Open Mic Night

Open Mic Night was a lot of fun. There were a lot of talented people who performed and the crowd was very welcoming. I had the opportunity to MC this event and That was an experience. I was told that i did a good job, but, as the saying goes, there is always room for improvement. There isn't much more that i can say about this event other than I was blown away by the talent. I couldn't believe how many poets were there and how many singers. We are supposed to be doing this again sometime in the near future and i really want to be the MC again.

Catrina vs. California Wild Fires

I think that the government should have been more prepared for Katrina for 2 reasons. One is that Katrina was a storm that was able to be predicted and prepared for. Two is that it was water that hit New Orleans. Water can be floated on by new devices that we have called boats. The wild fire that is happening in California should have been more difficult to respond to considering the fact that it is a fire. There are interesting properties about fire that I must discuss. One, fire is destructive. Two, fire is hot making it difficult to get close to. Three, wild fire is random meaning it is completely unpredictable. Fire verses water. Lets see. Fire clearly should be more difficult to battle. I think the difference in the effort made to address these disasters is the way the two areas affected are viewed. New Orleans is, and has been, seen as poor. And california is...California. the difference in the way these two areas are viewed reflects in the amount of effort put forth to save them.

In a Time of Crisis

If I had five minutes to get out of my house and grab my most valuable possesions I would grab my wallet because it has my most valuable possessions in it. Then I would grab my personal rap/poetry books. I would attempt to grab my pc tower because that has a lot of important things on it as well. Since I probably couldn’t manage my pc I would grab as many clothes as I could from my dressers and closets and pack them into my dirty clothes basket. I would sit my pc on top of the clothes along with my stereo and mp3 player and my books and I would sit my things out side. Since I would probably have about 3-4 minutes left I would try to help my family get what ever they wanted to get out of the house.

Can I Have a Hug?

There was an article recently that talked about schools taking steps to ban hugs on the grounds of inappropriateness. I don’t think that this action is necessary because a hug is innocent. If there were other things such as groping or inappropriate touching then that should be reprimanded. Banning hugs from schools is depriving children of their freedom of expression. Hugs say a lot of things such as, I care, and how are you. Hugs also offer comfort and can potentially make someone’s day. Hugs are not dangerous or inappropriate unless other things in combination with the hug occur in which case serious action should be taken. But banning hugs will ill prepare children for the real world. The act of Banning hugs and making seem inappropriate only makes them inappropriate. People are intrigued by what is taboo and making hugs taboo will only make them more appealing.

Casinos in Philadelphia

I disagree with the casinos in philadelphia because they will do more harm than good. They will cause serge in crime, poverty, debt, and countless other problems that will result from those problems and so on and so forth. Casinos also promote bad habits such as drinking and gambling (obviously). These habits will intern be passed on to future generations. These problems are little daunted in the face of the minute positives like lower taxes because there would be a need for more police and public services to keep up maintenance and what not. This Casino itself would be a target for crime and prostitution. Philadelphia would end up like Atlantic City because, in my opinion, it does not have the potential to be like Las Vegas

Stop and Frisk?

I can definitely agree with the stop and frisk method of law enforcement under two conditions. The first is that it cannot turn into stop and harass because that would be a breach in the constitution. You know the part where it says something about equal protection of the law for all citizens. I also think that the black community should be behind this because that’s going to be the area most affected by this policy. on that note I believe it is the mayors job to inform these people properly about this policy and honestly make sure it doesn’t turn into stop and harass because that’s the main reason that black communities are opposed to it. I would be opposed to it as well if I would be frisked with no probable cause

Should Contraceptives Be Given To Middle School Girls?

Give birth control to middle school children who ask; they are obviously in need of them. although this may cause a serge in sexual activity amoung the young children, it will at least be promoting healthy sex habbits. One problem is that parents won't know about their child recieving the contraceptives or of their childs sexual behavior. It is nave to think that children will tell their parents about their sexual activities. Children do the opposite and try to hide this from their parents under lock and key. So there is no lost or gain in that area. I think giving out contraceptives promotes healthy sex. If i found out that my little sister was taking contraceptives I wouldn't be happy but I wouldn't necessarily tell my parents either. I would encourage her to tell them. I would make sure i could stay in a position where i could advise her an know what she is up too. This way if things get out of hand I could stop it. If I were given contraceptives (condoms) I wouldn't care at all. It would be my choice to use them or not. I think I'm old enough and responsible enough to know how and when to use them.

Not all Pop Culture is Bad

Not all popular culture such as rap is trash. Rap artist common is praised by billboard.com saying,” The socially conscious rapper formerly known as Common Sense has been drawing respect for his honest and colorful street poetry ever since his debut in the early 1990s.” Common is following the same trend as Langston Hughes by writing poetry about the things he sees around him. Screen writer M. Night Shyamalan uses symbolism and foreshadowing and literary twists that are brought to life in movie form. These are all things that one would find in a novel or poetry compilations. This is no more trash than the things that preceded this modern “trash”. These modern linguists merely imitate those who have come before them. Unconventionality is not trash but simply a different approach at the same thing.