Is the Machine US?

The video "Web 2.0... The Machine is Us/ing Us" by unknown (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1) is about how this particular person thinks that we are the machine. In the video it said, "Who will organize all this data?... We will... You will..." I believe we are somewhat the machine. The machine isn't just me, but, it's everyone. A lot of people say that we are changing technology in the world around us...But maybe technology is changing us.

At the very beginning of the video it was saying that digital text (compared to writing with pen and pencil on paper) is different and more flexible. I believe that that statement is true because it is easier to write on the computer than on paper. You can erase what you said more easily and it's neater. When watching this video i had a few questions... Really WHO is going to organize all this data they we are putting out there? And who is "You"? Is "You" me? or is it another person? Or maybe even everyone? People are putting so much data out there that its more then the world can handle... Do you think it's to much? Who should rule the web? You? Me? Someone? Everyone? You choose. Its our generation, so we need to make this generation the best it can be. :)

Did Anybody Really Not Hear of the Tax Cuts???

Michael Cooper, wrote "From Obama, the Tax Cuts Nobody Heard Of" (NYtimes.com). How much money do you think a president could cut from peoples' taxes without anyone noticing it? President Obama cut $116 billion in taxes that nobody noticed. CBS took a poll last moth of whether people believed that their taxes had changed under President Obama's administration.  Here are there results: less than 1 in 10 respondents knew Obama lowered taxes. Half said they thought their taxes stayed the same. A third thought their taxes went up, and a tenth didn't know.  The tax cut was intended to be hard to notice. It was arranged so that people couldn't notice that their taxes went down. Obama wanted it this way so that people would spend the extra money and stimulate the economy.  A typical family was given about $65 extra dollars per month.

I believe that Obama was doing good for the economy and not for his reputation. He could have done what George Bush did and given citizens their tax cut at the end of the year in one big check, which would have been better for Obama politically. But the president wanted to help the economy and he wanted people to spend that money he gave to him so the economy would go up.

Don't Ask Don't Tell

In the NY Daily News article, "Lady Gaga Rallies Against 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'"  by Meena Hartenste, Lady Gaga protests against the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" law. "Don't Ask Don't Tell" is about the legality of gay soldiers fighting. The law is that the military can't ask if you are gay and you can't tell anyone or you can be kicked out of the military. Lady Gaga states, "I'm here today because don't ask don't tell is wrong. It's injust. I'm here today because I would like to propose a new law. A law that sends home the soldier that has the problem. Our new law is called 'If you don't like it, go home.'" I'm totally in favor of Lady Gaga's law because it should be the soldiers that have the problem that need to go home not the ones that don't. It should not matter if you are gay. Lady Gaga also says, "Doesn't don't ask don't tell seem backwards? Doesn't it seem to you that we should send home the prejudice? The straight soldier who hates the gay soldier, whose performance is affected because he is homophobic?". I believe that the soldiers who are against gays need to be sent home. It's not fair if only straights can go in the military. Gays can perform as well as straight soldiers. What happened to "every man is created equal"? The gays aren't prejudiced and saying "Oh well, I hate most people because they are straight".


My uncles are gay and I love them to death. It really doesn't matter if people are gay or not. It's just who they are and they shouldn't be judged or hated because of it.

What are teachers trying to teach us kids about the web?

My newest post is on "Educational Leadership" written by Will Richardson. Students are teaching themselves about the web. Teachers are not helping the students learn about the web because simply they don't know that much about it. What the teachers do know is that anything can be posted on the web whether its good or bad. Most of what we post is in our control. What gets put on the web can be changed or stolen and anyone can see it. So teachers are trying to help students become more responsible. One of the many good things about being on the web is that we get to connect with many people across the world. But also being able to connect with people means that we need to take more responsibility. We shouldn't connect with anyone we don't know, or we can get into HUGE trouble. Another good thing about the web is it can spread the news around quickly, which can be a good thing in some cases. If we are trying to spread the news around on a big event then the web is a great place to get it around. Millions of people use the web each day all over the world.


My opinion on the matter is that we need to use the web responsibly and maturely, no matter what age you are. The web postings should be educational and helpful, not mean or embarrassing. I can relate to the text a lot because my parents are always trying to get me to use the Internet responsibly and carefully. The text was about how the dad wasn't sure if it was good or bad that his children were using the Internet.

Education for the Students of America

In the NY Daily News article on September 14, 2010, "President Obama Tells Kids to Work Hard, Stay in School in Annual Back-to-School Pep Talk" by Kenneth R. Bazinet (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2010/09/14/2010-09-14_president_obama_tells_kids_to_work_hard_stay_in_school_in_annual_backtoschool_pe.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+nydnrss%2Fhome+(Home)&utm_content=Google+Reader), President Obama said to the students, "Your future is in your hands."  The speech was intended for all the kids around America. Mr. Obama stated "You've got an obligation to yourselves, and America has an obligation to you to make sure you are getting the best education possible."

We do have an obligation to ourselves.  Most people in the world don't get an education like Americans get, so we need to take advantage of that privilege. If you really don't want to go to school, move to Africa. Mr. Obama also said, "And making sure you get that kind of education is going to take all of us working hand in hand." We DO need to work together. Everyone. We need to make America the best she can be.  What do you think we can do to make America better?  I think that instead of spending all of this money on war, the United States needs to spend money on education.  We should fund better teacher education, get rid of tenure, and give more people scholarships to college.

Mr. Obama went on to say, "Your future is in your hands. Your life is what you make of it. And nothing - absolutely nothing - is beyond your reach.  So long as you're willing to dream big. So long as you're willing to work hard." Do you think that if you really work hard, that you can achieve the impossible? I do believe that everyone's future is in their own hands and life is what you want it to be. No one can change up your life. You're the only person in control. Life's too short to make your first few years not count. Make every second in every minute in every day count by getting the best education you can get.

Are Muslims Bad People?

In the New York Times, the article "Obama Tries to Calm Religious Tensions" by Helene Cooper, President Obama tried to defend Muslims rights in a speech on 9/11/2010. Obama protest against a Floridian pastor's plan to burn Korans on the 9th  anniversary of 9/11. The plan was suspended. As President Obama said "This country stands for the proposition that all men and women are created equal, that they have certain inalienable rights." Our country was built on the idea of religious freedoms, and 200 or so years later, America is against Muslims.


I think that acting against Muslims is going against the Constitution. They are just like everyone else, but they believe in a different god. What's wrong with that? I chose this topic because I believe every person deserves to be treated equally. We need to tell everyone that Muslims are people too and they shouldn't be discriminated against. How are Muslims different from Buddhists, Jews, and Christians? It's wrong to think that our religion is superior to theirs. 

"Is Google Making us Stupid?"

In the article  "Is Google Making us Stupid?" Nicholas Carr talks about how the more we are online the shorter our attention span gets. Instead of reading a book deeply we are skimming through it. He states that what we read is different from how we read. Which I totally agree on. If we read through a science book deeply then we will be smart in science. But if we only skim through the book we won't know as much as if we deeply read it. We skim through things so we can get the main idea in less effort and we save more time. Technology is shaping our brains differently. See in the olden days they used the sun to get up and to go to bed. Then the clock was invented and we set our alarms to get up. We now use math and science instead of nature to do things.

I think that it is very true that the more we are online the shorter our attention span is. I use to be able to read through a book easily now I absolutely loath reading. It's not that I hate it, it's just that I can't concentrate that well. So it makes it harder for me to like reading. Reading takes time and effort.