HW 34 Questions

The role of gold according to Riverbend is very big in Iraq. It is important due to the fact that the recent currency of of Iraq the Dinar kept changing in its worth. It wasn't a solid investment, but gold is. It never changes in its worth and it's dependable. It's also a fashionable to wear your gold on necklaces and other pieces of jewelry so you kill two birds with one stone. The biggest and probably most important value that gold has is that "a few pieces could tide a family over". Hence the term family savings. Date palms are also important to the Iraqi people. Dates are a tasty treat. Ive had personal experienced they are very good. The Iraqi people love dates and they use dates for many different types of food. It's simple yet tasty treat that the people of Iraq love. Also they use the whole tree for making baskets, brooms, mats, and other household objects. They use the trees to make roofing also. The death of palm tree is taken very seriously because the tree can be used for so many things it is a shame to lose. The people of Iraq have many different customs, but the one i respect the most is the "evening tea". The evening tea is exactly what it sounds like. A family would sit down and have tea no matter how stressful the day was. I can totally respect that because first off they just chill and drink tea and second the whole family comes together and hangs out. Now in the west not many families can say they they just sit and hang out. They also have many different types of tea too.

Akila Al-Hashimi "One of the decent members"

Riverbend talks about Akila because of her job and what she had done in the past. Riverbend says she was one of the decent members on the council. Riverbend also said Akila being shot sent a message that no woman is safe no matter how high up she is. Her being shot was a great deal and it stirred up many questions. Like who would want her dead and why. This lady seemed like she really was the first lady to really go against everyone. She really pushed the envelope. She doesn't wear a hijab, she is a woman with power, and she is a woman in general. I really gotta give props to Akila for what she is did. In a society like that change isn't too big of an idea, so for her to do that must have taken a great deal of heart. I also like how upset Riverbend is getting about it, she really cares about whats going on in her country and that makes her that much impressive.

Burning Rumsfeld

I am choosing to look up Donald Rumsfeld because this is a man in which i hear his name so much in the news and i really have no idea who or what he does. He is the secretary of defense and a Republican politician. He led the US invasion into Afghanistan. So i really don't like what hes doing already and i have only one hard fact on him. Within three hours from when the first plane hit on September 11 Rumsfeld raise the US offensive readiness to Defcon 3. The highest it has been for a 30 years. He also was the one who told the soldiers who were running the Abu Ghraib prisons. That they were to use sleep deprivation techniques if the prisoners did not talk. Mr. Rumsfeld seemed like he was having a good run and then it all kind of crashed on him. I am sure he did some good when he was Secretary of Defense, but he is shadowed with too many negatives to see. I am mentioning Rumsfeld because in Baghdad Burning he is mentioned a great deal because he has a lot to do with whats going on in the book.

Citizenship Symposium

The first speaker that i saw was June Cross. The title of the session was called Secret Daughter. This was at Keene State College. The talk began with a Hispanic lady coming out first to talk, cant remember her name. Then June Cross came out and talked for a bit describing who she was and what we were about to watch. Then she put on the movie. The movie was really interesting, the story was that her mom had been with a black man back in the thirties and thats how June had been born. But her mother doesn't like to talk about the incident. And the whole video was June Cross filming herself and other people talking about what happened. The most interesting thing that i got from this session, was that June Cross's mother never was racist. She grew up to hate different races but she never gave in. But now it seems like she has thrown in the towel. All in all it was good experience and i did take a great deal from it.

Patriarchy

In my opinion i think England and many other countries are ruled by a patriarchal society. I mean a good amount of the worlds leaders are men. Also men have always been the more dominant force. Now I am not saying that its right that men have always had power, but I am merely stating a fact. Patriarchy is prevalent in many other cultures and societies. It's not just England. The way that Woolf talks about men tho is so one sided. I know that the male race has made it hard for women to have power, or to seize some sort of power. But how can you chastise a whole sex. I looked at a past issue of the Boston Globe, and if there was a being from a different planet of course he would think that our society is a patriarchal one. There are so many male politicians and so many males that hold power. In any newspaper, I think that there would be an overwhelming amount of male faces that female. Thats not to say that females don't have power. All in all i think that the dominance of the male population in the world and in the media is very overwhelming but there is always room for change.

Breakin Down The Woolf

This book no doubt is easily up there with the most confusing books to read. There aren't really paragraphs and there aren't really pauses in the reading. Also the chapter is a good twenty one pages long. So if a sophomore in high school would actually have to read this book. I would tell him that this is a book about the hardships of women. And the hardships that she has to go through herself. There are many examples of how the women in the book are not shown the respect that they deserve. For instance the fishing scene and the library scene are perfect examples. She also talks about how poor women are. And to do anything women have to have money. The narrator in this story is always interrupted when she is doing something that she enjoys by a man or figure of authority. This is how i would describe this to my little cousin.

The Worst Thing Ive Ever Read

Ann Coulter is easily the worst person on earth right now. Taking away a womans right to vote. After countless women have did all that work to get women to vote. And now shes is basically throwing it back in their faces. She is a disgrace to all women out there. What was running through her head when she wrote that. Its awful and i dont understand it. The fact that she makes fun of the Democratic party for not having enough men supporting them is ridiculous. If it even is true that the Democratic party is mainly supported by women should make her happy. It means that women actually care aobut politics and they have a voice out there. Reading that post just made my day so much worse thank you Anne Coulter. Thank you for ruining my day.

Cox vs. Zuniga 17B

Id would be more inclined to go with Cox. One because she speaks with a real voice. And by real voice means she doesnt sugar coat anything. The way she speaks about her job and how lazy she was. Its as if she is speaking about everyone whos had a job. I just like her writing. So im sure her blogs would be enjoyable. I think she would be very appealing to alot of younger viewers. Because she sounds like one of us. And it is easier to understand what she is saying so it would make understanding the whole political ordeal alot easier. She is a witty and humerous writer and i enjoyed reading her piece. Its really refreshing to read such a funny piece of writing.

"Skinny F*** You"

This blog caught my eye because of the tite and the content within it. This is a very informative and a very funny blog. Its says that beer is actually good for you and not bad. The point of this blog is to inform the viewers that beer doesnt make you hungry it fills you up. So beer doesnt make you fat, its the when you eat with beer that it starts to make an impact on your body weight. Beer can also relieve a bad hang over and it aleviates stomach aches. Its saying that wine will make you hungry and that will make you more fat with food then beer with food. Because beer fills you up and wine doesnt. This blog is filled with obscene language and random facts, and that what makes it so appealing thing i think.

Jezebel's Evaluation 16 A

Jezebel def. follows a few of the principles that Scoble had laid down. One rule that the site follows is that it posts good and bad news. Its like a tabloid so it has everything in it. Another principle is the human voice. The blog posts on this site are for the people by the people. I havent been a part of this website for too long, but the title is catchy and i dont think it has been changed. They dont hide information either they lay it for everyone to see. They do post the competition, but i dont see it as competition i think its just another form of information. The areas in which this site does not follow Scobles principles are like using the BOGU method and ignoring Slashdot. I dont think the principles of the Corporate weblog manifesto are applicable. It is not applicable because this blog is not trying to sell somethin, its not really a corporate blog its more of a gossip blog. So thats why it is not applicable.

Itos Interview

I like how Joi Ito's blogs serve a purpose. Also he doesnt put out a blog just for the hell of it. Furthermore he writes to learn, hes very open minded. In fact he relishes at the feedback he gets, thats how he has become such a big time player in the blogging community. Along the same i lines i like how he believes that the people should run blogging and blogging shouldnt be run by a machine. Even though people do write blogs many of them just write for themselves as an outlet for them. As a result its not a community blog its a personal one. Therefore ideas arent going to be tossed around as much. Blogging is a huge internet phenomonon, on the other hand it is selling out at a fast rate. It is becoming more 0f a ad space then a place where useful information is being sent. As Ito said "10 years from now the Internet is going to look a lot like cable tv or commercial radio and not the kind of emergent democratic system that it I hope it will be." In short we must help the internet become an outlet for good and not an outlet for advertising.

Big Business vs. Communication

There is a much larger impact of blogging on communication, than there is with blogging in business. Business's do not use blogging as much as communication does. Websites like X'anga and Facebook, and Myspace have huge blogging areas. And more and more people are using them. I dont see how business would profit from blogging. Advertising helps business's not blogging. Blogging is not made for business in my eyes. Yes, its a way for people to communicate their ideas but i dont see that blowing up in the business world. Blogging to some people is the way of the future for big business but i really dont see that happening at all. Blogging will always be more popular and used by teenagers and younger people. It dont think its supposed to be used to profit or make money. Its a way of communicating your ideas and your thoughts. So in the end blogging for communication would come out on top.

The Kenyan Blog

Kenyan Pundit is the blog that i am choosing to talk about. The blog has many different pictures and it has many different topics in which you can blog. The people who blog on this site seem to be very knoweldgeable about the politics in Kenya. Its interesting to see people talk about non american politics. There are topics like books that people have written. Corruption, Aid, Journalism, Economy and many different topics. The blogs on this website are still the way MacKinnon said they were. People are still bashing on the government and they are still criticizing the press. I think it does correspond with the article. Not alot of people know anything else but American politics and its very refreshing to see politics from another point of view and in another country.

Too Much Info

The Ayelet Waldman interview is so personal. Its so awkard taht she would write so much personal information, and shes a big time writer. If you are really that messed up you should go seek help instead of putting on a blog. That may seem like an good outlet for all your trouble. But if you are that messed up then you dont need to blog you need to see a doctor. I guess the good thing about this if there is one is that her husband read it and got back in time to do something about her condition. If anyone else had this problem i guess its good that they can sympathize with her. The big issue that i have that of her children reading this blog. It could be mentally devastating for them and it could lead to problems of their own. She should have kept some of this information to a minimum. It seems a little much.

Parents have the right to monitor and check up on their kids

Parents should be able to monitor what their kids are doing online. Whose right is it to tell a parent what they should and shouldnt let their kids look on the web. If i was a parent i would like to see what my kids have on the computer. "When M gets home from school, he immediately logs on to his computer then he stays there, touching base with the people he has seen all day long, floating in a kind of multitasking heaven of communication." Kids can stay on the computer for a whole day. I know i do that sometimes, its not hard to get sucked into the web. So i think it for a parent it would be better to be more protective, then let their kids be alone on the computer doing what they want. There are boundaries that should be set by parents and i think that being a good parent means watching out for your kids

Interest Statement

My top interests that i have chosen are to me very important topics. Social networking is huge now. Instant Messaging has always been big. Sexism is an increasingly large problem. Urban communties need to be addressed because its a growing problem that people choose to ignore. Refugees have been around for while and that is also a huge problem all over the world. But i would say the most interesting topic that i chose is the Refugees. So i dont think i will have any problem doin this paper.

Blogs vs. Media

There are plenty of things that i question about what Kline and Burstein write about. In our new reading they really contradict what they say. They state on pg. 238 that a "new communications will engender massive change in our society, most especially in the role and power of the traditional mainstream media." Ok so they are saying that bloggin has a chance of over taking the mainstream media such as newspapers and magazines. Which is not the case what so ever. But on later on in the reading they state that mainstream media will merge with the new kind of media (blogging). So which is it. Is blogging going surpass or merge. No way will blogging every surpass the newspaper or magazines. They have been holding strong for many a years. And they arent going anywhere. And as much as Burstein and Kline think that the new generation of teens will do more blogging than reading newspapers and magazines. Think again. Cosmo magazine and Slam Magazine are top selling Magazines for teenagers. They also suggest that blogging and video blogging are "blowing up". Blogging has been around for ages and it hasnt been big so what makes these guys that think that it will blow up now. They just give blogging way to much credit

Opti Free is the way to be.

I looked around my room for a certain brand and its promises, there were so many good ones. But i came across a gold mine. The Opti Free Express Contact Solution. The promise that Opti Free made was "lasting comfort, no rub, comfort that lasts all day." This product does what it says it does. It gives me long lasting comfort all day, i even sometimes forget the contacts are in there (always a bad thing when your trying to take out your contacts and your poking at your eye ball). The "No Rubbing" holds true, i never rub my eyes or ever have to adjust my contacts. And if i ever do its because i have a 15ft eyelashes that get caught in my eye. It also promises that it "cleans, rinses, disinfects, and stores" the contact. The cleaning part theres no way i can test it out but i feels clean when its in there, the rinsing part i have had dust and particles on the contact and the solution washed it away. For the disinfects part i also have no way to test if the contact is sterile but once again it feel like it is and i haven't gotten an infection or anything yet. And the stores aspect. It really does store the contact well and when i take it out to be used the contact feels good. So all in all Opti Free really is the way to be.

Burstein at it again

Burstein never ceases to amaze me. He really thinks that blogging is the future. To me blogging seems outdated and doesnt seem to popular. He also said that alot of people dont believe what they hear or read on the news. Which i dont really understand. I would trust CNN over some right winged nut ranting blogging about how the government is evil. Now dont get me wrong blogging is pretty cool. The way that groups of people can converse or one or more ideas is interesting. I just dont think that its really cutting edge. Its been around for a while and there are different ways for people to commuicate now like youtube or video chatting or instant messaging. personally i think blogging is outdated and its not really going anywhere.

Blogging about politics yes, a presidancy won with the help of blogging I think not.

Blogging about anything will be around for a very long time. Its not only going to be on politics, but on other issues affecting the world. The thought of blogs winning someone the presidency is ridiculous. I think blogs are out there more to let others in on your ideas. Not to sway or convert people. I think its good to talk about politics and discuss but not to try to make people see it your way or tell someone they should vote for this guy just because. Burstein also stated that when its tight the outcome could be decided with the help of blogging. I doubt if the race is close people are going to flock to their computers and blog. I personally think blogging is not that big as the book states it is.