This article is about how hiring police can help save a community's money. Hiring police helps bring down crime rates, obvioiusly. Crimes like homocide and theft can cost taxpayers millions a year to investigate and persecute. By hiring police, the author theorizes, the drop in violent crimes will save the citizens just as much.
The author of this article uses mostly logos in his writing. He uses many facts and statistics to prove more police means more money, in most cases. He is very precise with his facts and they would be hard to argue with. He also uses L.A. as a real-life example; since expanding their police force 8%, the number of homocides has dropped from 480 in 2006 to 293. This has saved the city millions, leaving readers to hope that their towns and cities follow L.A.'s example.
"Save Money-- Hire Police
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-ridgewayheaton-police-20111122,0,5810908.story
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Bring Back the Draft-- But with a Twist
This article interested me for obvious reasons. Upon reading the title, I was immediately curious as to what stance the author would take on such a controversial subject. After U.S. History last year, and reading The Things They Carried this year, I had some prior knowledge about the draft and I knew the negative connotation it had, especially for those drafted. This article is talking about how in the wake of demands for cuts in the Defense Departement's budget, most Congress members desire to keep the Departement's budget where it is. The main reason: if the budget is cut and there is a need for soldiers in the field in the future, Congress will have to bring the draft back. It's a chilling idea, young men and women forced into uniform and shipped off to unfamiliar lands to fight and die for America. It's easy to see why Congress would be hesitant to sign off on this, and I was too at first. But the author of this article was talking about a draft not only for the army but for jobs closer to home too, like working in schools and with hospice patients. He thinks that a draft for work around the United States would be just as beneficial to our American pride as an army draft would be.
The Author clearly thinks that things aren't running smoothly in the U.S. right now. With the economy failing and protests like Occupy Wall Street going on, I can't say I disagree. But is turning to a draft really the best way to fix America's problems? This author convinced me. He used logos to make it seem very sensible to pose a draft that helps young people experiance all fields they otherwise wouldn't, it could lead to people being happier in their work and help get at-risk youth off the streets and into making positive contributions to society. At the beginning he made it seem like he was using pathos to make his readers feel anger towards the thought of a draft and having an army made of "the unwilling." This was and still is how I feel towards a militaristic draft. But after he poses the idea of other types of drafts, the reader realizes the extensive possibilities a draft could have.
"Bring Back the Draft-- but with a twist"
http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2011/11/the-draft-with-a-twist.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpinionLa+%28L.A.+Times+-+Opinion+Blog%29
The Author clearly thinks that things aren't running smoothly in the U.S. right now. With the economy failing and protests like Occupy Wall Street going on, I can't say I disagree. But is turning to a draft really the best way to fix America's problems? This author convinced me. He used logos to make it seem very sensible to pose a draft that helps young people experiance all fields they otherwise wouldn't, it could lead to people being happier in their work and help get at-risk youth off the streets and into making positive contributions to society. At the beginning he made it seem like he was using pathos to make his readers feel anger towards the thought of a draft and having an army made of "the unwilling." This was and still is how I feel towards a militaristic draft. But after he poses the idea of other types of drafts, the reader realizes the extensive possibilities a draft could have.
"Bring Back the Draft-- but with a twist"
http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2011/11/the-draft-with-a-twist.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpinionLa+%28L.A.+Times+-+Opinion+Blog%29
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Atheists as Army Champlains is not Illogical
This article is about how recently, when atheist soldiers in the military apply to be chaplains or lay leaders for their troops, they've been turned down because the army doesn't recognize atheism as a religion. Depending on the definition, however, atheism can in fact be considered a religion. Despite this, and despite the 10,000 soldiers that identify as "atheist" or "agnostic," the military has been steadfast in their resolve that these men and women can't become chaplains for their men.
The author clearly thinks this mindset the army has is ridiculous. He uses pathos when describing the torment other religions, notably Christianity, subject atheists to; they constantly pester atheists with the thought of religion. Some even go far enough to say things like, "that if they don't believe in Jesus, why are they in uniform, because this is God's army." He also appeals to logos by using facts like the number of atheists in the army, and the definition of atheism as decided by the Supreme Court, to make his point.
As an atheist, this author definately persuaded me. I think it's ridiculous that people could look down on other people for something as trivial as religion. If God really is as all-loving as people say, he will excuse and understand my skepticism. Just because someone doesn't believe in God doesn't mean that others won't be moved by their words, making them just as effective as a chaplain as a devote Christian. All in all, I think the army is being silly about this.
"There are atheists in foxholes"
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-atheist-20111117,0,1064733.story
The author clearly thinks this mindset the army has is ridiculous. He uses pathos when describing the torment other religions, notably Christianity, subject atheists to; they constantly pester atheists with the thought of religion. Some even go far enough to say things like, "that if they don't believe in Jesus, why are they in uniform, because this is God's army." He also appeals to logos by using facts like the number of atheists in the army, and the definition of atheism as decided by the Supreme Court, to make his point.
As an atheist, this author definately persuaded me. I think it's ridiculous that people could look down on other people for something as trivial as religion. If God really is as all-loving as people say, he will excuse and understand my skepticism. Just because someone doesn't believe in God doesn't mean that others won't be moved by their words, making them just as effective as a chaplain as a devote Christian. All in all, I think the army is being silly about this.
"There are atheists in foxholes"
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-atheist-20111117,0,1064733.story
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
The Cult of Penn State
I noticed the title of this article right off the bat. Since this scandal has been so public lately, I was interested to see what the author meant by cult. I wondered whether this had to do with the Sandusky incident, or if this was another unrelated article about different problems Penn State was facing. As it turns out, it was related to the Sandusky incident, though only loosly. It was more like the author was using this event to back up the main point of her article.
The author was a graduate of Penn State who had grown up watching the Nittony Lions and cheering for them simply because that was what Pennsylvanians did, and that was how she had grown up. People looked up to Joe Paterno because he seemed to be what every person dreams to be: honest virtuous and humble.The players were revered, and were noticeably favored over other students, getting to take easier classes and being shown unwavering respect by other Pennsylvanians, whether they were other students or regular citizens who didn't even attend the university. When the author realized this and asked her parents not to get her season tickets, she felt like she was betraying everyone she had grown up around. She began realizing the team had less of a fan base, and more of a cult following. This observation was emphasized when the scandal came out and people pitied not only the children, but Joe Paterno the coach.
The author's main point was to try never to get so invested in something that you loose sight of what is right and wrong. The author used ethos by showing her close involvement in the Penn State "cult" and her view of fans and how they were effected by the team. Ultimately, her argument was very persuasive and although I don't personally agree with her believes about football, I can see how something so innocent looking can easily be twisted to look like a cult, especially in the case with Penn State.
"The Cult of Penn State"
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-1113-hubler-pennstate-20111113,0,4148222.story
The author was a graduate of Penn State who had grown up watching the Nittony Lions and cheering for them simply because that was what Pennsylvanians did, and that was how she had grown up. People looked up to Joe Paterno because he seemed to be what every person dreams to be: honest virtuous and humble.The players were revered, and were noticeably favored over other students, getting to take easier classes and being shown unwavering respect by other Pennsylvanians, whether they were other students or regular citizens who didn't even attend the university. When the author realized this and asked her parents not to get her season tickets, she felt like she was betraying everyone she had grown up around. She began realizing the team had less of a fan base, and more of a cult following. This observation was emphasized when the scandal came out and people pitied not only the children, but Joe Paterno the coach.
The author's main point was to try never to get so invested in something that you loose sight of what is right and wrong. The author used ethos by showing her close involvement in the Penn State "cult" and her view of fans and how they were effected by the team. Ultimately, her argument was very persuasive and although I don't personally agree with her believes about football, I can see how something so innocent looking can easily be twisted to look like a cult, especially in the case with Penn State.
"The Cult of Penn State"
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-1113-hubler-pennstate-20111113,0,4148222.story
Sunday, November 13, 2011
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
This novel is about the story of one family's stay in Africa during the independence movement of Congo from Belgium. Reverend Nathan Price and his family are Free Will Baptists on a mission given to him by God to spread Christianity through a small town called Kilanga. He packs up his wife and their four daughters in June of 1959 for what they believe to be a one year stay, until they find out that due to the Congolese fight for independence, their replacements have cancelled and no one will be taking over the ministering position. Nathan can't stand for that and, to the dismay of his run-down family, decides that they're staying in Kilanga until suitable replacements are found. During this period terrible things occur, and while his family is nearly torn apart by each event, the overly calm reverend becomes irritated with them, reminding them that what happens is God's will.
The begining of the end of the Price family comes when both Ruth May, Nathan's youngest daughter, and his wife, Orleanna, fall gravely ill. Orleanna recovers after a month in bed, but five year-old Ruth May doesn't overcome her illness so quickly. The family discovers she hasn't been taking her malaria pills, and that this is the disease that is ailing her. Eventually she recovers, but she is a mere shadow of her former self. At the same time, the village's chief, Tata Ndu, decides he wants to marry the eldest daughter, Rachel. He chose Rachel because of her nearly white hair and skin, which he says will help cheer up his six or seven other wives. Meanwhile, the family is broke; the organization they began the mission with stopped providing money and supplies when the Congolese were granted independence. They have no way to get any real sustenance apart from the fruit they can collect.
While Orleanna and Ruth May are sick, the three other girls have to care for the house and the food. This poses a problem because in addition to having no appliances to help with any of the cooking or housework, all water, which is carried up from the river, needs to be boiled to kill any infections before use. None of the girls are strong or balanced enough to carry all the water in one trip, so filling the pot to boil is a time comsuming task. In addition, all this has to be done to their father's liking, who in addition to being difficult to please, spends his days writing his sermons rather than helping around the hut. Luckily for the family, a young Congolese boy named Nelson is sent to help the family in exchange for food and lodging in their chicken coop. Nelson is very intelligant and is an asset for the family when it comes to understanding the ways of the villagers.
Several months later, the first elected ruler of the Congo, Patrice Lumumba, is assassinated and the town is thrown in a panic when the army comes barging through, destroying anything in it's path.
After this a drought hits Kilanga, the village decides to hold a massive hunt. There is much controversy over whether or not Leah is allowed to join, seeing as women in the Congo aren't even allowed to wear pants let alone contribute to "manly" activities like hunting. Ultimately a vote is taken by throwing stones in a bowl, and Leah is allowed to partake in the hunt. The chief, Tata Ndu, and the resident witch-doctor, Tata Kuvundu, are very opposed to this happening, and aren't afraid to say so.
The next night, a man named Anatole, who is the school teacher in Kilanga and a close friend of Leah's, finds an evil symbol infront of his hut. Later that night, he wakes up to find a poisonous mamba snake next to his bed. Nelson also finds the same symbol by the chicken coop he sleeps in, and out of fear pleads to be allowed to sleep in the house that night. When Nathan says no, the girls decide to sleep with him in the coop. They sprinkle ashes around the hut to get the footprints of the person responsible. the next day they find a print with six toes, leading them to Tata Kuvundu, who was well known for his additional appandage. While trying to pass the snake to get out of the coop, Ruth May is bitten and immediately dies.
This causes Orleanna to take action. She takes her remaining girls and leaves. They walk all the way to a village called Bulungu before Leah falls ill to malaria. They continue on after leaving her in the care of Anatole, who later marries her. They have four children together, each named after significant men in their lives. Rachel is flown out of Bulungu by Eeben Axelroot, a man who had taken a fancy to her since they had faked an engagement to get Rachel out of having to marry Tata Ndu. Rachel ends up marrying three men throughout her life, one an ambassador, and the last of which leaves her a hotel in the French Congo to run. Adah and Orleanna make there way back to Georgia, where Adah goes on to become an epidemiologist.
Orleanna, on the other hand, lives the rest of her life in guilt over Ruth May's death. The last chapter, however, is from Ruth May's point of view after death, where she tells her mother to move on and that death isn't worse than life, but that "you could say the view is larger."
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Although it took me some time to get into it, once the story becomes more in depth and the characters begin to grow on you, you can't help but to root for them. The way Barbara Kingsolver writes really gives you insight into the way the character thinks and shows you their personalities in a more telling way than writing from a single point of view ever could. Part of the reason for this is that each character is so different, with such different idiosycracies and believes, that getting each event from the point of view of several different characters be beneficial to the reader's comprehension of the story's events and the overall enjoyment of the book.
The begining of the end of the Price family comes when both Ruth May, Nathan's youngest daughter, and his wife, Orleanna, fall gravely ill. Orleanna recovers after a month in bed, but five year-old Ruth May doesn't overcome her illness so quickly. The family discovers she hasn't been taking her malaria pills, and that this is the disease that is ailing her. Eventually she recovers, but she is a mere shadow of her former self. At the same time, the village's chief, Tata Ndu, decides he wants to marry the eldest daughter, Rachel. He chose Rachel because of her nearly white hair and skin, which he says will help cheer up his six or seven other wives. Meanwhile, the family is broke; the organization they began the mission with stopped providing money and supplies when the Congolese were granted independence. They have no way to get any real sustenance apart from the fruit they can collect.
While Orleanna and Ruth May are sick, the three other girls have to care for the house and the food. This poses a problem because in addition to having no appliances to help with any of the cooking or housework, all water, which is carried up from the river, needs to be boiled to kill any infections before use. None of the girls are strong or balanced enough to carry all the water in one trip, so filling the pot to boil is a time comsuming task. In addition, all this has to be done to their father's liking, who in addition to being difficult to please, spends his days writing his sermons rather than helping around the hut. Luckily for the family, a young Congolese boy named Nelson is sent to help the family in exchange for food and lodging in their chicken coop. Nelson is very intelligant and is an asset for the family when it comes to understanding the ways of the villagers.
Several months later, the first elected ruler of the Congo, Patrice Lumumba, is assassinated and the town is thrown in a panic when the army comes barging through, destroying anything in it's path.
After this a drought hits Kilanga, the village decides to hold a massive hunt. There is much controversy over whether or not Leah is allowed to join, seeing as women in the Congo aren't even allowed to wear pants let alone contribute to "manly" activities like hunting. Ultimately a vote is taken by throwing stones in a bowl, and Leah is allowed to partake in the hunt. The chief, Tata Ndu, and the resident witch-doctor, Tata Kuvundu, are very opposed to this happening, and aren't afraid to say so.
The next night, a man named Anatole, who is the school teacher in Kilanga and a close friend of Leah's, finds an evil symbol infront of his hut. Later that night, he wakes up to find a poisonous mamba snake next to his bed. Nelson also finds the same symbol by the chicken coop he sleeps in, and out of fear pleads to be allowed to sleep in the house that night. When Nathan says no, the girls decide to sleep with him in the coop. They sprinkle ashes around the hut to get the footprints of the person responsible. the next day they find a print with six toes, leading them to Tata Kuvundu, who was well known for his additional appandage. While trying to pass the snake to get out of the coop, Ruth May is bitten and immediately dies.
This causes Orleanna to take action. She takes her remaining girls and leaves. They walk all the way to a village called Bulungu before Leah falls ill to malaria. They continue on after leaving her in the care of Anatole, who later marries her. They have four children together, each named after significant men in their lives. Rachel is flown out of Bulungu by Eeben Axelroot, a man who had taken a fancy to her since they had faked an engagement to get Rachel out of having to marry Tata Ndu. Rachel ends up marrying three men throughout her life, one an ambassador, and the last of which leaves her a hotel in the French Congo to run. Adah and Orleanna make there way back to Georgia, where Adah goes on to become an epidemiologist.
Orleanna, on the other hand, lives the rest of her life in guilt over Ruth May's death. The last chapter, however, is from Ruth May's point of view after death, where she tells her mother to move on and that death isn't worse than life, but that "you could say the view is larger."
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Although it took me some time to get into it, once the story becomes more in depth and the characters begin to grow on you, you can't help but to root for them. The way Barbara Kingsolver writes really gives you insight into the way the character thinks and shows you their personalities in a more telling way than writing from a single point of view ever could. Part of the reason for this is that each character is so different, with such different idiosycracies and believes, that getting each event from the point of view of several different characters be beneficial to the reader's comprehension of the story's events and the overall enjoyment of the book.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Stop pretending it's not climate change
This article is about how the rising climates due to greenhouse gases are creating wildly unpredictable, and extreme weather conditions. The climate change crisis will cause drastic changes in weather patterns if there isn't a change with the amount of fossil fuels we use within the next 50 years. Despite this, climate change is still a phenomenon that is taboo in the media world. Research shows Americans turn to the weather channel more than any other type of media for weather coverage.
This author was very openly against the media's avoidance of the topic of climate change. She said things like "Americans deserve a fair warning about how climate change will affect them in their own backyard." She also addresses climate change as a "slowly unfolding disaster." Her negative tone throughout the article, backed up by scientific proof, was enough to sway any reader.
"Stop pretending it's not climate change"
http://news.salon.com/2011/11/09/stop_pretending_its_not_climate_change/
This author was very openly against the media's avoidance of the topic of climate change. She said things like "Americans deserve a fair warning about how climate change will affect them in their own backyard." She also addresses climate change as a "slowly unfolding disaster." Her negative tone throughout the article, backed up by scientific proof, was enough to sway any reader.
"Stop pretending it's not climate change"
http://news.salon.com/2011/11/09/stop_pretending_its_not_climate_change/
The Boyfriend Defense
I'm sure many of you, the avid readers of my blog, have heard about the recent accusation by Sharon Bialek that presidential candidate Herman Cain sexually harrassed and assualted her. Her recent, seven minute long statement about the alleged attack was sprinkled with references to her boyfriend of the time, a doctor who encouraged her meeting with Cain before she was attacked. Since then, a controversial question has been getting addressed more and more: are single women less credible when charging someone with a sex crime? In our society today, a single woman is more likely to be written off when accusing someone of sexual assualt, and will face more scrutiny if her case is investigated. People are just generally less likely believe that a single woman is attcked or assualted unprovoked than a middle aged woman, or one in a relationship.
The author of this article, being a woman, is obviously sympathetic to the difficulties women face when accusing attackers. She also seems to take the side of Sharon Bialek, showing more quotes of people who defend her boyfriend references than people who don't.
"The Boyfriend Defense"
http://news.salon.com/2011/11/09/the_boyfriend_defense/
The author of this article, being a woman, is obviously sympathetic to the difficulties women face when accusing attackers. She also seems to take the side of Sharon Bialek, showing more quotes of people who defend her boyfriend references than people who don't.
"The Boyfriend Defense"
http://news.salon.com/2011/11/09/the_boyfriend_defense/
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