My Mix Master Blog

Page history last edited by Priscilla Camargo 2 years, 7 months ago

if you haven't already done so, break into and contribute to OUR mixmaster blog. This week we will make our own mixes.

What is Jazz?

"Music."

"Boring."

"A genre?"

"Complicated."

"Super fun!"

"Better than sex, and it lasts longer."

"Life."

There is no greater satisfaction than seeing others affected by your passion, whether it be joyous, sorrowful, or light-hearedness.

Digging deep in your soul for that heart-wrenching passion.... There isn't an equal feeling.

Jazz is all about filling in the black and white paper with ants crawling on it with passion and emotion.

--Alex(anndrea) Wert

Mix Master Blog - TB

An Abstract Narrative

One day, the Moon fell in love. She passed by the Sun during what the humans call an eclipse and was instantly smitten. The Moon wanted to be able to see the Sun again so she asked the Stars for advice. The Stars, her most loyal friends, told her to turn into a human. “Humans see the Sun all the time,” they said. Even though her love for the Sun was strong, the Moon knew her duties. She knew that she too was important to the Earth, she couldn’t just leave. However, the Stars could see her suffering; she just wasn’t as bright as she normally was, nor was she as full as normal. They made a promise with her, that whenever she became human and went to Earth to see the Sun, they would take care of her duties. There would be no moonlight for those evenings, but the Stars would watch out for trouble and make sure nothing went wrong while the Moon was gone. The Stars wanted the Moon’s happiness, at whatever cost, because the Stars loved the Moon. The Moon was their best friend, and she worked hard at whatever she did, always putting others’ needs before her own. So the Moon gave her full trust to her friends and became human to see the Sun. She discovered that the Sun too, had fallen in love with the Moon. Their love was real and powerful, however full of problems. The Moon could go on Earth to see the Sun because of her friends taking over her place, but the Sun had no one to help him. He couldn’t leave his position ever; there was no one to watch it in his place. But their love was strong, and the Moon was happy whenever she was with the Sun, so the Stars gladly kept up with their agreement. So now the Moon leaves every month to see the Sun, the love of her celestial life, while the Stars try to shine brighter than ever before in the Moon’s place.

--Teresa Balboni

How Much I Love You

Religion's "Unchanging" Knowledge

You gotta visit the page to see all the debatable comments!

After 10 years of Catholic school you'd think I would have a firm grasp on the concept of my religion, it's past and present, and more specifically, the foundation of our beliefs and virtues; The Bible. As a child I took the stories of the Bible to be true. Cain did slay Abel out of jealously and was deservedly cursed by God, Our Savior truely fed thousands from five loaves of bread and a few fish, and all the wrong-doing in our world is a result of the consumption of a forbidden piece of fruit in a perfect garden long ago. True or not, this knowledge is absolute to some. I argue that although these "myths", or religious stories, have been written for centuries across the seas and lands, their interpretation is cannot be definite. The multitude of humans and races who have read the Bible will undoubtedly revise the meaning of the Bible. It's intrepretation and even It's "truths" are different for everyone, and thus I don't believe that the Bible is unchngable, constant knowledge.

As stated by Ms. Haas:

I agree that the intrepretation and "truths" of the bible are different for each individual person, I think the point that I was making for unchangeable knowledge is that for those of us who DO believe in the Bible, it is an unchangeable knowledge.

I also do believe in the Bible, I haven't given up Catholicism or turned Athiestic or anything. So I can see where you are coming from. I guess what I'm getting as is that the Bible could be unchangable to each person that believes in it. But that knowledge varies from person to person, even of the same religion.

And just a note you all may have referred to already... Alex Wert left a link about the uncertainties or contradictions in the Bible http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/jim_meritt/bible-contradictions.html on Ludmila's page about Sustainability vs. Fulfillment

Trying to follow thought patterns and challenging them is what im all about so natually after reading stealthlab1 by Josie Haas I felt the itch to challenge this thougth process. Not saying that their views are wrong, but instead to give another viewpoint by which to see this matter we call religion. Unchangeable knowledge on the matter of religion, while it is every persons choice, to me has several vacancies in all logical fields. Having faith and believing in a religion is nice but as for it being an unshakeable foundation as well as an unchangeable knowledge base is a logical fallacy. The concept of religion as a whole is in itself as free flowing as the ocean. Thousands of different sects have emerged from the main religions so if the religions themselves cannot agree what is unchangeable knowledge, how can we? Now, this is not to say that religion is bad or wrong, but the purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate that humans as a whole lack the capacity to grasp what unchangeable knowledge is. Unchangeable knowledge is a simply unattainable goal and finite truth cannot be upheld by mortal standards. This being said the entire concept of religion also escapes mortals. Having faith yes, but truly understanding knowledge bases of your true religion cannot happen as they operate on a level beyond that of what a mortal could grasp. Sure, we can imagine these things but to truly know what they feel like or to clench a higher being’s thought process is simply beyond us and all we can do is have faith in such things and believe that they are for the better. From Atheists to Zionists no one has been able to provide a clear diction on what religion is that every person agrees upon so in that right religion also cannot be proven to provide unchangeable knowledge.

Religion; a maker or breaker

I would like to touch on another aspect of relgion too, since it plays a huge part in most of our lives and also in the world today. The basic idea of religion is how we should lead our lives. Religious knowledge is for the betterment of mankind. Every religious book talks about morals and ethics and how human beings are supposed to interact with their environment, one another and themselves. It teaches us to respect others, treat everyone with kindness, love and compasion etc. Every religion imparts us with the same teachings and morals as others. Only difference is that they have different teachers and distinctive methods for their followers. Unfortunately, i feel that religion has become an art of war these days. It is being manipulated in order to cause distruction rather than construction. Instead of bringing us together, it is dividing us by unmeasureable means. I know we have all seen the news and read the stories as how young minds are manipulated and broken down with false ideas of religion and what the outcome is.

What do you guys think? Why is something so pure as the belief in GOD, being used as a weapon? - By Rustom Irani

Environmental/Resource Sustainability

When thinking of what to write about, I thought of the most important aspect of sustainability to me, which is environmental sustainability and preservation of our earth. I previously found a video about a man who builds homes out of recycled material and uses rain water as the source for the home’s drinking water, showers, toilets, and even to water the garden which is filled with vegetables and other edible plants. This is interesting to me because in class someone brought up the fact that in some states and countries it is illegal to collect the rain water to use for your own benefit. People constantly waste water by doing things such as leaving the sink running while brushing their teeth and buying bottled water in bulk when instead you could get a water filter on your faucet (although this is something that my household is guilty of doing, as we have yet to buy a water filter.) I find it to be a better solution to reuse and recycle rainwater and other sources of water in order to preserve our natural resources. Why is it that people can not use rainwater that falls from their roof to water a garden that may be in a different location that receives less rainfall? I’m not saying people should leave buckets outside to collect rainwater that would normally fall onto plants and essentially back into the environment, I’m saying why not collect water that falls onto the driveway or constantly hits the same patch of dirt that never seems to produce grass? It is the recycling of our resources, natural or unnatural, that can help our earth to get back to what it used to be, before the pollution and corruption of the land. If people recycle cans, bottles, paper, plastic… that would mean less manufacturing of mass quantities of these materials, leading to less air pollution from places such as plastic manufacturing plants. This brings me to the discussion of plastic. According to Wikipedia, there are many “environmental concerns (dealing with plastic), including the release of toxic pollutants, greenhouse gas, litter, biodegradable and non-biodegradable landfill impact.” This is a sad reality as plastic is used everywhere you look, in fact the computer I am typing on at the moment has many parts made of plastic, and the soda bottle I am drinking from is made entirely of plastic. It seems there is no alternative as plastic is essential for technological advances as well as simple necessities such as medical equipment. I guess that is one environmental issue we can possibly never eliminate. --Malory Speir--

Transition to Water

With our on going search for what sustainability is, and if it is actually attainable, we are met here with sustainable environments. Is it possible for a completely self contained system? With all this pollution and litter, and the harm that we are doing to our Earth, what is going on with our water?

Auga L'eau Water

"Thousands have lived without love, not one without water." - W.H Auden

I couldn't stop thinking about water in class today. This whole sustainability topic and the link pile that I started really got the reels turning. So many things to think about! I kept going back to this documentary that I watched over the summer, I mentioned it in my link pile, F.L.O.W, it was a pretty intense film about the water issues we are all facing today. Things like water being contaminated with rocket fuel, the rapid decrease of water, and how water is becoming a business. In the film, a man says, "without water we are nothing, we have no life, we have no culture, we have no society, we have no economy, without water, the Earth wouldn't be what it is." This quote really hit me hard. It is so true. So many things revolve around water, religious ceremonies like baptisms require water, trade would be effected, causing the economy to fall, cooking, cleaning, and other everyday routines would cease to exist, not to mention, humans can not survive without water. On my Wiki search, I came across water law, which is a pretty recent topic. Basically, people own water, and to me that is insane. I mean I guess it was the next step considering people own land. Wars are based off of land, and the status and power of a country is based off of how much territory you can attain. Will water be the new frontier? In India, and other developing countries, there are already wars and disagreements about water. Since when does water go to the highest bidder? Since when has it become acceptable to buy and sell water? - Brianna Burdelsky

Speaking of ownership issues... (btw, might ownership itself be the issue?)

Probably the best argument over the idea of free culture that I can thin of is that concerning some of Avril Lavigne's music. Many of her songs make you think, "hey, that sounds just like _________!". Nevermind for now the question of can this kind of "theft" be prosecuted in any way, let's start with should it. Songs, to varying degrees, generally sound like other songs. This is what allows for us to have genres or otherwise group certain music together as like, while calling other music different. Also, people don't create songs in isolation, without being influenced by songs they've heard before. With these points in mind, I would expect new music to often sound like that which preceded it. The more we point out these similarites, the more we bridge the music together, a process that gives credit to the creator of the former song. However, these bridges only last so long, and tracing them to their end would likely be fruitless and have little meaning to most people. All in all, it seems better to just accept the idea that current music artists are getting their songs from somewhere, and let us know when you identify that source, so that those who care can learn. - Sarah Rutenberg (hub)

Litter!

I was also thinking about the environment and how carelessly people abuse it.

“Fast food litter was second to cigarette ends in littering the country’s streets and 29 per cent of that was from McDonald’s restaurants, followed by boxes and cups from unbranded kebab and fast food shops…”

I was mostly going to concentrate on fast food waste until I came across this. I can’t remember where I heard of it but it was brought to my attention that cigarette ends are a huge form of litter! This may seem obvious to most of you but I was shocked by this information. My parents have always smoked and I just remember them throwing it out the window of the car when they were finished. It seems like just a small thing that won’t affect much but it is a huge problem. “In the United States, an estimated 26.2 million men (23.5 percent) and 20.9 million women (18.1 percent) are smokers.” (http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4559) This waste adds up very quickly. Such a small thing that can be washed away by rain or blown into the gutter by a small gust of rain wouldn’t easily be thought about as litter. If you just stop and think for a minute about New York and how many cigarette ends are probably thrown into their gutters each day, or even each minute, those get thrown and swept around until eventually they are washed into our sewers and right into our lakes, rivers, or oceans. I am not a smoker and I don’t want my water being contaminated by these small ends that they make special receptacles for. Not to call out the smokers too much though because all types of things are littered and it all needs to stop. This issue makes me so angry because putting your garbage in the trashcan could easily solve the problem.

-Katie Swango

Speaking of litter

On friday I was driving back to work after my lunch break when I saw one of the most unforgivable acts, (atleast in my books) that literally made me want to vomit. In the lane next to me a women was crinkling up balls of paper and throwing them out of her car window while swerving like a maniac. She then proceeded to switch lanes multiple times lay on her horn and flick off the car infront of her for 4 blocks. Clearly, she wasn't the most environmentally aware person in the world, to say the least. I was in complete shock, call me naive but I could not grasp the fact that people actually did this. I felt like smashing my car into hers, but then who is the crazy one now, the woman who hits people with her car or the woman who litters out of her car? This is our earth. We have to live here, why would anyone want to be a part of the cause to destroy it. The saying goes, don't "crap" where you eat! On a moral standpoint how does one even begin to think that this is okay, or to not be phased by it whatsoever. Above all even if you did litter you surely wouldn't want anyone to see you, right?

Littering really ties into environmental sustainability and sustainable living. We will never achieve either if we refuse to take some responsibility. Responsible people dispose of their trash in garbage cans. We can't live sustainably in a world full of people who think it is perfectly acceptable throw garbage out of a car, because these people have the wrong attitude about life. They think that the world owes them something, when it is really the other way around.

Typography

I chose to write about typography because it is a concept that is too often misinterpreted. Most people would think of it as a one-dimensional concept to get your words and thoughts onto a page. There is, in fact, much more to typography than putting simple letters onto a page. Whether you are handcrafting your letters or using computer-generated text, typography is a very important design concept. Sometimes, the way in which you design text can become the whole design itself. There are many different important aspects to typography that can be carefully altered in order to bring out the beauty in a design. Kerning and tracking are used to adjust the spaces in between letters and words. If every form of a letter is touching the letter next to it, would you be able to read it? Legibility is a question that often comes up in good design. Do you want your audience to be able to read it? The fact that a design is illegible could often be the designer’s purpose. This can be a straightforward concept, such as showing many letters crammed together to get across a crowded feeling. Or, a “good” designer would cause the audience to look into a deeper meaning. For example, if someone was pro going “green,” when promoting eco-friendly environments, they could use an diminishing text to show what would happen to our stable living environments if you don’t take a stand. If this designer were successful, they would design it in a way that was able to both catch and keep their audiences attention. “Good” design is often created by “no brainer” concepts, but making the audience think a little bit about the concept and significance of the particular design can also be an important part of keeping their attention. This shows that similar to writing, one of the most important parts of design is paying attention to who your audience is. This also relates to writing in the aspect that critical thinking is very vital. Going back to the basics of typography, critical thinking can be important when formulating your design. If you just type and space words without thinking about the importance of the placing, you will not come up with a truly successful design. Sometimes it takes hours of trial and error, or even just staring at the words, before you have that “light bulb moment.” I believe that this too, can be a certain form of critical thinking.

Human?

Recently, I've been reading a science fiction novel by Stephenie Meyer called "The Host". In this novel aliens have invaded our world and taken over our bodies to the point that humans are almost extinct. However these aliens continue to follow the human routine, with only a few exceptions. In the extraterrestrial's version of Earth there is no crime, disease, war, or poverty. They have essentially created an utopia by excluding humanity from the equation. Their resoning is that the human race is vile and do not deserve the beautiful planet that they were awarded. The aliens define being human as being violent, deceitful, hateful, and irresponsible with their resources. After a course of events one of these aliens finds herself living in a community of humans in hiding who resisted the invasion. The alien begins to challenge her preconceived notions of what it means to be human and so do the humans who are coexisting the community. After a murder attempt inside their community the characters begin to define humanity differently. One of them describes being human as having compassion and love for others.

I now question my own definition of humanity. Should the definition of humanity be limited to biological factors, or does it go deeper than that? After all, does not our definition of something humane indicate that the being in question is marked by compassion? If I choose to define human as having a moral conscience and displaying affection to other creatures I have excluded figures such as Hitler form the human race.

The truth is that everyone will define human differently. After pondering this for a while I realize that I would rather define humans as beings of compassion, growth, and imperfection. It may challenge the scientific definition but that's ok with me. The truth is that to me those three things define humanity. Even the most hard hearted have the potential for compassion. Don't even the murderers love? We all grow and change it's something we cannot control. Whether it be physical, mental, or emotional, we are always experiencing some kind of growth. Last but not least, not one of us is perfect. We have all made mistakes. I realize my definition leaves something to be desired but that is the beauty of knowledge as many have stated in class, it is different for everyone. The knowledge I believe to be true may be different then yours.

The Value of Human Life?

Doesn’t it seem like the value of human life has been diminishing since the very beginning? That’s how I view it at least. Let us start from the creation of human existence; the indigenous people believed that animals were equal to humans, that they were just four-legged homosapiens. Well, that is just a great belief, so what exactly does make us any different than animals?

Fast forward just a few years later. Let us travel deep into the jungles of Mesoamerica where most of the cultures, like the Mayans and Aztecs, believed that sacrifice was deeply symbolic. See, they thought that human blood and life was the most important thing, but they were so careless with it, tossing it aside without a second thought just to please their gods. This whole outlook starts the belief of “what will one less person matter?” after all; death creates life, and once the sacrifice returns back to the gods, they are now able to create more life. Part of what led to the destruction of these Mesoamerican Empires was the conquistadors, who tried to convert these so called “savages.” What really defines someone as being civilized? Our cultures have completely brainwashed us into believing that those who act slightly different than what we are used to, automatically makes them less civilized, and that it is our job as the intelligent and caring people that we are, to make them civilized.

What has time done to us? Do we not realize that the value of human life has been lowered so far deep below the surface that we are willing to kill our own children? This is a tricky topic to talk about just because it is so controversial, but I believe abortion is murder. How can a mother who is carrying her own baby decide that she doesn't want it anymore and will murder it before they even have a chance to decide for themselves?

-Alexa Newsome (more will come!)

What is Life?

What is life? Can such a question be answered in an hour? If it could then College would take a lot less than four years. The Websters of the world give roughly thirteen definitions for the word Life ranging from the text book to the existential to the adjectival, but even more interesting to me than the question of what is life is the question of why we care about such things as "What is Life?" Beyond the pale of our literal needs for a definition, such as standardization for the purposes of law and medicine lies my fascination that we are fascinated, specifically I am not fascinated with the question its self, but by the fact that we can, want to, and are able to think about such a question. Human beings posses a singular trait that has propelled us as a species to a somewhat ironically unconceivable level of understanding which has let us unlock and prod at the secrets of our universe, this power of abstract thought is so amazing that we are able to wonder why we wonder and it is all of that, that singular human condition that we take for granted that motivates me to learn, to spend eight years of my life learning why we can learn and believing that no matter what we learn or realize or create that the fact we can learn, realize, and create will always be infinitely more fascinating.

In a sense I was asking the same question ludmilla was, the question of what is human is such an odd one because even though we live the answer every day, we still are not sure what it is, and she shared that setiment with questions on if biology defines a human or if it is more, perhaps it is our emotions, our compassion that makes humans, human. To me what she was saying that it we are not the sum of are parts, but what we are capeable of that defines us as human, and I suppose in a way I agree with that though I believe I would have a much more boring (read: sciency) reason for believing something along those lines. -Alexander Snell

What is considered human? (This is a brief glimpse of my stealthlab, and the interesting comments that followed it)

I took a Pro-life stand point on abortion, much to the horror and anger of my fellow students as well as my teacher. My senior English teacher was the most biased person ever. If you wrote something about how you liked Bush, hated Obama, opposed abortion, opposed gay marriage, or anything else completely left-wing, you better have a good argument because you'll probably get at most a C.

In my opposition, I took a pretty blunt stance on it. The image below pretty much sums up my persuasive essay.

I've always joked with my friends, saying "I'm not Pro-life, I'm anti-whore".

I agree with you on abortion. Where does it end? --Alaura Marriott

Alexander Snell wrote:

Honestly I think your stance on abortion is a tad bit more controversial then your stance on the tobacco industry, I noticed that you seem in general to dislike the idea of abortion becoming a "quick fix" to one night stands and the like but you completely left out the chance of rape. I personally have no problem with abortion mainly because I place no value on a at most 24 week old bundle of flesh with no real nervous system that lacks any thing to call it human besides shape. I also have to ask if no one can tell which parts of the bible to truly believe and its supposed to the the divine manifestation of god, then its either all right, or you are saying that God is wrong, or man was wrong in their interpretation and that would make it impossible to tell which parts to truly believe in because it was all written by man.

From which I replied:

Oh riiiiight, rape yeah forgot to mention that. That was the only argument that my classmates could come up with that didn't involve cussing, screaming, and throwing stuff at me. I'd like to introduce you to THESE FUN FACTS about rape http://www.abortionno.org/Resources/fastfacts.html

And your right, the fact that a baby begins to develop a nervous system at week 3, along with a heart that starts beating at around week 10 at least, definetly makes it less than human. And what do you mean 24 weeks? Is that the average life of a fetus for you?

And as for the whole God thing, it all comes down to when you think life begins. The 6th Commandment of the 10 Commandments states "THOU SHALT NOT KILL". If your like me and consider life as beginning at conception, abortion infrindges on it.

I'm hoping we can develop on this into an argument. (And Alex, if it sounds like I'm being harsh or mean to you, its all in good fun and compitition)

We are increasing in number, what about resources?

I decided to write a little bit about social sustainability. This time, I wanted to include some statistics and put it on the table. I invite the readers to evaluate this information and try to come up with possible solutions to this matter.

By definition and according to Wikipedia, sustainability is “the capacity to endure”, and “the ability of an ecosystem to maintain ecological processes, functions, biodiversity and productivity into the future." Since I wanted to focus my analysis on sustainability based on its social dimension, it will be appropriate to define the term “social” as well. We can define social as “a characteristic of living organisms, humans in particular.” Wikipedia also defines the term as "a system of common life". If we combine both terms, “social sustainability” we might end up with the following definition “is the idea that future generations should have the same or greater access to social resources as the current generation.” As I mentioned before, it has been scientifically proved that “humanity is living unsustainably.” This could represent a big problem if human beings are planning to live for the next hundred years. I’d like to provide some statistics showing the human population growth from 10,000 BC – AD 2000. The following information is provided by the 2008 Revision of the official United Nations. I got this from the Wikipedia web site.

“According to the 2008 Revision of the official United Nations population estimates and projections, the world population is projected to reach 7 billion early in 2012, up from the current 6.9 billion (May 2009), to exceed 9 billion people by 2050. Most of the increase will be in developing countries whose population is projected to rise from 5.6 billion in 2009 to 7.9 billion in 2050."

As you can see, we are growing very fast. Currently, the impact of humans on the Earth are tending to cause harm, threatening chemicals that are critical to life, as for example, water, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus. So, you may ask yourself, what are we going to do? Are we going to start to kill people? DEFINITELY, NOT! We don’t need to get too drastic. What do you think? What should we do if we want to prolong our existence?

The Autism Vaccines Debate

The 603 section has started a minor friendly debate. These are the links: Vaccines; Vaccines - the other side. What are your opinons?

What is women abuse? Why does domestic abuse happens? Why do women go back to their abuser?

Stockholm Syndrome is the mystery of loving the abuser.

this is from http://www.mental-health-matters.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=167

In clinical practice, some of the most surprised and shocked individuals are those who have been involved in controlling and abusive relationships. When the relationship ends, they offer comments such as "I know what he's done to me, but I still love him", "I don't know why, but I want him back", or "I know it sounds crazy, but I miss her". Recently I've heard "This doesn't make sense. He's got a new girlfriend and he's abusing her too…but I'm jealous!" Friends and relatives are even more amazed and shocked when they hear these comments or witness their loved one returning to an abusive relationship. While the situation doesn't make sense from a social standpoint, does it make sense from a psychological viewpoint? The answer is - Yes!

this is m response to all of this, Priscilla Camargo

women and children that suffer from domestic abuse. This problem is increasing in intensity as well as numerically in our society. The most important reason why it is still a problem is that many women are too afraid to report their spouse to the police. Most of them don't know the steps to take before and after reporting them.

Unfortunately, many children who grow up around that environment are brought up with the idea that it’s normal to be abused. An organization that teaches the negative effects of abuse from an early age would help generations in the future succeed in their own spousal relationships. I strongly believe that the safest solution to domestic abuse is to target the problem early in childhood. I was surprised to learn that there is a program that makes regular visits to elementary schools and middles school to demonstrate to children how to deal with anger, bullying, and the negative effects of abuse. I realized that maybe our society is just starting to advance in this area.It has been one of my dreams for the past year, to start a program that can teach girls, the importance of having a safe, and healthy relationship with men.

Homeless

Some people shout "Go get a job, like everyone else!" and drive off after throwing trash out of their window at the mass of dirty blankets in the grass. It's easy to say that when you consider that mass of dirty blankets just a mass of dirty blankets. Is it really that easy?

Don't take a shower.

Get dirt on your clothes and face.

Don't shave.

Dig through garbage cans.

Don't wear deodorant.

Don't get a solid night's sleep.

Don't eat properly.

Now, repeat this for about a year, give or take. Go see if you can find a job. I suspect, one will find, it isn't as easy as it seems. It's hard enough for the average person, with at least a high school diploma, to get a job working nine to five for minimum wage.

"Well...why don't they just go to the shelter?!" Shelters could not possibly have enough funds or supplies to provide adequate care for every homeless person in the city. We have all seen the crazy, mumbling people shuffling down the street with their hands in their pants. Perhaps those homeless people stand out the most because they are different, they catch our attention. They might even scare you. I don't suggest going up to every homeless person you see and giving them a hug and a thousand dollars. But I do suggest considering that these people, are indeed people. They were most likely "normal" like you or I. They probably made mistakes to get where they are today. But does that make it okay to simply let a whole group of people suffer? They have no where else to go.

Criminals in prison have access to "three hots and a cot" meaning three meals a day and somewhere to sleep at night. It seems as though people who haven't necessarily done anything terrible enough to land themselves in jail are punished more than a person who lights houses on fire.

Apparently it's wrong to sleep on a bench now. Or take an apple to keep yourself from starving. It's a difficult line to draw. Where does it go? Between what level of suffering do we decide it's wrong to survive?

"How can you worship a homeless man on Sunday and ignore one on Monday?"

-Sign outside St. Edward's Cathedral in Philadelphia

-- *Living in St. Pete, you see homeless people on a day to day basis. I have given food to homeless people a few times when I am in my car and it baffles me when I open my window and give them food and it seems as if they're pissed off because I'm not giving them money instead. I don't know whether or not to feel sorry for them or help them. I have always wanted to go up to a homeless person and ask them why they are homeless. If it was for not caring enough when they were younger I wouldn't feel sorry for them. When I see homeless people who are young and look able enough to have a job and take care of themselves I almost get upset. Do I seem inconsiderate? What about friends or family? I've also seen signs that say "Why lie? I need a beer?" . Like hell I'm going to give someone money so they can go spend it on beer! Sure, some homeless people are normal people who have suffered and have legitimate reasons for why they are homeless. Others, not so legitimate, and fairly pathetic. I do not understand how someone can let themselves get to a point where they give up and live on the streets and become homeless. What has happened to the will of humanity? Why are so many people fending on other people to survive when others have to work hard to be where they are and support themselves.

--Kristin Stigaard*

My Take: Carla Quintana --> What attracted me to this particular discussion on homelessness was the quote "How can you worship a homeless man on Sunday and ignore one on Monday." This could probably be linked with the discussion on relion as well. But what I'm trying to get at is that people sometimes put this bad rep on people who go to church that they have to be such saints and save the world, and I'm not saying that we should try to live a good life, but the truth is that we are humans. We have faults and short comings and that doesn't make us less than anyone else and we should understand that. However I agree with Kristin. I'd rather take a homeless person to eat or give them food, which I have done rather than give them money. While we'd like to believe that homeless people only want food, there is a reason why they are homeless. Many of them want money instead and I've seen them with empty beer bottles, as well, like Kristin stated. It too makes me mad. But there are efforts to help the homeless and it's up to them if they would like to receive the help or not. And good help, not simply giving them money to get off our backs. To legitimately help them in their efforts to get their life back in order if possible. I believe you don't have to stay homeless, you need to be given the opportunity to pick yourself up and start again. Though it may not be easy, but it's for the betterment of your life in the end. Here's just one link I found for Florida http://www.hud.gov/local/index.cfm?state=fl&topic=homeless In addition to this helpful website there are groups and organizations that go out and help and feed the homeless and at times even provide a job fair and housing options for them. I believe it's called HOPE, a nonprofit organization that offers free haircuts, job fairs etc. for the homeless.

I'm not quite sure where to post this so people will read it, so I guess I'll put it here: for the narrative assignment I'm having a hard time figuring out what to write about, I have a story I could write, about a friend I had who got addicted to drugs & how I tried to help, but it didn't work...so the only problem is what can I write my argument about? Everyone knows that some people get addicted to drugs and there are already drug programs & that kind of thing, so what can I argue? Any ideas will help...just post them under this. Thanks! --Malory Speir--

Malory, you could consider different definitions of "addiction." The rehabilitation clinics you refer to rely on operational definitions of "addiction" everyday. How do these definitions apply to your friend's journey? Does the category "addiction" facilitate understanding or healing in the scenario you want to narrate? Have you considered compare/contrast your friend's scenario with other stories?

Also-I'm glad you posted to this particular thread. How about all this resonance (and dissonance!)? Wow! A lot to work with right here. Perhaps you could peak to this emergent community (which is growing by argument and counterargument, by connections and disconnections) as your audience, and even cite some of this text, as a way to to further refine your scope, and create exigence for a meaningful discussion about addiction. -ShareRiff

The End of the world...

Alexz-

I was just looking at this, scrolling and looking at the pictures before i read it all. It made me think of this video. I cant quite answer what made that connection, but hopefully you can make your own.

this is a band called atmosphere. trey already knows im obseesed, but now you do too. :)

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I love how the formatting "stickes" and we end up with haiku. Remind me to draw up a "renga" exercise (renga is collaborative haiku)

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ShareRiff said

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