Blog Question #1

In the play All My Sons, it is necessary for many of the characters to make life-altering decisions between family and society. Joe Keller is forced to choose whether or not to send out cracked cylinder heads. Sending them out would keep business running as usual, but would result in the crashing of airplanes. Not sending them out, however, would create a good moral standard for his children, but would halt business significantly. Keller chooses to send out the cylinder heads. He chose the greater society over his family.

Personally, I think it depends on the context of the situation whether or not family is greater than the society. If you know for a fact that your family is a clan of mass-murderers stalking and killing random people, then it's obviously a good thing to turn them in. It wouldn't be easy since they're your family, but it would be a good thing. However, if you knew that one of your parents was beating your sibling, choosing whether or not to turn them in would be an even more strenuous decision to make. What good does turning in a parent do for the greater society in that situation? The doubts go on and on, and it could eventually result either way. Overall, I think that family is extremely important, but if they're hurting the society drastically, it's better to think of society first.

Infuriating.

The movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou" really caught my interest and probed me to do some further research into a lot of the topics that came up in it. I'm not going to lie to you; I'm a curious person. Over the past few days, I've been doing a lot of research on the KKK and what they believe in. Again, the only reason I was looking at this is purely curiosity; I like to learn things. On their website, I came across an article titled "What Are YOU Watching On TV?" in their "Just for Kids" section. The article was written by a girl who looked to be about twelve or thirteen. The main idea of the article was about how many television shows on TV are promoting race-mixing, and how that's very bad. The article also talks about how there are so many television shows with African-American main characters and how appalling that is. What's appalling to me is how easily brainwashed children today are. Honestly, reading that article left me completely speechless. I have so many things to say to whoever that girl's parents are. I understand that the way we're raised by our parents has a huge influence on the people we'll become in the future, but how can you be so brainwashed into thinking that every race besides Caucasian and every religion besides Christianity is unacceptable? I know people who have racist parents or grandparents, and those people aren't racist at all. It's extremely possible to deviate from what your adults in your life tell you. Why are there so many children out there being talked into thinking that the complete hatred of everyone but your own kind is 100% right. I'm not going to get too into the religious aspect of the KKK. However, I will say that there are a plethora of Bible verses telling you to love thy neighbor as thyself. If the KKK is so Christianity-oriented, maybe they should listen to the most set-in-stone thing the Christian religion has. 

Here is a link to the article I read: http://www.kkk.bz/whatareyouwatching.htm

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

Politically Correct.

I'm probably not the first person to blog about politics. I'm relatively interested in politics. Even though I'm young, I still have a view on politics.

I was reading an article from the Star Tribune tonight about the political debates taking place tonight. I'm actually rather disappointed that I won't be able to watch the debates; I'm taping them though. I'm really excited to see how they turn out. As of now, my vote (if I had one) would be leaning towards Obama. Maybe it's just because I'm usually more towards the liberal side in my views of political issues. Or, maybe Obama is just more appealing to me because of his contemporary act he puts on.

My goal is to be able to have a legitimate view on politics by the time election rolls around. I've heard that Edina's doing this thing called Kids Vote. At the polls, if parents bring their kids with, the kids can cast their vote and we can see who the kids would've voted for...that doesn't just include fifth graders, it's us too! Now I can legitimately support the vote, and I'll vote too! That's very satisfying for me. I've always told people to vote, but I've never been able to support my own words because the law forces me to be quiet. I'm excited to finally get to voice my opinion, even if it's in the least of ways.


http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/president/29810549.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUX

First Entry

SUPER YAYS!!1

My blog works. Awesome possum!

So I'm supposed to write an entry blog post...here goes.

WELCOME TO MY SUPER DUPER BLOGGY THING.

This blog will be about me reading short pieces of literature, and responding to them.

Party time.

I think that's somewhere around five to ten lines. Awesome.

(: