In class we watched the movie Good Night and Good Luck. This was a very good movie that got me thinking about some topics. The film deals with the times of McCarthy and the scare of communists. He was naming people who he said were communists and stated he had a list of people who were communists that worked for the United States Government. Edward Murrow and his staff battled corporate and sponsorship pressures to discredit McCarthy in his quest. A main topic where Murrow battled McCarthy was in the was in the case of Milo Radulovich. He was facing a separation from the Air Force because his father subscribed to a Serbian newspaper.
Eventually, Murrow and his crew strike a big blow to McCarthy. Other issues that were of a big impact to me was the suicide of one of Murrow's crew. Don Hollenbeck committed suicide after being accused as a communist, and this shows how serious these times were. They also show the hearing of a Pentagon communication worker, Annie Moss, who was accused of being a communist after an FBI worker saw her name on a list for the American Communist party. In this case, Senator Stuart Symington stated that this could merely be a case of mistaken identity, and did not think the trial should continue. The fight that Murrow made was that the media should try and strive for the truth rather than just hype or what the public wants to hear.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
What Happened to Barbie
In a feminist blog, I recently read something that caught my attention. For her fiftieth birthday, Mattel has given Barbie a makeover that some find as a completely negative thing. The doll now comes with stickers that children can place on the doll that resemble tattoos. The blog states that these stickers can be used to make Barbie look like their hero's, which include Amy Winehouse. Mattel claims that these stickers are merely meant for children to express themselves. The author of the blog has a picture of a Barbie with a sticker on her lower back, which is pretty effective for her argument.
She claims that this new style of Barbie is sending the wrong message with her lower back tattoos and short shirts that bare her midriff. This is what the children will aspire to become and we may have a generation of girls with what people have named "tramp stamps." The author claims that these tattoos and trashy clothing aren't the epitome of female empowerment or beauty, and I agree with her. The author claims that her mother let her grow dreadlocks when she was 16, and that she let her daughters express themselves but did not let them act too grown up. Her sister got a tattoo when she was 16, but her mother went over with her what was OK and not OK (lower back tattoos being not OK). I agree with this blog and think Mattel should rethink what their selling.
She claims that this new style of Barbie is sending the wrong message with her lower back tattoos and short shirts that bare her midriff. This is what the children will aspire to become and we may have a generation of girls with what people have named "tramp stamps." The author claims that these tattoos and trashy clothing aren't the epitome of female empowerment or beauty, and I agree with her. The author claims that her mother let her grow dreadlocks when she was 16, and that she let her daughters express themselves but did not let them act too grown up. Her sister got a tattoo when she was 16, but her mother went over with her what was OK and not OK (lower back tattoos being not OK). I agree with this blog and think Mattel should rethink what their selling.
Environmental Push
One of the posts on the Environmental Blog caught my eye because it's something that I have been interested in for a long time. It states that President Barack Obama said that it's time that we should be leaders in renewable energy sources and technologies, instead of followers. The post explains that Denmark is a great example of where we should be at and what we should be doing. It goes on to explain some reasons why they are first in renewable sources. A great fact they state is that they receive 20-25 percent of their energy from biomass, biodegradable waste, and the wind.
Another fact that I found particularly amazing is that they went from being 99 percent dependent on middle east in 1973 oil to 0 percent today. The United States produces roughly only 3 percent of its electric energy from renewable sources such as solar power and wind. Denmark creates 40 percent of wind turbines for the world, and that this provides jobs for a good amount of the countries population. The blog states that the Danes live a much simpler and smarter life than that of the Americans. They know basically one type of car, and most of them use public transportation. They use much less energy per day that we do, because they don't have much of the gadgets that we have. This is definitely something the United States should look at and take notes from, because its just smart, plain and simple.
Another fact that I found particularly amazing is that they went from being 99 percent dependent on middle east in 1973 oil to 0 percent today. The United States produces roughly only 3 percent of its electric energy from renewable sources such as solar power and wind. Denmark creates 40 percent of wind turbines for the world, and that this provides jobs for a good amount of the countries population. The blog states that the Danes live a much simpler and smarter life than that of the Americans. They know basically one type of car, and most of them use public transportation. They use much less energy per day that we do, because they don't have much of the gadgets that we have. This is definitely something the United States should look at and take notes from, because its just smart, plain and simple.
NPR
Listening and reading the National Public Radio, I heard an interesting story. President Barack Obama announced that Chrysler would be heading into bankruptcy with the aid of another 8 billion, that's right, 8 billion, dollars in taxpayer money. He stated that this shouldn't be seen as a weakness, because he believes that Chrysler will come out of this stronger. The Obama administration doesn't plan to manage the corporation, however, Chrysler is signing a partnership with an Italian company named Fiat.
This bankruptcy does not mean that the company will be shut down. What chapter eleven bankruptcy does is that it allows a judge to decide how much the company's creditors would receive. Obama stated that Chrysler has helped the middle class of America. He also stated that the company had moved too slowly to adapt to the future. The company continued to make cars that were just not as good, meaning not as efficient and less popular, than other foreign car makers. Chrysler is a very popular car company in the United States, and I don't believe the government would allow it to go under because so many jobs would be lost, not to mention the number three automaker in the country.
This bankruptcy does not mean that the company will be shut down. What chapter eleven bankruptcy does is that it allows a judge to decide how much the company's creditors would receive. Obama stated that Chrysler has helped the middle class of America. He also stated that the company had moved too slowly to adapt to the future. The company continued to make cars that were just not as good, meaning not as efficient and less popular, than other foreign car makers. Chrysler is a very popular car company in the United States, and I don't believe the government would allow it to go under because so many jobs would be lost, not to mention the number three automaker in the country.
Critiquing the Traditional Paper
Looking at the New York Times newspaper the past couple of days, I have noticed that it has been dominated by the swine flu. In today's paper, the main story was about how the World Health Organization has raised the swine flu alert level. They raised the alert level to phase five, which is next to the highest phase. Since the alert system was implemented in 2005, this phase was only used for the avian flu scare, and phase six means that a pandemic is underway. The CDC reported 91 confirmed from ten different states, up from 64 cases in 5 states on Tuesday.
Personally, I think this is just a giant act from the media to scare people into reading their news. As with the avian flu, nothing really happened and people were scared into learning more about this so called pandemic. Their main source of information was from the media, which loves stories such as this. What's really happening? A couple people in the United States have a flu that can be cured. More people die from the regular flu when that season comes around. In most of these cases, the victims have been extremely young or extremely old. I believe that this will go the way of the avian flu and fade into nothing but a distant memory.
Personally, I think this is just a giant act from the media to scare people into reading their news. As with the avian flu, nothing really happened and people were scared into learning more about this so called pandemic. Their main source of information was from the media, which loves stories such as this. What's really happening? A couple people in the United States have a flu that can be cured. More people die from the regular flu when that season comes around. In most of these cases, the victims have been extremely young or extremely old. I believe that this will go the way of the avian flu and fade into nothing but a distant memory.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Accountability in Schools
The federal stimulus package has 13 million dollars to boost Title I. Title I is a federal program that is intended to give extra help to disadvantaged school children. However, this money may not reach these students. Some districts redirect the money that is meant for low-income students and send it to other schools that have more political pull. To remedy this problem, congress has made it mandatory that they give a better account as to how the money is spent.
These unethical practices should and must be stopped. Sloppy book keeping has made it possible to mask teacher salaries in different schools. Low income schools are being taught by less qualified teachers and more affluent schools are being taught by higher paid, more qualified teachers. This practice should be turned around, meaning that the more qualified teachers should teach in the low income schools. School reform is necessary, and the new system should create more fair practices in low income schools. Hopefully, this new system will create a more fair and balanced opportunities for the low income schools.
These unethical practices should and must be stopped. Sloppy book keeping has made it possible to mask teacher salaries in different schools. Low income schools are being taught by less qualified teachers and more affluent schools are being taught by higher paid, more qualified teachers. This practice should be turned around, meaning that the more qualified teachers should teach in the low income schools. School reform is necessary, and the new system should create more fair practices in low income schools. Hopefully, this new system will create a more fair and balanced opportunities for the low income schools.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Last night i watched the news at 6:30 and the Daily Show at 11:00 and attempted to compare the two programs. While the news shows just that, the news, the Daily show is a bit different. The Daily Show is on Comedy Central, thus you wouldnt expect alot of news stories. They tend to focus on some humorous stories, and there isnt alot of them. Then they have a guest on to talk about a topic which can range from religion to politics. Its more of a comedic program than an informative one, which I believe most people would expect.
The network news doesnt focus on a funny or humorous aspect. They have stories that also range from politics to human interest stories. They talked alot about the Somali pirate attacks, which has been dominating the network news stations lately. The news is more informative than the Daily Show because they have much more news or stories on many different things. Both the Daily Show and the news had stories that werent really news but were interesting, such as the passenger on a plane landing it after the pilot died. In short, the Daily Show is more entertaining but the news is more informative.
The network news doesnt focus on a funny or humorous aspect. They have stories that also range from politics to human interest stories. They talked alot about the Somali pirate attacks, which has been dominating the network news stations lately. The news is more informative than the Daily Show because they have much more news or stories on many different things. Both the Daily Show and the news had stories that werent really news but were interesting, such as the passenger on a plane landing it after the pilot died. In short, the Daily Show is more entertaining but the news is more informative.
Reading the Huffington Post blog, I came to the conclusion that it is a pretty good blog. Today, most of the featured blogs are about Obama and his speech about the economy. However, there are other blog posts about different interesting things. These include the Somali pirates, and there is even one about how countries such as Haiti matter to Americans. These stories cover domestic and world events such as how North Korea will restart its nuclear-arms plant.
I have never visited this blog before, and I actually have become a fan of it. The posts the site has are very interesting and broaden your view on many things such as global events. The quality of these posts are very good. They may vary between posts because there are different authors, but for the most part, the quality is high. One post about the Somali pirates caught my attention and taught me that pirates have hijacked four more ships. The information they have on the story is in depth and appears very accurate. I recommend this blog to others and I will be reading it daily.
I have never visited this blog before, and I actually have become a fan of it. The posts the site has are very interesting and broaden your view on many things such as global events. The quality of these posts are very good. They may vary between posts because there are different authors, but for the most part, the quality is high. One post about the Somali pirates caught my attention and taught me that pirates have hijacked four more ships. The information they have on the story is in depth and appears very accurate. I recommend this blog to others and I will be reading it daily.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Has new media influenced presidential politics? I believe it is very apparent that the answer is yes. New media, such as Youtube, have influenced presidential politics greatly. Young voters mainly have been influenced by new media such as Youtube, because they watch things on that website frequently. Other types of new media such as text messaging have been used for the first time in this past election. It was a way to reach young voters personally, and Barack Obama's campaign used it effectivly.
Clips on youtube have been extremely influencial on the past election. Obama's speech that had been turned into a song drew many viewers. Small soundbite clips have also been viewed by a mass audience on the site. Being able to select the information you want influenced viewers because they would view things that go along with what they already believe. Also, if a clip become viewed by alot of viewers, then it is more likley to be watched by a wider audience because it may become the "clip of the day." Also, blogging has become a popular new media device, and has influenced those who read them when it deals with politics.
Clips on youtube have been extremely influencial on the past election. Obama's speech that had been turned into a song drew many viewers. Small soundbite clips have also been viewed by a mass audience on the site. Being able to select the information you want influenced viewers because they would view things that go along with what they already believe. Also, if a clip become viewed by alot of viewers, then it is more likley to be watched by a wider audience because it may become the "clip of the day." Also, blogging has become a popular new media device, and has influenced those who read them when it deals with politics.
Though many males may hate me for saying this, I believe the tv show The Girls Next Door is an awful show. The main reason I dislike it is because it sends the wrong message to young girls who watch it. The values that they express in the show are that a girl should worry about her appearence to get ahead in life rather than her intelligence. These girls are depicted as very slow or ditsy, but are revered for thier looks.
It's also hard to explain to a young girl what the playboy mansion is and its functions. It is also hard to explain how Hugh Hefner has three girlfriends. Since shows like this have surfaced, girls are dressing more provacative at a younger age. These girls are worrying about thier bodies at an earlier age when they should be busy being kids. Though somewhat entertaining, this show expresses wrong messages to young girls and boys as well. Young boys are being taught to judge women on thier looks which is wrong.
It's also hard to explain to a young girl what the playboy mansion is and its functions. It is also hard to explain how Hugh Hefner has three girlfriends. Since shows like this have surfaced, girls are dressing more provacative at a younger age. These girls are worrying about thier bodies at an earlier age when they should be busy being kids. Though somewhat entertaining, this show expresses wrong messages to young girls and boys as well. Young boys are being taught to judge women on thier looks which is wrong.
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