tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84143896391281800812011-11-14T08:09:55.691-08:00gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.comBlogger421100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-33477697838539659462009-04-02T00:00:00.000-07:002009-04-01T22:48:41.961-07:00

Los Angeles Times, 4/1/09FULL STORY HERECole Bettles had been rejected by a raft of universities when he received an e-mail from UC San Diego on Monday congratulating him on his admission and inviting him to tour the campus. His mother booked a hotel in San Diego, and the 18-year-old Ojai high school senior arranged for his grandfather, uncle and other family members to meet them at the campus

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-53050357100562049162009-03-31T12:20:00.000-07:002009-04-01T22:50:19.158-07:00

I think Osama Bin Laden knew that by attacking the heart of our financial industry he would be doing much more damage then just flying airplanes into buildings. He knew that by doing what he did he would cause years, maybe decades of economic recession for the US, leaving people disenchanted our government, without hope and positive moral. And there are many people right now in the US who are

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-82033204749779089392009-03-26T00:00:00.000-07:002009-03-26T21:38:05.258-07:00

Associated Press, 3/13/09FULL STORY HEREThe NAACP is accusing Wells Fargo and HSBC of forcing blacks into subprime mortgages while whites with identical qualifications got lower rates.Class-action lawsuits were to be filed against the banks Friday in federal court in Los Angeles, Austin Tighe, co-lead counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, told The Associated

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-47563562234443716102009-03-23T00:00:00.000-07:002009-03-26T21:30:51.448-07:00

If you haven't seen it, this is President Obama's guest appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno last week. He talks about AIG, the need for better laws and different social injustices that he wants to combat and change.I'm very, very happy with my President!-gs1r-LISTENING TO:Obama on Lenoby: President Barack ObamaThe Tonight Show

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-9736187560281471302009-03-22T00:00:00.000-07:002009-03-26T21:30:34.564-07:00

A stock-broker who was making $750,000 a year but because of the economy is now delivering pizzas for $7.29/hr to keep the food on the table!I know, ridiculous right? Just watch...!-gs1r-LISTENING TO:Picture Thisby: Beastie BoysHello Nasty

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-18769265830680752112009-03-20T00:00:00.000-07:002009-03-26T21:30:17.810-07:00

A friend of mine, Andre Costa, posted this on Facebook and I watched it, giving me great practical understanding on the credit crisis in America. Being a lover of artistic motion graphics, the presentation and production of this vid is quite entertaining and fun, yet gives clear and legitimate information that you should know. Give it a look =)-gs1r-LISTENING TO:In My Time of Dyingby: Led

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-38568894528435733342009-03-19T00:00:00.000-07:002009-03-19T22:25:03.155-07:00

Facebook changed it's layout once again and users are complaining SO MUCH about it. I can see if FB users can be frustrated with it for legitimate aesthetic or functionality reasons, which is totally, 100% understandable, but come on... People can be so ungrateful and narrow-minded about these first-world struggles, even having the nerve to harshly and ridiculously complain about a FREE social

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-19316947129721930332009-03-17T00:00:00.000-07:002009-03-18T03:56:05.991-07:00

These budget cuts from our public education make absolutely no sense! The point of the cuts is to balance and level out our budget because of the cash crisis we have now in California. And even though it seems like it's a good solution right now, it's actually a terrible solution now and in the long run.The less funding we give to our primary, secondary and collegiate public education here in

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-79696886800223235652009-03-15T02:47:00.000-07:002009-03-15T03:19:14.186-07:00

Los Angeles Times, 3/15/09FULL STORY HERE...Cuban Americans' travel to the communist island nation just got easier under guidelines issued last week by the Obama administration.The Treasury Department confirmed that Cuban Americans may visit extended relatives as well as close family members once a year and spend as much as $179 a day without fear of prosecution, effective immediately.The

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-8255063363704845932009-03-13T00:00:00.000-07:002009-03-14T02:13:10.307-07:00

I've been working as a mentor for my church's youth ministry for a year and a half now, being involved in teen lives, listening, connecting, advising and serving them to my absolute pleasure. Being around them keeps me fresh on their music and culture, enough to notice a lot more social tolerance between races in today's high school societies. For example, to be candid and honest, I've been

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-26400629215520413152009-03-12T00:00:00.000-07:002009-03-14T02:13:01.868-07:00

So I last week I wasn't really critically writing as much as I was posting about stories that I found interesting and commenting a bit on them so I wanted to apologize to my readers.My goal is to write something critical and well-thought out at least once a week but I usually write these about twice a week, posted by Tuesday and Friday morning, and little posts of interesting related articles,

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-7299503219179773282009-03-10T00:00:00.000-07:002009-03-14T02:12:53.201-07:00

From the Los Angeles Times, 2/26/09FULL STORY HEREPresident Obama's proposal for direct government funding of student loans -- cutting out private industry -- sent shares of Sallie Mae, Student Loan Corp., Nelnet Inc. and other college loan companies plunging Thursday.For-profit vocational schools, such as Corinthian Colleges Inc., DeVry Inc. and ITT Educational Services Inc., also saw their

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-13408452936872612732009-03-08T00:00:00.000-08:002009-03-14T02:12:44.912-07:00

(click on map to enlarge)I was looking up the United States on Wikipedia and I found this very interesting data chart on the distribution of races and ethnicities throughout America. As I surveyed the demographics, questions began to arise from my mind as I began to recognize social patterns all over the map.I thought that this graph could be thought provoking so I thought to post it =)-

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-62505535505304072042009-03-06T00:00:00.000-08:002009-03-14T02:12:18.392-07:00

This is a trailer called The Obama Disception. One of my best friends showed me this video and we discussed how the other side of the story should be considered.She asked me "Do you trust Obama?"After giving the question some thought, I answered her:"I have a great attitude and hope about him but time will tell if he comes through or not..."Though I am VERY enthusiastic about my President, I

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-29335689086551147632009-03-05T14:57:00.000-08:002009-03-14T02:12:06.382-07:00

-VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED-http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/03/05/chris.brown.charged/index.html-The Police Warrant and Affidavit-If he gets a slap on the wrist for this I wouldn't be surprised is there's another riot on the police's hands...Thanks to Lanie Goueth for the links.-gs1r-LISTENING TO:Change (In the House of Flies)by: DeftonesWhite Pony

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-1956882933708656102009-03-04T12:00:00.000-08:002009-03-17T15:34:14.936-07:00

This is Kanye West's at VH1 Storytellers show performing "Flashing Lights" one of my absolute favorite songs of all time! He tears up this song with a real live string orchestra, an amazing light display in the background and a sick rap performance! But the awesomeness of this concert wasn't the reason why I posted it...After the second verse, as the motif of the song chills out and repeats,

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-83641854905975212722009-03-04T00:00:00.001-08:002009-03-14T02:11:40.294-07:00

-From TMZ.com, 2/27/09-STORY HEREOne of the smartest computer people on the planet -- Virgil Griffith -- has just released the results of a brand new study which showed a correlation between SAT scores and the musical tastes of college students.Shockingly, people who enjoy listening to Beethoven scored significantly higher than everyone else. The people who enjoy listening to Lil' Wayne, however,

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-3450628399415826062009-03-03T00:00:00.000-08:002009-03-14T02:11:29.783-07:00

From Los Angeles Times, 2/2/09L.A. judge shares her unusual storyNot long after Audrey B. Collins was named chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, she found herself pondering what she might say at an upcoming luncheon, the sort of affair she'd routinely be expected to attend in her new capacity as the public face of the court.But as Collins considered her remarks, she realized

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-76701004369002701112009-03-01T00:00:00.000-08:002009-03-14T02:11:00.724-07:00

SiCKO by Michael Moore is a documentary about the US Healthcare system and the INCREDIBLY unjust policies and practices by both the private sector and the government. He explores the reasons for it, comparisons with other countries, and many important interviews from respectable people in their fields related to their health care systems.An issue that I have passionately in my heart is the US

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-17317983804750345372009-02-27T00:00:00.000-08:002009-03-14T02:10:42.770-07:00

This is Luny Tunes, a Dominican production duo based in Puerto Rico, arguably the most successful and influential reggaeton producers right now. They are compared to The Neptunes in their ability to consistently produce chart-topping #1 hits for different artists. They're highly demanded international stars respected in and out of the Latino world. But even with all this clout, I've met many

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-35478359487716171612009-02-25T00:00:00.001-08:002009-03-14T02:10:22.212-07:00

Embedded video from CNN VideoPresident Obama promising swift health care reform for America in his State of the Union last night.I love Obama even more now =)-gs1r-LISTENING TO:State of the Union, Feb 24th, 2009by: President Barack ObamaCNN

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-7180665067495354192009-02-25T00:00:00.000-08:002009-03-14T02:10:13.333-07:00

This is a true story.In late 2006 at about 4am I woke up startled to my dad speaking a little louder then usual at this time. I got out of bed and went to where he was at because naturally I was worried. I found him at the door where there was someone knocking and trying to come inside.My dad was telling him “I don’t know you,” and the man outside was saying “yea you do, let me in.” I went to

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-18255885824453227062009-02-24T00:00:00.000-08:002009-03-14T02:09:59.085-07:00

After the sweet encouragement of my friend Natasha Montoya, I remembered an incredible report from acclaimed journalist John Stossel called "Stupid in America." It was a special feature on ABC's 20/20, aired on January 2006 about America's underachieving students and the factors behind these reasons. It's a very shocking look at what's really going on with our secondary school students, their

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-84508261432447310842009-02-22T00:00:00.000-08:002009-03-14T02:09:34.560-07:00

Dave Chappelle was on top of the world with his successful series, The Chappelle Show, his $50 million contract with Comedy Central and a mass fanbase around the nation. Not too bad for a once modest stand-up comedian but all the fame and fortune wasn't enough for him...This is an interview he had with CNN's Anderson Cooper in 2006 about the pressures of performing his social satire from the

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-84754123755845012892009-02-20T13:34:00.000-08:002009-03-14T02:09:25.971-07:00

Most of the media is ripping Chris Brown for his alleged physical abuse of Rihanna as of recent, almost crucifying him to the public eye. And while this high-profile domestic abuse is being dealt with ever so openly, one has to think about the factors that contributed to forming Brown's capacity to even harm another human being, let alone a woman.Now, I'm not much of a entertainment gossip

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-72530131598749924212009-02-18T13:16:00.000-08:002009-03-14T02:06:07.850-07:00

I love to watch soccer! I follow La Liga, the Premier League, Serie A and the UEFA Champions League all very closely. Occasionally I'll go to YouTube to find highlights of matches and clips of my teams and players. One time I was searching and I came across this ESPN feature on Racism in European Soccer which informed me of the state of racism in the world (or at least at the time context of this

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-20258808434762467512009-02-17T00:00:00.000-08:002009-03-14T02:05:55.100-07:00

Almost every time I walk into an Abercrombie & Fitch store, I notice the all chiseled males and thin females on the pictures, images of a young, preppy white clique enjoying each others company while sporting the finest of clothes. All this looks cool and nice but I have to admit that each time I go in there, I find peculiar patterns and themes that have given me suspiscions of bigoted marketing

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-30121918795765145382009-02-15T00:00:00.000-08:002009-03-14T02:05:34.596-07:00

OK, I know that this documentary has been out for a while now but sometimes when I ask my friends if they've seen it, many still say no! So knowing this I decided to recommend to you this amazing doc, Bowling for Columbine, by Michael Moore.The film is about gun control in America, the factors contributing to the shocking statistics involved and an exploration of the US mass media as a major

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-12532371718859230532009-02-13T00:00:00.001-08:002009-03-14T02:05:34.597-07:00

I saw this and I just had to post this vid in light of my two recent posts, Hip-Hop's Influential Dark Side and Hip-Hop Defenders on the O'Reilly Factor, critiquing hip-hop. I was very touched by Kanye West's discussion with Big Boy's Neighborhood in Los Angeles.One of the things he talks about is gay people and how he used to bash on them in ignorance in the past for being gay. Now Kanye has

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-29254348455283601882009-02-11T14:46:00.000-08:002009-03-14T02:05:34.597-07:00

Rapper's Cam'ron and hip-hop businessman Damon Dash go on to the O'Reilly factor on Nov 2003 to talk about the morality of their messages in their music, the effects of it on their listeners and to defend their brand of hip-hop. As they all converse about it, characters start to sharply clash in their intellectual (and sometimes comedic) debate, resulting in a very entertaining discussion that

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-44798806900781706622009-02-10T00:00:00.000-08:002009-03-14T02:05:34.597-07:00

Now before I start this post, I just want to say I am an avid and passionate listener of Hip-Hop music. Growing up in West LA, this sound was very prevalent in my adolescence and environment. In high school I was a huge fan emcee's like Nas, Mobb Deep, Wu-Tang, DMX, Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z and Biggie, and also a huge fan of rap producers like RZA, Havok, DJ Premier, Dr. Dre, Trackmasters, Timbaland and

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-29561108551910666612009-02-08T00:00:00.001-08:002009-03-14T02:05:34.598-07:00

I recommend you watch this biopic movie, Che: El Argentino, directed by Steven Soderbergh. It's about the Cuban Revolution, Che's role in it as a medic eventually promoted to Commandante, how the revolution shaped and solidified his view against economic imperialism and how he got his training to be a guerrilla warrior.Che fought for social and economic injustices in Cuba along with Fidel Castro

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-35463927932111072662009-02-03T18:04:00.000-08:002009-03-14T02:05:34.598-07:00

I want to take the time to briefly breakdown this drunk-driving, weed-smoking, global "role model" Michael Phelps situation. And you know what's funny? I was TOTALLY (and jokingly) waiting for him to do something really stupid like this after Beijing 2008 just like he did getting caught drunk driving right after Athens 2004. To lots of people it isn't a big deal that he got caught smoking but it

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-66725278739234773182009-01-30T00:46:00.001-08:002009-03-14T02:05:25.051-07:00

Remember, it's the marketer's job to get us to spend our hard-earned money VIA cool commercials, sexy magazines, unavoidable billboards, annoying web ads, corporate sponsors, etc. They don't care if we get into debt! And all of these are put there by professionals to get us to buy things we simply don't need. Do you really want to feed the business monsters and fund their marketing frenzy to hook

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-71729651938203419302009-01-27T17:11:00.000-08:002009-03-14T02:05:25.052-07:00

This weekend a great friend took me to see this movie and it caused me to think about a man whom I give the utmost respect and deep acknowledgment to but still hold a sharp frustration towards some of his actions against my country. I also thought about all the social injustices in Cuba that spurred such a revolution to come about so I thought I'd give my two-cents about a hero of mine =)Fidel

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-76322551837174323012009-01-25T00:40:00.000-08:002009-03-14T02:05:25.052-07:00

http://www.iousathemovie.com"I.O.U.S.A" is a documentary about the United States national debt crisis. This is a free, 30min short version of the documentary (you might be able to rent the fulltime version now). It explains how we got into our debt, what we generally used the money we borrowed for, where we got the money from and who owns the pieces of our entire debt, how much we really owe and

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-12326307758281393212009-01-23T00:27:00.001-08:002009-03-14T02:05:25.052-07:00

So I'm very upset at some of today's record companies, selling out on marketable "artists" to build their business on instead of real, musically talented people. It's a musical injustice to the real artists who are relocating to a new city to be closer to the scene, busting their tails rehearsing, sacrificing late nights for gigs while holding on to a day job to pay the bills, being fully

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-3873734414660632762009-01-20T15:35:00.000-08:002009-03-14T02:14:49.727-07:00

From http://blog.franchesca.net(Thank you, Franchesca... I couldn't resist!)It reads:Rosa Parks sat,so Martin Luther King Jr. could walk.Martin Luther King Jr. walked,so that Barack Obama could run.Barack Obama ran,so we could fly.This is my beloved American social progress.-gs1r-LISTENING TO:In God's Countryby: U2The Joshua Tree

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-53766433636473417052009-01-20T01:46:00.001-08:002009-03-14T02:05:25.053-07:00

Southern trees bear a strange fruit,Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,Black body swinging in the Southern breeze,Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.Pastoral scene of the gallant South,The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh,And the sudden smell of burning flesh!Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck,For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,For

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-88707659694912626412009-01-17T02:27:00.001-08:002009-03-14T02:05:25.053-07:00

"Even I don't wake up looking like Cindy Crawford."- Cindy CrawfordThis is Gisele Bündchen, born on June 20th, 1980, a Brazilian supermodel of German descent and is currently the highest paid and richest supermodel in the world. She has been the face of over 20 brands internationally and on more magazines covers than any other supermodel ever. Her resume at 28 years old overwhelming shows that

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-18296418973538035062009-01-14T13:01:00.000-08:002009-03-14T02:05:25.054-07:00

Look at this picture... really look at it... and understand that this NEVER happens on a regular basis in the US! But this happens all the time in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. And it's really sad because so many civilians on both sides who have indirect political attachments to their respective countries have to take the worst of it, people whose decision was already made for them to become

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8414389639128180081.post-38324902529767985532009-01-13T12:43:00.000-08:002009-03-14T02:05:25.054-07:00

My name is Garry Santos (GS1), a Salvadorean-American, a christian and a Los Angeles native from birth. I'm a student at California State University, Northridge and major in Urban Studies and Planning, a discipline I'm very passionate about.A few years ago I began to go through an intellectual revolution in my mind and being where I really started to understand of motives and reasons of how the

gs1rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07363821101012914490noreply@blogger.com2