It came to my attention in June that one of my students from my 10th grade class two years ago (which translates to the graduating class of 2010), was shot and killed.

I do not have much to say, but I wanted to at least give a moment to mention and honor my memory of Leo Lopez. Although not a good student, and I had him removed from my class because of behavior, I will never say that Leo was a bad kid. For the most part, my students never are.

I am sorry for his violent death, which for all intents and purposes, was completely impersonal, which is perhaps the worse kind.

Many condolences to his family, to the family members who I knew of, his mother and his older brother.

Jacked Up  released in 2001 was a movie directed by Timothy Wayne Folsome. Staring actors RonReaco Lee, Alekis Fields, Anna Maria Horsford, Bizzy Bone, and T-Low.

Andre Carter (RonReaco Lea) is a 17-year old pushed to the edge one day in his Ohio ghetto neighborhood when a carjacking goes awry and he ends up shooting dead the driver. Wracked by guilt and inspired to confess his crime, Andre does odd jobs for the widow (Anna Maria Horsford), becomes a mentor to her young son and begins a romantic relationship with the dead man’s daughter. It would appear Andre is struggling to go straight, but the gang members in his life won’t let him get away that easily. Soon, Andre finds himself fighting for not just his life, but the lives of those in his new family.

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A thousand Splendid suns is about the people that live and survive their lives in third world countries during war time. They see many gruesome things that scars them and follows them until adulthood. In this book you realize about all the horrible suffering women go through in their daily lives. Over there it is so normal for women to be treated in such inhuman manners by their husbands and other men.

I really recommend this book because it opens your eyes to so may things that i never thought possible. It makes you really appreciate life as we know it and everything in this country that protects women’s rights.

Denim Day is a sexual violence awareness campaign which all started in 1999, when an eight-teen year old girl was raped.

She was picked up by her married forty-five year old driving teacher for her first lesson. When they were at an isolated road he made her pull over and tried to pulling her out of the car. She tried to escape but he managed to pull her out by one leg and then forcefully raped her. He threatened to kill her if she told her parents, and then made her drive home. Later that day she told her parents and they helped her press charges.

The driving instructor was arrested and prosecuted. He was convicted of rape and sent to jail.

He appeals the sentence. Then this case made  to the Italian Supreme Court in just a couple of days. The case was then over turned and dismissed and the perpetrator was released. The argument that won his freedom was made by the chief judge and he argued that “because the victim wore very, very tight jeans, she had to help him remove them, and by removing the jeans it was no longer rape but consensual sex.”

Women in the Italian Parliament were enraged over the judge’s verdict and decided to make an impact and agreed to wear jeans to work. “This call to action motivated and emboldened the California Senate and Assembly to do the same, which in turn spread to Patricia Giggans, Executive Director of peace over violence, and Denim Day in LA was born.”

Varukers- Government s to Blame

Formed by Anthony  ”Rat” Martin “The Varukers” were apart of the second generation of punkrock other wise known as uk’82. They took the existing 1977 era punkrock on combined with distorted guitar sound , a new, harder-edged style also tended to use much darker, more nihilistic, and more violent lyrics, and vocals were often shouted rather than sung, and with a new drum beat The Varukers are famous for their D-beat sound.

[youtube width="500" height="405"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfWWgYCCIk8[/youtube]

Belly is a 1998 movie, the feature film debut of music video director Hype Williams. Filmed in New York City as an urban drama, the film stars rappers DMX and Nas, alongside with Taral Hicks, rappers Method Man and Vita. This movie also stars dancehall artist Louie Rankin,R&B singer T-Boz from TLC and Chairman of the Hip Hop Summit Action Network Dr. Benjamin Chavis. Besides starring in the film, Nas also narrates and collaborated with Hype Williams on the screenplay.

The movie begins when Tommy (DMX) and Sincere (Nas), along with fellow crew members Mark and Black, rob a nightclub. After dropping Black off, the others go to Tommy’s house to hide out for a while. Their noise wakes up Keisha (Taral Hicks), Tommy’s girlfriend, who is trying to sleep. Sincere says that he too is tired, and he and Mark leave soon after. Sincere returns to his house, where his wife T/Tionne (Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins) and baby Kenya wait. Back at Tommy’s house, Tommy learns of a new, potent drug that is making its way to America.

After a passionate night with their women, Tommy and Sincere meet early in the morning and Tommy tells Sincere about the new drug, and also how much money they could make if they got involved with Tommy’s friend Ox, a drug lord who is receiving shipments. Reluctantly, Sincere agrees.

Sincere, at the end of the movie changes his attitude towards dealing and using drugs. Sincere after knowing everything that was going on, he decides to change his life for the good of his family, and surviving an attempt on his life too by his old friend Black, takes that moment to get out of New York and start a new life in Africa with his wife and son.

Carlos Coy was born 1971, better known by his stage name South Park Mexican or SPM, is an American rapper, and company founder of Dope House Records. His stage name is derived from the South Park neighborhood in Houston, Texas where he was raised. Coy debuted as South Park Mexican in 1998 with the album “Power Moves” under the label. His next album, The 3rd Wish, generated two charting singles, “You Know My Name” and “High So High”. In 2002, SPM was convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child and sentenced to 45 years incarceration. SPM is currently serving his sentence at Powledge Unit near Palestine, Texas but even incarcerated, he continues to record music.

SPM began as a Christian rapper but felt that doing so made him an outcast. In 1995, SPM along with his brother Arthur Jr. and good friend Jose Antonio Garza from McAllen, Texas founded his own record label, Dope House Records. As SPM  released one album in 1998, Power Moves, through his label with distribution in Houston under Southwest Wholesale. Live album Hillwood and studio album The 3rd Wish followed in 1999. 3rd Wish was a regional hit, with single “High So High” gaining much local buzz and even charting at #50 on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart. In 2000, SPM signed a joint venture between his label and Universal Music Group which earned him a $500,000 advance and national distribution. Universal released three of SPM’s albums: Time is Money and The Purity Album in 2000 and Never Change in 2001. The Purity Album included single “You Know My Name”, which peaked at #99 on the Billboard R&B chart and #31 on the rap chart. SPM’s Universal releases did not gain much mainstream attention; Jason Birchmeier of allmusic suggested: “SPM’s hardcore rapping proved to be too harsh for the masses”. SPM’s 2002 album Reveille Park, a compilation of freestyles, was released by Dope House. Dope House released two new albums by SPM that he recorded while incarcerated. When Devils Strike, released in 2006, debuted at #46 on the Billboard 200. The Last Chair Violinist followed in 2008.

American Me released in 1992 which depicts a fictionalized account of the founding and rise to power of the Mexican Mafia in the California prison system from the 1950s into the 1980s. The movie focuses on the life of a 13 year old Chicano boy name Santana and his friends Mundo and J.D. The actors in this film are Edward James Olmos as (Montoya Santana), William Forsythe as (J.D.), Pepe Serna as (Mundo), Daniel A. Haro as (Huero), Sal Lopez as (Pedro Santana), and Vira Montes as (Esperanza Santana).

Olmos stars as street-gang leader Santana, who during his 18 years in Folsom Prison rules over all the drug and murder activities behind bars. Santana is back in the streets for the first time since his teenage years. Upon his release, Santana goes back to his old neighborhood, intending to lead a peaceful, crime-free life. Santana  then learns that life on the outside is as hard as it is behind bars. But the harsh reality of barrio life and his blood-stained past will not give Santana the chance to turn his back on his former way of life.

Imagine someone just got shot or someone is breaking in a house, the first thing that people think of is calling the police, 911 right?  That is changing because of the fee that they are going to be charging.

People that have many emergencies can call all they want if they pay $48 per year and if they don’t think they might need it, the fee is would be $300 per call!

The reason for this drastic change is because too many people are dialing 911 for non emergencies and that ties up the line for real emergencies.

If you would like to see what people think of this click on this link.

Scarface is a 1983 epic crime drama movie. This movie is all about a fictional Cuban drug lord that come to Florida in the 1980 as a Cuban refugee as the result of the Mariel Boatlift.

The actors are Al Pacino as (Tony Montana), Steven Bauer as (Manny Ray), Michelle Pfeiffer as (Alvira), Paul Shenar as (Alejandro Sosa), Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as (Gina), and Robert Loggia as (Frank Lopez).

Tony Montana, a Marielito freed from Castro’s jails and sent to Florida along with the political prisoners taken in by the Carter administration. Montana becomes a gangster against the backdrop of the 1980′s cocaine boom.

The film tells about Montana’s rise to the top of Miami’s criminal underground world were he makes his way swiftly up the crime ladder ruthlessly squashing anyone who dares to stand in his way. Montana’s greed blinds him to the things that matter to him.

At the end Montana’s greed pushes away everyone he cares about and loves, his greed also leads to his downfall.