The Future

It is amazing to witness how far technology has evolved in the past thirty years.  My fear is that technology regarding science will spiral out of control.  My concerns are regarding the advancements in the food acceleration process.  For instance, large amounts of hormones are fed and injected into animals that we eat on a daily basis.  Poultry provide two food sources for us; we feed on the eggs they lay and the meat on their bodies.  Chickens lay several dozen eggs in several weeks.  Their life span is a total of forty five days after birth and end in slaughter houses.  These are inhumane for the animals but extremely dangerous to ingest.  In the next twenty years scientists across the world will create a super food.  The sixty to eighty years an average person has in their life span will decrease due to the genetically engineered chemicals and pesticides ingested.

The Mind

The human mind is by far the most powerful and intriguing organ in ones body.  The mind instructs the body to breath, move your fingers, hands, walk, drive, etc... A person has to trust their mind when it relates to body functions and motor skills.  At times one has to wonder if the mind can be trusted.  The mind cannot always be trusted when it comes to emotions, what you see with your eyes and hear with your ears.  A persons mind may damage professional and persona relationships.  The mind can drive you to be envious of a colleagues success, versus wanting to learn from their skills and talents.  These are just a few of the many reasons why your mind cannot always be trusted.   

Hip-Hop is the way we see the world

Chang believed that hip-hop has come to be the way an entire generation sees the world.  I enjoy listening to hip-hop and agree with his theory.  Decades ago hip-hop was used by gang banger's to send messages to their rivals or to rebel against the police or government.  Hip-hop music in most cases is used as a form of expression and speaks for the people without a voice.  It is now considered a culture all on its own and has transformed the point of views of mainstream music lovers.  It was amazing to see the large involvement of hip-hop artist in Obama’s 2008 and 2012 Presidential campaign.  Their stance on their election was just to “Vote; Doesn't matter who you vote for, but your vote will make a difference." 

Environmental Awareness

Our lives depend on environmental awareness.  Creating awareness is extremely important to our way of life.  A controversial worldwide topic is Global warming.  For decades, many countries are overpopulating areas by building factories for mass production without realizing that they are causing pollution in the cities and in the air.  The ozone layer is damaged more and more by the amount of pollution such as carbon dioxide and methane gases released into the atmosphere.  As a result, the cracks and thinning of the ozone layer is altering the planets exposure to the sun causing an orbital shift.  The arctics ice caps and icy snow on the mountains are melting at a rapid pace; causing cooling cycles and warning in our climate.  By simply adjusting our way of life and going green, so to speak, we are contributing to mankind.

Prison Systems

In Illegalities and Delinquency Foucault claims that there is a reluctance to end the prison system.  I partially agree with Foucault’s views about the prison in the 1800’s.  In that era, society believed that prison was the answer for all punishment.  There are many criminals who view their time in prison as a short vacation or hotel stay.  Once their time is served they fall back into old habits and wind up back under a cell.  In most cases some criminals are plotting or committing crimes while in prison.   There was an overcrowding issue in the 1800’s just how there is today.  People are in jail serving an unfair sentence.  I don’t believe a father who is behind on his child support should serve a 90-120 day sentence.  How can he support the children now that he is unemployed and in jail?  The corrections system needs to be reanalyzed and the time needs to fit the crime.

War Stories

Shawn White is an ex-air force pilot who lives and breathes by the words of Sun Tzu.  The Art of War was spoken of on a daily basis by the Vice President of the bank I worked at.  After reading numerous excerpts from The Art of War I learned that the story does not refer to an actual war story; in fact I believe it is a way of life.  It talks about the relevance of clear communication and understanding to gain wisdom and knowledge.  In order for a person to succeed or win in anything they must minimize any and all emotional influences by adapting to every environment.  Sun Tzu proclaims that while you're adapting to your environment you must remember to observe situations, events and people  in order to capitalize on endless opportunities.

Love and Hate

Robert, Orlando, Ninoska and Awilda were 8,9,10 and 12 when Uncle Roberto and Caridad ended their marriage.  My cousins never stopped respecting and loving their parents as if nothing has changed.  Orlando on the other hand began to lose his grip with reality.  As he grew older he despised his father for believing church was more of a priority than the family.  By the time Orlando was 16 he had been brought home by the police and even arrested over a dozen times.  The situation became so out of control that his mother didn't want him in the home because of his lying and stealing  to satisfy his heroin addiction.  By the time he was 19 sniffing heroin wasn't enough and he began to inject the poison into his veins.  Orlando never accepted responsibilities for his actions but blamed his father for going to church.  Today this poor man who is 36 years old lives in the AIDS ward of Brooklyn Hospital in New York.

School Experience

When my career as an Account Executive for an International Bank came to a screeching halt in 2009 I thought my life was over.  I was laid off after nine years with no foreseeable future in the banking industry.  After six months of job searching I made the drastic decision to my career path and use my knowledge in a different direction.  It has been thirteen years since I graduated the 12th grade and didn't think that I was smart enough to earn a College Degree.  I have been so intrigued with my college experience and encountered many other students in the same situation as myself.  This experienced has shaped me to believe in myself and to know that I can achieve my goals and dreams no matter how old I maybe.

Family Ties

Everyone has a family event or memory that they vividly remember and cherish for many different reasons.  The way my family spent our summers is what had an impact on my growth and development.  When I was in my preteen years my younger brother and I were dropped off at my mom’s older sister’s house at six am daily.  My aunt had a small two bedroom apartment on the fifth floor in a neighborhood called South Beach in Staten Island, New York.  My grandfather was in the kitchen at eight am preparing breakfast for eight of my younger cousins, including my brother and myself.  The age group ranged from six months old to nine years old, excluding me.  My responsibility was to make sure the kids were all fed, dressed and entertained until four pm when the adults arrived from work. My upbringing and the responsibilities was left with aided in my maturity level at an early age and the importance of family values.  I was taught early on the value of a dollar and what it takes to financially provide for a large family.  We saw nothing wrong with eating syrup sandwiches for breakfast and mayo sandwiches for lunch. Those are the main reasons why this event was important to me.

Childhood Memory

I have many childhood memories, some good and some not so well.  One memory that I remember so vividly was on the playground of my grade school.  It was than when it occurred to me that there were differences between some of my classmates and myself. I enjoyed jumping double dutch rope with other girls in my grade when a fellow classmate named Amos began to wiggle and squirm in his pants yelling that he had to go to the bathroom.  Before I knew it he bolted to the side of the school building, unzipped his pants and handled his business.  At that particular time we were around six years old and for many reasons this event had a huge impact on my life.  At first I didn't understand and thought there was something wrong with that poor boy; who urinates standing up I thought.  That memory stood with me until I had my own children.  My children knew and understood early on that everyone is equal and our only differences between people were their gender.