Liberty Bell

The wife of Martin Luther King Jr. died late on Monday. At 78, Coretta had spent her life actively striving for justice and human dignity.

After Martin Luther King’s assassination, Coretta turned her life to preserve Dr. King’s legacy. The founding President, Chair, and Chief Executive Officer of The King Center, she is responsible for the first institute honoring Dr. King. Mrs. King also is resposible for the campaign that established Martin Luther King’s birthday as a National Holiday.

She is the first woman to deliver the class day address at Harvard, and the first woman to preach at a statutory service at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.

Mrs. King has received honorary doctorates from over 60 colleges and universities, has authored three books and a nationally-syndicated column. She served on and helped found dozens of organizations including the Black Leadership Forum, the National Black Coalition for Voter Participation, and the Black Leadership Roundtable.

She met with many of the great leaders of the world, including the late Pope John Paul, the Dalai Lama, and Nelson Mandela.

Mrs. King, the world thanks you for your work.

You are missed.

I apologize, our family’s internet connection is having problems. With the problems with the net and also the competition I’m preparing for I haven’t had much time to spend on the Liberty Bell.

I will try to keep things updated as best as I can. The competition is not until March 4th, so I will be busy for a while.

Well, I’m in my room on my computer, in case you couldn’t tell! This time though, there’s a reason beyond being bored, or annoyed - wait, shouldn’t speak so soon. Because the cause of this self-exile was a result of an annoying substance - country music. Which happens to be playing fairly loudly in the living room right now.

So it’s not the most common annoyment factor. Who cares if nearly all my friends love the stuff. Country music should be confined to asylums or used to torment people, i.e., used on people already crazy, or on those you are trying to drive crazy. At least it drives me crazy!

There’s a phrase that goes something like ‘hear it once, you’ve heard it all.’ That phrase seems especially true of country music. The lyrics seem to focus on the dog, the truck, or the wife. Or the loss of the said above.

Still, it’s just my opinion. I would never kill, or even ‘dump,’ friends who love country music. I will abandon them when it’s playing. But as long as it’s not in my home, or on the soccer field, everything’s fine.

I am worried about my brother’s girlfriend. She likes country music and his hair… *shiver*

Btw, I’m a classic rock, hard rock, heavy metal person. Eagles, Aerosmith, Metallica, Queen, Guns n Roses… that’s music!! Yes, I might be crazy - but I don’t mind admitting it.

These are the results from a poll I made to get an idea of what people think about war. I will be leaving the link up - intitled “View on War” - and people are able to vote indefinitely.

Results

What is your age?
10-20 years old (55%)
20-40 years old (33%)
40-80 years old (10%)
80+ no lying! (0%)

56 total votes

Do you believe war is wrong?
Depends (37%)
Always wrong, but unavoidable (30%)
Yes (20%)
No (11%)

62 total votes

Have you served in the military?
No (92%)
Yes (8%)

57 total votes

Would you be willing to?
No (28%)
I would serve for my country if I had to (25%)
Yes (20%)
No, I believe violence is wrong, and would not participate in anything that involves such (14%)
Eww… military?! (7%)
I’m planning on enlisting as soon as I’m old enough (4%)

70 total votes

Do you think war solves things?
Yes (36%)
No (26%)
Other (19%)
Maybe, I’d say it was luck though (17%)

57 total votes

This is the paper I talked about. It’s a short paper telling why I believe Order is the most important of Franklin’s virtues. Any comments are deeply appreciated.

I believe Order is the most important virtue because of how it relates to the other virtues. Order affects the results of other virtues. When a person acquires a habit of being orderly, they have more time more to improve other areas in their life, and to enjoy the fruit that they bring.

There was an interesting article in Huffington Post comparing bloggers to punks. Worth reading. I don’t agree with everything he says, but it’s an interesting comparison - and I don’t have time to write more up today! sorry…

Anarchy in the USA: Are Bloggers the New Punks?

“Lethal Gaps in Protection,” informs readers of new body armor designs, while urging the readers to help these designs become available for those in the U.S. military. It is based on a New York Times story, where it was revealed that 80% of the Marines killed in Iraq from wounds in their upper torso might have survived if wearing the new body armor. “Lethal Gaps in Protection,” primarily targets the readers’ emotions – with enough factual statements to form a semblance of credibility.

It starts with a ‘secret Pentagon report’ revealing the news the editorial is based on. After capturing the attention of the readers, the problems with the current body armor are displayed. Or are they? The editorial never goes into detail over what the problems with the current body armor are. Instead, the story is used to point out problems with the Pentagon.

The author of “Lethal Gaps of Protection” seems to be more concerned about “Lethal Government Awareness.” While details regarding the body armor are few, the details against the government are many. It blames a government who refused the protection available since 2003. A nation which isn’t willing to spend any of its $441 billion defense budget on the extra protection. In case you were wondering, the government has known of the problem “since the war began, along with… ”

“Lethal Gaps of Protection” is so well-written in one sense, that you don’t notice how poor it really is. The emotional argument is effective. By using extensive, extreme adjectives, the readers’ focus is drawn to the ‘poor soldiers’ and ‘horrid government.’ But the factual argument is less satisfying. The stated case is extremely vague: “80% of the Marines killed in Iraq from wounds in their upper torso might have survived.” The ‘facts’ against the Pentagon are buttered up with adjectives, making it hard to tell fact from fiction. And anyone looking for plain facts has no reference to look them up in.

Please note I am not disregarding the safety of those in the military.

I have to write a paper on one of Ben Franklin’s virtues. Yay… Although I’m not thrilled about the paper, the actual virtues are interesting, so I included them.

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World have been admired for years, but some people think them a bit… old. The New 7 Wonders Campaign has organized a global vote to decide the new seven wonders of the world. The 21 candidates left include the Colosseum, Great Wall, Pyramids of Giza, Statue of Liberty, and the Sydney Opera House.