Teen Girl Shot by Taliban Rushed to UK

I went on to Yahoo! news today and the story of 14 year old Malala Yousufzai was one of the top stories. She was shot last week in the head and neck by a single  member of the Taliban while she was on a school bus for supporting education for women.  She is in critical condition but has regained movement in her arms and a little in her legs. She was flown to England for medical care.  The Pakistani government has said it will pay for all hospital expenses. 
This story really caught my eye because of how we were discussing sexist religions and groups while going over Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire by Deepa Kumar. 

This story is also interesting to me because of the buzz around education, especially in Chicago. We had teachers on strike, funding problems, and the list goes on. We are so concerned with pay and benefits that we don't realize that there are children across the world that are literally targeted for wanting an education. We need to make sure that our need to be 'right" and prove a point doesn't overthrow the importance of education to our young people. Compared to what people (women in other countries) would do just to have a small chance at educational freedom, we should just feel lucky that it can be provided here no matter how good or bad. Of course we want to strive for better education, but as a young woman, I am appreciative of the opportunities afforded to me.

The link for the story is about Malala is below.
http://gma.yahoo.com/teen-girl-shot-taliban-rushed-uk-095613358--abc-news-topstories.html

Communication is Key

This is very true in our society today. How do you communicate with someone on a regular basis? How often do you hear their actual voice or see them in person. Not face-time on your Iphone or Skype but in person. Because everything is public or can be public (ie twitter, Facebook  or a blog) people feel they have the right to make their thoughts and opinions known to everyone. Why do i feel people need to know my feelings about the fight I had with my friend? Because I can with out directly having to tell each individual person about it.  Another thing that people do is say things they probably shouldn't say and then make up an excuse (ie my account was hacked, I left my twitter open, I thought that was a text, etc) but in reality they did say it. Public isn't always a good thing but people still post things in a public sphere just to make sure everyone knows they have an opinion about it. 

I'd Quote That!

A couple of people that I think of as public intellects would be Warren Buffet, Michelle Obama, and Bill Clinton. I also agree with one of my classmates in saying that Comedians are public intellects as well. For the first three i named, I believe they are PIs because they are/were in the public eye speaking on some things that they feel very strongly about. They studied these areas, made an opinion and projected these ideas to others. Do I believe they are always right? Absolutely not! But what I do believe is that they have decided to put themselves out in the public for opinions of their ideals knowing that they would have backlash. They believe in what they have to say and stick to it.
I choose Warren Buffet because of one of the speeches he gave to a graduating MBA class and the quote that he used in that speech. He said "The Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken." That quote can be used to talk about the public opinion and many other things in our world today. No one feels there needs to be a change until its way to late to try and change it.
As far as comedians are concerned, they say exactly how they feel and even if you disagree you still chuckle or smile because they had the balls to say it in front of an audience.To me, PIs come in all different shapes and sizes and even if I don't agree with them I know someone does.

Only in Public

Everyone has an opinion! Is it a smart opinion? Is it biased? Is it from a credible source? I believe that when thinking about a public or a public opinion all of these things need to be taken into consideration. Of course everyone has an opinion but the real thing that people should think about is if the opinion is for the good of the public or just to bash someone else and make themselves look better. I have a concern for the fate of the public life because of the simple fact that anyone can be public with what ever they want to say no matter if there is truth to the statement or not. People are so quick to try to prove why they are right that they never consider what the other person has to say or is trying to say. Rational debate is slowly leaving and being replaced with arguments which is never a good thing.