Journal 3-2: Where is the Love?

I. In last week's journal I wondered if there are any parent groups that rally against teens just being teens. A group that I found particularly interesting was MADD, or Mothers Against Drunk Driving. It isn't exactly the type of group I was looking for, but it is still a group that's working with teens. MADD raises money and awareness against drunk driving especially in teens. MADD was created in 1980 and was originally "Mothers Against Drunk Drivers." It was then changed in 1984 to "Against Drunk Driving" so it wasn't as if the mothers were targeting the people that were doing it but more the whole idea itself.























Also while looking up parent and teen groups I found more along the lines of support groups rather than groups that fight against teens. One group is called Family Works based out of Seatlle. It offers parent workshops and classes that promote healthy relationships with teens who need it. I think this should be promoted more than groups that are rallying against teens.























II. In these past few weeks of ethics we've been discussing Guerrilla Goodness in the best kind of way. Last week was Valentine's Day, and we spent it making valentines for children in hospitals. We also worked on a large banner that said "Take what you need" and another that said "Give what you can." I'm proud to say I was in charge of glitter for both of these. :) Other than that we've been watching the show 30 Days. So far, we've watched two having to do with immigration and living in Muslim society. Now we are watching one that has Morgan Spurlock and his fiance trying to live off of minimum wage jobs.























I actually really enjoy watching the 30 Days episodes because they actually provoke thought on two completely different sides of thinking. The minimum wage one is especially interesting to me because it actually helps me see how the other half lives, and how fortunate I am to be where I am and receive an education. When I watched the episode about immigration, I couldn't help but feel like the guy, Frank, was being the biggest hypocrite ever. If anything he should understand why these people want to get out of Mexico and make a better life for themselves. Also, I think that people need to better understand that the process of becoming a legal citizen has become a lot more difficult since twenty years ago.























During class, while we're watching the episode about minimum wage, it makes me think about the people who are actually living on minimum wage and how they do it. For instance, when I was younger I always wanted to live in New York City, but my parents promptly told me that it is the most expensive city to live in in the United States. I know there are people living in poverty that work minimum wage jobs there, so it makes me wonder about how they do it. I once even read an article about run away teens and how they manage to start their lives up. It all seems very difficult even if they manage to have $1,000 with them at the time.

III. Due to this past week's topics, its got me thinking a lot more about the effects of having a minimum wage job. Where does the majority of the money that they make going, statistically speaking?

Sources:













(February 21, 2012). History of the Mission Statement. http://www.madd.org/about-us/mission/






(February 21, 2012). Teen Parent Program. http://www.familyworksseatlle.org/resource-center/teen-parent-programs






(February 21, 2012). Child and Family Services. http://cfsnh.org/pages/programs/TeenServices/index.html

Journal 2-4: Internet's Rights

I. In last week's journal I asked the question of what inspired great leaders such as Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. Upon researching this, I found that Gandhi's inspirations came from how he grew up. Mostly coming from the religions of Jainism and Vaishnavism that Gandhi grew up around. He realized that non-violence movements were always the best choice. He also mentioned that his preceded leaders taught him everything he needed to know. In a famous quote from him, he says, "I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and non-violence are as old as the hills. All I have done is to try experiments in both on as vast a scale as I could." In this quote he is proving that he did not come up with all of his thoughts on his own, it was others who inspired him.



Also looking into Nelson Mandela's inspirations, I found that many people look to Nelson Mandela as the inspirational figure. He spent 26 years in jail fighting for racial equality, and then he became the first Black African president of South Africa. One of his most remembered and inspiring quotes is "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite." He spoke these words in his Long Walk to Freedom speech. This quote shows the mentality of the human race can be changed.







II. In our Ethics class these past two weeks, we've been discussing a lot about the political candidates for the Republican party. We also briefly touched on the SOPA and PIPA situation going on through Congress, and how its been affecting various internet sites. Going off of the Republican party nominees, it seems that its really down to Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, although Rick Santorum and Ron Paul are still in the running. We discussed how it seemed like Romney and Gingrich were having a hissy fit during their debates, and how Santorum and Paul weren't even really involved. Then we learned about what SOPA and PIPA were involved in. SOPA stands for "Stop Online Piracy Act," which means that the government wants to pass a law that makes it illegal to post or use certain copywrited things. And, through this the governement can shut down the website that the use was done on.



I believe that this is ridiculous that the governement wants to pass this law to stop freedom of speech on the internet. I know that the big corporate companies are losing money over it, but in my opinion if they put it out there on the web for people to see and use, then people are going to do whatever they want with it. Also, all these big company names have a ton of money, so I don't think they're losing much sleep over a little copywrite issue. Another thing is that when someone posts a certain song or item as their status on Facebook, then atleast 100 other people are going to see this, and therefore it spreads, which actually brings more money in for the company because people want to buy their product.



A connection I made when hearing about SOPA was maybe the man who started it all, Lamar Smith, a representative from Texas, maybe is just scared about his children hearing or seeing something he doesn't aprove of. It makes me think of the levels of security parents are actually having on their children and the internet. To what extent are they really going too far? I can remember in middle school, some parents would not allow their children to watch a certain movie in school even if they were of age. Also, some parents would put extreme blocks on the internet to keep their child from listening to certain music. In my opinion, this is all going too far because eventually your children are going to be exposed to certain things, and you can't protect them forever. Or else you're kids are going to feel like this:

III. After thinking more about a parent's role in a childs life, I want to research and see if they're are actual parent groups against a teenager's culture today. Are there certain parent groups that rally against teens just being teens?

Sources:


(January 29, 2012). Ask Gandhi. http://kamat.com/mmgandhi/inspiration.htm


(January 29, 2012). The Inspiration of Nelson Mandela. http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/2009/07/Nelson-Mandela.aspx


(January 30, 2012). Stop Online Piracy Act. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act

32_footsteps. (January 30, 2012). Overbearing parent cat is overbearing. http://cheezburger.com/32_footsteps/lolz/View/4134429440

Journal 2-3: A Donkey's Race

I. In the last journal I wrote, there was a large imphasis on technology, and how the generations that we've lived with have changed over time. I asked the question of where it all really started? I found with my research that the first "computer" was invented by Charles Babbage. His findings of technology having to do with computers were over a long period of time. In 1822, he developed the Difference Engine which was able to compute sets of numbers and make hard copies. Later in 1837, he developed an Analytical Engine which had a memory base.

Another, thing I was wondering about was how Apple came about, or what inspired Steve Jobs to pursue this company? I found out that in 1976, Steve Jobs and his friend Steve Wozniak came out with the Apple I which had a single circuit board hooked up to a computer. Then the Apple Lisa came about in the 1970's which was based on the technology Jobs had experienced with Xerox. The Apple Macitosh came out in 1984 with all new software that became highly popular.


II. A. I can't say I really favor any of the candidates based on their views. If I really had to choose a Republican candidate though, it would be Ron Paul. I like his views on abortion because he believes its wrong, but he doesn't believe it is up to the federal government to decide on the individual's choice. Also I respect his decision to leave gay marriage up to the state, instead of trying to get the federal government involved. One thing I really liked about Ron Paul was his view on America aiding other countries. I agree that America shouldn't be involved with other countries' problems unless they are directly involving the United States itself. And the fact that he wants to eliminate taxes on gas is a huge plus because I pay for all my own gas.

B. The candidate that is least like me on the issues is without a doubt Rick Santorum. The sole fact that he doesn't believe that even same-sex adoption should take place is enough to want to give the guy a piece of my mind. Also, I can't stand the fact that he wants to make this "Santorum Amendment" for our public schools. If the citizens of the United States wanted to learn about God making the earth, they can go to church, but he needs to leave the scientific theory to the classrooms. His views on immigration are also ridiculous. He doesn't want to give in-state tuition to the children of illegal immigrants even though it wasn't their choice for their parents to come over illegally, and in reality they were probably coming over to give their children a better life! Also his enviormental views are absurd. The fact that he can't even respect the idea of global warming but would rather consider it "junk science" is for one being in denial, and also its a slap in the face to all the scientists who have put so much time into trying to fight it. Going along with his enviormental views, he wants to support drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? That makes no sense what so ever since we're trying to reserve the life of endangered species.


C. I don't believe there is a difference in my answers above. They all run along the same strain of thought. I can't decide if I would vote for someone that has different views from me and would make a good leader. I think it defeats the purpose of having your choice to vote if you don't vote for someone thats going to help get your beliefs out in the open, but I still believe that we need a good leader in America. I would have to say that I wouldn't vote for a candidate that is a good leader but doesn't share the same views because if they're a good leader than they'll be good at pushing views that could completely contradict everything I believe in.


D. Looking at which candidate I think would make a good President based on their leadership skills, I would have to say Buddy Roemer. I learned that he was in the House of Representatives from 1981 to 1988. Also he was a governor for the state of Louisiana in 1988. Just by looking at his history in the government alone, i think he would make the best choice based on leadership qualities.


E. Even though i liked Ron Paul's views on the issues best, I'd have to say based on his past careers, he is not the best choice for president. If his past career was an OBGYN, I don't see that as qualifying to be the president of the United States. It's good that he has some past military background because he was a flight surgeon in the airforce but still that doesn't mean much. It's good that he spent twelve terms in Congress for texas, though, otherwise I couldn't see how he could fit in anywhere.


III. From looking at the candidates that are in the run for the Republican nomination, I honestly don't know what to think. My views stand here:

I'm a leftist libertarian, which actually came as a surprise to me. So for my question this week, I would like to find out more about past libertarians, like Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. What was their inspirations for greatness?





Sources:

(January 2012). When was the first computer invented? http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000984.htm


Bellis, Mary. (January 2012). The History of Apple Computers. http://inventors.about.com/od/cstartinventions/a/Apple_Computers.htm

News, Pace. (2002). The Political Compass Test. http://www.politicalcompass.org/test

Journal 2-2: How Far We've Come

I. In last week's journal, I wondered if there is any procedures that soldiers and/or family members have to go through upon a soldiers arrival home from war. Unfortunately I could not find exactly what I was looking for. I was wondering if there is classes of some sort or seminars that whole families or soldiers must go through upon arrival home from war in order to help prepare a family to cope better. Also, I was wondering if there are certain things a family can or cannot ask or say to the soldier arriving home.

On the other hand, I did find an interesting program for families in the military. The Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) was created in the 1980's and was created for family members with a soldier on active duty. It is a mandatory program for active-duty soldiers and helps family members with emotional, developmental, physical, or intellectual disorders. The program provides community support, educational, personnel, housing and medical services to these families that qualify. In order for a family to qualify, they must be willing for a board to review all their medical records and must allow developmental screening for any children seventy-two months or under.

II. The past two weeks, our class has been discussing the Nine Shift, which compares the time periods of 1900-1920 to 2000-2020. We took a closer look into the effects of automobiles, or cars, on the country. We came to the conclusion that automobiles make a faster and more convenient transportation for families that live in the suburbs. Also we discovered that automobiles make more jobs, such as for factory workers who produce them. We also looked into the effects of the internet on society. When being looked at closet a person could see that it can connect a person to their work from home, thus making more people be able to work from home. Also it helps people become more connected and find out things abut people and their personal lives that people back in the early 1900's could not have found out easily.

By learning about the Nine Shift it made me think more about what I really want my life to be like when I'm a grown up. I look back at people now a days and from the early 1900's and see a constant want to have a stable well-paying job, and that is all people look for. I do see having money as a necessity, of course, but what I truly want is to do something I love. If I have a job that makes me happy with my life then I will have less stress in my life and will help me live an altogether better lifestyle. I'm a firm believer in the aspect of not trying to look more than your worth or throwing your money around. I believe in being humble when it comes to finances and not trying to be something you're not. Of course I do love the luxuries of life. I really want to live in the city but have a home in the country for my fam

ily and I to go to in the summer.

This picture embodies how I want my life to be: carefree, beautiful and full of life. This is comparing to how many others caught up in the Nine Shift fee which is: boring, safe, and conservative.

During this week's class, I made some connections. I thought about how far we've really come as a society. It made me think about how far we came from the 1800's to the 1900's alone. When you take a closer look at the production of cars for example. The first production of automobiles was in Germany in 1888 by Karl Benz, more widely known as the now Mercedes Benz. The manufacturing of automobiles stayed over in Europe for a while before it came to the United States in 1895 when George Selden was granted by the United States government for a two-stroke automobile engine. It's funny to think that just a century back, you could count the number of people with cars on two hands in your town, and now you need more than two hands for just one street!

III. With learning of how far we've come in the last century, it makes me question how far we've come with technology. This week I want to take a closer look into the history of computers, especially Mac and Steve Jobs. Where did computers and the internet all start?

Sources:

Jack, Jumpn. (July 7, 2010). Simple Joys of Life. http://flockofgeese.blogspot.com/2010/07/simple-joys-of-life.html.

United States Army. (December 4, 2011). Exceptional Family Members Program. https://www.myarmyonesource.com/familyprogramsandservices/familyprograms/exceptionalfamilymemberprogram/default.aspx

(November 30, 2011). History of the automobile. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_automobile

Journal 2-1: How Do We Get By?

I: In last week's journal, I was prompted to ask about Hitler and how he managed to brainwash millions of people, especially children, into following him. I came to find that Hitler used popular youth organizations, special activities, propaganda, and appeals to support their fatherland in order to earn the support of the youth of Germany. The main reason that all these people supported Hitler in the beginning was because of WWI. After WWI, Germany was left financially deflated, and Hitler brought them a new sense of hope for greatness. It has been said that Hitler "rode to power on the shoulders of the politically active youth."

Another contributing factor for Hitler's support was the Hitler Youth program. In 1926, when it first started, there was six thousand members. By 1939, Hitler Youth had gained 7.3 million members. This program brainwashed children to turn against their parents and turn them in if they were against or did not support Hitler. One of Hitler's more famous speeches to Hitler Youth said, "My magnificent youngsters! Are there finer ones anywhere in the world? What material! With them I can make a new world?"

II: In these past couple weeks, we watched a documentary called The Way We Get By. This documentary was about the senior citizens of the United States, but it was also about the troops of the United States' military. It emphasized three senior citizens: Bill, Jerry, and Joan. All three of these people are Maine Troop Greeters, which are people who go to Bangor Int'l Airport and greet troops upon their arrival home and say goodbye to those being deported. Our class discussed volunteers, the situation involving the troops, war in general, and aging for people. After we were done with The Way We Get By, we moved on to discuss the shift of culture and technology over the past century.

When we watched The Way We Get By, it was a very moving experience for me. I honestly didn't know that the elderly could be at such a loss for things to do and ways to make themselves feel important. Once when Bill was speaking, he discussed how the Maine Troop Greeter program gave some meaning to his life. Also, I was disturbed to see how someone could really just let their life go in the manner that he did. When you got a chance to look into his house, it was obvious he had no one to care for him, and that he's a hoarder. Then you see an insight on Joan's life. She was dealing with sending two of her grandchildren off to war. And then there was Jerry. He had to deal with putting down his dog, Mr. Flannigan, who was like a companion to him. I'm really happy that they have programs out there for the elderly, so they're not just sitting at home wasting away.

While we were watching the documentary, I thought about how difficult it must be for the soldiers themselves to come back home from war. The Maine Troop Greeters are extremely upset to see the soldiers leave for war, and this made me think of how the soldiers themselves must be upset to leave the Maine Troop Greeters from Bangor.

And on top of that, I can't even imagine what it must feel like for some soldiers to leave their family, especially their children. In the documentary, a soldier came back and met his daughter for the first time. This was all really moving to me, and it made me think about the emotionally toll everyone must go through.

III. With all this talk of military and what not, I can't help but wonder if there are any procedures people have to go through upon arrival home from war. Does the family also have to go through a procedure that my entail what they are and are not allowed to discuss?

Sources:

Hall, Allan. (July 26. 2011). Children of neo-Nazis could be taken into care to stop them being brainwashed at summer camps. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2018540/Neo-Nazi-children-taken-care-German-authorities-bid-beat-rise-Hitler-worship.html.

Larson, Peggy. (August 15. 2006). Nazi brainwashing started with Germany's youths. http://www.rickross.com/reference/brainwashing/brainwashing49.html.

(2008). http://watchmojo.com/blogs/images/guardweb2.jpg.

Journal 1-4: This Divided Choice

I. In last week's journal, I decided I would look into the art of actually making documentaries. I was wondering if their was possibly a code of ethics that needed to be followed or if there was a rule guideline. I found nothing of the sort, but I did find a study that was done on filmakers (mostly documentary makers) in the United States. It talked about how many documentary makers greatly needed to make boring parts of their films more interesting, such as creating unecessary drama or trying to put a part of a movie to a different viewpoint. What doumentary makers are known for is their way of twisting different scenes to work in their favor. I would really enjoy trying to come up with a completely unbiased documentary, although I'm guessing its virtually impossible.

II. In our last two weeks of class, we've been watching the documentary This Divided State which was created by a couple of students from Brighum Young University in Utah. The documentary, though, was based around some issues involved at Utah Valley State College. All these issues started when the student government decided to bring in Michael Moore to speak at the college. The problem was that Utah is an extremely Republican state. Hince the name, This Divided State. There was extreme amounts of hostility on the campus and even involving those outside of the campus, such as Kay Anderson. I have never seen a bigger hypocrite and a bigger jerk in my life. The directors did a pretty good job of involving both a Republican and Democratic viewpoint on the situation. Another huge factor is that a large majority of the state is Mormon.

In my personal opinion, this is the best documentary we've watched in class yet. I really like how the directors shined both the Republicans and the Democrats in a negative and positive light. Also, I really can't believe that there are people like Kay Anderson out there in the world.

To me there is a large chance that he is legitamently psychotic. But I guess everyone has a right to their own opinion. Which brings me to my thoughts on freedom of speech. I believe everyone has a right to thier own opinion as long as they are not intentionally putting down another person's. They may dispute those opinions with reasons of their own but never intentionally slander it.

When I think of the people out there like Kay Anderson, I automatically think cult. I just can't imagine how someone can be so closed minded. I guess the majority of it has to do with the way they're brought up. For instance, if a child is told all their life that the sky is green by their parents then they're going to defend to the death that it is green. It all has to do with the parents of the children and what they tell them from a young age. That is probably why the majority of the state of Utah is Republican and Mormon. They have never really seen another way of life. Its like Hitler brainwashing the children of Germany.

III. Now that I've brought on the idea of Hitler and Kay Anderson being connected, for this week's question I want to research how Hitler tried tried to brainwash the children of germany. What methods did he use? And how did it all actually work?

Sources:

Aufderbeide, Patricia. (2011). http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/making-your-media-matter/documents/best-practices/honest-truths-documentary-filmakers-ethical-chall

Decker, Marin. (2005. January 28). http://www.desertnews.com/article/600107906/Film-footage-is-disputed.html

(2009). Hitler Youth. http://worldwar2stories-sheffield.com/hitler-youth---league-of-girls.php

Journal 1-3: Moore Vs. Wilson

I. In last weeks journal entry I concluded by wondering what the effects of bullying are on young children. Is it just a matter of boys will be boys, or on a much deeper level? According to some studies, it is said that bullying that begins in middle school possibly doubles the chances of a child having psychotic symptoms as a teenager. What I was truly wondering though was if it is a matter of the individual, or if it is the same for everyone but it just matters on the extent of bullying that is done? With my research, it became a question of gender. When I looked at the difference of bullying between males and females the data was ultimately the same, minus a few significant differences. Apparently females that are bullied at an earlier age have a greater chance of later becoming hospitalized for psychiatric purposes or need psychiatric medicine later on. While males that are bullied at an earlier age have a greater chance of needing psychiatric medicine in their teen years. When used in a controlled experiment though, it was proven that if someone intervenes in a female child's life, mid-childhood, it will not help the need for psychiatric care later on, while males in the same scenario do benefit significantly.

Another part of my question from last week was to find out if there were a great deal of other school shootings that generated from bullying. What I found was horrific. School shootings started all the way back in 1979, and they ranged from elementary to high schools. Some wrked alone, while others had accomplices. What was interesting about the accomplices is that some that seemed to be arrested over time had nothing to do with the actual killings, they just knew it was going to happen and did nothing about it. Which in my opinion is just as bad as killing the people themselves. One school shooting that really stood out to me was on October 1, 1997. A sixteen year old boy named Luke Woodham was apparently a worshipper of Hitler. On the morning of his rampage, he killed his mother, and then went in the school to kill his ex-girlfriend and her friend and severely wounded several others.

II. This past two weeks in class, we continued to learn about and watch Bowling For Columbine, but we also started a new documentary called Michael Moore Hates America, which is by Michael Wilson. Bowling For Columbine is a documentary about how America lives in fear compared to other countries such as Canada, while Michael Moore Hates America is trying to contradict everything Moore says and does in his documentary. We continued to see a lot of the same documentary video editing techniques as in Bowling For Columbine. A common one was the phantom question, which is when you just hear a response from the person the director is interviewing but you never hear the director's question.

In my opinion, Michael Wilson isn't all that different from Michael Moore. It seems as though they both go to any lengths to get what they need for film. The only true difference I saw was Wilson's camera man. He was against trying to be anything like Moore when Wilson lied to the city manager of Davison, Michigan, in order for him to say Moore was from Davison and not really from Flint, which is one of Moore's major points in his film. Another thing I've noticed is that Wilson attempts to be more amiable than Moore comes off to be. When his cameraman becomes upset with him about the Davison thing, Wilson writes to the city manager to explain what happened in reality. Which I feel like he uses to make the people watching his film like Wilson better than Moore.

When I watch these documentaries they make me think of other things such as simple common courtesy. In Michael Moore Hates America, Wilson goes to a rally that Moore is holding at a university. When he asks Moore for an interview he declines extremely rudely which made me think if this how some wars were started, over not being able to contribute simple common courtesy to someone you may not respect or like.

(I was having technical difficulties and could not upload a picture I wanted to but the link is: http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lif2cfHVp71qacxiu.jpg)

If Moore is always preaching about how we all live in fear and need to be more considerate like the Canadians, then why doesn't he show it. He's being extremely hypocritical if you ask me. Which is all that he is in my opinion, a scared hypocrite that thrives off of Hollywood.

III. Over these past two weeks I've been trying to think of a question to ask. I've decided that next week I'd like to research more about the art of documentary making. I was wondering if there was a documentary code? Or any rules that documentary makers must follow?

Sources:

(2011). tumblr_lif2cfHVp71qacxiu.jpg.

Lopez-Duran, Nestor. "Bullies and Victims: Boys will be Boys or a Symptom of Distress?" (Oct 14. 2009).

Ramsland, Katherine. (2007). Http://trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/weird/kids1/index_1.html