Concerts are a way of life for me in the city. Its vibrance and elegancy when seeing different bands enlighten me each time i end up going to one. Im open to see anything that piques my interest.
My first concert experience was about roughly 7 years ago, In high school when i was 15. I had asked my parents to take me to see a deathcore band named Whitechapel. At the time, they weren't keen of me seeing "satanic music" but i had explained to them it is nothing more then to shock the audience. They agreed but very hesitant. We stayed at the best western in allentown, which was an hour away. I had got in and had seen nothing of what i usually see in my everyday life. The lights where bleeming into my eyes and the crowed was full of energy. This was first time experiancing something called a "mosh pit". I had thought a fight had broken out. But it was nothing more then a few kids having fun. The first band was called "Gaza" a mathcore band. It was loud. It pierced my ears. But i enjoyed them quite a bit. The vocals sounded like they where being shredded into a garbage disposal. The next band, was Cattle decapitation. As the name suggests, It sounds like a band that has alot of gore in their lyrics, But its the exact opposite. They sing about Animal rights and veganism. This didn't mean they were some softcore stuff. They tore the place up and the crowd was manic as ever. The last band was whitechapel. The highlight of my trip up to allentown. They had gotten the crowd to new hieghts. They certainly put on a show. From my younger self. I thought the show was spectacular. Because the energy leading up to the final moment. This energy is still applied today. It extends outside the realm of concerts.Because everything you work hard for ends up leading to the final moment. To its fullest extent with lots of energy. So work hard. To reach the final moment of excitement!
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In Slumdog Millionaire, screenwriter Simon Beaufoy shares the story of Jamal, a boy who grew up in the slum neighborhoods of India and managed to gain a spot on the gameshow, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Throughout the film, Jamal has been asked to confess his crimes to the police because they suspect Jamal of cheating.
Jamal, had been treated in an unethical and ineffective way to gather any information from Jamal. The method of torture itself isn’t an effective way of getting information. Because there is no way for the police to gather intel on the suspect. Also, to take in consideration that it the methods itself are cruel, like waterboarding and other violent actions. The common defense of torture is that the detainee is the prime source of information and must be punished anyway. They consider this the “ticking time bomb scenario”. An ethics experiment where they “consider” the detainee has knowledge of a terrorist attack. An article written by Andrea Mitchell, (Robert Windrem and Erin Mcclam) had considered CIA documents released by the senate and found 7 of the 39 detainees where “subjected into aggressive interrogation” but yielding no intelligence. Whereas other detainees weren’t subjected to aggressive torture methods and provided for more intelligence. Most the detainees that where suspected where proved innocent as well. A study of the phoenix A study in the torture and assassination program Viet Cong members had found that it victimized at least 38 Vietcong agents. The studies of torture in Northern Ireland conclude: “For harvesting information, torture is the clumsiest method available to organizations, even clumsier in some cases than flipping coins or shooting randomly into crowds. The sources of error are systematic and ineradicable. [Torture and Democracy]” The psychological impact on the detainee can be heart wrenching. Jamal itself doesn’t seem to be effected by the copious amount of torture he had went through. But such methods of torture can impact the cognition if the detainee survives. Shane ‘O Mara writes “torture does not produce reliable information largely because of the severity with which it impairs the ability to think. Extreme pain, cold, sleep deprivation and fear of torture itself all damage memory, mood and cognition Produce reliable information largely because of the severity with which it impairs the ability to think. Extreme pain, cold, sleep deprivation and fear of torture itself all damage memory, mood and cognition.” John Conroy writes that there are six stages of torture. The first is Reluctance, where the perpetrator is reluctant to participate or observe the administration of torture. The next is official encouragement the Stanford prison experiment and Milgram experiment show, the detainee will follow an authority figure. If it follows as mandatory the main purpose of this is to fell a loss of respect. Peer encouragement: the perpetrator begins to accept torture as necessary, accepted and or deserved, after, dehumanization where the perpetrator sees the victim as an object instead of a human being and finally disinhibition: Many War veterans have experienced PSTD through of the traumas of torture. Mark Domeck, A junior psychologist had his first experience war victims. They had felt a mistrust in him, but gradually gained trust over him over time. Mark shares his first-time experience. “For me, the first moment when I began to understand about torture was a moment during my Psychology Internship. I was a junior therapist in a small group therapy session for Vietnam veterans with Postraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). I was a short-termer in that group, there for six months only and because I was the new guy, and because I was 'authority' it took a long time before I was trusted by the patients in the group. Somewhere in the middle of those months, a more quiet participant started talking about an atrocity he had witnessed during his service. A man he knew had been flayed and left alive to die by the enemy. As the story was told, I found myself in eye contact with this man, who was holding it together well, but was also weeping in a controlled manner. And I began weeping too, because it was Horrible, this story being told. In retrospect, I was being tested to some extent. "Can this green therapist handle the real stuff or will he fall apart? Can we rely on this guy?" were perhaps the unspoken thoughts in the room. I left that experience thinking I had failed the test with my weeping. After supervision (a process where you review your work with an experienced senior clinician), however, I came to the realization that I had probably not failed the test entirely. I had cried for sure, and should have managed more restraint. A therapist's restraint in the face of strong emotions is a container of sorts – part of the safety net that a therapist is supposed to be providing for patients. At the same time, I didn't lose it entirely, just like the veteran did not lose it either. And by crying, I supposed that I had shown, in a manner that no amount of therapy technique could have communicated that I cared; was engaged; thought what he had experienced was Horrible; felt what had been experienced to be Horrible; was not judging the man for what he saw or how he reacted.” More than 300,000 veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan where diagnosed with PSTD.As much as 2/3 of them where not receiving treatment. Suicides among US troops overall are also up to one a day. Veterans account for 20% of all US suicides. The issue of torture may feel resolved, The US senate had already closed the loopholes of torture by the detainee treatment act of 2005, which “prohibits cruel, or degrading punishment of detainees” (H.R. 2863, Title X) and The Geneva conventions prohibits “violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture” Conventions against torture was adopted by the UN in 1984. But this doesn’t mean that torture isn’t an issue around the world. 142 countries around the world were observed by the amnesty international service and found that 79 of these countries still use torture. and since it’s happening secretly behind our backs in the US. The laws itself show it isn’t proving its effectiveness. The detainee act was modified by the Graham amendment and permits the department of defense to obtained through torture of Guantanamo Bay detainees, and expands the prohibition of habeas corpus for redetainees, which subsequently leaves detainees no legal recourse if they are tortured. It seems the government loves to cover their tracks. So, the people have a sense of security within USA. But this isn’t the case here. In 2014, an article was written by the senate committee voted to declassify Bush era documents. The report states a man named Jose Rodguez ordering to destroy 92 tapes of various cruel actions against the detainees. He had said that it would make the senate look terrible. But in all honestly, the damage is already done. The secret is already out. The film doesn’t show anything about them destroying the evidence at all. It still goes to show that the CIA will take ineffective risk to a person to gather information. Not to mention to cover their tracks to seem like nothing was taking part. Jamal’s torture had not only been ineffective, but had put had a psychological impact on himself. He was falsely accused of cheating and the police had tried to gut it out of him. In the end, the police had got nothing out of him in retrospect. Torture itself is an inexcusable way of getting information out of a person. In this essay, it seems the most effective way is to keep the crazy antics to yourself. Otherwise you’ll end up covering up the mess you’ve created. works cited: https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn26685-that-cia-torture-methods-were-pointless-is-no-shock http://www.newsweek.com/eight-10-countries-ill-treat-and-torture-citizens-amnesty-309274 http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/5/12/torture-report-amnesty.html http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/senate-report-cia-torture/torture-was-ineffective http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/cia-torture-report/senate-report-finds-cia-interrogation-tactics-were-ineffective-n264621 http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/5/12/torture-report-amnesty.html https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=6a8f9372-a8a4-425c-9f79-32f30a9dd4f9 http://www.nytimes.com/ref/international/24MEMO-GUIDE.html?_r=1& http://www.cfr.org/terrorism-and-the-law/detainee-treatment-act-2005-hr-2863-title-x/p9865 https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=0084e644-a5ed-46e1-8649-762df3ffcf4f https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/senate-intelligence-committee-study-on-cia-detention-and-interrogation-program http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/senate-report-cia-torture/torture-was-ineffective http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/cia-torture-report/senate-report-finds-cia-interrogation-tactics-were-ineffective-n264621 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/0 http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/4/3/senate-torture-reportciadeclassify.html3/washington/03web-intel.html?_r=0 http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/4/9/senate-cia-torture.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychology_of_torture#Victims_with_PTSD My mother, had taken me and my brother down to Upper Darby when we were children. where we would meet our babysitter, Sodsee. Our mother wanted us to learn how to cook her recipes. She had no clue of how making the Asian food. My mother was never interested in other cultures of food. She was only into her heritage of food and never wanted to go outside of whatever she had a taste for.
Our mother pulled off to say a goodbye, Sodee’s exterior was small and bush of vegetables growing in the front of her house. The exterior didn’t have much else besides the rotting plaster on the exterior walls. We entered the interior of her house, it was very minimalist, old, and somewhat decaying. nothing on the walls besides some pictures of elephants. The textures of her walls felt bumpy and rough. I entered her place for the first time with Nicholas, My brother. He had loved her cooking as much as I did. I’d enter her damp unrenovated kitchen with my brother and I. would help her cut up some of the ingredients. Like Scallions’ and peppers. We’d help her make a dish called “Thai pork” with rice. She had many ingredients that I haven’t seen before. A lot of those ingredients were from her marketplace, she was running a supermarket that she had built with her family’s inheritance. She had this special siracha that tasted completely different from the one you’d usually get from the grocery store. The secret though, was the extra garlic that gave the dish its bold spicy flavor. We still have her recipes that she written down from a long time ago. They’re old, but the quality of the paper holds up, it sits on the refrigerator like it was yesterday. Untouched, yellowed and dry. But I could never make it like she did. She was excellent at cooking. But I was terrible. But keep in mind, I was about 10 years old. I wanted to explore cooking as much as my brother did. This had led us to introduce us to other tastes of culture to our family. Sodsee came to the USA look for a job in architecture. She was studying over from her hometown in Chung Mai, Thailand. A town that preserves the old city, but maintaining a modern environment. The school system was divided as a boy school and girl school. But they could go to either school if you had wanted to study another subject. She had finished school and wanted to start over in America. She told me a story once of her boss hiring her because of how calm she was when instructed to schematics again. A lot of the workers quit because the boss of the place wasn’t really a person that would let you off easy. He was a guy that wanted everything perfected. Later in time, technology was growing more rapidly in the late 80’s and 90’s. Computers where being introduced into workplaces and her boss wanted her to learn how to use computer. She only knew how to draw the schematics and blueprints, which lead to the inevitable of losing her job. Unfortunately, had nowhere else to turn. So, she put an ad to put babysitting in the newspaper. It was easier for her to travel because near her place. It was a more convenient. I greatly admired her personality. She always remained calm even at the tensest situations. She forgot to pay at a toll both because she thought It was free parking Sunday and the guy came out of his cramped both and gave her an earful. She had remained calm, and understood what she had done wrong. without making a ginormous scene. We finished cooking and sat down, I was starving, Like a Camel in the Sahara. So, I dived right in, and the taste of the pork was spicy, sweet and tangy. The rice, was sticky, it sticks to the roof of your mouth. Some of it can stay on your clothes if you’re a slob. This food wasn’t something you’d taste at one of those Asian American restaurants. No, it was truly the authentic cuisine! We finished eating. and I had looked around all’s I see is the empty space. No materialist items. Such as a TV, computer, car and phone. I had asked; “Don’t you have a TV or computer I could use?” I asked; “No, “Sodsee replied I wondered why she doesn’t even bother to have a TV or a computer? It seemed strange. But in an intriguing way. I wondered If she was living in the 21st century? Most people have these common items for everyday use. So I was intrigued in the state that she was in. So I had asked to fill the void of uncertainty; “Why don’t you have a computer or a television?” She gets up a takes a breath. And says; “Because materials have no value to us” “Do you care to explain?” She explained a specific term in Buddhism called “Taṇhā” Which refers to Thirst, desire and longing. Which then is an extension of “Dukkha” which is the meaning of “un-satisfactoriness”. The Term “Dukkha” is what we all have in ourselves. Everybody experiences Dukkha, either they go through the pain of lost loved one, or the suffering of debts. for some people, are what I describe as Taṇhā. Our Desires can leave us unsatisfied. “I reply; “What about Christmas! People buy presents they feel happy!” Sodsee Replies; “That is where both “Dukkha” and “Tanha” come in, those people will eventually be unsatisfied with what they are given. then will keep wanting more to satisfy themselves. Sodsee was raised a Buddhist. She was more invested then I was in religion. Her parents had introduced her to a temple at a very young age. She had grown a liking to what the monks had told her. in contrast of me with Christianity. Christmas, had lost its true meaning of celebration and turned into a capitalist buy-fest on the first week of black Friday. This doesn’t mean some people don’t purely celebrate Christmas on tradition. It just means that Christmas cannot be truly celebrated when all you’re asking for is presents and money. It made no sense to me at first. The terms itself are hard to pronounce since I don’t speak Sanskrit. But as I began to think deeper and as time went on. All of what she was saying made absolute sense of why she had nothing in her house. Lots of people have attached to items that have no meaning. Often feeling unsatisfied with what they’re handed of course. most of us have leaned onto items for happiness like a TV. Unless you can give you a meaning. Then there isn’t a purpose to have anything besides food, water, shelter and clothing. She also never wanted anything wasted like food or clothing. We had to finish our meals or she wouldn’t serve these meals ever again. But it was for a good reason. People complain about certain livestock, wood and other mammals are extinct but we as species, are to blame. Our world has turned into a trash dump filling the land with preservatives and not with organics and artificiality. She’d take anything she found on the streets and fertilize it for 8 months. The jar smelled like Compost, as you’d expect. But, it’s use was so versatile. Its most prominent use was for zits and pimples. The smell was so strong that it burned a homeland for the zits. After I had left that day, what Sodsee had told those days had stuck in my mind for a long time. Those teachings were branches to lead me on a different path. Reading practices from not only Buddhism, but its other branch Hinduism and other religions. I was raised a catholic my entire life. It had changed my perspective on the world. The home that she had lived in, was rundown. So, we never could go back there for quite some time. She moved back to Thailand and sold her house to support her supermarket she owned. I missed her house, the contents were nothing but old newspapers and plants. How I feel about this place is different from my real home that I’d live in. The space made me move around more and clear my mind. Even though the color of the interior wasn’t my forte. She still comes to my house and delivers food that she made. The same way she had made it from when we would go to her house. I but it isn’t the same as going to her house. It had an atmosphere that touches a different place in my heart. I hope to visit her exact home in Bangkok, Thailand one day. One of my true goals was to get into a university in Thailand and visit her. She had truly inspired me. My mother, had taken me and my brother down to Upper Darby when we were children. where we would meet our babysitter, Sodsee. Our mother wanted us to learn how to cook her recipes. She had no clue of how making the Asian food. My mother was never interested in other cultures of food. She was only into her heritage of food and never wanted to go outside of whatever she had a taste for.
Our mother pulled off to say a goodbye, Sodee’s exterior was small and bush of vegetables growing in the front of her house. The exterior didn’t have much else besides the rotting plaster on the exterior walls. We entered the interior of her house, it was very minimalist, old, and somewhat decaying. nothing on the walls besides some pictures of elephants. The textures of her walls felt bumpy and rough. I entered her place for the first time with Nicholas, My brother. He had loved her cooking as much as I did. I’d enter her damp unrenovated kitchen with my brother and I. would help her cut up some of the ingredients. Like Scallions’ and peppers. We’d help her make a dish called “Thai pork” with rice. She had many ingredients that I haven’t seen before. A lot of those ingredients were from her marketplace, she was running a supermarket that she had built with her family’s inheritance. She had this special siracha that tasted completely different from the one you’d usually get from the grocery store. The secret though, was the extra garlic that gave the dish its bold spicy flavor. The dish goes as follows. You start with heating a large saucepan and add the spring and coriander stalks then cook for 1 min. You add the pork next, but it was her twist. the pork which was already cooked but with fish, garlic and black pepper. We then stir her special curry paste, the stuff you’d only find in Thailand. We still have her recipes that she written down from a long time ago. They’re old, but the quality of the paper holds up, it sits on the refrigerator like it was yesterday. Untouched, yellowed and dry. But I could never make it like she did. She was excellent at cooking. But I was terrible. But keep in mind, I was about 10 years old. I wanted to explore cooking as much as my brother did. This had led us to introduce us to other tastes of culture to our family. We finished cooking and sat down, I was starving, Like a Camel in the Sahara. So, I dived right in, and the taste of the pork was spicy, sweet and tangy. The rice, was sticky, it sticks to the roof of your mouth. Some of it can stay on your clothes if you’re a slob. This food wasn’t something you’d taste at one of those Asian American restaurants. No, it was truly the authentic cuisine! and I had looked around all’s I see besides the empty space. No materialist items. Such as a TV, computer, car and phone. I had asked; “Don’t you have a TV or computer I could use?” I asked; “No, “Sodsee replied I wondered why she doesn’t even bother to have a TV or a computer? Is this woman living in the 21st century? I would think Most people would have these items. “Why don’t you have a computer or a television?” She gets up a takes a breath. And says; “Because materials have no value to us” “Do you care to explain?” She explained a specific term in Buddhism called “Taṇhā” Which refers to Thirst,desire and longing. Which then is an extension of “Dukkha” which is the meaning of “un-satisfactoriness”.the Term “Dukkha” is what we all have in ourselves. Everybody experiences Dukkha, either they go through the pain of lost loved one, or the suffering of debts. for some people, are what I describe as Taṇhā. Our Desires can leave us unsatisfied.”I reply;“What about Christmas! People buy presents they feel happy!” Sodsee Replies;“That is where both “Dukkha” and “Tanha” come in, those people will eventually be unsatisfied with what they are given. then will keep wanting more to satisfy themselves. She was also extremely poor when she came here.She only had a few thousand dollars and had Which she had told me later on when we finished eating. Sodsee was raised a Buddhist. She was more invested then I was in religion. Her parents had introduced her to a temple at a very young age. She had grown a liking to what the monks had told her. in contrast of me with Christianity. Christmas, had lost its true meaning of celebration and turned into a capitalist buy-fest on the first week of black Friday. This doesn’t mean some people don’t purely celebrate Christmas on tradition. It just means that Christmas cannot be truly celebrated when all you’re asking for is presents and money. It made no sense to me at first. The terms itself are hard to pronounce since I don’t speak Sanskrit. But as I began to think deeper and as time went on. All of what she was saying made absolute sense of why she had nothing in her house. Lots of people have attached to items that have no meaning. Often feeling unsatisfied with what they’re handed of course. most of us have leaned onto items for happiness like a TV. Unless it can give you a meaning. After I had left that day, what Sodsee had told those days had stuck in my mind for a long time. Those teachings were branches to lead me on a different path. Reading practices from not only Buddhism, but its other branch Hinduism and other religions. I was raised a catholic my entire life. It had changed my perspective on the world.But it also taught me something different in a way. A tradition of some sort. It had given the basis of how to cook. In which, my mother had been pushed me to learn, because it is important to know how to cook, because you can save a lot of money The home that she had lived in, was rundown. So, we never could go back there for quite some time. She moved back to Thailand and sold her house to support her supermarket she owned. I missed her house, the contents were nothing but old newspapers and plants. How I feel about this place is different from my real home that I’d live in. The space made me move around more and clear my mind. Even though the color of the interior wasn’t my forte. I hope to visit her exact home in Bangkok, Thailand one day. One of my true goals was to get into a university in Thailand and visit her. She had truly inspired me. |
Here is where I blog for our English Composition class. I am a student at DCCC and is 22 years old.
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