Last Post..? hope not

I dont think this will be my last post... But i have a feeling it will be the last time anyone from CSUMB takes a look at it... if they do at all. I hope some of my post created dialogue about free speech issues but most of all I hope you like my silly cartoons. I am not the best artist but i hope they were relavant to our topics. thanks for reading! do i hear bugs chirping? is the room empty?

Is our media creating the future?

Have any of you been hearing in the news how Hillary’s top advisors reported that she would bow out of the primaries after the next states vote? At first I thought “Wow Hillary is finally throwing in the towel.” But then I thought a little more critically about the meaning of what was being said. Does it really matter if she really plans to quit? If the news is reporting that she is going to drop out in a week then her funding will certainly be cut off. Is this fair or is it really shady? I happen to be an Obama supporter but I hate when the media interferes with something that is supposed to be decided by the people.

NPR has been reporting that the Chinese government is being very secretive about the Olympic torch reaching Mount Everest's summit. I heard on the radio that reporters were told that if they wanted to be present for the event, they had to get to Everest without any time to acclimate. The secrecy of the Chinese government does not surprise me since I lived in china before I attended CSUMB.
I spent nine months living in Beijing China and it was like no other place I have ever visited. I felt very safe wherever I went because nearly the entire city is gated with guards and police everywhere. I suppose it is not as oppressive as it once was during Mau’s time but speaking your thoughts in public is simply not something done casually. Watching the nightly news is also a shock since there is rarely any bad new reported. I know how many Americans wish the nightly news was happier but there is a high cost.
Have any of you ever felt unsafe to speak your mind? If you censored yourself, how did it feel?

Are they whispering in your ear?

This morning on my way to class I was listening to a discussion on NPR about the controversy over Barack Obama calling Midwesterners “bitter”. of course they are bitter- so am I! the economy is falling apart and thousands of people are losing their homes. Just drive along any neighborhood and look for the dead lawns… its very sad.
Getting back to my thought…What I really wanted to talk about is how all this coverage over what Obama said is unusually fishy. The NPR host said that “polls” (I don’t know which ones- nothing new) show that the American public is not phased over what Obama said yet the press is treating it like the white water scandal. Is the media trying to manipulate us? Sure looks like it. Kinda makes you think about what we covered in class today… Are the big media conglomerates threatened by Obama? Hmmmm…

You can write whatever you want. But is it right?

I look at the last time I posted and it has been a long time. I find things that I want to post and then I think twice about it because I don’t want to offend my fellow classmates. But the same thing isn’t true for some of you. Even though we see each other two times a week in class, some of you fail to recognize the diversity of the classroom or just don’t care. Outside of class I don’t get enjoyment out of reading blogs, articles, watching fox news when what is being discussed is how there is something wrong with my ethnicity, my class or my other characteristics. I pay for this education! Be aware that not everyone agrees with you. And if you hate someone because you have been wronged do not generalize and hate whole groups. Where do we draw the line? Isn’t this a free speech and Responsibility class? Just remember that there is one person in your class who has been affected by your negative posts- Me! If you don’t care then you miss the point of classes like this.

Right to Privacy or Right to Juicy Gossip...

I should have been working on homework but instead I found myself glued to the television, watching Amber Frey’s E true Hollywood story. The funny thing is that the celebrity program had relevance to free speech. It was talking about how Frey lost her privacy because of the Scott Peterson case and later someone posted naked pictures of her on the internet. At what point should we draw the line when the media’s right to free speech or our right to hear information infringes on a persons right to live a normal life? We talked about pornography in class and many students believed that women had the right to make pornography. What should be the rights of the person in possesion of the pornography? Recently we have heard many cases where a person creates images they think will remain private, which are stolen and then shared with the public? For example: Pamela Anderson, Paris Hilton etc.

A clarification on the last post

I wanted to bring up my essays connection to free speech. Sometimes although we are “guaranteed the right to free speech” something else prevents us from speaking out. I remember how taboo it was to speak about having a gay member in the family during grade school. It was especially hard to say that my uncle had died of AIDS. If schools were to implement programs which taught about tolerance it would become easier to express who we are. Students could find support in those who share similar struggles. I feel that by preventing programs that teach tolerance we are snuffing out student’s freedom of expression. In retrospect, had tolerance programs in school been available I would have had an outlet to express my deep sadness and alienation at having to keep a part of my life secret. There were many consequences including my poor attendance at school, lower grades and spending lunch time alone.