Ethics for the win

Ethics in journalism is the foundation of good reporting. Balancing information on a pendulum against personal biases can be somewhat challenging.

Being an African American woman is a double-loaded burger in what experiences I bring to report that I know I should rein in on, lest I provide a complete biased account.

After taking a structured class dedicated to research, writing and journalism I’ve become better equipped to fact check rather than take the wealth of information on the internet at face value. For example, using known fact check sites for reliable truths. This is an example of such a site!

Writing for all people whether blogging or journalism is not just ethically important to present both sides, but it is morally needed to avoid poisoning humanity from ill-gotten information.

Benefits of FOIA

In the year 1967, a law introduced into our country called the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), ensures the citizens are aware of what’s going on inside our country. What is FOIA This website is a great source for finding in depth information on how the FOIA benefits the people of the United States of America.

Citizens and journalist have a digital journalist legal guide that serves as a free educational source on rights given to obtain public information. This is not limited to but does include government operations such as court proceeding to keep us in the know of how our judicial system is proceeding.

An article written by Garance Burke, “Soldier who killed 5 Dallas officers showed PTSD symptoms,” the public may not have known the significance of the veteran’s health past.

This information is very vital as it permitted the public to show how the Veterans Health Administration interact with veterans of war. Johnson, the shooter who killed five police officers. Prior to this crime, he told doctors he was showing signs of PTSD. Johnson notes nightmares from seeing comrades blown to pieces.

His psychiatrist evaluated him months before the attack and said he was getting better. Johnson tried for help another time but was put on a waiting list. The VA North Texas Health Care System is the second largest in the country. The wait time is an average of 50 days to obtain help.

Without the help of the FOIA we would not have the ability to know of the inside working of this establishment and how they are not providing help to veterans that are in fact seeking help for the mental instability post war.

One too many martinis skincare routine

What is the Golden Rule when it comes to makeup? Anybody… How about you, yes you who is reading.

Rule number one: Never…Ever…Sleep…With…Your…Makeup…On…EVER.

Well I am here to tell you that some rules are just meant to be broken. Of course I say this with every bit of caution. I personally will always try to take my makeup off, even if it is just with Makeup wipes.

But, there comes a time, a party, a late night-cap that leads to several that really gets us off our routine. Now, I am not a “Beauty Guru” by any means nor am I a dermatologist. What I am is a person that wears makeup, drinks Wine & Cognac and ultimately at times have one too many where literally the last thought is OMG I have my makeup on!

It’s more like, where is some water, bread, hell a bed and pillow is my thoughts if I am being completely honest.

I know I am not alone in this. I have done my research and spoken to many different women. We don’t have to feel bad about leaving our makeup on when it’s that type of night.

We also shouldn’t feel like our skin magically gained several wrinkles, extra pores, three pimples, dark bags, and a partridge in a pear tree. I won’t make too much more small talk, so without further ado let’s get it rolling.

OK, more specifically using makeup every day and sleeping in it is gross and it is really bad for your skin. Now that we got that statement out the way we can focus on what this post is about. That is, the maybe once in a month type of lady or even a couple.

What do we do when every Article and every Blogger out here tells us we are doomed and cannot age gracefully?

We go to the experts. As blogged by Simone Kitchens in an interview with Dr. Eric Schweiger (founder of the Clear Clinic) and Dr. Erin Gibert (Dermatologist) what actually happens to the skin in the scenario I am writing out.

The short answer is absolutely nothing. However, long time exposure to sleeping in makeup can and will cause Acne, Healthy Collagen breakdown, and clogged pores. View Full Article Here!View Full Article Here!View Full Article Here!

So what the heck do you do when you’ve had a long stressful day or for some one too many martinis?

You bring back all the health you can to your skin, you treat it right. Without being too weird its like you make-love to your face. OK, that sounds a bit weird but I hope you all are getting my point.

I literally treat my face to an hour of in-house spa treatments. Remember, this is just for emergencies, like that over the counter stuff you buy when you are feeling a little sick.

Pic too

Step One: Gather all of your items you will need. In my case it’s a two clean face towels. One for gently washing the skin and the other to steam your face. And my products I’ll be using 100% Argan Oil, MAC Mineralize Volcanic Ash Exfoliator, and Philosophy Pore Extractor.

Step Two: First, with a little Argan Oil, gently massage it into your skin (You’ll thank me later for this step). For some this could be a waste of time and product but your skin will love you for it. After massaging into the skin and on eyelids. With warm towel number one and only water wipe your face. You’ll notice right away the makeup is breaking down due to the oil and the warmth from the towel is divine. After this quickly wash face with general cleanser

Step Three: Directly after cleaning as much of the makeup and pollutants you fell asleep with off your beautiful faces it’s time to clean! For me I personally use a cleaner that will concentrate on my pores. My pores are huge on my nose and the majority of my skin care products focuses on these areas. For that reason I use Philosophy’s Purity Pore Extractor. It says it’s supposed to shrink the look of pores, scrub away blackheads, and draw out impurities. So far it works for me and I use it versus others I have due to its effect on my skin. When I use this I gently message on my skin and leave on until the clay is completely dry after rinse it off with warm water. I must say my skin feels like a baby’s bottom! So smooth, I absolutely love this stuff.

Step Four: By now the makeup for the most part is off, but there could be a culprit that is left waiting to dive deeper into our pores. That is why this step is my safety guy. It has my back all the time and it feels so damn good. If I could I’d just rub my skin with it everyday. I use my Mac Volcanic Ash Exfoliator. The ladies and gents that uses exfoliants for their faces or body know what I mean. All the dead skin is gone, surface blackhead stands zero chances of making it past this step. And best of all. Your skin just starts to glow! I personally leave on after rubbing gently in my skin for about 10 minutes. It gets dry a little and then I go ahead and rehydrate the product with water and rinse off. According to Mac this can be used 1-3x a week.

Step Five: We are almost through! After having a clean face it’s like a blank canvas now. There is nothing on your skin and if you look in the mirror you’ll notice brighter, smoother, and plump skin. But alas! We are not done. After you take a few minutes to admire your skin while it air dries. Get towel number two ready. If you have an actual face steamer good for you! If not hot water on the towel, fold in as small a part as you can and reopen the towel. Ideally you want this to be as hot as you can stand. Once you unfold the towel let it cool down for a little. The time would be dependent on how hot the towel is. You don’t want to burn your face. Cover your entire face up to 3x repeat the fold and heat process. When you cover your face try to cover your whole face. Lean back and try not to fall asleep standing. It really feels that good!

Step Six: Finally once your skin is completely dry from the steam, add moisturizer back your face. You definitely want to use one that is lightweight and will not clog the pores your just cleaned out. I use my Argan Oil again for this step or if I want to change it up I’ll use my Sephora Instant Moisturizer + Cream. That keeps my skin hydrated all day!

Hope you all enjoyed reading! If so make sure to subscribe/follow my blog if you are not already. Follow me on Instagram @iamzjay! Thank you all for reading and your support. If there are things you want me to review or write about comment below or contact me through the “Contact Section” Also DM on Instagram. Until next time!

~Z. Jay

A world of pirates

The data set that I believe will be captivating is most popular illegal downloads based on a four day data capture by The Guardian. Although this article only writes about popular Christmas movie downloads, having this data readily available has me wondering about a couple different scenarios.

How many people download and or illegally stream movies premiering in theaters, television shows etc. Also, how many people do not have cable service or video streaming services like Hulu or Netflix?

This type of data set would prove helpful in writing a blog piece on this subject due to its analysis of the term “popular” and transitioning that to what actually is popular. For example, the premier of “Game of Thrones” may have had 10 million views through a sanctioned cable provider, we have people who use piracy sites to view them as well.

The article specifies the type of movies that were downloaded, timeframe of when data was collected, and the software used to collect the data. The article certainly raise the question: Are we living in a world of modern pirates?

Quartz data, data we can believe

Quartz is a popular outlet for the data that it shares. While looking on different social media outlets for this news station I came across an interesting Twitter feed where they published data on unemployment (see screenshots) .

In this feed Quartz mentions how Trump boasted about having the African American unemployment rate down in just one year. On the surface this seems like wonderful news, especially for the economy.

Quartz uses its twitter to pull data from reliable sources to back the publication that is being tweeted, which is more than what some folks do! For example, for this article Quartz pulled the data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In its twitter feed Quartz have also included the incarceration number among African American women and men, and if those numbers where counted this 6.7% statistic would be higher. I also liked how Quartz has included the differences in numbers between non black employment and incarceration. There is a wealth of difference.

After viewing there twitter feed and the data they show. It’s safe to assume they have the backing for their claims. It is great to see a news outlet that links data without being biased. One could tell they are considering “The Elements of Journalism.” And that dear reader is a bullseye in the realm of news and data. Until next time.

~ Z