Apr 5thIs the Current News too Influential
People around the world turn to at least one form of the news to update themselves about current social, economic and political issues. In the early 20th century, news was primarily obtained through newspapers. This was a relatively slow process, considering that it might take a day or sometimes even more for local newspapers to update about current events. With the popularity of the radio came a much faster means of transporting information, although this form of news was only available during broadcasts. With television came the evening news, the morning news, and the afternoon news.
Today, news is reported 24/7 around the world, in millions of different online and print publications. Updated news takes seconds to transmit and only seconds to read, hear, or watch. There is no end to the number of different news publications or programs that are endlessly reporting the news, so it is no wonder that many news programs are now turning to more opinionated anchors. News programs with more opinionated anchors are much more popular because now, news programs and publications must fight to to keep public viewers tuned in. Dramatic headlines, intense subjects, emotional news reports and buzz words are the new status quo among news reports which are constantly vying for viewer attention. But is the popularity of current styles of news reporting too influential on its viewers?
News should strive, above all, to be two things: informative and objective. Objectivity is one of the toughest goals to strive for when reporting the news, especially when it comes to heated situations like political events, political debates, human rights, and violent crime. News programs should also be informative and inform its viewers about—at the very least—the basic facts surrounding any event. It is only natural for any reporter to give their own opinion, however subconsciously, about the news. However, when a news program decides to present personal opinion again and again as fact, often leaving out details which are disharmonious to that opinion, it can warp the viewers’ sense of events to a great degree. Viewers may not even be aware of the basic facts surrounding an event, which questions the legitimacy of the news program itself.
For an example of a news program which may be considered too influential, let’s look at Fox News. Fox News presents current world events through the eyes of opinionated anchors, reporters and journalists. But is their opinionated style of reporting having a negative effect on viewers?
In a 2011 poll undertaken by Fairleigh Dickinson University, it was found that people who learn about current news events by watching Fox News were significantly less likely to know correct answers to basic questions about world events than those who did not watch news shows or read newspapers at all! Fox News, which presents events in a heavily opinionated manner, is one example of the current news proving too influential on its viewers. The viewers who primarily watched Fox News were not able to state a basic fact about a current world event at the time of the poll—not a specific opinion about the event, but a fact. Fox News’ programming, then, is not only opinionated but also not informative.
To quote the university’s findings:
[People ]who watch Fox News, the most popular of the 24-hour cable news networks, are 18-points less likely to know that Egyptians overthrew their government than those who watch no news at all … Fox News watchers are also 6-points less likely to know that Syrians have not yet overthrown their government than those who watch no news…
If opinionated news reporting like Fox News can keep a viewer in the dark about such an important event, then there is almost no telling what other kinds of influences that style of news reporting can have on their world view. Instead of striving to capture viewers with flashy logos or buzzword headlines, the news should once again turn to providing objective and informative reporting about world events.
I pointed out Fox News in this article, but in actuality, almost all news broadcasts are guilty in one form or another in trying to influence your options on important issues. It is everyone’s responsibility to learn all they can on issues and not just take one news broadcast to make or form opinions on anything.
Related articles
- Media bias on display in reporting of Tennessee Academic Freedom Bill (winteryknight.wordpress.com)
- FOX Ratings Drop By 3% While Others Rise (lezgetreal.com)
- Is Fox News Shifting Left? (freedombytheway.com)
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Mar 12thWhy Are Americans Rude to Others
First let me say that I am an American and very proud to be from America, as I believe it is the land of the free and it’s the one country you can accomplish anything if you want to. If you are not successful in life in the USA then you didn’t try hard enough. I came from a small logging town of 1200 people and have been very successful in life and retired at a very young age with no help from anyone but my own determination.
However, since I have spent so much time over the past two years traveling both in the United States and abroad. I have to say of all the people I meet and see, Americans seem to be the rudest people I have ever met.
I realize that this is stereotyping American’s and I don’t mean to do that, as there are some great people in America and some will go way out of their way to help you if you are in need. However, as a whole, they appear to be higher number of rude people per capita than anywhere else I have been. Below, I want to point out some things that help me come to this conclusion. Hopefully pointing some of these things out will have you thinking about how you do things during the day and possibly change some people’s attitude towards others.
Jobs:
There are many ways when it comes to jobs that I can point out that show my point. However there are 2 in particular that I want to bring up.
1) Customer service jobs. These people must have the toughest job in the world. I wonder sometimes if they ever get a call during a day that they are not yelled at or called names because of something that there company is doing. Customer service jobs can be some of the lowest level jobs in a company and most likely they have very little decision making in the direction a company takes. So why yell at them, as they have no control over how things are done in the company. They get blamed when people call them like it’s there faults something doesn’t work or you got over billed. I find talking nicely with this group of people gets you a lot further with your issue than yelling.
2) Hotel workers. I have met many American’s that when I point out there are cleaning jobs at a local hotel, there first comment is “ I am not cleaning someone else’s toilets” The funny part of all this is this most of the time is coming from someone that doesn’t have a job and is complaining that there are no jobs out there for people. I always believed you do whatever it takes to survive but American’s think it’s just easier to stay on unemployment because it pays better. I sure am glad of immigrants, as they seem to be the only ones willing to do the jobs many Americans feel are below them.
Aruba:
Now let’s take the country of Aruba. One of the major industries on this small Caribbean island is tourism. Of all the tourist visiting this county, about 75% of them are American’s. When the American’s are there they just seem to think it’s the United States and complain when they are not treated as kings. When they have to pay for drink refills or the drivers on the street don’t drive like in the United States , it’s the fault of Aruba. Americans have to realize that every country does things different and nothing says that the United States way is the only way things should be done.
Let’s also talk about Aruba and the two missing girls. There you have a 19 mile country that has had two deaths in a 5 year period. I wonder if there is anywhere in the United States that has a 19 mile area with only 2 deaths in 5 years. I am sure there is but not many. They also are probably small communities and not the 100,000 that Aruba has before any tourist show up. You may not like how the police acted but it’s how they do things in Aruba and that doesn’t mean it was the wrong way. You expected them to act as if they have all the same tools they do in the United States, but they don’t, and they also are not a country that owes money to China and then complain that China is taking over. With the latest missing lady, I don’t see a lot of Aruban’s killing other Aruban’s but there sure is a lot of American on American murders. Only in America can you be shot on the Highway because you cut someone off and they didn’t like it.
Road Rage
Road rage is almost a separate topic on itself. However, in all the countries I have driven in, America seems to be the only one that you can drive down the road and get the finger from someone. Either you are driving too slow in the fast lane , even if you are driving at the speed limit and not speeding or breaking the law. It’s also one of the few places I have driven that most people don’t have the habit of letting others into traffic because it might slow them down 5 seconds from getting to where there going. A lot of this is because Americans are always in a hurry to get somewhere due to their fast paste life. However, if there are so many American’s unemployed in the United States I am not sure what there is such a hurry to get to because it’s obviously not to a job.
Shopping Stores
This issue exists in almost every store on every corner. I want to talk about the rude people in stores. It seems the person in front of you is never getting through the line fast enough for the person behind them. If someone uses coupons or writes a check, all of a sudden it’s the end of the world. You may just have spent two hours in the store shopping but as soon as you get up to the line to check out you are in a hurry. If you want stores to open up more lines for people, then you should just tell the manager you’re willing to pay more for the products you are buying so that you can pay for more employees to have on the line. You see this more at the discount stores because they do make less profit and have less employees.
Those of you that say companies make enough profit and it’s not fair. Well then just tell your realtor you’re willing to sell your house for less, because making a profit on your investment is not important to you and you want to make sure the next person buying your house gets a good deal. As a previous owner of a couple companies, I am here to tell you if you want to make the money then take the investment to start the company. Work 7 days a week, 15 to 16 hours a day and on vacations still have a cell phone tied to your hip. If you’re not willing to do this, then don’t expect the profits that come to those that make this sacrifice.
In closing: I think the main reason Americans are inconsiderate of others, is that most of them are in such a hurry in everything they do. We need to learn to slow down and enjoy life and enjoy the things around you. One thing to always think is “Treat Others Like You Want to Be Treated”. I will admit that I use to be one of these rude people, but over the last couple years I have realized how I was treating people and the effects it has on them. I may at times still get out of line but I am at least thinking about it and trying to be more considerate. Americans are not going to change overnight but if we each try and change it could be a better place.
Related articles
- Why do the crazy, rude people win? (notperfectme.com)
- Lawyer challenges Aruba officials in tourist case (cbsnews.com)
Jan 23rdMoney Saving Tips on Everyday Spending
When my wife and I started out on our full-time motor home journey in the summer of 2009, one thing we wanted to find was ways of saving money and how to make what money we had go further. We did this by cutting down on everyday spending as well as stocking only the necessary items needed that would not take up too much room in our new 400 square feet of living space. The following information will be useful for those of you out there living in a home on wheels, apartment, or in a small confined spacing who are also on a fixed income and need to budget.
Here are some ideas that will help:
1) CLEANING THE HOME:
For cleaning, there are a total of only 5 items you will need to clean your home.
a) A quality dish soap that has a disinfectant as well and cuts the grease and dirt. For example, Dawn Dish Soap is effective for cleaning the dishes as well as the countertops and appliances (including your conventional oven). Dawn Dish soap can also double to be used as a pre-treatment for your clothes, it will do as good of a job (if not better) than the store bought pre-treatments currently available. Simply apply a dab to the spot, take an old toothbrush, dip it in water, scrub lightly, and then let it sit for 2 to 3 hours before washing.
b) Ammonia can also be cost effective, it is known to disinfect and deodorize a large number of things. By adding a ½ tsp. to a 20 oz. bottle of water you can use it to clean windows or by adding 1 cap of ammonia to a full bucket of hot water to clean larger areas such as a laminate floor..
c) For your wood and glass top furniture, try using a light oil based furniture polish spray such as Kleen furniture polish. This oil is light enough to protect your wood when used regularly, yet, will not smear on the glass. It comes out with a little shine instead, plus is also provides a wonderful scent of lemon and is one of the more less expensive brands out there.
d) A bottle of Old English Oil is also good to keep on hand in case you have scratches on your wood that need to be covered up.
e) A small bottle of bleach will do wonders to get rid of those tough stains and calcium deposits on porcelain sinks and toilets and yet will not scratch or cause damage to the surface. It too disinfects and deodorizes. Bleach can also be used in your clothes washer when washing whites. Simply add 1-½ tsp to the “add bleach” slot on your washer machine once it is filled and has started to rotate to wash.
2) SAVING ON PERSONAL CARE ITEMS:
Personal care items such as shampoo and body wash may have different options out there available, however for the most part they are all basically the same. Some shampoos and body washes can be used for both your body and your hair. For example, a shampoo can be used as a body wash as well as for your hair. The ingredients are almost identical. So why spend the extra money to buy one of each?
Shaving cream is another personal care item where you can save. Shaving cream can be replaced by soap and water. A mild soap with conditioning in it such as Dove or Almay will be just as effective and will allow you to shave and yet moisturizes at the same time.
3) SAVING AT THE GROCERY STORE:
Groceries can and usually are a challenge when it comes to saving money. Coupons are good way to save for those items you use most often. It usually will allow you to buy in bulk so you always have it on hand. There are websites that provide up-to-date coupons that you now can print out and use at your local grocery store. Some of these websites such as coupons will even email you with the latest news and coupons. Many grocery stores also provide their own coupons on their website.
Another way to save on your grocery bill is to look at what is on sale for that week either through the flyer in your local newspaper or on the grocery store’s website. When items you use are on sale, try to purchase enough to last you awhile. Also, shopping for can goods and pre-packaged goods earlier in the year when they are on sale may also help save you time & stress for your holiday cooking & baking.
Credit cards can be beneficial to you when used for grocery shopping. Try using a credit card for your grocery shopping only and pay the bill off every month. This will allow you to review your grocery spending each month and some banks even offer points for usage so that later on you can have discounts for restaurants, air fares, etc.
When planning your meals for the week, try using leftovers to make another meal or two. For example, make meatloaf one night, than the next night use the leftovers for either spaghetti or lasagna. Left over side dishes are great for adding into a main dish as well. This saves both time & money for those of you who work. Also, if you have small waste baskets for your trash, try using the plastic grocery bags left over from shopping. The bags are of no cost and can be easily stored in an empty tissue box and will be easier to dispose of.
4) SAVING ON CLOTHES:
Clothes can be very costly when they are needed. When the time comes to purchase these department store items, try going to a local consignment / discount store. Most of these stores offer a wide selection of very nice clothing that range from those everyday work & play to special occasions such as weddings, proms and anniversaries. When buying clothes for your children, you need to keep in mind that they will be outgrowing them in no time, so why spend hundreds of dollars for clothes that will last only for a short period of time. Another benefit when you purchase from one of these type stores is that your money will, most of the time, go to a worthy cause such as “The Cancer Society” or supporting our Veterans and their families. To find your local consignment/discount stores in your area, one useful web page is resaleshopping this particular website currently has over 2,150 stores listed throughout North America.
5) SAVING AT THE PUMP:
A way to save at the pump is to completely fill your tank each time you visit. You never know when the gas prices will go up again and this will allow you to get the best possible price at that current time. Choosing where to purchase your gas can require last minute decision making at times (especially when you are on the road), however, one of the ways to save is by purchasing your gas at places such as Wal-Mart. By putting money on Wal-Mart’s gift / discount cards, you can use this card at their gas pumps and receive .03 off per gallon. Also many grocery stores have great discounts on their store cards for local gas stations after purchasing a certain dollar amount on groceries. There are many websites that will provide the latest on gas prices for the area that are of interest to you such as gasbuddy and gaspricewatch. These websites are very helpful and are continuously being updated.
The speed & type of road can also make a difference on how much gas is used between fill-ups. When driving on the highways, try to stay at a speed of 60 – 65 mph. This will make your dollar stretch more by making longer times between fill ups.
In closing, there are many ways to save money at home. The best way is to do your own research and think about what you can do at home and on the road that will help you save. Remember, knowledge is the key to success and success means a brighter future.
I also have an article on ways to save money once you are retired.
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- Three Ways a Printable Grocery List Template Saves Your Time at the Store (foodonthetable.com)
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Jan 9thHow to Have Portable Wi-Fi and Internet Access using a Wireless Hub
When we retired and decided to travel around the country, one of our biggest concerns was how to stay in touch can with people and places. Things such as Banking, Email, News, and even Skype are very important to people on the go.
I found the best way to stay in touch is with Wi-Fi. There are local hot spots on almost every corner anymore or you can just turn your whole house into a Wi-Fi hotspot. Even most campgrounds are starting to offer Free Wi-Fi to its campers. However, there was still are many times I didn’t have internet access for one reason or another. When this happens I felt completely out of touch with the world. That is when I discovered the MBR1000.
This method can also be used on boats, cars, busses, and by those that just live where they can’t get high speed internet access and have one or more computers that needs it and you don’t want to spend the money on multiple data devices. There is a solution for you out there that will fit basically anyone’s needs. You can also use a wireless printer for sharing your printing needs among multiple devices.
The MBR1000 is a 802.11N router which I have found to be the best way to make sure I have constant Wi-Fi and it is router that can support a wireless data card and then converts it to a 802.11N Wi-Fi signal.
These can be purchased from many locations online. The nice thing about these routers is not only can you use WEP Security to secure them with a password, but you can have multiple laptops on them at one time and they all share the same wireless data card. If you really want to be technical with it you can actually install 2 data cards to load share you transmissions or have one from each carrier and if there isn’t Verizon coverage then it will scan to AT&T coverage. I don’t use this option because it gets too expensive to have multiple carrier data cards, so I stick to the one and have never had any issues. If you need to you can purchase an external antenna to plug into it to help you pull in a stronger wireless signal if you need to operate it in a low signal area.
My wife and I can now have both our laptops online at the same time and the speed seems to not be effective. We can even pick up the router for up to 80 feet around the outside of our motorhome when it is installed inside without any additional antenna. We have even had other people come up to us and ask if they could share our Wi-Fi for a few minute.
So if you need internet access anywhere you currently don’t have it, this router solved all of our issues.
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Jan 4thHow to Organize Your DVD’s in an RV or Camper
When my wife and I first started RV’ing fulltime, it was hard to downsize from a 2400 square foot home to a 400 square foot RV. You find yourself trying to downsize but at the same time making sure you carry with you the things you require to live comfortably but not over weight yourself. Weight is one of the most important factors in travels.
Our greatest challenge was how to travel with our 350 DVD collection (Which is growing daily). When we first moved in we found that we were taking up almost the entire shelving in the living room space for nothing but the DVD’s and there cases. It looked impressive but was not very practical.
After much shopping around and looking at different products we found that you can go to any office supply store or Walmart and purchase a CD case holder. These are the one’s they sell for transporting and organizing music CD’s. They are perfect for holding DVD’s and you can put over 300 of them in a space of 1 foot by 1 foot. You do have to throw away all your cases but then again what good are the cases anyway. Keep maybe one or two of them for when you want to share your DVD’s with other campers to protect them.
The cases fit very comfortably in the cabinets and you now will have a lot more space to hold the other things that are important to you in your camping lifestyle.
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Dec 29thHow to Submit Photos on the Internet for Sale
Selling your photography work on the internet can be a very frustrating thing. The most common way of doing it is to submit you photos as STOCK photos. These are photos that Web designers or marketing people can download for their work. You are paid based on the number of downloads a picture receives. It’s not easy to do, but it is a good method of earning a little extra cash if you have a digital camera and are able to take clear and high quality pictures.
Submitting your photos to stock web pages is free on most submission sites. Let me explain my experience with a few of these sites and how they have performed for me.
Shutterstock:
This web page is one of the most popular by programmers looking for stock photos. However, because of this, they are able to be very specific in what they are looking for from photographers. In fact, it is the toughest I have found of them all to actually become approved to submit photo’s. You must submit 10 photos to be approved and you must have 7 of the 10 approved before they will allow you to post any others. If you don’t get 7 then you must wait 30 days before you can submit another 10. They have very high standards, but if you can get approved they will provide you with the best results.
IStock:
Like Shutterstock they are very good but they also have high demands to be approved. There you must submit 3 to be approved before you can proceed. With them it’s a waiting period of a few days to a week depending on the number of attempts you have made if you fail and need to submit again.
Three others I have used are: Dreamstime, Fotolia, and Bigstock. These three are much easier to get approved than the previous two and you are able to have your pictures online quickly for others to download and or purchase because of it. These three don’t have an approval stat that you must pass to be approved. However, every picture is reviewed and approved or disapproved before being displayed on their web page. With these lower standards though I feel they get less web designers using them on a regular basis for art work.
Keep one thing in mind when taking stock pictures. Is this a picture that someone would be interested in purchasing for advertisement or other usage? Not every great picture is Stock material though. Before you start submitting stock photos on the internet you need to go to the various sites and look at some of the other pictures they have posted. This will give you a better understanding of what these companies are looking for. The more original you are the better chance of approval you will have.
Don’t get frustrated with the reviewers comments about your photos if they are disapproved. They are looking at content to see if it’s something people are looking for bore they approve it. Some pictures such as flowers are so overloaded in their system that more flower pictures are almost impossible to get approved on any of the Stock sites.
Dec 18thAnthony Horowitz and the Alex Rider Series
Since my wife and I retired a year ago, we decided to start reading books again. I had troubles finding a book that would be just too hard to put down. I did, however, find just that in a book series written by Anthony Horowitz about a 14 year old MI6 Spy called Alex Rider. Anthony wrote 8 books based on this character, each and every one of them was a nail biter from the first page. Below is a brief description of each of the eight books.
STORMBREAKER: This is the first book in the series and starts off with Alex Rider learning is uncle whom he lived with has died. He learns that his uncle was a spy with MI6. MI6 then recruits him to look in an issue with the owner of Sayle Enterprise. Alex learns he plans to kill thousands of kids throughout London.
POINT BREAK: In this book Alex is put undercover as a troubled teen for one of the richest people in the world. He is sent to a troubled teen school in the mountains. He discovers the children are being cloned with the DNA of Dr. Grief. He wants to use the clones to take over the world by controlling all the largest companies around the world.
SKELETON KEY: This book Alex is asked to assist the CIA in the US. They need him to be the 14 year old child of two of their agents. After the two CIA agents are killed in the mission Alex has to step in to take over. Sarov is a Russian determined to set off a Nuclear Bomb to start a war to rebuild the Russian nation.
EAGLE STRIKE: This one starts off where he is on vacation with a girl and her family and the father, a journalist, is almost killed in a blast. It turns out that one of the richest men in the world, Damian Gray, wanted him dead. Her father found out that Damian wanted to destroy the world by launching all the US nuclear missiles
SCORPIA: Scorpia is a secret organization of past spies that have turned bad for the money. They try and get the US President to resign and other demands that the US will not accept. They do this in order to try and get the US and England at odds with each other. They attempt to poison thousands of children in London when the US rejects Scorpia’s demands.
ARC ANGEL: A Multi Millionaire Teams up with British Government to build the first ever Space hotel. When things run more than expected and he discovers the US government is investigating him for criminal charges he sets a plan in place to blow up the Space Hotel and have it crash into the US Pentagon. Alex even spends a few hours in space in this one.
SNAKEHEAD: Alex gets a chance to work with his god farther who also is a Spy. He goes undercover as a Afghanistan refuge to be smuggled into Australia so that they can track the smuggling ring. At the same time Scorpia is attempting to set off a nuclear bomb under water to cause a tsunami to drown thousands of people. Alex gets got up working both cases at the same time because the Snakeheads are coordinating both crimes.
Crocodile Tears: Alex is again accidently thrown into a situation to save the world. This time he gets involved with a man that wants to kill millions with genetic mutation. He plans to modify wheat fields in Kenya to produce Ricin and kills millions of people that eat on the wheat. In return he runs a charity group that will receive millions of dollars in support from around the world. He promises Jack in the end that he is done since he is turning 15 but as we all know, only time will tell.
These books are designed for teenagers but even as an adult I enjoyed them. Just like other Spy books and the like, Alex will always save the day with only seconds left but the suspense is great just waiting to see how he does it. He isn’t allowed guns in the books but he always seems to kill the bad guy in one way or another. Anthony has written other series as well and I hope to start them soon.
Related articles
- Anthony Horowitz is absolutely right about publishers – apart from mine | John Mitchinson (guardian.co.uk)
- The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz – review (guardian.co.uk)
- Anthony Horowitz: Do we still need publishers? A publisher responds…. (armidabooks.wordpress.com)
