Response to "My Papa's Waltz"

***Finally, I can express my opinions in a place where every 2 seconds people aren’t shouting ‘racist’ or ‘H.A.M’ (cough cough Aaron and Gabriel, no help from Tomin)...***

So today we read ‘My Papa’s Waltz.” I want to start off by saying that every one has their own interpretations, and that is ok, but here is mine: I think the father is drunk, I think the ‘waltz’ is the father’s staggering around while his son is clinging on to him, I think that though maybe not intentionally, the father is hurting the son, and that even with all of this ‘drama’, the little boy calls it a waltz and still loves his father because it is hard for people to see the bad in their parents.

So, I’ll start with backing up to the father being drunk. First, there is whiskey on his breath. And yes, whiskey on your breath doesn’t automatically make you drunk, but when there is enough to ‘make a small boy dizzy’, yes not uncomfortable but DIZZY, something is up. Also, ‘every step you miss’ to me seems as if not that the father simply is getting the counts wrong, but that he is at least ‘tipsy’. Another thing is that the father is dirty with a ‘palm caked hard by dirt’ and a battered knuckle could mean that either the father is a construction worker as Charlie said, or that the dart is from being out late roaming the streets in a drunk frenzy, hurting himself or other people getting his hand dirty.

Another belief I have is that whether purposely or not, the father is hurting the son. “My right ear scraped a buckle” sounds pretty harsh, and “you beat time on my head” could mean a number of things from hurting him physically or by threats of memories and the future. Also, people say that since the mother is pretty much just being a bystander that the father isn’t drunk and possibly hurting his son, since if he was she would do something. Well, I hate to break it to people, but not every one is brave. What if this is a normal thing for the papa to be drunk, and in the past he has hit the mother too? Sure, I guess from mother’s we expect there to be a lot of protection for their children, but what about protecting themselves? If they get hurt, who knows what could happen to her son’s life without a mom?!

Another thing I believe is that the waltz is actually the father staggering around while his son clings to him. “Romping” means acting in a rough and noisy (boisterous) way, which could show up if the son is clinging on, and the father is angry and wants him off. The son says (the poem is in the boy’s perspective) “BUT I hung on like DEATH.” Hmm, interesting. The fact that the son used the word ‘death’ rather than something like ‘I hung on tight’ shows that possibly he is in a situation not so far from what brings death, or what emotions come with death. Maybe the boy doesn’t exactly know what ‘drunk’ is, but is a bit scared of his papa staggering and trying to shrug him off.

Also, usually when people say ‘but’, they are trying to justify something, or explain something. In the poem’s context, what is being explained or justified is that the whiskey on the father’s breath could make a small boy dizzy. The thing about this poem that I truly find so beautiful and true is that the little boy clearly loves his father. Whether actually dancing or getting abused, and being with a drunk or just tipsy father, the little boy wants to be and possibly dance with his father. He defends the whiskey on the breath, and clings on to him ‘for dear life’, whether for support or simply wanting love, when ‘waltzing’ and being doomed to bed. As I mentioned, for us (especially little boys, but even me sometimes), we look up to our parents, and so we find it hard to fault them. No matter what, (hopefully), we love our parents even if they ground us, take away the computer, etc. We all as teenagers have those times of ‘No one understands me!’ or ‘WHATEVER MOM!’ and then the occasional ‘I hate you!’, but how can we truly hate the people that provide so much for us? *rhetorical question* The son may be in the risk of getting seriously hurt by his drunk dad, but instead of thinking of that, he thinks his father’s staggers and pushes are a dance or waltz of a kind. The waltz of a son and his father.

Poem off of 9/11 photo

Once was America

2 down
A whole country to go

It's a beautiful day
A great day to kill
or starve a wife of love
and frighten a kid
when their mommy doesn't come pick them up from their clean and bright haven
maybe panic a nation
when hundreds die
under their pointed-up noses

We are the best
we are the beast

we hate them
they take and take and never give back
they put us in hell
so now
here and now
finally
we give it back
throw it in their faces

we will no longer live under their rule
we have come to conquer everything
from the moon to the core
the blazing hot core they believe they had a right to put a price tag on

we were here first
we will do the living
free from the chains of so-called democracy
they will regret all they ever did to me
me and my people
my country
my world
our world

they sit their running and screaming
asking what oh what lord did they do to deserve this
I will tell them
I will tell them loud and proud
we are the best
we are the beast

ha-ha

photo
photo credits to Rafael Fuchs, my father, shot as a view of 9.11 on 9.11

Picture Book, 3rd draft

pg.1: I woke up today not feeling like myself. I reached up to pat my head, thinking that maybe my favorite pink bow had fallen off while I was sleeping...it was still there.
pg.2: I pushed my covers down, stepped out of bed, and walked toward my mirror. I gasped. I was a green, hairy, slimy, fat, gross monster! I touched my hair and felt worms. I poked my stomach, and green slime oozed on my finger. I opened my mouth, and out came bug juice. “AHHHHH!”
pg.3: When my friends came over, like they usually do on Saturdays, they rang the doorbell and I peeked out of the mail slot. Ava and Julie looked down and smiled at me. I opened the door, and then after they were inside slammed it shut. Luckily, no-one but Ava and Julie were outside to see me. “What’s wrong?” Ava asked. I shushed them and pulled them up the stairs to my room.
pg.4: “I woke up today,” I gulped, “A MONSTER!” They looked at each other, then replied “No silly! You’re not a monster! You’re pretty! Now can we go back outside to play house? You can be the mommy this time!” “Are you crazy! I can’t go outside looking like this! I am ugly and fat and green and slimy! Can’t you see?” “What are you talking about? You look completely normal!”
pg.5: After Ava and Julie left early, since they were bored with me stuck inside, my mom asked if I wanted to go out for pizza, or maybe ice-cream. Yikes! I thought. I can’t have all my friends seeing me like this! They will laugh at me! “No thanks mommy. Let’s just stay home tonight.”
pg.6: On Sunday, instead of playing with my friends like I usually do on Sundays, I was sitting on my couch, waiting for them. And waiting. And waiting. And waiting. They never came!
pg.7: I was looking out the window when I saw Ava and Julie walking straight towards my house, ice-creams in hand, laughing in the sun. Finally! But then...they walked past my door to go a few houses down to Julie’s house. I jumped up and through the mail slot called out to them. “Guys! Why didn’t you come over?” “Um, well, yesterday all you did was sulk around your room. Today we kind of wanted to go outside to have fun! You aren’t a monster, and we don’t know how many more times we have to say it!” Then they walked away. Tears started coming to my eyes, and my face grew hot and red.
pg.8: I stormed back up to my room to the mirror. “HEY! Everyone says I look normal, so they must be right! Stop lying to me about who I am! I am not a monster! I know if I went outside, no-one would look at me strange. Go away!”
pg.9: And just like that, the monster slowly became me again.
MAYBE: pg.10: When I woke up the next day, feeling totally normal, bow still on my head, I walked towards my mirror. There was a girl standing there, with plain black hair, pale skin, and only a tongue in her mouth. (OR just show image)
pg.10 (IMAGE):- Annie’s back (mostly dominant part of page), then front in mirror (smiling) and have room colorful and happy, with girl with messy black hair, petite, skirt, etc with a pink bow on her head
pg.11: It was me OR/AND I was back

November Reading Challenge

Books Read
- Sarah's Key by: Tatiana de Rosnay 290 pages
- Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson 314 pages
--in total 2 books over 600 pages--

Sarah's Key Response

In Sarah’s Key, a huge and controversial issue was moving on; how we do it and if we can. Julia, a 45 year-old American married to a french man, thinks her husband’s particularly calm attitude toward ‘France’s Dark Days’ (the holocaust) is disgusting. She hates how the french-attitude is to move on past the war, and do little to keep the memory as a lesson.

I feel that it is necessary to move on. By that I don’t mean forgetting the past which has lessons of mistakes to never repeat in the future, but we can’t mourn for life! Life is about progression in my eyes. I don’t think it is right for anyone (much less Sarah) to wrong people because they are more interested in the future. Life keeps going, and we can’t stop because then we will never catch up, right? I mean, I know that is intense, but I think it’s true! Can we ever stop going?

I have no idea! Part of what makes me who I am is that I move-on quickly, and always feel like I need to be on the run, or else I feel like a failure. This causes a lot of stress and doubts. In a way, I feel like the world around me made me think that way. The media puts out the message that if you aren’t doing something to save some aspect of our world, you are useless. I know it’s important to ‘do something’, but I feel if we truly are meant to help the world, it shouldn’t be so forcefully pushed on us. I guess we all need the motivation, but people can’t handle all this pressure. We need to go at our own pace to be successful, I think.

Does this mean we can’t get any outside pushes? No, I don’t think so. As I frequently say, we need to accept help, including motivational get-off-your-ass help, but too much is never good. For people to look back and remember the past I guess is okay, but some may criticize and say move-on, which to some people (like Sarah) is offensive. It is true that we all go at our own paces, but there is some limit to how much you should stop and go. We can’t be bums all our life, but nobody but our own self is going to make a bum not a bum. We are who we are, and if it takes us a little or long time to move-on it’s okay, but while this ‘break/mourn’ time, we can’t just stop completely. Sure you can remember the good ‘ol days, but you still need to live your new, present days.

(did my weird code (sort-of) talk confusing you)?

Chains Response

The book Chains is about a girl, set during the Revolutionary War, working as a slave in NY to a loyalist family. Her owners, the Locktons, are cold-hearted, but Mr. Lockton’s aunt named Ms. Seymour takes pity on the girl (Isabel) and even tries to buy Isabel from the Locktons. Sadly, Mrs. Lockton wouldn’t sell Isabel out of the evil of her heart. Mrs. Lockton is so cruel, and throughout the book it seems like she knows (and is ok) with that. For example, when she secretly sells Isabel’s sister Ruth, Isabel’s only love and family left, she lies to Isabel about it, and then when Isabel finally finds out the truth, Mrs. Lockton cowers and puts the blame on Isabel, in fear that she will get angry and hurt her.

How could you live with being so mean? I know it was very common to have slaves in that time, even though it is such a corrupt system, but there is a difference between getting free labor and being cruel! It seems like no-one cared, and the ones that did were too weak to stand up for what they believed in. I just don’t understand how you could treat anyone, even an animal (as some people portrayed Africans as), with such torture. Everyone has a heart, and know what pain feels like, so why would you want to inflict it on someone else? To take out your anger, without being publicly portrayed as awful?

It is so pathetic that to get over our own anger, we need to harm and anger something else. When we do that, we are being completely selfish, even when ‘punching a pillow’ because that reminds us that pain can be solved with pain. It’s like a vicious cycle! Yes, life isn’t fair and pain means character, but isn’t there some sort of obvious limit to that? Has man-kind not made that limit, and so no-one consciously cares?

I suppose the only reason why people treat pain with pain is because it truly does satisfy your feelings, which I guess in the long run is good because then we get those angry feelings out. But what I said was true: pain is a cycle! To deal with pain, we inflict pain. How can we stop this? Slavery in America doesn’t exist anymore, but in many other countries it does! At the end of the day, we worry more about ourselves. Is that selfish, or simply smart? I’m sure that in times of need it is ok to want to get your own food before helping out a friend, but I believe karma does exist, meaning if you don’t help, no-one will help you. We can’t survive all alone in this world, and yet that is how the slaves lived. I understand wanting free labor, but Mrs.Lockton completely abused the system, wether slavery was normal in that time or not. I am a carnivore, but I try to buy free-range (or un-caged) chickens, which is a step toward breaking the cycle of cruel pain!

Topic #2: Sexism

‘Sexism is the cultural assumption that men are superior to women and deserve preference and power over them.’ Yes that’s right folks, sexism is when men think they are better than women. Not wasting any time, can’t women think they are better than men? I mean, kids, let’s not forget that rhyme that goes ‘girls go to college to get more knowledge, boys go to jupiter to get stup-id-er’. That definitely shows some superiority against boys, saying we are smart and they are stupid. It seems as if people are thinking too loosely now a days of discriminating, based on sex or anything. Last year, my english teacher loosely shouted ‘racist’ at the most random of times, and when a teacher called on people from only the left side for some questions, for example, we students joked around and called that teacher ‘side-ist’.

People are thinking, as we are getting farther and farther from the Civil Rights movement, that it is ok to revert to our old ways of ‘I am better than you because of blah.’ As I said, we are joking, but what happens when someone takes it that extra step, 'till it isn’t joking and we are all fighting to defend who we were born to be?! I don’t find discriminating funny, but we have to admit we all think we are better than someone whether it’s what our grades are or how thin we can be. The thing is, society made us feel superior, since all the latest gossip is on power struggles between celebrities. Yet if we are so past that 'era' of letting media and others control us, why can’t we put an end to it? We all are ashamed of racism and sexism in the past, but how come now one seems to find it a problem now-a-days? In my article, it mentions that women still make around 77 cents to the male dollar, and that the ‘top 4’ jobs that women are is a nurse, teacher, etc.

It seems as if America is forgetting it's roots, and living life as one big power struggle. Not only are men sexist against women, but some women are scared to get a higher power in their job, in fear that since they are a women, people will think they are a bossy bitch (as mentioned in my annotated article). Is sexism all a man’s fault? I mean, that’s a big weight to put on people, much less men’s shoulders. Tradition is hard to break, and though discriminating against someone because of the body parts they may or may not have is wrong, people aren’t easy adjusters, and we can’t simply expect everyone to ‘get used’ to women being in power. As time goes on, though, we should expect to see improvement, which the article I read talked about, and said ‘We’ve come a long way, baby. But there’s still a long way to go’ (this article was written in March 2010).

sources:
Mankiller, Wilma, and others. "Sexism." The Reader's Companion to U.S. Women's History. Dec. 1 1998: n.p. SIRS Researcher. Web. 27 Nov 2010

Bennett, Jessica, Jesse Ellison, and Sarah Ball. "Are We There Yet?." Newsweek Vol. 155, No. 13. 29 Mar 2010: n.p. SIRS Researcher. Web. 27 Nov 2010.

Research Assignment Topic #1: Anorexia

When reading articles on anorexia, all of them said that doctors and therapists were trying to study the disease to control it. After reading books and other articles on anorexia, I realized what to study in anorexia would be the mind. Anorexia is mostly a disease of the mind, in where the mind turns against your body and forces it to shut-down to ‘look better’ in the critical eyes of the world. Anorexia and starving yourself is not easy to ‘do’, or get out of, for it is a vicious cycle. Through these poems, though not a simple task, I tried my best to jump in the mind of an anorexic, or lover of an anorexic, and see how they feel and what goes on to make them starve themselves of food and love.

In my eyes, the 1st poem portrays how an anorexic thinks, and how they believe the world sees them. The 2nd poem's intention was simply to show how hard it can be to move past something like anorexia. The final poem was an overview of how you go from a normal, happy person into an anorexic, which to me is one of the saddest stages you could fall to.

If I did write a picture book based off of anorexia, I think I would do it something like a girl’s world is good, life happy, but she still isn’t happy with how she has it and who she is. Maybe she would have these small moments/feelings I put in the poems above, and then, since it is a children’s book, learn to accept herself how not only others/media see her, but how she sees herself.


The Mirror

The mirror frowns at me
cold and mocking
whispering words that penetrate my heart
more than the hunger penetrates my stomach

I cross my arms
the mirror smirks
I cry
the mirror watches
It knows
for it’s seen it all
the girls shedding rapidly
shrinking, their silhouette melting
as they fall
one by one
ears too accepting
to the critical world
stomach too small
to want more food
hearts too dry
to accept more love
bodies too used

to the way they made it


1 Step Forward, 2 steps Back

pushing
walking
stumbling
running
stopping

stopping

stopping

Give it back
Take it all

pushing
walking
stopping

stopping

stuck



Girl

The girl laughs
turns her head,
the light hitting it at an angle
to make it glow

She dances in the rain
singing and skipping
kicking off her boots at the door
trudging through the house

The mom laughs and says
“You got water on the floor!”

“Let the heat dry it”
she says

The girl is older
she comes home,
plays the music filled with
words of anger and obsession
stomps around
searching for love,
and clothes
and hair

The girl is now
sad
no love
just glances

No clothes
that fit at least

No hair
for it falls out as she combs

The routine is simple
don’t eat

That’s it
In all its nothingness

She doesn’t like how hard it is
misses the things
and people she used to love

All she does now
is dream about a life
A normal life


Silly little girl
she gave it up that day
when she started losing
to all the winners in the world

2 sources:
Deardorff, Julie. "Eating with an Anorexic Child: A Controversial Treatment." Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL). 25 Jun 2010: n.p. SIRS Researcher. Web. 27 Nov 2010.

Marano, Hara Estroff. "The Skinny Sweepstakes." Psychology Today Vol. 41 No.1. Jan/Feb. 2008: 88-95. SIRS Researcher. Web. 14 Nov 2010

Social Awareness Project #5: Respond to a Song

In the song 'One Tribe' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IisSJsSaA0o) by the Black Eyed Peas, the main message is that the world needs to come together and be united. Another part of this song is acceptance vs. intolerance. ‘If I had an enemy then my enemy’s gonna try an’ come and kill me ‘cuz I’m his enemy’. That line is so sad, that just because we put the label of ‘enemy’ on someone that we may not agree with, we have to kill them! We can’t tolerate things not going our way, so we use violence to ensure that they do. In this song, it makes it sound so easy to just treat everyone as equal and never cause any harm. The song says, and I quote, “Let’s cast amnesia, forget about all that evil.” Not to be a downer, but I don’t think any drug could erase the existence of hatred and using violence as a way to solve our problems. In a way, even if we ‘forget’ (using amnesia) evil, evil in sense is in our nature. From as long as the earth has existed, people or even animals have fought to get what they want, possibly resorting to violence to get there. Is this song too hopeful, or is it just what the world needs to finally get the message that we should at least make a small effort to become ‘one’?

I am really not sure. Like the song Imagine, the ideas for a world of peace now seem so far off, but like John Lennon said ‘I’m not the only one’ (who thinks peace can be made). In a sense, if we don’t think or believe peace can come, it won’t, but even if we get influenced in the slightest sense by a song maybe we can make small steps. Peace obviously is a huge thing, so even though this song is suggesting we change immediately and forget everything, the reality is that it is showing us a path of small steps toward one day hopefully achieving that goal.

Another part of the song that stood out to me is when it says “Forget about all that evil, that evil that they feed ya.” Do we really get fed evil? I suppose in a sense the media feeds us evil -- gossip, rumors, influences etc. It sort of ‘feeds’ us in the sense that sometimes people are satisfied that other people are below them or struggling. Could we ever stop that ‘evil’ from being broadcasted? Is it good to be satisfied off of someone else’s hardships? Don’t know if I could answer that...

Basically, One Tribe is about how wrong our world is, and how it should be easy to move on from that evil, but since we live in this messed up world where we get fed evil, we can’t. Honestly, I think it’s easier to sing about curing evil then to do it, but maybe this song can nudge us a bit in the right direction.

Social Awareness Project #6: Write a Poem

We are born to
be the same
our minds fooled with whispers
that tell us of games

We are born to
dream big, eat small
live a life of wonder,
the one everyone wants

We are born out of
love
made for
love
and what we get in return
is love
and hate

Be
like this
No No, I’ll show you again
Like This,
you see
take a step this way,
Not there, Never there

We preach for our own selves
be who you want to be
and yet, we ask
Is this person Okay?
No,
the whispers say

We are born to be the same
our minds fooled with whispers
of another man’s game


This poem is about the social issue of peer pressure, one that almost everyone faces. Even though we are supposed to be ourselves, we constantly are pushed by others and ourselves to take the easy route and blend in with everyone else. In my eyes, the 'whispers' not only represent others, but our consciousness which also tells us what is wrong with who we are.

EXTRA CREDIT 1ST QUARTER-- response to The Lorax

"Why does the onceler not ever show his face?" -Daniel A. 807

In the lorax, all we see of the greedy, money hungry creature is his green arms.  The onceler  literally destroys the environment around him, defies the lorax's pleas to stop, and later when the lorax leaves, feels awful about it and holes himself up.  In response to Daniel's question, I say that the onceler never shows his face, because in a way of money and greed and regret, he is all of us with many faces. By that I mean, we are humans, bound to make mistakes, and since we now live in a world where money and power are the solution to almost everything, we can't help but to always want more of it to get ahead.  

It's obviously a bad thing to always want more, but are problems ever justified if we fix them?  In the end of The Lorax, the onceler gave the boy the last truffula tree seed for him to plant, and though we never found out what happens with the seed, we still get a feeling of hope from it.  Yet, I wonder, does fixing something make the problem go away completely?  It seemed as if even though the onceler did a notion of getting back a rich truffula tree forest, he still regretted what he had done.  In a way, we never can truly fix a problem, because the impact for that time being (before we fix it) will always exist.  Also, we can't just forget what we have done wrong, because if we did, we would never learn from our mistakes. 

That leads me to the next point of why didn't the onceler plant the tree seed himself?  Was it because he didn't want to start the problem of killing the environment again, or did he simply not want to be reminded of the wrong he did (further than he is reminded of it from all the barren gray around him already)?  To me, it seems a bit less greedy, the fact that the onceler gave the seed away to some boy to plant.  Some say it could be that he is too cowardly, but I think it shows that he wants to make a difference to the world by teaching others to help and respect the land they live on.  In a sense, I feel like the onceler knows he can't ever personally cover up his mistake, so why not let someone else get a chance to do a good thing.  

When we are kids, we are taught to be accepted as a kind person again is to say 'sorry', but as we get older we realize that sometimes, sorry isn't good enough.  In a way, I guess we learn it the hard way, simply realizing one day sorry doesn't go too far, but it's a lesson we all need to learn to take a step toward making less errors and more accomplishments.  I always thought the saying 'you need to fail to succeed' was BS, but in a way it is true, because if we learn that mistakes will be made, we will also learn that we should try to live without a lot of them, or learn from them and move on.  I guess we can never truly erase a mistake we have made, but we can always hope for a future where we progress beyond simply fixing the mistake we made, but making the world better on top of fixing the original thing.

Media/News Immersion

Day 1: Friday the 22nd

1. Source: the NY Times. “Helping Schools’ Chefs Find Alternatives to Frozen Pizza” by: Susan Dominus

Summary: This article talks about how chefs and organizations are trying to help NYC schools become healthier, by teaching their chefs simple tricks to making food taste better and taking out the frozen food altogether.

Social Issues: The social issue in this article is our future, and what actions we are taking to make it a better place.  Health nowadays is a huge topic since we know the results of un-healthy ways, and so we are all frantic to make this generation a better one, but sadly this is hard since we are so set in our un-healthy diets.

b) Source: NY Times. “New Way To Help Chicken Cross to Other Side” by William Neuman

Summary: This article is about how companies are thinking of gassing chickens before  or instead of hanging and splitting their necks, to create a stress free death for the chickens.

Social Issues: The social issues in this article are animal cruelty and how the world is trying to help it.  At the same time though, it is a bit ironic to feel the need to have things we breed to kill have stress-free deaths.  If we really cared that much about chickens, wouldn’t we try to stop their unnatural killing altogether?  I know this is hard, but it is the best solution to solving animal cruelty.

Day: Saturday the 23rd

1. Source: The NY Times. “13 Are Killed As Gunmen Storm House In Mexico” by Elisabeth Malkin

Summary: This article is about how in a drug filled city in Mexico, 13 people were killed in their home while celebrating a 14 year old boys birthday.  Police/government are trying to figure out wether death was from revenge or drug reasons

Social Issues: The social issue in this article is revenge (being our nature), and taking much too drastic measures.  If the deaths were from revenge, then all I have to say is that it is so sad that when there is a problem, we almost always go to violence.  It may be the fastest way to solve a problem, but at the same time it usually has the most consequences for everyone.  

b) Source: The New York Times “Haiti Fears Cholera Will Spread in Capitol” by Randal Archibold

Summary: This article talks about how recently, near the capitol of Haiti, there was an outbreak of Cholera, which hasn’t happened in Haiti for a long time, even though sanitation there is limited.  People are trying to install bathrooms and clean water, since the conditions there are not developed enough to handle cholera.  

Social Issues: The social issues in this article are mainly poverty, in a sense, since because of poverty and corruption, Haiti doesn’t have clean water which carries cholera.    After the earthquake there, everyone did such a great job trying to help them, and I wonder if we will be able to do that again, since in a way cholera is less ‘public’.

Day 3: Sunday the 24th

1. Source: The New York Times “In Triple-Murder Trial, the Exhausting Routine of Deciding a Killer’s Fate” by: William Glaberson

Summary: This article is about a man accused of many murders, and wether he did some of them or not, and how his trial is going on the point of sentencing him to death.  Since his accused murders, apparently Hayes has lost much weight, witnesses say maybe because of his shame. 

Social Issues: I think 1 social issue in this article is the benefits/motives for crime.  Besides sex for a bit, what pleasure would you get out of raping then strangling someone?  Criminal’s minds are so much more complex than we think, and I find it interesting people are saying he lost the weight because of shame, because I ask if a person not afraid to murder would be ashamed of it (when he has murdered multiple times).  Hatred isn’t a phase, so something must be on criminals minds... 

b)Source: The New York Times “Latino Immigrants to Sue a Connecticut Police Dept., Asserting Racial Bias” by: Sam Dolnick

Summary: This article talks about how police officers in Connecticut are being racist when latinos do an innocent act such as questioning why they are being beaten (for no reason on police’s half). 

Social Issues:  It seems like no-one nowadays gives a crap about what was said in the constitution.  Everyone is equal!  We established that so long ago!  I find no reason how based on our background why we have to be treated as differently.  And what is up with policemen doing this?  Aren’t they some of the most honored people in communities everywhere?  I am wondering where this racism suddenly came from, and how we can stop it (like we have many times in the past).  

Day: Monday the 25th

1. Source: The New York Times “Chilean Miners Win Cheers and Lose Game” by: Alexei Barrionuevo

Summary: This article talks about how the Chilean miners were celebrated and praised royally not to long after their surface to the ground.  Even the president of Chile had them over for dinner. 

Social Issues: Even though this article is happy, it brings up the issue of fame (in a sense).  The miners are now ‘famous’ all over the world for their time under the ground, and it’s interesting that that got them famous.  I guess they say fame can spoil some people, but in a way I guess this ‘natural’ fame is well deserved, even though the miners seem a bit hungry for it now.  I just hope this doesn’t make the miners or anyone really think the key to success is having something drastic done to your life.

b)Source: The New York Times “Deadly Blast Hits Shrine in Pakistan” by: Reuters

Summary: This (really short) article explains the bombing of a shrine in Pakistan, the bombers placing the bomb on a motorcycle on the gate of the shrine, killing at least 4 people. 

Social Issues: Though short, this article mentions that the bombers attacked the shrine because of  religious differences.  Still, the world can’t agree on things, and so we decide to kill the enemy.  Obviously killing never is really justified, but killing based on differences in the culture topic is not only cruel, but so stupid, since differences are what ‘make the world go around’.  

Day: Tuesday the 26th

1. Source: The New York Times “School Sees Salvation in Recruiting Chinese” by  Abby Goodnough

Summary: This article is about how a small, poor school in Maine is trying to get Chinese kids to come there, because they will have to pay a lot of money to come to the school, and that against all odds has a fantastic arts program.  Not only did employees/staff of the school visit China, but the cafeteria staff are making chinese food, and writing some welcome words in chinese on their bulletin boards.  

Social Issues: I think this article brings up the fact of stereotypicalism.  In the end of the article, the author says kids in the school are worried that since they heard Asians were academically motivated, so their grades might slip.  I mean, I have heard this statement too, but I think it’s so wrong to say that before you even met any people like that (the town, Author says, is all white).  I think it’s ok to make some things like the cuisine maybe more homey for the new-comers, but it seems as if the school is using the Chinese kids for their money, which is wrong!

b) Source: The New York Times “Former City Resident Is Accused of Trying to Join Terrorists” by: Kareem Fahim 

Summary: This article is about how a former city resident was found to be involves in joining terrorists.  Apparently, he tried to fly to Pakistan on a one-way-ticket to train in making bombs.  Abdel, the man’s name, was arrested on Friday in Hawaii, and his maximum penalty is 8 years in prison.

Social Issues: This article brings up the point of race/beliefs, and betrayal.  Obviously, we don’t know why terrorists become terrorists, but in this article they did mention that Abdel possibly “ thought it (joining the US army while being a terrorist) was a game.”  I wonder what would make people want to literally terrorize people, because surely that shouldn’t be in anyones religion!


Reflection:
I found many similarities between most of my articles and their social issues.  One of the things that was pretty shocking was the amount of social issues that not only have been going on for millions of years, but also been have been tried to solve forever, and apparently we never accomplished solving them, like evil crimes and racism.  It seems as if we can't move on completely, no matter what we do to solve problems.  I guess we never will make the world perfect, but it seems as if (until now) I never knew how complex things in our world were.  Problems are never 1 sided, and by being more aware on what's going on around us, I know we can all try to solve them slowly, and make the world a better place for everyone.