Reflection

I think I am more outgoing this year than I was in middle school. I used to be really shy and I did not like to do nothing. I used to totally dislike going around a lot of people that I did not know. I was so shy that I did not try out for the volleyball team and I really wanted to play. I was worried about what people would think about me while I was trying out. I cared more about their thoughts than my happiness. Volleyball looked fun. Later down the line, I ended up coming out of my shell and stopped being so shy. In high school, I got onto the volleyball team and ended up really liking it like I thought I would.
When I came to Parkway I thought I would be getting picked on just like in middle school, so I wasn't too fond of it. I got here and things are different.... way different than what I thought they would be. I guess because I changed and grew out of this shell I had. The people who talk to me know my personality but those who don't, know nothing of who I really am.
I started talking more to people so my time at my high school would not be so boring like at my middle school. In 8th grade, that is when people got to know who I was and I became known as the weirdo to people who were not in my class. They got to know me, the real me. When I got to Hamilton in the 6th grade, I was quiet but I did know people there so they were the only people I talked to. As the year progressed, I did what I usually did. I began to talk to more people in my class. It was never a big thing for me to know people who were not in my class... 7th grade I remained the same. Then 8th came and I was a totally different person. Over the summer, I did the coolest thing.... I got a tattoo. The tattoo didn't change me; I just thought I was overall a boring person. So, I gave others a chance to know me and slowly but surely crawled out of my shy shell.

Toddler put into washer machine Review

Today I read an article on cbs3.com called Family of Toddler Put In Washing Machine Speaks. The article is about how a man in a laundromat puts a child in the washer machine. It was meant to be playful but the door on the washer machine locked and the cycle started. The lady flipped the circuit breakers and the machine stopped.
The video was uploaded and went viral on the internet. The prosecutor is calling the man an acquaintance of the woman who was watching one-year-old Samier Bush. His mother was not informed about the incident at the laundry mat. She had to find out while watching the evening news. She called the baby-sitter about the incident. The baby-sitter denied that, that was her on the video tape. Then, the police contacted the little boy mom, Sakia David, and she found out that the baby-sitter had lied to her about not being on the video tape. Sakia told the police she did not know anything about the incident until she watched TV.
I think this is just crazy. Who puts a baby in a washer machine in the first place? That is the most craziest thing ever. It's a good thing that lady will not be watching her son anymore. He was in danger being babysat by her.
"Camden County prosecutors do not expect to file any charges." That sentence right there is so not right. Why? This takes us back to what I stated before, who puts a baby into the washer machine. That is just crazy in the first place. That man and that women need to go to some kind of counseling on how to take care of a child. Or something similar that is very similar to that.

Getting Angry Can Be a Good

I read an article called Getting Angry Can Be a Good Thing. The article is about a lady who finds a job in the immigrant rights movement. Her motivation behind it all is anger. Her friend told her that if the United States has a war with Latin America that he believes her parents should be placed in an interment camp just like the Japanese-Americans during World War II. This got her very angry, she feels as though her family is as American as anyone else who was born in the United States.
She says that her anger carves in her soul. But it hasn't eaten away at her completely. She has other things that has kept the anger from completely taking over. Those things are stuff like compassion, faith, family, music, the goodness of people around that are around. She says these things fill her up and temper her outrage with a deep sense of gratitude that she has the privilege of doing her small part to make things better.
I don't think my anger would do something as good as hers did. Mines would most likely cause a lot of problems and end up in a lot violence. She can control hers and also do something good with her anger. I think what she is doing is very good, she is using something that usually creates bad situations and she is using that to be her motivation to do something good. If more people were like her, the world might just be a better place.

Broadcasting Whiteness

I read an article called Broadcasting a World of Whiteness. The article is about a TV show that is not diverse enough and how that is just one piece of the bigger puzzle.
They did not judge "Two and a Half Men" or "How I Met Your Mother" like they judged girls. The article says it is because they did not watch the shows. I think it is because they enjoyed the shows more than they enjoyed "Girls". Maybe they were more entertained and not worrying about race privileges, and with "Girls" they were just sooo bored they thought about race privileges.
I think television is diverse enough. You have television stations where they are devoted to blacks and there are a lot of black people throughout that whole station. There are also mixed stations too. There could be more white actors than black and I do not think they are going to go out on the street and pick a random black person to come act. The black people could be the people behind the scenes, the ones that come up with the ideas for the shows. Maybe they are the minds behind it all. Maybe they aren't. But unless someone watches all TV stations and I mean every show and go around and count all the people that work behind the scenes. Then they can't say whether it is diverse enough until they are sure about everything that is happening on television. It could be even, there are bigger problems in the world than this. People just always have to have something to write about.

New Gun Fashion is BAD

I read an article called New Fashion Wrinkle: Stylishy Hiding the Gun. The article is about how clothing companies are now making clothes with compartments to put your gun at. The article also talks about the rise in people who now own guns and how companies make more clothes because of the rise in poeple who own guns. A clothing company called Woolrich has added a second pocket behind the regular front pocket for people to carry a weapon. They even have a stretchable waist band for people who want to carry their gun in a holster and put it inside. The back pockets help hide accessories like a knife or a flashlight.
State laws about guns have been the cause of more people owning guns. It has gone up from five million to seven million people owning guns within the last year. Gun experts say that the number of people with concealed-carry permits have risen because of a changing political and economic climate. 
I think gun laws are too loose. I think guns should only be for police officers and security guards. If people make clothing that lets you have guns then that is just making it seem like it is okay to own a gun. I know guns are suppose to be used for protection but really they haven't been used for that. This new fashion trend is not a good one. It is just a huge statement saying "Look, I have a pocket for a gun. Go get a gun to fit in the pocket".

Health Fair

Parkway West had a Health Fair on April 12, 2012. The health fair was to bring awareness to the students about STD's, eating healthy, obesity, abortions, safe sex, over-protective parents, and adoption. 

To show a way to have safe sex, they gave out condoms to the students. The table also displayed a paper which showed the correct way to put on and use a condom. They also gave options about how to get condoms by getting them sent to their houses or by going to the free clinic to get condoms. They table also had a lubricant that you can use before having sex.

The abortion table talks about how abortion is wrong. Abortion is basically taking a life. They give you other options to take instead of having to get an abortion. 

The adoption table had papers that talks about finding the right family for your new born child and how to get your life back on track after giving birth to your child and going through the whole pregnancy. In the long run, they say that it is a good thing. It is a good thing for both you and your child.

 At the STD table, they tell you about the difference between a STD & a STI. An STI is a sexually transmitted infection and an STD is an sexually transmitted disease. They also give out information to let you know how to protect yourself from both a STD and a STI. 

I think the health fair was a great way to get messages out about the topics. The papers they handed out were full of information and very helpful to answer questions that students may have had.

Summary/Response to After 2 firemen die, city, neighbors point fingers

I read an article called After 2 firemen die, city, neighbors point fingers. The article is about an abandoned building caught on fire and two firefighters lost their lives. They mention very little about the firefighters. They talk about the Lichensteins, the people who owned the building. The Lichensteins owed back taxes on that property and other properties. They tracked them down to get them into court, but the Lichensteins got lawyers to support them. The building had several violations.

A similar situation happened in 2008, an abandoned building caught on fire. The only difference s that this time lives were lost, someone’s family member is gone forever and never coming back.

I think when they noticed the building was vacant, the city should of came in and sealed it up. The fire would have most likely not have started in the first place. One man was worried about junkies coming into the building and staying there. He was also worried about them starting fires to keep warm then, shooting themselves up with heroin and not being aware of the surroundings.

They need to get this stuff under control. People shouldn’t have to die for a problem like this to be brought to their attention. When inspectors go to the buildings and then see they are vacant and in bad condition, they should either be taken down or closed up where no one can get inside them. Vacant buildings are bad to have around. They are just signs of danger waiting to happen and this should be brought to a stop.

Dirt-bike tragedy

I read an article on Philly.com it was called Dirt-Bike Tragedy an example of bigger problem, it was about a teenager who was killed while riding a dirt bike. Jermaine Alexander was killed when his dirt bike collided with another vehicle on Frankford Ave. His mother thinks he died because the police were chasing him. Jermaine’s mother is very angry about how the cops were chasing after her kid, but there are other kids out there doing things that are worse than what her child was doing.

The captain of the 25^th district says that when he goes to meetings the number one complaint is the noise of dirbikes.

I think dirt bikes are very dangerous. They will always be very dangerous. He shouldn’t have been riding it in the street. If he was never riding it in the street he would have never got hit and he would probably still be alive today. There are public field where he can go and ride around. Somewhere safe, somewhere he most likely will not collide with another vehicle. If he was riding in a field, the cops would not have to chase him.

People are still going to ride the dirt bikes, even if it is illegal. They just don’t care. This incident should be an example to what could happen to other people who ride dirt bikes where they are not suppose to be ridden. Also, if they know that the people are not going to stop, they should give them a place where they can come in and ride dirt bikes without having to worry about getting run down by the cops.

For Women Under 30, Most Births Occur Outside Marriage

Today we read an article in class about women under 30 having children before they are married. In the old days, women would depend on men so they would get married before they would have kids. Today, it’s a whole different story. Liberals think that shrinking paychecks have thinned the ranks of marriageable men. Conservatives say that the sexual revolution reduced the incentive to wed and that safety net programs discourage marriage.
Women did not have the rights back then that they have now. Now women can support themselves and a child without a mans help. Now, marriage is more of a thing that you do with someone that you want to spend the rest of your life with. Back then it was more of you had to do it because you were having that person child. Women have a choice now, maybe they don't want to marry because they don't think it will work out with the child's father. So, instead of them going through divorce if things get bad they just say no to marriage.
They say that there is a trend with college graduates who marry before having children. It is turning the family structure into a new class divide.
Susan L. Brown of Bowling Green State University found that children born to married couples on average experience better education, social, cognitive and behavioral outcomes. Well, I think that is false. I think it depends on how they were raised by their parent or parents. I know people who have been raised by one parent and they are the smartest in the class. My parents are not married and I think I am doing very well with my behavior and education.

Hero Mom

I read an article called Hero Mom, Stephanie Decker, Loses Legs Saving Kids From Tornado. It is about a mom who shields her kids from a tornado and also loses her legs.
Stephanie told ABC News, "I knew my lega was barely attached or it was severed. I didn't know which but I knew it was bad. If I didn't get help soon I knew I was going to bleed out. ABC News interviewed her Monday night from her hospital bed in Louisville, Kentucky.
Stephanie and her family were in the middle of an tornado outbreak. There were 140 reported twisters, 76 confirmed landings and 39 deaths.
She said, "It was like nothing I never expected. I never, ever thought in a million years my house would be blown away." Throughout the whole thing she kept her kids safe and that was exactly what she did. They did not walk away from it physically hurt. She lost her home and both of her legs. He legs had to be amputated late Friday. One leg was taken off just above the knee. The other, just under the knee.
Stephanie said, "I assumed I was safe and I heard the roar like a train, and I heard it behind me, and I knew it was coming. It was so loud that I knew I needed to do something different. I knew staying put wasn't going to work." So, she ran down the steps into the basement with her son, Dominic, and daughter, Reese, as the house began to fall apart. She tried to shield both of her kids for comfort. She was crushed under the debris.
I think Stephanie is very brave and not selfish. She did what she is suppose to as a mother.

Facebook Is Using You

Today we read a article about how you can be tracked by people. The article is called "Facebook Is Using You" but only a small part of the article is about facebook. The article starts out by telling you that facebook filed documents with the government allowing it to sell shares of stock to the public. Facebook has 845 million users and has made 3.2 billion in advertising revenue last year. That is only 85 percent of the revenue made. Then the article goes on to tell you about Google and how much it has made. Google made 36.5 billion in advertising revenue. Whenever you search something on the search engine, an advertisement that is similar to what you search will show up. I find that kind of creepy. An advertisement responding to my searches creeps me out.
Then argue goes on to finally get to the main point, that material found online can be used against you. The material has been used against people battling for child custody of trying to defend themselves in criminal cases.
The article says, "LexisNexis has a product called Accurint for Law Enforcement, which gives government agents information about what people do on social networks. The Internal Revenue Service searches Facebook and Myspace for evidence of tax evaders' incomeand whereabouts, and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services has been known to scrutinize photos and posts to confirm family relationships or weed out of fake marriages." That totally sucks. It just shows that I have no privacy, except for in my home. Unless, they are being creey and watching us there too.
The lady who wrote the article thinks that there should be a law against being able to be tracked. I agree with her, there should be a law to protect people's privacy.

Hepatitis C Hits Baby Boom

On Cbs3 website there is an article called "Hepatitis C Surpasses AIDS As Killer, Hitting Baby-Boom Generations Hardest." The article is about the symptoms of being exposed to hepatitis c. A study says that 1 in 33 baby boomers has the hepatitis c virus. The hepatitis c virus is a small enveloped, positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus of the family Flaviviridae. Hepatitis C virrus is the cause of hepatitis c in the body. At the monent, there is currently no vaccine to prevent hepatitis c infection. Federal health officials say hepatitis c is now killing more people than AIDS are. Most of these people who are dying from hepatitis c are over 45 years old. Once the symptoms appear the liver is already damaged.
Dr. Robert Bettiker says, "The major symptoms include pain in the right upper quadrant of your abdomen and that goes on for days or months. Your eyes might turn yellow, you might start bleeding a lot if you get cut, and the veins in your esophagus can get really big and can rapture."
Dr.Bettiker says that if you had a blood transfusion before 1990 or have ever used intravenous drugs you should tell your doctor. Early treatment for the deadly virus could be effective.
I feel sorry for those who have been born during that baby boom where they might possibly have hepatitis c. They should all get tested to know if the have it. The article says that some people may have hepatitis c and not even know it. They deserve to know, so they should go to their doctor.

I'm a criminal and so are you

We read a article in class about a lady saying that most people have broken a law but they just haven't been caught. The people who have been caught get treated unfairly once they do their time and get out of jail. Michelle Alexander has been telling people that she was a criminal. She is a fairly clean-cut, light-skinned black woman with fancy degrees from Vanderbilt University and Standford Law School. She is a law professor and once clerked for a U.S. Supreme Court Justice.
She has asked people, "Haven't you ever committed a crime?". When she asked people that question they did not know what she meant. She tells them what she means and they say they are not criminals. She sees them as someone who hasn't been caught. She thinks they are no better than many of those who have been branded felon for life.
Michelle says, "Perhaps there should be a box on the census for that says 'I'm a criminal."
Everyone who has ever committed a crime would be required to check it. If everyone were forced to acknowledge their own criminality, maybe we, as a nation, would second-guess our apparent zeal for denying full citzenship to those branded felons."
She thinks that millions have been forced into a permanent second-class status because they once committed crime.
I think that if it was a very serious problem like a murder or rape then it should be held against them. Jobs shouldn't turn down people because they are a criminal. They could be great hard workers but that job they are applying for will never accept them because they have a criminal record.

Photoshopped or not

We read a article in class about people who work in computer science who want to create a software tool for measuring how much fashion and beauty photos have been altered. There will be a 1-to-5 scale that will be able to tell how much the photo has been altered. Doctor Farid and Eric Kee, a Ph.D will be putting the program together. They are putting the program together because some places want photos to be labeled with how much photoshop that as been applied to the photo. What they are doing is intended as a technological step to address concerns about the common use of highly idealized and digitally edited images in advertising and fashion magazines.
Mr. Matlins said, "We're just after truth in advertising and transparency." He also added, "We're not trying to demonize Photoshop or prevent creative people from using it. But if a person's image is drastically altered, there should be a reminder that what you're seeing is about as true as what you in 'Avatar', the science-fiction movie with computer-generated actors and visual effects."
Ms. Seymour said, "Readers aren't fooled if you really sculpt the images. If you're a good editor, you don't go too far these days. If you give someone a face-lift, you're a fool."
They think that people could develop disorders for wanting to be like people in the magazines. Well, I don't think that if people look at it that way then it will be able problem. I also think that people will always want something they can't have or something they can't be. No tool can fix that. Maybe with photoshop they are feeling like they are making the photo more appealing to the people who are looking at the photo.

In China, Human Cost Are Built Into an iPad

In class we read a story about Apple and its factories where its products are made. Other brands have the same problem as Apple but Apple was put more into the center of attention than the other brands. There was an explosion in one of the buildings, in the area where they polish the cases for the iPad. Two people were killed and over a dozen people were hurt cause of the explosion.
The workers who put the devices together work in harsh conditions. There are difficult work environments and serious and sometimes deadly safety problems. Employees work more overtime than they have to work. In some cases they work seven days a week. They live in crowded dorms. Some of the workers say that they stand so long that their legs swell until the point where they can hardly walk. Under-aged workers have helped build some of Apple's products. The company suppliers are not disposing the hazardous waste properly.
Two years ago, 137 workers at an Apple supplier in eastern China were injured after they were told to use a posionous chemical to clean the screens of the iPhones. Within seven months last year two explosions at iPad factories killed four people and injured 77 people. Before there explosions had happened, Apple had been told about the hazardous conditions. Executives say that the company have made significant strides in improving factories in recent years.
I think that Apple has great products and I would not go and trade on Apple products because they are treating the people who work in their factories wrong. If they want things to change then they should do something about it. They should stand up for themselves or something like that and go on strike. Then Apple will not make money because there will be no products being sold. Cause and effect situation: No products being made, no money for Apple. Then maybe Apple would want to change and come to an agreement with the workers so they can make their work environments safer for the employees. The pay is wrong too but I think the work environments are more important.

Decoding Teenagers

We read a article in class about a lady who basically is saying that the internet can be helpful for kids. Instead of it being bad like some adults are making it seem like it is. Her name is Danah Boyd. She is the first anthropologist that they have at the interactive telecommunications program at N.Y.U. She thinks that kids ability to roam around outside has been taken away. It is not the same like it used to be. It is actually safer now than it was back then when kids were able to roam the outside world without parents being down their back like they are now.
Dr. Boyd said, "Children naturally congregate on social media sites for the relatively unsupervised conversations, flirtations, immature humor and social exchanges that are the normal stuff of teenage hanging-out." She thinks adults worry about the wrong things. Dr. Boyd had reached out to other adults online who became mentors for her. She thinks that the internet can help connect kids and people who have been in certain situations. The kids can get help from the people about certain ways to deal with the problem they are having.
Dr. Boyd said, "The most deadly misconception about American youth has been the sexual predator panic. The model we have of the online sexual predator is this lurking man who reaches out on the internet and grabs a kid. And there is no data that supports that. The vast majority of sex crimes against kids involves someone that kid trusts, and it's overwhelmingly family members."

Cruise Ship Disaster

I found the article on www.cbs3.com. The story is about an Italian cruise ship that had a disaster in Italy. Six people are dead and at least 29 are missing. The italian cruise line that operates the ship blamed the captain for the cause of the wreck. They say he made he made an "unapproved and unauthorized maneuver". They were not letting people on the life boat until they got the go ahead to let them get on the life boats. Captains are suppose to stay on the ship until all of the passengers are off. The captain of this ship tried to get off the ship before all the passengers were off.
I think what happened is a disaster. It is like a new age Titanic incident. Titanic hit an ice berg and went down from there. The Costa Concordia hit and rock and turned over on its side. If all that oil gets out the fish will die because of the oil. Good thing they are having a Norwegian company to remove the oil and have the ship moved from the reef. It is sad that those people had to go through that because the captain wanted to make an unapproved and unauthorized move. He deserves to be locked up for trying to get off the ship before all of the passengers were off the ship. He is nothing like the captain of Titanic. He went down with the ship and he did not fuss about doing that. He knew his duties. Good job to him.

West Philadelphia Teenager Raped and Robbed Women

I saw this story on www.cbs3.com. Dominic Brown was charged with sexual assault and robbery on two counts. He raped and robbed a 19-year-old on January 3rd on the 1000 block of South 61st street. He also raped and robbed a 18-year-old on January 11th in the 300 block of South 61st street. He attempted to rape and rob a 35-year-old on 60th and Sansom streets but she she ran away and called 911. The cops had to chase him for several blocks, through alleys and over walls. They got him in the back of the 6100 block of Walnut street. He is just a teenager, well 18 years old,  and he is already doing very horrible things. He should be locked up for a long time. Maybe in prison he can turn his life around or something. Letting him be out on the streets are only putting even more girls, who he wants to rape and rob, in a lot of danger. I know taking him off the streets will not make everything better but it will be one less person that people have to worry about hurting someone. He is dangerous and a threat so he should just go straight to jail WITHOUT the chance of even being let out. He was on his way to robbing and raping another woman when he was caught. He deserves to be in there for a very very very very long time for the things he has done to those women.

Biggest story of 2011 : Osama Bin Laden Death

This subject is from a class assignment on what I think the biggest news story of 2011 is. My information came from www.cbs3.com. 

Osama Bin Laden was the face of global terroism and the architect of the terroist attack in New York on Sept. 11, 2001. He was killed in a firefight with elite American forces, then he was buried at sea. In this terroist attack a lot of people lost family members or loved ones. Osama was found in a costly, custom-built hideout not far from a Pakistani military academy. With these people knowing that Osama has been killed maybe they can feel as though they have gotten justice.

He finally got killed and he got what he deserved. He killed alot of people family members or friends so he should be killed. On the news, when family members of a victim of Osama's terroist attack was interviewed.

President Obama also said that justice has been served. His death was celebrated because he did such a horrible thing to innocent people that did nothing to him. He did not care about all those people lives he took. Obama will always be remembered for being the President to kill Osama. Now, all those who were killed can finally rest in peace knowing that their killer did not just get away for taking innocent lives of people who did not harm him.

Getting rid of a kid the wrong way

I found this article on www.6abc.com, The article is about a baby girl who was dropped off on a side walk and was discovered by a 77 year old man. The baby is currently named as Jane Doe because she has no name. The 77 year old man is Mr. Homer Keller. He noticed the box at West Huntington and North 27th Street while he was cleaning up the area for a local church. He noticed the box a little after 10 AM. He picked it up because he thought it was trash. He heard whimpering and he thought it was cats or something. Then , he heard crying. When he first opened it, he thought it was a baby doll but then it began to move and cry. The baby was wrapped up in a hounds tooth blanket, an adult sized brown women's sweater, a black bathrobe and a large peach colored bath towel.
If the mother did not want the baby she could of just dropped it off at a police station or hospital and no questions would have been asked. The baby was dumped near a daycare so maybe there was a chance that they were trying to dump the child off at the daycare .
She could of just gave the child up for adoption if she did not want it. Then again she could of have been hiding her pregnancy from her family which I find very hard to do with the big belly but maybe she pulled it off. Once again, adoption would have been the best choice for the baby. Instead of dropping it off on the sidewalk for trash day. The child would have been killed if it were to be thrown into the trash truck.