a blog for BBC originally under a pseudonym, about what her life was like under the occupation of the Taliban in her home town of Mingora. The Taliban restricted girls from being able to attend school and receive a quality education (let alone any education), and if disobeyed, they would more than likely be facing death. Malala wrote all about how she believes everyone deserves equal rights to an education. She began giving interviews, appearing on TV, speaking with her father at events, taking part in a documentary for the New York Times. She slowly but surely became popularized from the outside, which posed a threat to the Taliban that a teenage girl was speaking out against them. On the afternoon of October 9th, 2012, the Taliban boarded the school bus Malala was taking, and shot her in the head while injuring two others. Yousafzai’s incredible recovery has only achieved the opposite of the Taliban’s hopes. Malala is now the youngest Nobel Peace Prize recipient in history for her bravery and activism, and she continues to speak at major events (the United Nations, the Liberty Medal award ceremony, the Forbe’s Best Inventors Under 30, etc.), and continues to spread her cause globally.

The book “I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up For Education and Was Shot by the Taliban” leaves you wondering about what’s next on Malala’s list of remarkable experiences. She writes all about the love and melancholy she feels by having to be separated from her home in Pakistan. Readers are taken back to the short amount of time Malala spent as an adolescent, with her childhood stories and observations she made about her family early on. She writes about how and why her father was such an inspiration and motivator to her when she needed it, and how he’s been there every step of the way with her. The descriptiveness throughout the entire book gives the audience a very vivid and surreal experience, almost as if these are our memories and not hers. From the very beginning of the book, any reader is caught and fished in as Malala leaves them wanting more. From the very beginning, the story line cuts right to the chase down to the moment they pulled the trigger to her head. You won’t be able to put it down.

Some major themes recognized in this book are survival, family, the right to an education, and the definition of beauty. Malala has overcome and written not only about hardships she’s experienced personally, but the hardships her mother has also experienced, and the women before her. It is not uncommon in her Valley for women to give up their rights just to stay home, cook, clean, and raise sons. It is what they’ve been programmed to do by their ancestors, but it is something Malala has refused to do with the help and guidance of her father. Throughout this tale, you will also pick up on a little bit of ‘Pashto’ as Malala refers to certain things with certain titles from her native language (with an english translation accompanied). You will learn more about family than ever before, and the power of what the support from the right people can help you to accomplish. Also from this book will be a strong reminder about home and what it means to have a place you come from and find to be beautiful in every way that is your own; Be it the bustling city streets of New York, to the beautiful silence of the Mingora mountains, we each have some place to call home and will remember to love after finishing this book.

Malala to me almost represents a real-life Katniss Everdeen. She is very much the survivor, the motivator, the one who never loses sight of her beliefs, and the one who stood out. If you are interested to hear a very visual tale of survival, near death experiences, and a personal comeback into a new and more powerful life that the author is still adjusting to, this book is very highly recommended.

Title: I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up For Education and Was Shot by the Taliban

Author: Malala Yousafzai with Christina Lamb

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Date of Publication: November 26th, 2013

Pages: 464

Genre: Non-Fiction

Link to creative piece:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrACYiz5QUE

Hola, Me llamo es Mark Zuckerberg. Tengo treinta y tres años. Soy de White Plains, NY pero vivo en Palo Alto, California.

Me gusta (mucho) jugar con mi teléfono. Soy súper inteligente. Me algo famoso.

Me gusta Facebook. Soy creativo. Soy algo serio en trabajar. Me gusta (mucho) dinero. Soy billionare. Soy más o menos alto.