Arrrgggghhh

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30325382/

When I think of pirates, a swashbuckling drunk with a patch and peg leg comes to mind. But in the 21st century, a pirate is a 16-year old teenager from Somalia. Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse is teh only surviving member of a group of pirates who held a U.S. boat captive. What is so startling about this situation is that we associate things such as pirates with a time less-civilized as ours. I guess it just goes to show that the world has not evolved as much as we thought it had.

A Guiding Eye

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30155540/

Mona Romouni is a blind woman living in Detroit. She believed that she would have to spend the rest of her life being dependent on her family, but then she found Cali. No, Cali is not a guiding eye dog, she is a horse! Muslim's believe that dogs are unpure and dirty, so Mona felt that it was unfair to bring one into her household with the rest of her family. Instead, she has trained Cali, a minature horse about the size of a dog, to be her eyes. This is very unconventional to say the least, but it has really changed Mona's life. "Before Cali, 'I had basically given up. I mean, I had been to the point where I thought, 'I'm going to get nothing out of my life,' Ramouni said. 'And having Cali ... showed me that I had forgotten about all the optimism I had as a kid. When I was a kid, I thought I could do anything. I thought everything was possible.'"

The US government is thinking of tightening the restictions of what can be considered a guide animal, so that farm animals aren't included. I can see how people think that using farm animals may not be fair to the animal, or may be unsanitary, or just weird. But, is it fair to restrict the use of animlas if they are truly successful in changing people's lives?

A Google World

Google Street View is a site where you can type in any address and see an actual picture of it. I'm sure you have all gone on it and found it fascinating to look at your own house on your computer screen. I always thought of it as a cool way to "see the world", and never thought of it as an invasion of privacy until I read this article about people in England who formed a human chain to block the Google mobile from taking pictures of their houses. Do you think that Google Street view goes too far in invading our privacy? Do you think that technology is becoming too invasive?

Underwear Boycott

I'm just going to say this: the Middle East confuses the hell out of me. Most Middle Eastern countries have incredibly strict regulations on women and their interaction with men. they can't go into public without their husband or male family member, they have to wear veils , and they aren't even allowed to have mannequins with heads on them due to a ban against depictions of realistic women.  I'm sure there is a whole list of other things all to make "protect" women from prying eyes and keep them from looking sexual. 

In this article, it talks about how women are boycotting lingerie stores because most only allow males to work there and they want women-run stores. The women are sick of being embarrassed when they buy underwear and have to ask a man to fit them. Oh, and by the way, they are not allowed to have fitting rooms because they do not want women changing clothes in a public space and in the presence of a man, so they don't even know if the things they buy actually fit them.  It may sound like a silly thing to make a big deal about, but these women deserve the right to buy underwear without feeling ashamed or embarrassed. 

But what boggles my mind is that if they are so incessant on keeping men from looking at women, then why exactly are they letting men work in a store where they sell intimate clothing for women! It really doesn't make sense to me. This is basically just contradicting all of the laws that they have made up to prevent this. 

Women's rights in the Middle East are so far behind what we are accustomed to in the West and although this is just a minor thing, it is reassuring that the women are fighting against it.  

Obama does Leno

       Last night, Obama was a guest on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, making him the first current president to ever be on late night television. In this candid interview, he discussed the economy, his frustration over the AIG bonuses, as well as some more personal info about his his first 59 days as president. In the article that MSNBC posted, they explained that was Obama's version of a fire side chat. "Obama was seeking to 'get his serious points across," Beschloss said, but “in a way that, presumably, Americans are going to like.”

      Being a huge supporter of Obama , I thought it was great to see him in a more relaxed setting and seeing his more personal side. But my friend, who is from a pretty conservative town, made a very good point. She said that many people she know criticize Obama for trying to be more of a celebrity than a leader, and that by going on the Tonight Show, he is just trying to increase his stardom. 

What do you guys think I was just wondering if you guys think that this was a smart move for Obama? Did this allow him to reach more people that normally wouldn't know what's going on or did this just cause him to seem like he is chasing after fame?

Sad

An article on MSNBC reports how men in South Africa are raping lesbians to try and turn them straight. "They yell, 'if I rape you then you will go straight, you will buy skirts and start to cook because you will have learnt how to be a real woman'." In just Cape Town, they are dealing with 10 new cases a week of lesbians being raped. 31 women have been killed due to hate crimes since 1998, but the number is probably much higher because the courts don't acknowledge crimes having to do with sexual orientation. This honestly breaks my heart to hear how people can be so intolerant and hateful. Although we still have a long way to go in terms of acceptance towards gays, I think America is slowly moving towards the right direction towards acceptance. California finally made a breakthrough and allowed same-sex couples to get marries, but later passed Proposition 8, which banned this as well as overriding all of the marriages that occurred before. This was a huge step back and for gay rights. Seeing how the rest of the world treats gay people so terribly I think it is more important than ever for the U.S. to set an example for the rest of the world that this behavior cannot be tolerated. 

Who Cares!

         I don't know about all of you, but I am just plain sick of dried up celebrities

trying to revive their careers by making a reality show about their life. We've been exposed to the daily lives of such A-listers as Denise Richards, the Osbournes, Anna Nicole Smith, and Nick and Jessica Simpson.  Now, America, we have the privilege of seeing the life of M.C. Hammer!

         An article on MSNBC highlights the upcoming show. "The 1990s rap music sensation says "Hammertime" will give viewers a glimpse of his 16-hour days as a businessman, computer geek, proud father and husband." If I’m going to watch the life of a celebrity I want to see them living the life of a celebrity. If I wanted to see how ”normal” someone is, I could just videotape my own life and watch it.

Also, why would TV executives think we would want to watch M.C. Hammer. Granted, his song “Can’t Touch This” could get stuck in your head for hours and has been used endlessly as a corny pickup line. And yes, he did bless the fashion world with the gift of parachute pants, but this does not mean that it would be entertaining watching him drive his kids to school. If he is trying to revive his career, why doesn't he just come out with a new song?

  With new technology, such as blogging, the celebrity culture has completely changed. We can now watch every move of celebrities and know every uninteresting fact from their favorite ice cream flavor to what type of gas they put in their car. The celebrity has become more familiar to audiences. They are no longer mysterious, but instead, overexposed. Even with shows like American Idol, average Americans have the opportunity to become pop stars. The thing that is so entrancing about a celebrity is that we don’t know everything about them. Our society used to portray celebrities as living elite and fabulous lives. But by seeing everything that goes on in their daily lives, they loose a sense of intrigue. There is no longer any mystery about them. I prefer to imagine my celebrities sipping champagne in their gold-plated houses rather than see them drink coffee in their living room.