Pope comes to town

This week, the Pope came to America for the first since becoming the Pope three years ago. Here is an article about the Pope speaking to youths about his time as a Nazi. Do you think the Pope coming to America is a big deal? If so, why, if not, why not? Should it be getting round the clock news coverage, or should it be shrugged off as just another diplomat coming to speak?

Deadliest Week '08 in Iraq

Last week was the deadliest week in Iraq so far this year.  There were at least 19 soldiers killed last week.  Here is a link to the complete article on the killings.  After so many years in this war it seems that our news sources have changed from reports on the war to reports on Brittany and political scandals.  Do you think it is right that we are not getting as much information about the war?  Or do you feel that it is still just as important for us to be informed on these issues?  Is it even our role to demand what we would want to see in our news?  Let me know your thoughts on this.    

small town conflict

The movie we watched this week in class really struck a chord. It reminded me of the small community where my grandparents live in northern Wisconsin. It is a close-nit tourist community, where everyone knows everyone. Even the littlest issues seem to grow and take on a lives on their own and cause a great deal of controversy. People take sides, and make decisions based on emotion more than logic which leads to bitter feuds between members of the community. There is something about small isolated communities that cause these blow ups. Some people choose to make little, resolvable issues into large, complex, "personal" issues which lead to harassment and other forms of violence. It is too bad that these communities have this type of social structure, because these places are typically beautiful and peaceful. Can anyone think why this might be? Why do little, resolvable issues, get blown out of proportion in these communities? Or do these example signify and represent the basic structure of our country?