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?