selfie

I like football.
I watch every Sunday. I listen to ESPN radio and I have an ESPN app on my phone. I also like tennis and baseball and movies and music and NPR and clothes.
Fashion is fun and purchasing fashionable clothing at really low cost is practically orgasmic.
And my laptop KNOWS this about me.
According to it, Roger Federer and I are good friends. The Bears and the Bengals count on me.
It informs me of this quite often with little pop-ups enticing me and daring me to look and maybe purchase must-have items that declare my devotion and unique expression of love for my teams.

It also tells me that exotic Brazilians nearby want me and apparently my penis is too small but with a pill I could fix that.

I like looking at real estate in various areas of the country so now realtors in Seattle are convinced I'm ready to purchase my dream house in Washington and become a Seahawks fan. They enthusiastically call to see if I'm ready to make the move. While they text and call, ESPN is bombing my phone to make sure I understand Andy Dalton's thumb doesn't require surgery and the Bears moved four positions up in the power ranking this week.
Meanwhile, my good friend Seth Rogen keeps me updated on sweet bud and whatever asinine statement The Donald has made. But now I'm name dropping, so I'll stop.

Even Netflix has an opinion on what I like and should watch based on my viewing habits. I'm a fan of Nazis and the Holocaust in documentary form and Michael Scott and the clan and I do love Piper and the girls (OITNB) but I think my occasional viewing of a good Marriage Bootcamp or Keeping up with the Kardashian's confuses my technology.
It confuses me sometimes.
Based on information gleamed from the ether of the internet I'm a hot, wicked-tongued vixen haunting the web like a ghostly mix of Sarah Silverman, Amy Schumer and Hannah Logan (with a small penis.)
(Yes, I know that the Extenze email and pop-up comes from porn surfing. Porn is now mainstream entertainment and there are two kinds of people in the world: those who watch porn and dirty liars who say they don't.)
What technology doesn't know about me is that I'm a woman who loses sleep because I have no clue as to where my life may be going. I cry because I feel fat and ugly. I work at a pizza joint with a boss and customers who verbally abuse me yet I don't bring in enough cash to make ends meet.
I live in a town and go to a university that reminds me on a daily basis that I'm different.

I'm a ghetto-billy from the south side of Chicago. An outsider.

I do my best to remember I have a choice to react or not react to disparaging remarks.
I believe life is an experience, no judgment good or bad, just experience. And sometimes I do well living my belief and sometimes I hate everything and everybody. Sometimes I find the beauty in just being alive.
I like the fantastical life my laptop and phone and TV have decided I live. In many ways it's a design I'm creating of an ideal life I hope to someday live. It's a great escape.
Every night I get to snuggle in my bed and see myself reflected back to me through Instagram and Facebook and pop-ups that Hannah is a hot, sports-loving chick with cash living life like an OG.
AND if I had a penis, I sure as hell wouldn't need a pill. I know this because I had one in a dream once and it was all good.

Facebook Campaign: Jeff Ham Art

I took over the social media aspect of my friend's art career. Along with the Facebook, I also created an Instagram for his business, Jeff Ham Art. 

What worked for the Jeff Ham Art social media campaign:

• First and foremost, Jeff needed an easier way to contact the several galleries his work is in. With the Facebook, the galleries were able to tag Jeff's Facebook, which in return helped Jeff receive recognition for his work
• Galleries were able to message Jeff with information about upcoming shows as well as how much work they were expecting for certain dates
• Galleries were able to double check prices with Jeff
• Gives collectors an opportunity to find the galleries Jeff's work is in, which also promotes those galleries and gives them business
• Allows art collectors to view the range of subjects covered
• Allows art collectors to contact Jeff without giving away his personal phone number
• An ideal outlet for selling giclees (prints)
• Allows the public to express their thoughts and opinions about his work on a public forum
• An inexpensive way of advertising 
• Great way to build a fan base 

Young people are attracted to Jeff's work and Facebook is a great outlet for reaching them. 

The age group that the majority of the collectors are in don't turn to Facebook to find art. However, Facebook is really good for the younger generation of collectors. It is a way to cultivate a new audience and get in touch with them now. 

Jeff is an artist and does work at his own pace and on his own time. Something I wanted to capitalize on was his artwork. With that being said, I was unable to post and share as much as I would of liked to due to lack of work output from Jeff. I noticed when posting a picture of Jeff working or a piece he finished, it received a greater amount of likes than when I posted about a football team or another artist. 

Cross-promoting worked very well. I shared Jeff's page on my personal page and many of Jeff's friends and galleries also shared his page which led to more likes and shares. On Jerry Garcia's birthday, I shared Jeff's painting of Garcia on Garcia's official Facebook and that received numerous shares and likes.

4:00 p.m seemed to be the time more people were on so I would make it a point to post around that time.

The total amount spent on advertising was around $300. A majority of the likes we received were due to the ad that was running. 

Self-Evaluation:

I believe that I did well on my Facebook campaign for my friend. However, I do believe that I could of done better. I could of come up with some sort of alternatives for the work that I would of been posting. I could of used social media to find out what people wanted and expected from the page. I did well at responding in a timely fashion to clients and galleries with questions and prices. With the $300 spent on advertising, I was able to close two deals over the Facebook making around $3,900. Many other prospective clients have since contacted me about ordering originals and prints. I am going to continue to work with Jeff and implement some of my ideas that I think will be effective. 

Sustainability: Madrid

Madrid Social Environment 

Pollution- 

Madrid has new rules establishing warning levels, which if they are sustained, will lead to a progression implementation of restrictions leading up tom a bar on access to some vehicles.

Warnings are issues urging driver to leave their cars at home and the speed limits are lowered on major roads if readings of nitrogen dioxide exceeds 250 micrograms per cubic meter of air reached. 

If the readings remain high the following day, only neighborhood residents are allowed to use the parking meters. And if the levels remain high the third day, vehicles are cut by 50% as odd or even number license plates are banned. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/11444948/Madrid-brings-in-tough-anti-pollution-regulations.html

Philanthropy- 

The Real Madrid Foundation develops social and cultural awareness programs. The main objective of Real Madrid is to promote global comprehension of sports, education, in addition to promoting and disseminating the cultural aspects linked to sports. The Real Madrid Foundation exists due to the contributions of different public authorities, national and international companies, and thousands of Madrid's fans. The foundation divides its activities into five main areas: sports activities, educational and cultural activities, social welfare activities, international cooperation and institutional activities. 

http://www.realmadrid.com/en/about-real-madrid/foundation/about-the-foundation/annual-memories

OTM: Recognizing Default Responses

I've come to realize that being objective is something many people struggle with greatly, including myself. We've all grown up with news outlets leaning one way and discretely placing words and forming sentences to curb an opinion. 

I’ve learned through Inipi (Native American ceremony) and speaking to my teachers that the best way to go through life is with an open heart and an open mind. I'd like to think that this way of life is reflected through my work but I know it is not. We are all influenced by every single thing. What we like and what we hate. 

Like most people, I form opinions and assign labels without realizing. Lately, I've learned that this just makes my life harder, not anyone else’s. So, I should probably just fucking stop doing it and become aware enough to realize when it’s clouding my perception of the world around me.

With most of the OTM assignments, I reference and go off of the opinions and attitudes that I hear from the hosts and the guests. It can range anywhere from the structure of a sentence or the tone the speaker is taking while reporting or commenting on a story. Most of what I wrote about, I already knew about from another news outlet before hearing it on On The Media.

And I learned something about myself: I don’t like religion interfering with the law and I don’t like that women and people of any diverse culture are placed below the middle to upper-class, middle-aged, white man. 

When writing about Kim Davis, I remember being very angry that it was even a story, nonetheless making national headlines. A common theme that I notice through my work and my life is a distaste for organized religion. It makes an appearance every day in my life and I come face-to-face with it constantly because of the school I chose to attend. On days that I’m lacking self-awareness it comes out as anger and a bias. Most days I strive to keep a fair and open mind and understand both sides. That’s easier said than done. 

I’m triggered by issues of equality and inequality. 

As a twenty-year-old from the south side of Chicago brought up by a single, non-religious mom, I was raised to be kind and open to the differences the world has to offer. However, by saying that I do not under any circumstance believe that means I’ll let someone throw their opinions at me like they’re facts and I’m wrong for thinking any different. Sure I have some bias towards certain issues and many are looked down upon in the community I reside in. I believe that as a non-religious student, I should not have to learn about religion when I’m not in a class teaching religion. I believe that morals range from one human to the next, so why so much judgment? I believe that women are just as smart as men and should have equal opportunities. I believe that my best friend Terrence (T-Rexx) should have the opportunity to have a voice, no matter the environment. I believe that my other best friend, Chandler should be able to marry his boyfriend because I can marry my boyfriend if I so desired. I believe with all of my being that we all believe in something different, so who’s to say what’s right? 

I enjoy reading everyone’s blogs because on some level, I learn about the person behind the screen writing them. I definitely disagreed with some of what I read but I get some insight to the way people think. 

Understanding the difference between the suggestions that you grew up with from your parents and grandparents, clergy, wards, aunts, uncles, pastors and bishops, and peeling those away and discovering what you actually think and believe, is the beginning of having self awareness and will lead to you expressing your own beliefs in a honest manner. This self-awareness is what I’m striving for right now, to know what is mine and what are the suggestions that family, culture and society have thrust upon me.  

So far, the best that I can hope for is to have self awareness and be responsible and acknowledge when I'm coming from judgment. 

Everybody is influenced by everything and we're lying to ourselves if we don't acknowledge that. Very few people have original thoughts. As I understand and learn about myself, I can let go of the things that don't fit for me.

Like the students in my Interpersonal Communications class describe me, I’m a “gay-loving, tattooed, culturally diverse, drug dealing-alcoholic.” 

Climate

Climate change is here. And it's happening and it's just going to get worse.

It's appears that most people don't believe it or understand the severity of our situation.

Haileigh mentioned today in class Obama's efforts to combat the climate change that occurs by capping the amount "allowed" to rise at 2 degrees Celsius. 

President Obama attended the climate summit in Paris and was among the Group of Seven (G7) of the world's largest advanced economies. They came to a conclusion and reaffirmed their commitment to keep the globe's average temperature from rising past 2 degrees Celsius. 

To put this in perspective, I'll explain what would happen to the human race and the planet if we got near 2 degrees Celsius. 

Depending on where you're at in the world, will determine how you are affected. Warming over land is twice as intense as over the ocean. It is exacerbated over the Arctic, where retreating sea ice reflects less light and so produces less cooling. 

According to Kevin Trenberth, senior scientist and head of the climate analysis section of the independent National Center for Atmospheric Research, the most severe precipitation patterns associated with a warmer world are already showing up. 

Last year, surface temperatures of the sea in the subtropical Atlantic were as much as 1.1 degrees Celsius above normal and about half of that increase can be attributed to global warming. 

A 2010 report by the National Research Council, breaks down a series of changes. Every one degree increase could lead to 10 percent less rainfall during the North American, southern African, and the Mediterranean dry seasons. This then leads to the loss of crop growth and more wild fires. 

Climate change has led to fire seasons that are now on average 78 days longer than in 1970, according to a Forest Service report published in August. 

This isn't just happening on the West coast either, the "wet drought" has hit the soggy Pacific Northwest where snowfall has now turned into rain in the region's mountains. The little snow that does hit the ground, melts early and leaves the land ready to burn in the heat of summer. 

Each degree could bring up to a 400 percent increase in area burned by wildfire in parts of the western U.S. 

July 2015 was the warmest month ever physically recorded on planet Earth.

Take that in.

And with months left of fire season, the blazes of 2015 have already scorched more than 8 million acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Some of the fires that are occurring in the forested areas could burn until it snows. 

This tragedy of climate-driven mega-inferno is that the fires themselves actually worsen global warming. From these wildfires, megatons of carbon dioxide is pumped into our atmosphere.

According to a new major study by scientists at Columbia and NASA, man-made warming is increasing atmospheric evaporation - drawing water out of Western trees, soil and shrubs. Just in California alone, the epic drought is up to 25 percent more severe than it would have been, absent climate change. 

Humans have never lived on a planet that's 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) warmer than it was before we started burning fossil fuels, which was in the late 1800's. 

Climate experts say we risk fundamentally changing the human race and life on this planet if we do cross that 2-degree mark. 

What would the world look like at 2 degrees?

• Wildfires in the United States would increase 400% to 800% in size.
• Hurricanes are expected to become 2% to 8% more intense.
• 20% to 30% of animal and plant species will be at increasingly high risk of extinction. 
• Certain crops in the U.S, India and Africa will decrease in growth 10% to 30%. 
• The Arctic will keep melting, losing 30% of its annual average sea ice.
• The availability of freshwater is expected to decline by 20%.

And not to mention all of the displaced people that would be left with no home due to rising sea levels. Major cities everywhere will be under water. 

So...

All of those mentioned above are really shitty. 

But it's possible to stay below those 2 degrees. 

Instead of denying the change in climate, let's just agree that it's occurring and all do something together to try and slow down the process.

Let's just stop being lazy and try to make a difference, maybe not for us, but for our children and our children's children. 

We have to stop treating climate change as a political football and acknowledge it as the world crisis it is. It doesn't matter whether humans have accelerated the process but that the process is happening and we must ban together or go the way of the dinosaurs. 

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/06/08/g7-reaffirms-2-degree-global-warming-target

http://www.livescience.com/10325-living-warmer-2-degrees-change-earth.html

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/what-megablazes-tell-us-about-the-fiery-future-of-climate-change-20150915

Religion 3.0

"Religion is the opium of the people." -Karl Marx, German philosopher and economist. 

The Holocaust, Charlie Hebdo, ISIS, the Crusades, the Inquisition, practically every Middle Eastern conflict, and countless more, all have at least one common thread- religion.

Disenfranchisement, discrimination, racism, sexism, and homophobia all have a common thread- religion.

If you think about it, religion is at the heart of many conflicts and issues that we've dealt with since the dawn of civilized people. 

In all of the great cultures that have come before us, our Christian society has looked back and discounted their religions referring to them as myths. At it's core, myth is simply a way for a man to make sense and find his place in the universe.

All religions are myths. Even our modern day Christian culture is based on mythology. 

They're stories told to make sense of our world and our place in the universe and to give us structure. 

It is an illusion that people use to find comfort and safety in their place and their purpose in life. 

All religions are myths including: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Mormonism, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc...etc... 

These are not factual histories though there may be historical facts in them. 

They are works of fiction, or myths, all the same. 

Religions are businesses that are run to make money. They make money by keeping people disempowered and afraid. Instead of unifying, they keep people separate by pronouncing that they hold the real truths. If you do not believe their way, you are wrong, and there begins all matter of chaos. 

Religion is the pill we take to get through the day because we don't want to question or think for ourselves. But there are side effects; we give up analytical thinking, the opportunity to be accountable for our own actions, and the possibility that we are inherently good as opposed to inherently flawed. 

And the reason I say we give up analytical thinking for religion is because why else would a perfectly reasonable human being say that the earth is 6,000 years old? And nonetheless defend that proposition to the death with myth from his bible as though it were fact although hard provable science tells us otherwise.

I would love to think that we can be empathetic human beings that would rather not kill people. And not because we think it's some sort of "ticket" to the heavens but just simply because it's the right thing to do. 

Why are women and gays and people of any sort of color treating so unfairly if religion is all about loving thy neighbor as yourself?

Qur'an (4:11) "The male shall have the equal of the portion of two females."

Qur'an (2:228) "and the men are a degree above them [women]"

The truth is that male religious leaders have had - and continue to have - an option to interpret holy teachings to exalt or subjugate women. 

I find it ironic how women are now welcomed into all different levels of professions and positions of authority, but are seen as inferior and are deprived of the equal right to serve god in positions of religious leadership. And this trickles down to minorities. 

Like c'mon, black people weren't allowed to be members of the LDS church until 1978, which isn't that long ago in the scheme of things.

I find it so tremendously difficult figuring out why women, black people or gay people would want to be a part of any church simply because of the unified belief that these organic occurrences are sinful and wrong.

The contradictions and commandments to love and accept everyone unless they believe in a different religion or they were born loving the same sex or are a different color. Churches and religions preach love but their actions are all about separation and hierarchy. Separation being the individual is not capable of communing with god without an intercessor (priest, pastor, bishop, etc..) that the individual needs to have it explained to them because they are not capable on their own of this enlightened understanding. It's a great way to make money and ensure job security. And the person being preached to agrees to this because now they don't have to think for themselves and take responsibility for their actions. We are sheeple just following. 

This is based on fear of someone or something different and not love and accepting someone of their own terms. Because of this fear, we try to change or assimilate the outsider to accept our norms. And if they don't, then they are bad. People's feelings then get hurt and then everybody wants to fight everybody because everybody believe that they have the "right" way and all of the answers for everyone else. We tithe and donate to keep these money making, yet not for profit institutions running. The Catholic church is the richest corporation on the planet. 

Yet again, this is all based on myth and no fact, no data to support any of the stories. And everyone is ready to be insulted and persecuted to the extent that they're living to fight and die for a lie. 

Ask most people if Jesus was an historic figure or a myth, they will tell you an historic figure. And there's not one shred of evidence that Jesus ever walked this earth. 

Also, saying "that's not true, it's in the Bible," does not count as a counterargument because the Bible is not fact. 

It infuriates and saddens me that people turn to these institutions for answers instead of turning to themselves for the answers. Instead of questioning the inconsistencies and teachings and stories, they just trust that if they do what they're told, everything will be okay. 

So this justifies aberrant behavior such as discrimination, sexism, homophobia, and genocide as the Lord's work.

I like to keep my options open.  I don't have answers. I don't purport to know the truth. I believe it's okay to just say, I don't know. 

I believe I know the difference between right or wrong, not based on the fear of god but on an intuitive understanding and empathy for the human race that is born in me. Give me science and data and my own experience of the world, not proselytizing and judgment.





OR

My toilet bowl is my spiritual advisor. It keeps me low to the ground and humble and grounds me everyday. And constantly reminds me that I'm full of shit. 

Darkode

Radio Lab-

I think you [Eric Young] mentioned this last time in class and my reaction hasn't changed since hearing it reiterated on RadioLab.

These are the new internet pirates.  Well, internet ghost pirates.
There's not even a place we can go to and beat them up or threaten them for the acts their carrying out.

I don't like it at all. I feel vulnerable because I don't possess the kind of skills to fight back if need be.

It's a freaky situation all around.
First off, our FBI can't even shut them down..
That's most definitely a problem in itself.
They [internet pirates] do such a successful job at keeping their business running and keeping it out of sight from anyone that tries to threaten it. So there's that. TWO WEEKS and their site was back up.
Our FBI can't do anything and I'm no code expert, so I sure as hell wouldn't be able to do shit about it.
This woman had to pay $500!
I definitely don't have that amount of money laying around and I especially don't have it to pay off some crazies to regain my stolen, locked files.

After class on Tuesday I had an epiphany (I guess that would be the best word.)
We are so insanely stupid and unaware and careless that we're letting this happen to ourselves.
After watching the TedTalk about cameras being able to track our license plates all over the country, I had a mini panic attack.
To think this happens all the time is unsettling. I never know when I'm being watched and that does not sit well with me at all.
I went through so many scenarios and options of what I can do to stop this from happening to me and everyone else and the only thing I really came up with was rioting because we know protest don't do anything.. Which rioting isn't cool and it's dangerous so I would rather not do that to begin with. But somehow that's the only option I came up with. And I wouldn't be just me out there trying to do something, everyone must come together to try and stop this invasion of privacy and the raw slaughter of basic human rights.
The citizens of this country that believe our government can do no wrong are stupid.
And I mean stupid with all of the power that comes along with those six letters.
Our government is spying on us and if we would of looked into it, easily we would've known about this and been able to figure out what was going on even before Mr. Snowden leaked the information he did.

We allow this to happen to us by not caring enough and not standing up for our rights.
(Hope you all sang the Beastie Boy's song)

Unfortunately, I don't know enough about this to even come up with a realistic solution.
It's like the Wild West or pirates and the shitty thing is that we can't arm ourselves with guns for protection. We're fighting ghost. The only way we can fight back is with knowledge. Coming personally from me, I don't posses that so therefore I'm extremely underarmed.
Like the founder of Darkodes, the younger generation is raised in this environment of technology where they are exposed to the answers. Whether they decide to use this and arm themselves is entirely up to them.

I think RadioLab did an excellent job as always.