This week's blog post is available for extra credit purposes only. There is no regular blog post this week.
For this week's post, students are to read a few post on John Stossel's (pictured above) blog from Fox Business News. Students are to pick 3 different posts (click on "Browse Posts" about halfway down on the right to view more posts) to read and respond to. Be sure to include the title of the post and YOUR opinion on the post. (Do NOT just summarize the post...tell me what you think). Is this guy full of it or should he continue to preach on? Why? Pick some posts that appeal to areas you are interested in.
You must read/comment on all 3 posts for the 3 points. Partial credit will not be given for this assignment.
Due by Friday 2/19 @ Midnight
Word Count 300+
Posts
Haha. You can definitely tell I needed and wanted this extra credit badly!(:
ReplyDeleteSwine Flu Hysteria
I agree with Stossel on this one. I believe the media made this “epidemic” out to be more than it actually was. Just as the article has said, the death numbers were under the rate for an epidemic. A reader, Noone, even responded that swine flu was labeled a pandemic because of how contagious it was, not how dangerous. Everyone was flustered and worrying about the health of their children and families and the news kept gaining coverage on the swine flu, it all added to the hype and people were rushing for the vaccine. I strongly believe the swine flu was not as bad as the media made it sound. I even made the choice not to get a vaccination for this disease. Even though there were deaths from swine flu, I believe the groups of people that added most to this tally were babies, the elderly, and people with pre-existing conditions. Even the post said “swine flu is milder than seasonal flu.” I support my opinion with the news now, one barely hears about swine flu and it is not a household topic, at least not in my family. I mean hey, I still didn’t catch this disease.
Who Creates Jobs?
Again here’s another post I agree with. The government steps in to make jobs for the people who need them, which is strange because they do not need the jobs. Public service projects and what else is assigned for people to do. Funny how the government and politicians need to be a part of everything, just like the article said good things happen and jobs are created in a decentralized world. A smart response to this post by Davida Shensky read: “The job market has changed only people have not changed how they are looking for a job today. They are still looking for the company to hire them, instead of thinking of ways to create their own opportunity in the workplace.” If the government stepped back I believe things would be better for everyone. Just like the Hong Kong example and early America, countries with simple rules to follow and a limited government are able to prosper into some of the richest countries. This brings me to the fact that when people create business more money is put into the economy and even more jobs are created.
Freedom vs. Safety
Alright, first post I do not agree with. Stossel is pointing out that talking or texting on the phone while driving is just as dangerous as using a navigation system or changing the radio. This may be true although if we can eliminate some of the problem why don’t we? I believe texting while driving is so dangerous, it does not matter who you are a teenager or an adult, with much practice on the road. It just takes a second for you to look down and the car in front of you to slam on their brakes, a person never knows what to expect while driving. Someone could pull right in front of them or the driver could veer of the road while checking a message. This is why I support the fact that drivers need both eyes and hands free for driving. In this day in age cell phones are practically glued to teens and adults hands. This is what makes the problem so much harder to solve. Yes you can tell people they shouldn’t talk on the phone while driving or they will get fined if they text, but will this really stop people? Stossel says in his post that the amount of cell phone holders has gone up but the amount of yearly accidents has stayed constant, but this has not taken count for the near accidents, where you almost crash but save yourself. Either way I believe cell phones and driving should not mix, they are too big of distraction and put the driver and others on the road in danger.
I don't know whats worse, his moustache or the fact that he's from FAUX News. And before you conservatives start rallying, conservatism is fine; Fox News is not.
ReplyDeleteCrony Capitalism on the Rise?
This article is completely useless. Maybe this guy should be taking government classes. LOBBIES ARE NECCESARY. Our politicians aren't supercomputers; they can't be masters on every issue out there. If lobbies don't make their cases, then the policiticians won't understand the issues. Plus, lobbies = employment. More money switches hands, and thus a stronger economy.
Entitled to a Five-bedroom House
Well, this guys actually has a point. There are some abuses of the welfare system that should be addressed in Europe. However, that doesn't mean all welfare is terrible. Some of it is necessary to keep people up. Just because some people run down pedestrians in thier cars doesn't mean we should ban them all.
Big Government Not A Solution
He has a point; just because there is a recession doesn't mean that we need to get up in arms and intervene in everything. However, he goes to far. To state that every intervention is bad and causes problems is just as mindless as the other claim. I don't know why people listen to this guy. He just pulls out random statistics and graphs and says OH LOOK PROOF.
As they say, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics". Unless they have some well planned study, we shouldn't just say OH LOOK A GRAPH LETS FOLLOW THIS IDEA GUYS ITS THE ONLY SOLUTION.
Entitled to a Five-bedroom House
ReplyDeleteIn this article, Stossel criticizes both democrats and Europe. It seems many countries in Europe have some sort of welfare program that allows a few people to receive ridiculously large amounts of money from the government. It is also suggested that Obama and Biden endorse such actions of Europe. Stossel is just attempting to criticize democrats; his arguments make so sense at all. Because of Obama’s statement “the social safety net that exists in almost all of Europe that doesn’t exist in the United States” Stossel implies Obama wants to United States to adopt a European style of welfare. I, however, fail to see this connection. According to this article, countries in Europe have established a successful way of financially/economically protecting their citizens. Is this a bad thing? It just looks like Stossel is looking accuse Obama of just something. Stossel also accuses Biden of calling higher taxes patriotic. And who knows if this is what Biden even meant? This phrase could be easily taken out of context. The word “patriot” is thrown around so much lately; I think we have all forgotten the meaning of patriotism. And I think we need to remember which party initiated the PATRIOT Act. The republicans, which Stossel seems to be one (why else would he be working for FOX News?). This article is a sorry excuse for an argument. Stossel needs to find actual facts if he wants to be criticizing.
“For the Children” = “Hide Your Wallet”
This article generally discusses how taxes are used to prevent consumers from buying a specific product. More specifically: smokers and cigarettes. The article mentions a Utah State Rep. who proposed an increase in a cigarette tax to lower consumption. Which economically, makes sense. A higher tax would shift demand to the right resulting in a decrease in price and output. This would also hurt the cigarette companies. I believe that there has to be a decrease in smoking. Not only does is it hurtful to the user but everyone else. And when others are affected in a negative way, I believe government intervention is necessary. But Stossel also criticizes how the phrase “for the children” is used many times by politicians. And I completely agree with him. Yes, talking about saving children makes politicians look like Jesus. And that’s exactly the image they are going for. Politicians have to stop buttering everything up and tell facts. Unless a mass riot is expected because of a terrorist attack and the government issues Marshall Law… but I think I have been watching too much 24.
Michelle Obama’s Weight Loss Secrets
Seriously? This Stossel guy is an idiot. All he does is whine and whine. And accusing someone of wrong doing for trying to fight obesity just plain dumb. He even goes into M. Obama’s personal life of what she feeds her children. Again… SERIOUSLY? I don’t care what Michelle feeds her children. Well I do care, I’m just not that interested. It’s not important. All Stossel does in this article is accuse Michelle for wanting to increase taxes to fight obesity in children. I, personally, think a tax increase that leads to a healthier America is worth it. And not once in this article does Stossel give his opinion on how to deal with obesity. He’s just concerned about his taxes. His life. His wealth. How selfish can you get? And how whiny can you get? And did I mention his mustache makes him look creepy?
Government Cannot be Cut
ReplyDeleteOverall I thought this argument had some valid points however, John Strossel did not have to start the article with omg, he is not a high school girl, he is supposed to be more professional than that. Even with the bad start he makes some valid point about the government. I feel that many government officials are too worried about their income (legal and illegal) to have time to focus on their job, running the government. If the greedy government officials cannot make the proper cuts for spending than the United States will never be able to run smoothly.
Here’s a Label: Stupid
I completely agree with Strossel on this point, does political correctness do anything to help anyone? NO! The only people who really care about being politically correct is the politicians, I really don’t think that “children of hope” really care what the government calls them; they are still poor and underprivileged. The government is wasting money trying to not offend anyone, when they should really be trying to, I don’t know, maybe ACTUALLY HELP the “children of hope.” Also, “children of hope” makes the poor sound like a bunch of cute little kids in a church choir not poor and starving children. It seems as if the politicians are trying to cover up the truth so they don’t have to deal with it… this proves that politicians should have the label, STUPID!
The Deadbeat Generation
I agree that people are spending money they do not have because they feel that the government can bail them out. People need to become less lazy and work hard for their money and then they can earn and fully appreciate the luxuries that they have. There will become a point when too many people have spent too much and now can not pay it off. People that work hard for their money will be forced to give more of it up to taxes for people who were stupid with their money. This is not true to everyone who is poor, some people were born poor or just had bad luck, and does this mean that they do not deserve the money from welfare?
Sue You for Breathing
ReplyDeleteI had to choose this article first because the global warming topic is one of my favorites. The fact is that global warming is a hoax. Actually I don't know what the bigger hoax is global warming or evolution? Global warming and cooling come in cycles. While the polar ice cap may be melting on one side, it is regaining on the other. Studies show that it has actually grown in the last 20 years. About 30 years ago, there was an article in Time about global cooling. Interesting... although it may be true that the earth is getting warm right now, it is definitely not man made and it is just part of a natural cycle that Earth goes through. I like the way Stossel explains just how stupid some of the law suits on global warming really are. In the article he says "What nerve. Build a house near the ocean in a hurricane zone. Then when there’s a storm, blame carbon-emitting firms. But these lawsuits do bully ahead." Seriously... suing factories for their carbon emotions and taxing humans for breathing? How ridiculous. I love the way Stossel sums this up.
Obama's Broken Promises
Although this article may not be popular in the very liberal and pro Obama Illinois, you can't really deny what he says here. Obama promised that no family making less than $250,000 would see any form of tax increase and even criticized John McCain for suggesting tax increases. You think he wants a do over on that promise or what? Let me assure everyone that he has not lowered taxes. Obama said he was going to ban earmarks and yet his first spending bill had over 9000. Stussel goes on to explain that he said that he wouldn't force Americans to but health insurance. This was something he used to attack Hillary Clinton. Yet in his health care bill he requires that Americans do the exact opposite of what he said. Obama also said that health care negations will be on C-Span and that every bill will be online for the American public to read. On numerous occations he has broken both of these promises. The last promise that Stossel talks about and in my opinion the most important promises is the cutting of spending. This is the promises that truly makes me mad especially with the state of our economy right now. He has spent more money than Bush ever did and more than any other president ever spent in the history of our nation. And he's only been in office for a year. That's just scary especially since he thinks this spending is going to get us out of debt. These are not the only promises that Obama has made and broken. He literally says one thing and does the exact opposite and its really irritating. Although this isn't in the article I just want to quickly bring up Joe Wilson and his "you lie" remark. Yes, what he did was extremmely rude and not ok to say in front of Congress, but Joe was right! Obama was lying when he said that his health care reform would not cover illegal immigrants.
Mine Continued...Big Government Not A Solution
ReplyDeleteI like the points Stossel makes about how government intervention is not the answer to our problems. He makes a great point when he says that "the biggest threat to our future is the growth of the state. And its debt. Yet somehow, increasing both is the solution." It would make no sense to increase government regulation if it is the source to our problems. He makes another great point when he says that after Roosevelt proposed and got his big government programs, the private sector was hurt badly and unemployment rose to 15%. Government is not the answer. Everything the government has to tried to run in the private sector has become bank rupt mainly because there is no profit motive. Oh and I couldn't help but notice the comment made by Christian Musial. Dude how can you say the statistics he gives are random? They pertain to article and how can you say that these statistics aren't proof for his argument? Seems to me that your liberal ignorance is blocking you from seeing the truth. Oh and you better be prepared to back up what you said about fox news.
And David your in the same boat as Christian. Not trying to be mean here but your ignoring what this guy says and automatically calling him an idiot just because he opposes Obama. He criticizes Michelle Obama's personal life maybe to get back at you guys for your all out assault on Palin's personal life.
Entitled to a Five-Bedroom House
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of what Stossel is saying about people abusing welfare but it seems that it is more relevant in Europe than in the United States. However, I pay little attention to that normally so it could very well be that people are abusing welfare in America too. One of the comments on Stossel’s blog was talking about the times when people buy food with food stamps while they are wearing expensive clothes and seem to be very well off. This is very unfair because there are so many people who struggle to make a living on their own and are then forced to pay taxes so that other people can be lazy and still live a wealthy, cushy lifestyle. It is outrageous that hard working citizens have to pay so that other people can live in fancy houses and have nice things. Now I am not saying that all welfare is bad because I believe that oftentimes it is necessary for people to survive but it is just frustrating that people would take advantage of a system that is set up to help those in need. Those people who are abusing it need to realize their own greed and save the help for those who truly need it.
Mandatory “Vegan Mondays”
Ok, so it is obvious now that global warming is a serious problem. A person just has to look at the weather to realize that things are not the way that nature intended for them to be. The recent snowstorms in the Northeast make it apparent that global warming is evident and its effects are upon us. One has to be incredibly ignorant to doubt its existence. As humans, we caused this mess and must also find a solution to live a more environmentally sound lifestyle. I commend the people of Cambridge for attempting to find a solution and Stossel is ridiculing them for their efforts. Is he dumb to think that global warming will just fix itself? So maybe the people of Cambridge don’t have an amazing plan but at least they are making an effort and starting to search for a solution. It is probably people like Stossel who drive around in their gas guzzling Hummers while they chuck trash out of their windows who add to the state of the environment. They need to recognize that the problem is apparent and we need to find a solution quickly.
Time Gets it Right
I doubt that Stossel even has kids of his own. He is attacking parents, saying that they are babying their children and taking away many of their freedoms. I mean in a way, I understand that kinds should be given more freedom as they get older but in the world today, it is important for parents to ensure the safety of their children. Parents are just concerned for their wellbeing of their kids, is that really such a bad thing? Now I know it is bad to be a “helicopter parent” but it is also bad to neglect your children. Parents need to find a happy medium in which they are still looking after their kids but allow them to do some things on their own. It is understandable that parents are concerned because the world is just not the same place it was when they were kids. I think Stossel is over exaggerating and needs to realize that most parents are not as extreme as he claims they are and that it is ok for parents to worry about their children, it is their job to raise their kids, teach them right from wrong, and protect them from any potential dangers.
“Swine Flu Hysteria”
ReplyDeleteI have had my doubts on the whole swine flu scare but this has put a whole new spin on what was considered a pandemic that we will not forget in 2009. I remember missing people from classes as they had been absent from school and thinking to myself, “Am I going to be next?” Luckily, I never contracted this virus but after the fact, it made me wonder where it had gone. Within the span of two weeks, the concept of the swine flu had blown over and I began to question whether it had even existed or if the claim for swine flu was even legitimate. All the American public knew were symptoms and that it was going to cause many illnesses, and that people had to be very careful not to get ill or they would miss a lot of work and school, but I don’t think they stopped to think that maybe they just had the seasonal flu. The symptoms are not considerably different, and even if, how would we know it was not just the seasonal flu. The reason that we get vaccinated every year is because the virus mutates so quickly that we must provide these new vaccines so that new antibodies can be produced to protect us. For all we know, it could have just been the seasonal flu and we were all just getting vaccinated with the same stuff we got for the seasonal flu. So I could easily believe that this could be some sort of hoax in which the government is trying to hide something that they should not have done with something to scare everyone away from questioning. I am not an expert yet, but hopefully if this was some sort of hoax, some researcher will find what so many people were injected with last year and prove that the vaccination was for the swine flu.
“Media Ignores Health Gains”
Although I want to be an optimist on the new and improving medical gains, there is sufficient evidence to conclude that we are not in the safe zone yet when it comes to heart related or cancer related deaths. Americans are definitely becoming more cautious of what they eat and how they take care of their health after all the warnings have come out, but I feel that if the media does start revealing these stats and become more and more optimistic about it, people may start being careful with what they eat and how they exercise. Right now, the cautionary population is also reducing the number of deaths related to these two high death causers in the world. It is important to realize that technology has been increasing and I definitely give props to all those who have been researching and developing new techniques when it comes to cancer treatment, but at the same time, cancer is still one of the leading causes of death, so we need to be careful and continue checking up on cancer if we start seeing symptoms in ourselves and during checkups. Despite what we feel, both of these can be linked not only hereditarily but also can be caused by lifestyle choices so we need to keep the population concerned to make sure they do all that they can to prevent such diseases. I normally don’t say that the media has done a good job, but I feel this time, even if this was not on purpose, that hiding this news from the general public will turn out to be a good thing.
Sorry! Couldn't fit it in one!
ReplyDelete“Mandatory ‘Vegan Mondays’”
Honestly I think that this is a great idea, but mind you I am a bit biased because I have never eaten meat before. But, I do like some of the other ideas they have about taxing people for products such as plastic bags because we are definitely going to ruin our environment through such sources. Of course it may seem immature to some, but Cambridge is the home to about five different colleges, and if they can get the students involved it would make a great difference in the community. Students are one of the biggest influences of our future, and if institutions such as Harvard and MIT come out with some studies that prove the benefits of this, they will start impacting the government policy with such changes, and soon it will not just be the difference between suggestions and mandates, but rather be enforced much better. I feel like it could work and it would be a small step towards bigger causes, but it has to start somewhere or it will never start at all.
In the article “liberals garbage” Stossell criticizes liberals in California because they are taking action and recycling more. He says that this recycling is bad because it is hurting the company. This is real garbage shouldn’t the public be more aware of what is going on in the world? If he really wants to destroy the planet for a better bottom line than something is really wrong here. Later on he does bring up an interesting thing about jobs; and how millions are lost but abut overall we have a net gain. This is good but if millions are lost then this means that lots of people are out of work and this is bad. We need to create long term sustaining jobs for the future.
ReplyDeleteIn “Sewell vs. intellectuals” Stossell argues that intellectual people make the economy bad. He is totally crazy; I would not want some idiot running the economy and giving advice to millions of people. There is just crazy talk coming from that horrible 70’s mustache. He thinks smart people are to blame for communism and the evils in the world. First off this is weird because I’m fairly certain a smart guy came up with capitalism and Alexander Hamilton was pretty smart too.
In his article “Obama’s lost decade” Stossell tries to blame the economic downturn on him. Again with the crazy talk this situation extends long before the time of Obama since Bush took office the economic sham of a boom started; it only caved in on itself the summer before Barrack took office; so apparently it is his fault. False it is the failed economic policies of the past which has lead us to this point in which Obama now finds himself.
In the article titled “the evil partnership” Stossel shows his suspision of the personal injuray lawyers working closely with the newspaper reporters in the media. He calls this an evil partnership because it only hurts everyday people like us. I agree with him here, because I think that these personal injuray lawyers are the worst thing that has ever happened to our healthcare industry. When they take doctors to court and end up suing for hundreds of millions of dollars for a medical mistake, a huge cost in malpractice insurance goes up and that in return gets passed on to the healthcare users who have to pay for increased insurance. Healthcare could be a very afforadable thing if these lawyers didn’t exist, or if these law suits were setteled at a reasonable price.
ReplyDeleteIn his article “Climate plan B” he talks about the large costs assoisoated with new energy sources and how the best most cost eficent plan is to sit back and fix the issue when it comes. I agree that it is saving money to sit around and do nothing till the problems come at us, but I don’t think that saving is what we want to do right now. I think that if we start funding research on new enegy sources that money can start flowing again, which is something the economy really needs right now. And if we do develop something that can be used to harness new energy, we can start employing more people to install/build this equipment.
In another article titled “mandatory vegan Mondays” he shows Cambridge Massachusetts’s plan to beat the climate change. He thinks their steeps are drastic and crazy. I agree with him on this one, I think the people who thought this plan up are nuts. Getting rid of meat products, and even animal bi products on Mondays in schools isn’t going to fix anything. All you will have is a bunch of angry students who miss meat. They are also trying to limit themselves to food grown locally. Despite the fact that studies show that loacal food producers pollute the same and more then ones from over seas. I think meat products is the least of our issues when dealing with the climate change, which personally I don’t even by into. I love his comment at the end “A nice thing about local government is that when idiots take it over, its easier to move”. Meaning that even though idots have thought of this crazy bill, It is not difficult to overturn it and get rid of it because its only installed in small government.
“Mandatory Vegan Mondays”
ReplyDeleteI agree with what John Stossel is commenting on about this town’s new plan to help save the Earth. The idea that global warming is caused by humans is not something everyone believes in, it is just a theory. But, the media has created so much hype about it that it has caused a scare across the whole country. Many people are making drastic changes to their lifestyle due to the fact that they think they are going to cause the death of the planet. But, there are scientists who argue what Al Gore preaches, but nobody pays attention to them. I don’t think it is fair that a town can make taxes on day to day things that people use to get rid of a problem that everybody doesn’t believe. People are already paying high enough taxes, and especially in a recession like this, people don’t need to be taxed more over something like that. Also, the government in that town controlling what they can eat on one day of the week is over the top. They should not be aloud to tell you what you can eat. Suggesting it is one thing, but making people do it is extreme. Also, I think that there are a lot more serious problems with the recession currently that should be focused on more than this.
“Swine Flu Hysteria”
I agree with John Stossel in this article as well. I do think that the media created way too much of a hype about the swine flu. The media always picks out the pieces that look shocking and only focus on those. They are very good at making something be blown up way larger than it needs to be, by telling everybody terrible facts but leaving out the whole truth. They make the swine flu look so terrible by saying the deaths caused by it, but deaths caused by seasonal flu are just as bad. Obviously, deaths from any disease are terrible, but it’s amazing how the media can create such a scare about something. Like he says, the media doesn’t mention that the swine flu is usually milder than the seasonal flu anyways. And people do not fear the seasonal flu in ways they have been fearing the swine flu. As for the hype by the media to promote vaccination and pharmacies, I don’t know if that is true or not. It sounds reasonable that greedy people would do that, since it would clearly work. But, I don’t know if companies would really do that.
“Entitled to a Five Bedroom House”
I don’t agree with what the European government is doing. Giving people enough money to live in an extremely luxurious house while only making a little money just gives people an incentive not to work. No one would have any motivation to work harder if they could be provided with a five bedroom house and hardly working. Also, other peoples’ taxes are going to be extremely high to pay for something that does not help them. I agree that people who cannot make ends meet should be helped and provided for, but not to the point where they are living down the street from Paul McCartney. I do agree, also, with Obama that it would be better to have a better social safety net. But, I also think that people would complain if taxes were to go up in order to make a better social safety net.
Entitled to a five Bedroom House
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with every single thing this guy said. Obama and his advisors should just shut their mouths because they do not know what they r talking about! No body wants higher taxes except for maybe those who are on welfare. Those are the only people that higher taxes benefit. Just like the article from the UK Daily Mail that he quoted says, the benefits can get out of hand. The amount of money the one woman is receiving from taxes is more than some people make in an entire year!!! It is ridiculous, and that is exactly what will happen if we do what Obama is suggesting. Sorry, but I am fine with helping a few people who are in need by donations and the taxes we already have, but when I am older I do not want to be giving the government 50% of my income, from my hard work, just so some free loader can reek the benefits. This would be borderline socialism and I am not okay with that. And one more thing, why does everyone NEED a five bedroom house, most people don't. That is way to much to be asking. I would say everyone deserves a two bedroom house, but that's about it. Families with one or two children only need that. Again, it would be a complete waste of our tax dollars.
More on the 9/11 Lawsuit Scam
This points out how B.S. some lawyers are. All of these cases are complete and total non-sense. The whole part about how lawyers took malpractice cases involving cerebral palsy is not fair to doctors. Now, 30% of births involve C-sections. It just isn’t natural. Just like it says in the article “The C-sections may protect the doctor from lawyers, but they costs more, hurts more, require longer hospital stays, and kills more women.” From my own knowledge, doctors also are not doing home births anymore because the malpractice insurance is so high. Our legal system has become corrupt and this is obvious proof. Not only are these ridiculous cases happening with births, but also it has happened involving 9/11 workers. From any minor injury, someone from the 9/11 ground zero worksite can sue New York because of it. Not only is it bad enough that they were suing New York for all this and that Lawyers were promoting it, Lawyers were also having victims sign false papers saying that they have other non-existent injuries. Lawyers also are collecting up to half of the money won from each case. These cases are fueled by greed and it is sad that this is what our legal system has become
The Head Start Scam
Wow this article really shows how much our government spends ridiculous amounts of money on unnecessary things. This “head start” program has done absolutely nothing for kids and has wasted 166 BILLION DOLLARS in the process!!!! Are you kidding me!?!?! Obama was supposed to come in and make a change, but putting in another billion dollars into a program that is helping no one seems a little pointless to me. It is junk like this our government needs to realize they are making a mistake about and correct it, but no let’s just keep on wasting tax payers money.
I read the blog post entitled “Entitled to a five-bedroom house” and overall, I found it to be quite interesting. I think that having everyone have a five bedroom house is a good hypothetical idea. I was lucky enough to live in a six bedroom house when I was living in Canada, but even having five people in my house, one of the rooms turned into the computer room and the other into a living room. We ended up having two living rooms and sadly we did not use one of them that much. I think that if everyone had a five bedroom house that would be good, but then again, if you do not have, at the most, four kids and then most of the rooms would be put to waist. My overall opinion is that it is a good idea hypothetically, but in reality it would not really work.
ReplyDeleteThe next article that I read was the blog post entitled “Education Show Tonight: Killing School Choice in DC.” Overall I thought that this blog post was very interesting and it talked about something that I never really thought about. I believe that it is sad that when the capitol spends more than twenty six thousand dollars, per student, the student’s test scores were still low. You would think that with having all that money, per student, would help them academically; however this is not the case in this situation. I think that this has nothing to do with the capital, I think that it has something to do with the teachers (no affiance). I think that part of the problem is that here, in the US, the curriculum here is based off of what the teachers want to be but back in Canada, the teachers have to follow a specific curriculum. I think that this is part of the problem, when the students have to take the standardized tests, what the teachers have taught them may not even be significant when it comes to the tests. My overall opinion is that it has nothing to do with the money; it has to do with the curriculums that the teachers are teaching the students.
The final article that I read was entitled “Show Tonight: Teen Pregnancy “Surges””. Overall I found this article very sad. It’s hard to believe that the percentage of teenage pregnancies have risen this past year. What I found the most interesting was that the percentage of teenage pregnancies was at its highest in 1989. It is scar to think that it is possible for there to even be 12% of girls between the ages of 15-19. I think that part of the problem is that the media has made it okay for teenage pregnancies with showing teenage celebrities who were pregnant and they always talk about how amazing it is to have this baby in their life and they never talk about the negative consequences of it.
Mandatory “Vegan Mondays”
ReplyDeleteI am all for saving the earth and going green but some people get a little too extreme. It’s great that Cambridge, Mass wants to get involved and help, but setting taxes on plastic bags and invoking “Vegan Mondays”? I think that could cause many conflicts and unhappy people. I would do just fine without meat for one day but that also involves milk and eggs, which would be difficult, and some people think very highly of meat and to take that away from them even for one day could be rough. However I do think it’s great that this city is so concerned and wants to do something about global warming and I think if we all had this concern then that alone would be a step forward. If we all cared this much then maybe the changes wouldn’t have to be so extreme to get people’s attention and people will want to help. Overall I think Cambridge is trying to set the right example for the rest of us, just maybe a little more extreme.
Freedom vs. Safety
My mom always tells me not to text while I drive and I’m always like mom I’m not that dumb, but Stossel makes a very valid point that there are so many other distractions in cars other than cell phones. Food and the radio and even having other people in the car are major distractions so we can’t put all the blame on cell phones, but I do agree that they probably are a major issue and that even the blue-tooth sets don’t help. Hundreds and hundreds of accidents happen everyday, but it is nearly impossible eliminate them altogether; the best we can do is try our best to prevent them. As Stossel points out, many accidents are just caused by people fixing their hair or putting on make-up, one way to fix that problem is by waiting until you are at a stop light or even wait until you get to wherever you’re going, is it really that important? Everyone just needs to be more precautious when they drive because many people think oh I’ll be fine or that will never happen to me, but you never know. I’m a new driver so I’m told almost daily how careful I have to be, and I understand this, but I know it’ll be harder to say once I'm actually in the car. However I will try my best because it’s not worth it to risk someone else’s life or mine.
Attack of the Food Police
We all know that America loves food, probably a bit too much, and has some weight issues and there’s nothing wrong with wanting to fix this problem. New York banning trans fats in restaurants is not a terrible thing because face it, they are not good for you. However, when he talks about how they are banning these things at Soup Kitchens too, that’s a bit much because that is food that someone else would love to have, or need. Another thing he mentions is about putting taxes on soda, and I also believe that may be kind of extreme. So many people, including myself, love soda and we all know it is not good for you but it is our decision to drink it and how often we drink it so a tax would just be pointless. I do agree that something should probably be done about the obesity in this country but the fact is, is that it is mostly up to us and the choices we make.
“Swine Flu Hysteria”
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with what Stossel when it comes to how much the media over reacted about the swine flu. I do not understand why the media make swine flu out to be such a big deal when in reality it is not as bad as the regular flu. The media just cares about the story, it’s all about the story. They do not think about how this would affect society. Many parents were rushing to get their kids the vaccine. Kids were aware of what was going on and felt that whenever someone they knew was sick it has to be swine flu because that’s the new thing. I had the flu while this whole “outbreak” was happening and whether it was swine or not I survived and I didn’t even take medicine. I was not on the verge of death or any where close to it. I would hope that pharmaceutical companies wouldn’t try to raise an alert about swine flu just to make themselves more worthy but now days who knows. With all the greedy, selfish people not only in the business industry but the world I wouldn’t rule out them committing such an act. I think that Stossel picked out a good topic that the media completely exaggerated on.
“Try Googling It, Mr. President”
I remember watching the part of the speech that Stossel mentioned in this post and I too thought that he was implying that he was the only one trying to come up with ideas. I think that this post is humorous from the way Stossel talks about it. I like the idea that something as universal as Google can be an option for Obama’s options. I think that someone doesn’t have to be involved in the political world in order to contribute ideas about the healthcare system and Google is a great way from someone to get their ideas across. I think Stossel is right when he says that there are plenty of people with good ideas that Obama can take the time to listen to, because he asked for them. Obama asked for help in trying to improve the healthcare system but it seems as though many are contributing ideas and he either does not want to listen or he feels that he can do better. Whatever the case he needs to do something that is going to improve the healthcare system and aim towards agreeing upon it with as many people as possible.
“Green Bullies”
I think that going green is something that more people need to do but to an extent. I understand where Stossel is coming from but I don’t truly believe that family struggles center solely around going green. It may contribute to other issues in the family but I do not think that going green can tear families apart. However, I believe that going green is important especially due to the health of out earth but some people get a little out of hand. Their intentions are pure and good but they need to understand that society is not all agreeable when it comes to going green. There are some steps that I believe everyone needs to take towards going green but not too drastic. I don’t know why therapists are complaining about families who struggle with going green when there are families about there with way worse problems. It seems to me that this is just a way to bag on those who are trying to do some good for our environment. I think that Stossel needs to back down a little bit when it comes to the whole “Green Bullies” because although some people may get a little out of hand, they are people who are just trying to help.
First blogger that I decide to comment on was the one about the Killing Choice in DC. I felt that some of the statements he made about this were correct. For example I do feel that if people in the government feel that it is very important that kids get a better education specially those from the lower class than if they make a plan and see that it is working but in a lower pace than I felt that it is not necessary to kill it. Why did they start the plan in the first place if they were just going to kill it. So I kind of agree with some of the fact that this guy who ever he is was saying.
ReplyDeleteSecond blogger that I decided to comment on was Five Bedroom house. In this I feel that it is necessary for the government to help people that need the help but to and intent. I feel that for this comment the S is just trying to blame Obama for something that really doesn’t make any sense. For example I really don’t see the connection between the Europeans and us. I know that presidents go to other countries and talk good about them about certain things but that really doesn’t mean that they want to make this country anything like that. Well that is my opinion for that one.
The third on I decide to comment on was teen pregnancy surges. I felt that this blog didn’t really do much. Foe example I saw the graph and I can see the there was a slight increase in the teens pregnancy. I do agree with s in the fact that the news sometimes only cover things they want to cover. For example there is just a slight increase and the news is blowing the things out of proportion. That is what I think the news has to do do in other to survive if they don’t catch the viewers attention then there is no way they will keep there jobs so how do they keep our attention by exaggerating.
Coercion vs. Freedom: http://stossel.blogs.foxbusiness.com/2010/02/18/coercion-vs-freedom/
ReplyDeleteI think overall, for goverment intevervention, that it is unnecessary. All that is going to happen is either the giovernment is going to screw something up (which happens MOST often) or theyre going to speed up the natural process. Naturally the economy will balance itself out, and does not need a helping hand. It has being a life-like enitity before the people making these decesions were born. My point is that the economy is much more expansive and complex than we have an understanding for to this day. There are many different perspectives that can be had on the economy, and no one is necessarily wrong. In this reason one man, or even only a hundred men making the decision for this massive entity in my opinion is wrong.
Next up: Foreign Trade, Not Foreign Aid: http://stossel.blogs.foxbusiness.com/2010/01/19/foreign-trade-not-foreign-aid/
Me being a pessimist by nature agree completely with this post. I think helping others will only kill ourselves, and as he says, kill the others as well. All the money put into the effort of other countries could be put into helping our national debt. In my opinions, the givernment is being idiots ion how they handle this. If they did not spend so much money on trivial things, forst of all our debt would most likely be less, and second off, we might have the chance to stay out of a recession. The givernment needs to start thinking logically through the decissions they make. Physically, if they spend money elsewhere, they cannot spend it on the national debt. Again, honestly, I think we should not help other countries, especialy if they have not really asked for any help. This aid that we have given has not and will not rebuild the country, so why help at all? is wasting a dollar on something that is going to go into the trash really worth spending?
Finally: New York Times Stuck in the Cold War: http://stossel.blogs.foxbusiness.com/2010/02/01/new-york-times-stuck-in-the-cold-war/
First off, the title itself sounded like a great article, but it ended up kinda disappointing. Anyway, I think the fact that many of our jobs going overseas is bad and not good nor bad at the same time. It is bad because the US is losing jobs, and therefore GDP. This will overall lead our country into a recession, or just overall lower our power from a worldly perspective. It can also be not good nor bad by how people could just go overseas to get jobs, yes this would lower GDP drastically, but it would also decrease the LRAS meaning that there would be less unemployment, maybe. The second siituation is a long run situation that only would happen once in every blue moon. Anyways, I think comapies that are big, such as car makers, computer companies, etc should come back to producing in at least north america, if not the US. The costs to produce would reduce drastically and the jobs would shoot way up. Again technology will take over thi production, and so again we would need to keep bringing mroe and more jobs back to the US. Yes I am kind of saying ignore the other countries and let them fail, but when we live in a society of survival of the fittest, it is what it is, and no emotiuon at all can be applied, unless you want to die, metaphorically, but if it gets bad enough literally, Overall, I think we should try to bring jobs back to the US because it would lower input prices, and create many many more jobs.
Article 1: The Head Start Scam
ReplyDeleteI agree with John Stossel on this article, because he gives the raw facts. Why should America spend over $150 billion an a program that has been in effect for the last 45 years yet has shown no real results? II believe that in their early stages, it does not matter how much one influences a child, that child will either be intelligent or that child will be the same as any other kid in school, and why should I have to pay tax money for kids to get a “Head Start” that, if Stossel’s facts are true, have no effect on the kids? I would gladly pay money if the program were teaching kids to, say, read at a 4th grade level in 1st grade, but this program is not helping. If the government continues to leech money off the taxpayers of America, then everyone in office will be switched out for a different guy. And, economically speaking, increasing taxes would shift demand down, and if people are buying enough, the depression could worsen, and all this to put some kids into a jump start for school.
Article 2: The Liberals Garbage
On this article, I disagree with Stossel’s opinion. Mainly, because of this: who cares if we have deficits now if these programs will save the future? America, along with the rest of this world, has slowly been creating a more toxic environment for all of us, and so we may need to loose some money, as long as its good for our future and for the environment. On this article, Stossel needs to look beyond the revenue only facts and look into the benefits of these deficits and programs. Although it is bad for the workers being laid off, the benefits of the supposable “Liberal Garbage” will be far greater than the costs of the program and the working lives of a few people. Americans should learn how to become more green, and also the government is offering money for making your house more environment friendly, so that should help anyone having money problems with installing a green washing machine. Look into the future Stossel.
Article 3: Swine Flu Hysteria
I one hundred percent, COMPLETELY, agree with Stossel on this article. The media has gone off on a huge spiral on the swine flu, when it is no big deal at all. It would be like if a new cold virus came out and a baby got sick, there would be 22 million photos of a sniffeling baby on Google with something like the Avian Cold, and people would go insane. The government should not offer any financial help to those who are going to get the swine flu shot, because the shot is more of a personal choice than anything else. Swine Flu has been blown up into this huge thing, when all people are doing is getting put in bed for a week. Come on now, everyone should have calmed down right away and realized what an idiotic idea it was to have the media go insane over something so insignificant.
First, how does John Stossel find these topics? Second, isn’t there more important things going on in the world other than to complain about everything?
ReplyDelete“Vegan Mondays”
I congratulate Cambridge for taking such a head on approach to the Climate crisis that is not being addressed enough in Congress, but Stossel is just trying to make people angry. Is this blog supposed to upset me and cause me to question our government? All of the taxes and vegan suggestion are just that “suggestions”. Nothing has been set in stone. The idea of a carbon tax is a good idea and will probably cause people to rethink running to Jewel for potato chips or to the Family video for a movie just because they are bored. The idea for a tax on paper or plastic bags is also a great idea. Reusable bags aren’t only good for the environment, but they fit a lot and are easier to carry. Stossel also comments on how Cambridge suggests that the government move towards organic agriculture. That is probably a good think because some food colorings have been linked to ADHD/ADD, and some pesticides cause cancer. Stossel makes fun of Cambridge stating “a nice thing about local government is that when idiots take over its easier to move.” I don’t think he should bash Cambridge because they are at least taking an initiative, as drastic as it may be. The idea of asking/mandating restaurants and schools to have meatless/vegan Mondays is a good idea. People do not need meat everyday. The manufacturing of animal products and packaging of meat is actually harmful to the environment (byproducts, waste) not to mention animal cruelty (do you know how McDonalds kills the chickens for their McNuggets). Stossel may make fun of the extremity now, but, in a few years when the ozone is dissipating and the temperature rises, he may rethink going vegetarian and look at his carbon footprint.
“Everything Getting Better...Except Gov’t Spending”
Stossel brings up a good point that there is “a misallocation of resources that is sure to reduce growth and private income over time.” An increase in government can crowd out individuals in the loan able funds market because the interest rates go up. However, in the case of then money supply market, government spending is good. When the FED buys bonds from banks, the money supply goes up. The FED can prevent inflation and stimulate the economy. The government keeps the economy operating at the Keynesian equilibrium which means we are producing as much as possible at the lowest price. I think he spends a little too much time bashing the Democratic Party and their actions than actually looking at it through an economists stand point. He says that Congress should restrain itself from spending, but he gives them no suggestions on what o cut back on. Should they stop spending money on the military, social security, welfare, corporate grants like to Boeing Company? Stossel is better at telling everyone what the government is doing wrong than giving an actual solution. He should stop griping and do something about it.
“Eco-Hypocrites II”
He suggests that government officials are “hypocrites” because they want solar and wind farms as long as they cannot see them or feel them, “Not in My Backyard” people. “Green energy” jobs are going to be lost without the use of the land as a place for panels and farms. My uncle has spent the last year traveling all over for training and seminars on the use of construction of wind farms for the construction company McHugh. In Libertyville, they just shut off a wind turbine that was built because of the vibrations it caused. There is a continuing lawsuit between the village and the construction company that built it. I actually think that they are even bigger hypocrites than Stossel talks of. I think they are hypocrites because they want to save and preserve the environment but they are willing to sacrifice the Mojave Desert for that. The construction it would take to build and put up the solar panels and wind mills would ruin the soil. It would cause soil erosion which is sometimes irreversible.
“Here's a Label: "Stupid"”
ReplyDeleteI agree with Stossel that the politicians should change all the laws that have the words “at-risk” or “disadvantaged”. It would be a waste of their time and money. Also, who would be benefiting from the change? Kids are doing fine with the bills as they are. I do not believe that anyone is really hurt by being called “disadvantaged”. It is just a label with criteria through which people are helped. Just like ESL or ELL, should we change all those because they are disrespectful? I don’t think so. It would be better to focus on helping those people and making sure they have what they need.
“Freedom vs. Safety”
I agree with Stossel that there are many distractions in a car. There are so many that people should stop saying people are getting in accidents because of cell phones. Just the other day I saw someone trying to get a jacket or something from the passenger seat and he or she was swerving. If there had been a car right next to them, that could have been an accident right there. I don’t believe that making laws prohibiting people using a cell phone or doing anything else while driving will do any good. People will continue to use their phones and eat and fix what they look like while driving. Also they cannot catch everyone who is doing one of those things while driving. I don’t think the government can do anything to correct this, people just need to use common sense while driving and they need to realize the consequences their actions can have.
“Show tonight: Teen Pregnancy “Surges””
I somewhat agree with Stossel that the media and most people make a big deal out of something that isn’t as bad as they think it is. I definitely think that teen pregnancy is bad. Teens should not be getting pregnant. It is sad that people do not think about the mistakes they are doing and how many people it can hurt. But when you look at a graph for the 20 years or so, teen pregnancy has come down. The media has brought that little increase in 2006 and blown it way out of proportion. It is bad that it has again increase but it is still better than it was in the beginning of the 90’s. I believe people should look at the big picture before they start freaking out about something.
Correction on DC School Spending:
ReplyDeleteI agree with Stossel in the fact that Washington DC schools charge too much per student. This is costly both the DC residents but also to the central DC economy. My mom is a teacher locally and I know that they are making major cutbacks because the school district cannot afford to continue with the way they are spending. The sad part about this is that many of the new teachers will be laid off because they are the ones who have the least experience yet a steady wage that the school hopes to do without. So back to Stossel’s post, he says that “DC public schools are charging on average $26,000 per student and $28,000 per student that actually attends the school. Ironically on the other hand the Dc public schools only charge about $6,620 per student and they are in better shape than the public schools.” I think this is true and the DC schools should cut back on the costs of admission. These kids aren’t applying to a college; these students are kindergarten-12th grade! I believe thought that this is not just happening in Washington DC, this is occurring through some way or another to all of America’s school systems! So yes, John Stossel should continue to rant about this issue, because this is the first time I personally have ever heard anything about this inflation inside our nation’s school systems.
More on the 9/11 Lawsuit Scam:
I personally was crushed by the tragedies of 9/11 as almost all Americans were. Here Stossel talks about lawyers who are representing plaintiffs in the attempt to collect millions for ‘their troubles.’ Are you kidding me, give me a break! This is 9/11 thousands of people died and these cold-hearted, selfish layers are worrying about just getting the money. I agree with Stossel when he talks about the lawyers who caused doctors to do more c-sections just to avoid the lawsuits of angered parents with children defected during birth. This is outrageous; doctors should be more worried about delivering the baby in the most proper and safest way for both the mother and child. So in the 9/11 lawsuits I also agree because these men and woman of the NYC law offices are more preoccupied with getting the money than anything else. Stossel mentions in his post that some of these lawyers keep half of the awarded money! So I will end with a question about a quote pasted to this article, “Lawyers for a police officer claimed in a court filing that he spent nearly 300 days handling debris at ground zero, but his work records indicate that [during] the months the lawyers said the man worked at ground zero, he was recording full-time shifts in Cresskill, N.J...Another police officer who was listed by her lawyers as having lung cancer, doesn't have cancer at all.” DOES THIS SEEM RIGHT IN ANY WAY!?
Green Bullies:
I agree with Stossel yet again in an article talking about these environmentalists who are scaring most people into what they want them to think. I personally don’t believe in global warming to the extent that everyone must change their current lifestyles to see any changes. Fine I’ll give the “Green Bullies (liberal environmentalists)” the fact that some of the polar ice caps are melting but the truth of the matter is, it’s not enough to drastically change our world. I know for a fact that Illinois isn’t suffering this because we are getting 3ft of snow overnight and continuously having below 0 nights, this doesn’t seem to me like fatal global warming. So as Stossel says, I think that the Green Bullies of our world need to consider the fact that they are hurting families and they need to accept different lifestyles. They talk the talk but don’t walk the walk; they expect everyone to follow their beliefs, but refuse to budge when suggested to consider another lifestyle.
YAY! EXTRA CREDIT =]
ReplyDeleteMandatory “Vegan Mondays”
I agree with Stossel about being more conscience about the effect we are having on our environment, but the town in Massachusetts will definitely have a hard time adjusting! The tax on everyday things like paper and plastic bags is going a little bit too far. Granted that this is necessary if they want to reduce their carbon footprint, but there are other ways of attaining this. Such as, having more public transportations and reducing the car fumes, and also, having a more efficient recycling system. Also the vegan Mondays, there are sooo many people that couldn’t go a day without meat. Making this a mandatory rule is ridiculous. Being a vegetarian myself, I can’t relate, but my best friend couldn’t go a single day without having some type of meat. This could be hazardous to people’s health. The global warming issue has definitely been publicized by many organizations excessively. There are many movies about the world going to end very soon if we don’t do a dramatic change. Clearly that’s not going to happen. We have to take small steps as a world in order to make a difference. On small town in Massachusetts isn’t going to be the end all, be all.
Show Tonight: Teen Pregnancy
Overall this is surprising. I didn’t know that the teen pregnancy rate was so high in the early 90’s. Thankfully, this rate had decreased a great amount, but it’s increasing again! The media has a big influence on this. The show “Secret Life of the American Teenager”, displays how it is completely okay to get pregnant in high school and everything will just work out. Everything on TV just makes it seem like getting pregnant won’t hurt anyone. Teens are being influenced by this tremendously. The media should stop making it seem like this is okay so that America’s Teen Pregnancy rate decreases.
“For the Children” = Hide Your Wallets
I’m split on this article. The government taxing on smoking is very smart to help people stop smoking as much. This will also stop 2nd hand smoking and save many lives. On the other hand is this really “for the children” or do they just want more money from their people? What’s next? Davis said it that they could start taxing us about everything just because they want us to be healthier. But is this for us or for them? If this helps people quit smoking then I’m glad but the government will be getting tons of more money from people that just can’t stop.
The Con of American Hospitals”
ReplyDeleteI think it is absolutely ridiculous that people need to ask for permission in order to build a hospital, in case of overabundance. There is always a need for hospitals and as Stossel explained, “Limiting the number of suppliers raises costs.” If there were more hospitals, the prices would decrease and more people would be able to afford their healthcare. Also, more hospitals would allow for more jobs, whether they be doctors, nurses, assistants, etcetera. There would be more positions available, helping unemployment. Although the costs may be large right now, in the long run, more hospitals would benefit our country.
“Green Bullies”
I think families concerned or unconcerned with going green causes some tension, but I do not think we can blame large family issues on the environment. There are much bigger controversies than whether to use a plastic water bottle, or a reusable one. I’m sure there are many disputes over going green in several households and I wish more people would be more environmentally friendly, however, I think there are bigger issues that families are faced with that have differing viewpoints. Such as, how to manage money or how to raise a child.
“World Series Champs: Yankees AND Phillies”
I think it is great that when two teams have an opportunity to win a big title and they have pre-made items that they give them away to the less fortunate. They have no use for them otherwise and for all of them to be thrown away is a huge waste. I think it is a wonderful idea to give other people the perfectly useful and brand new clothing. It supports the statement, “one person’s trash is another’s treasure.” Even though one person has no use for it, doesn’t mean someone else doesn’t.
Show Tonight: Teen pregnancy Surges
ReplyDeleteI agree with Stossel's view on how teen pregnancy rises, but they are still other problems in the media and economy.In the graph it shows that teen pregnancy has declined over the years, so I personally think it will continue to decline. It is not our fault that people get pregnant so early. Those people have the decision to become pregnant or not at their teen years.
Swine flu Hysteria
I kind of agree and disagree with Stossel's point of view on this post. I think they did make the swine flu over hyped because so little people died by it. I also disagree because its a good thing they over hyped it because we made a vaccine for it. Even though very little people died by this flu i thought it was pretty alarming and suprising.
Michelle Obama's Weight loss Secrets
I think that it is great that the first lady Michelle Obama did something to stop child obesity. Child obesity is actually one of the leading causes of death in America. I think it is good to bring health diets to our schools because it will also help us academically with us doing better in school. Overall i think it will help and help most of the overweight people.
The first post I read was “Education Show Tonight: Killing School Choice in DC” which talks about how Obama gave vouchers for 7,500 to poorer kids to go to school but has recently cut this. I agree with this post wholeheartedly. President Obama sends his kids to “one of the most prestigious schools in the district” and cuts financial aid to other kids. Like John Stossel, I believe that every kid should have the same education opportunity, because we all are equal and should get equal opportunities. I find the President becoming a bit hypocritical, because he stresses the benefits of education, yet he stops giving vouchers in DC. Funding should be increasing, not halted!
ReplyDeleteThe second article I read that spoke to me was “Media Ignores Health Gains” which talks about how the media tries to scare the public, when actually those numbers are down. The rate of deaths has decreased, and yet the media is still trying to scare us. This really hit me to see the impact of the media on our society. Just like with Toyota, the media blew the whole story out of proportion, acting as if Toyota isn’t reliable anymore. The effect of the media is prevalent in the economy too: recession scares could actually drive us into a recession due to the “paradox of thrift” idea. This powerful tool is not controlled by the government and can negatively affect the economy by these out-of-control scares.
The final article that caught my attention, “The Rail Scam”, which talks about how the government keeps pushing railroads on us because they are better for the environment and for the area, but this seems to not be the case. The rails are failing because fares are so high. It may reduce traffic but it won’t do much if no one is riding! When a Toyota Prius is less expensive to rent for a year and has fewer emissions than even the light rails, then its time for the government to give up this tactic. It may be a subtle way to boost the economy, but the opportunity cost of simply driving is significantly lower than taking the train. The government needs to give this plan up and find ways to truly help this economy, and this environment.
Article 1: Swine Flu Hysteria
ReplyDeleteI definatley agree with Strossel about this article. I remember last year when the Swine Flu broke out, everybody thought the world was going to end. Schools were shutting down and people were living in extreme fear. I was fearful that this disease would be the next bubonic plague and wipe out a significant portion of the popualtion. But in reality, a very small percentage of people who get this virus die, and like Kylie said most of the people who died were children and people with pre-existing medical conditions. I've known a few people who have gotten the swine flu and with a few days of rest, they were 100 percent better. The media blew this way out of proportion.
Article 2: Green Bullies
Once again, I have to agree with what Strossel has to say. I do think we have to treat our planet better and help out our enviroment, but the liberals go to the extreme. They try to dictate the way we live our lives and they go too far. I agreed with Strossels statement, "
maybe they’ll wise up and realize there’s room on their planet for lifestyles beyond their own. Maybe. I won’t hold my breath." The liberal's demands can get outrageous at times and it can damage their relatonships with people close to them with different beliefs. By the way Liberals don't always practice what they preach.
Article 3: Freedom vs. Safety
I going to have to disagree with Strossel about this article. There are dozens of ways to get disracted while driving; other people, radios, GPS's, etc. When you are on your phone there is no way you are com[letely distracted and there is no way you are paying full attention to the road. Not only are you risking your life while you are talking on your phone while driving but you are also risking other peoples lives. Banning cell phone use while driving may benefit our society in the future.
Mandatory “Vegan Mondays”:
ReplyDeleteJust because the federal government is not taking much action on the green movement does not mean everyone should ignore it. Forget the "tyranny", this isn't about human rights it's about our responsibility as human beings to take care of our planet. These new policies are not an attack against the American Dream, it is a necessary movement needed to help our planet which is in a critical condition at the moment. He just mocks the idea of global warming like it's some sort of joke when in reality all of our lives depend on it and these new laws are for our own benefit. Instead of being such a jerk about the issue and denying something that has already been proven, he should be a little more concerned about our planet.
Show tonight: Teen Pregnancy “Surges":
Although I do agree that the media often exaggerates their stories to higher their ratings, I'm not too sure that the examples he used are necesarily applicable to this. For instance he states that "we are getting wealthier". How can we be getting wealthier when the economy is in the middle of a recession and we have a tremendous deficit? And how can we possibly be living in a cleaner environment when every day the pollution in the planet gets worse and there is a humongous amount of garbage and increasing global warming? I question where he's getting this information because as far as I know, neither of these are right. I could see where he is coming from with the teen pregnancy headlines because there have definetely been times before this when teen pregnancy has been more common. It is inevitable that news headlines will exaggerate the situation to capture people's attention and strike their interest.
Spiro T. Obama:
This particular article completely outraged me. Has Stossel ever stopped to think about Obama's advice? It is the bias in the media that is creating the huge division between our country. Neither party has cooperated with the other and because of this ridge we have accomplished very little. People are so close minded about policies like health-care and would rather turn on their TVs and have their little pow wows with their fellow Republicans about all the bad things that could happen and how stupid our president is. I think that Stossel completely misinterpreted the President's words. He is not whining, he is simply suggesting that people open their minds a teensy bit so they can see the possiblities of new ideas and disregarding where the ideas came from. Instead of pointing fingers at Obama and complaining about the "53% of Americans who voted for him", HE should be the one to stop comlaining about things that can't be changed, like who our president is, and try to be a little more constructive so the president can make the changes he promised. And in the end does he actually defend George Bush? Haha the only reason nobody heard Bush "whining" is because he probably knew that the majority of the criticism he received was probably true. Once again, this has nothing to do with Obama being sensitive to bad publicity, he is simply trying to encourage the public to open up their mind to new possibilities he can offer.
What Union Leaders Really Think
ReplyDeleteI agree with what John Stossel is saying in this post. The teachers union is complaining about their salaries and how they should be paid more. But when the chance comes to take the offer, they decline. If they are not going to try to fix the problem they should not complain. The only way they would increase salaries would be to give the higher salaries to the best workers. This is not what they teacher’s union wants because they believe that everyone should get the same amount of money. This is wrong! In life not everything is fair. Those teachers who do not put in as many hours do not deserve to get paid as much as those who come early and stay late after school to help their students. So they should either take the offer or stop asking for raises.
The Road to Serfdom: Public Servants Our Masters?
I feel both ways about this article. John Stossel is saying that the mayor should be earning more than a bus driver but that is not true. This man made the most money this year because of all of his hard work and overtime. Those who do work hard and long hours deserve to be paid based on their efforts. But at the same time I agree with the fact that the union workers are getting more benefits than the rest of the labor force. And that is not fair. Everyone should be offered the same benefits.
Union Race to the Bottom
I believe that teachers should be getting raised based on how well they work and their students do. It will benefit the students in the end because it will encourage teachers to be better. The students will gain from this. And it is wrong that teachers should not be fired after a certain point. If they are not meeting the goals or standards they need to be fired. This is how the government can fix the education system because in the end giving teachers raises based on their students is going to help us.
Killing School Choice in DC
ReplyDeleteI agree with his post on the "vouches" for the education system, because it worked. If Bush did one thing right, this was it. He introduced a plan to allow students who could not initially afford to get a decent to good education and allow them to afford one by giving them "vouchers" which gave them the money to afford that. I agree with him because it is ignorant to get rid of a working process and something that in the long-run could help our economy. In his Presidential Address, he said that he wants to have better education for students in order to recover the economy by increasing the quality of the workers. This process actually was doing that and eventually the quality of US labor will be valued over foreign labor.
Coercion vs Freedom
I do not agree with Stossel on this specific issue for the following reasons: 1. People need education; and 2. People need health insurance. He references a republican woman who says that "there is no negotiation between coercion and freedom" about the government and the health system. Except the government needs to step in and make people get at least mediocre health insurance so that they, or their family, could have money to support them if something drastic happens to him/her. Accidents do happen, and even though I understand where that woman was going with her argument, I have to say nay to her because it is better to be safe than sorry. The same argument was made against the government's control over the educational system.
More on 911 Lawsuit Scandal
I think that the lawyers are only being paid to do something that is not necessary because every trial about 9-11 is just one sad sappy story after another. They are just defending, and prosecuting saps who want money from the government. It is pointless.
Coercion vs. Freedom
ReplyDeleteIn this post, the author comes off as a complete idiot because he is not doing what he is supposed to be doing, namely posting original ideas. I read the post, and learned nothing of HIS opinion, only the opinion of some lady named Betsy McCaughey. This is supposed to be his view point, but for me he just summarized the ideas of another person (which he may or may not know is something called plagiarism). He is complaining about how he is forced to join a certain health insurance and makes it sound so bad (if it’s that bad, why doesn’t he find a different job?). No offense to John Stossel or anything, but as far as this article is concerned, I think he should take his own stand or not take any stand at all.
More on the 9/11 Lawsuit Scam
Again, the author throws a bunch of facts at the reader including statistics and quotes from testimonies, but he isn’t really saying anything. The best you can say he’s done is right a biased article, not a blog post pertaining to any of his personal feelings or beliefs (because isn’t that what a blog is supposed to be anyway, an online diary?). I believe it is possible to write an informative, yet personal and entertaining, piece, especially if it is an area of interest for you like these topics are obviously to Stossel—he’s not really doing it. He’s trying to show that he is against all of these lawsuits through the title of his post and some assertive sentences, but how is the reader supposed to know how the author feels about the statistics the author is throwing and him/her about Cesarean sections and cerebral palsy if he doesn’t actually say anything constructive about them? He may say how he thinks they’re bad, but that’s as far as he goes, and not any deeper into the issue at hand.
Education Show Tonight: Killing School Choice in DC
This article is much better than the others in the respect that the author didn’t toss some stats on a paper and think he was done. Although it was brief, the author touched on the issues of the public school system in Washington DC and how although the city is filled with politicians and publicity, no one is doing a thing to help the system; in fact the only thing they did was remove a beneficial program. If the author wrote the rest of his blogs like this, then I would say to keep on writing, but the others that I read proved that not all of his work is like this. In that case, I would say that he has to make his posts less like research papers and more like a research/rant hybrid because rants aren’t good without some facts, but facts aren’t good without a little bit of rant.
Crony Capitalism on the Rise
ReplyDeleteI first chose this article because this is one of the few articles I actually agreed with, and had somewhat of an idea to approach the topic. I agree with Chris’s post, that lobbying is important, but I really think that John Stossel only wants to point out that businesses are trying to control government by clouding representative’s views. I am a firm believer in not only government staying out of business but business staying out of government. Now I know that the government needs to be informed, but I really think it’s unfair that big business have an opportunity to just throw money at people to change their minds. ‘If I’m getting paid to make my employers look good to a government official I would do anything in my power to convince him we are saints.’ So yes it I believe lobbies are important but can easily be misused.
Obama Just Need be “Not too bad”
Again he talks about laissez-faire. That government should have let failing firms fail, and that Obama should not tax big banks. I do agree that fail firms should fail, I mean it’s unfair if the government can change the rules or confiscate profits. ‘It’s like if you have a lot of money in monopoly, and land on someone else’s boardwalk, the banker shouldn’t feel sorry for you and lend you money till you pass go’. I think it’s all just unfair, little business don’t get government lend money, if your company fails they fail.
Swine Flu Hysteria
Again I have to agree, the media has showcased swine flu as a really big deal, when it was just a bad common cold. Believe me I caught it, and because of the things they were saying I instantly though I might die when I was diagnosed; when I only missed 2 days of school tops. I know that the swine flu ‘pandemic’ is not over, but I really doubt it would be to harmful for most Americans to handle. The name (swine), itself just scared you, and when an estimated 30,000 to 90,000 were suppose to die from a result of the flu; I mean that is just mindboggling.
I agree with almost everything John Stossel has said in his blogs, I mean that is just really surprising to me since he is now on FOX. I remember in the past I use to watch Bill O’reilly and I completely think he should be shot in the face. Slandering American soldiers, sexual harassment, swearing on air out of rage… really,… he gets an eight figure salary. That’s fair. I think John should keep doing his blogs, he brings up a good point in almost everyone.
Entitled to a Five Bedroom House
ReplyDeleteI think that Stossel is somewhat right when it comes to the welfare system. He says that nobody should be living in a 4 story 5 bedroom house off of government welfare. If you are going to use that much money you need to work for it. He is right in this aspect of his argument. However, I do not agree with him when it comes to all welfare. Welfare is a good thing for those who can not work or earn a living for whatever reason. No person deserves to live in the streets. So welfare is a good thing, but the government does need to draw the line.
Swine Flu Hysteria
I agree completely here with Stossel. The media completely overhyped the swine flu to be a big terrible deadly flu and it turned out to be a milder alternative than the seasonal flu. It did kill many people, but the numbers are way below epidemic numbers and the flu is going to occasionally kill the extremely vulnerable like the elderly and babies anyway. The media completely overreacted to the virus’ capability of spreading and did not pay attention to the fact that it was not very dangerous anyway. I do think he may just be taking it a little far by saying the WHO were using the story to boost their worth.
Sue You for Breathing
Again I agree with Stossel, this time on global warming. You can not just sue a company for polluting the air because you built your house in hurricane zone. Chances are the hurricane would have destroyed the house anyway. Another thing is that global warming is just a cycle and we are currently in a swing of heat. This is just the earth’s natural climate change. A few companies, no matter how much pollution, can not alter the way earth works. These people have no business suing the big companies.
“Swine Flu Hysteria”
ReplyDeleteI agree with what John Stossel had to say about the swine flu epidemic. Everyone blew the whole thing out of proportion. The media was trying to scare us by saying many are going to die and it is going to spread. Just like any contagious illness it did spread, but it did not spread as much as it was assumed to. Also most of the people that died from it were babies, and the elderly which have weak immune systems and would probably die from any illness. The epidemic was blown so much out of proportion schools where closing for days just because one person had it. In my cousins school they did not have to go for two days. I think this was unnecessary because it still is just a flu, and if schools were to close when a kid got the flu no schools would be open. Also saying everyone should get the vaccines was a little extreme to. I think the vaccine makes your chances greater because they are putting some of the virus in you. So I definitely agree with Stossel when he says the hysteria was way out of proportion.
“Free Golf Carts”
I agree with John Stossel when he says free golf carts are not great because the are helping cause pollution. We are trying to minimize are pollution rate, and people are giving out free carts just because. If the government is giving hand outs they should help give out jobs instead of giving out a golf cart. Yes, golf carts are fun, but the government should focus on other things like employment. Also if the government has enough money to play around with they should cut the outrageously high taxes given to us. These are the things that can help us not a golf cart. Maybe in the future when we are out of the recession they could start giving out free golf carts.
“ Obama’s lost decade”
I agree with both John Strossel and Obama. The United States was always a power house. We had good foundation, politics, jobs, and other things that made us so strong. Then we had to go and be lazy, and now we are on a string and we are going to break any minute. I believe if Obama says he is going to change everyone should be thrilled. He is right we can not afford another economic expansion either. Most things we wanted to grow in was taken out. stopping the expansion hopefully they are both right and our economy can get better.
Coercion vs Freedom
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I found interesting while I read this article was that John Stossle, didn’t really state is opinion he mainly talked about what Betsy McCaughey thought. I think that the government should step in and make most too all citizens have health care. Citizens should at least the basic type of health care because it something traumatic happens to his or her’s family, they will be able to bounce back form that experience. The government should be making sure most of the population has health care.
More on 911 Lawsuit Scandals
Lawyers and other citizens involved with the 911 are trying to use the court system to walk away with millions of dollars. The victims are using false medical statements and doctor in order to get millions of dollar. I think this is ridicules because many of the workers at ground zero got hurt trying to save lives and then went back to work. They were looked at like heroes but now nine years later everyone is trying to get the cut of the money. They are not heroes there being selfish. Its all the same sad sappy stories, enough of this already.
Killing School Choice in DC
One thing that America does a lot is that we throw money at problems thinking that money solves every problem. This goes along with our school system; we constantly throw money at our bad test scores thinking that money will solve the problem. One thing that bush did right was vouchers. He gave kids a chance to get a good education and it was proved to work, he gave kids with little education the tools the need to succeed. We need to start focusing on the methods we teach students.
“Show tonight: Teen Pregnancy ‘Surges”
ReplyDeleteI do agree with John Stossel’s article about teen pregnancies. I do believe that many people are blowing it way out of proportion when they say that it is the most pregnancies in most past years when according to the graph in the article, the peak of teen pregnancies was during 1989 and had a slight increase or “surge” as most like to call it, in 2006. I also do believe that the American culture is declining throughout the years. We rely on more things than we should such as cell phones and cars (technology etc). But also people are just getting wealthier because of the change of the value of the dollar over the years. Many people are also trying to help make our environment a place where we can live healthy by recycling and using recycled grocery bags.
"The Obamas' Marriage"
I do agree with this article because, now that I think about it, people are more focused on the Obamas love story and family than they are in healthcare or an economy change. I never watched the inauguration but from the descriptions in the article, it seemed more like a wedding than an inauguration ceremony. I think about white dresses and first dances when I think of weddings, not when I think of inaugurations for the US president.
“World Series Champs: Yankees AND Phillies”
Ever since the Chicago White Sox won the World Series, I have always had the thought in the back of my mind about where the losing teams merchandise goes. My dad told me that the makers made wearables for both teams just so they would have the wearables for both teams when they won. I always thought about what the makers did with the loser’s merchandise. I wondered why they couldn’t just give that out too. According to the article, MLB didn’t like losing team products on the shelves. I never knew before, but I learned that the losing teams merchandise goes to the needy which I think is very nice. Why waste all this money and then just throw out all the merchandise. That’s a bit ridiculous.
1. The Road to Serfdom: Public Servants Our Masters?
ReplyDeleteI agree and disagree with this article. Stossel is says that the mayor should be earning more than a bus driver but that is not true. This man made the most money this year because of how hard and how long he works. Those who do harder work and for longer hours deserve to be paid based on their efforts. The fact that the union workers are getting more benefits than the rest of the labor force is not fair. I think that everyone should be offered the same benefits.
2. Green Bullies:
I agree with Stossel in this article. The article focuses on the environmentalists who scare people into believing their thoughts on global warming. Global warming is not close to ending the world at the moment. Sure, we should cut back on pollution, but that doest mean that everyone has to trade in their household objects they have now for all “green” products. I don’t think we all need to start freaking out and change the way we live all at once in an attempt to be more eco-friendly all at once. So as Stossel says, I think that the Green Bullies of our world need to consider the fact that they are offending people and they need to accept different lifestyles. Like Daniel said, “they talk the talk but don’t walk the walk.” They are so focused on changing everyone else’s lives into green lives, that they are not willing to accept that, for some people, the green life is not for them or they are not ready to change quite yet.
3. Freedom vs. Safety
I agree with Stossel that there are many ways to be distracted while driving. There are so many distractions that we should stop pinning the accidents on cell phones and just realize that, hey, some people just can’t multi-task or pay attention to the road and that’s why they’re getting in accidents. I’ve seen people doing their make-up, reading the newspaper (that was quite the sight… I can’t even read in the car without getting a headache, let alone drive and read at the same time), rocking out to their favorite song on the radio, screaming at the car next to them, looking backward to talk to their child in the back seat, digging on the ground to find what fell off the passenger seat… the list goes on and on. I think that texting and talking on cell phones is the least of our concerns when we look at the even more distracting things that occur while you’re in the car. I don’t think making laws prohibiting people from using a cell phone or doing anything else while driving will do any good. People are still going to use their phones and eat and do their hair and make-up, and most of them won’t get caught. I don’t think the government can do anything to fix this problem, people just need to use their heads while driving and they need to realize the problems that their multi-tasking in the driver’s seat can cause.
Green Bullies
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with this article. The fact that many people have different viewpoints on how to treat the earth during global warming is the major reason why this is happening. There are people who take this very seriously and will go to every extent to stop global warming, because maybe they are afraid of how long the earth will survive, even though it is not going to die in their lifetime. Then there are those who continue on living their daily lives, and don’t even stop to think about global warming, because it is just not that important to them. Put those two types of people together, and you have yourself a problem. The environmentally friendly one will try to get the careless one to start being environmentally friendly and vice versa. These people could be friends, siblings, a married couple … anything, and their relationship could be ruined just by simple global warming views.
Freedom vs. Safety
In agreement with this argument, it is true that many people get distracted while driving and talking on the phone. But on the other hand, it is also true that a headless device is safer than a regular phone. With the hands free device, there is no touching of buttons, taking ones eyes off the road; it is all done by voice. It is like talking to someone in the car, except for they aren’t in the car, they are somewhere else. It is true that the driver is getting distracted while using the hand free device, but without it he would be even more distracted. I don’t think that the hands free device should be banned because somehow, when things are banned, people start to do them more, maybe for the feeling of revenge? Anyways, these hand free devices should not be banned, but more so cautioned to the public.
Swine Flu Hysteria
Truthfully, I feel that half of this swine flu stuff I hear is made up. No matter if is from friends, the news, or family. Swine Flu was made out to be so extreme, yet I didn’t hear of thousands of people dying. And I also heard that the vaccination didn’t work. But on the other hand, I would trust the doctors and know that they would not fake a minor disease into a deadly epidemic that it isn’t. I am sure there are some cases where people die because of Swine Flu, and I don’t doubt that. All I have to say is that maybe this whole swine flu is a little more exaggerated than it should be.
Opinions are opinions! They cam never be judged as right or wrong. Stossel's opinions are merely judgments and criticism. Never does he tell us
ReplyDeletehow to fix the problem! What is the solution?
Mandatory Vegan Mondays
I am a vegetarian! But, I will try not to be too biased when commenting on this blog post. Whether there is a climate change or not, studies have shown that we have been hurting our environment daily. Helping the environment is not just because we want global warming to stop! We should help the environment, because this leads to a healthier earth, in simplest terms. This also benefits us in the long run! People are trying to promote going green in different ways like reducing meat consumption. Is making vegetarianism mandatory on certain days the best answer? It may not be, but I am proud and grateful that people are trying to make an effort to reduce the amount of fuel wasted bringing in exported food, that can be grown in your own backyard! So what if we cant eat meat one day of our lives! It's not going to kill us! Americans, like stossel should stop being so involved with themselves and start thinking about the well being of others and our home!
liberal's garbage
This article really stresses the ideas of classical economists. But, I tend to disagree! I think government intervention is needed in the economy in certain circumstances. For example, in the great depression, the government had to intervene and create jobs or stimulate the economy. It worked because the government followed their plans with the proper actions to implement them! So, there are pros and cons to government intervention in our economy. So unions are not all that bad. But i do agree that they need to be implemented and created for people who actually need them!
coercion vs. freedom
The issue of health care is very controversial of course. But i don't see why Stossel is characterizing the government as this evil and manipulative organization who wants to fix everything and take away our freedom. That is not the truth. They do want to solve a social problem that is prevalent and a concern to a lot of people. Let's put it into context here! Suppose there is a family, where both adults are unemployed, no health care and suddenly there kid gets cancer! They have no health care, no medical help, no money, what are they supposed to do? See the issue here? Again, is this "freedom" Stossel talks about really worth it? Yes, it saves us money, but this bill is also saving lives. I'm pretty sure lives come before money or any kind of wealth. Many of us tend to only care about ourselves and focusing only on the value we will gain out of every situation. But, if this health care bill, can save lives, then why not implement it? After all, for once in a life time we can maybe spare a thought for those who are less fortunate than us!
I read the article Mandatory Vegan Mondays. This article makes me laugh. I am a lacto-vegetarian myself and I am all for it, but I think that this is ridiculous. Taxing people for plastic bags is going way too far. It is good that Cambridge Massachusetts is trying to help the environment, but by doing this all that is going to happen is…nothing. People (most college students) will be angry with the fact that they will not be able to eat whatever they would like on Mondays. Instead of forcing people to do this and getting a negative response, it should be optional. Although there might not be a huge turnout, I am sure many people would participate to help global warming.
ReplyDeleteThe next article I read was Freedom Vs. Safety. This article makes sense! I agree with this guy! He is definitely correct when he says that the government wants to help us by making these laws to “protect” us, but really, who is going to follow these laws? If people want to put makeup on while driving, they will and no law will keep them from doing so. God knows how many teenagers text while driving, and while this is stupid and wrong, it really is not causing much of a change if any in the phone-related death statistics. The statistics are pretty steady even with people being distracted with food/electronics/ect. I strongly believe that the government is trying to reduce phone-related deaths, but if the people don’t change their habits, there will be no good outcome.
The last article I read was Michelle Obama’ s Weight Loss Secrets. I believe that the first lady is right, but is being a little irrational. I come from a healthy family who keeps 10 different types of fruit and 10 different types of vegetable stocked in the refrigerator 7 days a week. We are very health conscious only eating foods made of whole grain and having lots of fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Michelle Obama helped her kids lose weight, but do all children really care about their weight. Some parents would start eating healthier if there were more advertisements on television and more government intervention in general, but I do not think many people would stay on track with eating healthy. It is about changing one’s lifestyle. If a parent tries to enforce healthy eating a child could do it at home, but then go to school and eat all the junk food he/she can get his/her hands on. She has a dream, I respect that dream, but it will not do much difference to childhood obesity.
For The Children= Hide Your Wallet
ReplyDeleteI think that these said taxes are good in some situations, but for others, they are completely unnecessary. Taxing things like smoking are a good idea, since cigarettes have been proven to only bring harm to those who use them. But things like video games and twinkies should not be taxed. One could make the point that these things also bring harm to children, in that they may prevent them from getting the exercise that they might need, but things like this are not as severe as cigarettes, since they do not contain any ingredient that will cause an addiction. Taxing twinkies or video games would be like taxing McDonalds, simply because they may not be good for children, but they cannot do nearly as much harm as cigarettes could.
Michelle Obama’s Weight Loss Secrets
I don’t think that a tax increase in order to make children’s schools healthier would be absolutely necessary because the responsibility of giving children healthy choices should be on the parents because they pretty much influence all the things that the children eat (outside of school). Now, if this tax is solely for making schools healthier, then I would not be as opposed to it. This would give children at least on healthy option during their day, regardless of what the parents are giving them. Like I said in my last comment, taxes should not be imposed on products that do not have a direct negative influence on a person because an isolated use of the product does not do substantial harm, and other factors would have to contribute to the development of obesity in children. These other factors are influenced by the parents, such as helping their child get exercise, or making sure that they spend some time outside each day.
Buttheads
I found the information in this post to be very interesting and perplexing. In the case of the girl who was sued by McDonalds, I don’t understand why they would attack a girl who obviously had no intent in trying to “take down” the McDonalds brand. The only thing she was aiming to do was to try to raise money for charity, and she used a familiar name to maybe bring in more attention, and in turn, more some good press out of it in the process. Now for the case of “The South Butt” I think both parties could have done things a little different to achieve their success. Winkelmann should not have poked fun at the name that many people have worked hard on in order to achieve success. Still, like McDonalds, this small operation has no threat to the North Face brand, so the suing was not completely necessary. Instead, North face has helped build the image of The South Butt, since they have given the brand so much press. Oops.
“Shoe Tonight: Teen Pregnancy Surges”
ReplyDeleteI agree with Stossel that media often exaggerates to receive more attention and rates. And by looking at the graph he gives, it sure does seem like they are making the story a bit too big to match the statistics. I also agree with the fact that pretty much most of the news we have these days are bad ones. The happy stories aren’t usually the ones that get picked up by the news; it is usually the more scandalous, drama-causing ones. That is why teen pregnancy has been getting more attention lately. It’s not all about the happy and good anymore, it is the matter of whether or not people will be interested.
“Swine Flu Hysteria”
Stossels claims in this article that the Swine Flu was falsely informed to be a deadly epidemic that the world was facing and I agree. When the swine flu first started to spread, media picked it up as a disease that can kill people easily. I admit that I was really scared when I heard about this and was worried that I would get it and die. Although it sounds silly now, this is probably what most people thought, assuming from the major number of people who went to the doctors to get checked for this virus. Now, like this article states, I know that this isn’t such a deadly disease but actually even milder than the season flu – which not many people freak out about anymore.
“Time Gets It Right”
I have to agree with the fact that over-parenting is not necessary efficient to child caring. Yes it is important to protect your children from danger and it is only natural to want your children to have everything at its best. However, I don’t believe that restricting them from everything will do all the good that the parents are hoping for. Children should have enough freedom to have some space for nurturing themselves, and not have everything done by their parents just to be safe. Babying the kids will do nothing but create very dependent adults in the next generation that won’t be able to do anything by themselves. The most important thing here, I think, is for the parents to become authoritative parents and make sure that the children will be able to be safe while having the freedom to grow.