There are many deserving stories and issues that don't get enough play. Some of these topics don't get covered at all. Is there a story or topic you feel deserves more attention? A story that would have an impact in shaping our democracy in a big or small way? Please share and be sure to include a link. The link should be to either the story or a website -- anywhere we can go to read more on the issue.
One topic that I know does not get enough attention is the genetic engineering in our agriculture.
ReplyDeleteGMOs (genetically modified organisms) are crops that have been genetically altered by biotechnology for a variety of reasons. GM plants have a longer shelf life and are more resistant to pesticides and herbicides.
I won't go into immense detail about it, seeing as this is supposed to be a short post. The details explaining exactly what GMOs are and why there are dangerous are outlined nicely on this page:
http://www.naturalhealthstrategies.com/dangerous-genetically-modified-foods.html
However I'll just say that GMOs are proven to be allergenic, carcinogenic and substantially less nutritional than food grown from natural, organic seed.
I think this issue doesn't get enough play in the media because it is very much a political issue. The reason why one of the largest biotech companies, Monsanto, basically has free rein over America's crops is because Congress has made little to no effort to stop them. A reason for this is because lobbyists for Monsanto are also directly involved or have been directly involved in the FDA. I think the clearest examples of this are shown in the documentary "Food Inc". Here's the trailer for anyone who's interested:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eKYyD14d_0
It really is a great film.
There is so much inter-mingling between our government and those controlling our food that it, in my opinion, it is next to impossible to know what is and is not healthy for you.
Most countries in the world have laws requiring the labeling of foods containing genetically modified ingredients. However our country, the United States of America, does not. We have the right to know what we are eating. This is a democratic issue if ever there was one.
The "Food Democracy Now" movement has a great website in which they outline their mission and the importance of building a sustainable food system that puts our health first.
http://fooddemocracynow.org/
Recently Ive been reading a lot of articles about pregnancy due to someone in my family that had a baby. Ive come across a number of interesting articles and stories that caught my eye. However there was one that I couldn't get out of my head.
ReplyDeleteMostly because of the picture, I clicked on an article in the New York Times that featured a pregnant woman who is a weight lifter. As odd as it sounds it was pretty interesting, considering "Pregnant" and "Weight-Lifter" don't go together.
I don't know much this article will contribute to shaping our democracy but, i'm sure that you will find a lot of interesting facts about how staying in shape while a woman is pregnant will help the whole process move along smoother.
This article is sure to catch your eye and Its definitely an interesting one:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/24/pregnant-weight-lifter-stirs-debate/?smid=tw-nytimeswell&seid=auto&_r=2
Today's most powerful news's outlets in the U.S are like "sheep just following their crowd". It seems as if they all reached an agreement to focus on the same news stories, at the same time and for the same period of time. These days professional journalists are directed and quiet down better than the NY Metropolitan Opera, I have never seen such a discipline and synchronization.
ReplyDeleteThe reasons why many newspapers are having economical problems, it's because they no longer are the voice of the people but instead as it says on the book The elements of journalism "This potential class isolation is reinforced by strategic targeting of elite demographics, a policy many news companies have adopted. The result was and continues to be a treat to all journalism". Newspapers no longer compete to expose the government and private sector irregularities as they used to do back in the day.
The Issue that does not get enough news coverage is the ugly reality that Mexican Cartels are flooding the country with drugs. As the CBC news article "How much are Mexico's brutal drug cartels worth?" explains ; " Mexican drug trafficking is estimated by analysts to be worth $13 billion USD a year and the number one consumer is the United States", I think it is very important to set a spot light on the topic because this issue not only affects our community but also is a major threat no national and international security.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/how-much-are-mexico-s-brutal-drug-cartels-worth-1.1333213
Not that this had a huge affect on shaping who we are as a country, but i like to look into story's where two people in the same situation are treated differently, one of the best examples i have is about two college football players
ReplyDeleteReggie bush was the star running back for the usc Trojans, so much a star that he was the winner is the hiesman Trophy an award given to the most outstanding college football player, it was released that bush had been taking money for autographs and from the school to play there; he was asked to give his award back.
Just a few years later the dame situation played out with talented young quarterback johnny manzell, he was never asked to hand his award back. I do not se why he was not, maybe because he was from a different school or because he was the first freshman to win this award, for whatever reason they were not treated as equals and i think that seeing someone get away with doing the biggest no no in college sports has changed the game because now people will see that you can get away with that,
Two predawn raids in Africa show the a changing landscape in America's war on terror.
ReplyDeleteThough the outcomes were different each event that occurred on October 4th shows a change in pattern from drone strikes to eliminate high value targets to sending in our elite special operations teams to capture them.
The first raid was in Libya where, without the governments consent, American's DELTA force succeeded in capturing Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai wanted for embassy bombings in 1998 that killed over 220 people.
The second raid was conducted by the Navy's SEAL's in Somalia to capture Ahmed Godane, who is being called the mastermind behind the mall attacks in Kenya. During this raid the SEAL's encountered heavy resistance and saw that children were among the militant members at the target compound. With the chance of civilian deaths as well as their own the SEALS decided to scrap the operation and leave the area.
Each raid shows a change in pattern by the American government. Drone attacks would have one killed the targets on site giving no further ability to gain useful information. Second both location were in civilian populated areas and may have caused unwanted deaths.
The decision now shows that the United States Government will now send its men and woman in to harms way to capture and not kill important targets also giving them the ability to call off such attacks if it is deemed that the situation on the ground is not available to them to complete the mission.
This option is not available once a missile is launched form a drone flying over head,
Information for this blog was gathered from :
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/06/libya-kidnapping-citizen-us-forces-raid-somalia
and
http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/06/world/africa/us-forces-africa-terrorist-raids/
Recently IOS 7 was released by apple as the next generation operating system for the iphone. However, since its debut there hasn't been much talk about what people really thought of it or the problems and cool new features it has.
ReplyDeleteEven though it doesn't effect impact or shape our democracy in a big way, it does in a way nonetheless. Apple has been a worldwide phenomenon the last few years where its popularity skyrocketed through the roof. Millions and millions of people have an iphone or at least apple products, so this is not only relevant but important in the world of technology.
http://www.mercurynews.com/troy-wolverton/ci_24243533/review-wolverton-apple-new-ios7-software-plagued-by-problems
This link shows the flaws and other problems people experienced from the new upgrade. I feel that the ios 7 in terms of the news has basically withered away. This article is from only a couple of days ago so I considerate fairly new.
I grew up in house where both of my parents were teachers. Needless to say, education was very important in my house, and now that I am the parent it's importance has taken on a new meaning.
ReplyDeleteHow can we be a functioning democratic people if the education system is broken?
How can we expect our citizens to make good decisions if the education system has failed them?
This is an issue that does not get enough public attention.
Except of course when it is an election year.
I believe the importance of education can not every be forgotten. Education helps our children learn the skills they need to survive in this new day an age. But, that's not all. They learn from actual correct sources of information with someone guiding them.
With the internet as powerful a tool that there is we need someone to make sure that our children do not believe all that they see online is the "facts". It is a dangerous time right now in this new era of technology.
The digital age has arrived, yet our education system is still stuck in 1942. There need to be fundamental changes in how we educate our children, and how we run our programs.
Look at the facts, teen pregnancy, drop out status, testing scores, all of it should shame us as the leaders of the free world.
This is a huge problem that has many different facets driving it. We can not let the rest of the world overtake us. If we want to maintain our status then we need to make sure that our status is deserved.
Education is the driving force behind democracy. Without thought you lose what made us so much different from every other nation. If you feel as strongly as I do about the peril that our nations future and democracy is facing here are two links to articles that outline the problems, and maybe, just maybe some of the solutions. http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/the-failure-of-american-public-education/#axzz2h9fYBjAp, http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2012/06/08/americas-education-problem-isnt-money-its-how-we-spend-it.
Please take the time out to read these articles, it is more important than the news would ever let you know.
I hardly watch the news, because there's not many stories I feel is a big concern in my life.
ReplyDeleteBuy I must say that this government shut down has really taken it's toll on a lot of people.
The frustration it brings to the American people is quite obvious. It's a lot of citizens and non-citizens that look to the government for help.
It's affecting a lot of people because certain things are being shut down. More then 800,000 people are sitting home because of this shut down.
If I needed a federal loan to buy a house that's going to have to wait, and to obtain a passport will too. It's certainly slowing down the average citizen life.
But then again congress did agree on one thing to legalize, to remain paying troops while this shit down happens. Did I say "shit" I mean shut down.
I did gather my information at this Q&A http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/30/politics/government-shutdown-up-to-speed/index.html?c=&page=5
A topic that get very little play is the destruction of art. Personally, I have no problem with vandalism, or the destruction of art.
ReplyDeleteIf you’re alive, you have the right to alter reality, that's how I feel about it. Just because someone painted a fantastic painting of the Hudson river, the canvas is not sanctified by the painter or the paint. If you want to destroy something, go ahead, but be prepared for the consequences.
Art galleries don’t like to talk about the willful destruction of art, mostly because it only seems to inspire more. At least that’s how the world is painted in the article ‘Passion, Principal or Both?’ of the October 1st New York Times.
A new exhibition “Art Under Attack”, focusing on British iconoclasts, is a revolutionary exhibit in that the works of art have all been damaged, altered, or otherwise defaced. Including fragments of an English naval monument blown up by the IRA in 1966 - fragments of art still retain their status as art apparently. They mention another exhibition in which a modern artist, Jake and Dinos Chapman, painted decomposing faces over Victorian portraits.
In my opinion, I hope more exhibitions like these come around, I like the idea of reusing old boring art to make something cool,
A topic I think needs more attention is about immigration. I know the president has tried to do so many things to help but they still haven't created and passed many laws to benefit immigrants. I feel they should make more laws to open more doors to help the immigrants that are in the US to have a better life and make more money than their home countries. There are so many immigrants in the US that are undocumented and are working hard and trying to survive with minimum wage and doing jobs they don't like or may be dangerous. My parents were in this same situation but finally became citizens after being here for so many years but I still do have family members struggling because of this situation and would like to be able to go back to their country but can't because they won't be able to come back into the US. And right now that the government is shut down and immigration offices are closed all the people that have put in applications to become citizens their process has been stopped. I was reading an article on this guy that came from Canada and he talks about how before he moved to the US, he would only come to shop, college if they were lucky to get in and pay for it, or for work. So I see this as an example of why people come to the US. He also gives some more examples he says "Yes, the US economy is still weak. But it's also showing signs of new life, whether the rebound in manufacturing or the country's innovation in energy, high technology, and higher education." So I think the government should come to an agreement so they can reopen all the offices and create better laws for immigrants. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/09/opinion/international/the-best-reason-to-bet-on-america.html?_r=0
ReplyDeleteThe topic of interest is "going green". As we watch televisions or spend time in front of the computer..we don't see or read much about recycling, our Earth's environmental hazards, and manipulated agriculture. What gets me exited is when I hear or read stories on how companies or a specific country's government makes a small change for our planet.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.goinggreen.com/
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/45199245/ns/business-going_green/
http://www.nongmoproject.org/learn-more/
UPDATED-
ReplyDeleteThe topic of interest is "going green". As we watch televisions or spend time in front of the computer..we don't see or read much about recycling, our Earth's environmental hazards, and manipulated agriculture. What gets me exited is when I hear or read stories on how companies or a specific country's government makes a small change for our planet.
The internet supplies more news and information about "going green" than the television media does. The press doesn't seem to find it as important to inform the public about these type of things, therefore, a big percentage of our population remains uneducated about topics that affect all of our healths and our home, Earth.
In today's society, we have so much going on and such filled schedules which makes "going green" an extra addition to it. That throws some people's interest off when in reality it is all very simple and the "green" lifestyle takes less energy out of us than many other things we do in our daily lives.
The recycling industry has created jobs for 1.1 million people in the U.S. and providing $37 billion in wages.
Solar panels also give our planet the "green" lifestyle. Because of the complexity of them, they are of higher cost. Today, companies that make them are working on making them more affordable that way more families around the world can replace their electric system with these light-recycling panels that generate power from absorbing the sun's light.
Today, more and more people prefer to go shopping at their local grocery stores uwing reusable, recyclable bags, over plastic ones. Even stores like Trader Joes only provide bags that are recyclable, but still, most stores still use plastic bags which are environmentally harmful. If the press covered more education about this towards the public, maybe these corporations would make some changes that would easily barely cost them less than what they make in less than a week of the year.
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/appeal-going-green-78363.html
http://www.goinggreen.com/
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/45199245/ns/business-going_green/
http://www.nongmoproject.org/learn-more/