There is a song by John Lennon that is titled “Happy Christmas War is over.” The song starts by asking: So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
What have we done this Christmas? Have we done good or bad things this year? Christmas is a time when families get together, eat, have a nice conversation, and exchange gifts. That is all very good. Unfortunately, little by little we have been adapting the holiday so it can fit our meaning. For example, if you ask the majority of people what is Christmas? They are going to tell you that is a time for shopping, giving material things, Santa Claws, getting together with the family, using some kind of drug, partying, and Jesus Christ. I believe a lot of people will say Santa before saying Jesus Christ. It is very unfortunate that the true spirit of Christmas is dying. I think we could start restoring it by taking time to see the things and people that are around us. We must give thanks that we have people who love us, that we have health, and we have things that are special to us. We must forgive the person whom we have been fighting with. I have a suggestion. Write a note to a person that you do not like. Before I continue, I have to say that you must take this very serious, and you must mean every word that you are going to say. In this note, write something good about the person. Then, you must say that you begin to forgive them or at least try to do it if you haven’t forgiven them already. Your gift to them will be spending time with them. So, you must make some time every week and set it aside. That time will be so you could spend it with the person you are writing this note to. You choose the length of time. If you wish, you could write other things in the note as well. Put this note, a Christmas card, and some money into an envelope. It is time to mail it. Why should you do this? You do not have to, but if you do, it will make you feel better. Think of it as cleansing your heart.
Mary Christmas and a happy new year

My Feature Story

To graduate, and to get an AA degree, are supposed to be two exciting moments in a person’s life. A person has just turned another page from his or her book. After hard work and perseverance, a dream has become reality. I am one of those students. I graduated June 10th, of 2008, and I received an outstanding academic achievement award.

However, I am not just any student. I have Cerebral palsy, I have been blind since birth, and I cannot read brail. However, that has not stopped me. I have to complete one more class before obtaining my AA degree.

Unfortunately, the class, which is journalism1, is a substitution for broadcasting 4a which teaches students about news writing. These two classes are structured for people that can see. This is a problem for me because I believe that people like me should not be taking these classes do to their visual content. Also, I have no knowledge of the things that are being taught or how they are going to be taught. In my journalism 1 class, I have to work with pictures and websites which are not accessible to blind users.

It was almost the exact thing in my broadcasting 4a class; I had to hear what was on a video. At the same time, I had to hear my note taker describe to me what was going on the video. Then, I had to transcribe all of this information as if I was on the seen that the video was showing.
Many days I ask myself, “How am I supposed to know this? How am I supposed to know how everything is arranged and what does it mean, if I cannot see the screen?”
Another example is when I was in class, as an in-class activity, along with other students; I had to find stories in the newspaper to compile for a mock newscast. As all the students were looking in the newspaper, and talking to each other, I was sitting alone in front of a computer screen. I was frustrated because I was not doing my best to reach my potential. Tears were rolling down my eyes, and I wanted to get out of there not only because I was not doing anything, but because I did not want people to see me.

Miguel Lugo, an advocate for people with disabilities, said that there are always challenges that people with disabilities have to go through, and that there is always someone who is willing to “help you out.” According to a 2004 report titled, “Blind Adults in America: Their Lives and Challenges,” 16 percent of blind people have had some college education.

This report was conducted by the National Center for Policy Research for Women & Families; an independent research and educational organization, and was written by Diana M. Zuckerman whom has a PhD, and whom is an expert on national health policy.
As we have seen, some of them have reached their goals. However, things are not really that good when we compare this statistic and others, with those of the general population. The report also states that While 12 percent of blind people have a college degree, 18 percent of sighted people have achieved the same goal. Also, 40 percent of blind people do not have a high school diploma; compared to 25 percent of the general population that does not have a high school education. This report also found out that Blind people are less educated than people who can see. Blind people only have in average of 11.4 years of education. In the work force, 70 percent of disabled people are unemployed, According to an article, titled, "Blind Applicants Confront a Harsh Job Market," which was published on November 22 2007 in the Boston Globe. This is higher than the statistics that the bureau of labor reported for the sighted population. According to the bureau of labor statistics, 5.5 percent of sighted people are unemployed. These statistics are startling.
At SMC, a student is required to take 5 classes and an elective in able to get an AA degree in broadcasting. Out of the 8 broadcasting classes that I have taken, 6 have had some visual content that I have not been able to understand. For classes that have visual content, students with disabilities are provided with a scribe. After class, the notes are scanned, so the blind person could read them.
For some teachers at SMC, the transition from teaching sighted students to teaching blind students has not been hard. Nick Pernisco, whom is professor of broadcasting at SMC, said, “ I think that what’s happened is that I’ve become more conscious of the fact that I am not only trying to appeal to students who are able to see, but also to students who aren’t able to see.” He also says that this experience has made him conscious in terms of how he puts together his lesson plans.

Most professors seemed to be OK with having someone else helping a student by taking notes. “It seemed to work well for me,” Frank Dawson said, another broadcasting professor at Santa Monica College. He also stated that “Working with the students with disabilities department” was helpful. They told him what services they had available.
In some cases, when students with disabilities cannot do the assignment that the professor has assigned, professors give students an alternative assignment which try’s to be an equivalent to the assignment that the other students have to do.

Students are also not bothered by having blind students as classmates. “They were shocked,” Jason Tillitte, a student at SMC, said after seeing a blind student in the class. “It is a new experience for some of them,” Ron Brewington, whom is a teacher and former professional broadcaster, said.

This is not the only class that I have taken. In September of 2007, I had to take a basic math class. Because the class was not targeted towards me, I ended up dropping the class. I think that it would have been a different story if I would have been able to read brail. However, only 10 percent of blind people read Braille, according to the National Federation of the Blind. Also most college teachers have not worked with visually impaired people. This poses a big threat because as we have seen, more blind students could end up being part of that 16 percent of students who have only had some college education.
One solution to prevent this is to train the professors on how to work with blind people.

In the math class, the visual information was described. However, it was useless since there was nothing that I could relate this information to. I also ended up substituting this class for speech 11 which is an argument and debate class. “It would be nice if people could substitute these types of classes ahead of time,” Bianca Carneiro, whom was a student at SMC, said. Most of the interviewees agreed that the college curriculum needed to be changed.
How can we say that SMC or any other college is being friendly to everyone, if they are still leaving out those who need the education most. “It is our job as professors to help students,” Brewington said. Further more, We cannot expect students to willingly take a class such as journalism 1, which is not targeted towards them, and then have them go to their work place which is probably as inaccessible as these classes and which also expect a college degree which would not be obtained by the student. By adapting classes to visually impaired people, we will insure that blind people will be successful in the future. And more people will have a college degree.

abortion

People have now gotten pregnant as early as 14 to 25 because they did not know how to control them selves. Remember in the early 80's when aids was something that nobody knew about? People started getting this by going to bath houses which are places that allows people to fornicate with whomever they want. The same thing is happening with young people. They have sexual relations with multiple partners, and they get STD'S. However, they don't know how they got it. Many girls, who are going to high school or college, drop out because they need a job to support their kid. Others do it because of financial problems or because they did not wanted such a responsibility. They decided to have an abortion. The common side effects of abortion are Infertility, Cervical Laceration, Uncontrollable blood clotting, severe hemorrhage, Seizures, Coma, Cancer, and Death. Unfortunately, women do not know this because some if not most doctors, don't have to tell them these things. Other women have abortions because they were abused but even that is not an excuse to do that. The government should give money to the women so they could get more help. Also, they could get treatment to overcome this traumatic experience. I never understood why abortion was between the woman and her doctor. Further more, people say that the dad has no Wright to force women to keep the baby. Even though the man is involved with making the baby, he cannot have the baby, even if he wanted it to be that way because the baby is in her body, and she could do whatever she pleases with the baby. The government should give the dad the opportunity to decide if he agrees or disagrees with thee abortion. On the other hand, if the man is paying child support, and his income is let's say 90000 dollars, some if not most of the time, the court tells the man that he should give half of his assets to the woman. What is even more sad, is that the money that they receive does not go for the kid, she spends it on her, wile the kids have no food and no clothing. Why do dads have to give the money to women? Couldn’t there be itemized reseats?
theshepherdsvoice.org

Thanks giving

My thanks giving
Thanks giving is for giving thanks for everything you have, everything you have accomplished, and to give thanks to all the people that love you and care about you. I give thanks to my friends because they have given me their, love, trust, and support. I would like to thank god because he has given me all the great things that people say I have. I would also like to give him thanks because without him I would be nothing. All my gifts have been given to me, so I can help people out. I am glad that those around me have recognized my gifts, but I would like for them to realize that god gave them to me. He is the one whom thanks should be given to. I would like to share my gifts with everyone. So, in the future, we could have a better life.

Fires in California

Wow, it has happened again as it has for years. There are four fires in southern California. Several freeways were shut down. One of them was closed because of a demonstration against prop 8 which eliminated marriage between people of the same gender.
One of these fires, started Friday night at 10 30. Another one, started about 9 AM.
My question is why have these people decided to continue with their demonstration? Now, there are more important things that need immediate attention. For example stopping the first fire before it spreads some more and damages more properties and people. As I have said before, at this moment, there are four fires going on. Unfortunately, the winds have not been helping us at all. They have been ranging from 45 to 70 miles an hour. Thousands of people have lost their homes, at least two fire fighters died, several people have been injured, and properties have been damaged. At this point, fire fighters are giving priority to those areas which have been affected most. People are angry because of this. They are seeing their houses go down in flames, and the fire fighters are not doing anything about it. My suggestion is that they fight the fire themselves. There have been stories about people fighting the fire not only to protect their house, but also to protect someone else's house. These people most than likely, have never met. I am glad that we still have heroes. I hope more people would help out instead of standing or sitting there asking why something is not being done.

Exciting day - or so I thought.

Yesterday, I went to pick up a friend at another friend’s house. After walking for a block or two, and getting something to eat,my helper and I finally got to the bus stop. I was already tired. This is because it too hot. To my right, there was a woman with a child, and to my left there was a radio playing RNB. A few minutes later, I heard this man saying, “Leave me alone.” He also said that he did not want to be bothered. As he kept on talking, his words started getting to me because he was cursing. I also heard that he was the one with the radio. The woman kept asking the child to not look at something. Well, it got too much when the man started looking at us. At this point, my helper called the police. My helper described the man as African American. He had a back pack and a small radio. He was dressed in black. When the bus came, the police had not arrived. If they ever did, I don’t know. When the doors of the bus opened, there was a discussion going on between the bus driver and another woman. I thought we were not going to be able to get on the bus because this woman was almost screaming. I am glad that we got in. The first thing I heard when I got on the bus was, “you need a man.” This is what the woman told the bus driver. We sat all the way back. The men were talking about it, and they wanted her out. When we thought that some peace had finally come, the woman started again, but she lowered her voice. I have experienced several cases like these two. Sometimes I wonder if these people are mentally ill. I just hope that they increase the money for psych wards. I hope they are not closing any because we need them.

the bailout.

I feel so sorry for us. Since when do we help out those who have made bad mistakes? I think a better term should be errors in judgment. Another question that I am asking myself is how did the US get 7000000000 dollars? I thought that there was no money! Didn’t President Bush say that social security was going to be out of money? One more question. Was this a lie? So, let me get this strait. We don’t have money for health care, we don’t have enough money for social security, and we don’t have enough money for our veterans. Also, helping the blind will cost too much, and let’s not talk about people with out jobs, homeless people, building more prisons, plus so much more. However, we have more than enough to bailout Wall Street. I believe that when somebody owes to the government, the creditors call the people that are in debt and harass them in a weekly bases. The people who are getting bailed out are going to want more money. Then, other industries are going to probably follow their example, and they will ask for some money as well. I wonder if the people who are being helped out, have helped the government in some way. Probably they have, and we don’t know about it. It angers me that some of these people will walk out with very fat checks, and everything is going to be just fine because that is what they had put on their contracts. Let’s speak the truth here. The people that will pay the 7000000000 dollars are the US citizens. I also heard John McCain say, “The fundamentals of our economy are strong.” Because I am an ignorant, I never knew what the meaning was , and He never explained what he just said. It was until recently when I heard that he was talking about the people. Maybe it will take many years until we could pay the government back. I don’t know if we will ever see the government giving us that reward for helping Wall Street. I also feel bad for Mister Bush. So much has happened under his administration. I have heard almost all his speeches, and for the first time I think he said that we were in a recession. I have heard that it takes a long time to build something, and it takes very little time to destroy it.

good job at the Dnc today

I believe this speech was really good and really important. It was time that someone spoke for the disabled. It is sad that the US is not doing enough to
help us out. Very often we are left behind along with the poor. It is sad that so many voices are not heard, yet the democrats say that they are for all people.
so why do we get left behind? why do homeless people get left behind? why do people who are starving get left behind? why do victims of natural disasters
get left behind? There are so many other things that I could say, but I think you get my point. These things should be talked about in these conventions.
I am glad that this man is speaking out. We need change. Obama and all americans could make that change happen if they are willing to. When are we going to talk about this? I hope very soon.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/27/us/politics/27paterson.html?
http://election411.org/article/id/352683/david-patterson-speaks

The family

I would like to talk about something important and that is the family. A lot of people work 1 or 2 jobs just to pay the rent, the mortgage, food, clothing and other basic things. We all know that the minimum wage is not enough to cover all the expenses that a family might have. Knowing this problem, the government decides to waste money on other things, and they also keep raising taxes. Even though parents do a lot to survive these hard times, they are leaving their kids husbands or wives unattended. Some kids get dropped off in daycare and others go to school. Some kids go strait home after school. However, other kids stay a long time outside because they know that their parents will probably not come back until 9 PM or later. Those parents that come early from work pick up their kids from daycare if they have any in such a program, and they go strait home to sleep. In the meantime, the older kids are on the computer or in front of a television and most of the time; it is not for educational purposes. Others are getting introduced to things like sex, drugs, and being in gangs. Some if not most parents, do not play with their kids because they are too tired and if the kids want to talk to them, or simply give them a hug or kiss, they tell them to go away. There are some moms who don't like or want to kook or clean, and the dad has to do both things. It is very sad to say but this was caused by the feminist movement who told men they were not going to do whatever they wanted. I remember one morning when I was in an elevator on my way to one of my classes, and I heard a woman telling a man that she did not like to kook. The man also said that his wife did not like to kook and as I herd this, I thought to my self, “I hope I don't get a woman like that.” I was uncomfortable hearing this. But I am even more uncomfortable when I hear kids talking about another problem that is corrupting our country and that is sex. These kids are doing this in school when they don't even know what this is. Most people have sex with out love, and they think that if they don't do this, they are not going to be compatible on other things. In the first or second week that people meat, they begin to have sex or they start using drugs because of pier pressure. When a month goes by, they start living together not after they have a big argument with their parents because they think they are better than their parents. I know that it is very common to live together with a person without marrying that person. They see it as test driving a car and if they don't like the person, they could leave. In able for a relationship to work out, you have to spend more time asking questions about the other person and see if that person agrees or disagrees on the things that you believe. Watch how that person behaves with other people, and don't take him or her to expensive places. Some parents think that teachers should have the job to educate their kids about sex and drugs. However, teachers don't tell kids about the deeper issues of these two problems. Unfortunately, Because of these things, kids learn to be violent and they also learn about sexual education and drugs the wrong way. Think about it. What would you do if you don’t get what you want? It is likely that you will become violent. Some internet sites, radio shows, songs, TV shows, and video games have things relating to sexual activity or drugs. Unfortunately, these things do not tell kids the bad side effects. Parents don't put too much attention on what their kids are watching or hearing and that is another reason why kids tern out to be violent. If parents took time to talk or play with their kids, and watch TV with them, they wouldn't be the way they are now. Parents don't talk to their kids about the consequences of their actions and what could happen if they abuse things. Parents should start educating their kids about sex, drugs and violence when they are young. Also, they should tell them what is good or bad so when they get older, they will know what and what not to do. Because of the misinformation that kids get from their friends about sex ed, they start having it at a young age.
People have now gotten pregnant as early as 14 to 25 because they did not know how to control them selves. Remember in the early 80's when aids was something that nobody knew about? People started getting this by going to bath houses witch are places that allows people to fornicate with whomever they want. The same thing is happening with young people. They have sexual relations with multiple partners, and they get STD'S. However, they don't know how they got it. Many girls, who are going to high school or college, drop out because they need a job to support their kid. Others do it because of financial problems or because they did not wanted such a responsibility. They decided to have an abortion. The common side effects of abortion are Infertility, Cervical Laceration, and Uncontrollable blood clotting, severe hemorrhage, Seizures, Coma, Cancer, and Death. Unfortunately, women do not know this because doctors don't have to tell them these things. I believe that some doctors may say that to themselves. Other women have abortions because they were abused but even that is not an excuse to do that. The government should give money to the women so they could get more help.
I believe another thing that Leeds to a bad family is domestic violence. This includes physical, verbal, and sexual abuse. When children see this type of behavior, they grow to be even more violent than the parent that was doing this. This is how a cycle starts, and women who have kids, stay in the relationships because they think that if the man leaves nobody will be there for her or for her kids. This can also lead to a person using drugs because there is so much drama in their lives that they use the drugs to escape from reality. What these people don't know, is that when they try to stop, it is going to be too late because they are going to be addicted to the drug.

ads

Ads are an interesting way to get people’s attention. Here is an example of one that I made about two months ago. Ads are moving away from advertising products. Instead, they want to promote a life stile. This is really bad. I believe it is turning people into characters. If people do not want to do something, such as preparing a meal, they could go to a place and order whatever they want. This next ad that I made will be for those people. My goal is to see if there is a difference between my ad and the fast-food ads, and also to let you see how easy it is to entice people into buying products. Sorry, how easy it is to entice people into changing a productive life stile into an unproductive one. We know you have things to do, and places where you need to go. The last thing you want to do is cook. X, Y, and Z has just the right thing for you. Why wait when you can have it now?
X, Y, and Z, , we have you covered.

Budget crisis

We go through the same thing in California every year. It always takes a long time to pass a budget. We are in at least three weeks behind. It is scary to think that people will be going back to school, and there is no money. I heard on the news that kids will be spending not as much for there school supplies. This means that they will have to use their old school books, they will wear the same clothes, and they will have to use the same writing materials in this upcoming school year. However, California should not be the only won at fault, but The US as a whole. So now, we have two problems. I believe that we should not be hearing the same thing over and over from the politicians. Republicans don’t want to raze taxes, but the democrats do. Someone must give up. If we don’t raze taxes, what can we do to reduce the deficit? On the other hand, people cannot start cutting programs which are beneficial to the poor, the disabled, the sick, and the elderly. I believe that now it is time for the people who are in power, to think about others and not so much about themselves or people who have the same economic status as they do. We must realize that things are not for free, and that we must pay for what we need. If that means razing taxes, then we should do it. Again, unless the republicans have a better plan, I do not see another solution.

Judaism divided into three parts

Orthodox Judaism says that the torah, is very important no madder if it’s the written or the oral form. It states that practices such as circumcision, are very important. A person could give up is or her believe in god as long as he or she follows the practices. Reform Judaism says that the practices are no longer required. It tries to blend with today’s society. It modifies some things to fit modern times. I was confused when I read that it was coming back to the traditional ways. Conservative Judaism is in a way, the blending of orthodox and Reform Judaism. It states that the practices are very important As well as the laws of the Talmud and the torah. It tries to adapt modern things when it is necessary. It talks about an evolutionary process and that, “halachic authority can continue the halachic evolution today.” God is real and therefore, really important.

The Olympics

The Olympics is a big event. When I was younger, I used to participate in a similar event in Los Angeles that was called the Braille Olympics. We used to do a few events such as run, long-jump, and others. Every time I went, I always got the bronze meddle. It is because of this experience that I understand what every athlete is going thru. I am proud of each of them for doing a good thing. Now that we have a lot of things going on in the world, we need some unity which is what the Olympics have been doing.

reparation money

I believe that The U.S. government should not give reparation money to the children from slaves because it would be a waste of time and it would cost a lot of money.
First of all, we would have to do DNA tests to determined if the people, had ancestors that were slaves. This could take up to 8 weeks. Then, we would have to do a psychological evaluation which would take more time, and people would have to weight some more depending on how much time is given. Also, we would be wasting time by arguing how much money they would be entitled to.
This will also cost a lot of money. According to africanDNA.com, a complete test will cost 1000 77 dollars. Now, multiply this by lets say, 10000 children of slaves. Then, we would have to pay 10770000 dollars. We would have to find in which way did the slave era affected the child which would require a psychological evaluation. Because every state is different, it is hard to put a price on how much this service would cost. Also, since slavery ended 143 years ago, it would be hard to prove that someone was affected.
If we were to give 10000 people 10000 dollars, we would be paying 100000000 dollars. I would also imagine that we would have to pay the people that will take care of the paperwork. Just on the reparation money and DNA tests the government will spend about 110000000 dollars. This amount would rise if we add the people who will do the printing, sorting, distribution, etcetera along with the people who would do the other things that I have mentioned. There are a few questions that need to be considered. What about those people, who are not black, but there ancestors were? Should they get paid reparation money, despite there skin color? What is the government going to do if someone commits fraud? I think we should also pay other ethnic groups because they have been mistreated. For example, the Japanese, the Hispanic, and the Native Americans. As an example, I could say that since my mom and dad were taken away from me because they were illegally in this country, and since I was born with a disability, I had to struggle to survive. If things were changed a little bit, and I went with them, I could say that as a result of being taken out my country, I did not have the services that I was supposed to have which caused me to be in a worse condition than in the one I was before I was taken away.
I believe that if this plan is accepted, our country will finally hit rock bottom.
1 April, 2008
http://www.africanDNA.com

movies

The author of an article that is in the LA times says that probably we are not going to see movies being shone in the movie theaters. This is going to happen because movies are coming out on DVD. Consequently, people are waiting until they come out in this way because they would avoid many things. for example, they would avoid having to make long lines at the movie theater. Furthermore, the author says that the movie studios need to put out better films, so the public would be eager to go to a movie. He also says that some of these movies were not made to be seen in an Ipod. one thing that I got from this article is that most young people do not appreciate old films. an example that the author gives is that there are few opera houses because of the lack of interest for these things. Even though this does not have anything to do with movies, it illustrates a good point. Technology has been guilty of more people spending their time watching movies on a portable device instead of joining their family to eat, to go and see a play, or to go to the movies. I agree with the author. If things keep going the way they are, movie theaters will be history. I was not wrong when I said that technology was bad for us. on a personal experience, I used to like movies but now that they have too many sound effects and a lot of visual scenes, I rarely see them. Films that were made in the 1960's and 1970's were much better. For a scary film, they would use a piano. For other ones, they would have an orchestra playing in the background. The actors talked more than they do now. that is why; I enjoy movies that were made back then. even though there is still dialog, I cannot understand movies because I would have to see what they were doing in able to understand what the conversation was about. For example, let’s say that someone would be cooking and he got burnt. He would curse and everyone in the theater would do something. Because I would not understand what everyone was laughing or crying about, I would have to ask a person what happened. the person would tell me that they were laughing because the person got burnt. I hope we realize that cell phones, ipods, and computers are not for watching movies. Computers are for typing and retrieving important files. in other words, they are useful to view or print info and to sample media. Cell phones are for making important calls. Ipods are for storing and for listening to music. However, technology is not entirely guilty. The people who make these movies do not have anything good to put out. As soon as movie makers use a little bit of creativity, that is when people will start to go back and see them.

lowering the drinking age

I have heard some people say that we should lower the drinking age. I believe that We should not reduce the drinking age from 21 to 18 because some young adults would be irresponsible and there for, they would cause an increase in automobile accidence. Do to the immaturity of some people under the age of 21, we will see as we have seen before, some of them do things that are not right. For example, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had a study that found that one out of 14 girls in between the ages of 14 and 19 has an STD. What do STDs have to do with lowering the drinking age if the statistic starts with age 14? First of all, it is important to ask why and how these girls contracted an STD? What would be the first answer? Could they had stopped this from happening? Why they did not do it? If at 18 they were able to consume alcohol, would they do something bad? The answer is yes. From 14 to 18 some kids have not matured enough. Also, at 18 they are getting out of that childhood stage, and some if not most adults, will be struggling to mature which would lead them to still keep on doing the same mistakes that they have been doing. Also, now that they have access to new things such as the internet, they would be doing more mistakes. Why is this? Using the net, they would be able to plan a party where some kids would be able to take alcahol. Meanwhile, their parents would not have a clue of what was going to take place. When kids got out of school, to protest in favor of illegal imigrants rights, on may first of 2006, I heard that some of those kids, had already planned how this thing was going to happen. Another example is that some, if not most kids, start driving at the age of 16, and we no the potential problems that this has caused. There have been 3,490 drivers under the age of 21 that died in 2006 and thousands more were injured. According to the 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, it was estimated that there were 11000000 underage drinkers in the US. Now, imagine those 11000000 young adults and those that will be turning adults in the next few years being able to legally consume alcohol by the age of 18. How many more accidence would have to be added to already the long list? I believe it would be A lot. Giving them a second tool could lead to bad consequences. Since the first tool was driving, If we start providing alcohol, it would be the second tool which will kill more people than when they had only the first one. If we start to legalise drinking at the age of 18, It is going to be a two year difference which is not going to change anything. What I mean by that is these kids who were driving recklessly at the age of 16, now that they would be 18, and now that they would be able to purchous alcahol, who knows what could happen.I should also add that since driving starts at 16, probably drinking should be legalized at 16 as well. The accidence that are caused by 16 year olds is going to rise as soon as these people turn 18. The reason they have not risen now is because children are not able to purchase as much alcohol as they would if they were 18. As I have said before, This could have a lot of bad consequences if it were to happen. One of the consequences, would be that there parents will be devastated. This will happen because their child just killed a person and or got killed because of a teenager driving drunk. Another consequence is that a lot of money maybe thousands of dollars, would have to be paid to the family by the tax payers for the damage that some teenagers will cause. Also, we should not forget that the family of the drunk teenager, Probably will not have enough money to pay the other family or families.
So far, we have been able to reduce the fatal and injury crashes by 38% and 40% respectively, among 16 year old drivers. However, if lowering the drinking age were to happen, the statistics would go up again. At 18 a person has not yet grown sufficiently, but they still want to experience many things.The problem with that in this case, is that according to www.cdc.gov, at all levels of blood alcohol concentration, Young people have a greater risk of getting into an accident.

Facts about juice

In an article that I read about a year ago, Five juices were tested. Two were from frozen concentrate stored in screw top containers. Two were from ready-to-drink, not from concentrate pasteurized orange juice, packaged in either non-re-sealable, gable-top waxed cartons or plastic, re-sealable, screw-top containers, and 1 brand was of ready to drink from concentrate non-pasteurized orange juice packaged in re-sealable, screw-top waxed cartons. the ready-to-drink orange juices had higher concentrations of oxidized AA. Orange juice reconstituted from frozen concentrates had the lowest content of oxidized AA. I read that Ready-to-drink orange juices should be purchased 3 to 4 weeks from expiration date, and they should be consumed within 1 week of opening. some of the Vitamin C in the orange juice would be destroyed because of the time of production, and the time that it becomes available in different outlets. According to the article, 16% of people are deficient in Vitamin C. This could be because some people do not consume foods that are rich in vitamin C. If they do consume these foods, there is a possibility that those foods have lower quantities of vitamin C because of the way they were prepared or because of another reason. ** "reduced" Vitamin C/Ascorbic Acid does not mean less. It refers to the chemical charge on the molecule. "Oxidized" does mean less because it has been destroyed oxygen. I remember when I purchased juice, and I did not open it. It had been outside the fridge for more than a day. Well, the Juice went bad. I was very sad. This also reminds me of the advice that is always being said. We should not buy more than we need. It seems as if I need to find another way of buying things.

Is John McCain a maverick?

In a story titled, “Between a maverick and a hard place,” publish to day in the LA times, I found some things that were very interesting. For example, John McCain considers himself to be a maverick. So, what is a maverick? According to thefreedictionary.com, it is, “One that refuses to abide by the dictates of or resists adherence to a group; a dissenter.” Yes, he is still one, but I also think that he is stuck in between roads. He wants to be seen as someone who is different than other politicians. But at the same time, he wants to win these elections. I used to like him a little bit more a few years ago when he co-authored an emigration bill that was fair to undocumented workers. Now it seems as if he has joined those people whom he has criticized. I believe that a person could be with a group and still not be in agreement with them. However, in this case, I think that there is very little difference between President Bush and McCain. In another note, I think that he should not use ads like the one with Paris Hilton to get his point across. He should not criticize Barak Obama for saying what he said about tires and energy.
To read the article, go to
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-maverick11-2008aug11,0,299016.story

Nice tests

A few years ago, I took a class that was about choosing a career. My goals in this class were to explore career possibilities within a field of interest, and to discover more about myself. I had to list the work values that were most important to me at that time. The work values that were and still are important to me are to: help society, to work with others, to influence others, to have knowledge, to have a job that will lead me to personal growth, to be able to use creativity, to have stability and security, to have excitement, to be able to make good money, to be able to work near my home, to be able to have fun, to have a career that allows me to advance, to be able to be productive, to have achievement, and to work in a clean environment. I also had to list the skills that were important. The work skills that are still most important to me are: to analyze, to compile, to compare, to mentor, to negotiate, and to convince. I think I speak well, I give good advice, and I am a good problem solver. The specific skills that I have are that I know how to use the computer, I am patient, I am detail oriented, and I am bilingual. The special accommodations that I need to consider are: a computer that has a screen reader program, and a scanner with an OCR program. The things that I like to do are: Reading, listening to music, watching shows that have to do with history, crime investigation, political debate, and religious shows. I also like to listen to radio shows that talk about the same subjects described above. The classes that have interested me more are: broadcasting one and three and geology 1. The classes in which I have made my best grades are: English 23, speech three, and in a music class. The thing that I have liked about a job experience that I have had is that I have been able to make a bit of money, and that I have been able to interact with people. If you have taken a personality test, you already know about the following. If you have never taken one, there are 16 personality types. There are different codes witch, come close to describing who you are. This is mine. My personality code is INFJ. It implies that I am caring, and that I could be a teacher among other things. There is a test which is called the strong test, and it measures your personality based on the answers that a person gave when taking the test. Also, it will give you career suggestions based on other factors. The strong said that my Theme Code is S. My strongest career interest is helping others. It also said that I am outgoing, I am Concerned for others, I am humanistic, I am Verbal, and I am Generous. My Results Show I Have High Interest In: Public Speaking, Persuading, or influencing people. The careers that I might like are: Bacteriologist, Biomedical researcher, Ecologist, Zoologist, and Elementary School Teacher. Out of the careers that they listed, I only like three. They are: foreign language teacher, interpreter, and Linguist. According to bridges.com, this is how I am and the careers that I chose among the 100 career choices. Historian
Interpreter/Translator, Archivist, radio/TV Announcer. The following is an Interest Profile. Your Top Interest Areas. Does this sound like you? Artistic: Artistic: You are a "Creator". You enjoy art of all types, including drama, music, literature, poetry. You like using your imagination and creativity. You prefer working in unstructured environments. You have a need to express yourself. You may describe yourself as sensitive or emotional. Investigative: You are a "Thinker". You enjoy observing, learning, evaluating. You like the challenge of thinking through problems. You prefer working on your own. You often use science and math in problem solving. You may describe yourself as inventive and original. So, there you have it, this is who I am. Try these things out. Go to a college, and please take a class like this one. I am interested to know what you think.

Sex being sold!

I have heard that sex sells. I have to say that this is the truth. A few weeks ago, I was listening to a commercial on the radio. It started out with a woman moaning. After a minute, I found out that it was a commercial for hair restoration. After that, the announcer said something like, “If you want to be like our friend here”, you must do this. This was a radio advertisement for as I said before, a hair restoration PROCEDUREMENT. The place where they do this thing is supposed to be different than the other hair restoration places. Why does sex have to dominate the media? How is this impacting or how will it impact the future generations? Wow! To think that we see this when watching a commercial on cars, food, and clothing, scare’s me a lot. It is then that we are left saying, “Why?” Let’s get back to selling products and not sex. This will make a person into another person that he or she may not be. We should be setting the example for other countries to follow

new video

I have a youtube channel. I only have two videos, but I will keep on adding more. Interesting things are ahead.
Go to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4DACgy1HbE
to see the viddeo. As I said, the video is also on my youtube page.
My youtube channel is,
www.youtube.com/danielcubas1

airlines

It is sad that the airlines are nickel and diming their customers. Now, Jet blue is going to sell you a blanket and a pillow for seven dollars. Add to this that some other airlines are charging you for extra leg room, snacks and drinks, and extra bags. Why do they have to do this? If they would add all of this to your fare, everything would be much better. Customers will be very unhappy with this decision. I was hearing on the radio that people are bringing their own blankets and pillows. I am glad that I have never have had to use this. I do not think that it feels very good to sleep on used things. Hundreds of people have used these things. I wonder how often they are washed. I believe that in able to fix this problem the airlines have to do what I suggested.

The brotherhood

"Islam" as peace, People are not thinking of that when they hear info about this religion. The brotherhood is an Islamic organization that helps provide a different religious view of Islam that the media, politicians, and others don’t seem to have. It seems as if the brotherhood is trying to reestablish Islam by educating people. An example is that people should pray. They also teach other religious values. It seems as if their goal is unity. This is what the profit would have wanted. So far, this organization is following Islam. Surah 90 talks about the Ascent, “It is the freeing of a slave, or the feeding, in a day of hunger, of an orphaned near of kin, or a needy man in misery.” This is what the brotherhood is doing in over 20 countries. According to surah90, those who free the slaves, and those who counsel one another, for example, shall be on the right hand. I believe that because of the political things that are going on, soon, the brotherhood will be unable to give out anymore. I fear that the world will be dominated by the people who are in power and who don’t care about the poor. I think that over time, this organization will disintegrate little by little. They will be seen as an organization that helped.
I was really bothered by a headline that was mentioned in an article. "Let the Workers Eat Cake," blared a headline on the front page of the April 30 edition of Al Akhbar, a Lebanese daily newspaper allied with the Shiite. Although some groups are “winning”, in the end, everyone is going to suffer the consequences of their actions. We should follow closely what is happening in the Middle East. By now, it should be clear that bible prophesies are becoming reality. From the first one up to now, people did not believe that the bible was truth although all the prophesies have become true so far. There is more to come, and we should be prepared. Always keep searching for the truth.

a taste of an article

These are some things that I will probably include in a future article. I wrote in the Third person. I hope that this article will get published in newspapers. I will also be publishing it on here. Enjoy
Blind student will publish an article on school unfairness
A blind student, whom recently graduated from SMC College, will publish an article in a few months that will tell people how SMC College expects him to pass a class in able to obtain his AA degree. He will also talk about how future students could be affected by these requirements. According to the student, these requirements are unfair.
For example, the class that he has to take in able to get his AA degree, is not targeted towards him. For example, this person has to take a journalism class. Half if not more of the material in the class, is for people who can see. Also, since he took a math class, he knows that because the concepts that are going to be used there will be to guide people who can see, some blind people would not be able to understand them. He knows that they would probably not understand things such as: decimal points if there is not someone who knows how to explain to the blind student, in a proper way, what that is.
He would like to write this article because it is not fair for students to take a class about something that they know nothing or very little about. In this case, it would be the things, descriptions, format, or visuals that the teacher is using to teach the class. Because of these methods, the person who will write this article would talk about how the student will lose more instead of gaining something. For example, instead of earning an A or b, the student could get an F as a grade. Also, he or she will probably never use or understand the things that are being taught. He thinks there would be interest because it would show how The California educational system focuses on the majority. Also, because more blind people are going to school, it would be necessary to change the educational system. By people reading this, they would be more conscious that there has to be a change. Further more, since a lot of veterans are going back to college, there would be some people with disabilities that are going to school or will go to school. “Since we owe our freedom to these people, people should care about this problem,” The future author of this article said.
The author would include four pictures in this story. A picture of a blind man or woman sitting in a news writing class with arms crossed as all of the other students hold a newspaper, would be included. In the picture the students are divided into groups. The blind person is sitting nowhere near. In another picture, the professor is walking towards the student. In another one, they are talking. In the last picture, the student is alone and upset. The student still has nothing to do. The teacher is walking to the front of the room.
The student would interview professors, students who are blind, and those who are not, the president of the college, and department chairs.

about religion

I will try to answer a few questions about Religion in general. Also, there are some terms that I will try to explain because they are not in English.
Religion is a term that refers to an organized system which attempts to explain things, answer questions, or come to a conclusion about a myth or idea. Further more, it tries to put that which cannot be seen together with the things that people could perceive with the five senses, and it is based on tradition.

For example, Buddhism and Hinduism for they provide a path for people to follow. In Hinduism, MOKSHA is the liberation from Samsara Which means flowing together. Samsara is a wheel. Better yet, it is the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. MOKSHA is a way to be one with god.

In Buddhism, the 4 Noble Truths provide a way for the Buddhists to be at peace. Dukkha, which could be translated to unsatisfactory, tells us that nothing remains forever. The second one is tanha which means a thirst or craving for something. nirvana Is the third one. It means to extinguish. Learning not to crave or be thirsty for material things is the object. Getting rid of unsatisfactory things is a goal. What I got from the text is that we must extinguish these things. The last one is the Eightfold Path Which has to do with being in a good moral behavior, don’t harm others, understand others, understand the teachings known as darma, and being in the right state of mind. In other words, The Eightfold Path consists of Sila, Prajna, and Samadhi.

Religion’s role in human life is to lead people to some kind of spiritual awareness, and it also tries to guide people on how to live. An example of this would be Christianity for it gives guidelines to become a better person. These are known as the 10 commandments which were given to Moses by Jehovah. Judaism is another example which has certain things that they need to do to be closer to god. This is known as Halakha, Which could mean “the path" or "the way of walking." Halakha encompasses religious and non religious laws. Something similar is in Islam, and it is known as the shariah law which means the way or path to the water source.

Places, Things, or practices can be considered religious. People can recognize this if a place has been widely known to hold some type of meeting to discuss or preach spiritual things. In some cases, but not necessarily, people are able to know if a place is religious by the title that has been given to it. Titles include: mosques for Muslims, temples for Buddhists and Hindus, churches for Christians, or some other sacred place or space.

A thing can be recognized as something religious if people are wearing it or have it in their possession , if it is an accepted item by a group of people or by an organization, and if it has some historical significance.

An example is the cross for Catholics. It is important because that was where Jesus was put to death. It represents the pain that Jesus had to go through. Another example is the Koran because it is the complete message of god, according to Islam. Islam also says that other holy books such as the bible have been corrupted or altered making them the incomplete word of god. The Koran was dictated to Muhammad over 23 years. According to him, the angel Gabriel came to him and told him to write down what he was going to be told.
According to Islam, Muhammad is the profit of Allah

A practice can be considered religious if it is done frequently. Also, it must have to do with something that a person can connect or be in touch with. For example, people could be connected with a higher being or with a person’s own spirit. A practice could be done alone ore with a group of people.

An example of a practice is prayer which is a way of communicating with a higher being. It could be done alone or with other people. Other examples include sacrifice. This involves killing an animal so people could be right with god. Chanting is a way to invoke a spirit. People could have a contact with one if they are concentrated.

granting sitizenship

I am for not granting the citizenship to those people who are born in the United States. I believe that a citizenship should be earned. Just like anything else in this country. People don't take care of things when it is given to them, however, when they have worked for something, they appreciated more. I believe that with the proper education, we could give the children as well as the adults. The certainty that they will be able to know the information that at this moment, they are not able to understand. I have heard other people say that the educational system within the United States is one of the worse ones in the entire world. This is because the education system has not been changed very much in the United States since the beginning. By improving our education system and adding the questions that are required to grant the citizenship into the education of the children, kids will be able to know most all there is to know about the US plus more. This will make them competent and able to participate in debates and to go to other countries, which will allow them to be exposed to all the people who could help them in the career that they will be pursuing in the future. Right now, because most kids do not know most of the history of the United States, or anything else about the United States, except for the basic things, we have been leading the kids to do things that they shouldn't be doing. Most of them, in part because of the education system, drop out. By dropping out of school, they are not able to become the person whom they would have liked to become. Add to this that some of them don’t get the support from their parents. According to an article titled: Poor Marks for U.S. Education System, published in GENEVA, Nov. 26, 2002, by Alexander G. Higgins, a United Nations study said that South Korea has the most effective education system in the world's richest countries, with Japan in second place and the United States and Germany near the bottom. I believe Students would have to take the citizenship test multiple times to keep this from happening again. However, this will be a practice test. So, when they get to the real one, they will be able to master all of the questions, and they would know the answers. In able to get there citizenship, children would have to volunteer two hours a day. This would start when they are 10 years old. They will be able to do the work on the weekends. By the time they reach high school, they will not have to worry about the hours of community service because they would already be doing them. Also, they would have to have a C or better throughout school. To check every student's progress, a teacher or councilor will pass this on along with two letters and any other info about the students. The schools and the volunteer programs will take care of all documents. The parents would have to pay the necessary fees. Disabled people would be exempt from this process. Some may argue that there will be people that are not going to be able to pay the fees, and this will create a caste system. So, why do we still have fees for everything else? We have fees for airport security, returning something late, and ticket fees. People are still able to pay for these things. Also remember that Children from illegal immigrants are being born in this country. Each person would have to pay 5000 dollars per each child that wants to become a citizen. If some crossed illegally, the government from their country of origin will have to pay the fee. Hopefully, this will reduce illegal emigration because the governments will talk to their citizen about the situation. If multiple offences are committed, unfortunately, the person will lose the right to enter the U.S. in a legal way for his or her entire life. There could be exceptions to the rule. If you are not a citizen, you will get the basic things such as health care, protection if you or your kid are being abused, free advice in any matter, among other things. How ever, if you want to send your kids to school, and if you want to vote, you will have to be a citizen. The people who will make all this possible would be the ICJ (International Court of Justice), Immigration authorities. Funding and Staffing: Normal Means. For the education part of this plan, a new agency will be created. They will evaluate all the paperwork. It will be funded by tax payers. They will determine if a student qualifies for citizenship.

Covenants with god

There are different covenants in the bible. I will tell you about a few of them. God said that men should not eat flesh that still has blood. He also said that if men killed other men by shedding his blood, the murderer should be killed the same way. Everyone would be accountable for his actions. God established a covenant with Noah. He set a rainbow up above and everyone would be able to see it. He would remember his covenant every time he saw the rainbow. No longer would the earth be destroyed nor the lives of people be terminated by water or floods because of humans. He commanded every living creature as well as Noah, and those who were with him, to be fruitful and multiply.
I think the covenant with Noah was more than a rainbow because god would always be watching them. The rainbow was there to remind the people that were living then as well as the people who were going to follow, of this.
God made A covenant With Abram. He was going to give land to Abram. Abram wanted to know how he would know when he would have it. So, god told him to bring him several animals. These were A heifer, a goat, a ram, A dove, and a young pigeon. The first three had to be three years old. Abram cut the first three animals in half. This was a sacrifice that Abram had to do. Also, his people would be strangers in another country. They would be mistreated and enslaved for 400 years but then, they would be set free. They would be having great things with them, and there captors would be judged for what they did. Meanwhile, Abram would be safe, and he would be buried at a good old age.
God also said to Abram that his name should no longer be Abram, but He should be called Abraham for he will be father of many nations because of god. Kings will come from him, and he will have the son that he and his wife always wanted.
The change of Abram’s name to Abraham changed the whole future of history because A new group of people was born. These are who have influence today. Because of his name change, his people were able to do great things. It definitely shaped history.
God made a covenant with Abraham. He told him that all of the mails in his family and those who were not, but were in his house, should be circumcised. Every newborn there after, should be circumcised as well when he is eight years old. Everyone who does follow this will be cut off from his people. I don’t think circumcision is a sacrifice. Another sacrifice that Abraham had to make was to take his only son and take him to a land which god had told him, and offer him there for a burnt offering. Abraham prepared everything just as god had commanded him to. When he was ready to cut his son, an angel from heaven called out to him saying to not do anything to his son because now he knew that he feared god. I guess the angel knew this. The purpose of sacrificing Isaac was to test Abraham and how far he would go for god. I believe that Abraham had a very tuff decision. Abraham proved that his love for Jehovah was so deep by doing what god had commanded him to do.
The blood on Mount Sinai represented the blood of the covenant that god had made with the people. I think The blood of the animals was a sacrifice commanded by god. I have heard that there are movies about these events, but I have not seen one. I also don’t know if there were any cartoons made about this.

News in California.

This morning I was on my computer. For a few minutes, I kept hearing a dog. I was wondering what was wrong, so I stopped what I was doing to listen carefully. I did not hear anything. The sound that I had heard was interesting. It sounded as if the dog was moving back and forth. When I went back to what I was doing, I felt OK. A few minutes had passed when I heard this rattling sound above me. I stopped again, and I sat to listen. When the sound got a little bit louder, I wanted to get up, but I did not because I thought it was something not important. As I sat there, I felt the floor shaking under me. For a few seconds, I was still trying to process what was going on. When I understood what it was, I attempted to shut down my computer. By the time that I was going to get covered, it had stopped shaking. I went to the living room to see if someone had some info, and they confirmed what I had already suspected. Then, I turned on the radio, and they were talking about what had occurred. They did not have anymore info than I did. I kept listening, and I found out that the earthquake was felt all across California and in Las Vegas. Its epicenter was in chino Hills which is 20 miles or so away from Los Angeles. Neither damages’ nor injuries were reported. I went to one of the other rooms to hear what the people on TV were saying. I heard different numbers for the magnitude of this earthquake. It was not until hours later that I found out that the earthquake was a 5.4. I think the last one that I experienced was in 2005 or 2006. I cannot remember the details of that one. I do remember the one that we had in 1994. I had to sleep in a car. Things were broken, and I think there were cracks on the walls of the apartments in the building that I was living in. When we got down stairs, there were two people. Hours later, my grandma told my family and me that a fight broke out between them. I am glad that I was not inside. That earthquake had a magnitude of 6.7. So, here are some things to have when the next one comes. Water, food for three days, a flashlight, an emergency kit, a radio, extra batteries, another bag pack with games, reading,, writing, and listening materials , an address book, and extra clothes. I am not sure if it was in that earthquake that one of my teachers told me that I had predicted that it was going to happen. She told me this when I got back to school. Apparently, I had made a prediction a few days earlier. I cannot remember saying that there was going to be one. However, a few weeks before today’s earthquake happened, I had to write 12 short phrases to tell a story. The other students had to do the same thing, but they had to use pictures. Here is what I wrote.
House with light on
House up down
Scared kid up room
House is dark
Kid screams
Man under table
Man is up
Man walks up
Man and kid run down
They fall
Wall falls on top
Man and Kid closed eyes.
That was supposed to be an earthquake. OK, I am not sure why I got the two events right. I will be looking out in the future after I write something like this again.

Review of Black Elk Speaks

Review of Black Elk Speaks
The book Black Elk speaks is about A Lakota Native American man from the Oglala banned whose name is Black Elk. This name has been passed around from his great grand father, to his grand father, to his father, and finally to him. This story takes place in different places. There are two things that this book discusses. One of them is a Part of His life as a child, and a story of a great vision. The book tells a lot about Native American traditions. It also talks about the numerous problems and obstacles that they have to overcome.
The book is written in the first person, and he also introduces some people that give more details about a particular story. These people also speak in the first person. It is as if each one of the people who is telling a story, was writing it in a journal.
The book starts with Black Elk telling a story of a woman who wanted the people to build her a tepee. . He describes an offering that they did with a pipe. Then, he describes what a pipe means to them. It seemed as if John Neihardt is putting the reader in a place where he or she could experience what the people in the story were doing. An example is when everyone is passing around a pipe that was supposed to symbolize peace. This act reminded me of other ceremonies that I have heard about that are very similar to this one.
Black elk introduces himself within the first pages. He says that he was born on the little pouter river on a wintery December of 1963.
The book includes stories of battles that he as well as his friends and other neighbors had to fight with the Wasichus which is an enemy tribe that are trying to take away there lands. In this book, the Lakota are fighting with everything they have to keep the things that are sacred to them. The goal is to always keep on fighting and never give up. In one of the battles, for example, iron hawk who is introduced by Black Elk, had to move fast with the group that he was in because there were crows behind them that were trying to attack them. There were only a few people in Iron hawks group. According to him, there were about 40 of them, but the crows had more people with them. They were the Soldiers and because of them, the crows fought harder.
There are several visions in this book, but the major one is the one that Black Elk had. He says that when he was five years old, before he had his great vision, he had heard voices, but he did not give much attention. Then, when he was nine years old, he saw two men with him. When he first saw them, he was very stunned and he could not stop looking at them. Before he saw the two men, he was scared of the two voices. When he had his great vision, A cloud took him up. He goes on to say that he felt bad for mom and dad because he felt sorry for them. The Two men, who were with him, and who had appeared to him before, told him that his grandfathers were having a meeting. He saw 6 old men which were not his grandfathers, but the six powers one of them was the power of the earth, the others were the powers of the west, east, south, and of the sky respectively. He saw his people rejoice and also sick, but he was told that he had the power to restore them to the way they were. The six men gave him different things to prove this. As he went throughout the world, he was doing things for the people. Soon, he was on the ground and he saw his mom and dad as well as A doctor trying to make him feel better because he was not really healthy. For 12 days, he was comatose and his parents were trying everything they could to bring him back to health. Soon enough, he was feeling much better. It seemed as if Black Elk was given a great responsibility which he was determined to carry out. Sometimes, he felt as if nothing was going the way things were supposed to go. Because he was trying to find an answer, he wanted time alone. He did not get the relief that he wanted until the village that he was in reenacted his vision after he told part of it to a doctor. By now, He was able to take his people out of danger. The people, who did not talk to him before, now, came to him.
Black Elk does a really good job at describing his vision. For a moment, I felt as if I was up there with him watching what everyone was doing down here. I could feel myself flying and taking in the joy as well as the sadness that everyone went through.
Black Elk talks about how he had to move around and camp in different places. the roads that led to them, as well as Some of those places were very well described, and I could also see myself in one of those places. For example he talked about when he along with some other people had to camp at the head of a place called, “Spring Creek.
There were several things that I did not like about the story. For example, Black Elk talks about a man who was trying to steel a horse from another man. The man, who had the horse, was guarding the place that he was staying at. He was too sleepy to stay up, so, he woke his wife up so she could keep guard. She told him that she thought there was somebody out there. When he went to see what was going on, he saw that there was someone trying to steel the best horse. After he instructed her on what to do, the thief got up on the horse. This is when the man shot the thief from a little whole that was in the tepee. When the other people heard the shot, they all went to where the body was and some of the people cut him up. Then, they started a fire around the thief. Then, they danced around him and sang songs about the man who had killed the thief.
I found this to be very disturbing and moving. For a minute, I was asking my self if these people cared about any children that this man might have had.
Another example of a story I did not like is that the kids would hurt women and children. Although they were only having fun, and it seemed as if the adults did not care, I found it to be very bad. In one of the descriptions, Black Elk talked about how he with some other kids used to gather sharp spear grass and when they found a man without a shirt, they would stick those things into the man to see if he would cry. According to Black Elk, they were supposed to endure everything.
There are several obstacles that Black Elk along with his people had to face. One of them is the Wasichus, and the bad weather conditions, the US government.
This book will take you on a journey in which the reader will sea starvation, bad weather, battles, dancing, poverty, and sadness. Be prepared to clime the mountains as well as camp with them and see where they take you.
I would recommend this book because of the stories and because one of these will touch a persons hart in one way or another.

What is a disability?

Somebody who is disabled is someone who does not know how to do something like walk, see or talk. This is according to the majority of people. When we think of disabilities, these are the ones that come to mind. not only am I disabled, so are the,”normal” people. To give you some examples, some won who is not tall cannot reach for something up high. Some won who only speaks one language should also be put into this category because he or she cannot communicate with others. The bottom line is do not use the word disabled when referring to another person because then you would have to include all of the other people as well. Just call someone by there name. It is wrong to say, “I have this disabled friend.” You know that hate, envy, selfishness, cursing, addictions, and any other destructive feeling, thought or action can be considered disabilities. What is a disability? According to Dictionary .com, it is lack of adequate power, strength, or physical or mental ability; incapacity. For this reason, I ask you to not make fun of others that have a visible disability because as I have said before, you have one to. You may not know it, but next time that you go to work, or go out to have fun, listen to what people say to you. You will be surprised

Changing names.

Have you ever asked your self where does your name come from, or what does it mean? Probably only some of us have heard a weird name. For example, when I was in middle school, one of my teachers said that a girl was named latrine. In New Zealand, A girl whose name was, Talula Does the Hula from Hawaii," is being put on the spotlight. Apparently, her parents are divorcing, and the court has guardianship of the girl, so it can determine a new name. It was embarrassing for the nine year old girl to tell her friends what her name was. Therefore, she preferred to be called K. "It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap," Judge Rob Murfitt wrote. He also released information of other names that parents have given their children. Names like: Hedges, Violence, and Midnight Chardonnay. Some names have been put off limits for parents such as: Satan, Stallion, Sex Fruit, Fat Boy, and 4Real. In Britten, A woman who’s name is Maria Brown, named her baby , now six weeks old, Autumn Sullivan Corbett Fitzsimmons Jeffries Hart Burns Johnson Willard Dempsey Tunney Schmeling Sharkey Carnera Baer Braddock Louis Charles Walcott Marciano Patterson Johansson Liston Clay Frazier Foreman Brown. The mother says that she was following a family tradition which was to give each baby, names of boxing champions. Between Maria and her sister, they have 103 names. In Italy, a one year old baby’s name was changed from Venerdi which means Friday in Italian, to Gregory because the name was considered shameful. His mother says that the boy will still be referred to as Venerdi until he is old enough to sign his name.
Thanks to Mike Carney at,
(http://blogs.usatoday.c)
Poor kids, they will probably grow up being laughed at. A parent should think of the consequence that this will have in their child’s life. Also, when the child becomes an adult, that child may not like the name that was given to him or her. Why do parents have to choos these names; when we have a lot of beautiful names!

about me.

If you have seen my profile, you know a little about me. In every post, I try to show who I am. Now, I would like to take the time to tell you who I am and why I do what I do. My name is Daniel Cubas. I was born in Houston Texas. I was born blind and with cerebral palsy, which is a condition that is caused by brain damage before, during, or after birth. It is accompanied by defective muscle control. Other things could be linked to CP as well. I am going to school, and will soon become a broadcaster. I am also a singer, a writer, and will soon become a designer. I do gigs across LA and sometimes, in other places. Everything I have done has been hard because of the challenges that I face, but that has not stopped me from getting to the place where I am now. I like to read, I like hearing music, I like listening to the radio, as well as movies, I like to have long talks, and I like learning every day. Besides speaking English, I speak Spanish, a bit of Italian, and A bit of Portuguese. I also like talking to people and helping them out with personal problems. It has been a blessing to have so many gifts. However, what I have said so far is only a sample of the things that I could do, and the things that I know. I would like to learn more about myself and other people, but I would also like to share my knowledge. I hope to open the eyes of those who have always, had them close. I also want to tell the truth about the myths that are out there. I believe that if we All work together, we could bring down the wall that has been dividing us for a very long time. Also, my dream is to write a book which would tell my life story

Bush doing the wrong thing again.

President Bush again has done something really bad. While real-estate is having a bad time, George Bush, who was in a fundraising dinner to support congressional candidate Pete Olsen, was saying that his wife Laura was in Dallas “trying to buy a house today.” Was this a joke? It seems to some that it was. Well, it was not funny, a lot of people are losing their houses because of this crisis, and here we have mister Bush saying things which can hurt some people. Scott Stanzel, a White House spokesman, said that he never heard the president compare things in that way before. This was after Bush said that Wall Street had a hangover after being drunk. What a comparison. We are living in a time of political turmoil; we have gas prices going up, and people struggling to buy food. This is neither the time nor the place to make jokes like this one. Is it me or Bush is doing things wrong over and over again. I read a comment that said, the fellow who continued to read a children's book while New York and Washington
were attacked by Saudi terrorists?” Yes, he was. I feel bad for people. People should not have to hear these type of comments from a president. I have had too much when Jesse Jackson said what thing he wanted to do to Barack Obama. When are we going to learn? Here is the Lesson for today. Always assume that the microphone or camera is on.
You can watch the video of president bush saying these things at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1oG5oVpdgg

Thanks to
www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5901860.html
And to:
guardian.co.uk

New game idea!

I have searched for video games for blind people. I am glad that now they are getting much better. Before, because the technology was not that great, in my opinion, games consisted of bad sound quality and bad game concepts. For example, a person hitting a ship and a speech synthesizer telling you what was happening. I have come up with a computer game idea, and I think it can also work with video game systems. Enjoy!
Here is a new computer soccer game. This game will be for sighted people as well as for non-sighted people. In this game, People would get to choose the country, state or department, city, and stadium that they would like to play in. Also, People would be able to upload their picture that will be included in the game. Blind players would be able to here everything that happens in the game because the game would be fully narrated, and there would be a play-by-play person and a color commentator. There will be descriptions of where the ball is, so the blind person would be able to hit it. If blind people would like to select another teem to play with or change anything else, Every time they use their four arrows, it will say each menu and what that menu has. Also, a person would be able to play in each soccer tournament that there currently is. They would also get to play the games leading up to a tournament, such as the world cup. There will be a space where a person would be able to type their name and just like on a real game; their real name will be mentioned. Also, a person could be their favorite player. For example, a person could be Pelé. This game would be for men 18 to 34.
I love soccer, and I would like to see something like this already out.

Ipods

A few years ago, I was not hearing anything about iPods. It seemed to me that people Were concerned with their disk players. I was not hearing anything about storing up to 1000 songs in a unit. However, now, that has changed. I read that more than 1000000 of these things have been sold. What happens next? When something new comes out, will people give away their iPods to buy the new device? Why do we try to look like others? This tells me that we are in that child stage where the child says to his or her parents, “I want that.” After some minutes in which the child has a tantrum, the parents agree to buy that thing for the child. However, in this case, the grown person does not have rules that he or she has to follow. I ask my self, “how far will humans go to get what they want?” If in their early years, they had tantrums, now that they have grown, will they steal to get what they want? Or will they be in debt to pay for that device that they don’t need. Hopefully, we will see that most important thing is not who has the latest gadget, but who is able to be satisfied with what they have.

same sex marriage?

I got the following story from KNX 1070 news radio in LA. This story is about a homosexual couple that got married today. This is a news story because it is controversial. Since the beginning of marriage ceremonies, it was believed that this ceremony should be done between a man and a woman. Because this has been the tradition, changing it to include marriages between homosexuals breaks the tradition. This is also a controversial story because of religious views. According to the bible, for example, god created a man and a woman, and he condemned homosexuality. Marriage, to people who are religious, and even to those who are not, is supposed to be a sacred act. The story is about a couple that got married today after they had tried for four years. They were successful after their attorney filed a lawsuit and the Supreme Court declared that it was unconstitutional to prohibit gay marriages. They exchanged vows on the steps of the court house. After the ceremony, one of the partner’s said, “I can believe. I can believe now we’re married people.” There were protesters at the wedding, but they only said something after the ceremony was over. Since there is an amendment to banned gay marriage, and some are trying to put it on the November ballot, the couple’s honeymoon is going to be spent fighting this amendment. It is known as proposition 8. According to a Field Poll, 51 percent of people oppose same sex marriage, and 49 percent are for it. It will be very interesting to see on Election Day what happens.

the creation story

In the beginning, god created the heavens and the earth. Because it was dark, he said, ” let there be light,” and there was light. Then, he separated the light and the darkness and that is how the first day became to be. On the second day, he created the sky. On the third day, He gathered the water that was under the sky to one place and then dry ground appeared. He called the gathered waters seas and the dry ground land. He also made plants and the trees. On the fourth day, he created the stars. On the fith day, god created the sea creatures and the birds. On the sixth day, god created cralling creatures , wild animals, livestock, and every other living thing. He also created man from the dust in the ground, in his image by breathing the breath of life into his nostrils. Then, he created the woman from one of the man’s ribs.
God told them that every living thing on earth as well as the sea was theirs. God wanted for every one to be fruitful. Also, he said to everyone to multiply.He created humans to oversee everything and to care for the land as well as the sea. He wanted there to be a place so, men would do good

Mister Bush

I have had enough of what the president has said. First of all, he is justifying his actions. For example, if the president wanted to save Iraq, why didn't he do it as soon as he got in office? Why didn't he saved the Saudi's? The 19 that were on the airplanes were from Saudi Arabia. Don’t we have terrorists living in the USA. Why are we not doing anything about that? Getting back to Iraq, When the WMd's were not found, he did not back off from his plan. How do we know that our system is going to work? Just because it is successful in the US, It does not mean that it will be the same for other countries. Mister Bush has been asked if he has made any errors, and he has been evasive. Why can’t he say, “I made mistakes, and I am going to fix them.” It seems that the president is not being truthful. Here are a few examples, 1. He is helping only those who have a lot of money. He says that he is helping the other people, but those people are still in the same situation.
2. He is trying to make us believe that not enough money is being put to the social security. Really? How interesting!
There are a lot of people that are making a lot of money. So, where is the money?
3. Jobs are being lost. I believe this is half the truth. I believe that we could fix this problem by employing more people. There is money which has to go to making more cars that do not need gas.
4. He is not considering ideas from other people. He still believes that we should drill for oil. As other people have already said, this will not be good fore us because it will do damage our home.
Kids are making bombs, and they are putting them in schools. Kids are bringing things such as guns and knives to school. This is a problem, but nothing is being done to protect the schools. I guarantee that if everyone who visits this blog let the government know that this is happening, and that the suggestions to fix most of our problems is being said, he would do something. Send the president, the vice president, senators, congressmen, and governors this concern. It is very bad that we have a president that does not care about us. It is time to let our voice be heard. Please save the US now that we know that this administration is not going to do it.

changing our money system

as people get old, they start to lose their eye sight. It will be hard for them to know the money that they have. Some of them must resort to glasses as their only window to the world. Not having these, and not being able to know how much money they have, is like a sighted person when he or she is in the dark trying to go somewhere. At that point, they are sad and angry because they cannot enjoy the things that others are doing.
Because of this, I believe that it is necessary to change our antiquated money system. Furthermore, I think that this would be a good solution to prevent job outsourcing from the US. According to cfr.org, by the year 2015, 473,000 jobs in the information technology industry will be off-shored. As we all know, getting a steady job is difficult enough. Now, imagine being blind and trying to get a job.
I believe that blind people would be able to benefit from inclusion in the work field because it would allow them to live more independently. On the same token, they would be able to manage their money more efficiently, and it would prevent people stealing or cheating from them. Also, people suffering from lack of sight would be working towards becoming productive citizens. According to an article, titled, "Blind Applicants Confront A Harsh Job Market," which was published on November 22 2007 in the Boston Globe, 70 percent of blind people are unemployed. If we compare this number to the 40 percent of sighted people who are unemploied, this would and should be able to tell us something. Changing the money would create more jobs and boost our sluggish economy.
According to a story titled,”Treasury Ordered to Make U.S. Bills Blind Friendly,” which was on NPR on November 29 2006, Judge James Robertson said, “only the United States prints bills that are identical in size and color in all their denominations. Every other issuer includes at least some features that help the visually impaired." Lets not forget that some of these countries such as Argentina, are not economically developed as the US. Despite this, The US government does not want to do this because it will cost at the most, an estimated 178 million Dollars for new printing presses and as much as 50 million Dollars for new plates; according to an article By EDMUND L. ANDREWS, published November 29 in the New York Times. If the one dollar bill was left as it is now, the government would not have to spend more than they have to. Also, blind people will have a better opportunity to spend money, which is just what our President is asking for as a way to contribute to economic growth.
If we could accommodate the blind, many jobs would not have to go to other countries and services wouldn't have to be cut as much as they are being cut now.
One way to update our currently outdated paper money system would be to put A tactile symbol. Another way would be to put a symbol that could not be removed such as a strip of metal shaped into the dollar amount. For example, if it was a twenty dollar bill, there would be the number 20 engraved into the bill.
If you want the economy to continue it's slow descent into one of the lowest in the industrialized world, don't change anything. However, if you want our parents and grandparents to have a nice life after they retire, and if we want our economy to shake out of this recession, so we, as well as our children, could have a better tomorrow, we should make changes to our monetary system.

Otterman, Sharon. “TRADE: Outsourcing Jobs.” 20 February. 2004. Council on Foreign Relations. 9 March 2006 .
Coombs, Christie. “Blind Applicants Confront A Harsh Job Market.” 22, November 2007.The Boston Globe. 9, March 2006. < Http:www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/11/22/blind_applicants_confront_a_harsh_job_market>
Kramer, Joy Melody. “Treasury Ordered to Make U.S. Bills Blind-Friendly.” All Things Considered. NPR. KCRW, Santamonica. 29 November. 2006

becoming a broadcaster

We all have things that we want to do. However, sometimes, they are not possible. For most people, it is hard to make the wishes that they have become reality because they think that they will not be able to. Some people say that they will not be able to do it because of their disability, Others say that they are too old, and a few say that they simply have given up. A lot of people wanted to become doctors, however, in a few weeks, or months, all of their hopes had gone away because they had an incident that left them without a chance to be a doctor.
In my case,, I have had many dreams, and they have become a reality. other dreams like being on the radio, getting people to understand the message that I am trying to give, and helping myself to become stronger, are dreams that I am trying to work at. I have always wanted to be a radio broadcaster.however, I thaut that I would not be able to do this because of my blindness. One day, I was searching on the internet for people who were blind and in the radio industry. I found on a web site that they had mentors for different professions. To access the information, I had to register with the cervice that they offered. After I registered, I went to the box where I had to tipe the word. When I tiped the word “radio”, I found one person who was a radio broadcaster in the US. As I was reading the information, I could not believed that he was a host of a gospel show. With that information, I was convinced that my dream could become a reality if I took the initiative.

a Story that was not reported in the media.

On Friday, July fourth, five minutes before 12 P.M., Three men were standing in front of the LA convention center, and they were getting ready to cross the street. There was a sign that said that an animation show was taking place at the convention center. The convention center had been already opened for a few minutes. It was easy to see this because the sign gave the information of how many days was the convention was going to last, what days was the convention going to be opened, as well as at what time it was going to be opening and closing. Out of the Thousands of people that were still waiting in line to get in, there was a man with curly hare. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Also, he was wearing vans shoes. The other two men could not be identified. The sun was scorching hot. Because there was almost no wind, it felt as if it was hotter than it really was. Both eyes were hard to keep open because of the heat. Sweat started to trickle down foreheads. For a minute, it felt as if everything was spinning. The Cars were going in every direction. Someone was saying something that could not be understood. Even when he said it the second time, it was still very hard to understand him. The person whom was talking was a police officer, and He was using a megaphone. From a distance, Three sheriffs on motorcycles came flying north up Figueroa avenue. They Stopped at Pico Boulevard preparing to block the street off. The next moment, a car was honking at one of the police cars. After a few seconds, others joined in. They were honking because the sheriffs were already blocking the intersection. One of the men said to another, “They are honking at one of the police officer.” All of a sudden, one police siren was heard. As it got closer, it became hard to know what to do. The man with the curly hare covered his ears. As that sound blended in with the honking sound, it became clear that unlike a symphony, this was painful to hear. When the siren was heard very close, every other sound was drowned by the deafening sound of the siren. Not a minute had passed, when one siren after another started to be heard. At that point, one man, who seemed to be in his 40’s, took out his camera and took a picture of the seen in front of him. Three LAPD vehicles and four CHp sheriff units came down. Two of the sheriff vehicles stopped. One stopped beside the blew line tracks, and One stopped at the California hospital. They were driving Over 60 miles an hour. Moments later, an ambulance with two sheriff vehicles behind and another to in front of it, came rushing to the seen as well. The four vehicles were escorting the ambulance. The last thing that was seen was some of the sheriffs moving all traffic away from the area. I am sorry I am not able to include a picture. It came out blurry. I wanted to know what had happened, but nothing was reported in the media. To think I could have been a stringer!

Cuba, A new person ahead

Fidel Castro, One name that will be in the history books forever. Love him or hate him, He has done things that probably very few other people have done. For example, he said that he was not going to be doing what the US wanted. He did this not only by words, but also with actions. A few years ago, I co wrote a song titled, “Two faces on Fidel.” The song is about how Cuba was before Fidel became a dictator and how it had changed during his years in office. It also talks about some of the things that Fidel had to go through to keep his country the way it is now. Also, the song asks a question. “What will happen to Cuba after Castro?” Now, this question is probably in everyone’s mind since he retired. Another question was, “will they be our foe or friend?” Do they think that we are all bad because of what the US did to them years ago? It will be interesting to sea if Cuba will be a bit free. Will Raul be like his brother? Only time will tell. It will be really sad if the country remains the way it is now. I think that the US has to be blamed for part of the situation that Cuba as well as other countries, are in. I will talk about it on another post. I believe that Cuba needs to be free. It is interesting to sea that here we have two countries that are different. Cuba is a country that has little or no freedom. Just recently, they were able to purchase Cell phone contracts, and they were really expensive. This did not include the Phone. This demonstrates that the government thinks that it knows what is right for the country. On the other hand, we have the US trying to make believe that the system that they use is the right one. If we want respect, we need to urn it. Let the US government stop forcing our ways on other people’s throats.