Bloggin’ it Up!

babies

Published February 19th, 2007 in Uncategorized.

the primer, the chapter about all the babies on the ship. reminded me of my phone call from my aunt after her trip to china.  She left me a message, that i need to adopt a baby chinese girl. I was still young enough and i love children.  This was the impact of going to visit some orphanges in china.  you just saw one beautiful baby girl after the next.   I was amazed that her message to me said nothing about the sites, food of china, the babies made the most impact on her trip.  this is how i imagine dr X’s ship impact on the judge.

The above was posted on the blog of “new student” (Laura) which I thought was a topic of definitive interest. The part where Laura refers to the baby girls in China is an ongoing crisis which is getting even worse. China has a one-child policy that the government enforces due to overpopulation. Unfortunately, boys are of more importance in the Chinese culture and are valued more while girls are not even wanted by the families that give birth to them. Terrible things happen to these girls such as abandonment, victims of abortion, murder, and practically anything that is unimaginably torturous to human beings. I know that Laura’s post was primarily made to make reference to the book we are reading in class, but it was definitely refreshing and relieving to read that her aunt acknowledged the fact that something needs to be done. Learning and understanding what goes on in other societies and cultures makes us all better people in the long run. Not to make this blog into an activist’s page, I have provided a few links pertaining to this issue in China that are informative as well as helpful in educating everyone on whats happening in the world outside of ours and also provides a way for us to directly take part in showing support.

The links below is to a page where it gives a brief summary of what is happening but more importantly, ways to offer help in this situation:

http://www.worldchildrensfund.org/default2.asp?active_page_id=116

http://www.china.org.cn/english/China/100585.htm

The below link is an article that describes actual orphanages in China and what really goes on:

http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/texts/c-wnhol.html

Below are just random sites:

http://www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5953508

There was an article in Reuter’s news that spoke about different groups that were offended by some of the ads that were aired during the Super Bowl this past week. It seems someone is always being offended one way or another when it comes to these ads. One example was of a commercial where Kevin Federline does a rap segment about his fame and at the end of it, he is actually singing through a screen and microphone at the local fast food joint. The fast food industry saw this as offensive and demeaning to the industry. I think activist groups overly exaggerate their views on the commercials because its a way of promoting their cause. As far as I am concerned, that “joke” about working at a fast food joint has lived longer than most people so why is it an issue now? I am not a Federline fan by any means but thought the commercial was hilarious and if anything, it was a joke that was mocking Federline himself and not the industry at all. Commercials, in general, are to entertain viewers on a large scale. This years Super Bowl was the third most watched television program in history (according to Nielsen ratings - behind the Super Bowl from 1996 and the M.A.S.H. finale). Being that its this widely viewed, all commercials will offend one group or another inevitably and I really do not believe this is fair to the companies who pay millions to air these commercials to take criticism like this. Whatever happened to the freedom to speak? I think people should enjoy what is being aired and if they dont, then change it to another channel because thats a right that each individual has. I believe that in today’s society, too much is emphasized on politics and things get scrutinized to the point where everything is screened after its already screened which takes the entertainment value out which is the whole purpose of television (and programming).

To view the article, here’s the link…

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070208/en_nm/advertising_superbowl_dc_2

Just finished watching the same bit in two contexts but both came from the same source which was http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRBW8eJGTVs&eurl= . Figured this out as I tried double clicking the one from http://mkgold.net/sp2007/com110/wiki/index.php/Five-Minutes_University in hopes of enlarging the video and it brought me to the youtube version.

The bit was funny but a little outdated. If only life were that simple…

In reference to appearance, there’s definitely a difference in presentation between the two contexts. The youtube version is definitely more commercial with ads and links to other video bits that may be similar to the current one. There’s a search engine so that you can find other material that may be of interest. There’s also an option to leave comments and feedback, along with a personal rating system, but only if you choose to sign up for an account. Another difference is that on youtube, it displays the original poster of this bit who’s youtube identity is llig and according to their profile resides in Singapore. As for the one on the instructor’s website, it’s in a very simple format where the bit can be played with a short description written by the instructor (or in general the admin of the site).

Because youtube is commercial and the purpose is to promote things of this nature, it’s definitely more appealing to watch it through this method rather than the instructor’s site as there are many options after you finish watching the bit. It lets you navigate to similar material which can lead to a whole new world of links.

I found myself having the dictionary open for some terms like “fubared” and learned that its an acronym that means “Fouled Up Beyond All Repair Every Day”.. What?!?!? After this I just tried to tie all words within the context and figured it would make sense later as its pretty obvious that words are combined and used differently anyway thoughout the text.

First 60 pages had its interesting aspects with the gadgets like the skull gun. Storyline is very detailed as it jumps back and forth setting the grounds. While reading about Bud I was thinking what impact he was going to have on the book as well as what he was going to be like at the end… guess that wont be a thought anymore. 

I’m looking forward to reading this book in its entirety and seeing what my thoughts are at the end, as in all honesty, this wouldnt be a book I’d have on my reading list. But in the past, usually when I do things out of the ordinary, I end up appreciating it more as its something I would have missed out on if I hadnt tried it.