Entry #8 Can He Make America Great Again?

Hey guys,

It's Adrian again and today I'd like to spend a few moments discussing our President Donald J. Trump's first 100 days in office.
As some of you may know, Trump hasn't exactly had the best 100 days in office and he knows why. He blames our constitution, the very document he swore to uphold, because it didn't grant him enough power to enact what he wants without interference. All of this despite having the Majority in the House, Senate, and Supreme Court.

POTUS

Now, let's take a look at what he's done so far in office. He promised a wall that Mexico would pay for. They refused and now he's saying they'll pay for it in the future. He attempted to pass his Muslim ban twice. It got shut down. Now he's calling for the disbanding of the court that shut him down. He had NAFTA in his hands but backed down after Justin Trudeau and Mexico called him. Yet he rates himself as an "A" president despite all of the things he hasn't accomplished.

Justin Trudeau

He golfs consistently despite criticizing Obama heavily for doing the same action yet at a less frequent and less costly rate.Most of the money he ends up spending ends up back into his coffers through the fees at Mar-A-Lago. He can barely remember the country he bombed a few days after doing so yet can remember the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake that he ate while doing it. His party irresponsibly held a Supreme Court for a year to spite President Obama. Don't even get me started on the Russians and this administration. I could list more issues but without going into depth it would be me yelling at you which was not the original intention of this post.

Thanks for reading what I can only truly call a rant. Leave a comment and let me know your personal opinions on our current POTUS.

Entry #7 #CheckThisOut

#Hey,

My name is Adrian Garcia and if you can't tell from this obnoxious use of the hash symbol (otherwise known as pound ), today I'd like to briefly discuss the hash symbol.

Firstly, what I do know about the hashtag symbol is that it's used to categorize social media messages by topic such as #BLM for Black Lives Matters.

I personally do not consistently use social media, and was not in a particular frenzy to hashtag everything I sent.

However, I have read up on this social phenomonon. It seems that the use of hashtags have become very common to promote social movement and stand against injustice. For example, one of the most popular hashtags used was #JeSuisCharlie to stand united with the Charlie Hebdo magazine.

Thanks for reading! That's all I have to say on this topic, what are your thoughts and opinions?

Entry# 6 Let's Go Golphing With Donnie

                  Hey guys, it's Adrian again. This topic can be considered political so if that's not your cup of tea, then I apologize in advance.
                 Today, I want to take a moment to talk about Donald Trumps golfing habits, especially during his presidency, and why they're bad for this country.

What brought my interest in this topic was this neat little website called GolfWithDonald.com. In this website contains a list of his current golfing trips and their impact on the federal budget as well as the estimated amount he will take and their costs.
                Context is really important when talking about Trump golfing compared to his predecessor Barack Obama. When President Obama was in office, Trump took to twitter to list his grievances against Obama. He criticized Obama for his golfing trips and how much he was costing the taxpayers. However, when Trump was elected, he also took to the golf course.

Trump golfing

              At first, people thought it was a simple vacation to help ease the tension of becoming the new President of the United States. Then it became a big deal when he was taking every weekend off to visit his course at Mar-A-Lago. Furthermore, it was sad to see a breaking news headline on Fox News that Trump had stayed at the White House instead of going for another round of golf. What really pissed people off though was Sean Spicer acting as if golfing every weekend at his private resort was presidential and a necessary act the President must do.

Sean Spicer

Trump spending weekend at White House

           To me, this is just an example of how our current President is hypocritical and why he should be forced to change his travelling habits so that the American people don't suffer. Florida is losing a lot of business around Mar-A-Lago due to his golfing and the state's budget is running thin due to having to close down the airport and maintaining a larger security force around the area.

         Thanks for listening to my rant and please leave a comment on how you feel about Trump's rampant golfing trips.

Entry #5 Governor Ducey On Why We Need More College Grads

Hey folks!

          Today I'd like to take a moment out of your day to talk about something that affects me on a personal level. Since I am a college student, it's nice to see our local government leaders taking an interest in ensuring that education is a top priority. To that end, I recently read a recent article about our governor, Doug Ducey, and his goals regarding higher education.

         In this article, he acknowledged the benefits of having an education past High School. I like that his goal seems achievable because there are many other states implementing a strategy similar to the Achieve60AZ program. Furthermore, he mentions how we, as a state, can achieve this goal.

         Thanks for taking a moment to read my thoughts on this article. While this program may not affect your life directly, it can surely improve the lives of your future children, friends, and family.

Taken from the article

Entry #4, Ghost in the Shell

Hey guys,

                  It's Adrian again and I'm here to give my hopes and thoughts about the new Ghost in the Shell (2017) movie based on the trailers as well as what I've heard so far, I'll also be giving some of my thoughts about the original 1995 animated film version.

2017 Movie Poster

1995 film movie poster

               First, let's talk about the original version because that's the one I've actually seen. The original Ghost in the Shell is a classic movie that discusses the idea that if the human body can be replicated and replaced by machinery, then what makes us human? This theme is shown throughout the movie from things like the main character, Motoko "The Major" Kusanagi enjoying deep sea diving despite the risks of doing it in her cybernetic body. Her partner, Batou, even asks her why she would dive if when the support systems failed she would quite literally sink to the bottom of the ocean. *Spoilers, but not really since this movie has been out for 22 years* Another example of this theme is the main antagonist, the Puppet Master which was an A.I that became sentient, wanting to find a cybernetic body so that it can obtain humanity by being able to die one day. This antagonist goes well with the theme because the movie title "Ghost in the Shell" means the idea of a soul(or ghost) inhabiting a body ( or shell). It also helps the the soundtrack for this movie was really interesting and good.

Motoko from the animated versions

               Now, let's talk about the new version. From what I can see besides Scarlett Johansson being the main character Motoko Kusanagi, it doesn't really have the same plot lines which is fine because it's not a remake, but the plot it has now (from the trailers) seems like a generic action movie. It also references the iconic scene in the beginning of the original where Kusanagi's cybernetic body is being built as shown below.

Body being built from the 2017 trailers

Her body before entering the pool to cover her in synthetic skin

                   Overall, it still looks entertaining enough to watch and was an interesting choice to be fully adapted towards western audiences. I would like to view it and be able to make comparisons between it and the original. That's all I have to say for now and I would be delighted if you left a comment knowing if you've seen either of these films and your opinions on them.

Scarlett Johansson as Motoko Kusanagi (2017)

Entry #3, Slanted Reporting

Hi guys,

                It's Adrian Garcia again! I recently had a chance to reflect on the concept of slanted reporting. As you may know, slanted reporting is the idea of something being reported on in a less than completely accurate or truthful way. Although, it's not a complete fabrication of the truth, it's still a very significant alteration of it. 

               While I pondered this, I was reminded of something CNN had done. In the summer of 2016, Sylville Smith was shot and killed by a Milwaukee police officer. In the aftermath, his sister was seen at a protest that CNN had edited to make it look like she was arguing for peace, not violence. It was revealed that through the unedited footage she did call for peace, but only where she lived. Instead, she had suggested quite strongly that since the people in her community needed their stuff, that they should instead burn down and destroy other places in the suburbs in retaliation for her brother's death.

            I personally think that's digusting, not only for what the sister did, for how CNN edited the video to make it seem like these people are being unfairly targeted for their "peaceful" protesting. Anyway, that's all for today! Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of your weekend. Leave a comment and let me know how you feel about this topic or the example shown. 

Entry #2, Why Rick and Morty Is My Favorite SciFi Show!

Hey guys, It's Adrian again.

           Today I'd like to talk to you about one of my all-time favorite Science Fiction shows, Rick and Morty. Basically Rick and Morty is the tale of a genius grandfather named Rick Sanchez and his grandson Morty Smith. Together they go on adventures through the galaxy and universes experiences new things that often parody our world such as the Purge movies on planet Purge. Another gem from this series is the robot Rick creates to pass the butter who then becomes sentient and then depressed after realizing what his purpose in life was. 

          This series has a ton of comedic moments but also has some dark ones, whether Rick has to deal with breaking up with his girlfriend Unity, a being that assimilates planets into itself to control all the people, or having to leave a universe for some sad reason. The show has aired 2 seasons already, and is moving onto a third one this summer. Give it a watch, I can almost guarantee you'll enjoy it!

              I'm sorry I'm ranting at this point, but I truly do love this show. Thanks for reading my little spiel and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week!

Entry #1, Thoughts On Some Blogs

Hey guys!

            It's me Adrian, and I'm here again  to talk about some blogs I recently read but before that I'm going to share my opinion on blogs. I used to think they were kind of pointless and I even remember hearing a few researches that found that people would get depressed by their own lives because they didn't seem as exciting as the bloggers they were reading. Then I found out that it's more than just your personal life that can be blogged, but other neat things like recipes which fun little tidbits mixed in between which I personally can get down with.

           Anyway, first I would like to discuss blogs on The Huffington Post. They're pretty interesting to read and discusses a lot of the recent events going on in America and around the world. I even found this interesting yet saddening post of the EPA chief denying climate change. Overall, i think this websites pretty good and I've even used articles from there for some of my school projects.

          Another blog site I read from recently is TMZ. I found that I don't particularly enjoy those trashy kind of gossip sites where the paparazzi swarm people like vultures. Although, I do have to admit I have enjoyed some of the clips from there where they provide some hilarious commentary.

          Finally, the last blog I managed to squeeze in this weekend is Kotaku. I love video games and anything science fiction related. So it came to my suprise and giddiness when I found this gem. I absolutely love Rick and Morty so when I found out that the first episode of season 3 came out, I was obviously ready to drop everything and watch it!

          That's all I have for today so thanks for reading. I can only hope you have a wonderful rest of the week!