Mexico is Evolving (Or at Least is Trying To)

Los Angeles Times
Richard Fausset
April 27, 2013
President Enrique Pena Nieto is setting up a new Pact for Mexico where there will be reforms involving their tax system, telecommunications industry, the state-run oil companies, and any other system that seems too powerful and corrupt. The teachers' union has been having trouble agreeing to the presidents plans of weakening the union and giving the educators evaluations. For years, it was said by critics, that the union has "dragged" down the education system of Mexico, but that did not stop the teachers in Guerrero from rioting on the streets, burning buildings, breaking windows, and blocking freeways. Many of these teachers have worn masks to keep their identities discreet. Recently, much to the president's relief, the union leaders have decided to take a five day break in hopes of settling the deal once and for all with the government instead of continuing the riots.  “For those Mexicans who want a different Mexico, who want to transform the current reality of our country, and make it a place with better opportunities for all, violence should in no way be the instrument for the transformation and attainment of that end,” President Nieto said. Mexico, with the help of its president and the new pact, can move forward and become a better country, if the people will just listen to reason.
http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-mexico-teachers-reform-pact-20130426,0,1478512.story

Mexico Breaks Up With America

Los Angeles Times
Shashank Bengali and Tracy Wilkinson
April 28, 2013
America and Mexico are allies that share a common enemy, drug traffickers. America has spent about two billion dollars on assisting Mexico, by providing aircraft drones, intelligence agents, and even police trainers, to help Mexico take down the drug cartels. Actually, American intelligence managed to take down twenty five kingpins, or capos, in six years. Recently, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and his governmental officials believe that it is time for America to take a step beck when it comes to Mexico's security affairs. This is a great act on Mexico's part for wanting to be able to depend on mostly themselves instead of relying on America for something as important as their own security. While beneficial to Mexico, all of the American governmental workers must let go of their jobs, and even though America is not too excited about Mexico's decision, America really has no choice but to fall back. Instead of having America closely knitted in their security affairs, Mexico plans on expanding the economic relationship with America, making this two great decisions on Mexico's part.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-obama-mexico-20130429,0,7444757.story

Legalizing Marijuana

Huffington Post
Gavin Newsom
There is more talk going around about how California should legalize marijuana. Huffington Post's Gavin Newsom suggested "It is time for California to decriminalize, tax and regulate marijuana and decide who sells it, who can buy it legally, and for how much. When California became the first state to approve medical marijuana, we led the nation on progressive drug policies, and now it is time to lead again." This statement is completely wrong and illogical. Just because marijuana will be legalized, it does not mean that California will be able to regulate who can get their hands on a bag of weed. Vendors off the street make most of their money selling illegal marijuana to minors. Even if marijuana was to be legalized, people will still go to find the cheaper and easier provider. The only plus side to legalizing marijuana would be to have less prisoners in our jails, but, which is the more ideal city? One where people are able to grow weed in their backyards where their children are exposed to it, or a city that has a jail full of people who can cause harm to those around them? Marijuana, no matter who argues that it is not addictive or does not cause permanent harm, still affects your perception and your mind. That, in itself, is the most dangerous thing about drugs.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gavin-newsom/time-for-california-to-de_b_3134929.html

Coachella Accident

Huffington Post
Coachella. Three days of nonstop entertainment. A music lovers dream. One man's end. Coachella employee, Monte Gardner, was run over by an intoxicated driver while riding back home on his motorcycle from work. David Brennan, the driver of the Toyota Corolla, did not stop at an intersection, thus causing Gardner's death. Many remember Gardner as a man who always smiled and who had a great heart, but because of one man's irresponsibility and illogical actions, he will not smile again. A man literally died just because another person decided that it would be a good idea to drive while they were drunk. Coachella was not created to be an alcoholic's or a drug user's paradise, but a place where people who love great music gather to hear their favorite bands and artists play their music. Stories like this are fuel to my parent's ongoing fire in refusing and casting away my cries and pleas to be able to attend one night of Coachella.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/22/motorcyclist-killed-coachella_n_3133607.html?utm_hp_ref=los-angeles#slide=more291827

Stereotypes

2) What factors contribute to prejudice and how?
6) Is it possible to grow to adulthood without harboring at least some prejudice toward certain groups.

Stereotypes are all around us; while driving a car, taking a test, walking down the street, watching a movie. Many of us are so instilled by these lies that we do not realize that what we are saying is racist or sexist or just wrong. The reason we say these things is because of the outside influences that play a huge role in our lives. Family can be one these factors. If a father has had bad relations with a Hispanic man, and always speaks of the interaction with disdain, then it is natural that the son or daughter may harbor feelings against this specific race. The same is evident in friendship. If a friend constantly talks about how much they hate jocks and continually exposes their flaws, then the person will start believing it too. I believe that there is a way to avoid these stereotypes. It is not easy to stop judging people, but it is possible. I find that every time my parents judge a person walking down the street or get angry at an Asian driver or assume that all drivers of a BMW or a Mercedes is Armenian, I find myself getting more and more angry with them. Almost everything that my parents hate or are against, I love or am content with. This is because I do not want to be anything like them in the sense that  I do not want to be another judgmental Armenian who assumes that they are right about everything. It is wrong to think that Armenians are the most superior race. It is wrong to think that all Asian drivers are terrible. It is wrong to assume that all blond girls and sport playing guys are not intelligent. Therefore it is wrong to judge and is wrong to believe in stereotypes.

What's Rape?

Los Angeles Times
Tina Susman
March 17, 2013
Two teenage boys, Trent Mays(17) and Ma'lik Richmond (16), in the small town of Steubenville, Ohio, thought it would be a good idea to take an extremely intoxicated girl to their house and rape her. They also thought it would be a good idea to take videos and pictures of the rape in progress. What they did not think was where their actions would take them. The next day, the sixteen year old girl was exposed to the videos and pictures that were being sent to everyone in school. She asked her friends, "Oh my God, please tell me this isn’t true." She had no recollection of that night. She had no idea who had done that to her. Immediately her and her family contacted the police. It was said that if it was not for the media coverage of the entire case, there would not be a verdict and the two boys would go free. The town did a wonderful job at trying to save their two star football players and undermine the innocent girl. The coach had actually tried to end all allegations against the boys. The two teens thought that coach "took care of it" and that they had nothing to be worried about, but they were wrong. There were actually witnesses that saw the girl get raped. They received immunity in return for their testimonies, but they should have been tried also. They claimed that they did not think what their friends were doing was rape. “It wasn’t violent,” he said. “I didn’t know exactly what rape was.” How do you not know what rape is? How can a person stand there and watch (and most probably record) a girl, a sixteen year old girl, get violated. They said she was not moving. She was limp, passed out. She was defenseless. A sentence of juvenile jail until twenty-one was not nearly the justice that poor girl deserved to see from the boys that took away everything from her.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-ohio-teens-sentenced-in-rape-20130317,0,7974442.story

Riots in Egypt

Los Angeles Times
Jeffrey Fleishman
March 9, 2013

A police officer is carried away from the burning police club in Zamalek, an upscale area.

After a soccer game in Cairo, twenty-one soccer fans are sentenced to death, accused of starting the riot. Now, Egyptians are taking the streets and making sure their government knows how they feel about convicting twenty-one of their innocent, fellow fans. Seven police officers were acquitted, or freed from their sentence, while the rest, the civilians, still faced death row. Seventy-four fans were trampled and killed at the game in March of last year. Civilians are outraged that the actual guilty party, all of the convicted police, were found not guilty while the rest of the Egyptians were still sentenced to die. Egyptians blocked the Suez Canal by dropping big vessels into the water, causing the boats being unable to sail through. The military quickly took care of that problem, but they had another issue on their hands. The Ultras, the hardcore soccer fans, had set fire to a local police social club and blocking the firetrucks' path to the club. This stunt by the Port Said court caused a greater divide between the police and the people. Now, the civilians are even more suspicious of the corrupted police. It seems as though the unrest will continue in Egypt and will take a while for Egypt to rebuild itself as a unified country.
http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-fiery-protests-follow-upholding-of-death-sentences-in-eyptian-soccer-riots-20130309,0,909657.story

Better than "Project -X"

If I had a $100,000 party, here are some of the necessities;

·             The location of the party would be on multiple rooftops that are connected to each other, making it easy for guests to go from one building to the next. This means that a couple of building will need to be rented, or to just be able to lease the roof for the night.

·             Each roof will have the same theme, but presented in different ways. The theme will be the ocean. Although this is a cliché theme to a party, the innovative ways it will be presented will keep people talking about the party for years.

·            Each rooftop will have a pool some with exotic fish in it, others so that people can swim in, and the rest that will allow people to swim with fish.

·           One of the buildings will have a glass roof under a pool to make people feel like they are surrounded by the ocean.

·            Another section will include a completely underwater party. On this roof, the guests will be handed swimming tanks to be able to join the submerged party. There will be a DJ that will have a music system (waterproof, or at least wrapped in plastic) glued into the floor. People will also be handed out underwater headphones that will project music as if they are in their own world. There will be different stations just to make sure all of the guests are satisfied with the music they dance/swim to. Just to add a little more excitement, sharks will be floating around and dancing with the guests.

·            There will be underwater rooms and caves that can be explored. People can even dive into the rebuilt version of “Atlantis” or can see the remains of the Titanic (some will be real remnants while others will be fake). There will also be fictional characters such as mermaids or sirens that will swim around and just be interesting to watch.

·            The food, continuing with the ocean theme, will obviously be seafood, but each roof will have seafood from different corners of the world. The food will range from Japanese sushi (that will float around in little boats to people) to Italian Cioppino (an Italian seafood stew which is incredibly tasty).

·            The roofs will be connected by jetliners that will swing the guests from one corner of the party to the next and about two hundred feet under them will be streets of New York.

·            Because of the buildings’ height, it might get chilly outside. People will able to get heat from a variety of places. There will be heaters everywhere, some campfires, and designer coats will be handed out, just to make sure the guests are warm.

·            The guest list will range from 2,000 to 3,000 people. There will be some guests who have priority such as celebrities or people who pay to be VIP, but the rest will be free admittance with a first come first serve mentality.

Florida's Sinkholes

Los Angeles Times
Marisa Gerber
March 1, 2013
On Thursday night, Jeremy Bush ran to his brother's room after hearing what sounded like a car crash that was followed by his brother's scream. The only thing he could see was a mattress and immediately ran forward to see if he can save his brother from a cavity in the earth (sinkhole). Jeremy sadly could not help his brother and got stuck in the sinkhole himself. He was later rescued by deputy Douglas Duvall who was devastated by the sinkhole's ability to cause so much destruction. Thirty-six year old Jeff Bush went to bed that night but never got to see the next day. Sinkholes are usually formed near limestone regions and are caused by a caving of an underground stream, meaning that sinkhole swallow up water and any object that comes into contact. The sinkhole in the Bush's house is still growing and Florida officials cannot stop it because of the condition of the house. The house can collapse at any moment making it unstable and dangerous to enter. Engineers and rescue teams are waiting for the house to fall but it can be said that Jeff Bush passed away that very night. Nature is cruel, chaotic, and unpredictable or able to be prevented. One minute a person can be alive and healthy while the next second all traces of them are gone. How can nature be so beautiful and terrifying at the same time?
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-sink-hole-florida-growing020130301,0,2835220.story

Prohibition

The Prohibition was the banning of all intoxicating drinks in the1900s. As the eighteenth amendment  this was a not a very enforced bill. Not only was it not enforced  but the fact that it was illegal made many people more adept to breaking the laws. Bootleggers came about and made their own alcohol, "moonshine", and also there was an incredible amount of crime that ensued after this amendment was passed. Thankfully, the twenty-first amendment appealed the eighteenth. This was a good act because banning alcohol did not make people want to quit drinking, but added fuel to the fire. In The Great Gatsby, there is quite a bit of drinking (understatement). The only characters that do not drink are Daisy and Gatsby, and for that they are deemed as having a good reputation because they are actually in control of their actions unlike many of the other characters. While drinking was and still is a major issue in society, people need to learn how to be like Gatsby and Daisy and have the ability to dictate their actions. This could be possible with just a bit of will and self-respect.

Who Cares About the Dying People?

Los Angeles Times
David Horsey
Feb. 17 2013
Last week a humongous meteor had blazed into Earth's atmosphere at about 40,000 mph and had exploded above the  Russian city of Chelyabinsk. Thankfully, no one had died but a lot of damage had been done and about a thousand people were injured, but did America rush to help Russia? Nope. Instead they decided to sit back and find people to blame, just like they always do, just like with Hurricane Sandy. A bill came up in Congress that asked for funding to help rebuild homes and buildings, but still some Congressmen believed that the government needed to cut spending and be more conservative. The writer of the article brought up a great example of what Congress would end up doing even when the world was to end in three minutes. He said, "Two minutes before Armageddon, somebody will still be trying to figure out how to make a quick buck off of it and he’ll have friends in Congress insisting that it’s the American way." This just shows how corrupt and self serving our supposed Free and United America truly is. Our major figures in government do not actually care about the people, what concerns them is how much they can stuff into their pockets without getting into too much trouble. It is quite funny how a man can be sentenced from thirty to life in prison for not paying taxes (which to the governments eye is like stealing) while a murderer can get sentenced to about five to ten years. The government only thinks about how to keep their money and how to get more and manage to convict others who steal, while in the whole scheme of things they are the ones stealing from us. 
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/topoftheticket/la-na-tt-meteors-20130217,0,1170605.story

The Daily Show

Satire is a word with different meanings, but one thing most people connect it to is entertainment. While there are many satirical TV shows, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, are some of the most popular shows that manage to insult everything that catches their eyes. In the clip I saw of The Daily Show with the guest star Admiral General Aladeen (Sacha Baron Cohen), there were many satirical targets starting off with third world countries, dictators, and political figures that are accepted in society, but have the same qualities of some of the most famous dictators in the past decade. The purpose of the clip was not only to advertise the movie Dictator or to entertain, but also it wanted to show how corrupt some countries really are. Korea was mentioned in the clip. The show managed to undermine Korea's abilities in technology in a funny way. The biggest technique used to satirize was exaggeration with the case in which all of Korea ran out of toilet paper; understatement, when they loosely talk about nuclear weapons as if it is not a serious topic, and plenty of ambiguity in a perverted sense. The satirist wants the watcher to understand how different and yet how similar America is to the third world countires in the sense of their leaders. While there were many attacks at governing officials, many of them were indiscreetly added.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEPSJF7BYOo

Oh, Parents...

The Onion
January 31, 2013
(There was no specific author's name on the article)
Twenty-six year old product manager Wayne Landgraf thought it would be a good idea to bring his parents to work to introduce him to his colleagues. Not only are these colleagues the people he sees every day at work, but they are also the people that hate his guts. It is said in the article that most of his colleagues go through great lengths to avoid him, and occasionally manage to find an empty room where they are able to gossip about the man. Wayne decided that his ma and pa should put faces to the names he talks about so very often. He hoped that his parents would mostly be on his side, but, oh, was he wrong. At the end of the day, Wayne found his parents entertaining his fellow workers with stories about (sorry for the language) "how much of a little a****** he was as a kid." Why do parents always manage to embarrass us further, or even worse, to do exactly the opposite of what they're supposed to do? The pain growing inside Wayne Landgraf is felt by many. The most surprising part of all of this is the fact that someone took the time to actually write an article about this man and his stupid problems.
http://www.theonion.com/articles/man-brings-visiting-parents-into-office-to-meet-co,31092/

Fire In Brazil

Brazil is devastated by the death of 232 people in a nightclub in Santa Maria. The club Kiss was lit up by a pyrotechnic issue when the flare accidentally came into contact with the ceiling, thus causing the ceiling to collapse. There were rumors that many people were unable to escape because of the locked main doors, but Lucas Cauduro Peranzoni, the DJ of the club, denied the accusations. He explained that after inhaling even a small amount of smoke, he became woozy and collapsed by the doors. Luckily, Peranzomi was rescued by the guards at the front door. Many of the people at the club that night were locals from the university. After inhaling so much smoke, most collapsed and were unable to escape. Santa Maria locals helped drag people out and are now volunteering in search and rescue parties where more people and bodies are found. This fire is sadly not the first. "A welding accident reportedly set off a Dec. 25, 2000, fire at a club in Luoyang, China, killing 309. At least 194 people died at an overcrowded working-class nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2004. A blaze at the Lame Horse nightclub in Perm, Russia, broke out on Dec. 5, 2009, when an indoor fireworks display ignited a plastic ceiling decorated with branches, killing 152" (Bevins). There have been petitions that are trying to ban the use of pyrotechnics indoors, but what there should be is a better escape route that will help the people not only during fire hazards, but other disasters like earthquakes. 
Los Angeles Times
Vincent Bevins
January 27, 2013
http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-brazil-club-fire-may-have-been-started-by-flare-20130127,0,7314817.story

Another Shooting

Huffington Post
1/20/13
Susan Montoya Brian

As time passes, the number of shootings increase and the age of the shooter seems like its decreasing. On Sunday, a fifteen year old boy managed to get his hands on a gun and kill two adults and brutally abuse three children and kill them. Police are trying to determine the reason or connection of the victims to the shooter but are coming up short. No names are being revealed, but the boy is charged with two cases of murder and another three cases of child abuse that led to death. What could have caused this young boy who has his whole life ahead of him to ruin it with a gun? And why did he believe that it was acceptable for a fifteen year old, basically a child, to take the life of someone, let alone five people. Some would blame it on television or violent video games, but I find that untrue because many teenagers watch and play violent games, and do not run along shooting random people walking on the street. Parents and the fact that there are guns that could be easily accessible are to blame. Parents should take responsibility for their children and maybe pay a little more attention to what their kids are doing. Obviously it would have saved lives in this boys case.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/20/albuquerque-shooting-2013-new-mexico-teenager_n_2516424.html

Nature: My Front Yard

Yesterday, I spent thirty minutes outside in my front yard and took notes on my observations. To my surprise, I noticed a lot of things that I had never payed attention to in the sixteen and a half years I had lived in my house. The tree next to my neighbor's house was slanted forward as if it were going to fall into the street. The only reason it stayed in its place was the small bushes that grew into a big hedge. The street looked like a wave of the ocean because of the hill it had to cover. Because my house is on the edge of the hill and not attached to it, it looked like the street was a little higher on our side than our neighbors who live in front of us. The sound of the leaves rolling on the street sounded like music, rustling with the breeze that blew inconsistently. It was so peaceful and refreshing. Sitting outside cleared my mind, or maybe it was the fact that I was doing nothing but observing the scenery around me. I actually spent more than thirty minutes outside because I met my neighbor who lived five houses above me for twenty years. This was the first time I saw this woman and felt bad for never actually meeting her. Spending time outside of my room and away from my computer and phone really was not as bad as it had initially seemed, but also a little enjoyable. Maybe I will end up doing this when I feel too stressed out or need to calm myself.

From Missing to Dead

Los Angeles Times
January 12, 2013
Sergei L. Loiko
Blogger and cafe owner, Alexei Kabanov and his wife and two kids live in Moscow. On January 6, Kabanov posted on his blog and Facebook account that had about 1,500 followers to ask of his wife's whereabouts. Kabanov had a tremendous amount of sympathizers that aided him not only with moral support, but also by assembling search parties and posting up flyers around the city. After some time, Kabanov admitted that him and his wife, Irina Cherska, had gotten into a fight and after that, she had disappeared. Kabanov alerted authorities, but everyone told him that when she was ready, she would come back or at least contact him, but Kabanov constantly worried and refused to believe that things were normal. After a week, Kabanov stopped posting comments. Police had found parts of Irina in fragments in Kabanov's car. After the evidence was revealed, Kabanov confessed to murdering his wife and chopping her up into pieces. After news spread, Kabanovs Facebook blew up with comments on what kind of a man and a person Kabanov was. "Burn in hell," was one of the posts that summed up all of the comments aimed at Kabanov.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-russia-missing-20130113,0,2697469.story

Independent Reading

Out of the twenty- three books that were presented, I found one book that I wanted to read while finding another that I would not want to read. I would like to read Shahan's book, "Fighting Fire." This book was originally on my list in case I did not get the book I wanted. The story seemed captivating when Sahan had presented it. The whole idea of not only a woman being able to prove people wrong, but also the idea that if a person puts their mind to it, they can achieve it catches my attention. The book that I was least likely to read was Preny's book. I, honestly, would not find it enjoyable to read about a person who has a lisp. Compared to the other biographies or memoirs, "Me Talk Pretty One Day" seemed like a pointless book about a person who does not like the way they speak. I understand that I should not be against the book if I have not read it, but I cannot help but find it the least captivatin. Altogether, I enjoyed the presentations and enjoyed reading my chosen book.