When I first signed up for this class it was nothing like I had anticipated. Pop Culture for me is a huge part of my daily life and plays a very important part for me. I was a bit overwhelmed by all of the computer work that was entailed. The first couple of weeks I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get through it all. I buckled down and never said quit, and it all started coming together. I had no idea what a Glogg or even a Blogg consisted of before my venture into this class. I do think that maybe a computer prerequisite might be in order for this so it is not so overwhelming to others who choose to participate in this class. My only regret is that I wish I would have taken this class during a regular semester, so I could have given more attention to the quests and performed more Mastery Quests. The 3-D Gamelab is an awesome learning tool and changes the whole learning agenda and is a rather refreshing way to learn. Overall I thought it was a great way to learn. The in-class quests were also really fun and afforded the students to interact and get to know one another. Another suggestion may be to spend a bit more time letting the students get familiar with the program, just to feel a little more at ease with it. This class was definitely a pleasant surprise and I would recommend this class to anyone....Good Times! Thanks to everyone who participated.

“AHCCCS Arizona”

                                                   AHCCCS Sucks......No it Doesn't
Royce Cons.                                                   

1. Strains the medical and EMS system, people use ambulances as personal transportation for non-emergency medical problems.

2. People abuse the AHCCCS system and use it as a way of life. They support their families   instead of seeking gainful employment.

3. AHCCCS spends millions of dollars a year on healthcare and cash assistance for non-legal citizens which only adds to the states deficit.

Kurt, Pros.

1. The program provides medical care for the less fortunate, un-employed and those who are employed but are not offered insurance at all.

2.  The AHCCCS offer`s a Nutrition Assistance program for low-income individuals, children and families.

3.  The AHCCCS offer`s a Cash Assistance program for children and their families to meet their needs until they can re-establish their lives.

Royce’s opinions: My opinion on this healthcare disaster is to try to re-vamp the AHCCCS system. I tend to be a bit jaded on this issue, due to the fact that I work emergency medicine and see the system abused on a daily basis. I do have a large amount of friends that work in the EMS system also, so this tends to be a chiefly shared opinion among many of the people I associate with. Not that the whole system is bad, but for the most part it sucks. My personal actions do not affect the way I perform my patient care while on the job, but it has made me a little crass towards people when I’m not at work. When I see the people in line at the store that are buying more booze than food and a food stamp card in hand with three dirty little kids in tow, I do get bothered and a little pissed off. I hate to say it but I may even look down on them a bit.

Kurt’s opinions: I believe without this program and services that the AHCCCS provide that many or a lot of the Arizona residents would be in much more dire straits than they already are. It provides opportunities or a hand out to get back on ones feet after experiencing a crisis, layoff, disability, or financial burden. I personally believe and feel that these services that AHCCCS has been providing for Arizona residents over the years has made a difference in a lot of people’s lives. This state truly believes in personal health being of upmost importance for the less fortunate.    

Royce’s sources for information: I read JEMS (journal of emergency medicine) which addresses this issue quite frequently in its monthly magazine. I also use the internet, http://www.azahcccs.gov/fraud/default.aspx, is a very insightful source. Updates through my employer on these issues, also is a great source of information, since it affects our jobs directly and is a daily issue.

Kurt’s sources for information: I stay current with the AHCCCS through means of local television, newspapers, radio and the internet. I have seen how and what they can and will provide for with a neighbors cancer condition. I have also gained further and in-depth knowledge of these programs by personal means of applying for medical assistance myself recently.

In Summary (Common Ground): This tends to be a very touchy subject for most people. It is a highly opinionated and controversial issue that many find personal to their beliefs. We discussed this issue for quite some time and had a plethora of opinions on all of the issues that are encompassed in the AHCCCS system. It is such a broad spectrum of issues it is sometimes hard to pin down what is right and wrong with the system and how it works. Even though we had quite a difference of opinions on these issues, we did see some things eye to eye.

   One cannot disagree that some type of public assistance is necessary and there are several people that rely on this help for their lively hood and day to day needs, this we both could not deny. We also agree that it’s not perfect and people do take advantage of system. It was created to help people get back on track with their lives, not a way of life. People do use it for the better good when they have ongoing medical conditions, need to feed their children or are laid off of a job. We both are in agreement that the non-legal citizens that are in our state should not be entitled to apply and receive these benefits, as to the fact that this costs millions of tax dollars a year. We both respect and honor each other’s opinion and realize neither has all of the answers, but then who does. The main point we could really come to an agreement on is, the system is in desperate need of being overhauled and restructured so those that truly need it are not being denied because of those that abuse the system. Through doing this quest we have learned one lesson that everyone is entitled to their opinions weather right, wrong or indifferent and as long as we respect each other, we can all agree to disagree.

    

Unpopular Culture

Do We Really Need Celebrity News?

            I consider myself the poster child for “Pop Culture.” Yes I am a little older than the teens of today, yet I invite and embellish all that is pop culture. I ride a Harley Davidson, like fashion, have tattoos, grow my hair long, play in a Rock Band and one could say, I’m a bit of a rebel. I have adapted throughout the years and try to stay current on what is “In” these days.  I enjoy the fact that I am an adult who is very much young at heart, but I do have one gripe about today’s icon we refer to as “Celebrity News?”

            

          

                                                                  

  I went to the TMZ’s web site just out of curiosity, holy guacamole what a bunch of garbage. I have seen small portions of their TV program while channel surfing and thought to myself “Do people really buy into this crap?” Unfortunately my friends the sad answer is YES.

What I find most alarming about this is that our children and young adults hang on every word of this celebrity nonsense like it is something holy. Obviously somebody thinks this is important earth shattering news because literally millions of people are tuning in daily for this stuff.

            So the headline for today was “LA Councilman’s 911 call, Justin Bieber drives likea Maniac.” Are you shitting me, I drove in Phoenix today and encountered dozens of people that shouldn’t have a license, they weren’t in TMZ’s news, what makes this little twit so damn special. Then if that wasn’t enough they had “Breaking News,” hold onto your seat… “Madonna sued over Vogue’s Horniness.” Apparently she never paid to make the song “So Damn Horny” according to Vogue, REALLY! This just about made my head split open, my god, poking myself in the eye with a pencil would be less painful than reading one more word of this horseshit.

            So, off I go onto another celebrity search into the world of print and what do I find? Yep, even the Huffington Post has a damn celebrity page, are you kidding me! Yes it’s true, Tom Cruise is still sad over breakup with Katie Holms, Ohhhh poor baby. News flash, millions of people get divorced every day champ, who cares? Oh wait, Lindsay Lohan has spent upwardly around 150,000 on rehab, yet there are children in our very own neighborhoods that go to bed hungry every night. Now for the grand finally, Lady Gaga has a penis. Yep, it’s on YOUTUBE, you can see the video. This crap is like an epidemic of mosquitos at a blood bank, it literally boggles my mind and makes my brain hurt.

          

                                                                   

  I guess the one problem I have with this, as I stated earlier, is the influence this has on the youth of today. Where do you draw the line in the sand on what is important and what is not and how kids eat this stuff up? We as adults have to educate our children and give them the tools to make informed decisions. It is not just something we have to mention to our children, but our duty to our future. I don’t know about the rest of the world, but I want my children to be informed on current events, politics, our community and what is occurring globally. In a society that is so strongly influenced by our pop culture of today we need to be the filter that weeds through some of this nonsense. If we don’t our youth of today will be lead to believe that these are our true concerns and the important news of today, when nothing could be further from the truth.

"Letter to the Editor"

This is the article and response for the class assignment.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/illegal-downloaders-spend-the-most-on-music-says-poll-1812776.html

Response:

Dear Editor,

                In response to your article on illegal downloaders spending the most on music, I would like I agree with you opinion on this matter.  Even though I believe it’s “immoral” to steal music, this is something hard to get grasp on regulation of these music downloads. Before reading the article, I was totally against any kind of free music download, now I have had a change of heart. Obviously this is not going to change, so it’s nice to see that the people that are utilizing these free downloads, are also investing their money in other aspects of the music industry.

Everybody Googles!

This is my blog for the "Everybody Googles Assignment" hope you enjoy. This was some awesome civil rights information.

                                 

             The letter was a resignation letter to the society that I was surprised to see was from Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President Roosevelt, this I discovered when I Googled Mrs. Henry RobertJr.        “Daughters of the American Revelation”,   This is a credible organization that was founded in 1890. The first web site I clicked on when I Googled the name, http this seemed to have all the info I could possibly want on DAR.                

                After this short but interesting search, I felt this was sufficient. This didn’t appear to be a Wikki that someone would change since it pertained to American History. Did wind up reading a good amount of the Wikki page, Eleanor Roosevelt was one interesting lady and did a huge amount of work against segregation, and changing the face of American history.

 This was a bit perplexing at first; just looking at a map with routes could pertain to a multitude of things. I first Googled Newark NJ august 2^nd and I was directed to a YouTube page with a bunch of videos for bands relating to Newark NJ, the bands for the most part sucked and  this didn't work.

            Next I broadened my search and Googled, Nashville Tenn. To Montgomery AL., 9 arrested. This time I was taken to a Wikki page, that was directed towards, William E. Harbour, a major figure in the civil rights movement. There were some other references at the bottom of the page so I cross referenced some of the pages. The website "CORE" even contained part of the original map we were given for the assignment  and then I found a site from PBS,one of Americas pioneers in public television and education, and also is a very credible source. Satisfied with this search, the links appeared to me to add a huge amount of credibility to my search and coincided with the Wikipedia page

            I first Googled J.F. Blake, 12-1-1955 and the first site to come up was a site from the Montgomery news paper, which was a site for “The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.” Just from this article we learn that J.F. Blake was actually the bus driver that reported the “Parks woman” would not move on the bus and reported her to the police. This put into motion one of the greatest stories in the Civil Rights movement.

            I then Googled Rosa Parks, who is one of the most famous and influential black women in American history, and found this was actually the incident that is world famous, and set in motion Rosa Parks role in the Civil rights Movement. I found both of these sights very informative and have no reason to doubt their credibility. One of Americas greatest history stories, undoubtedly moving and monumental.

                I started this search by simply Googling, House of Representatives February 10, 1964 since it was basically the title of the document. The first sight I clicked on was for a site titled “Black Americans in Congress”  though an informative site with a huge amount of information, not the info I was searching for. I then clicked on the second site which was, “The Civil Rights Act of 1964”. This was a “United States Senate Committee on theJudiciary” site, sponsored by the actual “United States Senate.” This site had several links at the bottom of the page to verify the information that was provided.

            I also found a Wikipedia page for“The Civil Rights Act of 1964”  page that was also informative in verifying the info on this date. This was a monumental day in American History when they passed the laws to stop racial segregation in schools, voting and women’s rights to vote. I felt as a though the second and third search were both informative and credible. These roll call lists were the men who changed American History in 1964.

This was an awesome assignment and a great reflection on monumental steps in American History!

"My Love Mark"

 "My Love Mark"

I find it a bit ironic that one of the things listed on the quest directions was "Harley Davidson" since I have been riding motorcycles for over 30 years. Yes, this truly is a love mark of mine. I think this is not only because it's the motorcycle I prefer to ride, but it is a long standing American tradition. Harley Davidson is steeped in America culture and  history for over 100 years. 1903 was the year Harley Davidson introduced their first motorcycles, and boy have we come a long way since then. Harley Davidson has stepped into the present with some of the fastest  drag-bikes  on the racing scene today. This isn't just something enthusiasts of motorcycling  like, they live it, it is it's own culture within itself...

This is the bike I ride,a 2000 Road King with about 28,000 miles on her, I call her "Little Red", yes I did refer to my bike as a "Her", I love her. I started riding mini-bikes when I was about 5 years old and was instantly hooked on the two wheel feeling. I eventually graduated to dirt bikes and then I got the first taste of American made iron when I was about 17 years old, with my first  Sportster.  Over the years I have owned many different motorcycles, including custom choppers and a vast array of other bikes, but I keep returning to my first love, Harley Davidson. There is nothing like the feeling when you are going 80 miles per hour down the freeway, with the wind in your hair and the feeling of complete freedom in your heart. I am a very spiritual person, and when you have that complete feeling while riding, it's about as close as any one person can get to enlightenment. I know it sounds a little over the top, but nothing compares.

Now don't get me wrong, the feeling you get doing 60 mph in a hail storm is a whole new awakening too, and it sucks to say the least. but back on track kids. The love I have for Harley Davidsons is also based on the camaraderie you make with people with the same interests. Oh ya, and  Harley Davidson cloths and leathers  are way cool! I was a benefit and run coordinator for a motorcycle rights group called the  MMA of AZ    which raised thousands of dollars for charity in the 4 years I was in that position. Also motorcycle benefit rides across the country raise millions for needy children to disaster relief.I have been fortunate to meet these find of people all over the country in my travels. There is an old saying, "You will never see a Harley broke down without someone offering to help", it is definitely  a brotherhood.

To me I wouldn't trade "Little Red" for anything. The culture, freedom, friends and the look on children's faces in the hospital when 140 Harleys pull into the hospital with a truck load of toys is invaluable. If there is one culture I can get behind it's this very Harley culture I speak of. We aren't always the prettiest and may be a little rough around the edges and look like rebels (we kinda are) but the Harley Culture will, Live Free and Live Proud!

My Pop Culture Video

This is my first attempt at making a movie, so I hope you all enjoy it. The pop culture I talk about truly is ME!