Cops, PBA Cards Gold Cards and how to get out of a ticket

We have all seen the shows cops and seen people get pulled over for speeding. The question is, how legitimate is our source of law and how much leeway to you has when you get pulled over? What are the chances that you will get a ticket and what the hell do those badges in the window of so many peoples cars mean. Having the luxury of working at an auto dealership I was curious of the explanation of PBA cards, gold cards, shields in the windows and different things like that.
Today it seems almost that it is immunity from getting a ticket when you have that very elite “gold card”. It is an abuse of power and I can honestly say that I have used that power to my advantage. I have 3 close members of my family that work for the police force and when I run into trouble with the law I owe them everything. I have been pulled over for speeding and said am _______’s nephew this is their pba card. The officer challenges your claim and then makes a decision.
In the older days there was little to do when you got pulled over, you would normally either get a ticket or not but today you have the option of donating to certain funds and basically sucking up to the cops. I don’t see much wrong with it other then the fact that I know the only reason that we do these things is to get out of a speeding ticket. You can donate to FOP or PBA and they will send you a sign of appreciation either a badge or a little card depending on the size of your donation.
The cops know exactly what is going on but they know that you are also paying their salary so they will sometimes let you off with a warning. I appreciate the warnings that I have been given and I am not saying that I would of rather had a ticket, but what I would like to claim is that it does not teach much when you get off all the time. I know that a little slap on the wrist has little effect on my driving but a 500$ ticket and 2 points on my license followed by a spike in my insurance will change my habits completely. Is it really right for these cops to abuse their power, it is a great example of a passive aggressive form of police brutality. There is a fine line between helping an office and him issuing you a benevolence card in appreciation and you asking him for one for some immunity down the road.

Avatar, USMC and the war today

All things aside Avatar was one of the most overrated movies I have ever seen. I saw the movie the other day in 3D and I give the graphics department a lot of credibility, but the overall plot was far from possible. They made the USMC out to be money hungry and I fear that many viewers would relate it to the war that we are in now. The war in Iraq is about a matter of oil and if you compare the situation that Avatar takes place in and the situation in Iraq now it is very easy to parallel a relation.
In Avatar the USMC uses brute force to invade the foreign territory, their weapons are far more advanced and they do a very large amount of damage to the enemy. President Obama instated that 30,000 more troops be sent to Iraq to “take care” of what we are involved in. The area in Iraq is not always very well developed and there are a lot of issues with communication with the government. I think that the new troops that were recently sent to Iraq brought up a very controversial issue.
What is our goal in Iraq? Are we looking to help bring the country to live and instate a source of guidance for the people there? Are we there to steal their oil and their money? Are we there to just kill them for the attacks on 9/11? Avatar provided a very clear message with the military in the movie. They needed money to fund their operations. The United States is in a huge recession and could absolutely use some money. Oil prices have been all over the place in the last few years.
The question is not about money but instead values. Was the USMC initial goal on planet Avatar tot take their valuable coals? Is our underlying goal to take the oil from Iraq and be the brute force stealing from the country? It is not clear how to answer that question but what is very clear is that the question will be answered over time.

Perez Hilton and the tabloids

Perez Hilton is constantly in everyone’s business, annoying the celebrities to get some gossip and blow a story out of proportion. Who is having a baby in the hospital?? Who just lost weight in the Bahamas?? Who’s cooking crack in the kitchen?? It seems like the stories just get better and better as time goes on and people get more involved.
The website is an outlet for many to blog about their strong views on a celebrities actions. The site is completely biased and does not require any legitimate proven information to publish anything. Although not all of the information is true and much of it is opinion based, it remains at the top percent of views daily. This man and his website hold a lot of power.
The fan base that follows the blog is large enough to break some careers. On the contrary it can also promote some artists to new levels. This tabloid is just another example of how powerful the Internet is and how it can change the life’s of the celebrities. The one thing that I have a problem with is the source of his information. I understand that a blog is a sort of online journal thread where you can post and openly display you opinions.
I would like to relate all the information back to insecurity. The opinions displayed are of little value to my life because there is no celebrity that really has impressed me that much where I am searching online about his updates. People need to stay informed on their favorite celebrity and they love when something big is happening. Perez Hilton functions to feed that desire and fuel the world of celebrity gossip.

Java Green the new Starbucks???

I love coffee and I love the environment that coffee houses provide. Its like going to a library that is just pretty and serves coffee. Upon recent trips to Washington DC I came across a little coffee shop called Java Green. The name sounded like an average coffee store java and coffee and I wanted a moment to relax so I plugged it in the navigation and took a ride. Little did I know I was about to walk into one of the most organic coffee shops I will ever see!
I ordered a regular coffee and took a seat, looked around and noticed what I got myself into. Not a huge fan of organic goods because I sometimes prefer the taste I have become so accustomed to I was skeptical. I unconsciously ordered a completely organic coffee and when I went to add the milk it was organic milk as well. Organic sugar and organic spices were next to my milk so I decided to go nuts. And throw it in the cup. GREAT COFFEEEE great coffee it tasted great but the atmosphere was the best part.
Young people coming in for breakfast on a Sunday provided a very comfortable atmosphere. The organic menu went on forever from eggs to organic smoked turkey sandwiches it seemed like I was in a different world. I would challenge the starbucks; users to take a trip to java green and see what high-end coffee is all about. Saving the environment is not only good fore everyone in the long run but also aids in your shorter-term health.
I completely understand the arguments behind organic foods and keeping harmful steroid grown foods out of your body. I’m not sure if it was the coffee or what it was, but I just felt great after my breakfast. The coffee not only was of great quality but the explanation an enthusiasm behind the counter made for a wonderful experience. This small coffee shop is an example of how different our society is. Different coffee for different concerns, taste, health, and even diet are all reasons to weigh your options. It will be very interesting to see where this small 2 location coffee store will take of from here. The nations new concerns with health are promoting a much healthier diet and coffee starts the day so it could be the first thing to change.

Facebook Forever

Facebook Forever
Facebook is without a doubt one of the highest valued websites in the world. The dotcom era stared years ago where Amazon and eBay have maintained dominance in the Internet retailing industry. Facebook, a social networking site based out of Palo Alto, CA has a stock of around 300 employees. Their mission is to make Facebook into the largest and most convenient site on the Internet. Facebook is slowly introducing new applications to make Internet more convenient then ever.
We saw it with the business of retail, going from mom and popshops and butcher shops to supermarkets. Investment banks and corporate banks are now working under the same roof. Wall-mart has everything from socks to televisions to gallons of milk. The employees of Facebook are promoting the same type of mentality. Facebook recently has made great use of the “marketplace” almost like an eBay within Facebook.
Listing anything from apartments for rent to selling used pencils, the members have the freedom to do anything. Our culture has made advancements to make improve the quality of life. One stop shop would mean that Facebook would increase profitability by a huge margin but more so is the convenience for users to efficiently navigate through the Internet. K.D. Lang spoke about how the Internet projects certain stereotypes and how hierarchies order that user space.
Facebook has the potential to change the Internet forever. Think about it, the Internet theoretically has endless amounts of information but the only problem is that there is such an overload of information that it is hard to organize it. Google has allowed the user to shop through keyword searches and help the person get to their end result. If Facebook was the end result then we might just change the name Internet to Facebook because whatever you needed, Facebook is your answer. This theory is very unlikely based on the competition of sources on the Internet however it is possible.

College Parties and Social Power

The college party scene has no doubt become one of the largest party locations in any environment. Sometimes thousands of kids, many of which are underage will be found any given night of the week stumbling around route one without a care in the world. Why is it that so many college students have remained a victim to the fake ID using, drunk late nights that drives the collegiate experience.
I can understand that after a long day of work or class one might want to get out of their house and suck down on a few beers, but the fact that many students will spend well over one hundred dollars on a small card that grants them access to their favorite bars in town. We have all heard of the fake ID’ and the shady business that is so precious in college towns. I would say that a minimum of 60 percent of all college students will be carrying a fake identification card with them when class starts on Monday. It is interesting to see how the government takes little action to actually address this issue.
The social power in this situation is across the nation. Fake ID’s will be taking over freshmen classes at any university and the students will continue to use it until they graduate. Frecerro emphasizes the idea of power relations to the masses and how the culture has adapted as a whole. If you look at the industry of Fake ID cards and how they are illegally used to gain access to night life locations of the underage children of today you will find the numbers to be overwhelming. The drinking age has changed many times in each state and most recently been set to a legal minimum of 21 years old. If you have people maturing and looking like they’re four to five years older then they actually are on average, the liquor locations have a large dilemma.
The cost to hire a law enforcement office and legally check each ID that is presented is far too expensive for the bar. They system is so advanced that a new freshmen can adjust to the nightlife in a matter of hours of talking to the right person. Get your fake and just act like nothing is wrong. A feeling of power over the bar owner, I’m not even 20 and I just got into your to drink for 21. The law does not look like it is going to change in the near future, so for the time being, the students have taken the law into their own hands
Students most of the times check the ID cards at the door and will very rarely reject a false ID card. The industry of underage drinking has adapted to a world of not just crime and illegal activity but almost a game for the masses. Each person is playing the role of himself or herself a few years older. It’s interesting to see how the social power does not need any altering of the actual law because it does not affect the students much anyway. They still get what they want and the government does not know the depth of the fake ID business.

The Buried Life Inspiring a Community

MTV has been known to air a number of very dramatic shows on their prime channel hours. An entire show about being a “Guido” is their latest claim to fame. A recent commercial caught my eye where 4 guys are on a mission to complete 100 things that they have wanted to do before they die. The commercial was an effort to smuggle a buddy into the playboy mansion using the same technique as the Trojan hoarse. A friend hidden in a huge cake eagerly awaits his entrance into the castle. It looks like they ultimately get turned down but the entire time I was saying to myself “ha ha, that is so me!”
This movie is so easy to relate to because every person has an intangible list of activities they want to finish before they move on. Weather it is helping kids in Haiti or trying for a peak in the playboy mansion everything involves something that you believe in. The twist to this show is that the 4 guys complete someone else’s dream for each activity they cross off on their own list.
It is an uncommon way to go about a show, the entire plot is travelling the world crossing of a to do list. The main focus I would like to highlight is the reality that this show brings. Gamsen talked a lot about representing yourself and doing so in the way that you believe. This show is unlike any other of its kind in the sense tha you get the best of both worlds. The excitement of a life completing activity accompanied by the completion of a life changing experience for the ones that they effect. The show airs at a great time, people can look up to these 4 guys for a sense of support and see how they have reached their goals. “The list” can be transformed into anything and anything can be substituted on it. Every person has a list of things that they need to put some attention on to go on with their life and The Buried Life inspires them that it is all-possible. The best part is that these guys are no one special. They are regular humans just like you and myself which makes it easier to relate them to someone one that we know or even ourselves. These 4 individuals were inspired to change lives by leading through example and they did so by creating a goal and achieving that goal.

Doctors and the power of medication

The use of medical marijuana has been debated whether it can be used as a drug or if it is just an uncontrollable substance. It is very interesting to think that in some states today you can walk the streets smoking your weed with the legal authority to do so. Doctors have the power to prescribe many people the right to smoking marijuana and it is increasing in popularity. For years weed has remained an illegal drug because of its power to open others up to different areas of drug abuse.
Is it right to prescribe a drug to individuals that has the potential to put them over the board? Are doctors trying to compensate for something? Have doctors been challenged to find a use for this substance. Cashmore has strong beliefs in representing yourself for your values regardless of what others say. The use of medical marijuana alone is a representation for someone’s values and what seems right to them. The problem with government is that it will establish a uniform rule and many will not agree with what it decided.
For the doctors who choose not to participate, I give them credit and for the doctors who choose to endorse it I give them the same credit. I do not like to hold an opinion on these controversial political issues because I don’t not have enough knowledge to successfully contribute to the argument. I think the only side I will be able to take is the doctor who believes in the drug for its true use. Millions of addicts will come to doctors with false claims of pain and stress and many of them will be granted a prescription for the used of the drug.
It is up to the discretion of the doctor to decide who is best fit to excursive the drug. The doctor decides how to most effectively put the drug to use and take advantage of its qualities. I think that only the doctors who look deeply into the use of the drug and the advantages to its prescription will effectively be helping the world. Possible candidates include cancer patients to deal with pain; something along those lines seems like a legitimate case where the prescription will help. As for the other guys, I have no comment for a doctor who just wants to make a few bucks off charging someone to get them drugs.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/medical_marijuana_question_answers.html

Tiger Woods and the Double Life
Tiger Woods has proven himself to be one of the greatest athletes to walk the earth. His winnings have been leading the golfing world for the past 10 years and his sales have been driving the sales industry for the most recent. TW has a net worth of something over 600 million dollars, making him one of the highest paid athletes in 2009 where he made over 100 million dollars. Tiger is better known now for his scandal with his wife. Tiger was discovered when he and his wife were found at the early hours up to some very shady business backing out of their drive way.
Tiger has been involved with more that 11 mistresses in the most recent report and allegedly paid them off in a sum of over 300 million dollars. In early 2009 Tiger was thought to be the ideal athlete. A well-respected golfer is always a friend with the world. His charitable work was well noticed in the industry and his skill far beyond anyone else. But what was not seen was the crazy sex life that he was living behind the cameras. Franco spoke a lot about how we relate celebrities to ourselves.
With Tiger affecting so many people and so many children looking up to him it is very difficult to see where the golf industry is headed. It is interesting to see how a single person could have so much power over an entire sports industry but there is no other way to describe his control over this world. It is easy to e how Accenture as well as many of his other top sponsors have dropped their contracts. Tiger is no longer viewed as someone to look up to, he has proven to be a liar to the world and although nothing very legitimate has been proven he has admitted to his illegal actions.
A minority has come so far in an industry that has been reserved for the wealthy and successful for the longest time. Golf is an industry that is not suitable nevertheless affordable for the lower class workers and Tiger Woods has claimed ownership to that industry. He has his own clothing line, line of clubs and even his own brand symbol. No more for Tiger, the world knows what he is really about and now it is uncertain to what he is going to be worth to us. There has been little comfort in helping this minority voice his opinion because there have been little facts proving his innocence.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hggl4fJIu-0&feature=related

Starbucks or Dunkin' Celeb or Worker Bee

Starbuck or Dunkin’ Celeb or Worker Bee

Starbucks vs. Dunkin has been one of the most known battles of the coffee wars in the past 10 years. Its not just about coffee anymore it’s a way of life. The culture behind the cup is the true value of the caffeine drink. The followers of each brand are not only loyal to their leader but also represent everything that comes with the coffee.

Starbucks is more of a higher end and expensive coming in a hip trendy cup that changes color depending on the season. While Dunkin’s white styrofoam is more classic realistic. The coffee giants are almost like religion, many people are weekly followers some go through the ritual each and every day of the week. Whatever the case, there is an obvious difference that they are targeting different markets. The social power to differentiate between the same product goes beyond the taste.

The starbucks brand is the common choice of many celebrities and many people will choose it based on that quality. Because the celebrity drinks it the mentality is that if it is good enough for them it is good enough for me. The halo effect also plays a role in this following, where the starbucks is for the rich and famous and dunkin is for the worker bee. People drink dunkin because they like the taste and others drink starbucks for the name.

Freccero spoke about how we view celebrities and try to live up to a certain standard. Starbucks is nothing more than an image, dunkin is for the real coffee enthusiasts. Dunkin fans are more passionate about their taste. I never see a cop without is dunkin and I will normally imagine a CEO with his bucks Latte. The image is enough for us to spend more on a cup of coffee, it’s an unconscious insecurity that many people fall victim to. Although this does not effect many daily operations it is an example of how society differs from the size of a house to a cup of coffee people are always trying to compensate and project a certain image.