Obama's Kansas Speech

"These aren't 1% values or 99% values. They're American values." These are strong words from Barack Obama from his speech in Osawatomie, Kansas last week. Obama addressed a lot of hard hitting issues and personally, I agree with most of his strategies to turn the economy around. America needs a business leader, not a government official pointing and clicking to create jobs. We actually need businesses to expand, to create, to develop, and to experiment. Obama talked about this and also talked about the plans of his competitors in the upcoming election. He gave various examples of how theories were tried in the past by other presidents and how the economy reacted. When talking about these reactions, you almost envision the economy as a living thing, and in some ways I guess it is. Obama has always been a great public speaker, but this has become one of my favorite speeches by him just because of the impact and clarity of the delivery. It is well thought out and doesn't beat around the bush on topics Americans care about. It gives straight answers but still keeps your interest with background, examples, quotes, and emotion. He even comes right out and says that he will veto any argument from congress that will prevent the economy's growth in the way he is thinking. He only scrapes the surface of the presidential election, which in a way, is a good thing. People don't want to hear how someone can bash the beliefs of another person; they want to hear your argument, your stand, how it will all come together. Being persuasive can be a good tool at your disposal, but having a reasonable and well thought out idea also brings people around. This is what America needs. Obama addressed that we need better schooling for higher education, fair taxes, and for everyone to do their "fair share." Using the word "fair" also catches an audience's attention. But, I am curious as to what exactly "fair" means to Obama and what needs to be implemented in order for things to be fair for everyone.

"What's Goin On..."

For me not to talk about this would be ignoring a large part of media. "What's Goin On..." is a youtube video created by a fourteen year old gay teen. It is heartfelt and emotional and has grabbed national attention. The boy in the video's name is Jonah, and he holds up flash cards during the video that read that he was bullied for years, a national problem that gained interest after the suicide of Phoebe Prince. Celebrity support of Jonah has grown and now Lady Gaga, Zooey Deschanel, and many others support Jonah and his struggle in school. What makes the video powerful is his facial expressions and tear-filled eyes. Almost everyone has been bullied at one time or another, and watching this video takes you back to a dark place where you may have been in his position. No matter who you are, it somehow hits close to home. The media has covered this story numerous times, and even though the video was put on Youtube in August, it continues to gain steam and an audience. This just goes to show how powerful internet media and social networking are. This video has had millions of views and the message is getting out to everyone.   It is the perfect example of new media and its effect on people and its audience range. It can allow a 4 minute video to be viewed all across the world and for a young boy to tell the world "what's goin on."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=TdkNn3Ei-Lg

What Is Crossing the Line For Sexual Harassment?

In a recent article, a 9 year old boy from North Carolina was suspended after saying he thought his teacher was cute. His mother was furious that the reason for his suspension was classified as sexual harassment towards a teacher. He did nothing more than say the teacher was cute, and the school took the measures to suspend him for two days. These days, sexual harassment has no clear lines, but honestly I don't think a 9 year old meant any harm by saying it. He did not grab her or make any uncomfortable attempts, so I think the school took the matter too seriously. Yes, maybe a time out or something if the teacher felt uncomfortable would've been okay, but two days of suspension seems a bit lengthy of a sentence for this boy. I found the reporting for this story to be pretty scattered. As more information comes out, they add to it, but it doesn't seem like they are adding useful information. They seem to be repeating a lot of things and only adding one new fact. As some of this new information comes out, more claims as to why the school took that measure have been uncovered. The school claims that the nine year old was saying inappropriate things to classmates and swearing. They said he was being a disruption to the class, but the boy's mother says she was never told about these disruptions and warnings the school gave her son. Whatever the truth may be in this story, I still think a two day suspension was a little much. There are other ways of disciplining but when it is disruptive conduct of a small child, letting him have a two day vacation usually doesn't solve the problem.

Occupy Takes a Turn for the Worse

BBC news reported yesterday that Los Angeles police took apart a two-month-old occupy protest camp. Reports said that police wrestled protesters to the ground if they refused to leave. Police wore riot gear and made 150 arrests in Los Angeles. In Philadelphia, a similar event took place where about 50 arrests were made. So the question is, why now? These camps have been present for two months and now all of a sudden police are taking extensive action to remove them. As it turns out, the camp's eviction deadline was two days ago, and police were taking the notice very seriously when protesters still would not leave their camp. Many protesters did leave willingly, but many returned to rally on a nearby street. Personally, I have become less and less of a supporter of the occupy protests. their message has become hazy as more issues arise, and their protests have become sloppy. It's now unclear what exactly they are fighting for. Even here on campus, occupy UMass persists. Tents are set up in the middle of campus, although no one is actually staying in the camps.They occupy different buildings on campus and march around outside in the middle of the day. Their practices have become more or less an annoyance rather than a statement.They disrupt classes, pester employees who have nothing to do with the problems they are having, and don't actually get their messages across. I would have more faith in their cause if they knew what their cause was. They tackle too many issues at once and expect equal attention to each, but really it just makes it difficult to know what the individual issues are. Also, their protests on campus are sloppy and not very well executed. Twelve people running around the Whitmore Administration building holding signs and screaming doesn't exactly send a professional or serious message.

Is New Media Going Too Far?

A recent scandal took place for the Kansas Governor, Sam Brownback, after a high school senior, Emma Sullivan, tweeted "Just made mean comments at gov brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot." (Huffington Post). Apparently the governor's press manager found the tweet and confronted the 18 year-old. She gained thousands of followers on twitter from the incident and had to write a formal apology. So, is new media being taken too far? This incident has opened the realm of freedom of speech and whether or not she should be held accountable for her tweet. Twitter is an informal website where people post whatever comes to mind. Now that it has become so universal, tweets and informal talk has become a more serious issue because of its availability on the Internet. Another topic has come up from this scandal, Brownback is using tax payers money to make sure no one is tweeting bad things about him. It does make me wonder how citizens of Kansas are reacting to this knowledge and if their impression of him as a professional has changed. Personally, I don't think Emma Sullivan did anything wrong. She was expressing her freedom of speech and personal opinion, whether that be negative or positive is up to her and it should not be infringed on. The fact that she was "punished" for doing so, is absolutely absurd. As for governor Sam Brownback, if people are tweeting negative things about you, maybe you should change what you're doing and use it as constructive criticism.

How poor is America?

In recent years it has become obvious that Americans have had to buckle down and be savvy shoppers. The recession has taken it's toll on many people and loss of jobs is just the beginning. Rock Center with Brian Williams recently covered a story about a family in Idaho, both trained nursing assistants, who couldn't find work and were forced to depend on government assistance; mainly food stamps. The story talked about how people line up to go into Walmart at midnight on the first of each month when they receive assistance, and they even compared the chaos to a spectacle like Black Friday. The family said how they were embarrassed to admit they needed assistance, and that they would go out of their way to keep it a secret. Unfortunately, need of government assistance has become pretty common, the article continued to say that nearly 15% of the United States depends on government assistance. This topic really hits home for me, my parents are divorced so a single mother providing for two children is difficult enough. But, because of the down turn in the economy, my dad was fired from his job and is now unable to pay child support. I have to say my family got off easy though. I have friends who's parents sit at the kitchen table and honestly discuss if they have enough money to buy groceries for the week. It's a difficult situation for a lot of people who never thought it would happen to them. The question is whether or not there will be a sliver lining on the horizon any time soon.

Americans Arrested in Cairo

Protests in Cairo have been known about for a while, but last week three Americans were arrested for being in the crowd, and it caused the United States to pay a lot more attention. The American students claimed they were wrongfully arrested because they were only observing the protests, and they also said they were beaten after the arrest. One student went on the Today show on NBC to talk a little about what happened, and it was clear he was happy to be home. He, his mom, and his attorney briefly discussed what happened with the arrest and how he was freed. Apparently, police in Cairo claimed the three students were on the roof of a building with molotov cocktails, and as police, they were just doing their jobs. The students deny ever being on a roof or having anything remotely close to a molotov cocktail. Unfortunately, the story seems to have been pushed behind the ongoing election, the occupy protests, and the holidays. The protests in Egypt are, in my opinion, a main reason to keep an eye on all the occupy protests here in America. Protests can go from peaceful resistance, to chaos and rebellion in a short amount of time, which is why there is so much press covering it. Protestors here don't necessarily mean to try to overthrow the government, but if something doesn't get done, protests could become more severe until they end up like the ones in Cairo.