Art and Censorship

Although I am not an artist myself this weeks discussion of art and obscenity has really got me thinking.  I really do not understand why people need to get so offended by others people's art.  If it is offensive to them then why are they looking at it.  No piece of art appeals to everyone so why do people feel that if a piece of art does not appeal to them they should have the right to make it unable to be shown.  In our class discussion we got onto the subject of money and I really think that money has a lot to do with these types of situations.  When people contribute to certain causes they want to see that cause using the money in ways they like.  I understand contributors to an organization should have a right to voice their opinions about how their money is spent but this type of manipulation for personal values is wrong.  I really wish money wasn't such a huge factor in world and people could just act on their values and not the values of their bank account.   

'The Ashley Treatment'

I was looking on CNN and found this article.  I'm not 100% sure how it has to do with free speech but I think it is really interesting.  The article describes the actions of two parents who made a very controversial decision about the care of their ten year old mentally disabled daughter.  Their daughter was born with brain-damage and a condition described as static encephalopathy, or cerebral palsy.  Ashley's parents made the decision to preform controversial growth-attenuation therapy.  This surgery treatment prohibited the growth hormone making it easier for the caregivers to take care of this young girl.  Ashley will never walk or talk and doctors who perform these treatments feel that it makes a significant impact on the caregivers ability to provide a quality life.  Although this treatment is done by doctors through out the country it was particularly controversial in this case because it was illegal in the state where it was done and the doctor who performed the treatment committed suicide in the year after.  This case was published in a medical journal but did not gain more wide spread attention until the family posted their account of the situation on their blog.  Their hope was to inform more parents on this possible treatment but instead they gained a lot of negative attention from people who did not agree what they have done.  Like I said I'm not sure how exactly this would relate to free speech but I think it is interesting.  Let me know what you think about this controversial case.  

Money, Politics and Control

In this past week's seminar my group got to talking about how free speech can be predicted by money.  How often to we get to here the views of the minorities or poorer populations.  Looking at any major part of our culture the most dominate people (the ones with the loudest voice) tend to be those with the most money and power.    

As a Barrack Obama supporter I think it is amazing that he raised more then $55 million in the month of February.  In addition to that I think it is incredibly important to note that %90 of this money was raised through donations of less than $100.  To me this is inspiring because it shows where his allegiances lie and it seems to be in the people who generally do not have a voice in politics.  Do you think this important?  Does it matter where a campaign gets its money?  If so, is this the best/worst way?  I haven't been following politics for very long so I love to hear perspectives from others.    

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