Drinking and Drugs

‘“Oh Lord, that is elixer of the Gods. Pure liquid Kentucky”’(150). -The Kentucky Cycle

“‘Open the whiskey Tom…and I’ll make you a mint julep”’ (129). -The Great Gatsby

The first quote above is from JT in “The Kentucky Cycle”, which we read today. JT and the Rowen’s sit down and drink while having a good time and telling stories. This scene ends with Tommy attacking JT, and both of them almost ending up killed. The second quote is from “The Great Gatsby”. This scene involves Tom, Daisy, Nick and Gatsby all drinking and talking in the city. This scene ends with Myrtle getting hit by a car and dying. 

Both scenes involved alcohol and ended in very similar, tragic ways. We have been discussing cycles frequently in class, and I have noticed that the troubles of drugs and alcohol has been a cycle echoed in the U.S.

Recently there have been quite a few moments where drugs have directed people into danger or some type of trouble. One example is the envelopes sent to New York City’s Mayor Bloomberg containing ricin. Ricin “can be fatal in small doses if inhaled or swallowed”. Fortunately, the envelopes never made it to the mayor, and no one died. But this intent of creating fatalities reminds me of the near deaths in “The Kentucky Cycle” which may have been partly due to the strong liquor the men had drank before fighting. Although different scenarios, the drugs and alcohol both lead to near death experiences. Click here to read more on the mayor’s experience.

And this is not the only example! One can hear of trouble caused from drug or alcohol use on an almost daily basis. In fact, I just read about a Mormon mom of 7 getting caught for smuggling marijuana into the U.S. She is most likely not at fault (because she might have been used by someone else), but it is another interesting example on how drugs are used to hurt another person. So do you think there is a cycle of how drugs and alcohol is used in society, and their consequences? Since we have been discussing cycles for a while in class now, can you think of any other good examples of cycles in America? Feel free to comment bellow.

The Great Gatsby

Recently I saw the new movie "The Great Gatsby". Other than watching it for enjoyment, I also watched to notice differences from the book. The director, Baz Luhrmann, made some interesting choices when choosing what to include, and what not to include, in the film.

One choice that I noticed in the film was that a large scene was excluded. This scene was right after Nick’s first party in the city with Myrtle and Tom, when Nick claims to have gotten drunk for his second time. After this party Nick ends up in Mr. McKee’s bed wearing only underwear. This scene could be controversial, because many people see it as a time when Nick has a homosexual encounter. Although, the director chooses to leave this part out of the movie. This may be because of the current debates over gay rights. The director possibly didn’t want this movie to stir too much controversy. There are also other scenes that have been excluded in the movie. Are there any scenes you can think of that were excluded, and why do you think that is?

Rafa Nadal

This past weekend Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer in the finals of Rome to take yet another title. Since Nadal has returned from his knee 'injury', he has been extremely dominant. It looks like he hasn't missed a stride, as his chances of winning the French Open next week are very high. Many people are shocked at how dominant Nadal is after returning from an injury that took him out for over half the year. Click here to read more about his recent win.

In fact, Nadal's return seems almost too good to be true. Most athletes take a few months to get back into it, and even then, they lose some matches that they should probably win. But this hasn't been the case for Nadal. He is as fit as he was before he was injured and playing even better. I have heard the theory that instead of Nadal being injured, he was suspended for steroid use, and the ATP covered it up by making it seem like he was injured. With an athlete as well recognized as Nadal the ATP wouldn't want the public to know he used steroids, to protect his image. This theory seems plausible in my opinion. I did my junior theme on the topic of steroids, and I learned several shocking things. No one truly knows how many athletes take steroids, and what organizations do to cover it up. Percentages of steroid users in all sports are shockingly high, yet it gets very little media coverage. Nadal may be one of these cases. What do you think? Is it reasonable to think Nadal may have used steroids?

Playoffs

With the playoffs in action for both the Bulls and the Blackhawk’s, many Chicagoans are watching a sporting event on a nightly basis. But to go downtown and get into these games is typically unrealistic. Tickets for these teams during playoffs can rise to insane numbers for just one mediocre seat. One could end up paying over 500 dollars to sit in one of the last rows in the United Center. Despite this fact, these games are sold out on a consistent basis.

 

In my mind, I always imagined these Chicago teams were turning an unbelievable profit. This all changed when I stumbled upon an article on the 2010 Chicago Blackhawk’s Stanley Cup team. The Blackhawk’s organization wasn't "making money" according to Rocky Wirtz, the Blackhawk’s owner in 2010. With the incredible amount of publicity, advertising, and ticket sales received from that year, this fact was very hard to understand. How/Why do you think the Hawks didn't turn a profit in 2010? Click here to read short excerpt on this topic.

Jason Collins

A couple days ago Jason Collins announced that he was gay. The reason this event is receiving so much media coverage is that he was the first male professional athlete to announce being gay. For the most part, the athletic world has been very supportive, as President Obama even called him to support him. Click here to read more about this event.

What is interesting to me is that it took such a long time for an athlete to come out. Although being gay has not been completely accepted amongst society, there have been large strides for this.  Many people are hopeful that this event will give more people hope in the future, and push for gay rights in society. But it seems like professional athletes have a long way to go considering Collins is the first ever athlete to come out. Why do you think that is?

Airline's Becoming Less Safe?

A policy change to air travel was supposed to be put into affect this week, as passengers were to be able to carry pocket knives onto planes. However, this policy has been delayed for an unknown time due to a reconsideration. Click here to read more on this controversy.

TSA argues that by allowing pocket knives onto planes, they could scan for more threatening weapons with more ease. Although a valid point, I do not think that should be the reason why we start allowing a weapon to be carried onto airplanes. Pocket knives can pose a threat to many lives on an airplane depending on the situation. It seems ridiculous to sacrifice our safety so that we can get through security lines quicker. The system that has been in place with TSA has been successful since 9/11, so I don't see a reason to change it now. What do you think? Should this policy pass?

Boston Marathon Explosions

Yesterday, two timed bombs went off near the finish line at the Boston Marathon. This tragic event has affected the country. More than 100 have been reported injured, and 3 people have died. Our country is still trying to comprehend this horrible attack, as it is the worst attack on U.S soil since 9/11. To read more on the bombing click here.

The bombs have been reported as being made of pressure cookers, put inside backpacks, which were placed near the finish line. For an event like a marathon, many people where backpacks around. Therefore, it would have been extremely difficult to catch the attackers before the attack (even though there were many police and dogs at the event). Do you think anything else could have been done to prevent this incident? Also, do you think our countries security for large events, such as sporting events or marathons, should be increased in general? If so, how? Please post thoughts below.

Steroids Amongst Athletes

Steroids have become a large issue in professional sports today. Steroids can give an athlete a large advantage over other athletes with minimal work. Therefore, all large sporting leagues create many penalties and fines for athletes using steroids. Despite this, it is predicted that 55-60% of all professional athletes still use these drugs (Dr. Lehman, US center for sports medicine). This percentage is only an estimate, given that not all athletes that use steroids are caught. In fact, one source predicts that over 95% of NFL players use steroids, as it is almost a requirement to succeed in professional football. Click here to read more on this issue.

Some people argue that steroids should be legal so that every athlete can be on a level playing field. That way, the 55-60% of athletes that use steroids wouldn't have an unfair advantage over the rest of the athletes. Personally, I think allowing steroid use would be a bad idea because it would change the nature of every professional sport in a way that would be less exciting. It is more exciting watching someone hit a homerun based off of talent rather than the drugs they put in their body. What do you think? Should the use of steroids be allowed in professional sports?

Safety At Home

Defense in the U.S is always a pressing issue in politics. In the past Obama has been more lenient in putting money into missile defense programs. That being said, recently 1 billion dollars was just invested into interceptors for missiles. Why? It's because of North Korea. North Korea has been testing missiles, and they recently sent a missile as far as the Philippines. This is about half the distance from North Korea to the United States.

Although it seems improbable that North Korea will develop a missile that can effectively reach America within the next few years, the threat still looms over our country. As long as this threat remains, I believe our government should do as much as possible to ensure our countries safety. If that means investing billions of dollars into defense systems, then that’s what it takes. What do you think should be done? Has Obama invested enough money into missile defense? Or should less money be invested into this program? Post below. (to read more on this topic click here)

Quick Decisions

In California, an elderly woman recently died at a nursing home. Although sad, this event would not have been news worthy if it weren't for the circumstances in which she died. After having a heart attack, the nearest nurse called 911. The operator told the nurse to begin CPR, which the nurse replied was against protocol, and therefore she couldn't. As a result, the elderly woman died. Click here to read more about the story. 


In my opinion, this nurse made a big mistake. Instead of following protocol, she should have followed our most important right as U.S citizens: the right to life. If she began CPR on the elderly woman, her life could have possibly been saved, and no one would have been angry towards the nurse for 'breaking protocol'. What do you think? Is it more important to follow the rules, or do what you think is best under pressure situations? Comment below.

Rodman, The Face of the U.S?

In communist N. Korea, Leader Kim Jong Un has made many threats against the U.S. Additionally, he has violated many basic human rights for people in N. Korea. This being said, he invited former NBA player, Dennis Rodman to go to N. Korea and talk with him. Kim Jong Un is a big basketball fan, and wanted the chance to talk to one of basketball's greatest players. Click here to read about Rodman's experience, and watch an interview with Rodman. 

After watching the interview with Rodman, I began to think whether it was beneficial or not to have him go and meet with Kim Jong Un. Rodman has many tattoos and piercing's (look above), and is not very educated. Additionally, he has had issues with alcohol, domestic violence, and interfering with cops.

For these reasons, I don't think it was in the best interest of The United States to have Rodman travel to North Korea, especially because relations are very tense (and serious) between the two countries. He went as a private citizen but to many in North Korea he may represent more.  What do you think? Was Rodman's trip to North Korea beneficial to the U.S?

Safe Driving?

This weekend, as I was driving to Ohio, we suddenly had to stop because of a lot of traffic. The traffic was caused by a large crash on the highway. As hundreds of cars stayed in one spot for hours people started to complain, so I decided to do some research and figure out what was happening. According to one report I read, the accident was believed to be caused by a driver that was also texting.

This massive accident is just one of many that has been a result of texting and driving. In fact, I learned many facts I didn't know previously about texting and driving from this awareness website.






So if texting and driving is extremely dangerous, then why haven't more laws been passed preventing people from doing it? In other countries many laws have already been passed like that. Do you think there should be harsher laws for texting and driving in the U.S, and if so, what should they be?

Racism and Violence

In one of Mr. OC's more recent posts' "Proclaiming Emancipation, Part II", he poses the question, "are we any closer to equality?" As I thought about this question more and more, a story appeared on the news that seemed very relatable to the question. On a recent Delta flight, a 60-year-old man slapped a 19-month-old baby across the face and told the mom to "shut that n-word baby up". The slur was then used again towards the infant. Click here to watch a video and read more about this incident. 

This action by this older man seems very relatable to some of the hate crimes committed during the late 50's and 60's. Slapping a baby across the face seems to be one of the most appalling, and offensive crimes someone could commit, and it was done within this last week. So in my opinion the answer to doc OC's question seems very apparent. If this type of hatred and violence is being committed, then I do not believe we are any closer to equality. It seems apparent that there are some very big gaps that still need to be fixed for racial equality to improve. Certainly this one man needs to learn a lesson, and face some punishments. What do you think? Are we any closer to racial equality? And what type of punishment does this older man who slapped the baby deserve? 

Dress Codes

In class a few days ago we held a discussion on dress codes, and whether New Trier had one or not. As a result, I began to pay extra-close attention towards focusing on what students tend to wear. A few years ago it used to be North Face jackets. Now, it seems to be more of a 'preppy' north-shore look. It seemed very obvious that everyone (for the most part) chose to wear similar clothing styles.

Although I did notice this trend at New Trier, I would still argue that there is no such thing as an 'unwritten' dress code. Every student has the choice to wear whatever they want each day, and no rules can stop them (within reason). Although they may not fit in as well, students can express themselves by wearing different types of clothing. Simply, for that reason, I believe there is no dress code at our school. What do you think? Does New Trier have a dress code?

Choice of Words

The book we are reading currently, "The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao", contains a lot of language that is very controversial. Today in class we had a discussion about what circumstances it is appropriate to use that type of language. One man that has suffered from the ambiguity of this situation is Lincoln Brown. Brown, a fifth grade teacher, said the 'N-word' in front of his class of students when showing them when it was inappropriate to use the word. At that time, the principal walked past and heard, and fired Brown immediately. As a result, Brown is suing the board of education. Click here to read more about the case.

It is tough to say whether Brown was in the right or wrong in this situation because there are no rules set up defining when certain words can be used. Personally, I believe it is fine to use the 'N-word' whenever quoting a book or any type of media. Other than that, there are very few other circumstances that seem to be appropriate to use the 'N-word'. In this case, since Brown was using the word for the purpose of education, and it wasn't used in a negative manner, I believe he should get his job back and win the case. What do you think? Does he deserve to win the case? Comment below.

The Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is a great time of the year for mainly two reasons: the football and the commercials. In class today we had a large discussion about the possible reasons certain commercials were made and the controversies behind those commercials. We talked a lot about a specific Audi commercial, but I saw another car commercial that caught my attention also. Watch below... 

This commercial for VW was very controversial because many people considered it racist. Critics specifically believe its offensive towards Jamaicans, as the man in this video acts and sounds like he may be a Jamaican, portrayed in a different body. I can understand why people may think this, but overall the commercial displays a positive image of being happy and, therefore, I believe should not be criticized. This commercial doesn't display any person in a negative way, and is very memorable for a viewer at the same time. And because this is an effective commercial that only has a good message, there should be no reason for the video to even be controversial. What do you think? Comment below.

FINAL: Gay Rights Cartoon

This cartoon by Ruth is an important contemporary American artifact because it stresses the importance of equality rights for gays, by also looking into and using the difficult road of the past as support. Please look below to see my artifact.

 Ruth, the artist, deals with many contemporary issues in his cartoons, specifically dealing with equality. In fact, this picture was found on a gay rights and equality web page. Ruth does many artistic things to demonstrate the equality that he wants achieved. First, if you look at the characters you can notice that their proportions compared to the steps are almost comical. The steps tower over the two men, seeming to suggest that each stage leading towards equality is a tough one, which eventually will be overcome to get to equality. Additionally, the lighting in this seen is significant because the top of the stairs is extremely bright, while the light only trickles down the staircase to the dark, bleak bottom. Light in this image seems to symbolize hope. Therefore, hope is small for equality for gays now, but will eventually be greater the more “stairs” we climb over as a nation. It is also very interesting to look into the body language of this image. When zoomed in, it becomes apparent that the two men at the bottom have their mouths open, and heads up, almost at shock of the climb ahead of them. Ruth wants to show that although daunting, the climb has been achieved before. Additionally, it is not a coincident that the men are standing on the step labeled “ridiculous”. This word to me, means that something is absurd to the point that it cant be thought of. In Ruth’s mind, that is currently what society deems of gay marriage.


 In fact, Ruth holds many of the same opinions that Robert Hayden had about blacks. Hayden artistically stated in one of his poems, “When it is finally ours, this freedom…when it is truly instinct…this beautiful needful thing” (Frederick Douglass poem). ‘Instinct’ is an important word in this poem. To me, this word means something that comes natural, without hesitation. We have sadly not reached a point in our society when equality is instinct, specifically with gays. Blacks, women, and disabilitated people all were at this point in the ‘staircase’ at some point in history. In fact, racial equality faced the opposition of the President post Civil War. After the civil rights for black people was suggested by Congress, Johnson said, “Yet it is now proposed by a single legislative enactment to confer the rights of citizens upon all persons of African descent…while persons of foreign birth…must undergo a probation of 5 years”. The word ‘confer’, or to grant, shows that Johnson believed blacks were inferior and needed him to bestow the gift of equality. As insulting as that is, Johnson still didn’t approve of the rights for black people, using this argument that foreign people didn’t have all those rights. This posed a large obstacle to obtaining the equality that was deserved during that time.

 Despite this being a great piece of art, it is not perfect. I would disagree with Ruth, on the fact that I believe there is still some inequality amongst women, blacks, and people with disabilities. In the blog post Wednesday’s Field Trip Hannah Deporter (Depôrtiè) commented with something insightful to our current integration in Chicago, based off of a map, shown below.

 (Pink-white people, Blue-African Americans)

She said, “This strongly supports the stereotypes of ‘white’ people living north of Chicago and ‘black’ people living south of Chicago.” A stereotype is something that is a widely held image for people. It is interesting that Hannah used this word, because it shows this perception that one of our largest cities in America is still not segregated completely. Additionally, workers rights, which includes the rights of women and people with disabilities, is nowhere near being fair. An NPR podcast gave an account of one factory, saying, “Twenty five people went up to the owner and asked for their wages, and they got threatened with guns”. The rights of those people to receive wages for their labor is being stolen away from them, which seems extremelly far from equality.

 Although this image may spread a very good message, it also has its flaws. This cartoon may not be as black and white as it suggests (pun not intended). Comments are encouraged below.

Airport Lines: A Growing Issue?

This semester I led a discussion on civil liberties with a few of my classmates. Part of this presentation entailed a talk about whether our 4th Amendment (right of search and seizure regulation) was being too restricted. Recently I discovered an article that dealt with this same issue. Although this time, the article discussed how the lines in airports created from these searches, specifically in O'Hare International Airport, was causing such annoyance that people are starting to avoid O'Hare altogether. This could have huge implications for tourism, as fewer international visitors would come to Chicago. If security checks are preventing people from flying to certain locations, than there must be a large issue. And the lines are only supposed to get longer as the years pass. An article in “Crain’s” suggests that an increase in airport employees would decrease the lines and get rid of the issue at hand.



In my opinion, that is the wrong way to be thinking about how to decrease the lines in airports. The solution seems very clear. If the amount of security checks, and the intensity of those checks were reduced, than the lines would be shorter, flying would be less of a hassle, and our 4th Amendment would be less restricted. Not only would the issue in the article be handled and tourism remain high, but also many of the rights in the Amendments would be supported from this simple solution. Do you agree? How should we go about changing the security at airports? Or do you believe there is no issue?

NHL Lockout Finished

The debates over contract salaries in the NHL have caused an "actionless" year of hockey thus far. Although, finally, it seems the owners have come to an agreement that will allow the players to start their season in a few weeks. Although not many details are being released about the agreement reached, many players and fans are relieved that the season will be preserved. For more details on the agreement, read about it in the Chicago Tribune.

Now that there is some confidence in a hockey season, many fans are getting excited to watch their teams compete again. But there are many more benefits to a hockey season than the entertainment. Many industries benefit from the hockey season being played. For example, the Chicago Blackhawks help ensure a steady stream of fans into the city, which helps the revenues of many small businesses'. What other benefits do you think there are to the 2012-2013 NHL season being played?