All-Star Game 2014

The starting lineups for this season's summer classic have been released. (American League & National League).

Considering this is an All-Star game, each team will have STACKED rosters; I believe that one team has the edge, though, this year. In my opinion, the National League has a stronger team this year.

Over the years the AL has been considered more of a hitters league, while the NL is predominately the league with tremendous pitching performances. It seems this year the NL has both. Their lineup is the most balanced it has been in the past five years, and they arguable have three of the best starting pitchers in the game right now (Kershaw, Cuteo, and Wainwright).

The American League lineup is not by any means a cake-walk for any NL pitcher. They have some strong players in that lineup. Miguel Cabrera, the best hitter in the MLB the past four seasons, will be batting cleanup in this lineup. He will be protected by Mike Trout, 3rd, and Jose Bautista, 5th. The table setters for these three big bats are Derek Jeter leading off and Robinson Cano in the two-hole. (Projected lineup spots)***

The "X-Factor" for the American League team will be Jose Altuve, when he gets in the game. This man has mad game. He can hit, field, and run the bases. When Altuve gets the chance to take his hacks, he WILL make them count. Any chance Altuve has to display his skills, he will take them. A single in the scorebook can turn into a double within a matter of seconds. Altuve is not in the starting lineup, but he could end up being the key to the AL's bid to win this game.

The National League will have a big game from Yasiel Puig, who I predict will be the ASG MVP. Puig will probably bat at the top of the lineup, two or three most likely, and he will play a starting outfield position. Defensively is why Puig will win the MVP. Yasiel has an unbelievable arm that will assist him in throwing out a runner one the bases in this game. He will also have a solid day at the play with a pair of hits, potentially a homerun.

As we have grown to know the importance of the All-Star Game, determining home-field advantage for the World Series, this is a game to be taken seriously now. As I stated earlier, I predict that the National League has the better team this year, therefore I feel that they will win this game 3-2, lead by Yasiel Puig offensively and defensively.

Minimum Wage, No Longer Minimum...?

Is a $10-15 minimum wage really the best answer to solving the present problems?

Michigan's minimum wage is currently at $7.40. Recent protests have been staged to raise the minimum wage up to $15.00. This large increase would be more than double what it already is.

People supporting this raise feel that this is a logically thing to do. In this blog I will tell you five reasons as to why I feel the minimum wage should not be raised.

The first reason addresses the fast food workers on strike. You work at a fast food restaurant. You are filling a job that is easily replaced by any commoner walking the streets. A degree or diploma is not required to work as a cashier, drive through operator, or patty flipper.

Secondly, working at a fast food restaurant is not going to make you rich. Typically, you work at one of these places because you can not get a better job. People do not grow up hoping they will work at the local McDonalds.

Adding on to the previous salary comment; you can not sufficiently support a family working at a place like one of these restaurants with a $7.40 minimum wage. With that being said, it sounds like I am advocating the raising of the minimum wage. I do not at all feel that way. I would tell a person who uses that as their argument that they should not have had so many kids or that they should work for a better job.

Also, with college being so expensive, young adults are beginning to look for jobs. If the minimum wage was raised to $15, a lot of kids would be swayed to apply for these jobs, forcing the current holders out of their jobs. If that were to occur, there would a big commotion about hiring all new workers. Employers could possibly be convinced to hire the youngsters who have interest in working, in addition to the same credentials, possibly better.

The fifth and final reason that the minimum wage should stay the same has a little more to do with society than the actual money. Fast food restaurants are not a good thing for our nation. They are a great concept, with many short term benefits such as: a quick-and-easy dinner, great taste, typically hot, etc., but there are also draw-backs. Fast food restaurants are causing our youth to be overweight. It is not healthy how much kids have gained in weight with all of the fast food at their fingertips. By raising the minimum wage, there would be no incentive to get rid of these types of places. It is an unrealistic goal to remove fast food from our growing world, but it is most definitely not a step in the right direction to encourage their growth.

United States of Secrets - Edward Snowden and Post-September 11th (UPDATED-5/15/14)

PBS aired a Frontline episode called "United States of Secrets". This episode was about the American government post-9/11 and their actions in dealing with surveillance.

They begin this showing by showing a computer screen displaying all of the documents that had been obtained. There are lists of different confidential documents, power points, pictures, and emails.

The people meeting with Edward were thrown off by the man they were meeting. They were expecting an older man, but instead were meeting a younger, skinny, student-like man. Also, meeting him in the hotel room was a little suspicious. They described that Snowden had pillows and blankets covering the doors so no one could listen in through the walls. This was a sign of danger for the group.

The interesting thing with the NSA is that it was created after the Pearl Harbor bombings to prevent another dangerous attack on American soil. We did not want something like these events to ever happen again, yet they did. No one knew how or why this happened, considering we were suppose to have knowledge on actions like this.

Bush was open to allowing the NSA to do what they wanted. He said "what do you want that you already can't do that would help prevent another 9-11." Chaney outlined the program as gathering data from phone calls from millions of Americans, and then using that data to search out possible targets. Bush was hesitant that this program would not be legal; he was then convinced by Michael Hayden that this program was necessary.

The people involved in this decision did not pass this right away. They were certainly concerned about the legality of this, but in the end, decided that this program was completely necessary for America's safety. General Hayden sited the Constitution in Article 2: "The president's authority as commander and chief".

William Binney, Former NSA agent. 

Thinthread. This is the brainchild of Bill Binney; it worked to sort through massive amounts of phone and email data. This program had a built in system that you could not gather data on American citizens, unless there was a court order saying they were allowed to take information on our people.

High-ranking NSA officials did not want anything to do with Bill's thinthread program (we later find out that they actually used it). They did not want to communicate with him as to why they were not planning on using his program. This was a little suspicious for some people because they knew that the NSA was gathering information on all people, even US citizens. Thinthread was actually being used by the NSA but they removed the part of the program that encrypted all US citizens information.  At the time, the NSA was operating under a "no questions asked" way of business (since they knew that their operations were becoming illegal).

At the time, no one in the government wanted to stand up and take full responsibility of their actions; they continued to beat around the bush, and make justifications for these programs.

Judge Collen Kollar-Kotelly

Judge Kollar-Kotelly ruled that the government was performing lawful actions. The President and high-ranking officials sought out reasons to justify that gathering information secretly was legal. After this ruling of warrantless search and seizure being legal, all actions were back on. President Bush acknowledged that they were accused of searching without warrants, he assured the American public in a speech that all of their findings were legal and through warrants.

Thomas Tamm (anonymous whistleblower) decided that he should call the New York Times and expose the government on their actions. After leaking this information, he returned to the shadows of the Justice Department. It has not been proven that he indeed leaked information and he has not been charged with anything.

When the government found out that Tamm "blew the whistle", they called up the New York Times immediately. The calling officials told the Times that all of the reports, are false and that they should not report on these disclosures. The editors of the Times were concerned that the White House was misleading them on certain information and that they should not run the story for legal purposes. The story about these programs was not run, for the time being.

After thinking things over, the Times reconsidered the story. The editors of the New York Times were called in to the oval office. The President and Hayden threatened the editors that they would be held accountable if there were to be another attack similar to 9-11. Even with this weight resting on their shoulders, they went on to publish the story.

After the story was run, President Bush spoke publicly and admitted the programs to in-fact be real and true. He downplayed the actions of the programs, though. Bush said that all findings were legal under the Constitution and that all of the surveillance was only of known suspects. He failed to mention that all citizens were at one point were watched. The lies from the government continued to pour in. General Hayden did the same when he spoke later. Hayden said that no one in the NSA considered this program to be worrisome. This is known to be a lie after some of the members were interviewed.

Thomas Drake was watching the speeches from the NSA. He thinks that the top ranking officials speaking were lying. Drake was not happy that they were lying to the public about what they were doing, considering, they were coming out about lying about the programs. Drake went to the Baltimore Sun to Siobhan Gorman to expose only "unclassified" documents.

Chaney was not happy with all of the leaks about their programs. Attorney General (2005-07) Alberto Gonzales was the lead detective in this investigation into the leakers. The FBI raid the houses of those considered to have been a whistleblower. All electronic devices were ceased. Drake was prime suspect number one as being the person who leaked to the New York Times, even though there was no evidence that could connect him to the New York Times, or the Baltimore Sun for that matter.

Senator Barrack Obama addressed the whistleblowers in his speeches for Presidency. He said that they will hold all people responsible, and that there will no longer be anymore secret wiretapping, email gathering, or other unwarranted surveillance of innocent citizens.

44th President, Barrack Obama

President Bush decided that he needs the help of Congress by amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). This was a sneaky way by the President to actually allow the NSA to gather information on all foreign intelligence. It not only validated the legality of their recent investigations, but also gave them more power. At the time, the people did not read the fine print of FISA, therefore, did not realize what really was granted after this was passed.

After this bill went through Congress, Senator Obama had to make the decision whether to vote in favor of FISA. If he voted to pass this act, he would be contradicting his recent comments on halting further surveillance; if he voted to veto the act, people would be questioning what the purpose of the act truly is. He voted to pass the bill, and later became the 44th President of the United States. After being elected, Obama could have decided to take down the surveillance programs, but he opted out of doing so.

With all of the data being gather, the NSA needed highly-skilled computer programers to control their system. This is when twenty-five year old, Edward Snowden comes into play. He was a high school dropout, living only twenty minutes away from the NSA. Snowden enlisted into the military but was forced to leave after breaking both of his legs. Edward Snowden had the credentials that the NSA was looking for. In 2009, Snowden was working in Tokyo, Japan as an NSA contractor. He knew a great deal of details about the NSA and all of the information that they were capable of having their hands on. In his little investigation, Snowden found one of the most important documents about the program.

April 14, 2010, Thomas Drake was indicted for being the enemy of the state. He was charged with violating the Espionage Act. The government actually framed Thomas Drake. All of the files that the government had that Drake leaked were clearly labeled "unclassified". After ceasing these documents, they crossed this line of text off and wrote "classified". Days before the trial began, the charges on Drake were dropped!

Snowden did not want to take his findings to the New York Times. He went to the Washington Post with all he knew. Snowden had every single document he could ever imagine having and no one in the entire NSA knew that he had a single one of them. This is considered to be one of the biggest breaks in national security ever, and it was just getting started from there.

What has Edward Snowden Really Done?

First and foremost, what most people know Snowden for doing is revealing to everyone that the American government has ceased all phone calling records (time, location, duration, and sender/receiver). This caused a colossal stirrup in society. Even though the purpose of gathering all phone records was for National Security, a group of people feel that this is a massive invasion of their privacy. Would you rather have personal privacy, or the the most knowledgeable protection possible? Seems like an easy answer to me; then again, I am not a person who thinks that the government is interested in my personal relations life.

To piggy-back on the "personal privacy" issue, Snowden also revealed another privacy violation. He disclosed our PRISM program that allows government officials to gather records of emails, search engine history, and file transfers that could potentially be connected to dangerous foreign affairs. I highlight "foreign affairs" because that is precisely what the government is looking at. They want information on our potential enemies, not our harmless citizens sending lovey-dovey messages.

A really interesting thing that would have been better kept a secret, was a tool that the NSA uses called the "Boundless Informant". This allows the NSA to keep track of metadata that the USA gathers about all of the countries in the world. The Boundless Informant sorts through all of the information quick enough so we know if there is an immanent threat present in a country. The green is the least likely to be targeted for surveillance, while the darker red colors are more to be watched.

The fourth thing that Snowden did was he told China that we have been tapping into their computer systems in mainland China since 2009. This is obviously problematic that a country knows that we have been interested in their information for the past five years. While China has not found evidence that we have been hacking their computers, it still puts us on their radar as deceptive.

Not only did Snowden reveal that we are spying on potential enemies, but also that we are listening in on our allies. This could end up being problematic because our friends, could become just the opposite.

Ask yourself: "Is it really worth all the commotion caused by Snowden; is personal privacy more important than national security?"

Edward Snowden: Do Too Many People, Know Too Much?

Are our nation's top secrets not closely protected? Everyone in Congress hears information and opinions of our government everyday. Congress is re-elected every few years. If you are a member of the House of Representatives, your seat in Congress is up for election every two years. Senators have a little longer term; they are only up for re-election every six years.

In my opinion, this is problematic for members of Congress. Even though they are protected to say their true opinion under the Constitution, some members could be afraid to speak their mind. They have a lot on their plate. Being a member of Congress is a big responsibility, with a big salary.

When considering their opinion, they also take into consideration that they have to please the public. Sadly, some members of Congress work for re-election so they can keep their job safe. This can lead to bad decisions in our government.

Since people are possibly cycled through every 2 years, that could lead to a large number of people who know our nation's secrets. I would suggest that we allow members of Congress a few more years, per term, to allow them an adequate amount of time. With more time in a seat, members could fully express their beliefs, therefore, I expect them to make more educated decisions. People will work less for being liked by the public, and more for what is better for our country.

Longer terms also benefit the American public because the people in these spots have more experience. They know how to do business and how to work the system. This would also allow the members to have a little chemistry. Chemistry would allow them to work together to get work done and pass more bills.

Timetable of NSA and Metadata Programs

The New Yorker listed and described all of the events that have transpired since 1999.

In December of 1999, Edward Snowden leaked an Inspector General Report. This leakage exposed that some people may be under surveillance. It is still a mystery to me, as to how and why a man who leaked Top Secret files from the NSA. The document he released has "Top Secret" on every page.

On October 26, 2001, the Patriot Act was passed. The passing of this Act allowed the government to obtain all information (virtual, cellular, and physical), necessary to protect the United States from foreign warfare.  

After September 11, 2001, President Bush allowed the NSA to gather all phone and media records without a warrant. At the time, if you asked anyone if they cared that they were being watched, I guarantee you no one would care. Should that be the case now, or does it make a difference that it was so close to one of the biggest on-soil attacks in US history. In November of 2001, the NSA started gathering large amounts of phone numbers.

The Patriot Act was not loved by all members of Congress. December 14, 2005, Senators Obama, Hagel, Kerry, Durbin, and serveral more signed a letter that says the Patriot Act is a danger to our civil liberties. They were afraid that personal medical records could cause innocent Americans to be under unruly surveillance. To counter that point, you can not know someone is an upstanding citizen or a potential threat without seeing all of their personal information. The Patriot Act was ruled lawful and was reauthorized.

May 23, 2006, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales requested that the NSA needs all call-detail information so they can further analyze them. People argued that they should not need that in depth of records because most of the records have no correlation with terrorism.

In September of 2009, Obama requests phone conversations be gather in bulk. He goes back on his recent beliefs about the Patriot Act and wants it to reauthorized as it was before he requested changes.

June 2013, Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper admits that he lied in March when asked if the NSA was collecting anything at all on Americans. This threw many Americans for a loop because it was exposed that the government does not fully disclose all that they know.

Did Edward Snowden Make America Safer?

Liberties over safety?

Edward Snowden made the American people personally safer, for the short term. Now that everyone knows there is a possibility that their every move is being watched, they will be more careful with what they view and talk about. The government needs to be able to see your every move if you want to have maximum security. If they can accurately track your credit card purchases, flight tendencies, and who you talk with, they can make informed decisions on how to handle a situation. It is relatively hard for us to have someone fly so far under the radar if we have access to what they are doing.

The amount of information we can potentially have on people is so extensive. The Brookings Essay is a great example of being able to know as much information as possible. This site has the capability of knowing how long you are on their page, what type of computer you are using, and the location that you are viewing from. This could be helpful in pinpointing where a person is if they are targeted as a person of interest.

If people of interest knew that we have access to all of this information, they will surely change their ways.  This series of events could lead to trouble down the road for the United States. Currently, we have not seen an immediate impact because of these exploitations, but a plausible attack would not occur right away. If something does happen down the road, which I sadly expect, it could be potentially detrimental to the American public. By that I mean, credit card information, identities, and family records (such as medical information), could be released to the general population. If that were to happen anyone could have access to people's information. So I do not expect a real life, physical war, but rather a virtual one.

NBA Playoffs: Round 1

This years NBA playoffs have been one of the most interesting and surprising playoffs in recent years. Top seeds are under-performing, and young stars are rising to the challenge. There are only two series that are complete so far - the Heat (2) over the Bobcats (7) , and the Wizards (5) over the Bulls (4). There are already three scheduled Game 7s left to play.

The top seed in the Eastern Conference is the Indiana Pacers. They started off slow to the Atlanta Hawks, but have battled back to even the series at three a piece. All of Espn's featured basketball experts picked the Pacers to win, but only one had the series going all seven games. If the Pacers do not come away with this series win, the nucleus in Indiana may get blown apart come next season.

The Western Conference match-up that is drawing an impressive amount of interest is the Oklahoma City Thunder (2) and the Memphis Grizzlies. OKC started the year on a tear, literally. Russell Westbrook went down with an injury early in the season. He is back and better than ever for this series with the Grizz. Memphis matches us well with this high-firing offense because of their great defensive ability. On the offensive side of the ball the two bigs, Gasol and Randolph, dominate the boards. This is a Game 7 you will not want to miss. 

Face Without a Face

Money. People worship money. We work for it, we pray for it, and we steal it. Money is essential to survive; without it, you would die. Money buys the food for consumption you to eat to live, the roof that you sleep under, and the fabrics on your body that provide heat and comfort. Money is one of the objects in our world that we continue to want more of. Once we get the amount we originally wanted, we have to get more; we are greedy. Money is valued more in different parts of the world; this is why there are separate forms of currency. Money makes people crazy. It is so hard to obtain, but so easy to spend. Also, money is a form of power. People with the most money tend to have the most influence in society. This goes back all the way in history to the old times. Countries with the most money, had the most power and could control anyone they wanted to. Money is the root of all evil.

Is Edward Snowden Heroic or a Traitor?

Edward Snowden, in my eyes, is not a hero or a traitor. Snowden can be classified as heroic because he exposed the government and their invasive actions.  Also, he is looked at as a traitor since he gave away secrets to other countries about our government.

If I had to choose between the two, I would lean toward saying that he is more in the wrong. Of course, it is great that we are aware that people are watching our every move, but should that really matter? If you are not doing anything wrong, there should be nothing to hide or be worried about. The government does not care what your weekend plans with your friends are, but rather if you are a terrorist plotting against our country.

Before he released these secrets, people already thought that they were being watched by the government; his stories just confirmed their beliefs. There has not been any recent attacks on American soil, therefore, the government must have been doing something correct. They were protecting and sifting through our actions quietly, and addressing all problems.

Also, this could affect how we deal with our foreign affairs. If we are using these methods on our enemies, they could be compromised. Snowden should have kept him mouth closed and we would not have to worry about being caught checking in on other countries.

The government is not focused on invading people's personal space. Yes, it is an invasion of privacy that all of your personal text message conversations, email, and phone calls can be listened in on, but isn't that better than allowing the enemy to sneak under the radar.

If we can pick out people of interest based off of their communications with other people, that is a win-win situation because of the greater impact it has on the world. That is the goal of the government when they go into your messages, not to embarrass you and understand your whole life.

Edward Snowden: Constitutional or No?

Is Edward Snowden the enemy of the state? Edward is a former National Security Agency worker who exposed some of the biggest secrets of the American government. He disclosed information that the government can listen in on all phone conversations, that they can turn your phone on and use it as a microphone, and that they can hack into your email and read all conversations.

After Snowden shed light on these secrets from the government, American citizens have been up at arms towards the government. People continue to debate if him disclosing this information is constitutional or not. The arguments are that he is entitled to his freedom of speech, and that he felt the American public should know that their every move is being watched.

What Edward Snowden did should be considered as being against the Constitution. He released information that could aid enemies in attacking our soil. In the Constitution, Article 3, section 3, treason is defined as: "levying war against [the United States], or adhering to their Enemies, [and] giving them Aid and Comfort". So far, this incident can not be considered treason, as expressed in the Constitution because there has not been an immediate impact of lives of American citizens.

Now that other countries know that we have tactics to listen in on what our people are doing, they could use this to their advantage. Knowing this information, they can attempt to infiltrate our security system to know what we know about their movements. If a terrorist group is nervous about how much the government knows about their attacks, they could try and get an inside man to gain access to information. This is the reason Snowden's acts should be considered against the Constitution, because down the road, we could end up paying for his actions.

Detroit Red Wings V. Boston Bruins

Two games into the 2014 NHL playoffs and the series between the Boston Bruins and the Detroit Red Wings is knotted up at one a piece. The first game was a 1-0, gritty victory for the Red Wings in Boston. Which means that the Bruins won game two. Game two had a little different of a story than game one. The Bruins won 4-1 in convincing fashion. They simply out-played the Red Wings today and everyone in the arena knew it, even the Wings. The game was over before puck drop even occurred.

The Bruins came out with a vengeance after a late goal was surrendered in Game 1 to Pavel Datsyuk. Pavel had one of the most impressive goals of the NHL season. He dragged the puck blue line to blue line between his legs, passing it to himself and finishing with the wrister.

Game 2 was all about physicality. The Bruins came out with a head of steam hitting on all cylinders, literally. Boston had 33 hits on the day, all punishing Red Wings. If the Wing want to make it out of this series, they are going to have to step their game up. They were skating slow today, hitting weak, and simply getting bullied.

I expect this series to go all 7 games. With the speed of the Red Wings, and the strength and grit of the Bruins, each team will have their moments to shine. The team that makes the fewest mistakes will win this series, as cliche as it sounds. If you watched today's game you will know what I am talking about. The Wings had some unlucky turnovers that ended up giving the Bruins points on the board.

Layer Cake 8 - Is Lent an Excuse for Anorexics

In an article published on the Boston Globe, author Jennifer Graham posted a blog about anorexia. She specifically says that the cause of anorexia is religion. Graham goes on to talk about how, during lent, women give up eating solid food. Also, she blames the media for pressuring young women into not eating as much because they feel that they have to look like fashion models.

Saint Thomas Aquinas commented on fasting, and how it is not an excuse to starve yourself. When asked whether fasting is a virtue or not, Thomas presents three reasons that it is a virtue to fast. The first reason he says is that it prevents lust, one of the seven deadly sins. (2 Corinthians 6:5-6). The second reason that fasting is a virtue is that we may have a revelation from God, like Daniel did in: (Daniel 10). Finally, the third reason is that fasting cleanses your soul and brings you closer to God. (Joel 2:12).

Thomas also makes the point that fasting is an act of abstinence. Therefore, fasting should be done as a form of sacrifice, but not a form of harm. To fast as a form of self-harm, it would be considered a sin, as opposed to a virtuous act.

There have always been a few questions about who has to fast.  "How old do I have to be to fast?" or "What if I am sick?". All people are called to fast, within reason. When considering your fast you have to be reasonable and knowledgeable. If you are poor and do not have enough money to go without eating, the church makes exceptions to that. Children, on the other hand, are not called to fast because of their natural weakness. They need to eat and gain nutrients to grow properly. According to the church, as long as the growth period lasts they are not required to fast. The church classifies the growth period as the third period of seven years.

Fasting is done in the Easter season for Christians. As Christians we fast during this time because of the two purposes of fasting: for deletion of sin, and cleansing of the mind. When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, it is a form of reverence to go and confess ours in church. We do not have to fast during the Passover because fasting is done during days of sorrow. The Resurrection is a form of joy and would not be fitting to fast.

Saint Thomas Aquinas has a few valid points in regards to whether lent is a cause of anorexia. Personally, I believe the same as Aquinas. Lent is not the cause for anorexia at all, but it may be a good excuse for some people.

PTI Podcast Summary #6

This episode of Pardon the Interruption was held on April 4th, 2014. Tony Kornhesier and Michael Wilbon are the hosts of today's episode. They open talking about the NCAA Men's Championship. They feel that Kentucky underperformed and that they did not leave all of their game out on the line. They continue to talk about the previous scandals that have been related to UConn. Recently, their program was suspended from the tournament because of academic credibility. Next, they discuss John Calipari's future with the Kentucky Wildcats. I feel that he should stay in college because he is one of the best recruiters in the nation. Tony and Michael feel that he has one more shot in the NBA, but that if he wants it to be successful he has go to the Lakers. Surprisingly, the talk about the Women's National Championship. This is surprising because not a lot of people key in on women's basketball. The main reason, sad as it is, is because of the coaches, not the players or the game. (UConn won this game.) Another topic that they discussed, but we now know the answer to, is Kevin Durant's 25+ points a game scoring streak. Last night, the streak came to an end. He scored 23 points and did not play in the fourth quarter. They close the big finish with another mistake. Wilbon picked the Miami Heat to win against the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets did win last night, pushing them to 4-0 against the Heat. This is the first time in Miami's Big Three Era that they lost 4 games against any team in a single season.

Skinny Jeans and the Weight of My Sins

Anorexia is at the opposite end of the weight spectrum from obesity. Anorexia is a problem now because people are looking at various factors when examining themselves. A few of these factors are: religion and how their beliefs shape the view of how women should look, pictures from the past drawn by famous artists, current singers and how they dress in their music videos, social media, and genetic factors.

In James Ciment's essay, "Obesity and Eating Disorders", he makes two claims about how women picture themselves. The first claim that he makes is that the rise of Christianity in the West has lead women to believe that they need to fast as a form of ritualistic purification. The second claim is that as we lost our asceticism we moved towards having unnaturally clinched waists to try and satisfy the public image of women in fashion.

The first claim about eating disorders deals with women in old times fasting as a form of ritualistic purification. This reason would not be a valid argument because the Bible does not tell us to starve ourselves. The Bible actually says the complete opposite. Proverbs 6:30 "People do not despise a thief who steals to satisfy his hunger when he is starving". This quote from the Bible tells us that in instances of dire hunger, it is alright to do all means necessary to satisfy our desires. Therefore, this theory that anorexia originated because of the amount of the Christian movements, would be false.

The second theory is the one that should be looked at as the most likely to be the cause of anorexia. This claim says that women are becoming skinnier, and skinnier because of how society perceives what "attractive" women look like. Women would cause self-starvation because they feel that if they are not super skinny like the models they see on the television, then other people will not view them as attractive. This theory has some truth to it, but it also has some flaws.

Throughout history the female physique has been criticized. In recent history one of the most attractive females of all time. According to Mens' Health Marilyn Monroe is the third hottest woman of all time. She is not regarded as a thin woman. Marilyn is an example for all women in the matter that they do not have to be the skinniest person on the plant to be considered attractive.

In a painting done by Pablo Picasso, he portrays a woman looking into the mirror. The woman has a sad expression on her face because she feels that she is not the ideal image of a woman. The black hair represents how society views women with blonde hair as being the perfect hair color. Also, the watch on her hand represents how she feels like her life is just wasting away. If you look closely at the picture she does have a skinny waist, but the cloak makes her look larger than she is. This is to portray that even if you are super skinny, chances are you will not always be happy with yourself. The final aspect of this picture that is worth noting is the color of the reflection on her mirror. The color is brown; brown is not considered a pretty color in any regard, therefore, she does not seem to think she is pretty.

 

In this painting down by Goya, men are shown, rather than women. The difference between men and women, when talking aesthetically, is their figure. Men are typically not worried about being skinny, rather, they care more about how fit or muscular they appear. Goya portrays the men to be in front of a crowd, possibly under scrutiny for their appearance. This does not directly apply to Ciment's theories because the men are not starving themselves, but it does have to deal with his claim because they are trying to change their appearance to be in accordance with society.

In an article, "ThinkingBig: The effect of sexually objectifying music videos on bodily self-perceptionin young women", they say that women today are influenced by what they see from popular artists in the music world. Their research found that only women with a low self-esteem were negatively impacted about their appearance compared to the women in the sexually objectifying videos. 

Katy Perry's new song, "Dark Horse", has been in the top 50 ever since it was aired on the radio. She is shown in this video as an Egyptian Queen. People would not be influenced by this video to dress like this, but they could be tempted to try and shape their figure to look like her. Dark Horse would be considered a neutral video because she is clothed at all times, therefore the statistics below on this chart would be related more with this video specifically. On the counter side of Table 2, is the statistics for if the video objectified the women in their videos.

Table 2. Correlations of music video attitudes and self-esteem in the objectifying and neutral music video condition.

	Neutral videos (n = 28)	Objectifying videos (n = 28)
Liking of the videos	.48**	−.49**
Attractiveness models	.09	−.13
Eye-catching models	−.03	−.19
Identification with models	.11	−.43*
Models as a source of inspiration for appearance	−.06	−.48*
Body related thoughts	−.14	−.61**
Social comparison	−.16	−.44*

*

p < .05.

**

p < .01.

In the article, "Negotiatedmedia effects. Peer feedback modifies effects of media’s thin-body ideal onadolescent girls", they talk about how friends and social media can influence a woman's perspective on their own body. This theory is highly plausible because people tend to care about what others think of them. Also, social media can easily show how other people should be viewed in society. Social media influences people's diet because they can easily access new ways and theories to losing weight. Also, anyone can post anything they want on the internet, without having validity to their points. People should not trust all they see in the media for these reasons. 

Dove has launched a campaign to help see how women feel about their own body, and if they perceive themselves as beautiful. In their studies they have found an increase of 2% since 2004. The media, whether intentional or not, does shape how women view themselves. They tend to have skinny models who advertise their product. Women take notice of these actresses and consider if they need to look like that to be considered pretty. It is a disappointing aspect of our society that should be reconsidered. 

In contrast to my belief in my previous obesity blog, I feel that anorexia has more potential to deal with genetics. Again, people can take preventative measures to help their chances of not being super skinny. They can get on diet plans and try to eat well. With anorexia there is a possibility that people's metabolism works so fast, they physically can not keep the weight on. I come from the perspective that it is easier to do things to lose weight, than to gain it. On NCBI, there are a few reasons presented to defend women on the issue of losing too much weight.

Anorexia and weight loss are impactful phenomenons that are sweeping the nation. These issues need to be addressed and taken care of before they severely affect someone's life in a negative way. Women should feel comfortable in their own skin without worrying about if they look like the photoshopped women in the media. 

What are the Causes of Obesity?

17% of children and adolescents are affected by obesity in the United States according to the CDC. Researchers and scientists are theorizing multiple reasons that cause obesity. Some of their theories make sense and are plausible, but others leave a little bit left to be desired. Experts have established eleven theories; I will accept one of these reasons as the cause of obesity, and reject three of them. I will also talk about genetic predisposition being a possible reason for obesity.

The theory I feel is most impacting while dealing with obesity is lack of exercise and sedentary life. Also, I will add in lack of will. Lack of will power can compliment all of the theories, therefore, I do not feel that it can be classified by itself, but that it works better in accordance with all the other theories.

If you are not physically active, even in the slightest amount, there is no way that you can keep your body healthy. Physical exercise is key for a healthy body because you are using energy and allowing your body to use the nutrients, rather than storing them up. Right now, only 30% of all students in high school participate in everyday physical activity. The quality of the gym classes that these students participate in varies. In some schools, the teachers and students take the activities seriously, while some loaf around and do not participate.

Schools are taking some measures to help increase the amount of physical activity in a school day. They are attempting to add time to the school day to allow more time for students to move around, stretch, and exercise throughout the day. Twenty-two schools in Massachusetts have been accepted to using ELT in their school systems. ELT stands for expanded learning time, which is pretty self-explanatory. Schools are adding or expanding physical education classes, the amount of time for recess, and the number of health and physical education classes available.

If schools allowed students to have a slightly longer recess break during the day, we could reduce the amount of young kids who are obese. This is a chain reaction based on a few factors. First, the more time students are outside, moving around, the longer they are working their body. Next, these children will be using more energy, causing them to be more hungry. If they are hungry for food, they will eat more at lunch, replacing all of the nutrients they just spent running around. The school can incorporate healthier, but still delicious foods, to the students when they come in from recess.

Not only does a longer recess help students become active physically, but also it increases their social, decision making processes, and motor skill development. If they make more friends out on the playground, they will be motivated to participate more in activities such as football, basketball, tag, or even soccer because they will feel comfortable with the students playing these games.

In addition to these factors that help decrease obesity, by giving the students more time to relax their mind from the tedious classwork, they can increase attentiveness in class, concentration, and time-on-task in their work (pg. 72).

Now that we have seen how to help decrease obesity with physical activity, here are a few reasons that you should not consider to be major factors in affecting obesity.

The first theory that is not in accordance to obesity is that misinformed consumer labels are the causes of obesity. This says that people do not get the correct information about the foods they are about to consume, therefore, they are gaining weight. Food labels do in-fact put the food that is in their product on the label. A food producer can not put what each food does to the body and the science of each component. If they did this, food labels would be too big to even put on the actual box/can.

Relate lack of will power to this theory. People who say that it is the responsibility of the producer to inform them of their food have a lack of will power. If they were so interested in knowing what exactly they are eating, they can do their own research on all the chemicals or ingredients in food.

According to Kurt Dammier on The Seattle Times, people who can read the labels on food make healthier food choices. He goes on to say that there are few people who actually stop and take a glance in the store at what is on each label. This would tell us that the purpose of putting more information on the labels would be wasteful.

An argument about each label is that the serving size and amount of chemicals in each product are incorrect. On CNN Health, they state a staggering statistic. There have been a reported 61.5% of people who actually read the food labels when choosing what foods they should purchase. This means that people are considering the amount of sugar, carbohydrates, and trans fat before they spend money on the items. This article goes on to talk about the other factors of labels that people examine. 51.6% of people take a look at the ingredients listed, 47.2% look at the serving size, and 43.8% of people look at the health claims. (Statistics from Columbia University)

These statistics are staggering because of the logic that is presented behind them. If almost half of the people shopping at grocery stores are examining the food labels, why are they still buying these foods with bad ingredients. If everyone noticed that the ingredients in the foods are bad, they could stop buying them which would have an effect on the companies producing them. This theory can be related to will power as well. If you know that the foods you are consuming are not healthy because of what it is made with, you should be responsible and take the initiative to find a healthier choice.

Not only are "improper" food labels a theory that does not support the main cause of obesity, but so is the working mother theory. The working mother reason would say that obesity is caused because no one is at home cooking a meal everyday, rather, they are stopping and getting fast food everyday before school, at lunch, and on the way home from school.

On the BLT, Bureau of Labor Statistics, working mother theory is proven to be a cop-out for a lot of people. In 2012, 30.8% of married families with children reported to have an employed father and an unemployed mother. This means that 69.2% of families, in fact, have a mother at home who could cook a healthy meal.

Women typically are the spouse that are going to be in the home most of the day in a married relationship with children. Only 6.5% of the data shows that the male is unemployed and the woman is the one with a job, in this instance. These statistics so far show that there are more than a few families who have the capabilities of making food at home each night, as opposed to grabbing a quick fast food snack. This in no way is meant to be a bash on fast food restaurants, but rather show that people are not using, here it is again, their will power to choose what they will eat each night.

If those numbers were not enough for you, take a look at these. In 1900, 2% of meals were eaten outside of the home. That is a minuscule number compared to the 50% of meals in 2012 that were eaten away from the dinner table in your house. Also, 20% of breakfasts are from a local McDonalds! Dr. Mark Hyman did a report on this topic for The Huffington Post, to display just how much people do not eat properly everyday. Some people would say that these numbers are so large because of how much they work. After seeing the statistics above showing how many families have at least one parent at home, it is hard to not lean towards thinking that these families are just lazy.

Not only do sit-down, homemade dinners help influence a child's diet, it also has an affect on their personal life. It has been proven that families who have a traditional meal each night are more likely to have children who do not drink, smoke, or do drugs. Also, the children will get better grades in school, have stronger relationships, and stay out of trouble. This could have a massive impact on our world today if we take the initiative.

Some people argue that they do not have enough money to feed themselves properly everyday. This is the reason they stop at a fast food restaurant to get the value meals. The third theory that does not make sense as the cause of obesity is socioeconomic status.

Above is a graphic of low-income states that are showing a decrease in childhood obesity. There are clearly more states that have a decrease in obesity than those win an increase. This would disprove the theory that people are simply going out each day and buying fast food.

Gallop Consumption hosted a poll that found 51% of Americans earning more than $75,000 a year will be more likely to eat fast food every week than the 39% of Americans who make less than $20,000. This shows that people who are at the bottom our society do not have enough money to go out each night and spend money on fast food.

You can actually go to the grocery store and spend the same amount of money on food, but get better quality food. On Web MD there is a list of foods that you can walk in and buy for around $2. At most fast food restaurants you can hardly buy a cheeseburger for that much money.

By now you have to assume will power will be showing up again. Well, here it is. After viewing this list and seeing all of the foods that you can get for so cheap, it would be hard to make a case that there is not healthy food available for cheap. It is just as easy to go to the grocery store as it is to stop at the local fast food joint.

To go beyond the average city, here is a visual of countries. These countries are developed and undeveloped nations. The list shows the percentage of the population that is obese. A country that is not noted on this list is Kenya; one of the poorest countries in the world. This list disproves that obesity is caused because of a lack of income.

Obesity can be classified as crime news. Even though people are not committing crimes, they are harming people. When people allow themselves to become obese they harm others around them, but also themselves.

Obesity is a case of collective integrity. It is a family affair because of all the time they spend together. Majority of the time, they eat the same food. Also, in many instances, the parents allow the kids to be lazy and stay in the house all day.

Parents are also responsible as well because they tend to not be as active as they should be. As adults they are role models for their children. If a child sees their parent working out, being active, and eating healthy, chances are higher that they will strive to do the same.

Genetic predisposition is also a highly debated issue when dealing with obesity. There has been research that proves that there are hundreds of genes that contain obese traits. Genes can be a factor in what our body does with the food and nutrients we take in.

Genes do not affect our will power. People personally have to make the decision to get up and go to the gym and properly exercise. There is no gene that is for working out. When people end up being lazy and sitting around all day is when problems occur with obesity.

Scientists argue that a person can be resistant to insulin, therefore, they are destined to be obese. In an instance where a person is resistant to insulin, they would have to take the steps early on to prevent themselves from becoming too heavy. I would reject theories in movies and books with claims that say a person who is insulin resistant means they will be obese. There are always steps you can take to preventing serious problems.

So, what are the real causes of obesity? Is obesity caused because of lack of exercise, misinforming food labels, or working mother theory? Could some people just be destined to a life of obesity because of their genes? Now that you have seen the facts, make your own opinion about the real causes of obesity.

MLB Season is Underway

March 30th, 2014 was considered Opening Night among the MLB. The featured game on ESPN was between the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The outcome of this game was a 3-1 win by the Padres. They were held scoreless until the 8th inning when newly acquired pitcher, Brian Wilson, came in and gave up the long ball to Seth Smith. This homer started their rally. Even though last night was considered Opening Night, the Dodgers already had two games under their belt. They played the Arizona Diamondbacks in a short two game series.

 Today, March 31st, is Opening Day. Some people would consider this a national holiday because of the impact the sport has on our country. This is a strong case for people to try and take off work to watch what they have been waiting 5 months to see. After all of the off-season moves, this year's Opening Day could be one of the most interesting of the decade. We will see how the new players mesh with their team in a real-game environment. Please enjoy watching your favorite team take the field today on this unofficial National Holiday. Game on!

PTI Podcast (3/3/14) Summary #5

This summary of Pardon the Interruption is from March 28, 2014. On this day the hosts were Tony Kornheiser and Jason Whitlock. They begin this podcast talking about wide receiver Desean Jackson and why he was released. There have been reports that he was released because of his alleged involvements with gangs. This could be potentially fatal to any team because of the baggage that comes along with being associated with gangs. The second topic discussed was Kentucky vs. Louisville. Now, being a day late, we already know the outcome. I predicted this matchup, but I had Louisville winning. Kentucky is too young and I did not expect them to advance for that reason; they won though because Louisville simply did not show up. Next, they talked about the matchup between Michigan and Tennessee. After watching this game, we realized how valuable that Michigan's three-pointers are. Also, Michigan State played well against Virginia. Staying in the state of Michigan, they move on to talking about Miguel Cabrera's contract extension. I disagree with them because, as they said, Miguel does have two more years on his contract; therefore, we could have waited a little while to sign him. The guest on their podcast was Archie Miller. He came on to talk about Dayton's most recent win and the future of their team. To close this summary, they finished in the big finish talking about the Texans trying to trade away the first overall pick in this years NFL draft.

In-Class Assignment 3/28/14 DeTocqueville

DeTocqueville in my opinion wrote on technology. The main difference that people do not recognize is that even though he did not call it specifially technology, it still is. He talks about how everything is changing and how the Industrial Revolution came about. DeTocqueville says that "technology is at the heart of how we understand ourselves".

The argument on the Industrial Revolution is rather persuasive. DeTocqueville touches on the bright and dark sides of the Revolution. He says that industrialization is related to the Democratic times in society. He believes that these correlations are related to the Democratic views of people who have strong morals and virtues. To keep his opinion unbiased, he talks a little about the opposite side of the spectrum. DeTocqueville feels that industrialization effects on the environment that could back-fire. Also, he says that our workers and the equality in the work force could be affected by these changes in society. Not only are the employees concerned with industrialization, but also the employers. DeTocqueville feels that the Industrialization Revolution could influence our political growth and freedom, possibly enough to infringe on our human liberties.

When DeTocqueville said, "a way of thinking and believing and feeling, a way of standing in and toward the world", I agree with him. By this he means that the Industrial Revolution was a time for pondering new ways to make things work easier. This statement works toward the future and the ways that we need to live in today's society. He never uses the word "technology" because his definition is more descriptive. DeTocqueville says that technology is how we do something and make advancements in certain fields, rather than a new piece of equipment. Technology can also be know as a process, invention, or method.

I believe that Storey's claim does provide insight into the American innovation spirit. He says that we are searching for ideals. He says that the works do not have to be in the form of verse, but rather they can be in any form that can clearly define the ideal that you are trying to show. DeTocqueville says that people have to search for the best possible ways to do things. He says that it is part of our human nature to seek the best in everything. This is true when you consider things that are going on in present time. We as a society are always trying to improve our phones, computers, or even cars.

Manifest destiny figures into Storey's argument because he says that people have their own plan. If they want it to happen, it will. Everyone will have a different destiny that they have to manifest. Man controls technology because of how they create new ideas. The ideas themselves are already there by nature. Man did not create nature, such as lumber or steel - goods that can be used in technology today. Innovation, in my opinion, does not completely begin with the desire to transform nature. I feel that innovation uses nature to make new advances that we call technology. I do not feel that people go out to make new things solely to change something, but rather to make it better than it already is.

Storey makes a valid argument about how we as people are restless in our well being. I believe this is true especially in the example he gave of American society. He said that the poor and middle class are always working to better themselves, but also, the rich and upper class are also working just as hard not to fall. This is such a strong point he makes because of how a vast majority of people view the social classes. A lot of people feel that the bottom classes work just as hard, if not harder than the upper class. This is most certainly not 100% true or false. The upper class had to work hard to get to where they are in life; unless they are the low percentage that had everything spoon fed to them in life. In a specific scenario today with gas and oil, I feel that this statement he made applies well. People today are always searching for the best possible ways to improve, regardless of social standing.

DeTocqueville says that we are good at solving specific problems such as to machines that have malfunctions. When we become more focused on fixing those problems than working toward human happiness, we loss track of our goals. He goes on to talk about how if we continue to keep worrying about how good everything is and how to make it better we will not be as happy. DeToucqueville says there are material problems with technological solutions, but there will always be challenges that we have to deal with. Some material problems will get to severe and end up not being able to be fixed.

I agree with DeTocqueville on the idea of measuring technology on what we have created with our words and how we have learned to understand our new ways of doing things. We do not have to measure how much we produce, sell, or buy in order to tell how technologically advanced we are. As a society, we are already trying to measure the future of technology based off of what we believe we can create. I am not persuaded by this argument that he was wrong for looking past measuring physical material for technology. Technology is not important for what it does for things, but what it does for human good.

In DeTocqueville's statement about a safety net in the article, I end up agreeing with him on this issue as well. People in the industrialized economy need to be careful because they could easily be out of a job with no back-up plan. In a digital economy, like today, you still need to be careful. You can easily fall under the wrong influence and mess something up with all of the digital factors in todays world. This is an important part to consider that I do not think should be left out because it is a serious matter when regarding the well-being of people's life.

In an article on The Guardian they discuss an issue that is serious. I would take the information that was introduced in the article with a grain of salt simply because the story was presented from one side and I do not know the other sides view on this issue. Also, this story does not take place near me so I can not do as much physical research to know the true facts involved. I feel like this could be a case where people are not happy, but go just a little far. Causing physical damage to another person is a little extreme such as the case with the busses.