Monday, October 27, 2008

Exercise #4

Because I have unexpectedly changed my topic based on new information (for a better understanding of the assignment) received from the instructor, I am unable to do this exercise, but please allow me as an individual, student, and entity the "Full Faith and Credit Clause", as I always put fourth extra effort in other assignments to make up for what assignments (such as this one) I was unable to complete on time.

Women's Priorities At Work...

I was unable to upload the graph because it is an Adobe "Flash" graph.

The graph states that women consider good "benefits" the ultimate contributing factor to job satisfaction. By the way, I find this to be very interesting, considering I am of the opposite sex.

Below are the claims made by the graph (women surveyed):

Claim 1) Good benefits - 84% of women surveyed said this was the "ultimate" factor

Claim 2) Fair compensation - 81% of women surveyed

Claim 3) High trust level between managers and workers - 81%

Claim 4) Company that rewards excellence - 77%

Claim 5) Open communications - 75%

Monday, October 20, 2008

OVRC

I found the OVRC to be very helpful and understanding, as I quickly took upon what help it had to offer on finding a useful topic. I am not going to disclose my topic as of yet, but my paper will be of my best quality, as I am steadily working on it everyday (I am trying to prioritize and complete my work substantially ahead of time). I must say that I am completely settled on my topic, particularly without the help of the OVRC, but as I said, I did take in some pointers from the OVRC in making my absolute decision to the tenth extent, or should I say for the tenth time this week. With that said, I truly was not surprised by anything, but more so enlightened. I hope it the OVRC was helpful for others also. I can't wait to submit my argument of fact!

Worth The Argument?

"Hurricanes are increasing in number and ferocity."

I will definitely say that this is a true statement (topic) that brings resonance to a thoughtful argument. You can argue that statement, but only lightly as the facts (consistently released every year by NOAA) provide substantial basis for the factual statement.

"Many people die annually of cancer."

This statement (topic) is true, but the word "many" can be argued as it is not definitive in is value (number). Although, it is a fact that "many", as in great numbers of people (individuals) do die annually of cancer, and this rate of death is steadily increasing not just here in the United States, but globally.

"Fewer people would die of heart disease each year if more of them paid attention to their diets."

I must say that this is "not" worth arguing, not because it is "true", but because the scope of the topic dramatically extends farther then the mentioned reasoning of watching a persons diet. Need I say genetics and lifestyle...?

"Japan might have come to terms more readily in 1945 if the Allies hadn't demanded unconditional surrender."

This is a somewhat "controversial" topic, mainly because the culture of the Japanese needs to be examined before ever making a statement such that above. If you argue this topic, you are arguing history, which can't be changed, only debated as to its other possibilities. Basically, am I Japanese? Did I live in Japan during WWII? Do I understand the Japanese culture enough to have an argument? No, no, and no.

"Boys would do better in school if there were more men teaching in the elementary and secondary classrooms."

This topic can be argued, but I am sure you will get "mixed" responses to such a topic, as this statement seems very opinionated, and not at all factual, or proven extensively by studies.

"The ever-increasing number of minorities in higher education is evidence that racial problems have just about ended in the United States."

As myself being a minority, I must say that I would definitely have "plenty" to say about this topic in a college audience. This is a completely opinionated statement with no factual basis or support. In fact, there is truly an increasing number of minorities in penitentiaries, more then those engaging in higher education, yet this topic by itself can bring "deep" thoughts on even a broader scope. It will bring an argument, I can assure you. Next!

"There aren't enough high-paying jobs for college graduates these days."

The fact of the matter is that most college graduates have to compete to get the high-paying jobs, and they must also have the academic success to lead the way. You determine that, and let it be known that this topic is very opinionated also. I would not even bother to argue such a statement (topic).

"Hydrogen may never be a viable alternative to fossil fuels because it takes too much energy to change hydrogen into a usable form."

The term "may" and "never" seem to bring light to an argument because technology advances and you can go to the state of Utah to see hydrogen cars in action. In fact, it is a dramatically cheaper alternative over gasoline, and the technology is being advanced upon every year for even more efficiency. Go read a "Popular Science" magazine and learn something...

"Only one of the first forty-three presidents of the United States was a Catholic."

This statement (topic) has little, but some basis for an argument, but the facts are clear and direct regarding any debate that might come about. You cannot dispute history, or can you? It's like taking text out of a history book and saying it's wrong...

"Political activists have grossly exaggerated the effects of the USA Patriot Act on free expression."

I personally would argue this to my last hour. This statement (topic) is very negatively and incorrectly referenced, and you do not need the ACLU to tell you. Let easily say that the Patriot Act has yet to be fully "interpreted" as to what it allows "Uncle Sam" to do and not do. The U.S. Supreme Court has plenty of years to define the Patriot Act, but until then, do not expect to have privacy or free expression in America. That's my two cents.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Iraq War

My thoughts on the Iraq War before I took this class were somewhat direct in opposition of it entirely. I supported the invasion into Afghanistan, yet I was outright against committing our troops into Iraq. As of today, the U.S. has committed over five hundred billion dollars into a war that was financed by treasury bonds (loans), that tax payers have to pay the interest on before even coughing up the principal. Some of our troops have done multiple tours in Iraq, yet they still do not know what they will be able to come back home permanently. If you read my last three sentences, I think you can somewhat understand my feelings on the situation.

Has my opinion changed since this class began? No, nor will they ever. Bring our troops home, and quit printing money that we do not even have to spend!

Monday, October 6, 2008

Patriotism

Many people have confused patriotism with nationalism, which could not be further from its true and rightful definition. In order to be patriotic, we must do the right things because they are the right things to do. It is not enough that we be a strong country, as we must also use that strength for the purpose of good. That is my definition of patriotism. What is yours?

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Spears Essay

After reading the "Why I Hate Britney" essay by a University of Texas student, I must honestly say that I was considerably impressed. I would easily give the essay a B, not just because of its topic etc., but also because of the effort.

The writer sufficiently developed a topic with clear argument, so I must say that the content was considerably direct. The essay was organized with moderate sequence and it kept its point of view in "almost" every consecutive paragraph. In fact, call the organization of the essay an "almost" true attempt of flowing procession, but not quite perfect.

The style of the essay had a very serious tone and was partially to the point, based on the factual evidence, such as direct quotes given that supply support to the argument. The correctness of the essay, such as grammar and punctuation, was somewhat satisfactory. The writer did use some cant and jargon based wording in various underdeveloped sentences throughout the essay.

With all this said, I have to admit that I truly enjoyed reading the essay, most notably because I did recognize the effort put into it.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Uncle Sam Has His Eye On You!

The image above is one from the 2006 Pulitzer Prize winner Mike Luckovich, who has worked for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution since 1989. The image vividly displays a strong argument as to how many federal laws passed and enacted under the controversial Patriot Act particularly, have been deleterious to the privacy and free speech rights of Americans without adequate judicial oversight. The National Security Agency's (NSA) domestic spying program shows blatantly just how domestic privacy in America does not exist anymore. This image displays conviction as to just how the broad pattern of executive abuses that rely on and use "national security" as a pawn to encroach on the simple, yet vitally important rights such as privacy, have opened the doors into our once private homes.

Monday, September 15, 2008

More MilBlogs

I found this week to profoundly engaging as I became very touched by the blog entitled "A BANDAID". The soldier wrote of his experience in a tragic small village that had been devastated, with villagers living off of garbage just to survive. In all honesty, I envisioned this village to be basically a landfill based on the soldier's explanation, with children in the worst poverty unseen in here in America.

As I responded to the blog, my heart was truly touched by the story as I once again realized just how fortunate we are in America. I must say that the soldier who posted the blog truly has a big heart, and I wish everyone in the world had that same type of kindness in their heart also. His story was truly touching and had plenty of depth and meaning, as it spoke to the morality of his actions.

Wow, what a eye-opening and heart touching story!

Political Blogs

For the past few days, I have tried to take my mind off of all the disastrous economic news hitting the wires, such as Lehman Brothers filing Chapter 11 to AIG trying to raise capital to avoid a debt rating downgrade from S&P, and shift my mind to the political aspect of it all in this unique election year. To do this, I have been following the political blog know as "Wonkette", and today I happened to read a very critical blog about Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain and his view on our economy. Let me start off by saying, wow!

I found the arguments in the blog to be crystal clear in understanding without much explanation, yet full of illogical and invalid reasoning and conclusions. The blogger quoted Sen. John McCain's statement today, that the "fundamentals of our economy are strong." Following this quote, the blogger proceeded to counter his statement on the economy with various news headlines from today professing how deleterious the economic situation is at this moment with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 dropping almost five percent respectively. In my observation, the blogger directly used today's events in the markets as though they were an economic indicator, which is not true.

Now, I will admit that with over a four percent drop in the Dow and S&P, there was an dramatic decrease and exchange in wealth that took place. Over $800,000,000,000 was wiped out from the financial markets today, and that is severe blow for one day of trading with so many gloom and doom variables in the mindset of traders. With that said, using various quotes from news agencies such as Bloomberg, NY Times, and the Associate Press all have true premises to the argument, but still draw a false conclusion.

It is because of this, that I honestly have to say that the blogger used deductive fallacies in their argument. I am not going to say that I am defending Sen. John McCain's stance on economic policy, but if you want to present a true picture of the economy based on facts with a basis, use an economic indicator such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to draw a conclusion, not one day's worth of events. By definition, a recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth, and our economy is still "not" in a recession by definition.

Drawing a conclusion as to how the blogger critiques, I honestly have to recommend that he or she go take a few classes in macroeconomics and microeconomics if they want to improve on your weak argumentation.

My Wiki

My newly created Wiki is at http://squawkman.pbwiki.com/.

I am still in the "incubation" period of my Wiki, but I am already enjoying it. I find that a Wiki provides a profound experience and opportunity to inculcate, but it takes times and patience.

In the mean time, enjoy!

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Digital Presentations

A website that I frequent everyday of the week on a consistent basis is CNBC. The website is a best way to thoroughly present the continuous minute to minute changes in the global economy on a real-time basis. The website is a necessity in the world of business, as it is ever changing with the globalization of today's world.

The advantage of having business information on a website in real-time easily keeps a person like myself in the information loop. There is an old saying, "time is money!" and if that is not wisdom, I do not know what is. As a day trader, I am constantly seeking the best and most accurate information circulating around Wall Street each day, as I want my share of the pie too. I do not have to wait until the next day to find out what happened yesterday, as I would reading the newspaper. On my computer screen, I have the news in the world of business as it happens in real-time.

If one were seeking to "translate" the information of CNBC, one would need to have a constant large mass of writers next to type-writers, editors working all three shifts every day with no paid time off, and a non-stop printing press with plenty of teenagers on mopeds to deliver the latest print off the press every hour. Wow, that was so much to put in a sentence, let alone put orally. Even the older generation is transitioning to the Internet as the old days of print slowly subside into history.

As there are no obvious gains translating the information into print or orally, there are plenty of losses. Need I say productivity of your workers, with ridiculous paper and fuel costs. The costs would needlessly trickle right on down to the consumer as he pays a substantial premium for his printed text. This would definitely end all of the free newspaper trials that you get in your mailbox every month. To sum it up, it is very easy to recognize the advantages CNBC has in its business, as it has no other competition other then Bloomberg. Say goodbye to Wall Street Journal!

Killing Us Softly 3

Upon viewing the well structured lecture by Jean Kilbourne, my eyes opened and my mind was struck immediately by her oratory delivery and presentation skills. She could has easily been a speech writer in defense for Richard Nixon and overshadowed Ben Stein during the Watergate scandal. Jean kept my keen attention as she quickly developed and relayed her picture and message flawlessly. Her body language, such as her smile, various movements of her hand, and expressions quickly spoke concurrently with her words.

Jean Kilbourne made her argument crystal clear by the definition as she flawlessly implemented her presentation with a clear defined sunrise and sunset execution. Her various videos and photographs beautifully portrayed her words as she spoke every sentence. She also joked with a direct message as she mentioned individuals who beg to differ, but easily where GAP t-shirts. Jean used precise pauses as she spoke her message, and as a viewer, it easily allowed me to focus on each example and understand her argument with clear understanding.

In her presentation, she used direct, but simple humor to retain the audience as she continuously kept her message flowing. She easily emphasized her point with various images of women, particularly those that are young, as she described how we our culture envisions that a thin women is without flaws even though she lives in constant pursuit of perfection and nothing less. When she presented the ad displaying the message, "the more you subtract, the more you add," it truly portrayed her viewpoint with substance. Jean purposely repeated it, as it painted the picture she spoke of so definitively.

Jean used to statistics to mathematically show how the advertising market has grown truly struck a cord with me, as it definitely got her message across. I was amazed by the fact that the average person spends three years of the life watching commercials. As I thought, I struck my mind just how obviously true that is in the world we live in today, as advertising is a constant machine with an infinite amount of fuel to keep it going. Once again, she executed with verbal and visual excellence as she displayed her presentation.

Jean kept complete control of her tone during her presentation, as it displayed emphasis upon her arguments. She was professionally dressed in correct attire, made visual eye contact consistently, and even displayed various hand gestures as she spoke with eloquence. She was very effective with her body language and visual presentation as she conveyed her thoughts. If politicians took some pointers from her, maybe they would be able to present a more truthful presence.

As an astute individual, I took great understanding and appreciation in her presentation as I was thoroughly impressed. Jean Kilbourne presented effectiveness, with a beautiful touch of eloquence as she brought a new understanding to my mind and her audience. Bravo!

Sunday, August 31, 2008

MilBlogs

This was truly my first time ever experiencing the depth of a military blog as it opened my eyes and mind tremendously. The entries by the various soldiers gave me a new perspective on the war and daily life and death situations our boys are dealing with everyday across the world in Iraq. I find a big discrepancy between what we hear about the war on the major news networks such as CNN and FOX News, and the true life our soldiers on the ground are attesting to everyday on the blogs.

When I posted my personal responses on the milblog, I felt a sense of duty to tell them "Thanks" immediately as I have always respected and appreciated what they are sacrificing for our freedom. I know in my heart that my words are taken deeply and appreciated just as much by them, because I know at times it is hard for them over there, but they keep going at it everyday risking their lives.

I am glad that there is a way for our soldiers to stay connected to home that they left behind in sacrifice, and share their thoughts and experiences with others they keep safe everyday back home.

The Exposure Of The Read-Write Web

Most tech-savvy individuals are from the young generation that manifests off capturing every moment of their lives with pictures and video. With this said, it comes with more damaging exposure then most of them seem to realize, or at least care about. A photo album is no longer contained in the privacy of one's home, but now in the world of cyberspace with the world being able to view from any location. The internet is almost like viewing the stars every night through a telescope, as you can always count of on being able to see them every night no matter which hemisphere you are in.

Socialization has gone from hanging out with your friends in person, to instant messaging, email, voice chat, MySpace, and FaceBook. Your identity is no longer just listed on your driver's license, but now potentially on every computer screen in the world as the barriers of privacy have been broken completely. This is because the young generation has forgotten about privacy and instead conformed to an open access world of sharing their lives with everyone anywhere. I completely agree with school corporations assessing the issue and making strict policy changes to address this ever growing problem of minors exposing too much without understanding the dangers.

I also agree with employers going online to get the true "resume" of their applicants. If someone is willing to expose their "after-work" hobbies and thoughts to the world on the internet, then they are just asking for the consequences that follow you. Adults should have enough sense to think about what all they allow to world to know about them on networking websites. At this pace, the young generation might as well share their social security numbers to each other since they basically share everything else about their identity to the world. When will they wake up and smell the coffee?

The Sosnoski Reading

After reading the various pages of James Sosnoski's thoughts on Hyper-reading, I have to honestly say that I do not agree with some of his observations. He is very astute with clarity in his thoughts, but he reminds me of a clueless right-wing conservative who thinks that increasing drilling in Gulf of Mexico and Alaska will displace high oil prices forever. Hyper-reading will definitely displace reading printed material, as it is already happening before our eyes at a phenominal rate every year. Newpaper companies are struggling retain market share as the internet becomes the next television of information. Newspapers made of inky cellulose are losing readers everyday.

Younger and more affluent readers tend to read newspaper websites, if they care to read news at all. As a student, hyper-reading is as much a necessity as a car in today's world. The power of search on the internet provides a harness of information suited for anyones need at anytime of the day or night. We are no longer restrained to the regular business day hours of a library, as we don't even need to leave the house anymore. I must agree that hyper-reading is an ongoing practice, though I always thought that practice makes perfect.

Sure, it has its cons, as it effectively shus out the context of information that printed material might provide, but it still retains its heirarchy in my book anyday.