The Great Barrier Coral reefs

The great barrier reefs on the coast of Australia are going to be freed of the leaking oil tanker. About 950 tonnes of oil were pumped onto another ship and could be saved, however on board are still 65'000 tonnes of coal that the Chinese boat wanted to transport. "Shen Neng 1", the name of the oil tanker, drove onto the protected coral reefs full force where 4 tonnes of oil escaped the 230 meter long tanker. Environmentally oriented NGO's are scared that the lost oil will destroy a great part of the habitat and that it will leave a constant effect.
The Minister president of Queensland, Australia, demands that the penalty for oil catastrophes of ships are raised from 1.75 million to 10 million Australian dollars.

Beginning of Movie and Book of 'one flew over the cuckoo's nest'

The book and the movie begin fairly different, the movie begins with a
driving car in the desert. It then goes on to the 'medication time' of
the hospital. In the book a normal day in the ward opens the book and
Bromden when he is pushed around by the aids. Mc Murphy only arrives
after a while as in the movie he is seen after about three minutes in
to the movie. The point of view of the book is in the view of Indian
Chief Bromden while the movie is not. Also in the book the patients are
introduced during the medication time but in the movie the patients are
just seen but not introduced. The beginning of the movie is fairly
different than the beginning of the book.

Mental Health Article

The definition of mental health is psychological well-being and satisfactory adjustment to society and the ordinary demands of life. However, it also can be the field of medicine concerned with the maintenance of a person’s overall emotional and psychological condition. Hospitals and institutions working with the mentally handicapped have the obligation to heal their patients and re-engage them in society and to keep them safe, or keep society safe from them. How does being around hundreds of insane people help treat mental illness and how what does it mean to be mentally ill?

Darwin did not think highly of giving mental treatment to the hopelessly sick, even if care for the weak can strengthen the community, he thinks it is against his theory of survival of the fittest and that it can also weaken the community. In the mid 19th century Insane Asylums were developed to cure the mentally ill however most of the idiots and lunatics were never considered treatable so they were being hold in the facilities for control, to keep society safe. The state pays for these asylums however the patients are there for free and under poor conditions these patients aren’t able to recover so the asylums are very expensive for the state. Especially insane is that the incurable are held for most of their lifetime, so they cost probably about three times as much as a person that has a short curable visit to the Institution. In 1908 they opened an observation hospital in England that treated the people that thought they might go insane, so they aren’t treating the mentally ill but the people that might only go there because they are at a low point in their life. In 1909 one person in hundred and eighteen is mentally defective so either, idiotic insane or feeble-minded. In Nottinghamshire in 1910 they opened the first psychiatric center, called Criminal Lunatic Asylum, which was for the mentally insane considered dangerous. During around the same time in the Winston Churchill home secretary there was a strong supporter of sterilization, he proposed that about 100’000 moral degenerates are to be sterilized by force so there are less insane people. However his proposal was kept secret until 1992. Wars are a great source of physically wounded and mentally handicapped so in 1915 the government wanted the asylums to treat soldiers too, so they estimated about 56’000 beds for the sick and wounded soldiers. The mental health institutions were becoming stuffed, they have developed so many reasons that there were too many in the asylums, by 1950 there were up to five insane patients per room. So hard to heal patients by these low hospital standards; for example the Fulbourn Mental Health Hospital built 1858 that lacked funds, physical neglect and low morale. Additions to the slow progress of patients are the lobotomies, which are a treatment in which some connections in the brain between the frontal lobes and the prefrontal cortex. This method is unfavorable because psychotic treatments have proven to be more successful. Another critically viewed treatment is the electroshock therapy in which the anesthetized patient’s brain is electrocuted through controlled electroshocks. This way of healing is also criticized however it is supposed to induce therapeutic effects; however patients are to feel weary and disoriented. One of the best treatments however is institutionalization where a patient is placed in a privately owned institution where he fits in and introducing them back into society. This method seems most realistic because the big difference in the mentally challenged is that they do not fit into the society’s norm, by reintroducing them to society this problem is solved.

I believe mental health care has improved a lot since the eighteenth century however lots of improvements are still to be made.

The Lion "king"

If the Lion is the King of the Animals, and considering humans as animals, we are inferior to the lion. The lion is a deadly hunter and a strong fighter, very similar to us humans. We produce little stuffed lions for children to play and help them sleep. Why do we let this majestic animal look so helpless and soft? Is it to suggest that we do not need to respect it, as we do to most nature? Also lions are a more and more endangered species because we are enclosing there habitat and butchering their foods. The king of animals as a little stuffed animal, ironic not? Even if it does not have any direct relation to how humanity treats nature, it clearly shows how little value is still given to a term like king of animals. With its poor black eyes the stuffed animal lion stares at me with a dead empty glare that remembers me that we lack respect of the Environment.

Fake Poem

Half of the lines are true and half are a lie.

Born someday in 1991
Making music is fun
Ready to take over the world
Break dance is cool with the girls

Oblige to always tell the truth
Archery was part of my youth
School puts on my angry glasses
Only because I'm failing classes
I am Gilles

How does chapter 6 demonstrate Adam's melding conventions of science fiction and absurdist comedy?

The Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, a radio screen play by Douglas Adams in the eighties. The book is a science fictional comedy. Which conventions of science fiction makes this a science fictional comedy?
The scenes are set in fantastical settings like spaceships, unknown planets or somewhere throughout time. The setting provides a background to the absurd scenes. Also characters and language are dominated over the plot line because the situational comedy can be easily used. For example special characters like computers with feelings, funny voices like mice speaking, and confusion of stereotypes. A great weight is also on the technology aspect, where Douglas Adams brings in devices like time machines, spaceships, travels across the universe, ray guns and Aliens. Arthur is also saved out of his own time by time traveling spaceship. Flexible time is another convention of science fiction. Mostly these are male dominated, Ford, Arthur, Marvin and Zaphod all main characters and there is only on female Trillian. These conventions are tools to create an absurd science fictional comedy.

Dialectic Journal of Uncle Vanya

Quotations
Responses
Ivan: "Oh yes. I am Jealous. And what a success with women… What a Don Juan is this man. Who is his first wife? My sister, a transcendent beauty, pure as the blue sky. Generous, noble, who had more admirers than this man had students, and who, God knows why, loved him as only the pure angels love. My Mother, his mother-in-law, dotes on him to this day, and to this day, he inspires in her reverent awe. His second wife, this beauty whom we just saw, a perceptive woman, married him, he was already old, and gave up to him her youth, her bauty, her freedom, her … luster … for what? Why? I ask you." Pg 9

This quote of Ivan already involves most of his inner conflicts. How he misses his sister, how he is jealous of the professor and how he is sad that Yelena gave up her youth her luster her freedom. However I believe Ivan is angry that like her he gave up his freedom, his youth and his beauty.


Ivan: "Twenty-five years this wise man tells us about Art. Twenty-five years, he reads the works of others and prattles about realism, naturalism, specious nonsense which the clever have long known, and which the stupid do not care about…" Pg 8

Ivan is explaining partly why he is angry at the professor. He thinks he has wasted 25 years just because the professor told him about unimportant facts he was going to study.


Ivan: "Since the Herr and Frau Professor come to visit my life's gone completely off the track. I'm sleeping days, I'm up nights, I'm served all sorts of je ne sais quoi to eat and I don't think its healthy… I'm drinking wines…Eat. Sleep. Drink. It isn't good." Pg 5

Ivan is blaming his misfortune on the professor and his wife, because the professor made him waste his life and Yelena he fell in love with. Also this shows what he does about it but that is only drinking, eating and sleeping.


Ivan: "How else can I look at you? I love you. I look and see my life, my happiness, my youth. And I know that the chances you reciprocate my feelings are nothing, But I want nothing. Only that you permit me to look, to hear your voice…"

Ivan is talking to Yelena and she asks him not to look at him that way but his response makes him look idiotic because he has given up but talks like he still hopes.


Ivan: "You're tired by him and I'm sick of myself. This is the third night without sleep. I'm tired of nausea." Pg 26

Ivan has gotten sleep issues and he feels sick constantly. He thinks his problems are more important because they are worse.



Ivan: "… My one feeling is for you. Can I renounce it? My one feeling in life and it's dying like a ray of sun shone in a well. And I am dying."
Yelena: "You speak to me of love. How am I to deal with that? I don't know. I'm sorry but it's true. What do you expect? I'm sorry. Forgive me. I must say goodnight."
Pg 27-28
Yelena is taking more distance to Ivan because he overwhelms her by telling her his only feelings are for her and how his feelings and he are about to die because of her. Ivan's self-pity and love destroy him because of what he does to himself.

Tragedy of Forced Marriage

Some people in the middle east might be lucky with their marriage, however often these forced marriages are mistaken. It is also not the man who suffers the damage of the marriage it is the wife. In Afghanistan women belong too men and have barely no rights, so women under Taliban rule have no other escape then death.
So far there have been 51 cases of self immolation which were reported of between January and July.
According to Mohamed Aref Jalali the practice of self-immolation comes from Iran especially from Kurds living close to the Borders.
Afghan refugees that live in traditional uneducated towns where girls are forced into marriage where they after see no way to leave the marriage. Choosing death over marriage is a result of the daily routine of Afghan women: many are treated like slaves, kept inside and ordered to cook and clean, while others are repeatedly beaten or raped.
The Taliban openly executed women for braking laws so every women is scared of speaking freely or leaving the marriage. The law states that no girls under 16 years of age are allowed to be married, however most traditional families sell their girls as children to be married. Since the girls are illiterate due to the law that girls are not to be in school change in this area can only happen slowly.

Uganda proposes anti-gay laws

The newly proposed law in Uganda states that anybody whom commits or abets homosexual practices is punishable by capital punishment. It states that homosexuality is preventable and that it is a disease or mental disorder. It is punishable by at least 5 years imprisonment or about 54'000 dollars fine for people who abets homosexual practices.
It is as if Uganda is back in the middle ages and fundamentalist Christians have a big role in influencing Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni. A US anti-gay activist has a big role in this Scott Lively when he attended a conference in Uganda's capital. According to the bill it is a disorder which can be fought and changed to a heterosexual orientation.
All it still takes is a signature, the law is waiting to be signed by Musevevni till it is passed as a law.

Defining poverty

What is poverty, or how do you know if someone is officially poor or living in poverty. It is hard to define poverty since there are so many different factors that add up too leading someone to that state.
There are 11 standards that you need too fulfill to not be considered to be in "consistent poverty". The 11 necessities are: a warm waterproof overcoat,two pairs of strong shoes, meals with meat, chicken or fish at least every second day, a roast joint or its equivalent once a week, a warm house and the wherewithal to buy presents for family members once a year, have guests over for a drink once a month, and a night out every two weeks. Lack two of the standard necessities on the list, and you're officially poor.
Some of these necessities are considered normal even for really poor people and some like going out every two weeks might not be standard for rich people with a new born baby. However the Irish poverty rate has decreased 6.5 percent with the new system of defining poverty. Yet it is complicated to measure who is poor and what you can't measure you can't debate. However it has been figured out that Canada has much more trouble with defining poverty then Ireland.

How does the filmmaker appeal to the audience?

The watched Documentary reported about a corporation which is active all over the world. The Corporation has arose some problems in these different habitats. The movie addresses this problems with different filmmaking techniques, using Pathos, Ethos and Logos.
The Filmmaker appeals to ethos by gathering a bunch of CEO and specialists on environment. These "talking heads" then speak from their point of view and clearly state the problems. The audience relies on these talking heads because they are made to look credible. In a way it is just like logos just that it also focuses on building up a relationship to the audience so the documentary seems trustworthy.
Logos is represented when the speaking CEO's present a problem and explain what will be the logical outcome and how it will affect them. This can be very persuasive for people who think logically and profitable. In 'the corporation' the documentary again uses the talking heads method too let credible people state why their point of view is and why it is logical. I believe no other technique can relate to logos as well as the talking heads.
The filmmaker focuses on especially on pathos by showing shock pictures and ideas of how the future will look like. Making the future look dangerous and bad lets the audience relate to why we have to change. Sometimes shock images are shown for just a second or less, this creates that the audience thinks about the image and why it was in relation with the prior subject. Automatically the brain relates that the "bad" man speaking is responsible for the shock picture.
This is how the filmmaker appeals to different areas of influencing, ethos, pathos and logos.

Summary of 'well on the way to eradicating poverty.

This article talks about how poverty in Latin America is one of the biggest threats to democracy, and how in Chile poverty has decreased faster than anywhere else in Latin America. Chile is constantly investing in anti-poverty campaigns, telecommunications and infrastructure. The article also mentions their former president Pinochet and the Marxist government before him led by Salvador Allende. In Chile within 3 years poverty fell from 19.9 down to 12.3 in 2006, and even though there are still 2.2 million people living with less then 90$ a month, it is a great improvement since in other South American countries the poverty line is still up at 40% of the population. Chile is on its way to achieving a eradication of poverty.

what is Cool?

How can cool make up our social hierarchy, as being popular or un popular when part of the definition of cool means emotionally unaffected and/or lack of interest. It used to be that cool meant engaged and loud, being part of a movement against society. To rebel you need to be able too, scream out loud, say your point and stand up against all or most authority. How does the definition of cool fit now, because 40-50 years ago cool meant to be a rebel. Now cool is uninvolved and following mainstream. So I find cool has not changed but lost its definition.

How can you rebel in a society where everything is pre-packaged?

In our society today everything is pre-packaged, made ready for it to be sold to the individual, once it is sold the individual has become general. Through globalization and worldwide companies we get lost in society and everybody is starting to become the same. We need to smash these businesses to regain our identity, our individuality, we are supposed to get involved, not have everything shoved down our throats. The only way to fight this oppression of brands is to avoid buying their products. Go for the least mainstream products, don't support millionaires with more wealth and think outside the box, outside of what for teenage built media. The teen media is what is responsible for building a more and more homogeneous population.
What the media does is, interview popular people and then they develop a product and sell it as new and cool. A big part of western society is dependant and controlled by this media and products, they make who each group of individuals are. The way to rebel is either too reach back to old products or to be really "uncool" and not buy all these new media influenced mainstream products.
Another way of rebelling is, braking laws and going against authorities. One of the problems with rebelling is the danger of being fined or charged for a crime. In our society we are all controlled, I think were like lab rats, in this example the government and media are the scientists and the people are the rats. It’s like they throw in different toys and then try to find which is the most popular among the rats.
To rebel you have to always stay one step ahead of the media and government control, some rebellious artists master the beginning of becoming a rebel. Sadly the media adopts and makes these artists mainstream where they have lost their status of rebellion. As you see these days the media has developed a system of which the main businesses of mainstream media controls nearly everybody. The way to stay rebellious against these companies is just to reject all their new products and music. Try to reach back to past decades like the 60s when the peace movements and the term teenager was made just a few years earlier. Rebellion was the biggest part of cool then, and to stay rebellious now, you need to reject all media influence and ignore all government control.
Stay rebellious and be aware of the constant manipulation surrounding your daily lives.

Sony and what do they own?

They own music,movies, TV, games and electronics.

Vaio

MicroVault

Playstation

Sony Ericsson

Sony BMG

Sony Wonder

Sony Pictures

Sony Online entertainment

Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451

Brave new world and Fahrenheit 451 both focus on dystopian societies and an individual protagonist that revolts against the beliefs of the New World.

In the book Brave New World the protagonists name is Bernard. He is an outcast in his society. The society he lives in is a oppressing and inhuman society. The government sets all people on a drug called soma that makes them forget about all free thoughts and provides religious experiences. The people around Bernard have no human feelings, this is a society where no love needed. Bernard is outraged and wants to revolt against the government.


In the other dystopian novel, Fahrenheit 451 focuses on Guy Montag. He is a part of the firesquad, there squad is meant too burn all books. The government in this book is crazy since they are slaughtering freethinkers and because books encourage freethinking they burn all remaining books of the old system. Guy is starting to question all this nonsense because he read that firemen used to stop fires not evoke them.

Freedom Restrictions

Drugs are most restricted, ignoring the fact that since the beginning of humanity drugs have been a necessary "evil". Drugs have been considered dangerous, some are, some are less, some are made worse, and some are unrighteous banished or allowed. Humans are drug addicts if they want to believe it or not. Since all "daily" drugs are just as necessary as illegal drugs, if you think closer you will find that every person that drinks a coffee in the morning is dependent on that drug. This means, television, media and money, they are all drugs, but why are these not illegal, since they are just as dangerous as most illegal drugs. This is not just opinion, since people kill for money, media mentally brainwashes people, and video games make some people insane. The restrictions made on drugs are totally unnecessary, because it is just an excuse to blame crime, but we all know most politicians don't even care about crime because they do not experience it. It is outrageous that medication which can make you intoxicated, are socially accepted, as opposed to other drugs that are forbid by law. Since the beginning people have been using all kinds of drugs, the Greek, the Romans, the native Americans and many more have been taking use of drugs for rituals and other reasons. So it is fairly inhuman to forbid drugs, since they have been a gift to humanity if they are used right. So I suggest that we all learn the right usage instead of criminalizing drugs and their consumers.

Inspiration

This Poem was made by me because it was an assignment of our English teacher. Another reason was because I didn't know what to write and my inspiration was missing. As an artist I got pissed at myself and thought if I cannot feel any inspiration, then I will write about inspiration. Immediately I began writing and what I was trying to create was a type of guide how be inspired and how to create phrases for lyrics or poems. I am trying to challenge people to use all there creativity and emotions. I provide a goal that you can try to achieve when you do what the guide provides.
The form of this poem is a Villanelle and it has a rhyme scheme that goes: A B A A B A.
Enjoy this poem:
Inspiration

The source of inspiration is devotion
working day and night to drink and think
enjoy what you do when its the perfect portion

love to relax, floating on the ocean
Don't be wasting your time with a drink
The source of inspiration is devotion

Writing down thoughts and emotions
Challenging and hoping, get your mind to think
Create an impact and a flowing motion

Go a direction, write down some notions
try make some sense out of this ink
The source of inspiration is devotion

I want you too, in motion,
Be critical and find the missing link
It’s a gift, include your emotion

Meaning on paper, like skin and lotion
Line to line, word to word your able to link
The source of inspiration is devotion
enjoy what you do when its the perfect portion

Funeral Blues

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He is Dead.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

W.H. Auden
My analysis:
I like this poem because it provides a really sad feeling. It is a mix between missing someone, regret, fear of change and sadness due to loss of a lover. There is a little bit of imagery in phrases like, "he was my north, my south, my east and west, my working week and my Sunday rest, …" These are set in the poem to show a picture of how things were and why now it is different it’s the human fear of change. Some objects and colors are used to set a feeling of silence, sadness and fear. This is seen in stanzas like the first one that has phrases like "stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone"
And silence the pianos and with muffed drums" or in the second stanza "let the policemen wear black cotton gloves." This poem has a lot of great examples of all kind of features of poetry.

The Eagle

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ringed with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.

by Lord Alfred Tennyson

My analysis:

I enjoy this poem because of the picture it sets in your head. It is very beautifully written. The imagery of the eagle is amazing, when you think about phrases like "he watches from his mountain walls, and like a thunderbolt he falls." There is no special message that challenges you to become a better self but that is also not always necessary. Imagery can be very powerful too, giving you a picture setting you in exactly that moment the writer wants you to be. This is what this poem does to me. It is written so clear that I can see the eagle on the crag in exactly that scene.