The Joseph Factor

Will this Summer Time be any different?

2011-04-20T23:09:00.007-04:00

While most students might not reach an agreement on the definition of Summer Time.However, we all understand that it is supposed to be a time for distraction after grappling with rigorous academic courses. By the same token, with the unemployment rate that currently plagues the United States; I would suggest that all students consider it as a time for choosing instead.
For instance, students might consider taking a typing course in order to strengthen their resumes and so forth. Honestly, I have an intuitive sense that due to this economic turmoil; college graduates who are seeking professional positions will experience the Darwin’s theory (survival of the fittest) at its best. Fortunately, I am one of those who believe that “man is the master of his own destiny.” With proper hands-on training coupled with any area of study, no dream is out of reach.
Anyway, it is my hope that you guys have fun as you prepare yourself to surmount your obstacles professionally.
Have a memorable summer time !!!!

L. Joseph

King and the Entire World

2011-01-17T10:18:00.007-05:00

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." (Martin Luther King Jr.)

Today, I am honoring a larger-than-life civil rights activist, Martin Luther King Jr. Although he had the opportunity to earn a world-class education at a time when segregation was at its peak, King understood that he had to effectuate change in order for whites, and blacks to attend the same learning institutions. In other words, he rejected the notion that blacks were inferior to their white counterparts in all aspects. At the same time, King preached nonviolence not only within the United States, but overseas. Most important, King was against the Vietnam war. A war President Kennedy fully endorsed.

My understanding is that if King were alive, he would have galvanized Haitians, and other nations to change how Haiti does business. He would have spoken out against the cycle of violence that has affected Haiti since 1986, and becomes more pronounced overtime. King would have challenged the countries that made false promises in terms of Humanitarian aid, and finances in the aftermath of the earthquake that devastated the country in 2010 to be kind to their fellow human beings.

In sum, King was a loving , and caring individual who wanted to make a difference in the life of each American.

Can BP run the Show?

2010-06-05T11:37:00.000-04:00

On April 20, 2010, the BP Oil Rig Explosion in the Gulf of Mexico has claimed the lives of 11 workers, and the oil is making its way into the wetlands in Louisiana as well as outlying areas. However, concerned citizens are saying that “the government was slow to respond to the environmental disaster.”
BP (British Petroleum) is a company like any other one. That being said, some Americans believe that BP (British Petroleum) might put its profits first as opposed to doing an efficient job of fixing the hole. Besides, there will be financial costs associated with the incident.
In its defense, through the power of observation, the oil company is doing everything in its power to contain the spread of the oil.
At the same time, the U.S. government should be more instrumental in getting the job done as BP (British Petroleum) will be responsible for financial damages.
America needs natural resources like the Gulf of Mexico for her to attract other countries.

Wasn't Gary Coleman the Champ?

2010-05-31T11:03:00.000-04:00

Well, I rarely saw the guy on TV because he was ravaged by “congenital kidney disease”, yet Americans have portrayed him as a lovable character. Besides, Gary Coleman aka Arnold Jackson made watching “Different Strokes 1978-1986” worthwhile; although short in nature. I would argue that the joy, energy, and wittiness generated by “Different Strokes 1978-1986” were a result of his appearance on the TV show.
Unfortunately, over the years, he went through some legal troubles as to financial mismanagement, and marital problems. All in all, he was not a perfect guy; hence, he should be remembered as an exceptional TV icon.

May he rest in peace

Is President Obama brave enough ?

2009-08-10T23:39:00.000-04:00

Can Obama pass the Universal Health care bill with the support of both political parties? This bill contains provisions for those who have not been able to receive affordable Health care over the past decades. By the same token, it still maintains its traditional role. Oddly enough, a new Gallup’s governance poll has shown that trust in government remains minimal. All in all, the Healthcare Reform is controversial because it is a government –run program. In retrospect, this had caused an uproar under several American presidencies not to mention the Clinton’s. Anyway, President Obama has been successful in passing the stimulus package although it was not bipartisan. However, political pundits have insisted that the political honeymoon period is over which means he has to convince his own moderate Democrats as well Republicans.
Well, I wish him luck on this congressional battle

Just a Thought

2009-08-08T12:11:00.000-04:00

The qualifications a juror should have in order to serve on a jury are diverse. The requirements should be more than six such as jurors must be citizens of the United States, they are required to be over eighteen years of age, free of felonies, sufficiently intelligent to understand the issues of a trial, they should be able to read, write, and comprehend the English language. However, I am critical of the third requirement because I believe that a felon can make a better decision than a law-abiding person. For instance , they are more experienced when it comes to committing crime. In order words, they are more capable of understanding the Mens Rea than the latter. I strongly demand that they become an integral part of the Venire. On the other hand, I am convinced that a felon could be sympathetic toward defendants. In contrast, the Supreme Court would provide severe punishments for them in the event of such prejudices. From my perspective, another way to create an impartial jury is to make jury duty a specialization, namely the Federal Reserve will be required to provide the states with the necessary material to build Jury Learning Centers for the sake of legal training.

Will she make the grade ?

2009-07-12T23:26:00.001-04:00

As i draft this document , the confirmation hearings of the Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor will commence soon . If nominated , will make history as the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court . With this in mind ,there are controversies surrounding her nomination as to declarations she had made over the past few years . Nevertheless,i believe she will win the hearts of many Republican opponents on Capitol Hill because President George Herbert Walker Bush had put her on the judicial map as a district judge in 1992. All in all , once they comprehend that ordinary people can judge in a reasonable fashion because they have experienced the calamities of the masses , she will prevail .

Good luck Judge Sonia Sotomayor

What is she up to ?

2009-07-07T12:04:00.001-04:00

She had made history as the first female who ran on a Republican presidential ticket although she had been severely criticized by the media and pundits for her lack of experience. Irrespective of that, in the eyes of traditional conservatives, she was seen as a viable 2012 presidential candidate against the first African American president. We now know that Sarah Palin resigned from being the Governor of Alaska. With this in mind, is she despondent as to the ferocity of the media?

Otherwise , does she discover a new avenue to prove herself to the American folks?

Homage to the King of Pop

2009-07-06T01:17:00.000-04:00

Virtue will always prevail , even in the darkest days .

Well ,this statement speaks volumes about the demise of Machael jackson .Does he epitomize the ideal of an upright man? Probably not .Does he contribute to the amelioration of our human species on the globe ? Absolutely ,he has done so through his songs and humanitarian work . With this in mind ,as a fervent blogger , i with the help of "Joe the Great" is deeply affected by the demise of this unprecedented musical icon .On the other hand,it also impresses on us the need to be virtuous and good samaritan ,for when we kick the bucket ,we immortalize ourselves.

Rest in Peace

The Alien and Sedition Acts , 1798 against the USA PATRIOT Act

2009-06-25T18:34:00.000-04:00

America produces courageous and patriotic presidents with willingness to craft comprehensive Acts to protect the country against enemies in time of war. With this in mind, President John Adams and George Walker Bush have shown their passion for America through their political policies to keep the country safe, but could reduce our constitutional rights as well. The Alien and Sedition acts 1798 and the USA PATRIOT Act have been in the center of heated political debates in order to evaluate their efficacy. However, both Acts according to Professor Ronald C. Riddick must be analyzed as to the environment and the time they were drafted in order to comprehend the nuances.

Fear is the element that clearly links the Sedition Act and the PATRIOT Act. In the wake of the French Revolution, America was inundated with French persons. There were also Englishmen, aristocratic Frenchmen, Religious Germans fleeing forced military service, French planters escaping from the West Indian revolution administered by Toussaint L’Ouverture, and Irishmen because of British repression. America was fearful of a war with France, the Quasi-War 1798-1800. Most of all, America was in its early age, so John Adams could not afford to lose a war. Besides, the federalists were in fear about their dangerous speeches which could overthrow the government. On the other hand, in the Wake of the 9/11, Americans were in fear of a post 9/11 attack. The president had to assemble his political tools in order to protect it against further terrorist attacks .The Patriot Act was signed into law in on October 26, 2001.Therefore, their policies have infringed on our constitutional rights but they were necessary to protect this country, critics can debate the efficacy of those two acts and their constitutionality, but they cannot question the nationalism of those controversial figures.

The reality of today is different from the one of yesterday in different ways. As I speak, I assume that neither one of those bills would make it to the Senate if presented before congress during this recession. Oddly enough, those two bills passed through the U.S Senate overwhelmingly. In the process of drafting the Patriot Act only a few Senators attempted to amend it. As Herbert Foerster puts it in his book “Feingold attempted three times to introduce amendments to moderate the Patriot Act’s assault on civil liberties, but Majority Leader Daschle rose to oppose them. Finally, the Patriot Act was passed by the Senate without debate or amendments; I am informed that Feingold was the only nay vote. Likewise, through soul searching, I found out that the Alien and Sedition Acts were primarily proposed by the Federalist congress as opposed to John Adams. Presently, as Americans form another opinion, and we had realized that the country is safer, most politicians oppose the Patriot Act. Two weeks ago, Nancy Pelosi said that “I was lied to by the Intelligence Community”. Oddly enough, only two hardcore conservatives defend overtly the Patriot Act, the former Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney and the Radio Entertainer Rush Limbaugh.

Although those two documents enacted by those two president s were designed to protect the country, they rendered both president unpopular because America enjoys their freedom embedded in the U.S constitution. In this context, Tom Hartman says that “Benjamin Franklin Bache with his newspaper Aurora was the first vocal critic of John Adams”. Besides, the quasi war affected the document as well. As a result, federalist senators and congressmen defended John Adams by passing four laws which were the Alien and Sedition Acts such as Alien Enemies Act, Alien friends Act, Naturalization Act and the Alien and Sedition Acts. On the other hand, President George W. Bush was criticized for being ignorant of history because President John Adams had enacted some of those laws and they did not resonate with the common person. For example, critics say that The Aliens and Sedition Acts were the same as the today’s Patriot Act, they restricted immigration and allowed the president to detain and deport alien and punish political dissenters. Unfortunately, those perceptions were created after the 9/11 attack. In my opinion, I believe that media use the Patriot Act as a political weapon because in trying times countries need draconian policies to combat their enemies. In fact, in war time the United States needed draconian policies during the post 9/11 attack to protect this country.

As an immigrant, a politically neutral person, I assert that immigration is a heated issue in this country, and merits draconian laws in wartime. Moreover, every country has a sample in America, some of them come into this country to earn a living like myself, and others are traveling back and forth. Therefore, laws like Alien Enemies act make America safe. For example, as to certain community colleges in New Jersey, most of them are filled with aliens, those aliens are grateful to America for the free education and other social programs they are entitled to. However, if a war ensues between the United States and their countries, they might use espionage as well as treason. At this juncture, John Adams signed the Alien Enemies act into law 1789, and stands the test of time. Conversely, they should not be held without granting them Habeas Corpus as in the case of Al-Marry v. Spagone, 08-368. Briefly, protecting America and defending the U.S constitution should be of top priorities, and I am also confident that in 1789, an Alien Enemies Act had to be available to protect the country against espionage and treason as to France and the British persons. In fact, it also surfaced in the Patriot Act 2001 in different forms.

The Alien and Sedition Acts 1789 and The Patriot Act were both seen as dominant in the presidential elections. As critics put it “the Naturalization law was both a political weapon and an attempt to attain a greater purity of national character”. From my perspective, John Adams signed this piece of legislation into law because of his sense of nationalism and for national security as well. Because of the pending war between America and France as well as the Bache’s paper, John Adams believed that if he kept the Government out of the foreigners’ reach, the country could be safer. Therefore, he increased the time span in order to be an American citizen. In other words, with the citizenship comes the right to vote. However, the vast majority of them were already American citizens. Besides, they were protected under the retroactive law as well. Needless to say, in the election of the 1800, those immigrants voted overwhelmingly for Thomas Jefferson. Furthermore, the message President Adams conveyed did not resonate with the common folks, so the Democratic - Republican Party won the election to the Federalists. As a result, according to Folwell, “once in office Jefferson pardoned while congress paid all fine paid with interest”. Similarly, although President George W. Bush signed the Patriot Act into law to protect this country against terrorism, it has been subject to criticism by Democrats and civil libertarians as well. Hence candidate Obama linked candidate John Mac Cain as an admirer of the failed Bush policies. During the recent campaign, he criticized John Mac Cain as “more of the same”. In fact, the Bush policies did not resonate with the common folks. Consequently, as I am drafting this paper, President Obama had removed the Bush policies such as the enhanced interrogation techniques. He is even closing down Guantanamo, and using military tribunal instead.

From a technological point of view, the Alien and Sedition Acts and the Patriot Act are diametrically opposed. In 1789, the term “Terrorism” did not exist, neither does the cyber space. Therefore, President Adams did not even contemplating such strategies. However, after the 9/11 attacks, FBI has engaged in a Cyber terrorism fight, they target computers as tools for crime. As a Result, section 216 of the Patriot Act of 2001 grants law enforcement officers such as FBI agents free access to internet information, including email and Web browsing information without probable cause. In this case, I am at the liberty to point out that vis-a-vis the time, the Patriot Act has contained more provisions than the Alien and Sedition Acts because criminals nowadays have new ways to commit crimes. Accordingly, those electronic provisions had to be implemented in the Patriot Act. In sum, critics can debate their constitutionality, but not their efficiency in keeping the country safe.

In conclusion, America has produced remarkable person with fortitude to enact comprehensive Acts for protection in time of war. In a democratic country, there will always room for debates when civil liberties and are in danger. In fact, it means that America values the opinion of others. I assume that through those two controversial bills, Americans are protective of this country because never failed to act in time of peril. Finally, during the 1897, John Adams have infringed on their Bill of Rights in order to reinforce their national security. Similarly, in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, The Bush Administration had acted boldly to preserve the life of Americans.

Does Social Promotion Work ? I Guess Not !!!

2009-06-20T18:20:00.000-04:00

As I sat on my couch last night with my Cuban cigar thinking about young kids who get frustrated because their dreams seem to be beyond the reach academically, it seemed extreme . Let it be no doubt that social promotion causes more damage than good. In fact, one of my classmates is a case in point. In retrospect, he was the best football player ever in our high school, but I was competent academically. Therefore, the director of the institution made certain that we were both members of class of '05. His philosophy was that Joe will not be ashamed in the event that I become successful. Besides, he imagined that if he failed Joe, he will not be able to experience the thrill of becoming a college football super star on a traditional basis . At this juncture, we attended college together, and he was accepted into the varsity football team. Unfortunately, he could not maintain the grade point average requirement, and was suspended from the team not to mention discouraged . On the other hand , I maintained an acceptable grade point average ,and received an incredible amount of financial support for my academic progress. Consequently, he is furious with the world to the point that he is affected by a mental pathology, and seeks medical help. Had he been repeated a couple of classes, he could have had the skills necessary to grasp the materials in college. Last but not least, i extend my profound regret to Joe, and urge him to get right back up whenever he gets knocked down.

How much influence does parents have on children?

2009-05-08T00:26:00.000-04:00

The question about the influence of parents on children is among the very controversial subjects. In Harris’ article “How much influence does parents have?” ,she makes her case that the notion that parents can determine how their children turn out as the nurture assumption is not effective .Therefore, four of the essential guidelines to critical thinking can be applied to this article namely analyze assumptions and biases ,examine the evidence ,ask questions ;be willing to wonder and consider other interpretations .For these reasons , the influence of parents on children is a really complicated issue .
First, the notion that parents can determine how their children turn out is questionable and involved assumptions and biases .By reading this article, I speculate about the living conditions of the parents in the poor countries which are different from the great countries.Accordingly, they lead a life of poverty .Then, they have to spend the whole day outside of their homes in order to get the basic needs for their children .Needless to say, their children spend the whole day socializing with their peers wherever they are , therefore ; they always need a role model to maintain guidance in order to avoid peer pressure .Since the parents do not have the possibility to do so , they should at least put the children through a daycare center .It is evident that an economically challenged parent can barely afford a school process for a child .As a result , when their professors make the announcement that the classed is dismissed , students get together with their classmates to make it home safely .Personally , my childhood reflects this paragraph to some extent because I raised in a poor country and took some decisions which were not based on well founded judgments as a result of peer pressure .When I was in high school , my mom used to teach in a primary school far away from my natal village . Therefore, we see each other every week end .One day, I had a verbal confrontation with one of my classmates about our grades .I consulted the principal of the institution, he blamed us, but we still held grudges against each other. Having contacted the principal, I discussed it with one of my closest classmates in the hopes of working things out with the one that I had the verbal confrontation .In response, he suggested me to fight him. Obviously, we fought him to the extent that he fell and bruised his feet. As a result, our parents held a reunion in order to negotiate reconciliation. This anecdotal evidence made it clear that a peer can influence a child as much as a parent can do .The reason why I believe that omitting peer pressure is a bias is because children always have their conspiracy that their parents do not aware of .Usually when parents have anopportunity to get a clear understanding of it, tons of damages have been done. As anyone could see, the opponent was severely hurt by the time that our parents intervened.

Second, the notion that there is no correlation zero between parents and children holds up, but most of the time we fail to examine the evidence. To eliminate the relation between a child and a mother is like to not get pregnant at all because since a woman get pregnant, she starts by caressing her baby bump in order to show the baby how much she cares for him or her .However, I cannot rule out the likelihood that some mothers get pregnant because they did not join a chance to abort the babies .Like doctor Fred Alper tells us that men tend to have sex for sexual pleasure .Similarly ,women sometimes prostitute themselves just for the sake of getting something back for their children .Unfortunately ,their poor belief in condoms result in a pregnancy. The exception cannot prove the rule. In fact, even prior to the conception parents cultivates a sort of affection for their children .However, the society always stereotypes the children as beingthe same with their parents without question the facts. Obviously, when the children commit something wrong they say “like father, like son”. it does not hold up most of the time .Therefore, this is naïve psychology because many times a father can be convicted just because a victim accuses him of doing something falsely .As an example, I would argue that the conventional way that police hold interviews is not trustworthy because they always have a point that they want to support. Sometimes, the interviewees are not reliable, and then they mislead the interviewers as I see in the movie about the three failures of methodology .All in all, the father can be guilty whether or not .He might have a chance of not pleading guilty only if they use cognitive interviews which is more reliable .Conversely, most of young children nowadays trivialize education as a daunting process, although it is a decent gateway for humans to lead a better life. Therefore, they involve in drugs such as cocaine and heroin. Hence, they have to carry guns in order to protect themselves from their fellow drug dealer’s .Frequently, they kill each other. If you take Snoop Dog who is a notorious rap singer, his record is loaded with drug charges .Therefore; he always admits that he commits them because that is embedded in his livelihood. Oddly enough, he did not raise in a family that has a such reputation according to Snoop Dogg .Two days ago, I stumbled upon one of his interview on CNN via a talk show of Larry King , he said that when it comes to disciplining children my parents was very strict on that such as he has to do domestic chores and he went on to say that her mother was very sensitive to his needs. From the type of information that I have on Snoop Dogg and his parents, his unacceptable behavior does not result in his parents .That is to say, the notion “like father, like son “should not apply to Snoop Dogg if the society examine the evidence. In fact, I agree that there is no correlation zero between parents and children. However, certain persons tend to judge children on the basis of old stories which are not well founded without considering that humans do things for reasons.
Third, the concept that a formal psychologist should ask questions and be willing to wonder plays an important role in this article .If Harris did not question widespread belief in the “nurture assumption”, such as the notion that parents are more prone to determine how their children turn out I could omit that peer groups can be as influential as mothers are .As a result, if I am asked to debate over parenting I will not omit peer groups because by reading this article Harris, gives me many reasons to believe that not only parents can influence children, but the setting matters .All in all , he comes up with relevant factors that formal psychology agree with and depends on evidence .In extreme cases ,parents are responsible for certain societal issues when it comes to children because they consider sex education as something abominable .Therefore , when a child ask them a question about sex , they tend to downplay it or punish the child .In response ,teenage pregnancy becomes pervasive ,so does the sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS ,gonorrhea and so on .The children ask their parents about sex related questions ,some parents understand the needs to provide their children with sex education .However , most of them are always in denial about it. Evidently, their children are the ones who are pregnant prematurely because they are ignorant of sex education; they get involved with their partners without preservatives which give negative results. By the way, I would argue that to ask questions; and be willing to wonder is among the very critical guidelines to this critical thinking project because most of the time that parents deny the questions of children about sex become a deadly result .In fact, AIDS kills millions of people in Africa, not to mention the entire world.
Fourth, Consider other interpretations is meaningful to this article because Harris says that many parents know the eerie experience of having their child’s teacher describe their child in terms they barely recognize ( “ my kid did what ?”) .I have tons of anecdotal evidence to prove that parents tend to reject the interpretations of other people about the behavior of their children .I presume that parents do so because they are ignorant of the setting that their children involve in and the outdated Freudianism which is the nurture assumption .Oddly enough ,my parents used to criticize her students as being different from me when I was in my home country namely I am a well-mannered child .Conversely ,when their students met me in a school setting or in the streets .To them I am the worst child they have ever met .In fact, I tend to be less introvert at school than at home because when you are outside the home dealing with your peers,it all comes down to competing .It might be a competition about the best gentleman among us ,but it always has to do with fighting between cliques .I could be beaten up if I wanted to refrain from a fight .Therefore , I have to be a fully fledged member of these cliques if I do not want to be the focal point of the attacks. Ignorant enough, my mother thought I was the most flexible child in the world because she assumes that only she can influence me.
In conclusion, this article is very broad because Harris tends to touch on several point in one piece of writing such as children have two environments which are their homes and their world outside of their homes including child rearing and so forth .she did so because she wanted to prove that the notion of nurture assumption is not effective .Psychologically speaking ,I figured out that four of the essential guidelines to critical thinking can be applied to her article such as analyze assumptions and biases ,examine the evidence ,ask questions ; be willing to wonder and consider other interpretations .

Joe's Second Hand Books

2009-05-07T20:23:00.000-04:00

During this recession, I invite every student to share books with me at an unbeatable price, they include:

Western Literature 105
ISBN: 978-0-393-92572-2
8th Edition
Lawall, Thalmann, Patterson, James, Packs

Criminology 136
ISBN: 0-534-64577-1
9th Edition
Larry J. Siegel

American Government
ISBN: 978-0-07-296547-6
Losco Baker

Concept of Physical Fitness
ISBN: 978-0-07-352357-6
14th Edition
Charles B. Corbin Gregory J. Welk
William R. Corbin Karen A. Welk

Inquiry into Life
ISBN: 978-0-07-298675-4
12th Edition
Sylvia S. Mader

Criminal Justice in Action
4th Edition
Larry K. Gaines
Roger LeRoy Miller

Plazas
3th Edition
Hershberger/ Navey,-Davis/Boras A.

American Corrections
8th Edition
Todd R. Clear/ George F.Cole / Michael D. Reisig

Psychology
9th Edition
Carole Wade / Carol Tavris

The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature
7th Edition
Michael Meyer

The New Millennium Reader
4th Edition
Stuart Hirschberg Terry Hirschberg
And many more ...

Feel free to cooperate with me, classmates

My Stress to nourish the Soul of Immigrants

2009-05-07T20:05:00.000-04:00

My stress rating scale seems to skyrocket in light of certain life events over the last 2 years. According to a test in my physical education class, my score is greater than 300 points, which means I should seek professional help .Anyway, I am fortunate that I recognize the stressors, so I will be confronting them head on .With this in mind, three of them seem to be dangerous be young imagination, such as change in living conditions, increased workload and change in sleeping habits. Therefore, I will establish the steps I will take in order to deal with them.
To begin with, change in living conditions seem to be proportional to the others .Basically, leaving my country of origins to make a living in the United States seems to bring about increased workload and change in sleeping habits .Hence mine reflects all immigrants in the United States ,although some of us can be better than others .The difference is that I am not living at home which makes my living conditions worse than it should be .As a result, I have to play the parental role ,while I am a college student striving to earn a degree. Sometimes, I want to do what young kids do, but I cannot because I realize that such juvenile behavior can be detrimental to my life. My philosophy in life is to take ownership of my destiny because at the stage only God can help me. Unfortunately, I feel frustrated because at that moment I could be happier if I had a relative to take care of me. In fact, I envision that I will be nostalgic when I am old because I have been old in my adolescent. The good news is, I am confident I will make it through my stress although I do not taste my adolescent because tons of my friends abuse drugs and alcohol at that stage .However , I have the intelligence to guide myself through.
Second, increased workload is essential to individuals with heavy responsibilities like me. Any individual who leaves his country of origins in order to immigrate to the United States has to confront his difficulties head on because they assume that you are better than them. Precisely, I have to do the best I can in order to pay bills, not to mention attending class on a regular basis. With respect to class, from my point of view, it seems to be the most time consuming of my life because you have to create time to study the subjects as well .Any way, I can deal with this stress in a positive fashion as long as I am conscious of what I am sacrificing my time for .As a result, I will make certain that I earn excellent grades for the classes, so I will be satisfied. All things considered, my stress is proportional to how I set my goals,
Third, any human being is required to maintain 8 hours of sleep, conversely I do not even meet the two hours of sleeping requirement in order to remain in shape .Since, I started my college career, and I felt the need not to sleep in order to earn a degree. In order words ,having a good night’s sleep denotes abandoning my education goals because usually I take care of my livelihood during the day including my workout plan .Accordingly, when I get home at eleven P.M , I have to ingest something and take a shower .Besides , I have to surf the net to see what make headlines during the day ,then I take out all the material needed to do the homework assignments and to retain certain information if necessary .However , I will be a man as long as I am not sick , I will be making the best of my stressful situation so tomorrow I rise to become what I want to be .I believe that the more stressful my life is , the more engaging my story will be .Therefore ,They will serve my children as guide tomorrow .
In conclusion, life is a mixture of good and evil .To me, the evil is nothing but the stress I am going through due to some life events. Among them, I recognize change in living conditions, increased workload and change in sleeping habits .I intend to deal with them optimistically because I understand that if I overcome the stress, I would be better off.

Dear Santa

2009-05-07T19:53:00.000-04:00

I understand that it is not likely for me to join your favors because every year I supplicate you for desirable gifts, it turns out that I am not the respective recipient. However,as a tradition- oriented person I will keep begging.I want to strengthen my willingness so I can apply integrally the knowledge acquired in my Physical Education class by Professor Dominic, M .Ed such as sports, health and nutrition and so on for my own good. Dear Santa, I am not strong enough to take certain initiatives, but with your help I can achieve great things. By the way, I anticipate this new year to be a turning point in my life because I just started to make use of the gym, I might not be able to make it through due to motivation because the semester is finished .However, I am surely convinced you can guide me through .Dear Santa, I want you to make me favor quality over taste when it comes to my eating habit. Accordingly, although I am conscious of the fat levels of food, I ingest them because they are delicious .I am aggravating my nutritional situation .Dear Santa, you only visit us once a year, if you do not suppress my vivid appetite for junk foods, I will be paralyzed by next year, then here I am down on my knees trying to materialize my dreams, expand my horizons to differentiate between foods and work out more. Dear Santa, I am not an avid fanatic of sports, but I believe that sports create more opportunities in the low –income neighborhoods .Therefore, I want you to help my College develop a football team, so I can be a part of it, which can increase the probability of me being successful on a global basis .Dear Santa, I know you give away every year, I am not asking you for solid gifts, but to translate my wishes into success. Most importantly , dear Santa I implore you to elevate my physical and Health Education professor Dominic , M .Ed to the financially rich individuals in America such as Bill Gates , Warren Buffett, so he can live his dream . To finish, as you can see, I bury my mouth in my right hand because I am at a loss for words to express all my wishes, but I suspect that you are a sensitive father, that means you understand your sons’ needs .I hope you ameliorate my living conditions in certain areas of sports, health, fitness as well as nutrition. Joseph the Great P.S: Dear Santa, I might invite you over to exercise because it sounds like you are getting fatter as years go by.

The effects of certain Theories of Crime in the United States

2009-04-26T12:32:00.000-04:00

The theories of crime are instrumental in the Criminal justice system in order to explain why crimes take place in the United States. It is evident that the crime rate in the United States skyrockets on a yearly basis. With this in mind, 66 percent of all homicides were committed with a firearm .Besides, 41 percent of all robberies and 19 percent of all aggravated assaults by someone brandishing a gun .That lead me to point out that the crime issue in the United States represents the civil war of the 21 first century .Therefore, I will examine how some theories of crime reflect crime in the United States nowadays.
First, learning theory can be among the strongest reason why individuals in the United States involve in criminal acts. As the old saying goes “We are the product of our environment”. I believe that we wear our clothes depends on our surroundings .Likewise, they can influence us to make decisions for the best as well as the worst .That means some of us become dangerous elements in the society because of heavy influence of our peer groups, family and co-workers, but I cannot rule out the possibility that we take usually the successful route as well. For instance, as a children I grew up in a family where they impress on me the value of a formal education, it would be very rare of me when it comes to becoming a bum .However, every rule has it exception, some of us engage in illegal acts not because of our family but because our peers outweigh the values of our parents or so .I imagine that most of young people in the United are corrupted because the persons in the society who should be setting good examples for them fail to do so. For example, children in the rough neighborhoods have a penchant for hip hop .In reality, hip hop is all about foul language ,women glamorizing and men trying to make money illegally as well as a sense of violence. Those types of children usually pay the hefty prices because they do not have a sense of understanding in order to differentiate between good and evil. All things considered, it is result of what you learn in your setting, your conduct in society is proportional to what you witness.
Second, the labeling theory emphasizes that the majority of individuals in America do what they do because we perceived them as being so. As a child, my parents always insisted that I should become an educated person .Actually, I am doing my best in order to make it a reality .However, I realize that tons of children in the United States were not predisposed in order to become criminal but their surroundings do so by labeling them bums not to mention assholes. Evidently , the labeling theory seems to be very effective in my neighborhoods which is East Orange .With the help of my observation ,out of 4 children 3 of them are on probation for juvenile delinquency just because of peer pressure .For example ,my younger brother used to fight every day during after school programs. The fact of the matter was, as a child, she was too passionate for wrestling contest, and he was into an Indian wrestler that is called Great Khali
Therefore, his classmates used to label him great Khali .As a child; he could not understand that the wrestler and him would be never the same, he fought the students in a violent manner all year long .Unfortunately, he ends up repeating class until he is being suspended. As I narrate this story he is a deviant because he broke his school norms, which set the tone for criminal acts in the long run if my parents do not take restrictive measures.
Third, the notion of control theory plays a huge role in the crime wave in the United States .I was taking a psychology class the last fall, my instructor pointed out that American people seem to be more individualistic rather than collectivistic. In other words, American people are more narcissistic than countries like Korea, Japan and son which creates broken families. From my standpoint, I always reject this idea because I believe that every single American person is able to hold his own at an early age if he is understand the American dream .Therefore, they do not feel the need to be cooperative. In contrast, when you are in the part like South Africa, it is a duty for you to provide for your relatives because they need your help eagerly in order to survive .Evidently that encourages social bonds and therefore becomes more emotional when it comes to making certain decisions such as committing crimes and so on. As a result, I envision that the inhabitants in America pay a hefty price for their way of life as opposed to the white middle class neighborhoods because they have a tendency to help their milieu better than the individuals that I am interacting with .To be honest, I am being criticized heavily by my most of my friends for still living at home because I am over eighteen. I would argue that some criminals are considered to be chronicles offenders because they are being stigmatized by their friends, family and so on. It could be helpful after a single man committing a crime to marry him into a family. In this way, his job could have been to provide for his children and wife and to protect his good name. For example, I support the idea of quitting my current job, but if I do so my brother will be unreliable in the eyes of the managers because he forced them to hire me. Therefore, I believe that social bonds in any society play a big role in impacting crime when it comes to control theory.
In conclusion,domestic crime seems to outweigh the whole notion of "terrorism" .Therefore, the theory of crime seems to be central to why people commit crime in the United States .I would argue that the Criminal Justice System analyzes their pros and cons in order to improve on the crime wave in the United States. Otherwise, most of our children will perish. Hence it will be the demise of this land of opportunity.

The AIG Scandal

2009-03-23T00:09:00.000-04:00

Hey , i am elated to see our very first black president .Guess what, are we really headed in the right course with those greedy CEOs.Wait a minute ,do not tell me the government is immune from criticism just because his papproval rating is still enormous ! What do you make of that ,Joe?

Gang Phenomenon

2009-03-22T15:57:00.001-04:00

The term gang seems to be the most repeated in the criminal justice system throughout the United States. Back in the 60’s, this term was nonexistent because mafia was all the rage. According to indicators of criminal activities, gangs related homicides decreased in the 1990s.However, between 1999 and 2002, gang activities increased by more than 50 percent. Recently, the U.S. Department of justice claims that there are 30,000 street gangs with more than 800,000 members in the United States .In New Jersey, one fifth of all murders are gang related. With this in mind, the increase of gang activities and the 9/11 attacks are correlated, so I would suggest that the criminal justice system does not dwell on this notion because I consider gang activities as the root of terrorism .Therefore, let be more proactive because gang activities affect us dramatically.
In the first place, gang is defined as a group of people who create an allegiance for a common purpose and engage in violent, unlawful, or criminal activities .I usually feel frustrated when I see knowledgeable people link the fact that individuals join gangs with genetic factors .In reality , the environment we live in shape us when it come to style and substance .For instance , every human being is born without any clothes on ,but we tend to accommodate ourselves with what the society deems acceptable whether moral or immoral .Likewise , a child in a neighborhood does what he sees his environment does if he does not have good parenting , sometimes the lead he follows can take him to the route of success .The catastrophic way is , when he does not have good role models around him to steer him in the right direction, this is when we talk about gang activities .With all due respect , I disagree with the notion of “criminal born” that Cesare Lombroso believed in because I assume that we are born innocent .Therefore , we could have maintained our innocence from conception to death .There would be any reasons to join gangs , because doing so could annoy the safety of the society which can make you subject to arrest . There is a French philosopher that I have studied back in my secondary school I will always be thinking of when it comes to society, he is called Jean Baptiste Rousseau, he quoted that “we are born perfect, but the society corrupts us”. I raise this point because I deeply believe that crime has to do with gang activities as well .That means genetics has nothing to do with crimes as it relates to gang activities because gang members commit tons of crimes .I would argue that Lombroso was dead wrong in his theory .To me, there is a correlation with an environment and the individual when it comes to gang membership. In fact, that seems to be the best area to define criminal behavior.
Second, I would argue that the diversity of cultures in the United States makes the task more daunting for law enforcement to deal with gang activities. For example, if it happens that I am engaging in gang activities ,It will be easier for someone who knows how a Haitian gangs performs to persuade me because even though I am living in the United States .Otherwise, the Haitian culture is in my blood ,it would be difficult for a U.S. police officer to connect with me because I am not part of the American mainstream culture .Accordingly, I believe that it is imperative that the criminal justice system does whatever they can in order to become more conversant with the culture of the immigrants that live on the American soil ,specially how a Haitian , Arabian tend to behave toward such situation and so on. Gangs in the United States are domestic theorists because they have the ability to act the same as any groups of theorists. However, they should be treated in a fair fashion because America is a country of rights, what I meant is that a gang member has the same right as any great citizen. Therefore, even though they commit a crime you cannot kill them without due process. That leads to the “learning theory” by Edwin Sutherland in the 1960s “criminal activity is a learned behavior .Evidently, the law enforcement has to know how they learn the above behavior in order to have them unlearn it. By adopting this type of theory, there will be any nightmare to deal with gang activities.
Third, anything that causes harm to the American people affects the criminal justice system. Likewise, gang activities in the United States represent a big threat to the law enforcement because they are not in the best interest of the neighborhoods .Otherwise; they abuse their own neighbors, as an example, according to my criminal to my criminal justice manual “three tenageMS-13 members slashed a sixteen-year-old rival gang member with machetes”. Absolutely, these types of news affect the criminal justice system directly because its role is to control, prevent crime as well as provide and maintain justice. In fact, critics says that back then gang activities did not affect the criminal justice system a great deal because before the twenty first century, there was a drug prohibition law .However, I would argue that they did affect the criminal justice system because black people were denied certain rights such as segregation, violent racism and so on. Obviously, they had a collectivistic view on these issues, which means they did not take the fight to themselves rather to their enemies. Oddly enough, a Jewish inmates at California‘s San Quentin prison says his in danger because he is being housed with other white inmates on November 2005, needless to mention a black inmate. Nowadays, black people do not have anything at stake but they are still on the rampage which affects the criminal justice system deeply. The worst thing about gang activities in the United States is that, the criminal justice system wants to get rid of them because they are causing harm to the people. However, tons of neighborhoods in the United States are loaded with graffiti representing their favorite gang members. Therefore, the justice system has to inform these high risk neighborhoods about the danger of having the potential of become aging members in order to reduce their roots in the Country .Frankly, I believe that the more we promote certain gang activities, the more prevalent they become .Needless to say, they become more problematic when it comes to the criminal Justice system .For instance, anyone who supports G-unit, Ruff riders reinforce the spirit of people like Ja rule to become more aggressive .
Fourth, the white middle class neighborhoods encourage gang activities unknowingly. I have never been to a white neighborhoods ,but several stories indicate that black people always get pulled over in white middle class neighborhoods for any valid reasons .For instance , my politics instructor was relieved when it comes to being pulled over last year when he addressed the situation he is in to a police officer in the district. Their concerns were nothing, but because my instructor was black and owns a new model car. Therefore, they form an impression that he might be engaging in gang activities .It is evident that a black person cannot take a stroll in a white middle class neighborhood without getting stared at from head to toe which is hilarious. One day, my best friends told me that she is not too comfortable for the time being, namely she told me, I went to South Orange yesterday with my one of my classmates , I felt mischaracterized by the communities ,it is like I am from outer space by the look in their faces. Basically, she has low self –esteem because of that so to speak .I would argue that the way the white middle class neighborhoods deal with gang black people can boost the gang activities in the United States because should i had not been her source of comfort, she could have hated the neighborhoods to the point that her alternative could have been to be part of a gang activity in order to take revenge. Criminological speaking, their reactions toward black people have to do with the “Labeling Theory”, they focus on perception of black people in the white middle-class neighborhoods rather than the behavior alone .It goes without saying that those kinds of attitudes and practices a reasons behind gang memberships. Specially, if the person does not have a sustained education or someone to cheer him or her up, he or she might act impulsively, such as joining a gang activities in order to demonstrate that he or she can be something, if I am not mistaking .The bright side is , if such things happen to me , that can reinforce my spirit in order to become successful in the long run through education because I deeply believe that education is the fundamentals of every people .Otherwise , black people can turn negative into positive which means after being disappointed ,educate themselves so tomorrow they become crime fighters and stand out against gang activities .That would create more hope in the criminal justice system and the white middle class neighborhoods that black people should not be stigmatized as being gang –related .Furthermore, there will not be any connection between black people and the “strain theory “because usually they kill their dreams by doing illegal things in their neighborhoods .Unfortunately , they always end up having a criminal record that hinders them from enjoying the wealth of America as well as their dreams. To top that off, one of my cousin told that “formal education only works for whites, and it takes a lifetime to get something out of it”.
Fifth, nowadays gang activities in America are being addressed through the intelligence model. To tell the truth, I am not well-versed in the matter, but I am award that New Jersey is focusing more on an analytical basis. For example , according to an article published by instructor Stacy Cavalerio (Addressing gun violence in New Jersey, Project watch tower) tons of intelligence organization such as NJ Trace and NJ “Pop” collective are working in partnership to collate data when it comes to tracing guns as well as “straw” gun processing. Hence, I believe that it is fair to say that gang activities are being addressed in an analytic fashion. I assume that they take this approach because people can commit several crimes by travelling all over the state, so that they get away with them .That contradicts the road of justice, because usually the justice system does not punish the right criminals .With this in mind, these programs can interconnect the police departments all over the state .However , I realize that the criminal justice system should work hand in hand with the charitable organization and educational opportunities to give more attention to the needy people because there is should be a cause why gang activities are so prevalent in America precisely the rough neighborhoods .It is probably the fall of social institution .I imagine that there is a likelihood that children with low income families engage more in this kind of behavior than capable families because they cannot overcome the financial difficulties. Therefore , husbands walk out on wives with tons of children .Unfortunately, in an effort to find a source of support ,they end up dealing with gang members in order make a living .As a result, when such cases occurred ,if a millionaire adopt a child ,it will reduce the rate of gang members in the United States . A rich person can do so right after a criminal get out jail, he or she might put the criminal back to school and support him or his financially. Frankly, I cannot rule out the possibility that a college graduate can engage in this kind of behavior as well because sometimes he or she might want to go for his or her bachelor’s degree .Evidently ,he or she might choose to take the easy route but illegal when it comes to gang activities .As I said earlier ,if they join more educational opportunities ,that will not be a big issue for the criminal justice system .I hope the criminal justice system work in a partnership fashion because usually the criminal acts are just the results .It might be imperative for the criminal justice system to work hand in hand with other organizations to find a solution to gang activities in the United States .From a different triangle , I think it would be a great idea for the criminal justice system to transform gang members into police officers ,soldiers in order to fight crimes because they know how the business works. Otherwise, the criminal justice system could create a legal force for captivated criminals if they choose to do so.
In conclusion, gang members are very aggressive in the United States for several reasons. Should the criminal justice do not take some analytical steps to solve this crisis, the national security will be compromised because some gang members are immigrants who travel all around the world. I would encourage them to make the use of ammunition the last result when it comes to fighting gang members.