Ten Reasons to Suspect "Save Darfur" is a PR Scam

This is an interesting article. Shows that even the rhetoric about human rights deserves a closer look. (Just providing a link below, it's a long piece).







http://www.alternet.org/audits/69170/

What's With the Last Name of "Peterson"

One of the most fascinating stories in the news lately is that of Drew Peterson and his alleged involvement in the deaths of his third and fourth wives. He is intriguing; he truly believes that putting his story on TV will prove his innocence when most of the country as already labeled him GUILTY.

Peterson reminds me of some other men, namely Scott Peterson (what a coincidence there) & O.J. Simpson, who have been accused of killing their wives. Do we really believe that his third wife's cause of death was accidental drowning? Does he really seem that upset at the recent disappearance of his fourth wife? And can we stop here for a moment and ask why his forth wife is 20 years his junior? I think Drew Peterson is as guilty as sin. I've seen multiple interviews with the guy, and he lacks credibility. He can keep telling lies and he can keep avoiding the line of sight of the people who interview him, but he will get caught sooner or later. It's amusing to watch a guy who thinks he has everyone fooled when we all know he's sweating bullets and freaking out behind that blank face.

In the case of Scott Peterson, I actually believed that guy for a time. There was something about his eyes that caused me to trust him, and he looked so distraught over his wife's death. The logos, ethos, and pathos were all working together for me when I listened to Scott. It was gut-wrenching to find out the truth. I wanted it to be someone else, but I was gravely disappointed and realized I drastically misjudged his character.

We'll see what happens to good 'ol Drew. I hope they nail his ass to the wall...the evidence is mounting! To read more, click below.

Drew Peterson on the Today Show

Hitler is in town

I have often wandered if America is being beaten at its own game. They spread propaganda, fill the hearts of people with fear, and antagonize/terrorize the rest of the world with threats of bombings, embargos or lack of aid. Yet they are easily upset and offended when another bully enters the ring. I find it highly amusing to watch the power play between the US and Iran, better still the reaction of the US people. American’s cried for Saddam’s blood and now they are crying for Ahmadinejad. The cost of one war though upsetting seems to weigh very little in their arguments.

Bush did a fine job molding the American’s people’s point of view in them jumping at the thought of threat. None of them stopping long enough to question or consider that Ahmadinejad is simply playing the game America started. He has made his comments about the Holocaust, and everyone reacted to him as being the next Hitler. Never once stopping to think or question his motives for saying what he did and that what he said could have merely been done for a reaction rather than expressing his personal truth or belief. But then he has learned to play the “big boys” game of “Western Politics,” while most Americans know very little to nothing of their own history, politics or government.

My question is, if he had brought up slavery or the genocide of Native Americans throughout the Americas would we be having this conversation?

Negro Spirituals

In our first day of class we had a huge conversation about Negro spirituals. Some persons seemed to be confused as to what they were and their cultural significance. With this in mind I have included a video that was emailed to me on this topic. It is very interesting to watch and is not very long.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMF_24cQqT0

Another reason to love Nordies?

I saw this big poster hanging outside of Nordstrom on Saturday night. And I saw it again today too. Ok, I go there alot.
If you can't read it, it says;

"At Nordstrom, we wont be decking our halls until Friday, November 23rd. Why? Well, we just like the idea of celebrating one holiday at a time. From our family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving. Nordstrom will be closed Thanksgiving Day. On Friday, our doors will open to welcome the new season. "

When I first saw this, I thought it was cool, considering when I went into Target on Halloween to get candy, the Halloween isle was already a Christmas isle, no candy to be found. I considered giving out candy canes.
But then, I thought, "yeah, it's great Nordstrom is doing this, but why do they feel the need to trumpet it all over their store, isn't that kind of worse than decorating in the first place?" I think I would have rather noticed on my own, "Oh, good Nordstrom knows it's November".

On the other hand, Chanukah starts on December 4 this year, only 10 days after Nordstrom "decks their halls", that doesn't give the Jews a whole lot of present-buying time. Oh well, we've been through worse. :)

Campus Security Alert for November 16, 2007

To the UB Community:

University police and local law enforcement are actively responding to an anonymous threat that was called in to the campus today. The threat was general, but specified that some kind of harmful action would take place on campus on Friday, Nov. 16. As a result, additional security will be at the University throughout the day tomorrow.

All activities planned for Nov. 16 will proceed as scheduled.

Updates concerning the campus schedule will be posted when appropriate on the University’s home page at www.ubalt.edu and through the emergency notification system.

Samuel D. Tress
Chief - University Police
------------

Well, I am here, and unless I had seen my email, I would have no clue this was happening. There's no warning on the website, no emergency call on my office voicemail. Nothing. Just that email. I am not in the main set of buildings, so we have NO security guard. HR will not close the school down to prevent someone from being hurt. They want their money's worth. I am okay with that, if they let people know. But the fact that there is nothing on the site, no leaks to the news, no calls - just an email - speaks volumes about how some at this University view their staff and students.

mandals maybe?

Lots of Visual Rhetoric in this picture. The more I look at it, the more I see.
Morgan Spurlock is at it again, but this time instead of "eat healthy, not mcdonalds" it's "shop locally and at mom and pop stores, not walmart". I wonder if this crusade will make any difference in holiday sales at Target, WalMart etc...my guess is no.

Marine Warfare

According to a recent Reuter's article, many locals believe that the U.S. military is responsible for the presence of a shark found in a southern Iraqi river. I can't think of a more effective or efficient way for our military to evoke fear in the hearts of our wartime enemy, can you?


At first I was a surprised that people would believe such an outlandish claim, but then I got to thinking...it seems pretty clear that people will believe anything, no matter how ridiculous sounding, if it agrees with their preconceived ideologies. We see this demonstrated all the time in America with anti-gay and various religious and moral propaganda.

How do we encourage people to take an interest in facts when it comes to conviction?

NASSIRIYA, Iraq (Reuters) - A two-metre shark has been caught in a river in southern Iraq more than 200 km (160 miles) from the sea.

Karim Hasan Thamir said he was fishing with his sons last week when they spotted a large fish thrashing about in his net. "I recognised the fish as a shark because I have seen one on a television programme," he told Reuters.

The shark was pulled from the mouth of an irrigation canal that joins the Euphrates River. The Euphrates joins the Tigris River further east to form the Shatt al-Arab waterway which flows south past Basra into the Gulf.

Dr. Mohamed Ajah, assistant dean of the college of science at Thi Qar University in Nassiriya, said barriers in river estuaries usually prevented sharks swimming upstream.

"In this case, I think this animal was there for a long time but no one had managed to see it," he said.

Locals blamed the U.S. military for the shark's presence.

Tahseen Ali, a teacher, said there was a "75 percent chance" Americans had put the shark in the water.

"This is very frightening for us. Our children always swim in the river and I believe that there are more sharks. I believe that America is behind this matter," said fisherman Hatim Karim.