J.K. Rowling Harvard Commencement 2008

"The great majority of you belong to the worlds only remaining super power. The way you vote, the way you live, the way you protest, the pressure you bring to bear on your government has an impact way beyond your boarders. That is your privilege and your burden."

This captured my attention in a way that I could not have ignored sharing it. Her speech is outstanding. Thank you TED for bringing this into my home.

J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement

Want respect for your opinion, learn respect for others...

Recently my mother composed an essay, "Why The Romneys 'Connect' With Regular
Folks!" as a response to the assumption that Mitt Romney does not relate with "ordinary" people. She presents the argument that Mitt Romney relates much better because of his role as an active member of the "Mormon" church. She explains the way that congregations are structured and interact within the church, the emphasis on service for each member of the church, and how because of this experience why Mitt Romney as well as his family can relate with regular folks.

After writing her essay she sent it to all the individuals that are on her email list to share. Why not, she wrote it so she can share it with whom ever she pleases. I got it and read it, as I do all the things that my mother writes, and went on with my life. She has received mixed reviews as would be expected with an opinion.

So why would I share all of this information with you?

One particularly negative response that she got back about it has compelled me to write my own reflection about the nature of the feedback and its grossly inappropriate nature.

My cousin, her niece, was so moved by what my mother wrote she responded with a plethora of disrespect and threats. She shot back with her opinion about how much good President Obama does and her view on universal health care, etc... Then she went further and replied to everyone on her own email list, as well as my mothers, saying that she was changing her email address and if anyone wanted it they need to sign a pledge that they would never give it to her aunt. Not only that she continued to threaten to put my mothers email on a universal spam list so that any message that she delivers in the future gets filtered to spam by email.

There are a few things that I find upsetting about this. First was her response to defend President Obama and all the things that he does. I thought that this was curious so I decided to re-read the essay and highlight the sections where my mother wrote that Mitt Romney would do better than President Obama. Attached is the essay in question with my comments.

Why The Romneys "Connect" with regular folks! - Renon K Hulet

The rest of her reaction is what I find to be disrespectful. We are talking about opinions here. This essay is my mothers opinion on the subject and is what she thinks. You do not have to agree with her opinion on the subject, you can also argue against it. However what is not appropriate is to threaten her because of her view point. You no longer have to accept emails from her, but change your address entirely and require that others sign a pledge that they will not share that address is personal and mean (why else would you tell that person).

Another part of this that upset me was the fact that my mother, apologized to her many times for what she wrote. It's your opinion, you shouldn't have to apologize because someone is attacking you personally for what you believe. If they are attacking you personally its because what you have said threatens what they believe. It makes them ask themselves uncomfortable questions that makes them fear what they think is wrong. Making it personal is the only way they know how to make you feel as vulnerable as they do.

I hope my words can cut that deep.

What to take away from this?

Respect should be the cornerstone when it comes to dealing with other individuals. If I never show respect for someone else's opinion unless I 100% agree with it, then moving forward will be a slow and pitiful process. To grow I need to comprehend that I do not know, with perfect certainty, everything. I can learn from others and sometimes that process is uncomfortable and is going to make me feel vulnerable, still I will not apologize for my opinion, because its mine and I can fail on it if I choose to.

You do not have to agree with my opinion and we can discuss those points if you wanted to. Learn not to attack others for what they believe, you can disagree with them and debate points of conflict; However personally attacking someone for what they believe is a weak defense and shows that what you believe is weak and you have no other way to defend yourself.

American Student

I'm proud to be an American. Even during the current dissent that plagues our political climate; I still take pride that I am a citizen of a country that protects the philosophy of "inalienable Rights, among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" (Declaration of Independence). I am appalled when fellow citizens criticizes, the policy our elected leaders for standing firmly behind those ideals. I would not be able to attend college in my pursuit of Happiness if it wasn't for the assistance the Federal government affords me. I risk my financial futures stability on the possibility of something better by borrowing my tuition. If I did not have the possibility of this assistance my ambition and spirit would be crushed. I would be forced to accept my place in this country lacking the "natural" skills necessary to set me apart from my fellow unprepared citizens. Personally I will forever protect the freedom to learn and better myself and I will support those who feel the same; likewise I will not support those who are invested in peoples ignorance and oppress their opportunity to grow.

Staying focused is harder than it sounds

I am a procrastinator, making my life difficult. Mid-terms were this week and before last night I had a combined total of 8 hours of sleep in the past three days. I miss feeling rested at school.
I have been discussing it with my friends and trying to come up with strategies to be more productive and reduce my procrastination.
What are some ways you think this can be done?

Philosopher, a Teacher?

UK Version

Have you ever wondered why the first book in the Harry Potter series has a different tittle in The United States? It originally was published with the title: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in June of 1997  and was published in The United States as: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in 1998 (HPatPS Wiki). So Why the change? My speculation is because one definition of the word Philosopher is: a student, teacher , or devotee of philosophy (Dictionary.com Philosopher). Since there are many Christian conservatives in America that view the entire Harry Potter series as a work of pagan propaganda, advocating that magic is real and hidden from view of the world, it undermines Christian values and potentially could turn children/young-adults away from their faith. Perhaps the publisher (Scholastic - US) decided to change the name to lessen the book's philosophical implications and make it more agreeable to those Christians that did not take such a dramatic view on the subject, but since it was the first novel with growing popularity in the UK they did not want it to fail (loose profit) in America. I'm just saying that decisions are made like this everyday to lessen the degree of influence/implication anything could possibly have. The original meaning for philosopher refers to an old definition: an alchemist or devotee of occult science. Even by this definition it implies a level of dangerous thinking with the use of the word "occult", most likely why this definition is no longer used since studies that once were considered "occult science", in today's society have a very different meaning.

US Version

How amazing is it that language can shape society in a way that we fear to use a words that COULD be taken from a different point of view and cause offense in others.

What are some other examples of how language shapes our society and views of the world?

A Quality Student

I feel as though I have been drifting off the subject recently and would like to re-focus why I decided to keep a blog in the first place.

Not Paying Attention "hehe"

That being said, the reason for this post is to comment (more like soapbox) about my fellow classmates and their attitude in class. I go to a community college; there are a number of different reasons that people choose to continue their education at a community college. Most of the students there don't really know what they want to get a degree in, many attend to transfer to a four year school that would not take them out of high school, many attend because of the cost of higher education (times be hard), and so on. I choose to attend because of cost and the need to do better than I did in high school.

That being said I feel its necessary to share a few things that I have observed and have been taught by other students who are successful in their classes, and have been their entire lives. Why would I do this you ask? I want share an experience that I had recently in my math class that seems to be a reoccurring theme in many of my classes so for. I take classes at 8:00 am. I understand that getting to class is hard and not everyone is a morning person. However that doesn't give anyone the right to be disrespectful or distracting. There are two students that sit next to me (a guy and a girl) and they probably decided to take this class together because they knew one another. On this particular day they decided to come to class and do absolutely nothing, and I mean disrespectfully nothing. He played free cell on him laptop and she actually put her head down and shut her eyes during the lesson. In a class of 26 people the Professor could not notice. Why then did they even worry about coming to class? We had a quiz that day at the end of class and you cannot make up missed quizzes.

I don't think Yoda was concerned
about the time his education took

This brings me to my first habit that has helped to change me from being a "C" average student consistently to getting straight "A's" my last quarter. Be invested in your classes. This can be interpreted in a number of different ways. For me the first thing that I had to decide was, I wanted to be there no matte what. I decided what degree I wanted to pursue. Then I broke down the concept of school in a number of different terms. If I want to get a PhD I am going to be in school for 8 years, possibly more. That seems like a long time, but if I think of it as part of setting up my future career I probably (economy willing) will have a job for 40 years or more. Now looking at it 5% of my future career spent on education doesn't seem like such a long time to me. School costs a lot of money, and I have to take out student loans to afford to pay for my education. That's awesome that I don't have to focus on the cost of my education up front, but I will have to pay that money back someday. So each quarter I borrow money to take my classes I break down how much each class costs per hour i'm there; as well as how much money I waste by not being there for any reason. Even being at a community college I cannot afford to waste $197 per class, just because I am not showing up. (To put that in perspective my school has the lowest cost per credit hour in the area) Being invested in your classes makes a huge difference. If I was receiving a scholarship or similar financial aid that I did not have to repay, I might also look at my education as being such am immense gift from those who sponsor me and my future.

Those students that were present by them not paying attention and being disrespectful also made it so I lost attention in my class. Selfishly thinking that your actions don't affect others is a sign of ignorance and a further lack of respect. I am not perfect and at times I loose my concentration and slack off. I do my best not to perpetuate a lack of focus in myself as well as others. I have to remind myself constantly what is the reason I am in school and where it is going to take me in life.

I love to learn, and want to know what strategies or habits do you know that make you a Quality Student?

We want a CEO just not this guy

Sitting in class I had an epiphany. Just a few months ago we wanted a business man to run the business of America. Now we attack those candidates for being successful businessmen. Just an example that illustrates that the majority of the political process is a popularity contest defacing the candidates at any and all cost.

State of the Union

I have only listened to it once (for now), and I was impressed how the President did not use the opportunity to highlight his past but spoke about the future of the United States of America. I am looking forward to hearing the commentary about the address and looking at some of the things that he addressed. I am impressed and look forward to my investigation.

www.whitehouse.gov : 2012 State Of The Union

I'm just saying...

Hypothetically: 1. You believe something to be true and it makes up the majority of your character; however it is not the majority view and is often misunderstood. 2. You want to be in a position of authority making decisions that affect the majority. 3. You need to be elected into this position by your piers from a pool of other individuals. 4. Nothing is off limits.

I am, as you may have guessed referring to any election of a public official in a democratic system. Specifically about the election of the President of the United States of America.

What is interesting to me is what goes on to simply choose who should run in the election. Elections for the Republican nomination are currently in full force, just so there is a candidate that can run against the Democrats. Think about it we elect, who we want to campaign for the presidency. That's intense, most of the time theses public officials have had to go through election process many times over to get to the point that they are even considered to run for the nomination, in effect we have elected someone, to run for an election, to be elected to be the President. Getting back to the hypothetical situation that I described earlier, I want to consider a strategy in being elected if one had the means.

I am talking about Mitt Romeny, he is Mormon and wants to be the next President of the United States. Think outside of the race for the Republican nomination and focus more on the Presidential election to follow, his campaign strategy (for the presidency) might include this campaign for the nomination. Looking back at the Republican caucasus that have already taken place we should consider how things have gone thus far. He did little to campaign in Iowa but won (supposedly), he campaigned heavily in New Hampshire and won, he "campaigned" in South Carolina and lost. Now what? Starting with Iowa he had little reason to try to win since he was considered and planed to go further regardless of the outcome there. Shortly after the outcome the candidate field had less players on it. Move on to New Hampshire he needed to win here since this was close to home, but more importantly to eliminate more of the competition and create an antagonist. Enter Newt Gingrich the most recognizable Republican he could vilify, so Romeny's "super-pack" heavily slandered Gingrich across the state and Romeny won. In the week that followed more Republican hopefuls dropped out and the candidates moved on to South Carolina. Romeny, "campaigned" here meaning  he was present but did not stand much  of a chance of winning a good percentage of the vote with his religious background. This is where his strategy (assuming I am correct) is brilliant. Romeny didn't even show up for a debate when all the other candidates were present due to "scheduling issues" B.S. Newt Gingrich who was thought almost to not have a chance after the New Hampshire was present and came through with shining colors. He was now in the public eye standing alone where he defended himself with strength and poise ultimately wining the South Carolina nomination. Iowa returns now a loss for Romeny however not making much of a difference since it removed candidates and he originally didn't plan on wining the state to begin with. Newt Gingrich came back from the fringes of election possibility to be the leading contender in a one sided Republican nomination of Romeny. What I am pointing out is the fact that Romeny needs Gingrich to prolong nomination certainty to get maximum exposure for himself while not wearing a giant target for the Democrats to attach him individually all year before the general election. The best kind of offense is a good defense, well played sir. By keeping more nominees in the election process and it keeps the resources of the opposition stretched to fight all the nominees instead of being able to focus on shutting down just one candidate. While utilizing the other Republican nominees to focus more of their resources and energy on the Democrats.

It's a long road to go to the general election and to think those who are invested to get there have lost sight of that is foolish. Remember it is about being the most popular individual in the country, not just in the republican party. If you want to be the President of the United States of America you plan well and have a strategy in place ready to go to plan B, C, D, E, ... and all the rest if you really want to win!

Just for Sunday fun.

I am a big fan of not working on Sunday and today is one day that I must be a professional and go. So I saw this on Google+ and thought that I should quickly share it.