Goodbye Art- the burning monk

A few weeks ago, my English teacher showed me a picture of a monk who was burned to death during a monk protest. The reason she showed us this pictures was to prove how the light and colors of the picture help the photographer to convey feelings and make his point through.

I was watching some videos about this artist who practices a very unique style of art. It is call goodbye art, because he makes real pieces of art that are time consuming and destroys them after making them. Well as I watch the videos, I realized he draw this monk with Oreo cookies! You must watch the video to opinion, it is really amazing.

Super size me

I hope all of you watch the movie "super size me" to see all the bad consequences you can get from eating McDonalds continually. If not, I want to show you a video of the same artist of the Oreo-piece-of art. He takes a lot of grease out of those fries! But at least he uses it in a very creative manner. Take a look, enjoy!

18-year-old adults

On Monday, in my Spanish class, I asked my teacher what she thought about teenagers being treated as adults when they turned 18, and she gave us a long lecture that is too long for me to remember everything. In summation, she told us that It was fair treatment for an 18-year-old person to be seen as an adult, because of all the experiences and all the critical situations he/or she is exposed to. Because the television and all the media has made us grow more quickly than the teenagers of her time. "Everything was more secluded in my time. You didn't talk back to your parents neither question their petitions. Neither did you talked with them about the things teenagers talk with everyone now. Everything was a taboo. Now teenagers talk about sex and drugs with more ease, and can question adults if the teenager thinks he is not being treated fair. I think all of this is very beneficial for society, because now everyone can talk about their problems. But the problem is that not everybody approaches those topics." Aside from the freedom media has given us to talk of these topics, it has also shown us many other things. The actual war of Iraq has been the most televised war, and kids watch news daily and listen to all the murders and captivities this war has caused----not only war deaths, but crimes that happen as far as the other side of the world and as near to local vicinities.
Then she made a comment about how we enjoy watching fights and watching the suffering of the other people. This may not apply to everybody, but I am sure that her comment covers the names of the majority of today's teenagers; they now participate in activities full of debauchery and extreme ghoulishness. And I ask myself, do the media collaborate, or influence teenagers to get involve with this? In most cases, parents always want the best for their children, therefore they teach them the preferred manners, and warn their children of what is right and what is wrong. There are TV programs, movies, songs, where false dreams and situations are projected, where the actor or singer is at a party, enjoying himself with a lot of women, money, alcohol and drugs. Obviously media shows what sells best, and this is what youth wants to see. We do have to much experience when we get to 18.

The Living Camera

This brilliant character is autistic. He is a savant. He has problems communicating with people because of this disorder; he even began to speak when he was five. He lives in his own world. Even thought he suffers from so many disorders, he has unique talent. A talent that seems at impossible grasp of normal people. This disorder happens most of the time by prenatal or during birth by the development of mental retardation or brain injury. This video shows the capability of precision of this people. I will not write anymore and I will let you see for yourself, then, after you watch the video, comment me and give me your opinion.

Dangers of Marijuana

May people think that marijuana is not dangerous at all, and some others say that it is not addictive. I would like to oppose to this idea and would also like to talk about the marijuana’s effects some more. Marijuana is not addictive because of chemicals, like cigarettes are because of nicotine and other chemicals, but it may be addictive in some other way. When people decide to try marihuana, they may feel an elevation of one's being and can feel kind of more confident with himself/herself. In addition, they also may feel relaxed, feelings that can be missed after the influence of this drug is gone. There are people that try it once or twice and are able to leave it aside and move on, and some think that they can do it some more times and stop whenever they like, but they prolong their due date to stop with the same idea of stopping whenever they like, and so on. The extended use of marijuana has similar outcomes of long-term smoking, now that there are some carcinogenic chemicals on it. Aside of marijuana raising the possibilities of getting cancer, this is a drug that opens the gate to the consumption of more dangerous drugs, like some hallucinogens, stimulants, or even narcotics. It is said that the pot smokers have 17 times more the chance of consuming cocaine. Other consequences of long-term consumption are brain injuries, or having hard time breathing. Emotional wise, it may cause depression, isolation and increasing anxiety. Finally, it can also affect on your social life, studies, and work.

Iraq War

For the last two weeks, I have been doing a project on the Iraq War for my English class. Because of this project I have come to reassure myself of the nonsense of this war. The United States have attacked Iraq for very ridiculous reasons, indeed. Just to give some examples, they wanted to abolish terrorism by attacking one specific place, even thought terrorism is an abstract situation in which everyone can take part of, there are terrorist attempts all over the world. Secondly, Saddam Hussein was a real thread because of the possession of weapons of mass destruction that were never found, even knowing there are numerous of other countries more capable of having weapons of mass destruction, and finally, for the brutal atrocities that he had committed against his people. Here is a video I found one YouTube were the President of the United States, George W. Bush, constantly contradicts himself through out the debate, and also somehow admits that the war on Iraq is not really connected with the 9/11 incident, another event used as a reason to start the war.

Racism

When Obama was elected as the United States President for the next four years (2008-2012), every one was impressed because history was made in North America, and it gave new hopes of abolishing racism, some even said that Obama could become an icon for the fight against racism. Today I have found out that Obama did gain international Attention. According to a blog written by Solana Larsen on http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/, Two danish writers named Jacob Holdt and Rune Engelbreth created a video directed to president elected Obama pleading him to help the world realize the racism taking place in Denmark and to try to cause some changes by criticising the anti-immigration. This video has become controversial. After being deleted from YouTube once, many people that agreed with the video added it again, and it was posted on many other webs also. On the other hand, some people, mostly danish, have found the idea of Obama having some role to play in Denmark's politics, and claim that he should worry about North America's politics only. Watch the video and the comment about it, you'll be surprised with what is said about racism on Denmark.

What the US Media lets us see

I am currently making a project on my English class about the war marketing of the 2000's. The propaganda shown by the army, or the marines, or even the cost guards, encourage teens to join them if they want to reach higher levels of strength, or to be someone in life by doing something fascinating. The movies help to change many perspectives of people. And the media, specially the television and the radio, is the source we rely on to know what happens around the world. Most of these sources are managed by the government, so its is easy to manipulate the news to their convenience, or at least that is what Allissa Miller lets us know with her presentation. Pay close attention to animation she shows about the countries. Miller says "Covering Britney is cheaper", this shows how shallow the community is, and how government and TV companies take advantage of this to earn some easy money. What we see the most on the news is about what is happening in Iraq. This is because of the war, the major focus of the country right now. Watch this video and give your opinions.

Small issue

I am perplexed, and this time, I want to ask for advice. It is said that one should listen to the older people because their appearance on Earth happened many years before ours, therefore they have more experience. I can't say no to that, because it surely is true. Sometimes, when something goes wrong, I regret not listening to my parents' advices. In other occasions, I feel some type of relief knowing that I listen to them. But I think this idea sometimes underestimates our ideas and opinions (I speak on behalf of the young people). There are times when I know I am right and my parents don't believe me so, and sometimes My beliefs oppose to theirs, and they feel offended by this from time to time. I want to find a way to talk to them without causing any problems, and for them to not just hear me but also listen to me when I know I'm right. Any advice?

being conscientious leads to solidarity

I have always believe in that people not only should be treated with equality racial wise, but people should have the same opportunity to eat and maintain healthy. This is not the case for many reasons, the main one that of poverty. This conversation I had with my friend help me to reflection more, and I have come with a conclusion that conscience is more important than fighting for ideas. Communism will never work because people always want to grow better, so they only think about themselves, the poor always left behind. If there would only be a way to lead civilizations at a same pace growth. As I read many articles of charity, I remembered Susan Rosenthal, an author I had previously talked about. reading her article, Solidarity is better than charity, I saw that we share many similar thoughts. I will let each one of you read the article on your own, so I will not write a summary. After you are done, please share your opinions. Lets see If we can star agreeing on something by sharing some ideas.

Contradictions, contradictions

This weekend, I had a very interesting conversation with a friend of mine. We argue about the many movements of people that have sauntered this world trying make a change in this world. We talked about the hippies, and their ideologies in trying to make this world a better world full of peace and harmony. Instead, the transmitted many diseases and caused their generation to be known for its laziness and degrading attitudes. Then he asked "what about the skinheads?" and we argued about their powerful ideologies of creating anarchism and equality among all races, and how poorly their were to transmit these ideologies to the resting society. Instead of creating equality, they created hostility. Acting with violence. Contradicting their beliefs and secluding all kinds of people. Feeling hate towards the hippies and trying to end with the neo-Nazis, also known as boneheads (Skinheads are commonly seen as Nazis because the boneheads or neo Nazis dressed similar, even though they fight for different ideas, the skin head fights for equality and the bone head fights for his/her race they see as pure, they are mostly white-skin people.) Then we talked about the punks, and we came to the conclusion that they were also a group of contradicting people fighting for equality. After talking mainly about these three types of groups, we came to realize that it is impossible to impede conflictions between humans. We all fight for different reasons, and because we may share ideas with others, we might as well oppose with each other's opinions. With all this said, I would like to receive every one's opinion of integrity, and if those possibilities of creating a homogeneous society may exist, or may them be impossible to apply on reality. Also, I may want to know what type of government can cover all these difference at once. Your sincere opinion please.

Another Fun Activity

OK, so two weeks have passed and this was the day that I was supposed to reveal the answer for the last fun activity I did. In my disappointment to see that not even on person replied to the question, I decided that I was not to reveal the answer, in order to encourage the people to reply to it.

I want to give a second question, because I believe this fun activities may help you guys to think critical in order to find the real answer. The reward would be the satisfaction I may feel after deciphering the answer by yourself. So here it goes. Suppose you are at a friend's two story house. On the second floor, there is a windowless room that seems to have no switch to turn on the light. On the outside of the house, there are three light switches, and one seems to be the one that turns on the light of the windowless room on the second floor. Your friend want to see how sagacious you are, so he asks if you can find which of the three switches is the one that turns on the light. You must find the switch without any help, and you are just able to go up to check if the light is on once. No one is going to be up to see if it is on or not. You are alone on this one. What would be your strategy.

The Beauty of Rovers

On this video, the illustrious director of Jet Propulsion Laboratory and vice president of The California Institute of Technology, presents to us the advances that rovers have made during the past years, and the important roles, along with the satellites, these instruments play when discovering and enriching the extensive information of the planets on the Milky Way. The main researched planet until this day is Mars, the place of rovers' examinations. I decided to write about this video because of the controversial quote of John Martinez, a fellow classmate that said that more technological advances should be focused in astronautical examination. I would have to say that these companies uphold the best kits of technology out there, obviously given y the government. this videos shows the arduous path of getting these rovers into other planets and the risk scientists have to solve during the landing and other issues like the composition of the planet, the amount of radiation, and the surface of the planet. If you think we can progress at a faster pace you are more than welcome to write a comment giving your opinion and supporting why you think that way.

Our interesting Universe

I have become fascinated with this website www.ted.com! There are many videos in where people talk about actual issues and many ideas of their own. Maybe that's why the web site's slogan is "Ideas Worth Spreading. Well I have always been interested on space (everyone is interested about space), and I found Bill Cosby programs joyful. But in this web page, George Tood lets us know how diminutive humans are relating to the capacious universe. My classmate John Martinez once said that humanity should take advantage of the technology we have to make more progressions in space. After watching this, I must say that progressions have been made, but maybe we don't lack of passion but of technology, there are billions of galaxies around us, and billions and billions of years away from home. In fact, as Mr. Tood said, the photos ever taken of the galaxies are really photos of galaxies billions of years ago. So how can we progress if we haven't found a way to travel on that time machine that is the universe? In the pictures that Tood showed, there are galaxies that look like ours billions of years ago, so, in your opinion, could there be any chance of more civilizations out there with better capacities than ours? Give your opinion of this video.

Music IS passion

During this week I have been working in a project in my English class. We were assigned to create a podcast persuading the audience to listen to a special music genre. I have always like Classical Music and I realized that not so many people like this type of music and find it somehow boring, and that much of its audience are people of age. So I got on the computer and started looking for information that I could use on the podcast to support my idea. I read articles and watched many videos, and I stumbled on one with a unique philosophy. On this video, Benjamin Zander talks about Classical Music and an up growing audience, that day by day realizes that they are not "tone death". He wants to teach his audience more about classical music and let them realize the beauty and the numerous feelings that this music can evoke. But then, this is just his philosophy, so I want to ask each one of you guys to give me your sincere opinion about classical music, and why classical music is not as popular as pop music among teenagers.

Fun Activity!

OK, this is a fun activity, But you actually have to think to find the answer, which is not as hard as it seems, you just have to play with your words to arrange them and come up with the perfect question. I am going to give you a situation and you'll respond to it.

You have been kept in captivity by superior beings, and its the time to gain your liberty, but it is not going to be that easy. There are two guards sitting at a table and next to them there are two plain-white-doors, one of those doors will give you the liberty you have been waiting for all this time, the other door will give you a death sentence that will liberate your soul to the unknown. You still fear death and you want to enjoy life (you will have time to experience death later). You don't have the minimum idea which door leads to which scenario, and the only way to know is by the guards sitting at that table. But there is a little challenge, you have heard rumors that one of those guards has the tendency of misleading everyone by telling lies, and the other is totally honest. You don't know the identity of neither one of them, and you have just one question to ask to gain your liberty. What would be your question? Choose your words carefully!


I will give the answer two weeks from now.

OK, back to reality

The presidential elections have concluded and the people maintain their hopes up for a better future. We are all hoping the economy to get stable and increase in order to create more job opportunities. But, is this the case? According to a report made in Univision Channel, some major car makers, like Ford and Chrysler, are suffering a drastic decrease of capital, and are worried of falling in bankruptcy. These are just few big companies with economic problems, Best Buy is creating any type of offers to increase their sells, and Macy's have drop their sells 28%, not seen in years. This critical problem is becoming a vicious circle, which will decrease the economy much more.

According to a CNN post, a poll finds great expectations for Obama during his four-year-presidency. 75% percent say he will make improvements, the others are opposed to this idea. It is said that its is expected for him to edify the racial relations of the country and the relations of other countries, and to raise the economy. But this are just expectations extracted from his promises. I just wish he keeps his promises.

Sunscreen commercial

I have just remembered about a video I saw during the summer, which I though it was very interesting. It watched it again today and found myself enjoying the video once again. The video is called "everyone is free to wear sunscreen" . I don't know if any of you guys has seen it but you should take a look at it.

I would say this video would perfectly fit in the carpe diem category, now that it talks about enjoying your youth to the fullest and take advantage of the privilege of being alive to travel and know the world. The sunscreen is just used as a symbol of appreciating what it really needs to be appreciated in life, and that is yourself. Take care of yourself emotionally, physical, and mentally. It also talks about the need of listening listen to the advises that the wise adults give us, those advises are taught to evade the mistakes they have done in the past. Well' that is my perception, what's yours?

Once again, homosexuals being kept away from the granted freedom of the United States

Homosexuals who are considering a future marriage with their couples are once again in limbo. According to a CNN article, California state passed "proposition 8" where same-sex-couple-marriage is being prohibited once again, and it has been put into consideration the legal invalidation of the marriages that has already taken places during the last months. So California residents to the protest to the streets and fought for the opposition of this ban. According to the Article, "the are at least three legal challenges to it now pending in the court."

Homosexuals have the right to marry with their couples as they please. Are they harming anyone or violating any law by doing it so? do they become a threat to anybody around them? now, do they disturb the morals set by humans? yes, Same-sex couples are not seen with the same eyes that heterosexual couples are seen because it is not morally correct to have sexual, or sentimental relations with others of the same gender. Aren't North Americans free to express themselves and choose the religion of their preference? So why aren't Homosexuals legally able to express themselves and formalize their relationship with their loved partner as everybody else. Isn't it because religion? so why those liberal minded should live between those precincts set by a religion by they don't follow?

Obama our new President

I received the news of our new President while ma stay at a Marriott Hotel in Tampa. All of us, my roommates and I, cheered and talk about the elections and how Obama was able to beat McCain by such an astonishing difference of votes. And then I thought about the racial issues that this country has dealt with hitherto. here are part 1 and part 2 of the speech of the first speech Barrack Obama gave as a President. In those two videos you can see the amount of people that follow him, and love him. It is evident the meritorious achievement has been able to accomplish, uniting Whites, and Blacks, and Hispanics, and Asians, and homosexuals, to worship his ideas. But there are other people left behind that don't look at this occasion with positive and peaceful eyes. Barrack Obama has already been threatened of murder. And there are many people that think this same way. A man that has been judged by his middle name "Hussein", is the man that will rule North America for the next four years. It is his judge to prove the efficiency of ruling that he has shown on his numerous speeches, and let the world know that other races can rule this country. And a the most questioned obstacle, would he be able to heal that racial disease that has possessed North Americans all this time? would he be able to change the view and importance of the minority races that live in this countries? will humanity be able to accept the equality among us? why or why not?

Who would have think that our first black president would have arose just four decades after Martin Luther King's death. I really wish this would help humanity to turn into a more integral one.

First College Experience

During the past three day-November 3, 4, and 5- I assisted to a college tour, the reason for my absence on my blogging page. The tour was sincerely amazing. It was one of those scarcely experiences that have full-filled all my spectations. We visited the University of Central Florida (UCF), the University of South Florida (USF), the Florida State University (FSU), and Florida University (UF). Each Campus was distinguished by it's unique beauty. The infrastructure was facsinating and it gave the impression of being in a separete city because of the self-eficiency of each. Aside of having the oportunity of visiting the colleges and having an inderect idea of how college life is like, I was able to speak with the admission officers of each college, and became conscious of many things that I was ignorant about. If you have any questions you may write a comment asking it and I will do my best on trying to answer it. If that's not the case, then I will research and try to inform you the best way.


You are free to comment tips about the aplications of college too.

Feedback Please!!!

Before I proceed on my blogging project, I need the feedback of those reading. Everyone needs a feedback to get close to perfection, so I am open to any suggestions and opinions. What would you like to talk about. After all, this page was created for everybody to interact, so it would be nice to write about something that will catch every body's attention.






Comment please!

singular or plural

Here is another article written by Susan Rosenthal. In this article, she explains why she does not want to vote for Obama. Her beliefs of the ideal government goes against those of capitalism and support those of a social party. At the end of the essay she talks about how one shouldn't complain if not voting.

she ends her essay with this words: "I want a completely different system, one that meets people’s needs. That won’t happen until we stop accepting what we don’t want and organize and fight for what we do want."

In civil disobedience, Henry David Thoreau talks about defending one's rights and that the majority of the power should be possessed by the population not by the government. When oppressed, one should found a way to be heard.

"I know this well, that if one thousand, if one hundred, if ten men whom I could name - if ten honest men only - ay, if one HONEST man, in this State of Massachusetts, ceasing to hold slaves, were actually to withdraw from this copartnership, and be locked up in the county jail therefor, it would be the abolition of slavery in America. "

"Cast your whole vote, not a strip of paper merely, but your whole influence. A minority is powerless while it conforms to the majority; it is not even a minority then; but it is irresistible when it clogs by its whole weight. If the alternative is to keep all just men in prison, or give up war and slavery, the State will not hesitate which to choose."

Thoreau talks that it takes one people to take action and make a global change, or just a local change. On the other hand Rosenthal talks about waiting until EVERYONE is prepared to make a change.

Both of these writers have powerful and similar thoughts and ideas, but they both think different when it is time of projecting and exerting the ideas.

Which way do you think is a better way of acting. Which of the two writer's ideas do you support more? is there time for waiting for everybody to act up as a group?

Infinite Potential

Throughout history, humans have proved that our brain has the capability to reach unimagined limits. but not all of us take advantage of this, and don't exercise our brains to the fullest. Yesterday, as I was surfing the Internet, I stumble with a fascinating article written by Susan Rosenthal, and I found myself obliged to share it with everyone. It goes like this.

The Infinite Potential of the Human Mind
Sun, Nov 4, 2007
Against Pessimism, Articles, Psychology of Capitalism

by Susan Rosenthal
A healthy mind is incompatible with capitalism. Let me explain.
The human brain is a social organ. The brain makes human interaction possible, and the mind results from the complex dance between human beings. Cut off from social relationships, the mind loses its ability to function. We know this from studies of socially-deprived infants and adults who are subjected to isolation or sensory deprivation.
Over the past few thousand years, the human species has undergone an amazing cultural evolution. Our brains have not changed, but how we use them has changed tremendously. As people pooled their experiences and accumulated knowledge, the human mind developed to create new social arrangements and new cultures.
Capitalism blocks this creative process. Knowledge continues to accumulate, but it is not shared. And while some people are moved forward, many more are hurtled backward.
The central problem for capitalism is how to create profit, not how to develop human potential. On the contrary, the more people are deprived, the more wealth can be claimed by the ruling elite. Any form of collectivism, from union organizing to the demand for social services, presents a threat to this system.
To preserve itself, capitalism must stifle human minds. The vast majority aren’t allowed to use their minds to solve social problems. They get to decide only which section of the elite will dominate them.
Minds crumble under such conditions. An ocean of misery results: anger, anxiety, inter-personal conflict and despair. What a waste.
The human mind has infinite potential. And I do mean infinite. There is no limit to the number of ways that we could organize our lives and society.
The average human brain contains approximately 100 billion nerve cells or neurons. Each neuron has about 10,000 connections with its neighbors. When you consider that each of these connections can be turned on or off, the number of possible firing patterns is greater than the number of known particles in the universe. When you add the different ways that each human mind could connect with the other six billion minds on the planet…well, I think you get the picture.
Capitalism has stuck humanity in a giant historical rut and bamboozled us into thinking that this is the best we can do, that we have reached the end of our history. Not so!
We have barely begun to explore our potential. However, if we allow capitalism to hold us back, we never will.
The good news is that we have created capitalism, and we can change our minds and replace it with something much better.


Give your opinion on this article. Aside from Capitalism, do you think the other type of existing governments, or limits that keeps our minds in captivity? do you think humanity would have reach farther without such a structural society? Is it us the ones that limit ourselves?

The Tank Man

The Tank Man was an anonymous man that had the courage to stand in front of the Chinese Red Army Tanks That were approaching to the city during the Tienanmen square protests in the 5Th of June, 1989. He has become famous for his persistence and is bravery. You can watch his video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrQqDqOx3KY.



He was courageous, Are you courageous?

Is monetary stability society most precious goal?

Money has help humanity to evolve in many ways. Technologic advances have been done, and humans have been able to obtain many commodities to satisfy their needs. But aren't millions of other people suffering because of monetary problems, too? Is money really letting humanity evolve at its fullest? or, is money really needed to sustain an organized society?

Money creates power, which is not always beneficial. Isn't money able to bend the laws set by the government, or even the people that we choose to govern? Isn't Haiti suffering from starvation at the same time that in countries like North America, people are indulging themselves with unnecessary distractions? Yes, many organizations have been created with the purpose of solving these issues, but it hasn't shown to be enough. So, the question is: Is money necessary to motivate humans to progress, or can humans progress without it? I think that many problems lay under its mantles.

Introducing my blog

This blog has been created for any type of person. You are all invited to share your opinions and thoughts. I am a believer that the interaction of humans should always be done in a constructive way. That way we can nourish our brains with everyone's opinions and realize that all of us have the potential to contribute valuable things to this world, which is supplicating the new generations to abrogate such hostile habitat that humans are living in. My purpose is to develope a blog in which we all can share our ideas and opinions and create a constructive criticism that will help all of us to start thinking in a more rational way.

Let's start by introducing ourselves and letting everybody know about our interests in life. and commenting each other. And don't forget. This blog was created for constructive criticism only. IT'S PURPOSE IS TO ABROGATE HOSTILITY AND DEVELOPE A FRIENDLY HABITAT IN WHICH WE CAN ALL BE A PART OF.