It’s everywhere. You’ll be on YouTube watching, say, a funny video and make the unfortunate decision to scroll down the comments section. Idiotic comments posted by seemingly even more idiotic people are ubiquitous throughout. Within ten seconds I found the following comment on a video I saw on the front page by a person named Courtney1234560: “UR AN A—HOLE U NO THAT?! JUSTIN BIEBER ISS WAYYYYYYYY BETTER THAN U UR JUST JELUS THAT HE HAS FRIENDS AND U DON’T U BASTERT .”         

  Real comments by real people.

  It almost goes without saying that a large number of people seem to lose any shred of intelligence when behind a monitor, the evidence in the cringe-inducing commentary on any and every site out there.

  With the advent of the internet, new means of socializing and sharing pictures and videos erupted in the blink of an eye. New hubs of socializing like instant messenger programs, and sites like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter have exploded with popularity in the past few years.

  While these sites are arguably one of the biggest revolutions in our ability and methods in socializing, they are a metaphorical double edged sword. It’s common knowledge that the internet has altered the young people’s vernacular drastically in the span of a decade, with words like ‘lol, rofl, etc.’ and a new usage of some words like ‘fail, epic, and troll’. We may not all notice, however, that the way some of us act on the internet is undoubtedly barbaric.

  Users often see things typed by thirteen year olds that resemble fourth grade writing assignments. The mentality seems to be, for some, that because one on the internet, they can type in any way  they want—whether to bother with the two extra key strokes to finish the word ‘you’ or not is completely up to the person with the keyboard.

   On sites such as YouTube and Facebook, one also often sees arguments: some that are between two people, some that resemble a battle royale with an excess of a dozen people or more.

   With the internet comes a sense of security behind the screen. People feel safer to duke it out on a forum thread, Facebook status, or YouTube video than face-to-face. It’s a given that these arguments take place between people who would never meet otherwise, but for the most part  doesn’t see eleven year olds going by Ninjadragon1999 yelling at other kids about how the 360 is superior to the ps3.

    The computer essentially serves as a shield. Chances are, if it’s another YouTuber, forum member, or person in an IRC chatroom, you’re not going to ever meet them. That allows many people who otherwise wouldn’t cause trouble to lambast others behind the safety of their 19” computer monitor, and maybe a proxy or two.

  Malice is often seen on such sites as well. People harass others for the enjoyment of evoking a negative emotional reaction. Those who are malicious for funsies  will often target someone who is passionate about a subject such as a certain religion on, say, a YouTube video regarding that religion, and say something (even if they know it’s untrue) just to stir up a flame war, and many others will jump in.

   It really seems as though social networking and media sites can bring out the worst of many of us. People are, of course, going to be mean, and take the lazy route, skipping every letter they can, while having a post still be readable, but that doesn’t mean they should.

    Basically, if you’re going to type in a manner that only utilizes half your IQ, or you feel the need to be a Keyboard Warrior in a flame war on a thread, all I ask is that you unplug your PC in a swift manner and find a new hobby if not for the well being of your dignity, than for the well being of our society.

  In November of 2010, the website WikiLeaks began putting out official United States diplomatic cables. In October 2010, the website released over 400,000 official documents concerning the Iraq War. Some documents released on WikiLeaks are classified which range from United States officials insulting foreign nations to war crimes under U.S.  supervision and failures of corporate businesses to act responsibly.

  The release of these documents in the midst of two rather unpopular wars has angered a large number of Americans. Others, however, agree with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

  During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the United States was engaged in an unpopular war, Vietnam.  Coincidently, official documents not meant for the public’s eyes were released. Known as the Pentagon Papers, the study detailed US-Vietnam relations from 1945 to 1967. 

  The study also, according to the New York Times at the time of its release, “demonstrated, among other things, that the Johnson Administration had systematically lied, not only to the public but also to Congress, about a subject of transcendent national interest and significance.”

  The main reason for the governments distaste in the article was it made the war more unpopular. Four years later the US removed all American forces from the country.

  Similar to the Pentagon Papers, WikiLeaks received the secret documents from Bradley Manning, a US. soldier. The war in Vietnam lasted for 10 years; this year the Afghanistan War also hit year 10.   While some call Assange a technological terrorist, using the internet to spread his information, his actions appear similar to a journalist utilizing new forms of forums.

  When the Pentagon Papers were released by the New York Times in 1971 the Nixon Administration attempted to take action against the Times in the courts based upon the Espionage and Sedition Acts.

  The Espionage Act of 1917 prohibited any disturbance with military operations or supporting America’s wartime enemies. The Sedition Act of 1918 made it illegal to criticize the government and its armed forces. Yet the First Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees freedom of speech for individuals and the press. Eventually the case reached the Supreme Court in June of 1971.

  Supreme Court Justice Black ruled in favor of the Times declaring, “Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government. And paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people and sending them off to distant lands to die of foreign fevers and foreign shot and shell.”

  In today’s case, Assange is not an American citizen and therefore cannot be prosecuted; however, WikiLeaks is an online publication, which is covered by the Supreme Courts decision in 1971 and more importantly the First Amendment which supersedes the Espionage and Sedition Acts.

  While people may not like what Assange is doing , under United States law, he is fully within the legal lines of the press.

  It is the latest fad sweeping the nation, making people do insanely stupid things to prove a point. From bringing guns to political rallies, to throwing eggs at a political parties’ tour bus, it’s all in the name of political extremism. And it’s making Americans look like complete idiots. 

  Lately the nation has seen an upward rise in the use of foolish and ridiculous stunts to attract attention towards a political cause. Ever since the election of President Barack Obama, groups across the nation have gone to extreme lengths to destroy the new president’s integrity.

  A few months ago some protesters showed up at a presidential rally, packing some serious heat. Semi-automatic weapons and hand-guns made up the arsenal. The protesters claimed to be protesting new gun control laws.

  Now I’m all for freedom of speech and protesting for one’s beliefs, but doesn’t bringing a semi-automatic weapon to a political rally sound just a little dangerous? What happened to just bringing a card-board sign that simply said what were you thinking?

  Another great new trend that has come about recently is comparing the President to Hitler. After all, nothing says Hitler more than a democratically elected, ethically mixed, official trying to pass healthcare legislation and fix the deficit.

  We all have a right to believe in what we want. We all have a right to express those beliefs. But where do we draw the line?

  Just because someone has some different values from someone else doesn’t make the person Hitler. Just because the president once attended a Muslim school, doesn’t make him a Muslim. After all, many of the students who attend Catholic high schools and universities aren’t even Catholic.

  Yet, sadly, this is the road we have taken in this country when it comes to politics. If you don’t support phone-tapping innocent Americans, guess what? You must be a Muslim spy. Support the healthcare plan. Well congratulations, you’re a Communist!

  It sounds a little extreme, doesn’t it?

  We all have a duty to stand up for our beliefs and personal values. They’re what make us who we are. But we also have a duty to have some common sense, some common decency. When we shed those principles, when we start falsely calling others terrorists, we are no better than terrorists themselves.

  After all, wasn’t this country founded on the basic principles that all men were created equal? That all men and women are innocent until proven guilty? What happened to these core values that once made this country a shining beacon to others?

  With such fear mongering and suspicion such values are being drowned in a sea of uncertainty and cowardice. And unfortunately, with all our foolish distractions and technology, very few of us take notice.

  If we continue down this dangerous road, America will no longer be recognizable as, “The land of the free and the home of the brave.” Anyone who is different will be considered dangerous, a threat to society. Instead we will be known as, “The land of the treacherous and the home of the pathetic.”

  Sure, it may sound like a science fiction novel, but many times science fiction has come true. Everybody laughed at Fahrenheit 451 and the idea of massive televisions and portable music devices. But now, fifty-nine years later, here we are, with huge sixty-inch televisions and iPods.

  So isn’t it time we, America, nay, the world, wake up and realize what we’re becoming? By doing nothing, saying nothing, we accept that hateful rhetoric as a part of our society. Instead of standing by while people use hate as a means of change, take a stand. Challenge them. Tell them it isn’t right. Tell them it isn’t helping. Tell them… Tell them it isn’t American.

  The United States of America. Just saying the name of our country can bring over enthused emotion to anyone who hears it.

  It’s the land of the free, the country of opportunity and a bastion of hope. We, as Americans, also have rights that many other countries have not had the indulgence to take part in. U.S. Citizens  are given the right to free speech, the right to an attorney if found to be a suspect in a crime and we have the right to vote.

  I turned 18 on July 19th of this year, and my first action was what most new adults do: Drive to the DMV to renew my license. But what I wasn’t expecting was the first question the man at the DMV office asked me.   “Would you like to register yourself to vote?”

  In the excitement of my first few hours of being 18 (which consisted of going to Healy News Stand and buying cigars and lottery tickets) I had completely forgot I could finally vote.

   “Yes sir, I would like to register myself to vote!” was my response.

  After filling out the paperwork, giving him my affiliation (Democrat, Republican or Unaffiliated), and taking my new license picture I walked out of the DMV a new man.

  Immediately I went home and started researching who was running in September in the state primary election. I thoroughly examined each candidate running for the different offices in the state. The big players in the election for South Kingstown, Teresa Tanzi and David Caprio, were the hot topic coming into the primary.  

  Caprio had been the incumbent to the House of Representatives since 1999, and throughout his career he had debated issues concerning drunk driving, clean energy solutions and identity theft protection.

  Teresa Tanzi, his opponent, was the obvious underdog in the election. She was new, had recently moved into town and was trying to make a name for herself in the political world.

  Tanzi also put a lot of money down on her campaign for state representative, and although it was a good marketing move, I didn’t like it.

  To Tanzi, it seemed as though money grew on trees, money that could have been used to help the states terrible economy was being thrown away for cheap cardboard signs and stickers.

  I could seriously ramble on for hours about my issues with our government and people in general, but I’ll refrain from doing so.

  Anyways, the day finally came, September 14th 2010. My time to vote was finally here.

  I got in my car and drove to my polling place, which happened to be the Forest Fire Station behind Old Mountain Lanes. I had researched the candidates a lot, so I already knew who I was going to vote for.

  Then I realized that voting was going to be more of a hassle than I had originally thought it would be.

  Campaign signs were everywhere. “Caprio for Representative” was basically punching me in the face before I even got out of my car. I even considered not voting because of the sheer amount of people campaigning for his cause.

  I woke up that morning fairly certain I was going to vote for David Caprio. I had done my research and found that I didn’t mind what he had been doing for the past 10 years.

  Although I respected Teresa Tanzi for her belief in change, I didn’t exactly believe that she would follow through with what she was saying. I mean, we’ve all seen what happened with Obama’s change: Nothing.

  I got out of my car and started the death march like walk to the door of the fire station. Because of the campaigners waving their signs in my face, I got pissed off and went from voting for Caprio to voting for Tanzi.

  I believe that I made the wrong decision in voting against what I normally intended to, but perhaps my vote can be counted as one of the things that ended part of the Caprio political reign.

  As the saying goes, It’s always sunnier on the other side. This time, we’ll just have to find out.

By Bill Matson

As a news reporter for the Rebellion, I am supposed to go out and find the news and report on it so my fellow classmates can hear about it firsthand from a reliable source. But for now, I’d like to talk about an issue that has always been in the back of my mind: The parking situation at Old Mountain Field.
Back in November, I wrote an editorial about the junior “parking lot” at OMF. I wrote about how it’s not worth parking a half a mile away from school, just to say you drive to get to school. It’s not worth trekking through the bitter cold during the winter months. Also you are risking your life just trying to get out of the car over there.
But for the last few days, I’ve encountered a new reason why you should not park, what may be your most prized possession at OMF. The fact is your car can get completely destroyed just because you parked on the side of a main road.
I, as a junior, have had first hand experience with the parking situation at Old Mountain. It’s cramped, the parking spaces on the side of the road don’t leave enough space to get out of your car without making the oncoming traffic swerve into the other lane. Sometimes, you’ll encounter a situation such as the one I and five others went through rather suddenly. I saw my car get hauled away to a junk yard just to be turned into scrap metal.
Now, I understand that there isn’t much choice as to where we park. You can try to park in the senior lot, but I wouldn’t recommend that because your car might end up getting towed anyways. There’s the actual parking lot at Old Mountain Field behind the tennis courts, but I really don’t know if it’s legal to park there for six plus hours during the day. There is the church, but you’re supposed to have a pass to park there too.
Anyways, back to my point. These tragedies can happen rather quickly. One minute I was sitting in my first period class trying not to fall asleep and the next minute I found myself sprinting down to Old Mountain Field to find out if my car was being mercilessly beaten with a baseball bat, or if it had gotten hit by a car.
This leads me to the second thing I learned that fateful day; rumors spread like wild fire in high school. Before I even got to my vehicle to check the damage, I had heard that there was a drunk down at OMF beating my car with a baseball bat. I heard that a drunk driver had hit my car and sped off. And I also heard that my car had been stolen.
Naturally, when you hear news such as this, you panic. It’s human nature. And that’s exactly what I did.
“Ms. Fox, someone apparently has something against me or my car, because at this very moment, someone is beating my van mercilessly with a baseball bat at OMF. I’m gonna go check it out regardless if I have a pass or not.”
Being the great secretary that she is, she immediately wrote me a pass to go down there and check out what was happening.
So I sprint down there, and on the way got yelled at by a bunch of kids at the custy corner and then some old guy told me to get back to school, but I just kept going. And what a sight I had before my very eyes, fire trucks, police cars, and tow trucks, oh my!
Oh how I started to panic. An officer told me my car wasn’t badly damaged, and I came back with the fact that my car was halfway up on the side walk with no left back tire. He just let me go and check it out after that. And after that, my stomach just sank.
This, my classmates, is the feeling I don’t want you to ever have to feel the feeling of having one of your biggest assets taken from you in the blink of an eye, or maybe even a best friend. That all depends on how sad of a person you are, that you actually decide to befriend your vehicle.
Regardless of what kind of relationship you and your car shared, you will be angry, sad and hopeful all at the same time. Mad because some idiot destroyed your car, sad because some idiot destroyed your car and maybe a slight glimmer of hope (possibly) if your car is totaled. If your car is totaled you might be able to get a new one with the insurance money.
So to the up and coming drivers in our school, think about alternative places to park. Old Mountain is definitely the easiest place to park at, but it is also by far the most dangerous. Find a friend that lives nearby that you can store your car with for the day, maybe a grandparent, or a close family friend. This kind of thing will probably happen again and I don’t want you, the reader, to have to deal with it. Ever.

Sarah Palin, master of stirring up ignorant people into angry frenzies with one hate-filled word, now has an entirely new forum to do it.  Palin is now a correspondent on Fox News Channel, and apparently will get another TV show about Alaska.  Right now, she’s become the symbol for feminists and crazy Tea Party people.

  Now, Palin has a new controversy surrounding her.  She recently came out against the popular show Family Guy, angry at a joke made on a recent episode.  In the episode, a character dates a girl with Down syndrome.  When asked what her family does for a living, she replies, “My dad is an accountant and my mother is the former governor of Alaska,” a clear reference to Palin.

Palin and her family wasted no time in striking back.  Palin called it, “another kick in the gut,” while her daughter Bristol referred to Family Guy by saying, “”If the writers of a particularly pathetic cartoon show thought they were being clever in mocking my brother and my family yesterday, they failed. All they proved is that they’re heartless jerks.”

  This isn’t the first time Palin has struck back at those who refer to children with mental problems, or even using the word retarded.

  When White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel used the word in a speech, she asked, “Where is the decency?”

  Now, looking at this, one might think Palin is justified.  In fact, Sarah Palin seems like an angry mother, striking down anyone that uses the “r-word.”  However, with a little research, it’s not hard to find a prominent public figure using that very same word.  Who is this heartless, cold being?  His name is Rush Limbaugh.  Limbaugh calls Democrats “retards” regularly; in a recent quote, he even refers to our “politically correct society.”

  “I think the big news is the crackup going on. Our politically correct society is acting like some giant insult has taken place by calling a bunch of people who are  retards, retards.  I mean, these liberal activists are kooks. They are loony tunes. And I’m not going to apologize for it, I’m just quoting Emanuel. It’s in the news. I think the news is that he’s out there calling Obama’s number one supporters ‘effing retards. So now there’s going to be a meeting. There’s going to be a retard summit at the White House, much like the beer summit between Obama and Gates and that cop in Cambridge.” 

  Since Rush Limbaugh uses that dreaded r-word four times why isn’t Palin attacking Limbaugh?  Because it’s obviously in satire!

  On an interview on Fox News, Palin says, and I quote: “They [liberals] are kooks, so I agree with Rush Limbaugh. Rush Limbaugh was using satire …  I didn’t hear Rush Limbaugh calling a group of people whom he did not agree with ‘f-ing retards,’ and we did know that Rahm Emanuel, as has been reported, did say that. There is a big difference there.”

  So, Family Guy isn’t a comedy?  Family Guy doesn’t use the word in satire?  No, here’s the real reason that Palin ripped Family Guy: not because she’s defending her kids, but because it’s a liberal show.  It can be easily proven that Sarah Palin laughs off uses of the word “retard” by conservatives, but liberals suffer the heavenly wrath of a certain glasses wearing, notes-on-the-hand woman.

  So, you remember what I said before about how Palin swoops from the sky when she hears the word retard used and attacks that person?  That’s strictly for liberals.  If the word is used by a Republican (especially if it’s in reference to Democrats), she merely laughs and walks away.  It’s amazing how not many people have pointed this out.  Probably because they’re blinded by the light reflecting off of Sarah Palin’s glasses.

  You know what would be interesting?  If someone said they were a Republican, copy-pasted my article, and sent it to Palin.  Meanwhile, I put in that I’m a Democrat and send it in.  The “Republican” would receive a kind letter from Palin’s publicist thanking them for their interest; I would get a hate-filled letter from Palin herself.  Any person want to take me up on this?

-Matthew Enright

Assistant Editor

In 8th grade I thought that I was super smart. I thought that I could go through 8th grade just like I had gone through all the other grades before it, without doing any work whatsoever. But when I got my 3rd quarter report card, things needed to change. I got straight Fs. Literally every single grade on my report card was an F. As I stared at the report card it seemed to be hissing at me, “ffffffffffff.” In the words of Busta Phat and the Rhyme Boys, I had to get my a** in gear before I started to steer.

   So that’s what I did. This was good because when 9th grade hit, I was actually trying and still getting crappy grades, that was until I did my first math project.
   When I started out my math project, I was so scared. But after looking at the careful and precise directions that the portfolio gave me, I realized that this would be easy so long as I followed the rubric like it was a road map that had absolutely no detours, exits or anything that could possibly make my project unique in any way, shape or form. This made me happy: thanks to the portfolio I didn’t have to make any choices at all—which really put things in perspective for me.

   People in general ultimately never really make any choices; the choices are already made for them by the governing super corporate powers that be. So I did the work just how it said on the rubric and got a good grade.

   I was happy and content with the grade and the work was completed. Overall, the only thing I feel that was accomplished was that following directions like an ant in colony sometimes can lead to a good grade, and eventually if I continue my pursuit of intensely following directions, someday I could be the first of my family to get a middle wage paying office job. Thanks to the portfolio, this idea is very pleasing to me.
   In tenth grade, I was required to do a persuasive speech to pass 10th grade English. I foolishly looked at this as an opportunity to communicate an idea that was largely unaccepted and somewhat foreign to my peers. The first time I did the speech, I had a variety of pictures, and sources that made my project highly unique in comparison to the rest of my class. Of course, because I incompetently failed to look at the rubric like it was the blueprint for a 20 million foot skyscraper, I got a D. But I realized that it was time to stop fooling around. I had to stop being a person, and start being what the school wanted me to be. I changed my topic to something far more rudimentary and lackluster and guess what? I got a B+.

   This was a big step for me to take as a student. Students truly are not required to analyze or create work of their own, it basically all comes down to how well you can paraphrase a sentence, which I previously failed to realize. By trying to put down my own thoughts and ideas I did not meet the expectations of the rubric and consequentially I received a poor grade. I learned that it is pointless to try and rock the boat for the boat needs no rocking.

   In many ways our lifestyle is quite perfect and our overlords are very appreciative of our subjugation towards them and that there is very little reason for us, the citizens of these United States to anger them in any way. The portfolio and this assignment allowed me to come to this realization.
   During the fall of this year, I decided that I would volunteer roughly 30 hours of my time to a near by animal shelter. At first I found that spending time at this cold, dreary boring animal shelter, where I wasn’t even allowed to touch the animals was very unappealing. My basic responsibilities included cleaning cages and picking up animal waste. After a while of doing this boring, repetitive work I realized this work is in a way a microcosm of my own life. Life is full of boring inadequacies, why should I ever strive to accomplish more than what is handed to me by my corporate rulers? The reason: there truly is no reason. Life consists of three major things: being born, working and death. I have been born, and now I have reached my second stage. Work. Working is in a way, life itself for many of us. Who seeks more, is not truly serving society. Why ask for a greater meaning when the true meaning has already been given to us. WORK.

   So as a result of this insight, I became far more content working in the boring, bland conditions that the animal shelter provided. In the end I didn’t even want to touch the animals and I realized that I never actually did want to touch the animals—

  it was just a silly fantasy brought on by not working to my fullest previously in life. Work is the course to happiness, and the portfolio and the animal shelter really hit that point home for me.
   Wrapping up, I fully realize that as a senior in high school, I have much to learn and much to do. Many more assignments lie in my path to graduation and I believe that I now have the keys to accomplish what my overlords desire me to accomplish. But it’s not just about what my rulers   want me to do, it’s what I want to do.                                         

  Originally I had my own dreams and aspirations that only sought personal fulfillment. But now I realize the error of my ways since the truth has been revealed to me. My government knows and seeks only the best possible future for me, and thanks to the portfolio I have almost reached that future. Now I can look forward to a life, of hard work in order to make other people rich in hopes that, one day, their wealth shall trickle down to me. And I realized this is why I got the straight F report card

   I looked out only for my own happiness instead of completing mindless drone work that would help raise the class average, making the school look better and helping it to receive more funding. But now, again thanks to the portfolio, the needs and desires of our masters are clear, and I am ready and apt to begin my newly realized life of grueling manual labor of the mind.