Blog #8 Text Addressing Culture

For my seventh blog post I picked out an article that is called How to Tell if You Are an American. This isn't necessarily an article but more of a list of things most Americans do. The topic that I will pick out to discuss is the one idea that every American knows about David Letterman, Bill Cosby, Mr. Rogers, the Fonz, etc. The fact that they put all these people gives the impression that Americans watch a lot of TV. This is a pretty true statement. The majority of our culture is either about television or it is displayed on television. For example, the news keeps us up to date rather than a newspaper, entertainment comes from the TV rather than playing games or sports, and companies gain publicity and money through the widely spread advertisements. I don't really like the fact that we are known for TV and fast food, but to some up American culture, that is what separates us from the other countries.

http://www.zompist.com/amercult.html



"American Culture." The Metaverse. 25 Feb. 2009 .

Blog #7 Change

For my sixth blog about change, I decided to write about an article from the NY Times called "Responding to Recession." This article is from last year, so Paul Krugman, the author, discusses the presidency and how each of the candidates can change the recession. The article was a little biased towards the Democratic Party so it was said that Obama, in theory, had the best economic plan. But the main reason why I chose to use this article as a topic for change is because the recession has cost so many people money and jobs that they had to completely change their previous lifestyle. An example to show this scenario in the economy is the statistic of unemployment. Since last year, unemployment has gone from 4.9% last January, to 7.6% this January. If over 1,000,000 jobs lost doesn't show change, I do not know what will.



http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/14/opinion/14krugman.html



Krugman, Paul. "Responding to Recession." The New York times. 14 Jan. 2008. 22 Feb. 2009.
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Blog #6 Hope

For my blog about hope I chose to write about the video Dodgeball because it has a great aspect of hope in it. First off is the fact that the gym is being closed and they need to get enough money to stop that. To do this they decide to take up dodgeball. After this they have to play against their rivals who are buying their land, Globo-Gym. Globo-Gym is much stronger and has more to help train them for the competition. So after all these events happening Average Joe's needs to have a lot of hope for the opportunity to win. In the end, their hard work and determination payed off and not only did they win their gym, they received Globo-Gym's as well. It may have been a movie, but I believe shows has a great way of showing that all the hope you have for something pays off in the end.


(Not a Website)

Blog #5 Spirituality/Religion

For my fifth blog post about spirituality and religion I thought a fitting book to talk about was Angels and Demons, by Dan Brown. In Angels and Demons the plot is about a killer who is killing the bishops that could replace the pope when he dies. Each bishop is killed by one of the original four "elements," earth, wind, fire, and water. The other reason that this book is related to religion is because in the plot, they supposedly proved that the earth wasn't created by an outside force, but rather by antimatter. The antimatter is then ironically placed in Vatican City and would literally and figuratively destroy Christianity. Because of this topic in the story I felt that it would fit the topic of spirituality and religion.


(Not a Website)

Brown, Dan

Blog #4 Gender Roles

For my fourth blog about gender roles I decided to look at the earnings of males and females because that has been a largely talked about subject. a few hundred years ago there was a large difference between what men and women could do and we may not think there still is but you'd be surprised. After finding an educational webpage with the statistics it showed that the average male makes about $38,000 a year and women make and average $27,000 a year. This is a large difference which brings up the question of discrimination. I don't believe that their is discrimination but in society, women have taken more of a motherly role. Rather than working, we are moving closer towards a single income nation. One person works, one stays home. This article helped show the difference between genders very distinctly and with nice visuals.



http://www.womensmedia.com/new/Lips-Hilary-gender-wage-gap.shtml


Lips, Hilary M. "Gender Wage Gap." Women's Media. 2008. 11 Feb. 2009.
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Blog #3 Different Culture

For my third blog about a culture different from mine, I chose to write about the book Nectar in a Sieve. This book is written in India, so there are a few aspects of culture that differ from our society. The first I noticed was the time where Nathan killed the cobra when it scared Ruku. In our society this wouldn't be a big deal, but cobras are considered holy in their culture. This was a little bit of foreshadowing. After the cobra was killed there has been a drought, flooding, lack of food, and they have lost two children. The other aspect that is non-religious was the idea of arranged marriages. These marriages are supposed to match social classes together. For instance, the larger the dowry that you have, the higher you can marry in the social classes. These are two aspects of Indian culture that are different from ours.


(Not a website)
Markandaya, Kamala

Blog #2 Overcoming a Struggle

For my second blog post I found an article in the New York Times about the pilot whose plane crashed into the Hudson River. The article starts with quotes from the pilot's transmitter saying that they lost thrust in both engines and were going to crash. After this the pilot knew that he was going to have to crash land in the Hudson. Long story short, they gently landed in the river where they were met by multiple rescue boats. This article fits the topic of overcoming a struggle for multiple reasons. The first is the physical struggle. The pilot had to control the crashing plane and guide it onto a target. The more important struggle that was overcome was the mental struggle. Knowing that so many people's lives are in your hands puts tons of pressure on you, let alone the panic that you face when you are in a life-threatening situation. The pilot overcame both of these and led all the people on the plane to safety, even though it was in a river.

"http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/faa-releases-flight-1549-tapes-2/?hp">


Otterman, Sharon. "F.A.A. Releases Flight 1549 Tapes." The New York Times. 5 Feb. 2009. 5 Feb. 2009.

Blog #1 Natural Disasters

For the outside reading blog on natural disasters I found an article on Hurricane Katrina. I found the article from the L.A. Times and it is about the large amount of money Hurricane Katrina took away. Now that the victims lost their possessions and the cost in the economy is rising, the number of homeless people has gone from 6,300 before, to 12,000 after. There have been a few attempts to assist the people that were harmed, but when a group called UNITY offered temporary housing, only 61% said yes. This is a great opportunity. Finding an affordable apartment is growing close to impossible. The cost of an efficiency apartment has gone from originally $463 to $764. There may be people trying to help out with natural disasters such as hurricanes, but they can only help if the recipient is willing to try.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/21/us/21suit.html

Schwartz, John. "Judge Allows Katrina Lawsuit Against Corps of Engineers." The New York Times. 2009. 1 Feb. 2009.