Flaim Off

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oULO3i5Xra0

The video I watched is about an American person's travelling to North Korea(Democratic People's Republic of Korea) in order to see North Korean's real life and actual world of DPRK. The video is the most interesting documentary about North Korea from an American perspective that I have never seen before. This unique one-man documentary provides positive views toward North Korea, so I wrote five comments on the video to be against the people who are willing to see North Korea as a glass half full; "this is an amazing video that I wanted to see, but i want you guys not to think that North Korea is just normal after watching that, because that is just about the capital of North Korea. Other states of North Korea have nothing, you can look for yourself on google maps."

 A person's comment "A very informative and positive documentary on North Korea. I especially favored your final statement at the end about the North Koreans becoming prosperous. That will come one day...... once those people start a revolution and overthrow the regine. Those people, however, will need some help because they have been and are severely brainwashed. Once they learn that there ARE bad things in this world, but there is also good, then they can start living. Who knows- if they value freedom anf keep it that way, they may become the next America and will see heavy immigration. You never know."

I responded to the comment, "very positive documentary on North Korea, so I am worrying that  this documentary might make people think North Korea in a positive way, but many people still don't know how their government is doing wicked things on their public, such as let the people go in the prison camp for unreasonable reason like people says about South Korea in the street."

             My comments aimed at the people who might think the North Korean government as a positive way after watching the video. For example, a person comments, "I love North Korea!!" then, I commented, "you need to know about North Korea more because the video has one sided (positive) perspective on North Korea."

Moreover, Jonas Almkvist said, "Fantastic documentary about North Korea." I commented to that, "but don't think 'North Korea' is fantastic, just the video is fantastic. North Korea is the worst nation that people suffered from starvation the most in the world. only governors are fatty in NK." And then he responded to my comment, "Hojae kim, True, but with North Korea slowly opening up there could be a better future for them (the people of NK) with no weapons & an economic development with china, USA, South Korea, Japan helping them it could be a better country, but its moving very slowly & many in china & south Korea will not want economic competition." 
So, i responded to the comment, "yes, it could be a better country if they open up and accept neighboring countries' correct opinion about nuclear weapons, but i think they never give it up without money dealing. they are just childish. whenever they want to get money, they threaten South Korea with weapons. we need to isolate NK!"

Dad where are we going

There is a very hot TV program in Asia area called Dad, Where Are We Going.  I watched it last Friday and I really recommend it.

The main purpose of this TV show is encouraging fathers pay more attention to take care of their kids. So I think the claim it is making is dads should learn more about how to get along with their children and educate them.

This TV show invited 5 famous people in China, including a movie director, a racer, an Olympic champion, an actor and a model. They spend several days with their sons and daughters in some places such as a small village or a desert where are very far from moms.

In this shows, dads have to deal with different situations. Sometimes the kids cry loudly for not seeing their moms and sometimes dad needs to cook for their children by themselves. I think the director of this program is really smart. For example, when the kids are crying and yelling “mammy”, he makes the video camera focusing on the faces of dads. The helpless and impatient faces tell the audience they can’t hold their kids as moms and behind this, they need to spend more time with their kids. As we learned in the class, “visual” should serve the major points and I think this show does it.

At the end of the show every week, dads talk about their feelings about those days they spend with their kids. The main points are learning how to take care of their children, spending more time with them and educating their kids to be more independent. Because all dads are pretty popular in China, what they say can make a big influence to the audience. And this where I think is the second smart point of this show. 

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObtQlwFL2R0

"Flame Off"

I am currently Miss Twin Cities Teen and will be competing at the national Miss Royalty International Pageant in March.  I tend to watch a lot of YouTube videos about pageants and tips on competing.  There are obviously always the videos that show "the worst pageant responses ever".  I came across the "Top 10 U.S. Beauty Pageant Fails" video, and got a little upset at some of the selections.  I became even more upset when I started reading the comments.  I know that pageantry can be a controversial subject, and many people feel that pageants are simply getting up on stage in pounds of makeup, big hair, expensive dresses, and swimsuits, but they are so much more than that.  I was able to use information that I new personally from competing, provided a quote from the Miss America website, and provided links to the Miss America and Miss USA websites so that the person I was arguing with would be able to do more research on the topic before claiming that pageants essentially just objectify women.

I have posted the link to the YouTube video below.  The argument is between myself and "przebieglabrukiew" about his or her statement as well as the comment by "RickL Awrence".  The last comment made by "przebieglabrukiew" essentially told me that I may be right and that he or she could see where I was coming from.  I explain to him or her that I could also see where they were coming from, but that from personal experience and the research I have done, I knew that there is a lot more to pageants than just how you look and how pretty you are.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojQtfU5W_mE

My Comments:
1. These pageants are scholarship programs. They do not focus specifically on beauty, they are based on so much more than that.  According to the Miss America website, " ...the Miss America program exists to provide personal and professional opportunities for young women to promote their voices in culture, politics and the community. It provides a forum for today's young women to express their viewpoints, talents and accomplishments to audiences during the telecast and to the public-at-large during the ensuing year. Almost all contestants have either received, or are in the process of earning either college or postgraduate degrees, and utilize Miss America scholarship grants to further their educations."

2. Just as in every other program of any kind, there are the people who make everyone else look bad.  These examples are spread out through many years, it's not like every girl who competes in these pageants are idiots.  Some of these girls simply stood up for what they believe in, what is wrong with that?  Also, I'm sure that you do not know everything about everything--I know I don't--so I don't know why some people expect these girls to have a perfect answer to absolutely everything...they are humans too.
Public speaking is extremely difficult, and I know firsthand that it is hard to get up in front of a large group of people and speak, especially when you are given an impromptu question that you weren't expecting.  These topics are typically quite controversial, making answering them even more difficult.

3. That is exactly what happened in #4, granted, that topic should be something she should know about, she fully admits that she was not sure what it was and that she needed to look into it more.  And as I said before, this is such a small number of examples of poor responses compared to the HUGE number of wonderfully talented, intelligent, fit, beautiful women who have competed in these programs.
They don't necessarily all of a sudden "turn self-conscious and lacking in confidence", they are just sometimes taken aback by a question they were not fully prepared for.  I have had instances and seen many instances in any type of public speaking where, even if the person knew exactly what they were talking about, they sometimes simply slipped up on a couple words or misunderstood a question, which then may completely throw them off.
I believe you are referring to the "Lifestyle and Fitness in Swimsuit" portion of the competition, which is not for the purpose of "walking half-naked in front of millions of people".  Its purpose is to show that these women take care of themselves by eating healthy foods and working out.  If you look closely at the competition, it's not a time for these women to just strut around in a bikini and heels, it is to prove that they truly care about their bodies and that having a healthy lifestyle improves your fitness, health, and even confidence.

4. I urge you to take a look at the Miss America website:http://www.missamerica.org/default.aspx and the Miss USA website: http://www.missuniverse.com/missusa/members/home and just kind of look around.  I'm sure you will learn a lot about pageants that you didn't know before!  You could also look into other pageants, which have different requirements as well.  Not all systems are the same either.
I can tell you that many pageant systems are geared toward furthering the girls' or women's education; highly encourage, if not require, community service; and help to build interview skills, public speaking skills, confidence, poise, and many more skills needed in the world today.

5. If you were to ask any woman who has competed in a pageant--keep in mind that I am not talking about children's glitz pageants like the ones shown on Toddlers and Tiaras--what she gained from competing in pageants, she would most likely tell you that she gained a ton of self-confidence, friendships, public speaking  skills, interviewing skills, health, and some even earn scholarships in order attend or continue attend college to further better their education and to become successful based on their skills, not how attractive they are.  I really do wish that you would look into the websites that I provided to you, as well as many others (just by doing a simple Google search), and find out all of the benefits of competing in these programs, as well as how much of an impact they make with their community service and organizations that they have founded in their community, country, and potentially even the world. There is so much more to these pageants than the "swimsuit competition" and answering an on-stage question.  Many beauty pageants are not only based on physical beauty, but inner beauty--how good of a person the woman is.

6. That is okay, I had to leave for some time as well.  Thank you very much. I can see your point as well, but I personally feel that the competition in pageantry can be fun, as well as the opportunity to make some really wonderful friends.

I find it similar to any sport. In sports, you let referees or judges (depending on the sport) evaluate your playing or performing abilities. It's the same in pageants; you let a panel of judges analyze and evaluate how you present yourself and all of the hard work that you put into competing.

All of my comments interacted with the other person.  I did comment a few times in a row, but the other person responded to at least part of each of the comments that I had made.

Article: Philippine Red Cross says typhoon relief efforts being hampered by looters ~www.foxnews.com

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/11/10/strongest-typhoon-year-hits-philippines/

I read a recent article from www.foxnews.com regarding Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.  The article was packed with fact based claims on the details.  One fact was the author including the number of casualties, “…as many as 10,000 people are believed dead…mostly by drowning and collapsing buildings”.   Another fact was around the burials, “…mass burial was planned Sunday in Palo town near Tacloban…about 360 miles SE of the capital of the Philippines, Manila.”  It was also noted from the Red Cross that “nearly 800,000 people were forced to flee their homes and…about 4 million people were affected by the typhoon.”

Pathos was the primary form of persuasion throughout the article due to the immense tragedies.  One of the most powerful statements came from a Philippine-born Australian, Mila Ward, who stated, “on the way to the airport we saw many bodies along the street…they were covered with just anything – tarpaulin, roofing sheets, cardboards…we passed well over 100 dead bodies along the way.”  Reuters also reported that “…corpses hung from tree branches and were scattered along sidewalks…while looters raided grocery stores and gas stations in search of food, fuel and water.

I also feel the sub-context of the article was a value based claim that people should do what they can to support those devastated by this recent tragedy.

Palin Blasts "Church of Government" (CNN)

This article was about Republican Sarah Palin's recent speech she gave at an Iowa convention about Christianity in America. This article is definitely a value claim. Sarah Palin has been scrutinized since her epic fail at Republican Vice President candidate backing John McCain in 2008. Although her airhead debate comments were likely the reason McCain was defeated, she is a devout christian and was very well spoken and supported at the recent convention. She argues that America is slowly declining into a communist nation. We are at war with ourselves trying to keep christianity in America and we are essentially "slaves" to China since we owe them $1.3 trillion. The symbolic "church" she is referring to is not a literal church, but the Democratic Obama Administration whom she blames for both of these. She uses a combination of fact claims, symbolic comparisons and ethos. Her credibility is definitely worth noting being the former governor of Alaska.


Read Here:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/11/09/sarah-palin-blasts-church-of-government/?hpt=hp_t2

"Flame Off" - Capital Punishment

I chose to find a video that sparked an online debate about the Death Penalty in America. This tied in perfect with my semester research paper so I was able to use my prior knowledge to persuade others of my opinion. One thing i didn't think about was that my Facebook and youtube accounts are linked, so the u of m email address is not the one thats identified with my comments. Anyways, I intervened between a few nasty comments to try and bring civility back into the discussion. I directly commented to at least 3 posters, and commented 2 of my own thoughts on the topic. The comments were mainly back and forth fights about why capital punishment is justifiable and mostly made up statistics. Atleast, they didn't match my statistics that I spent considerable time researching. The most humorous part was that they even fought over the particular case in the background of the video which most people didn't realize was a mock scene. I never took a particular side since it is such a controversial topic. There are good arguments for why somebody should be put to death, but there are better arguments for why it should be abolished. I learned a lot about both sides over the semester from doing research for my paper, so I took turns arguing for and against the death penalty by looking back to my sources even though i didn't post them with my comments. I supported some users and battled against some users, but not to necessarily win the fight, but to get people talking in a much more respectable and thoughtful manner.

cppray1

1 week ago

+James Cureton Jr. While your argument makes sense, but what if personal issues altered your opinion on the matter? What if per say you happened to be related to one of those whom you've condemned to death? Would you still than "Shove It?"

Reply

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cppray1

1 week ago

+hiphopkindoflives well perhaps you could shed some light on the topic. Do you know of this particular case? I don't think its "being soft ass bitches" trying to say that everyone deserves a fair trial. Especially not knowing anything about this case, what if this man was wrongly convicted?

Reply

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cppray1

1 week ago

+Doombuggy53 but what constitutes death is acceptable punishment? Are you a christian? How do you think god feels about us declaring ourselves worthy of doing his work? And if your not a christian, how do you think the rest of the world sees us (in a humanitarian aspect)? I respect your thoughts, just wondering.

Reply

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cppray1

1 week ago (edited)

+Jo Franco Im sorry but thats ridiculous. I just finished doing a semester research paper on the death penalty and all the info i have found is in complete disagreement with your statement. On a personal level you have to honestly believe that fear of incarceration and death is the reason YOU behave as the way you do on a daily basis. You are not born a perfect being with always good intentions. You've never wanted to punch somebody but feared assault charges so you walked away? You've never wanted to steal something you really wanted but couldn't afford but feared theft charges? Your full of shit man

Watch Here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxdR1cg5CeI

MY SCHOOL IS BEAUTIFUL, YOUR ARTICLE IS UGLY

A couple of my friends posted the link to this article on Facebook, and I absolutely loved it!  This article is a rebuttal to an article by Travel & Leisure called "America's Ugliest College Campuses".  Travel & Leisure listed the University of Minnesota as one of the ugliest college campuses in America.  As an Admissions Ambassador and a student who picked the U partially because of it's beauty, I completely agree with everything in this rebuttal! The author does a great job of breaking down the argument and providing evidence against each piece of evidence from the Travel & Leisure article.  The author provides a few images to help with their argument as well.  Overall, I believe that this article does a wonderful job of making their rebuttal clear and did a lot more research and has a lot more knowledge about the U than the author at Travel & Leisure does.

I would highly recommend reading the original article, as well as this rebuttal! 

http://thinksnack.com/2013/11/04/my-school-is-beautiful-your-article-is-ugly-2/

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