Two for one.

I'm not voting for McCain, simply put they have turn this race into a carnival act of horrid politics. From bashing Obama for not having experience to then grabing up an Palin who has virtual no experience and then saying she's ready for the job is inexcusable. I've gown so tired of the Republicans trying to treat politics with such a visual facad with no substance. I'm just so ready for a change and I think Obama is at least the step in the right direction.


America just loves to commercialize any holiday. If they can cheaply make an item that corresponds to a holiday, you are sure to see it in every Walmart and Target in America. We are unable to celibate without having to buy something. Somewhere between our Declaration of Independence and now, we simply stopped caring about the small liberties and only cared about the big things. “What can I get out of this” attitudes and not “what can I do”. We've changed from a country that was ready to fight for freedoms to one that barely lifts a finger when our own government encroaches upon our very rights. Somewhere in time, we became lazy, maybe it was when America became fat.
From phone taping, to bottle necking the internet, to outright bias on our TV “news” stations, we have lost true control over our country. I mean we as in the citizens. Colectivly we have said to our government that we don't care if you tap into my phone as long as Idol will be one at 7. At some point in time, that nice carrot the government was dangling in front of was became our obsession. All other aspects of life no longer mattered. It's sad, I know that there are people out there that try to stand up and fight, yet the masses don't seem to hear them over their new plasma screen HD TV. So what are we to do? What will it take to change this American back into something to be proud of? Maybe a new face in Washington, maybe an economic failure, maybe another terrorist attack. Who knows, all I know is that I'll never stop fighting for true freedom.

Whale Rider

1) Name two situations where Koro ignored signs of Pai’s ability and aptitude to lead.

The fact that Pai was so interested about the culture and learned all she could without being forced to. As well as how she learned to use the taiaha on her own and excelled at it.

2) Discuss the scene where Rawiri took up the taiaha again.
How does this change carry on for Rawiri in the rest of the story?

It changes him, he was once slim and strong and he sees that.

3) When the community walk away together, Paikea comes
from behind them and walks alone back towards the big
whale. What did that image make you think about Paikea?

A bit like someone who knew they were right and was ready to do everything they could to fix something. No matter what anyone else thought. So much like a civil rights activist from the 60's.

4) When Pai is in the hospital how do they know Koro has changed his
attitude towards her?

Well he apologies and announces her as the leader. Seemed pretty obvious and or strait forward.

5) What is the significance of the waka? Describe the waka scene that struck you most, and explain why.

The canoe sort of shows her official acceptance by everyone of Pai being apart (or leader of) their rich traditions. A right of passage in some sense.

Project II Ideas

I'm still not too sure on what topic I'm going to do, but I think I'm going to make a song of sorts. It might be more of a spoken word to music but none the less it's pretty much the same. I have a lot of people that can help me record it so I think it will be fun writing and recording the work. Between the topics I can choose from, the election and activist are the most interesting to me. So I'll probably do something with that.

Our America Part II

Those children are not to be blamed for such an incident. We are to blame, for creating an environment that can grow incidents and a culture such as this. Yes, the fact that they "threw" a child out of a window is horrid. But within their culture that we, (white America) has created, that is nothing but abnormal. We should not sentence them for life, or for more than 10 years. We should put them in juvenile hall but we need to try and stop this sort of society from breeding. We need to implement a cleaning of these ghettos by bringing in better schooling, better parks and such. We must give this place life for life to come from it.