Citizens United, not Corporations United

By now, we all know that the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in 2010 to allow corporations to spend freely in elections.  In the parlance of our times, "Worst. Decision. Ever."  I don't know why this seemed to any sensible person like a good idea for the people of this country; it's obviously something that was cooked up by powerful entities who want to wrestle control of the government from the people (what control we have, that is) and shift it into the wealthy special interests.  The organization CitizensUnited does not represent citizens in the slightest! If the amounts of money spent in recent elections don't already illustrate who's controlling our legislative process, then perhaps we need to wait til the Koch brothers dump some of their billions of dollars into the presidential election this year.  The owners of this site lean so far to the right that they don't even try to hide it, except they somehow mistake serving corporate interests as a "traditional American value":

We pride ourselves on being vigorous defenders of your views and we achieve results using a variety of tools. Citizens United produces some of the most hard-hitting and influential television commercials, web advertisements, and documentaries available. These products delve deeply into the issues that matter most to the future of our country, striking a chord with people that helps awaken them to the importance of a limited government, individual responsibility, free market economy, and traditional American values.

By littering their site with patriotic rhetoric that would seem to speak for the greater good, they create the illusion that this ruling is best for all Americans.

However, I recently found an interesting article in Yes! Magazine which states that "80% of Americans oppose the holding in Citizen United and supports a constitutional amendment to reverse the decision." Yes Magazine details the origins of the case, which was created by Lewis Powell in 1971, shortly before he was selected for the Supreme Court under Nixon.  As a corporate lawyer, Powell championed corporate interests and served on the boards of directors for more than a dozen international corporations.  Hardly a man of the people.

 Additionally, the Huffington Post similarly argues the same, as legislators and citizens both are fighting to change this ruling.  As New Mexico State Representative Mimi Stewart says, "The public is starting to get it."  As I mentioned above, the money is flooding in:

Since the Citizens United decision, there's been an explosion in political spending by independent groups, which are now allowed to accept unlimited contributions from corporations, unions and individuals. Independent group spending set a record in the midterm election year of 2010 -- midterm election years usually see lower spending than presidential election years -- and is on pace to shatter that record in the 2012 election cycle.

 Enacting a constitutional amendment may look like an uphill battle, considering the power behind Citizens United, but I believe it's only a matter of time.

Its Only Common Sense

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/28/us/politics/house-rejects-increase-in-student-loan-rates.html?emc=eta1

As we reach the final hours of the semester, I feel compelled to include the link on this article.  I believe both Democrats and Republicans have forgotten what it's like to scrape by as a college student. Each side is pointing the finger at the other and not showing an ounce of empathy for what it's like to squeak by financially. In the New York Times article, both sides claim they don't want student interest rates to double, but the argument is becoming so old.  Republicans want to cut government spending, while, Democrats want to raise taxes on the wealthy.  Obviously, this is nothing new.  Yet, this strikes me as funny that the Times would even bring it up.  This fight is always the same.  Perhaps we should just lock these folks in a room without five-star restaurant meals and potty breaks.  If politicians can't argue logically, respectfully, and reach a resolution, then to the corner they go.  If they refuse that offer, Burger King is always looking for bodies.   The people, including students, have hired you.  I don't care how much you spent to get this job.  Shut up, and do it!

The article below discusses wide variations in Medicare spending in different states. Uwe E. Reinhardt the article's author points out many tools exist, in the medical community, to regulate physician and hospital spending.  For whatever reason, hospitals and physicians rarely use them.  Understandably, physicians don't like to have their decisions regulated, but at the same time, if you want a job as a physician perhaps it would be wise to recognize you have limits.  Like the politicians, play nice, do your job, or get out.  If we can get more accountability in politics and health care, baby, we would have money to burn.  More appropriately, we would have money to put toward spinal cord injury research.


http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/12/to-control-health-care-costs-trace-the-spending/?emc=eta1

Shameless Self Promotion

I found a fantastic website a few years back that artists can upload to under the creative commons license.  Most artists are fine with people using their music so long as you contact them about it.

I happen to have my own artist page on the site.  Should I boast about my reviews?  How many listens my music has received? Well, what I just did there was a classic Minnesotan passive-aggressive way to toot my own horn, but how about you find out for yourself?

Jamendo Artist Page - "Extra"

The music is more of an ambient soundscape than your typical verse/chorus setup.  Also, all the audio was engineered to work in surroundsound and great with headphones.  If you enjoy it, I'll be posting a new album soon.

What I've learned

I have learned that communication and not just any type of communication but, with social media is a powerful tool to help get a point across. Social Media raises awareness on many fronts and it can make specific communities not invisible any longer. Working with organizations can be challenging. As the organization wants to convey a specific message. For those who do not necessary belong to a community there language may seem insensitive or uneducated. But while we stay with an organization it becomes more clear what they want to accomplish. That way other people's participation helps open possibilities.

Atoms, Motion, and the Void

I've been a fan of of this radio series for some time now.  It's in the format of an old radio show with an older man recounting stories from his younger years and recent life.  Just something relaxing to step away from, people.

Enjoy the summer!

"A Plague of Ice" might be my favorite one.
"The Demon of Lemon of Repulsive Addition" I love how the beginning and the end of this one meet up and tie together.

Some more tools for your Social Media Toolbox

Yes, this is the end...of our elaborate plans, the end.  By this point, we're all masters of manipulating social media, right? No?? Well, not too worry: there are tools out there to help you fake it til you make it.  I ran across two that I wanted to share before we part ways, as they proved helpful to me.

The first is a site called Social Media Examiner; more specifically, I ran through their list of 21 creative ways to increase your Facebook fanbase.  Oddly enough, they don't feel that carpet bombing your list of friends with a suggestion to like your page is effective, and from my personal experience, this seems to be true.  First of all, they says it's obnoxious and you should use it as a last-ditch effort.  (I seemed to have run into something odd, where I naively sent that very request to every friend, but most of them didn't get it.  Very strange.)  They seem to prefer adding your link in your email signature, embedding videos onto your blog or personal site leading back to your Facebook fan page, and adding a link to your fan page in your profile on your personal page.  And yes, that's only 3 of the 21.  Note: this article is now 2 years old, so some of this info is obsolete since FB has changed somewhat since then.


The second one is a source of music called the Free Music Archive.  FMA's library of thousands of songs are conveniently arranged by genre and sub-genre; for example, you can go through their Electronic library and then select Trip-Hop, IDM, or Downtempo.  FMA works through the Creative Commons so artists can upload their music to be shared under a number of licenses that are essentially free, as long as you're not using it for commercial purposes.  CC "maximizes digital creativity, sharing, and innovation" by providing a means to share and access creative works essentially for free, which discourages illegal downloading.  Win-win solution, right?


There you go.  That's all I've got.  Good luck.

Chromebook vs. iPad: Think of the Children

I read this article about how Google's Chromebook is now competing with Apple's iPad (and winning) in Twin cities schools and organizations. Due to it's ease of use and dependability, the Chromebook will be a staple in Minnesota schools.

I think it's a great way for students to learn, not to mention it saves the school money (they cost less than a computer). And since there are so few bugs, upkeep will be much easier. It's hard to imagine a tablet-esk gadget in the hands of every 8th grader since it's not what I grew up with (obviously), but I think it's definitely changing for the better.

However, you have to consider how the companies that make this tablets for schools will use them. Will it be a giant market ploy? Guess we'll find out.

It's Hip to be Square

So if you aren't aware of the work the company Square does, the author  of the article I just read sums it up pretty nicely. "Square has pioneered dead-simple credit-card transactions for the masses via a teensy card swiper that plugs into the headphone port of a phone or tablet and allows anyone - even a school mom running a bake sale - to take plastic."

Now, they've created something known as "Card Case" which allows users to charge things to their card without having to pull out their wallet. It's really cool, and with the increase of Square usage that I've seen, I wouldn't be surprised if more businesses jumped on board.

Read more about here.

Pinterest too public?

I, like many, have a Pinterest account. I resisted for a long time, neither taking the time to learn more about it or to express an interest in any of my friends' pages. But eventually I succumbed to peer pressure and went to sign up. After being put on a waiting list (well, I never!) I eventually got the email ALLOWING me to sign up, and have since begun "pinning." I only just got it a week or so ago, so it's pretty bare.

You can see it here (warning: some boards may NSFW)

Now, while I'm mostly using it for decor ideas, I did want to use it for posting pictures that would help me visualize elements in stories that I write. However I decided against it due to the public nature of the site. Then I found this article on Pinry, a site similar to Pinterest that allows you to post private content. While I haven't used it myself, it sounds like a decent idea. My only beef is, if you want it private, why not just save it on a personal folder. I suppose keeping it on the internet saves you from possibly losing the information or taking up hard drive space. I don't know though, what do you think?

Homophobic? Maybe You're Gay

This article in the New York Times, which describes six studies on almost 800 students, discusses the very probable relation between those with homophobic ideologies and their sexuality. Basically, the tests showed that a significant number of students who considered themselves as heterosexuals were found (through semantic association) to note some level of same-sex attraction.

So, while this article isn't saying that every homophobic person has same-sex preferences that they are hiding, it does suggest that the number is significant enough to note. I have always kind of assumed this was the case for many people, so it's cool to see science backing it up.

What do you think?

Dakota women remebering and honoring

Seven little known facts about the Dakota people

The state of Minnesota was named by the Dakota Nation

Meat and the Environment

"switching from a standard American diet to a vegan diet is more effective in the fight against climate change than switching from a standard American car to a hybrid."

http://www.peta.org/issues/Animals-Used-For-Food/Meat-and-Environment.aspx

Given, this is from PETA's website; an organization which has done much good, and also has many fanatical members who have not helped its cause.

I am curious if there is any existing research into the possible spiritual/psychic effects eating flesh has on the human species.  Given, animals consume flesh.  But we may be a bit higher up on the evolutionary tree branches than ,say, a lion? 

Ancient warriors of widespread tribes and cultures believed eating the flesh of their enemy gave them their enemy's strength.  But does it damage the psyche?

I have heard that, when an animal dies violently, toxins are released (from the hypothalamus), permeating the muscles of the body.  Upon eating that meat, the consumer takes in those toxins, poisoning its own system.

The experience of other cultures shows that eating meat, depending on how it was killed, may have a great effect on an individual's experience here.

http://www.spiritualresearchfoundation.org/articles/id/spiritualresearch/spiritualscience/veg-or-non-veg

I am curious to see what future scientific discoveries reveal about this issue.

All that has changed is the technology

Anders Behring Breivik is accused of killing nearly 70 people in less than 90 minutes.

Breivik said he used meditation, video shooting games and steroids to prepare for the slaughter.

There has been a loud public outcry against video games, and many new stories are indeed pointing to video games as a 'scapegoat' for this fiasco.

I think maybe we should outlaw meditation, instead.

Okay, sarcasm is probably not the most productive response here, but this is an argument that keeps coming up, and I feel it misses the point entirely.

What caused Breivik to kill so many people?  The video games? Was it his simply owning the weaponry and he had no other place to use it?  Or does he have a political agenda that many would label as sick, and he seeks to eliminate persons with belief systems that differ from his own?

Wait, that sounds familiar.

I recently began watching a documentary called Guns, Germs and Steel. This documentary traces humanity's journey over the last 13,000 years, and was so succesful, that PBS created and maintains a website for it.

Guns, Germs and Steel is based upon Jared Diamond's Pulitzer Prize-winning book of the same name, published in 1997.  Within the pages of the book and in the second hour of the film, we hear the story of the Spanich conquistador Francisco Pizarro González.  It tells of how he decimated the Incan royal entourage in the Battle of Cajamarca on November 16, 1532. 

Pizzaro went into battle with:
106 infantry
62 cavalry
4 cannons
12 harquebus

The final damages?  One of his soldiers was wounded, and a slave was killed.  And on that day, in that one battle, Pizzaro and his men killed over 2,000 Incans and took over 5000 prisoners. 

How many hours a day do you think Pizzaro played Call of Duty in order to prepare for such a battle?  I wonder if his man de Soto 'tore it up' on World of Warcraft.

The only thing that has changed in 500 years of human history is the technology of weaponry.  Video games don't kill people.  People kill people because of divisivness caused by fear, greed, and seriously misled and self-damaging belief systems.

So this is my blog post where we are to connect two different websites. I know... it's not much of a leap from guns to guns.

And that's kinda my point.

Web 2.0

I find the argument about whether Web 2.0 is a good thing or if it is "ruining" things to be fascinating.  I don't care what side you're on.

It’s exciting that XML and Web 2.0 are here to allow us to share the web, the world and our ideas around the globe.  Essentially, we have become a global society or our culture has become international/global/flat etc, etc.  Read Friedman if you want to dig into more globalization and how it ties into the web, climate change, globalization etc.  

One of the foibles to this new “society” is anonymity in posting. Sometimes people forget their manners when they post anonymously, but I don't necessarily think that’s always bad thing.  At times an anonymous comment is enough to start a strong initiative for change and more dialog.  Other times it's completely damaging to (as this article puts it) reputations, livelihoods, relationships etc.  I always try to be respectful if I am going to post on a message board, but sometimes it takes me so long to draft a comment that i just give up and move on to another article.  Some people look at responding on message boards as a job.  The article brings up the 90-9-1 ratio and compares the 1% to the heavy users of fast food.  the 1% is the most tracked and the fast food industry does anything they can to find out as much as they can about this "measly" percent.  Anonymity makes it harder to track these posters on the internet. see Pareto principle.

As I said above, I enjoy how things are changing and I'm interested to see what adaptations and changes will take place in human interaction in the future.  I hope I'm ready for the generation below me who grow with better and better technology at younger and younger ages.

BP Oil Spill: Oh, Yeah, I Remember That...

We’re starting to be treated to the aftermath photos of the latest oil spill in our nation’s history. Pictures of deformed fish, shrimp and other sea creatures are beginning to surface as well as articles and videos. I had truly put the whole thing out of my mind until this recent revival occurred. It started with an article from Al Jazeera describing the recent developments:

“Shrimp without eyes, crabs without claws and a fishing industry in decline”.

No, that’s no horrifying at all. Maybe if it was people without eyes, infants without hands and healthy childbirths in decline people like me wouldn’t completely forget or ignore disasters like this.

We talk a lot about awareness in class and believe me, we were all aware that this was going on when it was fresh. With so many distractions in the world in our daily lives and on the internet we can lose touch pretty easily. If we don’t remain aware and remind each other about what’s going on in the world, we may lose touch. 

CSR--It Works!

I've been putting off sharing my views on Corporate Social Responsibility, or CSR.  Mainwaring dedicated a lot of space to this practice in We First, which simply puts corporations--or more poignantly, mega-corporations--into action creating and implementing programs designed to promote sustainability and offset some of the damage they do to communities, cultures, and the physical environment.  (Really, I think at this point in the semester I may release a number of short posts that I've been pointlessly sitting on since they'll otherwise just get stuck in dusty corners of my mind.  What's the point in that?)

While we covered this topic in readings and classroom discussions, I couldn't help thinking about that movie, "The Corporation."  Ever hear of it? If not, rent it now--it is so pertinent to what we've studied about the evolution of the corporate mentality and how they've slowly begun to shift from short-sighted "me first" capitalism towards something that resonates with the general/global public.  If you have seen it, you may remember Ray Anderson, the founder and CEO of Interface, the carpet company that made a huge shift from irresponsibly producing toxic carpet squares to a business model that earned Anderson the name "the greenest CEO in America."  Sadly, as I looked him up on the 'net I discovered that Ray Anderson died in August 2011.  What really impressed me about his commitment to social responsibility was that he managed to still turn a sizable profit in pursuing it:

“I always make the business case for sustainability,” he told the New York Times. “It’s so compelling. Our costs are down, not up. Our products are the best they have ever been. . . .And the goodwill in the marketplace — it’s just been astonishing.”

For me, that proves CSR can work, that it won't destroy a corporation's ability to keep shareholders happy while contributing to a sustainable environment.  Better yet, Anderson took this approach years before it was popular to be a nice guy in business, even though he said he was "still a plunderer, but only two-thirds as much as I was." If only more of his fellow CEOs could share his conviction for sustainability we could see an even greater shift in CSR than what's already happening.

Illegal Downloading is Stealing

The title says it all. Most of us have illegally downloaded something, me included. I’m not proud of the fact, but it’s just so damn easy. You just point and click. In our instant gratification society we’re used to hitting the feeder button and getting the food pellet. What happened to saving your allowance and riding your bike to the record store? In the end, it’s stealing. A good way to make this hit home is the whole “handbag” comparison. You wouldn’t steal a car; you wouldn’t steal a handbag etc. This PSA makes it pretty clear. 

One of the roots to the problem is that you don’t hear about people getting caught. There are very few articles out there showing what punishments are meted out for illegal downloading. The ones that are outline punishments with huge punitive damages 1.5 million dollars in damages? How is a regular Joe supposed to pay those kinds of theft damages back? It just sounds unreasonable and somewhat fake.

It isn’t unreasonable or fake to the artist creating the music or movie. In very real terms, the artist won’t be able to continue making the music you love, because they aren’tmaking any money from their art. Media mogul James Murdoch broke down the financial aspect in this article pretty succinctly when he said,

“It's a basic condition for investment and economic growth and there should be the same level of property rights whether it's a house or a movie,"

Obviously, there’s more to it than the monetary aspect. As stated in the title it’s stealing and ethically wrong. It just doesn’t feel like it because there’s no physical aspect to it.

It’s very difficult to make people understand the fact that it’s stealing on the same level as walking into a store and putting something in your pocket. Obviously, we all know that stealing is ethically and morally wrong. It’s a faceless crime in which people like you and me are being ripped off. That’s often why it’s so easy to download music and movies. With the increase in bandwidth in the recent past, the amount of illegal downloads is starting to hit the movie and TV industries. Larger files are able to be downloaded and shared at much higher rates than even two years ago.

With music and movies becoming available at faster speeds, it’s up to you and your morals to make the decision. If you like the music your favorite artist is making and you like the movies from your favorite director, please think before you illegally download.

Open Textbook Catalog

Have you ever bought the 4^th edition of a textbook because the 5^th edition was $50 more expensive? Depending on the book, publishers renew the edition yearly. Most of the time only extremely minor changes have been made, but professors still require the latest version. For years I have wondered why textbooks cost so much and if there was anything that could be done about it. In an effort to reduce the cost of textbooks, the University of Minnesota has begun opening itself up to open source textbooks. The idea being that the classic algebra one book is just that: classic. Algebra one has been the same for years. Open source allows instructors to edit or add content to fit their individual needs. This article explains that the U will solicit reviews of college level high-volume introductory classes such as math and biology. These text books will be scrutinized and those that pass will be added to a creative commons type area for professors to utilize. The official press release goes on to state that,

“The University of Minnesota should be a leader in enabling faculty and students to benefit from open content and electronic textbook options,” -Provost Karen Hanson.

Also, according to the press release is the scary statistic that students will spend an average $1168 on course materials this school year. Truthfully, the prices of textbooks have often caused me some dizzying sticker shock. How unfortunate that this gets fired up right about the time I’m graduating. Let’s see what we can do about getting Metro State to jump on the bandwagon!

Hmong Farming for the Young.

The Hmong people are refugees from the mountainous area of Laos. Hmong farming culture carried over after their eventual post Vietnam War emigration to the United States. Because this is so rooted into their culture, you can find many local Hmong farmers selling their vegetables, produce and other wares at farmer’s markets around the state and country.

Because of language and cultural barriers Hmong farmers can have difficulty getting information about their crops to market or different larger markets, getting fair prices for their product and enhancing their farming set-ups. I found two articles that shine light on young Hmong farmers trying to remove these barriers in order to encourage current and prospective farmers to expand or start up their own farming systems. The first article is about young farmers in Minneapolis.  The other is about a young married couple in Washington that grew up in California and now farm about 20 acres on their farm.  For both parties in the two articles, they describe farming as being in their blood. With the utilization of new small farms programs, young Hmong hope to keep the cultural tradition of farming alive for generations to come. 

Slactivism (slacker activism)

Slactivism (slacker activism)

“Face book activism succeeds not by motivating people to make a real sacrifice, but by motivating them to do the things that people do when they are not motivated enough to make a real sacrifice”

(Mainwaring pg 155)

I unfortunately think that this is all our group has achieved so far this year. In order for our group to actually be effective in launching some sort of change, face book and other social media sites need to be taken farther and into the street. I think that the blogs and face book are semi effective ways to get the information out there but to enact any real change and make things happen you need to get out there and reach the people that are willing to make a real sacrifice for your cause. I think it’s great to use these media sources as a way to get the word out but I also feel that the bottom line is you need to have that person/s that is willing to make the real sacrifices that are necessary to bring about change.

I don’t think that you can rate the success of blogs, face book, twitter, on how many views and likes you get because its way to easy for someone to read your headline say “WOW” you guys are right the Indians got a raw deal I am all about helping your cause. Then they like it and forget about. I won’t call it completely worthless but more or less I think it is. The only way I think this has any benefit is if you reach the right people that are willing to make the sacrifice for your cause, but realistically I don’t see social media reaching those people, I think it needs to be done through interpersonal communication and when you have found the right people willing to do what it takes and get out of the virtual world, because the real world is where the real changes actually occur. Then and only then, does social media really have the power to exact real change.

Marriage Amendment

My dad recently posted this on his Facebook page:

I couldn't have said it better myself. I have gay family members and friends; therefore I am and always have been a strong supporter of gay rights. Frankly,  even if I thought I didn't know anyone who was gay (cause let’s get real, we all do), I would support gay rights. This topic has always tried to be in the forefront of politics but with issues such as war, the economy, and the environment, it often gets pushed to the wayside.

However, this year in November, there will be a Marriage Amendment on the Minnesota ballot. This amendment will define marriage as one man and one woman. I urge you to oppose this amendment.

There has been an outpouring of social media surrounding this amendment. I Plan to Vote NO to the MN Marriage Amendment on the November 2012 Ballot is a Facebook group with over 25,000 likes. There are thousands of tweets, youtube videos and conventional media articles about this topic as well. 

Even President Obama’s “people” made a statement about this topic; "while the President does not weigh in on every single ballot measure in every state, the record is clear that the President has long opposed divisive and discriminatory efforts to deny rights and benefits to same-sex couples. That's what the Minnesota ballot initiative would do -- it would single out and discriminate against committed gay and lesbian couples”.

This video, makes a lot of very important points about the subject. I urge you to investigate this topic for yourself. 

Fun in the Sun

I made a conscious decision to talk about something fun, since our weather is decent today.  (I won't blather on about misery or monkeys-I pinky swear) I believe, our temperatures are supposed to get to the lower 70’s.  To celebrate this occasion, I've been scouring the Internet hoping to find a 90% off coupon for all of us to use on ice cream at Twin Cities ice cream specialty shops such as, Pump house Creamery at 4754 Chicago Ave, in Minneapolis, or Izzy's at 2034 Marshall Avenue, in St. Paul, to name a couple of them.  Sorry, no such luck in the coupon department.  However, I can give you one justification.  The weather is going to be lousy the next few days, so, enjoy today.

Ice cream has several health benefits.  Yes, I said health benefits.  According to Mobile Life Today, ice cream is rich in calcium, which is great, for those concerned about bone density. (http://mobilelifetoday.com/03/21/health-benefits-of-ice-cream/).  Ten percent of your daily value of protein and calcium is in 1/2 cup serving of ice cream.  If you can squeak by, with your half cup, kudos to you, but you might be stretching the truth a little.  That is okay.  It all comes back to another M-word, moderation.  In an effort to keep it fun, we'll save that for another day.  If you decide to indulge, it will be our secret.  I pinky swear.

Whose Media is it Anyway?

I recently listened to a podcast interview with Joseph Turow on NPR’s Fresh Air. Turow is the author of a book called The Daily You:How the New Advertising Industry is Defining Your Identity and Your Worth, and is a description of the data tracking and mining that is in play in the online world. Much of what is discussed in the interview is nothing new for anyone paying the least bit of attention to what you do online. But what I found really compelling is the long view that his research elicits. Namely, that what we are experiencing now is the infancy of advertising in the online world. What we can expect if current practices get the chance to grow up is a redefinition of privacy. He begins to suggest that the greater concern is no what a company or companies know about you, but rather what they do with what they infer from what they know about you.

In the future, Turow says, you might be placed into "reputation silos" by advertisers, who will then market products to you accordingly.

"It has a lot of ramifications of how we see ourselves and how we see other people," he says. "... And this is part of another issue we have to think about, which is information respect. Companies that don't respect our information and where it comes from are not respecting us, and I think moving into this new world, we have to have a situation where human beings define their own ability to be themselves."

It sort of makes sense doesn’t it? Its kind of an expansion on the advertising signs you see up and down E. Lake St. compared with what you see on W. Lake St. in Uptown. Turow describes this as social discrimination. Essentially, those advertisers are holding up a mirror, which is more akin to a projector screen behind which we know very little about, and at this point don’t much care.

I find it disheartening as I attempt to increase my use of Social Media to further my cause, because my connections have a shadow corporate life over which I have virtually no control.

Smile or You're Fired

I recently the article, "Looking Good On Facebook" at ScienceDaily. To summarize, the article describes a study that was conducted in relation to social media sites, profile photos, and likability. what they found was that the more attractive the profile photo, the more likely the test subject was to like that person/want to friend them.

While it doesn't seem too surprising that appearance would have an impact, because of the way social media is transforming not only our personal lives, but businesses as well, it's becoming a very relevant issue. Suddenly, if your company or employees are being represented online, depending on how their profile picture looks you may have more or less business.

Personally, I think it's ridiculous that people would be biased about such a trivial thing. However, I can see where people may look at a bad photo and have the same reaction as when they encounter a poorly constructed websites, just as this information from Usability.gov describes. They just lose interest, doubt your credibility, and move on.

Does anyone think they've done this/are currently doing this?

Horse Slaughter

                In 2008, the USDA was incorporated in division A of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which banned HSP’s from using government funds or user fees to pay for the inspection. For the last three years this ban and state laws had prevented HSP’s (horse slaughter plants) from starting up in the U.S., but this created a larger problem in that now the horses were being shipped to Mexico and Canada for slaughter which meant that they would have to travel longer distances, in worse conditions, and once they crossed the border the U.S.’s strict regulations that ensured humane practices of slaughter (prior to the ban) were no longer in affect. Canada and Mexico do not have as strict of laws enforcing the humane practice of the slaughtering of horses, which means that the horses suffer a much worse fate. Also without the ability to sell horse’s for slaughter, the amount of neglect and abuse cases where people cannot financially afford to properly take care of these horse’s is on a dramatic rise.

                Just before thanksgiving this year, President Obama was given the option to expand the ban to included horse’s being shipped out of the U.S., by criminalizing the export of all horses or he could lift the ban on government funds for inspection, which would allow HSP’s to receive free government sponsored inspections and use user fees to re-establish themselves here in the U.S. Obama lifted the ban.

We as Americans do not eat horse meat, so the slaughtering of horses for consumption is an abomination in my mind but if the horses are facing a worse fate because they are being treated worse and transported to Mexico and Canada for slaughter the problem still exists.

The big organizations that protect animals are split on what should be taking place. Peta is for the horse slaughter to be brought back into the us because the transport is worse and the humane society wants it stopped all together but when you have the main advocates for animal rights on 2 different sides of the fence getting anything accomplished is a lot harder.

I think that the main groups need to come together and actively work to end it all together, that’s what they want to have happen but when one group (peta) is willing to sacrifice one evil for a lesser one and the humane society is the only ones that are pushing for an end to it all together it prevents any real progress from taking place.

These groups need to figure out a way to come together and some real change can happen.

Links to the peta website and humane society so you can explore the different viewpoints.

http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/horse_slaughter/
http://www.peta.org/b/thepetafiles/archive/tags/horse+slaughter/default.aspx

Asian Carp Must be stopped

The Asian carp are moving up the river into Minnesota waters and have been doing so. This is a huge problem in the video you will see shows some of the dangers and just how sick this problem truelly is.

The fish comes into and area and reproduces like crazy devastating the local fishing population by consuming all the eggs that the good fish and local to the area fish produce and also destroying waterways with their insane jumping in the air when I a boat travels by which has cause many injuries and problems for areas being affected by the fish. Minnesota is all about are rivers and lakes and if we don’t take serious action against these fish it won’t be long before our waters are destroyed and then Minnesota loses its claim to fame and our economy and tourist industry will suffer dramatically.

We absolutely must put a stop to this check out the DNR website and watch this video and lets all launch a social media revolution to put a stop to this!

Dnr website with Asian carp

New Jobs for social media experts

The power of social media is becoming more and more prevalent as we all have learned throughout the course of this class. A random search on the internet for social media jobs produced some serious results.

 I have been looking for jobs and different things that I could do this summer and use the experience that this class and my own personal curiosity about the power and uses of social media. I was amazed to find that there are many top level jobs that pay over 70k a year that really require nothing more than a substantial knowledge of how social media works and how to take everything to the next level. I feel that if I wanted to spend a couple months really engrossing myself a hundred percent into the all the angles and options for social media out there that I would have the skill set to work one of these jobs. Also with the constant changing of all the apps and programs and the new media options that a constantly evolving I think most of these positions will change very frequently and once you are involved you will just evolve with the new media options anyway. Check out this job posting for a position in New York, I don’t see one thing on here that I couldn’t do or figure out how to do in a matter of days. So being a technical writer the option that new media has created for job opportunities is becoming endless.

http://jobs.mashable.com/a/jbb/job-details/685196?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+mashable%2Fjobs+%28Mashable+Job+Board%29

Is it socially responsible or a smoke screen?

In our readings it talks a lot about how big corporations need to become more social responsible and that this is one way that we can have a better civilization and creates a socially sustainable environment.

This makes me wonder about all this and the cynic in me says that it’s all a bunch a crap. Even if these companies are taking steps to become more socially responsible how much of it is just a smoke screen to make the rest of the terrible things they are doing seem less terrible because of the random good things that they are preaching they are doing. To me the majority of it is nothing but just a cover up to make them seem good and then the reality of it yea they are doing these small things good things but they don’t make up for the bad stuff they are doing or fix any of the bad stuff and to top it all off are getting tax breaks or government subsidies for doing it in the first place.

Just as an example, if you look at what BP is doing about their oil spill and the clean up process. You see these commercials that say the area is getting cleaned up again and the communities are recovering and all these wonderful things, and these messages are designed to make you feel good and that they are being socially responsible for the disaster they caused. The reality is the area is still suffering dramatically, and BP has been doing things but you know that it is the absolute minimum that they can get away with and they are using these ads and other things to try and throw up a smoke screen to make people think that they actually care, when in reality that place was devastated and will be for a long time and if BP can convince enough people that they have done some great things and fixed everything then it is a easy avenue to cut and run before the process is really taken care of.

So as good as the process of becoming socially responsible is I feel like it can be more of a manipulation tool to present them as better than they are or cover up some other sort of BS that they are conducting.

KONY Sighting

It looks like someone heard the Kony message and wanted to spread the word this weekend. However, they didn't display the suggested poster. Instead, they took the term "paint the town Kony" a little too literal. A beloved Minneapolis landmark was vandalized in the process.

The well known Spoonbridge and Cherry at the Walker Art Center was the target.

I've never agreed with the people who decide to protest, or spread their message, by being disrespectful. It would be one thing to put a poster on the spoon, but spray paint? I am guessing it probably wasn't someone who was fully behind the Kony initiative. It was probably some kid who thought it would be funny. All and all, it is now going to cost someone money to have it removed. 

I hope they have the color "spoonbridge" in the basement.

To read the full article click here.

Industrial Progress

I recently went looking for a website, blogpost, something on the internet that I could criticize. Naturally the first place I thought to look was Foxnews.com. I also had the good luck of looking on the day that happened to be Earth Day, I figured this would help me find a wealth of articles, or opinion pieces that I could disagree with. 

I did find something. “Earth Day A Reminder of the Benefits of Industrial Progress” The author of this opinion piece, Alex Epstein, ends the article with his main point;

“A real environmental catastrophe would be a world in which we cut down on these things--a world in which we stopped improving the Earth. Let’s not let that happen. Let’s improve our environment through industrial progress.”

He lists various ways throughout his article about how the Industrial Revolution has made the Earth a better place; fossil fuels have made all climates more livable for humans, modern transportation, grocery stores full of healthy foods, the average person lives longer and in better health, etc. I, myself, have a hard time seeing how any of these specific things have made the Earth or nature a better place.

Epstein goes on to say that “Nature, untamed, is not very friendly to human beings. It doesn't give us the food, clothing, shelter, and medicine, let alone leisure time, that we need.” I would argue that humans can and have for a very long time, found all of these things in nature. 

Epstein is presenting such an egoistic mindset that as long as we keep advancing technology, there is no need to concern ourselves with the environment. This is not a mindset I can agree on.  

“We have met the enemy and he is us”?

The biggest threat to privacy is us?

I ran across an article written on privacy law by Alex Kozinski- Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The article was published in the Stanford Law Review.  Kozinski uses an Issac Asimov story to illustrate the fact that in his opinion our privacy is shrinking due to cell phones and the internet. He is basically saying that because we as a flattening society (to use a Thomas Friedman term) don’t take as much care with our privacy as those in the past did that we are becoming more and more subject to governing bodies usurping our rights. Meaning the cell phone is akin to the proverbial cookie-crumb trail, while social media and online activity play the part of our written rap sheet.

I disagree with much of what Kozinski is saying.  Just because I expose myself in one format doesn’t mean that my rights should be trampled on in another format. You know my location because of my cell phone? I don’t have much of a choice to NOT own a cell phone. To say that technology is responsible for the crumbling of the people’s hold on their rights is pure hubris. He makes it seem like my privacy being violated is an inevitable domino effect. I do, however agree that one must be careful about what they post and where. Or not taking their privacy seriously by blabbering in public about weird personal issues into their cell phones. I also agree with the fact that some of us have already gone far enough to the point that our trail may not be able to be cleaned up. In the end, I feel like this is cop-out written by a Luddite from a bygone era, in a position of power that is busy wagging his fingers at us like we’re a bunch of irresponsible children. Though, truthfully, some of us are irresponsible children with our posting.

These are strange and ever quickly changing times. I urge you to think before you post in any and all online formats. In the words of Ice Cube: “Check yourself before you wreck yourself”. Indeed, Cube. Indeed.

Love The Earth

Happy Earth Day everyone!!!

I thought it would be appropriate to write about Earth Day, and find out what others are doing in their day to day lives to be more conscious of their impact on the Earth.

There are a few things that I have begun adapting into my life over the past few years, but now that I am a homeowner, my husband and I have really been trying to incorporate even more greener options into our life.

Below is a list of the ideas I have been reading about on blogs or in magazines. Let me know if you have ideas as well!


Recycle- This one seems so obvious to many of us, but it is not something that everyone participates in. Check out Whole Living's Recycling Handbook.
Use reusable grocery bags as often as possible- I am still trying to figure out the best way to remember these!
Stop buying bottled water- I am currently loving LifeFactory glass water bottles.
Get rid of junk mail- When we moved into our house we received an endless amount of catalogs addressed to the previous owner. We responded and made sure we were taken off the list. It was such a waste to receive every month. (It was irritating too!)
Purchase energy efficient appliances- I think they cost more up front, but the energy and cost savings over the life of the appliances will be well worth it. Also, use cold water whenever possible to wash clothes instead of warm or hot water.
Use rechargeable batteries- We have switched most of ours, but we have a few left to switch out.
Use energy efficient light bulbs- Click here for a complete light bulb guide.
Bike or walk when possible- We live in a township so it isn't as convenient as it is living in the city. We still have a couple of grocery stores within five miles of us so in the spring-fall months we like to bike with our backpacks and pick up our groceries.

Also, I am not sure if you saw that one our very own state representatives referred to celebrating Earth Day as a Pagan holiday. See the full news story on Kare11. This isn't Rep. Franson's first time in the news for saying something a little wonky. She also compared poor people using food stamps to animals. I think the people who voted for her have far too much to be embarrassed about to ever make that mistake again...hopefully!

Recorded brain commands, sent to muscles, may circumvent paralysis

Recorded brain commands, sent to muscles, may circumvent paralysis

The above link discusses some new research being conducted with small primates and implanted electrodes to stimulate muscles instead of utilizing the spinal cord.  If this research is successful,  it may help quadriplegics to regain some finer muscles, meaning smaller muscles in the fingers, to be able to grasp small objects.    Granted, compared to GUSU it may seem like baby steps, but I believe it is important to acknowledge these small victories to keep us focused on the larger goal of eradicating  paralysis.  I recognize this is a long-term goal, but I'm in it for the duration. 

Origins of the Mac network infection

If you were under the impression that Apple products are the way to go because they aren't capable of getting viruses, that is a myth.  Being predominantly a Windows and Android user myself, I've had to live with and learn about computer viruses to maintain my own personal security.  Yes it's true that your risks of getting a virus on a Mac is far less than a typical Windows user's experience, but if you've never encountered a virus on your computer and believe you're invincible, then you're far worse off.

Basically Apple users have been infected with a very clever Botnet virus that causes it's users to do the Botnet source's bidding (See article about the infection here).  What is a Botnet?

A botnet, short for "robot network," and also known as a zombie army, is a group of computers infected with malicious pieces of software that put the computers under the command of remote operators without the legitimate users' knowledge.

- Security News Daily

Instead of laughing at how weak Apple looks to the public from this virus attack with snide remarks, I want you to take a step back from this piece of the puzzle to envision a larger picture.  Because if you think Apple is the underdog to Windows or some small grassroots industry, then your soul has already been signed to them under the terms of usage contracts they continuously update.

The power of Apple is globally united.  Isn't it a little strange that as this virus started to emerge and peak in it's power while Mexico City had a terrorizing attack from a rather dormant volcano?

Overnight on Friday, the volcano emitted a deep roar that could be heard for miles and spooked residents. Experts say the volcano's emissions have been particularly frightening to nearby residents at night because they give the false impression of being lava.

 - Wall Street Journal

Yes this volcano was dormant for decades and emerged as an active volcano in 1994, but consider the fact that "Apple sharply tops analyst projections" in 1994.  Yeah.  Powerful enough to awaken a volcano.

All this and I haven't even mentioned the connection with the Cosmic Ray Origin.  Good evening.

MN Hmong Blogsite

Visit our blog site for the Hmong community at http://hmongmn.wordpress.com/.  Here we'll cover Hmong current events, cultural stories and short films that will help us all get to know the Hmong community better.

Hmong Cultural Center

In 1994, Saint Paul became the home to the Midwest's first Hmong cultural center.  Today the Hmong Cultural Center on University Avenue is home to several services including a research library.  The mission statement of the Hmong Cultural Center is "to promote the personal development of children, youth and adults through cultural education while providing resources that enhance cross-cultural awareness between Hmong and non-Hmong".  This statement is quite evident when you visit the center's website at http://www.hmongcc.org/.

The HCC offers a program called the Building Bridges Program.  This program is a very complete and open access look into the Hmong history and culture.  Curriculum ranges from the Secret War in Laos, Hmong Language, Hmong clans and the refugee influx.

The HCC News link offers stories on Hmong current events as well as links to Facebook and blogs.

The research library can be found at www.hmonglibrary.org  This library includes material on Hmong history, newsletters, articles and journals. 

Little Earth of United Tribes

Working in a store that caters centrally to the construction work force in Minneapolis has really opened my eyes to immediate projects underway in the city I live in.  Riverside is a fantastic example.  Last year I put together hundreds of large orders to supply the Riverside project with ways that they can seal their immediate work spaces to conceal any contamination such as mold, bacteria, and lead.

This year I've been seeing the head contractors that work for Little Earth of United Tribes.  I asked a little bit about what was going on there recently and found out they have been doing quite a bit of building there recently.  I decided to take a drive down 55 to find their location and peek around.  They have a community center that looks like it's worth checking out.  It was closed while I was there, though.

Core Values of Little Earth

1. Reawaken and Strengthen Our Culture.
2. Live Respect and Accountability.
3. Inform and Empower.
4. Expect Education.
5. Create Hope in Countless Ways.
6. Grow Self-Determination.

The workers were telling me that their community's population is something to the tune of 98% Native Americans.  I find this both fascinating and wonderful and at the same time I'm ultimately curious about what that means.  Does the fact that there is a 2% gap of non-natives living in the community mean that they aren't segregating their community off?  I understand the importance of keeping in tune with one's culture.  And they aren't segregating the separate native communities, they are uniting tribes.

See, there's this class I'm taking this semester on Resistance Movements and their struggles against Power.  Are these United Tribes an easy target or are they a strengthened force?  It makes me think of The Indian Removal Act.  Or just about any other thing that the United States Government has put in to place to relocate or remove populations that occupy a location that the Government wants.

What are your thoughts?  Are they relocated here and in their own segregated community.  Does this strengthen their community or make them an easy target?  Myself, I feel like because they are a single large community within Minneapolis they aren't truly segregated and that they are a strengthened force.

Hmong MN group info

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Email=Hmong57@gmail.com

Youtube channel

Social Media and how it effects your brain

We are losing our minds! Literally.

I recently read an article written by Nickolas Carr "The Shallows" and it was talking about what the internet is doing to our brains and how it is changing the way we think and killing our creativity.

This article was very interesting here are a few key points:

                I think that the first point that the story really touches on is the idea that the internet throws so much information at us that our working memory cannot hold it all in. We are overloaded by so many different links and options as we scroll through a page that we never allow the proper time for the information to transfer into our long term memory. When nothing is being transferred to our long term memory we lose the ability to think creatively and absorb the ideas and information that is being thrown at us. If we lose the ability to think creatively then, we lose our ability to explore different options and come up with new ideas and fully understand what the information means that we are taking in.

                The second point is that the test’s that have been done have proven over and over that the skimming of articles and information and the clicking back and forth on links hits us with so many distractions that it that we lose the information we are trying to seek. The people who printed things off and read then through in a linear fashion scored much higher on the tests that the people who had access to many different links and options and more information. The links are actually destroying our ability learn but at the same time offering us the opportunity to learn a lot more information.

              The third point is how this is affecting our brains and the way that we process the information that we are taking in. When using the net our brains switch to the speed mode and by doing so we stop using the part of our brain that allows us to think deeply and creatively. It’s not all bad through. With the way society is and the social medias, the ability to be able to navigate the pages fast and move through information with blistering speed can be very beneficial for you as an employee and can offer you a lot of opportunities that may not be offered if you didn’t have those abilities. The point I liked about that is, “does it make you a better employee?” from what I read, no it does not. It might make you more efficient in certain aspects but your understanding and quality of work are affected by the inability to process the information completely. Therefore when you search and retrieve the info that is desired, that’s all your doing, and by not understanding the information fully because nothing is being absorbed, I think that it is negatively effecting our ability to be really good employees.

             The one point that I found really thought provoking and saw in me is the idea, “That we want to be interrupted, because each interruption brings us a valuable piece of information. To turn off these alerts is to risk feeling out of touch, or even socially isolated.” This section I thought was very interesting because I have felt that feeling before. If I didn’t check my face book, my yahoo, my pof site, and whatever else then I have felt like I was missing out on some event or thing happening and you get this feeling like your being left behind. They also added the line “we crave the new even when we know that “the new more often trivial then essential.” That is my experience with it. I have spent many hours playing on a lot of these site and the more I get involved with them the more I get that feeling that I need to check it out and see what’s going on even though I really don’t care and is mostly non-sense anyway. I have always been an outdoors type of person and have not embraced the internet and social media like some of my friends have but I still have felt those feelings. I was shocked by how distracting those feelings are and how I have sat there refreshing my e-mail and face book page just to look at random updates. I think that it’s ridiculous and eventually I just stop and fade away from it back into woods on a camping trip.  This article I thought was very interesting and I enjoyed reading it. I will most definitely be looking and thinking about these aspects from now when I’m online. I want to be a creative writer and if I lose my ability to think deeply and creatively because I’m constantly bombarded by non-sense, then I lose the ability to effectively do what I love most in the world.

So you should read this article it is very interesting and might change your view points on social media and your brain!

If anyone would like to read this article just comment or e-mail me and i can send it to you i cant figure out how to post a pdf on here as a link and im not sure what website it is from but its totally worth a read!