Obama

This week, Ellen Degeneres phoned Obama on her show. She asked him various questions for his wife Michelle, such as "did you go to the gym and have you eaten." These are everyday questions that can be asked to anyone. Obama answered with a "yes," but giggled after words. He was very conversational with Ellen and the audience, making the call more personal.

I related this to the article we read this week, "The Republic Rhetoric of Identification." In this article, author Nelson explains how important it is for Presidents to identify with society. Obama is answering personal questions on television, which we all can relate to. We feel more comfortable with Obama when we can relate to him.

IRS Taxes

It's tax season! April 15th is around the corner, so naturally many are getting their taxes done before the deadline. Fox put out an article titled "IRS: $760M owed to people who didn't file for 2010". I appreciate the little warning from Fox, but don't you think the IRS should send out a letter to individuals? At the end of the article Fox states the unclaimed taxes will go to "Uncle Sam", well who the heck is Uncle Sam?

Many left comments about this article, stating uncle sam is Obama. Lots of confusion here: I'm sure they mean the government. I highly doubt Obama sees any of that money. This relates in many fields of our class, misrepresentation from media, how people view the government, and Obama.

First Lady Furthers Health Initiatives

It is always refreshing to see politicians interested in nutrition and the obesity epidemic in the US,  as this issue often gets skirted by many other things.  Within the last week, Michelle Obama partnered with Dannon and DelMonte--both large food corporations whose target demographic is children.  This partnership ensures that said companies will reduce their levels of sugar and saturated fats within their products.

These are two of several partnerships that have formed with the Health for America movement.  A recent CDC report has also shown that child obesity reports have fallen forty three percent within the last few years, for which Michelle Obama claims she is grateful to have been a part of.

This topic is consistent with the idea of the public sphere and spreading awareness about the changes that need to be made and how said changes can be made possible.  Partnerships such as this are definitely a step in the right direction.

Pope Francis new changes

When I hear the term Pope, I automatically think of a grey haired old man who stays within the walls of the Vatican and preaches the old words to those that are still willing to listen. I know that catholic religion is spreading throughout the world, however it has never been something to catch my interest, until now. Watching several reports on the new pope has led me to believe that this new Pope Francis can lead  the church out of the closed doors of the Vatican and stop them from being "Obsessed with small minded rules"  that have led to culture wars of abortion and gay rights. He is unlike any other pope the world has seen. Many popes before have claimed to want to be a hands on man with the people but Pope Francis has actually taken charge and gone out to meet the people face to face. In his interview the pope states, "I prefer a church of which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security." I believe Pope Francis came into his role believing that it was time for the church to see a change and he is evident in making it happen. I believe he understands the point of view of the modern world and understands that in order to keep the Catholic faith alive he must unite the people with the church. In order to do that he must address issue that do not solely pertain to the church but appeal to the people as well; after all, that is the role of a leader and Pope Francis is a leader and will continue to bring social change to the Catholic Church.

Missing Plane

As we have been talking about in class, a plane from Malaysia Airlines went missing. The plan was on its way to Beijing when it disappeared from the radar. News stories have been suggesting multiple explanations for the missing plane.

Since we have been talking about the media in class, I noticed how the majority of news stories frame the missing plane incident. Most articles immediately blame the disappearance on terrorist, which does not surprise me at all. Media, especially news, wants to publicize the most appealing piece, so they frame the story by talking about terrorists.

Russia is a threat.....again

The crisis in Ukraine has mounted to a national scale.  Russia recently posted its troops in offensive positions outside of the Crimean.  The Ukranian troops were forced to take defensive positions.  Because the U.S. has ties with Russia and Ukraine, we are forced to intervene.  The United States have a niche for playing the "world police" whenever something bad happens.  This ploy of force and power shows America that, for the first time in a long time, Russia poses a threat.

In accordance with the public sphere and the public screen, the crisis in Ukraine was first brought to our attention when violent images and footage from Ukraine was first played on the news.  The crisis with the Ukranian government has been happening for quite some time, but in America, we didn't know until the protests were shown on the news.

Bad news sells more.  It creates more publicity and gathers more attention.  When violence is brought into the situation, people seem to watch and listen more often,  This makes us and people more thankful that we don't have that kind of crisis in our country.

BLOG 6: DEPOrtation

In our society, there is a point of acceptance immigration. This involves cash flow (for economy),

population, laws, and politics. It is not a question to investigate immigration, but rather a solution. The U.S

has been a country for immigration, and it is provides many groups that are third generation now, and still,

although many say we already have a big population today, it adds cash flow, and a balanced system where

those immigrant who come in take the lower paying jobs, as long as their children are studying and can then

produce for the better of this economy. As President Obama entered his term, in 2010, the statistical prove

shows that he got elected into office by minority groups like the Hispanic vote, and African American vote.

In our readings, we have studied the importance of humor, and I believe we can discuss  this when it

comes to this, we can come to the conclusion that Obama has used this to catch the minority groups. We see

it close in time, as he organized a meeting in congress, and he seems to get others support, as they state,

" He does want to pursue a more humane approach to this and he cares deeply about this". (usa today).

Obama with the very action that he gathered a dozen leaders of groups,tells about his humor that he

wants to communicate unity.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/03/14/obama-immigration-white-house-meeting/6428029/