America in 6 Words

Definition of Free Speech: Patriot Act.

Don't Judge

Personally, one of the values that is extremely important to me, is understanding. I was raised to be understanding of other people and their beliefs, and that even if you completely do not agree with their beliefs or actions, you have to be understanding of them. Everyone is different, and especially when you enter different countries or parts of the world, people are raised with different beliefs and understanding. For example, people who support the KKK or are racist, usually did not just wake up one day and chose that way of thinking. It has probably been instilled in them since they were young, and honestly, they had very little say in thinking that way, and unfortunately, it will probably not change unless they are re-educated. It is hard for us to understand how they can think that way, and we view them as terrible people, but that is how they grew up, and they do not think that same way we do. While I do not believe what they do is right, who am I to judge them? It is important to understand that they are not evil people, they just think differently than I do, and it is not necessarily their fault.

Are We Following Che??

I definitely think that there is some similarity between what the US is doing in Pakistan and what Che was trying to do in Bolivia, but kind of in a backwards way. In both cases, someone is coming in from the outside, who has maybe more experience and skill to help train militants in order to help get something accomplished. In the US case, though, we are entering in order to help support the government and fight the Al Qaeda and Taliban forces, who are rebelling. With Che, he was training rebels to fight against the government. Also, in both cases, those entering this new terriory, in some way do get something in return. The US hopefully gets a reduction in terrorist attacks and obviously more and stronger support against our enemies. Che, while he did not exactly want anything in return, was in a way going to support Cuba, but everything with that case is a bit sketchy.

The Death of Che Guevara

Obviously, the Bolivian government played a large role in the death of Che Guevara, because they are the ones who captured him, but I also think that the US government had a big part in it too, especially since the documentary said there were US CIA agents who came to where Che was being held. Felix Rodriguez may have had a lot of influence in Che’s fate, because I am sure they did not get along whatsoever, since Che spat in him face, and possibly, Fidel in a way played a role in it because he sent Che to Bolivia. Lastly, Regis DeBray and Ciro Bustos helped by giving illustrations to the Bolivians of their fellow rebels, including Che.

After watching the documentary, apparently, the actual person who killed Che Guevara was named Mario Teran, but many people were a part of his death.

There is Nothing Lonelier Than Adventure

There is nothing lonelier than adventure.

Adventure helps you find yourself.
In order to do that,
you must lose yourself.

There is nothing scarier than not knowing who you are or what your purpose is.
There also is no feeling better than when you finally find
what it is you are here on this planet to do,
and find who you truly are.

Adventures test you.
They force you to look deep inside yourself,
and sometimes you may not find anything.

That is when you feel lonelier than you ever have
or will,
because if you do not even understand who you are,
how can others?

You are lost until that moment in which you find yourself again...
Or for the first time.

That is why there is nothing lonelier than adventure.

Ideology of Che

I think that Che’s personal ideology is obviously that of utopian communism. He believes that all people should be equal, and everyone should share what they earn or make. When he was asked, “Are you an economist?” his response was simply “I am a communist.” He is not a communist in the sense that Fidel Castro I though because Castro, while all for the equal sharing of wealth between the people he rules over, he does not want to share that with other nations without some gain to himself. Che believes that it is important not to expect anything in return, and to just do what he believes is right, and help out other countries in similar situations that Cuba was in, and not follow the path of the Soviet Union. This way of thinking can not only be seen in the dislike for the USSR that Che had, but also in how he encouraged Cubans to voluntarily work to change Cuba’s economy even though they may not have seen the profits of their hard work and labor directly.

"Jimmy John" Thorpe

If I could make a documentary about any topic, I think that I would make it about one of my firefighting instructors "Jimmy John" Thorpe. He is the craziest, most outgoing person I have ever met, and even though he is like 70 years old, everything he says is traced with humor. He has been the World Ropes Champion three years in his lifetime, and has been all across the world. The stories he tells are absolutely amazing, and he has so many experiences from inside the fire service that no one else on Earth has to tell. I think that it would be extremely interesting to learn about not only his life in the service, but also outside of it, and even if you have no interest in firefighting or ropes training, he is an extremely interesting person, and everytime he speaks, he captures your attention.

Che: The Documentary

If I were making a documentary about Che's life, I think that I would focus on the time period after 1954, when he had seen the overthrowing of Jacobo Arbenz. That was obviously a huge turning point for him and his life, and I think it would be interesting to concentrate on what he saw there, and how it affected his life afterwards. I also think it would be important to spread the message of what Che really did in his life, and show both the good and the bad acts he had committed so that people can come up with an opinion of him on their own, and based on facts, especially since his image seems to be so distorted now.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Usually, if it is not a book I am already looking for, the cover is what will catch my eye. A lot of the times, how the covers looks gives you a pretty good indication of what type of book it is. While the actual illustration on the cover can hint as to what the book is about, I tend to look more at what the style of the cover is. From previous experience, what style the author/illustrator used for their cover, matches what style the author writes with. For example, The Motorcycle Diaries seems like it is going to be a factual journal-type story because that is the feeling that the picture on the front gives me. One book that caught my attention early and kept it while I was reading was A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. The cover definitely caught my attention, and the title seemed interesting to me.

Glen Beck on Che Guevara

I do agree with Beck in that Che Guevara is a terrorist, and unfortunately, he has been given this image after this death that he is a huge hero and icon to counter-cultures. While counter-cultures are important, the way that he went about protesting was unnecessary and unethical. Unfortunately, people do not understand that, and continue to wear shirts and such as a way to show their protest too. I think that Beck was trying to get the point across that this image of Che Guevara is not what he has been portrayed to be, and while the people who advertise his name and face may have more innocent motives with their rebellion, they are truly supporting a person who was worse than Hitler. Beck gets this message across by keeping his statements short and blunt, so they are easily understood, and he uses a lot of emotion in his voice, which keeps the audience alert and listening. Mostly though, he almost seems to insult the followers of Che by making them seem stupid for doing so. He also repeats his major points in order for them to really stick with the listener. He uses facts and gets support from credible people too, which helps make his thoughts more legitimate seeming.