Class Predestination

My name is Emily. I’m from Omaha, Nebraska. I have never left the United States, but Queen Elizabeth II is my cousin. Well–She is my cousin…24 times removed. However, this also makes me distantly related to most of European royalty and celebrities of European descent. I can bet I am distantly related to many of my classmates if I cared to look back far enough.

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND – JUNE 28: Queen Elizabeth II attends an Armed Forces Act of Loyalty Parade at the Palace of Holyroodhouse on June 28, 2022 in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Members of the Royal Family are spending a Royal Week in Scotland, carrying out a number of engagements between Monday June 27 and Friday July 01, 2022. (Photo by Jane Barlow – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

How did I come across this information?

My family have always been interested in our geneology, so I decided to do my part in mapping my family tree after I took a DNA test a few years ago. I am extremely privileged, as my ancestors’ records on my English side have been well-preserved, which is not the case for many countries due to war, colonization, and many other factors. Long story short, Queen Elizabeth and I share a 25th Great Grandfather, Reginald Fitzroy, who lived in the 1100s. Thus, we are cousins 24 times removed. Don’t even ask if we’re 2nd cousins or anything, I still have trouble remembering the concept.

What does this mean?

What this means is that, although Queen Elizabeth II lived a drastically different life from anything I will ever encounter, at some point in time we were connected. Our shared ancestor was deemed important because his father was king, who was king because of a system designed by humans. This system was put in place to make sense of the world, some people chose to follow along and others resisted. It just so happens I am descended from those who resisted and fled to the New World, while Elizabeth’s ancestors played into the system due to their advantaged rank and came out successful. Ultimately, the people for whom the system works are the ones who will push for its continuance. We are the victims of the consequences of decisions that were made before our time. As a result, Elizabeth was born into a world of luxury and was forced into the role of queen at 26 due to her uncle’s abdication. As a result, I was born into a lower class family in middle America who was forced into the role of financial supporter for my parents at the age of 16. I have the opportunity to recover from this, but I am starting the race already behind because of my socioeconomic position–And even then, I am still more privileged than others because of my race.

Did you know that, according to a Georgetown University study, “wealth is stronger indicator of success than intelligence.” Now, I know that Queen Elizabeth II was a smart lady, but I know that I am too, and so are billions of other folks across the world. How many people have forfeited their education, simply because it was too expensive? How many people have given up time with family, vacations, and job opportunities purely due to financial cost? The Royal family supported and still supports a system that keeps this class divide alive. It is humans who determine which of us are important, so it is up to us to collectively decide that those in lower socioeconomic classes are just as worthy as the Queen of England, deserving of financial security. How many geniuses has the world missed out on due to them being poor? Class is a social construct; therefore, we have the right to redefine our old work for improved constructs.

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What Robots, Cyborgs and Synthetics Tells us about Expectation V.S Reality

1. Define to your satisfaction and in your own terms the public represented by your classmates and instructor.

2. Keeping that public in mind, post a link in a blog post that connects to any site on the web — a blog post, a mainstream news item, a Wikipedia entry, an online community or marketplace, audio or video content — that has the potential to enhance that public’s knowledge, incite that public to take action, provoke that public to respond to you.

Blog#5

Robots, Cyborgs and Synthetics 

I would say I’ve always been a big sci-fi nerd when it comes to spaceships, aliens, robots or anything like that. And over the past two to three years, I’ve been really trying to define the meaning of a Robot, Cyborg and a Synthetic, and what the meaning of them are and how they’re applied to these scientific stories. Movies like Alien, Battlestar Galactica, Stargate or Defiant all explore these concepts. Shit, even Firefly explores the concept of a Genetically enhanced human. I’ve even explored a little bit of this in relation to the character Tima, which is related to the movie Metropolis that’s on my blog. She herself, I would describe her as more of a Cyborg in theory, rather than a synthetic. But again, what does that mean?

Robots

If we’re defining the meaning of a robot, it would be something that is in regards to artificial intelligence. Having similar brain patterns and behaviors to that of a human.

Now, how are robots being applied to stories? They’re normally used as guards, waitresses, waiters or some type of person that is being of help to the protagonist or antagonist of the story. Assisting mankind and all of its endeavors or its destruction. Many stories have explored the concept of robots adapting to be human, almost too human. Ex Machina is a coined term that refers to a robot or a creation having sentient life (being able to feel emotion, think, process, and evolve). Maybe even taking on human emotion. Sometimes these stories result in the creation killing the creator because of the restrictions they hold upon them. And I think we all know the words that will always cut deep, that we never want to hear. Which is “You were created for one function”. 1: What does that mean? 2.What does that mean in regards to my dreams and who I am or who I think I am? 3. Then why did you create me? 

I was just thinking the other day that Pinocchio would be considered an Ex Machina and how he wanted to not only be a real boy but had the artificial Intelligence to that of a human. I’m going to go a little off script, but I promise it’s going to rain right back into what I’m talking about. There’s a specific episode in the show W.I.T.C.H, where one of the main characters ends up cloning herself so that she can be in two places at once. Obviously, it ended up going terribly wrong and they had to deal with the problem. They did end up eventually catching her, but she didn’t understand why she had to leave. The clone began to understand that she was her own person. The clone was accidentally killed, and it was a sad episode. (254) W.I.T.C.H. Season 2 – Episode 08 – H is for Hunted – YouTube (Watch at 18:04-21:05).

Cyborg

A Cyborg is half human and half robot. Sometimes these forms can vary from an arm to a leg, to ears or something that was once human. 

Cyborgs are normally applied to stories that are very action-packed or have a very adventurous genre. They create a lot of discourse around the concept of being alive and what that actually means. Normally, cyborgs don’t really have a home or a place. They usually pop up as your merchants, your travelers, your crew or your workers. Cyborgs can be a really nice touch to a story to give it some flavor.

The evolutionary component of evolving is through the concept of being a cyborg. Those who need new hands, legs, feet or arms would be considered a cyborg in theory.

Synthetic

A synthetic is a creation that has smoothly gone through the process of becoming both human and robot. Having organs with mechanical engineering, reproduction methods, human brains patterns. Synthetics within stories are basically the perfect human being that you could offer. 

Synthetic human beings that come to mind are from the movie Alien and Alien Resurrection. One of them is played by the amazing Winona Ryder. Synthetics show up as ethereal beings in post apocalyptic situations or to end a specific chaos caused by humans. They can also be prized possessions sought out by bounty hunters. Gundam animes have often used Synthetics as a significant supporting character or as a plot device. Normally referring to a means to an end or having a sacrificial nature towards the conclusion of the series.

Synthetic creations are normally women from what I’ve seen. Which is something I’ve often pondered as to why that is. My theory is that women secretly hold a lot of power or untapped potential to change the world for the better. Though they are normally naive in nature or have no type of experience. A coined term I learned the other day was “Born sexy yesterday”. Which lends quite nicely to the topic at hand. The term refers to a synthetic being often female but can be male, normally saving the got damn world. They’re hot as hell and great fighters but would fail most subjects in school. Since they don’t know jack shit, they’re learning from the protagonists or as the story progresses.

One of my favorite movies to date is “Fifth Element”, starring Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Chris Tucker and more falls into this trope pretty hard. Not to say it’s not a good movie but it uses this formula. Nonetheless, I hope you have a better understanding of the classifications and how they applied to storytelling in the Sci-Fi world. 

What stories can you think of that involve these terms?

Would you be able to allow your creation to think for itself or would you want full control? Why or Why not?

Why do you think that synthetics are mostly women. and why do you think they choose men sometimes?

There are no words

Minneapolis is on fire.

I’ve hardly been able to stop watching the attached video. It’s a live stream of Minneapolis from the wee hours of May 30, 2020.

I have worked in that neighborhood for 17 years. I have walked on all of those streets. I have shopped at many of those stores. I’ve eaten at the restaurants. I’ve worked in that neighborhood longer than I’ve lived anywhere in my life.

In the video, I can see people trying to burn down the building that I have spent countless hours, days, weeks, months, and years. It looks like a war zone. It looks like a movie. It’s hard to comprehend the destruction while sitting miles away, in my home office. It’s breathtaking and heartbreaking.

I can’t seem to focus on anything else, just watching the familiar streets filled with glass, hearing the fires crackle and the alarms sounding. I’ve been trying to do homework for hours and I keep coming back to the video. I can’t stop thinking about the people who live and work in that neighborhood. There is a hospital two blocks away, full of patients with COVID.

I remember on 9/11, I was drawn to the TV in the same way that I am drawn to the internet today. I know that this will pass, that we will rebuild, and this will be relegated to a “where were you during the Minneapolis riots?” moment.

In the meantime, I think I will try to focus on the good in the community. It’s out there if you look for it.

http://mspmag.com/arts-and-culture/general-interest/how-to-support-the-twin-cities/

Gender Bias

 

Gender Bias is a discrimination that often goes unnoticed on a day to day basis. This Bias has been push through each generation from early history when all women would stay at home to care for the family and house while the man went to work to provide the income for the family. For history to have a period of time like that creates a bunch of stereotypes for what boy and girl should be and act like from an early age. It was up until the nineteenth century when women were allowed to partake social life, education, and politics. These ideas where pushed through movements like Christianity and the age of enlightenment. It has taken women movements and acts from the government for women to be respected by institutions of the government. Although women are still fighting to this present day to still have equality between men and women. Our history allows us to see there has always been separation of fair equality between men and women. Overall both of these links below talk about gender bias in different and similar ways but both educate you on gender bias in the world today. They both also touch on how gender bias has progressed over the years and through movements.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-marie-jenkins/unconscious-gender-bias-e_b_7447524.html

http://psychology.jrank.org/pages/271/Gender-Bias.html

CBD in MN

Cannabidiol—CBD  is a chemical compound in cannabis that is beneficial from a medical standpoint. It gives people the medical benefits of cannabis, without getting the “high” or “stoned” feeling. CBD is still paving way for acceptance but has still has a stigma since it derives from the marijuana plant.

There has been tons of testing done on the benefits of CBD especially when we talk about seizures and general body inflammation. The major break through right now with Minnesota Medical Solutions is that they have developed a more potent strain of marijuana to extract CBD from. This is a vital procedure because it cuts production costs by making it easier to produce the plants, and making it cheaper to refine CDB from. Since Minnesota is one of the most restrictive states with medical marijuana it is a great opportunity to get rid of another obstacle standing in the way of patients in need of medicine that isn’t as harsh, and  providing an alternative solution to their medical needs.

Image from: https://grandvalleyhempinfusions.com/what-is-cbd/

From my point of view on CBD, if there is a medical solution with out experiencing the intoxicating aspects of marijuana it should be used medically. It has very minimal or close to none side effects and can help a large sum of our population. Obviously we still have a long journey on the way to legalization on both state and federal levels, but having medical CBD available is a step closer to legalization.

PDF on CBD testing results: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1250/8949/files/GRLabSheetPacketOctober.pdf?12689755168953608911/

StarTribune Article: http://www.startribune.com/minnesota-medical-marijuana-manufacturer-hopes-new-plant-will-push-down-prices/362716951/

Minnesota Medical Solutions website: http://minnesotamedicalsolutions.com/

 

 

 

 

 

Connected communities and visibility

Connected Communities and visibility

I will present two blogs that I have been following for more than a month.
They are https://blog.sleepnumber.com/ and https://blog.mnreadingandmathcorps.org/

The Sleep Number Blog stated that it was the Official Founding Partner for the Super bowl NFL season and dedicated last week’s articles to how athletes need a restful sleep and what kind of sleep number settings helped them achieve maximum rest. They also communicated their Sleep Number Station with full-on activation at Nicollet Mall and engaged the public who came to visit and sleep on their Sleep Number Setting beds.

In their blog articles, they touch upon various aspects of life that deeply relates to have a sound sleep. It can be as simple as a bedtime routine, to cutting out caffeine, to eating the right kind of food, to decorating your bedroom to make it look comforting. Or it can be as complex as Sleep program accreditation and assessments which are scientifically proven. The blog does a thorough job of investigating all aspects of Sleep as a Science,
an Art, and a biological rhythm of everyday living.

The blog subtly promotes the Sleep Number beds but not in an overtly in your face marketing campaign. It talks convincingly about the Sleep Number bed and how it can help you stay healthy through life’s ups and downs. I like to read this blog because they have a Book Club and showcase interesting books to read. This scores maximum brownie points for me along with other well-written articles. It has a subscription list as all blogs and also has shareable content. I liked the blog because it covers almost all aspects of sleep and has an authentic voice and a delightful online presence.

The Minnesota Reading and Math Corps Blog

The second blog that I loved is the Minnesota Math and Reading Corps blog.
It is a simple blog with no fashionable art or sophistication. It speaks out to me, because serving in Reading Corps for four years was significant milestone in my life. It also salutes those who have served and currently serving. It is a blog of service to young children and how each member has his/her own story of triumph.
(https://blog.mnreadingandmathcorps.org/2016/05/learning-and-growing-together.html?view=snapshot) That is me and my 2 minutes of Reading Corps glory. This blog places it’s focus entirely on the Tutors without any distraction or deviation. You may ask why is this so? It is because the Tutors are the ambassadors of the Program.
The Program has its independent website which has all details of the application process to become a Tutor and the works. The blog is completely dedicated to the individuals who bring the program to life. These tutors come from diverse backgrounds, but with one mission: To make a difference in the lives of children. The blog does an excellent job of delivering it in a direct and powerful manner.

In my analysis of the two blogs, I think they are creative hubs or online stations where the brand experience is communicated in a singular strategy. The Sleep Number Blog talks about the multifaceted phenomenon of “Sleep” and the Minnesota Reading Corps Blog talks about “Tutoring as a lifetime experience”.
The blog is available to a global community and you can reap the benefits of learning more about sleep patterns or the joys of being a tutor simultaneously. It is incredible how blogs are changing the way we experience life through the eyes of other’s who are sharing their experience and information.

The Lack of Sleep During Your College Years

If you stop and ask a college student if they’ve ever pulled an “all-nighter” to study for a test, or to write that last minute paper the response is likely, “Yes”. I know during the years I’ve been in school I’ve sacrificed a lot of sleep due to my procrastination and poor study habits.  The relationship college students have with sleep is something that needs to be improved in the years to come. According to Shelley Hershner and Ronald Chervin 50% of all college students report daytime sleepiness and 70% report they attain insufficient sleep. Those numbers are quite high, but not shocking to most. The lack of sleep for college students attribute to lower grade point averages, higher rates of car accidents, and possible failure of college classes.  Not only do GPAs and academic success hinge on the amount of sleep a college student gets, but the lack of sleep also attributes to altered, negative moods.

One reason college students attain insufficient sleep is simply because there is so much going on around college campuses. Both academically and socially, students can be overwhelmed with the prioritization of their needs.  Living in a college dorm is a blessing and a curse. Each pair of roommates have a different schedule and a different set of priorities. As the years go on, it seems as though self-care and wellness seem to go by the wayside. To fix this problem, the path is a two-way street. Universities need to adjust policies and engage in campus outreach to spread the message that sleep is exceptionally important to a student’s academic success. Also, students need to realize how much of their success hinges on getting the appropriate amount of sleep.

 

Read further:
Sleep Study

Is Sleep Deprivation The New Norm?

Connected Communities and Visibility – Blog 3

Connected Communities and visibility

I will present two blogs that I have been following for more than a month.
They are https://blog.sleepnumber.com/ and
https://blog.mnreadingandmathcorps.org/
The Sleep Number Blog stated that it was the Official Founding Partner for the Super bowl NFL season and dedicated last week’s articles to how athletes need a restful sleep and what kind of sleep number settings helped them achieve maximum rest. They also communicated their Sleep Number Station with full-on activation at Nicollet Mall and engaged the public who came to visit and sleep on their Sleep Number Setting beds.

In their other articles, they touch upon various aspects of life that deeply relates to have a sound sleep. It can be as simple as a bedtime routine, to cutting out caffeine, to eating the right kind of food, to decorating your bedroom to make it look comforting. Or it can be as complex as Sleep program accreditations and assessments which are scientifically proven. The blog does a thorough job of investigating all aspects of Sleep as a Science, an Art, and a biological rhythm of everyday living.

The blog subtly promotes the Sleep Number beds but not in an overtly in your face marketing campaign. It talks convincingly about the Sleep Number bed and how it can help you stay healthy through life’s ups and downs. I like to read this blog because they have a Book Club and showcase interesting books to read. This scores maximum brownie points for me along with other well-written articles.

The Minnesota Reading and Math Corps Blog

The second blog that I loved is the Minnesota Math and Reading Corps blog.
It is a simple blog with no fashionable art or sophistication. It speaks out to me, because serving in Reading Corps for four years was significant milestone in my life. It also salutes those who have served and currently serving. It is a blog of service to young children and how each member has his/her own story of triumph.
(https://blog.mnreadingandmathcorps.org/2016/05/learning-and-growing-together.html?view=snapshot) That is me and my 2 minutes of Reading Corps glory.

This blog places it’s focus entirely on the Tutors without any distraction or deviation.
You may ask why is this so? It is because the Tutors are the ambassadors of the Program. The Program has its independent website which has all details of the application process to become a Tutor and the works. The blog is completely dedicated to the individuals who bring the program to life. These tutors come from diverse backgrounds, but with one mission: To make a difference in the lives of children. The blog does an excellent job of delivering it in a direct and powerful manner.

In my analysis of the two blogs, I think they are creative hubs or online stations where the brand experience is communicated in a singular strategy. The Sleep Number Blog talks about the multifaceted phenomenon of “Sleep” and the Minnesota Reading Corps Blog talks about “Tutoring as a lifetime experience”.

The blog is available to a global community and I can reap the benefits of learning more about sleep patterns or the joys of being a tutor simultaneously. It is incredible how blogs are changing the way we experience life through the eyes of other’s who are sharing their experience and information.

Time to Sleep

When was the last time you woke up feeling refreshed and well rested since becoming a college student? It’s not typical when we have many classes, assignment deadlines, group projects, and class discussions that we try to cram at 11:59 pm. No one said that college was going to be easy, but who thought it was going to be this difficult getting eight hours of good sleep at night—I’m lucky if I get six!

One thing we constantly sacrifice as students is our SLEEP. There are so many negative effects of not getting enough sleep though, and it has to change… like right now. According to the University Health Center of Georgia,“On average, most college students get 6 – 6.9 hours of sleep per night, and the college years are notoriously sleep-deprived due to an overload of activities.”  It goes on to say, “Recent research on college students and sleep indicates that insufficient sleep impacts our health, our moods, our GPA and our safety.”

https://www.uhs.uga.edu/sleep

Sleep is crucial for everyone. Although we are constantly dodging it for more ‘significant’ priorities like catching up with friends to unwind from our drowning week of assignments, exams, and just a workload of never-ending deadlines, we need to start jotting down in our calendars to try get at least 8 hours of sleep every night. That way, we live a more productive and healthier life. After all, as Dr.  Knepler says, “Half the reason you’re at college really is to learn and not getting enough sleep can keep college students from their goals of succeeding in school.”

So, let’s get some great night time sleep and pass our classes well-rested.

If you want to get more tips and advice on how you can get more sleep at night, the articles below have some wonderful pointers.

https://www.everydayhealth.com/college-health/10-tips-for-better-sleep-at-college.aspx

Healing Nature by Becoming Mindful Consumers

 

Even though we know something is inherently wrong why do we continue to do these things? Finding a cohesive resolution for dealing with humans negative affects on the environment can leave many feeling overwhelmed and unmotivated to take action since the scope is vast. We’ve all seen videos of Arctic ice melting around a baby polar bear left to its demise. We know that this is a result of global warming and that all of those consequences are due to human’s disregard for the environment. Constantly showing people the penalties of their actions often times desensitizes their abilities to see past the issue which in turn will hamper their ability to even begin to deal with resolutions. We must modify the narrative by displaying opportunities for people to take responsibility with simple solutions they can adopt in their daily life. Teaching a dog a new trick through punishment of a whip will leave behind a battered spirit afraid to show affection. Take the same dog and apply a different method involving an incentive such as a treat and you’ll get the same results and an ally for life. Let’s use this in relation to how we speak to people about changing their ways on how they interact with environmental issues to encourage motivation not fear. The United States Environmental Protection Agency coined a motto “ reduce, reuse, and recycle”. This slogan has created a movement that promotes individuals gaining knowledge on how they can take action with simple solutions to help them, their community and the environment by saving money, energy and natural resources.

Here are a few simple choices you can make that lead to a better planet:

• Do Meatless Monday, you can save 2,400 gallons of water, which would save more water than you can by not showering for six months.
• Reusing clothing instead of trashing last season’s threads will not only save you money but you’d be happy to know your not supporting an industry that uses 16% of the world’s pesticides.
• Recycling food waste by using left over scraps to fertilize your garden not only cuts down on your trash bill but also can reduce your carbon footprint and give life to your plants.

There’s a ton of ways that one can alter their day in a positive way to contribute to healing humans stamp on Mother Nature. With the preceding examples I aspire to suggest an alternate to the punishment versus reward method to reframe our approach to how we solicit responses to environmental issues through narratives. Simple actions individuals make can lead to a snowball effect of others adopting the same habits, which can create a vessel for a socially conscious movement towards legislation and regulations supporting environmental healing. To elicit change one must sacrifice the comforts of their privileges. Your individual action directly affects industries that are notoriously costly to the environment. Consumer choices will drive the market in a different direction, which in turn makes companies change their products to ensure they’re meeting the demands of their consumers. Ask for what is right by putting your money where your mouth is and become a Mindful Consumer.