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