Weblog # 6

 

Weblog #6: Student’s Choice

WikiLeaks Analysis: The right to know

          In the perfect world, if you didn’t do anything wrong, then you have nothing to hide. If we, the people, trusted our leaders to represent us, and we are paying them to work for us, shouldn’t we have the right to know what they are doing with our trust and moneys?

           After the WikiLeaks website revealed some “inconvenient” documents, it seems that our leaders think that we can’t handle the truth about how they do their jobs. They are as afraid of the truth as roaches running out from the light. Now they say that WikiLeaks is a threat to National Security and our troops are in danger because of the information released on it.

          I believed that we, the people, need to know exactly what our leaders are doing in order to make the right decision when we vote, and this is a basic principle for democracy. We should support and embrace outlets like WikiLeaks for opening our eyes and demand to see the rest of the iceberg, no matter how bad it is.

          Only now, we learn about the 'The Iraq War Logs' and the 'Afghan War Diaries' which are clear evidence of war crimes and human rights violations committed in the name of freedom.

          In London, Steve Field, a spokesman for British Prime Minister David Cameron, said "it's important that governments are able to operate on the basis of confidentiality of information."

          In conclusion: They don’t want us to know what’s going on.

http://wikileaks.org/

Weblog #5: Citizenship Editorial

Obama, Bring our troops home now!

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are immoral, unjustified and unaffordable.

This is what’s going on there:

Operation Iraqi Freedom:

US Military Casualties: 4,408. (KIA: 3483; WIA: 31,935)

Civilian Casualties: 13 (KIA: 9)

Troops remaining in Iraq: 50,000

Operation Enduring Freedom  

US Military Casualties: 1,298 (KIA: 1,065; WIA: 9,469)

Civilian Casualties: 2 (KIA: 1)

Troops in Afghanistan: 95,000

Total US Military deaths Iraq and Afghanistan as of November 23^rd 2010: 5,706.

Source: Department of Defense. http://www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf

          The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which have the war in terror as context and excuse to be funded and implemented, no longer have a moral, logical, tactical or economical justification to continue, therefore, President Obama must order the removal of all the troops currently operating there.

          Since George W. Bush left office on January 20, 2009 it was clear to everyone that the war in Iraq was a big mistake and Obama had promised during his campaign to bring all the troops back home and end the war. Instead, he is keeping a substantial number of troops in Iraq and increased the operations in Afghanistan with the excuse to fight Al-Qaida and bring democracy and prosperity to the region.

          The result so far has been a large number of civilian and military casualties and the rejection of the American interventionism by the people of Iraq and Afghanistan.

          If the goal is to destroy Al-Qaida, the only rational way is to do it within its structure by infiltrating its inner circle. The current strategy is like killing flies with cannon destroying everything around. The only people obtaining a benefit from these wars are the defense contractors, and that brings a lot of troubling questions to the morality and justification of these wars. Where is the “change” that we were promised?

Weblog Assignment #4 Film Review "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXldafIl5DQ

Weblog Assignment #4 Film Review

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

Overview: the film starts off during the days of the American Civil War, with Tuco (Wallach, Nuts), a notorious Mexican bandit with a bounty on his head.  Eastwood plays the nicknamed Blondie, the bounty hunter who claims the reward for Tuco's capture, but just as Tuco is about to hang, Blondie shoots him free, and the two make their escape (at least until they can run the scam another time).  However, Blondie soon realizes that Tuco is never going to amount to much in bounty and decides to get rid of the dead weight by abandoning him out in the desert. As Tuco makes his return and vows revenge, another bounty killer, nicknamed Angel Eyes (Van Cleef), learns of a cache of gold coins amounting to about $200,000, last seen in possession of a man going by the name of Bill Carson. It just so happens that Tuco and Blondie encounter Carson one day, just as he is about to die.  Tuco learns of the place where the gold is buried, while Blondie learns the exact spot, turning mortal enemies into uneasy allies (at least until the gold is found).  However, Angel Eyes is quite tenacious in his quest for the gold, and soon it's apparent that the gold is going to have to be something to fight for, as well as to die for.

Main events or points in the film that stuck out to me:

1. - The strong and well defined personalities of the characters.

2. - The originality, humor and double meaning of the quotes and dialogs used.

3. – The irony of the context.

Why were they significant in the film? Because these events and points keep the interest of the audience with a high level of awareness of the human cost of the Civil War while at the same time provides a delightful entertainment with the performance of the characters.

Why were they significant to me? I like Western Movies with historic value.

Contextual (outside) information as it relates to my analysis: The “North and South” novel by Elizabeth Gaskell.

How does the film conform to, or diverge from, generic norms? It conforms to generic norms because it fits in a specific category (the spaghetti westerns) and provides with accurate historic information.

What changes would you make to the finished visual product if you were the producer? It would be nice to watch this movie in 3D.

What assumptions are made about or by the audience, and are they accurate? The most common assumption people make when watching the movie for the first time, is that the good guy will win over the bad and the ugly guys. The assumption is correct, making the movie very predictable and the audience is assumed to like a happy ending which I believe is also accurate. Most people like happy endings with the death of the bad guy.

Do you agree with the premise of the film, or the perspective it enforces? The premises are that good always prevails over evil and that war is a waste of human life. I do agree on both premises.

What did I think about the cinematic and/or narrative elements of the film (camera techniques, editing, sound, direction, and flow/sequence)? I think this is a masterpiece of cinema and should be viewed and enjoyed by every generation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXldafIl5DQ