Famous Martin Luther King Quote

The famous Martin Luther King Quote that I have chosen is "oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever" (King excerpt, paragraph 7). Even though this quote seems very simple and obvious, it still contains a lot of power. Through this quote, one can remember the times in history where oppressed people found the strength and courage to conquer the challenges against them and establish their beliefs for everyone to see. The colonists fought against the opposing rule of the British and established their freedom in the Revolutionary War. Blacks fought against the oppression of slavery in the Civil War and have since then established their freedom throughout the world. People today fight against the oppressions of government to establish their belief in a free society. This quote, essentially, contains the desire of almost every single person in the world. A desire to rise above any challenges or oppressions, no matter how long it might take, to establish the belief of freedom and peace within their lives.

My view of democracy

When I first started thinking about my interpretation about how democracy should be, I focused mainly on the question of what we should be free of. The first and biggest thing that came to mind was corrupted government. The government frequently uses types of rhetoric, such as wartime rhetoric, to further its own desires. Wartime rhetoric focuses on the people's desire for a strong leadership to help those with high political power, such as the President, get what they want. "A presidential administration might exploit the public's psychological need to believe in its trustworthiness in order to push its partisan political agendas, having little or nothing to do with the war effort, through a Congress whose members are afraid to be branded unpatriotic if they vote against the president, and without critical scrutiny by news media, which are similarly intimidated" (Lazere 252). Such political agendas can end up hurting the everyday people of society rather than helping them. For example, "there is profiteering by corporations who provide weapons" (Lazere 252) that may result from placing heavy taxes on the people, making them have less money to support themselves. Also, the government frequently tries to abuse its ability to make and enforce laws. This can be seen in Obama's health care plan, where Obama plans to enforce a new law that will strip the freedom we have about how we will handle health care. This would result, in a way, in the government taking over our lives and making the rules for us, something that should not be done without the freedom-filled hand of the people to guide it. As everyday citizens, we should expect equal oppertunity for everyone, a belief towards a brighter and better future, and the government to uphold the virtues we deem necessary and to assist us when we need it. As FDR said, "A free nation has the right to expect full cooperation from all groups" (23.) My view of democracy is this: A system of government that sees the people as superior and works to give and maintain the needs, wants, and freedoms as specified by the people.

Classes I'm taking

I'm currently taking four classes: Intro to Music, English Composition, History, and Algebra. Intro to Music is an interesting class in that it's about the history of music from the 1600's up to the present. We talk about the types of instruments people used, how musicians were viewed in their society, and how popular music was back then. In addition, our professor wants us to "wake up our musical ear" so to speak, so we practice listening to music and learning musical vocabulary. English Composition also sounds interesting since we'll actually be going out into our community and learning more about the people that live here. In my previous English classes, I just seemed to go over very basic English skills and read simple stories for discussion. That doesn't seem to be the case this time around! History is a class that demands a lot of reading from us. Seriously, during the first week-end of school we were assigned to read 148 pages in one of our books! This high reading load hasn't really let up so far and I doubt that it will. Fortunately, the books we're reading so far seem to be interesting, which helps with the load somewhat. Algebra is just a total joke. I've always been good at math and my Algebra class seems way too easy to be a college class. Hopefully it will get harder later on so that I'm not constantly falling asleep while my teacher talks!

Reaction to Four Freedoms poster

The Four Freedoms poster that I liked the best was a slightly different interpretation of the original Freedom from Fear poster. This interpretation was done by R. O. Blechman and features a father and mother tucking their kids into bed. The reason I liked this poster is because of how it stresses the element of fear by using the father as an example. The main difference between this interpretation and the original is that the father seems to be looking at us and thinking about current fears of the era, such as terrorist attacks and the deep recession. All of these fears are put right up in the foreground in large text bubbles that are pressed next to each other. This creates a negative idea of constant emotional anxiety that can clearly be seen in the face of the father as he looks at us. Even though both the mother and the kids look calm and peaceful (seeming to symbolize the desire to believe that all will be right with the world), the father doesn't seem to think so and the fearful, questioning look on him makes me wonder whether or not anyone can, or will be, truly safe in this world. The freedom that I think is the most important now is the freedom from fear, since we live in a world that seems to be run mainly by fear. Practically all the world leaders are in constant anxiety over whether are not someone is just going to start blowing people up. Citizens in most of the world's countries worry about any recessions that might be caused by the current state of economy. Everyone wants a desire to be safe from the evils that consume the world. If everyone could somehow work together in such a way as to reduce the fear that corrupts people's minds, it would allow us to create a world that looks beyond fear and focuses on the other three freedoms to give people the world they dream of: a world that is run by the Four Freedoms of FDR.

Vacation to South Carolina

One of the things that happened over the summer vacation was I went to a beach resort in South Carolina. It was a big family reunion so most, if not all, family members that I knew were there. My grandparents had rented this large green (that's right, green) house right beside the beach. It was big enough for everyone to stay in during the time we were there. Everyone had their own room and bathroom and each room was created with a certain theme in mind. For example, the room my cousins stayed in was based off of ancient Egypt, complete with little Egyptian god figurines and a fake tomb of King Tut. We all stayed there for a week and did all sorts of activities such as swimming in the ocean and playing bingo. When it was time to leave I felt a little sad. I had such a good time that I was resentful of leaving. As we were leaving I thought back to all the other places we had spent vacation at and was glad for a chance to go somewhere and relax before going back to school and resuming work.

Powerful Words

Up until today I had never really thought too much about the power of words. I certainly knew that some of them have a large impact on people and that in certain situations you have to be careful of what you say for fear of affecting someone in a negative way, but I had never really thought of a word as being something that was alive in the sense that it's born out into the world and can never be taken back, or killed. After thinking a little about this view of words I can see how some of them can have a long lasting impression and can never be forgotten. A few examples of these words are liberty, dedication, and equality. President Lincoln used these words in his Gettysburg Address to make the people remember the casualties and changes that occurred during the Civil War. Indeed liberty, dedication, and equality have been around for hundreds of years and have shaped mankind's ideas and character for centuries.
A few powerful words that I might choose are life, graduation, and family. Life is something that almost every single person who exists or who has existed has thought about. It was part of the three virtues (life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness) that shaped our very nation. If someone told another person "your life is worthless", it would have a drastic effect on the person being spoken to, making that person think that himself/herself is worthless. Graduation is a major part of almost everyone's life. It allows someone to be seen as a person who has overcome hardships and successfully passed through school. If someone says to another person "you have graduated", it makes the person being spoken to feel satisfied with themselves and allows him/her to move on to the next phase in their life with confidence. Family is also something that almost every single person who has existed or currently exists has thought about. It allows a person to have a connection with others and can make them feel welcomed in this world. If a father tells his son "your a part of our family", it can make the son feel very warm inside and can also keep him in a mood that's cheerful and confident about the future.

1st full week of college

Today marks the end of my first full week of college. For the most part, everything went very well; I was able to attend all my classes and completed all assignments given to me. I was also able to really learn where everything is around the campus and got very familiar with buildings such as CASL and the library. One thing that I didn't like about my first week was the amount of tension that I had, especially over the weekend. Since it's the beginning of school I got really anxious over doing any assignments I had correctly, so I wouldn't start getting poor grades or in- completes within the first few days. I'm sure this nervousness will vanish as I become more familiar with my teachers and what they're looking for. As the days go by I'm sure I'll begin to feel right at home within the University and look forward to any challenges I may be given while I'm there.

Interesting movies coming up

This last Saturday I decided to temporarily get away from a little homework pressure and watched a movie called 9. That was the title, just the number 9. I had heard that it was supposed to be an interesting movie, dealing with yet another apocalyptic future about machines taking over the world. After watching it I concluded that it had definitely been interesting, mostly because of the new approach it took as to how humanity would survive and live on. When I got home I wondered what other movies may eventually come out. After finishing my homework for the day I got on my laptop and surfed for any future movies that people were looking forward to. One movie was called Avatar, due to be released in December of this year. Basically, it's about how all the natural resources on the earth are disappearing and that we find a planet in some distant solar system that has everything we need in abundance. The only problem is, when we start digging for resources we anger the planet's native species and a war breaks out between us. Another movie that may be coming up sometime is a new Batman movie by Chris Nolan. After the huge success of The Dark Knight it was only fitting that another sequel would be developed. No plot details have been released yet and there are still just rumors going on about who the next villian will be (some say it's the Riddler, others say it'll be the Joker again, even though Heath Ledger has died). Still another Batman sequel is definitly in the works and it's something that I, as well as hundreds of others, are looking forward to. Does anyone else know of any movies that will be coming out that they're interested in?

Reaction to Karp's story

Reading through Karp’s story made me realize just how much of an effect even the smallest things in the world can have on people. Blogging may have started out as just a fad or a way to pass the time online, but this story shows that even economically-powerful use it as part of their daily lives. Blogging seems to have gained a very large following all around the globe. This following is rapidly changing the way we view people around us. As more and more people blog and put their thoughts out for everyone to see, we find that everyone isn’t so different from everyone else. We relate to the struggles that others may be going through and sympathize with them. Because of this, we are starting to learn about communities all around the world and befriending them. As time goes on more and more people may start to learn about and sympathize with others through the art of blogging, helping people like Karp to find peace within their lives.

Stuff that interests me

It's very easy for me to become interested in something. If I just find something that looks cool than there's a possiblity that I'll eventually get hooked on it. There are several things that I'm currently interested in. One is video games. Ever since I was about 6 years old I've played video games. What I find interesting about video games is that they contradict reality. You can do virtually anything you want when you are playing them. Another thing that has interested me over the years is surfing the web. I always enjoy learning something new and sometimes I'll just get on the web, find out what topic I'm interested in at the current moment, and just read stuff about that topic. One last thing that I'm interested in at the moment is reading. I don't know anyone who dosen't like reading. One of the genres that I like to read about is fantasy. Much like in video games, fantasy contradicts reality; anything can happen inside a good fantasy book. As the years go by I will no doubt become interested in other new things. If anyone else would like to talk about what they're most interested in, please subscribe!

1st day of college

Today was the first day of college. I must admit, I was a little nervous before I actually got started. Once I had however, I found out that there was really nothing to be worried about. Everything turned to be pretty smooth(except for finding a parking spot, that took about 10 minutes). My first two classes, music and english, don't seem to be that bad. I did get a little homework from each but hey, that's just the way college works. I'm sure it's just going to get harder from here on out. I'm actually looking forward to tommorrow and my other two classes, algebra and history. As the days go by, I'm confident that I'll start to feel relaxed and just go with the flow for whatever happens at college.