Secrets, Secrets Are No Fun

   Clearly, the issues of Wikileaks and Julian Assange are on many people's minds lately, as Mr. Bolos also decided to blog about it this week. Assange, freedom of speech-activist and producer of the "revolutionary website" Wikileaks, is causing quite the stir internationally. Government officials believe he is "changing history" in the political world., and Time reports that his website "could become as important a journalistic tool as the Freedom of Information Act." In history's largest leak of secret governmental documents, Assange has gained the power to "put lives in jeopardy," as Hillary Clinton says. In a Time Magazine article covering the many views for and against Assange, the possibility of a "revolutionary movement" is mentioned many times.
   This reminds me of the fantasy fiction trilogy, Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. The trilogy is about a corrupt, Fascist government and how a girl named Katniss, who lives in the poorest of the 12 districts that make up their country, sparks a massive revolution by defying the government's binding laws. Like Katniss, Assange's defiance of the law is not exactly black and white. He argues that he is solely exercising his right to free speech, but is it his information to reveal, when it was given to him by others, possibly illegally? Technology has made it so easy for people to spread facts, slander, eye-opening discoveries, gossip, and just about anything. The fact that this new technological phenomenon is targeting big-name politicians has brought interest in what technology can do to another level.
   As Mr. Bolos posed the question, what should we do about Julian Assange and his new-found power? While some believe his purpose of educating the public about what exactly goes on in the decisions of our government is justified, others believe the opposite: is this extent of freedom of speech putting our country in danger?

Blame It, by Jamie Foxx

   Today, my group presented World War Two for the Perilous Times project. When creating the animoto(the slideshow summary of our presentation), our fearless leader Lauren wondered what song should play throughout it. Someone suggested "Blame It" by singer and actor Jamie Foxx. While this song is actually about the effects of alcohol, ("blame it on patron, got you in the zone"), we thought it would be clever because blame is such a reoccurring theme in WW2. We ended up using "Heard it Through the Grapevine" with a similar logic in mind. But the suggestion of "Blame It" got me thinking about how blame is so present in wars and troubled times. From the constant scapegoating of Jews in the Holocaust, to the vicious pointing of fingers in The Crucible, blame is rampant everywhere. It is, I think, one of the worst human qualities that people possess. Why would we turn against our friends and neighbors? Why would we lie, start rumors, and back-stab innocent people? The answer: to escape the blame, ourselves.