Monday, December 9, 2013

Big Brother/NSA

Big brother and the national security agency are very much alike because both of their sole purposes are to catch someone committing treason or even some kind of felony. Both of their main goals are to catch the person before they commit the act, so that whatever they're doing won't affect the vast majority of the population, who look up to the government. It's so their own people of the country don't turn on the government, or so they can't see the true colors of the government.
the National Security Agency is a very powerful intelligence community whose sole purpose is to collect and report sensitive information around the nation and even the world. Just like Big Brother, the NSA is in just about every monitor people use, like cellphones, computers, and even televisions. It's pretty scary to think about, don't you think.  Big Brother is flat out open to how many hours, minutes, even seconds a day they can listen and watch.  You could say that we are essentially living in George Orwell's book.  The NSA says, "their mission is to help protect national security by providing intelligence information to government", much like Big Brother; but Big Brother is somewhat more assertive with their power, like torturing someone weeks on end to extract the littlest of information.
Edward Snowden, the man who leaked 200,000 classified documents about the NSA mass surveillance. Many believe he did the right thing, where as others don't.  Big Brother would have caught Snowden before he could even think to declassify sensitive information about the government. This totally relates to the NSA's job, but used to counter terrorism...if that's true.  To think Big Brother is and could be the future of the NSA; just maybe sooner or later every fact about the NSA will be open to the public as a form of fearing the government, like in 1984.
just like Big Brothers phrase, "Big Brother is watching you", so is the US government. I wonder when the US government will have a phrase like big Brother's, because it's really no secret any more, right?

Monday, November 25, 2013

What is Art?


           The definition of art is, "the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance".  I agree that art needs to be meticulously created but to also provoke ideas too.  Some examples of art, to me, are the Mona Lisa and the last supper.  I don't believe art needs to be created only by highly experienced people who have gone to college for their high level of creations because art can come in many forms, such as graffiti or even simple cartoons.  Cartoons for me provoke meanings and ideas and I'm sure I'm not the only one out there who has their own opinion on a cartoon they've read.

The painting I chose is known as the "Girl With a pearl earring".  Some people call the painting the DutchMona Lisa.  The painting was done by Johannes Vermeer.  I consider the  "Girl With a pearl earring" a work of art because the painter creates the pearl earring an unusual piece in the painting, like a sore thumb. I really don't see why the painter put that in there, but he did. Maybe that was were he wanted you to stare at when looking  at the painting.I also think the girls eyes also create a sense of reality, with her looking over her shoulder in an unusual way.  The art piece has depth and meaning to its existence giving the painting a meaning to be created.  The depth within the painting comes from the black background giving the girl a three dimensional look.  Back then this was considered a high level of painting and as new ways of painting advances so does the style of painting. This is why art can be a painting on a wall and or on a canvas, that's just my opinion.

           Some people may think that the  "Girl With a pearl earring" is no master piece, but they are wrong. I say the painting shows a master painter at its best because he was a guy that took risks and believed his own painting was brilliant. Johannes Vermeer, I believe, deserves a spot in the top 100 best artists of all time because he changed the way people painted.