Race

After exploring both the website and reading a new articles from each, I have learned a lot about what it means to different people to be black. One article that really stuck out in my memory was called Study: Black man and white felon-same chances for hire. This explored the business market today. This just shows how racial discrimination is still a concern in American today. If a black man with a clean record is as likely to be hired as a white criminal than there is a problem. I'm always hearing from my teachers and parents how important it is to stay out of trouble because no one will give you a job if you have a criminal record. I can't image the hopelessness black men feel when looking for a job, when they have no done anything to harm their chances, besides having darker skin. While exploring the websites, I saw an article about John Mayer. I was interested in what it was about, hoping it would be something positive the singer/song writer did. It was not, it was about how he made racist comments during an interview about black women. This really disappoints me because he is a public figure and a lot of people in America look up to him. He is setting a bad example by running his mouth about race.

Sexual Harassment

In class we have been talking about sexual harassment. We did two mock trials, one criminal rape case, and one civil sexual harassment case. After participating and watching these two trials, I have come to the conclusion that sexual harassment is very subjective. There are something’s that people will call sexual harassment when others might think it is harmless jokes. This line between appropriate and inappropriate can be very thin. For example we talked about the incident at Oak Park River Forest high school, where a group of boys made a list of the most F-able girls and description of their body parts. To these boys it was a harmless joke, but to the girls affected it was hurtful and disrespectful. The girls pressed charges on the boys. I personally think that ruining these boys lives for a list is a little over dramatic. Although this is a clear case of sexual harassment, every teenage boy has made this list (maybe not a physical list but in their heads) and girls have to realize that. I do think they should be punished for their rude and exposing list. My views have certainly changed on this subject, the more cases I heard, the more I could understand the victim in these cases feel uncomfortable. In the case that I was assigned to a girlfriend accused her boyfriend of rape. When I first read the case I thought she was just insane and a jealous girlfriend, because if its your boyfriend its not rape. After really reading the case and understanding her side, I realized that if she didn't want to have sex with him and he forced her to have sex, then its rape. It very hard to determine if something is harassment when its one word against another. 

Egypt and the Middle East

I think the riots in Egypt were done by the people for freedom and they felt it was important for the future of their country to be democratic. In the article by Laurence Pope entitled The Second Arab Awakening said “The Arab regimes that survive will have to learn to ride the demographic tiger of a young, angry, and newly empowered population.” Things have changed with the Egyptian population and people are starting to realize that the government is unfair and not democratic. As Americans we have to support the spreading of democracy, but since it’s been extremely violent it puts the U.S in a difficult situation. On one hand its history in the making that these citizens have overthrown the government, but on the other people have died and even been assaulted while caught up in the riots. It’s hard to determine if this new government will be as successful as Egyptians will hope. “The military, the United States, its Arab allies and Israel are now pondering whether the Egyptian military, which has vowed to hold free elections, will give way to a new era of democratic dynamism or to a perilous lurch into instability or Islams rule.” People are nervous that the government will just go back to the ruling it had before this whole thing.  It also seems like since this overthrow in government took place in Egypt, that it’s reaching other countries in the Middle East. I personally think that these riots are scary and cause so much violence, but I do support their cause I just think they could go about it more peacefully.

State of the Union Speech

The State of the Union given by President Obama was very different then years past. One of the first things I noticed was that the audience, who traditionally sits by party and claps on certain issues their parties believe in, sat all together. The overall mood of the speech was joining and I felt as if he was trying to separate the line of democrat and republican. I thought that his actual speech was very focused on the future and what we need to accomplish in upcoming years. He didn’t really focus on how we would accomplish these goals, He should have talked more about our current problems and how we were going to fix them. For example the United States job market is horrible, I see this first hand because my brother recently graduated from college and I know a lot of him friends have been having trouble finding jobs. I can’t image that hard time people have that don’t have a college education. I think that improving the job market should have been more heavily discussed. I did agree with him when he brought up the issue of education. Our schools are falling behind and countries like China and India are leading our world in education in areas of math and science. If we educate our young, then we have a brighter future as a nation. With education comes better technology, more advancements in science, and a more motivated generation. I think president Obama was right when he stressed the importance of our countries education. 

Reflection of Tweak

This book took me into the deep emotion and fear of an addict. Nic Sheff’s story was one that can give so many people hope who are struggling as well. He explains his lowest points and his long road to recovery. The pain his family felt is something that he can never forgive himself for. At the end of the book he talks about a group session with both of his parents present. They are asked to do artwork to show how they are feeling “I sketch a heart with veins and aortas and the different ventricles and things. Then I draw faces morphing together out of the heart, stretching up-screaming faces, terrified faces, and desperate faces. And then, before I can even think about it, I write the words “I’m sorry. (318)” His struggle has been long and tiring and I’m happy to see him getting better. His story can be there for all of the other lost teenagers out there and maybe can help them realize that drugs and alcohol is not the answer, and can ruin lives. After reading this book I went online and watched an interview with Nic Sheff. I was surprised to see a young kid that looked like he could be my age. To know that he went through all of these horrible things at my age was so surprising and I feel so bad that he had to. He explained his life now and how he lives in Oregon with two dogs and his girlfriend. He said his trick to staying sober is that he is living so simply, there is nothing there to complicate his life. It is still a struggle everyday because once you are an addict it will always try and consume your life again. This novel book helped me understand a little bit about how an addict feels and goes through on a regular day basis. I thought it was a very good book and is really easy to relate to. I would recommend this to other people to read just as a free reading book. 

Tweak # 5

Nic seems to have an issue with healthy relationships. His mom abandoned his family when Nic was a little kid. Every since then, Nic has felt lonely therefore always needing a relationship. Most of his girlfriends are bad influences on his life and do drugs just like Nic has done. While he seeing a therapist, she says “Do you sacrifice your own happiness and feelings of peace in order to have this relationship, or do you start to get well and choose a real life that maybe doesn’t include Zelda? (295)” When a relationship is not healthy for one of the parties involved then those two people should not be together. I’ve noticed that there has been a large increase in divorce. Although my parents are not divorced, I see that in some cases it can be the right choice for some people. I do think that people need to really understand what marriage entails before rushing to things. Nic is at the point where has to surround himself with people who are on his side and care about him getting better.   

Tweak # 4

Nic starts to turn to God during his recovery. He learns that the stronger relationship with God, the more likely he is to live a positive life. The second step in his 12 step recovery program is to “Come to believe that a Power greater then ourselves can restore us to sanity (157)” I think that this is one of the steps because believing in something more powerful helps you feel like you have a purpose in life, and life seems not so insignificant. A lot of people would disagree with me, but I believe spirituality/religion is something that should be in everyone’s lives. Not necessarily structured religion but even just believing that there is a plan for everyone. It can be so easy to feel like life in meaningless, but if you trust that you are put on this earth for a reason then life becomes so much easier. Not only can it help with a recovery but it can help someone realize how their actions affect people around them like friends and family. When Nic starts to accept God in his life, he really starts to make improvements in his recovery, he starts to hold on to a job, and starts making good friends and getting his life together.