Category: SP17 E04: Open Strong

Smartphones have been a great advancement in technology and in society. Like any other tool they help us with our daily tasks such as keeping us close to public safety officials, allowing us the ability to transfer money that helps us manage our lifestyles, and being able to check the safety of our families with a push of a button. Having the ability to talk to someone miles away has made life convenient and full of contentment for modern day people. It is safe to say that the phone is one of the most important tools ever made along with electricity, the telescope, and the wheel.

The practice of sending information has been a valuable assist to forming society since the renaissance. To be able to inform, people can be the difference between life and death in a state of war. The phone is another staple to humanity such as U.S presidents are to the development of America. However, not all presidents are helpful -to the well being of the country as such not all uses of phones are beneficial to our daily lives. Recently phones have been the bane of our daily progression as we constantly check our phones as we work. Our phones have been given as much responsibility to their owners as their owners’ function in society. Moreover, phones help us get things done. Now think for a moment about how someone could use that tool that helps you with getting things done with different intentions for its uses than to its owner’s purpose. There you have an issue; the privacy of one’s belongings is one of the most sought-after luxuries humanity has set for itself. The foundation of America was fought for the individual privacy to practice any religion. Forward two hundred and forty years into the future and we find us with a similar conflict with individual ownership boundaries. Most recently this conflict has been brought to light with news of terrorism in America. In 2015, a terrorist attack occurred in San Bernardino, California. The terrorist attack was a mass shooting carried out by a Pakistani couple that aimed their sights at a San Bernardino country department of public health Christmas party, where 16 people were killed and 24 people suffered non-fatal injuries. After being pursued the couple were killed in a shoot out with police. In all, a total of 40 people were harmed with the intent of causing terror in America. While investigating the remains of the couple, the FBI found an Apple Iphone that is understood to hold information on the couples’ activities. The modern day conflict with privacy was that the FBI wanted Apple to open the Iphones encrypted system to investigate the information that it holds. How does one feel when their government pursues access to one of the most powerful tools in the current age? Giving the FBI that kind of power is a serious bridge of trust. The FBI has made a case with the Department of Justice that would put Apple in the position to hold responsibility of the phones property having been the manufacturer. Apple being the entity that it is was adamant to allow the case to follow through without debate first. The company stands against the FBI when considering how much power they could give the government with just one case to decrypt a single iphone. Beyond this instance the government can use this knowledge to perform whatever surveillance deemed useful, which is a lot of power. The debate over whether Apple can be held accountable for it’s products second party uses after developing an issue with a third party can show the conflict of interest between the American people and the consumers of technology

The “truthful” studies that we believe because they are backed by scientific research may be completely wrong. Society as a whole views studies that are backed with scientific research as the complete truth for something as meticulous and methodical as research leaves an indication that something that went through thorough trials must be true. However, the data that is brought from many studies can be easily manipulated to show a correlation between two different variables that shouldn’t have anything to do with each other. It is completely viable for data for something that is pushed for something Democratic to easily be manipulated to push something Republican with the same data. The issue lies with how these studies that imprint a certain vendetta may only be truthful under certain circumstances and can be influenced by the people funding them. And with the lack of replication test that is highly underfunded and underappreciated to refute these false studies, the companies that fund a study may be able to press a flawed version of the truth.

 

Companies that fund

 

 

“You play ball like a girl!” This used to be one of the worst insults of all time. In today’s day, it is quite a complement. Softball seemed as only the girl version of baseball. The girl’s who couldn’t compete with “the big guys,” played softball. That underhand pitch, the size of the field, how much bigger the ball is, seems easy. In reality, it just makes it harder. Recent studies shown us how much harder hitting a softball is than hitting an over-hand pitch of a baseball. The angle, speed, distance, and spin are just a few aspects of the windmill pitch’s difficulty. In reality, hitting a 95 mph, over-hand baseball pitch from 60 feet away is more difficult than hitting a 65 mph, windmill softball pitch from 43 feet away.

Has anyone ever really heard of a famous fast-pitch softball hitter? We hear about baseball homers all the time. The reason we don’t know about quality softball hitters is because there aren’t any. There are many more aspects about the windmill pitch that make it much more difficult than hitting an over-hand baseball pitch. The angle, speed, distance, and spin of the ball coming to the batter is completely different than baseball. The only true similarity of the two sports are the rules. Though people think softball is the easier version of baseball, it is not.

Video game developers and publishers may be creating and marketing violent video games for younger audiences, but they are not to blame for the consequences. With plenty of forms of content awareness for video games; the people who are truly to blame are the parents allowing their children to play these games. In a Harris Poll survey, one third of 2,278 US adults said they allow their children to play any type of game, and two fifths of that said they have no understanding of video game ratings systems. This lack of knowledge or care for the subject is why parents purchase violent video games for their children, and in turn video game inspired crimes should be blamed on them.

Violent video games increase aggression, but they do not lead to violent activity. For several years, politicians have believed that when children enact violence in a video game, they are prone to do the same in real life. While the American Psychological Association’s studies on the mental impact of violent video games have proven that they increase aggression in a verbal or mental setting; this aggression is not seen in their actions. With this in mind, violent video games are not a catalyst of violent behavior, but a scapegoat for it.

Self-identification of race encounters more opposition than self-identification of gender in America. We easily accepted Bruce Jenner identifying as a woman in 2015, but shunned Rachel Dolezal, a Caucasian-born woman, for identifying as African-American in that same year. Half of the Millennial generation acknowledge the idea that “gender is a spectrum” instead of just male or female; cities and public establishments have created no-gender ID cards and bathrooms to accommodate for all genders. So what makes choosing our race so different? One example would be that there are benefits to being a certain race, such as earning college scholarships by identifying as African-American. Many see this as unfair to real African-Americans who are eligible to the scholarships – no scholarship means no education. America separates race as White (non-hispanic), African American, Hispanic, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, Alaskan Native, and bi- and multiracial and we are expected to choose our race when filling out applications and censuses. But if others don’t agree with our choice, then what race are we?

OPENING 1:

One well-placed bullet can change the course of history. On the morning of November 22, 1963 Lee Harvey Oswald changed history with three as he shot President John F. Kennedy as he rode through Dealey Plaza in Dallas Texas. The country was shocked by the question of why someone would want to shoot the President. Unfortunately Oswald was killed just before he could testify, leaving the question as to what the motive was to kill the President of the United States. Also, new questions arose as to why a mobbed-up nightclub owner would put himself in front of the cops and national television just to shoot Oswald. President Kennedy was highly approved of and lead the U.S to make tremendous leaps into progression, he had a dark past and affiliations with organized crime that are believed to be the reason for his early and tragic departure from this world.

OPENING 2:

President John F Kennedy was portrayed to the American public as an outstanding, well-rounded, Irish-catholic man who was a strong leader, but President Kennedy had a deep past associating with some of America’s worst crime figures. Throughout the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, while Havana Cuba was thriving as the gambling capital of the world, Kennedy found himself regularly in the company of known crime bosses such as Santo Trafficante, Sam Giancana, and Carlos “Little Man” Marcello. The then-Senator Kennedy was treated like royalty by these men, receiving gifts and special treatment, all due to their previous relationships with Kennedy’s bootlegger father Joseph P. Kennedy. It is believed that the relationships that JFK made with these men helped put him into the Oval Office; however, it is also speculated that in the long run these men were responsible for taking his life on that sunny November afternoon in Dallas.

 

Imagine a surgery that not only recovers an athlete back to normal selves, but amplifies there game at the same time.  Tommy John surgery, the most common operation in baseball today.  A ligament in your elbow that holds the forearm bones to the upper arm bones is replaced with the tendon in your wrist and intertwined through holes made in the ends of each bone.  We may have hear different things about it, but really don’t know the facts behind it.  A 10-12 month full recovery process can really make a pitcher gain speed and have a stronger arm then they ever did before.  We might even realize, pitchers should have this done before even getting hurt in the first place.  That is the thought that will make you think about how much of a plus this extraordinary surgery really is.

America today is not much different then it was 80 years ago. African Americans are still taking the backseat to white people. Most white people are still racist to black people and it’s a shame honestly. African Americans are still treated as a minority, they aren’t treated as equals, and they have to fight for their lives to even get recognized. Every few weeks you hear of  a white cop shooting an unarmed African American for some bogus reason. When that happens the judicial system always seems to side with the cop who just murdered an unarmed American citizen and they get off free without any punishment. If it were the other way around with a black police officer murdering an unarmed white person the judicial system would make sure that he would rot in the worst prison possible. Does America really treat all as equal? I think we all know the answer to that.

1. The existence of apps like Tinder, meant to aid in modern age dating, are doing more harm than good for those looking to find a serious partner. This is happening simultaneously with an explosion in the hookup culture, it’s popularity is akin to the “Swinging Sixties” in which pre-marital sex was the “new” fad. Users of dating apps seem to be split down the middle, those looking for something serious, and those looking for sex; and as we progress into the future one is becoming much more popular than the other. Activity from Tinder, and other apps that fall into the same category, are pushing long term relationships further and further down the rabbit hole. Forget chivalry, maybe it is monogamy that is dead.
2. Dating apps have come a long way in terms of convenience and efficiency; they provide today’s modern singles with the opportunity to find people with similar wants and interests. Services like Tinder bring local singles looking for love a touch screen away; this raises the question, why are so many people having so much trouble? Recent studies are showing over-use of dating apps are causing low self-esteem and detachment from romantic partners, within their user bases. This seems counterintuitive considering these apps are meant to bring people together not push them apart.

1. Racial profiling and police brutality in America towards African Americans is an epidemic to most but is not backed by statistics. The “Black Lives Matter Movement” has taken the country by storm and has been the reason for countless protests and violence. Many believe police and other forms of law officials racially profile individuals, which leads to unfair treatment and at times death. People have said this time in America is the worst its ever been for blacks. Although, the evidence and statistics provided shed light on the broader issues of these accusation and prove them otherwise to be false.
2. Statistics show that nearly 50% of all police shooting are committed on white males, yet the world view is that police brutality and killings are widely committed on black males. The news and social media paint a very broad picture of a misconception on police force. The view by the public is racism and has always been racism. Although, this is not reality and the numbers speak the truth.