Blog 24: Reflection on the Class

From my 23rd blogs, I consider my best work #15, 19, 22) why? Because even though all topics are important and helpful to enhance my knowledge, those three especially got my attention because are talking directly to my personal life, and I wanted to give to the reader the real impression that the lecture causes on me.

Blog 15 that is “responding to genetic engineering and the Meatrix”, led me know the real process of the thing that I regularly ingest. And made me realize in another kind of healthier options that I never even had on mind, some of them are: shop in farmer markets and reduce the consumption of fast-food. So the realization that I learn something new and important for everybody was the engine I needed to write and became this blog in popular for the other class :D. Blog 19: In Defense of Food” this at the contrary took me less time to another blogs, maybe because the topic was easy to respond, and maybe because I used a particular way to be away of the margin of the class process. Sometimes the idea of doing something different to the indicated is attractive, so it gave the freedom to be myself and that’s why I consider it one of the best works I did. And the last is  Blog 22 “the story of the stuff” this blog leave me in shock, because I’m also following this ridiculous consumption circle, and I didn’t know that, I just said in that blog that I am the responsible of all of this bad system and at the same time who suffers the consequences. This blog was different, because wasn’t an essay, but in the answers I try to express how I’m feeling of all of that.

Writing online was really different from other writing experiences I had in the past, actually was the first time I use internet to a writing class here and in my country, and I enjoy a lot. I don’t know why, but I found it easy, fun and not as painful as it should be.

Writing in blog is a great idea, because I can compare one to another and challenge me to do much better the next one. Also I have the option to read another classmates works, and check what I did well or what not or just get an idea of some topic when I am stuck in it. That’s why I think that writing online was a share activity.

Something I was afraid when we start with writing online was the idea that another people could read my works, it made me felt frustrating at time to write an essay, but when I look another blogs and find another error in grammar and redaction, I felt some comfortable and I stopped feeling under all of them. Now I know that some of them read my jobs looking for the same I look sometimes, as idea to keep going, and now it make me feel good.

I like all of the topics of the class, because were connected to my personal life, enriching my knowledge and points of view of specific and simple things as eating habits. So I do not change any unit of the semester. If I had an idea in mind that I want to talk, I would hesitate to express it.

There was only one thing that I noticed was not the better subject to emphasize as much in class “the black people and white people again and again, in other words (racism issue)” I know that is something that the society in general cannot escape, but this was part of the units like three times or even more and caused discrepancies between the class, and it is not comfortable. But, I have to explain that it doesn’t bother me, I have eyes, I know what happen in the society and I also know the big difference and privileges between one to another, but since I cannot do anything I just stay in the line. It’s only a suggestion to teachers for future difficult students as some of my classmates.

Well, coming back to the questions, about the strategies I can ensure that I didn’t waste my time in this class, I learn a lot. Because I can see the progress that I have now and compare with the last year works and being sincere, I couldn’t write without write first the idea in another paper in Spanish and then translate it, was like impossible to me to create a coherent paragraph in English. That’s why I say that I much better now thanks to the strategies of Dr. X.

The all class, every Monday and Wednesday was a good experience, I found so interesting the topic of the day, Dr. X always find the way that I could understand what was going on in the class if I was lost. So there was no just one moment, all semester was memorable. And even though Dr. X don’t recommend do not chose her class in 101 because I surely fail, I’m thinking seriously to take the risk to lean much more as this semester.  

As a recommendation for students who plans to take this course is trying harder to do the best, open the mind to the suggestions, the new options, comments, and become all of this in an essay.

Blog 23: Sleep Dealer

In the movie “Sleep Dealer” Memo, that is the main character, says at the end of the movie, “maybe there is a future for me at the edge of everything, a future with a past if I connect and fight” the first impression that his words could cause is, fight against the soldiers to avenge his hometown, because of the desolation, dryness that the new machinery system of the U.S caused to them, but actually the real meaning of this words was fight against the new technological system, that is damaging the population for their convenience. According to the movie, the place that is affected is Santa Ana, with the retention of their water due to the constructions of a big dam is forcing them to buy it; becoming this land dry and in a difficult situation for growing whatever plant in their own lands or territories. One of the ways he will suppose to fight is as simple as growing corn and beans in a city, as given welcome back to the lost natural world.

In the movie technology is trapping people in their own dreams. Bringing them the possibility of live the American dreams at home. Giving them the impression of living a great advance work, where they are the beneficiaries and also are unaware that the victims are themselves. The nodes, that are the duct connection, are like a vacuum machine that extract all their energy for a 12 hours daily, and causes them debility and sickness. That’s why in this fight is at stake the freedom of the humanity. This could be the possibility to open new doors to the real, natural and worth things.

I can realize that this is not just a science fiction movie created to receive an award or to be ranked among the best in its genre. This movie is a warn of a possible near reality that the world will be facing in the future, with the purpose of avoid what American’s don’t need in their country, which is poor people working personally to survive and improve their lives. That’s why this is not just a fight, this is a sad situation that we can see nowadays and must finish once forever; and someone need to start doing something, and in the movie was Memo, who can be that person in the real life? That’s why I say again, this is not just a movie, this is like an invitation to wake up now and begin with the fight for what people need. The Freedom and Respect.   

Blog 22: The Story Of Stuff

Annie Leonard: "According to those exploiting the planet's resources to make stuff, the people living in the countries with the resources do not have value because they don’t own the resources even if they’ve been living there for generations, they don’t own the means of production, and they’re not buying a lot of stuff  

Who/What is responsible for this reality?

The responsible of the reality are consumers, which mean us, the people who support these damages.

a.      

Who/What benefits from it?

The only benefited from this abuses against the environment are the governments and corporations, who takes advantages of people using them in their factories with low wages and highly exposition to contamination'.The main reason of the benefactors of these sad situations is to obtain profit through product that is covertly killing us.  

b.      Who/What suffers because of it?

Which suffer most from this abuse is our beautiful planet; the 80% of the world has been disappeared because of their necessity to produce new stuff to sale. And of course the other victim of this abuse is people, most exactly the poorest who don’t have another option to survive than work for those exploitations even against their liking.

c.       Is this reality necessary?

How could be necessary to kill ourselves? Of course is not necessary, we can live without all that electronic stuffs, without all of the innumerable products are the markets. If we turn the view fifty years back, we can see how people lived happy with their families, with one, two or three option in the market to consume, and actually, that generation was healthier than ours. That’s the proof that we can survive without this all unnecessary consumerism.

d.      Is it right? 

The above answers respond for me this question. This isn’t right, why? Even though we now do not pay a lot attention of the consequences of these disgusting events, we are now feeling the changes in the environment, in our health and all of these new lifestyle, that affects everyone even if someone don’t wants to be enroll.  

Blog 21: The New Industrial Migrants

Isn’t something unknown that people from Mexico, Central America, and South Asia used to come to United States looking for new job opportunities, trying to find the way to improve their lifestyle, this is the middle-class American life that the meatpacking companies in Colorado around 1980’ was offering to the workers. In the article “The New Industrial Migrants” Eric Schlosser says that this good situation just was possible at 80’, because years later this situation turn to abuses that nowadays are seen with the employees, such as poverty wages, with a payment for hour of $9.25, which force them to share rooms in old motels, sleeping on mattresses that cover the floor, providing them a low-class American life. As if this were not enough, health insurance is now offered to workers after six months on the job, vacations pay, after a year, but most of the workers will never get that vacations. It is disgusting how people pass over people just for profit.

Employees are been exploited for the turnover rate, and in some plants, about a third of the people cannot read or write in any language, becoming in the weakest and most prone of being affected for this policies “Greeley”, which is the name of the California’s meat company that is referring the article, is firing and hiring people several times a year, while are keeping in mind that they don’t pay them insurance until one year of labors. Ironically, this is a “great” business where the rich gain through the abuse of the poor undocumented. And people still saying, that in the U.S all in under the law and fair.     

Blog 20 Reflection on Food unit

Some of the principals’ things we do in school are to enrich our knowledge. And not only in a specific major, our health and bad eating habits are also a great issues to learn. That’s why I found this unit so interesting.

To realize about the way I’m treating my body and how far of the reality I was about fast food; is something that I thanks to Dr. X., because it was becoming part of my regular diet. And since we start talking about hamburgers I stop visiting McDonalds, although I admit that sometimes I feel a desire to go back again, but at least I’m trying to expulse that kind of food of my constant diet. ;D. So, This unit teach me something valuable forever. Actually I already gave some recommendations to my cousin about it and about the water, too.   

About my writing ability I can’t say much, because I walking so slow in the track, but at least I’m not stopping my steps, although sometimes I feel that the easier thing is give up, I don’t have it as an option.

My CAT #3 wasn’t good, maybe because I came late and I didn’t have enough time, or maybe because I still using the wrong way to write, or maybe both. So in the last blogs most exactly 19, I started using a little different way. well I used that way since half of blog 17 to blog 20, but I focus my "new way" in 19. Perhaps this is kind similar and anybody can notice the difference, but actually I feel that it was ME who was writhing that blog. I don’t know if that way is right, maybe not, but at least I get the chance to try it.    

In the last unit, I didn’t write Blog 13 Rewrite CAT #1, and I have two reasons of why, first I didn’t have enough time because that week I started working and I was exhausted. And second I found really really difficult to find another kind of examples, ideas, and to write it in a different way. I don’t know if the reason was that I was too tired to even think about it, or I found the topic particularly difficult to do it again. Somebody in the classroom told me that I can write blog 13 and I will get the credit for that, actually I didn’t heard about it, so, I don’t believe it, but I will do it, not for the credit, but as a practice that I knows that I need really urgent.

Well, as a conclusion I don’t have something different to say than thanks to Dr. X for that helpful unit that I found interesting and productive. Actually I’m a person who don’t forget a suggestion if it is referent of my health or my life. But you miss something… the gastronomic show as an example of good food” but don’t worry it’s not late hahaha… :D

Blog 19: In Defense of Food

The first recommendation of this passage reminded me of my great grandmother (God rest her soul). Almost ten years ago. When she stayed at dawn in my home for several days, and she started scolding me because my breakfast was Kellogg’s Corn flakes instead of eggs, corn cake, bread and hot chocolate, and so on. This was her regular breakfast every day. She felt really disappointed because the cereal was sweet and according with her beliefs, it will cause me diabetes in less than two years. I loved my grandma, but I hated when she started with her argues early in the morning. But later looking by internet, and according to some nutrition books in school, recommendations on TV and doctors in my medical appointments, makes me think that she wasn’t so far from reality. Well maybe I will not get diabetes in two years, but is true that cereal isn’t a best option to implement in my daily diet. Michael Pollan in this passage convinces me once again that my great grandmother was right. And I can deduct that these new kind of nutrition are not exactly what my body needs to enforce with the real nutrition process.

The enormous quantity of unpronounceable and unknown ingredients that a single product contains to achieve a specific taste is very common, and as Pollan says, “These characteristics are necessarily harmful in and of themselves, but the food have been highly processed”. So, People including me, need to be aware of that, because now we know that processed food is not a good option to get the appropriated nutrition. Therefore, products that contain strange ingredients over time become toxic to our body; even though, of how reliable it could be from markets or ads, we need to exclude them from our diet. So, What is the reason of many advertisements about implement organic products in market? Well. Is nothing else than make us realize that we need to reduce the possibility to consume strange substances that the body will reject and react in a unfavorable way through the time, for example the canned food in general is created to make easy and faster the possibility to prepare a meals, and for many people it has a better taste than the natural one. It could be true, but what about with all of those weird ingredients that contain to perceive them for most than one year? Is it favorable to insert them to our body through their consumption? The answer isn’t positive, or at least is what I heard from the Colombian news the last year. In health section a doctor shows a higher probability to get cancer because cans come in contact with fluids, salts and acids themselves of foods that contain, and that produces oxidation and chemical reactions that release toxic substances.

 

So isn’t a good idea to play games with our nutrition. And we can start using some of the suggestions that Pollan cite in the passage like be out of the supermarket whenever possible and try to frequent and shop in farmer markets which probably will offer natural products, with their expected nutritional content, and not food harvested long ago and far away. Eat mostly plants, especially leaves is a healthful suggestion to implement a vegetarian diet in our daily eating option. 

Actually I cannot find a better conclusion that citing the last suggestion that Pollan presents in this passage which is to “plant a garden. Eat complete meals, at a table, if possible not alone. Eat slowly”. Those once again are the grandma recommendations for a good alimentation, nutrition, digestion, and respect for bodies. And it was something she was taking seriously, which even had an orange tree planted in the backyard. And we had specific hours to eat together, and quietly. And I’m sure that not only my grandma was like that. I can ensure that most of grandparents take really serious the idea of health, and many parents still keeping those habits and remain support the idea of the harvest or at least shop nutrition directly in the farmer markets to serve health to their family and do not kill them slowly with fast-food.

Blog 18: Summarizing and Responding to "Where the Whale be At?"

How come American people in general, announced the end of the segregation race on 1965, if we still living in it? The only think that is different is the law, but the situations in most of the cases is kind similar of those days. Every single fact presented by Terry J. Cole in the article “Where the Whale Be At?: The Place of Race & Racism in the Discussion of Environment” confirmed it. As an example, one of the facts he cites is “over 870000 of 1.9 million housing units for the poor sit within a mile of factories that reported toxic emission to the environment protection agency”. Isn’t the government that provides them? Is a disgusting reality, and even more for colored people how live day after day the unpleasant situation of be excluded of the society.

But something that causes me anger was to know that not only the exterior society such as people in street, subway and so on, is who are taking out them. The real and important discriminators are the public entities like hospitals that according with Cole facts “People of Color usually receive outdated or less aggressive treatment for medical disorders than Whites” and worse, “black males who suffer a stroke or cancer have a 95% greater chance of dying than white”. This is horrible; we went back to the Jim Crow law? Or it was just a lie camouflaged? Effectively, we need to create a real conscious with these situations, even if you we are black or white, it has to stop. Because the most affected are the children who grow in an oppressed situation and through the time that anger will be reflected in their violent attitude, and the vicious cycle begins again without end.

Every paragraph of this article has facts to reflect that sad reality and create to the reader an unpleasant feeling of frustrations and powerlessness about the injustice done with them. And it’s not a pleasant topic to extend this response. Why? Because this is an issue that not everybody wants to talk, this is a reality that we found uncomfortable to process, now. Can we imagine about how could be the feeling of the colored people who have to live it every day? Think about it, and give to yourself the task of searching for a solution that even if small, may help end this ridiculous discrimination that offends everyone. 

Blog 17: Summarizing and response to “The End of Overeating”

In the article “The End of Overeating” of David A. Kessler which is a commissioner of the Food Drug administration, is talking about how processed food is created to develop addiction of people. And I agree with him because the gigantic amounts of sugar tend to push the body to increase their consumption. And also the artificial and attractive flavors are creating a simulated addiction. Which are harmful for humans encouraging the body to create constant anxiety as drugs does.

Processed food contains gigantic quantity of sugar which tends to increase in human bodies their necessity for consumption and through the time create some addictions that will be harmful for health. Human body tends to be accommodated and react to the way we treat it, making people some of the times victims of addictions. For example the chocolates like “Hershey’s” with their delicious flavor tempts consumer to buy more than one, or at least to buy the biggest one constantly. And few months later the same consumer will be rise their portion or dose, reducing them their health quality and incrementing the necessity for sweet products because chocolates are not enough yet. The most prone to get addictions are children, because of their inclinations for sweet products make their parents to buy different sweet cereals, cookies, milks, juices, and so on, with different flavors just to follow their whims and make them happy without think in the real important thing as their health. The highest amount of sugar creates a reaction on the body which isn’t healthy, such as diabetes, obesity, among others. That’s why Sugar is considered one of the most silent enemies that human body has if people don’t learn how to manipulate.

Continuously we found in the supermarket between consumption products the processed food that nowadays has a big importance in the market, with attractive artificial flavors created to catch the people attention and push them to increment their consumption. And I put myself as example of a simulated addiction that I mentioned above. I really like Sweet Plantains Chips and I feel that I cannot eat just one, and always I bought minimal three packages, and I cannot avoid think of buy one every day when I walk around the grocery, this anxiety is because of their “good taste”. Actually I know that the flavor isn’t real sweet plantains, but the anxiety is bigger than my conscious of artificial. And the same might happen with some people with Doritos, Potato Chips, Oreo Cookies, among others. All of them contain highs amount of sugar, salt and oil camouflaged among known and unpronounceable ingredients which are harmful for human body and will create inappropriate reactions that thought the time will become an illness.

            Something that create an addiction need to be treated, and excluded from our lives. Either drug or food, so why do not start right now that we are getting the chance to know the truth about it, and getting the real fact of how harmful their regular consumption could be? I know this is not easy, but I also know that isn’t impossible, so I will leave you the concern there and I will start with my anxiety from now, too.   

  

Blog 16: reviwing CAT # 2

In the article Imitation of film: Here's smoking of you, kid. Nicholas Balakar says that children feel the desire to smoke because of the influence of movies. I agree with him because children tend to repeat actions that will make they feel independent or adult. Also children prefer R-rated movies which contain a lot smoking characters and scenes. And finally the exposure of children in smoking scenes on movies is inducing them to try and stay in that habit.  

Ages most prone to ideas and influences are 10 to 14, is when children are tending to demonstrate to the world that they are completely independent.  And they start getting some attitudes that will make them feel adults such as smoke. This is a bad habit prominent of movies, which attract children attention sometimes with fantastic stories solved for the main character with a violent fight and some other times with cunning of the villain to prepare the attack. Some of these characters has smoking scenes becoming in children mind the perfect thing to imitate and feels like them.

Dr. James D. Sargent, and a professor of Pediatrics at Dartmouth Medical school realize studies to 6,522 children about their movies preferences, and the result was that children use to start viewing R-rate movies at about fourth and fifth grade, and that kind of movies use to have various scenes with smokers. Actually the children anxiety to do what is banned for them such as watch that kind of movies is as continuously as the smoking scenes in that ones, for example the movies related with casinos, gangs has a lot smoking scenes and the characters who smoke many times are the leaders and has the ability to fix or win the fight. This is the perfect person to follows as much as possible for children.     

But these problems not only affect viewers. Many R-rated movies have children in their characters, which are directly involved in that environment and are most prone to get addiction against with those who don’t have the possibility directly. The misunderstood of children about what is real and the nearest contact with awesome scenes and characters into the movie, induce them more to follow their actions and attitudes which regularly contain cigarette and smokers. If people wants to create solutions of that problem, movie directors must stay aware of this damage, and think twice at time to decide to include kids in their projects ,and  don't let them live some in appropriated experiences at their short ages.

Our society is walking so difficult ways with the children behaviors and bad habits that we need to start fixing, or at least controlling with activities that can catch children attention, and maybe decrease these sad reality.