I'm More Than Just Funny

The purpose of humorists such as stand-up comics, is to make the audience laugh or satirical writers to make the audience aware and evoke change. Although their job is to be humourous and provide entertainment and awareness to their audience, they also have to be communicators. As communicators, they are able to convey messages that the general public would otherwise keep to themselves. Alain de Botton argues the reason is because of “messages that might be dangerous or impossible to state directly.”

In A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift, he uses a satirical writing style to convey to the public about how the Irish should eat their own children because it would not only improve the state of poverty, but also provide food for the rich people in Ireland. Swift’s main proposal of eating children to rid of poverty is outrageous because in his satirical writing, he is making the claim of resorting to cannibalism in order to resolve a poverty increase in the lower class in Ireland. Additionally, he even goes as far as to degrade the Irish by referencing their offsprings with demeaning language that is reserved for animals. The purpose of this humourist and as a satirical writer, is to raise awareness and to evoke change. Thus, while Jonathan Swift makes atrocious claims for the Irish to eat their children, he is actually conveying “with impunity messages that might be dangerous or impossible to state directly.”

It seems unlikely for just anyone to make the statement, “I think the impoverished Irish should start raising babies so that they can make a profit by selling them off to the rich to be eaten!” The statement would be highly impossible to be stated directly because of the possible negative impact it would have on society. Society might dub the person who dare to utter such atrocious words to be insane or even instantly reject such controversial statements. However, when humourists like satirical writer Jonathon Swift come along and share ideas that otherwise would not normally be expressed by others, humourists suddenly not only become entertainers, but also communicators.

While humourists may only be trying to provoke laughters by scandalizing sensitive issues to garner attention for themselves, humourists are actually communicators that are able to serve society by dealing with sensitive subjects such as race, religion, politic, gender or sex. Most of the time, when it comes to these sensitive subjects, the audience will be less likely to be interested in hearing long lectures, sermons or speeches and more likely to pay attention to compelling stand-up comedies, cartoons or satirical writing. When humourists have succeeded in capturing the audience’s attention with an act, a cartoon or piece of writing, then they are able to convey messages straight to the audience.

In a way, humourists have their own special method of communicating with their audience and functioning within a society. Using jokes to alleviate serious and sensitive topics, they are able to voice unspoken thoughts and help raise issues. In A Modest Proposal, Jonathan Swift was able to capture his audience’s attention with an outrageous proposal instead of outrightly lecturing with a formal essay on how the Irish people are impoverished. He was able to entertain with his proposal with strong and seemingly valid arguments, but yet he also attempted to establish the settings for a parody. While mentioning a rather sensitive subject about the British policy and the heightened state of impoverishment in Ireland, he was able to create a comfortable environment for a serious argument that would have otherwise been off limits under different circumstances. He, like many other satirical writers and humourists, was not only able to entertain, but was able to convey with impunity messages through interesting and creative methods that could really capture the audience’s attention.

The Kids Sure Are Growing Up Fast

In Korea, in order to debut as a singer in the music industry, a lot of hard work is required. Most people who desire to become singers are often selected through singing competitions or they are scouted by scouts from music-producing companies. When these companies spot talent, they approach the talents and sign them into their company as trainees. Then, as trainees, most will train for at least two years in not only singing, but also dancing. Additionally, they are even required to learn foreign languages.

The trainees that go under training to become singers are usually still in junior high school. This means that not only do the trainees train to become singers, they also attend school at the same time. The amount of time that goes into training to become singers is a large amount of time. They have to juggle time between learning in school and debuting as a singer. They are not able to properly attend school like other students nor are they able to properly spend time with friends. In other words, most singers in Korea have given up a large amount of their childhood in order to stand on stage and sing today.

Many girl groups and boy groups in the Korean musical industry are young and under twenty years old. Most of them have been trainees since they were around 14 to 15 years old and have debuted at around 18 to 19. The average age of girl groups were under twenty years old, but recently the average age has dropped. In 2010, the youngest girl group called Girl Story debuted into the K-pop music industry had an average age of 9.75. Two members of the group are nine year old, one is ten years old, and the other is eleven years old. If they debuted and had began to sing on stage at the average age of 9.75, then they must have been even younger when they had trained as trainees under their company. Instead of going out to play with their friends and properly learning in school, the young girls are subjected to a harsh life as singers in the K-pop industry.

The group, Girl Story, created a big controversy in Korea because they are the youngest girl group that debuted in the K-pop music industry. They may have become singers because it is their dream and people should support that, but they are simply too young. At such a young age, they have to live the life of celebrity singers instead of the life of ordinary 8-10 year olds. Like their seniors in the music industry, the members of Girl Story will not only have to perform live, they have to attend variety shows, promote their song, and attend interviews. They have to deal with fans and anti-fans and harsh news articles and overall pressure that comes with being a celebrity. At such a young age, the members of Girl Story should not have to be scrutinized as celebrities by the public eye so early on in their life.

Additionally, because they are so young, they are not yet fit to live the life of a celebrity singer in Korea. Most of the singers in Korea are worked to the bone in rehearsing their songs and perfecting their performances. Not only that, but they often have to run from one program taping to another. Popular and successful singers often have work schedules that run from morning to midnight. One singer had also once fainted from exhaustion while filming a commercial because he had only slept 2-3 hours (Allkpop). Because young children are not as physically capable as older teens and adults, they should not yet be exposed to a such a hectic and harsh life.

Instead of venturing into the K-pop musical industry prematurely, children should be children a little longer and have time to mature before they chase after their dreams.

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References:

Allkpop:

http://www.allkpop.com/2010/12/girl-story-under-fire-for-having-an-average-age-of-9-75

http://www.allkpop.com/2009/04/kim_hyun_joong_rushed_to_the_hospital

How crooks fake an ATM and steal your money

There is no argument in the fact that technology has advanced and has come a long way. While cellphones and all kinds of other modern technology have continued to become more and more widespread, so has the crime that is associated with the use of modern technology. In other words, the criminals who work in the black market and use frauds as ways to gain riches, have taken to advanced modern technology for their illegal criminal activity.

According to MSNBC, "When it comes to new and creative ways of pilfering personal financial data, ATM crime is enjoying something of a renaissance here in the U.S. In the past year alone, devices like skimmers have been found on point-of-sale machines, inside gas pumps, on ticket vending machines, and affixed to ATMs throughout Northern California and the rest of the country. In some cases, thieves have successfully made off with tens of thousands in cash and/or personal card data before anyone was the wiser."

What I would like to discuss in today's blog is how cautious everyone - even a crook - has to be when it comes to frauds of any kind. While there are criminals out there that are hoping to trick the money out of you by swiping fake credit cards or using skimmers on ATM machines, there are other swindlers that are tricking these criminals into buying components for skimmers that don't actually work at all.

Here's another explanation: In the criminal world, it is "every-crook-for-himself" because well, thieving isn't easy. The former Washington Post staff writer who now runs Krebs on Security, Brian Krebs says, "As with everything in the criminal underworld, the biggest issue is not getting ripped off." In fact, during the past two years, "Krebs discovered one overarching trend while reporting on the myriad forms of skimmers for his site: Obtaining real, working components -- without getting swindled yourself -- is friggin' hard." Now what kind of world are we living? We are worried that criminals might be swindling us, while the criminals are worried about being swindled by other criminals. Does this even make any sense? No wonder the author of the article quotes this roundabout cycle as, "the food chain you learned about in 7th-grade bio."

The risk of having one's personal data stolen is relatively low compared to the risk of the person doing the swindling, so there really is nothing to be worried about. Although, due to the eye-catching headline, of course there will be people who unnecessarily panic and become extra - if not already - more cautious. Bottom line is, the most interesting item of this article was the roundabout cycle of people tricking others and the person that is tricking others is being tricked as well. Honestly, everyone should just stray from conducting acts of frauds. You could get swindled before you swindle others. Apparently, this is the how the criminal underworld operates. It's that complicated.

References:
Article and Photo from:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40496218/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/

Ahmadinejad urges girls to marry at 16

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is urging young girls to marry at 16. In his very own words, he says, "We should take the age of marriage for boys to 20 and for girls to about 16 and 17. The marriage age for boys has reached 26 and for girls to 24, and there is no reason for this."

Upon reading his words, a reason as to why the marriage age has raised came to mind. In many countries, it is no longer encouraged to be married at a young age. The reason being is that most married couples will have kids and in the economy today, kids are very expensive. Girls and boys who are under eighteen should still be getting their education completed. It can be noted that in particularly less developed countries, unwanted births are on the rise. Parents of many children are at a young age and have clearly not been fully educated. Why raise lower the marriage age when raising the marriage age is the better option?

In countries like China, the government had issued a One Child policy where each family is allowed one child. The reason is due to the overwhelming population growth. Also, there is the global problem of resources running on low. Even if Iran claims that the country can feed 150 million of its people, early marital statuses should not be encouraged.

According the news article, the Iranian president has sought to raise the country's population. In July, he had inaugurated "a new policy to encourage population growth with financial incentives for every new child born." Critics towards the new policy has pointed out the holes in his plan because there is an estimated 3 million unemployed people of working age in the country, yet the Iranian president is encourage population country in Iran. If the new policy were successful and did indeed spike up population rates, unemployment rates would increase as well. It is not only Iran's problem, but unemployment is all over the world. Therefore, why is Iran seemingly the only country seeking to raise its country's population?

References:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40298045/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/

Women with stressful jobs have 40 percent higher heart risks

In many of today's societies, men and women are on equal working grounds. There are less and less gender inequality concerning work opportunities. So, men and women are able have the same type of work that induce different levels of stress. The necessity of earning money is undeniable and many people are heading towards the extreme for a job. Whether it be a doctor working in an emergency room or a secretary answering calls at a busy firm, stress levels are on a rise and people's heath are becoming a concern.

There appears to be no room for argument in the recently big U.S. government funded study that found "female workers with stressful jobs were more likely than women with less job strain to suffer a heart a heart attack or a stroke or have clogged arteries."

The research that distributed the study involved 17,415 participants in the Women's Health Study regarding heart disease and cancer prevention. According to Associated Press, "the women were healthy, 57 years old on average, and had worked full or part-time when the study began in 1999." This study is credible since it is a known health organization that has a long ongoing study. The results of the study showed that there is a 40 percent risk for women who have highly-stress jobs. They are more likely to suffer from a heart attack.

What's interesting to note from this article, is the explanation for why excess stress can be harmful for the body. Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, director of the Women and Heart Disease program at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York says that , "stress can harm by releasing 'fight or flight' hormones, spurring inflammation and and raising blood pressure." This will then raise the chances of clogged arteries or strokes.

On a personal note, this is a worrying result because my own mother is someone who has a stressful job. She works long hours and often complains that different parts of her body hurts. After reading this article, it seems that her level of stress may conclude to an unhealthy future. Stress appears to be unavoidable when it comes to different jobs, but of course there are ways to relieve stress, as mentioned in the article. This includes exercising.

These are the facts and these are the data. A high level amount of stress is not good for the body. While I personally think that sometimes stress can be inevitable, it still better to find ways to relieve stress. So, for the people who are working their body to the limit, they should be wary of the health risks and learn how to reduce stress levels.

References:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40182278/ns/health-womens_health/

Pictures:
http://www.yroma.com/tag/stress/

Hotel replaces room keys with mobile phones

According to Associated Press, "visitors to Stockholm hotel will be able to use mobile phones instead of keys to unlock the doors to their rooms." How it works is that the hotel will lend repeat customers hand-held mobile phones so that they can check in before arrival. These hand-held mobile phones can also be used as keys to hotel rooms. The mobile can activate a scanner-like sensor instead of having a card-like key originally used to swipe open the suite doors.

This new technology is called Near Field Communication and envisioned for ticketing and card payment. This new radio technology is expected to be built into smart phones and will be a new addition in the mobile phone market. Although currently the use of these mobile phone keys are on trial.

"The head of Assa Abloy's mobile keys division, Daniel Berg, acknowledged that participants in the trial may find it cumbersome to have an extra mobile phone." I agree with this. I don't understand what is the point of using a cell phone when a room key is sufficient enough. I don't see the problem with having a room key and carrying around and then having to swipe it to open the hotel room. People are always looking to modernize and update technology in the present time, but sometimes some upgrades are not necessary. According to the article, it said that this new technology will be adapted into smart phones, but I know a lot of people who do not own such advanced cellphones and are still using cell phones without touch screens. In fact, they prefer their phones to stay old-fashioned with key pads instead. I think by introducing this new mobile technology for hotel rooms may be trying to change modern technology too quickly and too fast.

In the article, it said "hotels can continue giving key cards to visitors who don't have the new technology in their phones." Even though the new technology is currently on testing trial, it needs be sent back to the lab so it can be revised more. Not everyone is a smart phone consumer. What the developers of the new mobile technology are aiming at, are at the upper class people who can afford the smart phones. Instead, they should consider that there is a significantly larger amount of population of people who are unable to afford smart phones and who do not want to upgrade their mobiles. A key card seems simple enough since it is provided from the hotel itself.

References:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39976610/ns/technology_and_science-wireless/

Facebook in Privacy Breach

Facebook is a phenomenon that has breached people everywhere. It is an easy connection from friends and coworkers to other friends and coworkers anywhere and everywhere. Besides the social network that is Facebook, it is also a place where users can control and choose to share information with people they are familiar with. But recently, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found that some Facebook applications have been exposing users' personal information to an outside party.

"Many of the most popular applications, or "apps," on the social networking site Facebook Inc. have been transmitting identifying information -- in effect, providing access to people's names and, in some cases, their friends' names -- to dozens of advertising and Internet tracking companies, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found."

I believe I can speak for many others when I say that I use Facebook a lot. It is the main type of social networking that many people use these days. It has replaced myspace and personally, I use it more than I use instant messaging. I always believed that I could surf the web anonymously and use Facebook without a third party accessing my personal information. I think I can openly say for a lot of people that they would like to keep their personal information private while using Facebook. According to the investigation made by Wall Street Journal, popular applications "have been transmitting identifying information." This is very shocking because Facebook applications are overwhelmingly popular. Applications such as Farmville and Restaurant City have attracted millions of Facebook users and these users are unaware of their names or their friends' names being sent to advertising and Internet tracking companies. Facebook is indeed a growing social networking website that people everywhere appear to have connected with. Facebook should continue to strengthen its privacy functions so that users can continue to be anonymous and use the social networking site freely without their personal information being breached by third parties.

Reference:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304772804575558484075236968.html?KEYWORDS=facebookKEYWORDS%3Dfacebook

Picture:

© Facebook

Rapper T.I. going back to prison for 11 months

On October 15, 2010, Grammy Award winning rapper T.I. also known as Clifford Harris Jr, was ordered back to prison for 11 months due to illegal drugs uses. When he was first arrested for suspicion of drug possession last month in California, he was on probation. He was ordered to do 1,000 hours of community service hours. The community service hours included talking to schoolchildren about the dangers of gangs, violence of drugs.

Unfortunately, during his probation, he had clear possessions of drugs and had take the ecstasy drug three times since leaving prison. During the trial, the rapper pleaded with the judge to keep him out of prison, but the judge did not give in and sentenced him to 11 months of serving in prison.

The issue with drugs is clearly very serious. I believe that U.S. District Court Judge Charles Pannell Jr. was reasonable in his decisions. The rapper T.I. had clearly been given a sentence of doing community sentences in hopes that he would face redemption and stay away from drugs. As U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates says, "We had hoped that this would be a new, innovative opportunity. We're not giving up on Mr.Harris, but... if you veer off from the road of redemption, there are consequences." Like she says, Harris had been given his second chance already for his crimes, but since he had access to drugs and was caught again, he was expected to face the consequences.

I believe that the court ruling and the Judge's decision are all very fair. The Judge is practicing fair justice by not succumbing to the rapper's plead for mercy when he is clearly guilty of his actions even after a fair warning. His orders from his first offense was very clearly laid out. "As a condition of his release earlier this year, he was ordered not to commit another federal, state, or local crime while on supervised release, or to illegally possess a controlled substance. He was also told to take at least three drug tests after his release and to participate in a drug and alcohol treatment program."

But now he is being sent back to prison for 11 months for violating his probation. He had even submitted diluted urine, according to Yates. His further breaching of his court orders as well as his dishonesty should be a sure enough path to prison. There are always consequences for actions and Harris had already been given a second chance. Therefore he is expected to surrender voluntarily to authorities by Nov 1, according to Associated Press.

References:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/39691531/ns/today-entertainment/

Google test cars that can steer without drivers

A surprising article came out on October 10, 2010 about the Google test driving cars that can be steered without humans. These cars are so advanced that it can travel a total of 140, 000 miles all on their own without a human driver steering the wheel. The goal of producing self-driving cars is "help prevent traffic accidents, free up people's time and reduce carbon emissions," says project leader Sebastian Thrun. Apparently, the cars are programmed to know speed limits, traffic patterns, and road maps. They use video cameras, radar sensors and lasers to detect other cars. That is definitely very high tech compared to humans who don't have built in video cameras, radar sensors and lasers to detect other cars.

There are two main points in the article. The first is how there are working self-driving cars that are already on testing mode by Google Inc. The company is so overflowing with cash, that it is able to focus on projects outside of its browser expansion. If there are self-driving cars that can function all on its own based on highly advanced technology, then supposedly, consumers will have more time to browse the web, as Google is a browser of the Internet. According to engineers, they consider the self-driving cars to be safer than when humans drive the cars manually themselves. Humans are prone to distraction, whereas technology is not. Car accidents are one of the leading death causes to humans and the production of self-driving cars could potentially eliminate or lessen this problem. Already, humans rely heavily on technology, so allowing cars to drive us is much like how we rely on technology anyway.

This leads up to the second point mentioned in the article. By having cars that can drive itself, according to Rob Enderle, principal analyst with the Enderle Group in San Jose, California, "driverless vehicle will make computers more like robots imagined in the 1920s, rather than tabletop data processor we use today." The possibility of robots assisting humans have always been around. Now it seems like the science fiction seen in movies is becoming a reality. How long will it be before self-driving cars hit the market and replace manual cars? Technology has definitely come a long way, since people's imagination are becoming a reality. Self-driving car? Wow.

References

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39606282/ns/technology_and_science-innovation/

After heated debate, Catalonia bans bullfighting

In all of Spain, bullfighting is a sport that is seen as tradition. Finally, in the month of July in 2010, Catalonia becomes the first city in Spain to ban bullfighting.

There was much debate to the controversial sport before the ban in Catalonia. According to the article from LA Times, "Lawmakers in catalonia's regional assembly approved the ban after emotional speeches that mixed expressions of support for maintaining tradition with denunciations of bullfighting as institutionalized cruelty."

Conservatives have said that banning bullfighting would "undermine Spanish unity", and seeing it as a "gratuitous attack on one of the country's most hallowed tradition." Others who are for banning bullfighting believe that this traditional sport of Spain's is "not a tradition seeped in romance, but a barbaric practice seeped in blood."

Bullfighting can be seen to be an act of animal cruelty in that innocent bulls are brought into an arena and provoked to anger by bullfighters. The professional bullfighters, called toreros, practices maneuvers on the bull at close range, while risking their own lives getting trampled. Although this risk is minimal compared to the bull's sure death. The bullfight usually concludes with the toreros stabbing the bull with a sword. This kind of sport is considered a blood sport that involves animal cruelty because according to the Spanish style of bullfighting, a picador will enter the arena and first stab the bull's morillo, which is muscle in the neck. This will change the behaviour of the bull in that the head will lower. Next, three sharp sticks will be inserted into the bull's shoulder. This will result in the bull to become angry and make the fight more "exciting" for fans. The last act that ends the bullfight, is the stab through the heart and between the shoulder blades. This is called the estocada.

Bullfighting is criticized by many people as a bloody sport because the bull suffers a slow, torturous death and yet its death is seen as entertainment. The bull is practically defenseless against the bullfighters which continues to weakens it before the final kill is issued. It is not like that the bulls are angry so that they attack the bullfighter, but that they are in agony. Their cause of agony is due to the bullfighter's attack towards weakening it. During the last stage, when the bullfighting pulls out a traditional red flag to drive the bull towards him, he is further provoking the bull, not by the colour, but by the movements. This act appears to be mocking and used purely for entertainment and provocation before the bull's death by a sword through the heart and between the shoulders. No wonder, anti-bullfight activists are enraged. Bullfights are used to entertain the blood-lusted audience with no consideration for the animal itself.

And thus, continuing even today, the sport of bullfighting created a heated debate for friends and foes of bullfighting. Protests supporting and refuting the issue stood in front of the parliament building, pressing their case against bullfights.

Haven't you ever heard Mom say, "Don't play with your food?"

References:

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/28/world/la-fgw-catalonia-bullfighting-20100729

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullfighting#Spanish-style_bullfighting

Sorry! Study shows why women apologize more

According to a new study, women apologize more often than men do. In this study, it found that it isn't because men are more reluctant to admit wrongdoing, but that they have "a higher threshold for what they think warrants reparation." Researchers have found no difference in the number of apologies between the two genders.

"The findings might have implications for how men and women communicate with each other." says Karina Schumann, a doctoral student at the University of Waterloo.

Schumann also speculates that "women might have a lower threshold for what require an apology because they are more concerned with the emotional experiences of others and in promoting harmony in their relationships."

In such cases, it does appear that women are more sympathetic and would more likely apologize than men. Although because men and women think differently, it would be better to recognize that both genders perceive situations differently.

Personally, I believe that women do apologize more, but this is also because of how their brain works. I think the reason for this is not because women actually apologize more than men, but in the way that they apologize. I think that women are more verbal in their apology than men, while men tend to apologize through their actions. According to the study shown in the article, "both men and women apologized about 81 percent of the time when they deemed their actions offensive." Therefore, it is also likely that because men believe their offensive act does not warrant an apology, causing the belief that an apology is not necessary.

I remember in AP Biology class last year, we studied about the differences between men and women's brain and how they really do think differently. Women are often stereotyped as being more emotional than men, but actually, they are both just as emotional. The main difference between the two genders, is again, how each gender deals with it. Therefore, it is likely that the reason why the study showed that women apologized more because they thought their actions were more offensive than the men thought of theirs. So, speculate yourself whether you believe women are more prone to apologize because I believe why yes, they are more likely to, because of how their brain functions.

Source:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39384763/ns/health-behavior/

Hollywood weights in on fat people

"Forget about all those scary-skinny people stars - fat is making a comeback in Hollywood."

According to the article on MSNBC, reality and television shows are featuring overweight contestants and stars on the big screens. Shows such as NBC's "The Biggest Loser", "Celebrity Fit Club", and "Too Fat for Fifteen: Fighting Back" has succeeded in earning respectable ratings and viewings. Although the most important thing to note about these television shows is the increased amount of people caring about weight loss.

In this article, there are two issues that can be pointed out. One is the issue on overweight people in America. The second issue is about how people in the entertainment industry are succumbing to the thin image.

To address the first issue, TV producers have created reality TV shows such as "The Biggest Loser" that help regular people to become contestants in a losing weight contest. The television show is broadcasted and has received a respectable amount of viewers. The amount of attentive viewers is positive in that it shows the interest of people in relation to the concept of losing weight. In addition, many other reality shows featuring weight loss has followed up on "The Biggest Loser", thus becoming popular among TV viewers.In America, where overweight is an issue, it is encouraging for shows such as "The Biggest Loser" to be broadcasted because it shows people who have set their minds on losing weight and how they reflect on how they had lived their life in the past.

To address the second issue, it is true that Hollywood is wonderful in producing the skinny and thin image. On televisions, on advertisements, on magazines, and on billboards, a skinny woman is almost always seen in comparison to an overweight woman. In the article, it says "In Hollywood, thin always will be in." There is no doubt about this statement because it is true that thin people in Hollywood are preferred. Although, in relation to the first issue, a widespread of losing weight reality television shows is appearing. These television shows are garnering attention and is allowing viewers to understand how realistic being overweight can be.

Roth from "Biggest Loser" says, "I had people say that fat people aren't attractive and that nobody wants to see fat people on television," he said. "I said, 'Well, do you know anyone who is fat?' 'Oh yeah,' they said, 'my mother is, my sister and brother is.' So, I told them that if everyone in this room knows someone who's in that situation, isn't that your audience?" Roth mentions a very good point. These reality shows that focus on weight loss have such a respectable amount of viewers because this show is for the overweight people in America. They are the audiences because there are a lot of overweight people that should be concern about their health. Unlike other shows that feature skinny people, these contestants are real, every day people that are overweight and want to lose weight. Producers of these shows want to show a realistic side.

According to Mark Roberts, who executive produces "Mike & Molly" says, "I wanted to do something with real people," he said. "People in most sitcoms live very unrealistic lives. Back in the days of Norman Lear, you had real people on television. We're hoping that real people with real issues are going to come back in style."

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Source:

Picture also take from:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/39210622/ns/today-entertainment/

Price of gas down nearly a penny in last 2 weeks

Gas is important because gas is used to fuel our cars. With the rising amount of gas prices in the past years, people are spending an excess amount of their income to put gas in their car. On September 10, "the average price for regular gasoline in the United States was $2.6899 per gallon. The prices dropped down almost a penny compared with two weeks earlier, according to the nationwide Lundberg survey."

What occurred on September 10 was the oil price drop. What is significant about what happened on the day, was that the drop in oil price was less than expected. Although, that is not the main concern of the article. The article mentions that there was an oil pipeline leakage that triggered a crude oil shortage. This resulted in Enbridge to shut down the largest of its pipelines due to a leak that resulted in a supply on the main transit route in Canada. The resulted in gas prices to have risen near the Gulf Coast. Although in the higher parts of the Midwest, gas prices have dropped.

The big concern is the gas price drop in specific areas, but also the gasp price rises in other areas. Gas is after all, significant to everyone who owns a car. Gas is definitely not cheap. It is costly and even the slightest gas price drop or rise will ultimately take money out of someone's pocket. Nowadays, big bucks are being carried around in wallets in order to pay for expensive gas prices and gas is not something everyone can afford. Therefore the slightest drop or rise will have an affect on oil consumers.

Additional, the cause of the rise and drop in gas prices is the oil leakage. This is definitely not the first time I have read an article about oil spill. Oil spillage around the Gulf of Mexico or in Kuwaitt is a huge problem that effects many areas environmentally. The deadly oil is killing thousands of marine life and destroying the fishing industry as well. The horror of the oil spillage is devastating because we are the cause of the oil spills and they can be prevented. If we were to measure how big of an environment issue this proves to be, we can conjure up the image of how large oil spills have covered waters on earth. The picture is above and it is frightful. I hope that the places where oil spills have occurred will be cleaned out and the marine life saved. There are just too many disasters that have come from the oil spills to be something that can be simply ignored. Therefore, even if there is a rise and fall in oil prices, one has to consider the reason why. Is it because there is another oil leakage? How could we prevent this from happening over and over again?

Source:

MSNBC.com

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39135953/ns/business-oil_and_energy/

Plagiarism Lines Blur For Students in Digital Age

Vivian Cheng

AP English

06 September 2010

Weekly Blog #1

Plagiarism is a term I've first come to heard when I reached the last year of my Elementary years in Grade Seven. I remember vividly like it was yesterday. It was near out Elementary graduation day and our entire grade was in the school's computer lab. I remember this image of our teacher standing in front of the lab, gripping his stacks of paper. He voiced his words in his scolding, stern way, since we were only twelve-year-olds that time-only children. He spoke the word 'plagiarism' and asked our twelve-year-old selves meant. Maybe we were all too focused on the lure of the computer screens in front of us, or maybe we really weren't sure of the term. Nobody spoke, so the teacher told us what it was. I remember him giving him examples. It was too long ago, therefore I am unable to remember his words word for word, but my biggest impression of the word was when he told us how serious it was. He informed us that especially since we would be going to Grade 8 next year, our first year of High School in Canada, we would need to know the term 'plagiarism' because it was 'serious business'. Well, I do certainly believe it is serious business because it could become as serious as breaking the law.

According to passage from New York Times, at Rhode Island College, a freshman had copied and pasted word by word from Wikipedia and did not source this knowledge in his assignment (New York Times). Personally, I know that this is something that is wrong. If I were twelve years old now and that teacher of I mentioned earlier had asked me why I think the freshman's actions were wrong, I would have answered, "It's wrong because he only copied and pasted! He probably only spent two minutes on his assignment! I spent half an hour on mine!" The teacher would have maybe laughed a little at my childish response, but he surely would have reprimanded me on my childlike ignorance as well. Because today I am aware of that is considered stealing, when you don't cite somebody's words and claim them as your own. There are dire consequences that follow those actions, such as a failed paper, a slash to your own dignity, and most likely a disappointed advisor.

When plagiarism occurred, it was dealt with. In a college, where if a student performed plagiarism, he or she would be admonished or scolded as if he or she had stolen from Mom's cookie jar (The New York Times). Although, in the article, there is a bigger concern. Writing tutors and official representation for disciple suggest that many students simply do not grasp that using words they do not write is a serious matter (The New York Times). Going back to my reference on Mom's cookie jars, it is just like how a kid is scolded for stealing from the cookie jar, but in the kid's mind, he or she is only aware that if he or she were to do it again, Mom would give another earful. To the kid, the cookies tastes good, and only Mom and the word 'stealing' act as a barrier keeping the kid away from the cookies. As kids, they don't really understand why except that it's bad and that they'll get in trouble. Somehow, I feel like I can apply this to how young people today feel about plagiarism. They aren't able to understand the seriousness. Therefore they aren't able to reflect upon their actions.

"This generation has always existed in a world where media and intellectual property don't have the same gravity. When you're sitting at your computer, it's the same machine you've downloaded music with, possibly illegally, the same machine you streamed videos for free that showed on HBO last night." said Ms. Brookover (The New York Times). I don't doubt Ms. Brookover's words in the slightest. It is definitely true how our generation today is completely exposed to intellectual property. The easy access to knowledge is only a click away. Therefore I believe that learning how to properly cite sources is essential. Even if our generation is not used to it because knowledge is so accessible, it is something that should be regularly practiced. After all, like the words of an Indiana College student said towards relaxing plagiarism standards "does not foster creativity, but foster laziness" (The New York Times).

To wrap things up, I just want to end on the note that if students were properly taught how to cite sources in high school, they will be less tempted to plagiarize in college. Because if it is engrained into their system, then it would become a habit. It would be just like how I am used to writing my date and name on the top right corner on the pages in my notebook. Regularity with citation can be achieved, but it has to be taught.

References

Sites

"Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age" The New York Times,
Aug 01, 2010. Web. Sept 06, 2010.

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Images

Bart Simpsons Image

*The original creator of the image could not be found, but the picture

was found from this link.