The Virgin of Gaudalupe

     Thomas Friedman explores the U.S's problems with manufacturing jobs in Chapter 10 of The World is Flat. He offers insight into exactly why we have had such a hard time keeping factory jobs in the country.
      Years ago, when the auto industry collapsed, as well as several over manufacturing based fields, one question on every American's mind was "Why? How has this happened, where have all the jobs gone?" Okay....that's three questions, but you get the point. Suddenly jobs had just evaporated and people were struggling to find work. Businesses had discovered that in the new technological world, they could easily export jobs over seas to foreign countries. Why would they want to do this? At the end of the day, it all comes down to one thing.
Profit.
Corporations want to maximize their profits any way they can. People in other countries will not only work for less pay, but also working conditions are not held to the same requirements in the U.S. They don't need to spend extra money safety testing their factories and manufacturing plants. It is much easier to turn a profit when you are not spending as much money. Manufacturing your product in different countries is cheaper than doing it in America. I don't agree with this backhanded tactic of saving money, but it's the modern world that we live in.
If we want these jobs to come back to America, we need to figure out a way to compete in the new, flat, technological world.

The Lemon Tree Book Review

Sandy Tolan's The Lemon Tree is a touching, emotional look at the age old Israeli and Palestinian conflict in the Middle East. The novel is a chain of mini-stories of individuals involved in one way or another with the conflict. There is very little dialog, and is mostly just narrated stories with small bits of dialog weaved in.

The Lemon Tree centers around the Israeli and Palestinian conflict, but from a very unique angle. Sandy Tolan does an excellent job portraying the human experience through this conflict. She does not come out and plainly say it in the text, but readers can grasp the true emotions of those involved in the conflict.

I saw the Lemon Tree as a metaphor for the conflict itself. The standing tree is the conflict, where each season of fruit that grows and is picked from the tree, are those who lived and have died during it. Each person is connected through it, just like the lemons on the tree.


The writing style of this novel, is not one that I liked. I would've prefered more dialog and a more consistant storyline throughout. At times it was confusing and choppy going from story to story. It paid of because it worked well for the Lemon Tree's theme, it's just not the style I enjoy. Dialog would've also helped. It would've painted a clearer picture and perhaps made the story transitions smoother.

However, I realy enjoyed the book overall. I liked Tolan's underlying message of peace and an end to the conflict. And even without much dialog there was still strong characterization. By actions alone, readers can really get to know the characters.

I enjoyed reading this book, and while I'm not sure if I would pick it back up for a second read, I would encourage everyone to check it out. The Lemon Tree is a quality novel, and is a great fit for anyone interested in history or the Middle East.

2 Million Minutes

          2 Million Minutes depicted a declining America, falling behind other nations in mathematics and the sciences. I'm aware of The U.S.A current position in the world relative to other countries, so it actually doesn't surprise me that the students in India and China seemed so much more developed and motivated.
          However, the average American probably would've been shocked, outraged, and befuddled at what tey were seeing if they were to closely examine the film, and realize that we are not the top tier country in the world today.
          America is mentally ill; by that I mean we are a very narcissistic, arrogant society. We are stuck in a 1950's fantasy world mindset when it comes to education, when America was on the top of the world producing the brightest minds. That is no longer the case, and if we wish to stay competitive we cannot hold onto this belief that we are a great, invincible super power.
         We are ignorant to the drive that these students in other countries have when it comes to their education, they push themselves much farther then an American student would. Even those students in the documentary, who went to one of America's top public schools, did not push themselves nearly as much as the Chinese and Indian students.
         They seemed much less focused on school work, even if they were bright. The other students had almost full attention on their school work at all times, and when they made college plans, their decisions were based on the type of education they wanted to receive and how it would help them in the workforce in years to come. The American students were much less focused on their school work and instead of devoting themselves entirely to it, attempted to balance it with many other social events. When making a decision on colleges, Brittany, one of the American students at Carmel, seemed to be more concerned with joining a sorority then actual academics.
          With this mindset, even for the top American students, I do not believe we can succeed in this new world. We need more drive and ambition to succeed in this country. We need to realize that we are competing and that to stay ahead of the pack we must step up our game and perform. If we keep turning a blind-eye to what is happening in the world of education, we will fall far behind other countries. We have the resources, we need the ambition and drive.

Tubas and Test Tubes

     Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat brings up some interesting points in the chapter 'Tubas and Test Tubes'. The overall theme of this book is that the world is changing, and everyone, especially Americans, need to be ready for it. In 'Tubas and Test Tubes', Friedman trys to make it a bit more clear how we should educate in this new world. "It is not how much we educate, but rather more important how we educate.

    We will need certain skillsets that will become very useful in the new flat world. New technology will call for people to become more tech savy, and the ability to communicate will mean breaking language barriers. 

    Technology is always changing, before you know it your iphones, laptops, ipods, computers, androids etc. will all be out of date. Soon, the latest and greatest handheld technology will be as useful as a brick and you'll be behind. To solve this problem, you will need to stay up to date on all the new technologies of the flat world. This is a difficult task, for you see, humans are creating technology at a rate never before seen in our history. Not only that, but the technology that we are creating at such a fast pace, is the most advanced our world has ever seen. We need to teach how to master the new technology that will become such a big part of our lives, living in the flat world.

    To effectively transmit and recieve information from one place to another around the world you, will need to be able to understand the information you are getting, and the information you send needs to be understood on the other end as well. Unfortunately, the seven-billion people (and counting) people on this planet do not speak the same language. There is no magic global code that is understood all around the world, so it is for this reason that languages will become very important in the new world.

Five Years of My Life: an Innocent Man in Guantanamo Blog

"I thank God that  Murat kept his sanity in the hell of injustice and torture of nearly 5 years in Guantanamo so he could tell his story. May it be studied in every school and college in Europe and the USA. May it help to close down all the illegal and secret prisons and camps, as well as Guantanamo, and restore the prisoners to their families. I am sure Murat's book will educate a whole generation about justice and the defense of human rights." -- Vanessa Redgrave

 

      I really agree with Vanessa's review. This book needs to be studied by the rest of the world, so the mistake that is Guantanamo is not repeated elseware around the globe. It needs to be studied by Americans too, Abu Ghraib isn't the only prison-related atrocity we, America, are guilty of. The horrors of Guantanamo are very real, if every American read this book, and flooded their congressman's mailbox- I believe we could see Murat Kurnaz's hell of 5 years be shut down.

      Not everybody in these prisons around the world are guilty of their accused crimes, innocent much like Kurnaz was. To deny that this happens, after reading Five Years in Guantanamo... it would be ignorant to say that while I'm writing, an innocent man is not being detained for a crime he did not commit. It would be ignorant to say that everybody in these prisons is guilty, and they were all given the right to a fair trial.

      What makes a trial by jury an American right? Because we said so? We don't hold exclusive ownership of that right, it should be universal, for every human on this Earth to be given that right, regardless of what their backround is or what crime they commited. As humans we need to unite, and stand together. We treat our own species as animals in camps like these, we need to unify as the human race and put an end to it. What made Murat Kurnaz deserving of spending 5 years of his life in Guantanamo for no reason at all? He didn't deserve it, he was treated less than human. It's a despicable thing that we allowed these prisons to be established, the best thing we can do now is shut them down.

      This book really opened my eyes to what horrific things transpire in Guantanamo and more than likely others like it as well. It was a close look through the eye of an innocent prisoner, at what it is really like.

Novel Writing

I'm really looking forward to this assignment. I've actually already gotten an early start on my novel, and I've really been enjoying it. An idea hit me for a novel about a week and a half ago, so instead of sleeping on it, and potentially losing my idea, I started to write out my idea in the form of a snyopsis. The novel I've started writing is a futuristic/dystopian/war novel. It has a deep plot, including some plot twists. It also provides social comentary on many things in our world, like our current economic crisis, the recent rebellions around the world, and the war in the middle east. I'm really looking forward to the continuation of my writing to see where it takes me.

My Week

Clancy's Deli, where I work.

I've had a week where things happened. Sunday, I watched some football, but pretty much just sat around and chilled all day. I played an MMO later that night before I went off to bed for the night.
Monday was a pretty normal mundane day, nothing special happened on that day. I didn't have to come into work, so that was a plus. After school I just went home and chilled until it was time to go to bed. I went to school on Tuesday, and lifted weights with the wrestling team afterward. Unfortunately, I strained my hamstring while doing squats and it still hurts quite a bit. After I lifted weights I went home. I logged onto the MMO game that I play. I found out my guild's raid, an event which 10 or 25 people participate and coordinate to achieve a single goal within the game, had been canceled. This cancellation being just the newest in a series of raids being canceled, I quit the guild and applied to a different one.

A group of victorious raiders

Wednesday, I went to school and headed to work afterwards. I worked with Rachel Klichman at Clancy's deli, then I went home and did homework. I watched some of the show I'm currently watching (blogs about that show come later. I don't want to reveal what show it is in fear of then being exposed to spoilers.) then went to bed for the night. I usually go to bed around 11:30 every night, I find it gives me enough time to relax, yet still wake up the next morning and be alert enough to take on the day ahead of me. Thursday, I went to school, then to work afterwards.
Thursday I worked with Michael Swanigan, then headed home and continued to watch my show while I did my homework. I answered some questions asked by the people reviewing my application to the guild. They are supposed to get back to  me tonight on whether or not I've been accepted.
Friday (Today), I woke up and got ready for school. I listened to my usual radio program on the way to school, stopping at the gas station for a to-go breakfast on my way.
(I only listen to news/talk radio however, I find music to be lacking on today's radio stations. Censorship and mass appeal Have played a large factor in making radio unattractive to me. Even still, I usually disagree with the highly opinionated views of the news radio-broadcasters I listen to. Today's media is corrupted, but that's a topic for a different post.)
I headed into Mr. Balbo's first hour psychology class when I got to school. We talked about early childhood/language development of the human, and finished the movie 'Pursuit of Happiness', which by the way is a good movie in my opinion. I then went to my English 12 class and had an advisory period about the different thing in life that we resp

Lakshore is in trouble, we are the bears.

I plan to go to the St.Joe Bears-Lakeshore Lancers game tonight after work. Then probably relax, but get to bed early so I'm ready for work tomorrow. I work Saturday 10-4:30, then after that I'll do any homework I may have, or work on writing some lyrics. Then, I'll most likely hang out with my girlfriend if she's not busy, then stay up late Saturday night watching my show or playing a game. Sunday, our neighbor is making some really good bread, so my Sunday morning breakfast will most likely be bread-based.