Blog Feed

Lottery Ticket is one of my favorite movies.

Lottery Ticket is one of my favorite movies.

Yo leí "Un Árbol Crece en Brooklyn". Estoy en el primer capítulo ahora. El libro se trata de una niña pobre en Nueva York. Ella es la hija de inmigrantes de Este Europa. El en primer capítulo, ella y su hermano (que es un año menor) se acumulan basura en las calles - papel y varios tipos de metal. El sábado, van col la chatarra para venderla a un hombre. Reciben 16 centavos a cambio. Son muy pobres, y el libro toma lugar cuando un centavo era como 25 centavos. Entonces, ellos son muy feliz tener el dinero. En una escena feliz, la niña toma mucho tiempo para decidir en que va a gastar su dinero. La escena me recuerda que la gente que no tiene nada – como la niña y su hermano – son muy feliz recibir un poco, mientras a la gente que tiene mucho no hace feliz unos centavos. Para cada dólar que tiene, el próximo parece menos importante.

So I went to see my cousin off for his prom. He looked nice and the girl he took was nice. I was so happy for him. Kinda jealous his came before mines but hey I know come next week I'm going to have my fun. 

Hope you had fun tonight cuz! :)

​War On Terror

 

 

            In the last blog I said I would answer the questions I didn’t get a chance to answer yet.  One question was “Why did it take us so long to find Osama Bin Laden?” Some may say that he was hiding to good for us or when President Bush was asked this question he said “Because he’s hiding” but that means we need to find him right.  Also some may say that the counterterrorism team had change their course of finding him to the American war against Iraq.

 

Another Question was “How does the families fell about Osama Bin Laden’s death?”  They are happy about the Death of Osama Bin Laden but some around not under standing why President Obama was so low-key about speaking on the death and how he wasn’t answering questions about the whole 9/11.

 

 Let’s get into the U.S. Military!  The United States Military has the Navy, Army, Marines and Air Force.  Imagine How many gangs are in the United States of America?  Now think about the same gangs that kill, sell drugs and go to jail, which are the same soldier that we train and support everyday.  Not all solider are in gangs but when you see pictures of Gang tangs over sea’s where the U.S. is fighting, I believe that is disturbing.

 

  Look forward to a continuation of this topic. The plan for the future is to go farther in research to explain more on this topic to the world. BYE see you next time!

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/05/03/why-did-it-take-so-long-to-find-osama-bin-laden

 

Oh he is so terribly funny. A clever lad as well. He has done just fine for himself thus far and he is still so young! What a future he has! He simply cannot help from excelling. Day in and day out...
yet I cannot hold it against the boy.
But does he have to excel so close to where I sit?
Does he have to do it so audibly?
Cannot his wonder be hidden?
Of course not. It oozes from his pores. Light shines from him and he mistakenly believes that I contain such greatness as well... it is simply the reflection of your light that you see, silly!
Well, let us not dwell on this fact. Let me simply envy and admire from my corner, warming myself in your glow, and every now and again do a musical number.

Today was National Kiss Day. First of all, who even came up with that? And second of all, did we really need another day to make all of the single people feel like garbage? Absolutely not. I was lonely today. However, my incredibly wonderful guy best friend made sure that I got a kiss today and hoped that I'd feel better... I do.

I've figured out how to work the website, my comic is now online.... or at least the title page and first page are, more will be up soon.   This is the link Don't judge it too harshly if you go look.

Marijuana serves the human race in many different ways including medicine. The use of medical marijuana has been used for thousands of years, Surprisingly enough marijuana has been used in medicines dating back to 2737 BC according to the Mohamed Ben Amar who studies ethnopharmicology. According to Abel Ernest’s Marijuana: The First Twelve Thousand Years it was first used by Ancient Chinese doctors, the doctors used the plant and turned it into an oil which was used to treat wounds, eruptions, and falling of the hair. As a matter of fact Marijuana is one of the fifty different fundamental herbs used in Chinese herbal medicine. In the third century CE a physician known as Hua Tuo who was and still is respected by many physicians first used Marijuana powder as an anesthetic during surgery. In ancient Egypt the Ebers Papyrus describes medical marijuana and says to use hemp to treat hemorrhoids. According to ancient texts from India and the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs Indian doctors used Marijuana to treat headaches, insomnia, and gastrointestinal disorders, to relieve the pain from childbirth. According to Haworth Press in ancient Greece they not only used Marijuana to treat human diseases but for veterinary medicine. They used marijuana treat wounds and sores that horses encountered. In humans marijuana was used to treat nosebleeds and to expel tapeworms. It was also used to treat pain for ear inflammation. In medieval Islamic society marijuana was used as a diuretic, antiemetic, antiepileptic, anti-inflammatory, painkiller, and as antipyretic. Some of you readers might be thinking, some of these things we already have treatments and cures for. We use Tylenol, Advil and Vicodin as painkillers, and Ignatia to treat worms why would we need marijuana anymore? These were some of the most advanced societies in the world at the time when it cam to medicine. Even in European medicines at the time were based off of all these societies. But the truth is without these ancient medicines we wouldn’t have the drugs we have today. If we approve the use of marijuana doctors can make more medicines that will prevent more diseases. Your proof is here, marijuana does more good than bad for our society, history has proven it.

 One Shot Man Down Pt 2

    

    In the last blog I talked about the reasons why people join gangs, the different ethnicities of gangs and how gang violence is overlooked. Another factor I didn’t include in the last blog was the media today. Do you think that the music we listen to and games we play or shows we watch influence gang violence and activity? (please comment)

 

     Now gangs are multiplying and are spreading out into unsuspected places such as suburban areas and even the military.  Members of nearly every major street gang, including the Bloods, Crips, Black Disciples, Gangster Disciples, Hells Angels, Latin Kings, The 18th Street Gang, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), Mexican Mafia, Nortenos, Surenos, Vice Lords, and various white supremacist groups, have been documented on military gangs. According to the FBI Gang Report (here) our country (in 09) had at least 200,000 gangs coast to coast. Also 1/3 acts of violence are gang related. So I end this blog with the question can gang violence be stopped?

 

 

Bibliography

 

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/justicelawlegislation/a/gangs.htm

 

http://www.ngcrc.com/ngcrc/page91w.htm

 

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2009/february/ngta_020609

Through out my first blog I spoke of human trafficking and explained basic facts about it. After having a good a idea on what human trafficking was I wanted to get into depth with the United States and Human trafficking. How much is the U.S affected by it and what is the U.S doing to prevent it.  

According to the Department of Justice it is estimated that 14,500 to 17,500 people, especially children and women are victims of Human Trafficking every year in the United States.  It is known that Atlanta, Georgia has the highest rate of human trafficking with 200-300 exploited per month. TVPA (Trafficking Victims Protection Act) has concluded that there are 3 main ways to put this to a stop; public awareness, consultation, and economic alternatives. Public awareness will reach people across this globe. It is a form that if more people have more information on Human trafficking than there will be less people mindless to the situation. For consultation, non-governmental organizations will be contacted to enhance the idea of public awareness. Finally but not least is the economic alternatives. TVPA says that that economic deprivation is the main problem for human trafficking. 

After researching about human trafficking in the United States I realized that we are affected by it as much as any other country. Up to 17,500 in the U.S is affected by this and half of that is children. I also noticed that the U.S has a big issue to be concerned about which is that children are being sold and most of them are used to prostitute but not only that, they get abused for not returning with the right amount of money from prostituting. The U.S should have a more powerful way to end this, because not only does it hurt to be a victim of human trafficking but it also hurts to know that you could be a victim of human trafficking. 

Human trafficking should be more of an issue and should be spoken of more. Schools should inform their students about what's really going on in the world. To step out and see theres more than gossip to worry about. The media should grab the attention of people around the world and help decrease human trafficking. If one person knows, thats one less person to worry about. If we all knew how dangerous this is we would all be more vigilant. Not fall into the dirty tricks that traffickers use and be that one less person who outsmarted traffickers!

Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking

http://www.womensfundingnetwork.org/resource/past-articles/enslaved-in-america-sex-trafficking-in-the-united-states

http://www.humantrafficking.org/countries/united_states_of_america

Image Below:
http://marysbeagooddogblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/human-trafficking-in-usa-lecture.html

So far on my latest research on the economy there hasn’t be much change in it so far. But if there is I dough I would be realest to the public. But after surfing the Internet I found some thing interesting .it says that the world economy had a strong growth this year. They say GPD over the next two years should have a 4 percent increase also around 2012. Jan Hatzius, a German economist   who is the US economist and is responsible for setting the firm's US economic and interest rate outlook. Although Minnesota’s unemployment rate is relatively low at 6.6 percent, businesses large and small are reluctant to hire and the depressed real estate market remains a drag on the economy.

 

 

Now thing start to heat up. Did you know our economy is in big trouble and millions of American families are hurting .Now I know some of you know that but Job loss and unemployment is at an all-time high? This is not good at all. We to fix this like now. Sorry folks until next time.

 

 

http://www2.goldmansachs.com/ideas/global-economic-outlook/2011-economic-outlook/index.html?cid=PS_02_

 

http://www.aflcio.org/mediacenter/resources/a-jjs-economy-0203.cfm

 

 

 

        During further research I have gathered information on what not to put on facebook that may either stop you from being accepted into a college of your choice or take away a acceptance/scholarship. I have also learned more about how many colleges look at facebook profiles. Below is the knowledge I have gained so far

• From statistics it has been said that 70% of colleges look at facebook profiles to recruit students. Many educational experts say that what is posted on facebook such as photos, statuses and comments can very much affect college acceptances.
  
• From the website posted below (website #3) Howard Verman - Sr. Associate, Strategies For College says that posting inappropriate pictures of yourself or someone else on facebook can hurt your chances.
  
• A NYTimes article called “The Choice” says that posting information such as being accepted into collage, or being dejected from college can also affect your chances. Posting a status that shows a lack of care of interest in a college acceptance can be the cause of a acceptance removal.

Websites Used for research:
http://www.ivygateblog.com/2010/04/harvard-prefrosh-rejected-over-facebook-status-maybe/

http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/30/facebook/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/unigo/unigo-expert-network-can-_b_837364.html

     Last time I talked about the project I'm doing in English class this year, and how I will be posting updates on the recent developments in the school districts budget crisis, my last post can be found here.
     I'd like to start off By giving a statistic, there are 577 teachers planning to retire next year, and 147 teachers have informed the district that they are resigning. But those 724 teachers leaving the district still won't be enough to help the district cut back on jobs enough for next year, another 536 teachers will have to be laid off next year on top of the resigning teachers. Many of our great teachers will need to find new jobs next year because of the damage this deficit has done.
     There is one piece of "good" news though, a recent state budget plan released by republicans will provide an additional $310 million statewide for education. It isn't clear yet how much money will be given to the Philadelphia School District, it won't come close to fixing the $610 million deficit, but it is money we can use. Here's something Arlene Ackerman said
   "With $630 million [to cut], and only $300 million of that being from the stimulus funds, which we knew was going to go – by the way, we spent that money exactly the way the federal government outlined it. …"
    The funny thing about this statement though, the federal government outlined that the stimulus funds should be used for one-time costs and improvements to schools. What did the district do? They spent the funds on long terms purchases and on the upkeep of the district to help with that years budget. That money is gone now, and we are in debt.

    In my last blog post I talked about the Tunisian revolution, and how that set off similar a revolutions in Egypt, and an ongoing rebellion in Libya. In this blog post I will be talking about the revolution in Egypt, and what caused the protests to be successful and cause Hosni Mubarak to step down from office after 30 years.

    Asmaa Mahfouz created video blog posts that she wanted to motivate the Egyptians to protest against Hosni Mubarak. She posted them on Facebook and YouTube, which was the reasons the internet was taken down by the government the day after the protests began. The protests began in January 25th, when tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Cairo, and more in other cities in Egypt. January 25th was the day chosen because it was a national holiday, that celebrated the police officers who died in a confrontation with British soldiers. This most likely led to these protests to be successful because it was symbolic of the Egyptian people overcoming a oppressing force. On January 28th there began a series of protests called the "Fridays of Anger", where protesters would gather to protest with many other people in cities around Egypt. The Egyptian government then began to use the military to counter to protesters, but the military refused to do certain things such as shoot at the protesters. Finally, on February 11th, after 16 days of protesting and violence, Hosni Mubarak stepped down, and the Egyptian parliament was dissolved 2 days later, to be replaced by a temporary council that would hold power for 6 months to give time for elections to be had. 

    There were many causes for the revolution, but some of the main ones were police brutality, corruption,  and "The Emergency Law". Before the protests, police brutality had become common in Egypt. Mubarak and his regime frequently denied the use of brutality and torture by the police, despite videos and first hand accounts of the existence of police brutality. For the 30 years of Mubarak's presidency, there had been suspicion of manipulation of election results. For the 5 elections Mubarak was in, he won each time with a huge majority. In 2005 Ayman Nour was imprisoned before the elections that he was running against Mubarak of that year. An emergency law had been made after the six day war in Egypt in 1967, but despite it being suspended for 18 months in the 1980s, it is still in effect. It suspended certain constitutional rights, legalized censorship, and allowed the government to imprison individuals indefinitely without cause. This law has not been removed yet, but it has been announced that it will.

    In my next blog post I will be talking about the ongoing rebellion in Libya, what led up to it, the political state in Libya, and about Muammar Gaddafi.

Over the course of a year 1.35 million children are more then likely to become homeless in the U.S. Being homeless is devastating. People think that it isn’t that hard or anything major because they haven’t gone through any of it. One main of the things it affects is their education. School supplies alone is over 150 dollars, add the clothes and the transportation that’s close to 500 dollars. Most families struggle to afford that, if you are homeless there is no way you can make that!

  The homeless children that are able to enroll into public school suffer through obstacles. Out of 87% of the homeless children that are enrolled, only 77% attended almost everyday. In addition to money and enrollment problems, the fact that the children and their families move around in order to find shelter their education shifts from up and down. This is not healthy for the child's mind stability. 

 If homeless children were to attend private or catholic school would there education status be better? Would a stable place for them to live result in a better education?

 In my next blog I am going to be talking about the jobs the homeless people come out in life with. 

http://cflhomeless.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/how-many-are-homeless-in-america/

 

 http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sugexp=ldymls&xhr=t&q=homeless+people+education&cp=18&qscrl=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1221&bih=701

I have gotten new information such as the actual numbers and graphs on the people that drop out of school from grades 9-12 or sooner. I had to restart my blog so i don't have a blog one. I will be investigating further more on my issue and trying to fine the cost of people dropping out. 

Really people… 

I'll be discussing about the serious issue of Children/Teens dropping out of school.

Many of you may be saying "so, i got my education why should i worry bout a couple of trouble makers dropping out". Well, these "trouble makers" are the words future and if we don't do nothing to stop them then the world will be a awful place. We need come up with a solution to get these teens out the streets and into the class room learning. Now, below you will see a graph showing multiple races and class years. If you see, "latinos" always are the first ones to drop out of school and have the lowest graduation percentile than any other right next to african americans. Of course Asian and whites are in first but it's not base on skin color. It's based on the child's back ground, environment and their inspirations. Many young black males and latino males have nobody there to sit with them and go over the days homework or have someone read them a simple book or even ask them how their day was. They just come home to hang out with their friends in the streets are get shot up on the block. Where are the parents at you ask? probably out in the streets or in a dead end job trying to put food on the table. I just think that this is the most serious american issue because these kids are our future and we Must get them help and try to teach them valuable things and instead of yelling at them and making them feel bad about them even more, sit down with them and listen to them and try to be a loyal friend. So, the graph below will be explaining all of the data that i got from research and such. i also see that no matter what i the Asian is always on first and latino/ black are always on last that's why there are so many stero types about us.

Blog Day # 2.

    I’ve ended up researching about same sex marriages. There are not a lot of topics about gay rights. I originally wanted to write about how gays are treated differently than others.

  Blog number 1 honestly left me off thinking about and wanting to write about how Gays are treated, there seems not to have a lot of information on that, so where I’m going with Blog number 2 is gay marriages.

  Same-sex marriages-is legally or socially recognized marriage between two people of the same sex. Since 2001, ten countries have begun legally formalizing same-sex marriages and the recognition. The conflicts arise over whether same-sex couples should be allowed to enter into marriage.

  In my opinion I wonder why people are so worried about same-sex marriages. It’s the couples choice right? So why do they care so much where they legalize it in specific places, I don’t get the concept in that. I think it’s unfair, who ever made the law up they are definitely not being conscientious.

  Same-sex marriage is legal in the U.S  in 2004. As of March 2011 , 41 states prohibit same sex marriages. Since the early 70’s the U.S has been fighting for same sex marriages to be passed.

 

Until next time

Bibliography :

·      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_the_United_States

·      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage

 

Prevention/How to be infected

Ways in which you can get infected with HIV/AIDS are by having unprotected sex with someone with AIDS, which is the most common way, blood transfusions, being born with it, dirty and unsanitary needles for example, a needle you found on the ground, and if one person with AIDS have a cut, and their blood touches your cut.

         Since you do not know if a person has HIV/AIDS by just looking at them, its best to play it safe. Ways in which you can prevent HIV/AIDS are by having protected sex. You can greatly reduce your risk by using a latex or polyurethane condoms. Drugs could increase your risk of getting HIV. When using drugs, never have sex while your high because its easy to forget about safe sex, If you must use drugs never inject them, and if you must inject them, then never share the equipment you used such as the needles, syringes, cotton, and rinse water.

If you are pregnant you should get tested for HIV, just to be sure because if you do have HIV, then your infant could also get it during your pregnancy, breastfeeding, or during delivery. If you are helping someone and they are bleeding, try not to get their blood into any cuts or open sores you have, your mouth, or your eyes. If possible, you should wear gloves and protective eye wear because you will never know if they are infected or not.

I wonder what are the types of tests they run on HIV/AIDS patients. Are there many needles involved in the tests, is it just big machines you have to go into or lay on? In addition, what does HIV/AIDS do to people when they are infected with it?

Below are pictures of HIV cells.

 

http://library.thinkquest.org/5422/aidsprevent.html

http://www.webmd.com/hiv-aids/understanding-aids-hiv-prevention

Depression is not a choice someone chooses to make it’s a biologic disease some people go through. There is no individual cause of depression, but it can be transferred genetically, biochemically, and environmentally. With teenagers the depression is more common especially when it comes to high school. This disease is usually not recognized by families until they notice bad or unusual behavior.

 

Signs of Depression:

•                Frequent vague, non-specific physical complaints such as headaches, muscle aches, stomachaches or tiredness

•                Frequent absences from school or poor performance in school

•                Talk of or efforts to run away from home

•                Outbursts of shouting, complaining, unexplained irritability, or crying

•                Being bored

•                Lack of interest in playing with friends

•                Alcohol or substance abuse

•                Social isolation, poor communication

•                Fear of death

•                Extreme sensitivity to rejection or failure

•                Increased irritability, anger, or hostility

•                Reckless behavior

Difficulty with relationships

 

Suicide is the leading cause of teenage deaths and more teenagers die from it than cancer or any other serious disease. Every year suicide is planned by over 2millions high students in the U.S. and 400 thousand of them attempt it and need medical attention. These attempts are mainly made by gays, bisexuals, and transgenders.

 

The rates of teen suicide are shown to have increased because of teen suicide coverage by the media. Whites at 31% are shown to receive the most treatment for suicidal cases, while blacks show only 22% and Hispanics show only 14%. Some say it’s a racial issue that whites get the most help out of all the other races, but others say its because they get the most attention from there families. I say it all depends on how busy and loving your parents are, they show you the most attention. If they noticed things different about you, then they do their all to get you the help you need.

 

 

 

http://www.pristiq.com/major_depressive_disorder.aspx?sourcae=google&HBX_PK=s_+depression&HBX_OU=50&o=47362258%7C223601699%7C0&skwid=43000000331928133

http://www.pristiq.com/major_depressive_disorder.aspx?sourcae=google&HBX_PK=s_+depression&HBX_OU=50&o=47362258%7C223601699%7C0&skwid=43000000331928133

http://www.educationupdate.com/archives/2002/oct02/issue/speced-factsonteen.htm

 

​On the top you can see the McChicken T.V
and on the bottom you can see the one in real life

    I live in West Philadelphia and there are a number of teen mothers. Just walking from point A to B. I slightly observed a glib of what young mothers go through. Meaning, the stress of caring for an infant with limited income and resources. Difficulties of maintaining work and school responsibilities, finding employment and childcare, and finally excelling well academically. Some teen mothers makes it look like it's so easy, however others are obviously stressed, dealing with the  pain of being a young mother, and finally some have realized it was a devastating mistake.  
    There is one thing  I noticed, and that is everyone has flaws and make mistakes. So why judge others? I also notice people walking down the street and will see a teen mom and instantly make this judgmental face towards this teen mother.  In this blog I'm focusing more on judging then an actual pregnancy.  How does a teen feel during a long 9 months period of pregnancy. This is a  nine months of having a balloon size stomach.
    In our English 9th grade class, we had a debate. We focus on the topic of teen pregnancy. The debate had two sides, how the media influences sex within teens and how it doesn't. This debate opened the eyes of many people. People realized that many things have an effect on a pregnancy. For an example, showing sex scenes in teen movies allow teens to think having sex won't have any bad results. When in reality there are bad results and consequences.  
    This topic, has such a powerful understanding of Tenn pregnancy, how people judge and criticize. There are so many points of view, and this is only one point. But the most strongest point of view is from teen parents.