Annexation of Crimea

So if you have not been following the Ukraine crisis, it has taken an even stranger turn. Earlier this week the Crimea region voted to become part of the Russian Federation, this was a "free" and "democratic" election. I use quotes because how free and democratic can an election be if there are armed Russian security forces at the polling stations. The United States has responded by basically cutting off key Russian Banks from doing business with the United States, which needless to say hurts their business. One of the more interesting things i have seen is that FOX news, which normally is extremely critical of President Obama, has not been so during this crisis. I think it highlights that although their political views sharply contrast on domestic issues, when given a common enemy our elected representatives can actually get something done.

Blog Post 6: Selfie in Politics

The selfie, which is a self photograph of someone either alone or with others, is a modern trend where everyone is doing it, even politicians.  In a recent article, it mentions broadly about the “politics” of selfies and that it is used not only to share with friends and viewers what one is currently doing, but it shows that by politicians doing it as well, it gives them credibility.  Politicians taking selfies are making themselves relatable to the common people, which is an advantage to them.  By taking selfies, politicians are reminding the people and the world that they are still humans that like to have fun and fool around despite current events.  There are some disadvantages to selfies as well, because some politicians have posted selfies that caused them to be criticized and because of the negative impression of some selfies, some politicians were unable to participate in some events, like having the opportunity to address an audience for some rallies. 

I found this topic related to “Minstrel Politics or “He Speaks Too Well:” Rhetoric, Race, and Resistance in the 2008 Presidential Campaign,” by Anthony Sparks because he mentions that “Television’s role in popular culture is complex, of course, but in addition to building cultural narratives, it also visualizes certain narratives that already exist” (28).  Selfies function in the same way because the pictures that the people take do form cultural narratives and it is up to the viewers to interpret the pictures and define what cultural narratives they see.  Depending on how the viewers see the selfies as, determines if there is going to be a positive or negative connection between the viewer and the one that took the picture.  A picture is worth a thousand words and a selfie is a good example for that saying because a seemingly innocent picture of politicians together can be read in so many ways where the audience might take it the wrong way.  Also another down side to selfies is that since anyone can interpret the pictures to whatever way they want to see them as, the opposing party or competition can turn that against the one they are competing against.  

Blog #8

With almost three weeks of the disappearance of the Malaysian airline flight 370, it is weird that no reports or findings of the plane have been discovered. The article talks about how the hard drive from the simulator within the pilots house was taken and under investigation and how things were deleted from it starting on February 3. The article also discusses how the U.S. had received profiles of the two pilots from family and friends and neighbors that was given to them by Malaysian investigators. The U.S. is concerned being that it took Malaysian authorities six days to go and search the homes of the two pilots.

I definitely believe that there are some missing strings to this yarn of bull***t. Being that how can authorities wait so long for the search of their homes and two why doesn't Malaysian officials or U.S. officials for that fact hire a team of hackers to recover the deleted items on the hard drive. I totally think on the Malaysian officials are covering something up. The are leaving the public sphere to be blind, including the U.S. authorities who have spent tons of money helping with the investigation. Meaning why are there no answers to anything, everything seems to just not add up properly. I am even more certain that Malaysian officials are even more involved within the disappearance.

Obama on Ellen

Recently, President Obama has been appearing in many interviews that reach certain audiences. His appearance on Zach Galifianakis' show, his phone interview with Ryan Seacrest on his radio show, and this past week he appeared in a video interview with Ellen Degeneres on her daytime talk show. Although I did not watch the full interview, Ellen posted a few of the important clips on her Youtube channel with President Obama. Ellen took the advantage of having the President on video to ask him about Obama care. He informed the audience the importance of health insurance and how important it was to sign up before the deadline. During the interview, Ellen being the comedian she is kept the interview very fun and President Obama cracked some of his own jokes too.
President Obama appearing in these interviews are very important especially right now as the Obama Care sign up deadline is quickly approaching. I believe President Obama is appearing in these interviews aiming towards a certain audience because he knows that it is the best way to inform the younger audience the importance of health care. Zach Galifianakis, Ryan Seacrest, and Ellen Degeneres all reach the younger audience of teenagers and young adults. Coincidentally, these are also the most important people to be reached out about the health care and this is Obama's way of successfully getting young adults to signup. I bring up this idea of President Obama appearing in these interviews as they are linked to the reading of politics in the media. The reading mentions how the television, radio, and internet are now the most used technology of media to be used by a wide spread of people. Young adults normally do not read the daily paper or pick up Times magazine so President Obama had to reach the young adults in a more successful and relatable way. Each interview he has had he never fails to mention the importance of health care and the importance of signing up. President Obama has since been very successful and now has over 5 million people signed up for the health care.

Hillary and the Millennial Vote

CNN released an article stating that in order to win the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton will need the vote of young people.   Although she lost the younger generation’s vote when she ran in 2008, the article states that she has a good chance of winning it this time around since she won’t have such stiff competition again.  The article also states that she will benefit from the fact that young people tend to lean more towards the left due to their stance on things like abortion, gay marriage and immigration.

This article can clearly be related to our reading on the millennials.  Hillary seems to be making more of an effort to attract this generation by visiting college campuses, as well as by having a strong presence on twitter.  Her change in position regarding gay marriage can also be seen as an effort to gain support from millennials.   The only concern the article seems to state is the fact that millennials might be more prompted to vote for a candidate who is closer to their own age.  That said, according to CNN, this might not be a problem considering a recent survey came back proving that most young people believe that Hillary is younger than she truly is.

I still blame aliens

I was watching the news the other day and I noticed a familiar face, Bill Nye the science guy! First thing I thought, are they STILL talking about the debate between Ham and himself? Much to my surprise, they had asked Nye to come on live tv and comment on his thoughts about the missing plane...WHY NOT?! He was very humble about the offer, thanking them for the chance but admitting that his guesses were probably the same as most people, that it is probably in the ocean somewhere. His only suggestion was that we should be checking the ocean for the "beeping" noise the plane will be giving off in the case of a crash. As we are already doing this, we being the people who can do this kind of work (something he says to not give himself credit for the work), I don't feel like his interview was necessary. It is clear they are running out of ideas on how to continue this story but since it is a hot topic no news source wants to drop it.

For me, this links perfectly to a mix of positive/negative face and a little bit about what Jamieson was talking about. First, positive face. I believe Nye definitely built himself up here by kind of making a little crack at the idea of being invited to comment on this issue...even with his background on planes. In addition, he clearly doesn't try and give himself credit for doing any of the work, a clarification when he constantly says "we" which, to me, shows that he appreciates the work being done and doesn't think he should be the focus. Next, in the article by Jamieson she riticuled one of Obama's speeches by saying he should not have done it at all. This, to me, links perfectly to Nye's interview. Although it is true that we all love seeing Bill Nye the science guy on tv but there is not reason why he should have done that interview, a waste of time in my opinion. It was fun to watch but I believe they could have found someone more qualified to make more qualitative statements about the issue.

What the F*%^ has Obama done so far.

This is a great website that highlights what Obama has done so far :).

http://whatthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com/

p.s. No blog post since I am presenting!