Blog 4: Article Reflections

"This Valentine's Day, Occupy the Romantic-Industrial Complex"

It is rare to find any article that is entirely based off of facts. Although this article presents statistics and cites its sources of information, I wold still argue it's pretty opinionated. Especially a the end of the writing piece, the author made their point clear for readers; marriage and love are governed by money. It is interesting to look back at the history of marriage. It began as a business deal, contorted to a safety blanket, evolved to a bondage of love, and is now starting to decline all together. After all the progress and sacrifices that have been made so that love can be the lead role in marriage, it is odd to think that regardless of love, people are opting to hold off on a wedding. Until reading this article, I never really considered any of this but I can agree with what the writer is saying to a certain degree. The author implies that marriage is nothing more than shoveling money into the wedding industry. Yes, some people do chose to have lavish ceremonies. But the purpose iof a wedding is to announce one's love for another person before their families, friends, and God. It is a promise to share the rest of your life with another person. I think the author fails to mention this. The idea that money effects love is not something I like to think is true. But this article brings it forward. I wouldn't really recommend this to anyone in particular because it didn't really have any moving impact of me and I can't think of anyone that it would impact.

"Pa. bill preventing local gun crackdowns would be travesty"

This is defiantly a bias article. The author makes it evident through her word choice and placement that she is 100% against the NRA shutting down lost/stolen gun regulation. I did not find this article interesting, but I do agree with the authors stance. However that could just be because she only presented information from her opinionated point of view. Regardless I do think that dabbing a fine on anyone who fails to report a missing/stolen gun would help cut down the crime and mortality rate involving guns. It was a surprising statistic when the author said the 6,000 guns "disappeared" from gun shops in two years. This made me think about how many of those weapons went on to play a role in an unsolved crime or murder. I suppose I would recommend this article to anyone who is a gun owner. It may cause them to think twice and be more cautious with their firearms.

"Elie Wiesel: Mitt Romney Should Tell Mormon Church To Stop Performing Posthumous Proxy Baptisms On Jews"

I think this article lacks the bias stance the other two took. The author appears to just be recalling a religious scandal. None of the vocabulary, nor quotes of mood of the article suggests he is pro-Wiesel nor pro-Romney. The author does have several of Wiesel's quotes, and few from Romney but explains at the end of the article that Romney's campaign denied a comment. I was interested in this article because I read the book "Night" by Elie Wiesel last year. However, the article would have been much more enjoyable if the author actually explained what proxy baptisms are. I did look it up on the internet but still don't really understand it in the slightest. But clearly Wiesel is very against it and therefor the mormons should respect his wishes and stop doing what ever it is that Wiesel is so against. I would recommend this article to people who practice Judaism because they may have the same feelings that Elie Wiesel does.

Blog 3: Gender Roles

Men and woman have played evolving and transforming roles throughout history. We are now well into the 21 century and as with any other department of society, new expectations have been set. Both men and woman have new tasks they are expected to take on. Household dynamics have morphed from man being the primary provider to both parties or even just the woman providing for the family. Obviously, there are more women integrated into the work field. This means that someone needs to pick up the slack at home. I don't think it is expected for a woman to take care of dinner, dishes, and dirty clothes anymore. Wives expect their husbands to partake in the chores and upkeep of the house as well. But this doesn't mean all women and men view eachother's as equals. Sexism goes both ways. There are many women who believe that certain tasks are better preformed by a woman. And in the same way, some men believe that only a man could preform specific tasks. Men are still expected to be physically stronger and serve as a protector. That has not changed regardless of any woman's right's movements. However, women have gained many rights, privileges, and opportunities over the years and this will continue into 2012. Of course this is a wonderful development for the human race. But at the same time, it put's a lot of pressure on high profile, successful women. They not only have to prove that they are capable of doing a job or filling a role, but they have to prove they can do it just as well if not better than a man could. And even though legally, women are on par wit men, stereotypes still exist. Some people believe that women use their sexuality to advance them farther in life. When married to a successful man, a wife is often dubbed "golddigger." Women are still disrespected and called derogatory names. Double standards still thrive. For example, if a high school girl goes out on dates with several different guys, a trail on name calling and confidence blows are sure to follow. However, if a guy is dating several girls at a time, he is in a way applauded by his peers. I do think that with time, these expectations, opinions, and stereotypes will dwindle. But they will certainly not be extinct by the conclusion of 2012.

Blog 2: Questions

1. No, this person is not more impressive than Albert Einstein. Sure this magician can defy the laws of nature, but that is no way benefiting society. In fact, if this were a real life situation, society would go mad trying to uncover how a person can be the exception to every scientific discovery that has ever been made. Albert Einstein helped propel the world forward through his discoveries. This magician however, would would do nothing more than make people question the entire scientific community. For this reason, Einstein is far more impressive.
5. No I would not swallow the pill. My "soul mates" collarbones will heal. However, if i lose my sanity from not ever being able to hear artists other that Alice in Chains, I could never be cured. Then my "soul mate" would have to live with the fact that my sacrifice for him drove me to insanity. That would be on their conscience and our love would never be the same because it would be tainted by resentment and guilt.
7. I would publish the story about the president. The New York Times has a professional reputation and even though the stories of capturing the mythological creatures are true, people would be so shocked they would think it was non sense. I would wait until research had been done with the mythological creatures and there was an abundance of hard evidence so that my corporation could remain highly respected.
12. I would give the wizard all of the money in my wallet. I can't give him more than what I have. And if i give him half, I would most likely regret not paying him more later on in life. It would be a good thing that the wizard only excepts one lump of cash because otherwise, people would spend their entire life's savings going back again once they became unsatisfied with their appearance, myself included.
16. No absolutely not. I would change the channel immediately. I would want to treasure my sanity before becoming obsessed with Canadian football. I would go out and do all the things I enjoy, experience everything I possibly could before my life was to revolve around football in Canada.
19. My best friend and I have a bit of a rocky relationship involving a ton of backstabbing and arguments. I would just simply tell her that it was pay back for something that she did to me previously. She would most likely kick me back, and life would go on.
20. The big Hollywood production. In fact, I would not want to watch the independently produced film involving brutally honest interviews with people in my life. Of course I would be curious as to what people had to say about me. But first of all, curiosity killed the cat. And furthermore I'm pretty sure I already know what people would be saying.

Blog 1: First Impression

When looking at a book, obviously the first thing noticed is the title. This novel in particular has a very unique tile. It brings up many questions: who are the Garcia girls, what made them loss their accents, was this intentional? This all makes me very interested and curious about this book. So before even opening it, I am already very motivated to continue with the storyline. My second reaction to being given this book was to flip it over and read the back. It divulged a little bit of info about the plot and the characters. It is my understanding that these “Garcia girls” have been driven out their homeland and are forced to move to America and engross themselves in an entirely new culture and environment. They are forced to change themselves in order to merge into the crowd of young American teens. This is something that most high school students face to some extent. I think that it will be easy to relate to these characters which is something I really look forward to with reading this. It is set in the 1960’s which is an era I have not read many novels from. I’m looking forward to learning about a new time of society. Overall, I think that I will enjoy this book and I look forward to reading it.