Drug Abuse + Effects on Drug Cartel Violence

    The violence in Mexico due to the drug wars is an issue worth talking about since we are close to the borders. However, in my opinion the american media does not portray the issue as it should be in live air time. We never hear of the stories that show us the violence or "Truth" of what is really going on in a country next door. The strange thing for me is that we are extremely more focused on war in the middle east against an idea of "Terrorism". Where the reasons of why we are out there have been blurry for the past few years. Unfortuneately, there is a war going on right next door that we have an influence in.
    "In 2006, Mexico declared war on the cartels. In the years following violence increased dramatically. Leaving an estimated 60,000 people dead. Including 67 reporters, 2500 police officers and over 1,000 children." The United States is the worlds largest user of Narcotics and country with the highest demand for drugs which plays a major role in the violence of these drug cartels. "On one side the Us has given the Mexican government 1.4 billion to aid the mexican military, on the other side the US as made it easy for cartels to purchase weapons that are illegal in Mexico." 87% of the weapons come from the US. This is a big problem we should also be addressing with the increase of Gun Control in America. The issue I want to focus on is the use of drugs here in the country. Every drug product that gets here comes with a price, that price is a life. It's a shame people who do drugs do not understand that they are supplying a profit to organizations that take lives.
   
    Honestly, We should be helping people addicted to drugs break their habits. When it comes to drugs, we should focus on the goals we agree on: protecting our kids, protecting public safety, preventing and treating drug abuse and addiction and creating less of a demand for drugs.

http://www.girlsforachange.org/

 

Girls For A Change

Girlsforachange

            GIRLS FOR A CHANGE (GFC) sounds like a positive push to educate young girls about themselves and their self worth.  This national organization is recently new, and has been in existence only four years, but I hope it catches on.

            The initial push is to help girls first to see the value in themselves by personal transformation.  They encourage girls hold on to their convictions, help them find their voice and help them increase their confidence.

            The next step they are taught is developing life-skills, how to be decision makers, and educated on how to create visionary change.

            Lastly, they put all this information to use in their community, to design, lead, fund and implement social change projects that plague their neighborhoods.

            I feel that this is a very worthwhile program because females see too many negative media that encourages things that hinder a woman from being an asset to society.  The media encourages teen pregnancy, early drinking, lack of respect for anyone, fighting, and also no respect for our bodies.

            It’s time we broke this cycle and taught girls to become active leaders, engaged citizens in our families and in our neighborhoods, and to become positive role models and realize their full potential.

  

 

 

"A Call for a New Social Covenant"

It is no secret that the faith Americans have in their government has depleted over the past decades. Numerous fall outs in social, economical and moral values between our nation and its government have taken a toll on the level of faith we have in the people who have been elected in office, and those who have established themselves as juggernauts in the business industries. In the article, "A Call for a New Social Covenant," by Jim Wallis, recently published by Huffington Post, Wallis urges that we establish better communications between big government and business in the form of what he terms, "social covenants." 

Similar to social contracts but with a moral twist, social covenants are forms with the intentions of establishing proper legality and morality when associating with social related issues. The values Wallis wants these covenants to take after involve "the dignity of the human person, the importance of the common good...and the need for stewardship of the planet and posterity." He pushes for a more ethical way to carry out business, and urges for larger government entities to consider their nation's population 

I agree with Wallis's proposed solution to building a more dignified nation in which people can have the proper opportunity to be heard. I feel that many Americans are often taken advantage of when dealing with complex aspects of law, economics and politics. Of course, to establish true equality within our communities, great measure would need to be taken, and contradictions between varied beliefs would pose as problems. However, if these proposed covenants can be firmly established, they can make for quicker solutions that are conscious of everyone's good intentions. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-wallis/a-call-for-a-new-social-c_b_2543662.html

Internet Activist, a Creator of RSS, Is Dead at 26, Apparently a Suicide

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/technology/aaron-swartz-internet-activist-dies-at-26.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130113&_r=2&

Aaron Swartz committed suicide after facing federal charges for releasing information to the public that he felt should be freely available. As a teenager, Swartz helped create RSS, which allowed users to subscribe to online information. At the young age of 26, he had already formed a company that merged with Reddit, the popular news and information site, co-founded Demand Progress, a group that promotes online campaigns in social issues, and in 2008 took on PACER. Swartz faced trouble when he took on PACER, or Public Access to Court Electronic Records. The database was charging money for documents, but Swartz felt that these documents should be free because they were being produced at the public’s expense. He ended up downloading 20 million documents from PACER and releasing them to the public. The government quickly shut the free library down.

At this point, Swartz feared that the feds would come “crashing down the [his] door, taking everything away.” In 2011 he faced more serious charges when he downloaded 4.8 million documents from JSTOR. Although JSTOR is nonprofit, institutions pay thousands of dollars for the publication. Swartz changed the flow of information in the Internet world and his main goal was to make many Web files free and open to the public. He faced 35 years in prison and 1 million in fines.

Aaron Swartz was a computer genius and truly believed that documents should be free for the public. We looked at this article in my Topics in Communications Theory class and we all agreed that it seemed like the government was in fear of something larger. Swartz was just wanting the public to have access to documents that he felt should be free, but obviously the government feared his capability as a computer whiz. Was it the fight over ownership or something more? The motives are unclear but Swartz fight for public access to documents will be greatly admired.

Muslims in Office

http://www.onislam.net/english/news/americas/460914-california-muslims-make-political-history.html

As a political science major, I have heard a million and one reasons why people do not get involved with the community politically. Of all these excuses, one of the ones I have gotten is for religions reasons. Turns out many people do not vote and do not try to get into politics is because the nation, right now, is very Christian based.

Now as a disclaimer, I am in no way saying the nation being predominantly Christian is a bad thing, or even something that needs to be addressed, I simply believe that the nation being Christian is in no way an excuse to not voice yourself in politics.

The article I found is really about the actions those who are not the "norm" can take in order to be involved. 28 Muslims were elected into the California Democratic Party this month. Since the events of September 11th, American thoughts towards the Muslim community have been not the best. After a decade, things have been better between the two groups, but who would imagine that the people of  a state would elect not one, but 28 Muslim officials.

I took this article as a personally boost for myself going into the political world as a person not in the "norm", I find it hard to pursue anything publicly, but seeing so many people out of the "norm" accomplishing so much gives me the confidence I need.

VOTE

As we all know too well voter registration and turn out is far to be desired at this point in time. As we ponder ideas on how to promote this important right given to all citizens the Northeast Ohio Neighborhood Health Services (NEON) has found a rather interesting approach.

The NEON has supported the area's healthcare for many years, it has help countless people who live their lives with out health insurance. The vast numbers have rise to the plan to promote voting within the community by offering voter registration at the different clinic locations, but also the NEON sponsored events.This opportunity for people to get involved in the community is outstanding. All of the people that they are offering service to are getting this opportunity to shine light on the problems they face on a daily basis.



http://www.nonprofitquarterly.org/policysocial-context/21218-serving-democracy-nonprofits-promote-voter-engagement-in-2012.html#.UQIDD_I_XT5

Is this enough?

http://allafrica.com/stories/201301190119.html

Human Trafficking has been a universal problem for many years. Although many of us today don't realize it, this problem is actually a lot closer to home than many believe. Many of these problems are more visible in other parts of the world. I read this short article on "New Strategies needed to stop Human Trafficking" but I feel that this is a very tiny step towards preventing human trafficking. I believe in order to stop Human Trafficking it goes much deeper than just "new strategies." To stop human trafficking it is not only catching the bad guy, it also has much more to it.

This article mainly caught my attention not because of the information, and not because it was the most powerful article, but because it is still someones way of raising awareness. It provides a problem and a short term solution that may be a way to help prevent this problem from expanding.

Before reading this article I knew i wanted to try and help prevent human trafficking but always felt that I basically had to be more on the front lines. I kept thinking that the only real way to help better this situation was to help those victims or work for organizations whose main purpose is to help those people or help stop it. By reading this article it actually brought me to realize that one does not have to be running around finding organizations and volunteering, but one can start just by raising awareness by posting a simple blog or article.

Equality Learning at our Fingertips

http://dmlhub.net/sites/default/files/ConnectedLearning_summary.pdf

“Young Learners today have the world at their fingertips in ways that were unimaginable just a generation ago.”

            Besides the attractive layout and clever title, what really grabbed my attention was this strong opening sentence. What makes this sentence so powerful is how truthful it is. We have come so far in technology; it is crazy to think that with just a simple search we can access the world. Yet, because we use the Internet for our own amusement (Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) instead of getting involved in ways that benefit us academically, we loose site at what’s at hand. I chose this particular article because I feel it gives insight that reminds us how socially connected we really are. So why not use it to our advantage?

            This class is a perfect example of using technology for academic purpose.  This article does not only give an understanding of our classroom syllables, but encourages us to take what we learn, and spread the word to younger learners in our community. How they too can get socially involved in diverse, cultural conversations that thrive on personal interest. A few points that the article suggest, is that we should have a new way of approaching young learners education instead of relying on past methods. This is a new generation, and is facing problem conditions that set back students learning opportunities. Such as, educational inequality, poverty, atmosphere, and race. To address this problem, the article suggests we build connections through the most accessible equipment to ensure equality, full participation, and social connection. The idea is to expand the minds of our next generation to have a better understanding of global awareness. This enables self-growth academically, socially, and politically.

            I hope to become an educator for our future generations, and I think using tools that are assessable to us in a beneficial way is a brilliant idea to become socially connected that may bring a wider understanding, knowledge (self- academic growth) in hopes for equality learning. 

A halt to cyber bullying

http://www.good.is/posts/a-new-program-scours-twitter-for-school-bullying/?utm_campaign=goodtweet&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social


Bullying has been considered a social problem for many years. Many people use to think bullying ended outside of school, and once the child was home he was now safe. Schools and teachers always be trying to stop bullying but now a days with Facebook, Twitter and other similar social media websites, bullying has reached other levels

. Children are now being bullied outside of class, in a place where there are no teachers, principles, or detention, the Internet. For the past five years thousands of children and teenagers have been bullied through the Internet. These children and teens are not being physically harmed, but mentally harmed which leads to many horrible things, like drinking problems, drugs, and even suicide. With this new way of bullying, now considered cyber bullying, many teens and even children have taken their life’s because of cyber bullying.

 Twitter has now created a program that actually scouts tweets that are considered cyber bullying.  Even though millions of tweets are send each day, this new program has actually identified 15,000 cyber bullying tweets. I feel like this program is one of the greatest things twitter has done since its existence.  I believe if twitter keeps this program running and motivates other social medias to make a similar program, cyber bullying would finally come to a halt. Bullying has always been a social problem but with programs like this maybe one day bullying in general would end. 

Hemingway documentary for money, or mental health awareness?

One of my favorite writers Ernest Hemingway has made headlines very recently. This shocked me right away being that he passed away over 50 years ago.  The granddaughter of Hemingway is being said to have constructed a documentary about her famed family and their trials with their mental health. She says the film would be geared more towards ,of course, her grandfather Ernest, as well as her sister who also committed suicide. Normally I wouldn't have a problem with this. A documentary about people in your family to spread awareness to everyone else is a good thing if you know what you're talking about. The thing that I had a problem with was that she said she never knew her grand father. If she never knew him, then how could she write a movie about his life and what he went through? Wouldn't spreading the issue of mental health awareness be just as effective if she had written a movie about her immediate family's  battle with mental instability? Using Ernest Hemingway as a poster 'boy' for mental health awareness to me, has to be for more media attention for herself. She says she battled with depression and since then has overcame the issue. Why not write a script about over coming depression and her own journey to a healthy mind? I believe the only reason this story made headlines was because she advertised the ,"unveiling of her family history." The real question here is, is she really after helping those with mental illness? If she really was then why not do it with her own name? She had Oprah Winfrey produce the film so it would've gone viral anyways, so why use Ernest Hemingway's as a means to advertise the said issue of mental health at all? If Hemingway was still with us, i'm sure he would not appreciate this at all.   http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/21/health/hemingway-film/index.html 

The Legacy Project

 

The media and advertisement play a huge role in our daily lives whether we want it to or not and it has the power to bring awareness to issues but the way our society uses it is less than appropriate. An example that comes to mind is how the media used the recent gun issue to get higher ratings rather than focusing on how we could help the victims of the situations.

The Legacy Project is about trying to use this sort of promotion to bring attention to ideas and values rather than objects. The advertisements play such a huge role on what we know and what we buy into but I honestly believe that if there were more advertisements on positive things like causes or organizations rather than food and clothes our society would be more engaged and more informed about how to help others. This is a way to use our technology and creativity for the greater good. I know I personally would be more involved with different organizations or issues if they were brought to my attention instead of me having to go through so much trouble to find them. 

This project is a great way to express creativity by using these “un-ad”s as they call them to change the way we use and think of our advertisements. Think about it how many of us really pay attention to those ads that are just asking for money for their cause, we are in a recession, the best way for us to be able to help out is to spread awareness.

 http://www.legacyproject.org/programs/unadrevolution.html

Robber’s Change of Heart Inspires Clerk to Make Pizza

On Tuesday, January 22nd, a man showed up at a Papa John's restaurant in Montana with a knife and the intention of robbing the restaurant. The man walked up to the cashier and told him to empty the register. As the worker emptied the register the robber began to cry. He explained to the clerk that he really needed the money to feed his wife and children who were extremely hungry. The man did not want t rob the restaurant but faced a difficult decision when he couldn't afford to feed his family. As he calmed down, the clerk began talking to him. The mans change of heart inspired the worker to make him a free pizza along with some hot wings so that he could feed his family.
This is a great story that I'm sure has touched a lot of people's hearts. It makes you realize that a lot of the crimes we experience today deal with the fact that people feel they have no other option. If we were to attack the issue of poverty in our world and, to an extent, solve it we would gradually solve a lot of other issues in the world. Issues such as hunger, crime rates, and unemployment, which cannot be solved without a solution for poverty. If everyone were given an equal chance to succeed it would solve most of the issues we still today are trying to solve and, although it sounds impossible to fix these issues entirely, it helps if we all do our part.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/trending-now/robber-change-heart-inspires-clerk-pizza-193415171.html

Women and Combat

Ref: http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2013/01/24/women-in-combat-one-soldiers-story/?iref=allsearch

 

Women are not allowed to take part in combat roles!!!  I have to say that my initial feeling is “about time”.  On the other hand, I cannot say that I don’t have concerns especially when it comes to hand to hand combat.  Anyone can be good with a gun, man or woman.  On the other hand, can we expect even a large and strong woman to carry an injured soldier to safety if the need dictates?  I have family serving in military overseas and from personal common sense let alone knowledge I know that survival in intense life or death situation, as a common occurrence, may depend on some carrying you out to safety.  I would want my family member to have someone with him that has the physical ability to do so.  I don’t think that even a strong woman could carry any of 200 pound plus cousins to safety. 

 

While I can understand the right to equality that women want, laws of nature dictate otherwise in regards to activities where a certain physicality may be required.  When lives are at stake one must put the ego aside in order to accomplish a common goal.  I man is allowed on a woman’s soccer team or a women’s volley ball team.  The same rules that apply with this analogy should apply even more too combat situations where lives are at stake.  This is not to say that women do not have a role in the military.

We Need Our Guns

Gun control has been a very big issue in America today for differentiating reasons. However, even with numerous reasons, not many points are clear. There have been many articles, news presses, and debate over gun control; all of which use very clever tactical rhetoric. We have seen people using fear tactics, mayors using bandwagon tactics and even circular reasoning. It is extremely hard to define a logical approach on gun control because guns possess a killing power. It’s like trying to decide the best way for a god to use their power. Guns make humans have power. This power can be used negatively and positively. Whether it is to save a life or to take someone’s, the power is within the beholder. With that framework set we must now examine what is being brought forth, what does gun control mean for US citizens? Our founding fathers knew the importance of the power of the people; it is at the forefront of our Declaration of Independence. Although many Americans believe we are past times of revolt and revolutions, it is naïve to think so. There are wars going around all over the world. We are just lucky that we don’t see any of it on our soil. The argument I am making is that things could always be worse. Yes, we have seen some pretty horrific killings in America but between those times we do live in peace. There are warring nations that constantly live in fear because of how close combat is to their homes. I am sure that the only thing that gives them a little breathing room is to know that there AR-15 could help protect their family. Any power taken away from the people, even for protective measures leaves us vulnerable to something unprecedented. Speed limits limit how fast we ought to drive, but it is ignored when emergency brakes, i.e. childbirth, speed is ignored by police officers to help save people,  or even when knowing is looking. The point I am making is that our laws are bullshit because we can’t protect everyone with them and anyone can break them.  Laws are guidance; they can be broken. The bill of rights is our bright line guaranteeing what won’t be taken away in result of another person.

Listen, Learn, Campaign

http://www.cocollaborative.org.uk/study/listen-learn-campaign#.UPgUUypnjbY.twitter

When a person thinks of an alcoholic, the first thing that does not come to their mind is being a role model. Well in this article, an alcoholic actually became a role model. In the town of Dudley, the residents were highly concerned with the problem of alcohol abuse among young people. The author of this article had ideas for the community, but they just had to go through the steps needed for this change to happen. That is when he met a man that was a former alcoholic that shared his thoughts and experiences with the team of volunteers. His plan was to speak to the young people in the community. The team of volunteers created a campaign called "Young People Speak Out: Alcohol What's the Attraction." This was not lecture based; it was a debate that young people could speak their minds from both sides of the argument.

All it takes is one person to come out and help the community change their problem. When young people are told to not drink, not to do drugs they usually do not listen. It takes someone with former experience to make an impact due to the fact that they know how it feels to go through the problem whether it is drugs or alcohol or anything. I found this blog interesting because it kind of goes with the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover.” I liked the fact that a man wanted to help the young people in his community, he did not just sit back and watch. This team went through the steps of making a change by acknowledging the problem and brainstorming ideas that could help. The campaign was just the first small step to this, but even though it was a small step it still got young people to come out and participate.

Pentagon to end ban on women in front-line combat

According to BBC news, woman might no be in front-line combat. US defense secretary Leon Panneta decided to "lift the military's ban of women serving in combat". If this movement is accepted, numerous of  combat roles for women would be open. Panneta has until 2015 to get a response. Meanwhile, arguments and debates will occur to decide if this movement/decision should be accepted or not.
I chose this article because I feel that women are still being 'held back' and considered less compared to men. If there are thousands of women hoping to be in the military to fight for their country, then they should be given the exact same rights, privileges and opportunities as men. It is true that women are more fragile and the fear of having a higher death rate in combat because more women are in it is very strong. But as some other might think, banning women from combat is unconstitutional and practically saying 'men have the right, women do not' when we should all be equal. It is of course a debate that will go on.
It was very surprising to me that US defence secretary Panneta was the one who started this and thought that the ban of women should not continue. I think that women should be given the right to be in front-line combat just as men do because we are all equal and just as men, women go through the training and harsh conditions when being in the military.

Can Civic Engagement End Poverty in America?

I found this blog on Twitter #Civicengagement talking about how Civic engagement might be able to end poverty in America. This article really got my attention because I myself came from a poor neighborhood when I was growing up. At the time it didn’t really affect me as much because we had a lot of family to help us. But as the years went on I realized that I needed to get out and make something of myself. There was no other way of doing so then by doing well in school and attending college.

The poverty crises in America is getting worse and worse each year, and people were getting tired of waiting around for politicians and government power to do something about it. Even though this is one way to go about that, people still wanted to do something to help the community. The best answer that the guest speakers could give was that the community needed the involvement of the citizens themselves. It didn’t matter how many people did what or at what site, but actually going out and serving the community. This will help people learn that we do have power in what we say and what we do. The article states that this will take some time, but by serving the community each and every day will we eventually be free of poverty.

I believe this article is a good topic for the class because it explains a social issue here in our community and the only way to solve it is to actually get involved with the community and give back. Giving back to the community is important, but the problem today always seems to be that people are too busy, have work, sick or just flat out don’t want to. I believe that if we could get involved with civic engagement as much as people work every day, then we could reach our goal of bringing America out of poverty.

 

 

http://www.socialcapitalinc.org/node/1339

President Obama Leads By Example

http://ht.ly/h1K3v

I chose these article because I believe it's a wonderful idea; Obama Announces National Day Of Service, something we should all do, help one another, especially someone in need. It is a wonderful thing to see a President so committed to helping people and truly caring. I come from Nicaragua, a third world country where there is practically no middle class, we only have low class and high class and is amazing how we can see so many rich people not carrying for those needed and not even willing to give a cent to them because they feel they will loose their will to stand up higher. On the other hand, one in four of the homeless in the United States are children. They are not lazy, worthless, moochers or takers. They are just little innocent children, who deserve the help that my family is only too glad to be able to provide.

     

Remember, Obama is a man who graduated in the top of his class from a top tier school. He could have entered the private sector and made a load of cash. But he chose to give back to his community, and worked in the inner city, with people who had no money to pay him. His life is an example of selfless giving. Each and every holiday he spends donating time to people who are less fortunate.

The really sad part here is this will be a one and done sort of thing for many people, while still others will continue to do nothing. A lot of people talk about what needs to be done to help others; very few actually put actions to words. This president routinely pushes these sorts of efforts, and I think he ought to be commended for that.

Genetic Engineering: Playing God?

http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/End%20of%20the%20World/Genetics%20Nightmare/playing_god.htm

Through out time technology has taken over the world and how things run around the world. Technology is mostly a good thing but like everything else… When it comes to excess and to obsession with it, it can become a bad thing. 

This article caught my attention because my dad has a friend that works in the genetic engineering field and there is always a debate whether he plays God or not. It is amazing how the human being came up with the idea of messing around with living creatures’ genes and DNA that they can change things the way God has created them.

“Genetic engineering primarily involves the introduction of genes containing DNA (deoxyribo-nucleus acid) procured from humans or animals into cells of bacteria, yeast or other animals. One of the outcomes is termed ‘Transgenic Animal’.” “Once the transgenic animal is produced, its suffering just about starts… for example, non-porcine genes have been added to pigs, producing animals with gastric ulcers, live and kidney disorders, lameness, damages eye-sight, loss of co-ordination, sensitivity to pneumonia and diabetic conditions.”

 

Only by reading this phrase above it is clear that this process is unnatural and it goes against Gods purpose on earth. God has created each leaving creature on earth to be perfect and he has a purpose in creating each species unique and in its own way. Human beings have no right to come and take that power from God in the attempt of creating totally new creatures that never have been seen before. Even genetically modifying food is against Gods purpose and it is not what God wants for us to be consuming. All this processes people are coming up with have its effect that will affect everyone sooner rather that latter.

Genetic Engineering violates one of the themes of Catholic Social Teaching that is “ Life and Dignity of the Human person”. This type of engineering goes against life and dignity because its inhuman to be creating creatures that are not normal and that will grow up with defects because they are not part of the perfect plan God has for his creation.

“and God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature AFTER HIS KIND, cattle, and creeping things, and beast of the earth AFTER HIS KIND: and it was so.” Genesis 1:24

In my opinion, only God is allowed to create new creatures and play with DNA and genetics. Us as humans we have no right to be messing around with this serious topic. We are not supposed to be allowed to “play God”.