There are many things that Dr. King believed in very strongly. In the 1970’s there were many people who believed that African-Americans, Asians, and Native Americans were not as good as the whites were. There were separate schools, drinking fountains, different rights, all because the whites believed that they were all “masters” of colored people. Dr. King got us started, but in no way are we even close to completely ridding ourselves of stereotyping and prejudice.
I know for a fact that we still have stereotyping. Nowadays we think that all Latinos are illegal, Chinese make the best piano players and African-American athletes are the best athletes. We still have a lot of work to do if we want to eliminate all the problems we still have in our society today.
Some people nowadays are very prejudice to other races in our country. Have you ever met someone who just couldn’t get along with someone and said it was because he was “Mexican?” Or he has “Black man hops?”
Another one of Dr. King’s hopes was a day to come when a man is judged by the content of his heart and not the color of his skin and I think that that will happen over the next 100 years. With more and more countries studying English, I think that we will come to a time when we all understand the same language and we all understand each other a lot easier. The best way to be able to judge the content of an individual’s heart is to be able to effectively communicate with them. I have noticed in my home how effective communication can overcome a lot of frustration. My 3 year old sister cannot speak yet. She tries to tell us what she wants and how she feels, but there is always a gap of understanding, which complicates things for both of us. As she learns a new word or a new sign, the level of frustration changes, we usually know better what she wants and we can get her that effectively. Common language breaks down barriers. However, I think that the major communication problem lies not in the language used, but in communicating ideas.
I believe that there are many ways to learn to communicate effectively. One, we can try to learn several languages so we can understand them. Two, we can try to avoid frustration when we talk to others who may not understand us very well and eliminate the overall way of looking at some things for example, “Spanish is hard to understand.” The biggest communication technique, though, is listening. I think if people stopped to objectively listen to other people, without using preconceived biases, but just listened to their ideas, we would see that we are really all the same. We all want to be loved and to love. We all have unique view points and personalities, no matter what our skin or hair color is. If each person could be appreciated for the content of their hearts, then predjudism would be against tyrants and villains.
I think we can and will someday get to the point where we will be at the point where we have eliminated prejudice and stereotyping from our society. May we all work to get someday to happen today.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Monday, November 5, 2007
Southern Utah
Over the 3 day weekend I got to see Southern Utah and Arizona. We spent the night's in St. George but during the day we were everywhere. We would drive to the Grand Canyon and marveled at how BIG and deep it was, I just about wet my pants walking on the trail, then we went ot Zion's and drove through that, then we slept. Then we drove to some sandstone and climbed that, after we went swiming, that was a major opposite. The last day we went to Cedar Break, by Bryce Canyon, and we drove home. I started to realize how cool Southern Utah, Northern Arizona is.
My brother tells me that in Utah Studies they learned that all 5 National Parks in Utah are in Southern Utah. It was cool to go see some of them. I think that most of the national parks in Utah have a "rock" sort of theme, but St. George has some really cool rocks. I saw a lot of cool rock formations that make them cool like Bryce, a bunch of pointy rocks in the same canyon, Zion had a bunch of cool tall rocks, and the Grand Canyon was insane! It was by far the coolest canyon I've ever seen. I knew that it was an incredible thing to see, but to be there was awesome. You looked down into it and thought that it would never end and that you weren't worthy to live again unless you shot yourself or something. I think that it was a neat experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat, but man has also made some cool things in that part of the state.
On the way home we stopped and did some go-karts and that was really fun and I started to wonder, "Why do people live in St. Geoge if it doesn't have very much water?" How did th immigrants decide to just stop in the deseret? They could have gone on to California or even to Mexico and instead they chose the hard way of life. Nowadays it's no big deal to go to St. George and enjoy yourself but how did we ever get to that point? Some pioneer or mountain man was too tired to care where he ended up?
Whatever the reason is, I'm glad they did stop so we could see all those cool sites.
My brother tells me that in Utah Studies they learned that all 5 National Parks in Utah are in Southern Utah. It was cool to go see some of them. I think that most of the national parks in Utah have a "rock" sort of theme, but St. George has some really cool rocks. I saw a lot of cool rock formations that make them cool like Bryce, a bunch of pointy rocks in the same canyon, Zion had a bunch of cool tall rocks, and the Grand Canyon was insane! It was by far the coolest canyon I've ever seen. I knew that it was an incredible thing to see, but to be there was awesome. You looked down into it and thought that it would never end and that you weren't worthy to live again unless you shot yourself or something. I think that it was a neat experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat, but man has also made some cool things in that part of the state.
On the way home we stopped and did some go-karts and that was really fun and I started to wonder, "Why do people live in St. Geoge if it doesn't have very much water?" How did th immigrants decide to just stop in the deseret? They could have gone on to California or even to Mexico and instead they chose the hard way of life. Nowadays it's no big deal to go to St. George and enjoy yourself but how did we ever get to that point? Some pioneer or mountain man was too tired to care where he ended up?
Whatever the reason is, I'm glad they did stop so we could see all those cool sites.
Change
Isn't change a weird thing? I was thinking about change and came to a conclusion, that it is weird. For bed you change your clothes, every 45 minutes you change your teacher, most of our families change with more people added and the favorite change is when you change the time your clock reads.
I woke up this weekend at 7:30 realizing that it was 8:30 to my body, at 10:00 I realized that I was so tired because it was 11:00 to my body so I started to wonder what change is. Every time we change it's a big deal. We can't change our pajamas out in the open instead we find a bathroom, it's hard to sleep in a different bed because it's change. Who's idea was it to change things like we do? I know that Ben Franklin wanted to have daylight savings time, but that is the only person who wanted to have a change like he got. In the Supreme Court their job is to look at all the laws and see what needs to be changed.
I woke up this weekend at 7:30 realizing that it was 8:30 to my body, at 10:00 I realized that I was so tired because it was 11:00 to my body so I started to wonder what change is. Every time we change it's a big deal. We can't change our pajamas out in the open instead we find a bathroom, it's hard to sleep in a different bed because it's change. Who's idea was it to change things like we do? I know that Ben Franklin wanted to have daylight savings time, but that is the only person who wanted to have a change like he got. In the Supreme Court their job is to look at all the laws and see what needs to be changed.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Hello world! I was out of ideas of 500 word topics to write about so I decided to write about my favorite NFL team, the Indianapolis Colts and my belief on how thy were so successful last year.
Of course anyone even a little into the football world has heard of the one and only #18 Peyton Manning. Peyton was a huge factor last year because he not only wanted the Super Bowl to have bragging rights, but he was afraid that he would turn out be another Dan Marino. (A great quarterback who never played in a Super Bowl) So Peyton played all last year with both heart and talent, he just wanted it more than anyone else. Peyton also is arguably the best QB in the league right now. Peyton can take hits better than Vince Young, can throw about as accurate as Brett Farve and is smarter than anyone else. For example my family and I call Peyton the "Audible King" because he will change the play based on what he sees in the defense. Therefore usually giving him the advantage because he can change things to give the offense he upper hands. BUT who's a great quarterback without a good receiver?
When you say great QB you usually associate a great receiver with him. Jake Delhomme had Keyshawn Johnson and Steve Smith, Steve Young and Jerry Rice, etc. Well it's no different story for the Colts, but they have several. Peyton Manning likes to hook up with #88 Marvin Harrison and together they share the all-time record for TD's thrown to each other. Peyotn also can hook up with #87 Reggie Wayne. The greatest thing about this combination is that there is 2 parts to Peyton's pass options. If Marvin is shut down then Peyton can throw it to Reggie and in the case that they both are covered Peyton can go underneath and find the Tight End #44 Dallas Clark. Dallas is a lot like Antonio Gates in the way that he plays. Dallas is an athletic TE that can play as a TE, receiver or slot with ease because he can catch well for his postion and runs very good routes. Many times big games have been determined by whether Dallas Clark has had a good game. Yet, what is a good passing game if it has nothing to support it?
When the passing game isn't there the Colts fall on there 2 phenomenal halfbacks #29 rookie Joesph Addai and #33 Dominic Rhodes. These 2 can pick apart nearly every and any defense with their different running styles. This helps since Peyton throws about every other play and sometimes needs to give it to the halfback so the defense will bite. Joesph Addai was the Colts 1st round draft pick out of LSU in the 2006-2007 season. He had to be a special player for the Colts to use him as a replacement for Edgerrin James trade after losing him to trade. Everyone expected a lot out of the agile rookie Joesph Addai. Now Dominic Rhodes also had a lot to prove in the 2006-2007 season. For years Dominic Rhodes played under Edgerrin James. He probably had heard from critics that the Colts were going to have a tough time with 2 essentially rookie halfbacks. However these 2 ended up being a great combination that together could confuse a terrific defense with their different styles of runing. However great these runningbacks were there was a lot more than these 6 carrying the Colts last year.
However good the offense is doing they can't win all by themselves. They need someone else to step up and give them a break. There were several anchors on the Colts defense last year. One anchor was there franchise player Defense End #93 Dwight Freeney. Dwight Freeney is a very good pass rusher who probably gets in the heads of several QBs and Tackles the night before a game. He is usually a leader in the leauge every year in sacks. Some other key anchors were Strong Safety #20 Michael Doss and Free Safety #21 Bob Sanders. The Colts team last year finished the regular season dead last in rush defense last year. The only way they could stop every play from going for a TD was their safeties who many times had to step up and stop a TD. It wasn't that the Colts always played with really bad players they just could have started with different ones. When Stronside LineBacker #94 Rob Morris was made a starter (after the Colts gave up 350 rushing yards to the same team) the scrub was pulled off the bench and helped to drop the teams average rushing yards per game by 50 yards. Believe it or not the Colts had another key factor last year.
The Colts picked up a very valuable player last year's offseason in Kicker Adam Vinateri. Adam is an extremely powerful, accurate and iced K. Yeah, I said iced meaning he does very well under pressure. Adam Vinateri won the Super Bowl with the Patriots several years back by making a kick as time expired. Is that pressure or what!?! I' m serious when I say that he had the work of an entire season put on his shoulders and you have one chance to boot the ball through the uprights and win the Super Bowl. He was a huge point in the Colts success last year with his high percentage of made field goals.
I hope now you have a better understanding of how I belive the Colts did so well last year and watch for some of the people I listed off and GO COLTS!
Of course anyone even a little into the football world has heard of the one and only #18 Peyton Manning. Peyton was a huge factor last year because he not only wanted the Super Bowl to have bragging rights, but he was afraid that he would turn out be another Dan Marino. (A great quarterback who never played in a Super Bowl) So Peyton played all last year with both heart and talent, he just wanted it more than anyone else. Peyton also is arguably the best QB in the league right now. Peyton can take hits better than Vince Young, can throw about as accurate as Brett Farve and is smarter than anyone else. For example my family and I call Peyton the "Audible King" because he will change the play based on what he sees in the defense. Therefore usually giving him the advantage because he can change things to give the offense he upper hands. BUT who's a great quarterback without a good receiver?
When you say great QB you usually associate a great receiver with him. Jake Delhomme had Keyshawn Johnson and Steve Smith, Steve Young and Jerry Rice, etc. Well it's no different story for the Colts, but they have several. Peyton Manning likes to hook up with #88 Marvin Harrison and together they share the all-time record for TD's thrown to each other. Peyotn also can hook up with #87 Reggie Wayne. The greatest thing about this combination is that there is 2 parts to Peyton's pass options. If Marvin is shut down then Peyton can throw it to Reggie and in the case that they both are covered Peyton can go underneath and find the Tight End #44 Dallas Clark. Dallas is a lot like Antonio Gates in the way that he plays. Dallas is an athletic TE that can play as a TE, receiver or slot with ease because he can catch well for his postion and runs very good routes. Many times big games have been determined by whether Dallas Clark has had a good game. Yet, what is a good passing game if it has nothing to support it?
When the passing game isn't there the Colts fall on there 2 phenomenal halfbacks #29 rookie Joesph Addai and #33 Dominic Rhodes. These 2 can pick apart nearly every and any defense with their different running styles. This helps since Peyton throws about every other play and sometimes needs to give it to the halfback so the defense will bite. Joesph Addai was the Colts 1st round draft pick out of LSU in the 2006-2007 season. He had to be a special player for the Colts to use him as a replacement for Edgerrin James trade after losing him to trade. Everyone expected a lot out of the agile rookie Joesph Addai. Now Dominic Rhodes also had a lot to prove in the 2006-2007 season. For years Dominic Rhodes played under Edgerrin James. He probably had heard from critics that the Colts were going to have a tough time with 2 essentially rookie halfbacks. However these 2 ended up being a great combination that together could confuse a terrific defense with their different styles of runing. However great these runningbacks were there was a lot more than these 6 carrying the Colts last year.
However good the offense is doing they can't win all by themselves. They need someone else to step up and give them a break. There were several anchors on the Colts defense last year. One anchor was there franchise player Defense End #93 Dwight Freeney. Dwight Freeney is a very good pass rusher who probably gets in the heads of several QBs and Tackles the night before a game. He is usually a leader in the leauge every year in sacks. Some other key anchors were Strong Safety #20 Michael Doss and Free Safety #21 Bob Sanders. The Colts team last year finished the regular season dead last in rush defense last year. The only way they could stop every play from going for a TD was their safeties who many times had to step up and stop a TD. It wasn't that the Colts always played with really bad players they just could have started with different ones. When Stronside LineBacker #94 Rob Morris was made a starter (after the Colts gave up 350 rushing yards to the same team) the scrub was pulled off the bench and helped to drop the teams average rushing yards per game by 50 yards. Believe it or not the Colts had another key factor last year.
The Colts picked up a very valuable player last year's offseason in Kicker Adam Vinateri. Adam is an extremely powerful, accurate and iced K. Yeah, I said iced meaning he does very well under pressure. Adam Vinateri won the Super Bowl with the Patriots several years back by making a kick as time expired. Is that pressure or what!?! I' m serious when I say that he had the work of an entire season put on his shoulders and you have one chance to boot the ball through the uprights and win the Super Bowl. He was a huge point in the Colts success last year with his high percentage of made field goals.
I hope now you have a better understanding of how I belive the Colts did so well last year and watch for some of the people I listed off and GO COLTS!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)