Final Portfolio Link

Here's my link Nicole, the picture of the judge is there because he's saying "this is final!"

http://richswebsite.weebly.com/index.html

Hope you have a good weekend

Rich's Website

Rich's Website

Blog Post for the 19th of November

One of the final chapters talks about one of the hardest working civil servants in Iraq named Barham Salih, and Filkins writes about a conversation Salih is having with a woman whose son is kidnapped and must fork over 5,000 dollars or else he will be killed. This chapter got me thinking about some political officials in Iraq that are actually good people, Salih retrieves 5,000 in cash and tells the woman he will help her. But mainly my point is that not all of the political officials in Iraq were corrupt people and not all of them followed the hand of Saddam. I think that being a good political official or good politician in Iraq must of been damn near impossible because if anyone ever went against Saddam they would be killed and also their families would be hurt. The temptation to revolt against Saddam would only lead to death, and I'm sure a very brutal one. That's one of the most annoying things about this war, whenever someone up-rises and causes a stir they always threaten their family too. It just seems so unfair in the unofficial rules of war. But getting back to my main point, I think that those good politicians who were honest, brave, and weren't corrupt are reaping the benefits today in a more democratic Iraq, at least I hope they are.

Forever War: Great Journalism

Almost all finished with the book and one chapter talks about how the government officials in Iraq are either all dead or are hiding somewhere. Filkins talks about how one of the Governors went near crazy and lived with solely marines in the rubble of his hometown. Then Filkins talks about the two worlds of the government and where they lived. This is apart of the book that I like the most because Filkins clearly has a vast supply of knowledge on the subject, he has been reporting on the middle east since 1998. But this is where you get to appreciate his journalism on the subject. He gives the reader a great understanding of what's going on, and describes certain situations perfectly. He easily could of just mentioned that half of the government is either dead or in hiding, but he went even further and talked about some of the officials and what happened to them. He draws you in with knowledge and interest on the subject. Filkins has the ability to use the current situation he is in and mix it with his background journalism to power this book, it's clear why he is over there reporting.

Potential Essay #3 Topic

For the third essay or essays, I would first like to do a piece that would be in a magazine, and right now I'm just kicking around the idea of having the piece be about the recent downfall of technological tools or websites that have fallen complete off the earth in the last five years or so. The piece would center around new technology such as the iphone and the billion apps it has for it and facebook and how they've put so many companies out of business. Some of the companies that no longer seem to be talked about anymore are tivo, napster, community webshots, payphones and landlines, gps navigations. The piece will then focus on what will happen in the next five years, will we just have a phone that does everything for us? Right now this is just and idea I'm working on .. .. .. I'm hoping to develop in to something I could send into a magazine.

Book Club Post for Friday the 29th

Right now in Forever War, Filkins makes a great point that I've never really even thought off. While he is flying over Iraq in a black hawk he notices a farmer down below and the farmer waves to him. Then Filkin begins to talk about how there is finally hope for this country. What I'm trying to say is that people seem to forget that this country is occupied with good people. Not all of the citizens there want and wish harm on the USA and other countries around the world. People who live there wake up and go about their everyday lives and have to deal with an ongoing war, that is something that should never be wished upon anyone. I couldn't imagine waking up and having to go through checkpoints and militarized zones just to get to Bridgewater every morning. I make a fuss when I have to go through a detour for three months. It made me realize a few things, one just how spoiled I am and possibly others out there are, and two how lucky we are to live in this great country.

Forever War Class Blog #3

Right now in Forever War Filkin is walking the streets of Ramadi and they stop off at one of Saddam's palaces. I've had close relatives and friends who've been over in the middle eastern war who have also talked about visiting some of his palaces so it was interesting to read about because he had so many palaces I've always wondered when does he have the time to stay at these places? But this story finally had some comedy to it (at least it seemed comical coming from a story like this) One of the officers is blond and in the middle east blonds are a rarity, so they had an auction for the officer and while the captain is yelling at the Iraqi's to bid on her, the remaining officers went around to the Iraqi's house and rounded up all their guns, then they just ended the auction and took off. Although they were reprimanded, the story was comical because it worked. My reaction to this was just to laugh because in a story that involves such horrific violence, this small story was a funny one. Picturing all the Iraqi civilians coming running out of their houses just falling over for this beautiful blond officer while the American soldiers round up their artillery is something that I could envision in a movie about this book.

The Forever War, what are some of these guys thinking?

The more I read this book, the more I wonder what are some of these guys thinking? It seems that each time they wake up they wonder that if they are going to die today, it is mostly their own fault. They often talk about how if things are going to end badly or go wrong it is because of their own stupidity. I think this is one of the main side effects of being at war. As I continue to read the book the men become more and more reckless and I am not sure if this is because they're losing their sanity, and they are beginning to wonder if this war is ever going to end and if they're ever going to go home. Obviously I have no clue what these men are going through but it seems that the longer the war continues the crazier and more eccentric they become.

Book Club post for Friday October 8th

The forever war is getting quite interesting, and is extremely violent in my mind. From the opening few chapters you have glimpses of an execution and an amputation of a pickpocket's hand. While these are troubling and graphic events to read about, you get the understanding that this is everyday life for citizens in the middle east. As horrible as that sounds, while some of us wake up, go to school or work and then come home to our families and go about our everyday lives and may see a car accident or a fire, citizens of Kabul do the same but will see something much more tragic. So my main reaction to these chapters is just how horrific and troubling these events are, and how they effect the people who see them. When people witness violence everyday it becomes normal to them, and they lose that human element of feelings.

Talk of The Town Piece

I found an article on The New Yorker's website pertaining to the recent release of the movie Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. The article mainly discusses how when the first movie came out during the 80's many saw the leading character of Gordon Gekko as a hero and someone who you look up to. But now with the recession and the economy suffering, the article talks about how many see businessmen from Hollywood and other parts of corporate society as being part of the "axis of evil." It's an interesting article because it shows just how in the last two decades society's perception of people has changed. In the 1980's it was much more of a capitalistic society where it seemed like everyone was making money, but now Americans see businessmen and women in a different light. Especially people who work on wall street and for big business banks. It's an interesting article because it shows how the times have changed in only just twenty years.

Response to Adam&Megan: A Story Of One Family's Courage

Disturbingly detailed and depressing to read, but a great piece of writing. The story of this family's tragedy was shocking to read about and made me think I should start to appreciate life a little more. The tragedy that occurred to this family was really depressing read about and Curtin made sure that you understood just how horrific this tragedy was. The research and detail he put into this story was incredible and there is no surprise to see that after reading it, why it won a Pulitzer prize. The research that he did for this story is what makes this story so great, you know that he had done his homework and spent countless hours finding the right doctors and people in the medical business to learn about the different treatments that they had available for burn victims, and also the dated treatments that were talked about in the story. Even though this story is only a short amount of writing, a copious amount of effort and hard work went into it, and it clearly shows.