Toy Soldiers

WOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW........all i could say is WOOOOOWWWWWWW! Foot soldiers...the ones that do the actual corner selling and killing and the risking of their lives (which life is priceless to begin with) only makes as little as three dollars and thirty cent an hour......WAYYY, WAYYY LESS THEN MINIMUM WAGE! I mean why not get a job at Wendys or McDonalds to get at least $7.25 an hour and won't have to worry about looking over your shoulder every five minutes in fear of someone coming to take your life for your "drug" territory or the cops to come and lock you up for most of your life on drug charges (:().

It's sad that they get paid that much but the ones at the top who barely does anything but sit back and collect...make the most money. Its also sad that they are recruiting teens so young to come and risk their lives for such a life style. Especially for J.T. who was a college graduate himself. I mean even though he live the life style that he does, he should have at least tried to stair the younger ones in the right direction...give them a better chance at life...and opportunity, you know tell them to go to college, as he had done, and make something of themselves... (but I guess he thought, if he tell the youngsters to make better choices, and stay away from the drugs, who would distribute his product (:()...sad).

Finally I was most amazed at how they had to pay to be foot soldiers. I mean what would possess any one to think that making three thirty an hour, plus paying to work was a good thing??? I mean the life of a foot soldier was not at all glamorous...I mean, they were posting up in smelly, pissy hallways twenty four hours a day seven days a week, not riding around in fancy cars and big apartments with king sized beds, and silk sheets.

All in all, unfortunately since this survey that Venkatesh conducted nothing has changed in the drug game...the pay may be a little higher, but the foot soldiers, who are actually on the streets, are still making less then the top dealers who just sit back and collect. Hopefully one day this cycle will end! It has too...or else there is no future....(:()!

"Kl"ever "Kl"an of Ameri"KKK"a

Its definitely true what they say, you do learn something new everyday and after reading chapter two of Freakonomics not only did I learn something new but something quite interesting, yet hard to believe at the same time, as well. That interesting something was the original purpose for the forming of the Ku Klux Klan!

It is said that the Klan was started by six young men after the Civil War, simply a circle of like-minded friends. Lie number one. Then it goes on to say that the activities were only to perform harmless midnight pranks - for instance, riding horses through the countryside while draped in white sheets and pillow - case hoods...and the lies just get bigger and more unbelievable from here. For a group that just started out to make prank fun its funny (in the shameful sense of the word funny) how drastically it changed to killing African Americans to keep them oppressed. In my opinion I believe from the very beginning this is what the Klan set out to do.

Something else I found interesting was that the Klan not only terrorized and killed African Americans but Catholics, Jews, communists, unionists, immigrants, agitators, and any other group other than themselves as well...and I thought my ancestors were the only one. = also took an interest to the codes they had as far as the Mr. Ayak (are you a Klansman) and Mr.Akai (a klansman am i)...i thought that was pretty clever on the Klansman part. As far as the graph and its trying to prove that when the Klansman were at its peak number of people and the number of lynching went down, i dont buy it. I say that because the Klan was in cahoots with so many things like the police station, and the court houses, that the lynchings were not being recorded so of course there is no record of them, therefore the number of recorded lynchings are higher when the Klan did not have members in high places.

All in all this chapter really taught me the power of information...i mean it scared even the scariest Klan into quietness and hiding! That is why now I am even more ready to take on this college "thing" gain all the information I can while I am here, that way no one or group will be able to scare me into oppression.

students cheat "TEACHERS CHEAT" numbers don't

First and foremost I must say that I absolutely enjoyed this reading. Not only was it informative but it was interesting as well. The read was so interesting, that I read all 50 pages non-stop. Not once did I have to put the book down to get a cup of juice, nor did I become tired and in desperate need of a 20 minute nap [even after taking a Benadryl – and those usually knock me out]!

Furthermore, it was interesting how the economist study at the daycare [charging $3 for late child pick - up] proved how incentives could provoke individuals to do the WRONG thing. But what I enjoyed most about this reading was the study on the school teachers in Chicago. My first reaction was if the cheating was happening in Chicago, there’s no telling where else it was taking place. I was also interested in if this form of teacher cheating was still taking place today.

I think Bush signing “No Child Left Behind” [the reason for the teachers beginning to cheat in the first place, when test scores became important to their salary and school funding] was the most hurtful gesture he could have made in a child’s education. All “No Child Left Behind” is doing is pushing children through school, giving them promotions to higher grades when clearly they are not ready for the next level. From my own [second hand] experience I know people who are not ready to be in grades that they are in yet the school system continues to push them forward. I mean now, any and everybody can breeze through school, no matter how much, or little, effort they put in [especially in high school]. To me going to high school now is like elementary school, even Pre-School, all over again. I guess this is why now, in this day and age, a high school diploma is no longer able to get you a decent paying job with at least minimum wage pay (:/). But what happens to these students when it is time to go to college because, in my opinion, COLLEGE IS NO BREEZE! And if these students, that are just simply getting pushed along, believe that college is going to be like their previous school days, they are in for a very, very RUDE awakening!

I wish there was something that could be done about this, some way to erase this “No Child Left Behind” act, before more children are affected, like our children, or our children’s children. Because soon, even one college degree will not be enough. One might need two or three degrees to get, at least, a minimum wage paying job. And by keeping this act that Bushed signed, we are only hurting ourselves for this is absolutely no way to prepare our future for the real world that is yet to come!

Just Aint' Right

Yes, yes, yes, the good ol' Double Standard. The things that are good for boys and men, but bad for girls and women. The one that always gets me though is the one about having multiple sex partners. I mean why is it that when males have multiple sex partners, they're considered "The Man," but when girls have just as many, or even less, she is considered a "Ho" and is looked down upon? I mean who made up these rules? Okay, okay, yeah women should not be out here having sex with multiple people all "willy nilly," and we should have respect for our bodies, but shouldn't men hold the same level of respect for their own bodies too? Shouldn't they too save that special moment for the woman whom they choose to marry...? I mean this really does bug me!

Oh yeah and what about the Double Standard that can be found all throughout the work place, any where you go? Say for example when a woman has a good job, and has a good office position in a big firm, etcetara, etcetara, she most likely slept with the boss to get there (:/), but when we are talking about a man, who could have the same exact position, he simply worked hard to get to the position he is in. I mean why did a women have to sleep her way to the top? Not to say that some women dont do it, but not all women find success that way. And its unfortunate that the minority, the women like those that sleep around, give the majority, women that actually move up in the world the right way, a bad reputation. It is so sad that we a generalized, especially because it is based on the negativity of only a handful.

I myself experience a Double Standard to this day. Growing up, my father took care of my uncle, his brother, that was only a few years older than me. And I could remember at 12, 13, 14 my uncle was already basically coming and going as he pleased. He was allowed to date, have his girlfriends over for dinner, and everything else. But me at 18, cant even do that! I can't date, definitely can't have a boy spend the night, not even come over for an hour a two, I mean really I'm almost 19 and I cant even do what a 14 year old boy was doing, at my age (:(). And whats the excuse, "Its not you I dont trust, its them boys out there." I guess so. I just have one word for this "b***s***" okay so I dont want to be that crude so im just going to say "unfair."

But not to say that the Double Standard only has its negative affects on women, because it affects men as well. For example for men certain colors are like forbidden to wear or like automatically they get the "GAY" label. I just think that the Double Standards are more suppressing to women, and is applied more frequently to women. And its a shame that has even reached as far as the work place and the way a womens success is measured. I mean do this mean in the future when I'm successful along with the title of "doctor" i'll have to take the title of "ho" as well? It has to change!