It was not until after reading a chapter from the highly regarded Thoreau book "Walden" that I realized how big of an impact it had on others and how it influenced many in the years to come. In the book "Into the Wild" the main character Chris looks up to Thoreau and makes numerous references about him. Both had similar theories about life but ultimately Thoureau was the pioneer of these beliefs. He was the one that came out a made bold statements such as "our life is frittered away upon detail" and "we are determined to be starved before we are hungry". Those thoughts had never been broughten up until Thoreau issued them in his book. These words along with his story titled "Civil Disobedience" paved the way for rebelling against the government and going against what Americans held as values. Henry David Thoreau clearly paved the way for future generations to question American society and do it their own way.

This week my sister came home from school with a book titled "The 101 Most Influential People who Never Lived". It looked interesting so I took a peak to see who was mentioned. Those included were Santa Claus, Robin Hood, Mickey Mouse, Kermit the Frog, and Luke Skywalker. Until seeing this book I never thought how fiction impacted our lives that much. On the cover it says the book shows "how characters of fiction, myths, legends, television, and movies have shaped our society, changed our behavior, and set the course of history." Those mentioned really have affected us a great deal and will continue the trend. We usually learn about these characters when we are young and we take after them for the rest of our lives to a certain extent. Everyday it seems like people are being influnced by something new, even though it might not be real.

According to Al Gore's "The Assault on Reason" President Bush should be impeached. But does Gore have enough evidence and facts to back it up. He makes bold statements such as telling us that Bush reads the mail of Americans. That is against the fourth amendment of the Constitution but is it enough to get him impeached? Impeachment calls for major violations to the Constitution but has Bush done that much to jeopardize our country's welfare? Agreed that Bush has made some poor choices with his power and such but is he deserving of impeachment? Presidents are our country's leader and should not necessarily be replaced just like that but if Bush cant turn our country around will he be the first President to be impeached?

Over the past week our class has been comparing and contrasting the Iraqi and U.S. Constitutions. I found it very interesting how similar they were and how much the U.S. has an effect on other coutry's rules and regulations. Also, it was interesting to see how much Iraq vaules religion and how many times "God" was stated in the preamble. But do you think it was ok that U.S. influenced their constitution? Shouldnt they themselves choose what should be allowed in their own country? Or was it justified that since we helped them that we should throw in some of our beliefs as well?

It seems like every sunday that either Chad Johnson, Terrell Owens, or some other fool in the NFL is doing an excessive celebration after scoring a touchdown. Don't get me wrong, I find them very amusing but to put it in perspective do people in other fields of work celebrate like that? Mr. Bolos and Mr. O'Connor dont spike their stack of handouts when they have a good lesson plan. CEO's of companies don't whip out a sharpie and sign their computers everytime their company does well. These guys are supposed to be professionals and should act like it too. Their dances every week are childish and when a defensive back accidently touches them they cry about it for the next quarter. Workers in other jobs actually take their work seriously and dont make a commotion when something goes their way. But what can the NFL do? Should they increase fines even more? Suspend players? Only time will tell how far these dances will get out of control.

Week after week it seems that my gas bill is way too much. For my parents growing up gas prices were around $0.79 comapared to our current day $3.79. When they discuss the prices on the news they never talk about it going down. Why cant we find a substitute for this liquid? I know the invention of hybrids helped the cause for some but not nearly enough. And the worst part of it is that our money for gas is going to foreign countries. If it was going back to our economy that would be one thing but when we are spending upwards of $50 a tank just to make our car move and giving that money to terrorits it upsets me. Honestly, if we can clone humans and walk in space we should be able to find a new resource that can make our cars go.

When our AIS class went to Chicago this week, I noticed a restaurant that kept popping up wherever we went. It was the infamous McDonald's chain. It seemed like there was one at every corner and all had a good amount of customers inside. McDonald's is such a powerful amd influential restaurant no wonder Chicago is one of the most overweight cities around. I know the government can't really do much to stop the spread of these eating establishments but if they continue to increase, our world will just keep gaining weight. The amount of fast-food restaurants there are is out of control but it seems there is no way to slow them down.

Recently in class my group has been working on a project regarding the Cold War. In previous years in history classes the Cold War was not often brought up. It was always the Civil War, World War I, and World War II that came up in class. Learning about the Cold War finally as a junior has been rewarding in learning about how our country responded to foreign influences. It showed me how "gulible" the U.S. was in thinking that many of their government officials were Communists. Overall, finally learning about a war not often brought up helped me understand how the U.S. has transformed throughout the years.

Lately in class we have been discusses wars that the U.S. has been involved in and their consequences. The United States faught in 5 wars in the 1900's and is currently involved with one now. The war going on now is a choice that the government has made. Many oppose the war but the Bush administration decided to go through with it anyways. Going into foreign countries looking for weapons is uncalled for. That should have never happened. Similarily, going into Iraq was unnessecary even though we were provoked. Bush should have restrained and let it go. This would have saved billions of dollars and thousands of lives. The years pass and it seems that not only are we making any progress, but going backwards in regard to how others view the United States. We need to pull out before more soliders are lost and our reputation is lost as well.

A few days in class this week we watched a film about how while digging up a landfill, bodies of slaves were discovered in the heart of New York. There was a big debate whether or not to preserve the bodies or not. I personally think that the bodies should have stayed buried and not been inspected by scientists. Although the bodies could give us a further knowledge of life back in the 1800's that is a proper burial for them and that should not be messed with. It was just like a normal cemetary so why should the bodies be dug up. If it were not graves of slaves there would be no controversy and the bodies would stay burried like they should.

After watching "Be Good, Smile Pretty" I started to imagine what Tracy was going through. First of all it would be hard enough to know your father dies when you were so young. Then not knowing what kind of person he was like or how he died or his personal background. Also, I dont know how I would have reacted to my own my teeling me not to get upset from learning about my father's life. Overall, what Tracy had to experience is way too much for someone to handle and also her mother was out of line telling her how she can feel.

Over the years there seems to be an increasing number of Latin Americans coming to the U.S. Some think that this is bad for the economy because it is taking away jobs from those who live and were born in the U.S. but I dont feel that way. They are coming here to work hard and to start new. There intent is not to take away jobs but to make their lives better. I agree that coming over illegally is wrong but those who do it the right way should be rewarded and be given equal opportunities.

White washing has become apparent in all countries and is hiding events that happened in the past. It is unfair to those that wish to know the truth and what their ancestors went through and people hide that. Mr. Bolos told us that in Virginia he witnessed it first hand and I thought it was unfair that the african american couple didnt get all the details that the rest of the group did. Overall white washing is ruining history and people should not continue with it.

On tuesday of last week it was the anniversary of September 11. Although it occured six years ago I still have a good memory of what I felt that day. I kept thinking that day what had the United States done to deserve what had happened? I realize now that the U.S. is unfortunately widely hated in the world. It is somewhat upsetting that the country I live in is so disliked. Although the U.S. is not going to win any popularity contests I like how we have battled adversity and how we will continue on with what we have been doing.

The words connotation and denotation can really show how two objects can be very similar and yet very different at the same time. An example of this is that both Aston Martin's and pick-up trucks are automobiles but one gets a different "vibe" from each of them. They have the same denotation but there connotation is different. I just find it intersesting that two things are classified as the same but others see them as sending completly two different messages.

My Secret Message

The truth behind secret messages is that many have many different meanings not always seen at first.

An example of this is if I were to own a Rolex watch right away one sees me as owning a large watch. On the other hand others might view me as flashy, rich, or superior.

It is evident that around the world many objects show more than one thinks.