Teens and Twitter

        I'm using this week's post to blog about something i've wanted to bring up for a while; teens and twitter. A NY Times article published in August reported that only 11% of twitter users are aged 12-17. Additionally, the article suggested that teens do not use twitter because they don't need to advertise themselves, and they can use facebook or other sites to better communicate with their friends. I'd like to ask you all a question; Do you use twitter? Why? If not, why don't you?
      I started using twitter about the time this article came out. Honestly, I just started because twitter was all over the news and I wanted to know what the big fuss was about. I decided I liked twitter when I started following celebrities. I found it interesting to know what my favorite musicians and tv and movie personalities were up to.
       However, I understand why people don't want to use twitter. In my case, it's almost impractical for me to use it; no one is going to care what I have to say, and if I message celebrities, they won't respond. Similarly, I personally know only about ten of the people I follow, because nobody I know uses the application.
        What does the lack of twitter participation suggest about people my age? It is something significant or is it just because Twitter isn't popular?

Guantanamo prisoners moved to Illinois?

This news story  suggests that the Federal bureau of prisons is considering relocating a few of the  Guantanamo bay prisoners to Thompson Correctional Center in Illinois. Members from the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Prisons visited the facility today. Representative Mark Kirk remarked that he felt moving the prisoners to Illinois would make the state "ground zero for Jihadist terrorist plots, recruitment and radicalization." If the Bureau decides to use the facility, it will house mostly federal prisoners and a few from Guantanamo Bay. 

        I'd like to ask my readers who are residents of Illinois this question; How do you feel about the possibility of this prison housing previous Guantanamo inmates? If any of you are not Illinois residents, do you think Illinois is a better place, or is there another state you think would make more sense? And, finally, are you saying this because of where you live?

       Personally, I don't like the idea of Guantanamo inmates moving to my state, but I'm fairly sure everyone feels that way. What makes a state better or worse for a high-securtity prison? Is it it's resources or facilities, it's proximity to cities, it's population density, or something else? I'm not sure that the location of a prison would particularly sway anyone to attack there rather than somewhere else, but I'm not qualified to know. 

      How much danger does a prison actually cause to it's location? If that doesn't make sense, let me rephrase; Is a state in greater danger of a terrorist attack if terrorists are held in that state's prisons? Again, I don't think that's something we can figure out on our own, but what do you think?

    Also, If you had to pick one state for the prison location, where would it be and why? I tend to think Wyoming or Alaska because of their relative isolation, but I'll bet people from Alaska and Wyoming feel differently. How do you feel about it? 

Mom, will you read me some subliminal messages?

     In class today, we looked at the hidden messages inside a Puritan poem designed to teach children the alphabet. The poem had some subtle and not-so-subtle allusions to christianity or the bible in each phrase.
      I went back and found one of my favorite Alphabet books as a kid; Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. It's a song, too, but mainly I remember my mother snapping into English Teacher mode and reading to me out of a very bright and colorful book. In the story, all the lowercase letters of the alphabet race to the top of a coconut tree, and then the uppercase letters have to come rescue them.
      I consider the plot itself to have a subliminal message; don't do dangerous things, like climb trees, because then your parents will have to come rescue you. At one point in the text, the uppercase letters "hug their little dears, then dust their pants". This line sends the message that parents are loving and look out for their children, 'cleansing' them of whatever they fall into. Additionally, d leaves the tree with a skinned knee, e has a stubbed toe, and g is out of breath.  From this, I construe that the writer wants us to believe that adventures like climbing a tree, and straying from our parents, will only hurt us.
       What does the writer plan to accomplish with this? In my opinion, he wants to encourage children to be obedient and respect their parents.
       I have some questions for you. Do your favorite childhood stories have subliminal messages like these? Where else do adults send subliminal messages to children? Do you approve of these subliminal messages or do you think they are misleading?
      Did I think about these things when I first heard the book read aloud? No. My Mom was just reading me a bedtime story.

Reconstructing our Image

         Yesterday and today, I had the fortune of attending a leadership conference within my athletic league. The keynote speaker, Michael Brandwein, presented us with an interesting idea; our self image and how we see ourselves should not be shaped on what we did years ago because we are constantly changing. When brainstorming ideas for what to blog about this week, what I heard about today came to mind. As Americans, is our image based on events from decades or centuries ago, or are we constructing our identity by how our nation behaves today? As Mr. Brandwein put it, What do we see when we look at ourselves?
        The things about America that some Americans value most were given to us during the writing of the constitution; the right to free speech, the right to choose our own religions, and the right to life and liberty. America became, and still is, a country with people from very different backgrounds, races, and religions.
        However, some may argue that we are currently desperately trying to reshape how the world sees us. As a country, we have just elected President Barrack Obama, our first president of African-American hertiage. Some members of congress are trying to reform Healthcare policies and remove remove our soldiers from the middle east. On January 23, 2009, President Obama signed a document saying that Guantanamo Bay will be shut down within the year.
       Over the past two days, another point was stressed at the conference; Every thing we do sends a message. What message is America sending?
       I feel that America is trying to prove to the world that it is a righteous nation. Every country most likely wants other countries to believe that they are making the right decisions, but the election of the first  black President, the shutting down of Guantanamo Bay and the current attempt to end the war tells me that America is trying to reconstruct it's image. These acts send me the message that America is trying to become more tolerant and peaceful. Are we?
      What do you think?