Blog # 19: Journey from Cotton Crop to T- Shirt.

• To start the journey we should know, there is a globally production of 25 million tons of cotton that are being produced in different countries as: Benin and Burkina Faso in Africa, China, Uzbekistan, Australia, India and U.S           

        

             

Cotton crop around the world.

• Due to our T-Shirt obsession and because of the nature of the cotton crop which need very much water to grow, some communities aren't getting enough water to drink.

Hunting water in Burkina Faso.

        

• Besides of the water shortage, some of these countries have been facing pollution, due to pesticides utilization in cotton crops. This kind of crop is using 25% of world's insecticides.

Cotton Crop workers

• Increasing the negative facts, excessive use of pesticides is harming workers who frequently suffer vision problems and nerve diseases among others in the long list.

                                                                          

• To continue on trail,  tons and tons of energy which is fueled by oil drilling or coal or even something else nasty,  are going to be used  to get to thread the raw cotton.

Carding Machine Used to comb and brush the raw cotton.

• Next step, Bleaching the cotton, Chlorine is usually used, not mattering it can become a neurotoxin or even worst a carcinogen, cotton industries are still using this kind of chemicals to bleach the cotton even if they are going to dye it

Chlorine in powder

Bleaching the cotton

• To get it worse, even if Formaldehyde causes respiratory problems, burning eyes, cancer and allergic skin reactions, it is necessarily used to make cotton, soft, wrinkle-stain and odor resistant, fireproof, moth-proof and anti-static.

Another chemical used in Cotton Industry

• Finally fabric gets shipped to a factory anywhere in the third world, where once again will be a source of work at same time is going to become a human rights violation (considering dismal working conditions and terrible wages in some of the countries a day).

In some countries, the legal minimum wage is still only $3.75 a day.

• When finished, T-shirts are shipped everywhere in the US, to find its way to Us for under $20.

Add caption

After reading; Story of Stuff: True cost of Cotton t-shirt, I'm pretty sure there is no money that can pay the True Cost of this item, because the environmental and health deterioration caused by the different stages of the Materials Economy (Extraction-production-distribution-consumption and disposal) will never be recovered by money now neither in the future.

Blog # 18: $2 dollar Camisole

In 2 dollars Camisole, Marie Williams says about  how high the cost of cheap things could be, she also states that our society has been acostume of buying stuff at very low, low prices just because we got crazy every time we got reduced prices and it does not matter if the stuff we buy won't last longer because the good thing is that we got it for a cheap price.

After reading Marie Elizabeth Williams article, I have to agree because:

Reason 1: The most of the times Cheaper stuff will become expensivier.
Once, years ago, I bought a very nice Bra in a bargain store, it was really really nice, but the they I needed to wear it, the straps broke down, so I have to run buy a different one what makes me to spend more money to get to the store and buy the right one for the dress I should wear this day.

Reason 2: Because buying cheap stuff makes us part of the wrong economy system.
Promoting child exploitation, as in the case of some famous brands as Nike, everybody knows about what they do offering jobs to children in third world countries.

Blog # 16: The New Industrial Migrants

Part I:
In the first part of the article: Fast Food Nation, the author Erick Schlosser explains of  actual meatpacking and slaughterhouses industry's  turnover strategy that far from being a Liability,  in a high  rate in the meatpacking industry - as in the fast food industry - also helps maintain a workforce that is harder to unionize and much easier to control. This is one of the advantages the meat market industry owners are taking of , to primarily be employing young men and woman from Mexico, Central America and Southeast Asia people. Doing this way they don't have to provide benefits as health insurance, or even payed vacations to the workers.

Part II:

The Inmigration and Naturalization Service estimates that about one-quarter of all meatpacking workers in Iowa and Nebraska are illegal immigrants. Even so Big Companies as IBP or ConAgra Beef Company, insistently deny that they in any way seek to enploy illegal immigrants. Nevertheless To sustain the flow of new workers into IBP slaughterhouses, they had been recruiting as well as refugees and asylum-seekers from Laos and Bosnia, homeless people living in shelters in New York, New Jersey, California, North Carolina and Rhode Island.

Nowadays as we usually watch in newscasts, due to massive immigration the streets are plentiful of potential candidates for this kind of jobs, people in such as need, looking for jobs. These people will take almost any kind of job, even those with wretched salaries or those extremely dangerous; kind of  slaughterhouses or meatpacking companies offer to newcomers, to fearfully people that because of their desperation,should be arranged to take any job opportunity,what become very convinient for this kind of contractors.


I didn't ever realize before reading this article how pitiful is the situation poor  immigrant people are dealing with, because of  unscrupulous company policies; these companies don't even consider the well-being of their workers, they are just taking as much as they can from the workers, without any responsibility, there is no possibility of success guarantee, on the contrary  after a couple of months when  they got what they want ,they could be fairing people, throwing them away as disposable articles.

What a sad reality to find out  that  a lot of people come to this country with the hope to forge a better future for their families, on the contrary  life may become the most of the time due to ones excessive ambition a complete failure, and for some of them the end of  life. As I understand, ambition turns the self-seekers, in merciless, lier, cruel and immoral  beings, capable of make up the American dream stories which promises steady work, good salaries and even a place to live just to get to attract more and more workers to such as great job opportunities. What a big lie!  What a cruelty!!!!

Blog # 17: Reflection on Blogging

 After reviewing all my entries, I can't believe that I did it, it have been very hard and difficult for me to complete my assignments, the very first time I did write I was so scare because of my lack of  vocabulary and  lack of self-confidence ,cannot deny it.

Definitively, there is a big difference among the first entry: HYPE and the entry number 16: THE NEW INDUSTRIAL MIGRANTS, even if I haven't finish and post the last mentioned. I believe that to keep writing have helped me to improve, because by now I can expand much more than  before, Even though I still need to improve my vocabulary, gramma and to apply correctly transition words, I feel I improve my  english language understanding.

Blogger is a very useful instrument and helped me to acquire confidence, now I'm sure I can do it!!!
I also notice that I get much more enthusiastic speaking about Social topics, I wish to learn more every day.

Blog #14: Ideas for improving my performance in the CATW

After reading the examples of annotations and sample response,  I can see that it is very important to write down the annotations to be sure of put in all the important words and ideas; also while developing the response it is a good method to first pick an idea, second write my own thesis and last write the examples, and  I must use the transition words between the pharagraphs to help the reader to understand my work.
Transition words I could be using in my  CATW response:
Because ,In fact, Definitely, In other words, In conclusion, Therefore... 



After doing this excersice, I did notice how important is to don't forget that it is a very good strategy to use transition words, we must not forget refer back to reading  and the most important thing is that it is very necessary to anotate  to be sure  we are not going to miss the  trail of the reading. So I should be sure of picking up a significant idea.

After reading the comment from the Dr. Kristen Gallagher's  student, I learned that I need to be more specific, give more examples, especially personal examples and definitively use transition words to connect  the paragraphs.     Thank's very much to the Reader for the advices.!!!!

With Keith's help I did notice that my CATW # 5, needs to be expanded, and the main idea needs to be  better explained.    Thanks to Keith.!!!

BLOG # 13: HOW TO DO ONE THING AT A TIME

Nancy Jones, Women's Health Magazine, May 2010: "By now, we all know that multitasking can be a losing proposition."  There is some evidence and a sort of tests and experiments that verify the brain does better when it is performing tasks in sequences rather than all at once, and it is due to brain's cognitive limits. As Clifford Nass, PH. D., says: "We still don't know the long-term effects of chronic multitasking, but there's no question we're bad at it, and it is bad for us."

I personally agree with Nancy Jones article because there is no way a human being can be cappable of doing two or three things that require to be focused on. Not even a simple thing as talking by phone while driving or even trying to fix the exterior mirrors in your car while driving, both of the activities require a high level of coordination and you should be careful because on the contrary you could be cuasing a tragedy in a blink.
Even when you try to speak when eating some times it happen you bite your inside cheek yourself; or when you try to rubb your belly when rubbing your head, the same thing happen, our brain can not coordinate a hand in a kind of movement and the other hand in another movement.

If our brain was not maid to work in all at once, why don't we try to enjoy one activity at a time?

BLOG # 12:" Response to Michael Pollan's advice on how to eat healthier"

After reading this interesting and educational article from Mr. Michael Polland's book: In defense of food.  I can totally agree with each one of the statements because, at my opinion all of the items are very objectives. Mr. Polland  explained each one of the recommendations in a very gracious way that makes me think every advice is very easy to follow, I can easily imagine my grand mother giving me very similar advices.

"Shop in the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle", Mr. Polland advice; I did never realize the real motive of organization in the supermarket and as he explained this point "Most supermarkets are laid out the same way:processed foods in the center, fresh food on the walls. If you keep to the edges of the store you will be more likely to end up with real food in your shoping cart", is definitively the most urgent but not the only for me to implement right away, I think that some times I got Captivated by the attractive photographies on the front of the box as(according to) the sellers is how the food will look when ready to eat, some times I don't even take the time to read the ingredients lists.  I have to admit  That so neglectful conduct!. Once again I found this article very interesting and educational because I do realize that there is nothing as good for health than organic food, chemicals free,color full and highly flavored food.
On the other hand unfortunately due to space and time factors  I can not follow all of the advices, for the fact that living in this city makes hard to neither  have enough space to plant a garden, nor to have enough time to some times eat at a table or even do it on time.  I really wish I could cook every day and eat very fresh and healthier food in an authentic Salvadoran style.

BLOG # 11: "LET THEM EAT FAT"

In "Let them eat fat", Critser explains that fast food and National restaurant chains, alone with their sales innovations have being pointed by Nutritionists and Dietitians as responsible for the very unbalanced nutrition of the population especially; teenagers, young people and actually working people from the inner-city, all over the country.

The most interesting idea in this article is that we can not deny there is a linkage between "fast food Industry success and the profitability over the poor people and their necessities; because of their lack of resources or ignorance.

Once again to be part of a very low income Society should be making us an easy prey for all of this wrongly named Restaurants who does not care about nutrition, or well developed generations not even care for the increasing diabetic population due in a big part to their fast and dangerous but attractive food.

ENG099: Cat # 3

My second evaluation ENG099: Cat # 3: "Technology has expanded throughout the past years. As it becomes more developed with more high tech inventions, people become emotionally in..."

Simply Sary: The Net is the Real World 3.3

My first evaluationSimply Sary: The Net is the Real World 3.3: "The article The net is the real world shows us that the net brings out the realness in people if your not careful and especially with peopl..."

Blog # 10: "WHERE THE WHALE BE AT?: The place of Race & Racism in the Discussion of Environmentalism."

The writer of this interesting article Terry J. Cole, states a very important question: "Why should people of color be concerned about the environment?, he also give us a list of facts we need to consider to understand importance and complexity of the situation. As example, Lead poisoning, abandoned waste sites (brown-fields) located most of the time in or near public schools,  housing units of People of color, or Latino Americans communities; is not good to ignore that Seventy-one percent of African Americans live in counties that violate federal air pollution standards as opposed to 58 percent of White Americans.  And as if this is not enough, recent studies suggest that a young person's "lead burden" is linked with delinquency, lower IQ, and lower graduation rates.

After reading this article, I think that as part of the affected communities we should try to get to mainly understand and try to be aware about contamination and environment. We should not forget that we have an obligation to argue not just in favor of the environment but in our future generation communities favor too.
How can it be possible that in one of the most highly developed nations still exist social disparity even speaking about environment. It sounds crazy but also speaking about park space there is a big difference between the African American neighborhoods and the predominantly White neighborhoods accessibility.

In fact not only the health issue but there is a  high impact due to either African American's vulnerability to some diseases as: Cancer, stroke, AIDS, diabetes, pneumonia and influenza, chronic pulmonary disease, heart disease, and infant mortality; or because as The American Medical Association have noted in several reports that People of Color usually receive outdated or less aggressive treatment for medical disorders than Whites. How they do dare? How after knowing that Hamilton Naki was an African American surgeon and professor involved in the first human to human successful  heart transplant in Mississippi.  Intelligence, Beauty,  Education, Nutrition, Love and Respect, in essence Human Rights are not for the exclusive use of Whites. Lets do the difference, lets take the time to do educate and advice the children of today about never forget to be respectful of human beings and Mother Nature.

BLOG # 9: "THE MEATRIX"

This interesting story begins when  Leo(a small farm pig)  living in a small farm, suddenly meet a interesting guy (a cow) called Moopheous appears and start talking to Leo about  the big difference of living in a small family farm as used to be before the mid 20th century; and living in a modern day factory farm where all you can see is: that there is a high incident of animal cruelty, besides poor animals have become Antibiotic resistant due to usage of antibiotics, also due to waste's  incorrectly handlyng  a masive pullution destroying  communities around them.

The second part shows us how people have start paying attention about food origin source's, and the differences between food coming from a modern day factory; where the farmers are abusing of Antibiotics, Artificial hormones, which they are overusing to increase the production, and besides this they are also  feeding the poor calves with cow blood based substances; and food coming from an independent family farm where the animals are still been raised  in the natural old fashion way.

In this interesting but terrifying third part, the true story of slaughterhouses, how humans and meats are exposed to manure so e. coli contamination due to again unacceptably very bad operation.

Samantha: Artifact 2

I completely agree with Samantha, there is nothing more artifial than plastic surgery, why can't be satisfied the way we look?, what a weird world!!! Samantha: Artifact 2: " The images are of a lady who considers herself as 'The Cat Woman.' She had plastic surgery done to make herself look like a cat. She fel..."

school: fake booty pads

I am really convinced of Sethlina's Choice's, specially this , actually it is one of the most commons. Sadly to know all of this beauty can be artificial. school: fake booty pads: "what isint fake about most of the things on earth?beauty is suppose to be natural but now in order to be beautiful you have to put on fake ..."

" A COPPERTOP'S LIFE ARTIFACT" PART II

TANNING BEDS, TANNING SALONS.

A  tanning bed  or sun tanning bed is a device emitting ultraviolet radiation (typically 97% UVA and 3% UVB, +/-3%) used to produce a cosmetic tan.
This kind of artifact so in mode, is another one of the neverending list of artificialities, very effective, getting the tan you want, but at the same time very inappropiate and unnecessary. Because of the adverse effects on human health;  it is one of the biggest promoters of  cancer, specially;  skin cancer, cataracts, premature skin aging, suppression of the immune system, (all of this examples are included on the package you pay for) as a result of overexposure to UV radiation.
Why can't we humans be satisfied the way we look?  nor better why can we just enjoy a sunshine bath and take the color the sun generously give us for free.

BLOG # 8:" THE NET IS THE REAL WORLD"

According to Simms and Magid;  Like it or not, the net now is a  reality for the overwhelming majority of children and adults, not just in the developed world but for the rest too.  The biggest reason for them to said so:  Tyler Clementi's case;  The Rutgers University student who after discovering his romantic affair was uploaded to the internet page, decided to jump from the top of the George Washington Bridge into the Hudson River, ending this way his own life.

As we can see Internet encourage: "People to say and do things in Cyberspace that they wouldn't ordinarily say or do in the face-to-face world"; as Psychology Professor John Suler write on his online book: "The psychology of Cyberspace".  Taking this words as refference, I Could assure that this is the most important reason that keep all this kind of people attached to their computers, some of them  all day long because internet make them feel strong, and important, and also make them think, they can do whatever they want to do, because there are no rules, no limits and nobody cares about been mean, not even difamation or bullying.

It is so perturbing for me thinking about how endangered next generations have become after all of this technologic advances in this our modern world.

Lab # 4: " A COOPERTOP'S LIFE ARTIFACTS " Part I

   
The SIMS ONLINE OR PC GAMES
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A massively multiplayer online game  is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously, mobile devices and smartphones as well as the Iphone or Ipod Touch .
MMOGs can enable players to cooperate and compete with each other on a large scale, and sometimes to interact meaningfully with people around the world. They include a variety of gameplay types, representing many video games genres.
              http://www.thesims3console.com/#/home

Here it is, what for me is a very good example of  artificiality, living in a fictitious world.The Sims city is  Kind of Dreamland, addicts are cappable of transport not just their frustrations, secret dreams, but their hopes over which for them is The ideal World where everything can just happen as the player wants it to. I think this kind of games can really affect the real life, because users can become addicted to live the unreal life. I think that it could be counterproductive, and depending on the age people could get confused, as example: Teenagers, they love this kind of games, because they can play  to be adults.

Brave New World:

I really like this picture of Chilean Martial Actor, Marko Zaror.Brave New World:

Blog #7: "I'M NOT A CYBORG"

"CYBORG":  In science fiction, Human being whose biological functions are bionically enhanced. After reading the meaning of this word. I can totally say No, I'm not. Unless, this is just the nickname for the kind of people that like to take the advantage of using and enjoying the comfort that such devices bring to our life day after day, in which case I should say Yes, I'm a Cyborg.

Not only that I'm not the kind of persons that easily get obsessed with an activity, and I don't even like to do what everybody do because is actually cool, but because I think that technological advance does not come alone, there are a sort of consequences, as result of utilizing them that we have to pay for.

Speaking about "Pay for", it is not just about money, it is much more about the psychological, physical or mental injuries, caused by the inadequate use of some of this devices.  To mention one of the blessed inventions in life, Let's take the case of Computers, I specifically would like to talk about Internet, which in the last years, had been providing a sort of  knowledge, general culture, work, business, social networking, entertainment and so.  Apparently a generous list of good qualities, but there is another face of the moon, which is called the dark side of the moon. As the moon, Internet has also his dark side,  and it have been becoming really dark since at the same time that have been used to help reunite families,or to find missing persons, in the meantime had been used for bullying, abusing, destroying integrity or even human life.

Day after day we have been listening or reading the news and getting affected by how some of the bullying victims have reacted in view of the aggression .  It is really sad to realize that  at my view one of the most important discovering s in the last century cannot just be used as a Knowledge, or Love, or Peace instrument but as a deadly weapon too. In conclusion, We should never forget that there is a frontier between our and the other rights, and that respecting human rights is the only way to live longer in Peace and Love.

"BRAINSTORMING ABOUT TECHNOLOGY"

Steep #1:

Tool:  used to carry out mechanical functions manually or by machine; device, method, technique.

Technology:  study or use of mechanical arts and Applyed Science.

Cyborg:  Human being whose biologycal functions are bionically enhanced.


Steep #2:

I do use several electronic devices at home the most of them daily, such as

• Coffee maker
•  Air conditioner
• Microwave Oven
• Ipod Touch
• Cell phone
• Desktop computer
• T.V.
• DVD Player
• Air Purifier
• Metrocard
• Banking Card
• Credit Cards.

 As I said before almost all of the devices are used at home at least once a day, excepting the last three of the list used the most of the time to make payments, buying or traveling.  Fortunately almost all of the devices I do use in my life are replaceable, I could survive without them, but I cannot lie about the comfort they bring to my life.

Revision of blog # 4: "The Allegory of the Cave"

Summary of Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”


In Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave,” Socrates while illustrating Glaucon his young disciple: “And now let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened”. Socrates starts telling a story about human beings living underground  in the most miserable conditions since their childhood without seeing the sunlight and have not possibility of standing up and walk, they didn’t even seen each other or the people who used to walk around the place, they just hear the voices behind them.  In my opinion Socrates was trying to prepare his follower for one of the inconveniences that later on he should experience as the mentor he will become.

With this story, the Master was also trying to teach his young apprentice the nature of humans; how should humans reacts facing new realities and new possibilities, Socrates highlight the moment when at first one of the prisoners got released of his prison and besides discovering that everything they used to belief of things was completely wrong, and after returning back to his den and realizing  that looking at the outside of the cave, the sunlight made him miss his anterior ability of guessing things as his fellows still do, and didn’t it make him look in disadvantage
according to them? because after all, they should be thinking they better never go out and miss what for them, who never saw the real world, is their only truly real world. Therefore, they possibly couldn’t be grateful to anybody who attempt to take them to the light.


My Place in the Cave.
It is not easy for human beings to sacrifice comfort and freedom in the name of Knowledge, since all who did try missed furthermore their freedom, some of them their life.  After reading Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, I can only say that I’m in the most difficult stage of the getting out of the cave process, which is to accept that I really need to live the cave and look for some other possibilities, on the way of improving myself as a person, and at the same time mine and my daughter’s quality of life which has become my  biggest challenge. I’m aware there is a long way from now on, besides to give up to my restfulness or informality on the way to get good grades and finally a Degree.

Blog # 6 SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TRUMAN SHOW AND THE ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE.

What are the similarities and differences between The Truman Show and Plato's  Allegory of the Cave?
In my opinion there is just one very important similarity between the principal character of the movie: "The Truman Show",Truman Burbank, and the principal character of  "The Allegory of the Cave", the prisioner.   Both of them had spent their whole lives in another world, a very different place.  As different as the Sun is to Moon.    In the beginning they couldn't even imagine that there was another life full of new experiences to live, like love, happiness, sadness, knowledge, all aspects of life that people in another situation can live out there in the real world.
On the other hand, speaking of differences; in The Truman Show, Truman Burbank, (after Christoff's intervention) was aware of what he was going to find after leaving his old life behind, and he knew what he was looking for. Unlike Truman, the prisoner in Socrates' fable didn't even imagine how the people or things on the outside world were going to look like, he did not even think about how his body was going to respond to the physical changes that he would have to encounter, for example the change of environment might change vision (due to being in a cave and never seeing the light), posture (from bending down because of the heavy chains), basically every thing would change, having adapted to life in a cave, the prisoner did not know what to expect.

Blog # 5, READER RESPONSE.

One connection between the ideas that Jazmin was writing about and my understanding of Plato's Allegory is that since ancient history, humans have experienced a very strong sense of being "afraid to the unknown".  It happened to prisoners of Socrates fable in Plato's allegory, Ptolemy and Copernicus in Jazmin's examples and to all the other founders of the humanities in their own time. All of them were disregarded, some of them judged and sentenced to death, and all these things happened because it is not easy to open our minds to new ideas that surely are carrying all sorts of new requests of physical and mental efforts.

" Things I Need to Remember When I Write Summaries."

• The summary is based on the key ideas of the reading, at least three or four.
•  It preferable goes at the Beginning of the the response.                                                                     
•  Never forget to mention the title of the reading and Author's last name.                                                       -

THE ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE

In Plato's "Allegory of the cave ", Socrates referred, "the prison-house is the world of sight, the light of the fire is the sun" and he also illustrates:" in the world of knowledge the idea of Good appears last of all "

This incredible fable show us how hard going from the darkness of the ignorance to the light of consciousness is;
to be the guide trying to take people on the way of knowledge is not always either welcome or appreciated by others; the most of the time we prefer to live in "the prison-house" than to pay the high prize for getting free. And why does it happen? Just because in our arrogance we think we know all we need to know, and we can not see beyond what in front of our noses is. The curious thing about all of this is that we can not know what we haven't see.

My place in the Cave:
Reading this allegory I can say that I am just starting the ascent to get out of the dark.  Personally I can feel it is going to be hard,  actually I start feeling the pain but I really wish to get to see the Light.

"WHAT DO I NEED TO DO TO PASS THE CATW TEST?"

Honestly, I rrealy believe that to be able to pass The CATW Test, first of all, I need to get to understand the nature of the test.  Furthermore I do have to analize, memorize and apply the strategies that will help in planning how to organize the time to spend on each one of the steps to follow during the response development.

Last but not least, aware of my hardships, I urgently need to improve my understanding of the English Language including, vocabulary, spelling,and gramma.

I am pretty sure that only by understanding, memorizing and applying the essential rules and strategies on each one of the following stages during the preparation of the response ;
-Reading stage,
-Planning and pre-writing stage,
-Writing the response stage,
-Revising and Editing stage,                                                                                                                             Just by considering and keeping on mind this topics I will be abble to succede in my assignment.

HYPE

"Commercial pollution floods our brains" ;what the author is trying to say is that we haven't had the time to realize how fast and easily we have been contaminated because of the media. There is no choice, not even a chance to escape pollution. Every little thing we do since the very first moment when we wake up in the morning to the relaxing moments at night, we wouldn't be enjoying a quiet time, as the author referred he used to "live years ago" There is no "advertising free" place around us, anywhere our eyes can possibly come to rest is now a place that incorporated America's view, necessarily must be filled with a logo or message that reminds you about the brand, the importance or even the organic origin of the product.  Incredibly an estimated 12 billion display advertisements, 3 million radio commercials and more than 200,000 TV commercials are dumping into North America's collective unconscious. Advertisements are the most toxic and harmful of the menthal pollutants but sadly, there is nowhere to run.