w1. Media & News Immersion:
a.Watch the news or read a newspaper everyday for five days. Summarize and write down social injustices.
b. Write a final reflection
Part A.
Day one (10/22/10)
European Court Fines Russia For Blocking Gay Protests By Michael Schwirtz-NY Times
This article is about how in Moscow, Russia, gay rights protesters' rights were violated. The protesters were arrested and beaten in their attempts to change the government. The European Court filed chargers against Russia for violating their rights. This really showed me how homosexuality is treated throughout the whole world. I thought the rest of the world was ahead of America in the rights of gays, but this article showed me i was wrong, dead wrong. It's just as bad, if not worse in many other, well developed, and powerful countries.
Day two (10/23/10)
Use of Contractors Added to the Wars Chaos in Iraq By James Glanz- NY Times
This article is about the "contractors" or mercenaries of the war in Iraq, and the huge roll they played in the chaos in the war. The mercenaries were very unwell trained, and had less concern for the civilians then a soldier should have. They fired random and unnecessary shots at Iraqi police officers and civilians. And as the American troops move out, the more mercenaries go in and replace them. This showed me was that the American Army are paying people, to do their bidding, kind of like a mobster has thugs to his. The Army pays for military support outside their own, and don't really care what they do. An army that is supposed to be rebuilding a country and it's government are hiring people to carry weapons around and not seeing to it that don't act stupid or that they act responsible and as a regular army soldier would. Ironic.
Day 3 (10/24/10)
Mexican Drug Trafficking By Oscar Hidalgo- NY Times
For a long time, Mexican drug trafficking has plagued into the United States. That's what this passage talks about, the Mexican drug trafficking and how it has plagued in the US. The US has tried very hard to get rid of it from it's borders, but as hard as the US has tried, it has failed. And one big reason is because people in the US buy illegal drugs, drugs that these gangs, import. America is financing the very thing they are trying to stop. These drug gangs kill and kidnap Americans and we fund raise this by buying these illegal substances.
Day 4 (10/25/20)
Anti Immigration Party Rises in Sweden By Stephen Castle.
Sweden has been known as country known for tolerence. They are known as a guardian of Liberalism. Yet the biggest, and most popular political party in Sweden, are the Sweden Democrats, a party that in the recent election, ONLY campaigned against anti-immigration. It's strange, a country know for its tolerence and liberalism, is against immigration. The U.S, is known for it's diversity and all of the immigrants. It's a shame though, that such an advanced country is setting itself so far back, it's a crime that they do this, that they're trying to ban immigration.
Day 5 (10/26/10)
Drug and Alcohol Abuse Growing in Iraqi Forces By Ayman Oghanna
This article is about how Iraqi army and police officers abuse alcohol and drugs while stationed and on duty, 50% as a matter of fact. The United States has spent $22 billion on training and equiping Iraqi officers, if these numbers are true then a lot of this money is going to waste. It also makes the United States question whether or not Iraq is ready to be on it's own and be stable. If the people in charge of defending the Iraqi citizens are under the influence, then they aren't qualified to protect them. This made me wonder if Iraq is really ready to stand on it's own and be able to thrive as a country. It also made me realize how messed up this country is, in a much bigger sense.
Part B
For the past 5 days i have been reading and thinking about articles having to do with social injustces, and really changed the way I think. It changed my point of view on the world. It made realize how messed and up and how bad things are out there. It also made me look beyond my own little world, and into the bigger world. It made me see things that i wouldn't normally see or think about, but that other people think about and see everyday. I think it was a really good experience for me.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Response: Mother to Son by Langston Hughes
The poem Mother to Son by Langston Hughes is a very deep, and inspirational poem. It is a poem about how life is hard, but no matter how hard it is, no matter what life throws at you, you have to keep going on. It's a mother telling her son that no matter how hard life gets, you have to go on, to keep pushing forward. The poem is written in a metaphorical way. Langston Hughes uses stairs as a metaphor for life, and things such as splinters, torn up boards, darkness, and no carpeting as struggles of life.
This poem i feel, to me, is very deep. There are times, when I, along with every other person in the world just wants to stop. Stop doing everything, stop the weight of responsibilities. Stop the pressure of pears and homework, but we can't. We can't just stop, we have to keep going. We have to keep pressing forward. But in life, there are people who decide to stop, and not go forward, and end their lives. In our world, people do this all the time, but in a variety of different ways. Some revert to drugs others revert to suicide, but what Langston Hughes is saying, is that this isn't the answer. No matter what life throws at you, you have to keep moving forward and trudge along.
This poem i feel, to me, is very deep. There are times, when I, along with every other person in the world just wants to stop. Stop doing everything, stop the weight of responsibilities. Stop the pressure of pears and homework, but we can't. We can't just stop, we have to keep going. We have to keep pressing forward. But in life, there are people who decide to stop, and not go forward, and end their lives. In our world, people do this all the time, but in a variety of different ways. Some revert to drugs others revert to suicide, but what Langston Hughes is saying, is that this isn't the answer. No matter what life throws at you, you have to keep moving forward and trudge along.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Appreciation
The books that we like are the books that we can relate to. Where, a character faces the problems we face. And from knowing that, that these characters face the problems we face, we feel a little better about our problems knowing that we're not alone, and we don't have to be as afraid to face these problems. It's the "real" characters that make an impact on us, not the fake ones. The fake ones are the ones that are too perfect, or the ones that are too bad. It's the real characters that make a book. Like Holden Caulfield (from Catcher in the Rye) always liked to stress, no one likes a phony, and the world is full of them.
The book, A Wrinkle in Time, is a prime example of just that. A Wrinkle in Time is a book about three children (Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin) and these three witches they meet and their ultimate battle against evil and darkness. They constantly fight for their lives, and their minds against the eeeevillll IT. Throughout this battle though, Meg finds other things, she finds love, excitement, and somebody outside her family who loves her and accepts her for who she is.
Meg is a character with many faults. At first, she seems like just another one of those phony characters, but as you read further, you find out that she isn't at all. Underneath all of those faults, you find a real person. A person that has things other than faults, and you find out that those faults are REAL faults, and not some corny book faults. Meg is a real person, a person we can all relate too.
Charles Wallace is Meg's younger brother, who is four years old. On the surface he looks like just another 4 year old kid, but on the inside he is completely different. On the inside he is a TOTAL genius. He is extremely smart and almost knows everything. Along with him being a genius, there's something else that's different and strange about him. He can read minds. In the story, whenever Meg and their mother is having a problem, he already knows without them telling him. He always knows what they're thinking. Now even with all of his smarts and skills, Charles Wallace still makes dumb mistakes, and this is what makes him a real character, and a character people can relate to.
Calvin, on the surface, is the picture perfect teenage guy. He's a hunk (a.k.a HAWT), he's an amazing athlete, and gets really good grades. Everyone wants to be his friend. You would think that he's just one of those picture perfect phony high school jocks that all movies and all books have. But, in the story you find out there's more to him, more under the surface. His family life is terrible, he lives in a negligent abusive family. And that's what sets him aside from all the phonies.
A Wrinkle in A Time is truly a great story, a story that we can all value. And although we may not all like stories of heroes and heroines conquering evil ITs, we all have issues, and we all have problems and we all want to know we aren't alone. And this why A Wrinkle in Time is an amazing story.
The book, A Wrinkle in Time, is a prime example of just that. A Wrinkle in Time is a book about three children (Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin) and these three witches they meet and their ultimate battle against evil and darkness. They constantly fight for their lives, and their minds against the eeeevillll IT. Throughout this battle though, Meg finds other things, she finds love, excitement, and somebody outside her family who loves her and accepts her for who she is.
Meg is a character with many faults. At first, she seems like just another one of those phony characters, but as you read further, you find out that she isn't at all. Underneath all of those faults, you find a real person. A person that has things other than faults, and you find out that those faults are REAL faults, and not some corny book faults. Meg is a real person, a person we can all relate too.
Charles Wallace is Meg's younger brother, who is four years old. On the surface he looks like just another 4 year old kid, but on the inside he is completely different. On the inside he is a TOTAL genius. He is extremely smart and almost knows everything. Along with him being a genius, there's something else that's different and strange about him. He can read minds. In the story, whenever Meg and their mother is having a problem, he already knows without them telling him. He always knows what they're thinking. Now even with all of his smarts and skills, Charles Wallace still makes dumb mistakes, and this is what makes him a real character, and a character people can relate to.
Calvin, on the surface, is the picture perfect teenage guy. He's a hunk (a.k.a HAWT), he's an amazing athlete, and gets really good grades. Everyone wants to be his friend. You would think that he's just one of those picture perfect phony high school jocks that all movies and all books have. But, in the story you find out there's more to him, more under the surface. His family life is terrible, he lives in a negligent abusive family. And that's what sets him aside from all the phonies.
A Wrinkle in A Time is truly a great story, a story that we can all value. And although we may not all like stories of heroes and heroines conquering evil ITs, we all have issues, and we all have problems and we all want to know we aren't alone. And this why A Wrinkle in Time is an amazing story.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Entry #7: Research on A Wrinkle in Time
Freestyle Cool Down: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_dimension http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesseract http://www.dailygrail.com/blogs/Carol_Noble/2008/12/Deja-Vu-and-Tessering http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Wrinkle_in_Time
Background Curls: I learned that this book relates to what was happening during this time period. During this time period, Communism was a great fear in America, and in the world. The Soviet Union in 1962, was very strong and powerful and building an empire based on Communism. The book shows that fear in the text.
Response
In this book, there is always tons of sciencey stuff that i never know if it is real or not. Like, for example, tessering. Tessering is a way of getting to different parts of space without actually traveling through it, like taking a shortcut. Instead of walking from point A to point B, you just basically teleport from point A to point B. Much more convenient if you want to long distance space traveling. And all of this stuff had to do with the fourth and fifth dimensions.
All of this got me thinking, is any of this stuff real? Can people actually tesser? Is there such as the fourth and fifth dimension? So i decided to research it. And i found out that the fourth dimension and fifth dimensions are real. Except, their more theories than they are actual things, but real theories nontheless. But the most interesting thing was that the fourth dimension actually had something to with tessering. And this actually really excited me. It meant, that i could maybe one day be like Charles Wallace and Meg and explore the universe and all of its mysteries.
Background Curls: I learned that this book relates to what was happening during this time period. During this time period, Communism was a great fear in America, and in the world. The Soviet Union in 1962, was very strong and powerful and building an empire based on Communism. The book shows that fear in the text.
Response
In this book, there is always tons of sciencey stuff that i never know if it is real or not. Like, for example, tessering. Tessering is a way of getting to different parts of space without actually traveling through it, like taking a shortcut. Instead of walking from point A to point B, you just basically teleport from point A to point B. Much more convenient if you want to long distance space traveling. And all of this stuff had to do with the fourth and fifth dimensions.
All of this got me thinking, is any of this stuff real? Can people actually tesser? Is there such as the fourth and fifth dimension? So i decided to research it. And i found out that the fourth dimension and fifth dimensions are real. Except, their more theories than they are actual things, but real theories nontheless. But the most interesting thing was that the fourth dimension actually had something to with tessering. And this actually really excited me. It meant, that i could maybe one day be like Charles Wallace and Meg and explore the universe and all of its mysteries.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Entry #6: Response off post it
Recently, I have read the book; A Wrinkle in Time. In this book, many different and unique ideas pop up in this book. One idea that really caught my attention is that everyone being the same and never sick or ill is better than having everyone different and have illnesses and deformities. And this really got me thinking. What is better? And why?
To decide the answer to this question I had to look at each side of the argument. I'll looked at everyone being the same with no illnesses and deformities first. If everyone was the same and had no deformities nobody could ever tease anyone on how they looked, or what color their skin was. There could be no descrimination and racism because everyone would be the same race and there would be nothing to descriminate against. With no illnesses and deformities nobody would die of the countless diseases that kill thousands of people on Earth. No baby would die during birth or have a deformity. All would be "perfect.
The other side of the argument is that being different and having illnesses and deformities is better. With people being different and unique, people then would have something to be proud of themselves for. Like if you were an amazing singer, or an amazing athlete, or incredibly smart, or a really good chess player, or anything. You could be unique from everyone else, stand out in the crowd, be who YOU want to be. Not what a bodyless brain tells you what to be. And then came the part of illnesses and deformities. Every year, millions of people die from terrible diseases illnesses. And every year millions of dollars are spent on plastic surgery because people don't like the way the look and because people want to get rid of their deformities.
But, in a way, all of this is kind of good. Without illnesses and deformities people would never have to worry about getting sick or looking weird and bad. With everyone being the same you could never get sad because someone made fun of you. And if you're never worried or sad, you're always happy. And if you're always happy, happiness doesn't feel as it should. As something special, and to be treasured. Life is about it's ups and downs, and about working hard through the downs, and relaxing and loving life during the ups. A prefect balance. A ying and a yang. This is real "perfection".
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