Missing Tennesse Woman

Holly was last seen Wednesday leaving for class when a man in camouflage lead her into the woods. She has been missing ever since. Her 25 yr old brother saw the incident and immediately called 911. So far they have found her lunch box, cell phone, and purse in the woods where the man took her. Holly lives in Daden Tennessee. The community of Parsons Tennessee has banned together to find her. They asked for more volunteers and people came out in the thousands. They even had to turn some volunteers away. When I saw her family on TV pleading for her safe return it literally made me sick. I don’t know this girl, but her family loves her deeply. The pain in their voices and tears broke my heart. Anyone who reads this please pray for her safe return. She has so much to look forward to in her life. Its not fair that someone can just take her from her loving home. I don’t understand why someone would ever want to hurt her. I just pray she comes home safely.
I got all my information from ABC news

The Zetas Drug Cartel in Mexico

           This picture is disturbing. This is a picture of bodies from the mass grave site. These are police standing around. I recieved all my information and pictures from CNN.

 I recently read an article on CNN that disturbed me. The article was on a mass grave site found in Mexico. The article went on to say that 16 Mexican police officers have been arrested for covering up the mass graves and protecting the Zetas drug cartel. Since 2006 when Felipe Calderon took the presidency of Mexico some 35,000 people have died in drug related incidents. So far 126 bodies have been found in the mass grave site. This is just appalling! This makes me sad that people especially cops can be bought by the drug cartels. Those Mexican police are supposed to protect their country and its people. Not sell out and allow the mass killings of people. We are supposed to be able to trust police officers. I’m very thankful I live in a wonderful nation.

COM 317 video project news

Book Review on What's So Great About America by Dinesh D'Souza

This book was absolutely amazing! I could not put it down. I read it in three days! D’Souza goes over every part of what makes America great and also our weaknesses. He also discussed our critics. Then he turns around and disproves their theories about America. Our three harshest critics are multiculturalists, Leftist Americans, and Islamic Fundamentalists. As Americans we are hardest on ourselves according to D’Souza, because we hold ourselves to such a high standard.

Multiculturalists dislike America because they think that every nation is equal. They think that America is not superior in any way to any other nation; their philosophy is that we are all perfect in our own way. They also believe that we as Americans should not try to “Americanize” other nations and other cultures. They think that we take other cultures and destroy them not physically but we destroy their traditions, and ways of life. D’Souza denounces this philosophy by saying “If America was not superior then why do we have so many immigrants wanting to come here”. Most immigrants are ecstatic when they come to America. They see that here in America they can work for 5 dollars an hour instead of 5 dollars a day, D’Souza makes this point very clear. Not only that but he goes on to explain how Western society may have effected such places as India for example, but we did it for the good. D’Souza says that he is sad that his grandfather had to suffer from English rule, but in the end the influence of western culture built roads, clean water, and modernized India. D’Souza is grateful for this because it made India a better place to live than it would have been if western culture had never been there.

Granted America is not perfect, but we have made many strides in the right direction. As you read more of D’Souza book you will see what defines the American Dream. You will also see what makes America so unique and appealing to immigrants. You will see why others hate us and even want to kill us. Then you will see how D’Souza makes America so beautiful. Honestly after I read this book, and even now I am renewed with a sense of patriotism, love, and appreciation of my country. It’s sometimes easy to forget how wonderful of a country we live in.

Should We Help The Libyan People?

I just watched a clip from CNN saying that President Obama has signed a secret waver sending CIA intelligence over to Libya to help the rebels over throw the government. First of all this information should not be leaked. America’s foreign policy already makes everyone else in the world mad and some Americans as well. Is it our job to save the world? I think that the UN should step in and protect the citizens instead of putting it all on America. Most of the Middle East already hates us, why make it worse? Everything that has happened in the world since January honestly scares me. I’m not sure where our world is headed too. All of the hate and war makes me wonder when will I live in a peaceful America? I just don’t want to see anymore of our troops die. This world issue not just America’s issue. I am not trying to sound heartless, but enough is enough! Other countries should step in and help us.

COM 317 Video Project "Loving what you do: an interview with Head Lionette Roxanne Bowles"

"Mans Best Friend"

            Japan is using rescue dogs such as: German Sheppard’s and boarder collies to find people who are alive. They only look for people who are alive. The dogs can actually smell the difference between an alive person and a deceased one. Granted they have found many dead bodies but the dogs have also rescued twelve people. They dogs can go into dangerous places with ease that humans cannot. It would take a human a lot more time to get through all the rubble to someone. Then it might be too late, that’s where the dogs come in. they practically glide over all of the wreckage to find people. These are rescue dogs and in the video clip one of them got hurt going to find someone. The wound was not horrible, but nonetheless these dogs get hurt trying to save their best friend “man”. I think this story is a ray of sunshine in this disastrous quake.

            Most of the dogs are from other countries like: England and America. I think this is a great way to save people. Sometimes we forget with all of the technology that doing it the “old way” is sometimes better. One of the rescuers said that usually they use sonar but because of all the wreckage it was virtually impossible. Dogs were the best way to go.  

Quake in Japan

Friday morning while I was getting taken down by the stomach bug, I turned it to CNN. That’s when I saw about the earthquake in Japan. The quake hit an 8.4 the biggest earthquake Japan has ever seen. I was mortified by the scenes. The death toll is just going to rise, and the tsunami alone will be responsible for thousands of deaths. That’s not the biggest thing to worry about though, how about the 55 nuclear reactors in Japan. Five of them are having coolant problems. Japan had to declare a nuclear accident. One of the reactors “exploded” Saturday, but when a nuclear plant explodes it melts down. When it melts down radiation is leaked. Japan is also still suffering from aftershocks and tsunami warnings. I saw footage of just one town named Minamisoma, which has a population of 71,000. They are not sure if anyone has survived from this town. This town was completely wiped off the map. All you can see is foundations where buildings used to be. The town now looks like a huge lake. This is a horrible natural disaster. I ask anyone reading the blog to pause and just say a prayer for these people.  
I recieved all my information from CNN.com

History Lessons in School’s crossing the Line?

In Gahanna Ohio at Chapelfield Elementary School a fifth grader was made to play the part of a slave. The boys name is Nikko Burton he is an African American. For history class the teacher makes the children play parts of slaves or masters to understand that part of American History. Nikko said “at first it didn’t bother me, but then I had to call the other kids master, and they were feeling my legs and looking at my teeth to see if I was healthy. It made me feel bad and angry.” Yes Nikko was made to act like a slave. The other children bided on him and checked his health to see if he would make a good slave. This poor child! When I saw this story on the news I was shocked. No one should be made to feel like that. We don’t live in that day anymore. I just don’t understand the teacher’s way of thinking on this. What did the kids learn from this? I don’t think they learned anything that would benefit them from this lesson. When I was in high school and we were learning about World War II we were made to be Nazi’s or Jews. Then the next day it would be switched. This exercise was made to be a fun part of our assignments. When I was a Jew I had to take the Nazi’s trays at lunch. Then the next day they took mine, this lesson was harmless. It didn’t make me feel bad or anything like that. I could never dream any of my teachers making me pretend to be a slave or a master, and carrying it to the extent that this teacher did. This is something that should be read about not acted out. The only thing the Burton family wants from the school district is an apology. The school system did apologize to the family, but the teacher has not yet said sorry to Nikko. I think the school district should just be happy they aren’t getting sued!

I recieved all my information from http://www.10tv.com/live/content/local/stories/2011/03/03/story-gahanna-elementary-school-mock-slave-auction.html

How the Crisis in the Middle East is affecting our Wallets.

Gone to the gas pumps lately? Gas has gone up to $3.26 a gallon. The crisis in the Middle East has caused oil prices to soar. The predicted gas prices will be five dollars a gallon by the end of the year. Libya has a lot to do with this. 95% of Libya’s income comes from exporting oil. lybia also produces 2% of the worlds oil. Due to the up roar and unrest with the government in Libya, many big companies are pulling out and leaving the oil there. This could cause the world to tap into its reserves. Cornelia Meyer, CEO and Chair Person of MRL.Corp, told CNN that we would be fine short term, but long term what would we do? We would have to find other countries to get our oil from. This would not be such a problem for America, but Europe. Libya mostly exports its oil to southern Europe and other places. I think we should cut back on gas. We should try and find an alternative for energy. This all seems so impossible because I have done the research and even oil at 100 dollars a barrel is less expensive to make than other energy alternatives. If the unrest grows in the Middle East energy prices around the world will increase. Hopefully everyone can come to agreements over this and things go back to peace in the Middle East, and our gas prices go back down at least to under three dollars a gallon.
I got all of my information from http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2011/02/27/levine.libya.oil.cnn

Sound slides Project Alpha Gamma Delta :)

CBS Reporter Almost Beat to Death in Egypt

On Friday February 11, Lara Logan was in Cairo’s square when she was attacked. She was in Egypt on an assignment for CBS. She was filming for 60 minutes. The protesters were actually in celebration of President Mubarak’s resignation. Logan and her staff were surrounded by a mob of 200 in the frenzy; she was separated from her group. She was almost beat to death and they sexually assaulted her. Reports say this was a brutal attack. She was saved by a group of Egyptian women and some twenty police men. I feel so bad for her. Literally a week before this happened I told Dr. Sanders I wanted to go to Egypt and cover these stories. Then this happened to a beautiful, smart, senior correspondent. I can’t imagine what she must be feeling. She was doing her job being a great journalist. I respect her so much. I think she has a lot of courage to tell the world that she was sexually assaulted, because the press can’t say when someone is sexually assaulted unless the victim says it’s okay. She is such a strong woman. I hope she pulls through this I am praying for her.

I recieved all of my information and picture from http://www.cbs.com/.

The Revolution is Spreading!

Iran's Protests

Iran’s Parliament broke out into a death-chanting riot of states men yesterday. Parliament has called for the execution of two men for starting up risings. Their names are Mousavi and Karroubi. Iran’s government is up set because they don’t want another “Egypt” in the Muslim world. Mousavi and Karroubi called for protesters to show up at Azadi Square, and about ten thousand people showed up. Most of the activists, in Tehran, were arrested by the Iranian Government. One person was shot and killed during the protests. Actually the month of January saw a lot of executions in Iran about 66 to be exact, only 3 of those executions had to do with protests. U.N. leaders have called for peace in Iran. I think that the people of Iran should get to protest freely if they want too. I think that Egypt has started a revolution in the Muslim world. I am very curious to see how all of this plays out in the long run. I do believe in people’s basic rights though. Assembly is one of them. Its not like they were rioting they were just protesting. They had no intentions of rioting or starting to erupt like Egypt did. The protests would have been all peaceful if it wasn’t for the government stepping in and stirring them up. 






I recieved all of my information from CNN.Com. 
http://www.cnn.com/2011/world/meast/02/15/iran.protests/index.html?hpt=T1

Are We The Dumbest Generation?

         

   I recently read a book for a class called "The Dumbest Generation". After reading the book i looked up the podcast in which the author Mark Bauerlein explains his book. This book was gloomy and disturbing to me. At the same time it was very eye opening. It honestly makes me want to change the way I do things in my life. His book is brutally honest.

The book is about “Generation Y” and the digital age. He has great points we “tune out and tune in”. We tune into the wrong things. We are so connected with our peers that it inhibits our intellectual learning. He made a very interesting point in his podcast he said “think about it today if I send my 15 year old to his bedroom for punishment… it wouldn’t be punishment to him!” This is very true I remember when I would get in trouble and my parents would send me to my room I was like okay. I had everything in my room laptop, TV, and my cell phone. Going to my room was like my special place where as twenty years ago it was seen as punishment.

 Did you know that less that 40% of people my age cannot name the speaker of the house, but 98% of our generation can name Bevis and butthead? Wow! what are we doing? Whatever happened to learning things because you enjoy them? What happened to bettering one’s self with intellect? Our society has put way too much on social things not knowledge. We as a generation need to remember that knowledge will set you free. Someone can take your iPod, cell phone, and your facebook. They cannot take away your knowledge and yearning for it. American youth don’t let your digital media take away from your knowledge, let it enhance it!

http://www.strategiesforliving.com/podcast.php?p=1957 I got all of my information from this podcast and Mark Bauerlein's book "The Dumbest Generation". I suggest if you dont read the book at least listen to this podcast.

From Bad to Worse.... The Crisis in Egypt

Things are getting a lot worse in Egypt as of today. Yesterday the protesters against Mubarak held a million man march in Cairo, which has lead to more violence. Military troops have been called in and protesters for Mubarak have come to his defense in the streets. Cairo is in mass chaos. Cairo is ground zero for the protesters. The protesters are facing off in front of the Cairo museum. Some protesters have even rode into Cairo on camels.  It looks like something out of an “end of days” chapter from the Bible.

The Egyptian military has been sent in to keep protesters from hurting each other and stop looting. The problem is that the protesters out number the military. They have flipped over tanks and military vehicles in Cairo. The military is trying to spray protesters with water and shoot guns in the air to calm them down. On the plus side protests in Alexandria have been peaceful compared to the chaotic Cairo.

In my opinion this is a disturbing sight from Cairo. I have always thought of Egypt as a stable state. Now the whole nation is at a stand still. Businesses, schools, and everything has been shut down due to the protesters. This is my message MUBARAK leave office! If his resignation from office will stop these riots and return Egypt back to its peaceful state. I mean do what’s BEST for your country and leave! I am still praying for the protesters. I hope they find peace.


www.CNN.COM
All information and the picture is from CNN.com

Americans Fleeing Egypt

Their are over 50,000 Americans living in Egypt. All of them are trying to get out. It is not safe there anymore with the looters and mass chaos. Many people tried to flee the country yesterday, but no one could get out yet. One man said that four looters broke into the hotel where he was staying and held them up at gun point. Egyptians have set up neighborhood watches to keep looters out. This is so scarry its like the whole country has been thrown into mass anarchy. I pray for the Americans trapped over there. I also pray for the people of Egypt. I hope that this is the worst of the looting, and that no more innocent people are killed. I am still standing behind the people of Egypt they are truly an inspiration of democracy.

http://www.cnn.com/video/

This is a report from CNN at the American Embassy in Egypt.

Social Media & Riots

Wow! Social media is changing our world! If you do not know social media such as twitter and facebook have played a vital role in the riots in the middle east. The people their are not happy with the government. The protesters have started to use these social networks to tell people where they are going to protest at. If one protest is shut down another one can just pop up! This is spreading democracy at an amazing rate. Social media has started a revolution, and personally i don't think it can be stopped. Earlyier on CNN they announced that Egypt has buckled down its security on the protesters. They have also tried to shut down social networks like twitter and facebook. The protesters in Egypt are not poor people they are the middle class rising up. Despite the Egyptian Governments efforts the riots are getting worse. As of today 31 people have died in riots in Alexandria. Now protests are popping up in America. As of today 300 Egyptians started to protest outside of the UN, Chicago, and Washington. What do the protesters want? They want the President Hosni Mubark's resignation. I think its amazing that social networks can and have played a vital role in the world. Its mind blowing. I clap my hands for the Egyptian people. They are standing up for something they believe in. I hope they stay strong, and create a free expression Egypt.

The picture and information is from CNN.COM http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/01/29/egypt.protests/index.html?hpt=T1&iref=BN1

The Situation in Sudan

http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusRel.asp?infocusID=88&Body=Sudan&Body1=

The web-link above connects to the United Nations web page. It has updated information on the situation in Sudan.

You are probably wondering why I chose Sudan for my first blog post? This is a subject I am very passionate about. I have kept up with the situation in Sudan and Darfur for years now. I remember reading about Darfur in 2008 and i was immediately moved by the stories of horror and survival. People have asked me before why care about them they are an ocean away? Ill tell you why because they are humans. They feel pain, love, and experience every feeling we do. They need our help. The things these people went through should never happen to any human being. If you do not know Darfur is a region of Sudan. Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir was convicted for genocide in 2008 for his actions in 2004, which lead to 500,000 innocent people being slaughtered and 2.5 million being displaced. So far the government has not handed him over yet and he is still president. You may wonder what the reason for this genocide was. It is called "ethnic cleansing". It has mostly been tribal warfare, but religion has played a key role in it also. Northern Sudan is mostly Muslim and the South is Christian. In 2010 the south decided to have a vote in early 2011 in trying to secede from the North. This is causing yet again another backlash, because the south holds 80 percent of Sudan's Oil. Hope is not lost though due to so many other countries and media getting involved it has actually prevented what could have been a bloodbath, or another Sudanese Civil War. Activist and actor George Clooney took NBC's dateline right into the heat of the fight. When asked why Clooney was doing this he said "I want to make it harder to kill people", and he did just that. The elections took place in January 2011. It went relatively smooth from what it could have been. So far only 9 people have been killed. The voting was considered a success. If everything goes according to plan southern Sudan can declare its independence in June of 2011. Being a broadcast journalism major this is a beautiful story of hope and rising from the ashes. Using the media in a positive way has prevented the deaths of innocent people. If we shed light on those who seem to be forgotten we can save them. I want to do what Clooney says I want to make it harder to kill people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=MZIT_g4FCV0#t=28s

This is also a link to a video about the civil war in Sudan. Keep in mind this video is very disturbing its not for the faint of heart.

The start of a beautiful blogship

Wow! My first blog post ever! I am pretty excited about this assignment. At the same time I am a little nervous about writing an interesting blog. I hope I can appeal to my readers and relate my posts with things I feel are relevant in my life. I have never written anything that other people could read such as: a blog. This is all very new to me. I want my readers to really get something from my blog. I want to do my first blog post on the Sudan and how the media can change the world for the good or bad. I also want to be able to relate to my readers. I will post regularly on a number of things. I want to put pictures on my blog posts also that might spark some more interest in my blog or help the reader connect with the blog through pictures I post.

The name of my blog will be “Three pennies and a button: The effects of media”. The name of my blog is kind of silly I know, but one day I opened my wallet and that was all I had in there. I do know the direction I would like this blog to take. I want my blog to reflect how the media affects aspects of our lives, even though we might not notice the effects now. I also want my blog to make my readers really think about things. Maybe even reach my readers on a deep level. I also want to make my readers aware of what is going on with media in other countries.

I am feeling very enthusiastic about blogging. I cannot wait to subscribe to other blogs that interest me as well. I will be subscribing to Sudan watch, fashion bomb, and fitsugar. I know I will come across other blogs that interest me. When I do find websites that can relate with my blogs I will post the links. I think It Is really cool how everything can connect in this wonderful blog world. I really hope everyone will enjoy this J.