Weighing Immigration Status in The States

Hello everyone for our 11th week in the class (I think) hope you are all doing well with everything going on in the world. I am here once again with information to consider and hopefully offer something in terms of perspective on an issue which seems very important to many Americans - immigration policy and the over all impact to which these individuals have on our country and society as a whole. So, I'm not going to state my opinion on the matter because I like to think I see the big picture and understand why folks come over and I won't debate the legality of it because I mean let's face it...we've all run a red light or stop sign before knowingly. We've all jay-walked but it just seems like a better option than walking all the way to the cross walk so I won't go into all that.

So there are many issues in which people like to associate illegal immigration with such as crime and taking advantage of tax payers money where as others who defend it often say that these individuals take the jobs too low in wage or just undesirable for Americas to have. In addition to this (I'm personally stating this) I think the tax issue of undocumented workers is tricky because what is not paid to the state or federal income tax is most definitely being done so through sales tax. That's all I'll say on that.

I was looking for a number of pictures but some of which popped up made me feel uncomfortable to post up and I figure if that is the case then I don't want to be misunderstood as "this or that". Ultimately though what it understood whether you look at the immigration of those coming from economic crisis, religious persecution, war, etc.  Folks are coming to this country to start over and have a better life than they did before and that's all one can really ask for. Now, I know a lot of you will argue "well then they need to become citizens or what have you" but honestly how many of you actually know the process to which it takes to become a citizen or even to become a permanent resident for that matter? Never the less, here are two pretty cool websites which speak on the Pros and Cons of illegal immigration from ProCon.Org through AllSides (Politico) and an open debate on the subject brought you to by Debate.Org. I figure as an added bonus, if you are interested on steps to which it takes to get your Green Card or Citizenship HERE you are. There is a link box to the rightin this page that will bring you to everything. 

Also this site gives information on the cost to which it takes to become a citizen 


Green Card Costs <----Here. 

^^^^^^^ Can I just take a moment and ask why in the hell is her name "Test 5 Specimen?!" that's really sketchy to me.  This was pulled from the Immigration Direct website too.

Personally, I'd be screwed because I don't have that kind of money and time just lying around as I have bills to pay. I'm sure everyone else does too.

Anyway, there are a lot of steps to which one has to take just to be qualified to get the card or citizenship so I feel like it's a catch 22.

"Oh, how things have changed"

How is everyone this wonderful Sunday? I normally try and keep up with the class subject in terms of these blogs to keep the pace with the class and to better idea as to where you can find this weeks blog entry. In any case, I figured to kind of go with the original concept of the blog itself where I look at one story or an idea and show how different media sources write about the story to give you a better understanding of bias and the spin to which journalists use to shape an idea within their story.

In this weeks blog entry I figured that since I had so much to go off of I would pick a story...or speech which I actually really enjoyed which I didn't think I would. SO! A few years back (if anyone in the class is old enough to really remember him while he was in office) we had a man, a republican by the name George W. Bush or "Dubya" to which a lot of folks after a while felt like he wasn't the brightest bulb in the pack but lately with all the memes of him looking longingly at Michelle Obama (which personal I absolutely love and find hilarious) you kind of grow to miss the ol' idiot. Anyway, the man and his swagger gave a pretty damn good speech on where America needs to be and tried to remind us of what America stands for. 

This week and most likely the remainder of the class I will be pulling from politico because it gives the exact example as to what I was hoping to provide within my blogs. In this link below I will present the main story of   George W. Bush's speech which will open a link and provide an overview of his speech and then three sources to which leans to the left, right, and center but not on any one extreme but immediately even before reading any of the links you can see in the title itself how it may shape the way in which you go into the article right of the rip.


This video below is a speech he gave some years back and honestly it shows my age because I grew up at the end of my years in high school and then some after with him on television and through out the year 2000's. It's weird as I grow older how my feelings toward this man change with the more I know. 

But without any "dilly dally" here is the speech in which George W. Bush gave which I find to be just absolutely wonderful. I love to see old presidents get back up and speak. It kind of gives light as to what captivated the American people into voting for them in the first place without all the political influence involved to shape them and without the stress of political backlash.


Lastly, for those who still think George W. Bush in some way doesn't deserve a special place in American history... maybe these sweet...sweet moves will convince you otherwise. 


EDIT: I figure if everyone loves Michelle Obama and she's cool with o' Dubya then maybe he's alright hahah

Muckraking and the governement

Hello there! So for this weeks blog post I'm going over activist journalism and muckraking. In other words, when a journalist or media source uses a story to directly or indirectly influence people on a situation and as a result (sometimes) policy is set forth to correct the situation. More often than not these policies fail to be presented because it's not an issue to the public officials or that the people themselves are not aware. The American attention span on some issues are short term and because of that many of those in office to not find it worth while to actually go ahead and correct the issue itself or even to a point it's like opening up a can of worms and will be more trouble than it is worth that is...unless it provides upward movement for the individual's career who might implement the policy.


With the inequality becoming ever more of an issue as time goes by it would seem that there is a great need for activism journalism and muckraking to come back into prominence. Yes, I truly understand that it is of the utmost importance for a journalist to be objective but in these cases I find that it is more important for those who tell the story of the down trot to take a side clearly and firmly.

This article done by the Huffpost speaks upon the ever growing issue of homelessness which seems to be increasing as time goes by.  As the numbers stated in this article claim 22,000 homeless children in New York is an amazing number of homeless I fear that this number is probably conservative at best and the numbers are much higher. Still, this only touches on the homeless children and not the adults which I can assume is equal if not higher than that of this number shown. For a country which speaks on the importance and duty we have to this countries children - the fact that there are this many in New York ALONE is a scary truth that this country does not in fact give a damn about homeless and especially as it claims to follow Christian morals and principles. Would you know say that this is a corner stone to the religion?


Flint Michigan's water situation is a perfect example as to why muckraking needs to come back into the playing field ASAP! The fact is this issue has been going on for years now and more often than not unless you're near those who are dealing with this you only really ever hear about it in random situations that is ...if you're not one to seek out information about these sort of problems. It seems that there are no officials really being held accountable for this and there seems to be very little going on in the way to improve it either. You'll hear about those artists and athletes who are donating money to the problem but let's be honest, most of that money doesn't go completely to the problem to which the money is donated.



I think this cartoon of the situation is actually pretty spot on. It is brought to you by an article which was written by The Mercury News. That's mercury...both on the page and in the water ;) and honestly I could go into so many more issues here in terms of public issues which need to be brought to the attention of those in power but more importantly there needs to be a DEMAND for action and not simply words. If they are unable to do anything about it then we as citizens need to hold them accountable until someone does something about it!

I will leave this blog post short and sweet for the sake of time but I wanted to leave this last picture up so you get what kind of issue this is...and really think about it, would you drink this water?!

The Media and the Government

Alright, so in this weeks blog I was going to go with the run of the mill, "Pick a few stories from different news sources" but then I got to thinking about the initial bias in which each site has. Whether or not the media selection leaned left or right has influenced what stories in which I pick and how it shows the spin which is presented. As a result I decided to instead pick stories which the subject falls on all three of the political branches of the government: President, Courts, and Congress. To do this, I made it a point to find a news outlet which could be framed as neutral or centralized.

"But Tim, how do you know if the source is neutral or not?"

Well, I happen to come across a website called "Allsides" which I thought was pretty neat.
 :)
----- CLICK ON THE LINK

So, I decided to go with Politico as my news source because it falls into the spectrum in which I was hoping to use. The first story will be about issues involving congress, the second, about the courts and lastly about the president. I'm doing the stories in this order as a mirror of how it is in the media normally just as a refresher. I hope all my links, pictures, and such work so here we go!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


1.)The title in this article is: 9 GOP senators ask ATF to review gun "bump stocks"
     - Nine republican senators have asked for the ATF to review an accessory which was used in the shooting in Las Vegas which modifies semi-automatic rifles. Many other pieces of legislation are looking to be passed or considered which would bar accessories on weapons and the such issues as a means to reduce occurrences which took place in Las Vegas. Even though this is the case many republicans are not going to get on board with Democrats looking to pass legislation which would ban the sale of bump stocks.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


2.) Supreme Court eyes partisan gerrymandering.
      -The GOP has taken part in a number of cases were gerrymandering has taken place in order to get their advantage over the Democrat party. The court found this to be unconstitutional in many cases and stated that reshaping districts to be predominately republican or democrat violates the right to free-association. Many of these states or districts themselves are becoming increasingly polarized and this can be a problem with political control. The court is taking place in this issue in an attempt to reduce partisan bias rethink district maps.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


3.) Trump: Tillerson could be 'a little bit tougher'
     - A report came out yesterday about the Security of State Rex Tillerson and Trump's relationship which has recently under scrutiny with Tillerson calling Trump a moron "allegedly". Yet, in this case the article speaks on Trumps opinion on Tillerson and his need to be "tougher". Despite the allegations that Tillerson is not a "fan" of the president both individuals maintain that their  relationship is "great". Trump also extended compliments to John Kelly who has been doing an "incredible job". Never the less, with the conflicts arising with good ol' Korea...maybe this kind of bickering in the white house isn't necessary but you can't be mad at someone for their criticism of the president. You either love or hate the guy.

Freedom of the Press VS National Security

So, in class now we are speaking on which should hold precedent, if the freedom of the press is more important than national security. We had two examples in which allowed for a critical breakdown of which is more important and why. It is easier to understand why the safety of our nation is important but at the end of the day that seems to become an ever encompassing problem for the people to whom the protection contains. Two examples in which we spoke on was that of the Iraq prison scandal of Abu Ghraib and that of the many, many undercover files in which Wikileaks indiscriminately leaked. In addition to these there are a number of other "whistle blowers" such as Edward Snowden who uncovered the NSA surveillance of on the American populace on its own soil to Mark Felt which took park in the Watergate Scandal which ultimately led to the end of Nixon's presidency. This situations ask of the American people, "what do you value more?" Comfort food is always nice but too much of it will lead to nothing good and this goes in the same path with regards to safety or the illusion itself. Would one rather be mindfully ignorant to what is going on around them for the comfort of safety or would they property state truth down knowing full and well the fresh new hell in which we have permitted to go unchecked by our own complacency.

The man in the picture above is Julian Assange. Many of you are probably aware of this man and know that he has become a bit of a target around the world for his leaking of many classified, highly sensitive material and documents in which many claim jeopardizes American efforts around the world both in war and in "peaceful diplomatic" efforts.  Yet, the real question here lies in whether or not you believe in "free press" or not. Does what this man strike you as criminal if the activities that were being taken part in were criminal acts themselves? The same would go for Edward Snowden. Do you think what he did was "un-American" because it was an act against an American agency or is it in fact our burden and responsibility to know what is actually going on with our hard earned tax dollars which are funding such activities. When the pentagon randomly looses trillions of dollars and seems to have no idea where it goes, does one not wonder if there as actual knowledge on the location of where the money went or is this truly an "oops" moment from this organization and if that's the case, how has no one been held accountable for such a fumble? When weapons cache seem to fall in the hands of "insurgence" in civil wars and instances like ISIS is it truly a fumble on the part of our military or is this just a way to perpetuate a  conflict to which we have a stake in? Is this lack of transparency truly for the American betterment and in what was is our safety truly in danger when most of these people in these countries barely have homes? Does our involvement simply not create the very problem we claim to want to end? People may look at these individuals are only wanting to disrupt the status quo but is it not in the best interest of the American people to know good and damn well what is going on in their own country? Is this not the corner stone to our great country that we are informed as to what our money is going toward and what our money is ultimately helping to create and more importantly can we truly be content within our ignorant complacency to allow such misuse of tax dollars go to stripping what little others have left in the world for the betterment of our "feelings" of safety?

All I will do is drop the link to the wikileaks page and allow you to comb through documents in which you personally might find interesting. I know normally I would go through and give you a number of different news outlets on the subject but as all the media is owned and operated through a handful of corporations to which their entire mantra is how to turn a profit this blatant censorship and spin in the media of discrediting whistle blowers comes off to me as an attempt to cover their profits and nothing more.

https://wikileaks.org

I will let you decide what you think and feel on the subject. My job here is not to alienate anyone but to provide the same information many of these brave vigilantes of truth and justice seek to present to you as well!

Good day and stay informed!
Thank you. 

Facts Over The Narrative

So this week we've gone over the fact that a narrative of a story with or without truth can be seen as a powerful tool to shape public opinion. Perfect example was the NAACP excerpt which ultimately ran on FOX news and resulting in the firing of Shirley Sharrod. This is a prime example as to where narrative can be run as news without the full story and the facts behind it. It is powerful when those who present the news do not do their job effectively and again, simply sensationalize the news. Though this weeks blog is not about that.

This weeks blog is about Mexico's earthquakes and of its people. I will refrain from personal 'narrative' and present articles from some different news sources than I normally use (excluding Al Jazeera because they are my personal go to for news).


So, the two new news sources which will be used this week are Mexico News Daily because I find that it is more fitting to use a news source to which the disaster originated and a a video which comes from The Independent Daily Edition. I'm trying to expand my pool of new sources so that I do not limit my pool to which I can pull information. I believe this is the key point to the basis of my blogs and I wish to continue to expand upon that point.

Let's first start with The Independent Daily Edition's article which has a video. I find that this would be the best way in which to display the situation. Imagery it a very powerful tool to use when it comes to displaying the severity of a situation. This video can be found of that link below:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/mexico-earthquake-today-latest-mexico-city-magnitude-6-tremor-damage-a7963211.html




I know this video isn't much to go off of but it shows the beginning of the situation which I thought was important. This site also shows a dozen pictures of the aftermath of the 6.2 earthquake which hit Mexico City. Must of the damaged seem to be set up by the previous earthquake which occurred just a few weeks prior which involved an earthquake with a 7.1 on the Richter Scale.

http://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/damaged-buildings-total-10000-in-puebla/



The second article which is pulled from Mexico News Daily was of the first earthquake which hit not only Mexico City but many neighboring areas surrounding the capital. Many people are left without homes and jobs as buildings lay in ruin. Many of you may have heard about the school building crumbling while trapping people inside and I'm sure you've heard about a number of instances where gas pipes were damaged in the quake leaving buildings spewing flames from the rubble but worse than anything here are the lives lost in the damage. As many of these buildings where build over a decade ago their fortitude against such an earthquake proves little to no resistance. So where does that leave thousands of citizens to do? For now, all they can do is attempt to find their loved ones and wait for aid from the government and additional global actors.


The last paragraph from this page reads:

"Hundreds of homes were severely damaged including around 70% of all buildings in the town of Metepec, where scores of homes collapsed completely. One Metepec resident whose house collapsed says she “will have to start from zero” and called for the donation of blankets and tents for people who have been forced to sleep in the street."
I'm putting this up as a reference point. The town/city you live in now...what would 70% look like?

Lastly, Al Jazeera

http://www.aljazeera.com/Search/?q=Mexico%20EarthQuake

Now, I could pick an article and present it but instead simply chose to search a number of articles and let you guys pick from them. The selection ranges from factual straight forward news pieces to op-eds and interviews. From here give more of a general informational umbrella in which you can take part of reading more on the subject. People also seem to fail to realize that when Houston was hit Mexico sent aid to their neighbors north. It is important for people to realize that in times of crisis we are all human, living on this earth. These boarders in which we set up for ourselves which govern what we determine is "normal" and what "defines" us aren't anything but boxes which we simply agree upon or fall subject to. Yes, culturally there are things that divide man and set there are many other things which will do the same but when these sort of things occur it's important to remember that most, if not all of that is some what superficial and nonsensical when in the end I think it's safe to say we all just want to live freely and happily. Thank you!

Addition Sites on the subject added after the initial post formation.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2-devastating-earthquakes-hit-mexico-many-weeks-heres/

https://www.rt.com/news/404298-mexico-earthquake-hits-usgs/

Ways to help!

Remember!!! Do your research before donating! There are people out there looking to scam good intentions. Don't let crooks take away from the impact you have as good, charitable folks! The people of Mexico can really use a helping hand in these times of need. Thanks!

https://donate.worldvision.org/give/mexico-earthquake-relief

https://www.unicefusa.org/donate/disaster-relief-help-protect-children-harm/32787?utm_campaign=2017_misc&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=0178/2/_Google&utm_content=Mexico_Earthquake&ms=cpc_dig_2017_misc_0178/2/_Google_Mexico_Earthquake&initialms=cpc_dig_2017_misc_0178/2/_Google_Mexico_Earthquake

There is a wonderful list of donation sources on:

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/heres-can-help-victims-mexico-earthquake/

Media Owners

The world of media has grown from a vast market of independent companies which provided a wonderful service to those seeking information. This has not become the case in the last decade or two since the deregulation over the media and public airwaves. Larger companies have bought out many aspects of these sectors and has made it very difficult to compete on an independent scale in the sake of cost. This does not mean that there still aren't smaller companies which do so but it isn't the same playing field in which we all have known in the past. I don't think it's something that we can go back to in this day and age. There is nothing wrong with this but it must be understood that change is needed now more than ever. Those who do not recognize this change will ultimately fall by the wayside of change and movement. One thing I have learned from this class is that as technology changes to make things easier to obtain information so too does the quality of the "mass production" of information in the case of general goods and services. In this blog I will provide articles which speak upon the world of media growing ever smaller and well diversified and how these companies now are more interested in profit margins than that of the information which these news companies, by definition are meant to provide.

Corporate media is a term which refers to a system of mass media production, distribution, ownership, and funding which is dominated by corporations and their CEOs.

FreePress.net 

https://www.freepress.net/ownership/chart

This website provides are wonderful example which breaks down each part of the media and gives the main companies which involved within the production of media within each area. Please look for yourselves as how small the "pond of providers" has become and ask yourself, "Is it possible that there is a filter on which the information flowing through these sources might reduce the flow of information?" I ask this because it is important to understand the inherent bias which might occur due to the sake of profit margins each company/corporation. It is important to understand the advertising and marketing schemes in which might be used to entire those demographics that are more likely to consume a produce via these ports of consumerism of products, both entertainment and information - "infotainment".

Keep in mind, the airwaves for T.V, Radio- Cable and Telecommunications are all considered a balic public necessity which allows these companies to use them free of charge all the while making huge profits for their companies. In each of these there are lobbyists who sway the companies to provide specific information, products, and form the narrative of each for which ever agenda is footing the bill. These services are intrinsically set up to provide for public a basic service which provides that same public with vital information and news; this has slowly been less of the case in my opinion as time as gone by.

BusinessInsider.com

http://www.businessinsider.com/these-6-corporations-control-90-of-the-media-in-america-2012-6

If you do not want to go to the link, I will provide the image from the article which I do think breaks down the general difference over the years in terms of control over the idea and how it has become a smaller pool of players across the board. The writer in this article speaks on how 50 companies provided the same services that basically 6 do today back in the 80's. She also states that this picture below is not up to date as GE does not own media companies anymore and so GE should be replace by Comcast, respectively.





Lastly, it would not be an integral part within the theme of this blog to simply speak upon the perceived negative attributes of corporate media without also providing information which speaks on the merits of such marriages within these companies and their ability to provide for their customers something in which smaller, independent companies may not be able to provide.

DoubleTheDonations.com

https://doublethedonation.com/why-corporate-social-responsibility-is-important/

Now, I have to admit I have never come across this website nor am I familiar with their lean in terms of where they stand in all this fun lovin' "hoopla"  (I wouldn't call this subject unnecessary but I just wanted to say "hoopla").

ANYWHO! 

This article does provide a pretty great break down of how corporate media has respectively provided services across the board, quantitatively and qualitatively.

The article starts off explaining what CSR is and how it has impacted society since taking a firm grasp of the media outlets.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a broad term used to describe a company’s efforts to improve society in some way.

This website is pretty great in terms of having data presented in case to grasp pictures and what not but I am a huge fan of tangible sources and from what I have found seems like the CIA doing an investigation on itself and finding no foul play occurred. I'm taking a policy analysis class as well which makes me want to look into the data which is provided. All data is important not simply the data which fits in the box you create. CONTEXT is key my friends.


I hope you guys enjoyed my article this week! Let me know what you think below in the comment box and as always if there is anyway to improve upon this let me know.

K. Thanks. Bye!