RSA Animate

The video empathic civilization relates to our class in many ways. The human nature journey was transform into assumptions of educational institutions, business practices and governing institutions. Humans tend to have the same cycle of living such as educational institutions, we go to school for
Our education and business practices we grow up in the world to make business it can be market or any career we choose. Last is govern we govern our selfs and others we choose to be either democrat or republican maybe other parties. But in the end we transform the nature of human life into these categories. Humans are softwired to experience another's plight as if we are experiencing it ourselves. We received this  gift but we take it for granted such as perceiving the cosmic dance. Cosmic dance is about joy of others surrounding you, you're environment, you're family, friends. The cosmic dance brings out the happiness and the empathy of life towards eachother. At last the cosmic dance is about having empathy, compassion and kingship all in one. But how can we do that if we're taught to hate and experience aggression, violence, self-interest. Can it be from our environment such as media or other certain obsticles that disturb our human soft wired connection to compassion, attachement and affection. What drives us humans to feel anger, despair to the world?? When in reality we were made to experience the opposite of hate, aggression and violence. We were made For sociability, affection, and compassion. The first drive is to actually belong and in the book tattoos on the heart half of the gang members didn't obtain that desire to actually belong. Instead they joing gangs to feel like they belong somewhere. But in reality they don't know where to fit in life that they pretend they do. For example, ceasar we didn't feel worthy of himself but when father G accepted him as his son, Caesar discovered that he is a son worth having. He felt he belong in life in someone's heart. Life is fragile and vulneable. We should live every moment in precious memories and make our own history. Emphaty was blood type it turn to religious than national identity.  Blood type means everyone no matter race, culture, backgrounds.  As we develope more it was form into religious jews with jews christians with Christians there own family. Now why do we repress our selfs to have empathy towards our world ? Can it be parents, education, business, government ? What can bring out our empathic sociability ? Can it just be us ? Ignore the obstacle that we face, over come it and be unique. And with our unique characteristics we can change someone else perspective. In fact with the help of the mirror neurons we humans have !

Revised Letter

November 15, 2013

 

Dear Mr. Officer, 

       The declared you proposed on the radio was due to identify the most violent gang members and offer services and training for jobs however if they don’t accept the offer they would get the stick. In order to carry on this action I would first recommend to truly think what should be done instead of rushing through this process. There’s three qualities to obtained in this process is persistent, compassion, and nonjudgmental. I know its a duty to accomplish this but why cant it be a goal to achieve and better off our country.

The offer you propose reminds me of Gregory Boyle who is a Jesuit priest and the founder and executive director of Homeboy Industries. He has run Homeboy Industries more than twenty years, a gang intervention program located in Los Angelo’s the gang capital of the world. The Homeboy Industries is a youth program following the work of the Christian base communities at Dolores Mission Church. This program is targeted to assist gang members such as educational classes, employment services, mental health counseling and legal services.

  In his book Tattoos on the Heart he tells stories of gang members he got to befriend with and had a chance to have a relationship of friendship and love. Gregory Boyle had these qualities persistent, compassion and nonjudgmental and more however Boyle was filled with compassion he gave love to all the gang members he met in Homeboy Industries. No matter what you have done he would open up his arms and heart and give you the opportunity to seek better for yourself in the future. Boyle also didn’t tag them as “gang members” he seen them as humans that went through the wrong path and his passion is to help them discover there true path in life. 
 
 Although he also seen violence, corruption, and deaths he still had hope in improving their lives for a better and brighter one. This is known as persistent in worst situation he still believes and doesn’t give up. Of course he lets them come to him when they’re ready to change or he offers them support by Dolores Mission Church.  In the book Tattoos on the heart “Marinate in the God who is always greater than our tiny conception, the God who loves without measure and without regret “ Boyle Marinates in God allowing god to give him strength and compassion towards others because God loves us no matter who we are as humans.

If or not believe in God there’s no reason to ignore that we need to have compassion towards others allowing us to support others with love and not a “duty” work. We all are humans no matter our background, race, or sex. God send us to this world to love why do we see violence and hatred? Well we as humans allow evil to take over are souls and be corrupted by our environment and in order to change our self’s we need to have compassion in us.

In conclusion I advised to spend those $10 million dollars wisely such as I said in this letter. Let’s go in George Boyle path and follow his courageous actions. I only ask for compassion and in compassion there's answer for our questions. what's there's to loose if we allow of self's to give love unconditionally like God who gives us love and doesn't forget us, were the ones who forget him.

 

Sincerely

Maria Villalobos

Revised Essay 1: God

In the book, Tattoos on the heart Boyles themes are composed of compassion, disgrace, slow work and kinship.  Each theme has stories of gang members from the "gang capital" of Los Angeles. Throughout each theme he interprets god as being compassion and finding god through disgrace known as “shame”. As well as the process of opening up to god will take slow work and hope. God gives unconditionally love but were the ones who need to accept his love and through the acceptance we go through paths in our life's to challenge our love for him.  

Boyle intercepts God as compassion, he gives us love unconditionally. According to Tattoos on the heart "God is compassionate, loving kindness. All we're asked to do is to be in the world who God is. certainly compassion was the wallpaper of Jesus soul, the contour of his heart, it was who he was."(62) This world is under God and his only desire is us to be full of compassion and kindness towards each other. However most of us can't even accomplish his only desire he ask from us. In this world there's so much corruption and violence as well as poverty that we as humans failed to accomplish god desire. The world of God was turned into a wild jungle that it left us to find our paths in our life's to find the true meaning of God nation and to truly accomplished this quest is by discovering on our own.
If we allow others to discover for us were just being control to believe. Some of us are ignorant to believe that some religions use “God” to fear and control its daughters and sons. When in reality is our own decision to believe that were worthy of god love. An Example can be Caesar he learn how to feel worthy of god love by accepting Boyle as a father and him as his son. Caesar discovered that he is a son worth having as long with accepting god’s love. Caesar story shows how we go through paths known as "experiences" in our lives to accept god loves. Even though god gives his love, were the ones that are in charge of accepting the love he gives and no matter our situation we would love him back. 
According to Tattoos on the heart “we all belong to ourselves the one who created us, each other. We are all equal and we are all deserving of compassionate care within a community-a kinship. Boyle illustrates that god loves us no matter our situation and our guilt. All of us deserve to be love by him and others by creating a community through compassion. Another theme that Boyles reveals is Disgrace, Boyle interprets Carmen story on how she is a heroin addict, a gang member, and a fighter. Carmen admits to Boyle that she’s a disgrace. Carmen story shows how disgrace can lead with guilt and feeling bad about our actions and shame on our self’s however through that process we’re driven to discover god through our own guilt and accept that anyone no matter what’s our actions and shames we deserve to feel the worthy of god’s love.  One story in Tattoos on the heart, Pedro we understand that patience allow us to rescue someone from the darkness. This story illustrates how disgrace and patience can rescue you’re self from your own darkness that you create. Most of us are afraid of the world but we don’t stop to think that were afraid of the shadows that we create our self’s.

Revised Group Government Shutdown Essay : Amada Zuppo & Maria Villalobos

Trust and honesty are often percieved as the most important ingredient in any kind of relationship. This is also true regarding the relationship between a country's citizens and their leaders in government. On Monday September 30, 2013, The American government let down it's people by declaring a Government Shutdown. Because the Republican Party in Congress could not compromise on a budget to allow for the Affordable Care Act (Obama Care), they declared shutdown on federally controlled agencies, businesses, and national parks. Affecting roughly 700,000 jobs and employees in the process. Through this government shutdown, it has been revealed to us that most of those who are in office such as the Republican and Democratic party  have objectives that are self-serving and have little regard or care for the actual well being of the American people. Therefore, putting the nation's ideals, credability, and the overall livelihood of American citizens at stake.

 

Dating back to the founding of the US, our leaders have always taken pride that the United States has principles and moral values that support "doing the right thing". If there has ever been an injustice, here or elsewhere in the world, the US has most times adressed it and tried to put an end to it. For example, Slavery. Abraham Lincloln fought to the nail to abolish slavery in America in the 1800's. President Lincoln valued all American citizens regardless of race and background, and knew to do what was ethically right, even if it meant going against half the country who had opposing views. The reason I bring this up is to show how far our ideals have fallen. The government shutdown perfectly depicts just what the true agendas of the politians in our government really are; themselves. Republicans have been against the Affordable Care Act since the beginning, and just when the act was starting to take effect, they were willing to do anything to delay or even stop it. The reason congress could not agree to a budget was because Republicans in the House wanted to de-fund the new law's critical aspects and to try to block any further provisions to keep act from going into effect. As said on CNN news: "Republicans in the House of Representatives refused to fund the government unless we defunded or dismantled the Affordable Care Act." The real motives behind this decision is still debatable, however, from what I can gather, there must be some sort of underlying reason that in some way serves them, in order to not to want to pass a bill in which millions of working Americans would finally be able to afford health care. If our politians really cared about the citizens they supposedly represent, why would they oppose such a law, especially at the expense of it's citizens through a shutdown?

 

It has been more than just the American people who have been greatly affected by our Government's stubborn and self-centered attitude, it has been other Nations as well. Neighboring countries such as Canada and Mexico fear to have reprocussions of our shutdown. " 'Canadians can only pray their economy won't be collateral damage, Anything that drags down the American economy drags the Canadian economy down with it.' " (BBC News, Zurcher). Because we are so close geographically, we are also very close econmically. We are one of Canada's largest trading partners, so if we go down, that puts them at risk as well, according to Andy Radia of Yahoo News. Although there may be some fears of reprocussions for countries that are in trade with us, we are beginning to lose respect and credibility among other nations. "US shutdown has other nations confused and concerned," Anthony Zurcher wrote, "For most of the world, a government shutdown is very bad news – the result of revolution, invasion or disaster. Even in the middle of its ongoing civil war, the Syrian government has continued to pay its bills and workers’ wages. That leaders of one of the most powerful nations on earth willingly provoked a crisis that suspends public services and decreases economic growth is astonishing to many…Now, as the latest shutdown crisis plays out, policymakers in other nations are left to ponder the worldwide impact of the impasse" (BBC News). And as stated in "How the World Sees the Government Shutdown" by Zach Beauchamp; "France’s Le Monde called the shutdown 'grotesque' [...] On the editorial page, Le Monde dramatically lamented, "Jefferson, wake up, they’ve gone crazy!" And also states, "At the time, foreign editorial pages lit up with critism, denigrating Congress as 'dangerously irresponsible' and 'a laughing stock.' " (ThinkProgress.com). The government shutdown has caused other nations look down on us; Nations that are our allies. And has broadcasted to those who are not our allies how foolish and divided our government is at the moment.

 

When the Government is not on the same page, there can be no progress made and American Livelihood suffers. Long before the issue around Obama Care and the government shutdown, we have seen how ineffective the government has been for Benefitting it's citizen's lives. Which is quite ironic, being that they are voted in to represent us and to be the voice for the people. An example of this is discretionary spending. Discretionary spending is government spending determined by legislators and politians involved in the process of developing a national budget. This spending is sometimes described as "optional". Programs such as K-12 education, child care, head start and job creation is funded by the discretionary budget. These programs are usually the first to suffer because less and less of the budget goes into these programs and it leads to critical economic growth.  You see, If education is the final priority in our Government Spending, how can we truly be bettering America? It leads to a downfall in our economic status. Less education means less jobs. Less jobs can lead to homelessness. And as a result of homelessness, crime can increase as well as death due to health complications of being on the streets without proper food, water, and healthcare. The overall livelihood of US citizens are at risk because our government can not seem to look past themselves and fulfill their positions as they were elected to do; represent us! The shutdown took thousands of packchecks from thousands of Americans who work for the Federal Government for 16 days. However, congress still recieved their paychecks. How is that fair? It just goes to show that the livelihood of the American citizen comes second to the ulterior motives of our representatives.

 

Overall, because those who currently hold positions in our government have corrupted their work and purpose with their self-centered nature in this recent shutdown, we now have to fear that America will lose the respect of our allies, the quality of life of it's citizens, and the once precious morals we used to hold tightly onto. Congress, we need to pull it together. Stop looking out for yourselves and do the job you were elected to accomplish. There is too much at stake.


Bibliography:

• Think progress.org. 2013. How The World Sees The Government Shutdown. [online] Available at: http://thinkprogress.org/security/2013/10/01/2707751/how-the-world-sees-the-government-shutdown/ [Accessed: 27 Nov 2013].
• WJLA.Com, W. 2013. Government shutdown 2013: Day two of shutdown begins with no end in sight. [online] Available at: http://www.wjla.com/articles/2013/10/government-shutdown-2013-day-two-of-shutdown-begins-with-no-end-in-sight-94752.html [Accessed: 27 Nov 2013].
•  Yahoo News. 2013. Four ways the U.S. shutdown could affect Canadians?. [online] Available at: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/four-ways-u-shutdown-could-affect-canadians-154742151.html [Accessed: 27 Nov 2013].
• Chicagotribune.com. 2013. Chicago Tribune: Chicago breaking news, sports, business, entertainment, weather and traffic - chicagotribune.com. [online] Available at: http://www.chicagotribune.com [Accessed: 27 Nov 2013].

Revise Prompt

Our nation is under god. We marinate in the god who loves without measure and without regret however we decide our god. In the world of god there's corruption, poverty, and violence. God is our nation but were the ones that created the world of poverty,  corruption and violence. We discover our self in this nation but we decide to be ignorant or to accept the nation given by god. Lets decide who do we want to be as a nation to be ignorant and stay quiet or to stand up for the poor and speak up for justice and to bring back the world of God that has been taking away due to corruption and violence ?  

Essay #2 : Tattoos on the Heart

November 15, 2013

 

Dear Mr. Officer,

                  I am writing this letter to show my appreciation it’s my pleasure to say thank you for your courageous services to our country but with all due respect sir I would like to give you an honest advice concerning the declared of your proposed over the radio.  The declared you proposed on the radio was due to identify the most violent gang members and offer services and training for jobs however if they don’t accept the offer they would get the stick. In order to carry on this action I would first recommend to truly think what should be done instead of rushing through this process. There’s three qualities to obtained in this process is persistent, compassion, and nonjudgmental.

The offer you propose reminds me of Gregory Boyle who is a Jesuit priest and the founder and executive director of Homeboy Industries. He has run Homeboy Industries more than twenty years, a gang intervention program located in Los Angelo’s the gang capital of the world. The Homeboy Industries is a youth program following the work of the Christian base communities at Dolores Mission Church. This program is targeted to assist gang members such as educational classes, employment services, mental health counseling and legal services.

  In his book Tattoos on the Heart he tells stories of gang members he got to befriend with and had a chance to have a relationship of friendship and love. Gregory Boyle had these qualities persistent, compassion and nonjudgmental and more however Boyle was filled with compassion he gave love to all the gang members he met in Homeboy Industries. No matter what you have done he would open up his arms and heart and give you the opportunity to seek better for yourself in the future. Boyle also didn’t tag them as “gang members” he seen them as humans that went through the wrong path and his passion is to help them discover there true path in life.  Although he also seen violence, corruption, and deaths he still had hope in improving their lives for a better and brighter one. This is known as persistent in worst situation he still believes and doesn’t give up. Of course he lets them come to him when they’re ready to change or he offers them support by Dolores Mission Church.  In the book Tattoos on the heart “Marinate in the God who is always greater than our tiny conception, the God who loves without measure and without regret “ Boyle Marinates in God allowing him to give him strength and compassion towards others because God loves us no matter who we are as humans.

If or not believe in God there’s no reason to ignore that we need to have compassion towards others allowing us to support others with love and not a “duty” work. We all are humans no matter our background, race, or sex. God send us to this world to love why do we see violence and hatred? Well we as humans allow evil to take over are souls and be corrupted by our environment and in order to change our self’s we need to have compassion in us.

In conclusion I advised to spend those $10 million dollars wisely such as I said in this letter. Let’s go in George Boyle path and follow his courageous actions. I only ask for compassion and in compassion there's answer for our questions. what's there's to loose if we allow of self's to give love unconditionally like God who gives us love and doesn't forget us, were the ones who forget him.

 

Sincerely

Maria Villalobos

Personal Blog Post of the book Tattos on the heart

Before reading the book intrepret god:

• There's moral wrong in use of "God" for power.
• "God" is use to fear and control its daughters and sons
• God cant speak up so they speak for him by carrying and controlling religion.
• God is here but youre the only one who would allow to be in your life, no one can force you to believe and if you do youre not really believing youre just being control.
• we use God to protect our sins, we put his name in our mouth to swipe our moral wrongs we put him in our lives to feel like were humans knowing that we corrupted our souls and using "god" as ignoring our wrongs.

In the book, Tattoos on the heart is an inspiration path on knowing God. Everyone has different relationship with god we all go through different experiences in knowing god but what we all have in common is that were the sons and daughters of god. So why do we treat each other differently? If we say that were the daughters and sons of god. God is about love and giving. Some of us want god in our lives for giving instead of receiving love.  God is about compassion, forgiveness and strength. Some of us don’t have compassion with others that we fail to forgive and live with anger and regrets. In the book, Tattoos on the heart Boyles achieves in organizing a gang intervention program known as “Homeboy Industries” in Los Angeles. He sacrifices himself in welcoming gang members as sons and daughters into his home. He creates job for them to make them succeed for their future. “More Jobs less Shooting” is Boyle faith in changing each of them lives. we want to believe in others but in order to do that we need to believe in our selfs and most of us are scared to and thats the problem were scared of the world when in reality where just scared of the shadows we create on our own.

Essay #1 : Gods love

In the book, Tattoos on the heart Boyles themes are composed of compassion, disgrace, slow work and kinship.  Each theme has stories of gang members from the "gang capital" of Los Angeles. Throughout each theme he interprets god as being compassion and finding god through disgrace known as “shame”. As well as the process of opening up to god will take slow work and hope.   

Boyle intercepts God as compassion, he gives us love unconditionally. According to Tattoos on the heart “a compassion that can stand in awe at what the poor have to carry rather than in judgment at how they carry it” (67). This quote illustrates how compassion can stand in the power to inspire reverence as honor of how we carry our self’s rather than judging on how we do it. God wants us to be in his world of compassion however most of us are in his world without compassion in reality without compassion were just in this world alone.  Were the ones that need to accept in God trust and discover on our own. If we allow others to discover for us were just being control to believe. Some of us are ignorant to believe that some religions use “God” to fear and control its daughters and sons. When in reality is our own decision to believe that were worthy of god love. An Example can be Caesar he learn how to feel worthy of god love by accepting Boyle as a father and him as his son. Caesar discovered that he is a son worth having as long with accepting god’s love.

As said in Tattoos on the heart we should all marinate in the intimacy of God in our hearts. Most of us won’t understand the meaning of “marinate in the intimacy of god” the meaning is that we need to soak in the relationship we need to have with God as affection. In the book, Tattoos on the heart Boyle gives the “homies” opportunities such as jobs to show them love and compassion and the jobs gives them hope to look forward for their futures.

According to Tattoos on the heart “we all belong to ourselves the one who created us, each other. We are all equal and we are all deserving of compassionate care within a community-a kinship. Boyle illustrates that god loves us no matter our situation and our guilt. All of us deserve to be love by him and others by creating a community through compassion. Another theme that Boyles reveals is Disgrace, Boyle interprets Carmen story on how she is a heroin addict, a gang member, and a fighter. Carmen admits to Boyle that she’s a disgrace. Carmen story shows how disgrace can lead with guilt and feeling bad about our actions and shame on our self’s however through that process we’re driven to discover god through our own guilt and accept that anyone no matter what’s our actions and shames we deserve to feel the worthy of god’s love.  One story in Tattoos on the heart, Pedro we understand that patience allow us to rescue someone from the darkness. This story illustrates how disgrace and patience can rescue you’re self from your own darkness that you create. Most of us are afraid of the world but we don’t stop to think that were afraid of the shadows that we create our self’s.

Government Shutdown Group Essay : Amanda Zupo and Maria Villalobos

Trust and honesty are often percieved as the most important ingredient in any kind of relationship. This is also true regarding the relationship between a country's citizens and their leaders in government. On Monday September 30, 2013, The American government let down it's people by declaring a Government Shutdown. Because the two parties in Congress could not compromise on a budget to allow for the Affordable Care Act (Obama Care), they declared shutdown on federally controlled agencies, businesses, and national parks. Affecting roughly 700,000 jobs and employees in the process. Through this government shutdown, it has been revealed to us that most of those who are in office have objectives that are self-serving and have little regard or care for the actual well being of the American people. Therefore, putting the nation's ideals, credability, and the overall livelihood of American citizens at stake.

 

Dating back to the founding of the US, our leaders have always taken pride that the United States has principles and moral values that support "doing the right thing". If there has ever been an injustice, here or elsewhere in the world, the US has most times adressed it and tried to put an end to it. For example, Slavery. Abraham Lincloln fought to the nail to abolish slavery in America in the 1800's. President Lincoln valued all American citizens regardless of race and background, and knew to do what was ethically right, even if it meant going against half the country who had opposing views. The reason I bring this up is to show how far our ideals have fallen. The government shutdown perfectly depicts just what the true agendas of the politians in our government really are; themselves. Republicans have been against the Affordable Care Act since the beginning, and just when the act was starting to take effect, they were willing to do anything to delay or even stop it. The reason congress could not agree to a budget was because Republicans in the House wanted to de-fund the new law's critical aspects and to try to block any further provisions to keep act from going into effect. As said on CNN news: "Republicans in the House of Representatives refused to fund the government unless we defunded or dismantled the Affordable Care Act." The real motives behind this decision is still debatable, however, from what I can gather, there must be some sort of underlying reason that in some way serves them, in order to not to want to pass a bill in which millions of working Americans would finally be able to afford health care. If our politians really cared about the citizens they supposedly represent, why would they oppose such a law, especially at the expense of it's citizens through a shutdown?

 

It has been more than just the American people who have been greatly affected by our Government's stubborn and self-centered attitude, it has been other Nations as well. Neighboring countries such as Canada and Mexico fear to have reprocussions of our shutdown. " 'Canadians can only pray their economy won't be collateral damage, Anything that drags down the American economy drags the Canadian economy down with it.' " (BBC News, Zurcher). Because we are so close geographically, we are also very close econmically. We are one of Canada's largest trading partners, so if we go down, that puts them at risk as well, according to Andy Radia of Yahoo News. Although there may be some fears of reprocussions for countries that are in trade with us, we are beginning to lose respect and credibility among other nations. "US shutdown has other nations confused and concerned," Anthony Zurcher wrote, "For most of the world, a government shutdown is very bad news – the result of revolution, invasion or disaster. Even in the middle of its ongoing civil war, the Syrian government has continued to pay its bills and workers’ wages. That leaders of one of the most powerful nations on earth willingly provoked a crisis that suspends public services and decreases economic growth is astonishing to many…Now, as the latest shutdown crisis plays out, policymakers in other nations are left to ponder the worldwide impact of the impasse" (BBC News). And as stated in "How the World Sees the Government Shutdown" by Zach Beauchamp; "France’s Le Monde called the shutdown 'grotesque' [...] On the editorial page, Le Monde dramatically lamented, "Jefferson, wake up, they’ve gone crazy!" And also states, "At the time, foreign editorial pages lit up with critism, denigrating Congress as 'dangerously irresponsible' and 'a laughing stock.' " (ThinkProgress.com). The government shutdown has caused other nations look down on us; Nations that are our allies. And has broadcasted to those who are not our allies how foolish and divided our government is at the moment.

 

When the Government is not on the same page, there can be no progress made and American Livelihood suffers. Long before the issue around Obama Care and the government shutdown, we have seen how ineffective the government has been for Benefitting it's citizen's lives. Which is quite ironic, being that they are voted in to represent us and to be the voice for the people. An example of this is discretionary spending. Discretionary spending is government spending determined by legislators and politians involved in the process of developing a national budget. This spending is sometimes described as "optional". Programs such as K-12 education, child care, head start and job creation is funded by the discretionary budget. These programs are usually the first to suffer because less and less of the budget goes into these programs and it leads to critical economic growth.  You see, If education is the final priority in our Government Spending, how can we truly be bettering America? It leads to a downfall in our economic status. Less education means less jobs. Less jobs can lead to homelessness. And as a result of homelessness, crime can increase as well as death due to health complications of being on the streets without proper food, water, and healthcare. The overall livelihood of US citizens are at risk because our government can not seem to look past themselves and fulfill their positions as they were elected to do; represent us! The shutdown took thousands of packchecks from thousands of Americans who work for the Federal Government for 16 days. However, congress still recieved their paychecks. How is that fair? It just goes to show that the livelihood of the American citizen comes second to the ulterior motives of our representatives.

 

Overall, because those who currently hold positions in our government have corrupted their work and purpose with their self-centered nature in this recent shutdown, we now have to fear that America will lose the respect of our allies, the quality of life of it's citizens, and the once precious morals we used to hold tightly onto. Congress, we need to pull it together. Stop looking out for yourselves and do the job you were elected to accomplish. There is too much at stake.

 

Six Questions

1. what is the debate about the government shut down ?

• The government shut down is said to be about obama care but it can it truly be that the replublicans use obamacare as their stradegy to reduce power for the government?
• Did they let the governemt shudown happen because they know that they still going to get paid either way if they shut down and dont worry about the consequences ?

2.  why are the republicans making it on obama care ?

•     Does the republicans used obama care to blame the problem on obama and using it as a scape goat ?
• Does the republican want to reduce government power and one way can it be by shutding down the governemnt and using obama care as an excuse ?      

3. what is obama care?

•     what does obama care promises to americans higher taxes and not being able to afford health or actually helping families receive health care plan without puting them in debt ?

4. what is the situation around health care in the US ?

•  why does health care have to be a big issue ? why cant both the republicans and democratics agree on giving americans health care they could afford ? why cant that be possible when we can make that possible if they just agree that americans deserve to have health insurance ?
• why take health care away from americans that work and pay taxes do they really deserve to be denied on health care by not being able to afford it ?
• Health care should be about taking care not about having thousands or more americans not being able to go to the doctors because they cant afford it ?

5.what happens when the government shut down?

• what happens when hundreds or more people loose their jobs and not getting paid ?
• what happens to the economy ? why would they let the people suffer when they can just be a big boy and agree on something ? it is too hard to agree on health care plan? it is hard to agree that americans should be allow to afford health care?

6. what is considered discretionary spending ?

•  why does it always have to be that education, health care are the most buget that they reduce and cut ?
• less and less of the budget goes to programs that help low income families where does the money that we can use for those programs go ?
• Can this system be really corrupt and deny us human beings with the needs we need such as education, health care ?

Resources

www.chicagotribune.com

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/30/politics/government-shutdown-up-to-speed/index.html

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2013/10/government-shutdown-2013-day-two-of-shutdown-begins-with-no-end-in-sight-94752.html

http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2013/09/politics/government-shutdown-impact/

idea + research

1. what is poverty ?

Poverty is the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. absolute poverty or destitution refers to the deprivation of basic human needs, which commonly includes food, water, sanitation, clothing, shelter, health care and education. Relative poverty views poverty as socially defined and dependent on social context, hence relative poverty is a measure of income inequality. Rises in the costs of living making poor people less able to afford items. Poor people spend a greater portion of their budgets on food than richer people. As a result, poor households and those near the poverty threshold can be particularly vulnerable to increases in food prices.

For children with low resources, the risk factors are similar to others such as juvenile delinquency rates, higher levels of teenage pregnancy, and the economic dependency upon their low income parent or parents.Families and society who submit low levels of investment in the education and development of less fortunate children end up with less favorable results for the children who see a life of parental employment reduction and low wages. Higher rates of early childbearing with all the connected risks to family, health and well-being are major important issues to address since education from preschool to high school are both identifiably meaningful in a life.

 

Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter.  Poverty is being sick Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time. And not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time. Poverty is losing a child to illness brought about by unclean water. Poverty is powerlessness, lack of representation and freedom. Poverty is a call to action - for the poor and the wealthy alike - a call to change the world so that many more may have enough to eat, adequate shelter, access to education and health, protection from violence, and a voice in what happens in their communities. Poverty is the state of being without, often associated with need, hardship and lack of resources across a wide range of circumstances.

Resources/ research:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty

http://fightpoverty.mmbrico.com/poverty/what.html

 

2. what are some of the outcomes of poverty in the world?

 

Poverty is a state of living with very little to no money, below what could be considered the minimum level of income security in a society. Poverty is a serious problem in societies and can result in various negative outcomes. five possible outcomes of poverty include committing crime, living in a abusive family setting, losing one's children to Child Protective Services, living with debilitating medical conditions, and if the poverty is extreme enough, homelessness or death.

The nation’s economic crisis has deeply affected the lives of millions of Americans. Skyrocketing foreclosures and job layoffs have pulled the rug out from under many families, particularly those living in low-income communities. Deepening poverty is inextricably linked with rising levels of homelessness and food insecurity/hunger for many Americans and children are particularly affected by these conditions.

http://www.apa.org/pi/families/poverty.aspx

 

 

 

 

 

Moral/ethical argument

One moral/ethical argument
     "The 41 percent poverty rate for single moms with children under the age of 18 is much higher; the percentage for both single moms and dads is still higher than that of impoverished married couples with children at 9 percent"(121)
    
  Raise by a single mother has been a tough road for both of us, we were two strangers throughout my childhood because she would be working day to night that I would barely see her. she worked three jobs that it would only covered groceries and personal materials and rent. My mom couldn't afford an apartment by her self so we lived with my five uncles in one room apartment it was a chaos. When I turned 8 years old we moved into my mom friend apartment it was worse because we only rented half corner for a bed and my mom would sleep on the floor it was a tough experience for us.soon after I was 10 years old she was able to buy a house it was a fairy tale and a dream for me when I was able to have my own room and a place to call home. my mom own that house for 3 years until the bank took it away. luckily she was able to buy another house with her friend and once again it would be one room all of us and her friend in the other one. we share rent with my mom friend and soon she started working more hours that I became distance from my mother that I became angry for leaving me alone. it was a disaster through my childhood years until my mom married my step dad, he helped her with the bills that I was able to see my mother more often that I enjoyed it but at the same time we were strangers to each other. soon my mom was expecting a baby boy at first it was weird for me because I still wanted her to just be both of us like it has been for years however my brother became part of my life he brought me happiness and peace in my heart. my mom worked less due to her pregnancy so the financial issue went worse he would live on paycheck to paycheck to make our months covered with food and shelter. my step dad had to work extra hours to survive our rent, even though they both work and with my mom friend help with the house the bank was still able to take our house again. we went through financial crisis again that we moved into a town home or apartment until we recover. my mom and step dad worked 2 jobs and with both paychecks it only covers rent, food, personal materials and other necessary needs. even though I was raised by a single mother living in poverty I am proud of her because she would always provide us with food, shelter and clothing. however as she's getting older she's also getting weaker with her health she still does everything in her power to support me with school and providing us with our needs.

 
     

National Security essay

                                              

 

National Security is defined as the requirement to maintain the survival of the nation-state through the use of economic, military and political power. The National Security concerns are biological weapons, nukes, cyber-attacks and transnational crime; however the least concern is poverty. It is said that the national security is the protection or the safety of the country and its citizens. Although let’s ask our self’s if 15, 749, 129 of Americas are under the safety of what’s called our “National Security” if there living under the poverty line. The quote by Marian Wright Edelman illustrates how the National Security protects as I said before the use of biological weapons, nukes and cyber-attack; however it does not protect us from our own failures of human mistakes and corruptions; “The greatest threat in America national security comes from no enemy without but from our own failures to protect, invest in, and educate all of our children who make up all of our futures in this global economy” (49). The theory of the National Security is that their primary concerns are the outside threats and the least concern is the inside problem such as poverty. However the National Security should balance both equally because both the outside threat and the inside problem is our concern for the survival and safety of our country.

National Security on the one hand is primary focused on outside threats. The most unforgettable threat in America history was the tragedy event of 9/11. On September 11, 2001, nineteen terrorists boarded four commercial jetliners. They hijacked four airliners and transmitted a suicide attack against the United States. Two airplanes were crashed into the World Trade Center in New York. The third plane crashed into the Pentagon in Washington D.C; the last plane was going to crash another building in Washington but the passengers stopped the hijackers leading them to crash into a field. The 9//11 attack caused three thousand people to die without saying good-bye to their love ones. After the 9/11 attack America became mainly focused towards terrorism causing it to pull away from domestic issues. The 9/11 attack led what is called the “Global War on terrorism “issued by President George W. Bush. This meant that the U.S government increased military production, economic measures and political pressure towards terrorists of  being a threat to the United States.  In response of the 9/11 attack the military took action against Afghanistan. This policy is called the “US invaded Afghanistan” in order to remove the Taliban regime and to capture al- Qaeda forces. The war, however it’s still not solved but complicated deeply into Afghanistan and Iraq. This concludes how the 9/11 attack known as the “outside threat” are value into importance for the National Security and taken into consideration of an issue that needs to be solve and change into a solution. 

According to the Rich and the Rest of US “ we think most Americans now agree with us that the more than a trillion dollars ( and counting) it has cost the American taxpayer to execute and maintain our military adventures in Afghanistan and Iraq was a monumental mistake”(106). In response the war in Iraq and Afghanistan led to be the second most expensive military conflicts in America history. In other words we spend billions of dollars investing in the war that could have been instead being used in creating jobs and eliminating the poverty line in America. The war in Iraq and Afghanistan was money wasted when it could have been invest into bigger problems in America such as reducing poverty by increasing jobs and wages. According to Dr. King “war is the enemy of the poor” because the poor pay the price of the results due to the war; for example according to The Rich and the Rest of Us; “The plan by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, which calls for 2.4 trillion in cuts over a 10 year period, includes $900 billion in cuts in areas such as education, health care, nutrition, affordable housing, child care, and many other programs desperately needed by working families and the most vulnerable”(109) the result of the war caused drastic cuts to Medicare and Medicaid programs that help economically stable the poor. However due to the war in the end the poor suffer and increase the poverty line in America. Another outside threat is Syria according to the President Barack Obama speech on Syria “Over the past two years, what began as a series of peaceful protests against the repressive regime of Bashar al-Assad has turned into a brutal civil war.  Over 100,000 people have been killed.  Millions have fled the country.  In that time, America has worked with allies to provide humanitarian support, to help the moderate opposition, and to shape a political settlement.  But I have resisted calls for military action, because we cannot resolve someone else’s civil war through force, particularly after a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan”. In response the United States is acting on another outside problem that might end up in another complicated war that we won’t get out easily like the Iraq and Afghanistan war.  However Assad’s government gassed to death over a thousand people, including hundreds of children, this horrified event is a crime against humanity and a violation of the laws of war. This tragic event takes the United States to intervene into action.  According to President Barack Obama “Our ideals and principles, as well as our national security, are at stake in Syria, along with our leadership of a world where we seek to ensure that the worst weapons will never be used” in response we or mostly of the Americans would support that chemical weapons used against its citizens was immoral, inhumanity and it needs to be taken away from misgovernment use. On the other hand why can’t we say this about poverty? Why can’t we say we would take millions of children’s out of poverty?

On the other hand National Security least concern is poverty also known as the inside problem. According to The Rich and the Rest of Us; “fear is the underlying radioactive element that suppresses the truth about poverty… if no one honestly speaks out the suffering of the dispossessed their pain will never be heard “(111). As long with this quote fear suppresses politicians from speaking the truth about poverty and hiding from the problem. Fear makes us attack on someone else we choose to remain silent about poverty due to our fears and rejects them. The voices of the poor are muted from the world that causes it to reject the truth about poverty and refusing to stand up against powerful political system that blindly favors the rich and ignores the poor. According to The Rich and the Rest of Us “What’s missing in today’s political arena are bold advocates for the poor who will risk careers stature and political office to be their brothers and sisters keepers” (113). Today’s political are ignorant in their own power that they ignore the rest of us mostly the poor. Their political power causes them to become blind without seeing the reality about the inside problems in America. Power makes us vicious once we have power we want more and more that it goes over our heads that we would dare to exploit the poor to retain the power. As a result of power the exploitation leads to poverty. Power also makes us corrupt and pulls us away from humanity and drives us to vicious power. In other words power transforms us into monster and doesn’t take you anywhere in life.

According to The Rich and the Rest of Us, “poverty has become a political football used to accent government failures and ridicule socio-economic outcomes” (30). national security and the government has failed in reducing poverty and providing its citizens a “safe” secured life zone. Poverty is the lack of money and not a character flaw. The national security as long with the government should talk about and do something to end poverty in America. To change we need courage to tell the truth and fight for justice for the rest of us.



Chapter 1 summary

• Chapter 1 focuses about the portrait of poverty it begins with the story of Diane Struble, North Carolina. she and her husband Todd were both college-educated and they enjoyed middle class combine annual income of $85,000. Her husband Todd had lost his job, the Stubles having eight children had to get by with Diane's school teacher salary of $22,000 a year, which is defined below the poverty line. This story illustrates how poverty refuses to discriminate religion or ethnic identity and its also affecting middle class, describe as the "new poor" citizens who were once members of America's middle class.
• " while the incomes of the richest 1 percent of Americans-those earning $380,000 or more- have grown by 33 percent over the past 20 years, the income growth for the other 90 percent of Americans, including class, has been at a virtual standstill" how come the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer and now hitting the middle class? would It be that rapidly growing divide between the rich and the poor have virtually eliminated the middle class. according to The Rich and the Rest of US.
•  The 20th century poverty vs. 21st stories were shocking and heart breaking. The first story was about Christopher Jenks, he grow up in a white middle class family. he had become homeless from sales and marketing that came to a crashing halt. and it said that middle class Americans find themselves caught in an economic tragedy.
• Barbara Ehrenreich spoke regarding the poor: " The theory for a long time-... is that poverty means that there's something wrong with your character, that you got bad habits, you've got a bad lifestyle, you've made the wrong choices.''    '' I would like to present an alternative theory... poverty is a shortage of money... most people are not paid enough for their work and then we don't have work ''  (22) this quote illustrate how people ignore the poor because they see them as is there fault that they are in poverty. but we don't stop to think how's there situation. basically we react and respond to the poor as virus and we deny it because were afraid of facing reality about how the world can be cruel and we don't want to accept the differences between the rich and the poor.  
• In the 19th century the poor status as prostitutes, thieves, and the criminal insane. anyone deemed poor or unable to support themselves were sent to the poor house. the poor house were shelter of horror, elderly and children were housed with society outcast and neglect and sexual abuse. 
• income inequality and poverty worsened between 1896 and 1914 due to cost of living increases and declines in the wages of the working poor.  1. Recession- poverty 2. stock market crash of  1929, which led to the great depression leading to increasing the poverty line.
• In the post war poverty- wartime prosperity, rising wages, declining unemployment, and the expansion of public benefits, helped to significantly reduce poverty in America in the years after the Depression. In summary the war introduce a new beginning of changes such as more jobs, increasing of salary and reducing poverty but does it need to be a war to be able to reduce property again?
•  Late 1970s face poverty reverted to 19th century levels poor were once again blamed for their circumstances.
• four out of every ten Americans workers earned poverty wages
• Poverty has become a political football used to accent government failures and ridicule socio-economic outcomes (30)..
• Rich- " there has been something crude and heartless and unfeeling in our haste to succeed and be great"
• American dream had been compromised by the rich and war-ready it remained a symbol of basic freedoms and necessities.
• " its called the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it"(31) the middle class lost jobs- poverty
• American dream- manipulative marketing tool used to unprecedented consumerism.
• American dream- myth- to attract immigrants the hope of accomplishing wonders but in reality the America dream is a nightmare.
• Recession Economy- massive debt start lose the symbols of solvency- car, house, financial freedom and life you promised if you played by the rules. so this means middle class is at risk of poverty and even if we work hard like the rest we would still end up in the poverty line? this kinds of thoughts scare Americans if they loose their job or cant find one.
• According to the report Americans are no longer seeking personal wealth they are just looking for a "sense of financial security that allows them to live a sustainable lifestyle"
• As unemployment, corporate greed, and the divide between the rich and the rest of us grew exponentially in the 21st century.
• to get out of this economic mess, we must thoroughly dissect the missing pieces that placed almost 50 millions of us in this calamitous position. greedy and gluttonous individuals and institutions must be exposed and brought to justice. this means that we need to stop being ignorant about the world and open our eyes and see the reality of poverty and we need to fix it.

Ted talk poverty: two videos

First video : http://www.ted.com/talks/jessica_jackley_poverty_money_and_love.html

             In Jessica jackley: poverty, money and love has an inspiring story about her own struggle dealing with the issue on poverty. It was when she was 6 years old when she first started to hear  stories about the poor from her Sunday school teacher and from god. she remember learning people who were poor need it something material : food, clothing and shelter that they didn't have. and it was her job to help them it was said that Jesus ask them. she was eager about helping but she soon learn that no matter what she would do she would fail. A phrase that she remembers from god  is " the poor will always be with us" and this confused,frustrated and overwhelmed her that it lead her to fear the poor and the negative emotions when she didn't know how to help and especially when the problem was never going away. she started to ignore them and blocking them off  because she didn't want to feel guilt for not being able to help them. Sadness, suffering and disease was the life of the poor.  Jessica Jackely heard a speech by Grameen Bank Founder Muhammad Yunus, an economist who had developed the idea of microcredit: micro lending; tinny loan that could help entrepreneurs start a business a new method to change the world. Jessica Jackely was deeply inspired " I was so completely blown away by the idea that I quit my job, dropped everything and moved to East Africa to help".   when I seen this video I was truly pull in into her inspiring story. what I learned is that there's a foundation called Kiva, an online community that helps individuals loan small amounts of money. This foundation gave me hope and happiness knowing that this program can change the world
and it takes all of us to change the world to destroy little by little the issue of poverty. I also learned that
this program helped a farmer in Cambodia, a pharmacist in Sierra Leone, or a shopkeeper in Mongolia 
and many more that change their life into a better standard of living in ways like being able to send their
children to school, buying mosquito nets or buying locks for their safety at home. there are able to afford things that
they couldn't buy. A quote from Jessica, that was very amazingly true "It was really humbling to see for the
first time, to really understand that even if I could have taken a magic wand and fixed everything, I
probably would have gotten a lot wrong. Because the best way for people to change their lives is for them
to have control and to do that in a way that they believe is best for them." we can help change their lives
but they are willing to change them in their own ways not ours. The program gives them an opportunity
to do their best and it helps them to continue their hard work and a better cycle of living. this program
also provides goals to make things better for all of us and helping solve the problem. I believe that this
program is a new method to change the world I want this program to get stronger by more supports for
us to fight poverty and break the cycle of poverty.


Second video: http://www.ted.com/talks/shukla_bose_teaching_one_child_at_a_time.html

 This video is about Educating the poor, says Shukla Bose. She tells the story of her
groundbreaking Parikrma Humanity Foundation, which brings hope to India's slums by looking past the
 daunting statistics and focusing on treating each child as an individual. The schools build an "end-to-end"
environment that supports learning -- offering lunch every day, health-care and family support. Beyond
 these schools, Parikrma has inaugurated several afterschool programs and has plans for setting up a
 central teacher-training hub. when I seen this video I was amazed how she truly is passionate about
education and was willing to teach a child at a time through school send to college and get prepared for
 better living . her passionate inspired me to learn more about her program that I would love to support
because students would learn to read and write and to not fear to fail and continue educating themselves.
this program would bring back learning and stop pushing students to fail if we can believe change is
possible. Every child in the world was the right to learn and we need to give that right to them 
without stealing that opportunity for them.
 

Issue # 2 : The Rich and The Rest of US

second issue :
    The National Coalition for homeless veterans estimates that more than 67, 000 veterans on any given night, but about 1.5 million are considered at risk of homelessness due to poverty, lack of support networks, or dismal living conditions and substandard housing.  Base on data from HUD and the U.S department of Veteran affairs 67,495veterans are homeless 4,355 of them headed households with children. In response of this issue is that how can a soldier who fought for this nation end up in the poverty line? there's many reasons it could be the post traumatic stress and physical injuries that prevents them to work. Even though if there reasons why they become homeless my question is why would we allow veterans become homeless ? isn't that shameful and unfair for brave men who fought for this country deserve to end up in poverty when they come home from war. 

Issue #1:The Rich and The Rest of US

The first Issue :
       " It paralyzes us and prevents us from courageously facing the facts and coming up with real solution to help America's "old" and "new" poor. " According to The Rich and The Rest of US, We react and respond to the poor as if they're afflicted with some flesh- eating virus and are highly contagious. In the response of that issue we sometimes find ourselves ignoring the poor and isolating our self from them because the fear of having the thought that maybe someday we might end up in poverty like them instead of helping the poor we ignore them like they don't exist in our society. According to The Rich and The Rest of Us, Before social researches and women's organizations in the early 1900's challenged staid perceptions of poverty or " pauperism" in America, poverty was widely blamed on personal flaws such as immorality, alcoholism, and criminal behavior.  this issue connects how the society would make negative concerns towards the poor to be able to ignore them without feeling guilty. It basically outcast and neglected the poor.  Many Americans pretend that poverty isn't an issue because they don't want to face reality that the richest nation has 48.5 million people or 16 percent of the population living in poverty, according to Census data. Poverty is an Issue and it needs a solution it doesn't need us to ignore it and let it happen it doesn't need to stay in a cycle, we need to break that cycle but we can only do it if we understand the reality of poverty and fixed its flaws to make this nation a better nation.

Rant about my reality in education

“Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, you can achieve” by Mary Kay Ash. You can believe in yourself but what if others don’t believe in you. In this situation what can you do but lose hope and faith in yourself. Life was made up of four components that should be learned through experiences such as love, hope, peace and faith. However what’s life if we can’t believe in our self’s or others? My own experience with life has been a challenge and a quest to find answers. One question is asked by people if teachers don’t believe in students than who will? Everyone has its own experience that could be different than mine but my experience growing up in Oakland our teachers were noble but didn't believe in us why? Because we were in a poor ghetto neighborhood, there attitudes towards us were that we wouldn't go as far as we want too.  However that shouldn't stop us to believe in our self’s.  Although I failed to ignore the negative thoughts and vibes I received going through elementary and middle school.  When I moved to Castro Valley it was a different realm for me, it was passing through reality that I didn't learned anything in my past. Even though I dealt with discrimination and racism in Castro Valley High I also had the chance to learn without being afraid of ducking behind the tables when we were on lock downs or being bully because I received helped from my teachers in overcoming my flaws with different materials that I struggle with. As I said before in my life I grew up by myself believing that I dint need it help from anyone else rather than my own, however as you go through life you start to realized that is not bad getting helped from others especially if they have the patience to teach you.  As I read the article the function of Education, by Jiddu Krishnamurti I found a quote that had caught my attention the most it been said that “life itself is your teacher and you are in a state of constant learning” it is said to be true but life is also about giving and we are giving the opportunity for education and knowledge if we are able to accept it and understand it.  With my own experience with teachers were not well but in the end in my high school years I had the chance to meet kind teachers who are willing to help their students and believe in them and that change my view against teachers. However some teachers might be lazy or ignorance but sometimes it’s not only the educator’s job to change the student if the students are not willing to change.  Changing the ways of education is not a one person job it takes two to change a better future for the foundation of education. I do believe teachers should believe in their students but the students should believe in themselves as well.