Military Bans Removable Media..

I found a pretty interesting article about some of the effects WikiLeaks has had. This one talks about a ban on all removable media by the US military on its soldiers. That means no CDs, no flashdrives, or anything else similar can be used while they are at work-- if a soldier is found in violation of this ban they are facing court marshalling. The article is pretty interesting, and the topic of WikiLeaks opens up a wide debate as to where the line of media regulation should be drawn, especially in terms of national security.
Removable Media Ban

Like a Little?

Have you heard of that website likealittle.com? The BSU campus has a forum of its own, and it allows people to anonymously submit posts about people around campus. I find this site to be extremely disturbing.. it takes online stalking to an entirely new level. People are able to post anything about someone they might find attractive, or might want to get to know better, and then other users comment back in forth trying to figure out who the person is, what their name is.. and sometimes what dorm room they might live in.
Does anyone else agree that this site is taking "networking" a little to far?

Black Friday

Are you one of the people getting up at 2am to go shopping tomorrow? I think the media frenzy around Black Friday is incredible.. and the money it brings into stores is even more insane. I've never done it.. are the sales really that good? Is it really worth it? Is this just another holiday scam to get us to become hyper-consumers and spend too much money? Let me know what you guys think..
in the mean time:

Fear Imbalanced..

I try not get political (despite being a political science major) for classes that are outside the major-- just because I like to avoid the conflicts if possible-- also because I've learned that there is no real winner in political debates.
However, I can't let this one go. I'm so completely fed up with the news media of today... especially Fox News.
Fear Imbalanced --> This is an older Daily Show clip that absolutely cracked me up when it first aired. But unfortunately, nothing has changed.. and if anything, it has gotten worse. I won't get into specific issues, but the blatant biases and contradictions put out by a so-called news station are so utterly ridiculous. Maybe I'm naive in thinking that the general public recognizes these things.. that most American's understand that it's not really news that they're getting from Fox, but a right-winged agenda under the false heading of news. I use the Daily Show to exemplify these points because I think Jon Stewart does it in a way that is not only hilarious, but also eye-opening.
Here's one more (I couldn't find the original clip, so try and ignore the guy speaking in between) Bias

Though I wouldn't call the Daily Show a "real" news program, I think it is one of the most provocative satires on television. Like it or not, the majority of young people in this country get their news from shows like Stewart and Colbert. I'm not trying to say that the Daily Show itself isn't biased, that's not the issue here. The issue is that a national news station is selling itself as 'fair and balanced' when it is most certainly and unequivocally not.

Only in San Fran...

I know this might be a "weird" or maybe uncomfortable topic for some people, but it was something we covered in my anthropology course. We discussed the practice of female genital mutilation, and if it was a human rights issue, or an issue of freedom of religion. My class is mainly one of women (because it is an anthropology of women course) but there are a few men as well-- one of them raised an interesting point. Why is male circumcision a non-issue in this country, yet female circumcision is seen as a barbaric and unnecessary bodily modification. The argument was made that the same thing could be said about males in this country. It did cause a little argument in the class because some said that the process was much less painful for boys, it was generally not something they could remember, and that it was truly unnecessary for girls.
Well, I found an article today that deals with this exact argument, and it has to do the human rights issues surrounding boys and the rights they have over their bodies. Link
I think this is relevant because should the government have a say in this issue? Or is this up to the parents to decide? Is this a first amendment rights violation?

Non-American American Traditions

I just received this e-mail from my professor in my International Relations class. It's a list of commonly-though to be American past times & goods that have become globalized, or were never American in the first place. I found it kind of interesting because I think we take so many things for granted to be "American" without thinking of things on a global scale.

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/07/02/surprise-american-icons-that-arent-american/

Big Brother's Tracking Your Ford..

So I just recently saw this on the news. Apparently a 20 year old student attending college in Santa Clara, CA took his car for an oil change when he discovered a GPS tracking device and battery pack attached the rear of his vehicle. He and his friends posted pictures of the device online to see if it was real or not. Turns out it was. That was after a dozen FBI agents came to his home demanding the device back.
It seems very strange to target such a young kid but here's the kicker-- the reason it was done is because his father is Egyptian. And he's Arab. Even though his an American citizen, born in the United States he is not safe from suspicion. I think this ties in pretty well the ideas of stereotyping we've been discussing.

Here's the link if you'd like to read more.