Quote

   I think that the French president's quote is definitely something that everyone should consider.  I believe that it refers to importance of journalism, and the risks that journalists take.  It is an important topic.
   Journalists go into the field knowing that someday they may go to another country, or just be ordered to do an article or report in a dangerous situation.  They take high risks all because they need to reveal the truth to people.
   The reporting of the truth is very important.  Without the truth being reported the public wouldn't know about anything going on in our world.  Everyone would be left in the dark, and we'd have to depend on our government to be truthful to us, which doesn't always happen.
   Journalists are heros for risking their lives just to inform us.  We should remember the people who went and found out the information whenever we read an article.  They deserve it.

Public Schools

   According to Santorum we should get rid of public schools and everyone should be taught at home.  He says that schools are basically factories, and that they shouldn't be run by the government.  Personally, I think that's rather stupid.
   If you consider all the drawbacks of an arrangement such as this, you'll note how horrible it would be.  When you are home schooled you're taught by your parents, but what if your parents aren't well educated you won't be either.
   Another thing Santorum said about home schooling was that the children would grow up with the same beliefs that their parents had.  Imagine if this was applied to Civil War times.  If we did this then no one would ever adapt to the fact that all people are created equal no matter what color their skin.
   I can't imagine it would be very interesting if all children ended up as carbon copies of their parents in their beliefs.  It's a foolish idea, and I can't imagine it working well.
    

John Belsuhi

   John Belushi was a man of pleasure.  He was rumored to partake in drugs, binge eating, partying, and alcohol quite a lot.  Belushi was reported to use heroine, take pills, and he was frequently drunk.
   He was found dead at Chateu Marmont after Catherine Smith injected him with a speedball (a mixture of heroin and cocaine).  Bill Wallace found the body, and attempted to revive him.  Unfortunately, it didn't work, so they called a coroner.
   They found out later that he had asked Catherine to inject him with a speedball, and when she admitted that she injected it she was arrested because she had administrated the speedball to Belushi.
   Smith was originally arrested for first degree murder, before being convicted of involuntary manslaughter instead.
   Belushi was buried in Massachusetts, and his tombstone reads "I may be a=gone but rock and roll lives on."  If only he had been a little more cautious with his life, Catherine may have never have given a speedball shot to him.

Hoax News

   The issue with rumors is that they spread so fast, especially now that we have computers.  Whitney Houston died recently and a rumor went around that Keanu Reeves had also died.  He didn't die.  He is actually very much alive.
   We need to figure out a method to stop hoax news before it ends up hurting someone.  What if a rumor spreads about something serious like a bombing?  People would go into a panic.  Things need to change.
   My plan to stop the spreading of hoax news is to appoint people to monitor computers for hoax news that isn't identified as such.  If these monitors do this and delete them, or  clearly state that it is fake the spreading of it will decrease dramatically.  Unfortunately, it would be difficult to catch every rumor.  The plan still needs to be revised and edited.
   I'm sure none of us appreciate hearing lies, so we should all check out information for ourselves before spreading it.  That would definitely cut back on the speed faux news spreads.


 

Phantom Photos

   I think it's rather disturbing that the pictures that you delete off Facebook are still in the Facebook computers.  I don't even use Facebook, and I think it's a violation of privacy.  If you delete a photo it sends a clear message that you don't want anyone to see it.
   If I had a Facebook I'd probably end up not putting up pictures ever again.  If you can't truly delete something you need to carefully consider the pros and cons of putting them up.  For people who can drink alcohol, they can could get intoxicated and post an embarrassing photo that could never truly be removed.
   Facebook has never really appealed to me.  I like having a large amount of privacy.  Facebook doesn't allow that, and now that I know about the phantom photos I'm even more turned off by the whole site.  I'll be avoiding Facebook for as long as I can.

The First Amendment

   The First Amendment says that we all have a right to free speech.  Unfortunately, our right for free speech is limited.  Students may get the brunt of the limit, but adults suffer from it as well.
   For students, as soon as you enter the school you give up certain rights.  We give up some of our free speech, because we agree not to disrupt the class.  We may not speak against any teachers, even if they are wrong.  Instead we are forced to ask our parents to complain, and even then you may be ignored.
   For adults they give up a smaller amount of free speech when they enter their workplace.  The adults can say whatever they want, but if they do they're in danger of getting fired.  You need money, so you need a job to get income.  An adult gives up some of their freedom of speech when they decide their job is worth more.
   I think the only real difference between the way students lose their freedoms and how adults lose their freedoms is that the children lose more of it, and it isn't the students' choice.

Sport Apps

   Sport apps are going to revolutionize the way we watch sport games.  They give you more background information, and it give you a new insight into the games.  You can now see the stats changing throughout the game, and while Superbowl commercials may be special now if we can see them on an app whenever we want will they still be.
   The question is whether or not this is good or bad.  On one hand, we get to see games in a new way, and now we can know what the players are thinking while they're in the middle of a game.  On the other hand, I can see these apps causing issues.  What if we become so absorbed with the apps that we start to ignore the actual game?  The Superbowl would be forgotten, leaving only the apps behind, and you might not even notice.
   I suppose this could end up going either way.  It's how we end up using it that will determine the bad and the good just like with all technology.