China isn't honoring the International Agreement, does that mean we shouldn't too?

"United there is little we cannot do...Divided there is little we can do."

John F. Kennedy said this in his inauguration speech. Today in North Korea, The people are very aware of this relying on humanitarians, traffickers, activists, and missionaries to operate an Asian underground railroad. There are many who are trying to escape from North Korea. These civilians are working and paying for their freedom.

John F. Kennedy also said, "In your hands, my fellow citizen, more then mine." It is up the North Koreans to become free and even though there the government is against that, the people have united in helping each other.

"These people have lost all their rights,” states Pastor Chun Ki-won an active member in the transport to freedom.

Pastor Chun has taken it into his own hands to free many North Koreans and even though China should be taking North Koreans as refugees China is labeling them as "economic migrants". If North Koreans are caught, punishments such as starved, torched or even publicly executed and because of this punishment, China is being urged to honor its International Agreement to take in refugees.

"In the Months leading up to the 2008 Olympics, Chinese authorities intensified their efforts to apprehend defectors”
–National Geographic February 2008 magazine.

Chinese would deport dozens sometimes hundreds of defectors in just the course of one week. With everything against them it would be easy to give up so it seems, but the choice that North Koreans face is no rights or possibly dying in an effort to have a much better life in South Korea.
Because the United States of America has laws to protect them, John F. Kennedy talks in his inauguration speech “ We observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom.” This is something that for North Koreans that are defectors is striving for. Because it will not happen in there own country they are choosing to leave.

“To those people in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required -- not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.”

The North Koreans are trying to have a better life, they are showing effort in reaching freedom, giving everything and running the risks of death and work prisons, starvation and the fear of starting over. There are many out there trying to escape, and though there is few helping them, still there are suffers, still there is injustice, we still have a window to help. China is not honoring their International Agreement, does that mean that we shouldn’t too?

Sources:
O'Neill, Tom. "Escaping North Korea." National Geographic Feb. 2009: 74-99.
and
John F. Kennedy's First Inauguration Speech

"Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes"

"In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted – for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame."

it has been known to be said that the greatest gifts in life come with hard work. Obama's inauguration I found to be more powerful. The reason behind this is that "the greatness of our nation" I translate that into the greatness of the people since the people make the nation. I get the sense that everyone holds a power to achieve what is most important to them. That is the reason the United States of America was established was for this reason and no one will miss out on the tangible American Dream.

I have often found myself wondering why others can cheat and not get caught, lie and not feel bad, steal and think that nothing is wrong. Why my grades in school would struggle while those who took a less honest path would get the grade that determines college and career opportunity. Grades, the whole system to me seams unjust in the fact that I am labeled to a letter and that is looked at at surface value. In Obama's inauguration I felt more like a person and that hard work will be acknowledged in this country.

Rock and Rolls, Fame to Blame? (revising)

"well, it used to be a vulgarism back in the dead old days"

Theses:
Music is always changing content wise on what is considered appropriate to say. Parental advisories have been established to help inform people of what kind of music they are buying. At the beginning of rock and roll music Buddy Holly was considered devilish but compared to modern day music could only be looked at as innocent lyrics. The standard for what is considered an advisory is also changing label to label.

“Oh, how my heart yearns for you. Oh, Peggy, my Peggy sue.”
These lyrics are from Buddy Holly’s “Peggy Sue”. The lyrics simply mean that Buddy Holly feels sad when Peggy is not around. The original song was named “Cindy Lou” after Buddy’s niece but then later was changed to Peggy Sue after a band member’s girl friend. That means that the music wasn’t even talking about a girlfriend. However in the 1950’s this was considered the devil’s music. When speaking openly about kissing a girl, and to conservatives in the “bible belt” of America this was inappropriate. Enough to have Buddy’s dad disown him.

“I got my brain on hype. Tonight'll be your night .I got this long-a**ed knife, and your neck looks just right.”

This song is referring to killing police officers. This song brought up so much controversy that the song ended up taking off the song off the album.


Three: Both of these songs had consequences for their songs. Between the two, “Cop Killer” is most certainly worse in topic however Buddy Holly got similar treatment when his music came out. Local radio stations were told not to play his music. How are the lyrics different but both given the name by people of "devilish". Why is this?

Conclusion: with Americans freedom of speech right protected, we could say whatever we want with the only downside being people's approval at risk.

In these article, there were a few things that caught my attention. What was interesting to me was when the 7 sins article said that "by taking policymaking away from scientist, and turning it over to industry cronies" What made me wonder about this quote it, if the scientists know what we should do and back it up with evidence then when election comes around then the people that vote for who they want to represent them then they should pick an environmentalist. This would help them in getting a better environment. Another thing that I knoticed about the articles is that in the 7 sins, he says "Obama Mission" a lot. These are to state Obama's plans. bush also had plans and some people like the person who wrote 7 sins should also consider that Obamas only has plans now so we should be optimistic but also realize that even though he has good ideas we should wait for action to decide what will happen.

Community Emergency Responce Team (CERT) Internship

1. What do you hope to learn or discover about the "adult" world of work while you are at your internship?

I hope to gain experience of how to react in situations and how the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) works since the San Diego Fire Department (SDFD) works with them. My fundamental goal is to become a Firefighter for the city of San Diego. I would like to develop the knowledge I have acquired through the Cadet Firefighter program and apply it to this internship.

2. What do you hope to learn or discover about yourself and your identity while you are at your internship this semester?

I want to be able to identify what an internship should consist of and how to react in certain situations such as the kind of knowledge that I should gain.

3. What goals do you have for yourself for your internship experience?

I am not really sure what I am getting into since I have never done this before. I feel that if I get anything out of this that it would be anything that will help me in the long run become a Fire Fighter.

Two times I did good work!

Two pieces of work that I am proud of:
I think that I like "What Really Happened" the article that I wrote the best. Writing newspaper style i found, is hard for me. The style of getting to the point was hard for me to grasp since I have always been taught in the "length for a grade" example, 2 page paper. Having no guideline like that was hard, I like this one because I learned the most.

My Blog:
Through this blog I have first learned how to use blogger, next I learned more about current events. The blogs that I write are usually based on an article that I wrote. I have sometimes read an article that interests me and then I had an idea or a concept that I hadn't considered before. I feel more aware of my surroundings because I have put myself in a position where I have to learn on my own and understand articles enough to write a blog entry on them.

Change did come, But where from?

Advertising is a major part of the human life. We advertise products, services, and because of this have to prove who we are.

A product such as clothes is one way humans identify themselves. There are many different styles and with that, people who like it and don’t. An example of this is the "professional look". When going to a job interview, meeting, or something of that nature there is a type of attire that we wear, to show we are serious. This is not to say that clothes change who you are but it is what humans help judge what professional is. This along with other stereotypes only last until you meet that person (with sometimes preconceived ideas about them). That is when judgment comes into play. To decide if that person is actually professional, following another stereotype pushed on by humans.

With everything having already preconceived ideas behind it and when clothes are worn for a type of style, it is not hard for me to believe “he’s not black” and the points she makes. “We are so racially backward that we insist on calling him black.” With the society that we live in, where looks are central to the social life, a presentation, only by an emotion that we let this exist. We have proven that color of skin doesn’t matter. We have in January, a “black” president. This is a huge improvement because, of the color of your skin years ago would determine if you were a slave, or a slave owner. Even after, they were fed by emotion and racism still being around. The majority of the United States is past that.

“Progress has outpaced vocabulary.”-Marie Arana. Vocabulary is very important and a simple conjunction changes the entire meaning. It does not matter if Mr. Obama in his family genealogy was enslaved during that time but because of a color in his skin now, holds no difference weather we elect him or not.

When we start at a young age being exposed to ideas of what is right and wrong, can we not expect the outcome of stereotypes?

When we choose to ignore who a person is and determine by first judgment who that person is, everyone will miss the chance to make friends.

It is really up to the growing generation to place the United States where it is, just as the people voted this year the generation before them raised them, the change did come, but from where?