"Ebony and Ivy: Race, Slavery, and the Troubled History of America’s Universities"

     This article is a book review that appeared on October 29^th, 2013 in the online news source Democracy Now. It was written by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez. In the piece the two discuss the new book by MIT history professor Craig Steven Wilder in which he makes the claim that our post-secondary education system has helped create and reinforce racism in this country. The work, entitled Ebony & Ivy: Race, Slavery, and the Troubled History of America’s Universities, is both a logos and a pathos argument based on ten years of in- depth personal research. Through his narrative, the author implies that the warrant for his argument is that mistreatment of indigenous peoples by white colonial powers is deeply imbedded in academia. Wilder backs his claim with the individual stories of men like Henry Watson of Connecticut, who attended Trinity College in the nineteenth century prior to the abolition of slavery.  While conceding to the potential counter-argument or rebuttal that education has qualitative and measurable value within society; Wilder maintains that collegiate life and structure was still prone to historical revisionism and hopelessly intertwined with, “the founding, financing, and development of higher education” that was built on the backs of oppressed peoples. As such they became both “beneficiary and benefactor of the process.” In fact, argues Wilder, the process of Ivy League tutelage perfectly prepared graduates to operate within the slave system itself. The graduates of these prestigious schools emerged into the larger world as teachers, professors, bureaucrats and professionals who had been taught the acceptance and or desirability of American empirical dominance and superiority through conquest but without the context of residual effect.  One illustration of this skewed world view is the way in which Wilder says Mr. Watson was introduced to the Native American experience. Indian culture was reduced to human bones and possessions that were often presented as decorations to campus building or displays. Slavery too, was offered up as a sterilized institution that could be reduced to mere economic factors. In so-doing, schools effectively inoculated their students against the inhumanity inherent to its structure. While Wilder concedes that over time many of these men began to actively struggle with the moral and ideological hypocrisy of this mindset:  At core, Wilder makes an even broader claim which is that the schools which were built on the backs of colonial conquest of indigenous cultures, depended on that dynamic to uphold their society. He concludes that as such the active oppression and marginalization of those peoples by Americans, cannot logically be separated from the agenda of its academic institutions, or the later negative outcomes of their economic, social and political disenfranchisement.

p://www.democracynow.org/blog/2013/10/29/read_ebony_and_ivy_race_slavery?utm

Differences in Children’s Behavior toward Custodial Mothers and Custodial Fathers by Ambert Anne-Marie

  The article implis that the endeavor of the children, who were brought up in the single parent family, is not minimized simply. Since they would treasure all the assistance from others genuinely, this positive attitude provides them a way toward success. Also, it leads to develop pride in their work and achievement in the future. Moreover, the author expresses her opinions and shows the creditability of her evidences by using some realistic examples. She points out that those children handle conflicts or negative factor flexibly well because of making the good use of their communication skills and passionate but independent personalities. The distinct claim of the article, abundant realistic examples and well-developed analysis are shown obviously. All those make the information provided more reliable, and strengthen her point of view, but give the audiences a clear understanding of her argument and position. I consider that we can take this article as a reference and learn from her writing method, especially the logical flow. By following her clear logical flow, the audiences can comprehend the concept of her argument step by step without getting lost.

J Cole Makes a Social Criticism

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzzMOMkjm8A

In J Cole's music video for his song, "Crooked Smile," he uses visual flags and value claims to portray the violence inflicted upon the public by law enforcement. In the video, J Cole plays a drug dealer who is throwing a birthday party for his daughter when his house is bombarded by the police. Upon the attack, J Cole's daughter is shot and killed by the police. This shocking turn of events in the video is supposed to cause an emotional response from the American public, demonstrating that the issue is not as grave to take a human life. He lets you make a warm, emotional attachment to his daughter, which makes her death so confusing and shocking, leaving an unsettling feeling. He also states in the video that this is a true story and at the end of the video he proclaims to the public to "please consider the war on drugs." He also uses metaphors within his lyrics to portray this message when he says that this issue in America is a "crooked smile even braces couldn't straighten."

Belgium considering unprecedented law to grant euthanasia for children, dementia patients

I read an article named "Belgium considering unprecedented law to grant euthanasia for children, dementia patients" on the Washington Post. This article argues how controversial this issue is in Belgium by providing several arguments people have made.

At the beginning of the article, the author gives some backgrounds on the position Belgium stands on this issue, and makes a value claim that Belgium is a euthanasia pioneer. The author uses some facts and statistic to prove the argument such as Belgium already legalized euthanasia for adults in 2002 and the number of euthanasia death cases. Also, the author makes this argument by examples that rare countries allow euthanasia. After that, the author claims that the Senate heard from both sides of the issue and argues the controversy of this issue. Some people who oppose the expansion of euthanasia to children make value arguments that children do not have the capacity to make such decisions. Others argue by definition that this is an unfair thing to allow adults do but not children. In addition, Dr. Gerlant van Berlaer, a pediatric oncologist at the Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussels hospital makes an argument by examples. He gives grounds that the children cases of euthanasia already exist, but they have to be done "in dark and questionable ways". Warrants are provided that "changes would legalize what is already happening informally." Also, the author argues the controversy regarding people with dementia. Although there are evidences that some countries allow doctor make decisions for dementia patients, some people argue that dementia patients would have different thoughts.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/belgium-considering-unprecedented-law-to-grant-euthanasia-for-children-dementia-patients/2013/10/31/67fd55be-4200-11e3-b028-de922d7a3f47_story.html

Video Gaming Can Increase Brain Size and Connectivity

Psychology Today writer, Christopher Bergland, shares details from a very compelling new study entitled, "Playing Super Mario Induces Structural Brain Plasticity: Gray Matter Changes Resulting from Training with a Commercial Video Game". The study, conducted at the Max Plank Institute for Human Development and the Charité University for Medicine in Berlin, explains that video gaming can actually increase cognitive function and performance. We learn from this study that certain areas of the brain can be trained to work differently by way of video game use. This is a major breakthrough study that scientists believe suggests could be potentially beneficial for patients with various psychiatric disorders. The claim is that by training with certain video games, symptoms for mental health problems such as schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, Alzheimer's dementia and more may be reduced as a result of repeated video-game play. Of course, scientists stress, that it would have to be the "right" video games. The main warrant here is that not all video games are bad for our brains. Some games have the potential to improve hand-eye coordination and actually increase intelligence, among other things. Researchers call on qualitative and quantitative data to provide us with plenty of credibility (ethos) and logos. The hope in this article is that researchers will continue to test more educational video games that are specifically created to increase brain functioning and have benefits beyond purely just entertainment purposes. Evidence is continuing to suggest that video games could be a very beneficial tool for children starting at a young age. It is a technology that youth really wants to interact with, so the sentiment is that we may as well start trying to make more games that can help steer our society in a positive direction!

For more, see here: 

Video Games as a Beneficial Tool

Reality Confronts Obama’s False Promise

In "Reality Confronts Obama’s False Promise" by Brooks Jackson the author explains that factcheck.org has been reporting for years that the Affordable Care Act will cause many Americans to lose and or pay more for insurance coverage than they currently were. Despite President Obama's constant assurances that “if you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan”(Obama). The article states that estimates of up to 15 million Americans or 5% of the population mainly the young and healthy will lose their current coverage and be forced to pay thousands more on the new exchanges. While the previously un-insurable will now be able to get insurance because it is law as well as the elderly many of their current plans will cost less now. The author argues that over the last three years factcheck.org has been reporting this would happen, but just now are we seeing the evidence of those first effected. Due to the Presidents position of authority most Americans believed in the Affordable Care Act and the lie he told that if you currently like your health care you will keep it, despite the fact that the administration has known for around three years that many Americans would lose their current coverage. This fallacy is a perfect example of argument from authority, Z is true because X authority says it is true. As we are currently seeing and may be experiencing that is not always the case.

Conservatives Punish Fox News for 2012 Election Failure

An interesting article by Kevin Drum takes a look at the 2012 vs 2012 GOP brand trust rankings. In 2012 Fox News channel was first with a 64.5 score, in 2013 it is not even in the top ten of trusted brands. Drum goes through the potential that Fox News being blamed for the 2012 election failure but attributes it to something else, using evidence. When he refers to the other brands, like Chick-fila and History channel going down, it in some sense refutes the claim that the Fox News brand is untrustworthy being credible. It is interesting how the numbers have changed so drastically in the last year, but it may have just been the election being over. I would use inductive reasoning to determine that the numbers are fairly skewed by recent events, including the end of the election, and general loss of interest.

 http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/10/conservatives-punish-fox-news-2012-election-failure

Gender inequality still rampant in cyberspace, UN ad shows

A new global women’s rights campaign poster by United Nation attracted attention of public to use popular Google search terms to highlight gender inequality. The poster is four women’s faces. The women are Muslim, Asian, Caucasian and Hispanic. The interesting thing is Google search boxes cover their mouths. There are four key input terms inside the blocks. “women need to,” “women should,” “women cannot,” and “women shouldn’t." Below each keyword are further related popular search terms. The search terms are Google’s automatic results generated since March 9. This automatic results make full sentences with the keyword. These include such terms as “women need to be put in their place,” “women should stay at home,” and “women cannot drive,” all reflecting an entrenched misogynic bigotry in today’s society. According to Christopher Hunt who designed this campaign poster, "this campaign uses the world's most popular search engine (Google) to show how gender inequality is a worldwide problem. The advertisements show the results of genuine searches, highlighting popular opinions across the Worldwide Web.” The claim is media like popular search engine, Google, have to show how gender inequality is a worldwide problem. The warrant is automatic result of Google with keyword by women.

High school beer brewing assignment draws controversy

A Colorado high school chemistry class offered an extra credit assignment involving the anaerobic fermentation performed by yeast cells, commonly used by humans to produce beer. In fact, the assignment involved taking a tour to the local Coors light brewery. Because of this little detail, some parents are upset, just as I would be. I wouldn't want my kids growing up to be Coors drinkers either. It's simply unethical to push bad taste on students that young. According to the article, the legal drinking age is 21. First of all, this is news to me. Some parents object to exposing children to anything about alcohol on a moral or religious basis. This same discretion is unilaterally applied to any other ways to make education interesting. However, in the context of the aftermath of some recent high school rape cases involving alcohol, I can see why they might be on edge. At the same time, however, high school kids drink. Always have, always will. So if the last thing you want to do is educate your children about alcohol, then I believe you need to reevaluate your priorities.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/30/high-school-beer-brewing-class-draws-controversy/

NSA denies report it eavesdropped on Vatican

In the article the author claims that the NSA tapped the phone calls to and from the Vatican from late December 2012 to early January 2013. "The calls were reportedly categorized in four groups: leadership intentions, threats to the financial system, foreign policy objectives and human rights. "The warrant of the Vatican is that no one should have their privacy infringed on this much. The rebuttal made by the NSA was simple; they sent out their national spokesman to make a statement, all he did was deny the allegations. The claims made in this article are tricky because it is unknown if they are fact claims, because each side has an opposite claim. However there are definitely a few value claims in their, for example the end when a director defended secret surveillance. Policy claims are also tricky in this one. The only one that i see that could be a policy claim is when supporters of the NSA are calling for close examination of the white house. The ethos of this article is not really in question, even though they do not state who the author is. Fox News is a news station that is criticized often, but is also famous worldwide and considered a leader in the news world.

Is the minimum wage high enough?

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20130909000983

This writing addresses that Korea had a low hourly minimum wages among OECD countries and the government needs to revise the current minimum wage system. The author claims that many people are appealing to the low minimum wage law in Korea. According to Woo Seok-jin, people have minimum living standard costs, and the minimum wage should be determined based on that level. A man said (policy claim), "as public utility prices rise the minimum wages of part-time jobs like at a general restaurant should be increased. I think $6 would be okay." He also criticized the government ministers who don’t know how the poor people work so hard and how they only are given a low wage (value claim). Some business representatives, however, asserted that raising the rate might hurt not only firms, but also workers as well because it forces the companies to lay off workers or hiring fewer new employees. Park Pil-kyu, a senior research fellow at the Korea Small Business Institute, said raising the rate would hit small businesses particularly hard (counter argument). In my opinion, it is definitely controversial issue in Korea because even though the government wants to make higher minimum wages for better life of the workers, it would be not good for both the workers and businesses in the long term. A rise in the minimum wage would cause replacement of Korean workers with foreigners in vulnerable jobs at small companies. Therefore, creating higher minimum wages should be considered since it will have a lasting effect on employee's happiness which affect quality of working environment.

"Woman To Hand Out 'Obese Letters' to Overweight Children on Halloween - www.foxnews.com

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/10/30/woman-to-hand-out-obese-letters-to-overweight-children/?intcmp=latestnews

Article:  "Woman to hand out 'obese letters' to overweight children on Halloween"

I read an article on www.foxnews.com about a North Dakota woman who is planning on handing out letters to young trick-or-treaters she deems are overweight.  Part of her letter states,  “…it takes a village to raise a child...your child is, in my opinion, moderately obese…my hope is that you will step up as a parent…” yet is left unsigned.  When asked  why she doesn’t hand out other items, such as  toys/stickers, etc…she claims she doesn’t want to be the “mean lady” in the neighborhood and “doesn’t plan to deny candy to any of the children”.

I believe her argument could be seen as a value or policy claim as this is her opinion (without specific facts to make it a fact based claim) and sounds like her ultimate goal is to “help” change the health of some children in her neighborhood.  My big issue with this is her lack of Kairos or knowing the full context including her audience, medium (sending an unsigned accusatory letter) and not having any full history of these families or children.   Although this is her 1^st Amendment right of free speech, I don’t believe Halloween is the best occasion to state her argument in this type of manner.   How could she possibly know everything going on with the child or the family…and really know they are overweight/obese without a full examination?  Unless she is a pediatrician and has met with each child, I would question her Ethos or credibility on this subject and quite frankly… in my opinion (my 1^st amendment right)…she’s a major “Debbie Downer”!!! 

NSA Infiltrates Links to Yahoo, Google Data Centers Worldwide, Snowden Documents Say

The Washington Post reported a fact claim that the NSA secretly tapped into the unencrypted links behind massive cloud networks from companies like Google and Yahoo. Evidences came from documents which were obtained from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and  knowledgeable officials. As backing of the claim, in the preceding 30 days, field collectors of NSA had processed 181,280,466 “metadata”, including emails, videos and audio, from  millions of foreign and American citizens user accounts. In fact, not only the NSA itself took the operation, but the British GCHG joined the “MUSCULAR” operation as well. They relied on an unnamed telecommunications provider outside of the U.S. to offer secret access to a cable or Google and Yahoo servers. As rebuttals, White House officials and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversaw the NSA, declined to confirm, deny or explain why the agency infiltrated Google and Yahoo networks overseas. At the same time, officers of Google denied that they provided the government with access to their systems. Yahoo restated their strict controls in place to protect the security of their data centers as well. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-infiltrates-links-to-yahoo-google-data-centers-worldwide-snowden-documents-say/2013/10/30/e51d661e-4166-11e3-8b74-d89d714ca4dd_story.html

Texas dad makes ‘bully’ son wear sign in public punishment

I read an article, “Texas dad makes ‘bully’ son wear sign in public punishment” on Fox News. A 4^th grader spent the afternoon holding a sign that says “I am a bully. Honk if you hate bullies.” His father, Jose Lagares, says he came up with the punishment after his son got in trouble for bullying several times at school. He claims that bullying is a bad behavior and a serious problem that cannot be ignored. He makes his son wear a sign of shame to teach a lesson. Lagares anticipates opposing opinion about public punishment. He says that some people might consider this punishment as humiliation. However, he rebuts this predictable claim by providing a statement; bullying is also a form of public humiliation. Lagares says that, “My son understands that when he humiliates someone publicly that doesn’t feel good. Hopefully he will take that with him so the next time he tries to bully someone he will think about it twice.” I think he made a value claim that asserts the worth of something. He also made great rebuttal to the expected opposing opinion about public humiliation. On occasion, it is necessary for children to be disciplined when they misbehave.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/06/texas-dad-makes-bully-son-wear-sign-in-public-punishment/?intcmp=latestnews

ASPCA Pathos

The commercials for the ASPCA beckoning for the adoption of animals are visual arguments, that use some of the principles demonstrated in the Birdsell and Groarke article. The first principle used by the ASPCA in their commercials is the use of pathos. As Birdsell and Groarke mention, visual arguments rely heavily on pathos to forward their claims. The images of suffering animals conjure feelings of sympathy, anger, and guilt meant to elicit action on the part of the viewer. By simply reasoning with the viewer that animals are abused, the impact is reduced. The second principle that the ASPCA uses in its commercials that is mentioned in the Birdsell and Groarke article is the ineffectiveness of surrogate imagery. If the ASPCA used animals that were relatively well off and faked hardship -animal "actors" if you- then the impact would be greatly reduced as the viewer would know the images they were seeing were less then real, merely a simulacrum of the message.

Meriweather Makes a Scary But Good Point.

After multiple hits on defenseless players in the past few weeks, Brandon Meriweather was suspended for two games. An appeal reduced his sentence to one game but that didn't stop him from making a few comments that are sure to shake the offensive players in the league. His main point regarding the hit zone for defensive players is below.

 "I guess I just have to take people's knees out," Meriweather said. "That's the only way. I would hate to end a guy's career over a rule, but I guess it's better other people than me getting suspended for longer. You just have to go low now, man. You've got to end people's careers. You got to tear people's ACLs and mess up people's knees. You can't hit them high anymore."

A claim like this makes me believe he shouldn't be on the field when injuring players is on his mind. He provided examples of different injuries he was willing to give opposing players.

This article is a great example of a causal argument. Rule changes cause knee injuries. This argument has many examples of grounds because there are many great reasons for the rule changes. Head and neck injuries are the most important issues and as many steps as possible should be taken to keep them to a minimum. Therefore because of the rule changes, the players well being and lives are safer due to reduced concussions and head injuries, but they are at a much greater risk of career ending injuries because defensive players are going to be expected to tackle much lower. A countercliam will always be present that the league is softening, and all the rule changes are taking away from what drew fans to the games initially, Violence.


http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9895448/brandon-meriweather-words-reflect-real-problem

Tiananmen Square Incident (CNN)

This article was about the recent vehicle explosion taking place at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. 40 people were injured and 5 were killed and until recently it was ruled an accident, but now with new evidence it is being ruled a terrorist attack. This article is a fact claim. According to a Beijing police spokesperson, a man named Usmen Hasan drove a jeep carrying his mother Kuwanhan Reyim and his wife Gulkiz Gini, through the famed square and died after the vehicle caught fire and exploded when crashing into the Jinshui Bridge. The evidence is substantial because after the vehicle was extinguished police found gasoline canteens, knives, steel sticks and a flag with extremist religious content (Jihad). Post-incident there have also been five new suspects detained after being found connected to the attack. The claim is that the attack was retaliation because of the tension between Muslim Uyghurs and the Han Chinese. The author primarily uses logos to make these claims because until now there has never been any notification of Chinese/Muslim tension, and with this new information comes solid backing for a terrorist attack.




http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/30/world/asia/china---tiananmen---arrests/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

US intelligence chief Clapper defends spying policy

This news reported that US intelligence chief defended spying policy, and the claim is that discerning foreign leaders’ intention was a key of the nations’ spying operations. The ground supporting that claim is that such efforts were the “top tenet” of US intelligence policy, according to Mr. Clapper, director of National Intelligence. The warrant is because leadership intentions is a basic tenet, surveillance on leaders is reasonable. Also the director of National Security Agency Gen Keith Alexander added that the information which led people believe that the NSA or US collected information is false was wrong and it was more important to defend the nation through surveillance to support the claim. Some background information was given, such as the Edward Snowden, who leaked documents about surveillance, and the significant criticism about President Obama. Even though someone is opposed to the action that collecting intelligence on leaders of US allies, and the fact is that there is no policy stopping such surveillance so far.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24729628

Are ‘kid cages’ protecting N.M. children, or a case of ranchers crying wolf?

This article in itself is a full argument. Here we have a few people going back and forth on 'kid cages' in a New Mexico rural area.  The main claim would be from Eva Sargent on what could be taken as a sign and a bit definitional argument about these cages are unnecessary and just represent the large anti-government sentiment.  There is legislation being considered if the Mexican grey wolf should be seen as an endangered species. The 75 that exists right now were bred and raised in captivity.  Residents of the area refute with a little fact and value. These "kid cages" have been up for 10 years with their main purpose to protect the kids waiting for the bus in the early hours of the morning from weather and other things that might be a threat.  They admit one threat does happen to be the wolves. Back to Sargent's side; continual example and fact argument of these wolves have not been documented as attacking humans.  Residents up hold the rebuttal with the knowledge of these wolves being raised in captivity and thus making them unafraid of structures and humans.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/29/are-kid-cages-protecting-nm-children-or-case-ranchers-crying-wolf/

Economic Globalization brings troubles

The article I read this week in about Economic Globalization from Ifeng News. The claim in this article is economic globalization is the origin of most protests.

In the introduction part, the author lists three news related to popular protests. People in Turkey, Brazil and Egypt protested against some policies carried out by governments. Then he states that all these three events are related to the economic globalization.

To make his claim convincing, he supported from three grounds: economic globalization causes widening gap between rich and poor; it causes terrorism; it causes country secret disclosure. Then he uses backings to support his ground: some data to support the widening gap, 911 and some other terrorist activities and Snowden. But he did not write enough warrants explaining the relationships between grounds and backings. He might think the relationships are obvious enough or might think it is too hard to explain the relations clearly. I was a little confused by his supports. So I think he can explain more.

He suggests some measures to solve the disadvantages Economic Globalization bring to the world as a conclusion. And I think his conclusion is good because his suggestions make a lot of sense and make his audience really think into the Economic Globalization.

Student says New York university forced him to remove Confederate flag

A student from the University of Rochester claims that the school violates his First Amendments rights by telling him to remove a Confederate flag from his dorm room window. Matthew Papay, a sophomore of the university puts a Confederate flag on his dorm room window but the residence hall advisor Catherine Christian told him to remove the flag because it offenses some people. Papay argues that “the school is blatantly ignoring my rights to express the cultural identity I choose to identify with, even though the school prides itself on how ‘culturally diverse’ it is.” As a rebuttal of Papay’s claim, Christian wrote an email to Papay that “it should not be in the window because of the discomfort it is causing people and because it does not necessarily represent the heritage of the whole house.” Consequently, their arguments sparkled a whole school debate on a Rochester University class of 2017 Facebook page. Some comments from Facebook page argues that the Confederate flag is closely related to moral issues about African Americans. Papay says that he will not put the flag up if it offends some specific people, but he emphasizes that he has right to express his ideas according to his First Amendment rights. I think the freedom of speech protects citizens’ expression from being prohibited. However, it is uneasy to tell that freedom of speech should protect some ethically offensive expressions like hanging a Confederate flag on window.

Student says New York university forced him to remove Confederate flag 

Military bases open their doors to home-schoolers

My boyfriend is in the Air Force Reserve and is currently deployed, so I decided that I wanted to start look more into some military news this week.  I found an article on FoxNews.com about the fact that military bases are starting to be more accepting of home-schooling.

The argument isn't that all military families should home-school, it's more that home-schooling is a more accepted option these days.  The article states that several military bases now have groups for parents who are home-schooling, so they can work together to teach their kids what they need to know.  Some reasons that military families might find home-schooling a better option for them are that it is easier when the family moves a lot because the child doesn't have to worry about being behind in his or her classes if a different school has a different curriculum and that there is an option of being able to work extra hard when the military parent is deployed so that they can ease up a bit when the parent is home.

I believe that this is actually a very interesting concept.  The article gives evidence by giving many examples of different bases that are supporting home-schooling as well as some stories of families that found home-schooling beneficial.  The article also states that there is very limited data on the percentage of military children that are home-schooled and about long-term social and academic effects.

This article provides a sound argument with a claim, warrant, grounds, qualifier and backing of the Toulmin model, as well as a rebuttal stating that there hasn't been enough scientific research done on it yet and that home-schooling isn't for everyone.

To read the full article go to: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/26/military-bases-open-their-doors-to-home-schoolers/

Ip Man

So I recently watched this movie, Ip Man, which dealt with a man who only practiced the martial art of Wing Chun. He didn't have a dojo, but he would fight where he could and when he wanted. Everyone wanted to fight him, since he was the best. Although he wouldn't fight if he didn't need to.

It had gotten to the point where he did in fact need to start fight to defend people, which in most cases people would agree that that would be the wisest choice. As time went on though, more and more people he cared about were being bullied. Which to him was all the physical pathos needed.

Getting to the point of actually instructing them, because they themselves pointed out that they needed to be able to fend for themselves when he was not around, this was very logically sound (logos). He was only one man, therefore it would be important for the people not to solely depend on him for help.

Watched on Netflix.

Police Brutality, Mental Illness and 'The Memphis Model'

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/police_brutality_mental_illness_and_the_memphis_model_20131023

I read the article, “Police Brutality, Mental Illness and ‘The Memphis Model’”, originally found on the www.truthdig.com website.  The article explains a couple situations where concerned family members called the New York Police Department, requesting the NYPD to go and check on a relative of theirs who is known to have some form of mental illness.  In one specific case, a woman called 911 requesting assistance with her husband as she was out of the country on vacation and her husband was acting as though he had missed taking his prescribed medicine.  She informed the 911 operator that her husband would not hurt anyone however when the police went to check on him, they ended up shooting him dead.   The author explains how the term “The Memphis Model”  fits this situation.  This terminology was coined back in ’87 when a retired police officer “…responded to a man who was harming himself and threatening others, with a knife” and the police ended up killing the man.  Felt part of this had a policy claim as it is stating how things need to be changed to avoid similar deaths from happening like this again was also a causal argument as it listed out situations where if things were handled differently (different “causes”), some of these may not have occurred.  

U.S. Promises Russia Snowden Will Have a Fair Trial

As some of you may have heard, Edward Snowden leaked some covert information from the NSA, who are understandably upset that someone accessed and used their personal files unlawfully and unethically. The fallout from this leak has reached far and wide, as countries such as Mexico and Germany have voiced anger at the NSA for accessing their files unlawfully and unethically. The NSA claims it was just using information from private phone calls and emails to try to strengthen international ties, just like how when you are in a relationship its okay to access your partner's phone and email records to bring you closer together. In the context of this article, however, Russia has not yet decided to turn Snowden over to the US justice system based on the ethical grounds that he will not receive a fair trial, citing evidence regarding how the US has treated so called "enemies of the state" in the past, especially in international waters. They believe he will be tortured or killed before he stands trial, and that any trial he receives will likely be a sham. To counter these assertions, a US attorney general has issued a letter to Russian diplomats promising not to kill or torture Snowden. Fair warning, Russia: he didn't promise not to do kill and torture him.

http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/us_promises_russia_snowden_will_have_a_fair_trial_20130726

Kimchi recommended for UNESCO list

UNESCO will register kimchi as a cultural heritage, the Korean government said. Kimchi is the staple Korean side-dish that made of fermented vegitable normally cabbage. According to the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) issued a recommendation to list "Kimjang; Making and Sharing Kimchi’’ as an intangible cultural heritage asset. "The Subsidiary Body has highly evaluated kimchi and the culture of making the dish because it found them an essential part in maintaining the cohesiveness of Korean communities,’’ said a CHA official. The government proposed kimchi for UNESCO registration in March 2012. Finally Kimchi, the culture and tradition of Korea, can be registered as a cultural heritage.


http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/culture/2013/10/386_144858.html

The Case For Layaway

In “The Case For Layaway” by Kevin Drum, Drum is writing a response to an article written by Alex Tabarrok stating that todays layaway plans do not make sense. Drum’s spins a story how families who lack means and the ability to pay for new school clothes use layaway and can hopefully pay it off before school starts. He reveals that this is a scenario that has happened to him as a child. He also suggests that from a purely economical standpoint layaway does not make sense and that one should save money earn interest then buy the products you want or need. Drum counters this and Tabarrok’s argument by saying that in the real world layaway makes perfect sense for those who do not have large amounts of savings and actually commits these individuals to paying off whatever is on layaway by making payments. He even uses evidence to support this point of view by saying that the average interest rate for a savings account is two percent and over a four-month period the interest on a $300 product is roughly one dollar. So in theory saving and earning interest is a good idea however in the real world it makes more sense for families to use layaway to purchase goods. This was a perfect example of a claim and counter claim backed up by evidence and a real world example.

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/10/case-layaway

Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel wins new trial in 1975 murder of Martha Moxley

     Today (October 23, 2013), Fox News reported on an event first covered by the Associated Press and NBC staff reporter Daniel Arkin.  There is no overt argument being made here but there is an implied slant that functions as the warrant in the Fox version.  The implication is that the wealthy and connected Michael Skakel being allowed a new trial is an abomination to the justice system because he has already been sentenced to incarceration.  I consider this an argument by moral dilemma because it highlights the myriad of evidence against Skakel and questions his ability to demand a new trial in the face of that data.  At core it is also a logos argument that builds upon evidence and the ethos of court participants and officials to support its claims. In essence,  Connecticut Judge Thomas Bishop, ruled that Skakel’s  former trial attorney  Michael Sherman “failed to adequately represent him,” when he was tried for murdering his neighbor 15 year old neighbor Martha Moxley with a golf club in 1975. In 2002, Skakel, now 52 and a cousin to the Kennedy clan through Bobby’s widow Ethel; was found guilty of killing Martha in a fit of jealousy exacerbated by drug abuse.  Skakel’s new attorney Hubert Santos, hopes to get the convicted murderer released on bail right away, while State Attorney John Smriga says that the state will file a motion against the decision to grant the appeal.  Although Santos has declared that his new client is innocent, in his rebuttal Martha’s brother John Moxley argues that it was the convicted man’s own words that landed him behind bars.  On the other hand, Judge Thomas has maintained that there were significant failures in Sherman’s handling of the case, and that the defense failed to pursue other leads, challenge eyewitness accounts, or pick competent jurors.  The state counters that in fact Sherman did all of those things. Among the state’s evidence are three confessions by the perpetrator and over a dozen statements he ostensibly made through the years; which point to he alone being the killer. In comparing the two accounts of the same piece of information – those of Fox and NBC,  it is interesting to note that NBC ends its essay with facts while Fox ends their take with  Skakel’s declaration of innocence juxtaposed on the fact that he was denied bail again last year. The latter version has a decidedly more judgmental tone.  

 http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/23/21100925-judge-orders-new-trial-for-kennedy-nephew-michael-skakel-convicted-of-1975-teen-girl-slay?lite 

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/23/kennedy-cousin-skakel-wins-new-trial-in-175-killing/               

More Victims of Online Abuse Reach Out to Parents

This PBS news article posted by the Associated Press releases a promising report on the improvement of the very disturbing online bullying trend that has been responsible for the anguish, and in some cases, self-harm and suicide, of too many tweens, teens, and college students throughout our nation. PBS claims that more and more targets of online bullying are reaching out to parents and siblings for help much earlier to help intervene before things get worse. I appreciate the even mix of quantitative and qualitative evidence in this piece, pulling in their readership with both logos and pathos for a nice balance that is easy to digest. The author discusses specific cases of online bullying and elaborates on the differences between fates of victims who asked for help from their schools and families compared to those who kept the horrors to themselves. Some students who were once victims of abuse are now becoming leaders in their communities, mentoring other students who have suffered through the same types of treatment. The quantitative data shows that the amount of students ages 14-24 that have had a brush with an online bullying situation has decreased by 7% since 2011, not a highly significant number, but hopefully it will continue to improve. 7% more of the students who were bullied have gone to parents for help and 12% more are reaching out to brothers and sisters. There has also been a significant increase in the past two years in awareness of students that online bullying is a major issue that needs to be constantly monitored and addressed. The numbers are not impressive (yet) but the interviews that this article provides with various students leaves me feeling hopeful. It is a positive piece that understands its intended audience: primarily parents of school-aged children and teens, as well as students who may be witnessing this kind of online behavior among their peers.


For more: More Victims of Online Abuse Reach Out to Parents

Japan will replace Saudi Arabia?

I watched a news commentary talk show on Ifeng TV. The topic they analyzed yesterday is the possibility that Japan will replace Saudi Arabia as a member of the Security Council. The guest they invited thinks Japan won’t take the opportunity.

In the introduction part, the host introduces the background information first. Saudi Arabia rejects seats on U.N. Security Council and then Japan tries to get the opportunity. I think this part is necessary to let all the audience knows what they are talking about.

And then he states the claim that Japan won’t be selected as a member of U.N Security Council no matter seeing from the subjective view or objective view. In this part, he notices the audience that he would talk this topic in two parts and it makes his argument organized and clear.

From the subjective view, the first reason is Japan is so busy dealing with their domestic affairs so Japanese may save some energy to take care of their own country. And the second reason is that this position is not as powerful as Permanent members of the U.N Security Council which Japan really wants to be so it is not very attractive to Japan.

For the objective conditions, there is an important reason. China and South Korea are all Security Council members and Japan is too close to them. Conventionally, all members in Asia cannot be concentrated in East Asia and U.N. needs some opinions from Arab countries.

Maybe because the duration control of the show, he didn’t give a conclusion which I think is the only shortage of the whole argument. He followed the traditional argue structure and divided his body part into two main part by two different views and it makes his argument clear and more convincible. Overall, he did a good job in this show.

Parent accuses Texas high school football coach of bullying after 91-0 blowout game

This article by Fox News has been the topic of debate for many shows that focus on sports. There was a high school football game in Texas this past weekend, and one team rolled over the other 91-0. One of the parents of a boy on the losing team took the initiative and filed a complaint. His claim was that the team that won bullied their team. His warrant was running up the score is bullying the opposing team. The rebuttal was immediate, the coach of the winning team claimed that his starters were out of the game in the first quarter, and his backups were out around halftime. He did not know what to do when his third strings were scoring points against the first team. The losing coach supported the team saying that they were nothing but class. They were the Texas state champions, who beat every team by a large amount. Most of the claims in this article are value claims, with a few policy claims scattered in. The parents complaint was an obvious value claim. Another strong value claim is, "Buchanan said his school, winner of four state titles since 1998, and district are very supportive of the football program. The same, he said, cannot be said of Western Hills."(fox) The author brings up many policy claims when he discusses the University Interscholastic League. For example "The University Interscholastic League, the governing body for high school sports in Texas, only has a mercy rule for six-man football that ends a game when one team gets ahead by 45 points by halftime or later. There is no mercy rule for 11-man football, though coaches can agree to end a game early, UIL spokeswoman Kate Hector said. Buchanan said he wasn't aware of that option." To me most of this article is a causal argument, because the 91 points caused the arguments.


  http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/22/parent-accuses-texas-high-school-football-coach-bullying-after-1-0-blowout-game/

"Parent Accuses Texas High School Football Coach of Bullying after 91-0 Blowout Game." Fox

           News. FOX News Network, n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.

Bullying Complaint After Lopsided Football Score

This article follows a father who filed a complaint against a school for bullying, after his sons team lost to them 91-0. The article quotes the members of both sides of the issues, and the mediators, the superintendents. The father describes his conversation with his son, in a very similar way one would council a teenager after being bullied. He is making a value claim, that bullying comes in many forms, and the opposing school did not let up late after having a large lead. The argument is directed at the coaching staff of Aledo, the father's son played for Forth Worth. The claim is one of many possible changes to the school system involving the act of bullying, attempting to create policy changes to prevent it from happening. The response to the claim by the coach of the winning team, was that he tried and his "players were better then their players". He makes a good counter argument to the claim. The superintendents of the school districts are looking into whether there is probable cause to investigate, and whether their is substantial enough evidence to reprimand the winning team.

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2013/10/21/parent-files-bullying-complaint-after-lopsided-football-score/

5 ways Monsanta wants to profit off climate change

From the article, we know that Monsanto purchased the climate change-oriented startup Climate Corporation for $930 million in order to reduce the agricultural damage brought from global warming. Due to the increasing temperature and global population as well as overusing the farmlands, it makes the agricultural industry even worse. To help the agricultural industry overcoming the difficulty, the company sold them five major climate change-related products. They are the data to help farmers making a clear plan for growing crops in a changing climate, the insurance for harvest losing, drought-resistant corn, cotton that needs less water for growing, and even the crops for biofuel.

The article states the claim clearly to the audiences, which is “ Global warming could mean big business for controversial agriculture giant Monsanto, which announced last week it was purchasing the climate change-oriented startup Climate Corporation for $930 million”. To make the research more trustable and increase his creditability, the author provides some data and studies given by experts and professors in his article. He also takes a good use of primary source, instead of the secondary sources as the evidence, which provides the detailed and technical information to audiences. Besides, author avoids using the subjective words to describe the matter or adding too many personal comments in the article since he wants to leave more space for the audiences to consider the matter by using their own knowledge and critical thinking rather than disturbing their creativity. 

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/10/monsanto-profit-climate-change-corporation

China paper in detained journalist plea

This news reported an event happened in China that a Chinese newspaper published a plea to ask for releasing one of its journalists who had been detained by the police for “damage to business reputation”. The news made a fact claim that the Chinese newspaper the New Express had published a plea in its front page, and it also indicates a policy claim that the journalist should be released. The reason is that he was detained without clear legal basis. It provided the background information as context that the journalist was detained because of his reports about a part state-owned construction equipment company, and the reports were “false, groundless and misleading” according to the company, and as a result, that journalist was held by police. For the New Express, they believed it is unfair. In their understanding, if they reported something wrong, they can apologise and make corrections, or even shut down. But their journalists cannot be detained without legal basis. As a result, many people, including some lawyers, some media professionals, and also some users of weibo (China’s version of twitter) commented to support the New Express. A common view is that supporting New Express is a way to safeguard the rights of its journalists and the censorship should be clear.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-24634041 

US Carbon Emissions Are Dropping

 This article stated a claim that even without President Obama's green agenda on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, energy-related carbon emissions dropped almost four percent last year. This is a fact claim supported by statistics and charts. As evidences of the claim, statistics showed that overall energy consumption fell by 2.4 percent last year, which was translated to a 5.1 percent drop in energy use per dollar of GDP. As a rebuttal, people doubted about the reduction of emissions because the population and per capita output were growing. However, the author refuted these opponents by giving explanations of two terms -- carbon intensity and energy intensity, which referred to the carbon emissions per dollar of GDP and energy use per dollar of GDP. As warrant, the amounts of electricity use and carbon pollution tied to these two densities’ growth were dropping. As backing of the claim, the author gave three reasons that why carbon emissions dropped. Firstly, half the cuts came from reductions in household energy use. Secondly, fuel-efficient cars made differences. Thirdly, the energy we used came from cleaner sources, like wind, as the substitution of natural gas for coal. 

http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2013/10/charts-us-carbon-emissions-are-dropping

Growth slows in Korean smartphone market

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20131020000240

The article addresses the growth pace of the smartphone market in Korea which is gradually declining. There are evidences to back up this 'fact claim' that the average quarter increase of new Smartphone subscriptions since August marked 13.5 million, down from 25.4 million last year, according to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning and telecom industries. According to the author, there were 1.2 million new subscriptions in the second quarter this year (warrant). This was down from 1.6 million during the months from January to March. However, the stagnant growth pace does not indicate degreasing of the number of subscriptions. An explanation to this digression in the smartphone market is that the market is at the saturation level. I agree with a market expert who said, "the Korean market nearing saturation encouraged the domestic handset makers to pick up the pace for sales efforts in foreign markets." I assert that Samsung should try to develop smartphones with new technology, designs and functions in foreign markets such as Taiwan, Thailand, and China because domestic market for smartphones is saturated while the Asia market has a lot of potential for growth in sales.

Mormon leader: Same-sex marriage laws cannot 'make moral what God has declared immoral

I read an article, “Mormon leader: Same-sex marriage laws cannot 'make moral what God has declared immoral'” on Fox News. The article brings an argumentation about same-sex marriage which is one of great concerns recently. A top Mormon leader, Apostle Dallin H. Oaks, states the value claim that legalizing same-sex marriage is an immoral thing. He gives a statement that it is immoral because God has declared immoral. This statement is his ground to support his claim. However, the ground that he gave seems too weak to persuade Mormon believers, as well as the public which does not believe. The article claims that Oaks’ statement is irrational and immoral. It states that the Mormon Church teaches that same-sex attraction is not a sin. The article points out the contradiction of Mormon Church highlighing this statement to support its claim. It also provides another ground by using quotation from the church website states, “With love and understanding, the church reaches out to all God’s children, including our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters.” I think the article gives great evidence to refute the Oaks’ claim through bringing quotation. In addition, the article emphasizes that Apostle Dallin H. Oaks who says legalizing same-sex marriage is immoral is a former Utah Supreme Court justice. It criticizes Oaks’ acting as a justice which always has to be objective to social issues. I think it can be a good warrant. In my opinion, the article gives value claim, and it supports its claim through grounds and warrants which are well-related with its claim.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/06/mormon-leader-same-sex-marriage-laws-cannot-make-moral-what-god-has-declared/

91-0 Texas Beatdown

Last friday Aledo High School took on Western Hills in a football contest. The outcome of the game was extremely lopsided with Aledo taking the victory 91-0. After the game the Aledo coaching staff had a report filed against them for bullying. A parent on the other team made a claim that the coaching staff of Aledo could have let the game slow down and ride out without the score running up as much, and because of the embarrassing beatdown, their children were being bullied.
While of course any athlete who is immersed in athletics knows that this is the most ridiculous idea ever by the parent, it is still something that is to be taken seriously because there is an ongoing investigation. The Aledo staffs counterclaim was that this is just how sports are. Every once and awhile when a top ranked team plays against a struggling program there will be a blowout of epic proportions. His rebuttal was important because he respected the person who filed the the report but he made a great point about our sports society and provided grounds to his side of the argument including important statistics from the game that prove he was trying to slow down his high octane offense. He spoke about how in our society instead of looking to better ourselves, we complain and expect others to play down to their level. He was unhappy because the woman pointing the finger at him instead of going to the Western Hills coach and asking how can we make sure that type of embarrassment never happens again. Just because Aledo is superior to Western Hills doesn't mean they should be forced to play down to their level. Its just not fair the Aledo players of they had to punt on first down. A warrant certainly exists in sports that when destroying the opposing team, it is inappropriate to talk trash and run the score up at the end of the game. ITs important to point out that Western Hills coaching staff had no issues with the way Aledo conducted themselves on the field. Unfortunately, When Aledo was scoring every third play they touched the ball, it seemed as if there was no way around a blowout and Western Hills just needs to improve as a football team.

http://espn.go.com/dallas/story/_/id/9863505/aledo-football-coach-tim-buchanan-accused-bullying-91-0-win

Inspirational Hip Hop Song

In class, we have been watching an argument over whether or not hip hop degrades society.  Personally, I feel that it completely depends on the specific song, as well as how we, as individuals, interpret the lyrics of the song.  Sometimes, I just like a song simply because it has a catchy beat to it, not necessarily the whole meaning behind the lyrics.

I am personally arguing that hip hop, in general, does not degrade society.  Doing some simple research on Google, I found some truly inspirational hip hop songs.  I found one hip hop song that contains a Pathos claim.  This song, entitled "G.R.I.N.D. (Get Ready It's a New Day)", is by Asher Roth.  The arguments of this song are essentially that if you work hard, you will accomplish great things and that each day is a new day to do something good with your life.  Although the song contains minor curse words, they don't really take away from the meaning and argument of the song as much as it adds to it.

I found this song quite inspirational, and it is definitely not degrading society.  There really are a very inspirational hip hop and rap songs in this world, and I feel that we should start focusing more on the songs that are inspirational, rather than all of the songs that seem to be "degrading society".  Even the songs with a ton of curse words and inappropriate terms could still be considered motivational.  For example, many songs express the life of the artist, and the lives of these artists typically aren't perfect.

If you would like to listen to this song and read the lyrics to create your own opinion of the song, follow the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr4qnylOhXQ

Plato's Rule of Philosopher Kings

In Republic Plato makes a policy claim about how he believes governments should be. His claim is that the most fitting rule of government is an oligarchy of philosopher kings. His grounds for this policy claim is that philosophers are the only people who have an inherent thirst and affinity of knowledge, as well as the only ones capable of fixing the ills in society. The latter ground made as a metaphor of the philosopher king being the only captain able to right the ship. The warrant here is that the rulers of a nation must be wise, and must have a desire to seek more knowledge. The backing to the warrant is that the people of the nation are not fit to run the nation, and a very small minority has the right to control the majority. Plato appeals the reader's logos by reasoning why a reign of philosopher kings is necessary to the security of the state. Being the eminent thinker of the time, Plato has as a great of ethos as any political thinker of the time, further more the Socratic dialogue this policy claim is set in, establishes the credibility of the character advocating the philosopher oligarchy. The kairos here is also important. Very few people today believe that nations should be run with complete control given to philosophers, at the time rule by the people was far from established. Republic was written only shortly after the philosophical origins of democracy, so absolute rule was considered the norm of the time, making the claim more credible then than it is now.

Hi-tech cars open to cyber-hacking

Recently, the chance of occurring organized crimes become higher as the risk of hacking high tech automobiles rises because hackers can easily approach the control systems of various vehicles. This fact claim is proven by the experiment from security engineer Charlie Miller and the director of security intelligence at IOAcitve, Chris Valasek. They prove that they can control the vehicles such as Toyota Prius and Ford Escape by their laptops. Miller says that “automobiles are no longer just mechanical devices,” emphasizing automobiles in nowadays are the mixture of high tech electronic control systems with networks. Another ground for the claim is the experiment from the University of Washington and UC San Diego. Both school’s scholars also hacked the computer system of high tech automobiles by using wireless technology in 2011. These events make various carmakers and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to seriously concern about traffic safety. The reasonable rebuttal for this claim has not been made yet but various carmakers tell that they acknowledge the problem and consider how they can make things better. For example, the spokesmen from Toyota and Ford say that they are trying to invent new form of technology that may block the attacks from hackers. However, the European Union’s law enforcement agency Europol says that there is no guarantee to block the attack from hackers because “criminals’ knowledge keeps up with the improvements to the technology.”

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2013/10/123_144666.html

Facebook Ban On Graphic Content Uplifted (CNN)

This article is about the fortune 500 social network website Facebook and its recent decision to lift the ban off of graphic video content (including beheadings) that some people would find offensive. It  is definitely a policy claim. Facebook also prohibits nudity, drug use and pornography, and these restrictions will stay in force, but until last may, it openly allowed violent content such as beheadings to be published, provided the intent is to raise awareness rather than celebrate violence. The grounds are published in the Facebook's user conditions which "prohibit photos or videos that glorify violence or attack an individual or group." The quality of evidence and reasoning is documented and substantial and it definitely helps the credibility knowing that an official Facebook spokesperson clarified its reasoning for lifting the ban and spoke to the public news media. The author primarily uses logos meaning it justifies its reasoning for making these controversial decisions. 

Read Here:
http://money.cnn.com/2013/10/22/news/companies/facebook-violent-videos/index.html?hpt=hp_t2