Let it Stay or Let it Go?

As I look around my room to see which items I could throw away and items I could not live without, I discovered many items for both reasons. My T.V is one huge item I absolutely do not need. I barely watch T.V and when I do I am only watching on Sundays for The Walking Dead or when I am bored while eating. I could definitely live without my T.V and throw it out. Although my room is already large, throwing that T.V out could create a much larger space in my room. I would also throw out the giant desk with a desktop computer that is broken. No one is fixing the computer which means we do not need a giant desk or a desktop computer. A smaller desk would be nice though. I looked inside my closet if there were any clothes and shoes I did not need and there were many. There were a few shirts I barely wear. I could easily throw those out, but my dresses I could never throw out. My dresses are always worn and throwing them out has not crossed my mind at all. As for shoes, I would throw out some converse and a pair of wedges I do not wear. The rest I could not imagine living without. My phone is the one thing I could not live without either. I actually need that for communication reasons. I could not live without my laptop either. I need it for school work and such. I would not be able to write this blog any other way. Although most items are not needed, people simply like having them which is completely fine. 

Oil Spill

“Texas oil spill harms wildlife; officials work to reopen ship channel”

By: Michael Muskal

Source: LA Times

http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-texas-oil-spill-galveston-birds-20140324,0,2914466.story#ixzz2xPCcd5jv

An oil spill that happened over the weekend in Texas in the Houston Ship Channel has harmed wildlife and the local economy. Authorities would have liked to reopen the Houston Ship Channel but it remained closed. The oil spill happened after the collision with a Liberian-flagged ship in Galveston Bay on Saturday. 168,000 gallons of oil spilled, threatening birds at a nearby wildlife sanctuary. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Coast Guard are investigating the incident. Eighty ships are waiting to pass through. They are hoping to have the channel partially open where the ships will be able to pass through but as of now they are trying to determine when is the safest time to have it open, but that is not the main concern. The main concern is the effect on birds and wildlife. There had been investigators sent from the Environmental Protection Division to the spill site. More than three birds had been affected by the oil spill on Monday morning, but some reports say that the number of birds affected was larger, but less than a dozen. Birds have been already affected therefore other animals are in danger such as dolphins and turtles. Officials will continue to work on monitoring the environment, controlling the oil spill, and reopening the channel. According to the Coast Guard, The Houston Ship Channel is one of the world’s busiest waterways for moving petrochemicals. The delay of shipping could increase the price to buyers. There has been oil found in the Gulf of Mexico, twelve miles of shore, on Sunday. The oil spill caused a huge amount of damage, not only closing the channel down, but also to the environment around it. Wildlife is being affected and that is not okay. The economy is being affected also. This spill is affecting the small businesses and interrupting fishing. The increasing of prices is not fair to consumers all because of an oil spill. There needs to be a way to control the amount of oil spills happening. 

Colbert Nation

In this segment of The Colbert Report on Colbert Nation, Stephen Colbert talks about Russian propaganda. Vladimir Putin is using media to brainwash foreigners by using Propaganda. He also mentions a quote by Vladimir Lenin which said “A lie told often enough becomes the truth.” When people lie too much they start believing what they say themselves. One of the channels that are promoting propaganda is RT, Russia Today. CNN said that RT receives 85 million viewers in the US and most Americans do not realize they are watching “Putin TV”. Colbert makes fun of CNN by saying “You heard CNN, 85 million people, that’s like taking CNN’s viewers and multiplying it by 85 million.”  In the Ukraine, all channels have been blocked in Crimea. Colbert is sarcastic here by saying that they cannot watch their favorite shows “So You Think You Can Pierogi” and “The Real Mail Order Wives of Odessa”.  Pierogi’s are dough with fillings like cheese, potato, or fruit and whatever else one would like, which is similar to the Ukrainian varenyky. In the Ukraine, it is common to mail order wives and Odessa is the third largest city in the Ukraine. Colbert uses satire throughout the entire segment by bashing on Putin and Russian propaganda. He is always mentioning stereotypes. One stereotype he mentions is that brainwashing is “America’s thing” and uses American Pie movies as examples of brainwashing. America is the county of couch potatoes and watching TV all day. Colbert makes fun of that aspect in this segment. Colbert basically bashed on two countries and a major news channel in one tiny three minute video which is amazing. My opinion on Colbert’s video is that it was hilarious and only Stephen Colbert could be brutally sarcastic with what he says. 

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/433715/march-12-2014/vladimir-putin-s-propaganda-machine---russia-today---liz-wahl

Satire Blog

"Dog Doesn’t Consider Itself Part Of Family"

Source: The Onion

http://www.theonion.com/articles/dog-doesnt-consider-itself-part-of-family,35532/?ref=auto

In Thomasville, Georgia, a six-year-old golden retriever named Pepper relies on his family for food and shelter. Even though they provide Pepper with food, shelter, water, include him in activities and photos, he does not consider them as his family. Pepper told reporters on Friday “Hey, they’re not bad people, and I appreciate that they let me ride in the car sometimes, but do I think of them as my own family members? God, no”. He said this while scratching his right ear with his leg. He had no involvement of the O’Donnells adopting him and he spends as much time as he can in the backyard to not be around the O’Donnells. Pepper then talks about his family members. He calls them loud and obnoxious and how they are always on the couch and on their phones. He even talks about the family dad, Rob O’Donnell. Apparently he is a mess and cannot take a walk to the park without being tired. Pepper also states that he is not one of them. During press time, Denise O’Donnell made Pepper sit and beg for a while before letting him have the piece of cheese in her hand and that was when Pepper’s stance was reaffirmed. Dogs cannot talk nor express their emotions or how they feel to their family. That is exactly what is being satired. They cannot look one in the eye and say “I’m sad” or “I’m hungry”. Dogs can think a human is annoying as much as a human thinks dogs are annoying but at the end of the day dogs will always be loyal. The news is never 100 percent correct. They will exaggerate to receive the reader’s or viewer’s attention. They will try to make the people talk more about the news to others and then they will turn on the news or read online where the news companies will receive money. The article about Pepper also makes fun of that aspect. The article is 100 percent false and like other news articles. This is hilarious because dogs cannot speak and in this article it talks about what the dog said to the news reporters while scratching his ear. It also makes one think if their dog thinks about them like Pepper does about his family. 

The Economy

The economy is the main factor in our lives. There are days where the economy is wonderful and days where it is absolutely horrible. I do not receive allowance which is fine by me because I do not need money at this day and age but whenever I am hanging out with my friends or if I eat lunch with one of my friends my parents will hand me money of course. I remember December was the rough month where whenever my family wanted an entity my parents would remember that the money that month was not doing fine and we needed to cut back. Although we have had problems with money, food was not an issue. We have always had an abundant amount of food in our house and as of now financing is fine. The economy affects me in positive ways also. When the economy is doing fine, the money is fine therefore my parents will not be frustrated when they pay for my education or worry about finances for college. The economy will hit me hard once I come out of college. I would have to find a job and maintain it to receive money and care for my family and I because my parents will not always look after me and see if I am alright when I have a family. The future is coming soon and there is no time to waste. 

Target Healthcare (Business)

"Target to drop health policies for part-timers"

By:  Ricardo Lopez and Tiffany Hsu

Source: LA Times

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-target-health-insurance-20140123,0,6459410.story#axzz2vQiBolSH

Target Corporation became the recent company to stop providing healthcare to part-time workers. Experts say that Target will now be the last major company to stop providing healthcare. Target announced that they are changing their benefits policy starting on the first of April. The reason of doing this is because the part-time employees could receive cheaper and better coverage through Obamacare. Although this is happening, only a small percentage of part-time workers would be affected. Of the total workforce, only 361,000 are enrolled in part-time decisions. Target is on the list with other restaurants and retailers that are making changes to health benefits throughout Obamacare. In September, Home Depot said that they would discard healthcare in January which would only affect five percent of the workforce. 160,000 employees switched to employer-sponsored coverage with private healthcare at Walgreens. Experts in this field say that employers with large numbers of part-time workers will agree on keeping costs low. Target mentioned how this decision may actually benefit the part-time workers if they look for insurance on their own. Target is providing the part-time workers with $500 in cash to help with the transition. Target has also hired a firm to help people with those transitions. Trader Joe’s also stated in September that its part-time workers would also benefit from this if they looked for health insurance with public exchanges, but Trader Joe’s said that more than 77 percent of its employees would be unaffected. Businesses are asking workers to participate more with their health insurance and possibly accept less benefits. Last year, a quarter of California firms said that they either increased the costs for employees or decreased health benefits. Health insurance seems like a problem in the U.S and needs to be resolved somehow.  

Nature

Sitting outside can actually be relaxing, besides the bugs and such. The warm air on my skin feels amazing after all the cold weather these past few days. The new grass that had been planted is growing out beautifully. There is a water fountain against the wall on the left that has not been used for years is filled up with dirty water that no one bothers to clean. My dog Daisy is outside with me walking around and running in the grass. The huge lemon tree is in front of me. That is useful when it comes to cooking. No one has to take a trip to the store whenever someone needs a lemon. Daisy is now sitting under the sun. She loves to do that all the time. There is also a pomegranate and fig tree that do not grow anymore. I do not know why we still have the trees; I guess it adds a nice touch. It became much more warmer since I came outside. I hope it does not get warmer. Although it is very warm, there is still a little wind blowing by and the leaves on the huge trees moving are beautiful. I can hear birds chirping from all over the place. I honestly do not like the sound of birds "singing". I can hear a baby crying and that is not something I want to hear right now along with the birds chirping. The voices of my neighbors talking very loudly with each other is super annoying at the moment. The sound of cars rushing by on the end of my street sounds pretty cool. Although sitting outside is nice, I really would like to go inside and eat the ice cream in the freezer i have been thinking about the whole time. It got even warmer and I am starting to sweat so I am going to end this blog right now.