Freak

The book freakanomics displayed different topics in which the authors gave their opinion and hidden sides of the topic. I believe it was written this book to show the readers that there are mysteries and hidden facts that the economy doesn’t want you to know about. There was this specific passage that stood out to me:“I ain’t no African American either, you idiot, I’m a nigger.”  J.T. then administered a lively though not unfriendly taxonomical lesson in “nigger” versus “African American” versus “black”. I feel like you can’t say there are different types of African Americans. To me there is no difference between “blacks”, “niggers”, and African Americans. I can say the same for any other race like Mexicans for example since I’m Mexican. People call Mexicans beaners, wetbacks, Pisa, etc. they are still Mexican regardless. Another thing is that if you have a lot of money or no money at all it doesn’t make you a different race you can’t change that with however much money. The book to me was easily readable, but at times it was too much random facts. The book used a lot of words I didn’t know so that was a plus and gave me the opportunity to learn and look up words. I would say I would recommend this book to people but to keep an open mind. It will help you to look at different sides of things and I think the authors did a good job of keeping me interested with all the different chapters, they got me to wonder, what will happen next?

Take notes

Thus far in the book some of my strategies consist of reading the chapters in section throughout the week. I check how many pages are in the chapter and I choose a number to read per day ending on Thursdays, giving me enough time to finish my role in the group for Friday. Unless I am the moderator, then I read the whole chapter on Monday and Tuesday splitting the pages between the days. I made sure I didn’t read the book too late in the day because then you just read to read not to read for comprehension. I love to read in my room either in complete silence or with very soothing music in the background, but not music that is distracting. I always underline a word I read that I don’t know, even if I am not vocabulary manager for the week. It helps me expand my vocabulary. Highlighting something you found funny, you think that is important, opinion on a quote or passage are all good ways to annotate. When reading this book you cannot be a pessimist while doing so. You have to look at it in many different perspectives because the way the book is written is only one thought. Have an open mind while reading and have fun with it.

Citizenship

The article I read was about the benefits of being a United States citizen and traveling abroad to different counties. I have a quote that in a way angered me. ”Retired individuals residing overseas can breathe a sigh of relief as it is possible to receive Social Security payments outside of the U.S. All that is required is to show up monthly at a nearby U.S. embassy to receive the payment. There are certain restrictions though. The Social Security office states it isn't currently possible to receive benefits in Cambodia, Vietnam or parts of the former Soviet Union” (Fuhrmann 2012 ). People are struggling to get citizenship in the United States but U.S citizens can go to other counties and get social security payments when they retire? That makes no sense to me what so ever, why don’t they make it easier to become U.S citizen if other counties are making it easy for them to go to their country. Also you can vote while living in another country. “There are differing options for U.S. military personnel from citizens living outside the U.S., but options exist to vote as an absentee. The Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP.gov) lists the options in detail and includes online resources to register to vote, request ballots and track the activity once it is completed” (Fuhrmann 2012 ). I don’t understand how if someone leaves United States and goes to another country and they can still vote. U.S citizens get benefits anywhere they go. A good thing for me but my family without citizenship, not so much. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/05/17/investopedia82398.DTL

Mexican stigma

 Not all Spanish speakers are Mexican. I have had this occur many of times to my friends and I that speak Spanish. We would be sitting there speaking Spanish and a stranger would approach us and ask “hey are you two Mexican”. I suppose it shouldn’t bother me as much because I am Mexican but it tends to hit a nerve when I hear it. The language spanish originated from spain not mexico, so why is everyone that speak the language mexican?Just because people speak Spanish it doesn’t mean there Mexican. Mexico is not the only Spanish speaking county in the world. Spanish is the most spoken language in the world with 20 countries speaking the language. I don’t just look at it in my view but in other peoples and races perspective. I’m sure people from other Spanish speaking countries don’t enjoy being called a race they are not. With that being said it may cause an altercation between the “Mexican” and the person making the stigma. An altercation that should be limited or should not occur. Overall i believe it will be resolved it just may take some time.

My Pledge

My Pledge for business class:

I pledge to be on time to class and my intern everyday by setting my alarm a couple of minutes early and having a plan B to get to class.

I pledge to graduate Year Up and move forward with my life by staying positive, not giving up, trying my best, and asking questions that will benefit me and classmates.

I pledge to offer any help I can to my colleagues to help them learn by giving my contact information out so they can reach out to me for any reason.

My Neighborhood

 I spent my childhood in Hayward, Ca near Kennedy Park and Bohannon Middle school. The neighborhood in which I grew up in was a diverse and multicultural environment. My group of friends consisted of all different races: Korean, American, Indian, Mexican, Filipinos, and Chinese. My two best friends were Korean and White but we never excluded the rest when we had activities such as neighborhood soccer, football, baseball, and basketball. We would always play outside together after we finished our homework our parents wouldn't allow us to go out and play unless we finished our entire homework and gave it our full effort. It was a very secluded neighborhood with a lot of shops and places to dine. I enjoyed the fact my neighborhood was near many places to wonder off too. I moved from the neighborhood I grew up in the summer of 2005 to Castro Valley, CA transferred school districts and left my high school and childhood friends behind. It was a very difficult time for the transition but I didn't waste any time making new friends, the neighborhood I moved to wasn't for me. It was a very nice area to live in with parks and neighborhood tennis courts, basketball courts, and a swimming pool but something was missing. In my neighborhood the majority of families are white and Chinese ages from 50-75. There is nobody near my age in my neighborhood all of their kids are married and are living on their own. Despite of that it is a really nice neighborhood and the people are really nice, so I can’t complain that much.

I am who I am because of the neighborhood I grew up being so diverse. The race did not matter to me or anyone, it was as if we were one big family and were all brothers. It showed me to be open to different ethnicity and not to strictly associate with my own race. I am very grateful to have lived in such a great neighborhood.

Advertisements

I really enjoy the advertisements that have a clear and education message and sticks to you. For instance the "Live Above The Influence “commercials, something about them changes my day in a way that I feel brings me better knowledge on smoking or drugs. It leaves the person reading or watching the advertisement feeling for what the person is going through and draws them in a way to make a personal connection.  Once the person makes the connection with the personal life it keeps them interested in the product. I am disturbed and annoyed of the advertisements I receive when I am exploring on the internet. For instance when I listening to music streamed from Pandora or slacker radio an advertisement plays about every three songs and can ruin the state of mind.  Also when sponsors or advertisements are somewhere they do not belong. When a bus has advertising for a movie or in other cases condoms, I believe that is unnecessary and not  benevolent there are many different ways they can advertise and advertising on a bus is not right.

Grabbing the attention or interest of the viewers plays a big role in advertising. There are many different styles of advertisements for variety of ages, race, size etc. The styles of advisement that grab my attention the most are humor, sentimentality, and shock factor. Humor and being able to make a person laugh or smile has a great affect on a person which can lead to remembering the purpose of selling the product to the person. For me if you make me laugh in an advertisement commercial or picture you have already won some credibility in my mind, and many advertisements strictly focus on getting the attention of a wide audience especially the new generation.

Advertisements believe by starring a celebrity in there advertisement will lead to great success and lots of money. People buy products or invest in things because there favorite athlete, singer, actor, or actress are on the advertisements. For me I think it is really sad to see that some of the biggest company's make a huge profit from who is wearing their product in a commercial or picture. I have never bought any attire just because celebrities influenced me to buy it. I am not saying that it’s wrong to buy a product because your favorite celerity is wearing it; I am just stating that I don't.