IRB blog post 3- Midcentury Modern: Yuletide Pop's Golden Age

The article discusses how writing a Christmas song is a song-writers jackpot. In the 1940s and 50s there was an explosion in the amount of people writing Christmas songs because they witnessed the instant success of "The Christmas Song" by Mel Torme. Recently Mariah Carey has made a new Christmas Song but not many others have. It will be difficult to writers to compete with classics like "Frosty", "Rudolph", and "Jingle Bells". Right now the radio stations mostly play songs written 50 or 60 years ago.
Will a new song ever become a new classic?
Will modern songwriters be able to figure out what it takes to write a successful Christmas Song?

IRB blog post 3- BP, 8 other firms sued by Justice Dept. over gulf oil spill

BP along with 8 other companies are being sued by the Justice Department for the damage caused in last summer's oil spill. It has been called the worst oil spill in history. The case accuses BP and the other companies for not abiding by certain regulations and neglecting to stop the fires and explosion which caused the oil rig to fail. It is estimated that the companies will owe tens of billions of dollars in fines. Even though the spill has been contained the Justice Department is determined to finish investigating this case and to prevent disasters like this from occurring in the future. The criminal investigation is focusing on BP, Transocean and Halliburton, the companies most responsible for the spill. So far BP has been cooperating.
Will large companies like this be able to recover from the enormous amount of negative publicity they have received?
Will the fines be enough of a punishment to discourage other large companies from cutting corners?

IRB bog post 3- Judge Bars Twitter Updates From London Courtroom During Assange Bail Hearing

At the beginning of the hearing for the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, the judge banned the reporters, lawyers and others present at the hearing from "tweeting". One journalist didn't understand the point of banning technology in the court room. In a previous hearing she publicly posted, "In open court what difference is typing from pen & paper. Lawyers have laptops & blackberries. Why not public? …" It is interesting how easy it is to communicate information to the entire population even if something occurs behind closed doors. With this new technology there could be a whole new issue of allowing certain technologies in places like a courtroom where information is usually relatively private. The judge said that tweets could pose as a distraction. Even adults are being limited on their technology use now? This courtroom sounds like a school.
How are these new technologies going to be limited?
Should they even be limited? Maybe we should just embrace the fact that we have these capabilities.

http://news.ie.msn.com/world/article.aspx?cp-documentid=155564357

IRB blog post 2- Move Over, Betty White

Cloris Leachman is now 84 and in a new TV show called "Raising Hope". The title of this article caught my attention because I didn't realize anyone didn't like Betty White, also, because Cloris Leachman appeared as the grandmother in "Malcom in the MIddle", one of my favorite shows. Cloris, when asked about Betty White said, "I'm so sick of Betty White. Never liked her." There is clearly some rivalry among the grandmother-aged television stars. Leachman won an Academy Award in 1972 for her performance in "The Last Picture" and she has yet to retire. When asked why she hasn't retired, she said "Money".
Has the recession really been that bad as to effect actors who have been in the business for 50 years?
Why does Cloris have such an issue with Betty White?

IRB blog post 2- WikiLeaks spurned New York Times, but Guardian leaked State Department cables

The article adresses WikiLeaks - a new site for the purpose of exposing secrets in organizations such as the government. Over the summer, WikiLeaks worked with the Times when releasing 90,000 documents about the Iraq and Afganistan wars. Bradley Manning is the Army private assused of releasing the documents. More recently, WikiLeaks turned to the Wall Street Journal and CNN to release new information. WikiLeaks asked for financial compensation for disclosing the information but was turned down by both. They stated that the demands and terms for the agreement were "unacceptable".
Is this new site, WikiLeaks, going to present a national security issue?
Are people in the government or military going to continue to want to expose issues like the Irag and Afganistan wars?

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-11-29/opinion/frum.wikileaks.iran_1_julian-assange-wikileaks-iranian-nuclear-weapons-program?_s=PM:OPINION

IRB blog post 2- Obama Rallying Support for Pact with Russia

President Obama is currently working with Russia to create a new "arms control treaty". The goal is for it to be done by the end of the year. Democrate are currently showing more willingnes to vote for the pact. However, they will have to make some trade-offs regarding other pressing issues. A question brought up by some of the democrats is; should he be focusing on more prominent issues like immigration and gay rights? “This treaty is in the best interest of the United States of America, best interest of the world and frankly the best interest of the Russian Federation,” said Colin Powell, former secretary of state. The Democrats are confident that they will be able to aquire the two-thirds majority necessary for the Senate to pass the treaty.
What exactly is this treaty going to control?
Will there be any obvious effects or reactions regarding the new treaty?

This article adresses more specifically the treaty and what it will accomplish.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/08/barack-obama-nuclear-treaty-russia

IR Blog Post 1 - A Glossy Approach to Inciting Terrorism

There is a new magazine called "Inspire" being posted online by Al-Qaeda. Free speech right? Some Americans are becoming concerned with this magazines intentions. It is trying to convince young American Muslims to become violent against their country. To bring down America, "we do not need to strike big," the editors of Inspire boast. This is a very disturbing idea. The magazine has brought to attention the fact that there is a population of Muslim terrorists in America. The editor of the magazine is also an educated Muslim American with theological credentials.
Is there anything the US government can do about this magazine?
Would it be censorship if they some how made it so nobody in America could read the magazine?
http://beforeitsnews.com/story/104/586/Muslim_terror_magazine_Inspire_in_English.html

IR Blog Post 1 - Protests of TSA airport pat-downs, body scanners don't delay Thanksgiving travel

There has been a lot of controversy over the last few weeks about increased security at Airports. Thanksgiving is the most traveled day of the year and the Airports were unaffected by these new protests. There were just as many people flying as in past years. People complained and held up signs and even passed out pamphlets but none of this created any delays. "We gotta get to Grandma's," said Daniel Anderson. People complain, but in reality, they are still going to the Airports.
Why do people take it so personally when there is increased security at the Airports?
Will the government ever consider these complaints and go about security in a different way?
http://www.lowfares.com/blog/2010/11/02/tsa-new-pat-down-controversy/
Some people believe that the new pat-downs are an invasion of privacy but I think people just need to suck it up and realize that this is better than a potential terrorist attack.

IR Blog Post 1 - Asking China to Act Like the U.S.

Recently the United States has been trying to convince Bejing, China to go against its own government. Foreign policy experts say that it is very difficult for another country to try to turn a country against itself. “Basically, the U.S. wants China to do what the U.S. wants it to do,” said Rodger Baker. So far China has not listened to the US, but many are not surprised. Recently Obama has tried to convince China that they need to gain control over North Korea before its economy/government collapses.
Why is the U.S trying to tell China what to do? It seems we have our own problems to deal with. Why is China not doing anything about their neighbor, North Korea?
rein -A means or an instrument by which power is exercised.

IRB websites

politics and currents events - www.nytimes.com -new york times online, politics section
arts and academia - www.wsj.com -wall street journal online, arts section
entertainment - www.washingtonpost.com -washington post online, top news highlights

11/15/10

I usually only read articles online if they showed up on my email homepage with a catchy title. I occasionally read news articles online for homework.

reading for meaning or reading for pleasure

Reading for meaning involves more analysis of each section of reading. You can’t just ignore something you don’t understand and hope that it makes sense later. You have to try and apply what you’re reading to something that you already understand. It is important to review what you have already read so you can understand the meaning as a whole. Sometimes you are forced to read something that you would not have chosen otherwise. How to Lie with Statistics is a book that I had to read for meaning for my statistics class. All the books that I have read in school, I was reading for meaning.

Reading for pleasure involves putting less stress on each section of the book and its meaning. You can take your time reading and it is not essential to understand everything right after you have read it. You can choose any book that you would like to read. A book that I have recently read for pleasure is House Rules by Jodi Picoult.

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a book that I read once for meaning and pleasure. I had heard it was a really powerful book so I wanted to read it. I was also reading it for English class because I later had to do a project on the book that I chose.