Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Sunday, November 22, 2009
The Limits of Language
"The Limits of Language" by Nicholas Lemann points out that the way language is represented today is made to change or to hide the true meaning of words. As Orwell states in his essay of "Politics and the English language," bad language produces bad politics.
Lemann states "function is far preferable to emotion." This can be seen as a rule that Orwell did not establish in his essay but Lemann thinks it is necessary for correcting the way language is represented.
Another point from Lemann's essay is that the internet is a useful modern tool but it has corrupted the information that we find and so it can't always be trusted without doing research.
Politics and media will use any means in order to convince the population. The question is to what extent will they use "bad language."
Lemann states "function is far preferable to emotion." This can be seen as a rule that Orwell did not establish in his essay but Lemann thinks it is necessary for correcting the way language is represented.
Another point from Lemann's essay is that the internet is a useful modern tool but it has corrupted the information that we find and so it can't always be trusted without doing research.
Politics and media will use any means in order to convince the population. The question is to what extent will they use "bad language."
Sunday, November 15, 2009
The Infotainment Freak Show.
On the essay by Martin Kaplan "Welcome to the Infotainment Freak Show" there is a very revealing analysis on the information media. Kaplan show that news today is all about entertainment and finding the most bizarre and crazy things to entertain people with. I think money and power is what drives the media in to showing the American population these things. It is how they get higher raitings.
Kaplan also states that reporters aren't doing their job of researching in depth about an important news topic and instead they just get their stories by looking up information on the internet.
News used to be a public service that transmitted facts and well researched stories and now, with more competition, being profitable is the only way they can compete or so it seems that way.
everyone must consider now if what is shown in the news channels is factual, researched information. that is why it can be a good idea to watch the news in more that one newscast.
Kaplan also states that reporters aren't doing their job of researching in depth about an important news topic and instead they just get their stories by looking up information on the internet.
News used to be a public service that transmitted facts and well researched stories and now, with more competition, being profitable is the only way they can compete or so it seems that way.
everyone must consider now if what is shown in the news channels is factual, researched information. that is why it can be a good idea to watch the news in more that one newscast.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
On Politics and the English Language
This weeks reading of George Orwell's essay Politics and the English Language was difficult to understand because it is highly analytical. Orwell intends to explain how we shouldn't write essays with words that we have to look up in the dictionary.
Sometimes we use words in our essays that we might think means a certain thing, but it is actually something different. This is because how we are influenced by the "bad habits which spread by imitation," according to Orwell.
Also, our constant changing politics are giving us the guidelines of how we should think, regarding political and economical issues in our nation and abroad. For instance, words like democracy, socialism, freedom, patriotic, justice and other that Orwell uses can have different meaning with every new presidential term.
Orwell's rules on writing essays are very helpful. Sometimes i try to write and essay using words that sound sophisticated but i end up not even understanding my own essay. Another thing that I often do is to write words just to "fill up" the essay in order to reach the assigned number of words. Hopefully by following his those rules my essays will turn out to be better in quality and analysis like in Orwell's Essay.
Sometimes we use words in our essays that we might think means a certain thing, but it is actually something different. This is because how we are influenced by the "bad habits which spread by imitation," according to Orwell.
Also, our constant changing politics are giving us the guidelines of how we should think, regarding political and economical issues in our nation and abroad. For instance, words like democracy, socialism, freedom, patriotic, justice and other that Orwell uses can have different meaning with every new presidential term.
Orwell's rules on writing essays are very helpful. Sometimes i try to write and essay using words that sound sophisticated but i end up not even understanding my own essay. Another thing that I often do is to write words just to "fill up" the essay in order to reach the assigned number of words. Hopefully by following his those rules my essays will turn out to be better in quality and analysis like in Orwell's Essay.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Inappropiate Haunted House
An article from the San Bernardino Sun on 23 October, 2009 was posted online with the title "Rialto mother turns home where sons died into haunted house." It caught my attention because it sounds disturbing just by reading the title. Josh Dulaney reports that a a fire in a Rialto home killed the two sons of Viviana Delgado, who is making a haunted house out of the remains of the burned house. According to the city planning department, it is safe to enter the house as long as it is not red-tagged.
Some neighbors consider it to be a "macabre memorial." "It's not cool," said Harry Cass, 49. "I disagree with it." "People don't know what I'm going through, they don't know how I feel," Delgado said. "This is how we're going to spend Halloween together."
I think everyone has the right of mourning the way the feel it is the right way for them. Some ways seem inappropriate or disturbing. I personally think it should be just a memorial and not a haunted house with sounds and lights.
Some neighbors consider it to be a "macabre memorial." "It's not cool," said Harry Cass, 49. "I disagree with it." "People don't know what I'm going through, they don't know how I feel," Delgado said. "This is how we're going to spend Halloween together."
I think everyone has the right of mourning the way the feel it is the right way for them. Some ways seem inappropriate or disturbing. I personally think it should be just a memorial and not a haunted house with sounds and lights.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Counterfit sellers
On Sunday October 18, there was a news article that talked about counterfeit sellers in the inland center and what the police is doing about it. "Inland police targeting counterfeit sellers" is the title of the article by John Asbury of The Press-Enterprise.
In the article, Asbury describes that law enforcement people have found sellers of counterfeit merchandise in swap meets and outside of markets. Brands like D&G, Coach and Ed Hardy are among the top most seized by authorities.
According to an interview with Riverside County sheriff's Sgt. Zachary Hall, "A lot of this counterfeiting is what funds terrorist activities and narcotics."
Asbury explains that the sales of counterfeit items hurt sales of local businesses and that retailers loose thousands of dollars. I think that most of the people who buy counterfeit clothing, shoes, bags among other things are people who can't afford to buy the brand named items at regular price, so in a way it is not really a loss to the retailers because these people who buy counterfeit would otherwise never buy original. I am not saying that it is ok to sell counterfeit products, I am only suggesting that the price of original merchandise shouldn't be too high, specially at times of economical crisis.
In the article, Asbury describes that law enforcement people have found sellers of counterfeit merchandise in swap meets and outside of markets. Brands like D&G, Coach and Ed Hardy are among the top most seized by authorities.
According to an interview with Riverside County sheriff's Sgt. Zachary Hall, "A lot of this counterfeiting is what funds terrorist activities and narcotics."
Asbury explains that the sales of counterfeit items hurt sales of local businesses and that retailers loose thousands of dollars. I think that most of the people who buy counterfeit clothing, shoes, bags among other things are people who can't afford to buy the brand named items at regular price, so in a way it is not really a loss to the retailers because these people who buy counterfeit would otherwise never buy original. I am not saying that it is ok to sell counterfeit products, I am only suggesting that the price of original merchandise shouldn't be too high, specially at times of economical crisis.
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