Media Cencorship

In another one of my classes I am writing a paper on media censorship and education.  I would love to hear some of your perspective, as I think it fits in well with the topic of free speech and responsibility as well.  What do you think is a parent's role?  How about the government's role?  And what responsibility does the media itself have?  Is this even something we should be worried about?  

Here is a video to help your thoughts on this get going...

Thanks for your input!

School Shootings and Gun Control

After this past week's school shooting at NIU I have been thinking a lot about this issue of campus violence.  I think there are many causes to these situations and each case is unique but there has to be an answer to all situations.  Some people turn to psychiatric drugs as the blame others turn to the easy access to guns.  The media has been addressing a lot of these various factors.  On our very own campus this week we had a violent robbery.  Who is to say that we are safe on this campus?  It worries me that we do not spend more time and discussion devoted to this topic.  it is obviously becoming a large issue in our society.  What can be done?  What should be done?  I know we have been talking mainly in this class about the 1st amendment, but what about the second?  Are tighter gun laws the answer?  Just something I have been thinking about lately.  Let me know your thoughts.    

What I would fight for...

In class on Wednesday Dave posted a question to us on what we would be willing to really stand up for in our lives.  I have been thinking about this question quite a bit and I have to say I really don't know what I would be willing to stand up to an angry mod for.  One thing that has come to mind are children's rights.  I worked on an Indian reservation in Minnesota with a lot of children who had very little in their lives.  To me things like healthcare, education, food and a safe home are all things children should not have to worry about.  In addition to this experience my brother works for a children's cancer group in our community called Children's Cancer Community.  I'm not quite sure if I would be willing to stand up to an angry mob for these things (maybe for a specific child).  I do think, however, that these things are extremely important and overlooked issues in our world today.  What do you think you would be willing to stand up for? 

The Obama Email

So the last post didn't show the email.  

Here is the majority of the email.  I had to take out the graphics to make it post.  

One of the things I'm most proud of about our campaign is not the amount of money we've raised, but the number of people giving it.

As of this afternoon (Feb. 7th), more then 300,000 people have given in 2008 alone, taking ownership of this campaign by making a donation of whatever they can afford. 

This has never happened before.  No one has ever built a campaign involving so many Americans as true stakeholders.  

It speaks volumes about the kind of campaign we're running, but also about how we want politics to be. 

So many of us have been waiting so long for the time when we could finally expect more from our politics, when we could give more of ourselves and feel truly invested in something bigger than a particular candidate or cause.  

This is it.  We are the ones we have been waiting for.  We are the change that we seek.

...So many people said we would never get here.  

But we're proving every day that ordinary people can still accomplish extraordinary things.  

Thank you, 

Barack  

Obama 08!

I am an Obama supporter.  I think he is the best candidate we see, representing the kind of change we need and want in government.  The only legitimate criticism I have seen of him is his lack of experience.  In my opinion he has plenty of experience necessary to do the job and not enough to be corrupted by the current practices of our government.  To me, the type of campaign he is running is uniquely inspiring.  I received the following email from him and I think it shows the type of uniqueness he holds in his economic practices.  This being my first election I do not know as much as I should about political funding but from what I know Obama seems to be running the cleanest and most supported campaign - two things we need in a candidate.  Here is the email let me know your thoughts on this.  

Yes We Can!

First Post - The Upcoming Election

In thinking about what I wanted to post about I began to think a lot about the upcoming primary elections.  (Probably because I was watching the democratic debate at the time).  I feel like I really do not know as much as I should about the candidates running in this election and I love to hear anyone else's views on these elections, candidates etc.  I found this website called Vote-Smart that seems to have a pretty good amount of information.  If anyone else is interested in this topic and wants to check it out I have explored it a lot and it seems like a really great resource.  Here is a video about who they are and what they do.  Enjoy and let me know what you think of the site.