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The History of Our World in 18 Minutes

In his 18 minute summation of the history of our world (from the big bang), he made sure to spend a great deal of time concerning the more scientific aspects in order to point out with painstaking grandiosity the area where humans excel.  Collective learning. David Christian highlighted the very thing that separates humans from the rest of life on our planet, our ability to pass knowledge from one generation to the next. We alone have developed methods of ensuring a detailed record, a way to accumulate our knowledge and be able to look backward in our efforts to move forward. Seeing as we as a species are reliant upon the record, it seems that one important aspect regarding the record was left absent during his talk. While he indicated the dangers that could come to pass due to the still present weapons meant to kill the world haven't gone anywhere, he neglected to mention the importance of exactly how history is written is more important at this moment than it has been at any othe...
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Born a crime; Chapters 15-18

Chapter 15 1. Trevor gains important experiences and support in cornering an underground market as he grows into manhood after high school. 2 Questions; a. Would have the reaction to Hitler's name been less severe if his friend had been named after Custer, Stalin, or Pol Pot? b. How much value does Trevor place on his ability to be a "chameleon" due to his mother's insistence on being multilingual? Did this mindset assist his ability to turn a profit from minimal situations? Chapter 16 1. Navigating the world after High School and understanding the various levels and definitions of criminal activity, while accepting the symbolism of cheese. 2 Questions; a. Being an entertainer, does Trevor see any literal parallels between the mindset of "hustling" while in Alex and how he's become a success in navigating his entertainment career? b. How have Trevor's experiences with law enforcement in South Africa served to influence his views on law enforcement wh...
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The Karen Propaganda poster.

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This is a concept that I had wrestled with for quite awhile...it seems that there was no rea precursor to this concept other than older parody posters in Mad Magazine or National Lampoon's. I think it best to just let it be what it is, without much of an explanation. I can only express that this phenomenon of seemingly more regular public outbursts that are being documented with more regularity, and have seemed to escalate in general ugliness. I guess if I have to, I can get a laugh out of it as long as it remains absurd.   
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Born a crime Ch. 5-14

Chapter 5 1.  Trevor divulges some of his family history, and explains some of the interrelated situations and hard pressures that his mother grew up in.  2 Questions;  a. How did his mother's defiance toward authority and societal expectations carry over into his own self conscious? b. As an adult in the US, how does he feel his personal freedoms have changed as opposed to South Africa? Are there areas where he finds it preferable to be identified as Black here, when compared to White or Colored back home (depending on the situation)   Chapter 6. 1. Trevor explains the challenges a high-spirited young man can present for a willful single mother, and his discovery that she has some unusual teaching methods. 2 Questions a. Did challenging the institutions in his life provide him with an outlook that helped him endure the poor outlook of his circumstances? b. As a child, did Trevor feel as if his penchant for risk taking guided his career path more than any other ...
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Social Media Surveillance and Law Enforcement

 Area 1; With near unfettered access of social media profiles available to them, it seems that Law Enforcement entities have seen fit to begin using this to their advantage. It is easy enough to follow the newsfeeds of publicly available profiles, especially in instances where people are highly active users. This provides opportunity for Law Enforcement build cases against unsuspecting parties, unbeknownst to them. Being able to search out previous offenders, people of interest, and also their associates also allows them to construct a rough anthropological picture of events after a crime has been committed, or possibly during the act or prior to it. This provides enormous opportunity for coordinated efforts in apprehension or prevention of many crimes from assaults and drug dealing, all the way up to monitoring for activity on possibly terrorist attacks. Area 2; I am far from in favor of social media being used to the extent that it seems to be in some instances; as in from the ar...
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Born a crime CH. 1-4

Chapter 1. Trevor describes his mother's dedication to God and her near fanatical need to attend several churches of different cultures, ending the chapter in a daring escape and a fantastic 'I told you so' moment between mother and son. a. Did Trevor feel the need to seek out popular culture later in life due to being sheltered from it when he was younger? b. As a person raised in an environment where violence and political strife was normalized, are there underlying conditions that affect his daily life as a result of those traumas? Chapter 2. A chapter describing the incredible trials of Trevor's identity, as the child of a Swiss man and a Xhosa woman in an era where sexual relations with another race was illegal in South Africa. a. In having to adhere to a separate set of expectations due to his skin color, at what age did Trevor become self aware of the reasons for this? b. After Apartheid fell, do any of his family still retain some of the same behavioral cues in ...
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Synthesis Paper Draft

  This week's peer review activity is an Observational Review, meaning that you will be supporting each other's writing by offering specific observations (based on the questions below).  This is not a critiquing exercise.    Your role as a reviewer is to help the writer understand how their ideas came across to you.   This is a hugely helpful exercise for the writer.  For most of us, our ideas make sense to us because we know what we mean.  And it really helps to have someone say back to us what they heard.  That helps us understand what and where to revise. Directions: 1. Upload a link to your synthesis paper by Friday at 11:59pm. 2. Respond to two classmate papers, answering the following 3 questions: a.  What do you understand to be the main argument/claim of this paper? b.  What main ideas support that argument/claim? c.  What additional ideas/resources would further support that claim?   For example, "I saw you used Marx a...
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