Sunday, May 18, 2008

Rainy Books.

I have once again, visited a new library in manhattan. The weather though was not so great, since it was raining with showers. Unfortunately i wasn't prepared for the rain, and had no umbrella with me. The rain made me and my group hard to find the library, the people who i teamed up with were Helen, Hema, Noel, Nick and Dino. When we finally found the library, we all hurried inside, and dried ourselves with patting our clothes. This was so we wont mistreat any books with the moisturness of our hands. We needed this to see what type of books were shown on each floor. The first floor was basically for computer use like the second floor. But in here, there were mostly articles. The second floor had encyclopedias and a room with exzhibits. The most exciting floor was i think the third floor. In here, we went inside a room, where it seems as Music was there objective to teach. There was a piano that didint work, and in the back there were books and articles of music eras or bands. There were also books of movies.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

A South American Matrix

As a little kid, I had always been interested about every society’s origin. I have asked people philosophical questions when I was young, mostly parents and grandparents, and was not happy with the answers I had gathered by the end of everyday. Answers such as the myth of Adam and Eve were always used for there response, or following certain rules to not end up in hell after we die. My first itch over sociology I had was when I was ten years old, and it was on why people looked different from each other, when there were only two genes in the start of humankind, according to there religious responses. I grew up, and finally learned that religion has been used for centuries to influence people in living the “righteous way”. My race strongly lives by religion, Mexico, a catholic nation, due to its founding father, Spain. Meaning, geographically, I am not supposed to be Mexican, but part of the Mesoamerican civilization formed in the capital of Mexico City which was the Aztec Empire. This was the start of my interest over liberal arts, sociology and other topics that can get me closer to the origin of humans.As I have mentioned before, religion was the most successful method, into influencing or better yet, forcing, the people into living off rules from a nation for the fact that, it was portrayed as being sacred. The Spanish Inquisition is a huge example that supports this theory believed by many others besides me. On the primary years of this era, the inquisition was very fervent over converting Muslims and Jews into Catholicism. This epic lasted from 1478-1834. The people that used to convert others into this religion were called reconquistadors, they either tortured there enemy till they renounced there old religion, and if not, then the enemy was killed due to him being sinful and not accepting god. When Cristopher Colombus sailed to the Americas, he negotiated with Spain, and was provided with the ships La Nina, La Pinta and Santa Maria. On these ships, there were conquistadors ready to gain territory in Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire.This here is the start of the Latin American matrix, the conquest of certain people following another nations rules. Obviously, Indian Americans retaliated over this, but they had no defense over gun powder. Now this geographical area treats the Spanish inquisitions religion sacred, something to pass there kids to believe in and live by. The spirit of this was widely spread by supposedly, a Mexican Indian who had an imagery or the actual appearance of Virgin Mary. He then told his people, and soon his village worshipped the Virgin Mary and catholic church. This is why the Virgin Mary is the most sacred saint in Mexico. Now that religion is strictly followed by the progress of ones nation, there is also other factors to set up into keeping the soul and conquest of The Matrix. Resources are very important to the matrix, it’s the whole point of it. To live by and take as much materials it or they can find even if its up to genocide a nation. The same way the people were slowly dying in the matrix, and converting into batteries. The example of Batteries in the movie matrix is a strong metaphor to the people that live in the matrix. For the fact that the matrix can not work without blinding people, and its people, a battery, has no function without the matrix for the fact that they don’t know how much power we have inside us without the matrix giving us tasks to work by. Farmers in south America started to soon loose there land, and migrate to other rural areas of the city. This can be the modern matrix. People that had no other alternative started to soon immigrate to other lands. A treaty that can be significant to this problem is the North American Free Trade. Carlos Salinas De Gortari is the former president. During the period of his presidency, Mexico was vastly poor, he caused huge immigrants to move to the united states. After he left he signed the treaty that legally permits the trade of farms with the United States, Canada and Mexico. Mexico is the second leading Spanish country, this we know because of how the media mentions it when speaking of south Americans in general, like amnesty discussions. In having partnership with Mexico’s agriculture, other south American nations would also be affected on the purchase of agricultural needs being expensive due to the treaty’s taxes and tariffs. Carlos Salinas is a huge controversy over stealing money from his own country, and having a brother in a drug trade conviction between Mexico and the United States. Agriculture is also very important to the progress of a nation, for the fact that it’s how one survives. By this, farms have been used for goods, such as European goods and providing needful resources while paying useless resources a third world country doesn’t necessarily need. All that’s being done now is building up with resources that are being converted into European goods. Like a lakoste shirt, that is usually made by Peru’s forest’s (trees) and is produced though by Europe. The media is another important factor. A modern method into keeping the people informed by what The Matrix wants to portray. Not one brand of clothes from any south American country has been widely spread like European brands are done. This is because Media disapproves of certain groups to give a positive image to its viewers. People who watch this buy the goods without knowing who is being harmed, and who is being contributed. The news is something important to media. For the fact that it’s what we live by in modern day world, besides the religion Europe had brought to the Americas. Music as well, advertising goods, so that young people can support the matrix. This here is inevitable to stop, we have seen through the struggle of Che-Guevara. Who was killed by Bolivians trained by C.I.A. his fingers were cut, to give anybody who has tried to change the matrix, a message of fear. Cuba is the only country to escape, but sadly was not supported by other nations for the fact of them being funded by other superpowers. The way Mexico signed the North American Free Trade. Ernesto’s primary goal was to free South American indigenous from there oppressive puppet democratic nations. This goal was not reach, therefore we have people immigrating to the United States, living like slaves for the fault of there own nation, and super powers. Once again, capitalism would not survive without people aching for help. The same way the United States was built, from having people immigrate to have freedom of religion, to European immigrants and south Americans seeking a way to live properly. We have no control over this subject for the fact that the matrix is connected with its masters of the world.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Manhattan Libraries

The Library in manhattan was a great help for gathering basic information. At first learning and using the library in LaGuardia or any other Queens Public Library was useful. Though they dont provide information like the NYPL Humanities Research, or the Midtown Manhattan Library. It is more convenient to work on any research in the Midtown Manhattan Library on my perspective. For the fact that i take time on information whenever I do a report. The reason I'm saying this is because in NYPL Humanities Research, We are not allowed to check out books, though it holds more information. Midtown Manhattan Library has sufficient information for a legitimate research paper. It is full of valid resources on each floor. The most useful floor related to my research paper is the 5th floor. For the fact that it has the common information of what is needed with my project. Like history, my ideas and facts would be based on historical events to prove my point. The sucject of Law is also in this floor. I would try and defend of what i speak of with laws. Like our first ammendment that protects our freedom of speech, by indivuals and Press. Of what we speak of is based on Philosophy.Philosophies such as the teachings of Socrates, revealed by his student Plato. On the fourth floor, i would basically use to record my research or information i have gathered for the day. Because in this floor, all is used for is computers. It is to type and do research online, but internet research i can do at home. These are the floors i would use the most in my research, the others i can also use, for example. If i need visual facts, i would go to the 3rd floor, where i can find magazines, art, and photographs. The second floor is not valid for my research, except for the various encyclopedias it has. The first floor can be used to check out books based on topics for my research.

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Saving Trees

There are many ways to prevent our planet from global warming. I have started to use my plastic bags, if it is not being used for disposal of garbage. I usually bring something to eat for school and work, before I always used a plastic bag, and threw it. Now I have considered into buying a small lunch bag. I would prefer purchasing one that doesn’t look too childish for me. Driving is one of the biggest problems here on earth. It pollutes the air, and needs a lot of factories to make the cars, that also pollute air. In my part for this situation is to not drive. Living in New York City gives us all the advantage of transportation, due to there immaculate service all around in the city. I’m upset over smoking, which I have now controlled myself. Before, I used to buy packs, and not care of where I threw the butts, till I learned that these butts are contaminating our water’s and provoking dangerous situations in the marine ecosystem. Butts are treated like any other debris for me now, the same way I keep my garbage when in the beach. Though I don’t go to the beach at all, due to the nasty color the water has…sea water is not supposed to be dark. Cigarettes pollute air the same way it pollutes my respiratory system. This is an issue I myself must overcome, which I’m doing now slowly by not purchasing packs anymore. Energy also needs to be saved, therefore keeping the lights I don’t need in my house turned off is a way to save up our electric energy. Recycling is also very important, this I have been doing since jr high. From throwing plastic bottles, to papers, old glasses etc. It’s hard to keep this truce in any household. But fortunately, I take care of the garbage, so I set apart recycling from any other very carefully. Especially recycling lithium batteries, these batteries can cause vast pollution over there chemical leakage, and cause a problem in messing up the ecosystem. Before learning about global warming, I used to love television. Television takes up a lot of energy, so now instead I reduced the time I spent in watching television, I rather now go and play my favorite sport, which is handball. Doing everything on the internet is now becoming huge, this I think can also help trees. Hopefully, we would never have to use paper again, and do everything by mail. As of now, my school work is fortunately all by the internet, so im not using much paper. Though I did have a problem with my boss, in my job, we are told to do a lesson plan over 5 pages. I have told her my belief, and at first she rejected thinking I was orally presenting my work to her. Instead, I told her that it would be much better and faster if we were to do our lesson plans by E-Mail. This interested her for the fact that, it is much faster for the staff to present there lessons to her e-mail, so she can reply them back with whatever they did wrong. I have not only motivated myself into saving the planet, but also my boss, and even involved my whole staff into saving some trees.

Friday, March 28, 2008

Morning At The Musuem

I didnt know the musuem can be helpful for research. I always thought it was just for fun, scenery to view cause i had never really been in a musuem before. Only once, when i was in thrid grade though. The assignment for this was helpful into guiding and learning the steps to research in a musuem. Like gathering basic information about a topic, my topic as well as every one else in my class was Global Warming. Me and my group first gathered and read carefully the questions in our sheet. Whe we finally figured out that it was all related for one conclusion, therefore all our information would be in one area. We started with the origin of Global temperature, and found out that snowflakes have trapped in air bubbles that affect the temperature in a negative way. It wasnt like this before, but pollution has caused this problem. Besides the air, trees have also been affected by pollution, such as there inner rings. When it is a warm era, the rings are thick, and the opposite of climate when the rings are thin. This can affect the oxygen by lacking mass in trees. The GreenHouse affect is probably the most conclusion into global warming. It explains how gases help the earth, and is affected with pollution. There are five greenhouse gasses which are water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone, methane and nitrous oxygen. Due to pollution starting with The Industrial Revolution, much of the carbon dioxide has increased in the atmosphere. For it to be part of the greenhouse gas, scientist beleive it to have influenced the procces of global warming.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Gnosticism

Gnosticism, The Matrix, and The allegory of the cave, all have the same concept of what there message is giving to the people. Its good to know how these thoughts about being ruled or political theory, were not just around the start of world war 1. But it was awaken in text by Plato, student of socrates, and is now supported with films such as, The Matrix. Gnosticism, is the basic teachings of the spirit of man, how it can never be perfect for the simple fact that were human beings. The same way the matrix in the film taught us. The machines took over the humans to control them, in other words, it was beleived that man itself can not govern and live liberally equal amongs others. Neo escaped from this nightmare of ignorance, and faced his entrapment by actually fighting with the metaphorical machines. The machines in the allegory of the cave are the shadows that lie to the prisoners. The shadows gave the prisoners a game to play, and judge each other with there skills, the same way we saw almost every one in a suit or office in the matrix. The allegory of tha cave, and the matrix are connected because the humans/prisoners supported the method of being enslaved by living off to what benefits them. In the matrix, "The Truth" is the ship where they lived in, the same way The Sun was for the excerpt in Allegory Of The Cave. Gnosticism teaches us the way to live by these socialist laws, and not be fully trapped into how were meant to think, and do by the people that sets our living which are politicians.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Allegory Of The Cave and The Matrix

Allegory of the Cave is the basic idea of what we speak of in class.
The matrix is a more extended subliminal message within a movie. These two works teaches us, or hopefully wakes us up from World Domination. Even though there’s no escape from this tragedy, we can make the slightest difference from actually knowing what’s up in the world and how world domination works. The matrix uses machines as an example for methods to blind humans and live there life’s. This is a perfect example for modern day world, because what we mostly rely on is Technology, to prove this, we can look into the alternative controversial cause about the Iraqi war that is taking place now. Our machines need oil to be supported with, and the Arab lands are rich with that. Therefore, for us to move on with our life’s we take resources from other sources, the same way the matrix took the humans energy, for lacking solar energy. This has been happening in the real world for centuries and it’s usually the “””3rd””” world countries that have been harmed by this silenced conquest. Outside of the matrix, where neo is a real human, his surroundings are filled with poverty because of the matrix, the same way other countries are affected by another stronger country. 3 Well known examples of what im speaking of can be the Blood Diamonds in Africa, South American farms taken over by foreign Caucasian man making vast indigenous emigrate to the city’s or other countries to find a better life, and one that im most pissed off at is The Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty.. when Mexico’s best state’s of survival were taken away with short torture, and no alternative but to actually sign the treaty, and take the money. This we know in America as Manifest Destiny.

The Allegory of the cave implies the same situation, only in more simpler terms, using the sun to blind citizens, instead of machines like The Matrix that makes life for humans simpler. The sun keep’s citizens happy by showing them shadows that they have to identify quickly as a game. This they consider a game with huge pride over those who play the game very good by identifying the shapes fast and those who play poorly are criticized and ignored. Like in the business world in modern day, human beings are so concerned with succeeding and criticize those who don’t make it into living off a successful career. An interpretation is also told if a prisoner in the cave is released, to see the roots of these shadows and where they come from, in order for him to find out that it has all been a lie, and that the people he spent time with in the cave, have been lied to by living off the puppets shadows, the same way we live off with what the government provides us with. When the released prisoner sees the sun, he realizes the intentions and how everything works to keep the slaves from retaliating. Unfortunately, we will never see “The Sun” for the fact that, every one is so content with the shadows, even though some people from across the world have suffered from “The Sun’s” Lack of Knowledge.