music to my ears

In America nothing is sweeter than the sound of a melody floating through the air, or in some cases the sound of some hard core screamo. In the land of the free, music is probably one of the most unified things we can identify with. Everybody listens to music. Now that is pretty much where it ends. After that people will argue on the genre, the artist, the musicians, the lyrics, the song itself, all the way down to which radio station, or what type of headphones provide the best sound, or even what brand of mp3 player. All the time its music, music, music.
Music in America really is a great thing. As a nation we all enjoy listening to music- country or rock, pop or screamo, oldies or techno, we all have our preferences. Music is a great unifier. Something that allows us to express ourselves as individuals, yet connect with each other as a whole. We idolize music artists. We stand in line for them to sign our heads, or pay hundreds of dollars to get standing room at one of their concerts. We have some of the best music schools in the world and orchestras and artists to match. Some of the most universally renowned musicians come from America. Maybe it’s not all a good thing (think Brittany Spears) but everybody does know who she is. Or Michael Jackson, all over the world his albums are some of the most popular ever for his creative lyrics and sound effects.
Music is probably also one of our greatest downfalls. Teachers can’t keep kids from using them in class and kids often have them blaring loud enough to blow out their eardrums in three uses. i-pods are one of the most commonly stolen items in schools and locker rooms. As a nation we adore music. We have songs about our country and songs about religion. We have songs to represent ourselves individually and as a unit. Music is America.

bringin' home the bacon

As jobs become scarcer, people are getting a little anxious. The stock market reached 10,000 points this past week. This is about where it was before it dropped. I heard reported on the news this week that reaching 10,000 on the way up was a lot more fun than when we hit it on the way down. Now just looking at a picture this feels great. We have recovered. We reached where we were pre-stock crash. The only problem is we are here post-crash. We may have recovered financially but I think it will be a while until we really start feeling the effects. I think just as the affects of the crash were late in coming, I think the relief and the affects of the recovery will be just as late if not much later. This however is no comfort, as many people continue to feel the effects. Jobs are basically obsolete, houses are not selling, and loans are a practical luxury. To some of us the crash has not really affected us. You might even think that is already over. You don’t really feel like it has hit you. I know I feel like that sometimes. Then I have to remember to look around. I bet every single person can think of at least one person who has been affected. I know I can. Think of someone who has either lost their job, taken a pay cut, lost most of their hours, or who have been moved to part time. People are searching frantically for jobs. Unemployment benefits are reduced and finding money to take care of expenses is a hassle. This is an especially difficult time with the swine flu going around. If you don’t have an income it is hard to pay medical bills, especially if you need some sort of anti-viral medication. Another major factor is that the holiday season is coming up and if you don’t see a future income I can understand how it would be easy not to see a happy future holiday season.

thinkopoly...

What is a monopoly? A monopoly is a company that has the entire control over a certain product, brand, market, area, or even another company. Like one of our favorite games- Monopoly, where the whole idea of the game is to gain control of ALL the other properties.

Monopolies are the basis of America. We live off monopolies. Think about it. We have McDonalds, Wal-Mart, Pepsico®, and Mars®. We think we get all sorts of different brands. We think we are drinking Gatorade, but did you know Gatorade is owned by Quaker Oats? and did you know that Quaker oats is owned by Pepsico? Bet not. The charts at the bottom of the post are helpful in understanding a few of the huge companies in our nation. Now so far I've only stated a fact: that our country has a lot of monopolies. To elaborate on that point I have to say that it can be a good or a bad thing. A good thing is that it is better for the economy, in I some ways. Its great that we can have a huge multi billion dollar company that can help employ people and enable people to have a huge source of money flowing through the economy. The bad thing for the economy is that it monopolizes all the business. It is much harder for an upstart company to gain a market and clientele when it is all going to the monopoly. It is also bad for the consumer because this means that the product is totally controlled by the company, meaning the consumer has to pay pretty much whatever the company charges. They might also not get the kind a service or quality they want if all they get is what's available. As Americans you would think that there would be less monopolies. More monopolies = less choice. That is something that Americans hate. To us, the more choice the better.

I'll take a a 'peace' of that prize...

President Obama received the Nobel Peace prize today. Many say that the prize has been awarded to soon, and the Nobel committee even agrees! They are hoping that this award is more of an encouragement in the direction of peace, rather than to award something he has already done.

I personally think it was a very poor decision, I don't think he has done anything that he deserves it for. It is actually worse for the president I think. It sets the standard extremely high, and it sets the president up for failure. I also think he should not be awarded because he is the president. It is the job of the president to create peace. This president has not done much more than many others to set the tone for peace. It seems nonsensical to reward the very person we expect to set a peaceful tone.

Thorbjoern Jagland, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, does agree that the war in Iraq and Afghanistan was great concern when considering Obama for the award, but was reassured when the Obama administration immediately reassessed the situation, and changed their strategy. Many world leaders commended Obama for his achievement, while others think its premature and much too early to predict how things will go. In his speech, Obama said that he was humbled to be apart of this great community of people, made up of the previous winners. He plans to travel Oslo to accept the prize.

I think that we should be careful of how much we expect of this- I don't think we will know what kind of problem we've got ourselves into. We have put all our faith into one man and one administration. We can't expect everything to change in one term. It will take time. And time, I'm afraid, is running out almost as fast as our money.

"I intend to leave after my death a large fund for the promotion of the peace idea, but I am skeptical as to its results."
Alfred Nobel

Re: Chicago, 2016

And the winner is...... Rio de Janeiro! The decision was made in Denmark this week that the Summer Olympics will be held in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Its disappointing in some ways and a little exciting in others. The exciting part is that the Olympics have never been held in South America and the city is very beautiful and perfect for the season. The disappointing part is that it would have been so fun to have it in Midwest America. To bring people from all around the world to the heart of America and let them see it.

President Obama and Michelle went to Copenhagen themselves to promote their hometowns bid for the 2016 olympic host. They, along with the entire city of chicago were very disappointed that they did not win.

My personal opinion is that there may have been some anti-America sentiment. It seems like other countries gang up on us. The fact that Chicago was so low in the scores says a lot I think. Its like the other countries represented on the Olympic Committee were against the idea of having the Olympics in America. Of course it is only fair that other countries get to host the olypics too, Its just that, well, I don't know. It seems especially worse for some reason. Like the other countries just don't like us having an advantage, or having something they don't. America isn't very popular right now in other countries. It seems best for us just to lay low for a while.

Although I'm disappointed I'm still excited that the Olympics will be held in beautiful Rio, and I'm excited that other countries will have th opportunity to host the games. I can't wait to see how everyone does. And in the mean time, the first Youth Olympics are going to be held in Singapore, 2010. (for ages 14-18)

Well, now I'm really excited. Guess I'll just have to wait with everyone else.

~K.C.

X marks the spot...

Malcolm X- considered one of the most influential human rights activists of the 20th century on African American rights, he ranks right up there with Martin Luther King Jr.

He was born in Omaha, Nebraska on May 19, 1925 as Malcolm Little. (He changed his last name to 'X' later on in life after he became a member of the Nation of Islam.) He was raised in foster homes most of his life, after his dad was murdered and his mom was admitted to a mental hospital. In the 40's he was involved in some hustling and other criminal activities and was sentenced to 8 -10 years in prison. During his imprisonment he became a member of the nation of Islam. He changed his name to 'X' like many other black Muslims of the time because they believed it represented the name of their true African ancestors.

In some sense, Malcolm X was sort of the "anti-Martin L. K." because he spoke against the non-violence teachings, saying African Americans should be able to protect them selves however they can. He also believed in segregation, even going so far as to say that Black people should have their own nation. He was strongly against white people. He believed that they were devils, and that the demise of their race was eminent.

Later in life he married Betty X and had 6 daughters Attallah, Quibilah, Ilyasah, Gamilah Lumumba, and twins Malaak, and Malikah, who were born after Malcolms assassination in 1965.

It is hard to describe your feelings toward Malcolm X. He had the right sentiments, but he was wrong. True, white people are not better that black people, but black people are not better than white people. White people are not devils, and black people are not sovereigns, we are all equal. That was the part the Malcolm X did not understand. He had the wrong vision for the world.

Through it all though he was very influential, and had the ability to mold a whole group of people.

~K.C.

turmultuous times

Today is the one year anniversary of the 2008 stock market crash. The market dropped a total of 778 points- causing unemployment to go up to 9.8%! As a nation, we are in a crisis and I don't think anyone is prepared for the year to come- It will only get worse before it gets better according to economists today. People are finding it much more difficult to find work and are taking anything they can get. I personally don't feel that affected by it, but I know I am. Little things, like the price on bread and milk stay pretty much the same: people are consuming that just as much as ever, But other things such as housing prices, car insurance, all those less stable, "extra" things are just getting worse. You cant get a loan, you can't get a house, you cant even get a job. I of course, am no expert but I do know that we need to raise the value of our dollar, especially in Europe. We live in one of the wealthiest nations in the world, yet we owe so much money!

I'm hoping the market will be back to normal by at least 2012, which I think is long, but realistic unfortunately. This really frustrates me because it seems like our nation can't fix anything! We continue to spend money that we don't have. If we could work on getting out of debt, then we could really start fixing our problems (which there are many of ).

Reading about Alexander Hamilton, the father of our national debt, as he has been affectionately dubbed, we learn that he created the national debt on purpose, yes, thats right... on purpose. He believed that the more people the government owes money to, the more it would unite the people- the more personal a stake they would have in the success, or failure, of the new republic. Of course it worked, its just that for all his fiscal genius, he didn't think about what it would do to us later.

Oh well, thats too much for me to dwell on right now.

~K.C.

Chicago, 2016

2016: the date for the next summer Olympics is ready, but we just don't know where it will be. A few cities have made it to the finals, Chicago being one of them. I don't really know why I'm writing about this other than the fact that it would be amazing! It is just what America needs to raise the bar on what others think of us. It would bring everyone to the heart of America - the Midwest.

The finalists for 2016 are Tokyo, Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, and Madrid. I think the two most likely to get it would be Rio, because they have never had an Olympics in S. America, and Chicago because, well, just because I think it would be a good place to have it.

The Olympic committee is meeting in Copenhagen Denmark Oct. 2 to decide on the final city. President Obama will be meeting them there to promote his hometown.

The modern Olympic games started in 1796, in revolutionary France. This was very significant because it introduced the metric system into sports. Other than these obvious historic facts, the Olympic games have always been important because of how they connect the countries and keep them tied together. No matter whats going on in the world the countries always get together to enjoy and compete in the Olympics. For example: during WWII Hitler even came and competed with the countries he was fighting against. To be included in the Olympics is to be accepted into the "clan". It's also significant to see who gets picked to host the games. It can often show bias(etc...) about who is chosen. The games are a very serious thing among the nations. It is our way of competing, showing out strength without starting a war.

No matter what this is something we can all get together and do together. It will be interesting to see who gets picked to host the games in 2016.

I'll follow up later-

~K.C.

"O say can you read..."

Tests, tests, tests.... Do we put too much pressure on our kids to do well in government testing? We have the ITBS, the ITEDS, the ACT and the SAT, the PLAN test, and the PSAT.... we pack these tests into a very short period of time- more than most can handle. Of course they do handle it, many of them very well actually.

In this month of October alone there is the ITEDs-Oct. 6-9 ~ the high school general testing where the government views the Junior year scores. Also for juniors is the PSAT- Oct. 17~ makes them applicants for National Merit Scholars, and finally the ACT- Oct. 24 ~ which allows them into colleges. All these tests are packed in for studying and testing. After a while your eyes are permanently seeing bubble-sheets!

National testing is important for some reasons. It does give a good picture of how are students are doing, but there are definitely more accurate ways of telling.

National tests are so time consuming and boring. Did you know that when your body feels like it is put in an emergency or a stressful situation, it shuts down? It releases adrenaline to give you energy, but it turns off everything else that is taking up extra energy. For example- your digestive system. When you are taking a test that you are unsure of or aren't prepared for (stressed) your body stops digesting food, among other things. Your body needs to be focused and unstressed- we should definitely be looking for alternatives.

I guess I'm just trying to say we shouldn't put so much emphasis on tests that don't give us the best picture of our students abilities. Other options may be a teacher writing up grade and behavior analysis types of papers, using the people around theses students everyday, who know the students, to give them the best picture of their abilities.

Looking from the practical side though, I understand testing is the cheapest and easiest way. It's also the most fair and unfair way to learn about the students. Its fair in the way that every student gets the same test and they get compared to people who took the same test. Its unfair in the way that it is not matched for each individual person.\

With such a capable nation it seems like we could come up with better ideas.

~K.C.

to be, or not to be...

That is the million dollar question. Does our country have morals? Values? Beliefs? Many say yes, many say no. So which is it? How can we tell?

mor⋅al
–adjective
1.
of, pertaining to, or concerned with the principles or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong; ethical: moral attitudes.

2.
expressing or conveying truths or counsel as to right conduct, as a speaker or a literary work; moralizing: a moral novel.

3.
founded on the fundamental principles of right conduct rather than on legalities, enactment, or custom: moral obligations.

4.
capable of conforming to the rules of right conduct: a moral being.

5.
conforming to the rules of right conduct (opposed to immoral ): a moral man.

6.
virtuous in sexual matters; chaste.

7.
of, pertaining to, or acting on the mind, feelings, will, or character *derived from personal conscience*: moral support.


8.
resting upon convincing grounds of probability; virtual: a moral certainty.
*taken from the Encarta Dictionary: English (North American)

morals. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved September 22, 2009, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/morals


Well I believe as a country we do have morals. We do value things. Maybe not always the right thing or have the right morals, but we do have a strong sense of right and wrong, justice and bias. Compared to other countries we do have a fair country for the most part. We always have a few that slip through the system, and we always have the corrupt and the conspirators and the terrorists, but our country was founded on checks and balances that keep our government accountable. On a set of religious principles that believe in loving each other, taking care of one another, and following ideals to serve one god together, to be a leader among nations. In the past (and I mean the way, way past) we have been known as an independent people. To trust yourself, to believe in yourself, to have a sense of your own rightness, your own beliefs and values- yet we still keep each other accountable. We still expect each other to follow the laws and to respect the rights of others. No matter how independent we get, the boundaries of our independence are still based on the rights of others. So how can a nation so intent on being their own, being independent, each individual having their own beliefs, be so caught up on helping each other? [I’m not saying its wrong to help others, I’m just playing devils advocate here] WE, the people of the United States of America, who want liberty and justice, who want national healthcare plans for ALL, want to be independent and only looking out for number one. It seems rather contradictory here. The definition itself contradicts the different meanings. In the dictionary definitions number 5, it says that we conform to the rules of right conduct of society. As a nation that is so proud of our morals and our nonconformity, we have a lot to think about.

"Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right."
Isaac Asimov
US science fiction novelist & scholar (1920 -1992)

This might be a topic for another time as well… who knows?

~K.C.

The Baucus bogus

Governor Max Baucus announced his health care plan on Wednesday, stirring up the opposition in the Senate. His plan is predicted to cost $856 billion dollars over a period of 10 years. According to The price tag the Congressional budget office priced it at it will have a total savings of $49 billion on the deficit over the 10 year period. The Bill will make it mandatory to have health insurance, fining anyone who does not. It also places restrictions on the Insurance companies, not allowing them to put as many restrictions on their health care and selling it online so it’s easier to price, compare and buy. Although the bill is meeting a lot of opposition right now, mostly from GOP side, Baucus is convinced that it will eventually win over the republicans. The bill has been widely accepted by most liberals, it meets most of the requirements Pres. Obama laid out last week, but more conservative senators are not agreeing with the bill. Although most people consider this an urgent matter, this is sure to heat the floors of the senate for some time to come.

This bill is, well it’s not so great if you ask me. Although it was made to support the lower and middle class families I don’t think it can do much for them in the long run. The bill is expensive, spending money we don’t have, keeping our nation in debt and laying the burden on future generations. Second, it places restrictions on the people. Although this is potentially helpful and everyone should have health care, it’s not right to force anyone to have it and fine them if they don’t. And thirdly, it places restrictions on the private business owners. Although in this time we often view the insurance companies as the enemy, we need to remember they are not. They are normal American citizens, who are living the American dream, running their own business and succeeding at it. Although insurance is expensive, we can’t be cheating them out of their right as a business owner to set their own prices for their own services. Congress doesn’t tell McDonalds how much to sell their Big Macs for and to who, it’s their right to sell it to who they want. Restricting the private business owner isn’t fair, especially when you’re just targeting a certain kind of business. Congress should try to keep it simple. (Easier said than done) but if you think just the basics, start there and you can work your way up. They don’t have to try and cover everyone first try, just take it one step at a time.

~K.C.