Free Speech Gone Wild: The SONY/”The Interview” vs. North Korea (?) Hackers Controversy, by Joffre (“JD”) Meyer

Free Speech Gone Wild: The SONY/”The Interview” vs. North Korea (?) Hackers Controversy, by Joffre (“JD”) Meyer

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That SONY movie, “The Interview,” a jolly comedy about assassinating the leader of the North Korean dictator got hacked by the offended dictatorship and threats were made to theaters as we all know by now. Excuse me, but that’s free speech gone wild on the part of whoever made that movie. Sure I think North Korea is really sorry, but the US would go ballistic if some movie company in another country made a comparable movie about the US President. Even the Republicans in Congress would get mad, except for maybe a few Tea Party freaks. Am I crazy or what?

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 Since when does freedom of speech include a comedy about killing the ruler of another country? They’re not supposed to get mad, right? Sure North Korea is a horrible dictatorship; a feeble country may have shrugged their collective shoulders. A stunned ally would have cut off trade relations.

“The views and opinions expressed do not reflect the views of our official government… It’s social commentary. Some folks need to learn how to take a joke.” by Joel Nolan
 But North Korea is dangerous and crazy. Perhaps this comedy about killing bad rulers is related to a fundamentalism that sees grace as covering up for aggravated assault or worse, like my neighbor. More likely, it shows the US is violent. Such a movie theme could sicken British and Canadians, but I bet it would go over in Honduras.

Now, North Korea is saying that got framed by the federal government. The federal government part is silly, but we have more than one archenemy, usually Islamist terrorists, who would love to mess with the US–especially if they could blame it on another hated foe. How about a disgruntled former SONY employee causing the computer problems? That theory has been gaining popularity. Good to hear North Koreans wouldn’t attack innocent moviegoers…supposedly. Hacking is one thing and missiles another, but North Koreans aren’t known for blowing up stuff hither and thither. Here’s my first update/revision. For “Yes, North Korea hacked SONY,” go to this Slate article slate.me/1x7jxPn . For”No, North Korea didn’t hack SONY,” go to In.is/nym.ag/LDgRU at New York Magazine.

Proposed Alternative Movie Posted on Facebook
linkis.com/www.fireprojects.org/c7Vfo   What if we had a movie about East Asia, in which Mongolian rap stars helped squash the sudden rise of a fringe group determined to resurrect the 13th century Mongol Empire led by Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan?…………. We could have a multicultural cast too. Imagine Denzel Washington, as the executive, and Ice Cube, as the star rapper, meeting with the Mongolian rappers. The Mongolian rappers aren’t all men; a lady rapper is very prominent, and you can read about her on this link too. How about getting Lisa Ling to play her part?

My Take

Utilizing the #You Matter Paradigm by Angela Maiers in Composition Textbooks, by Joffre (“JD”) Meyer

On Utilizing the #You Matter Model by Angela Maiers
for Sustainability in English Composition & Developmental English/Writing Textbooks,
by Joffre (“JD”) Meyer

The “You Matter” educational model developed by Angela Maiers looks like an ideal complement for the sustainability in composition theories of Derek Owens. Whereas sustainability vindicates the validity of one’s neighborhood and career goals as source material, “you matter” brings an articulate method for affirming the individual.
Let’s start with highlights from the You Matter Manifesto. (1) You have influence through solving problems by contributing your genius in a new way. (2) Your insight can find original solutions if you have enough passion and don’t surrender to indulgence. (3) Your actions define your impact; you have a gift that others need. (4) Our presence is important, for we can realize that we matter in small encounters.
In concluding, Angela Maiers defines to matter as to be significant and relevant, as well as consequential and important—perhaps not locally, but elsewhere. Through the Internet, I was able to discover the persuasive and uplifting work of Angela Maiers and renew the defense of my philosophy of writing textbooks.
In “12 Ways to Let People Know They Matter,” Angela Maiers begins with a quote from the late Jackie Robinson, the baseball star. Robinson proclaimed, The measure of a life is its impact on others, rather than one’s accomplishments.” Maiers notes that those who simply believed in her made the biggest impact on her, not necessarily raved about her expertise or accomplishments. Once again, my analysis of her article will attempt to apply “you matter” to sustainability in composition.
Angela Maiers reveals that we ask, “Do I matter to you?” For the classroom, this implies we should allow a wide range of essay prompts and model essays for our students in our textbooks and assignments. In that we way, teachers show they really care about what the students are saying.
A great mattering question for the writer is, “What rocked your world (not necessarily today)?” Young kids ask out loud, “Is this okay?” Developing writers have the same feeling inside; they need encouragement. Cynicism sucks the life out of work, business, and people, according to Angela Maiers. For years, I have acquiesced to the cynic-supported fear that I should settle for only submitting my grammar chapter to a textbook publisher.
An open teacher/writer could be so inspired by his students’ wide ranging essays to include some as edited student essays in his/her textbook. Edited student essays turned chapter sections received the subtitle, “The Students Take Over,” in my textbook. It’s like talking nicely about the other in conversation shows what has been shared. Offering hope is as contagious as its opposite. Teachers can lift students above their circumstances or send them into a tailspin, cautions Mrs. Maiers.

Intermediate Twitter—1500 Followers, by Joffre (“JD”) Meyer

This article represents a happy sequel to “Introduction to Twitter,” when I crossed the 1000 follower mark in mid-July 2014; now I’ve made it to the 1500 follower mark at the start of December. What additional insight and advice can I give? First of all, tweet something everyday, and include a link virtually every time if your goal is to be a serious news curator.

Answer private messages promptly. Otherwise they may quit following you. Nearly always, it’s a new Twitter associate, and they probably want you to like them on Facebook. Make it a daily ritual to re-tweet something from a prominent follower. It’s a wonderful honor to meet such prominent leaders through Twitter. In my case, they’re in education, social media, business, travel, and music, and cooking. Twitter can lift you from the confines of your hometown to a scholarly, analytical world, yet I’m not a serious scholar all the time .I’m going to tweet something of relevance to my neighborhood BBQ/bar hangout: Stanley’s Famous Bar-B-Q of Tyler, TX.

Three of my mutual educator followers are in the Top 50 Twitter for Education:Angela Maiers of Iowa–the #youmatter teacher– (also on Facebook), Ioannis Ioannou of the London School of Business (sustainability expert), and Cyndi Burnett of Buffalo State (creativity/gifted & talented).

Become a fan of social media leaders, in addition to your field of expertise. Some of my most precious memories involve reading the works of Melonie Dodaro, Sean Gardner, Ann Tran, and Ekaterina Walter to name but a few. When somebody new follows you, include the number of those you already know as a reason for following them, together with the superstars. Approach the proverb-heavy twitter folks with skepticism but not disdain. Avoid those who want you to pay a little to gain followers; that’s what your content is supposed to do!

Check out the Twitter analysis tools. I really love the Tweep Map, for it showed me in which countries, states, and cities my followers reside. The USA is the home for two-thirds of my followers while Canada and the United Kingdom are at 8% each. Twtrland states that my most popular followers are largely from the Arabian Peninsula and Brazil, so look at more than one instrument.

Remember, “Home” is who you follow and who they re-tweet while “Search” is what topics should interest you, according to Twitter. Stances in the Search section may be of the opposite end of the political from you; nevertheless, it’s much easier to dodge those who aren’t like-minded on Twitter than Facebook. For me, it’s more likely to know hometown folks of the “other party” on Facebook. Yet my former students share their lives on Facebook, which is sweet.

So far, I have two lists. I’m a member of an urban policy group and started my own small Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (#mbti) group. I should resolve to start a Community Health Worker (#CHW) list, as I attend luncheons for a local coalition, and it’s become my newest research area. CHW’s are paraprofessionals in the health industry who know their community well and how to explain complicated directions from doctors, nurses, and social workers.

To end for now,let’s remember two funny tweets. I checked the trending column and found “#WorstChristmasEver,” a movie in which a junior high school-aged girl succeeded in thwarting efforts to rob a mall pet store of an expensive dog, together with co-star Grumpy Cat. They had a heart-warming telepathic relationship. I had just seen the movie’s TV premier the night before–a Saturday. Anyway, after complimenting the movie, I forwarded a note asserting, “Now that I’ve got your attention, #mbti, #Kwanzaa, #susty.” (“Susty” is an abbreviation for “sustainability”). These hashtags go straight to three of my favorite research fields. Normally, one shouldn’t use more than two hashtags, but one is better than none. In another tweet, I also complimented the friend who turned on the movie while reminding her that @Fareed Zakaria comes on in 45 minutes–9:00am CST on CNN. It’s fun to go to Fareed Zakaria’s Twitter site and tweet while you watch his show. Last week, he had a wonderful focus on innovation program.

As you can see, Twitter provides a lot of good times for me. To cite John Langan, the godfather of Developmental Writing and Reading, the goal of writing is to inform, persuade, and entertain. With Twitter, we can do all of those things.