Right to Privacy? Not in the Public's eye!

Candice Black from class came up with a great point in one of her blogs, which interested me too. I always thought if was funny when we have a Constitutional right for privacy, but it is not enforced by the media. Politicians and other famous people do not want to be in the media headlines, but they need to know it is expected. Many people are getting fired from their marital affairs and scandals. Bill Clinton is one example, which everyone knows his story. I do not think someone should be fired because of their "private" life. David Letterman is a recent one. He said that he had sexual relations with a girl from work. Famous people need to know that their life is over once they become famous. Their lives will be on television and out for the public to look upon. The media finds dirt on everyone good or bad. I really don't care or even believe what they media say now-a-days about famous people. It's just sad that the media does not give people their Constitutional right for privacy.

Health Care Debate

I haven't followed the health care debate that much because I do not care for it. I would like to know some people views on it if they researched on it or not. So the government is going to sponsor a health plan similar to Medicare, so the price would go down...? Republicans are scared to support this plan because they like their own plans right now and are scared to switch to the low government option plan. CNN says there are 46 million Americans right now without health insurance. Some people are asking if there should be a law requiring health insurance. I don't think there should be a law. Health care is kind of a civil liberty, so the area is shades of gray to debate. If there was a law to have health care, there would be penalties if you do not have it. I believe there should be a plan for people who do not have health insurance and want it or for people who want a low costing one, but I do not want it to affect small businesses or other insurance companies. I think it will kill small business owners and kill jobs. CNN says one bill proposed by House Democrats would tax the rich for its health care overhaul. The tax would kick in for individuals making $280,000 or more families making $350,000 or more. House Speaker said recently that it might change and they might make it for families making $500,000 or $1 million. The plan seems okay for people who cannot afford it and for people who do not have health insurance, but there is a lot to talk about on this.

Presidential Campaigns

I thought it was amazing how the Presidential Campaigns grew in the past decade. The first Presidential Campaign was in 1952 Eisenhower v. Stevenson. Ike's commerical had cartoons and it was a song. It was upbeat and friendly. The song was fun. In 1956, the commericals were about Change and how the economy was low, which reminded me of this recent Presidential election. In 1960, Kennedy v. Nixon, Kennedy had a song and it was fun. Nixon's commerical was boring and he just talked the whole time. Throughout the 70s, the commericals became more serious and the candidates talked more. Today's commericals are more different! Candidates are bashing candidates. They are not talking about what they stand for. The old commericals were fun and had a song. I enjoyed watching the old commericals. It is ridiculous how candidates attract to the audience today. Obama was on a Xbox game!

Fox attacks decency

In class the other day, Professor DeWitt showed us how Fox News presents a lot inappropriate photos and videos of girls. These girls are either on Spring Break, in commericals, or at the Playboy mansion. I did not know that Fox News showed all these inappropriate things. I do know that Fox News criticizes a lot of wild events, but I did not know it was to the extent to shake my head at. This is a news show not MTV! Fox News has a more Conservative point of view on things and I think that they would not show these inappropriate things.

President Obama job approval rating

President Obama's job approval rating is decreasing with every party. Even his overall job approval rating dropped. During his campaign, Obama received tons of fans and approval ratings. Now that he is President, his job approval rating is slowly dropping. Obama did received higher approval ratings than Bush in his first month as President, but by December Bush's approval rating was in the 80s and Obama is around the 40s. It seems like the Democrats are staying in a consistent approval line. The Republicans are decreasing. The Republicans approval rating for President Obama now is in the mid-teens. The Democrats approval rating for him is in the 80s. The overall rating for Obama is in the 40s. The President poll I am sourcing is from Fox News. They say President Bush received more approval ratings than Obama in the first November. A CNN poll says Obama has a 54 percent approval rating. These polls are not drastically different. I am excited to compare his approval ratings with Bushs' approval ratings after Obama's first year as President.

Glenn Beck

My grandfather was watching Glenn Beck last night where I found something interesting. Since President Obama came into office, he has had several of parties and spending thousands of our dollars on it. I am sure these parties cost in the thousands maybe millions of dollars. Beck also pointed out after these parties our unemployment rate has increased. Our unemployment rate is now at 10.2%. Why should the President throw pointless parties and spend "our" money for them when the unemployment rate keeps raising? Maybe the President should spend "our" money more carefully? But I understand he is young, naive, and wants to party and fun. It seems to me he is not taking our unemployment thing seriously.

President Obama bowing at Japanese emperor

Last week, President Obama bended practically a 90 degree angle while shaking the Japanese emperor's hand. This greeting was on the news 24/7 when the photo came out. Many people criticized his bowing. Some said it was treasonous. He belittled the power and independence of the United States. Some said Obama wants to become more active and respectful in international relations. He was just showing politeness to other world leaders. Washington was outraged when he bowed because they say the President should stand tall when representing the U.S. overseas. I don't think it is appropriate to for an American president to bow to a foreign one. What does everyone else think?

Copenhagen Summit about Climate Change

Next month, 65 world leaders so far will attend the Copenhagen summit about climate change. They will propose emission reduction. Nations are going to map out a strategy to combat global warming. The Administration Officials are soon deciding if President Obama will attend or not. The U.S. is one of the top contributors to polluting CO2 into the air. China is the other top contributor. The European Union wants the United States and China to commit to a new target goal at the Copenhagen summit. Scientist who support in the climate change theories say someone needs to take urgent action because the rising temperatures are going to keep increasing in decades to come. I believe in the climate change. It's November and it was 70 degrees the other day and 40 today. The climate change is crazy. "The EU has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent below 1990 levels to 30 percent if others follow suit. By 2050, it wants eliminate most emissions, with a target up to 95 percent." I really hope at the Copenhagen summit a plan is set! I have already seen commericals on TV about the Copenhagen summit. Football player Payton Manning and TV star from How I Met Your Mother Alyson Hannigan were both in the commerical. I am assuming they support the theories about climate change. I think people who are not as involved in politics will definitely read about this summit since "celebrities" are talking about it!

Fort Hood

The Fort Hood Massacre really hits home for me because I was born in Fort Hood military base. A gunman shot and killed 13 people and several people were wounded. It is nice to see people come together and put their differences away to grieve for the victims. Even President Obama made a statement and wants to start investigating what happened. He ordered the flags at the White House be half staffed until Veteran's Day. I have gone to a few websites and they are putting their non-partisan views on it. Almost every media outlet is not being bias about the matter. I wonder if it's even okay for journalist or reporters to report on this. How is the the media suppose to handle tragedies like these?

On a positive note, reporters stated an officer Kim Munley ended the shooting by shooting the alleged gunman four times. She was also shot herself and still saved others from being killed.

Obama and Nobel Peace Prize

President Obama was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. My question is what has he done that is Nobel? The committee said it honored his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." What has the world come to where you are awarded a life-worthy prize to someone who did nothing? I would consider a person worthy for this prize who has more experience. I just would like to know what everyone else thinks about this matter and if you think this was ridiculous? The mass media, especially Fox News, asks how did he receive this award. Last year the prize went to Martti Ahtisaari for over three decades to resolve international conflicts. THREE DECADES!!! The last president who was awarded this prize was Jimmy Carter, who received it for his DECADES of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development. I am not disrespecting the President because he has three more years to prove to America that he has experience, but I just do not understand....

My Heroic Mother

Mom in Iraq 2005-2006

I would like to take time to talk about my mother who was over in Iraq for a year from 2005-2006. She was a single parent at the time. I was a freshman at Georgia Southern and my 5 year old sister was living with her. My mom was not officially out of the army, so she occasionally went to the Army Reserves for a weekend or two during the year.

The night I found out she was going over to Iraq, I was obviously sad and probably more pissed off! I could not image them asking my mother to leave. She was also in Desert Storm, so I thought maybe that's why they asked her to leave because she had experience.

Once she came back, I was shy to ask her about what happened over there, but since I am taking a Mass Media and Politics class I thought it would be appropriate to share what really goes on during "war" time. When the news was covering the war non-stop, my mother told me they always showed the bad and never the good.

Here are a few stories from my heroic mother....

Many people are arguing that Iraq should become a better country and that the military is not doing anything about it. Well rebuilding a country does not take over night. It could take centuries. Rome was not built in a day! For example, when New Orleans and other parts of the south got hit by Katrina, it took months to clean up. Some parts still look bad and that happened in 2004.

The news obviously shows attention grabbing segments to attract the audience, so they show bombings and people dead in the middle of the road. My mom said they never showed soldiers giving civilians clean water, sugar, soap, etc. My mother told me her soldiers did this as much as they could. Her husband, Tim, would mail something to her everyday, so she shared pretty much everything with everyone. The civilians over in Iraq do not have stores like us where they can easily get these items, so when they are handed these items they think it's the most precious thing in the world.

My mother told me some of the civilians would run up to their vehicles or when their helicopters landed and greeted them eagerly. They were so happy to see them there in their country.

The news never wants to report the good, because the bad always grabs more attention. The disadvantage is not informing us the greatness that is going on over there.

The news also does not show the excitement of civilians when soldiers are there. Some people think all Iraqis hate Americans, but they are wrong. The news biases control most people's opinions about Iraq.

The media news does not show the soldiers rebuilding schools and homes either.

Lastly, I would like to talk about something that might be a sour subject, but I had to share this. My mother said people see soldiers dying on the news, but when soldiers kill women or children it is a travesty. The news make us look bad! What's wrong with this? My mother said you are taught in the military that you do not shoot at someone unless they shoot at you first. If a woman or a child has a gun and is starting to shoot you, I believe your going to shoot back to save your life. The news makes the soldiers as murders. This is so sad....

I really wish the news would cover good things going on over there because at this point people are getting crabby about us still being in Iraq.

President's Obamas' address to Congress

I watched most of this speech and I was applaud when I heard Rep. Wilson say "You liar" to the President. I also saw someone on their blackberry. I know that some Republicans hate President Obama, but that does not give you the right to disrespect him. He is our President! This shows the type of immaturity we still have in this world. I do not agree with everything the President says, but I would never disrespect him by texting on the phone while he is giving a speech or yelling out "You liar."

The mass media said Rep. Wilson has apologize to the President about his outburst, but I am concern on how the President reacted to this outburst. Should he have confronted him then and there? Why did the President ignore the outburst? After that outburst everyone's attention was set an what Wilson said. I am pretty sure no one was paying attention to the speech afterwards.

Something none related, but an example of how disrespectful people are is when students text or play with their phones during a lecture. It does not amount to how disrespectful the people were at that address, but people need to go back to grade school and learn how to respect others! Or when students get up during the middle of lecture and go to the bathroom. I know a professor that teaches at Georgia Tech and he has this is also disrespectful. Also the GT professor said wearing your pj's to class is very disrespectful. Most students do all the above.

After the address, the mass media talked more about the outbursts and disrespect people were giving him more than the speech itself. This is why some people are not educated with important issues; they just get the entertainment on that issue. I know the television is there for entertainment purposes, but we do need stable educational networks that broadcast the "real issues."

This address just goes to show how disrespectful people are today in society. I think people take the little things for granted. Regardless of your political ideology, if the President is making an address respect him and just listen! On a more personal note, respect your professors as well.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor

Judge Sonia Sotomayor has been confirmed to serve as the 111th justice on the United States Supreme Court. Justice Sonia Sotomayor is first Latina to sit on the nation's highest court. She graduated from Princeton University in 1976 and received her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1979. She was an editor at the Yale Law Journal. She worked as a assistant district attorney in New York for five years. She taught at New York University School of Law and Columbia Law. In 1991, she was nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by President George H. W. Bush. In 1997, she was nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit by President Bill Clinton. In May 2009, President Obama appointed Sonia Sotomayor for U.S. Supreme Court Justice. She won by a vote of 68-31.
There is so much controversy about her being the first Hispanic and the third female justice. I would like to know everyone's view points on this.

World's Smallest Political Quiz

http://www.theadvocates.org/quizp/index.html




A fun little quiz!

John Stewart on Crossfire

On the first day of class, Dr. DeWitt showed us this clip with John Stewart. I have never seen Crossfire before, so I did not know what it was about. This show made me realize how low the mass media is today. Why are people fighting over whose party is greater than the other? Why can't people educate the public on political parties and their ideas? Television shows today are becoming ridiculous. THEY NEED TO EDUCATE US ON POLITICAL ISSUES, NOT ENTERTAIN US!!!