Iconic War Photo Taken At Iwo Jima in WWII

Imagine if you were over seas and fighting a war that had true meaning to "fight to the death." This is the story of these five brave marines fighting for their country. The name of the photo is called "Raising The Flag On Iwo Jima." A famous photographer named Joe Rosenthal in February 23, 1945 took this photo.  This picture has many myths associated with it. It has the signifier, the signified and the sign. This photo has more meaning to then watching five brave soldiers holding up a flag after a deadly fight on Iwo Jima in World War II. 

Mr. Rosenthal had probably no idea how popular his photo taken at this time would really be. In 1945, Joe Rosenthal was dedicated to receive one of the most prestigious awards for this picture taken. The Pulitzer Award will be stitched in his family for the rest of their lives. Although, this picture was taken in the middle of the war only three people survived after this picture was taken which gives true meaning to this iconic photo.

Someone can always say a picture is worth a thousand words and in this case words can be speechless the fight these brave soldiers lived through. The American flag has much significance to it. Integrity, Honor and the American dream all symbolize it. There was much causality on both sides that died in order to conquer such a defeat but for these brave marines came true. The Island the United States Marines scaled was 546 feet tall. Many Japanese fighters that would do anything to guard their territory surrounded this island.

The Marines that survived and made there way up the rigid deadly mountain surrounded by mortars and automatic machine guns showed how skill full and how powerful American soldiers really are. On this day the soldiers will go down in history for defeating the Japanese on their island and make it United States territory. This picture does not tell you the whole story but tells a person how courageous U.S. soldiers really are. Not only the soldiers drove the Japanese off the island, but was the first Japanese homeland soil to be occupied by the United States.

Iwo Jima was an island for the Japanese to see of any American planes was coming. If a plane were coming the Japanese would radio for that they are about to get hit. This island was an early warning sign if there were enemies coming. It was a great advantage that the United States planned on taking this island but many lives were taken in the process.

When taken this picture someone can't see the expressions on these soldiers’ faces but I bet it is priceless. It really tells a person how determined Americans are when it comes to war and in this photo it really shows you how important it was to put up the American flag.

National Student Advertising Competition

10 students from Portland State University come together each year and compete for awards such as people choice awards and trophies. This year the team got 4th place out of all the schools that competed. The theme that all the schools used was to promote J.C. Penny’s. The team came up with a slogan called "Moxie." The first part of the teams work is to come together and present a plan book. That consists of research, media and teamwork. The second part is a 20-minute presentation to be presented to 5 different J.C. Penny judges to determine which campaign has the best fit for them. This year the team came up with a challenge to target 20 to 35 year old women. The teams had 100 million dollars to complete their missions. 

The teams slogan at Portland State used  "Moxie Movers" which consisted of confidence, determination, know how and energy. The communication strategy they used was awareness, interest, engagement and action. The team also used a social media context to get their commitment out on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. They also used popular companies such as Starbucks, 24 Hour fitness and Transit. Also they used popular magazines such as "People," "Vanity Fair," and "Cosmopolitan" to target a certain age group to get young women attention. 

The Portland State team also used strategies for inside J.C. Penny as well. They came up with the idea of "Moxie Scan" which consisted of using your smart phone to take a picture of certain clothing and used it to pick out something that matches or that is something similar to what you have in your hands. Another strategy the team came up with is to take a picture of an item and use the "Moxie Scan" to chose certain scenery for your house. 

Over all the presentation was very good, but I would of liked to see what other schools did differently to persuade the judges that their campaign will be the perfect fit for J.C. Penn. It would be really fun to witness one of these competitions because everyone has their own interpretations what they like the best.

Trimet Fares. People Are Outraged By The Proposal

Now that the media has unveiled a problem that Trimet is proposing a 5-cent increase in fares by September 1, 2011, there is entirely bigger conversation when it comes to people voicing their opinions. After looking at many news organizations such as KATU News, Trimet, OPB, and Fox 12 News. I would say that KATU News has the biggest impact of all the news organizations.

The article by KATU News is simply about how disabled people are not very happy with the proposal that may take away the term LIFT by Trimet. According to Margy Lynch of KATU News said, "Trimet is also talking about dropping its monthly pass for its federally mandated LIFT service that helps disabled and elderly riders get around." This is a growing problem and many bloggers that have written about this article say it is not fair because disabled people usually need to go more than one place to get around. Now that if the proposal goes through by September 1, 2011, disabled riders will be paying an extra 40 cents per ride. Most of these people are on a fixed income and this will be a major burden to them.

http://www.katu.com/news/local/120830309.html#idc-container

In an article by Trimet.org said, "The increase helps offset the additional cost of providing service and rising diesel prices, as well as helps provide some service restoration to respond to overcrowding." In many people’s opinions I have found that they will pay the extra 5-cents per ride, but are still going to see the overcrowding of busses. There are going to be more people riding busses and trains due to the gas prices rising. Some people wrote that if you think a 5-cent increase is bad think of food prices, which are going up as well. There is a growing problem and to get a better sense of what people are writing about this growing problem is staggering. Trimet is planning to have a board meeting on May 25, 2011 to discuss these issues. Anyone is welcome to come to this meeting.

http://trimet.org/news/releases/apr26-fare-increase-reading.htm

Aliens Hives (Dark Horse Comic Books 1992) Series 4 of 4

Alien Hives is the series, created by both Jerry Prosser and Kelley Jones. Two very iconic creators came up with an idea that was copied from the box office and put into the hands of young children that can follow the series if they were watching it from the theatre. This series 4 of 4 was very interesting in an ideological way. The ideas that are set in this series are simple, not to get killed by Aliens and to get off the alien planet a live. 

This comic book follows a similar story line that gives one main goal. The goal is that aliens are trying to defend their planet and humans are just curious what is on the planet.  The humans find a green ant-like creature and find out it has a hypnotizing affect on people. There are the same characters in the comic book that relate to the main characters of the series of movies that were released by director James Cameron. The cyborg actor, female actor and the actor that is portrayed as the evil character trying to sabotage the ships and its crew, are the main people in the series. Creators use their own interpretations so they don't follow exactly from the movie, but put more of a colorful perspective for a children’s approach to read and look at the pictures.

The Three main news stories for Portland, Oregon. April 25, 2011

When people log on to the web cite OregonLive.com, they can find stories from the most important to the least important stories. The most important topics differentiate from sports, school dropout rates and TriMet raising their ticket fare by September 1, 2011.

When someone opens up the page, they will see the most important topic at the top left corner of the web cite. People can always find a certain article that pertains to the Trail Blazers. The article explains how important game five was and how the Trail Blazers needed game five to win the series. Although, game 6 is back in Portland, it is evident that who ever wins game five has better chances at wining the whole series. 

http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2011/04/trail_blazers-mavericks_game_5_2.html

Secondly, when someone clicks down further on the web page, someone will find a topic that deals with school and why high school students are not graduating. According to Hammond (2011) said, “In a class that included nearly 50,000 students, just 33,000 got diplomas with in four years while 4,400 stuck around for a fifth year of high school and about 11,600 dropped out.” That is just an alarming figure that many students do not take education very seriously.

http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2011/04/one_in_three_oregon_high_schoo.html

Lastly, by clicking further down on the web page, someone will find a topic that deals with TriMet. Although, TriMet is a least favorite topic compared to sports and schools, it needs some attention also because there are many people that ride transit to work, school and other places. This article mentions that TriMet plans raising fares to a 5-cent increase due to increasing gas prices.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/commuting/2011/04/trimetfare_hike_hearings_a_crc.html

Gang Land - Memphis

I chose a very influential show called "Gangland."  The episode that I chose was called "Kill or be killed." Filmed from the streets of Memphis, Tennessee. The show is seen on the History Channel network. I like watching "Gangland" because you really never know how bad a part of the country is until you witness it for your self or see it on television. This is the story of two rival gangs called "LMG" which stands for "Love Murdering Gangsters." The rival gang "GD" stands for "Gangster Disciples." These two rival gangs were gaining popularity in the early 1990’s

One of the main terms that was used from this show is "On the Mississippi Delta is kill or be killed." The show is set in the lower part of Memphis, Tennessee. There are many characters that have many amazing stories to tell about the life of a gangster in Memphis, Tennessee. A "LMG" gangster called Deangelo Bills is depicted by many gangsters as "Wild" because he got shot 17 times and is still alive. In this show he tells how he was shot in the head, stomach and several arteries. Another "LMG" gangster named Corrino Pruit was a leader in the gang at the time. He committed heinous crimes that most people would not think of. Curtis Crump "LMG" gangster was initiated when he was 10 years old. He said, "I was into church and the bible, but there was a lot of drugs around and that is how I got involved." Curtis was also shot 7 times in 1999 over a game of shooting dice in the streets. The main leader of this notorious gang was George Hewitt, "AKA" G-Train. By 1993, G-Train was in charge of the whole gang.

“Love Murdering Gangsters” came from a place called Lamoyne Housing Projects in the early 90's. The gang changed their name to Love Murdering Gangsters because there was a new gang called "Gangster Disciples" that came from Chicago, Illinois trying to steal the turf of the "LMG's." That is why they changed their name. Now, that a new gang came in and is trying to control the turf from the "LMG's" is causing the two rival gangs to kill or be killed. The streets of Memphis, Tennessee is a very poor city, so there is two things that go together drugs and poverty.

As time goes by, there is two leaders controlling the streets named "G-train" and rival gang leader of Gangster Disciples named Darryl Jordan "AKA" Cowboy. These two have been trying to control the streets for many years. Until, Cowboy has changed his direction and tried to rob some "LMG's." There is going to be war and people are going to die. One night "Cowboy" was smoking weed out on the streets and "G-train" pulled up and started talking to Cowboy and then that is when things got scary. People jumped out of G-train's car and shot "Cowboy" 12 times. After the LMG's shot Cowboy, they fled the scene and the cops were called and saw that Cowboy was still a live and Cowboy's last words were "Train shot me."

Now that the Police have an eyewitness who shot Cowboy, they could hold it against G-train. When the case went to court, no one had any eyewitnesses or did not want to come forward because they were scared.  A former LMG gangster named "Wild" said, "Who ever was in their way, they would be took'en care of." That is scary to hear from a real hard-core gangster. If I witness something at that time, I would just keep on walking. Now, that the prosecution did not have any eyewitnesses, the court did not find enough evidence to put "G-train" away at the time. After he was acquitted, he gained superior power.

In 1997, the gang LMG's were unstoppable according to the "Shelby County Crimes Unit." G-train gain enormous popularity that he was not convicted of his crime. His gang began to get stronger and stronger until the point that G-Train thought he was invincible. He said, "I have nine lives, no one can stop me." Well one day his 9 lives came to an abrupt end. On the corner of his business, two rival gangsters used assault rifles to shoot G-train multiple times. G-train did not die easily, he got in his car and started driving across the street and the rival gangsters shot him in the neck. Then he died and there were no apparent witnesses that came forward in court after the shooting. His best friend "LMG" Alvin Johnson was in prison at the time, but he got the word that G-train has been assassinated. He was devastated when he heard the news. Till this day there are no witnesses and the case is closed.

The colors in the show were mostly dark colors such as black, grey, red, and blue. When the directors are doing a dramatization in the scenes, they are using black and grey. It was very well done in my opinion. It shows the inside real life of a place that has two rival gangs showing who is the leader. It takes you a step closer to see how violent gangs are and what they would do to people if they got in their way. Gangsters in the show did not have any morals and most of them did not have family, so that is why they were introduced to gangs. Gangs are like a “family” and they will do anything to support their “family.” Most of the gangsters that were depicted from this show are either locked up for crimes they committed in the past, or are deceased. Many LMG's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gdWEiXU9TM

The Adventures of Matt Amling

This is the story of Matt Amling. He is currently a student of the University of Portland State. He is in his last year at the university working on his Communication Degree and a minor in German. Although, he does live in Portland, he has adventured as far as the end of the world to Australia. He lived in Australia for about a year discovering different cultures that are presently there. He told me "After I am done with school, I am going to move to Germany." That is simply amazing to hear that he is very intrigued in different cultures and it truly shows that he loves to travel.

He currently works at United Postal Services at the Portland Airport location loading and unloading boxes. He tells me "I love working for UPS because it is great exercise and it keeps me in shape. Oh yeah, also it has great benefits too." He also said, "UPS is a very physical job, but it  is a job and it is hard to find a job considering how bad the economy is in. I would agree with him on the economy because of how many people are out of jobs right now.

Matt has many hobbies he loves to enjoy. He loves to go hiking to undisclosed location because it is more of adventure if there is less people that travel the trails. Also, he loves to go bouldering to different locations because it is a thrill and to live on the edge, that is what Matt loves to do. And, when he is done adventuring outside in the nature he calms down and reads a book or plays video games or goes bowling with his friends or girl friend.

This is Matt's story and he will continue to be as happy and cheerful as this picture of him up in the left hand corner of this page. Keep up the good work and it will pay off for you in the long run. A little german Matt said to me when I was done talking to him he said,  "Auf Wiedersehen." Which means good bye in German. Alright Matt, Good Bye.