Original Articles:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/18/opinion/greene-black-friday/index.html?hpt=us_c2
Is Black Friday its own holiday now? Its a good question. Its not like an amazing day of shopping and sales just goes with Thanksgiving. I mean, when you think about it, its really quite silly. Thanksgiving is all about being thankful and happy with what you have, so of course the obvious thing to do is spend tons of money to get more possessions, right? Well, apparently. Black Friday is a modern addition to an old tradition.
Black Friday has become this monster that can control people. Its such a materialistic holiday, if you can actually call it a holiday. "It is an annual festival of the cash register." says the writer of this article, Bob Greene. Thanksgiving is not the only holiday with a day like Black Friday attached to it. Christmas has Boxing Day, and most holidays are in themselves days to buy. Most holidays, like Christmas and Halloween have companies drooling at the opportunities to sell their merchandise. Holidays in general are merchandising advertisements now. Is quite sad...
Holidays are very materialistic now, and while its good for the economy, is it really good?
Monday, November 19, 2012
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Ireland Considers Changes in Abortion Laws
Original Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/14/world/europe/ireland-abortion-controversy/index.html?hpt=wo_c2
A woman in Ireland died recently due to a blood infection caused by her pregnancy which was miscarrying. Savita went to hospital with back pain, and was told that she was going to have a miscarriage. She was 17 weeks pregnant when she was told. Despite her increasing agony and the knowledge that she was almost 100% going to lose the child, they refused to "terminate" the pregnancy. The law in Ireland with regards to abortion says that abortion is legal if the pregnancy risks the mother's life. It has to put her in serious risk of death. If they feel it will damage her, but not kill her, they cannot perform the abortion.
This case has led to some serious debate in Ireland and Great Britain as a whole about the abortion laws in Ireland. There was many protests throughout the nation, the biggest being help outside of the Irish Embassy in England. I am openly pro-choice (supportive of abortion). I believe its disgusting for anyone to tell a woman what to do with her body, especially in such a personal case like pregnancy. So when a nation outlaws abortion, I see the nation in a whole new light, and I can't help but think of them as sexist. This woman's death was avoidable. They would not let her get the abortion. That means one of two things. Either the doctors broke their own law and refused to give the abortion to her despite her risk of death. Or, they didn't think she had a risk of death, which considering how quickly she dies, says something bad about their doctors. Either way, this is a monstrosity.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/14/world/europe/ireland-abortion-controversy/index.html?hpt=wo_c2
A woman in Ireland died recently due to a blood infection caused by her pregnancy which was miscarrying. Savita went to hospital with back pain, and was told that she was going to have a miscarriage. She was 17 weeks pregnant when she was told. Despite her increasing agony and the knowledge that she was almost 100% going to lose the child, they refused to "terminate" the pregnancy. The law in Ireland with regards to abortion says that abortion is legal if the pregnancy risks the mother's life. It has to put her in serious risk of death. If they feel it will damage her, but not kill her, they cannot perform the abortion.
This case has led to some serious debate in Ireland and Great Britain as a whole about the abortion laws in Ireland. There was many protests throughout the nation, the biggest being help outside of the Irish Embassy in England. I am openly pro-choice (supportive of abortion). I believe its disgusting for anyone to tell a woman what to do with her body, especially in such a personal case like pregnancy. So when a nation outlaws abortion, I see the nation in a whole new light, and I can't help but think of them as sexist. This woman's death was avoidable. They would not let her get the abortion. That means one of two things. Either the doctors broke their own law and refused to give the abortion to her despite her risk of death. Or, they didn't think she had a risk of death, which considering how quickly she dies, says something bad about their doctors. Either way, this is a monstrosity.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
High Mortality Rates in Southern States
Original Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/13/health/infant-mortality-mississippi/index.html?hpt=us_c2
This article talks in brief about the tragedy of the Dykes family: a family living Mississippi who lost their their prematurely born child in 2008. Mississippi ranks 50th out of 50 in all the states for highest mortality rate. We all know that the southern states of America have a bad reputation, and the truth is, its all true. They have the worst mortality rate, a high rate of obesity, a low annual income, etc. A question this articles asks is "What role does race play?". This is a good question because the south is thought to be still quite racist and 40% of infants are born to black women in Mississippi. Some people speculate that the reason the mortality rate is so high can be caused by high rates of obesity. If the mother is not healthy, that can easily lead to a risky birth. Another factor that can lead to unhealthy births would be drug and/or alcohol use.
Mortality rate is the rate of how many children survive to see their first birthday. Mississippi has a mortality rate of 9.4, which means that on average, out of 1,000 babies born, 9.4 will die before their first birthday. This is an appalling statistic. Especially for such a huge country like America. This mortality rate is more on par with countries like Sri Lanka and Botswana.
The south has a lot of problems. These are fixable problems, but the sheer size of them make them difficult to overcome. Death is always tragic but especially so when it comes to infants. America needs to work to fix this major problem.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/13/health/infant-mortality-mississippi/index.html?hpt=us_c2
This article talks in brief about the tragedy of the Dykes family: a family living Mississippi who lost their their prematurely born child in 2008. Mississippi ranks 50th out of 50 in all the states for highest mortality rate. We all know that the southern states of America have a bad reputation, and the truth is, its all true. They have the worst mortality rate, a high rate of obesity, a low annual income, etc. A question this articles asks is "What role does race play?". This is a good question because the south is thought to be still quite racist and 40% of infants are born to black women in Mississippi. Some people speculate that the reason the mortality rate is so high can be caused by high rates of obesity. If the mother is not healthy, that can easily lead to a risky birth. Another factor that can lead to unhealthy births would be drug and/or alcohol use.
Mortality rate is the rate of how many children survive to see their first birthday. Mississippi has a mortality rate of 9.4, which means that on average, out of 1,000 babies born, 9.4 will die before their first birthday. This is an appalling statistic. Especially for such a huge country like America. This mortality rate is more on par with countries like Sri Lanka and Botswana.
The south has a lot of problems. These are fixable problems, but the sheer size of them make them difficult to overcome. Death is always tragic but especially so when it comes to infants. America needs to work to fix this major problem.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Syrian Amputee's Amazing Journey
Original Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/01/world/damon-syria-amputee/index.html?hpt=wo_c2
This tells the powerful story of Syrian brothers Omar and Abdulrahman, and their amazing journey. Abdulrahman was injured in the violence that plagues Syria and lost his leg. Omar found him in a hospital and wept at his brothers injury. Omar made the promise to his brother that he would walk again. So Omar set his mind to raising money for a prosthetic. After realizing that it would take too long, he contacted the Global Medical Relief Fund to see if they could help. They responded and said if they were going to help, Omar would have to get his brother to Turkey. A driver was able to take them relatively close to the border, but he could not take them all the way. Omar had to carry Abdulrahman across many muddy fields, but he was able to get to Turkey. They did not have passports, but they were able to get in and they are now waiting for further treatment.
This is an amazing story. It is both heart wrenching and heart warming. This story shows the destructive nature of war zones, and simultaneously shows the good in man kind. The perseverance and will power of Omar and Abdulrahman is amazing. The hell that these two boys went through is something no one should experience, yet these boys fought through and made it. I certainly hope that Abdulrahman can get a new leg, and I hope they can make a better life, because they came from an awful and violent situation.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/01/world/damon-syria-amputee/index.html?hpt=wo_c2
This tells the powerful story of Syrian brothers Omar and Abdulrahman, and their amazing journey. Abdulrahman was injured in the violence that plagues Syria and lost his leg. Omar found him in a hospital and wept at his brothers injury. Omar made the promise to his brother that he would walk again. So Omar set his mind to raising money for a prosthetic. After realizing that it would take too long, he contacted the Global Medical Relief Fund to see if they could help. They responded and said if they were going to help, Omar would have to get his brother to Turkey. A driver was able to take them relatively close to the border, but he could not take them all the way. Omar had to carry Abdulrahman across many muddy fields, but he was able to get to Turkey. They did not have passports, but they were able to get in and they are now waiting for further treatment.
This is an amazing story. It is both heart wrenching and heart warming. This story shows the destructive nature of war zones, and simultaneously shows the good in man kind. The perseverance and will power of Omar and Abdulrahman is amazing. The hell that these two boys went through is something no one should experience, yet these boys fought through and made it. I certainly hope that Abdulrahman can get a new leg, and I hope they can make a better life, because they came from an awful and violent situation.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Donation to Human Rights Campaign
Original Article: http://www.hlntv.com/article/2012/10/31/brad-pitt-contribution-human-rights-campaign?hpt=us_c2
CNN talked about this article.
This article us about how celebrity Brad Pitt donated $100,000 to the Human Rights Campaign, to support gay marriage. Although this article talks about celebrity participation in the HMC, I'm going to mainly talk about the issue itself. While homosexuality is legal nation wide in America, gay marriage is legal in very few states. While LGBT rights in America have taken some large leaps forward in the past few years, there is still a long way to go. A donation of $100,000 is an amazing thing, no matter who its from. Although the fact that an extremely famous celebrity did it certainly helps publicly.
Barack Obama and his team are the first in the White House to openly support gay marriage. Its a huge step for America. Its hard for a country to move forward with an issue when the leader of the country is against it. When Barack Obama announced he supported gay rights, it split the country's opinion on him. The people who like him, liked him even more. The people who didn't like, now disliked him even more.
Once again, its a great thing that Brad Pitt did this, because not only does the money help, but the publicity helps immensely. Anyone can and should support gay rights, but the fame just helped.
CNN talked about this article.
This article us about how celebrity Brad Pitt donated $100,000 to the Human Rights Campaign, to support gay marriage. Although this article talks about celebrity participation in the HMC, I'm going to mainly talk about the issue itself. While homosexuality is legal nation wide in America, gay marriage is legal in very few states. While LGBT rights in America have taken some large leaps forward in the past few years, there is still a long way to go. A donation of $100,000 is an amazing thing, no matter who its from. Although the fact that an extremely famous celebrity did it certainly helps publicly.
Barack Obama and his team are the first in the White House to openly support gay marriage. Its a huge step for America. Its hard for a country to move forward with an issue when the leader of the country is against it. When Barack Obama announced he supported gay rights, it split the country's opinion on him. The people who like him, liked him even more. The people who didn't like, now disliked him even more.
Once again, its a great thing that Brad Pitt did this, because not only does the money help, but the publicity helps immensely. Anyone can and should support gay rights, but the fame just helped.
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