Traffic

For this weeks blog i would like to talk about traffic. Today i was in my car stuck in traffic and saw the cause of the jam. Traffic jams are most of the time either caused by a few old and slow drivers or caused by truck drivers trying to overtake other trucks in an uphill road. Trucks carry lots of weight and therefore have very low accelerations, so for them trying to pass other trucks in an uphill road just causes headache for other drivers who are trying to get to where they are going. if a truck is going at about 70 mph and it hits a slight uphill, it will slow to 40 mph, which is well below the speed limit of highways and many other roads. So they should just stay in their own lane, which is clearly marked 'truck lane'. I think the truck drivers know well that their vehicle is unable to maintain the speedlimit of they hit an uphill but they do it anyway just to piss the cars off, and since they know that the pissed driver in a small car is unable to do anything about it, i guess it entertains them in some way. After all they probably been driving for many hours and they would do anything to keep out of complete boredom, so messing with other truck drivers is one way around it, and messing with cars is another way for entertainment.

Lack of Edumacation

          Schools all over the United States of America have been raising the bars on the numbers of students who are not meeting requirements to pass...Can anyone point fingers and accuse anybody or a group for being the cause of such failures? There is a big gray area in the topic for study and education. Research and works of teachers have shown that the right communication between the students and teachers matters enough to be able to give the students a drive to put effort in their work, and begin the path to excellence.
         The goal has been visible for teachers, and students are becoming aware that this goal is an important part of the future of our society. We all must put forth our best foot in order to drive each other to learn not only to be knowledgeable and be aware of matters outside of every day lives, but to also thrive.
As we saw today in the video, when a school is good at doing its job more families apply in order to take advantage of its ability to teach. More families...? Doesn't that mean more students? Does that mean more teachers are going to be working in order for the students to get a good education? As the numbers of families applying increases the chance of getting in to the school decreases. So much for No Child Left Behind..
          Kids are sometimes not privileged with better schools due to finances, location, requirements and even bad luck (lottery drawings).  This is unfair but so is life. Opportunity has a funny way of getting back  and poking fun at someone who picked up what it offered.. Students should be given the same standardized test to either enforce them to keep up with their study, or if they wish to slack off they can call quits and be as dumb as our previous president George Bush sounds.. click the link for a laugh :D


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK1ekhovFeU

Playing For the Away Team.

Who ever said that "your college years are the best years of your life" should be dragged out into the street and shot twice. Maybe it's just me, but I have yet to discover the utopia associated with "college years". If anything this has been the most demoralizing period of my life. The struggle that has accompanied college has been full of disappointment, rejection, and financial instability. I have learned to neglect sleep, my health, and anything that resembles a social life. As depressing as my own struggle has been, it is not what angers me most about the college experience. What disturbs me more than anything else is seeing people not take full advantage of an opportunity. Although I do despise of my struggle, I do realize that I am fortunate to have it. As much as I hate the situation that I am in, I do understand that there are plenty of people who would trade places with me, without any hesitation. Those individuals that see my situation as a blessing, are the ones that motivate me not to give up. I find it hard to sympathize with those who are just throwing this opportunity away. To all those who have decided to make a mockery of this opportunity by electing not to put forth their most honest effort, it is with great sincerity that I say, "FUCK YOU!" In some ways, I like to think that I represent the team that everyone else is against. Day by day I am learning to accept that it's not so bad to be on the away team.

In European society, the word ‘common sense’ meant ‘the internal comprehensive judgment’ until the 17th century. However, this word altered into the meaning of ‘the common knowledge of average people’ in the process of religious reformation, and it became a core word which stood against the authority of the Pope. Common sense showed its great power during European civil wars and the War of Independent of the US. Also, it is still the most fundamental criteria of the logical politic.

Silvio Berlusconi, Prime Minister of Italy, eventually resigned from the premiership because he could not bear the pressure of public according to the financial crisis. This decision has been the focus of the public attention because of his private life tainted by scandals, financial failure, and corruption.

There are various predictions about this 75-year-old man’s future. Someone says that he is returning back to the president of AC Milan that he owns while some others say he will hide out overseas due to his charge of juvenile prostitution, power abuse, tax evasion of his enterprise, subornation of perjury, bribery, and others; however, the prevailing prediction is that he who never live without the spotlight will rise like a phoenix and will seek surging back again with increased way.

It is such a mystery that he could be appointed the Prime Minister three times for 10 years of his 17-year political life. How in the world did Italian people vote for a figure like Berlusconi three times? It is not still understandable.

College Vs. Work Force After High School

Over the last decade tuition for secondary education institutions have skyrocketed, leading to many not being able to attend college and having to work after high school. In addition, if individuals are able obtain their degree in whatever they may be majoring in, it has been difficult to find a decent job that they qualify for. In society it has been preached since kindergarten that if you do well in school and go to college, that a “good job” is almost certain; however this is not the case. More often there are people who have spent 4 plus years in college only to be denied a job that they have the skills for, or be over qualified for a job that they could have gotten with a high school degree.

In my economics class we often talk about opportunity costs. Opportunity cost is basically the “something[s]” you give up when choosing an alternative selection. For example if I choose not to go to work today in favor of hanging with friends, my opportunity cost is the money I would have made from working today. Back to the topic, the dilemma that everyone faces proceeding High School is deciding whether to go into the work force/military straight out of High School or to go to college. The opportunity cost of deciding to not go to college is to gain more knowledge in both general fields and more knowledge in what that individual may be majoring in and to potentially make more money in the future with a better career after obtaining a degree. The opportunity cost of not working straight out of high school is the working experience, the income and the money they are spending on tuition. There exists a general consensus that states you have to go to college to earn more money or you will not be as successful. However the present conflict between those who have obtained a college degree and finding work with that degree refutes this socialized belief.

Personally I believe that secondary education should be less expensive, this is obviously a bias statement as I am a student however there are many benefits that would come with this notion. If tuition were cheaper, there would be more individuals going to college which would most likely lead to more aware citizens, which would then lead to more aware voters, more aware politicians and so on and so on. There are too many individuals that have done exactly what society expected them to do to be successful, however are not being able to achieve their potential because of the lack of job availability as a result of the nation’s current economic status.

Art and The Message

You’re walking in the city and all of a sudden you see massive amounts of graffiti on the buildings around you. What comes to your mind? Is this a crime or a thing of art? In my opinion, it is a piece of art. Some people consider this act as crime. They think the person that did this to the buildings is trying to act out and destroy property. But, this is not always the case. For some artists this is the only way to share what they want to say. They actually put a lot of effort into the artwork before it goes onto the building walls. They might start out by sketching it in their sketch books. It’s trying to display a message. Each piece of artwork has a message to it. Being an artist, I know this is a true statement. I was talking and sharing artwork with my friend Claudio the other day (a graffiti artist) and he was telling me all these stories that are behind his work. It was really expiring to hear. He really goes hard core when thinking about what he wants to explain in his work, rather its showing his personality or showing something he really wants to say. Most of the pieces on the building walls involve social change. The artist wants to show what’s going on in the world in order to make a change. A quote I came across states this. “A belief in cultural and creative expression as a means to affect deep and lasting social change.

Through art, we can challenge many of our society's deepest assumptions, built upon the power of artistic creation and expression to

spark new ideas

• catalyze critical thinking

• elicit new actions

• inspire individuals

• and create visions

Art becomes a political act, a conscious effort to facilitate and participate in social change. If we want respect, love and beauty among us and others, we must actively promote it through our art.” (http://www.artforsocialchange.net/home.html).

Art as meaning. Art has thought. Art can change the way people think. When seeing the graffiti on the walls, it is not destruction of property. It is a way of thinking; to get a message across.

An assassination?

There had been a shooting in Washington DC near White House. Gunfire had been reported about 9p.m Friday 11 November 2011. However, the damage was discovered on the following Tuesday. One bullet struck a window in the living quarters of the White House and another was found it the exterior of the building. According to eye witness, a man pulled his car within view of the White House on Friday night and fired shots from an assault rifle, cracking a window of first family’s living quarters while the president was away.

A 21-year-old man named Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, was charged on Wednesday with attempting to assassinate President Obama. He called President Obama “the anti-Christ” and told federal agents he wanted to hurt the president according to court documents. Some people from his home state Idaho also witnessed that Ortega had become agitated against the federal government and was convinced there was a government conspiracy against him. Another witness also said that Ortega owns an assault weapon with a scope.

Ortega the suspect blamed President Obama for problems with the federal government and believed Obama is devil. If convicted, Ortega could life in prison. The last White House shooting occurred in 1994, when Francisco Martin Duran began firing a semiautomatic rifle. He still is severing a 40-year prison sentence for that incident.

I am not sure if it was attempted assassination or just some idiot trying to express his displeasure towards president or the federal government. If Ortega’s plan was to kill president, it should have required more detail, thought, planning, or at least understanding that the president was thousands miles away on a trip to the Asia-Pacific region. The news article also mentioned that Ortega believed that he is on a mission from God to kill President Obama. People might think the charges are over-hyped because the president was not even there, but if convicted, it still is an attempted assassination. This case should be taken seriously I think.