the end?

I wasn't there on thursday, but I read everyones reflections. Very nice. Looks like most people enjoyed this project. I know I did, it was a brand new experience in school and I liked how we were all in the room together, but connecting online. So I ask this-why end it now? Theres no reason we cant keep crapping out our thoughts and ideas here when we have them. I think im gonna keep posting occasionally, to all 3 and a half people who may or may not still be paying attention to this. So yeah, check back sometime if you want to see some deep thinking from Devonland. I'll read any new posts I see up.
Peace

I hate school

I hate school! Iv'e never liked it, and the whole structured learning and 'grades' just is not my style. Not saying education is bad, but I really prefer free learning where you can choose the things that interest you and study them at your own pace. I feel like the point of schools is to keep an eye on us and control what we learn about.
I'm actually pretty smart, but since I can remember I've been at the bottom of my class, just barely scraping through each year. The letters 'D' and 'F' made me feel stupid for the longest time-it wasnt until recently that I realized my own intelligence. I feel like school hid it from me.
Anyone remember the first years- kindergarten and such? I remember that I was so eager to learn, and actually excited to go to school. But I was quickly introduced to grades, homework, and standards we were required to meet. By 2nd grade school had become a punishment to me, and I stopped trying. Instead of looking forward to learning, I counted the minutes until the bell rang and I could go home and do something non-educational, like tv and nintendo. The enthusiasm to learn was crushed out of me when somebody consistently ordered me to do it, according to their ideals.
Only recently have I regained some of my old enthusiasm- I have been making a push to take interesting and challenging classes, and actually do well in them. Even the subjects I dislike, I have been seeking extra help. Ive been giving up many free periods to make up assignments and gym classes. Im determined to pass high school and move on to something that I can finally choose for myself.

RE: narcotics/cultural inclusion

Before I read that article I had no idea what coca leaves were. Now I have some questions... is the goal of the agreement to simply abolish the chewing of the leaf, or to limit it's availability to drug lords? Because if, as the article said, they are mistakenly labeling the leaf itself as a narcotic and outlawing it, that is stomping on the cultural traditions. However I believe the point of view that was not expressed in the article, that of the anti-drug officials, is that they need to control the base substance to control the narcotic product. Coca leaf is not harmful or dangerous in its natural state, but can be processed to make cocain. Therefore if coca leaves are readily available, so is cocaine. This is the same reason why we cannot buy the drug Sudafed off the shelf anymore: it is not directly harmful or dangerous, but retrards use it to make Meth. Obviously to international officials, the control of a dangerous and powerful(as in makes drug lords powerful) narcotic is more important than the ancient traditions of the working class of a small country.

In our culture, I do not believe it is possible to be 'all inclusive' and let everyone practice their customs freely. First of all, under the Constitution we are guaranteed the right to practice religion, providing it does not endanger others. So already there is a limit. Secondly, the famous description of American culture is the Melting Pot, where all cultures and traditions are broken down and assimilated into the overall structure. But there will be clashes, and some parts will be unavoidably lost or changed. i had more to back that up but i forgot so peaceeee

re: violence against women(named Rihanna) and a tangent from DaVinci Code

The issue of Chris Brown beating the shit out of his girlfriend is so overblown and honestly I am so sick of hearing about it. It looks like a publicity stunt to me and I think we don't need to be hearing about their problems so damn much. Sure it's wrong and bad but I really don't wanna know about it-they can resolve it themselves without turning it into a huge media affair, once again focusing our attention away from more important matters. But thats it about the Rihanna thing- this prompt has a different intention.

The point of the prompt was to address the ongoing issue of violence against women in society; ancient up to modern day. Coincidentaly, this relates to something I read in The DaVinci Code recently. The book centers around the mystery of the sacred feminine; that is, goddess worship and the feminine half of the natural balance- which is absent in modern day religion. The main character details how the Catholic Church carried out a two thousand year long campaign of propaganda, torture, and defamation against the awakened female. The old religions worshipping the Mother Earth and such were torn apart and rebuilt into the Church's dogma. They couldn't fully destroy these faiths, so they made infamous the faith itself and then incorporated it's core beliefs and sybology into Catholicism. During this crusade millions of women scholars, teachers, gypsies, medical workers, and really any educated woman, were burned at the stake as 'witches'. They spread slander against women, naming them the devil's acomplice and the cause of origional sin. The campaign was ruthless, cunning, and ultimately effective.
The result was religion out of balance, focusing solely on the male icon. Women were not allowed in holy places for some time, and absolutely no women were allowed to be part of the clergy. It was now a man's world, and the gods of war and destruction raged unchecked by their femal counterparts of creation and healing. This is a viable explanation to why the world is such a violent place. This can explain why violence against women continues to this day.

Response: Barbies

I have no idea how to respond to this... I'm a guy we dont understand that crap. They seem to be the perfect, idealistic woman that little girls dream of becoming - and the sad thing is many of them do grow up to become over-painted, faked-tanned, brand name-wearing...well, barbies. Just like the magazines and tv shows that depict impossibly skinny and beautiful girls as being normal and loved by all, Barbie teaches girls from an early age how they should look. The only problem is that this image is nearly impossible to attain, and girls resort to unhealthy methods to achieve their dream. Once they do succeed, they look just like their idols- airheaded, plastic dolls.

Keep in mind though that I'm not trying to insult anyone or judge anyone. Most of the girls I know have grown passed this and have aquired their own style and opinions of how they should look. Our school is okay - it's mainly suburban girls that try to conform to the barbie ideal.

Re: to kill or not to kill

This is so wrong. Capital punishment has always been wrong, and they are just now considering abolishing it because of how much MONEY it costs?! Typical US politician attitude-ignore the morals unless they help further your goals.

A global example of ethical values clashing with economics is job outsourcing to foreign countrys. Corporations take jobs away from American workers and give them to Indians and whatnot because they will work for almost nothing. This may make jobless, homeless familys, but the corp. saves a buck. Why can they do this? Because they have power.

So what gives the goverment the right to take life? Because they have power? Let me know what you think.

Response to Suicide Helpers

This is a very interesting and controversial issue, one that has been debated as long as I can remember. I definately feel that people suffering from terminal illness should be entitled alleviation to their pain. Euthenasia is one option... medical marijuana is another, one that i would certainly prefer (:-] ) to begging someone to kill me.
These groups of suicide helpers clearly mean well, but i agree that it should be proffessionally overseen. However, that means that it needs to be legalized. But it is such a controveresial topic and legislators are so notoriously slow on passing laws like this, I doubt the issue will be resolved anytime soon.
Final thought is, if people are dying, painfully, and with no way out, they are going to want to kill themselves. If they really want to do this, they will find a way. So why not make it legal and proffessional to help them?

ARGHH MY HEAD!!!

So a few of you may have noticed, i'm not in school today. The reason for this is I started a new medicine for ADHD yesterday, called Vyvanse, and it kept me up ALL night. Not a second of sleep. I can safely say, that was the most freakin boring night of my life. I probably could have done something productive with the time, but i was just lying there waiting to fall asleep all freaking night. Now my head feels like humpty dumpty after he busted his ass and had horses tryin to put it back together. Sighhh.. How's school going people?