Ordered According to Importance? I Think Not.

While watching the 6:30 news on ABC, it became blatantly clear that the stories were not ordered by their importance. I did not watch the entire newscast, but I watched enough until you could tell that the stories were out of oder of importance. For example, at one point they segwayed from a story about a man being stabbed in Bed-Stuy, to the weather, to the story about the collapse of the Cowboys training camp tent. Also, they had a doctor on the show to discuss the swine flu and the recent recall of all Hydroxycut fat burners. I assumed that the doctor would address the swine flu first, but in fact he talked about hydroxycut. As a matter of fact, he talked for a longer time about the fat burner than he did about the swine flu.

Even though I feel that the Hydroxycut recall was important and affected a lot of people, I think the swine flu should have been the main topic of the discussion. Of course in the news there was also a little bit of celebrity news (Chris Brown and Rihanna, how Robin Williams is recovering from heart problems), which I feel is unnecessary. That is what shows like TMZ are for. Also, it is obvious that the news is not based on the order of importance, but why should it be? As long as the stories are being reported does it matter which comes first or second or third?

Fox News vs. CNN

It is very rare that I watch the news on TV. On the occasions that I do I find myslelf watching Fox News. For the purpose of this post I flipped between Fox News and CNN over the course of an hour. There were a few stories that both stations covered. One of these was the swine flu outbreak, as this is obviously a very important event. Fox News did not spend as much time covering the swine flu as CNN. CNN had doctors reporting on the symptoms and cures for people who are badly infected. Fox simply stated how the swine flu is not as serious as was originally thought, because cases of the outbreak in Mexico are tapering off.

Fox and CNN both breifly mentioned the collapsing of the Dallas Cowboys training camp tent. One story that I noticed that CNN did not cover that Fox did was how Citibank needs to raise about $10 million dollars in order to stay afloat. Both stations also covered President Obamas first 100 days in office. Fox news said that Obama should not blame Bush for the current economic situation, while CNN showed Obamas agenda for the week and ignored the economic crisis. Comparing the channels showed that they represented both sides of the spectrum. Fox News is without a doubt partisan and CNN leans more to the left. I think that it is very very hard to have objective coverage and there will always be some partisanship.

Local News: Informative? Yes. Entertaining? No.

While watching the local CBS news at 5:00, it was very apparent that it was not entertaining. There was no comedy and no jokes, but why should there be? People do not watch the local news to be entertained, they watch it to be informed. The problem is unless you actually want to watch the news, there is no incentive for you to do so. It is dry, straight to the point news thats only purpose is to inform the public, not entertain them.

There were a few political stories, but not as many as the general news stories. The political stories were sprinkled throughout the broadcast. I feel that the news can only have so much political news, because only so much happens in a day that the public needs to know about. If people want to hear solely political news, then they should watch CNN or MSNBC. I feel that the local news should be general news about a variety of topics.

Politics in the News: Jon Stewart Takes on Network News..And Wins?

Anyone who has an interest in politics has no doubt heard of Jon Stewart, and probably has seen his show, The Daily Show. The Daily Show is a comedic talk show that is based on politics and news. He single handedly hosts the show does a very good job. As is to be expected, the main viewers of the show are todays youth. I feel that this is very important, because it means that the youths are getting some political information. I know for a fact that many students would rather watch the Daily Show than MSNBC. I am one of these students. I cannot stand to listen to long political shows based on hard facts. The comedic style the Stewart uses to put forth political issues and events makes it extremely entertaining to watch.

Although it is good that this show can get the youth involved, I think that many of them, including myself, are using it as a crutch. The Daily Show probably consists of 80% of the news I hear about politics. This is not good. I think that to be fully educated, you must try to hear every side of the story, and watching network news can help you do that. I feel that watching network news at a random time does guarentee that you will hear political pieces, but watchin the Daily Show does. This is another positive to the Daily Show. I am trying to start using the Daily Show as a segway to watching network news more, but for me, as of now, Jon Stewart has the upper hand.

Sean Hannity vs. Alan Keyes

Hannity and Colmes was a show that ran on Fox News from October 1996 to January 2009. The show was hosted by Hannity, a conservative, and Colmes, a liberal. On the particular episode that I posted above, the hosts are interviewing Alan Keyes, who ran for President of the United States in 2008. First Colmes asks him a few questions and allows Keyes to respong. Keyes is answering the questions to a certain point, but is avoiding answering parts of the question. Colmes does not make a big deal about this and moves onto the next question.

When it is Hannitys turn to ask the questions, he does not let Keyes off the hook at all. He keeps drilling into Keyes and you can see that it is making him uncomfortable. Hannity seems that he is not the kind of person that you want interviewing you. He kept interupting Keyes and giving him a hard time with everything that he said. After watching more clips of the show it became obvious that Hannity can be pretty stuborn and thick headed, while Colmes is more even tempered. It is easy to see why Colmes left the show last year. I don't know how he lasted this long. The show is now simply entitled 'Hannity'.

Limbaugh and the Feminazis

In one of Rush Limbaughs radio shows the topic of feminism was brought about. Limbaugh, who is very critical of feminism, had nothing nice to say. He used the funny but derrogatory term 'feminazi' when referring to radical feminists. He said that to these 'feminazis' the most important thing in life "is ensuring that as many abortions as possible occur": a phrase that he has used before. He also restates a previous statement he had used before, when he said that feminism was only brought about so that ugly woman could have easier access to the mainstream of society.

It was made clear in the broadcast that he used these terms before and it had brought a lot criticism, but he did not care. I think that what he was saying was very funny, but that is because I am not a feminist. The segment on feminism lasted about 1o minutes before it segwayed into something else. I had never listened to Limbaugh before and I was surpised at how funny, and suprisingly entertaining it was. But then again thats only because I am not a 'feminazi'.

USA Today Cover Story

On the cover of USA Today was a story about the swine flu. I noticed that many students have written about this, so I wanted to take this in a different direction. Although the cover story was about the swine flu, there was also an editorial that went with a different abgle on the story, so I wanted to look at that. After reading the article I decided that I wanted to write a letter to the editor:

To the Editor:

“Worldwide flu cases top 700” (article USA Today, 5/2/09), states that “the world still lingers just shy of a full-out pandemic”. The overall tone of the article seems to over estimate the swine flu and magnify its severity. Sure people have died and fallen ill to the swine flu, but the regular flu, which affects people every year, kills many more people than the swine flu has. Why should the swine flu be a major pandemic when the regular flu has proven more deadly in previous years? The article should have attempted to calm people about the ‘pandemic’ and show how it is not as bad as it seems when compared to the regular flu.

Sincerely,

Nico Scerbo

Ramapo College of New Jersey Student

The Girls Next Door – Next Door to What??

Any who has seen this show can attest to the complete absurdity of it. Entertainent? Yes. Anywhere close to reality? No. The problem is that many young girls are no doubt watching this show, and their views on relationships and what is acceptable and what is not can become skewed. For example, after watching this show young girls may want to imitate the look of Hef’s three girlfriends, Holly, Bridgette and Kendra. Their look is that of –pardon my French-whores. They never have any clothes on and are always doing something inappropriate.

As was aforementioned, the show focuses on Hefs three girlfriends. Herein lies another problem. Little kids watching the show may think that it is ok to have for than one significant other. They say Hef kissing many ladies and may start to think that that is ok. On the show, the girls always have to ask Hef before they can do anything, and they need his approval. This is another negative aspect that can affect the socialization of girls. Not only will young girls try to dress like the playmates, they may start to think that it is ok for many girls to share one man, and they might also think they need a mans approval before they do anything.

The fact is that even thought the show negatively impact the socialization of young girls, it will not be pulled from the air. The show brings in a lot of money and is already signed for a sixth season. It is the responsibility of the parents to control what their kids watch. That is why there are inventions such as the V-Chip. Any problems with the socialization of girls can be fixed by an observant and watchful parent.

“Good Night and Good Luck”

Prior to watching it in class, I had never seen the movie “Good Night and Good Luck”. The movie was about the conflict between radio and television journalist Edward R. Murrow and U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy. The conflict was related to the Senator's actions with the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations during the Cold War. The main conflict in the movie is that Murrow and his colleagues defy corporate and sponsorship pressures, and discredit the tactics used by Joseph McCarthy to root out communist elements within the government, using Murrows CBS show ‘See It Now’.

The movie was shot in black and white, which made it very authentic. All the clothing and music and language seemed accurate to the time and really set the scene for the movie. The movie really showed the power that the media has. Murrow and his colleagues were able to go after tactics used by the President of the United States. Not only did they confront the President on his tactics, they proved him wrong. The movie really shows the power that the media had, and still has. The movie was set in the 1950s and it is clear that even back then media was an important power player in American life.

Response to a Classmates Blog Post

After reading Christy’s post on limits on gun sales, and the original article. I formed my own opinion on the matter. I do agree with the points that Christy makes for why people do not need more than 13 handguns a year. I also agree that the analogy between lethal weapons and fashion accessories was absurd and erroneous. While I feel that it is reasonable for a law to be passed that a person can purchase no more than 1 gun a month, I also feel that this would not do much when it comes to gun safety. All that you need is one gun to perform a deadly act. While the law may reduce the number of guns that are sold for profits and supplied to gang members, it is a simple fact that even if the law is passed, gang members will still find a way to get guns. There is no doubt in my mind about that.

Christy also cites that Republican State Senator Marcia Karrow, who is opposed to limits on gun sales, says “the best defense she could give was that some people simply want to buy guns”. Christy feels that this is not a value argument, as the people who buy multiple guns are obviously not using them for their intended reason (personal defense). I agree with the fact that someone who buys 10 hand guns a month is surely not using them for their intended use, but I also agree with the Senator that some people just want to buy guns. I feel that a law should be passed that limits the sale on guns per month, but I think that it should allow for more than 1 a month.

Californians Address the Role of Media in Politics

This YouTube video was very interesting. ‘Survey Nation’ asks attendees of the 2008 California Democratic Convention how they view modern media and its role in the political process. They wanted to see if voters really care about endorsements given by celebrities like Oprah and Chuck Norris. This informal survey offers people chance to speak out on the issues that shape this country. It was good to see people speak freely about their opinions and politics.

I do have some critiques about the video though. The way the video was presented was exactly the thing that the media does to distort the news. In the video people were shown wearing shirts that mocked former President Bush. There were liberal people who said the media lies. This would lead people to believe that if you don't trust the media it should be because you are too conservative. I think that this is the biggest lie that they could tell.

Redneck Feminist

Again, while searching Google for a feminist blog, my attention was caught by the name of this blog: ‘Redneck Feminist: A Free Market Feminist Blog’. As soon as you go on the website the author has a funny quote right under the title of the blog. It reads: “If you don't get the title of this blog, you probably shouldn't read it. You will be offended if you have a narrow idea of what the terms redneck, feminist, and libertarian mean. This is not a white-power blog, nor do I care to hear others whine about how "oppressed" white people are. If you have an open mind, please read my blog!”.

After reading through the authors posts, I found one particular post to be very interesting. It was entitled ‘Not a Victim’. In the post the author says “So why do people think I have to be a victim to be a feminist? I don't get it. Just because I realize that sexism still exists (against both women and men) doesn't mean I think life sucks and I'm oppressed”. It was interesting to read this post because I agree with the fact that when most people hear ‘feminist’, they assume that the person is oppressed and fighting for the rights of woman. Sometimes being a feminist means simply that the woman recognized that sexism exists. The post had a sarcastic tone with some examples to prove her point, which they did. Although the blog is not updated that often at all, I feel that it was still a good blog.

The Environmental Blog – Original?

A quick search of ‘environmental blog’ on Google produced pages of blogs related to the environment. I clicked on one of the first links, because I liked I like the name of the blog. It was called ‘The Environmental Blog’. I don’t think it gets any more original than that. For what the creator lacked in creativity in the name, the blog is very visually appealing and creative. The home page is very clean and organized and the links make it easier to navigate the page.

The post that I choose to read was entitled ‘Biofuel from coffee’. It was about how coffee grounds can actually be used to make bio diesel fuel. The reason that bio diesel isn't being used a whole lot these days is because there isn't a cheap availability of a quality source. The post also stated that when the government tested the coffee grounds, they discovered a few things. One of these is that the fuel actually smells like java. That’s a lot better than the gasoline smell we have now if you ask me. And two it turns out since coffee has a high antioxidant content it was more stable and had a bigger advantage over other bio diesels.

I think that the government should definitely start looking more into this and trying to make it happen. It seems like a great way to save energy and protect the environment at the same time. Who would have thought that something so simple as coffee grounds could be used as fuel and be better for the environment. Not only that, but I don’t think that anyone if car exhaust smelled like coffee!

The Huffington Post – Cluttered, Yet Organized

The Huffington Post was the first blog that I have ever looked at closely. When I first went on the website, the first thing I noticed was how cluttered it was. There were colored boxes with pictures and links and titles all packed next to each other. On the left side of the page was all the blog posts with a summary of each post. Scrolling up and down the home page was a little intimidating, as there seemed to be so much information and so many stories in such a little space.

I began to click on some of the links for different topics (media, entertainment, etc.), and I began to get used to the format of the site. As it turns out, the home page is a mesh of all that the site has to offer, and information and posts on a certain topic are easily attainable by clicking the tabs on the top or bottom of the page.

There are different authors that write for the blog, and I clicked on a few different authors to see how they wrote their blogs. One blog I read was by Elizabeth Banks. The post was her review and critique of the movie ’17 Again’. Although her post was informative, I felt that she went off topic a little too much and used way too many parentheses. Another post I read was one by Arianna Huffington entitled ‘Sunday Roundup’. It was basically a quick summary of some of the big events of the week. I felt that this was better written than the one by Banks. Something I did notice about both posts was the format in which they are written; they both seemed to have an informal tone, unlike articles that you would read in a newspaper. Overall it was interesting to actually take a look at a blog and read through it, instead of just hearing about it or skimming through one like I usually do.

Politics in South Africa

South Africa's President Kgalema Motlanthe has announced that general elections will take place on April 22nd. African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma is the favorite to become president, but he is currently facing corruption charges. A group of disappointed ANC members left and formed a rival party in 2008. The party was deeply divided between supporters of Zuma and former President Thabo Mbeki. Mbeki was forced from power in September 2008 after a judge accused his government of interfering in the prosecution of Zuma for political reasons. However, an appeal court in January 2009 ruled that the first judge had been wrong to reach this conclusion. The election will take place on April 22nd. Zuma's corruption trial has been set for August. He has said he would only step down if convicted.
I think that this is a very important event for South Africa. It hasa also been covered a lot by the media, more than other things that have happened in South Africa. It is said that this election is supposed to be the most interesting since Nelson Mandela became president in 1994, ending white minority rule.

Letter to the Editor...

This article was printed in the online op-ed section of USA Today. The article is about whether or not Obama's housing plan can stabilize plunging values. I did not agree with the writer of the article, so i decided to send a letter to the letter. If you want to do the same, the email us letters@usatoday.com.

To the Editor:
“Our view on the economy: Can Obama’s housing plan stabilize plunging values?” (editorial USA Today, 2/20/09), states that everyone can gain something by Obama’s new housing plan. The article argues that helping up to 5 million people who are current in their mortgage payments but who cannot refinance at lower interest rates because their debt is near or over the value of the house will actually be for the greater good. I feel that this is false. There are other credit markets in the U.S. that can operate without changing the rules. For example, the auto industry has operated successfully despite that fact that many people are in debt when they sign the contracts. If the government is giving money and changing the rules for people who default on mortgage payments, then why shouldn’t they now help the many people that are beginning to default on car loans?

Sincerely,
Nico Scerbo
Ramapo College of New Jersey Student

Faking Own Death and Counterfeiting Money Only Results in a Year of Jail

A South Carolina man who was tracked to Indiana after faking his death has been sentenced to a year in federal prison for counterfeiting more than $65,000 to finance his life on the run. Julius Nesbitt spent more than six weeks on the run before he was arrested at a friend's home. Federal prosecutors say he and another man made the bogus bills that were passed in several states. Nesbitt had faced drug charges in South Carolina when he cast his boat into the ocean about 30 miles south of Myrtle Beach. His disappearance prompted a search over several days. He pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to a year in jail.
I feel that the sentencing for this man was too lenient. He evaded being arrested for drug charges by faking his own death, then proceeded to counterfeit money. So drug charges, counterfeiting money, and avoiding arrest only resulted in a year of jail time.

Life Sentence for Stealing Tire Secrets?

Two men were charged with conspiring to steal trade secrets from the Goodyear Tire Company and scheming to defraud Goodyear of confidential and proprietary information. The 2 men traveled to a Goodyear tire manufacturing facility. After allegedly making material misrepresentations to Goodyear employees concerning the purpose of their visit, the men used a cell phone to secretly photograph tire manufacturing equipment. According to the indictment, the men later emailed the unauthorized photographs, which contained valuable trade secret information, to employees at a Wyko (a competitor tire company).
If convicted of all charges, the defendants each face a maximum of 150 years in prison and $2.75 million in fines. It was interesting to see the extreme penalty that these two men could face. Committing murder can result in life in prison, and these men could get 150 years each, which is also a life sentence. Not only can they face ‘life’ in prison, but they also could each owe about 3 million dollars in fines.

T.I. Sentence Too Easy??

Recently, rapper T.I. was sentenced to a year and a day in prison, with $100,000 in fines and an additional 470 hours of community service (he as already served 1000 hours). He had faced a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count, until he cut a deal and pleaded guilty last March to the federal weapons charge.
The reason I found this article interesting was because it shows how celebrities are able to, in a way, cheat the U.S. legal system. T.I. was caught trying to buy unregistered machine guns and silencers. Weapons like this would enable someone to gun down an entire room without anyone even hearing a gunshot. He only received a year in prison and about 1500 hours of community service. T.I. agreed to community service to avoid a lengthy sentence. He has already made 262 public appearances as part of that deal. I find there to be a problem with this. He avoided time in prison because he agreed to perform many community service hours. A normal person would not have as much freedom to make this decision. Being as he is a celebrity, simply making a public appearance counts as community service. He even had his own MTV show where the cameras followed him as he did the community service. Normal people would not have the opportunity to do this and would therefore probably get more prison time.

texting and driving??

I know for a fact the majority of the people in this class have at one time or another text messaged while driving. A recent article in USA Today attempted to show that something needs to be done to prevent people form texting while driving. The article states that 37% of teens rated texting as the most distracting activity they engage in behind the wheel. It then goes on to say that even thought a handful of states have banned texting by drivers, such laws are tough to pass and enforce. The problem that I have with this is that the article argues that laws against driving and texting are tough to pass and enforce, but the article does not offer any possible solutions. Giving examples of how this problem could be solved would have made the articles argument more complete. In addition, they do not go in depth as to the actual laws concerning texting while driving. I think that readers would have been interested in knowing that the enforcement of the no-texting-while-driving law only applies when the driver has already committed another traffic offense. A more in depth description of the weakness of the current law would have made readers realize that this is something that needs to be changed.

first post

my name is nico. i am 20 years old and a junior at ramapo college of new jersey. my major is law and society with a minor in political science.