Two special people I dearly miss

I really do not want to make you guys sad while reading this week's blog. I'm sure most of you can all relate to my blog I posted for the week. Two Wednesdays ago on February 1, it would have been my grandfather's 72nd birthday. His grandchildren called him "Papa" which originated by my cousin Drew, but many would call him Al (short for Aloysius, his real name) or Butch. He was a hard working, loving, and caring man. He worked at Bettinger's Greenhouse in Swanton as a foreman. One of his good friends and co-workers at the greenhouse was the father of one of my favorite teachers at Evergreen. It was so cool to know my Social Studies 10 teacher remembers Papa. Unfortunately on October 21, 2005 he lost his battle with lung cancer at the age of 60. I was in the second grade and eight years old at that time, and my family were deeply heartbroken about his untimely passing. 60 is way too young of an age to die, and he left the world much too soon. 11 years later on his birthday, or the day he entered Heaven, I always think about him and I'll never forget his memory he left behind for his loving family to forever cherish. Even though I was just eight when the grandfather I only knew passed away, I wish I knew my other grandfather who left the world three years before I was born. My other grandfather known as Grandpa Don has left an impact on me. Like Papa, Don was a hard working, loving, and caring family man who loved all his family members. He sold farm equipment in Lyons (my hometown) for a living at the family business started by his father John. Don ran O'Neil Implement along with his two brothers, Gerald and Bill, for many years until November 1992 when Don suffered a stroke. In March 1993, Don was placed in a nursing home while his health continued to decline. Sadly, on December 30, 1994 he died at the age of 72 just five months before the birth of my older brother Brian. Grandpa Don never met Brian, me, or my sister Maureen, but I know he is proud of all his grandchildren and he still loves us to this day. I always remember Grandpa Don on December 30th or his birthday June 4th because my family keeps his memory alive and cherishes the memory of Grandpa Don. Even though I never met him, my family always tells me great things about Grandpa Don, and how he is proud of me. Grandpa Don and Papa definitely passed away too soon, but when we lose a loved one, they will live forever in our hearts. Also we can always keep their memory alive. I also know that they are happy with all their other family members and friends in Heaven.

Political Communities

The articles "Why America First is a Dangerous Doctrine." from the San Francisco Chronicle, and "Behind the Internet's Anti-Democracy Movement." from The Atlantic describe two different political communities much different from each other. The first article talks about the assistant to President Trump who is also part of the National Security Council. President Trump's assistant and chief strategist is Stephen Bannon is now part of his joint Chief of Staff. Stephen Bannon has been denounced by many conservatives for Bannon's control of Breitbart's news company for which Bannon has been accused of racism, misogyny, and homophobia according to the first article. Bannon also looks up to, and praises Vladimir Putin for Putin's approach to nationalism. The first article describe's Bannon and Trump's approach to nationalism which many believe will put the country in danger. The doctrine discussed in the first article is "America First" which many believe is mostly their approach to nationalism. Nationalism is love, pride, and devotion to one's nation they are from. The Second article discusses Bannon's ties with Curtis Yarvin, a blogger and software engineer who started a "neoreaction" movement. Yarvin believes a democracy does not work, and favors a more autocratic reign. The second article also states that Yarvin posted a blog back in 2008 which described the Soviet Union just as bad as the Nazis during the Holocaust. According to the article, Neoreaction is an ideology about the autocratic government, and is against the democracy. A former speechwriter named Michael Anton used these views in an essay entitled, "The Flight 93 Election." This essay was his comparison of the 2016 election and the 9/11 attacks. Both of these communities are unhealthy due to their extreme views. The former with their use of nationalism, and the later for their views being similar to fascism. These views can lead to a negative impact for the country because these are extreme views that many might not take. Also they can lead to many problems and issues that are too much for the country to handle. Healthy communities could be affected by such extreme, and unhealthy views because it does make matters better, but makes them worse. Healthy communities can all think of positive, and helpful ways of making certain situations better rather than use negative views to help a situation. There are many people who hold extreme views, but we can all find the positive way of life.  

My Brother

I'm sure everyone has someone they look up to in life like I do. The person that means the most to me in life is my older brother Brian. Brian has always been the person I look up to in life. Brian taught me many things about life like hard work, and how to take care of things. Brian is two years older than I am, but we are always close. Like most siblings we have an occasional disagreement, but that does not ruin my relationship with him. We both enjoy going out to eat, listening to music, hanging out with our family and our friends. He has a girlfriend named Judith, and she is very nice to me and my family. I always stay in touch with him when I am at school, and we miss each other. The one thing Brian taught me the most is to be proud of my disability, it is not something to be ashamed of, but a life's blessing. It's great to be a middle child because you have an older sibling like Brian to look up to in life.

Advertisements

Advertisements you see on television have an intended audience. Intended audience is a group in which the product is geared towards. Film can have an intended audience. The first advertisement is aimed towards children, and families. The animals featured in the ad, and the trampoline all have a family friendly feel to the ad. It also creates a warm and fuzzy feeling for the holiday season, and that everyone is happy with gifts during the holiday season. The second ad is also aimed toward families much like the first one. The lost child is to create a sad, but warm feeling for the audience to make them feel that he will be alright, and brought back home in a new car. The third commercial is aimed towards adults (obviously). It telling the audience that people have drank beer throughout the century leading up to today. It also has a party feel too, so it promotes having a good time with a drink. Advertisements have a target audience much like authors do too. The audience should be aware of the intended audience because some advertisements want to get a point across to a certain group of people, but not everyone sometimes. This goes not only for advertisements, but other forms of media as well