The story of stuff reflection

After watching three of the videos posted on Moodle a large paradigm shift took place in my foresight towards the big picture of the production of stuff. To be specific, the story of stuff video, the story of electronics and the story of cosmetics were very influential. The video of the story of stuff gave a larger overview of the message that they tried to get across. Which is the linear usage of 'stuff' in which it starts at the forests and ends in the dumps. Within these stages are many steps through which a large population of people and natural habitats are harmed. As the video states that the problem with a linear system in a changing world is that it is not sustainable. On the long run it is impossible to have the US on its own use up a third of the World's natural recourses, or continue to throw our garbage in the land fills. The natural recourses will eventually eradicate and the space for landfills will finish up. The question is if we will even be alive when that happens due to the numerous toxins that are released in the production line and the waste landfills. The number of electronics and stuff we use is not sustainable we might be able to continue for the next ten years but after that we will be really affected. The question is what world are we preparing for the generations to come?

As far as interesting news I found, I think that most of the facts in the videos was interesting, new and very shocking! Makes one stop for a second and think of the future and what will happen. Also what we are doing to our environment and the people that live else where. Just because we don't see them suffer doesn't mean that we should not care! I think that in the future I will be more interested in participating in the activities that help the environment. Simply, recycling our water bottles in school or recycling the paper would help. Specially in Kuwait where recycling is not taken seriously by most people. However, they should because from what I see is that for such a small country a lot of waste is being created and dumped. There is also a large usage of electronics with Kuwait being a rich country. The people try to keep up with latest fads and sometimes forget about where our old electronics go... Overall I think Kuwait should take more care towards recycling and helping Kuwait be more green!

GOALS!!

my goals for this year are not very different from those of last year. When one goes to school they generally have the same set of goals that they would like to reach every year. As far as English class goes, my first goal is to have a final grade of at least a six. that is something that i really need to achieve. A new goal for this year is to be able memorize the vocabulary words properly to help me in the SATs and generally just to improve my grammar. which brings me to my third goal which is to improve my spelling and grammar which i just recently discovered is very incompetent with my grade level. those three are the goals for English A2 this year. I really hope that I will be able to achieve these goals by the end of the year :)

Resistance and 1984

    The lyrics of the song resistance are very well thought out to resemble 1984 but also to resemble every two lovers that cannot love each other because of the circumstances that they have been put in. The song talks about the inner struggle that faces both Winston and Julia when they go to the apartment. They are always faced with the fright of being caught. They understand that one day, someday they might be caught. yet understanding does not necessarily mean that the person embraces this idea or realizes the true implications of it. Everyone that is born knows that one day they shall die but whether they truly realize the true extent of what that means varies from person to person. What everyone does is that they tend to box there fears from death and place it in a corner of their brain telling themselves that today is surely not the day that they will die in. The same went for Winston and Julia they both had extreme fears of being caught but they used their love for each other to overcome that fear. This is what the writer means by 'love is our resistance' meaning that the only thing that keeps us from going insane from fright is our love for each other. For that love and for the love of resistance its self they have both been able to overcome their fear. This does not mean that every time they set foot into the apartment they are not afraid that this will be the time they will be caught but love is just there to help them overcome it.

War is Peace

Indeed war is peace. This is an important rule that I learned from reading 1984 by George Orwell. The easiest way for any country to have peace within is to go to war. No matter how many different races are in one country and no matter how much they hate each other. Once there is a common goal, a common enemy people forget who they are and focus on how to get there enemy. They all remember that no matter how much they might hate each other but in the end they all love their country. Think of a number of brothers and sisters they might have just had a huge fight with each other and are not speaking any more. As soon as one of them gets into a fight the rest of his brothers and sisters will stand up for him. This is exactly what happens in whole nations. The Party in 1984 understood this principle very well. That is why they were constantly at war with one of the other two World powers and at peace with the other one. They understood that as long as the people were kept busy with a feeling of danger that anything might happen they would also not protest the decisions of the Party, as long as the Party kept them safe. So it was basically a win – win situation for the party. They also knew that no side would ever win the other one so they would always be at war with each other. So in order to achieve peace within there has to be a war outside. Simple.

BBM

Black Berry Messaging! To many a revolution in communication the fact that you can connect to such large amounts of people anywhere and anytime for almost charge in money is just fascinating. Although many have raised the question of how exposed and connected to other people do you have to be? The idea that you are connected to everyone 24 hours 7days a week is just massive and tiring. Although the counter claim is you choose to be that connected to people plus it is useful in a number of ways and is for almost no fee. Almost everyone you see has a BB and is using it to the full extent. From BBMing which is the new verb for using BBM to using the internet everywhere. The BlackBerry has created a competition that will be tough to beat. Especially with it becoming the new teen trend that every teen has to own one in order to connect to their peers and be always up to date. Many parents and doctors are afraid of the dangers of this on our children. From the dangers of always having your eyes stuck to a screen to the fear that human will lose all communication because of this. Effective communication is becoming less and less part of our daily lives we no longer feel the need to see the person face to face but send them a bunch of words on a screen that are cold and have no meaning. A I'm sorry as a text message no longer has the same effect as a sincere apology to the face of the person. People are now avoiding conflict or facing up to things by simply texting the other person I'm sorry or I quit rather than owning up to them. Communication between people should be reestablished yes the BlackBerries are useful but they should not take the place of daily face to face communication

Is media really progressing?

The ways that information can be quickly delivered have increased rapidly in the last couple of decades. From newspapers and magazines all the way to Facebook and BBM, are different technologies that have been added to the mass media. The question here is if this rapid progress is in fact progress. Is information being easily transmitted to a large number of humans really achieve the goal of media or help it? From my point of view it doesn't. The fact that information is being transmitted faster doesn't mean that it's efficient or correct. So much information is being passed on the internet and on the thousands of TV channels that people's main concern is not what type of information they're receiving or if it is correct. Their main concern is how fast it gets there. Yes, that might be important but how can you trust now that any piece of information that is being passed on to you is correct or valid. The internet is open to anyone to write any information they would like and so many people see that information that it becomes so easy for false information to be passed along. So many stereotypes and false accusations are arising because of people not making sure that the information that is being passed is correct. An example of that is the large rumor that came out when Michael Jackson died that he had converted to Islam before dying and that he had started creating his Islamic album before he was killed. Three huge assumptions were made one that he was killed two that he became Muslim three that he began recording Islamic albums. They even showed a video of his first Islamic song leading the people to believe that it was actually true. Although the video that showed the song didn't show Michael Jackson's face but people assumed it was him and believed it. Whether this is true no one actually knows. It just shows how false information can easily be passed along online..

Obama Obama

Many people seem to consider music mere entertainment. A tool that people can use for relaxation or for entertainment but nothing more. People have lost track of the main objective of music as a way of expression. Now that it has turned into an industry that doesn't mean that it does not have a message and aims. It started out with the drinking gorge and slaves using a song to describe their escape route. Then the hip-hop industry that was used as a way of expression for blacks, Latinos and even whites on their daily issues. To them it's a form of art. It still is to the present day. Yes, some music might be fully commercial yet there are still a lot that are a way of expression of one's feelings. An example of that is the song Obama by Lil Wayne and others… (lyrics below) it shows how artists and singers have a say in day to day issues. That through their songs they are sending messages to all the millions of teens who are listening to their songs. It is only through these artists that some teens could be influenced to hate or like things and an example of that is the president Obama election. Even though these teens didn't have a say in the elections yet they were all listening to the song and going "Obama, Obama, Obama". This can be counted as a point for Obama in knowing how to use the media and get it on his side and use it effectively. This also shows the importance in music and media in general in influencing public opinions.

 

Song 1:
Mm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama

He said that all must lend a hand
To make this country strong again
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama

He said we must be fair today
Equal work means equal pay
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama

He said that we must take a stand
To make sure everyone gets a chance
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama

He said red, yellow, black or white
All are equal in his sight
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama

Yes!
Mmm, mmm, mm
Barack Hussein Obama

Song 2:
Hello, Mr. President we honor you today!
For all your great accomplishments, we all doth say "hooray!"

Hooray, Mr. President! You're number one!
The first black American to lead this great nation!

Hooray, Mr. President we honor your great plans
To make this country's economy number one again!

Hooray Mr. President, we're really proud of you!
And we stand for all Americans under the great Red, White, and Blue!

So continue ---- Mr. President we know you'll do the trick
So here's a hearty hip-hooray ----

Hip, hip hooray!
Hip, hip hooray!
Hip, hip hooray!