Changing My Party...

I had to change my registered political party a few days ago so I could vote for Ron Paul in the primary... I never thought I would be registered as a Republican but i'm still a Democrat at heart!

Big Thumbs Down!

BAD NEWS:

My request to interview Luke Ravenstahl was denied... his office basically says they don't have time in the scheldue to speak with a resident of Pittsburgh. Actually that's how I would say it but they basically said that. Now i'm on the hunt to get another interview from a political figure...

Who Are The People On The Banner? (Part 3)

and for information on the people in the middle you can view my previous post.. Those people are the Freedom Writers!http://deeziegradproject.blogspot.com/2007/07/freedom-writersriders.html

Who Are The People On The Banner? (Part 2)

And the guy on the left is Ron Paul (R) and here is a bio on him....

Ronald Ernest Paul, (born August 20, 1935) is a 10th-term Congressman from Lake Jackson, Texas, a member of the Republican Party, a physician, and a candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2008 presidential election. He has represented Texas's 14th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1997 and represented Texas's 22nd district in 1976 and from 1979 to 1985. Paul also ran for President in the 1988 presidential election as the nominee for the Libertarian Party.
Ron Paul has a constitutionalist and libertarian voting record. He is an advocate of states' rights, free trade, fewer taxes, smaller government, strong national sovereignty, and non-interventionism. Paul supports reduced government spending and reduced taxes. As congressman, he has never voted to raise taxes[citation needed] or to approve an unbalanced budget and has also called for the abolition of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the federal income tax. He voted against the USA PATRIOT Act, the Iraq War Resolution, and the Military Commissions Act of 2006.

Who Are The People On The Banner? (Part 1)

I was looking at my blog today and I looked at my banner. I realized that some people might now have a good idea who the people on my banner are. On the left is Jon Stewart and here is a little bio from the greatest website ever (Wikipedia) on him.

Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz on November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, satirist, actor, writer, author, and producer. He is perhaps best known as the host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show and for his political satire.
Stewart started off as a stand-up comedian but later moved on to television, hosting Short Attention Span Theater for Comedy Central. He then went on to host his own show on MTV, called The Jon Stewart Show. Stewart also hosted another show on MTV, called You Wrote It, You Watch It.
Stewart began hosting The Daily Show on Comedy Central in early 1999. He is also a writer and co-producer of the show. After Stewart joined it, The Daily Show steadily gained popularity and critical acclaim leading to his first Emmy Award in 2001. Stewart also co-wrote America (The Book). The book was one of the top 15 best-sellers in the U.S. in 2004.

Now Hosting Free Talk Live

I have decided to host Free Talk Live, a online talk show that is controlled the by the listeners discussing any topic imaginable from Scientology to resisting arrest. This show is a great example of freedom of speech as it gives citizens the right to speak on whatever they choose. If you look to the right above the music player you can listen to the episodes we are hosting... the most recent five episodes

I Got My Registration!

One of the best steps of being 18! I got my voter's registration card! I'm so pumped that I get to help decide the next president of the United States of America!

Free Talk Radio

As everyone knows radio and talk shows are great forms of Freedom Of Speech. A example of that it is Free Talk Radio which is a podcast radio show on the Internet which gives opinions and talks about current events in today's world. I'm currently listening to it and they are talking about Scientology and that elements of it. I must say if what they are saying about this religion is true I must say this is one of the hardest religions to take seriously...

To check out this radio station/podcast a little more you can go to their website and check them out at their website and download the podcast at the this link...

http://www.freetalklive.com/

Another Key Person To Talk To...

While meeting with Pat Clark of Jackson/Clark & my mentor Celeste Taylor at my internship today... a name came up for use for Constitution Day to come and speak to students and her name is Judge Marjorie O. Rendall or otherwise known as the 43rd first lady of Pennsylvania and she is also the wife of Governor Edward G. Rendall of Pennsylvania. I think Mrs. Rendall would be an awesome person to speak to since I hear that she is big on Constitutional Law thanks to being a District Court Judge. As of right now I have no meeting set up but I hope to get one...

For more information on Mr. Rendall please refer to her website...

http://www.firstlady.state.pa.us/firstlady/site/default.asp

Connecting With Ravenstahl

Here is an update for my grad project...

I'm currently trying my damnest to obtain a interview with Mayor Luke Ravenstahl for my documentary. I'm currently talking to the Senior Administrator to Ravenstahl about setting up an interview but I don't know what direction is going to go in. I'm hoping for my request to get accepted but I don't know if he has the time. I want to start gaining politicians in my documentary because I think it will be the bread and butter of my documentary.

Meeting Is Over!

I'm happy to announce during the meeting I gain my confidence in who i'm working with for my Constitution Day project and those organizations are my internship foundation People For The American Way as well as Student Voices (Pittsburgh Chapter) and The League Of Young Voters. Now my main goal is to connect with Student Voices and The League to find out what they are doing for my program day.

Meeting @ 9AM

Today, I have a meeting with Celeste and a few other non profit organizations to possibly get funding for Constitution Day. I hope everything goes well because funding for it would be great! I will be sure to blog after the meeting to inform everyone what I got or what I didn't get (I hope this isn't the case)

Freedom Writers

I just got done watching Freedom Writers starring Hilary Swank and I must say that has got to be one of the best movies i've ever seen. I recommend everyone check it out as well... for more on who the Freedom Writers are and their story check out my previous posts...

Not Changing The Soundtrack

Some may of notice alot of new music on the player. They are just other songs that I found that I thought really repersented my topic (Freedom Of Speech). As of this time the soundtrack list is still the same and the list can be found in one of previous posts...

Internship Update: Constitution Day!

On September 17th, 2007, Daniel Egan in cooperation with People for the American Way Foundation will be honoring the national holiday entitled Citizenship (Constitution) Day. The idea of this day is to raise awareness on what exactly the United States Constitution is? , What are the laws that are in it?, How do citizens of the United States use it?. To raise awareness Daniel & PFAW plan on holding an informational event at the Union Station Project located in Highland Park from 12am to 6pm on the date listed above.

Thanks to my mentor talking to Heather Harr who works for Greater Pittsburgh Student Voices she got us a $150 donation from Great Pittsburgh Student Voices to host Constitution Day at Union Station Project! I get to meet Heather tomorrow too which will be interesting, I might ask her if I can get an interview with her for my documentary!

The Real Freedom Writers

Recently I came across the story of the Freedom Writers, a class of students that were seperated by race related gangs and then comes along a women named Erin Gruwell who wanted to teach the students that there was more out there for them then the troubles that surround them in Long Beach, California. This is a very inspirational story that says to you never to give up because there is always something better for everyone's future.

This story connects with Freedom Of Speech due to the fact that these students got the chance to use their first amendment right to use their stories of their past to progress in their lives and show society that they were more then 5th grade reading level gang members they were intelligent and successful people!

Check Out The Official Freedom Writers Foundation Website for more information!

http://www.freedomwritersfoundation.org/site/c.kqIXL2PFJtH/b.2259975/k.BF19/Home.htm

You Big Meanie!

Recently as I was walking in Giant Eagle I came across an article in the USA Today regarding Freedom Of Speech and people making ignorant comments on the internet. Basically what the article talks about is how people can speak ignorant or make mean comments to people over the internet and not get in trouble due to it being freedom of speech. For example I can say... "George W. Bush is a fucking moron and can go to hell" and nothing can happen to me.

Check out this article by clicking here, it is a very entertaining article!

SiCko (Part 6)

Sicko pt 6/6

SiCko (Part 5)

Sicko pt 5/6

SiCko (Part 4)

Sicko pt 4/6

SiCko (Part 3)

Sicko pt 3/6

SiCko (Part 2)

Sicko pt 2/6

SiCko (Part 1)

Michael Moore's Sicko pt 1/6

In Honor

In honor of one of my favorite documentary filmmakers Michael Moore I have decided to host his new documentary intitled SiCko on my blog for everyone to view. It's going to be a six part blog post so the next six posts will be the parts of the movie. It is a very informative movie on healthcare in the United States and I believe everyone should see it. The documentary also connects will my topic for my graduation project because of two reasons

1) People use their freedom of speech to talk about the health care situation in the United States

2) Michael Moore uses his freedom of speech by making this documentary talking about healthcare in the United States

Enjoy the movie!

Freedom Of Speech Zone - Arrested Development

wow... this is kinda like how the government wants freedom of speech used... haha

BUSH LIED, THEY DIED

Well here is another Free Speech battle....

a t-shirt vendor out of Arizona has been printing t-shirts saying "BUSH LIED, THEY DIED" on the front and on the back listing countless names of U.S. Soldiers that died in Iraq. As usual this is causing a uproar from the government due to the signing of a law by Governor Rick Perry stating that names of fallen soldiers can't be used for profit unless given consent by the still living families of these soldiers. In a nutshell this is basically a battle which pits free speech against state law. To read the full story click here

Can I Have A Dollar?

That's all a homeless guy had to say to get arrested for violating the anti-begging law in New York.....oh and that fact he had a crack pipe on him. The story has a twist though as the homeless gentleman actually got off with no charges against him. Basically what he did was saying that his begging was a form of freedom of speech, and with that being a constitutional law in overruled the begging law.... complete genius he used the NY Laws as the NY Police Department!

For the full story click here

Well Look Here...Another Politician That Hates Freedom Of Speech...

Congrats are in order for this YouTube Director that told Mr. Sensenbrenner what he really is for the dumbass law he is trying to pass. Oh and here is Jimmy Kimmel helping Jimmy's cause haha

Dee Snyder (Twisted Sister) Stands Up Against Being Censored

Watch Your Words!

As this news converstation states many radio 'shock' jocks are being fired due to saying certain things and making certain jokes. I can't believe this... the FCC is totally screwing over Freedom Of Speech. Thank God For Sirus!

What's Going On? Tell Me!

This video in my opinion is Freedom Of Speech because it's artists in the music world today standing up against the AIDs crisis and the war of terrorism. These superstars use their status to reach the masses for a change.

I'm Voting For Ron Paul!

Working Class Hero - Green Day Recreates An Lennon Classic

This is a great example of Free Speech! American Rock Band, Green Day recreates a class John Lennon song explaining that the crisis that is going on in Darfur, Africa needs to end because it has been going on for too long! They believe the American Government needs to take a stand and help!

Holy Sh!t I Actually Did Something Fossum Might Like!

Well hello there everyone that reads this blog!!!!!!!!

Deezie here just making some updates to my glorious blog on my documentary on Freedom Of Speech. I have alot of things to talk about so I have decided to bullet them and leave a short summary of each......

• City High IS OVER!! (Well atleast for 5 weeks)
• I won an award for my dedication to my grad project! I FEEL SO ACCOMPLISHED!
• I started my internship with Celeste Taylor... I must say it is going great! for my first project with her i'm working on an assignment for High Schools to do for Constitution Day (a national holiday that is ment to inform students on the constitution) I'm thinking about making a website and also designing a few small assignments I can have my peers do! Oh and by the way Constitution Day is September 17th 2007!
• I have a meeting with Celeste, My Mom and my internship manager Patti Kretschman in about 9 hours and 30 minutes regarding a second internship with Celeste from the end of August to the end of November! This basically means 4 more months of something I enjoy.... WHICH IS AWESOME!!!!!
• As you can from up above I designed a new banner for the header of my blog! I think Fossum will be happy with this one as I incorporated people of freedom of speech that I admire... Jon Stewart, Marshall Mathers and Michael Moore! It's still not in color though due to the fact that I belief dull gray gives it more of a hidden vibe....The hidden secerts of the first amendment! muahahaha!
• One thing I noticed recently is that i'm becoming somewhat lazy with my blogging too! I have begun to post once like every two weeks and that just isn't acceptable! i'm making a commitment right now that I will blog at least four times a week! if I don't I will hire sixteen ninjas to whoop my a$$!
• Ok... now onto the censorship I have been using in my post this time.... I usually don't like the censoring of things but since I want City Charter High School to accept this blog as a piece of work for them for my Graduation Project I need to keep a little bit of my words PG-13!
• Finally......wooooooo we made it! I am playing on contacting Luke Ravenstahl's next week for an interview because the lady I spoke to back in June said to call the first week of August and she could possibly set something up!

Now i'm going to try to get some sleep which will most likely not happen... but hey it's worth a try!

It's Just Beginning!

Even with my Graduation Project class ending on Friday... I still have alot of work to do as i'm going to be interning with Celeste Taylor who the PA State Coordinator for People For An American Way Foundation for the next four months.

I have to start assembling my documentary too! this is where my graduation project work gets interesting....

1) I have to call Ravenstahl's office to scheldue an interview
2) I have to go to my internship 4 days a week
3) I have to work on getting more interviews
4) I have to report back to my high school in 5 weeks

PACKED SCHELDULE!

CHECK OUT FREESPEECH.COM IT'S THE BEST WEBSITE EVER!

Working To His Own Beat!

My buddy Aaron Gibson has a really interesting graduation project which details the history of hip hop/rap called 'Da Project' and I think everyone should check it out. I'm promoting it due to the fact that music is a great way to use your right of freedom of speech!

Good luck Aaron! I know your project will be great!

Check Out His Blog! (http://agibsgradproject.blogspot.com/)

50th Post: Interview With Tom K, Trimester III Also Over!

Hello there everyone, as you can read from the heading listed above I recently did another interview for my graduation project with a gentleman named Tom Kawczynski, who is a state coordinator for a political support group for 2008 Presidential Candidate Republican, Ron Paul. Mr. Kawczynski's incites were very professional as well as informative when he begun to talk about what this county's government is missing and how to improve on that. I decided to ask him that question as a way for Mr. Kawczynski to not just extract his freedom of speech but also show some support for Ron Paul or otherwise known as 'Dr. No'. I would like to thank Mr. Kawczynski for his time and let him know I learned alot if he decides to check my blog out again.

With the trimester coming to a close; my graduation project is really shaping up to be that of a masterpiece! I'm going to try to some day during this week to stay and begin to piece my documentary in Adobe Premier.... I might use some of the footage that I have from my Post High School Planning scholarship in which I used Mario Zinga, Jeff Baraff and Shane Feher for interviews and asked them "what freedom of speech means to them?".

I just decided to look at the date on my computer and it also seems like I have my internship with Ms. Celeste Taylor coming up in six days with her as her role as PA State Coordinator for the People for the American Way Foundation. I never thought I would anticipate something as much as I anticipate this internship.... it should be not only a great learning experience but also a stepping stone on building a great resume for myself.

Well till next time...that's all folks!

Another One From The Bus

Well here is another entry from Deezie on the bus…haha

Anyways I just wanted to give a little information on what I plan to do today…

For some reason recently I have had a hint of writer’s block as I write my proposal for my graduation project but I’m hoping I’m cured due to the fact it is due on Friday (tomorrow). I know what I want to do with my documentary and I know what I need to know when it comes to my topic (Freedom Of Speech) but it seems that I can’t put it in words. Maybe I’m in my own little world… I don’t know but regardless I’m going to work on get my proposal done today and I’m going to give all my documents some refreshing such as adding more notes to my notes, my information on my outline and digging up my webliography wherever it may be!

If I can type these blog entries I can damn sure get my proposal….

I work @ the Wiz tonight but I will try to blog about how the day went… all my information will be put together!!!

Alright, thanks for taking the time listening to me rant…

Much Love,

Daniel ‘Deezie’ Egan

Crazy Times...

All has happened in the last few days including the contract I originally had regarding my internship being cancelled due to many infractions on my part and the idea of me deciding to stop doing my documentary. After countless hours of thought though I have decided to continue doing my documentary on freedom of speech. Now I have some firepower though even with my privileges revoked by Fossum. I plan on using my new connections that I have which are a man name Richard King and the PA State Coordinator for People For The American Foundation, Mrs. Celeste Taylor who is also my mentor. I plan on reaching an agreement with them to interview them as well as some of their colleagues. Well it’s almost time for stop as I’m tying the entry on Microsoft Word as I ride the bus. LOOK FORWARD FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THESE RECENT DEVELOPMENTS!

CHECK THE OFFICIAL SITE!

http://projectxfreedomofspeech.tk

Much Love,

Dan ‘Deezie’ Egan

www.projectxfreedomofspeech.tk

WE NOW HAVE AN OFFICIAL HOMEPAGE ON TOP OF A BLOG FOR THE DOCUMENTARY!

http://www.projectxfreedomofspeech.tk/

SiCko!

Hey I felt it was time to check in on my blog due to the fact I haven't blog in almost 2 weeks!!! I have some things that I feel I should update people on. 1st, my favorite author/documentarian Michael More is coming out with a new movie on Friday called SiCkO. It's a documentary on Health Care in the United States and how crappy it is! I just recently started following the basis for this movie due to the fact I'm not interest in the health care situation as of this moment.

I realized though this is a great example of Freedom Of Speech and I plan on downloading illegally on the net tonight due to the fact that everything is online now a days.

Anyways i'm still working on my notes because I have to update them alittle more. While I was riding the bus home this afternoon from school I decided that I will begin sorting my documents like my webliography, notes, information on my interviewees and stuff of that nature because i'm so fucking unorganized. I plan on picking up a portfolio tomorrow and I want to get these notes done because I want to start my paper.

Anyways, i'm going to the library with Kory tomorrow to get some books and I plan on taking my laptop to work on some stuff due to the fact it's so much easier to work on stuff when i'm not in that Clark Building. Right now i'm thinking about checking in with some of my classmates like Aaron Gibson because he is doing his graduation project on the history of hip hop music and I want to get his input on freedom of speech in it. I got to start putting together my documentary though in Adobe Premier because I see those tapes ending up going lost and then i'm screwed!!!

That's what's new with my project.... I plan on being alot more active as this trimester comes to a close. I've just been going through alot of bullshit with Zinga (An Admin @ CCHS) due to the fact he is a huge bag of doosh. I'm also sick which doesn't help much!

Plan Of Action

I have to pick what i'm going to put in my documentary and it's going to be a pain in the backside due to the fact that i'm somewhat on injured reserve due to Jam Out Genocide. Jam Out Genocide was a free speech show I sponsored under my production company, Deezie Productions. Right now I got to start my notes so I can get out early tomorrow to go to the ACLU on my half day. On a personal note, I don't know why but i'm starting to think that my want to do my graduation project is slowing going down the tubes. All my work is up to date but I just don't want to do it or anything anymore. Maybe it's just a stage i'm going through. Well my neck really hurts and im going to start doing these notes.... hopefully when I blog next I will be more positive!

Interview With Gery Steighner

Today I interviewed an editorial editor/writer at the Tribune Review by the name of Gery Steighner. It was a very informative interview as I got to get a view of then newsroom as well as got an editor's opinion on freedom of speech. I plan on putting his interview as well as Mr. Burkoff's interview raw off the production floor when I get a chance to go into the lab (Mr. Gordon Nelson's room). My next few days are going to be crazy as I gotta do notes for my grad project and taking a trip to the ACLU.

Well I Got My Interview!!

It only took a day to get one of my interviews and it's with a PITT Law Professor. Mr. John M. Burkoff... who is a LAW instructor @ the University Of Pittsburgh. I sent a email to him today to request my interview be tomorrow and i'm waiting for a word back. I've decided to put the video of my interview on YouTube.com so I can post it on my blog. Once I hear back from Mr. Burkoff I will blog it! Here is some information on Mr. Burkoff that I dug off the internet.

"In the '60's, many people went to law school to change the world. When they failed to have a massive, visible impact on the legal system, many were frustrated and disillusioned. They had the right idea, but the wrong scale of vision. What lawyers can accomplish is what might be called 'little justices.' In representing people day to day, lawyers can get justice for people and change lives for the better. If over the course of a career, a lawyer does a thousand little justices for people, that's big justice. That seems to me to be a prime reason to go to law school."

Degrees: AB, JD, University of Michigan; LLM, Harvard University.
Areas of Specialization: Criminal Law, Constitutional Criminal Procedure, Legal Ethics, Human Rights.

Currently Teaching: Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Legal Profession.

John M. Burkoff is a prolific author, teacher, public speaker, lawyer, and expert witness. He has published eleven books and more than 50 articles in the areas of criminal justice, human rights, and legal ethics. In addition, Dean Burkoff was awarded the University of Pittsburgh's

Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award in 1987, and was the University's nominee for national Professor of the Year.
Professor Burkoff is also heavily involved with legal projects and legal education around the world. He has worked for U.S. Embassies in Burundi, Iceland, and Kenya on human rights projects, and on draft legislation or litigation for the governments of Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, and Ethiopia. He has been a member of the faculty of the Institute of Shipboard Education's Semester at Sea program three times, including serving as Academic Dean of its Fall 1996 Voyage and Director of the Law at Sea program in the Summer of 2001.
A nationally recognized expert on legal ethics, Professor Burkoff often serves as an expert witness or consultant, and was the Reporter for the American Bar Association's third edition revisions of the national Prosecution and Defense Function Standards, the ethical standards for the criminal bar. He was the chair of the American Bar Association Task Force that revised the professional standards for criminal trial judges. He was also the first chair of the City of Pittsburgh's Citizen's Police Review Board. A Fulbright Scholar and Ford Foundation Fellow, he is a past chairperson of the Criminal Justice Section of the Association of American Law Schools.

Essential & Foundation Questions

My Essential Question...

How do Americans use Freedom of Speech?

My Foundation Questions are...

1) What is freedom of speech?
2) What are examples of freedom of speech?
3) Is America the only country that honors the idea of Freedom Of Speech?
4) How is free speech censored in the classroom?
5) Is censorship a good idea?
6) Should certain opinions be censored due to unpatriotic views? (Flag burning; etc)
7) What would the world be like today if there was no freedom of speech?
8) When you think of Freedom Of Speech what do you think of?
9) Can racism be considered Freedom Of Speech?
10) What is a rally?

Can Technology Beat Internet Censors?

I found this interesting article on BBC; That discusses how people that use the internet are trying to find ways to beat the blocks that keep them from viewing certain material on the net. ENJOY!

Can technology beat the internet censors?
Paul Mason
27 Oct 06, 09:31 PM
Its predecessor is 2000 years old but the Great Firewall of China is the wonder of the online world - so powerful that it can control net access for a fifth of humanity - it represents China's determination to control what's supposed to be uncontrollable - and it works. Watch my report here. In 2004 Shi Tao, a journalist in contact with democracy websites, took notes of a government briefing concerning how he should report the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, and sent it using his Yahoo email account. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison....
At his trial the prosecution presented
"Account holder information furnished by Yahoo Holdings (Hong Kong) Ltd which confirms that for IP address 218,76.8.20 at 11.32.17pm,,,the corresponding user information was as follows...."
You can read the full trial proceedings here: his 10 year sentence was classed as "lenient".
Yahoo had handed over crucial information linking Shi's anonymous Yahoo email account to the Chinese police.
Today Amnesty International launched a campaign to highlight the plight of bloggers, chatroom members and online journalists on the receiving end of net censorship. Amnesty's Kate Allen told us: "We want Yahoo, Google and Microsoft to stand up to values they say they espouse. Access to information, freedom on the internet. We want people who use those companies to make their views clear so we don't end up with a two-tier internet."
Yahoo told us:
"We condemn punishment of any activity internationally recognized as free expression. The case of Shi Tao is distressing to us. However, law enforcement agencies worldwide are not required to explain businesses why they demand specific information regarding certain individuals. The case is a real example of why this issue is bigger than any one company and any one industry."
But I've been finding out that techie web users themselves are inventing ways to monitor and, increasingly, get around web censorship. the Open Net Initiative now publishes regular metrics on how, when and what is banned in countries as diverse as Saudi Arabia, Iran and China.
Meanwhile I've noticed that there's a little known tool on the Google Labs website, called the Google Web Accelerator, that - as well as speeding up access to Google - just happens to encrypt your searches. I don't know whether it's available in China, but it's the kind of thing savvy web users in repressive countries are quietly using to keep their sessions away from the attention of the authorities. So three cheers for the 80:20 principle, where Google's engineers get a day a week to work on hobbies like this.
For a real heavy duty two-fingers job to regimes like Beijing, Tehran and Riyadh, users are turning to a programme called Freenet. It's a peer to peer programme that scrambles the data, spreads it around the hard disk of every user, and sends queries for data around a path so convoluted that only a London cabbie with a taxi-full of hapless tourists could match it. See it here - but beware you have no way of knowing whether you are helping host a Chinese democracy website or porn - and there is no case law in Britain yet that says scrambling the data is a defence.
Theodore Hong, one of the pioneers of Freenet, tells me there's a Chinese version that's being distributed on floppies and CDs. One of the downsides though, is that if we are all forced to start using tools like Freenet, the internet could just become a series of closed user-communities where only the trusted talk to each other and outsiders are viewed with suspicion.
So next week's UN conference on Internet Governance in Athens (sadly Newsnight's budget does not stretch to Athens since Justin Rowlatt blew it all in Jamaica) will be important. Some repressive countries want there to be more national control of access to the web, weakening ICANN, the global regulator: they might get more support than you would think because ICANN, while nominally global, is based in the USA and there's a lot of suspicion of that.
I talked to a big internet company today who are worried about this trend - and they said: why doesn't the UK government push censorship up the trade agenda, moving it into the WTO negotiations. The UK government made sympathetic noises about that, but pointed out that trade is handled by Brussels. They said no more, but it is well known that France wants a strong national influence on global controls - so the EU is not united over solutions to the kind of censorship that put Shi Tao in jail. As always hit the comment button.

Glossary For Project X

Bill Of Rights - law specifying human rights

Censorship - suppression of something debatable

Defamation of Character - to disrespect one’s reputation by stating something negative of them

Desecration – to damage something important

First Amendment – the act of forbidding congress from deciding one’s religion, speech, assembly
or petition

Freedom – right to do or say whatever you would like

Restrict – to create a boundary for something

Self Censorship – to censor something on one’s own choice

Spoken Word – stating of one’s opinion of something verbally

Symbolism – Art of using symbols such as photos to express something

Carnegie Library Of Pittsburgh (Oakland)

Today my class took a trip to the Carnegie Library Of Pittsburgh located in Oakland. The trip to designed to help us gain resources for our projects as well as the 10 page papers we have to write. In my personal opinion I believe this visit to the library was very helpful in the sense that now I have three new books to reference from for not only my documentary but my paper. The books I picked out yet they were rented by Mrs. Fossum are as follows...

Censors In Classrooms: The Mind Benders - Edward B. Jenkinson
Students' Rights - Kate Burns
The Bill Of Rights - Akhil Reed Amar

I plan on blogging on some of the information I find in these books in the next few days...

Out Of Date...

It's been awhile since I blogged in this thing... as you can see I updated my blog layout with a new header...now my blog looks like it's ready for the 21st century.

Here is some filming updates...

I have almost all the film I need... my last day of filming is tomorrow and I should be completely prepared to set up my documentary in premier.

I have picked my interviewees!!

Vince Chandler, a musician
Dominique Dutriel, a African American female
Tim Bell, a musician and a very vocal person
Theodore Zatezalo, 11th English Teacher
Mario Zinga, very cultured wise man

My Filming Adventures...

On monday and tuesday, me and Tim Bell went out to South Side & Oakland to film scenic shots as well as mediums in Pittsburgh such as churchs, video games, books, and clothing. The film we took I think will be very helpful and I think I just need one more day to do my filming for other mediums such as music and what not. I got in touch with the office of Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and they said they could grant me a interview in early august if I need it. The respone I could is listed below...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you would like to wait until August that would most likely free up some time. E-mail me the first week of August to see what the calendar is like.

Thanks,

Missy

Melissa M. Stettner

Senior Administrator

to Mayor Luke Ravenstahl
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have started my selection process for who i'm going to interview. As far as peers go I have decided to interview Tim Bell, Vince Chandler, & Dominique Dutriel. I have an idea for what teachers I want to interview but i'm not sure at the moment if that want to be interviewed.

Freedom Of Speech Questions

1) Do you feel that your freedom of speech right has been neglected in a way? Please explain

2) Currently freedom of speech is not recognized in the school system, Should freedom of speech
be used in schools today or should it continue to be censored? Why or why not?

3) Do you feel that in today’s world the people’s point of views are heard or not heard depending
on their monetary status (how much money or power they have)?

4) If you could use your freedom of speech to change one negative in the world today, what would it be? And why?

Work Sheet - As Of 5/13/07 @ 10:50 PM

I've decided that I will keep a work sheet (list of things I need to do) every week and post it on my blog so I can stay organized because I sense that my organization techniques has grown wary since the Grad Project class started...

- Talk to Wertheimer about the newly revised questions and getting my City High survey up
- Revise my letter of intent alittle more
- Revise my MLA citations
- Work on contacting the office of Mayor Luke Ravenstal for interview
- Decide what teachers and students I want to interview; 3 of each
- Film entrance to documentary with Tim Bell

well that's it for now...

Taking A Serious Turn..

Now i'm in the process of thinking what videos and such I will have in my documentary...

I'm know i'm going to have video of politicans and interviews from my peers and teachers but I don't know what else... filming for the opening starts tomorrow...

I wonder if Tim has any ideas.... hopefully haha

I gotta figure out how to get in touch with Luke R because it would be great to have a one on one interview with the mayor of my town.

New Questions For Survey

I've been talking with Werteimer about using the City High Survey Engine for my grad project and he asked me to make some more thought provoking questions so... here ya are!

Questions for ‘Freedom of Speech’ Grad Project Survey
By Daniel Egan

1) Do you feel that your freedom of speech right has been neglected in a way? Please Explain

2) Currently freedom of speech in not recognized in the school system, Should freedom of speech be used in schools today or should it continue to be censored? Why or why not?

3) Do you feel that in today’s world the people’s point of views are heard or not heard depending on their monetary status (how much money or power they have)?

4) If you could use your freedom of speech to change one negative in the world today, what would it be? and why?

Today was Productive!

I got alot of work done and partly done including

- The reasoning for my songs on the soundtrack
- The webliography (some what)

now I plan on editing my letter to turn in for my graduation portfolio.

Fossum!! I DID IT!!

After getting off my lazy butt and doing it; I finally blogged my reasoning for picking the songs I did for the soundtrack of Project X and here it is...

Reasoning For Picking the Songs I Did

1) "Set It Off" - P.O.D
This song was chosen for the soundtrack for two reasons. The first reason is the simple fact that it is Deezie Productions official theme song and the fact that if you listen deep into the song you begin to understand that the song is standing up for yourself as well as what you believe in.

2) "Mosh" – Eminem
This song was chosen for the soundtrack due to the simple fact the it’s a political song that focuses on people ‘moshing’ in support of their beliefs on how crooked the current state of the U.S. government is.

3) "I Can" – Nas
This song was simply chosen due to the fact that it’s Nas using his fame to support a cause he is a big supporter of which is the ‘Save the Music’ foundation.

4) "Scapegoat" – Atmosphere
A very well known indie rapper that in this raps about everything that people use to cover up lies or troubles they have in their lives.

5) "Fight The Power" - Public Enemy
A rather old song back when hip hop/rap was mostly good. Public Enemy uses this anthem to show support for African Americans for the fight for equality back in the late 80s and early 90s.

6) "Capital G" - Nine Inch Nails
Another political song speaking that everyone should blame themselves for the current state of America due to the fact they made the choices they did.

7) "Cowboy in Me" - Tim McGraw
This song was chosen on a whim due to the fact I was sitting on the bus listening to it and thought that it matched perfectly with my personality and the view I have for the beginning of the video.

8) "If Everyone Cared" – Nickelback
As you can see by the video for this song that I put on my blog; I chose this song simply because it portrays people using their right of freedom of speech and/or their voice to make changes in the world

9) "Why We Thugs" - Ice Cube
This song was chosen to cause in this Ice Cube gives the reasoning of violence and gang issues from a street prospective by using his Freedom of speech

10) "Gods Gonna Cut You Down" - Johnny Cash
The reasoning for this song is Johnny Cash is simply one of the most creative minds in music history and his words can shape so many people opinion on different life perspectives.

11) "Changes" - Tupac Shakur
Just like Johnny Cash, Tupac Shakur has the power to create opinions in people’s minds. In this song he asks why there is no changes in the environment that we inhabit today due the fact everything has stayed the same for so long.

12) "Starin through My Rear View" - Tupac Shakur
Another Tupac Shakur song was chosen because in this song he expresses his perspective of what’s going on around him and why it continues

13) "Public Enemy #1" – Eminem
In this song Eminem expresses the things that happened to him as well as other people in the history of Freedom Of Speech due to the words they say.

14) "Boom" - System of Down
This song was simply chose because SOAD uses it to express their freedom of speech on war and how it effects so many.

Hmmm...Flag, Holy Book, & Bill Of Rights Burning?

Flag burning is against the law in the United States but some think of it as Freedom Of Speech... here is a video of a random guy speaking of the world's freedom of speech as well as his own. Oh and by the way he sets alot of things a blaze... take this video as you want; I just found it really interesting and wanted to incorporate it into my blog someway..

Today was quite unproductive...

I really didn't do anything today due to the simple fact that I'm exhausted because I got three hours of sleep last night. Tomorrow will be nothing but a work day though... I plan on getting my webliography done because all I need is 2 more sites and to anecdote all 10 of them. Once that is out of the way me & Fossum will begin to discuss about proper planned filming...

Basically if I put everything in a bulleted list I need to do is...

- Webliography
- Talk/Work With Wertheimer About My Survey (10-20 mins)
- Edit My Proposal Letter (Somewhat)
- Blog Why I Picked The Songs I Did For The Soundtrack
- Set Up A Filming Scheldue With Fossum
- Film W/ Tim Bell
- Start Piecing Together My Project In Adobe Premier
- Write A Ten Page (Double Spaced) Paper On My Topic (Freedom Of Speech)
- Present My Documentary (Senior Year)

it looks like alot but once I get the ball rolling I can post def know all this out!

Marilyn Manson Caused For Columbine?

Tonight I remembered one of favorite movies 'Bowling For Columbine' which expresses how Columbine effected today's world and the town of Littleton, Colorodo. When I was on YouTube.com I came across a video of one of my favorite musicians Marilyn Manson using his freedom of speech to defend himself against claims that his music and music of that nature assisted the shooters at Columbine to kill.

NAMBLA?

I thought I would make a short post tonight with a youtube video showing clips on the daily show's rant on a organization called NAMBLA. This is really a thinking joke because of the fact that they mention many organizations that make no sense and they call them NAMBLA simply because that is a huge organization that makes no sense at all do to the fact there is a law against NAMBLA doing what they want to do. I put this on my blog due to the fact that it is a show that is built on freedom of speech talking about an organization that wants their use of Freedom Of Speech heard. I don't care to elaborate on NAMBLA... but if you would like to find out more about it you can look it up on wikipedia or go to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU.com) and search NAMBLA. My reasoning for not detailing NAMBLA is simply the fact that I DON'T SUPPORT that organization and I really don't feel there is a point for it. Please if you decide to research NAMBLA, DON'T LEAVE ANY WISE CRACKS OR NASTY REMARKS ON THEIR SITE OR MINE BECAUSE THAT IS SIMPLY IMMATURE AND I DONT WANT ANY PROBLEMS WITH NAMBLA!

Boom ~ System Of A Down!

I just purchased a new 30GB IPod Video a few days ago and while I was downloading music to put on it I came across a band that I haven't listen to in a good while named System Of A Down. I ended up downloading one of my favorite songs by them called 'Boom' off their record 'Steal This Album'. 'Boom' is a track that speaks of System of a Down's opinion on such contempary issues in America such as Bombings In Iraq & Consumerism. This is a very powerful song but the video is much more powerful as it depicts a rally that was held around the world to support the Anti-Iraq War cause. Without further a due....

Changing Freedom Of Speech?

Tonight, I was looking on youtube.com for videos on Freedom Of Speech (That was my actual search term) to use in my video and I found this. This video is a newscaster on MSNBC and his guest a professor from George Washington University elaborating on a speech and the beliefs of Reblician politican Mr. Newt Gingrich. I'm not too familar with Mr. Gingrich but I shall be looking into information on him soon. If you care to familarize yourself with Mr. Gingrich you can read a very informative piece on him by clicking here presented by Wikipedia.org. The speech he was given is to not only alter the first amendment but block/censor websites that are ruled negitive. No one has any idea who will censor these websites or judge these websites to be sensored if this actually happens. Otherwise the video is below.

NEW PROMOTION PICTURE

My pervious one didn't have color and it was made very quickly without much structure so I decided to make a new one featuring one of my favorite freedom of speech activists and news hosts Jon Stewart! I'm thinking about having others made with different people but that will be a work in progress type thing.

Best Of Luck!

I just wanted to wish all of my peers the best of luck on their grad projects! I have heard some of their ideas such as doing things on bass, bowling and foresics and they sound really interesting. These projects sound really interesting and i'm hoping that they are done with the great intelligence that I know my peers have.

Anyways... just thought I make that clear! Deezie supports you! I bet that makes your want to do you grad projects alot more haha.

DEEZIE

Starting Up

Since i'm like 1,000,000 assignments ahead of everyone else in my class Mrs. Fossum has decided to let me start my filming for my graduation project on MONDAY! I'm so siked about starting this up! I will most likely just be taking scenic shots... around Pittsburgh... I will be thinking of great places that repersent Freedom Of Speech in Pittsburgh this weekend. The one thing i'm not looking forward to doing though is writing the 1o page paper... it's not that I don't like writing, it's the fact that I don't know if I can fit all the information I have into 10 pages. It will all work itself out... it always does! well it's OoOber late and I still have to listen to my myspace song a thousand more times! I will have the reasoning for the song selection for the soundtrack up on sunday night... I have to get off my lazy ass and do it!

PeAce out!

Deezie

Photoshop Graphic

One of the newest assignments for my grad project was to design a photoshop collage of my graduation project topic. Since mine is Freedom Of Speech I made a poster with Freedom Of Speech figures Eminem, Tupac Shakur, John Stewart & George W. Bush.

Meeting With Fossum!

Today as promised I had my meeting with Mrs. Fossum to discuss when I can start filming for my project. We came to a semi-agreement that if I get my proposal letter done and finish my photoshop collage for my topic I can start filming as soon as next week! I'm so siked! I really don't have to do this but I have decided to post a copy of my proposal to Fossum below for everyone's reading pleasure. I talked to Dr. Wertheimer today as well about him sending out a All Users email around my school for people to come to my blog site and do my survey for data to include on my documentary.

Here is a copy of my proposal...

227 Hay Street
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15221
May 4th, 2007



Mrs. Michelle Fossum
City Charter High School
717 Liberty Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15222

Dear Mrs. Fossum:

As you are quite aware I’ve decided to do my graduation project on Freedom of Speech in documentary form. I want to look at Freedom of Speech in all around today’s society in areas that are popular in our world including Entertainment (Music, Movie, & Literature), Sports, Clothing and Politics. In this documentary I will look at how Freedom of Speech is the topics listed above as well as how Freedom of Speech relates to all cultures including Caucasian, African American, as well as many others. After speaking with you on Thursday, May 3, 2007 and talking about picking out an essential question I have come up with one and that question for my documentary will be ‘How Does Freedom Of Speech Affect Society Today In And Outside Of The United States Of America?’. In my person opinion I believe that will make it possible for answer all the things I need for my documentary.


In the documentary titled ‘Project X’ (due to the fact that Freedom of Speech is X-factor in today’s society with almost everything we do and say) I plan to incorporate different types of Freedom of Speech as listed above and how they effect people in today’s world. My documentary will feature interviews asking people questions like “Has freedom of speech helped you in today’s world?” and “Do you think Freedom of Speech is a huge part of today’s society?”; these type of questions will be asked to faculty members such as possibly Mr. Theodore Zatezalo, Mr. Mario Zinga, Mr. Gordon Nelson, my peers but I’m undecided on exactly which peers and people of other standpoints and I will inside looks at examples of Freedom of Speech though out his old and current. The history of Freedom of speech including how it was started and why it was started will also be included and I will also take examples of freedom of speech including parts of music videos, movies, actual literature and clothing that has statements made from its design. My documentary will be most likely somewhere in the ballpark time limit of 30-90 minutes. If needed and requested I can prepare a condense version for the sake of time since I’m under aware if there is a time limit for my presentation. Finally my own independent production company Deezie Productions will be doing the promotion, soundtrack and producing for the film

I hope this proposal is manageable because this is a perfect idea on how I want to run my project.


_____________________________
Daniel ‘Deezie’ Egan
CEO/Founder of Deezie Productions

If Everyone Cared By Nickelback

As of right now due to a busy scheldue i'm unable to post why I picked ever song for the soundtrack for my documentary but I should have the reasoning up by the weekend. I wanted to start though today by explaining why I picked "If Everyone Cared" By Nickelback. The reasoning is why is because I saw the video for this song and I thought it was very inspirational in it's showing of many people including Nelson Mandela fighting for Equality and his right to give African Americans a decent life in Africa. The video also details about two kids fight for freedom. The video can be viewed below this post because I love youtube.com!

Nothing New..

Today, I took a trip to Indiana University Of Pennsylvania with a few kids from my school so I didn't work on my grad project today. I worked out a meeting with Mrs. Fossum for talks to start my freedom of speech grad project filming tomorrow after school though. I will post all the details from that meeting on my blog tomorrow night!

Peace Out!

Deezie

Where Do You Think Freedom Of Speech Is Used The Most?

Please viewers of my blog answer this poll because I want to use this information in my documentary.

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Your Opinion...'Is George Bush An Idiot?'

I found this video on youtube and it does something that i'm not used to seeing by the media. It's giving to an examples of George Bush saying idiotic things and it asks you to decide if 'He is an idiot?' Could it be that the media wants to give society the chance to speak out and make decisions on air for once. This video doesn't directly connect to freedom of speech (my topic for my documentary) but I put it up on my blog to show that the news is somewhat asking you for your opinion and it makes me think did they air this statement to express that they feel George W. Bush is an idiot? is this their way of using their freedom of speech. Freedom of Speech greatly ties into Freedom Of Press and whoever designed this segement is using that right to freedom of press!

Don Emus Comments Vs Kanye West's Comments

Don Emus' comments were very racist but he should of been protected under the right of freedom of speech. His comments were no different then Kanye West's comments below about how he says white people in the media world detailing African Americans as looters. I think Kanye West is saying "George Bush doesn't care about Black people" simply because of the fact that Bush is a white man. Yes, Hurricane Katrina affected alot of people but it wasnt just blacks.... there are whites in Louisana too! Anyone ever heard of rednecks? sorry but that's what I call them and that's me using my freedom of speech. Don Emus should of not been cancelled off the air due to the comments he made because he was simply stating his opinion. Kanye West's record sales didn't drop because of his comments. Whites are severly penatlized everytime that state something negitive about another race but Blacks can say whatever they damn well please and not get in trouble. That's just simpy wrong and ramedial

Very Interesting To Me

Now i'm not a big fan of Bill O'Reilly or Fox News but this was quite entertaining to me. It's basically freedom of speech vs freedom of speech. Is it just me or are the Columbia college students that are rallying reading from a paper and/or they were told what to say. Right wingers blew up Oklahoma? I thought Timothy McVaughy did the bombings... a guy that was commented as 'insane' and thought "hey, this is my way to get back at the man!". Timothy did the bombings semi by himself other then the suppliers of the explosives. I don't really know where I stand on this... I don't support Nazis (wow they used that word completely out of context) and I don't support a conservative point of view. I would love to see Ann Coulter get pied in the face! Oh and you call someone a Nazi if you hate them? sorry Fossum but I really have to say WHAT THE FUCK? This video was entertaining but it made no sense at all!

Project X: Music From The Documentary

Here is the official information for the artists appearing on the soundtrack for 'Project X' presented by Deezie Productions.

Eminem appears courtesy of Shady Records/Aftermath Entertainment
Nine Inch Nails appears courtesy of Interscope Records
Amaranth appears courtesy of Amaranth Music/Reason Records
Nas appears courtesy of Def Jam Records
Atmosphere appears courtesy of Rhymesayers Entertainment
Tupac Shakur appears courtesy of Interscope Records
The Outlawz appears courtesy of Cashville Records/G-Unit Records
Tim McGraw appears courtesy of Curb Records
Nickelback appears courtesy of Roadrunner Records
Johnny Cash appears courtesy of Lost Highway Records
Ice Cube appears courtesy of Lench Mob Records
Public Enemy appears courtesy of Def Jam Recordings

April 30th, 2007

In Grad Project today I did another interest inventory and he is it listed below...enjoy my answers because they are semi-colorful.

1. What two places would you most like to visit? Why?
New York and Amsterdam

2. What types of careers interest you?
Psychologist and Music Producer

3. If you could talk to any three people in the world (past or present), who would they be and why?
Nelson Mandela, Eminem and Marilyn Manson

4. Name something that used to terrify you.
Snakes

5. Where (aside from school) is the last place on earth you would like to be right now and why?
Alcatraz

6. If you had $1,000,000, how would you spend it?
I would buy clothes, car, house and hookah

7. If you could live any time in history-past, present, or future-what time would you choose and why?
I want to live back in the 90s because everything is awesome about the 90s.

8. When you are alone, how do you occupy your time?
Listen to music

9. If you knew that you could never fail, what would attempt in your life?
I would attempt to go around the world and head butt everyone.

10. What is your favorite after school or weekend activity?
Kicking it after school at Starbucks with my friends

Soundtrack For Project X

This is the final track list for the soundtrack for Project X! The reasoning for the selection of songs that were picked will be up later tonight since lunch starts in 4 minutes.

1) "Set It Off" - P.O.D
2) "Mosh" - Eminem
3) "I Can" - Nas
4) "Scapegoat" - Atmosphere
5) "Fight The Power" - Public Enemy
6) "Capital G" - Nine Inch Nails
7) "Cowboy In Me" - Tim McGraw
8) "If Everyone Cared" - Nickelback
9) "Why We Thugs" - Ice Cube
10) "Gods Gonna Cut You Down" - Johnny Cash
11) "Changes" - Tupac Shakur
12) "Starin Through My Rear View" - Tupac Shakur
13) "Public Enemy #1" - Eminem
14) "Boom" - System Of Down

Great Example Of Freedom Of Speech

If you haven't seen this entire speech already I think you should watch it. It is one of the biggest moments in the history of freedom of speech. GOD BLESS YOU TUBE!

Today I Read

A very interesting article that was sent to me from my graduation project teacher Mrs. Fossum titled 'Call for end to racist rap lyrics' and it detailed how Russell Simmons (look him up if you don't know him already) is asking record labels to censor rappers that use the terms 'nigga' or 'nigger' (whichever one you prefer) , 'hoe' and 'bitch' on their records. This action by Russell Simmons has seriously angered me because of all people to take action towards censorship of rapper's freedom of speech I never thought it would be Russell Simmons. In my point of view on this topic I don't care how racist or sexist these lyrics may be it is expression of artist's opinions and if you censor artist's opinions then that because the right of freedom of speech, that is un-American as well as morally wrong. African Americans started using 'nigga' to get back at the white man and now they want it banned completely.... I mean seriously make up your damn minds.

This article can be viewed @ http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6586787.stm?dynamic_vote=ON#vote_6587933

Official Soundtrack

As all great films & documentaries have, Deezie Productions has decided to put out an official soundtrack for 'PROJECT X'. The entire track list hasn't yet been selected though but artists confirmed for this soundtrack so far are Eminem, Tim McGraw, Tupac Shakur (2Pac), and Nine Inch Nails.

The official soundtrack cover is added in the blog for your viewing pleasure.

Announcement!

Deezie Productions, the production/promotion firm that will be doing Deezie's Grad Project has official released the title of the Grad Project. The name chosen was "Project X" and the reasoning behind this name is because in today's society the right of freedom of speech has become the 'X-Factor' for many things being available to people in the United States including Music, Literature, Political Rights (I.E. Women's Rights To Vote & The End Of Segregation For Blacks/Whites).

As you can see to the right of this text is the first
official promo poster for this
Documentary/Graduation
Project.

Beginning & Ending

I have picked two songs for my beginning credits song and my ending credits song but I don't know which one I want to use for which...

'Mosh' - Eminem
'Cowboy In Me' - Tim McGraw

Both songs can be heard on my music player below

be sure to check out my other pointless blog...

http://deezie-egan.blogspot.com

Ready Set Blog Assignment!

What have you heard about the graduation project at City High? Do you know any students in 12th grade or who have already graduated that completed their projects? What were their experiences?
My buddy Vince did a DVD for his band which was really interesting. He said it was hard to do but kinda fun. My other friend Heather did Relay For Life for her grad project and she said it was a really fun thing to do and she got to hang with her friends so it was great.

What are some interests you have that you think you might like to structure a project around? List at least three options for your project.
Freedom Of Speech
Music
Film

What are some of the concerns that you have about the graduation project?
None because all the resources I need are at my finger tips! I have everything thanks to a camera, the internet and a great grad project teacher! *bonus points*