It's about time...

This is a beautiful article.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=2059099&page=1

If the link dosn't work I'm copying it in this post:

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Student Slams Classmates in Graduation Speech
High School Senior Says School Is Full of Cheating and Drug Use

By JESSICA GOLDEN

June 9, 2006 — Kyle Stublen had something to get off his chest — and he decided to do it in front of all his classmates, as well as their friends and families.

The high school senior in Punta Gorda, Fla., has gained national attention after giving a graduation speech that depicted his school as full of cheating, drug use and preferential treatment for athletes.

"And this year I have the honor to graduate alongside so many of my peers in what I feel to be one of the most esteemed and worthy graduating classes that has had the privilege to pass through Charlotte High School," he said in his speech at the May 18 commencement.

"And our class is certainly worthy of this title, as we have gone so far as to steal college level tests from a trusting veteran educator just to attain a desirable grade," he read.

Stublen still praised his school's spirit of unity, which he said had triumphed over "felons walking across stage bearing stoles" and "cheaters receiving college credit"

Not the Speech They Expected

Stublen submitted a much tamer version of the text to school officials beforehand, but he said he intended to change his speech all along.

He had been selected to give the speech after beating out a handful of his classmates for the chance to speak at graduation.

Stublen said his actions were a last resort. "I had tried to go through all of the proper channels to address my concerns, but nobody was listening and nothing was being done. I knew I was going to have the mike to myself, and this was the opportunity to address my entire student body, parents, relatives and faculty. This was my chance to really make people aware of what is going on at Charlotte High."

Stublen — an A student with plans to attend the University of Florida in July — claimed the school's bathrooms are a haven for marijuana and cocaine users, that students steal tests from teachers and athletes skip out on coursework.

Student Leader Is Livid, Others Are Supportive

Some are calling Stublen a hero, but class president Rachel Libby is not impressed.

"Kyle's speech was a sophomoric attempt to voice his personal feelings. It was not intended to help the senior class, offer guidance or instill nostalgia, and it distracted from the dignity of the commencement ceremony," Libby wrote in an op-ed to her local newspaper, the Sarasota Herald Tribune.

Libby said she wished he had tried harder to find another way to air his complaints.

"Principal Duffy has an open door policy, and I know for a fact that Kyle never even attempted to contact him with his concerns."

Stublen admitted he spoke only to department heads, not the principal himself. But he says he's received a strong showing of support from both fellow students and parents who have told him "what you did was right and it needed to be said."

Tony Smith, Charlotte High senior class council vice president, thought Stublen's speech would improve his school. "Charlotte High is breaking," said Smith, who is the third generation in his family to attend the school. "Unless someone stands up and says its breaking, it's going to crumble."

While the school administration was furious with Stublen and withheld his diploma for five days after graduation, the school's principal is looking forward. "As the principal of Charlotte High, it is my obligation to look at his statements. If they are true, I want to make them right," Duffy said.

He has organized a task force to look into Stublen's allegations.

"I'm looking at this as a chance to make Charlotte High a better place."

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Reading things like this give me a warm fuzzy feeling inside. I think it's great that this kid stood up and spoke his mind. I, for one, would love to shake his hand.

The article, for the most part, speaks for itself. I love the Class Rep's reaction tho. Sounds like those typical popular girls who has more bleach anc makeup than brains.

I also can't help but notice a certain level of disdain from the author if this article. As in, pointing out left and right how he was underhanded in his methods. I have to compliment on her ability to steer clear of stating her own opinion though. Too many journalists (profesional and amatuer) tend to do that waaaay too much.

I just thought I'd share this cause it was just too good not to.

Do as the Romans do

I'm pretty sure many people I know (which isn't all that much) are probably asking themselves "What's happened to Chris....he sort of dropped off the face of the Earth"

Well I'm still on Earth, just at a different location: Italy.

I love Italy. Perhaps, being that it's my ethnic background, I am a little biased in my opinion. However, all these tourists can't be wrong.

Mentioning tourists was quite deliberate as it segways into what I really wanted to talk about: All tourists should rot in some interesting form.

Now some people are going to think that's a little harsh. Hear me out.

First lets address the abvious point first: I know some will say "Aren't you a tourist?" The answer is "No". I'm more of a native than anything else. I didn't travel to see the typical tourist sites and fall victim to local tourist traps. Now if I was visiting Japan or some other country, one could argue my status as tourist. I'd still have to disagree on grounds that I don't act like a tourist, which brings me to my second point: Why the hell do tourist act like such asses?

They trash the streets, constantly ram and jab and bump into people (God forbid they walk a straight line and look where the hell they're going), they have no respect for places of worship, and no respect for people running the facilities they are graciously let in to take pictures of (for example, not being dressed appropriately for church or using flash when specifically almost yelled at to not use it). Also, just the attitude they have in general is unpleasant and obnoxious.

The beauty of it all is that I'mnot even talking about a specific group of tourists from a specific country. This seems to be a universal thing.

Another thing that urks me is that cities here cater WAY too much to tourists. I'm not going to pay the thieving businesses for something I can get at 1/8 of the price somewhere else.

That's why I prefe cities that aren't as huge and as much a tourist magnet like Rome.

Rome is beautiful though and there's so much to see. I any of you readers have never been, please check it out, and, for the love of God, don't be one of those tourists I mentioned ;P

New Beginnings and Consolidations

Anyone who knows me would know I'm not particularly disciplined when it comes to blogs and online journals and such. I think that my journaling inconsistencies are due to the fact that I don't think I'm particularly mastered at expressing myself via any form of literature, neither am I convinced that people are particularly interested in my experiences and/or my opinions, and keeping up with various different blog and journal sites are a big hassle.

I'm sure at this point the question "If you're not really inclined to blog and such, why create a new account on a new blogging site?" (and please forgive the over use of the word blog...)

I've reached the conclusion that I don't mind having these blogs. As an outlet for my thoughts and such, these little tools are rather useful. I hate having livejournal, and myspace and God knows what else though. I'm not going to post the same thing in different communities. It's just illogical and downright silly. So If I'm going to post, I'll make one post in one site (i.e. this one) and then I'll just link to it on the other sites.

I think that overall this should consolidate things. So I can bring three or more web communities I'm involved in into one.

I've been also considering creating a private blog for more personal thoughts and opinions. I tried that with Livejournal and it didn't take off as well as I hoped. The problem is that I think about what to write when I'm not in front of my computer. I'll just have to see if there's a way for me to make it work.

We'll see...