"Nazi" this wprd which means so much should we ban it? by A. Arbona

In recent events a group of prosecutors in Israel have been attempting to pass a law that would ban the word "Nazi" by placing a fine on whoever had the misfortune or had the nerve to say it. Usually I would argue against this type of behavior as it violates peoples rights to ban certain words, but un this case I say ban it, and make sure no one ever says it again. Everyday someone curses they say F___k or Sh___t , but those words mean sex and poop. What's so bad about that again? Now when you say "Nazi" what you are saying is death, peril,genocide,betrayal,insanity, and death to all Jews. That is a curse word if there every was one, and in fact I think that its above a curse word I believe it is a sign that you are a horrible person for saying a word like that casually. According to the article if you say "Nazi" in Isreal, after the act is passed that you could serve up to 6 months in prison with a fine of $29,000. While that may be severe for saying a word, think about what the Nazi's did to the world. This of course is not an issue that will ever occur in the U.S.A. as we are controlled by are constitution, also as America is filled obstinate people who say it everyday on Youtube, FaceBook, and everything else that they can get their hands on. So I agree with the prosecution, the word Nazi should be banned, and the last thing I wish to say about the topic is why they didn't bring this fight earlier. The sooner we forget the holocaust the better.

Fishing for Memories, a sonnet by A. Arbona.

As days go by I swing my line through time.

I fish for memories that I once lost.

The harsh defeat like bitter taste of lime.

The memories upon my past embossed.

Intrinsically obsessed with rod and reel.

I fish this lake for what I cannot find.

The happiness is fake, sadness is real.

Nothing else matters in my state of mind.

But I will not concede defeat quite yet.

My memories of you are worth too much.

So I will hold your smile and not forget.

But there is no way to feel your touch.

As minds explode and thoughts flow red forever.

I wonder if we could have died together.  

 

Espada essay by A Arbona

Espada Essay

In Martin Espadas poems many irrational decisions and brutal misjudgments are made based on emotional responses. This is shown in Espada’s works like “The New Bathroom Policy” when, because he is afraid of losing power to his students, the principal bans Spanish in the school bathrooms. Also, in another of Espada’s poems entitled “A Revolutionary Spanish Lesson” Espada wants to take extreme action when his name is mispronounced because he believes that they are offending his culture. Another example in Espada’s work is the “Two Mexicanos” in which the fear of different people coming into America causes white vigilantes to kill the Mexicans and then take a picture of themselves hanging them.    

“The New Bathroom Policy” shows how fear can corrupt someone who is in a role of power and can end up influencing them to create ignorant situations. In the poem, the Principal is afraid that two Spanish boys are talking badly about him so he does something irrational and unconstitutional.  His paranoia is demonstrated when Espada states that “…The only word he recognizes is his own name/ and this constipates him”, showing that he’s afraid of what he doesn’t know which leads to him making an irrational decision, by banning Spanish in the bathrooms. By writing about the situation in this manner Espada brings a sense of humor to the situation by demonstrating how stupid the Principal really is.

In “A Revolutionary Spanish Lesson,” Espada is provoked by the mispronunciation of his name because he feels that his name represented his culture and by mispronouncing it you are directly insulting his culture. “Whenever my name is mispronounced, I want to buy a toy pistol, put on dark eyeglasses, push my beret at an angle, comb my beard to a point, hijack a busload of Republican tourists from Wisconsin…” This quote shows how when offended Espada can have irrational over-the-top ideas. A corresponding observation I made was that even a very responsible calm man like Espada can be influenced by emotions in such a powerful way.

Finally in “Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877” A group of white vigilantes’ hatred for the Mexican’s and other Latin cultures drove them to take a picture with two young men whom they had just hung. Why they hated the Mexicanos could only be because the Mexicans are different from the Whites. So the Whites hate them for being different, and that emotion of hatred causes them to illegally murder the Mexicanos publicly. Espada’s description of “…A high collar boy smirking,”, shows that they don’t care about the Mexicano lives.

In conclusion, Espada’s poems show how emotion effects the rationality of the decisions people make. Whether it is fear, hatred, or anger, it always effects the way people act and think.  Espada uses this to show us how people use emotions to lash out at one another. The situations that Espada use in his poems show that he cares about the issues affecting Latin American’s that occur within our society.

        

                                                                                      

The Stand prt 1 by A.Arbona

First off today is my birthday WOOOHOOO!!!, but other big news I finally started a blog book series that I will probably have five parts to, why is this you may ask? Well its because I'm reading The Stand by Stephen King, which of course means that it is 1153 pages long. Wow.

Now onto the actual blog, The Stand is about a disease which will inevitably kill off 99.4% of the population not just in the little town where the story takes place but the entire world. So those who survive have to choose the path of order or chaos, civilization or the dark ages. Unfortunately I am not up to that part in the story and only know about the post-apocalyptic part of this book because of the blurb. As of now I have just been introduced to all the main characters Stu, Franny, and the others which I cannot remember as of now.  All of the main characters have been exposed to the virus so I can only assume that they are going to die. Not all of them but most.

As of now I deeply enjoy the book. I enjoy its realism as it really shows social issues happening today on paper, it covers the topic of abortion, family, mistrust, hatred, love, and how all of the feelings and issues go by in the blink of an eye. Also the power of the situation, as Franny is forced to make a choice that may involve the destruction of her child.

So I like the plot so far and am deeply intrigued by The Stand and will continue reading it until I am finally finished with all One Thousand One hundred and Fifty Three pages of it excluding the Forward. See you next week!
   

Poetry by A.Arbona

Poetry really is a beautiful thing , it stirs the minds of the readers and makes them think in ways they would have never thought before. Even short poems like most of the ones in Shel Silverstein's collection of poetry books sometimes raise tears, but why does poetry affect us like this?

According to Elise Curtin in her article "Poetry shown to have a music-like effect on the brain", a string of words in a certain tempo stimulates an emotional response from the body, which effects the brain by  putting it in a minor trance.

I also believe that poetry reaches the brain in an intellectual manner by exercising the minds responsiveness and stimulating deep thought, which will increase the reader's ability to make choices better in the future and have a stronger opinion  about what they believe is right.

So in conclusion, poetry improves the mind and the body and, if you really believe in poetry, the spirit. I hope you take my theory to heart and think about this, how does poetry effect you?

Money in books 1 by A. Arbona

In some books money has a influential role in the story. Today we are going to talk about how money was a major part of "The Sneetches" by Dr. Seuess. "Sneetches" is about a group of people who are being oppressed. In this case the Plain Belly Sneetches were being oppressed by the Star Belly Sneetches. Money plays its role by resolving the conflicts they have with each other.

Money and greed takes its form as the sales man Sylvester McMonkey  McBean. Who scams the Sneetches out of their money. By losing track of their money and who's who the Sneetches live happily ever after. So in a way it looks like money actually did buy the Sneetches happiness. I make this claim because they wasted all of their money and then found peace in each other.

It could also mean that money is bad for you. I make this claim as when the Sneetches had their money the Star Bellies oppressed the Plain Bellies but after they were peaceful towards them. Making it seem that money just brought out the hate in them.

  

In conclusion money played a valuable role in ending the oppression of the Plain Bellies. Whether you believed  that because they spent all of their money that was keeping them apart in the first place or the opinion that after they mixed each other up and melted into one another they became peaceful. Without McBeans greedy money stealing ways none of it would have ever happened. 

E-Cigs by A.Arbona

Recently published in the magazine Upfront the article Smoke signals talk about E-Cigs. E-Cigs are mechanical cigarettes which contain little to no tobacco. They claim that they only use liquid nicotine and a heater to warm up that nicotine to make vapor. Unfortunately this is not the only thing that is in Cigarettes.

E-Cigs are unregulated by the tobacco law as they have no tobacco. Which means that it is legal for any child to walk into the local Deli and buy one. E-cig companies can also show ads on television something which normal cigarette companies can't do by law. So they're unregulated, advertised, and... expensive, a pack of cigarettes costs about $9, E-cigs cost $50-$100. Also E-cigs have a very interesting ingredient. To keep the E-cig's liquid nicotine from freezing in the winter or in cold weather, companies use anti-freeze to keep the nicotine you smoke liquid.

So why do companies make E-cigs, which are just regular cigarettes with added anti-freeze? Because they want to make allot of money. But the type of money they want to make is worst type of money. Recently E-cigs have been releasing flavored cartridges to attract a younger audience. So that they can make money off of them for the rest of their lives.

This is happening right now in the U.S.A. So are we really the greatest Democracy on Earth or are we the greatest capitalists on the planet? Are we just here to make money? Or are we just here to engulf the planet and spew it out as an onslaught of plastic and things harmful for us. So are we capitalists or are we a Democracy?