Meta Post 2.0

At the beginning of the year, when I found out that our weekly homework was to keep blogging, I was very skeptical of the process itself. As the year has gone on though, I've become more comfortable blogging, and am very proud of many of the blogs that I have written. In second semester though, my favorite blog has to be, "Whistelblowers". This is the blog where I introduced my junior theme topic, why are whistleblowers not protected. This blog has to be my favorite because one of the biggest problems in my writing this year was empathy for the reader, and in this blog I introduce my topic and explain it even better than I did in my actual junior theme, I wrote, "A whistleblower is defined by Merriam-Webster as..." A major problem in my junior theme was that I assumed the reader would know what whistleblowers are, an assumption I didn't make in my blog.




Also, I touch on the limits of whistleblowing, similar to what we did in the perilous paper, and open up the argument to the class, writing, "Where should the line be drawn? I'm focusing on the reasons why the government restricts whistleblowing, so I won't be able to get into this side of the argument in my paper, so I'm curious what your opinions on the subject are". Even though no one in the class responded to my question, that is something that I have improved on over the year, bringing back the issue to the rest of the class. My blogging this year has been a journey, an often times I find myself blogging about things that don't interest me. I am particularly proud of this blog because I site multiple texts, I explain my issue, give my opinions, and bring the discussion back to the class. It is weird to be writing my last blog of the year, but I am happy with the work I put out. First semester I slacked in writing blogs, but this second semester I picked up my blogging and was nearly blogging weekly, with some gaps around junior theme.

Don't We All Want to be #1?

On Wednesday, May 30 the NBA Lottery took place and decided the draft order among all 30 teams. The team with the greatest chance to receive the 2012 NBA's top pick was the disheartening Charlotte Bobcats with 25%. After completing the season with the worst winning percentage in the history of basketball of close to 10% (7-59), basketball fans would feel terrible to see the woeful Bobcats not get the top spot in the 2012 draft. However, as proven in years past, the Bobcats, unfortunately ended up with the 2nd pick in the draft. The New Orleans Hornets won the 1st pick and undoubtedly will select the college player of the year and National Champ, Anthony Davis from Kentucky University. An ESPN article, says, "losing would pay off at the lottery", but for the poor Bobcats it did not. Their 59 losses amount to a lowly number two overall pick.

This basketball tragedy relates to American ideals because in America everyone is trying to get that top spot, but even when it seems that it can only be yours, it can, and is often, taken away from you. Even in sports, there is always twists and turns, upsets or injuries, the elusive one spot is nearly impossible to achieve. America is getting more and more competitive every day, and the opportunities that were once there are gradually decreasing.

Police vs. Protesters

Today in class, we briefly talked about the NATO Summit in Chicago. We talked of the goals of the protesters and of the way it is framed in the media. I found it very interesting that many different types of media highlighted the efforts of the Chicago Police, over the goals of the protesters. In a Las Vegas Sun article I read, a protest organizer said that, "Whatever violence there was, was the fault of the police, not the protesters." Yet the police are being praised for their work in not beating up protesters. It is American citizens' constitutional rights to be able to protest things that they disagree with. So why is it so important for the police to be praised for allowing the citizens to exercise their constitutional rights? Shouldn't the spotlight be put on the protesters for standing up for what they believe in? Their views should be held over the restraint of the police for not acting out, when still all of the violence was their fault. I don't understand this phenomenon where the police are payed more attention to than the protesters. Is it because America is so obsessed with tragedies that even when they are avoided that they make the news? Or because the protesters are just seen as troublemakers so the police are what everyone cares about?

Blackhawks Knocked Out

The 2010 Stanley Cup Champion Blackhawks were knocked out of the playoffs for the second year in a row, this time by the Phoenix Coyotes. Being an avid Blackhawks fan I was just as disappointed this year as I was last, when the Blackhawks went down 4-0 to the Vancouver Canucks, but fought back only to lose in game 7. You can't expect to win every year, but I always find myself doing exactly that. Is it because we have already won the Stanley Cup that coming up any shorter is a disappointment? Or is just an American expectation to always be first? In their final loss to the Coyotes, Mike Smith (the Coyote's goalie), had a shutout with 39 saves (Chicago Tribune Article) He played sensational through the entire series and was just too much for the Blackhawks to handle. The Phoenix Coyotes advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. I can't quite understand the hysteria behind playoff sports as every team is competing for that one final spot, but each time your team loses it is almost unbearable. Nothing other than first is acceptable and that is an American value seen over and over again in American society.