Chris Christie's Choice to Lose Weight

Recently, New Jersey governor Chris Christie revealed he went through Lap Band Surgery and subsequently lost forty pounds. I congratulate him for taking such a bold step in his personal health and wellness. My respect for this man has increased ever since he has taken his governor position. As a liberal, even I find myself surprised to say this, but I feel that governor Christie is different from many of the politicians in both parties. He has chosen time and again to do what he believes is right rather than what his party believes is right, which can be seen in the aftermath of the Hurricane Sandy disaster. Instead of sticking with his party's beliefs and accusing President Obama of inadequacy during this time of trial, he instead he commended Obama for his strength and adeptness when dealing with a tragedy.
Now, he has taken this very personal step in his well being to show how he is willing to change his lifestyle and I think this could help him in his political career as well. Many are saying that this is a ploy to be able to be eligible for the presidency but I think that the presidency would be a side effect. He has stated many times that the purpose of the weight loss was for himself and not others, which I think is wonderful. His story can relate to many overweight Americans stories and could very well win him the presidency, but I think the main goal definitely was just to be healthier.

Works Cited:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/05/07/chris-christies-lap-band-surgery-and-what-it-means-for-2016/
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/07/opinion/monroe-christie-weight-loss-surgery/index.html?hpt=hp_t4
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/05/07/how-christie-surgery-weighs-on-2016/?hpt=hp_t2

The Associated Press Gets Hacked! #10

Last week's Boston Marathon bombings were devastating. And like any devastating event that occurs in America, people who wanted to find out what happened were glued to their screens. However for the first time ever, many of those were not television screens. People logged on to Twitter, Reddit, Fourchan, and Tumblr to get the latest news that the mainstream media didn't always pick up on. People were discussing and poring over pictures taken before the bombs exploded in an attempt to find the notorious Boston Bomber. Sometime afterwards, the whole country was in an uproar because apparently someone had sent ricin to the president and a factory in Texas exploded. I heard about all of this, just while I was at school. The prevalence of social media like Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit have impacted not only our ability to connect with our friends and family, but also our ability to connect to the news and the events going on in the world around us. The problem that occurs, of course, with being connected 23/7 (you have to sleep sometime I figure) that when the news makes a mistake, for example, the Associated Press Twitter Account getting hacked and reporting attacks on the white house, the repercussions it has on a totally connected world, for example, the Dow Jones dropping 140 points (a ridiculous amount for repercussions to an event that wasn't even true)  almost immediately after, are mind blowing. Basically, this story is a cautionary tale to check other sources before acting in the real world. Even if a respectable source sends out something, in this case the Associated Press was extremely reputable, make sure other sources are reporting similar stories.
Works Cited:
http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/ap-twitter-account-hacked-posts-false-white-house-scare-6C9560165
http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/23/4257392/ap-twitter-hacked-claims-explosions-white-house-president-injured
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/04/23/ap-twitter-hack-was-trivial/2107427/

Fresh Air For Sale! #9

It might sound absolutely ridiculous, but a billionaire in Beijing, China thinks that the air pollution problem has become such an issue that he has decided to send a message to the people in his city by selling canned fresh air. Chen Guangbiao is smart enough to realize that, of course, this won't exactly help the problem, but he hopes that the people in his city will come to realize that they need to take better care of their environment, so that they and their children may continue living. The money made from selling the cans will go towards charity.
I completely agree that the air pollution problem in Beijing is serious and needs to be dealt with and I totally support how Guangbiao is going about this. They say the best things in life are free, and by showing that fresh air has become such a commodity, he is showing people that they have to take care of their environment.

Works Cited:
http://sourcefednews.com/chinese-billionaire-sells-cans-of-fresh-air/
http://dawn.com/2013/01/31/chinese-billionaire-sells-canned-air-in-polluted-beijing/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/01/chen-guangbiao-canned-fresh-air-pollution-china_n_2599716.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/29/china-canned-air-chen-guangbiao-chinese-millionaire_n_2574901.html

Billboards That Are Actually Good For Something #8

I think it's fair to say that I hate being advertised to. I avoid watching television and watch shows online for less ads, even then I mute them and find something else to do for the thirty seconds they play and I never give magazine advertisements a second glance. I think it's fair to say that I avoid advertisements fairly well. I think of them as necessary but unfortunate parts of life. I know that some websites and companies use them as their only source of profit, like many of the partners of Youtube, which is why they are necessary, now I don't particularly want to be advertised to, but if it brings money to the people that I want to support, then I see no reason why not. Now, a new technology has come to light in Lima, Peru: A billboard that has the technological capability of transforming water vapor into clean, drinkable, water. Basically, nothing short of an absolute miracle.
The billboard works by using the abundant water vapor in the air and the process of reverse osmosis to produce up to 20 liters of water a day. It needs electricity to run this process and it is currently using the power grid of the city, but it could be changed to use solar panels or fuel cells. Unfortunately, this process only works because of the high humidity in the air already in Lima, Peru, which ranges from 83-100%. This high humidity is caused by the city's close proximity to the southern part of the Pacific Ocean. The billboard is specifically designed for a humid city that needs water. Still, if innovative solutions, like this one, can be used to provide water to those who desperately need it, that could end our fear of lacking water for good. I don't think that people would even mind being advertised to on these billboards.

Sources:

http://sourcefednews.com/billboards-that-pull-water-out-of-thin-air/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=35yeVwigQcc

http://techland.time.com/2013/03/05/finally-a-billboard-that-creates-drinkable-water-out-of-thin-air/

The Guns in School Debate Resurfaces #7

Remember the tragedy that befell the Elementary School of Sandy Hook a couple months ago? And remember the ridiculous notion that the NRA came up with to put more guns in schools to "protect" kids? As a part of the efforts to increase school safety after the shooting, schools in New York put out a program that places an armed police officer in the school. Keep in mind, this was a police officer, trained for using a weapon and authorized to have a gun legally.
At 1:38 on Tuesday in the hallway of Highland High School Officer Sean McCutcheon's gun discharged, apparently by accident. No one was hurt, this time. The question that sticks in my mind, however is, if an armed, licensed police officer, who's legitimate full time occupation is to handle a gun and keep the people around him safe, cannot handle a gun, who really can?
There have been reports of volunteers in other states that are marching around schools with guns as a part of a volunteer effort to accomplish the same thing, which in my mind cannot possibly be in any way safe. Those same volunteers, when investigated thoroughly, were found to be convicted criminals who didn't have anything better to do during the working hours of the day than to stand around an elementary, middle, or high school campus and "guard" the children that they had been convicted of committing crimes against. And again I ask the question, if a police officer cannot handle a gun properly, how can people like this, who are not professionally trained or paid to do their job?
I have an inkling of a feeling that, they can't. The only way to figure out how to keep kids in a safe environment so that learning can really take place is to ensure that the laws we have against guns are being followed through and if those laws aren't working, to legislate new ones, that will.

Works Cited:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El3NwLVYHmY
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/06/sean-mccutcheon-gun-school-highland_n_2819273.html
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/07/guns-school-officer-shoots/1970017/

Robot Fighting #6

Remember that movie that came out last year that featured Hugh Jackman controlling robots to fight with?

It's fair to say that the movie-verse has crossed over to real life. On February 26th this year, Syfy, the international channel for science related shows, announced that they would be premiering a new show where people fight each other... using robots. I would agree that this sounds like a pretty cool concept at first, with metal scraping on metal and sparks flying for sure, but is it really morally correct?
The three laws of robotics state that 

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

If a fight gets too intense between the people or the robot misfires, how are we to know that these robots would not be in violation of these laws? And people have a natural disposition to preventing cute furry small mammals from fighting against each other, but are the morals really so different that we can make large metallic machines do the same?

I mean, just look at those puppy dog eyes!

Sources:

http://sourcefednews.com/humans-fight-each-other-with-robot-surrogates/

http://www.syfy.com/robotcombatleague/about

http://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/sci/syfy-announces-real-steelstyle-robot-fighting-show.html

Monopoly Changes #5

About two weeks ago, the makers of Monopoly, the board game, decided to change the pieces and let America decide what the new piece is going to be because we are a democracy! (that doesn't really support the making of a monopoly but that's besides the point) Of course, since the decision was left to the internet, the chosen piece was... (drumroll please)... a cat!
Now I know that pieces have been changed in the past, for example, the Nokia 3360 and A glass of scotch used to be among the silver lumps of metal a player could choose, but I think that the cat is a particularly ridiculous choice for a monopoly piece, I feel that these monopoly pieces should try to reflect the most major objects of our era, and although the cat does dominate the internet,

 I don't feel that it is grounds to change the monopoly pieces. In all honesty though, does it really matter? Changing this monopoly piece isn't exactly going to make people run out to go buy more monopoly games, and with all the varied different types of monopoly, the classic board game isn't that classic anymore, it has fought to stay relevant in our society and I suppose I must commend the makers for that.
It doesn't mean I'm going to go buy Monopoly though.


Sources
http://sourcefednews.com/monopoly-pieces-that-fell-by-the-wayside/
http://abcnews.go.com/US/monopoly-gamers-choose-cat-replace-iron/story?id=18413338
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/06/monopoly-cat-piece_n_2629561.html