The Chronicles of BenFrankliNARNIA

Well. Last Saturday, we traveled up to DC by bus. We spent the evening exploring the nation’s capital, and traipsed up and down the National Mall from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial.Sunday, we trekked further north to Philadelphia (again aboard the Holiday Tours), and we spent the day at the Constitution Center and Independence Hall. Living in the PHL metropolitan area, this was no novelty, but I still enjoyed the trip, and I also enjoyed the speaker Tim’s perspective on the whole thing. I’ll admit though, I thought his perspective was a little too Amero-centric. A really interesting fact that I learned not from Tim, but from a sign, was that in October 1919, delegates from several Central and Eastern European nations signed a joint declaration of independence in Independence Hall. This must be a key facet of history for our students from Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, the former Yugoslavian states, and elsewhere, but unfortunately it was never touched upon.

Monday was the big day at the US Department of State! I was extremely excited, but when the day came, I was feeling pretty under-the-weather and that unfortunately resulted in this during lunch break. I managed to pull it together somewhat though, in time for the Darfur simulation in the afternoon.

Tuesday was the first of our two days with the Washington Center. Our guide/host/organizer/Tony got two different speakers for us that morning. The first man was well-spoken and I enjoyed much of what he said about how he believes there should be more accuracy and transparency in media. However, I strongly disagree with the clear bias that is present in his “non-partisan” organization. Even so, I look forward to watching his film, Confronting Iraq, because I’m always eager to see another perspective on the war. After a cheap and delicious Indian buffet, we went to the NPR STUDIOS! I won’t claim to be an avid NPR listener, but I certainly don’t complain when my parents put it on. So, long story short, we’re walking through on a routine tour and Scott Simon, the host of Weekend Edition, waves us in to the studio in the middle of an interview with Amos Lee, a folk artist! He introduced BFTF on the air, and then Amos sang “Keep it Loose, Keep it Tight” for us. It was an awesome experience. Here check out the song for yourself

Afterwards, Kevin Klose, the President of NPR talked to us for some time and we came home for another night of free time.

Wednesday: I might update and elaborate later, but it wasn’t all that exciting. And I am tired…

Thursday: Well it’s only 3 hours old, but we are unfortunately leaving DC :(, but hopefully moving on to bigger and better things.

Goodnight Finally,
-Drank Coffee Way Too Late at Night

I am sitting in media class now and Professor Smith is talking about how easy it is for people to be videotaped without knowing and up on the internet in seconds. Here, check it out for yourself! (Sorry about the poor quality of my cell phone’s videos..)

ENJOY!-Evan

Historically, my home state of New Jersey is a moderately liberal state. Besides the two Democratic Senators, the Democratic governor, and the Democratic-dominated legislatures, it is also possible to see evidence of this leftist majority on the web. The most heavily trafficked blog in NJ politics deems itself the home of “NJ progressive politics and news.” Blue Jersey, which shows “all the news that slips from print” regularly advocates progressive legislation and promotes lesser-known, non-incumbent candidates who are strong voices for change. Daily, in Blue Jersey’s “News Roundup,” they address issues such as health care, education, and stem cell research, issues that are of highest importance to New Jersey’s progressive voters, but hardly touched in the news.

Democratic Senator Bob Menendez with Hillary Clinton

Hi! My name is Evan Anderson and I am a 17 year-old senior at Shawnee High School in Medford, NJ.  I am really excited to be here on my 3rd day at BFTF. Today is the first day of class. Earlier, we discussed social movements with Dr. French and we spent a good portion of the time debating different kinds of social movements. The Obama campaign was an especially popular topic. After lunch, we came back to class, and now I am starting my blog!

More posts to come!

-Evan

PS: The title was just an effort to make the standard “Hello world!” a little more exciting; I translated it into Latin.