A humorous piece from the New Yorker which shows the real benefits to SPF...
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2009/08/10/090810sh_shouts_borow
How to get patient opinions: Ask.
10 years ago
Friday, August 7, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
More on N. Korea
In addition to my previous post, I happened upon this article while reading World magazine...
http://www.worldmag.com/articles/15488
Coincidental? I think not....
p.s. The author is this article is a phenomenal writer...I have a book of her essay's and they're amazing. Sometimes she confuses me with some of things she writes about, but even in my state of confusion I know I'm still blown away by what I'm reading...
http://www.worldmag.com/articles/15488
Coincidental? I think not....
p.s. The author is this article is a phenomenal writer...I have a book of her essay's and they're amazing. Sometimes she confuses me with some of things she writes about, but even in my state of confusion I know I'm still blown away by what I'm reading...
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
North Korea
This has nothing to do with Mexico, but I feel compelled to post it.
As many people have probably seen in the news, two American journalists who were working in North Korea were arrested for 'illegal entry,' and sentenced on Monday to 12 years in prison. I haven't really been following it that much, but a website I like wrote an article about it, and after reading through the article, I began reading other readers' comments. The comments mainly focused on the injustice of it all, but also about the prison labor camps that exist in North Korea. As I began to read more about them, I realized: they're awful, awful places. Obviously, the words 'labor prison camp' don't conjure up images of kittens chaseing butterflies across puffs of clouds, but still. I was in shock about what goes on at these camps. The government (which is essentially made up of Kim Jong-il) created these horrible places and tries to keep them secret from the international population. But, as you'll see in the link below, survivors of the camps are working to making the atrocities committed in the prisons known to the international community. People accused for practically no reason spend time in these prisons, usually dying before they are released. Even if they make it out, they find no recompensation from the government for their injuries, deformities, anguish, etc. Even family members of the 'accused' are thought to be guilty and are forced into the camps. Even children. *insert shiver of disgust, here*
The article below was written by Sun Ok Lee, a survivor of one of the prison camps. Please beware before you read it, of the following: its very, very graphic and ultimately, heartbreaking. Some of the things Sun describes sound like they came from the history books when talking about concentration camps and the Holocaust. And she was there during the 1990s..and I have no reason to believe anything has changed since she was released. I became more and more nauseous as I read it. So be careful. I had to stop a few times because I just couldn't even believe what I was reading. Its also a pretty hefty read, and needless to say, depressing.
I don't really know what my thoughts are yet on all of this...but I do know my heart is broken for the people living in North Korea. The complete lack of human rights, respect, protection, love, etc. They deserve to be saved from this awful hell. And I guess passing on this article is one way to help them...raising awareness is a first step. When people become passionate about something, thats when changes can be made. So take a half hour of your day and read the article, say a prayer for these people, and maybe think about passing it on.
http://ncafe.com/northkorea/SunOkLeeTestimony_w_llus.pdf
As many people have probably seen in the news, two American journalists who were working in North Korea were arrested for 'illegal entry,' and sentenced on Monday to 12 years in prison. I haven't really been following it that much, but a website I like wrote an article about it, and after reading through the article, I began reading other readers' comments. The comments mainly focused on the injustice of it all, but also about the prison labor camps that exist in North Korea. As I began to read more about them, I realized: they're awful, awful places. Obviously, the words 'labor prison camp' don't conjure up images of kittens chaseing butterflies across puffs of clouds, but still. I was in shock about what goes on at these camps. The government (which is essentially made up of Kim Jong-il) created these horrible places and tries to keep them secret from the international population. But, as you'll see in the link below, survivors of the camps are working to making the atrocities committed in the prisons known to the international community. People accused for practically no reason spend time in these prisons, usually dying before they are released. Even if they make it out, they find no recompensation from the government for their injuries, deformities, anguish, etc. Even family members of the 'accused' are thought to be guilty and are forced into the camps. Even children. *insert shiver of disgust, here*
The article below was written by Sun Ok Lee, a survivor of one of the prison camps. Please beware before you read it, of the following: its very, very graphic and ultimately, heartbreaking. Some of the things Sun describes sound like they came from the history books when talking about concentration camps and the Holocaust. And she was there during the 1990s..and I have no reason to believe anything has changed since she was released. I became more and more nauseous as I read it. So be careful. I had to stop a few times because I just couldn't even believe what I was reading. Its also a pretty hefty read, and needless to say, depressing.
I don't really know what my thoughts are yet on all of this...but I do know my heart is broken for the people living in North Korea. The complete lack of human rights, respect, protection, love, etc. They deserve to be saved from this awful hell. And I guess passing on this article is one way to help them...raising awareness is a first step. When people become passionate about something, thats when changes can be made. So take a half hour of your day and read the article, say a prayer for these people, and maybe think about passing it on.
http://ncafe.com/northkorea/SunOkLeeTestimony_w_llus.pdf
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
It's been a long time
Sorry for such a lapse in posts...almost two months. My bad.
I'm back in Mexico, about a month into my coop at SwissRe. Christmas break was wonderful - went to Paris for two weeks and got to spend time with Gina and some other BSIBers. Then I was home for about 10 days, which was nice as usual. Its always good to be home and have nothing to do. I saw a lot of family, got to hang out with my friends from high school. All around a nice break. Now, as I said, I'm back in Mexico.
Work is going well. We're doing so much training for the job. I work in the technical accounting department, and there's so much to learn. There are 4 coops total there, the first round of coops the company has had. Which is frustrating, but also kind of exciting. I'm going to have different responsibilities, but I'll write about them when I'm more involved.
In between my training I usually don't have much to do besides read the news, and I happened upon this opinion article from the NYT. Errol Morris is a columnist and photographer who rights media-related op-ed articles. In this particular post, he sat down with three photographers who spent the past 8 years following former President Bush around the world. They basically documented his entire span in office. Morris asked them to pick their ten favorite photos that they felt captured Bush and his terms as President. He sat down with each of them and had a conversation about each chosen photo, analyzing the expressions and situations surrounding the photos. Some of the photos are funny, some are not. Some are meant to provoke negative reactions from anti-Bush enthusiasts, some are meant to provoke empathy.
Some of the discussions surrounding the photographs go into critical analysis of each facial expressions, hand placements, reactions, surrounding objects, etc. The conversations turn from analysis to criticism all too easily in most cases. In a few of them I feel the photogs use the article as a platform to express their complete disdain for Bush and his administration, focusing mainly on all of the failures of it. But I think the photos shouldn't so much be looked at as a series that encompasses the failures of Bush, but rather as a serious look at the man who, for the past eight years, has had the weight of the world on his shoulders.
In my opinion, I think the photographs serve as a reminder that George Bush is, first and foremost, a human being. And that he too, makes mistakes but is capable of emotion and feeling, not immune to them. I think its all too easy to forget sometimes that the President is a human. We treat him as some sort of superhuman, who should do everything we want, and then some, without ever faltering. I don't remember the last time I made it through a day without completely messing something up. The president is elected into office because he's seemingly competent, intelligent and very importantly, relatable. That sounds weird, saying I would vote for someone expecting them to fail. But it's part of being a human being. I fail - I expect people to fail. That's often how we relate to others, through common failures. Seeing someone else mess up reminds us that we're human. It gives us the chance to work things out, grow as people. Color me pessimistic, but I'm more leery of people who never seem to do anything wrong.
The photographs, to me, are striking because they show Bush not just as the president, but as a human. They capture human reactions to real events. They show him caring about people, having concern, interacting with other people, making fun of himself, laughing - they show him being real. I think thats something America has forgotten over the past two terms. They forgot that Bush is a human being, a real person. Americans have treated him like some sort of monster, making blind decisions left and right, not caring what will happen to the world. Did Bush do everything right in his eight years as President? No. Definitely not. But does he deserve to be treated like a villain? I don't think so. Some of you may argue, that yes he should be - that he made too many mistakes.
But I don't think its fair to write him off that easily. Sure, he'll go into the history books as probably one of the worst presidents ever with abysmal approval ratings. But that doesn't mean he's a bad human being. After looking at these photos, I would argue for the complete opposite. I love the seventh photo in, where Bush is being informed about the attacks on the Twin Towers on September 11th. The photographer makes a comment that Bush's face is completely blank: "He looks completely blank. He doesn’t understand, really, what’s happened. In the picture we can see his eyes — something very strange has happened; he doesn’t understand. He doesn’t seem to understand what the guy is saying."
I don't think that's what is going on. To me, Bush's eyes are saying he can't believe what he's hearing. He was reading books to an elementary school class, and his Chief of Staff has come to tell him that a plane has just hit the World Trade Center in NYC. His look is of utter disbelief, pure amazement. He looks like a combination of heartbroken, shocked - like in his mind he's thinking "I can't believe what's happened." I feel like I would probably react with a similar look if someone told me news of that same degree. The other photos (not all) offer other glimpses into his mind. Not everyone will agree with me on this point, but I don't really care. I don't think its fair that he should be demonized by the very people who supported him in the first place.
The photos that come at the end of the article are very powerful. As I was watching the Inauguration last Tuesday, I couldn't help but drift off during Obama's speech and think about what Bush is feeling. On one hand, I would say relief. He's done dealing with problems (yes, people, I know..problems he created and Obama has to deal with, poor Obama) and can step out from the international spotlight. If I had been the President of the United States for eight years, finally being done would probably sound very relaxing. I saw a photo collection (i swear i dont just look at photos) that showed Presidents at the beginning of their terms then at the end, the point being to show how much 4 or 8 years aged them. This would imply being President is stressful, duh. So, relief. But I also think Bush was/is probably sad to be done. Maybe not sad to leave behind the endless criticisms and snarkniness of the media, but sad to be leaving the life he's known for the past eight years. The last three photographs of the article capture, raw, human emotion - something America has forgotten Bush is capable of. He's sad. He's sad to be leaving. Maybe sad that he's leaving behind a mess of problems, maybe sad because he couldn't get things right. I don't know. And I don't think Bush will ever personally tell me why. But he's obviously not being blase about his departure from the White House. It meant something to him.
I didn't really think I had that much to say about this article, but obviously I did. You can agree or disagree with me about any points. It doesn't really matter. I just want people to remember that regardless of what Bush did in the past eight years, he's a human being. Does that make everything pardonable? No no no. But at least try to understand that he didn't go through two terms as president without an inkling of emotion and passion for our country. He was a President, and that in and of itself deserves respect. It's a job few are qualified to do and fewer actually do. Just take a step or two back from being so critical (I think he knows people don't like him) and give him a modicum of respect for being our president the last eight years, if for nothing else, than being human and making it out alive.
here's the link:
http://morris.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/mirror-mirror-on-the-wall/?ref=opinion
I'm back in Mexico, about a month into my coop at SwissRe. Christmas break was wonderful - went to Paris for two weeks and got to spend time with Gina and some other BSIBers. Then I was home for about 10 days, which was nice as usual. Its always good to be home and have nothing to do. I saw a lot of family, got to hang out with my friends from high school. All around a nice break. Now, as I said, I'm back in Mexico.
Work is going well. We're doing so much training for the job. I work in the technical accounting department, and there's so much to learn. There are 4 coops total there, the first round of coops the company has had. Which is frustrating, but also kind of exciting. I'm going to have different responsibilities, but I'll write about them when I'm more involved.
In between my training I usually don't have much to do besides read the news, and I happened upon this opinion article from the NYT. Errol Morris is a columnist and photographer who rights media-related op-ed articles. In this particular post, he sat down with three photographers who spent the past 8 years following former President Bush around the world. They basically documented his entire span in office. Morris asked them to pick their ten favorite photos that they felt captured Bush and his terms as President. He sat down with each of them and had a conversation about each chosen photo, analyzing the expressions and situations surrounding the photos. Some of the photos are funny, some are not. Some are meant to provoke negative reactions from anti-Bush enthusiasts, some are meant to provoke empathy.
Some of the discussions surrounding the photographs go into critical analysis of each facial expressions, hand placements, reactions, surrounding objects, etc. The conversations turn from analysis to criticism all too easily in most cases. In a few of them I feel the photogs use the article as a platform to express their complete disdain for Bush and his administration, focusing mainly on all of the failures of it. But I think the photos shouldn't so much be looked at as a series that encompasses the failures of Bush, but rather as a serious look at the man who, for the past eight years, has had the weight of the world on his shoulders.
In my opinion, I think the photographs serve as a reminder that George Bush is, first and foremost, a human being. And that he too, makes mistakes but is capable of emotion and feeling, not immune to them. I think its all too easy to forget sometimes that the President is a human. We treat him as some sort of superhuman, who should do everything we want, and then some, without ever faltering. I don't remember the last time I made it through a day without completely messing something up. The president is elected into office because he's seemingly competent, intelligent and very importantly, relatable. That sounds weird, saying I would vote for someone expecting them to fail. But it's part of being a human being. I fail - I expect people to fail. That's often how we relate to others, through common failures. Seeing someone else mess up reminds us that we're human. It gives us the chance to work things out, grow as people. Color me pessimistic, but I'm more leery of people who never seem to do anything wrong.
The photographs, to me, are striking because they show Bush not just as the president, but as a human. They capture human reactions to real events. They show him caring about people, having concern, interacting with other people, making fun of himself, laughing - they show him being real. I think thats something America has forgotten over the past two terms. They forgot that Bush is a human being, a real person. Americans have treated him like some sort of monster, making blind decisions left and right, not caring what will happen to the world. Did Bush do everything right in his eight years as President? No. Definitely not. But does he deserve to be treated like a villain? I don't think so. Some of you may argue, that yes he should be - that he made too many mistakes.
But I don't think its fair to write him off that easily. Sure, he'll go into the history books as probably one of the worst presidents ever with abysmal approval ratings. But that doesn't mean he's a bad human being. After looking at these photos, I would argue for the complete opposite. I love the seventh photo in, where Bush is being informed about the attacks on the Twin Towers on September 11th. The photographer makes a comment that Bush's face is completely blank: "He looks completely blank. He doesn’t understand, really, what’s happened. In the picture we can see his eyes — something very strange has happened; he doesn’t understand. He doesn’t seem to understand what the guy is saying."
I don't think that's what is going on. To me, Bush's eyes are saying he can't believe what he's hearing. He was reading books to an elementary school class, and his Chief of Staff has come to tell him that a plane has just hit the World Trade Center in NYC. His look is of utter disbelief, pure amazement. He looks like a combination of heartbroken, shocked - like in his mind he's thinking "I can't believe what's happened." I feel like I would probably react with a similar look if someone told me news of that same degree. The other photos (not all) offer other glimpses into his mind. Not everyone will agree with me on this point, but I don't really care. I don't think its fair that he should be demonized by the very people who supported him in the first place.
The photos that come at the end of the article are very powerful. As I was watching the Inauguration last Tuesday, I couldn't help but drift off during Obama's speech and think about what Bush is feeling. On one hand, I would say relief. He's done dealing with problems (yes, people, I know..problems he created and Obama has to deal with, poor Obama) and can step out from the international spotlight. If I had been the President of the United States for eight years, finally being done would probably sound very relaxing. I saw a photo collection (i swear i dont just look at photos) that showed Presidents at the beginning of their terms then at the end, the point being to show how much 4 or 8 years aged them. This would imply being President is stressful, duh. So, relief. But I also think Bush was/is probably sad to be done. Maybe not sad to leave behind the endless criticisms and snarkniness of the media, but sad to be leaving the life he's known for the past eight years. The last three photographs of the article capture, raw, human emotion - something America has forgotten Bush is capable of. He's sad. He's sad to be leaving. Maybe sad that he's leaving behind a mess of problems, maybe sad because he couldn't get things right. I don't know. And I don't think Bush will ever personally tell me why. But he's obviously not being blase about his departure from the White House. It meant something to him.
I didn't really think I had that much to say about this article, but obviously I did. You can agree or disagree with me about any points. It doesn't really matter. I just want people to remember that regardless of what Bush did in the past eight years, he's a human being. Does that make everything pardonable? No no no. But at least try to understand that he didn't go through two terms as president without an inkling of emotion and passion for our country. He was a President, and that in and of itself deserves respect. It's a job few are qualified to do and fewer actually do. Just take a step or two back from being so critical (I think he knows people don't like him) and give him a modicum of respect for being our president the last eight years, if for nothing else, than being human and making it out alive.
here's the link:
http://morris.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/mirror-mirror-on-the-wall/?ref=opinion
Thursday, December 11, 2008
sheer excitement
I'M CURRENTLY SITTING THE MEXICO CITY AIRPORT, GETTING READY TO BOARD MY FLIGHT AND JUST WANTED TO SAY....
I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE GINA AHN IN PARIS!!
Friday, December 5, 2008
6 more days in Mexico
I've officially finished classes here at UDLA, and my finals start on Monday! Finals actually started this past Monday, but I just happened to not have any til the 8th. I meant to use this past week to get lots of work done, but instead I ended up being lazy. Oh wells
It's weird because when I come back to Mexico I'm not going to be in Puebla anymore. I'm really excited for my six months in Mexico City, but I'm also kind of sad to leave Puebla. Sad to leave places I'm familiar with, friends I've made, etc. But its part of the process I guess. My friends have said they'll come visit and I plan on making trips down to Puebla probably once a month to see people. Coop should be really fun. I'm going to be living with another girl from the BSIB program, Alyssa, and another girl from NEU named Jess. I actually worked with Jess's best friend on my last coop, so I sort of know her. We're going to be sharing an apartment about 15 minutes away from the offices. I went to Mexico City on Wednesday to put some stuff in a friend's apartment while I'm in France/USA. I was hoping to be able to get into my apartment before, but we weren't able to get the keys from the landlord so early on. But its okay. I was just thankful to have somewhere convenient to put my things. There's no way I could've transported all of my things from Mexico to France to Ohio back to Mexico. Its funny, because I didn't think I had accumulated that many things, but my suitcase to D.F. was packed fulllll. My closet is so empty now. But its nice because I won't have any packing problems when I leave on Thursday.
Speaking of Thursday, I'm leaving for France at 1PM!!!! I'm getting into Paris at like 1130 on the 12th, and I CANT WAIT TO SEE GINA!! eek
super old photo from Montreal fresh year
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
I really should be writing a paper...
But instead I'll give a quick blog post!
1. Only 3 more days left of classes! Crazy, I know. I have so much work to do betwixt now and Friday....but sleep is for losers so it'll get done.
2. Thanksgiving is this Thursday, but sadly, I won't make it home to be with my family. Some of the other American students and I are going to attempt to do our own makeshift Thanksgiving at my friends house. Should be awesome. Also, once Thanksgiving passes its seasonally appropriate to listen to Christmas music. Double awesome.
3. 16 days til Paris!
4. I talked to Caitlin over the weekend and realized all over again how much I miss her.
Um yeah..I really need to write an ethics paper.
But for your viewing pleasure (and a tribute to Sarah Bells) one of my favorite lolcatz ever that i can only use around this time of year:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
