Nazi looted art 'found in Munich' - German media

On November 3, 2013, the BBC reported that a trove of more than 1500 pieces of art was found in a private stash in Munich, Germany. The medium in this instance is credible as government organizations and the evidence is revenue office and police reports. The sources are listed and therefore transparent. A variety of periodicals reported on the same topic, among them are the New York Times and the Associated Press.  The audience is general rather than focused and would be any individual interested in history, human rights or culture. According to this particular publication, the works had been missing since the 1930s or 1940s when they were confiscated by the Nazis around the time of the onset of the Second World War. Godfrey Barker, an art historian interviewed for the piece; claimed that the pieces had been labeled as ‘degenerate,’ by the Nazi forces because they were primarily modern art.  The body of works includes creations by masters such as Chagall, Matisse, and Picasso and the entire collection is thought to be worth in the neighborhood of 1.5 billion dollars based upon the appraisals of experts. The magazine the Force, which broke another version of the story, argues that if the facts are confirmed the long-hidden paintings represent the largest such finding from a single source that has ever been located. Interestingly, the works were unintentionally stumbled upon by tax collectors who had uncovered them hidden in darkened storage rooms at the home of Cornelius Gurlitt. Gurlitt had inherited them from his art-dealer father; now deceased. A warrant issued for tax evasion in 2011 had allowed authorities legal access to his residence.  The article states that the younger Gurlitt had sold some of the historic finds privately over the years, as he had needed the cash. The masterpieces are believed to have been originally under the care of Paul Rosenberg, a Jewish art dealer who had fled France in the forties. More than 200 of these works of art are currently under police warrant for return to their rightful heirs.  The academic warrant for this argument is the common understanding that these works of art are invaluable to humanity over and above their original owners’ investment and should be respected and protected as cultural artifacts. There is no obvious attempt to persuade, the context is historical and this argument is fact/evidentiary-based. There is no apparent rebuttal because it is a news report rather than an argument. No counter-claim is offered.  

  

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24794970

 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/06/arts/design/in-a-rediscovered-trove-of-art-a-triumph-over-the-nazis-will.html?_r=0

Summit County Colorado Insurance Rates

I see a policy claim mixed with fact claim to get the ball rolling. They have taken a look at this area to see why none of the estimated 6,000 residents in this mostly middle class county have not signed up for the exchange under the Affordable Care Act. This area is a famous destination for skiing and tourism. Warranting the insurance rates for this area are not a level playing field and many have taken a look at the prices of the plans available for them and have instantly walked away. Grounds of rates are averaging about double for this one county vs other parts of the state. Policy push is for a start with holding town meetings. Suggestions are being made to take note of actual residents to not be lumped in with the expensive resort areas and guests and redo rates starting for the year 2015.





http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/government_programs/july-dec13/colorado_11-07.html

"Advantages of being a single parents.” on eHow

This article mentions many advantages of being a single parent, which are often omitted by the public. Undoubtedly, most people would like to focus on the burden of responsibility associated with raising a child alone in single-parent family only. To change the misconception of general public, author tries to show some positive factors, for instance, having the good relationship between single parent and child, and cultivating the self-reliance and independence of child, are not taken into account, to us. Meanwhile, he also lists out several solutions to overcome the difficult part of being a single parent.

  In the article, author utilizes the research articles and case studies written by some well-known experts or celebrities. With a wide range of evidence, his research indeed gains credibility. Conservative studies are used as the rebuttal, which show the disadvantage of being a single parent. Admitting the valid issues on the opposite side is useful as it does not only ensure the fair and adaptable judgment of the author but it also proves that he would consider different sides of the issue completely. Through all the rebuttals in the article, it proves that using rebuttal in our own argument is inevitable. Besides gaining credibility of our research, it also that our judgment is fair and objective, and enhances our reputation by showing that we would like to concern about the truth more than the position I advocated. Giving responses to the opposite side rather than repeating our own ideas continuously can prompt our research to become promising and persuasive.

Trans fats to be phased out, FDA says

The FDA is trying to eliminate trans fats from foods as much as possible. Their claim is that trans fats are extremely unhealthy and cause clogged arteries. On the warrants that citizens of the United States want to be healthy. The easy rebuttal is that maybe people want to eat those things and don't care about the effects, they might enjoy the food. There are a combination of fact and value statements throughout the article, with little policy claims. Some examples of fact claims is when the author states that trans fats are unhealthy, that is a widely known fact that very few argue against. The value claims come when they assume people want to get rid of trans fats, it may be the value of the author and the FDA, but not everyone else. Technically the whole thing is a policy claim, because they want to get rid of the trans fats all together, but they call on the nation for other claims. They want to hear the nations policy claims and they gave them 60 days to give any comments. Lastly the credibility of the author is not in question, because it comes from the world famous and well respected Washington Post, and also the ethos of the FDA should not be question because it is a government agency.

Miami Dolphins controversy is not simply about Richie Incognito

You may have been made aware of the scandal surrounding the Mimi Dolphins professional football team earlier this season. One veteran pro bowl payer, Richie Incognito, has been accused of "bullying" for lack of a better word, another player by the name of Jonathan Martin. There is even a voicemail from Incognito on Martin's phone of him harassing Martin on the basis of race. So then, why is this such a complicated issue, and why has no permanent action been carried out? Partially it is because the rest of the team unilaterally stands behind Incognito, and even the black players have stated that they consider Incognito to be an honorary black man, while Martin is considered soft. The fact that his teammates, the people who know the most about the situation, support Incognito lends credence by argument of authority. On the other hand, bullying is a hot topic right now in the context of modern America and the prevalence of teen suicide among bullied youth, and every mother with a minivan is likely to support Martin on ethical grounds. Even more unusual, it could be possible that a coach directed Incognito to make these comments, as he was apparently Martin's best friend on the team just a few weeks prior to the event. From a logical standpoint, if Incognito is held in high regard by his black teammates, it seems unlikely that his comments were racially motivated, or that he has any problem with black people. From my perspective from my high school lacrosse team, teammates can get pretty harsh with teasing or hazing, especially if a player is under-performing, and anything can be fair game. However, this chastising is never meant to hurt anyone, but to motivate them to play better, even if it isn't the best way to do it. It sounds like Martin, whose family has been almost exclusively ivy school educated, just wasn't raised to handle criticism well.



http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000277784/article/miami-dolphins-controversy-is-not-simply-about-richie-incognito
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/07/21349468-a-list-lawyer-digs-into-dolphins-bullying-controversy?lite

College Athletes should know not all payment comes in paycheck

This article from USA Today College is an opinion piece, to determine the reasoning for what student athletes are not compensated. It is an argument for the value of education, and why that is a worthy price for the athletes services, and what they produce for the school's revenue. Caitlyn Finnegan makes the value claim, that students are in college to learn and be educated. She also states the fact that scholarships are worth 42,224 a year for a four year private college. Not to mention the average athlete, if they do continue playing, will not play past 30. The claim is meant to say that the education in the end, becomes a much more important goal to attain. She says that athletes need to realize that the majority of revenue brought in by athletes is due to the University's overall brand, not individual athletes. These are arguable facts, and although each player contributes to the worth of the program, the idea of signing a dollar value to each athlete doesn't make sense within our current system. She makes a very good claim here, argued by evidence of value and fact. She does not believe that a policy change is in order.

http://www.usatodayeducate.com/staging/index.php/opinion/opinion-college-athletes-should-know-not-all-payment-comes-in-paycheck

Why Hanging Out Is So Tough Sometimes

Well, here is a personal thing that most of us have probably encountered at some point in our lives.

That we "want" to hang out with someone but we are too busy and can never find the right time to do it. Causal Argument: because we don't have time, we can't hang out with certain people. Although, I believe that some of us do have time; we just are so good at finding it. Say you hang out with some of your best friends every day but not close friends that would be nice to hang out with every once in a while. See what could happen?

Well you can sacrifice some of the time you spend with your best friends to spend some time with those you haven't in a while. That's the counter. Most of the times this isn't the case, but what I have realized in my own dilemmas, such as these, is that I usually don't take the time to think, "Hey, if I don't come back home a little earlier to watch TV" Or "Hey, I see this person everyday, they should understand that I would like to spend a least a certain amount of time with someone else every once in a while."

So basically we just need to ask ourselves if we believe the other person we are going to hang out with is neat enough to sacrifice something for.

In Act of Desperation, Abercrombie Will Now Sell Plus-Sized Stuff

Jezebel contributor, Callie Beusman, writes a very witty, sarcastic piece calling out  the Abercrombie & Fitch corporation for its desperate, hypocritical advertising ploy to attempt to stay in business: a new plus-sized line of clothing. A&F shares have lost 30% of their values this year and they are running out of ideas on how to stay afloat. During the height of the brand's popularity in the late 90s and early 2000s, the company's CEO made a famous comment claiming that the brand should be exclusively worn by the, "rich, thin, cool kids" at school, and nobody else. The company's advertising often alienated any overweight bodies or bodies of color in favor of the stereotypically "All-American", toned, tan, blonde-haired, blue-eyed models. Beusman makes a call to action to all plus-sized shoppers, reminding them of Abercrombie & Fitch's roots of hatred and discrimination towards overweight and obese body types. The article utilizes humor in her opinion piece that enlightens with facts and cracks jokes in equal parts. Beusman's obvious argument is to boycott the brand out of business and let it suffer for its sins. My internal 13 year old has to chuckle. I remember learning that the store had size, racial/ethnic, attractiveness biases even in their hiring process of their employees. Even though I once worshiped the brand, squeezing into their ridiculously skinny jeans while choking on the clouds of potent cologne hanging menacingly in the air, as young teen, I understood that the brand discriminated against anything but the ideal standards for femininity and masculinity in the US... and it is indeed satisfying almost a decade later to find out that the same company that made so many of us wish we were platinum blonde and supermodel thin is now begging for forgiveness (a.k.a. $ cash flow $) from the very demographic they alienated in the first place. I hope the big boys and girl boycott. There is absolutely no way that this is a sign of any kind of acceptance towards alternative body types... A&F simply needs money, and I don't think they are going to get it.

For more, click here: In Act of Desperation, Abercrombie Will Now Sell Plus-Sized Stuff

Military rape fix is no fix at all: Column

     In the column “Military Rape Fix is No Fix at All” by John D. Altenburg Jr. a retired Army Major General and lecturer at George Washington University Law School. The Ret. Maj. Gen. argues that taking away the authority of commanders to prosecute crimes under their command would undermine their authority (this is very important in the military to ensure instant willing obedience to orders). While Congress has called for reform and cite countries like Australia, Canada, Israel, and the United Kingdom who have removed the responsibility to prosecute serious sexual crimes from commanders in order to increase prosecution of those accused of these crimes. Altenburg cites that these countries are poor examples and currently the United States military prosecutes these heinous crimes at much higher rates than these close allies. Altenburg frames his argument through argument by example and authority the example he uses is comparing our current system of the Uniform Code of Military justice and the responsibility of discipline to commanders compared with our close allies who have removed command authority to prosecute. While both systems result in prosecution Altenburg argues that the US’s prosecution rates are much higher and that Congress is trying to fix a system that is not broken, he recognizes that some cases commanders have blatantly made poor decisions in prosecution and even says that those commanders should be reprimanded or removed on an individual basis, the whole system is not broken just a few weak links. His authority comes from the fact he is a retired Army Major General and clearly has many years of experience managing troops and he is also a lecturer at George Washington University of Law as well as the associate dean of academic affairs.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/11/05/military-rape-sexual-assault-column/3449279/