Barely arrested, not convicted - Here's the adress
The very first thing I learned as a journalist was that I should never, ever, ever put someone's name and picture in the paper if that person has not been convicted for the crime he or she commited or without permission. The three biggest evening papers did that once and it was a huge deal.
It is not a law but it is under the guidelines for tv, press and radio and is taken somewhat serious by the media.
When the three papers went togheter and published a serie of photos and names of the 100 most dangerous wanted persons in Sweden, media history was made. I remember that my teacher in junior high taped up the pages on the wall, displaying its importance for everyone of us. We had discussions in class about media ethics and wheter this was the right thing to do or not. Because even thought they are criminals who done terrible things, they are still humans who have the right to their privacy and as long as they haven't done anything in the near present, is it right to post their name and photo in the paper for everyone to see and judge?
When it comes to victims and people who are not criminals, the media is very careful and sensetive about names and pictures. There has been some scandals and there are more pictures and names nowdays than before and it happens more often that a newspaper crosses the line and get convicted for breaking the guidelines. (The guidelines are written by the media and those newspapers, tv and radio- stations that agreed to follow the guidelines can be convicted if a commite find that they broke one of them and they have to pay a fee and publish an excuse in their media)
In Johnson ciy press, they post photo, name and adress of people that just got arrested and people who just died in an accident. I react every time and to me, that is bad press ethics.
It is not a law but it is under the guidelines for tv, press and radio and is taken somewhat serious by the media.
When the three papers went togheter and published a serie of photos and names of the 100 most dangerous wanted persons in Sweden, media history was made. I remember that my teacher in junior high taped up the pages on the wall, displaying its importance for everyone of us. We had discussions in class about media ethics and wheter this was the right thing to do or not. Because even thought they are criminals who done terrible things, they are still humans who have the right to their privacy and as long as they haven't done anything in the near present, is it right to post their name and photo in the paper for everyone to see and judge?
When it comes to victims and people who are not criminals, the media is very careful and sensetive about names and pictures. There has been some scandals and there are more pictures and names nowdays than before and it happens more often that a newspaper crosses the line and get convicted for breaking the guidelines. (The guidelines are written by the media and those newspapers, tv and radio- stations that agreed to follow the guidelines can be convicted if a commite find that they broke one of them and they have to pay a fee and publish an excuse in their media)
In Johnson ciy press, they post photo, name and adress of people that just got arrested and people who just died in an accident. I react every time and to me, that is bad press ethics.
Pouring rain
My socks say that it is Wednsday today so I'm gonna go with that.
I really need to go and cut my hair, I think sholder length is what I should have and not a cm longer (yes, that is centimeters, I don't know inches, they don't make sense in my world, sorry)
Things are piling up everywhere, both with funny stuff to do and interesting stuff to do and, of course, required stuff to do.
I discovered that I like going to lectures. I was at one last week, on Thursday, and I really enjoyed it.
It was a free lecture ("Differences in Ways of Thinking in the Middle East from the West") held by Dr. Graham Leonard about the middle east. After I've been to Washington I really like to see what the American point of view really is. So I wanted to go to this lecture and see what kind of point of view this guy has.
One and a half year ago I participated in a journalistic seminar at my home institution (KAU) and one of the speakers was a former millitary lieutenant. He had been involved in the Yugoslavian was as well as been placed in the middle east. His lecture was very interesting and I really felt that he knew what he as talking about (which may seem obvious but there are many people out there who doesn't seem so have a clue on what is going on and still claim they know this and that).
I got the same feeling from Dr. Leonard and I liked his lecture. I don't know much about the middle east so I'm not gonna claim that I know anything about the area but Dr. Leonard pointed out that it wasn't unitl west interfered that it really became bad. Everyone affects everyone and all stories has two sides (atleast). It is specially important to remember that when it comes to international relations and Dr. Leonard was good in pointing that out.
There's a free lecture on Wednsday as well and I hope I will remember to go to it.
This morning I participated in a group interview about religion. The first thing I pointed out in my blog when I first got here was that Sweden and U.S are primary different in three ways;
But most of all, the huge giant white cross outside of Johnson city, kind of scare me.
I really need to go and cut my hair, I think sholder length is what I should have and not a cm longer (yes, that is centimeters, I don't know inches, they don't make sense in my world, sorry)
Things are piling up everywhere, both with funny stuff to do and interesting stuff to do and, of course, required stuff to do.
I discovered that I like going to lectures. I was at one last week, on Thursday, and I really enjoyed it.
It was a free lecture ("Differences in Ways of Thinking in the Middle East from the West") held by Dr. Graham Leonard about the middle east. After I've been to Washington I really like to see what the American point of view really is. So I wanted to go to this lecture and see what kind of point of view this guy has.
One and a half year ago I participated in a journalistic seminar at my home institution (KAU) and one of the speakers was a former millitary lieutenant. He had been involved in the Yugoslavian was as well as been placed in the middle east. His lecture was very interesting and I really felt that he knew what he as talking about (which may seem obvious but there are many people out there who doesn't seem so have a clue on what is going on and still claim they know this and that).
I got the same feeling from Dr. Leonard and I liked his lecture. I don't know much about the middle east so I'm not gonna claim that I know anything about the area but Dr. Leonard pointed out that it wasn't unitl west interfered that it really became bad. Everyone affects everyone and all stories has two sides (atleast). It is specially important to remember that when it comes to international relations and Dr. Leonard was good in pointing that out.
There's a free lecture on Wednsday as well and I hope I will remember to go to it.
This morning I participated in a group interview about religion. The first thing I pointed out in my blog when I first got here was that Sweden and U.S are primary different in three ways;
- Bigger packages
- Wider roads
- Religion
But most of all, the huge giant white cross outside of Johnson city, kind of scare me.
Campaign 2008; The Presidential Inauguration
From Jan 10 (Saturday) to Jan 20 (Tuesday), 2009 I participated in one of the Washington Center seminars. The seminar's name was Campaign 2008; The Presidential Inauguration.
Before I went there I had no idea what was coming. I drove there with my teacher and another student and the first thing we had to do was to pick up our room keys.
I shared a room with five other students from my group. The 600 participants of the seminar were divided into smaller group under the responsibility of a teacher. My group contained of ten people from Tennessee and Mikronesia.
We had six days of seminars. Every day was alike, first we were in a auditorium from 8:30 am to 12:30 am listening to various speakers. After that we had lunch and small group meetings. I think the idea was that we were supposed to discuss the speakers and what they talked about. Which we did but due to the lack of some place to be, we struggled sometimes to find somewhere to sit.
The afternoon looked a little bit different depending on which day it was.
On Sunday we ha a three hour bustour.
On Monday we had the evening free.
On Tuesday we had a reception.
On Wednsday we had a tour of the Capitol.
On Thursday we had An evening with Mark Russell.
On Friday we met with the Washington Vote.
Friday was the last day of seminars and on Saturday we went to the Newseum and then it was just to wait for the inaguration.
During the seminar we were supposed to write a journal for every day and then a final essay. The essay should have the same name as the book we recived and red throughout the seminar, A memo to the President by Michael A. Genovese.
I will in this category post all my journals and the final essay. I will have a complementary category, Washington Center - Private Thoughts, where I will post things I scrabbled down durin the seminar that are more general thoughts I have that wouldn't fit in the journals.
Before I went there I had no idea what was coming. I drove there with my teacher and another student and the first thing we had to do was to pick up our room keys.
I shared a room with five other students from my group. The 600 participants of the seminar were divided into smaller group under the responsibility of a teacher. My group contained of ten people from Tennessee and Mikronesia.
We had six days of seminars. Every day was alike, first we were in a auditorium from 8:30 am to 12:30 am listening to various speakers. After that we had lunch and small group meetings. I think the idea was that we were supposed to discuss the speakers and what they talked about. Which we did but due to the lack of some place to be, we struggled sometimes to find somewhere to sit.
The afternoon looked a little bit different depending on which day it was.
On Sunday we ha a three hour bustour.
On Monday we had the evening free.
On Tuesday we had a reception.
On Wednsday we had a tour of the Capitol.
On Thursday we had An evening with Mark Russell.
On Friday we met with the Washington Vote.
Friday was the last day of seminars and on Saturday we went to the Newseum and then it was just to wait for the inaguration.
During the seminar we were supposed to write a journal for every day and then a final essay. The essay should have the same name as the book we recived and red throughout the seminar, A memo to the President by Michael A. Genovese.
I will in this category post all my journals and the final essay. I will have a complementary category, Washington Center - Private Thoughts, where I will post things I scrabbled down durin the seminar that are more general thoughts I have that wouldn't fit in the journals.
The story continues
I was thinking about Obama and all the money he's giving away.
I read about it on a Swedish newspaper website to get a grip of all the millions and what exactly it is that he is doing. As for now it seems that he is creating the ball, bit it is not in roll quite yet.
He is trying to cover healthcare, education and energy and get them all on their feet. The Swedish article compared his plan to Franklin D Roosevelts New Deal and Lyndon B Johnsons Great Society. The article ends with saying that if Obama suceed it is going to go to history but the risk is that he is just giving people hope without being able to present results. The Swedish article is very modest and doesn't say whether she (article writer) beliefs that he will succed or not.
Personally, I don't know either. It can go both ways.
The important thing is that the sourche of the money is a save thing and that he's not just giving out money to save everyone and everything without getting something to build on.
I read in the Johnson City Press that the Governour of Tennessee is still not sure whether to accept the state's share of the stimulus plan. He is not sure because the plan apparently comes with conditions.
Obama is further cutting down on benefits that people who already has money has. He is lowering the tax cuts for charitable contributions from 40 cents to the dollar to 28 cents to the dollar.
I don't like the idea that people who has money get rewarded when they give their money away. To give money away when you already have them should be a reward in itself. You shouldn't be getting more money for doing that.
There are some big things going on and Obama seem to tackle one problem after another systematicly.
I read about it on a Swedish newspaper website to get a grip of all the millions and what exactly it is that he is doing. As for now it seems that he is creating the ball, bit it is not in roll quite yet.
He is trying to cover healthcare, education and energy and get them all on their feet. The Swedish article compared his plan to Franklin D Roosevelts New Deal and Lyndon B Johnsons Great Society. The article ends with saying that if Obama suceed it is going to go to history but the risk is that he is just giving people hope without being able to present results. The Swedish article is very modest and doesn't say whether she (article writer) beliefs that he will succed or not.
Personally, I don't know either. It can go both ways.
The important thing is that the sourche of the money is a save thing and that he's not just giving out money to save everyone and everything without getting something to build on.
I read in the Johnson City Press that the Governour of Tennessee is still not sure whether to accept the state's share of the stimulus plan. He is not sure because the plan apparently comes with conditions.
Obama is further cutting down on benefits that people who already has money has. He is lowering the tax cuts for charitable contributions from 40 cents to the dollar to 28 cents to the dollar.
I don't like the idea that people who has money get rewarded when they give their money away. To give money away when you already have them should be a reward in itself. You shouldn't be getting more money for doing that.
There are some big things going on and Obama seem to tackle one problem after another systematicly.
Crazy sun, crazy times
Just as I thought, the sun and the degress is what causes people's mood to change. Nothing has happened and is had been mostly quiet with more or less nothing to do for a couple of months now. But now, the degress is staying above ten and the sun comes out in a clear blue sky and suddenly, there's people everywhere.
This is the reason why I love spring. At home, spring is like the morning of the year. Everything wakes up and comes to live after being dead and cold for months. I'm not only talking about nature but about people as well.
It was almost a week ago since I wrote in my blog and since then I've been to a birthday dinner at Amigo's, a birthday party at a cabin, I've been hiking, I've been at a Mardi Gras birthday party and I've been to Chrome.
The crazyness kind of started on Tuesday. A friend of mine had a birthday so some people met up at Amigo's for dinner, which was fun. The waiter was first really grumpy and seemed to not really want to have us there at all but one of my friends melted his heart and in the end he was chatty and smiley. Me and one of my friends continued the evening somewhere else with drinking margeritas.
Wednsday was quiet.
The crazyness continued on Thursday. Another friend had a birthday so we went to Cheddar's for a drink. The birthday girl went home and we decided to meet up in Chrome. Me and my friend went to my place and drank some of my Moonshine.
Chrome is the nearest nightclud to campus and is where most people I know go. We have Poor Richards and Accustic Coffeehouse too, but they are more "sitting down and drink beer"- kind of places. Chrome is the nightclub where you go dancing. Even though it's the same playlist everytime and people are sometimes going maybe a little too far on the dancefloor, it's an okay place and I usually have fun going there.
I shouldn't actually write about moonshine online, due to the fact that it's not legal, but there are worse things going on on this campus, so to speak.
And moonshine hits hard, very hard.
We have that at home and we drink it at every occasion. I don't. Because I know what it does to me. So I stay away from it. Not this time. And I knew what was going to happen to me the next day.
I had the worst headace I ever felt. Like a someone playing pool in my head.
Awful.
Awful.
Awful.
I stayed in bed a few hours more than I was supposed to and I was late. Late for the cabin trip. The birthday girl from the night before had her official birthday party at a cabin over the weekend. At the beginning I just felt bad and we played scrabble without counting points (makes sense, sure...) But the evening progressed with a really fun beer game and lots of lots of talking.
The next day was hiking.
I really enjoyed hiking. We were more or less hungover but we walked to the Laurel falls (Smokey Mountain) which was really nice. I was of course terrifired of falling all the time as we went up and down the mountain and of course I did fall on the way back.
On plain surface.
I tripped over myself.
Of course.
After coming back to my dorm, muddy, smelly and exhausted I didn't have much time to recover before I headed out again. This time to the Mardi Gras Birthday party. It was more a birthday party than a Mardi Gras party and I really enjoyed it. I finally got to meet the Swedish guys that are here and we spent a long time just making fun och Sweden and America. After the party, we went to Chrome (second time that week).
Sunday was just for rest, as far as I know. And then the week just progressed and here I am again. It's Thursday and my weekend has started.
This is the reason why I love spring. At home, spring is like the morning of the year. Everything wakes up and comes to live after being dead and cold for months. I'm not only talking about nature but about people as well.
It was almost a week ago since I wrote in my blog and since then I've been to a birthday dinner at Amigo's, a birthday party at a cabin, I've been hiking, I've been at a Mardi Gras birthday party and I've been to Chrome.
The crazyness kind of started on Tuesday. A friend of mine had a birthday so some people met up at Amigo's for dinner, which was fun. The waiter was first really grumpy and seemed to not really want to have us there at all but one of my friends melted his heart and in the end he was chatty and smiley. Me and one of my friends continued the evening somewhere else with drinking margeritas.
Wednsday was quiet.
The crazyness continued on Thursday. Another friend had a birthday so we went to Cheddar's for a drink. The birthday girl went home and we decided to meet up in Chrome. Me and my friend went to my place and drank some of my Moonshine.
Chrome is the nearest nightclud to campus and is where most people I know go. We have Poor Richards and Accustic Coffeehouse too, but they are more "sitting down and drink beer"- kind of places. Chrome is the nightclub where you go dancing. Even though it's the same playlist everytime and people are sometimes going maybe a little too far on the dancefloor, it's an okay place and I usually have fun going there.
I shouldn't actually write about moonshine online, due to the fact that it's not legal, but there are worse things going on on this campus, so to speak.
And moonshine hits hard, very hard.
We have that at home and we drink it at every occasion. I don't. Because I know what it does to me. So I stay away from it. Not this time. And I knew what was going to happen to me the next day.
I had the worst headace I ever felt. Like a someone playing pool in my head.
Awful.
Awful.
Awful.
I stayed in bed a few hours more than I was supposed to and I was late. Late for the cabin trip. The birthday girl from the night before had her official birthday party at a cabin over the weekend. At the beginning I just felt bad and we played scrabble without counting points (makes sense, sure...) But the evening progressed with a really fun beer game and lots of lots of talking.
The next day was hiking.
I really enjoyed hiking. We were more or less hungover but we walked to the Laurel falls (Smokey Mountain) which was really nice. I was of course terrifired of falling all the time as we went up and down the mountain and of course I did fall on the way back.
On plain surface.
I tripped over myself.
Of course.
After coming back to my dorm, muddy, smelly and exhausted I didn't have much time to recover before I headed out again. This time to the Mardi Gras Birthday party. It was more a birthday party than a Mardi Gras party and I really enjoyed it. I finally got to meet the Swedish guys that are here and we spent a long time just making fun och Sweden and America. After the party, we went to Chrome (second time that week).
Sunday was just for rest, as far as I know. And then the week just progressed and here I am again. It's Thursday and my weekend has started.
Somewhere between napping and dispair
Reading the news everyday turned out to be a lot harder than I originally thought. I didn't relize that I always had news around me but I was not the one making sure I had that, it has always been the people around me that provided me with news. Now, those people are still in Sweden and without them, I'm having a hard time figuring out how to get to the news.
Don't get me wrong, of course I can surfe news sites forever and ever without actually getting any information out of it. But I don't want that. I want to be able to get some information out of the news I read and I want to make something out of it. It can be to participate or start a discussion, post my thoughts about it on my blog or be able to search for more information about a particular subject.
I remember that when I lived with my parents my dad always watched the tv news in the morning and because he was the first one up, starting the tv, noone else bothered to try and change the channel. So I spent my mornings watching news. Later on, at school, I always walked by some place where they sell newpapers. In Sweden, there's no boxes hidden behind somewhere you can't find them. Newspapers are sold everywhere and the news bills are displayed everywhere. So, just with walking around, I could read the headlines and get an idea of what is going on. And when I got home, the newspaper where on the kitchen table, ready to read.
When I moved away from home I stopped watching the news in the morning, I just didn't have the time. The news bills, however, was still everywhere to see and even though I didn't buy a newspaper, my friends always looked at the teletext and we always discussed the news in some kind of way or another.
Moving to U.S made me relize that I didn't t do much to contribute to the newsgathering but only participated in it. In Johnson city I didn't read the news at all. It got quiet all of a sudden. I didn't have a tv and I don't read news online. There's no news bills being seen and it was like the world just shut down. I do, however, get the local paper to my dorm room every morning but the first semester I just collected it without reading it. I figured I have to do things diffrently this semester, I started reading it.
I figured out that I like to use online news as a complement to what I read in the paper. So, I get my coffee and read the Johnson City press. After that I go to my RSS feed I have set on Associated Press and I look throught the headlines to see if there's some more information to get. I think this is the best way for me. I think I have my news.
I also try to figure out how to write a transcript properly and I think I will pay the library a vist.
To be a journalist it is not only important to know how to write news but it is also important to actually read the news. I spent a lot of time figuring out a good way of doing that becuase there is so much news and so much information so if I, as a journalist, don't know how to screen the information, there is tons of time being waisted.
And I am really truly sorry but I don't read the sports, sports got screened away. I'm sorry.
Don't get me wrong, of course I can surfe news sites forever and ever without actually getting any information out of it. But I don't want that. I want to be able to get some information out of the news I read and I want to make something out of it. It can be to participate or start a discussion, post my thoughts about it on my blog or be able to search for more information about a particular subject.
I remember that when I lived with my parents my dad always watched the tv news in the morning and because he was the first one up, starting the tv, noone else bothered to try and change the channel. So I spent my mornings watching news. Later on, at school, I always walked by some place where they sell newpapers. In Sweden, there's no boxes hidden behind somewhere you can't find them. Newspapers are sold everywhere and the news bills are displayed everywhere. So, just with walking around, I could read the headlines and get an idea of what is going on. And when I got home, the newspaper where on the kitchen table, ready to read.
When I moved away from home I stopped watching the news in the morning, I just didn't have the time. The news bills, however, was still everywhere to see and even though I didn't buy a newspaper, my friends always looked at the teletext and we always discussed the news in some kind of way or another.
Moving to U.S made me relize that I didn't t do much to contribute to the newsgathering but only participated in it. In Johnson city I didn't read the news at all. It got quiet all of a sudden. I didn't have a tv and I don't read news online. There's no news bills being seen and it was like the world just shut down. I do, however, get the local paper to my dorm room every morning but the first semester I just collected it without reading it. I figured I have to do things diffrently this semester, I started reading it.
I figured out that I like to use online news as a complement to what I read in the paper. So, I get my coffee and read the Johnson City press. After that I go to my RSS feed I have set on Associated Press and I look throught the headlines to see if there's some more information to get. I think this is the best way for me. I think I have my news.
I also try to figure out how to write a transcript properly and I think I will pay the library a vist.
To be a journalist it is not only important to know how to write news but it is also important to actually read the news. I spent a lot of time figuring out a good way of doing that becuase there is so much news and so much information so if I, as a journalist, don't know how to screen the information, there is tons of time being waisted.
And I am really truly sorry but I don't read the sports, sports got screened away. I'm sorry.
My Current Project
I got a flower for my birthday and I really love it. It has become my very own project. Because, you see, when it comes to flowers I have a tendency to kill them. Brutally. 
If they need water every day, I never give them water.
If they never need water, I give them water every day.
With this flower I try my deepest and best to keep it alive. As you can see, I'm not suceeding awfully wel l. It is a Primrose but I am not reall y sure on how to take care of it. But I try my best and what I know. I chec k up o n it every day and give it a little water at a time. I opened up the window so it will have sunlight and I actu ally try to talk to it oc casionall y.
But it has lost most of its flowers and more often tha n seldom it looks sad. I forgot about it in the beginning and then I gave it to much water and then I overheated it in the sunlight but hopefully it will survive my treatment.
I really appriceate getting a flower and I really hope that I will be able to keep this one alive. I have a plant of some sort at home. I have no idea wether that thing is alive or not. Actually, I haven't known since 2004. Obama and the Billions - a Love Story (?)
This might be old news for most people but I'm still trying to figure out the most effective way to get my news on a daily basis so the actual news reflection takes a bit longer than it should.
Anyway.
Obama announced yesterday that he will spend $75 billion to help prevent 9 million houseowners from loosing their homes. This will also help to stabilize the housing market and in the long run help the U.S recession from getting worse.
So far so good. Even though the Johnson City Press doesn't seem to like this very much, due to the fact that their headline was "President throws $75 billion lifeline to homeowners" (my underlining).
But we also have the federal stimulus package (this is the actual legislation)
On Washington Watch website I read;
"American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 - Calls for the enactment of legislation to create jobs, restore economic growth, and strengthen America's middle class through measures that: (1) modernize the nation's infrastructure; (2) enhance America's energy independence; (3) expand educational opportunities; (4) preserve and improve affordable health care; (5) provide tax relief; and (6) protect those in greatest need."
The $787 billion is supposed to be distrubited amongst the different states and projects in special need. But I don't know if the "houseowner" money is a part of that or if it is something extra on top of this.
I read in the Johnson City Press that Tennessee may use some of the money they will recive to "reduce the the number of state workers facing layoffs". I also read that the states of Texas, Mississippi, Lousiana, Alaska, South Carolina and Idaho might not accept the money from the stimulus package. They are not even sure if they believe that the package is going to help the economy at all.
This is as far as I know the most important thing right about now. Everyone is affected by the American economy and what is going on is important to know. I hope that the package will have a positive outcome but I guess that is yet to come.
Anyway.
Obama announced yesterday that he will spend $75 billion to help prevent 9 million houseowners from loosing their homes. This will also help to stabilize the housing market and in the long run help the U.S recession from getting worse.
So far so good. Even though the Johnson City Press doesn't seem to like this very much, due to the fact that their headline was "President throws $75 billion lifeline to homeowners" (my underlining).
But we also have the federal stimulus package (this is the actual legislation)
On Washington Watch website I read;
"American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 - Calls for the enactment of legislation to create jobs, restore economic growth, and strengthen America's middle class through measures that: (1) modernize the nation's infrastructure; (2) enhance America's energy independence; (3) expand educational opportunities; (4) preserve and improve affordable health care; (5) provide tax relief; and (6) protect those in greatest need."
The $787 billion is supposed to be distrubited amongst the different states and projects in special need. But I don't know if the "houseowner" money is a part of that or if it is something extra on top of this.
I read in the Johnson City Press that Tennessee may use some of the money they will recive to "reduce the the number of state workers facing layoffs". I also read that the states of Texas, Mississippi, Lousiana, Alaska, South Carolina and Idaho might not accept the money from the stimulus package. They are not even sure if they believe that the package is going to help the economy at all.
This is as far as I know the most important thing right about now. Everyone is affected by the American economy and what is going on is important to know. I hope that the package will have a positive outcome but I guess that is yet to come.
AP is my cup of tea!!
Okey, I figured it out that I use online newspapers as a complement to the actual newspaper. Without the actual newspaper, I am lost online. But I also figured out that all news is from the Associated Press so I will try and get my news directly from the source. Other than that, I guess I can always drag myself outside and actually buy a newspaper. Luckely I get Johnson City Press at the door every morning.
I will also try and figure out this RSS- thing. I hear that it is important to know how to handle it, even though I heard it once ... in 2006 ...
I will also try and figure out this RSS- thing. I hear that it is important to know how to handle it, even though I heard it once ... in 2006 ...
In the land far, far away
The thing that has affected me most about being in the states is how different it is from Sweden. I did not relize how big the pond actually is. I guess that the media and the internet makes us believe that the world is small.
It is not.
The interesting thing is that when I discovered that U.S is a lot farther from home than I first imagened it to be. Sweden proves itself to be actually the same distance from U.S as the U.S is from Sweden. Does it sound obvious? What I mean is that when I am in Sweden I hear a lot about U.S and therefore I believed that it was close. Now, when I am here, I believed that I hear the same things because I am in the country I hear about all the time in Sweden. But guess what?
Sweden does not seem to care at all, neither about U.S or the world. I just found out that the huge thing in Sweden right now is regarding whether a novel is true or not and what court decision it may or may not have affected. And all this started with blogers.
Interesting.
Even though the internet is wide open for everybody who can access it (more or less but you get my point) I am still unaware of this big, big thing.
Don't get me wrong, this is important and a lot of people in Sweden are really uspet about this. But I can't help to feel that maybe Swedish blogers take themself a little bit too serious. But that is just me. I am after all one of these blogers and I really wish that I could make a difference with the crap I write.
I really can't believe that people are actually discussing whether a novel is true or not, a novel? Even though it may say on the fancy cover that the novel is true, who believes that? Anyone who has ever written anything, at all, have to know that you can't write a novel and have it all true. That would be boring and noone would read that, unless it is claimed to be really, really important. Everyone who has ever read anything in Anne Frank's Diary, should know that too.
Reality is boring and it sucks, that's why there is no such thing as a true story. Even though, when you think about it, everything is true, because you can't make up stuff in thin air. Everything starts somewhere.
I have to say that if the Swedish court have used novels, books and articles in their decision that is a scandal. But really? Isn't Sweden more professional than that?
According to blogers, I guess not
It is not.
The interesting thing is that when I discovered that U.S is a lot farther from home than I first imagened it to be. Sweden proves itself to be actually the same distance from U.S as the U.S is from Sweden. Does it sound obvious? What I mean is that when I am in Sweden I hear a lot about U.S and therefore I believed that it was close. Now, when I am here, I believed that I hear the same things because I am in the country I hear about all the time in Sweden. But guess what?
Sweden does not seem to care at all, neither about U.S or the world. I just found out that the huge thing in Sweden right now is regarding whether a novel is true or not and what court decision it may or may not have affected. And all this started with blogers.
Interesting.
Even though the internet is wide open for everybody who can access it (more or less but you get my point) I am still unaware of this big, big thing.
Don't get me wrong, this is important and a lot of people in Sweden are really uspet about this. But I can't help to feel that maybe Swedish blogers take themself a little bit too serious. But that is just me. I am after all one of these blogers and I really wish that I could make a difference with the crap I write.
I really can't believe that people are actually discussing whether a novel is true or not, a novel? Even though it may say on the fancy cover that the novel is true, who believes that? Anyone who has ever written anything, at all, have to know that you can't write a novel and have it all true. That would be boring and noone would read that, unless it is claimed to be really, really important. Everyone who has ever read anything in Anne Frank's Diary, should know that too.
Reality is boring and it sucks, that's why there is no such thing as a true story. Even though, when you think about it, everything is true, because you can't make up stuff in thin air. Everything starts somewhere.
I have to say that if the Swedish court have used novels, books and articles in their decision that is a scandal. But really? Isn't Sweden more professional than that?
According to blogers, I guess not
Nameless Tennessee
We are reading profile articles and discussing them in class. The discussion has already taken place but I'm doing my learner's journal about them now anyway.
First out is Nameless Tennesse (William Least Heat Moon), which is a profile of a place in Tennesee. The name of the place is Nameless and the author found that interesting. The article is an extract from a book, Blue Highways, the author made as his life fell apart.
We discussed the thing I liked about it in class, the way he keeps the qoutes exactly as they are said. You know you are somewhere in nowhere with the dialect they people in the story have and it is what gives the story personality. When it comes to writing, I like repetition because it makes the reader read something twice. By doing that you force the reader to first read it and then see it again which makes most people hesitiate and think about it, it is a way of forcing the reader to remember what he/she just red. My favourite thing in this story is;
[“Thurmond, tell him we had a doctor on the ridge in them days.”
“We had a doctor on the ridge in them days. As good as any doctor alivin’.]
This is probably exactly how the conversation went and even though you as a reader understand that they had a doctor already when it is mentioned the first time, the repetition of it makes you feel like you are actually a part of the conversation taking place and not just reading about it afterwards. I remember it becuase it is repetition but this is also how people talk. People often repeat what someone just said in a conversation.
Other than that I don't find this story actually containing anything. It is more a transcript of people talking and some description of the surrondings. I guess that it makes sense in a book but as an extract like this I just feel that it lacks something. I want to know more bout the place, the history and what is happening to it. I want to know more about the surrondings, what were the sounds and the smells and what did the author think as he was going down to the cellar? I'm missing pieces and bits of the authors experience.
It just starts and ends without anything actually said.
First out is Nameless Tennesse (William Least Heat Moon), which is a profile of a place in Tennesee. The name of the place is Nameless and the author found that interesting. The article is an extract from a book, Blue Highways, the author made as his life fell apart.
We discussed the thing I liked about it in class, the way he keeps the qoutes exactly as they are said. You know you are somewhere in nowhere with the dialect they people in the story have and it is what gives the story personality. When it comes to writing, I like repetition because it makes the reader read something twice. By doing that you force the reader to first read it and then see it again which makes most people hesitiate and think about it, it is a way of forcing the reader to remember what he/she just red. My favourite thing in this story is;
[“Thurmond, tell him we had a doctor on the ridge in them days.”
“We had a doctor on the ridge in them days. As good as any doctor alivin’.]
This is probably exactly how the conversation went and even though you as a reader understand that they had a doctor already when it is mentioned the first time, the repetition of it makes you feel like you are actually a part of the conversation taking place and not just reading about it afterwards. I remember it becuase it is repetition but this is also how people talk. People often repeat what someone just said in a conversation.
Other than that I don't find this story actually containing anything. It is more a transcript of people talking and some description of the surrondings. I guess that it makes sense in a book but as an extract like this I just feel that it lacks something. I want to know more bout the place, the history and what is happening to it. I want to know more about the surrondings, what were the sounds and the smells and what did the author think as he was going down to the cellar? I'm missing pieces and bits of the authors experience.
It just starts and ends without anything actually said.
I'm trying, I truly, really am.
As I look thorught the news at New York Times website I discover that they added a smart link for me to follow. If I am currently reading a news article from the world I see in the bottom of the article a link that takes me to the next article from the world. This is really clever and smart and I highly like it, I often get confused with all the links and articles everywhere on a newspaper's website. But, if the next world article is considered to be an economic article, the link in the bottom goes to the next article within economy.
Which confuses me. A lot!
If I want to read the articles related to the world I want to finish that before heading to the economic news, so why do they throw me into that before I'm finished? Now I don't know where I am. Am I supposed to klick around in circles forever?
I am highly disapointed and frankly, I am not gonna read nytimes.com any longer.
Which confuses me. A lot!
If I want to read the articles related to the world I want to finish that before heading to the economic news, so why do they throw me into that before I'm finished? Now I don't know where I am. Am I supposed to klick around in circles forever?
I am highly disapointed and frankly, I am not gonna read nytimes.com any longer.
First entry
I want to write about the reasons why I want to become a journalist in my first entry for the learner's journal in my independent studies. I'm aware of that journalism is not a job that is seen upon as particulary honorable or useful for that matter. Actually, most people I meet think that it is a horrible profession that everyone could do without. This is not a defend for the profession or why I want it. I just want to share my experiences and thoughts that led me to the conclusion that this is the right thing for me to do.
I've been wanting to be a journalist ever since fourth grade. Everyone I tell this to is always impressed by how I could know so early what I want to do and still stick to it. The thing is that when I was in fourth grade the big show to watch was Louis & Clark and as we both know they work as journalists and I thought it looked so cool and I wanted to be just like them.
But, when I did my first article for my local newspaper when I was 18 and I got to borrow someones computer I just fell in love with the profession. I just loved being in the editorial room with all the people running around and with the news on the radio and the blank screen in front of me.
I covered a local music festival (actually the only completely Swedish hardrock musicfestival there was) and I wrote the article and took pictures. I was proud of myself even though most people saw through my lack of knowledge when it comes to hardrock. But I was writing for the local paper and not the Rolling Stones so I didn't take much notice of peoples critique.
When I was 21 I did my internship at a PR firm and I loved having the newspaper coming to the office everyday and there was magazines everywhere. I spent all my mornings reading everything I could get my hands on. There was a political scandal going on when I was there and I just felt that if I had been in an editorial room everything would have changed due to the scandal. I just knew that I have to be a journalist, there is no other way.
When I first came to ETSU and I had to write down the reasons to why I want to become a journalist I talked about the Swedish press and political develompent in Sweden. The press is what is stuck between those with the power and those without and its job is to make this gap smaller and both sides more understandable to eachother. These are reason why it is important for anyone to be a journalist and why the existence of the press is important in general. My personal reasons are those mentioned above.
In conclusion, I want to be a journalist because I want my job to be affected by what is going on in the world.
I've been wanting to be a journalist ever since fourth grade. Everyone I tell this to is always impressed by how I could know so early what I want to do and still stick to it. The thing is that when I was in fourth grade the big show to watch was Louis & Clark and as we both know they work as journalists and I thought it looked so cool and I wanted to be just like them.
But, when I did my first article for my local newspaper when I was 18 and I got to borrow someones computer I just fell in love with the profession. I just loved being in the editorial room with all the people running around and with the news on the radio and the blank screen in front of me.
I covered a local music festival (actually the only completely Swedish hardrock musicfestival there was) and I wrote the article and took pictures. I was proud of myself even though most people saw through my lack of knowledge when it comes to hardrock. But I was writing for the local paper and not the Rolling Stones so I didn't take much notice of peoples critique.
When I was 21 I did my internship at a PR firm and I loved having the newspaper coming to the office everyday and there was magazines everywhere. I spent all my mornings reading everything I could get my hands on. There was a political scandal going on when I was there and I just felt that if I had been in an editorial room everything would have changed due to the scandal. I just knew that I have to be a journalist, there is no other way.
When I first came to ETSU and I had to write down the reasons to why I want to become a journalist I talked about the Swedish press and political develompent in Sweden. The press is what is stuck between those with the power and those without and its job is to make this gap smaller and both sides more understandable to eachother. These are reason why it is important for anyone to be a journalist and why the existence of the press is important in general. My personal reasons are those mentioned above.
In conclusion, I want to be a journalist because I want my job to be affected by what is going on in the world.
Singles awareness day!
Happy Valentine, or Singles awareness dag as my room mate calls it.
I was at this party last night at Campus Rigde, also called Criminal Ridge. It is outside of the campus area so we are allowed to drink there. I always feel like I'm doing something illegal when I'm drinking here, like I am not supposed to. But seriously, I am 25 years old, I've been legally drinking for seven years. In other words, I've been drinking for ten years so why would I feel guilty for having a beer or drink myself shitfaced for that matter? But I do, I do feel a little guilty going home drunk when ETSU is a dry campus and I am not supposed to be drunk on that property.
I believe the party got busted by the police. I don't really know, everybody was hushing and a few asholes wouldn't shut up so people got annoyed. After ten minutes of hushing, people started to leave and we decied to go to another party. It was maybe ten people or so on that party so we decided to go home instead.
I had fun on the first party. We were drinking the left overs from my birthday party and that was enough to get five people fairly tipsy. I was drunk. People always tell me when I'm drunk because I apparently change a lot, one person even told me she prefer the drunk me. I talk slower and louder the more drunk I get. I do, however, believe that this is the case for most people as the alcohol fills up in ther veines.
That was the report for yesterday. We're planning to go to Miami for spring break so hopefully I will have a little more to tell you about after I've been there.
I was at this party last night at Campus Rigde, also called Criminal Ridge. It is outside of the campus area so we are allowed to drink there. I always feel like I'm doing something illegal when I'm drinking here, like I am not supposed to. But seriously, I am 25 years old, I've been legally drinking for seven years. In other words, I've been drinking for ten years so why would I feel guilty for having a beer or drink myself shitfaced for that matter? But I do, I do feel a little guilty going home drunk when ETSU is a dry campus and I am not supposed to be drunk on that property.
I believe the party got busted by the police. I don't really know, everybody was hushing and a few asholes wouldn't shut up so people got annoyed. After ten minutes of hushing, people started to leave and we decied to go to another party. It was maybe ten people or so on that party so we decided to go home instead.
I had fun on the first party. We were drinking the left overs from my birthday party and that was enough to get five people fairly tipsy. I was drunk. People always tell me when I'm drunk because I apparently change a lot, one person even told me she prefer the drunk me. I talk slower and louder the more drunk I get. I do, however, believe that this is the case for most people as the alcohol fills up in ther veines.
That was the report for yesterday. We're planning to go to Miami for spring break so hopefully I will have a little more to tell you about after I've been there.
Mary the Elephant
Just now I learned about a dark spot in Tennessee history, atleast something that locals find somewhat embarassing. To be honest, I find it mostly amusing because it was a long time ago and people living in Tennessee now can't really be responsible for what people did in 1916.
They hanged an elephant for killing its handler.
Her name was Mary and she was a part of a traveling Circus. In Kingsport she stepped on her handler's head. People along the traveling route got upset about it and in Erwin the Circus decided to hang the elephant. Johnson city and other places threatened to boycott the circus if Mary was still participating so the Circus people took care of the problem. But instead of doing it nice and clean, they made a spectacle of it and hanged the elephant. They used a rail road crane and 3.000 people wathced it. One obviously took a picture.
I guess this was before the animal rights movement.
I think it is hilarious thought. They actually did hang the elephant instead of shooting it or drowning it or any other way of killing it that would have been a lot easier that hanging it, (is it, "it" when it comes to an animal or would it be more appropriate with "her"?)
They hanged an elephant for killing its handler.
I guess this was before the animal rights movement.
I think it is hilarious thought. They actually did hang the elephant instead of shooting it or drowning it or any other way of killing it that would have been a lot easier that hanging it, (is it, "it" when it comes to an animal or would it be more appropriate with "her"?)
Independent studies on the move
Finally something is happening with my independent studies and I get to do them on my blog, which is great. This forces me to really read the news everyday, to reflect about them somewhere more than just my head and to practice my writing. The reason why I created my first blog (I count this one as my second) was to practice my writing and now, finally, I really get to do that with something more useful than writing about what I had for breakfast.
Today, I didn't have a breakfast.
Yesterday I went to El Torrito, a mexican resturant in Johnson city, and had a margerita. It was me and two friends. After that I saw Madagascar 2 on my computer. This is how my days are here right now. Most on my focus is on school and studiyng so there is nothing much exciting to tell about.
I will however try to write down in this category the fun and sometimes not as fun things that I occupy my time with here in Johnson city.
I really look forward to work with my blog and my writing and my favourite time of the day right now is when I have a cup of coffee and read the daily newspaper. Which I am currently doing.
Yesterday I went to El Torrito, a mexican resturant in Johnson city, and had a margerita. It was me and two friends. After that I saw Madagascar 2 on my computer. This is how my days are here right now. Most on my focus is on school and studiyng so there is nothing much exciting to tell about.
I will however try to write down in this category the fun and sometimes not as fun things that I occupy my time with here in Johnson city.
I really look forward to work with my blog and my writing and my favourite time of the day right now is when I have a cup of coffee and read the daily newspaper. Which I am currently doing.
Scavenger hunt
Those of us that had Magazine Editing and Production last semester had already done the "fill in the blanks" assigment so we got the opportunity to do a scavenger hunt instead.
I spent the whole day, yesterday, with the assigment and I am still not done. I looked through all the websites that was posted as helping examples but the did not really provide me with anything useful. I did however learn one thing. To work in the magazine business is apparently about a whole lot more than actually writing, there seem to be a lot more socializing to do than actual writing. I would say that half of the websites provided was membersites for people who want to work in the business.
I am not that fond of most websites in general because I think that those who make websites put to much information in there, organize it badly and have a way to tiny font to show of the mess.
The scaventer hunt kind of ended in chatastrophy from my side because I barely could find anything and what I found was too much information to sort through. I just imagen that this assigment is not supposed to last forever.
Seventh time is the charm
Even though or because of I am taking antibiotics I don't feel sick at all anymore. I am still worthless of being in time though. I don't know why, but I am always late, always, always always. This was of course the case this morning when I did not get out of bed to go to class until it was basically to late. I shut the door behind me and relized my keys and my phone was still in there and ran to class, I was five minutes late.
This is maybe the seventh time I locked myself out (while living in Lucille clement). I can't really remember anymore. The first time it happened I turned to my RA and paid a dollar for her letting me in. The second time I didn't even relized it until I saw that my roomie had written "the door is unlocked" on our door. At first I believed she was crazy who wrote that on our door, then she told me it was in Swedish. It was perfectly translated, I didn't even think about that it was in Swedish and not in English. The time after that, she just left the door unlocked, she figured I'll try and open it. One time I locked myself out when I went out to help someone else find his keys. Another time I called my roomie, she was not far from home. Yesterday, both my roomie and my keys was still in the room so I just knocked seconds after I closed the door.
It is a good thing I have a room mate.
This is maybe the seventh time I locked myself out (while living in Lucille clement). I can't really remember anymore. The first time it happened I turned to my RA and paid a dollar for her letting me in. The second time I didn't even relized it until I saw that my roomie had written "the door is unlocked" on our door. At first I believed she was crazy who wrote that on our door, then she told me it was in Swedish. It was perfectly translated, I didn't even think about that it was in Swedish and not in English. The time after that, she just left the door unlocked, she figured I'll try and open it. One time I locked myself out when I went out to help someone else find his keys. Another time I called my roomie, she was not far from home. Yesterday, both my roomie and my keys was still in the room so I just knocked seconds after I closed the door.
It is a good thing I have a room mate.
Easter is in the air
Actually not, but with 15+ C outside and the fleece on I feel like it is time to bring in the sprig of birch, blow some eggs and make the whole world yellow. And of course, vomit from candy (even though that is more a tradition for younger kids). But I do have some traditions with me. This morning I found out that I caught a sinus infection, proabably as a result of a quick flu. Which means I need to get me to the pharmacy and get me some antibiotics.
Beacuse I missed my class being at the doctors, (even though I took the early appointment so that I would have a chance to make it to my class) I had some time on my hands. Even thought I should have used that time to complete my homework I chose to read the news instead. There is certanly a lot of highly interesting things going on out there, but I am not gonna focus on that here (not in this category atleast).
I remember a Swedish columnist, Fredrik Virtanen, that I liked very much, until he went to the U.S. He had the annoying habit of ending every column with "only in U.S, kids, only in U.S". To me, that sounds like U.S is the cool party noone of us got invited to exepct from Virtanen and that he really wants to rub our nose in it. Besides from that he only got obnoxious in general being "over there", which now is "over here" for me. I really hope I am not walking the same path he walked down.
Anyway, one thing is trues though. This place is kind of strange. I red about a guy who randomly killed two people in a church because he didn't like their liberal point of view. This happened in Knoxville, Tennesse. Sure, crazy things happens everywhere but I still find the right to have a gun somewhat hard to defend.
"Guns don't kill people, people do".
But I wonder what he would have done with a shuffel. On the other hand, according to witnesses, he was evil. i guess that explains it.
Another crazy thing I often heard about in Sweden that is going on in U.S is the lawsiut against everyone about everything. Here's and example, Artist Sues The A.P. Over Obama Image. It turns out though that A.P first went to the artist demanding money for his use of their image, or what they say is their image. And now they are in a fight about who owns the picture the artist used to create the image in question.
Before Obama won this was apparently not a problem, then he won and the problem appeared.
Fun.... or funny?
Now, I am off to drink cofee :)
Beacuse I missed my class being at the doctors, (even though I took the early appointment so that I would have a chance to make it to my class) I had some time on my hands. Even thought I should have used that time to complete my homework I chose to read the news instead. There is certanly a lot of highly interesting things going on out there, but I am not gonna focus on that here (not in this category atleast).
I remember a Swedish columnist, Fredrik Virtanen, that I liked very much, until he went to the U.S. He had the annoying habit of ending every column with "only in U.S, kids, only in U.S". To me, that sounds like U.S is the cool party noone of us got invited to exepct from Virtanen and that he really wants to rub our nose in it. Besides from that he only got obnoxious in general being "over there", which now is "over here" for me. I really hope I am not walking the same path he walked down.
Anyway, one thing is trues though. This place is kind of strange. I red about a guy who randomly killed two people in a church because he didn't like their liberal point of view. This happened in Knoxville, Tennesse. Sure, crazy things happens everywhere but I still find the right to have a gun somewhat hard to defend.
"Guns don't kill people, people do".
But I wonder what he would have done with a shuffel. On the other hand, according to witnesses, he was evil. i guess that explains it.
Another crazy thing I often heard about in Sweden that is going on in U.S is the lawsiut against everyone about everything. Here's and example, Artist Sues The A.P. Over Obama Image. It turns out though that A.P first went to the artist demanding money for his use of their image, or what they say is their image. And now they are in a fight about who owns the picture the artist used to create the image in question.
Before Obama won this was apparently not a problem, then he won and the problem appeared.
Fun.... or funny?
Now, I am off to drink cofee :)
Jon Franklin - Mrs Kelly's monster
For an assigment in the magazine article writing course we have to read Jon Franklin's piece Mrs. Kelly's Monster and do an analyse on it. Before I will begin with the analyse (that frankly still confuses me) I want to share some thoughts that popped up in my head while reading the piece. Ever since Washington I thought more and more about the fact that I am Swedish and how the point of view is different in U.S and Europe. Even thought it is obvious that the point of view is different it is however intreseting for me to experience the other point of view.
It doesn't have to concern big things like wars or historical events to be of importance. It is on the contrary the small things that make the difference obvious. For instance, I am reading in Franklin's article;
"'We can't have a millimeter slip,' he says"
and the comment say;
"here the writer intentionally introduce the somewhat unfamiliar word 'millimeter' so that it will be more familiar later during critical moments"
and I think to myself... "somewhat unfamiliar", I know exactly what he is talking about. For me, the somewhat unfamiliar thing came in the sentence right after that, where he mention the "six-inch crescent of scalp".
the other thing that strike me as kind of wierd is how the writer uses the word "pop" to illustrate the sound a heart makes from the monitor in the operating room. "Pop"?
Really?
I think of popcorn and if a heart makes the sound "pop", that would pretty much be it. There would be only one "pop" and nothing more.
In my Swedish mind, the world "dunk, d-dunk" would have suited better.
This is small things but when it comes to writing these things becomes crucial for how the reader intepret the story. Luckely enough I am used to intepret American things from a Swedish perspective. There's a lot, a lot, a lot of American sitcoms, shows and series on Swedish television and there are often times where my knowledge of American culture come in handy for understanding the jokes and storylines. But htere is another challenge to actually be in the culture and try to intepret things from the same perspective without letting myself and where I am from interfere.
But the word "pop" for illustrating heart sound will probably always confuse me
It doesn't have to concern big things like wars or historical events to be of importance. It is on the contrary the small things that make the difference obvious. For instance, I am reading in Franklin's article;
"'We can't have a millimeter slip,' he says"
and the comment say;
"here the writer intentionally introduce the somewhat unfamiliar word 'millimeter' so that it will be more familiar later during critical moments"
and I think to myself... "somewhat unfamiliar", I know exactly what he is talking about. For me, the somewhat unfamiliar thing came in the sentence right after that, where he mention the "six-inch crescent of scalp".
the other thing that strike me as kind of wierd is how the writer uses the word "pop" to illustrate the sound a heart makes from the monitor in the operating room. "Pop"?
Really?
I think of popcorn and if a heart makes the sound "pop", that would pretty much be it. There would be only one "pop" and nothing more.
In my Swedish mind, the world "dunk, d-dunk" would have suited better.
This is small things but when it comes to writing these things becomes crucial for how the reader intepret the story. Luckely enough I am used to intepret American things from a Swedish perspective. There's a lot, a lot, a lot of American sitcoms, shows and series on Swedish television and there are often times where my knowledge of American culture come in handy for understanding the jokes and storylines. But htere is another challenge to actually be in the culture and try to intepret things from the same perspective without letting myself and where I am from interfere.
But the word "pop" for illustrating heart sound will probably always confuse me
