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.

LGBTs are among us....

Here is a post that is very personal to me. I wrote this short story a while back for a creative writing class. Since we were talking about LGBTs today in class I thought I might add my experience growing up.
Robert
My uncle Robert was my moms “little brother” and the man I wanted to be. He was an artist, had lots of friends with strange hairstyles, he smelled good and was always dressed up. I remember during the 1980s how his black sport coats with white shirts were always pressed and his best friend Greg had this really cool leather jacket covered in silver buckles. Together the two friends were always making me laugh with a youthful sense of humor and jokes about everything. There were so many fond memories….
Along time ago I was visiting my aunt in Idaho during my vacation. She had this long skinny house that always had the air-conditioner or heater running. Along with that house came this funny dog named “dice” whose nose twitched and a little brat named Dominique. I remember it was snowing and I was playing outside with my cousin when I decided to tell her an offensive joke that a kid in the school yard told me about “fags”. I learned a lot from spring grove school- from my classmates and my teachers. It was a training ground for snide comments and words that my teachers called me like asinine and motor-mouth. After I told the joke I had expected my cousin to laugh but she didn’t. She was 2 years younger than me but she acted like this old lady so I wasn’t a surprise that she didn’t laugh. I could tell by the look on her little red face and pointy nose that she was about to tell me something her mom had told her about political correctness. She was like a parrot who repeated everything her mother shared with her.
She looked at me sternly and like a teacher to a child said “Uncle Robert is gay.”
“No he’s not! “Came out of my mouth before I understood what she said.
“Yes he is” she said in her whiney little voice. I was starting to get angry.
“You know his friend…?” she said very suspiciously.
“Yeah of course I know Greg” I said cautiously.
“That’s his boyfriend” she whined again. I hated her voice. It reminded me of those know-it-alls in class who always have an answer ready for the teacher. At this point I was fuming. I was so upset that my stomach started to clench. I could feel my face turn red, the blood rushing to my lips as I swallowed what she had just disclosed.
“Shut up!” now I was fuming
“They are lovers…” the word “lovers” was drawn out.
“Shut up” I was seeing red. I wanted to hit her. My uncle couldn’t be gay. That wasn’t possible.
“They kiss” She whispered
I got up off the swing kicked some snow and went inside the house angry as hell that she had suggested that my hero was gay. I didn’t talk much to her for the rest of the week.
On my flight home I thought about what my cousin had said and rejected the notion that my uncle could be gay. He was strong; I had seen him help dig the foundation to my parents’ home. He didn’t walk funny or talk funny or wear a dress. He didn’t fit into the stereotypes that I had been taught by my class mates about “fags”. He wasn’t one of them- he was one of us. What my cousin had said was absurd, asinine! I decided to ask my older sister when I got home to confirm that my cousin had heard wrong.
“Sara,” I approached her room, slowly opening the door, peaking in her room.
“What?” She had finished styling her hair – I could always tell. The room smelled of aqua net hairspray – it was like the morning fog, except hairspray lingered.
“Dominique said something mean about Robert.” I sat on her bed, hoping to hear an alternative story.
“What did that little brat say?” my sister hadn’t liked her since her last visit to my aunts. Dominique was a pest. She always stirred up trouble.
“She said Robert is gay. Stupid little liar.” I huffed, looking at Sara from the corner of my eye.
“Robert is gay” she said. Her hands tightly hugged her hips – in an older sister’s pose.
“What?!”
“Didn’t you know?” she said as she threw her arms in the air.
“No, nobody told me” I was confused – I couldn’t believe what she was saying!
“Probably wasn’t your business” she said.
I sat there stunned. I felt embarrassed. I would like to say that I was good about accepting that my uncle was gay but I wasn’t. I loved him just as much as always but I was embarrassed to tell my friends that I had a gay uncle. I looked up to the man so much that I couldn’t take anyone saying anything bad about him. At least that was how I justified keeping his sexuality secret.
Three years later my uncle became very ill and he came to stay at my parents’ house. I learned that he had contracted AIDS and he was going to be staying with us indefinitely. I was told that his house was too cold in the Santa Cruz Mountains but I later figured out that he wanted to spend his last days with his family.
I had one of my most enjoyable summers that year spending time with him. We planted a garden and I helped him plant this small yellow bush against the front wall of my parents’ house. We went shopping, stayed up late watching movies and had great conversations about school and my future. We even talked about when he was going to get better. Slowly over the summer months he started getting weaker and had trouble leaving the house until finally my mom sent all of my siblings and me to visit my aunt’s house in Idaho again. When we came back my uncle was in the hospital. He never came back home.
I pass the flower bush that we planted every time I visit Hollister. I’m glad that plant is still there because it strengthens my resolve each time I see it to be proud of who my uncle was. There was nothing wrong with him except that he got sick and died. He died young but death happens to anyone no matter who you are. I kept the fact that my homosexual uncle died of AIDS a secret for most of my youth. Now, thanks to my uncle, there is one less homophobe in the world to hate him – me.

Risk or not a risk? What is the difference...?

Monday we spoke about the Scopes trial and I began to think about the different ways that free speech is exercised and when it gets challenged. First of all we have the wacky people who exercise their free speech to harm others such as the Westboro group. There are protestors who out of fear and hate make their negative views toward another group known (Minute Men). There are students who disagree with policy and protest. And then we have what took place in the Scopes trial where people who hold traditional views attempt to quiet those with contemporary ideas.
I started thinking about how safe the trial was. Scopes knew that the only consequences of his challenging the law against teaching evolution were minor. But if we look at other historical figures who challenged the status quo, they had much more at stake. I had a point that I was going to make last night when I began writing this blog but I seem to have forgotten it. So maybe anyone who reads this can tell me what you think about the differences in peoples actions based on how safe it is to speak out. What is the difference for those who risk everything and those who risk very little?

I lose my citizenship at immigration

We read about Randall’s experience with trying to get her American citizenship back after she had renounced it. I wanted to reflect on similar, but not as dramatic experiences, each time I try to reenter the US after visiting abroad. Maybe it’s the way I look or I always get the angry immigration officers but getting back into the US is an ordeal. I feel like I am applying for citizenship each time I am forced to stand in line. Even though I have rights I feel like this is the moment where I have to keep my head down, and keep my mouth shut.
Some years ago I had my car broken into while my brother any I were snorkeling at the southern tip of the Baja peninsula. The thief took my passport, driver’s license, and social security card. I had nothing left to prove my identity when I tried to reenter the US. I had to go through a process to prove I was an American at the border. Finally after what seems like ages I was allowed back in.
When a person is at the mercy of an immigration officer it seems like we have no rights- this takes us out of our comfort zone and we see what it is like for people who have no rights.

Im confused...

I think its interesting how our ideas about free speech have been part of an ongoing debate that started before the creation of the United States. In class we talked about how limiting free speech can lead to the elimination of free speech. I wrote in my paper about locations that should be off limits to protestors but now I can see that if we set precedents for limiting free speech it becomes easier to take this right away. So now I am left confused. It seems like we are stuck in a catch 22… I need to think more about this.

Westboro

In our class discussion we our group talked about the Westboro Baptist church. I looked them up and I found a list of some of their targets. They include funerals of people killed at columbine the space shuttle disaster etc.. I checked out their website and on it they have a picket schedule along with fliers for funerals they have protested at.
After looking at their site I am left wondering if this is all a joke. I seems like the webmasters of these sites gets off on the publicity their words of hate have received.
I don’t know why but I watched one of their films about how preachers are frauds (they said something worse but I don’t want to repeat it). These guys have dirty mouths!
Down with Wesboro!

Westboro

Minute Men and Women.... ick

Here is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LCL2IqgjSc&feature=related check it out and tell me what you think...
I was watching this video the other day and I was deeply disturbed at how people can stand in the street and tell their fellow Americans that they hate them and want them to leave the country. The Minute Men protestors are calling the Latino male who is filming a coward and to go back home. Where is home? The Man filming responds by saying he is indigenous and that the Minute Men are European immigrants. Is this whole issue really about immigration or are Mexicans the scapegoat for other problems?

First blog

Um, well this is my first blog and I cannot think of much to say. So I guess I can ask some questions and maybe someone who reads my blog can answer them.
- Why do Venus fly traps always die within weeks of purchasing them?
- Why do flies completely disappear when you buy a Venus fly trap?
- How long does a Venus fly trap take to digest its food?
At this point everyone in this house is even willing to settle for a silly moth.

Ok back to the free speech... isn’t this conversation a form of free speech since I am pretty much able to say anything I want... on my next post I guess I can keep the conversation on topic but this one is a freebee- I hope.

I have some news! Just a moment ago a moth entered the Venus fly house- with a little help from my sister. There is a rumor that the moth was heard saying “help me” in a squeaky voice.