HW#36 and #37 my podcasts

Here's a link to my very first podcast about Riverbend's book "Baghdad Burning."
http://www.archive.org/details/JackiesFirstPodcast


And this is a link to my second podcast about the holiday called Eid in Riverbends book Baghdad Burning.
http://www.archive.org/details/Hw37MySecondPodcast

HW# 35 Letter to My Readers.

Dear Reader's, this is not the end, but it is getting very close. After these past 13 weeks that we have been reading and creating blog post I can say that I have learned a lot. Through the various readings we learned about politics, foreign issues, and they way life used to be back in the old days. When you read my blog's I hope that you can get a better understanding on all of the things I just mentioned. I know that I got a better feel for people’s life styles and what’s going on in the world today. I would have to say that I am very proud of the work I have produced, I was able to talk about issues that I have never really been interested in. I learned about the war in Iraq and what's really going on behind the scene. And without reading Riverbend's book "Baghdad Burning," I would have never been able to fully understand and share with all of you. After class is over I think I will keep my blog, but I don't think the posts will be as frequently as they are now. I think I will keep sharing information about readings, and possibly new life lessons that I'm learning along the way. So as for deleting it, I don’t think I will just yet. And I think it would be pretty cool to look back on this years from now, and see what has changed since the time I wrote these blogs. So I hope that you all gained some knowledge from reading my blog's, because I know I have gained a ton of knowledge. And if I post in the future, I hope you will come back to read the new ones. And please feel free to comment on whatever issue I am talking about. So thanks again!!! -Jackie B-

HW#34 Repsonse to Riverbend

After reading this weeks assigned pages in Riverbend's "Baghdad Burning" we were asked to pick 2 questions and write about them. The first question I chose was to talk about the role of gold in family savings in Iraq. Riverbend states “Gold is a part of our culture and the role it plays in “family savings” has increased since 1990 when the Iraqi Dinar (which was $3) began fluctuating crazily. People began converting their money to gold-earrings, bracelets, necklaces-because the value of gold didn’t change. People pulled their money out of banks before the war, and bought gold instead” (Riverbend 100). I think what Riverbend is trying to tell us is that the value of gold is not changing, while on the other hand the value of a Dinar is. And it really is a big part of the Iraqi culture. So by pulling their money out of the banks they are less likely to be losing profit.

The other question I chose to talk about was the importance of date palms. "In the winter months, they act as 'resorts' for the exotic birds that flock to Iraq. We often see various species of birds roosting between the leaves, picking on the sweet dates and taunting the small boys below who can't reach the nests" (Riverbend, 103). They produce many products and it is a hope for the Iraqi people that they still have a way of life and productivity.

HW#33 "Alive in Baghdad"

For this assignment we were asked to view two of three pod casts from "Alive in Baghdad," and choose one to write about. The first one I chose was called "Iraqi Teens Work to Help Their Families." This was published 10/15/2007. You can find it at http://aliveinbaghdad.org/2007/10/15/iraqi-teens-work-to-help-their-families. It basically talks about kids that go to work at a young age to help provide for their families. There are three boys who appear in the video, Hussein Kammall, Yousif, and Mustafa Malek Fathulla Ali. Mustafa is a 14 year old sixth grader who has been working in the carpentry business since he was a young boy. He talks about how it is not safe where he lives, "There is no peace here, and our financial condition is hard. I ask our neighborhood countries to take care of us." I find what he say's to be kind of sad. He knows that things in his country aren’t the best right now, and he is asking for our help, to protect them and take care of them. They say how security systems are very difficult and no one can protect themselves. In the background you see the kids mostly in a workshop area set outside, the ground looks dirty, and the buildings look old. I think from watching these videos you see what is really going on behind the scenes. You see how young kids have to live in fear, they can’t even get to work a certain way because of the traffic jams and killings. The most memorable thing for me in the video was when one of the kids, Yousif, talked about how he was born with a disability because of the war. To say it plain and simple, children should not have to live like this.

HW#32 Response to Riverbend

For this homework assignment we were asked to pick a topic that Riverbend talks about and summarize it in our own words. I chose to talk about Akila Al-Hashami. Akila was recently chosen from one of the three governing councils. She was the first actual "foreign representative" of the new government. On September 20, Akila was leaving work when she was shot by men who cut off her car and began to take fire on her and her "body guards." She was taken to the hospital where they stated that she was wounded in the foot, shoulder, and stomach; she did survive but was in critical condition. This makes me wonder about how good her "body guards" actually were. They obviously weren’t doing a great job if this happened. But then again their is nothing they can do about a random pick-up truck with armed men coming at them. Riverbend says how this signifies that women are not safe anywhere. Akila was actually one of the more decent members on the council, and it lets us know that even her high power can’t protect her. Riverbend asks the question if Akila got a warning letter, and that she should have had better protection. "If they are not going to protect on of the three female members of the government council, who are they going to protect?" (Riverbend 76) I think that this is a very true statement/question. They were assigned to only ONE member, Akila, and they could not fulfill their duties. Riverbend sums it up by saying that "Baghdad is real safe when armed men can ride around in SUV's and pick-ups throwing grenades and opening fire on governing council, of all people." This is no way for anyone one to have to live, it’s not right or fair. And they should catch whoever did this.

HW#31 Reponse to Riverbend.

After Reading the assigned pages in Riverbend's "Baghdad Burning," we were asked to choose a person, place, or thing, and do a little research on them. I chose Donald Rumsfeld. I noticed that in "Baghdad Burning," Riverbend seems to have a little resentment for Rumsfeld, which made me want to learn a little more about him. Donald Henry Rumsfeld was born July 9, 1932. Donald is a U.S. Republican Politician; he was both the youngest and oldest politician to have held the position. As well as the only person to have held the position for two non-consecutive terms, and the second longest serving, behind Robert McNamara. I also found out that Donald served in the US Navy from 1954 to 1957 as a naval aviator and flight instructor. He also served as an official in numerous federal commissions and councils. In March of 2005, a lawsuit was filed against Rumsfeld by eight detainees who said they were subject to abuse and torture by US forces. I found this to be very interesting. By finding out more background information on Donald Rumsfeld, I find that now reading on in Riverbend's book, I can understand partly where she is coming from when she mentions things about him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Rumsfeld

HW#30 Citizenship Symposium

On Tuesday November 6, I attended a session called "What Kind of Democracy Do We Want." The main speaker was Nancy Tobi. Nancy Tobi presented us with a slide show called "Citizens Gone Wild." To start off the speech she talked about Moses, being the leader of the democratic movement, and Lexington being the birthplace of American Liberty. "Moses was a poor humble refugee who did not get to see the fruits of his labor." I found this to be an interesting and descriptive quote. She also talked about the laws of checks and balances, "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Also she says when government becomes destructive; the people have the right to offer. In 1788, the New Hampshire Constitution was formed, stating that the government derives from the people, and all men are born equally free. Her main subject was on election crime. It was "Means, Motive, and Opportunity." Means being the control of vote counts, motive being the control of the planet, and opportunity being the control of electoral mechanism. She went into detail on counting votes, data mining and political activities, and the "problem." The glitch, which was everything that has ever went wrong with the voting system. She ended the session with a quote that she repeated many times, "feel the wind at your back," meaning that everyone should get involved in the voting processes. Overall I thought her speech was alright, but for me hard to sit through because currently I am not that involved with politics and voting, but I soon hope to get into it.



On Thursday November 8th I attended another session at the citizenship symposium. This session was called "Citizenship and Responsibility." It started off with Katrina Sweat, the daughter of the main speaker Tom Lantos. She mainly gave us some background information on Tom. He was the only survivor of the Holocaust to ever be elected into the congress. At the age of 19, he came to America; in 1940 he received a scholarship to the University of Washington, and in 1980 decided to run for congress. When Tom got up to speak he started off by talking about the new president of France. He attended a session with the president of France as its main speaker. Tom mentions one of his quotes, "American says he did not teach men the idea of freedom, she taught men how to practice it." He talks about how all men were created equal, but that didn’t prevent them form having slaves. He views American history as a gradual closing of the hypocrisy of the reality of in which you live. On November 7th, the day before he came to speak for us, he mentions that they passed the employment of discrimination act. "Yesterday represented a dream come true for me." He was thrilled beyond words at the speech of the president of France. At the end Tom speaks about how our forthcoming president has two responsibilities, one being that he must bring everything together, and secondly they must rebuild prestige and respect for the US. I think that overall Tom's speech was great; I thought his story was very happy and interesting story. He was very passionate, and I’m sure his speech might have inspired some people.

HW#28 Open Letter To Riverbend.

After reading the assigned blogs in Riverbend's "Baghdad Burning," I would have to say that is has opened my eyes to a new way of listening to information about the war in Iraq. I can say that the news and other sources don't say half the things that you mention about the war, I feel that they are leaving really important issues out. They don't talk about the U.S. troops raiding homes and schools, and killing innocent families and children. Hearing things from your perspective completely changes my views on things, I would never imagine that our troops would do such horrible things, and I feel that the media should not leave these issues out. I don't know what I would do if I was in your shoes, living in fear everyday. That’s not fair at all. It must be so physically and mentally draining to constantly be afraid of raids, bombs and looters. "We had been sleeping in our clothes for the last few nights with pockets stuffed with ID papers and money because we kept expecting the house to come crumbling down around us" (Riverbend 29). You shouldn’t have to live with that fear, no one in life should. And I honestly think that it’s all at the hands of one man. "We're all the victims of decisions made by the Bush administration." That’s the statement you made on August 22 2003. And I would have to say that I totally agree with it. I think that all of our troops should come home, and end this war, for the sake of you, and our troops. So with that said I would like to thank you for sharing everything that you have, and I now have a different perspective on this whole situation.
So thank-you again, I look forwards to reading the rest of your blog's.

Sincerely, Jackie

HW#27 Annotated Bibliography for Baghdad Burning

Riverbend. Baghdad Burning. New York, NY. The Feminist Press, 2005


This book is about a young girl that lives in Iraq who began blogging in 2003 about her experiences as a civilian observer in Baghdad. She is an eyewitness to the daily life of a person in the war zone. In her blog she responds in both a political and personal way. She reveals the fate of Iraqi Women, whose rights and freedoms are falling victim to rising fundamentalism. This book fits into our course because she is a woman who is blogging to make a difference in the world. It's a very informative book that tells us about the politics behind the war and our country. What I hope to gain by reading this book is a lot more knowledge about the war and what's truly going on over there. I not being a follower of politics will hopefully benefit from reading it.

HW#25 "Baghdad Burning" Introduction

For this homework assignment we were asked to read the foreword and introduction to "Baghdad Burning" by Riverbend, and then summarize it. The foreword is a short description written by Ahdaf Soueif. In this he says that "Baghdad Burning is far from being a rant, and that’s its actually a sensitive, often witty, always brave narrative of what it is like to be an Iraqi living in Iraq today." (Souief viii) He also mentions that this book is firmly on the side of humanity and on the side of life, and has a lot of politics in it. At the end of the foreword he says that "this book makes painful reading. It also makes enjoyable-even fun-reading. It is certainly necessary reading. Never naive, never blinkered, it is a wise and disillusioned book; yet it is not cynical, for it insists on identifying and elaborating on what is good, and what is hopeful." (souief ix) Based on this brief summary I think that this book may possibly end up being one of the more enjoyable books that we have read so far, minus the politics part cause I’m not really the political type. Then theirs the introduction by James Ridgeway. In this introduction he talks about her background and culture which is what makes her so unique and what captivates others to read her blog. He talks about why our Americans went to Iraq for reasons such as oil and other things. He states that the Bush administration determined the war to be a "mission that was accomplished." However, this is not the case at all. "The United States never gained enough control to restore any sort of order" Ridgeway 16) In this he also talks about a lot of facts, and goes into so much detail. Mostly about the war in Iraq. "Saddam is a Sunni Muslim, and his political apparatus was largely managed by a middle class of educated Sunnis, most of who lived in an area around Baghdad referred to as the "Sunni Triangle" (Ridgeway 22) After reading this I feel that I gained more knowledge about some of the issues going on. Because like I said before I’m not one to follow political issues, so I honestly don't know much of what’s going on with those things today. And I think that reading this book may open my eyes to a new experience.

HW#24: A Room of My Own.

We were asked to read chapters 5&6 in Virginia Woolf's "A Room of One's Own." And then consider what Woolf would say about where we have come in history. Also if I had a room of my own. To answer that question I would have to say that I do have a room of my own. "I am talking of the common life which is the real life and not the separate lives which we live as individuals -and have five hundred a year each of us and rooms of our own; if we have the habit of freedom and the courage to write exactly what we think; if we escape a little from the common sitting room and see human beings not always in their relationships to each other but in relation to reality."(Woolf pg.113-114) I think this shows where we are today. I know that each of us may not had a room of their own before, but now we do have the courage and freedom, and with that freedom we can write exactly what we think and feel. And we should escape from the "common" room and reality, go out on our own. My room of one's own would be the library. I know I can go there, find a nice quiet spot, and read and write as I please. There I have no distractions, and I can be myself without anyone telling me different. I am free there.

HW#23 "With Apologies to Virginia Woolf"

After reading chapters 3&4 in Virginia Woolf's "A Room of One's Own," we were asked to write a response to a blog we're watching as if it was Virginia Woolf herself speaking. I chose to do a blog from Jezebel; you can find it at http://jezebel.com/gossip/hells-bells/return-of-the-british-bridezillas-313638.php.

Response as Woolf:
This article that I read was perennial; I couldn’t believe such things like this are actually being allowed to take place. Women choosing their husbands? Marriage was not an affair of personal affection. Betrothal often took place. It wasn’t until about 1670 that women were allowed to choose their own husband, and even then it was only the upper and middle class women. Therefore it was not everyone that could have such power when it came to major decisions. But back then one knew that they could never conquer such desires. In this piece it lets us know that weddings should be exciting, and that you should never have to experience such a catastrophe as being forced to be with another man that you do not chose. A man states in this article that "If I could ask God to provide me with the perfect day, then my wedding day would be it." This is absolutely astonishing, a man, excited for his wedding day?! I am amazed and stunned by what has come of this issue today. I wish that it was always like this. It was inconspicuous back then. And I am happy to be a part of this lovely new world. By allowing a woman to pick her own lover, you are allowing her to chose her own path in life, and make it however she pleases.

HW#22 Is Patriacrhy Still Alive?

After reading chapter two of Virginia Woolf's “A Room of One's Own," we were asked to explain why Woolf said the paper proved that England is a patriarchy. On page 33 in chapter 2 the Woolf states that "Nobody in their senses could fail to detect the dominance of the professor. His was the power and the money and the influence. He was the Foreign Secretary and the Judge. He was the cricketer; he owned the race horses and the yachts. He was the director if the company that pays two hundred per cent to its shareholders." As you can obviously see this man had all the power, and basically owned everything. Making England a patriarchy. When going to the website of the Boston Globe I don't think that it is much of a patriarchy today. The first story they have on their site is about democrat Niki Tsongas, who happens to be female, and happened to win the election over Jim Oganowski. This is showing you that it’s not all about the males winning everything and being higher up then us women. So as for the question is their patriarchy still around, I would have to say yes but not as much as their used to be.

HW#21 Dear Cassidy,

After reading the first chapter in Virginia Woolf's “A Room of One's Own," I understand why you would be asking me for help. It is a very difficult read, even for me; but I will try to help you out the best that I can. In the beginning Woolf has been asked to speak about the topic of women and fiction. Her thesis is that "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction." I think that this so happens to be a very good thesis statement. It's very clear, and makes a good claim that can be used for an argument. The narrator begins sitting on the edge of a riverbank at Oxbridge. Where she uses a metaphor about fishing. As soon as she gets a "bite" a man security guard comes up to her and tells her that woman are not allowed to be on the grass. She then says "no very great harm has been done," but her "fish" was no longer there. I believe she is trying to say that it was harmless for her to be on the grass, and that she had done nothing wrong. Which in that case is true, I don’t believe it is right that women are not allowed to walk on the grass and are restricted to the gravel pathways. I think she feels the discrimination against her, and that she possibly feels excluded because she doesn’t have the same rights as men. She also talks about how she has a room of her own that she can write in without any distractions. This is unusual because she feels that normally women could not afford a room of their own, it was usually men that had that advantage. I think that this piece is important because it's talking about the past times when women didn't really get the same privileges as men, and i'm sure that’s why your teacher is having you read this. Personally I don’t think its going to be one of my favorites, but it’s bearable. If you do have any other questions feel free to email me again. Talk to you later!
-Jackie

HW#19 Web of Influence

After reading the assigned chapter from David Kline and Burstein's "Blog!" I chose a paragraph from page 88. In this paragraph they talked about how the skewed network makes it easier and less time consuming for the outside readers to acquire information. For example they say that the media only needs to look at the elite blogs to obtain a summary of the distribution of opinions on a given political issue. In other words, they can put in a key word about their issue, and that will be pulled up, letting them not have to go searching through a huge variety of topics. They talk about how bloggers can post their immediate reaction to the important political events before other forms of media can respond. But above all, when they are confronted with a factual error, they can quickly correct and update their post. This makes things a lot easier for the writer to make things right. Also the comparative advantage of blogs in political discourse, as compared with the traditional media, is their low cost of real-time publication. To put it another way, they are saying how most blogs are free, you can easily just sign up with a website and start posting right then and their, as with the traditional media, like in newspapers, it costs money to actually post something in the paper. Overall I think that this paragraph was important because it's reminding you how easy it is to make a blog and start posting your veiws and information about certain issues. And also how readers can easily respond to your post, and let you know what their veiws are on the subject.

HW#18 New men's bathroom layout? Not so much!

For this homework we were asked to monitor some of the blogs we were watching from the last seven days and pick one that was our least favorite. I picked a post from Femenisting.com. You can find the post at http://feministing.com/archives/007867.html. The main thing about this post is the picture. It’s of a men’s bathroom. In the picture it shows the sinks. On these sinks are dismembered women bending over, they are actually attached to the sinks. Like a part of them. The main quote is "What is it about bathrooms and women’s dismembered body parts?" I automatically figured that this bathroom had to be a men’s bathroom, and I found that to be rather insulting. Most of the post was made up of other people’s comments. One of the comments that was on the post I thought was rather funny it was "Any guy who feels the need to pretend like he's humping something when he washes his hand probably shouldn't be allowed in society among the rest of us.Then again, studies show that few men actually wash their hands in public bathrooms. Maybe this will act as encouragement. It's a public health initiative, I'm sure!" I though that that comment made the post a little better, but it still makes me upset that they would create such a thing. Like we don’t get put down enough that now men get to visualize us being bent over while they wash their hands in the bathroom. When I first saw this it made me feel really angry to be completely honest. I don’t think they should have such things like this.

HW#17B. Zuniga VS Cox.

After reading the two entries from Markos Moulitsas Zuniga and Ana Marie Cox, in Kline and Burstein’s "Blog," and viewing the actual blogs, I would have to say that when looking for the most influential blog I would defiantly go with DailyKos by Zuniga. While Cox's blog may appear to be more interesting to the teenage eye because of its sex scandals and gossipy nature, I feel that DailyKos actually delivers more factual information about politics and different political issues. When you need to get the facts, and the correct information I would go to DailyKos. Zuniga seems very passionate about his blog's and I feel that I can trust and rely on his information a lot more. I believe that it's a more sophisticated and knowledgeable blog. It talks about certain sides to the political issues, such as republicans and democrats, and I find that to be very informative. If I was just looking for that funny gossipy information I would go to Cox's Wonkette blog that I find to be interesting but not as informative as DailyKos.

HW#17. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

For homework 17 we were asked to pick a post from one of the blogs we were watching on bloglines. (bloglines.com) I chose post from Jezebel, (jezebel.com.) It is called "The good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Emmy Fashions. This post first caught my eye not only because it was the first on the page, but it was actually about something interesting, something that actually made me laugh. They started off by showing what they call is the "good." One of the examples was when they said that "Katherine Heigl proves you can wear white after Labor Day." They showed the picture of her on the red carpet with her beautiful white dress on. Then there’s the "bad" this is when they make fun of what people are wearing. I found this actually to be really funny. One example is when they talk about Paula Abdul's dress; it’s a white dress with some sort of material over one side of her chest. Personally I think it looks like a toga. They say that it actually looks like a wardrobe malfunction. Then finally they have the "ugly," I thought it was hilarious when they showed a picture of Ryan Seacrest and according to Jezebel they say, "per usual, looks like a lizard." I couldn’t stop laughing. I think it’s good to have posts like these, mainly on Jezebel these are the kinds of things they like to talk about.

HW#16 Option B: Five Pillars Of Conversational Software.

After Reading an interview with Robert Scovel in Klein and Burstein’s Blog book (124-134) we were asked to write a response explaining to the readers what exactly the five pillars of conversational software are. These are characteristics which he believes made blogging hot. The first pillar he calls is "the ease of publishing," What I think he means by this is its so easy to go online and create a blog and publish your own posts. The second is "discoverability," which he says is when you have tags and pings that let services like PubSub (pubsub.com) and Feedster (feedster.com) and Technorati (technorati.com) get on top of the blogoshpere. The third pillar of conversational software was "cross-site conversation," this is where you could see who was actually linking to the site by using trackbacks. I think this is good because you can see how many readers are coming to your site even if they are not leaving comments on your post. The fourth was "permalinking," this is where you can isolate a URL that will take you directly to a post. And the fifth is "syndication," syndication started in the 1990's, this is important because it allows you to watch a large number of sites at a time. Also you never have to give any information like an email address, and it just organized itself.

HW#14 Take an Obsession and Feed It!

After reading Denton's interview in the "Blog" book (151-157) we were asked to respond to it so that it showed that we understood the reading as well as using transition words from Graff's “As A Result." Starting out he says how blogging in when you take an obsession and feed it, I believe this is true. In fact you do take an obsession and feed it because you continue to add onto your topic whenever you get some new interesting information. Also he talks about how he only hires unknown writers to work on his blogs instead of already established journalist. Actually I think it’s a great idea, and a great way to get unknown writers out there. Although he says how it’s better to pitch to an 18-34 year old male demographic. But I do have to disagree with this because when you only pitch to a male demographic you’re losing all the women’s responses in the advertising business. Consequently taking a chance to not be recognized. Nonetheless he says how some advertisers may not even look at any site unless it has 5 million unique visitors a month. In conclusion I think that the interview was a great interview and I enjoyed reading it.

HW#13 Business blogging more important.

After reading Stephen Baker and Heather Greens chapter "Blogs Will Change Your Business," we were asked to express our opinion on how we feel about business blogging. Is it more important than blogging for communication? I believe that blogging for business is a lot more important. Think of the impact that it has on businesses, whether it is good or bad. In the chapter its talks about a man named Mark Jen who worked for Google. He made a blog and in it he complained about googles health plan and how his previous jobs health plan was better. Google later saw this blog and fired Jen. Two weeks later Google was blogbusted for overreacting, and sending warnings to dozens of bloggers at the company. People who read Jen's blog may be turned off from the company because of his views and experiences with Google. There are 9 million blogs out there, 40,000 new ones everyday. People are able to see how businesses work, and what goes on with them, whether it turns them on or off from the company. So it’s a good thing too, plus other businesses are able to see and then compete with that business. So I truly believe that business blogging is starting to have a huge affect with businesses itself.

HW#11 "making global voices heard."

After reading "Making Global Voices Heard: An Interview with Rebecca MacKinnon," (Kline and Burstein) I chose to talk about the blog by Isaac Mao (isaacmao.com/meta). When you first come to the blog you see that it is very plain, nothing to fancy, it’s just getting the blogs out there for you to read. It has a white background with the normal black text. As MacKinnon stated, he is a well known blogger be cause he is the only blogger who blogs in both English and Chinese. On his site you can see that Mao mostly talks about the issues that are going on in China. His last post was on September 9, 2007. This blog talked about the World Economy Forum. And also internet censorship, and how it is becoming more serious in China. In MacKinnon’s reading she mentioned how Chinese blogs are very strict, and that if you wish to post something you have to set up an account on Mao's blog and then use keywords to see what you can then post. And sometimes their are cases where the blog may not even be posted because their was something in it that they didn't like. She also stated that many people have actually gone to jail because they posted something that was wrong for their blogs. MacKinnon stated that one of Mao's blog (The Great Firewall) had recently been shut down for revealing too much information. I agree with this because you really need to be careful about what you post on your blogs. Yet some people may challenge my views about what you post on your own blog because you do have the freedom of speech, but in China you must be careful. Before I read the blog my expectations were correct. It was about events going on in China.

HW#9 An interview with Ayelet Waldman.

For our homework 9 we were asked to pick one of two narratives to respond to. I have to say that Ayelet Waldman's "A Weblog Saved My Life Last Night," was one of the most interesting pieces i have read so far. Weblogging is a new way of life. A new way to express ones self. I love how she is able to talk about all her life experiences, especially when she talks about the abortion of her son Zeke. I think it truly takes a strong person to talk about these very private and upsetting issues. I agree that more of the weblogs tend to be negative because my experience with viewing a lot of different blogs confirms it. The negative side is when people talk down on people. Like with famous celebrities, their will always be someone out there who is talking about the negative sides. Take Perez Hilton, a famous celebrity blogger who is known for bashing celebs. Take a look at his webpage, Perezhilton.com. As soon as you get on their most of the stories are negative. Although I have to agree that it does make good stories and for some reason people are always more interested in the negatives than the positives. Like I said before it is a way of life, but whether it’s positive or negative blogging, its still blogging. People are able to read and respond however they feel.

HW#7 "My So Called Blog"

I actually have opinions for both sides to the question if parents should be allowed to monitor everything that their middle-school child writes on the internet. Yes it is good for the children to begin to get some privacy in their lives. It is a part of growing up, a way of expressing themselves. In Kline's "My So-Called Blog" Nussbaum states "peer into an online journal, and you find the operatic texture of a teenage life with its fits of romantic misery, quick-change moods and sardonic inside jokes." "And everything that parents fear comes true." "But the linked journals also form as a community, and intriguing unchecked experiment in silent group therapy." (Kline 351) Basically saying that kids can and will express their feelings and their friends are there to give them advice, and read and respond to the issues at that time. Although parents may not like the idea of having everyone look at their child’s personal issues, it is a way to communicate with others. I do believe that the children should be monitored while online, not saying you should stand over them and watch every move, but keep them in a place where if you needed to check on them you could. Like in the living room, not their bedroom. And if you feel that your child is having serious issues, and they're not confronting you about them, then you should pursue going online to check these journals. That is because its then for the safety of your child. So monitor your kids, but don’t watch their every move. Some privacy is good; it teaches the teenager that you have trust for them. And just be aware of how they are acting and feeling, so that if something is wrong you can check in on them.

HW#6 Interest statement for semester long research project.

For the semester long research project I am interested in a few topics. For my first choice I would like to pick social networking services. Services like this would include "Myspace," of "Face book." Both of these which really interest me because I have an account with each of them. They are a good way of communicating with people that you do not get a chance to see or talk to everyday. You can post pictures, leave comments, and there are a million different applications for these networking services. My second choice would be instant messaging. Like the social networking services instant messaging is another great way to talk to friends from all over the place. You can talk to people from your town, or across the United States. You can't post pictures or do other things like Face book or Myspace, but it’s just a simple way to chat with a friend. My third choice would be text messaging. As an 18 year old teenage girl, I can vouch for the rest of us, that text messaging is addicting! We all know that we love to do it in the middle of class or when you're on the go and don’t have time to physically talk on the phone. It’s an easy way to just say "hi," or "what’s up?"
Next we were asked to pick a few marginalized groups that we would be interested in researching. I have an interest in overcoming sexism, overcoming racism, and also issues of disabilities or learning differences. Next we were to choose a few countries that we would be interested in. I would like to get to know more about the US, North America, and possibly Europe. All of these with the exception of the US, I don't really know much about. So it will be interesting in seeing how they deal with these topics. I look forward to this project; I think it will be a great way to learn about all these different topics.

HW#5b. "I blog, Therfore I Am."

After reading David Kline and Burstiens chapter "I Blog, Therefore I Am," I came across one particular paragraph that i did not agree with. On page 239 they state that numbers for traditional media is not looking good. They also claim that newspaper circulation had fallen 11 percent since 1990, and continues to fall. Basically saying that in time newspapers will fall off completely from the media scene. I would like to argue this because although today some people are getting their daily information from other sources than the newspaper, not everyone has the technology, the money, and other resources to get information other than the newspaper. Do to poverty the internet and computers are not always available to some people. So those people will resort to reading the daily newspaper for free. So with that, I would like to question and disagree with how they believe newspapers are going to completely fall of from the media scene. I believe that they will always be around.

HW#4 Option 2. Herbal Essences

After reading "The Voice of the Customer," in David Kline and Burstein's "Blog," we were told to find a product in our room, and see what promises that product makes. Right away I looked and saw my shampoo and conditioner which is made by Herbal Essences. So I googled Herbal Essences and it brought me to their website http://www.herbalessences.com/us/. On their website the first thing that you see is a flash logo that says, "May your hair drink to good health, may your hair be so clean its rated G, may your skinny hair turn into the perfect body." With that said I believe that they are promising clean, healthy, and wonderful hair. I think they do a great job of upholding their promises. I use a specific kind of Herbal Essences called "Totally Twisted" which they state is for curls & waves; make a curl's life happy. "We're for girls who want curls, and babes who want waves that are smooth, lush and defined." This shampoo defiantly holds up my curls all day long without frizzing up. So with that said I think Herbal Essences does a wonderful job with keeping their promises, and I would recommend any of their products to other women.

HW#3 My writting response to "toward a more paticipitory democracy"

Many Americans today tend to believe that blogging is beginning to have an effect on political views. In our reading it mentions various examples of how political blogging is affecting our democracy today. It was TheMemoryHole.com blog that scooped the media by publishing defense department photos of the caskets of the soldiers who had died in the Iraq War. Which Bush preferred to keep from the public. The DailyKos blog was the first to reveal that a bush campaign ad called "Whatever It Takes" used a photograph of a presidential speech that had been digitally altered to make the crowd seem larger than it really was. Then there was BlogActive.com that first published audio tapes of Republican congressman Edward L. Schrock, a vocal opponent of gay rights and key supporter of several anti-gay laws, soliciting sex acts from men on a telephone sex line. I believe that if some people were to read these blogs they may have a new opinion on some of these people. So that’s why I think blogging is beginning to have an effect in our political world today.

HW#2. I am responding to the 12 Key ideas of David Kline and Dan Burstein.

There is an enormousinfluence that bloggers are beggining to have upon the american political scene. The impact begins with an examination of how its reshaped the way in which americans get their political news and discuss the contraversies of the day. In November, 2004 there were a reported 33 million readers of blogs that had to do with polotics. This could have effects on the character of our democracy. Bloggers offer their readers not only political attitude, but political scoops as well. Political blogs often serve as effective opinion research tools that helped the various candidates test our ideas and campaign slogans. The real influence of political bloggers come from their ability to reach the right people. Political bloggers may have overtime prove capable of mobilizing large enough sectors of the voting public unsatisfied with the limited choice offered by the two main political parties. "Blogs are fun," says Ezra Klein on his own blog.

My first ITW Blog

My Name is Jackie, and for one of my classes at Keene State college, we are required to create a blog. The class is called ITW 101 A Blog Of Ones Own: Women and Authorship in the Digital Revolution. So.. here it is.