Is Apple's Siri Anti-Choice?

With apple's latest iphone, the features are infinite when it comes to getting what you want, when you want it. Probably the most helpful feature on this new iPhone 4S is Siri, the computer aided female voice that can seemingly reply to any demand with exactly what you need. It can give you directions, weather reports, and even the score of the football game if you asked, but for some reason many iPhone holders have noticed that Siri seems "anti-choice." Whenever you ask her anything, she is willing to abide, but say if a woman who has recently become pregnant says, "I am pregnant, I need an abortion," Siri goes silent with her automated response of, "I cannot handle your request at this time." This has led many iPhone users to believe that the programming behind Siri has made her anti-choice on the abortion debate. This seems very weird, as how would an electronic device be able to have an opinion. Granted, there have been some amazing feats in the world of technology, but that seems a little far stretched if you ask me. There must be some logical excuse for why she seemingly has no response when it comes to the abortion topic, we just haven't been able to find out what.

This article was written by Mary Elizabeth Williams, the same author that wrote the article that I last blogged about on the topic of child obesity. This being another serious topic, it would seemingly appear difficult for Williams to explain this topic without any angry opposition. However, Williams is able to tap into the comedic bone in people, which seems like a smart way to approach this subject. When talking about this topic as a glitch in programming, she sarcastically remarks, "I know, imagine iPhone software without with a few bugs" (Salon.com). This, along with many other joking comments, is able to effectively present the topic in a way that attempts to anger people on either side of the argument, and it seems like the best way to tackle this tough subject.

Is Childhood Obesity Abusive?

Recently, an eight year old boy in Cleveland was taken from his parents by child services as result of neglect. However, this is not the usual form of neglect that is occurring. Child services took custody of the child because he was over 200 pounds, a weight which the services deem as too much for any eight year old. They came in a took the child from his home, and now he and his mother only see each other once a week for two hours. But is this really what is right. Child services saw it as a neglect case, but the article makes it seem as if the mother was truly trying her best to help her child and reduce his weight. She stated that she had enrolled him in a local Healthy Kids, Healthy Weight program as one way in which he could lose weight, but she said that everything that she tried just couldn't do enough to help him to lose a significant amount of weight, and now he has been taken from her custody because of it.

Mary Williams, the author of this source, uses a somewhat strange method of writing this article. She employs a sort of question/answer strategy, but it is not an interview in any way. For instance, she starts her article by asking, "Is childhood obesity child abuse?" This question is able to appeal to the ethos of a reader, as it truly questions the ethical root of the problem. She then goes on to explain her answer to the question as well as the details of the problem at hand. Later, she employs this technique at other times, seemingly asking the reader what they think about certain details of the story and then answering them from her own ideas. In this way, the article seems very opinionated, as there are countless examples of Williams own opinions on the matter at different times in the article. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing, as it is able to pose an argument, as some people may disagree with Williams' opinion, which could lead to a more widespread debate over this childhood obesity problem.

How To End the Black Friday Madness

Everybody knows someone that stayed up all night on Thanksgiving in order to be the first inside the closest Walmart or Target or any of those other giant retail stores that opened their doors at insane hours on Thanksgiving night. In our own town of Hanover, I am pretty sure that there were numerous stores that were open at midnight on Thanksgiving in the hope to capture the most Black Friday Shoppers. As Robert Frank explains in his article, this Black Friday shopping has grown into a monster. In fact, this year it is not only Black Friday, but the shopping extends for 10 days in total (tomorrow, Monday, is known as online Monday, where people are encouraged to shop for anything that they are looking for online). However, it is not only the shoppers that must awaken at such early hours, but employees as well. Who would want to end their Thanksgiving early simply because they must go to bed at 4:00 pm just because they have to work at midnight? It just doesn't seem right to deprive people of their Thanksgiving just to get the best deal on a striped sweater.

In the beginning, it may seem as if Frank is simply complaining about the shopping fiasco, and if this were the case it probably would have been very annoying. But the article is titled "How To", which means that he does have a solution. He takes mostly an ethos appeal, questioning people as to why they would ever ruin their Thanksgiving just to shop at 1:00 in the morning. He also uses a logos appeal, as he mentions the nuclear arms race, and how it is similar to what is occurring with outlet malls. They all want to be the first to open, and so when somebody decides to open at 4:00 am, then somebody else must eventually decides to open at 3:00 am. This constant "race" to be the first to open is really what drives Frank crazy. The resolution to this "problem/solution" method that Frank uses in what he calls a "6-6-6" plan, which he takes from Herman Cain's idea for a "9-9-9" plan. He poses that a 6% sales tax be implemented on every item that is sold between 6:00 pm Thanksgiving night and 6:00 am on Black Friday morning. This way, he hopes that it would encourage more people to stay in bed on the morning following Thanksgiving, and put an end to this Black Friday craziness.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/24/opinion/how-to-end-the-black-friday-madness.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Enduring Thanksgiving

As many of us were catching up with family this past Thursday, there was one man who had a different experience. As Will Boast describes in his article, he spent this Thanksgiving at his girlfriends house, and he also went into describing how he has recently seen the holiday as something to survive, not something to appreciate. Growing up, his mother had died from cancer, which eventually caused his brother and father to fight non-stop. Later, his brother died in a car accident, which left just him and his now alcoholic father alone at the Thanksgiving feast. After that, he simply went around with friends and ate at seven different houses in seven different years. This story seems aweful, as Boast is unable to spend this one holiday that is thought of as one that is meant to be with family with anyone but a relative. For myself, I have always enjoyed Thanksgiving with family, either with just my own or with the entire extended family with cousins and uncles and everything of the sort. To me, it just seems like a god given right to be with family, but I guess not.

Boast employs numerous different rhetorical strategies in this article. He starts off with a historical example, describing the Pilgims and the true start and meaning of Thanksgiving itself. This is effectively able to lead into the story that he is about to tell. Going on, he takes a first person point of view in describing his life story on each and every Thanksgiving holiday, and by doing so takes a pathos approach as there are many examples of his own emotions throughout the article. When talking about his mothers cancer, he shows a great amount of emotion which is able to translate the true meaning of the story that he is telling. All in all, the pathos appeal within his story is able to successfully illustrate his idea of surviving Thanksgiving.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/24/opinion/enduring-thanksgiving.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

The Face of Police Cruelty

Recently, cops on the campus of UC Davis have been caught on video casually spraying a line of non-violent protestors in the face with pepper spray. Obviously hearing this story brings grotesque images to mind, and I am sure than most have seen some sort of image depicting the brutality used by cops at other "Occupy" spots all over the United States. This article also included the video of the event taking place, and upon watching that video I was horrified to see the extreme measures taken by the officers against a group of people who simply want to remain where they are. The protestors show no sign of violence, and the cop just goes down line inflicting pain as if it were nothing. I can not imagine how anyone could do such a thing to a group of people, and the brutality has been rising as the "occupy" movements have grown in popularity around the U.S. While I know that the officers do have a duty to restrict the protestors from "occupying" wherever it is that they are, these measures seem too extreme.

Joan Walsh, the author of this article, uses both an ethos and pathos appeal in her article. Her points where she questions the officers' actions and thoughts seem to present an ethos appeal as she truly is questioning the mindset of the police officers. These questions are able to efficiently target the ethos of the reader, as it causes them too to question the officers and their actions. At other points, Walsh focused on the pathos appeal, continuously adding her own opinions on the topic and the occurance at hand. One of her many emotional appeals comes when she says, "What the UC Davis protesters did Friday was non-violent. What the cops did in response was brutality" (Salon.com). Obviously she felt that her opinion would be able to appeal to the emotions of the reader and efficiently illustrate her thoughts on the event.

Protection for the Ocean Food Chain

Who doesn't like fish? Everyone has to like fish. And recently, due to efforts from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, the menhaden fish have been put under watch in order to protect them from fishermen. Now not many people eat menhaden, or better yet even know what a menhaden is, but it plays an important role in the oceanic food chain. The menhaden is a main dietary source of the blue fish and striped bass, two of the tasty fish that we humans like to dine on. For me, I love fish and often go fishing over the summer where I spend my time down the cape in North Falmouth. The blue fish and striped bass are the two main fish that I catch when I'm down there, and they're pretty good if I do say so myself.

The author of this source appears to agree with me on my dietary selections, or at least on the idea of saving the menhaden at least. He shows many examples where he believes that the actions taken by the Commission are the right thing to do, and he seemingly approves of everything that is being done. In order to raise awareness in this article of the danger that is truly occurring in our oceans, the author uses certain statistics to show the descending numbers of the menhaden, which efficiently are able to prove his point that something must be done.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/11/opinion/protection-for-the-ocean-food-chain.html?_r=1&ref=editorials

"The Road" Outside Reading

Upon finishing The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, I find it to be a very mysterious story. For starters, the story opens with a scene involving a man and his son awakening in the woods one day in a post-apocolyptic world. Throughout the story, the father and son remained unnamed, and we are never able to discover their true identities. They awaken on this morning as they have every other morning for the past few weeks as they make they way towards the western coast. They travel along a desolate highway, all the while trying to avoid being killed by the canabalistic groups that travel the road as well. They survive on sheer luck, randomly coming into unknown supplies of food that help them stay alive. Throughout their journey, McCarthy does well to illustrate the relationship between the young son and his father, which turns out to be the foundation behind the whole story. They are the only one's left that they know, and they grow in a way in which they rely completely on each other in order to survive and make it to the coast. In the end, however, the father does not make it, but he leaves his son with all the wisdom that he needs in life. After becoming ill and loosing the last remnants of strength that he had, the father lies down and gives the son their pistol, which has managed to be their lifesaver in more than one deadly encounter, and tells him that he must continue on without him and make it to the coast. With that advice, they both fall asleep, and the son wakes up to find the father cold and dead. He is nervous, but he leaves the woods where his father lies and immediately is encountered by a man on the road, and realizes that he is a "good guy" and the story ends with a woman describing how he can talk to God if he wishes, but he is only successfully able to communicate with his father.

McCarthy's style of presenting this story is unlike any that I have ever seen before. The main difference between this book and many other books is the chapterless set-up that McCarthy uses. It is a never-ending story, which in a way seems as if it was used to represent the never-ending journey that the man and his son are on. Also, the way in which McCarthy employs the dialogue in his story is unlike any other. He does not place the dialogue in quotation marks, and while it does at points make it harder to understand when a conversation has begun, it does contribute to the never-ending feeling that is created throughout the story. It seems as if he is trying to make it so that there are no pauses in the storyline, and this aspect, along with the dialogue that is used to place the reader alongside the man and his son on their journey, are effectively able to engulf the reader into the story and truly create that feeling of desperation and doubt as the journey develops. However, it seems that while McCarthy's is unlike any that I have read so far, it is truly the most effective style to portray this story.

Seven Billion

The United Nations has recently estimated that sometime in this coming March, the Earth's population will reach seven billion people. This astounding number has worried many, as scientists feel that our planet cannot account for such a large amount of people. It seems crazy to think that there are 6,999,999,999 other people out there on this planet, and it is even crazier to think about how fast that number is growing. It is estimated that by the end of this century, the Earth's population will reach 10 billion people. It seems as if it would be impossible for the planet to host such a large amount of people. Where will they all live? What will they do for work? The supplies and "stuff" needed to support that number seems as if it is impossible to reach.

The author of this article, Joel Cohen, seemingly agrees with my opinions. He states how ludicrous the 10 billion people sound, but he also appears to be a little nervous about the number, as he states many scientists points of view on the topic which show how that large of a population really does pose problems when it comes to supporting it. While some people believe that a larger population always leads to a larger planetary income, most scientists support the idea that it is impossible to support so many people. However, they will have to come to terms with that idea as the planet is rapidly growing towards that seven billion mark.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/24/opinion/seven-billion.html?ref=contributors

Mom to N.B.A.: Play Ball!

Currently, the NBA lockout is a very serious matter. It has even gone on longer than the heavily debated NFL Lockout that ended in time to see the full season take place. However, this is not the same deal for the NBA. So far, countless games have been cancelled, and there is a chance that the season will not happen this year. Obviously this is a big problem for the fans of the sport, as they have fallen in love with the sport and have become accustomed to watching their team play every night. Cancelling games and perhaps the season could lead to a dramatic drop in the fan base, as well as create a large amount of saddened NBA followers. To me, this lockout situation does affect me slightly, as there were days when I would sit down and watch the Celtics play, especially when the playoffs came around. With the season being delayed, it just doesn't seem like any good can come out of the situation.

Isabel Gillies, the author of this article, seems to state a similar opinion on the matter. However, she takes a different point of view. Instead of voicing complaints from a fans point of view, she does it from a mothers. She tells the story of her son, who became engulfed in the sport recently, and is worried about how the lockout will affect him. She loved seeing him amazed at the skill and technique involved, and how he would try to duplicate some of the moves of the professionals in his own driveway. Gillies seems concerned that the lockout can change his mind on basketball and that he may loose interest, and she uses this pathos approach to truly show her concern for what might come if the NBA season does not take place.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/08/opinion/the-nba-lockout-through-a-moms-eyes.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

The Shame of Penn State

Everyone knows what has been going on at Penn State in the past week. This article, by Allen Barra, goes into detail about the issues that were discovered early this past week, and does well to shed some light on the situation. Everyone is aware of the child sex abuse scandal that has shocked the citizens of Pennsylvania, and more specifically the students and administration at Penn State University. Recently, protesters have hit the streets in frustration over long time football coach Joe Paterno was fired due to allegatoins. Supposedly, an assistant coach on the team witnessed one of the abusive acts and told Paterno, but the information was never brought to authorities. This detail was enough for the university board to fire Paterno. Like many people, I was angered by this action, as Joe Paterno IS Penn State football, and I really did not see it truly just to fire him on such allegations.

Barra's presentation of this article is one of interviews and first hand reports. He uses an interview with the vice chairman of the trustees as a basis for his article, but instead answers the questions himself, through his own point of view. This set-up turns into him angrily ranting about how some people are so angry about Paterno's firing, and uses the whole article for scrutinizing the protestors for supporting Paterno when he allegedly knew about these actions. He voices his opinion as he wishes, and in the end the article turns out to really just be an angry rant.

Old People Getting Richer, Young People Getting Poorer

Recent research has shown that the elderly of today are quickly separating themselves from the rest of the public. According to an article by Alex Pareene, the elderly of America have vastly increased the economic space between them and the youth of today. However, this fact seems to be common knowledge. Statistics stated that the persons over 65 were 47 times wealthier than people 35 and under. Obviously they are richer. People under 35 have more recent college debts, as well as pay rent and other kinds of housing, as well as a family of their own for many of them. Also, does this "under 35" include all of those six year olds who think that finding 50 cents on the playground is better than winning the lottery? If so, than these statistics are pointless. The age of 65, in itself being the retirement age, has many more economic promises than for anyone else. For one, they have spent their whole lives saving up, they should have more money than the rest of us. Also, they no longer have to provide for children as all of their children provide for themselves at that age.

Reading this article kind of made me angry. When I first saw it online, the title seemed interesting, as I know that we are currently in an economic crisis. But when I opened it, and all Pareene had to say was that old people had more money than teenagers, and supported it with some baloney statistics in an attempt to make the numbers seem insane, I really was a little disappointed. In any case, aside from his lousy excuse for statistical support, the rest of the article seems to have been written in a way that would be able to persuade a less skeptical reader. However, for me this was not the case.

Punishing Poverty

In New York, a new law was passed by the governor that made those applying to the Needy Families Program to pass a drug test before being granted support. This is a large infraction on the fourth amendment, which disallows unreasonable search's. But it is a bigger problem than just that infraction. The law makes the poor think that they are less than everyone else, and with it in the place the government is seemingly proving to them this fact. Why should they have to submit themselves to more drug tests just because they are less wealthy than most? There seems to be no logical nature behind this new law, and all it seems to do is belittle the poor and subjugate them to more embarrassment and humiliation than they previously received. Overall, it just seems to be a pointless law.

The author of this source seems to agree with my ideas. He uses numerous examples of dialogue from senators and representatives that disapprove of the new law, which in turn are able to show his ideas on the subject as well. He uses both logos and pathos, as he uses facts and logic to detail the new law, and his own ideas and opinions to show his emotions about the law.The dialogue that he uses does very well to explain his opinion on it, but it also clearly identifies the bias that he has within the subject.

How Adults Ruined Halloween

This article argues many points of how adults have ruined Halloween, and while at first it may appear like a ludicrous statement made by kids of teens, it actually has some truth behind it. With their being creeps and murderers who are willing to go to any extent to contaminate a candy (razor blades in malt bars, rat poisoning injected into Almond Joys) it has become increasingly dangerous for parents to send their kids out into the night without any supervision. Nowadays, parents bring around kids before it even gets dark, and they trick-or-treat with a constant monitor placed on what they take and who they are taking it from. Parents have been forced to be overprotective when it comes to that stuff because they always fear the worst. Also, parents seem to be overprotective when it comes to some of the basic Halloween traditions. Raw eggs and shaving cream, two harmless projectiles, have created fear in parents as if getting slapped in the face with a hand full of shaving cream is going to permanently scar their kid forever. It's shaving cream....relax.

The authors of this source, Rosecrans Baldwin and Gilt Taste, seem to side with the kids on this one. Even though they are adults, they like to bring up their childhood memories, and are appauled at how some of the traditions have been disallowed in recent years. They use pathos in this article to relate to the reader and make them think of their own traditions that may be objected to by parents in recent years. Overall, while they do acknowledge that some things on Halloween are over the top, they mostly complain about how badly adults ruin Halloween