Immigration

Immigration is a very big topic. Although I feel comfortable with letting people into the country to try and get a better life, I think it is necessary to have a thorough background check and other checks and measures takes so that the person we are letting into our country wont come back to haunt us in the future. There should be a tighter patrol, not a solid wall, separating the US from other countries, because the amount of people that come into this country illegally is very a very large number. Not only are they getting into our country for free, but then they don't have to pay any taxes or do any paper work. Thats sounds kind of lam to me because if you want to live in my country you should obey the same rules as everyone else.

Scool Prayer

I don't think a school prayer is necessary at all. There shouldn't be a school prayer at all in public schools, but for private schools I feel a prayer would be appropriate. Since most private schools are Jesuit, this would be the only circumstance that school prayer could be allowed, but for a public school to instill such a rule is not needed. The reason public schools shouldn't have a prayer is because there is such a diverse community within public school districts. People from all sorts of religious and ethical backgrounds go to school for learning, not praying. No where in a prayer do I see a teenager in high school, or a child in 5th grade benefiting from a prayer at any point during the school day.

Gay Rights

Today's topic was a topic I really have been struggling with to really come to terms with. I have been back and forth with this several times in the past, but because of today's discussion I have finally made up my mind where I would like to stand.
It was mentioned that in our constitution it states that all men are created equal and that all should be given the same opportunities in life as any other man. What really irks me is that because someone is gay they can't get married! This is a load of bull! I think that just because a man or a woman has a different sexual preference doesn't mean that they can't get married or have any other job or right that any one else can have. It's not right because it goes against our constitutional rights and therefore something needs to be done about it. Oh...and one last thing, just because some religious texts, like the Bible, say that marriage is between a man and a woman doesn't mean you have to abide by those rules. Whoever wrote this can go jump off a cliff into a pit of sharp rocks for all I care, as the church, and anyone else who wants to interfere with someones personal life, does not have a right to do so, and it is not their place to begin with.

ABORTION, Pro-life or Pro-choice?

In todays world, no matter what the circumstance, I feel that abortion is all right. I am neither a liberal or a conservative, and nor due i personally care about these two groups, but I think abortion is a necessary procedure. Whether or not the mother of the child decides to go further with the abortion is up to them. I really think its completely crazy and absurd to think of abortion as killing or murdering a human. I think that anyone thinking this needs to get a brain scan and possibly see a psychiatrist or at least receive some sort of guidance/consoling. Like I said, I am neither liberal or conservative, and although I support the liberal point of view here, this does not make me a liberal.

Liberal or Conservative? Which one are you?

What is the difference between conservative & liberal viewpoints in America?

For this question, all I can say is I have no idea. I don’t really know what is really considered conservative or liberal for that matter. I can only remember a few instances where liberal and conservative issues have been thrown around, and that was in class this year. Even though we were talking about which newspaper is which, I still have no clue what it meant to be a liberal or a conservationist. Also may I add that from presidential candidates, to senators, to mayor or governors, all the way to district representatives, I have no idea what it means when people say they are going to vote for them because of their liberal or conservative view points. When I hear candidates or other people running for some sort of position, I don’t really care what cultural point of view they have, and I think this is because I’m open minded in terms of what I like to hear. I know not to always just decide whom I will cast my ballet for based on the promises they make, but when it comes down to it I guess that’s all we have to base our vote on.

I feel the reason I don’t know anything about these viewpoints is because I have no real party that I am committed to. I try to stay away from politics because they bore me and I don’t want to read or watch something that is extremely boring. So I cannot give input out on what it means to be a person with a liberal point of view or a conservative. I know nothing of there differences, nor do I really personally care what they are.

Authentic Era?

In this day and age, I don’t believe there is one such subculture that we teens can call our own. This is some what upsetting to know, but it does not affect me in any way or form, because I have my own culture to fall back on. I have always been involved in hockey, and I’m sure that everyone is tired or hearing it by now, but I fit in there and I like being apart of it. As for the subculture for teens, there is none at all that I can think of. I have spent over an hour trying to think about anything that ca be considered our own, and that wasn’t brought on to us by a corporation. As I said before, this doesn’t really matter to me, but it is sad to think that there is nothing out there for us that is truly ours. The media clogs our minds everyday with what the norm is now and since people just want to fit in, I feel that we conform to these norms and except them for what they are and try not to stick out too much.

"It's a shame that the people who are listening to you the most are only interested in you because they want you and your peers to buy their product."

This is not always true. People today do try to get into conversations with us (teens), and try to see what it is that we do for fun or what strikes us as interesting, but they don't always want to use that information to try and sell a product. Although there is some truth to this statement, I feel that there are people in our everyday life that are listening to us and taking in our thoughts without the intension of using those ideas for advertising a new product. My parents are people I talk to and have some interest in what I say, or at least I like to think they are listening, or even my brothers, as we share information about sports teams or whats going on in our professional and social lives. However, there are companies and certain mass medians that want our information for what it is, information. They use what thoughts we give them in order to see what's in style or "cool." In this case the people listening aren't interested in you, but are really interested in your thoughts.

DAUGHTRY

My favorite song by DAUGHTRY is "It's Not Over," but outside of his band it's hard to say what my favorite song that he sang is. I wouldn't really link myself directly to these lyrics, but they do have a special meaning to me. The reason I like Daughtry so much is because of his time that he spent on AI (American Idol). Now the lyrics are more directed towards a relationship with a women, but if I were to relate this to me, I would probably use hockey as "the only one." Now this might not make to much sense to a lot of people, but for me hockey is everything, and during the duration of this year I've had to balance tons of school work and on top of that an after school job and playing hockey. Out of all the things in my life hockey is the most important, and although "this love is killing me" (because of my injuries) I still want to try and pursue a career as a NHL hockey player. This goal is probably unrealistic, but I feel that if you give up on your dreams then you have nothing, and that is kinda what "It's Not Over" is all about. Not giving up on the things that mean something to you and to fight for what you believe in is exactly what I'm trying to accomplish.

For Lyrics go to: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/daughtry/itsnotover.html

Rockin The World

Chris Daughtry to me has been one of AI's most successful contestants, and the media also agrees. From his auditions in Denver, the camera could not stop following Chris around, as he possessed 2 major qualities that the producers of AI loved. One, he was the rocker that looked handsome and had a great voice. Second, he was very family oriented and loved spending time with his wife and kids. I think is what really interested me about him, as he was something different then what I was used to seeing on AI. He was a top pick almost every week, and advanced himself to the third to last show, where he lost to Kathrine McPhee. After being voted off, there was a lot of controversy about the voting and whether or not Chris was kicked off on purpose.
Despite being kicked off AI, Chris Daughtry, and his band DAUGHTRY, has been reaching new heights and producing chart topping hits. In fact, Daughtry has become the forth best Idol in AI history, and the best selling contestant to not finish in the final two. His music is very upbeat and has that rocker style to it that is still rocking out crowds and selling out stadiums. His journey to the top has been one worth watching, and I wish him the best of luck in his future.

Elvis "The King" Presley

According to the video we watched yesterday in class, Elvis was brought into his music career because of his ability to sing in a way that was similar to black music. Even if this is true, do you think Elvis's label disclosed this info to the public? Also, how do you think the black community respond to Elvis's music, given the fact that he was brought in to integrate a style of black music to the public.

COMMIT TO THE INDIAN!

The Hawks have multiple home games coming up in the month of March. For all those Hawks fans out there, do yourself a favor and "COMMIT TO THE INDIAN."

First Blog

"Who was your first favorite group or singer? How old were you at the time? What was important to you about this music?"

I think my first favorite band was Linking Park. Now I say this only because I bought their first CD, and didn't have any other CD's before hand. Now I can't really recall how old I was when I bought that CD, but I think I was in either 4th or 5th grade. It's really funny answering this question, because I don't really know why this music was important to me other then I liked listening to it. Their music had an interesting twist to it that seemed to draw me in. Other then that, I really don't have an answer to this question.