Seminars: I love the seminars, and I think they are a great place to share our opinions and questions in an intimate setting. My group only has about 5 or 6 people, which makes it a great setting for discussion. We all have time to share our opinions and no one is overwhelmed by the size of a large class. I am not shy at all, but sometimes I find myself not speaking up because I am unsure if I truly understand the topic. One of the goals I’m making for myself is to be able to be just as open in the regular class as I am in seminars, because I believe that in classes the more you put out is the more you will receive in terms of learning.
Beyond the Text
This picture really speaks to me. It’s a picture of a woman crying, holding the flag, celebrating the resignation of Mubarak. There isn’t much I can say about this picture other than it shows raw emotion and how happy she was that she started to cry. The Egyptians have been so inspiring with these protests, and to see them get what they wanted is so powerful.
Media & Question
Minor Story – “Inmate says B.C. jail removed teeth without consent, now won’t provide dentures”
This story really angered me. It’s about a man in jail who doesn’t speak a lot of English. He had 10 teeth and dentures when he entered jail, and he was put under anaesthetic and had his teeth removed. He now can’t eat anything except soup and milk, and they will not approve his request for new dentures.
How they can get away with this appalls me. I would like to know the reason behind taking his teeth, and whether or not it was health related. I hope to find out more about this story and I hope that they do indeed supply him with new dentures.
http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/cponline/stories/n5940983.html
Major Story – “As Mubarak departs, questions about what comes next”
Mubarak has left. What an amazing feat for the people of Egypt. As one man says, “This is the greatest day in the history of Egypt”. This article is questioning what will happen to Egypt now. Will it come under military rule? What is the army’s plan? It is said that the army understands the mission ahead of it is civilian rule. The article says that there may be trouble on Saturday “yesterday”, as the protestors say they are staying until the state of emergency laws are lifted, but the army won’t lift them until the protestors clear the square.
This leads to my question: what WILL happen to Egypt? It’s an optimistic view, but I feel that after all they have gone through with these protests and how strong they have become as a unit, I don’t think they are going to settle for another ruler that they aren’t happy with. I think people are now realizing that Egypt is a force to be reckoned with, and they won’t give up without a fight.
Classmate’s Blogs
It was really interesting to take a look at what other people are doing in the class and how they have their blogs laid out. The blogs I commented on were:
Nicholle Carpentier’s- her “Beyond the text” picture of the American flag with the logos of big corporations replacing the stars was really interesting. It goes to show what is the focus of people nowadays.
Briana Hartley’s- she had an article about the dolphin slaughters in Japan. I’ve heard of this through the years but never knew any hard facts or truths, and this article that she found was very intense. I agree strongly with her opinion that this story needs to be more mainstream.
Brad Tierney’s- his article about “Gay Bashing in Kenya and America” really stuck out to me. I believe that homophobia comes from ignorance, and I agree with his views that those priests who say that being gay is immoral have that opinion to themselves and it is not the opinion of the whole church.
Peter LaMarre’s- his post about Television and Identity was really great. I always find myself questioning why myself and others watch shows about other people’s lives when we have our own to live. He also had really interesting art that related to his post.
Likda Morash’s – she has a picture of an Egyptian soccer player kicking Mubarak out. I love the message of the picture, it’s so inspiring as she says to see the progress that the Egyptians have made.
Reflection February 6, 2011
I thought the most interesting part of Dr. Adamsons lecture was how much government plays a role in our life, yet a lot of us still don’t take an interest. I hadn’t really ever thought about how much the government is involved without life. They decide basically everything that is in our life, from our food to our media. I am not registered to vote, but I am going to register next time I am home. I used to say I was just going to vote Liberal because at the time I liked the leader the best, but I am actually going to research what they believe in and what they stand for. I think that it’s really important for my generation to start caring so we can shape our world.
Research Quest – Al Jazeera
I have been looking at a few sites to try to figure out why Al Jazeera isn’t played in the States, and the conclusion I have come to is that Al Jazeera hasn’t sugar-coated any news story. They show what is happening, even if it is violent, and that can be a bad thing for America. It showed coverage of the war in Afghanistan after 9/11, and that caused a lot of problems because it was showing what the USA wanted to be show. I think that with the style of journalism that Al Jazeera uses, it is a threat to America. Not allowing it to be shown is a real disadvantage for Americans who want to be connected to the world and have up to date information about these conflicts. Thank goodness for the online video streams, so it is still accessible.
Jasmine Revolution: Al Jazeera was a breath of fresh air when it came to covering the Jasmine Revolution, as the US news channels were basically ignoring it and focusing on things happening on their own soil. Al Jazeera had full coverage o the story, and with this media attention to it, enabled the revolution to have a huge support base. Without Al Jazeera, the support may not have been there.
BBC and Al Jazeera: I was very interested to find out the connection between these two, and why Al Jazeera is staffed with some former BBC staff. I found out that BBC had a channel called BBC Arabic Television. There were many problems with the backing of this program, and eventually it was done with. Many of the staff felt like it was unfair to deny Arabs of their own show that was modeled for their culture, so Al Jazeera was born. The staff was mainly senor staff from BBC Arabic Television, and the rest is history, Al Jazeera is a hit!
I think it’s great that they persisted, because I can only imagine how frustrating it would be to have to look at the news through the eyes of other cultures. Al Jazeera has only been brought to my attention this year but I think it’s an excellent news source, and a reliable one at that.
Question of the Week
This week we were supposed to ask a question that could be presented to Dr Adamson about the media.
Without media, would any protests or organizations have any standing?
The reason I ask is because if you think about it, if a group of people protest for something but no one knows about it, would it still have an impact on the world? Would it have even happened in the first place? Of course the protests or organizations may make a difference, but if they have no standing behind them, how far can their cause go? I know that media can sometimes play a negative role in the world, but in my opinion, only with media coverage can a real cause be made.
News Stories
Minor News Story
http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/1226151.html
This article is titled “Essay for Sale: $100 cure for writers block”. It is about a student at SMU who connects students to writers with a PhD who then write the paper for the students, ranging from 100-600 dollars. He makes a profit off these papers, and says he’s not doing anything against the law, if the students decide to hand in the paper they were sent by him, that’s their decision. I know this isn’t breaking news, but it does have an impact. People who are going to buy an essay for 100 dollars are really going to have a disadvantage in life. You can’t buy hard work, and without learning those tools, how will you survive in the working world? I read some of the comments on this article and one of them was asking why profs don’t ask for a handwritten outline, including jot notes and sources, which would be quite effective in avoiding plagiarism. Plagiarism has always been scary to me, because as an English major I write a lot of essays, and I’m always worried I will cite incorrectly or forget quotations and get nailed. That’s part of the process though, to be very critical of your work and make sure it is all your own and everything is cited properly. It just bothers me a lot that there are people out there receiving “A”‘s for spending money on a paper.
Major Story
This story is titled “Egypt’s regime makes new concessions”. It talks about the new direction that the regime is taking. They are talking about eventually ending the emergency laws in Egypt, which is a big deal. The protesters are happy with this, but they will not stop until they get their number one goal acheived; to get Mubarak to step down. Mubarak has said he doesn’t want to leave suddenly as this will cause chaos, and instead offereded the fact that he won’t run for re-election, and his son won’t run for office. The protestors aren’t satisfied with this, they want him gone. I admire the fact that although it must be very hard to be the opposition for this long, they keep fighting for what they want and they won’t give in to a plan B.
Beyond the Text
Nickelback – If Everyone Cared
I hate to bring a Nickelback video into the mix, but I really love the video for this song. I was inspired by the blog entry last week with the “World on Fire” video, as it reminded me of this one. This song may not be the best, but watching the video and reading the stories really inspires me and upsets me at the same time. The reoccuring theme of the video is that all of these amazing protests/organizations happened because one person decided that something wasn’t right, and wanted to make a change. This gives me hope, because all it really takes to make an impact in the world is one dedicated person. It also upsets me because people have been told their whole life “you can make a difference”, but not many of us use that tool. Of course, donating money or volunteering for a cause helps, but we don’t realize the huge impact we can make. If we make our mind up to do something, there is no stopping us. I have faith for the future generations as long as people are taught that one person can make a huge difference.
stephbb 