Adam Wall

 

It’s over boys

 

            So I try to avoid the situation in Afghanistan as much as possible, it was pointless and wasted so much money but something probably needed to be done. One thing that everyone seems to agree with is getting out of there as fast as possible because we are losing a lot of reputation and money at alarming rates. This month Obama finally announced the war is over in Afghanistan.  After 13 years of accomplishing nothing, the war is finally over. Well what America did accomplish is the fact that we spent about a trillion dollars and let solders go to Afghanistan to die for what might be nothing.

 

            At least it’s over now right? Obama finally got everyone out of that country and our solders are all home. Nope, I really do wish we were all out.  But United States influence, although on paper is technically over, is far from done in Afghanistan. Troops, recourses and other things will still take years to remove; we will still have a presence in Afghanistan for a long time. Afghanistan is such a difficult situation that seems impossible to solve. I recently read “The Kite Runner” an amazing book, it also gave a lot of insight on Afghanistan before the Taliban and how the Taliban took over. I feel sorry for a lot of Afghan people who are against the Taliban, I feel sorry for our government who is in a tough situation between finally getting out of that country and remaining as far away from the problem as possible. The people who cause these problems are terrible, to everyone, including their own. It’s sad, they might not have the best weapons or brains but yet they still find a way to control parts of a country while the world’s largest army is trying to stop them. A lot of people are suffering in Afghanistan and there is little the United States can do about it so getting as far away from the problem, although unlikely, is probably the best choice for now. So lets not totally hate on our leaders, sure they’ve made some terrible choices but they are in a extremely stressful and difficult situation. Afghanistan and the middle east is probably never going to get better, peace sounds and probably is impossible due to historical and religious hate towards groups of people.  

Adam Wall

Offend

 

 

            This week terror has struck Paris. Two terrorists invaded and killed 12 people at the Charlie Hebdo headquarters. Read more about it here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Hebdo_shooting). Although it is only speculation, the motive seems quite clear; Charlie Hebdo is a satire newspaper that pokes fun at politics and a lot of problems around the world, specifically the Islam religion. These Islamic radicals probably attacked Charlie Hebdo due to the fact that the people in charge, specifically cartoonists were making fun of Muhammad by drawing pictures of him and making fun of the Islamic religion as a whole.

 

            Support for Charlie Hebdo is extremely strong and people around the world are standing up for the cause. “Je Suis Charlie” or I am Charlie is the slogan used worldwide to promote freedom of speech and freedom of expression, whether it is through cartoons or some other media form. Cartoonists around the world are creating strips such as these (http://www.thedrum.com/uploads/news/tmp/10557/banksy.jpg) to support Charlie Hebdo.

 

            Let’s talk about satire in the media and in general. Charile Hebdo uses satire through comics and other articles; it is very popular in France. If done right it can be extremely funny. IN American, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report are examples of satire media and are also extremely popular. Satire media is a double edged sword though, most of the time it is extremely funny and a lot of people like it but if you cross the line, which is undefined, there is no going back. You can offend a lot of people, specifically in this case, Muslims. But you can offend everyone, and I am in no way defending the people who did this horrible act of terror. It was a sad day and the criminals are monsters. Also, these people, the cartoonists, the writers, have the right to write what they want and express what they want.  I just can’t get over the fact that you are hurting a lot of other people that don’t deserve it. Sure it’s all a joke and people need to grow some tougher skin, but satire is something you have to be careful with especially if you’re getting extremely offensive.

 

            Cultures are also very different around the world. Different cultures find different things humorous. For the Germans, its nothing, for Americans, its immature jokes, it is different for every culture. What we might thing is offensive, another group thinks its hilarious, comedy is like food, different every where you go. In this case, I don’t think the French find this humor at all offensive while places like Saudi Arabia or anywhere in the middle east for that matter would find something like this such a terrible sin and that they should be punished. Cultures are different and that’s probably why these Muslims radicals attacked. But these people shouldn’t be punished. “I am Charlie”.

           

Adam Wall

Stewart Scott

 

Stewart Scott changed the sports world. He had such a lively expression and attitude towards life. He reflected that attitude on the TV screen when he joined ESPN in 1993. With his bombastic commentating, he made sports more interesting; he boosted and made ESPN what it is today. With his amazing and memorable side comments such as “Booyah” and “As cool as the other side of the pillow”, he brought smiles to his audience. This week, Steward after battling cancer, died at the age of 50, he had 2 daughters which he loved and support of sports fans around the country. If you want to here more about his story with cancer, I highly suggest watching his speech when receiving the Jimmy V award. He talks about his fight with cancer and it is very inspiring. ESPN also did a nice 15 minute tribute to him that I also suggest watching.

           Sports are a very close knit community, especially ESPN. Commentators and newscasters are popular, really popular. They can become common names in the household, if you watch sports enough, you can learn their styles, the way they speak and talk during a show. Stephan A. Smith is extremely passionate and a little bit too much sometimes, Chris Berman has an active voice that can get anyone’s attention, they’re all different. It’s odd, you can learn a lot about the person even when they’re just relaying highlights and facts from the game. As a big sports fan, I never realize how much I hear these people, see their faces, I feel connected to them. I feel like I really know the people talking behind the screen. It hit me that I’m going to miss Stewart, I’m going to miss hearing his enthusiastic voice as he talks about Lebron or golf or something even though I know little to nothing about the guy. I really do respect the guy though; his speech and his philosophy on life really motivate me and make me think of what a great guy he was.