Saturday, June 30, 2012

What is to read?

What is it to read? What is it to delve into another person's mind?  The words that fall upon paper, they take shape in our minds.  With time it is possible to see the growing vocabulary and how it expands beyond the reaches of your tongue upon day to day activities.

If we read and if we perceive then it is agreed that you have read.  Think of bread and think of how it does not belong on your head, but in your innards where it presents vitamins and minerals to your body.

The page you turn is the adventure you seek and the chapter that ends is the moment you speak.  The syllables and vowels are nothing without the syllabic and abecedarian of what is pronounced.

Oh how some of you curse and deny that inner thirst of a collage of knowledge.  How you'd rather spend time without end upon a screen presenting a text without reason from your friend about the nothing that happened in your day to day routine.

If only more we would read I say, but then what is said is "we do, we do read!" 'our books of nonsense that plant no seed'. A funny joke and a retold tale till death is but a myth to the story repeated to detail.

These words can tell a tale of a monstrosity that belligerence of no fool could subdue its tools of deliverance from animosity.  These words can tell of history that converge to the proof that hath reprove the truth that a mere war or symbol of hope have merged to repeat antiquity.

How can we sit in front of a screen and hope to achieve that which is great if we do not read.  "But we do, we do read" as it is cried from those who have become entangled with the information highway and have gone on to the social my-way.

A plethora of words is awaiting to those who seek its power and memorandum of cascading.  To retain, please retain the words, those words that you read within your head, within your minds and in your hearts.  Those words that have meaning and will soon be redeeming their predetermined conceding.

Please do not stray from the array of their beautiful light that plays within your mind.  Seek and enjoy, continue your quest for the week of the spoils.  For the words you seek have become weak and the future is bleak for the words of play in that which they breed.


'Tis a lost art to read

Thursday, June 28, 2012

To The Future

Tonight I dream and I think about the future of which lies ahead and that which comes with it.
The future which holds the key, the key! to what? to tomorrow and what may be created, invented, and used to improve the world and the future of the future. The key that begins with an idea, a thought, represented in a dream, an ideal! So tonight I dream, think, and plan for what lies in store and how I, I! will do my part in influencing the coming of what is known as the future, the tomorrow that comes!

Saturday, June 16, 2012

What would Montesquieu tell our modern politicians?


          In Montesquieu's studies he deducted that there are three basic forms of government Monarchies, Republics and Despotism. He also inspired the writing of our nation's Constitution by expressing his idea of the separation of powers. The separation of powers was an idea that separated government into the legislative, executive, and the judicial. I believe that if we would be alive today what he would tell our modern politicians would be the following. He would most probably be glad that our government took interest in his ideas and implemented them into our Constitution. I also think though he would criticize how our government is working presently. This is due to his ideals that there should be a clear separation of government so that no form of power is too great. Presently it is possible he would see that the powers of our government are not divided equally.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Modern World

A study of 1984 and Brave New World
And our modern society
Both of these Novels Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell and Aldus Huxley’s Brave New World convey a highly plausible future. However many people argue about which is the better representation or which will be the one that is most likely to come true. How about I present a new theory, what if both are right and we are living the type of society today presented by each, just not in the way we imagine it.
Social critic Neil Postman contrasts the worlds of Nineteen Eighty-Four and Brave New World in the foreword of his 1985 book Amusing Ourselves to Death. He writes:

What Orwell feared were those who would ban books.
What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one.
Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information.
Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egotism.
Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us.
Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance.
Orwell feared we would become a captive culture.
Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy.
As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny "failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions."
In 1984, Orwell added, people are controlled by inflicting pain.
In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure.
In short, Orwell feared that what we fear will ruin us.
Huxley feared that our desire will ruin us.

“Stuart McMillen’s webcomic does a marvelous job of adapting (and updating!) Neil Postman’s famous book-length essay, Amusing Ourselves to Death, which argues that Aldous Huxley’s vision of the future in Brave New World was ultimately more accurate than the one proposed by George Orwell in 1984.”
View the simplified web comic below


We live in a society that exemplifies both of these predictions are correct. We live in a modern world that contains both of these predictions separately yet together. Countries such as The United States of America, England, Australia, Japan and France currently exemplify almost exactly (only some technologies are not yet created) the world depicted by Huxley in that these societies of these countries are run by our love of desires and hedonistic leanings. The Entertainment industry along with most of the news industries revolve around the fact that people do not want to see what is really happening and only want pleasure and happiness. This gives way for shows that praise stupidity, egotism, cruelty, and greed in a good light. The news has also become desensitizing due to a blasting of advertisements and quick successions of various types of news stories such as switching from a story of genocide to a new type of baby formula for better brain growth to then switching to a cure for cancer and again switching to a long and unnecessary news report about a celebrity fashion gaff. There is so much blasting of information and at such a large disposal that the people do not even need to try to remember facts or figures to advance in life. This has led to an uncaring society in which the people no longer care to read books leading to not needing to ban certain books as a large majority of the populace has no more interest. Huxley would have surely seen his vision of the future become true almost perfectly exemplified by the satirical and sadly true web comic above.
Then there are countries of which exemplify the world that Orwell feared would come to pass, countries such as Burma (now Myanmar), North Korea, North Vietnam, to an extent China, Iran, Somalia, Uganda and Syria. These countries almost perfectly resemble the totalitarian rule of power demonstrated by Orwell’s vision. They each have banned many books and have the media censored to where everything is mis-information to mislead the people into believing that their nation is doing great and nothing is wrong when the exact opposite is happening. There is all out oppression and great distinction of classes, sexism, racism, and little to no freedom of religion. The people have turned to a state of fear of which they even are careful of what they think in order to avoid being taken or killed for even thoughts of the need for change.

Though very sad both visions of the future presented independently by Huxley and Orwell have come to pass each in their own way in various parts of the modern world, influencing the societies around it. The modern world in which we live in is truly a “Brave New 1984” in which we are both being ruined by what we fear and what we desire. Our world is run by our fears and our desires.

Sources:
"Biblioklept." Biblioklept. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 June 2012. <http://biblioklept.org/2010/12/14/huxley-vs-orwell-the-webcomic/>.
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (1985) by Neil Postman
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley published in 1931
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell published in 1949

Generic brands


“How The Recession Has Changed U.S. Consumer Behavior”
by Betsy Boholen, Steve Carlotti and Liz Mihas

This article is depicting how the recession has affected the consumer and to a certain extent the producer. It begins with showing some statistics with “an average of 18% of consumer-packaged-goods consumers bought lower-priced brands in the past two years.” It shows other statistics as well, but it is important to understand that these industries that offer the higher priced brands will be losing profitability. It shows how the recession allows for consumers to change their spending habits and to search for the better buy, by looking to the alternative brand.

It is a simple article yet with a profound scope. It is true that the consumer masses to sum it up, wants a good deal. Especially now that there is a recession. The important point of this article is to understand that the higher-priced brands are losing customers and the lower priced generic brands are receiving a lot of attention.

However, these generic products may offer a good deal, but what is being offered by those generic brands. Not all generic brands have the same quality as the higher-priced one. The most important and best example to use is the food products. Taking a look at a package of Oreo's from Nabisco and you can read the ingredients and nutrition facts on the back. If you pick up a generic brand and look at the nutrition facts and ingredients you are able to observe that there is a higher fat content than the higher-priced brand. The reason these food products may be cheaper is because they use lower quality ingredients sometimes and that is what the buyer must be aware of. I agree with this article, but for those individuals who might not know this, there should be more information on this article or make another one that is connected with this one.

The lower quality ingredients such as substitution of regular FAT for TRANS-FAT. Well what exactly is TRANS-FAT anyways?
Well, trans fat does occur naturally produced by enzymes.  HOWEVER
Trans-Fat that is created with help from physical agents causes heart problems such as blocking your arteries eventually leading to a coronary disease.  

But, I thought only saturated fat caused heart problems? True, but incorrect, trans-fat can cause heart problems as well.

The scary thing is that Nutritional labels that say 0% FAT, TRANS-FAT, SATURATED FAT, etc. actually do still contain a certain amount of it.  The fact that it says 0% is because they do not want to print on the label 0.0089% FAT, TRANS-FAT, SATURATED FAT, etc. because the Food and Drug Administration said to report these figures in whole numbers, therefore companies go through the loophole and do not report the amounts because they feel that the law of rounding numbers that we learned in math class does not apply to them.

Eat healthy people.

The Recession


“Blame Yourself for The Recession”
by Shaun Rein

This article allows for the reader to reflect on him or herself. Also to help all those finger-pointers to put those pointers down and instead try to think of a solution to help themselves or others. It helps to show that there were individuals who were living beyond their means which probably means they were living off credit cards and surpassing their budgets. In doing so everyone started doing the same thing and in the end were not able to pay for these items anymore and in turn the economy started spiraling down. It seems reasonable enough.

With this article it is very important to understand that although it would be very simple to point the finger at someone for the recession, it must be taken into consideration that the possibility of why this recession has occurred could be everyone's fault.

I agree with this information to a certain extent. Yes, it is understandable that many individuals were living beyond their means via credit cards. They were also purchasing extravagant items and having multiple homes and expensive cars that were out of their budget. However there were those that did not partake in the credit card expenditures and were struggling either way. Now that this recession has hit, many individuals have lost their employment and are unable to provide for their families or themselves. It is easy to point and blame, but looking outside the box and the line of sight of this finger pointing, it is safe to say that a large portion of the economic downturn can be in the boom of the real estate market that hath occurred. Million of individuals purchased homes of five-hundred thousand dollars or more on an average income of 1200 U.S. Dollars. After the refinancing period came along, well you can guess the rest. Who was behind the search for gold in selling homes to individuals that could not afford it? Why was this done? To make an extra penny on an unsellable house in a beach front property with 400 sq. ft. selling for $1,000,000 to be resold at double the price because it was what everyone else was doing? Sadly this was only part of the problem. Much need be said, but this article does not cover everything, but instead ends up pointing more fingers and raising more questions.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Marketing


The role of marketing involves many steps in planning for a final product. An implementation of processes is involved in marketing and the creation of ads is no exception. The creating of ads in marketing is a crucial step in the process of classifying and branding a product. This can be the success or failure for a firm, so the selection and final decision can not be done impulsively, it must be carefully analyzed. The example of the McDonald's rap tune for the chicken nuggets, Audi green police, and the My Starbucks Idea; these are definitely hit or miss ads. In the case of Starbucks, it has been very successful, the feedback from customer's has been nonstop.The fact that they have taken into account consumer's reactions and gathered many of the suggestions it is clearly a method of testing. Obtaining this information has resulted in implementing many of these ideas.Take for example, that they now offer lowfat and natural quality ingredients. This input from consumer's has led to new product development.


The dark side of marketing, is a good example of when lines are crossed in business ethics and also the code of ethics. This creates a negative reaction in the consumer and as a consequence the consumer rejects any association with the company's products. The video game, the D&G ads are clear indicators of going beyond the limitations of a code of ethics.

The debatable tactics that marketers adopt in order to manipulate consumers into buying their products are very real. While it is true that marketer's do abuse these tactics, we can not place the entire blame of our decisions on marketer's. For one, we are human beings, not robots and we do ponder about what we want before making a purchase or ordering a meal. There are no physical threats pushing us to unwillingly purchase or eat something we do not desire. We make the choice, we have that freedom, no matter how much marketing tactics there are or how many consumer groups there are that may be pulling us into joining their way of thinking, we hold the power to make a final decision. With that thought, the bottom line is we do decide for ourselves before we take that leap into eating, consuming or buying anything.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Some things need to change

I was reading this article on CNN today 
http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/10/world/meast/sharif-saudi-women-drive/index.html?hpt=hp_c1


"But the campaign isn't really about driving, she said. Driving, in one sense, is a stand-in for other issues. Women in Saudi Arabia won't be allowed to vote or hold public office until 2015. They can't get married, leave the country, go to school or open bank accounts without permission from a male guardian, who usually is the father or husband. Much of public life is segregated by gender."


Then I looked at the picture again.
Manal al-Sharif, honored for



She states that she wants to be a source of inspiration for women.  However, there is one thing that needs to happen first.  She did well by taking action however, she has to protest that her religion change for the better.  Islam is supposed to be a peaceful religion.  However the people who want to claim a stake for the "holy place" such as the Sunni and the Shiites condemn that practice of peace.  The modern world we live in today does not apply to what is written in the Quaran when it comes to women's rights.  I understand that she has her beliefs, but if women want change, they have to let go of the practices that are holding them back. This women started her dissent with this act.  Lets see if other women follow towards the path of change.


For most of you who are wondering why women in countries under Islamic rule are treated this way, look no further than Islam itself.
Muslims believe that the Quran is perfect and from Allah, therefore it must be followed to the letter. The quran looks down on women and treats them as property (as some other poster already mentioned). But I will go 1 step further and show u the verses in the quaran where this kind of treatment of women is divinely certified by allah himself.
The quran commands a husband to beat his wife, calls women less intelligent/inferior to men, women are permanently ill, and most of the inhabitants of hell are... you guessed it, women.

You ask: Show me where quran supports beating of women?
Quran condones wife beating:
"As for these from women, fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart and scourge them." - Quran Chapter 4:34
Muham_mad also suggests threatening your wife with the scourge as a constant reminder:
"On the authority of Muhammad (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him), he said: ‘Hang up your scourge in a place where your wife (or wives) can see it.’ - Kash-shaf (the revealer) of al-Zamakhshari (Vol. 1, p. 525)
And after beating your wife:
"a man must not be asked why he beat his wife." - Quran sura 4:34

You ask: Show me where Quran says that women are inferior to men?
Muham_mad said that a woman's intelligence is half that of a man:
The Prophet said, "Isn't the witness of a woman equal to half of that of a man?" The women said, "Yes." He said, "This is because of the deficiency of a woman's mind." Abu Dawud (2142)
From Quran: "If they party liable is mentally deficient, or weak, or unable Himself to dictate, Let his guardian dictate faithfully, and get two witnesses, out of your own men, and if there are not two men, then a man and two women, such as ye choose, for witnesses, so that if one of them errs, the other can remind her. " - Quran Chapter 2:282
This clearly shows that Islam regards women inferior to men. That's why under Sharia (Islamic) law, two women are needed to make up one male witness.
So even if a muslim woman has a PHD, her intelligence is only half that of an illiterate muslim man!
When it comes to inheritance, the quran also shafts women:
"Allah (thus) directs you as regards your Children's (Inheritance): to the male, a portion equal to that of two females" - Quran Chapter 4:011.
Here we clearly see that Islam views women as below men.
Even allah wants to send his godly messages to men only:
"And before thee also the messengers We sent were but men, to whom We granted inspiration: if ye realise this not, ask of those who possess the Message." - Quran Chpater 16:043
"Allah chooses messengers from angels and from men for Allah is He Who hears and sees (all things)." - Quran Chapter 22:075

You ask: Show me where Quran says that women are permanently ill?
"They question thee (O Muhammad) concerning menstruation. Say: It is an illness, so let women alone at such times and go not in unto them till they are cleansed. And when they have purified themselves, then go in unto them as Allah hath enjoined upon you. Truly Allah loveth those who turn unto Him, and loveth those who have a care for cleanness." - Quran chapter 2:222
So Islam considers menstruation an illness?

You ask: Show me where in a supporting hadith that it says that women are the majority of inhabitants in hell?
In Sahih of al-Bukhari (Vol. 7, p.94), Muhammad said, "I stood at the gate of the fire and saw that the majority of those who entered it were women."


This religion needs to reform.  It can hold on to its values and beliefs, but some things do not apply.  For example in the bible it says to sacrifice animals.  People who read the bible just don't do that anymore.

In this religion women are degraded and in today's society these Qua ran texts do not apply.  If these countries want to move forward, stop fighting, and change for the better.  What better way then to educate yourself.  Reformation will only come from a large amount of people screaming for change.  I am not criticizing anyone's beliefs.  I am merely stating facts that many people feel need to happen in order for the Middle East to become a peaceful place.  Democracy alone can't change a nation.  A man cannot rule another man, rules and laws are put in place for safety and such, but to be truly independent and understand many things and most likely not contribute to problems is to educate yourself about the world around you.

It  is easy to point a finger,  but it takes great determination and work to turn that pointing finger into an open hand to welcome change, to welcome another hand that has opened up as well.


Thought


The more i watch televsion and see magazines on the stands for men and women. The more I become disgusted by my human counterparts, my fellow brethren, my own kind.  My faith in humanity sinks to all time low when you witness the potential for harm that can be done to one another. I know that the problem with today's world is a morale one and we all have our battles to fight and inner demons one must face.  However we are not alone in this fight.  You have others in the same situation.  You can band together and overcome the trials you face and beyond that for more support than just human companionship there is the spiritual side of it.  There is the faith that we are not alone in this universe and that an entity made up of amazing qualities and that of love is there watching us.  Waiting for us to change and do better and make things better for ourselves. Whence that time comes, God will arrive and change everything completely.  Our conscience will no longer be divided in half.  We will know of no evil, we will speak no evil, and we will so evil for our hearts and minds will be cleared of it and it will take a while for we are imperfect and we are to achieve perfection through countless years that are ahead.

How I wish that time was now, but human nature procrastinates and is impatient. We want it now and whatever way it can be achieved, but God is patient and he knows when to intervene for it will be the perfect timing and he has his calendar set on that day, on that hour, on that minute, on that second God will arrive with all his glory and choose who will become perfect and who will not.  How he will do it, will be based upon the paths you chose to take during your life time.  God exists within us and so does Satan. If we do the bad we will be following a path of evil and if we do good then we follow a path of good.  It is not difficult to understand that.  The choices we make are our own and we pay the consequences whether they be good or bad and that does not include the interference we see from things out of our control.  The actions other people take that can affect us. However, no one can change another person.  The power to change lies within oneself and oneself only.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Oh The Night


Oh the night

The time when you are about to sleep and you are unable to because there something inside you is festering. An emotion, an idea, a thought that can't be described and can't be felt, but you know its there. Something that wraps you and commands you to follow it, but you can't because it does not present itself to you and no matter what you do, all that can be done is to wait. Wait and see what might become of my future. To wait and see who I will meet and who will take part in the forthcoming of what I am supposed to do. 

Follow your dreams they say and “if only I had” is what you hear. The excuses that convey the future of a human's existence for fear is what hold's one back and fear is what determines the success of an individual. How much fear they are willing to put aside and take a mantle of courage and risk is upon that person to say I want this to happen. However it will only happen if I have passion. Unless you have passion will it only commence. Unless there is a passion for it and you follow it no matter what making sacrifices of friends, sacrifices of riches, sacrifices of time devoted to it only then will happen. Only then will things fall in to place. How and when you do not know, but you feel it inside of you and me.

Some accept it and pursue it, while others continue to call it a dream and there 20 or 30 years later is that regret with which they now wish they would have pursued and called it a reality. Oh the night when imagination runs rampant and makes you feel alive and makes you feel as if something need happen in that moment and you feel inspired because that is what I have become. How and when these inspirations will take place you do not know, but I feel them in me and somehow I feel that they will happen not today or tomorrow, but someday.

Oh the night

When the ideas come to you because you bask in twilight and your mind is in overdrive for you skipped your hours of sleep and now reality is broken by free thought. Thoughts of formless and endless perception to which time does not apply. The measurement with which everything is ordained to an hour glass disappears in that beautiful mind that thinks and thinks of things that turn into ideas because that imagination proceeded to take place and breaking free from the constraints of everyday life and the routines that ensue and become a monotonous task. To break free from a cycle of control and watch this and eat this and don't go there and don't do this becomes something of the past and your thoughts perception answers those questions and gives them reason as to why you are unable to do so and why you should do so and lets you imagine the possibilities of why and how solutions.

That is the night with which I am faced. Not night after night, but graced with from time to time and in those moments I basque in them and welcome them when inspiration takes flight and makes you feel alive. That is when the moments of free will and the ability to succinct from instinct and humanity takes over and you ponder of a wondrous place that does not exist because it has not been made and it can only be made by the power of ourselves working together towards it. A faith in humanity is a faith in time. It will arrive, but not when wanted or expected, but when it is right and needed. When it nears its due date is when the will to act will arrive for it is human faulted nature to procrastinate and to defile in laziness for the falling in and out of habits is a constraint and an emotional barrier of holding on to whatever it may be bars the progression of progress for the betterment of humankind.

Oh new day arrive now and fill the sky with that golden light of hope.

Copyright Josue Solares