BCS

For this blog I decided to be less political and less idealistic. Instead of trying to change the world, let's start small. Let's change the BCS. As it is right now the top two teams play for the championship, and the others get shafted. Both of the teams this year are one loss teams, both of the teams have scored more than 600 points, but the problem is there are 4 other teams with the same credentials. The BCS is completely off point by saying that there are two "better" teams. This is politics at its finest. Florida and Oklahoma are great teams, and they have the biggest followings. Their fans are known to travel all over the country, bringing millions of dollars with them. There are game time local economy "booms" when these fans enter the college communities. So the BCS chose the two teams that would make the BCS the most money. Additionally, these colleges are some of the largest in the nation with the most viewers. So ratings would sky rocket. These teams are way sexier than say the underfeated Boise State University Bucking Broncos. Even though BSU is undefeated, even though Texas Tech has potentially two top draft picks at qb and rb. The BCS no longer works.

Coaches tell their players to play hard and to win everygame. That's exactly what Boise State did, their players played hard, they won every game they were asked to. Yet Boise State is playing in the Poinsetta Bowl. The Poinsetta Bowl! That's a joke.

We need to install a playoff system. The coaches are so old and need their power. SO let them rank the colleges. Same as now. The top 8 rankings will play in a playoff system. This would allow the outsiders like Boise State and Utah to have a chance to not only get national coverage, but also to have a chance to win. This 8 team playoff would allow other teams to share the lime light for atleast a game. Let's follow Barack Obama's lead and create this system!

The Number 1 Threat to Southern Asian stability: Indian/ Pakistanian relations

The terror attacks in Mumbai were truly tragic. Since 9-11 this was one of the most deadly attacks. This is similar to previous attacks in tactics, weapons, and the fear that it invoked through out the billion people in India. A conspiracy has sort of been uncovered consisting that the attack was orchestrated by Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshian nationals.

However, again the media are focusing on the wrong aspects of this attack. They are focusing on the few Americans that passed away. The media and even to some extent the U.S. gov't are focusing on the tactics of this attack, even going as far as sending an FBI team to India. There are reports saying the motive of these attacks was because of the Kashmir region. The Kashmir region has been a pain in the side for India and Pakistan for 50 years. These countries both claim ownership of this region, but to make the situation even more "hairy" is that some of the citizens of Kashimir want independence. There have been hundreds of terrorist attacks in this region yet the world barerly cares. If a major attack like this were to be linked directly to the ISS (Secret Police of Pakistan) or to even worse the governement, this could mean destabilization of a region that has had little stabilization. Additionally, both of these countries have nuclear weapons. While India's are bigger and have greater capabilities, any nuclear weapon obviously would cause millions of deaths. Especially with a country of 1.1 billion people.

We, as global citizens, need to bring those who were associated with this attack to justice. More importantly is that we need to solve this Kashmir region dispute. We should allow the people of Kashmir to vote upon which country they would like to be a part of. Further there should be an open migration period following this vote. This would ensure that people can peacefully choose where they would like to live. No migration is warranted and will possible create a refugee flow, but under U.N. supervision and the world watching, this plan could work.

The one big taboo.... Social Classes

In learning about the difference between classes it is tough to overlook how hard it is to change social classes. Yet, that is all we seek. The poor seek to become middle class, possibly going off to college. The biggest class in America seek to become part of the wealthy class, including some "higher" tastes. And the wealthy classes' goal is just to put down the other classes to make sure they are still superior. However, the most surprising part is how others of the same group mock those trying to change social classes. The key example that I've seen and that was highlighted in the movie is with African Americans. Those who try to act with some class, or try to make their lives better are called names including being "white". This is awful because usually the true motive of this person is to better their own life, yet they are being ridiculed. Similarly, the boy we saw in the movie that lives in a trailer in rural Ohio is embarrassed because he tries hard in school. Furthermore, his mother is embarrassed because he has potential and is not just ok with taking welfare checks like his relatives and friends. At the end of the day it is extremely hard to change social classes, but sometimes half the battle is against your family and friends.

The Number 1 Threat to Middle East Stability is..... Pirates!

Arrrrrrrr.... Ye Mate, come a board mi vessel and yo ho ho ho... Ok i'm done with that. Pirates are pretty cool, I guess. The American preception of pirates are guys with eye patches and a wooden peg or it's Jonny Depp swinging across his vessel. However, the problem with pirates today is they like to take over oil tankers. Somalian pirates have a nasty habit of taking over ships with in Pirate Alley (Southern portion of Gulf of Aden).

While the world is looking at this problem in economic terms, we need to look at this at this through a humanitarian lens. People are dwelling on the fact that the pirates took over a ship with reportedly 100 million dollars worth of oil, but how bout focusing on why they did that. Time magizine has ranked Somaila as the worst country in the world. In order to see why the pirates are such a nuisance today, we have to go back some years. Once Somalia gained their independence civil war broke out between Christians and Muslims. Fast foward 30 years to the late 80's and 90's, Muslim factions began all out war on the public. Shelling cities, stockpiles of weapons, and a weak government became the norm in Somalia. Then comes Black Hawk down. American intervention in a gang run nation fails. And terrorist organizations gain a foothold in the country including Osama Bin Laden in the 90's. They instill a very anti-American/development mentality. With this mentality the social dynamics collapse, and violence erupted. Fast forward to now, and the whole world has given up on this country. Somalia is overshadowed by the Darfur crisis, the Iraq situation, and even to some extent the destabilizaiton of Saudi Arabia. Somalia has one of the lowest GDP's and have tons of weapons. Hm... What are we gonna do with weapons and no money? How bout holding parts of the developed world hostage! This can be seen with the acts of piracy. However, the pirates are only the tip of the iceberg. In Mogidishu alone, it is run by drug, religious, and other types of gangs. There is no real industry in Somalia, and no real hope. The first thing that the U.S. and world can do for this coutry is give it aid in the form of food. More importantly make sure this food is getting to the people and not to the gangs. If this occurs, the citizens of Somalia will have enough food and water to survive without the help of the government. Additionally, the U.S. needs to either help or even (cough cough Guatamala, Bolivia, 1960-80's) install a pro-U.S./pro-World governemnt. The people of Somalia need help, and as global citizens it's our duty to help them. Piracy must be taken seriously and needs to be stopped, but once we look at the reason why the piracy started, we can clearly see that this country needs help, food, and hope.

Perception is key

The other day I heard the quote, "It is impossible to fail out of school, if you sit in class and shut up." At first I thought this was a crude way to look at things. However, this quote goes back to the idea of deviance. Deviance is perceived, so basically if a student gets on the teachers bad side, regardless if the student did anything, he will therefore not do as well in class. This idea can clearly be seen at SHS. The students that don't get in trouble, dress normally, and act respectfully, will usually get the benefit of the doubt when it comes to homework, and will have their grades rounded up when it is close. However, the student that arrives late, dressed differently then the average student, and inturrupts class, will never get the same benefits as the respectful student. This is assuming the students do the same amount and quality of work. Perceiving that someone is a "roughneck" means that people act differently towards them. This is not neccessarily stereotyping, but it is in all aspects of our society. It's all about perception. SO at the end of the day do I believe that quote, I guess so, as long as you look, dress, and act respectable, people will believe you to be respectable, regardless of what you do.

A round on me!

The drinking age and driving age are as controversial in "these parts" as the Roe V. Wade in Southern Texas.
The drinking age must be lowered or altered in some way. It is an outdated way for the national government to control the states. They do this by revoking federal money intended for states to use for their high way systems. If the state of say Wisconsin chose to lower their drinking age from 21 to 18 then the federal government would not give them millions of dollars in federal grants. While the federal government decided the age of 21, look who decided this law. The drinking age was finalized in the 1980's and was decided by a bunch of old congressmen who were afraid of the radical backlash of the 1960's and early 70's. They acted out of fear. IN CONTRAST, every other MDC's (more developed country) drinking age is lower than the U.S. Given that many MDC's are in Europe and most don't have enforced drinking ages, still the U.S.'s is higher than countries like Australia, China, Algeria, Morocco, and Canada. These countries have similar amounts of crime, yet their drinking age is still less than the U.S. There is no correlation between alcohol and crime. Then the legislators claim that there's more drunk driving in those countries. Well that is not totally true (some of the countries are LDC's and cannot afford cars). In the news nearly everyday I hear, 19 drives off the road and kills 3, alcohol suspicions. Or I hear famous star (cough cough shia labouf) pulled over and blows a 1.3 BAL. The U.S.'s level is not that much lower, and the accidents are often more deadly.
The people that are dying in these accidents are not 30 something year olds, but rather they are usually teens. Teens are statistically more likely to drink and drive than other age groups. Of course I've heard many stories of underage drinking, and it is a true epidemic. Underage drinking is terrible, and is the most often cited for why the drinking age is 21. However, if teens are getting alcohol at an unprecendented rate, how can they claim the law is working. At a school near by a teen drove drunk coming home from a prom after party and crashed into a tree, killing his three passangers. This is not a problem in one city, region, or state. This outdated law needs to be changed.
While the law is a problem and i'll address it a little later, the American culture glamorizes alcohol. Beer comercials are on constantly, at all hours. I saw a beer comercial on during a kids show on ABC. Alcohol is treated as a right of way for Americans. Also, it is looked at like it's the holy grail. Something that teens cannot have, yet it makes them a "real man". Something that will make you have a great time, yet teens cannot have it. American cultures creates this aloof attitude making bored teens want it.
Now for some assessment. The drinking age needs to be lowered. Most likely to 18. However, more importantly the American culture needs to stop glamorizing this drug. Another aspect of this situation is that alcohol needs to stop being a taboo family topic. Families need to teach teens and kids how to drink in an acceptable manner (for example not to binge). When this happens and the laws are changed, Americans will begin to see a different.

No place to Go

Teenage years are confusing. Society has no clue how to deal with teens. Teenage years are supposed to be the learning and molding years, but everyone has no idea how to treat you. At the beginning of every school year, the teacher says something along these lines, "You're Practically adults, so I'm going to treat you like one". Yet the teenage years are the years where a person goes from having no responsibility (0-12 yrs) to suddenly having all the responsibility of an adult. Some states try teens like adults, others send them to regular prisons, and even worse is teens can be sent to war but cannot vote on the politicians that are sending them to war. When a teen acts out in class, say he decides to act very "immature" and throws something across the classroom, the teachers catches him and says "You're almost an adult act like one". If a 8 year old tosses that same harmless paper airplane, the teacher would laugh, O he doesn't know better. The teacher doesn't say "Shape up, you're almost a teenager!"
Society doesn't know how to treat teenagers. Look at the laws. Smoking, adult literature, lottery tickets, and going off to war can be obtained at 18 years old. Yet school prohibits all of these (on campus and off), they treat 18 year olds like their 11 years old (except they allow recruiters, b/c that's American way). I'm not saying I want smoking to be allowed on campus or that I agree with the law at all, but SHS treats it like a huge sin, even though it's legal for those students. SHS doens't allow those 18 year olds to call themselves out of school, even though they are legal adults. SHS treats their students like 4th graders.
When a teenager acts like an adult, society looks highly upon them ("look how grown up LITTLE Billy is). However, when a teen acts their own age it's viewed as immature. Especially for the younger teens. When I was 12, just barerly a teen, I remembered a time when I was goofing around running around in class or something along those lines. My teacher caught me (I guess I wasn't fast enough) and repremanded me by saying, "I'm trying to prepare you for High School, so start acting like an adult". I was twelve. I still occasionally watched the disney channel. Yet society treats teens like adults.
The government doesn't know what to do with the teenage population. They send em' off to war, they tax the heck out of them, but then they don't give them the right to vote. They say they can't work until their 16 or 17 yet some families need that extra money, so why should the government say that 16 year can't work. They treat older teens like they have no idea what's going on.
Teens are at a very pivotal time in their lives, and the world around them doesn't know what do with them. Do we treat them like kids or adults? I say treat them like adults, but with the key realization that 2 years ago these kids were watching disney and playing at the local park. We must realize that it is important to teach them to be model citizens and responsible adults, but must keep in mind that they are still kids. We must praise and give more opportunities, rather than take them away out of fear.

You're Different.... uhh... Go away

Boys are Boys and Girls are Girls for genetic and physiological reasons, but the media teaches them to live like Men or Women. The stereotypes for men and female are installed by the media and entertainment industry. Until, recently Wild West movies only had a male on horseback fighting a 1,000 Native Americans (to be politically correct) and then getting the girl in the end. This is because the perception of males is to be independent, courageous, and wild. However, the reason why the woman is usually not the crime fighter is due to perception. The American culture portrays the woman as the weak side kick who must be the object of being saved. These perceptions of male and female are in every aspect of are life. For instance it is normal for a girl to be a cheerleader or play field hockey, but its not normal when a girl plays for the boys football team. Which leads me to my second point. When ever a sex goes beyond their boundaries it is perceived as "odd". For instance a good friend of mine (a guy) loves singing, but all my other friends ignored him and isolated him, because singing is not a man's thing to do. It's awful that the first thing they think about is what's "manly". He is still being isolated from my group of friends all because he likes to sing. This is the problem, people who are not the same, are often isolated. The Gays, the different religion, the different sports fan, and the person with different political views than the majority, get looked down upon. It's a terrible past time for America, we have always looked down upon those who do not conform to the social norms.

Culture of Violence

After watching Bowling for Columbine, it really got me thinking about the type of culture America portrays. We love our weapons. O boy do we love em'. Get er' done! It is a constitutional right to "bear arms", yet it has gotten out of control. The right to bear arms is never going to go completely away, but there is a HUGE problem when people can open a savings account and get a free gun. It's a HUGE problem when people are forming their own militias to shoot M16 together. It's a HUGE problem when the general public blames others for their own mistakes. Columbine was a tragedy, and the fact that everyone blamed someone else and very little changed, that's a tragedy. Gun control in our country is too lax. Compared to other 1st world countries (MDC's), we have 100 times more deaths by gun than any other leading industrialized nation. This is an epidemic. Yes, it is our right to own a gun, and Yes most people who own guns are law abiding citizens that own a gun properly, but it's always about that small percentage who doesn't own a gun responsibly. By selling and putting more guns on the streets is only emphasizing the never ending cycle of violence. Further, there are many people that own assault rifles. They claim, "It's properly locked away", but it's always about that person that you would never think to use the gun. Prime example, 6 year old nephew shoots up 1st grade classmate. Furthermore, everyone blames someone different, O it must be the media, O it must be our administration, O it must be Marilyn Manson. However, it is not one source and has to be addressed as a complicated issue. To start the government cannot punish the NRA for hosting rallies at recently affected areas, but they have to show some decency. Also, new gun control laws need to be in place, the current gun control laws were created post Vietnam era and do not apply to the new "more violent" society. Assault rifles cannot be allowed on the streets under any circumstances. Finally, guns cannot be considered prize possessions, they must be seen for what they are, they are killing machines that are used in war, and are used as self-defense in the ultimate last moment. All religions, people, ethnicity's believe in the value of human life. So.... how bout' let's change the world. We can't save that six year old, and those innocent bystanders that were killed in Littleton, CO; however, we can save that 10 year old that will accidentally stumble on his fathers gun and play around with it, we can save that future school shooting, and we can save countless lives through more gun control, and just common sense!

Living life to the fullest is the wealthiest thing one can acheive

The movie Tuesday's with Morrie really opened my eyes. The social commentary of the movie is phenomenal. First, through the character of Mitch, we see that the work patterns of average Americans may bring in the dough, but they will push away loved ones. The movie makes it seem as if there was no balance in Mitch's life; furthermore, he runs from his fears: not marrying sooner, not visiting "coach", and not living his life the way he wants (musically). With the character of Morrie, his main message was you only have one life to live, and only a short amount of time to live it. He didn't care about what everyone thought, he simply danced. He didn't care about what everyone thought; he simply yelled "what's wrong with number 2?" Morrie's character makes you appreciate life, and it helps break the patterns of the American Work-a-haulic. The final message that Morrie helps portray is that Americans hide their fears by working/making more money. He helps portray the cycle of "misery", where a person works to earn money to buy stuff, then because they bought stuff they have more "success", and then they want more success so they work harder to buy more. Morrie breaks this cycle because he takes a look back at his life, and all he wants to do are simply things with his loved one's. He doesn't want any material gain; all he wants is to dance! This movie was quite moving and really should make an impact on all who watch it.

Perception is Everything

I recently joined the racquetball club. I know what your thinking and yes I was being serious. The first time I played it was last week and did quite well. So I tried to get my friends involved in the club in order to play them. I must have asked 25 people and they all gave me the same response, "really racquetball?" Many people perceive the sport as being very easy, old, or not interesting. They do this with out even giving this sport a chance. Why are people so close minded? I guess the answer I have come up with through this experience is they are afraid. People are creatures of habit (if we weren't there would be no Homework). We do the same things over and over each and every day. However, when the chance comes around to break that pattern, people shy away from it. As if they don't want to know anything else. This also could relate to the whole American culture. Just view American's throughout the world when they travel, they think their way is best and often do not try or experience another culture. It's simply a bad habit, not to try new things. Racquetball is very much like tennis, yet most people's perception is its not a sport. Why do you think this happens? All I want to do is play a little racquetball with my friends.....

America's top export: Its culture

Last summer I spent almost three weeks in Russia. I was on the Moscow Metro, travelling 60 miles an hour, heading towards downtown Moscow. A Russian teenager approached me and asked me (in broken english) do I know Missy Elliot? Then he asked me do I know 50 Cent? I was completely blown away. Looking back on that moment, I was originally suprised that he recognized that I was American. However, after our recent lessons, I'm suprised now that he knew about American culture. As I look back now, in all the cafe's they played new American songs, like Fergie and Green Day. There were McDonald's and other fast food chains. While America tries to export its ideas, it end up exporting its culture. People around the world wear American companies and drink American products. I believe this is due to the fact that America's perceived prestige makes the rest of the world "jealous". They view the American products as better, or atleast it makes them seem "cooler" (This is true around the world except in NK, Iran, and Canada, ok not really Canada). Finally, these products are prestigious to their economies, much like a Fararri and Lambo are very prestigious and expensive to our culture/economy. Although, I laughed at this goofy white kid singing Miss Elliot in that Moscow train, today I really think that represents the globalized world in which we live in!

You Remember who did this to you...

The movie, A Bronx Tale, was intriguing, intellectual, and entertaining. From a sociological point of view it was interesting to see how "C" (cause I can't spell his full name) was influenced by groups around him. He was mostly influenced by his father and Sunny. Although these two men were opposite, they both preached a similiar fatherly message of "be better than me". Sunny said don't live my life, while his father wanted him to focus on his "wasted talent". C would often fight these men because he knew that he was an image of both men's best side. He reflected Sunny's educational side, and reflected his father's good values. Additionally, the audience took a very steriotypical view towards Sunny, they thought he was just a "thug", like me. However, Sunny was actually very educated, even speaking of reading Machiavelli. The final sociological comment, was that C catogorized the African American's, but he didn't judge or steriotype them. This can be clearly seen in him dating Jane (that's her whole name). This movie was a great film, and really emphasized these categories and being socially mindful.

Where in the World is the Supreme Leader.....

Hm.... Kim Jong Il has gone missing (Just like the Swedish journalist he took captive, and the Movie Makers he kidnapped). Anyways, this is a major event, especially for the people of NK. These people have lived with out electricity and food and security and a life for nearly 60 years!!! Americans freak out if we don't have comcast for a day (Like the Brian Urlacher commersial). The downside to this is the Dear Leaders' cabinet is just as closed minded and cold war minded as he was. Therefore the appointment for the (probably) vacant spot of commander will be replaced by an neo-conservative (hm... Dick Cheney will be out of a job soon.... maybe him..?) These people deserve a modern leader, with globalization on his mind, not how to sell nuclear material. Also, in order to fix the sociological problems of this torn country, they must build a grass root economy, focusing on shutting down the black market (illegal weapons/drugs). Finally, this can hopefully only be a positive for the international community, whose holding their breath, hoping that the NK official stop their nuclear program (and be taken off the U.S's list of Terrorist organizations). What ever happens to this 3 ft 2 leader, I hope that the world takes note of their failed policies and starts fresh and interacts with this hermit nation, not sanction and run in fear............

I guess if they did it....

Today I was thinking about what Sal said about how we live in a society full of rules. I agree with him, but the better question is why? With the plane story, why did we find the canabalism repulsive? They needed to survive, and I guess the church summed it up best, "God gave them to you". It brings up this whole idea of perdicting what we would do in certain life changing decisions. The phrase, "if your friend did ________, would you?" And our response would be "No" in most scenerios, but this is because we are taught this. We are taught... not to eat people, but if we were dying we would. We are taught to not murder, "thou shalt not kill", but what if they are threatening your spouse, we would kill. Rules are intended to delegate and dictate right and wrong in mundane everyday life, but rules should and are to some extent invalid during these what if moments. While all should keep in mind local and federal laws, they must be thrown out in order for survival and other cases of primitive nature... .thats atleast what I think.... what about you?

We are individually different, yet mostly the same

When I got home tonight, I remembered the question that Sal posed to us.... "Is our school really all the same?" He used the word snoody, but I would disagree with the word choice. I believe for all of the awe inspiring messages we get from the administration, we are all very very similar. If you look at the demographics of our school nearly 3/4 are white students and there is a huge jewish population. We all live in an affluent area. Most of us have IPODs. Most of us have the newest clothes and material goods. So then truly what seperates us? I believe we may be all the "same" but yet what we stand for and who personally we have become seperates us. Also, personal accomplishments should count for more than material wealth (aka that new ipod).

Can you believe it?!?!?!

Joseph Robinette "Joe" Biden Jr. Ya thats his name I really can't make that up. I can't believe he was chosen after all the anti-Obama campaigning. Sure he has the foreign service experience, and sure he's been around for a "while", but does he have the neccessary "Cohonays" to be the Vice President of the United States? The VP has three big responsibilities. The first is to be in good health in case the president is in poor health... (Obama looks pretty healthy) check. The second is to break the tie in the senate.... (A tie has only happened a hand full of times in the last few decades) ok check. The third is in case he is impeached a replacement needs to be named... (At the rate our politicians are being impeached and charged hm....i guess thats a check.... Therefore according to these three jobs he must hold, Joe Biden seems like a very respectable choice to take on the extremely hard job of the VP.

Behind the Thug lyfe

I guess to start I'm not very "ghetto". To piss off Sal, I'll be home around 7:30 pm at my house at 123 Green Street. Anyways, I play center for our hockey team. Ya we are gonna win the ship this year (as long as every other team sucks). I enjoy reading a good book, and my three favorite movies would have to be Batman: Dark Knight, V for Vendetta, and the Last King of Scotland. Hm... what else to say... My favorite bands are probably Nickelback, Linkin Park, and Three Days Grace. The biggest influences in my life would have to be my parents, but also MLK Jr. and Ghandi. I guess the biggest goal in my life is to leave the world a better place than I came into. I know that sounds very philisophical, but its true..... Ok thats all for now....Peace Out