The Foreign Exchange: Connected

       The Foreign Exchange, an odd pair of men. One black (Phonte), one white (Nicolay), creating that foreign exchange. On the album Connected produced by Nicolay, Phonte speaks of the life and struggles of an MC and his fading relationships with the people around him. As an artist, time is consumed and one is frequently taking trips away from home. It is difficult to stay in touch with the people you love on a physical level because of business trips/tours. He really goes deep into this aspect of being an MC in the song "All That You Are". Phonte explains that even though his family knows about his work life and what he has to do to get money for them, it still hurts them that they remain departed for so long so frequently. Imagine having a person you love be out of your life so such long periods of time worrying about their safety and being lonely until they come back for only a weekend.

Luckily he doesn't speak only o. The negative. He brings in a positive vibe earlier in the album; "Let's Move". An upbeat song speaking only about building and creating an empire in the long run for the people we love. Implying that all the hard work and brokenhearted family and friends with pay off for everyone when. The success hits. A certain hustle like this one calls for a hell before heaven. His explaining this gives the listener a better look at their situation weather it's being an artists or any other hustle they have to deal with in their life just to get where they need to be.

"Connected" connects the dots from problem to solution one track at a time.

'White is the new Black'

       "White Privilege; the belief that being white comes with an unearned advantage and everyday perks." But have you heard of the alternative, "Black Privilege"? Is this a thing? Should this phrase have even come into existence? Perhaps it is trues in one way, which is being politically correct. In the past, we all know that America was built off of laws and morals that are favorable to the caucasian race. Now, in the year 2016, there are some who feel as though African Americans have the upper hand.

       A post on CNN called "It's Time to talk about Black Privilege" stated that "… in America, you can't even talk about whiteness". The only thing black people have the upper hand in is being politically correct now-a-days. Anything outside of that is to our disadvantage. Being politically correct is not enough so live a content and peaceful life. We still struggle everyday of our lives just for being a shade darker than the "most supreme". Finances, social latter, law; black people are always on the wrong end of the stick. This has been going on for hundreds of years and will continue. What they see is the chains being loosened from our necks and wrists, but there is a second chain that has bounded our minds to this corrupt way of thinking. Race will FOREVER be a factor, in a negative way, so to say black people or any minority has it better, is like committing a verbal sin. I rest my case.

50 Shades vs. A Mother's Rage

       Angry mother vs. teacher. How should his play out? A teacher allows her softball team of majority 17 year year old view the movie "Fifty Shades of Grey'. This seems okay, until you realize there is a 1 year old in the vehicle as well. The mother finds out somehow as becomes furious and believes that the teacher should be penalized for exposing her child to this type of content. Rethinking the situation, the teacher should just get a slap on a wrist.

       Usually if a child is raised a certain way they speak up on what their parents would or would not allow them to see/do/hear. It is partially the child's fault for staying silent when the 17 year old asked to watch this content. A mother can not be upset with a situation if their child had a say but didn't speak up. The teacher should only be restricted from being a chaperone. Being fired or fined would be taking the situation entirely too far. With that being said, the case should end in the teacher's favor.

Be who you wanna to be "B-A-R-B-I-E"

         

         Growing up as a female in this generation, almost everything is about image. Tither you have the look or you don't. This generation has grown off of role models and celebrities who all look the same. (i.e. Nicki Minaj, Iggy Azalea, Kim Kardashian) All of which resembles a mix between video vixen and a barbie doll. Although it's too late for us, we can still attempt to save the next group of children youngsters coming up.

       DNews has a segment on how barbie influences body image. It introduces us to the "new barbie on the block" which is the Lamilly doll; a realistic fashion doll. This doll was created to show natural beauty and to prevent our youth from the distorted vision of beauty the public is trying to shove into their minds. The link above shows an experiment, seeing what children think of the realistic doll vs the Barbie with the impossible image. The results are impressive regarding the fact that these are children who may have already been introduced to the regular Barbie doll with the hour glass shape.

    
       Dr. Rebecca Hains write an article giving us 5 reasons not to buy barbie, including that the doll promote a dangerously unhealthy diet and impossible image goals. This barbie alone has influenced a number of women including a woman, Cindy Jackson, a woman who was highly influence by barbie, and the famous barbie look-alike, Valeria Lukyanova. Al though Valeria Lukyanova used her publicity to display her spiritual beliefs, she still understands that it is the "look" she contains that attracts her audience. She also maintains her shape with an almost ALL liquid diet and rock climbing. Any teen or child following similar diets could be digging their own grave. We need to make sure our young girls do not go down the materialistic path our generation regrets. Let our children use their tooth fairy money for candy, not their pending cosmetic surgery.

Force to a standard

Double standars is a thing that the world has been dealing with for centuries. Females aren't allowed to do certain things and men are obligated to do what females don't. It has shaped pop culture which has shaped how the world (or society) thinks.

Males praised for talking to/dating a large number people. Females labeled as "thots". Females wear too much, uptight; Females wear too little, loose. Females feel that males are obligated to make the first move. Females don't feel the need to have chivalry, but expect males to have manners... and the list goes on. These double standards are one of the root causes for serious crimes kept quiet.

There has recently been an incident where two women sexually harassed a man at a gas station in Washington D.C. Although it has been publicized, there is a large number of people out there who would disagree that this is sexual harassment by the simple fact that they are females. Their mentality is that men would "like it" but in actuality there is a place and time for everything. There are also situations where women are judged by how they dress and men dressing in the male equivalent aren't criticized about it. This should be addressed asap to prevent future crime from being unseen and the degrading of genders.

Some social experiments have been put together to show how the public handles certain situations regarding sexual harassment, domestic violence, and gender roles to prove the double standards being set in society. These video help bring awareness and can progress the way America thinks about a numerous amount of situations being obscured by the media.

We want your child's sub-conscience Inc. (Pt.1)

      We watch action movies, scary movies, comedies etc. When it comes to parenting, we monitor what the young ones watch, but do we really know the content being presented. Looking deeper into he background of media production, some these fact may shock you about children's shows.

Types of brain waves:

1. Beta: The mind is consciously alert (agitated, tense, afraid). Frequency- 13 to 60. At this state of mind, your first impulse is coming from what your subconscious has picked up one. Wether you remember certain things or not, your subconscious has absorbed everything around you like a sponge. Darren Brown, a (occupation), put together a project to see if he could manipulate the minds of two advertisement artists. These are men that use subliminal message techniques for a living, yet the project still worked on them.

2. Alpha: Physically and mentally relaxed (still conscious). Frequency- 7 to 13. This is were the brain absorbs most of it's informations. It's not fully aware but it is awake and paying attention. This is where most people believe they are smart enough not to be tricked but little do they know their being molded by what is right in front of them. The scariest thing is thinking you know what you're accepting into yourself physically and mentally, then realizing it's all a lie.

3. Theta: Reduced consciousness (day dreaming). Frequency- 4 to 7. If you pay attention to your day dreams you might learn a lot about yourself and what's been entering your brain throughout your life. Having thoughts that would never cross your mind intentionally (i.e suicidal/homicidal thoughts, taking illegal substances, hurting someone you care about, inappropriate thoughts in general) shows the contents being packed in your minds overtime. Even though these thoughts may not seem like your character, it's something that's grown in the back of your head and could possibly become your character in the near or later future.

4. Delta: Unconsciousness (deep sleep, catalepsy). Frequency- 0.1 to 4. The frontal lobe can still be altered in this stage. When a person if sleep with the television or music on, it interferes with their thoughts. For example, a person is asleep in a loud room and the conversations being held in that room would tie in with their dream. Another example would be if you are sleep in a car and your favorite tune comes on the radio; you wake up singing along, starting on the right lyrics.

Spongebob Squarepants, everybody loves that happy-go-lucky yellow square with the unforgettable laugh and unique enthusiasm to work at a fast-food restaurant; sadly we're just as gullible as he is. Alice in Wonderland seems like a child friendly movie at first glade with its imaginative adventures, but is it really just introducing children to drugs? It's not a surprise at all that the last few generations have developed a violent side from the famous mouse and cat, Tom and Jerry. Up next is shows to look out for when letting your child surf cable.