information overload

The War Protest March

The Support the Troops Rally

We completed our first unit this last Friday. I analyzed the issue of Human Rights and my beliefs about why humans are even worthy of rights of any kind. Supposedly they grade pretty hard, so we'll see what I end up with.

Sensory overload.
Over the weekend, I explored more of the city and what was occurring at this time. After a rush week getting our papers turned in, my roommate and I wanted a chill evening so we just walked around nearby our apartments. We ended up going into a European style cocktail lounge with a live Bosnian band playing.

After a relaxing Saturday morning, four of us headed to the National Book Fair on the Mall. However, we got side-tracked for a little bit at the National Archives Museum. From seeing the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and Constitution, we walked through the Book Fair and found our way to the Washington Monument... well... to near it at least. Thousands of people gathered for the protest march past the White House against the war. The overload of seeing our founding documents that gave the people the right to voice their opinions and then seeing thousands screaming and chanting was almost unbelievable. So many time while I'm here I wonder if I'm living in reality. Then to add to the chaos going on in my head about right and wrong and the mix of opinions. I attended the Support the Troops rally yesterday.

No one wants war. No one supports war. Everyone wants freedom to live, to believe, to act, to dream... yet these things cost. Who should pay? When is enough? Have the people protesting the war really lost anything compared to those who's sons and daughters have died in it and still stand up supporting it?

Today, we began our Domestic Policy unit on the issue of Immigration. I would think that I would know more about this issue coming from LA, but I don't. It's far more complicated than I could even begin to think of, but now I have the next 4 weeks to explore the questions that it asks.