Dirty Tears

This is a photo of my younger sister, Aleea. I didn't know if were supposed to title it so I did; it's called "Dirty Tears." 

The Line Between Respect and Agreement

So, my article that I read was about how at a town hall Q-and-A session with John McCain at Lakeville High School, many of the people there to see McCain got angry when they were told to "respect the opponent." McCain was put in the position of having to defend a candidate who's currently beating him in the polls.

I think what McCain did here was very noble. He could have egged on his supporters, telling them that Obama indeed was a Muslim terrorist. Instead, he did the right thing and told his supporters to calm down and "don't reduce their ferocity, but be respectful." 

It makes me wonder if Obama would have the guts to do the same thing. I think he would, but at the same time, how greedy is he for followers? I guess we'll never find out unless the situation arises. I doubt it will, but if it does, I'll be the first person to tell you what went down. (:

Link to my article: http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/30747614.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUs

OJ Simpson Found Guilty?

Yes, you read that correctly. The famously-acquitted ex football player was found guilty not of murder, but of robbing two people at gunpoint. Simpson was charged with twelve counts and was convicted of all of them. I think it's kind of ironic that this would happen. After being proved innocent of murder, THIS is what Simpson gets put in jail for. If you already had such a close call, why would you even think of doing something like that? Any little crime would get him put away. 

Obviously, we were all young when the first OJ Simpson trial happened, so I didn't follow it closely. I don't have an opinion on whether or not he did it, but my view is that if he didn't do it, who did? Simpson having killed his wife and her friend is the only logical answer I can think of. The courtroom is an interesting thing; when you think something's going to go one way, it completely flips and goes the other way. I did mock trial last year, and it was so difficult! It helped me narrow down career choices though, now I know I can NEVER be a lawyer. Ever. Here's a link to the article I read: http://news.aol.com/article/simpson-found-guilty-on-all-charges/199173

Response to Question 3

I think that the concept of Kleos is not at all relevant to modern-day life, for two reasons. One is that happiness is what defines your life, not glory, and the second is that achieving glory in war doesn't do the same thing that it did back in Homer's time. 

Happiness today is what defines the quality of someone's life.  Someone living in poverty isn't likely to be as happy as someone with a stable financial system. While Odysseus was with Circe on her island, he was happy; that's why he stayed there. His life was good while living on Circe's island because he had everything he needed. Another example of this is seen in Penelope. She's been waiting for Odysseus to return for twenty years and is extremely depressed about him not being there. The grief in her life and waiting for Odysseus is causing her life to be extremely low-quality. 

Our country is in war today; I think we can all agree with that statement. Do we ever really hear of soldiers coming back from war and achieving ultimate fame and glory for what they've done overseas? From what I've seen of our country, my opinion is that most of the country doesn't support the war! Odysseus receives the utmost glory from his people after returning from war. He is showered in gifts, offered places to stay, and everyone loves him. However, it's not so much the same in our day-to-day lives. I read an article from an Atlanta-based newspaper about a division returning home. It was about a paragraph long and didn't even mention the soldiers by name. (The link at the bottom of this page is to the article if you'd like to read it). In the span of a few thousand years, we've gone from nearly worshipping our generals and soldiers to treating like they're extremely common and almost saying that their good deeds are useless.

Although Kleos was a very good way of living in Homer's time, I think it would be completely irrelevant and useless in today's society. How could we live off of getting glory when nobody even gives it anymore?

http://gpbnews.blogspot.com/2008/09/soldiers-return-from-iraq.html