North Korea...crazy

In the last mentor session. someone's discussion was about North and South Korea. He explained that North Korea supposedly sunk South Korea's ship. There is now a lot of tension between the two countries; well, more than there already was. The sinking of the ship was like a trigger and a big wake up call that North Korea is probably bad news. It was also said that the U.S. may have to assist South Korea if a war ever starts.

I think this is very nasty of North Korea. It's always been a known fact that North Korea wasn't a very dependable country. It is not a strong trading partner of the U.S. either, so I never really hear anything of North Korea. I strongly agree with South Korea to cut North Korea off from their waters. This will really hurt North Korea because it is their main way of trading. I think it was a smart move on South Korea's part.

Social Reconstruction

In Democracy class, we discussed the topic of social reconstruction. Professor Schuler went around the room and asked each person if they thought social reconstruction was possible. I was surprised that there was such a mix of yes' and no's. I believe that social reconstruction is possible. However, I guess if one goes under social reconstruction, they may always be hiding their true self. Either that or, someone could be changing and not even know it.

Someone could reconstruct themselves socially in many different ways. A suggestion in class was, that a person could start hanging out with different people. I think that is a major way to change someone because their friends could rub off on that person. Another way would be their class in society. If someone suddenly becomes wealthy or even poor, it can change their whole outlook on life and the way they act.

Money, Money, Money

Lately in class, we've been discussing the issue of money. In the world today, anything and everything is about money. There's no doubt about it; money matters and everything revolves around it. It's known fact that, without money, you can barely survive in this world. In class, we talked about how we as humans just give value to money. When in fact, money is just a piece of paper. When I think about that, I realize that it's right and it is just paper. However, money has become everything, and there's nothing that we can do about it.

The book "The Ascent of Money" by Niall Ferguson is a book about money. He confirms just how much money is essential to us humans in our world. Ferguson writes about the various countries in the world and their financial standing. The issues of wealth and poverty plays a big role the world economy. This book helps me understand how money works and how important it is. Money has become the foundation to life as a human being.

Portland Art Museum

We went to the Portland Art Museum for On Democracy class. It was a new experience for me because I've never been to an Art museum before. There were a bunch of really interesting paintings and sculptures that I stared at for a while. We got to see a glimpse of other cultures and what life was like many, many years ago. We were able to cover quite a lot of artwork while there.

My favorite part of the museum that we saw was probably the room with all of the Christian paintings. Since I'm writing my research paper about religion, specifically Christianity, these paintings really fascinated me. There were many paintings of women with babies in their arms. Also, there were many paintings of the Jesus' crucification on the cross. Those paintings really helped me imagine and relate to what I was writing in my paper. This also helped me with ideas for my visual aspect to go along with my research paper.

Abortion

For my ten minute presentation in mentor session, I decided to discuss the issue of abortion. It is and will continue to be a huge controversial issue in America. In my discussion, I posed the question, "Do you think women should have the right to an abortion? Or should be illegal because it's immoral?" This relates directly to democracy because women should have the freedom of making their own decisions.

My personal opinion on this issue is that women should have the right to an abortion. Although, sometimes it gets carried away with young teenage girls being dumb. There are times when abortion is okay, such as a rape. That is probably one of the only times I think an abortion is the best choice. When a mother might not be able to care for the child, there is also adoption.

POLICE!

In mentor session, we had a discussion about whether police are abusing their right to have a gun. It was a topic that I never really thought about until that day. The story that went along with this discussion was about a police man shooting someone who was just reaching for his wallet. Some people may say that the policeman was just using self-defense and assumed that the other person was reaching for a gun. However, others may say that this policeman should have waited for a visual instead of abusing his power.

I agree with the fact that he should have waited to see what the person was grabbing before shooting. This policeman took an innocent life; and he has to live with that. I'm sure that there are many incidents like this that happen pretty often; and there is always controversy among the public. When it comes down to it, I think that sometimes, shooting someone cannot be avoided..but, sometimes policeman can seem like they are abusing their power of possessing a gun.

Religions...

When thinking of my research topic for On Democracy, I was really stuck. Then I recalled how many times religion came up in class. Therefore, I decided to do a compare and contrast paper on two religions: Buddhism and Christianity. I grew up with Buddhism, but wasn't very serious about it and don't know much about it either. I also don't know much about Christianity or the word "religion" in general, so this paper will be a good learning experience for me as well.

I do know that they are two very different religions. Christians believe in God and he is the one everyone worships. Buddhism is more about being self-reliant, doing good things, and putting others before yourself. I'm sure there is a lot more to it, and I may be even wrong with what I just said. However, I'm sure that the Buddhist ways that I have learned have probably made me a better person. I will hopefully be able to learn much more about both of these religions and write a good essay.

American Vertigo

This term in On Democracy, we are reading the book "American Vertigo" by Bernard- Henri Levy. He write about his journey through America and discusses various issues he encounters. Levy's thoughts about America are reflected through every passage of this book. Maybe we AMERICANS need someone from another country to see our country in a different light. I think he helps us do this.

I found the first passage pretty interesting. He titled it "A People and Its Flag". Our American flag is just part of who we are. It represents us and the nation that we live in. Levy states, "It's a little strange, this obsession with the flag." But, is it really an obsession? I don't think it is. We are just taking pride in our country. The American flag is something dear to us and we try our best to take care of it. However, if I were in his position and was from another country, I would probably think that it was an obsession too. Since I was born and raised in America, the flag is just part of our culture that I'm used to.

Monotheism VS Polytheism

To be honest, I have never heard of these two words before Prof. Schuler mentioned it in class. I personally don't have a lot of knowledge when it comes to different religions. All I knew was that it had to deal with different types of religions. After listening to the discussion in class, I figure out that "monotheism" means believing in one single God; and "polytheism" means believing in many Gods.

Monotheistic religions believe the God that they believe in is the only God there is. Polytheistic religions allow the belief of other Gods and other religions. I think I would lean more toward the polytheistic view, just because I don't have a preference when it comes to God. I think that every religion is free to believe in whatever God they want. However, I do respect the monotheistic religion and their dedication to their God.

My Revolution

I had the hardest time figuring out what to write about for my revolution. After reading "Persepolis" I felt like I needed something BIG. Marjane Satrapi had so much happen in her life. She actually lived through a war that was happening all around her. I was so amazed at her revolution and felt that I didn't have anything like that in my life. My life is actually pretty boring if you ask me.

As I really thought about my life, I decided to write about the biggest change that has occurred in my lifetime. I came to the conclusion that the biggest change would have to be leaving home in Hawaii to attend college in Portland. My revolution includes the journey that I went through to make the decision to leave. I know it does not compare to "Persepolis" but it is my revolution.

History Of God

The book "History Of God" by Karen Armstrong was not a book I would usually read. Honestly, it was a little difficult to read. She overwhelmed me with so many different characters and dates, I could hardly keep up with the what she was writing about. But, I tried my best to understand and comprehend as much as I could. Despite my struggle with the reading, I could tell that Armstrong was trying to show how people have many different perspectives of God.

I found the beginning 2 chapters interesting. At first, she wrote that some people believe in just one God. However, there are many other people who believe that there are multiple Gods. Religion and beliefs play big roles in people's lifestyles. Depending on which God someone believes in, or if they believe in God at all, it determines everything they do in life. Even though I struggled reading itl, I learned a lot from "History Of God".

Persepolis (BOOK vs. MOVIE)

We had the privilege to watch the beginning of Persepolis the motion picture. After reading the entire book, I was anxious to see if Marjane Satrapi kept the movie the same with the book. The first thing I realized was that the movie was also animated and had the same illustrations as the book, or at least similar. I could tell who each character was by what they said and how they looked. The movie pretty much followed the same story line as the book.

It began the same way, when she was about 10 years old. But, there were some parts that were left out and the movie seemed to move much faster than the book did. The movie didn't show Marjane going to the demonstration with their maid. They also didn't show her parents taking a trip to Turkey. There were many smaller things too, but overall, the movie was very similar. Her parents sounded just as I had read and young Marjane's personality was just as funny as in the book.

Legitimacy

Professor Schuler asked me a question in class and he asked, "Where does our legitimacy come from?" and the answer was the constitution. The definition of legitimacy is, "Lawfulness by virtue of being authorized or in accordance with the law." Since the war in Iraq, I'm sure that our country has been suffering legitimacy problems. American power is being questioned by many people because of the war.

Despite our problems, we do have legitimacy; the European Union is another story. They seem to not really have legitimacy well, YET that is. In the EU guide, it reads that their Constitutional Treaty was agreed and signed but has failed to come into force. This is because it was not ratified by all of the countries within the EU.

Persepolis

The book "Persepolis" by Marjane Satrapi was actually very enjoyable to read. I'll admit that I was dreading reading a whole book in such a short period of time. But, I just kept reading because I wanted to know what would happen next and her illustrations made it entertaining. It was about her childhood in the midst of the Islamic Revolution. It was probably really difficult to grow up in that kind of environment. I know that I would always be scared of everything and everyone.

It was so interesting how she managed to go through so many phases in life while the war and chaos was going on around her. She tried to find herself in many different ways and found herself hanging out with a variety of characters. There were also little bits of with and humor in the story. It was more apparent in the beginning when she was a child. As she grew into an adult, it seemed more serious; which is understandable since she was much more matured.

Revolution

In mentor session, we were asked, "What is a revolution?" and also "What is NOT a revolution?" I personally struggled with this topic, but I finally wrote something. I wrote that a revolution is a life-changing event. The other people in class had a lot of good ideas too. We decided that a revolution is a big thing that affects a large amount of people. It was also interesting to think about the word "revolution" in terms of a wheel turning.

Most of the class got stuck when it came to the question of, "What is NOT a revolution?" However, when we thought about the opposites of what WAS a revolution, it was simple. A small change that does not affect many people is not a revolution. Something that doesn't last for a long period of time is not a revolution. And an event that does not make a drastic change in people's lives is not a revolution.

The New York Times: U.S. Saw A Path To Qaeda Chiefs Before Bombing

It seems like the big issue involving terrorism is growing bigger and bigger. This front page article in the New York Times is about a Jordanian militant who was being considered by the American spy agencies to be a promising informant. However, he turned out to be a double agent and was involved in the killing of seven C.I.A. operatives. The Obama administration is now finding it difficult to step up the security in the country.

After the incident on the airplane on Christmas day, security has been a much bigger issue. The article states that, "The two episodes illuminate the problems the United States still faces in understanding the intentions of Al Qaeda and its affiliates. I think that we need to do a better job investigating before we instill trust in someone. Especially when it is dealing with national security and Al Qaeda. The article also states that C.I.A. was too optimistic about the potential informant.