Bowling for columbine(unfinished)

           Does possessing a gun make us safer or does it just increase our chances of being shot? It has been said that if we possess a gun, the odds are more likely that our own gun will be used against us and our loved ones in the midst of a potentially harmful situation. Michael Moore explores the ideas of why we are so paranoid to the point where we feel the need to possess firearms and manages to put a humorous spin on the otherwise serious topic. With a handful of courage, Moore scrutinizes Kmart and the fact that they make guns and ammunition so easily accessible. .



         Moore begins his exploration of America's predisposition for gun violence by lining up the usual suspects and interrogating them. Sometimes this involves interviewing actual people, such as James Nichols, who gives what is to be considered as standard extremist arguments for the aimless right to bear arms and explosives, though stopping short at allowing private ownership of nuclear ownership since "there are a lot of nuts out there." The cold realism becomes more unsettling as Nichols shows Moore the loaded 44 Magnum he keeps under his pillow, and jokingly points it to his own forehead. Moore also conducts interviews with the young people in the area of Flint, Michigan to learn their astonishingly casual views on the use of guns and explosives. Naturally, Moore is searching for extremists, not to hold them as representatives of the entire population, but to show how such people can regularly emerge out of a seemingly normal society.


         Moore has a lot to say on his chosen subject of violence in America and he tends to drift from one aspect to the next. Although these topics are all very interesting, especially due to the unexpected twist of humor presented, but the wealth of statistics and various opinions make the film attain a drudgy feeling while it should be energetic. One of the problems is the deceiving interview with NRA president, Charlton Heston. Moore attempts to corner Heston into making a statement as to why America is so in love with guns and to why there is so much violence. Heston, who is portrayed as an obvious unfierce creature, was unable to answer Moores questions due to the documentarian's satisfaction and the interview descended to a badgering session. While having the head of the National Rifle Association as one of his subjects is an asset to Moore's project, the lack of definitive answers makes the "big finale" fall flat, although the picture left behind by Moore, speaks a thousand words.

Skeptical media

“We don’t have a choice on whether we do social media” but as generation Y, known as the “Tech savvy” age, we are able to control how well we portray ourselves to be on the internet to a certain extent. Emma Teitel expresses her views on how teenagers are using and misusing social media websites, such as Facebook, in her article The New Paparazzi. She brings forward the fact that although we can control ourselves on social media, we have no control over our peers and their actions of posting unwanted photos of us that they have taken at various social gatherings.

 

With over 500 million people on Facebook today and as of September 2011, every member having, on average, 130 friends, it is difficult to be sure of exactly who is looking at your profile. It has birthed the idea that "you can keep track of someone's life without them knowing you exist". Facebook has become such a popular network that "In this day and age, you can't really attend a social gathering without risking the chance of ending up on Facebook". We are so caught up on making sure the world and all of our friends are aware of how popular we are and how extravagant we portray our lives to be. Facebook was created originally to be a way to keep in touch with family and friends who are not around you yet it has progressed to being a social network used for anything from running a business to a site to find hook-ups. Although Facebook is one of the more popular networks, it seems to be third in the lineup with Twitter leading the pack and Instagram following closely behind.


The average person will spend a total of 46 hours and 39 minutes on social media sites monthly. The worry presented in this is that we are too caught up in social media to enjoy the life that has been gifted to us. We tend to be too concerned about not being in the picture and don't always think of the circumstances and problems that that same photo will create. "[We] [are] concerned with the next five minutes, not the job interview five years down the road".  In most cases, the ones applying for jobs are more than qualified, especially in this day and age, which is why most of us are surprised when we don't hear back from that company that had our dream job up for grabs. We don't realize that these social media sites have become part of the hiring process and it really gives our future employers a sense of who we are outside the workplace and if we really are the right one to be representing the company. In most cases, these people do not attain their dream jobs due to the photos that they find of us on Facebook and that tweet they found from the other night when we were angry.


Social media is a bitter sweet invention. It is wonderful for things such as keeping in touch with those of whom we miss and letting everyone know that we are alright. It is a great way to share exciting news and a great place to get that business that you've always wanted started. But with the amount of positives, there are double the negatives. It can be positive, it just all depends on the user.

Freedom

 

            “You may now enter the gym”. The dreaded words that mean that your last half hour of cramming and trying to recall every last little formula, vocabulary word and historian you’ve learned about over the last 5 months into your already overloaded brain which has pushed past all of its capabilities through the last week. As you enter the unembellished room where the faint smell of B.O. and failure is predominant, your limbs start to go numb and you feel the gym floor start shaking as you collapse into your seat in exhaustion and defeat. While they begin explaining all of the rules that you have heard 10 too many times for the exam you have been dreading for the last 10 days, you let out a sigh while that booklet, that bundle of information that seems so top secret, sits there and taunts you as if its saying "you're mine". "Begin". Your heart starts pounding, every limb in your body begins to tremble at an 8.5 on the Richter Scale. You finally muster up the courage to open up the booklet and as you study the first question, stumbling upon the words, you make an astonishing discovery. You might actually know the answer. Time was moving by at light speed and when you look up at the clock for the first time, you are dismayed to learn that the time that you felt was moving like the turtle, had in fact actually been more like the hare. "if you are finished you may now exit the Gym". You watched as everyone around you started to get up and leave. All at once, a new form of anxiety hit you like a brick wall. As you turn to the last page, you are relieved to find that it was closer than you thought. You read it over and panic. That one last question. How could one teacher be so cruel as to put that one last question on there. Its not like you had enough to worry about and now you have this one last question to answer. Reading through the options, you finally circle C because "when in doubt, pick C". As you walk out of the Gym, you turn back to see that little booklet filled with  multiple choice questions and all of your deepest thoughts, with a few tear stains on them, almost haunting you with a smug little grin. Walking out of the Gym, it finally sets in; From all the cramming, sighing, frustration, from all of the scents you first smelt to the sound of nothingness with only the buzzing of the fans to distract you and the speeding of the clock. You finally feel it as you walk out the front doors to the school for the last time only to never return as you start your new life. Freedom.

8 Grades of Life

 

            If you fail grade 12, you fail at the rest of your life, true or false? Although many would claim this statement to be true, it’s actually a trick question, just like the harsh reality that is grade 12. We are conned into believing that our final year will be all pleasant and lively when realistically it is the sheer thought that a break, whether it be Christmas break, summer break or even spring break, is a mere two and a half months away that pulls us through our colossal misery and the pressures of our final year. You are forced to be ranked on your memorization skills and your ability to deliver the perfect answer when asked a question as vague as “Choose the best answer”, where they have the audacity to tell you that what your mind told you was the best answer, was wrong. Your head is brimming with thoughts, advice and “suggestions” and then commanded to choose wisely, when in the final days that you are wandering though the now barren halls of the establishment you spent most of the last 4 years of your life, you find yourself bypassing the petty questions of “are my grades high enough” or “will I be accepted into the university of my dreams” but pondering whether or not you’ve done enough to be remembered. If advice was to be given on how to spend your final year drifting through the common school system, only one piece can be given. Do whatever it takes to create the most action-packed, eventful and memorable final year possible. Don’t let those final 8 grades assigned to your student identification number, define you.

 

Who Defines Me

            In the face of chaos, Caitlyn Spooner is not the type you would find blending in as just another face in the crowd. As the people around her begin to lose hope in what seemed like a lost cause to begin with, you will find her back at the starting line ready to restart and try a different approach.   With her dedication and tough-mindedness, Caitlyn is said to be very much like a modern day