Very Clever

Look closely. What do you see? It's just normal apps on an iPhone, right? Well, you might want to look at the apps placement again...

   Hidden in everyday life is some sort of subliminal message, some more subtle than others. like some hidden picture of a person on a vending machine with Coke or Pepsi as the huge photo, for one. Just keep on walking to your destination. No  need to stare at the picture for so long. If you actually do, you might notice something, like with the picture above..

   So maybe all of us are dumb and can't even see it (the apps say "OB3Y", with the following app being Apple). We're probably already geared towards buying Apple products,  not Samsung or Google or the like. Perhaps they're working with some doohicky in our brains for our subconscious to follow. But this is one of the more faint examples (the person that took the shot might have rearranged the apps, but I can't be sure).

   Here's an ad for Popchips. At first glance you see Katy Perry, a singer that people admire. If she eats Popchips, I can too. After all, she's fit, right? And it even says love without the love handles. Less fat! Always welcome, unless you're underweight.

   If you look at the bottom, the ad even says that it's never fried, which means it's healthier. All this clever planning tells you that you should eat Popchips. Now, you might even reach for the Lays or Ruffles or Cheetos you have at the counter next to you because suddenly, you want potato chips again. 

   Of course, all businesses exist for one goal: money [or world domination by money]. So this isn't exactly ethical, because as with most potato chips, you want to eat more. After you finish that family-size bag all by yourself, you put it off. Thirty minutes later, you're back and hungry for more. Great. You're already hooked on the chips now, and in big quantities, not very many things are good for you. All the while, you're thinking about how you won't get fatter because they said so.

   Tell that to yourself again when you step on that scale again, mind you.

Hidden Messages: What do they really mean?

Many commercials, messages, and ads in the world have hidden messages or pictures. Some are just to advertise the company even more and others are to convey messages that have a meaning of some sort to the customers. One example of advertising the company more is the Pirates of the Caribbean logo. The skull is in the shape of the Mickey Mouse head, which advertises the Disney Company. Many other Disney products have hidden Mickey Mouse shapes to get people looking as a game which gives the company more popularity. There are even shapes hidden around theme parks! This act has increased the attention and fortune of the Disney Company.

Another commercial that has a hidden image is the commercial for the KFC snacker. If you pause the commercial at one point, the lettuce in the burger turns into a dollar bill which can have different meanings. One thing it could symbolize is that the burger is cheap because you will save money by getting it back. The reason that the company put it in the commercial is because they wanted to give the customers a challenge to try to find the dollar for a prize. This only got KFC more attention and customers between the game and the message of saving money.

Although there are a few advertisements that have extra advertising, most send inappropriate messages children shouldn’t see. I believe these are unethical and should not be out for everybody to see, especially when they are on products like Coca Cola, phonebooks, McDonalds, and many other normal things that kids see. There might be some advertisements that encourage good messages, but most are just to catch attention.

Week 7 Prompt

Hi Guys!
For this week, I want you to find an advertisement (any advertisement) that you think has an overt or hidden message? What is the ad actually trying to sell? What values is it trying to sell you too? Is that ethical?

Also, for next week's debate it may be helpful to do a little reading on the 3rd Wave of Feminism to help inform you how women may think that being sexual is empowering rather than degrading.

Can't wait to see you all next week. Good luck and don't forget to post a picture of your advertisement as part of your post!
Good luck!
Ms. Krissy

Week 6 Prompt

Hi guys!
Sorry for late post. As I indicated in class, for this week's blog I want you to respond to the film and consider advertising. Find an advertisement and link it here. You should make an argument about your interpretation of the ad and the positive/negative implications of the ad.
We're going to continue this discussion so please come to class prepared.

Ms. Krissy

Serendipity is Yet to Come

   In 1947, the United Nations gave the Jews a large part of Palestine. That was 67 years ago. Now, the Arab-Israeli war is ranked number 49 on Daniel Pipe's Middle East forum, with 51 thousand dead (and countless others injured). This rank may start to rise as present day events tie in; about two weeks after battling it out in Gaza, at minimum 150 Palestinian children were killed, and 32 young Israeli soldiers have died. Because of all these unsolved conflicts, Israel is starting to lose the support of countries outside of the US (yet America's support is readily available).
   Here is a daily tally of the shots fired in Israel and Gaza. By just browsing through the numbers, you can see the Palestinians are losing a lot of their people. Every day, the death toll fluctuates, but the Palestinian side hasn't dropped to zero recently. Meanwhile, the Israeli death count is staggeringly low in comparison, with numbers around three each day. 
   The current conflict in Israel is not exactly because of the three teens that went missing, though it has sparked riots in Jerusalem. These three teenagers were located in the West Bank, which is pretty much one of the biggest areas of tension within Israel. That's not good. 
   The above is an example of the violence raging in Israel. As a matter of fact, astronaut Alex Gerst has captured a picture of all this brutality from outer space. It looks really cool, but once you remember it's a snapshot of all the explosions happening, not so much...

To be honest, it reminds me of your brain and neurons and networks and the like....Never mind.

   In response to the kidnappings, Israel is firing more rockets than a few weeks ago. While investigating, the police also detained about ninety or so Palestinians. Looks like the Israeli government is getting slightly more tense.
   Several opinions have risen; there might not even be a proper resolution, as Daniel Barenboim says "there is no military solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This is not a political conflict but a human one, between two peoples who share the deep and seemingly irreconcilable conviction that they are entitled to the same small people of land." As stated here, the one-state solution is not even a choice because it is just a recipe for disaster, while the two-state solution, which most of the world supports, is as terrible a choice.
   The one-state solution means the Jews and Arabs will be merged into a single state. All the citizens will have the same rights, yet this is intolerable to the Jews. Palestinian media communicates effectively how much they hate Jews. That being said, that's not a good thing to put into play.
   The two-state solution isn't all that great, either. It doesn't include merging into a single state, it includes negotiations. Not too sure about this. If you try to negotiate with someone who has already been bombed way more than enough, chances are they'll act like a huge amount of employees on strike. By employee, I mean a country who has bottled up all their anger and wants to throw that Molotov at the last second. 
   Personally, I'd wait it out a little longer (that is a really bad decision with all these people dying, I know) because another holocaust is a lot worse than waiting it out. The president has vetoed the two-state solution, which is slightly better than the former. Right now, nothing is actually looking too clear, for the president and Israel.

Hopefully the road to success isn't under construction....Which it is.

Prompt Week 5

Hey guys!

You should have blogged/be blogging now about what is going on in Israel and Gaza. Discuss what the issues are and what you think some solutions may be.

Good luck!

Ms. Krissy

Trouble in Iraq

            http://inthecapital.streetwise.co/all-series/bullet-points-your-guide-to-understand-everything-thats-going-on-in-iraq-right-now/   

 

              Today in Iraq, a terrorist group called the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, is roaming around Western Iraq capturing cities. They are being backed up by the terrorist group, al-Qaeda. Not only are they made up of Iraqi’s, but they also consist of extremist all over the region. Their main goal is to draw back the Middle East borders to make room for a new state which is under a strict interpretation of the Islamic law. People all over the world are joining the ISIs organization. In fact, everyday two to three Muslims leave France to join the army. It is getting so bad that France has had the thought of the idea to put a six month travel ban on suspicious citizens.

                The ISIs organization is very strong. They have already taken Falluja, Mosul, and Ramadi on their way to Baghdad. The Iraq military lacks unity and training to defeat them. ISIs seems to be a very organized group, as they know how to maintain their own revenue, and even keep a body count. Thanks to Syria’s on-going civil war, they have even more numbers from refugees and transient extremist. They are known to set up strong and almost friendly camps in areas with no governance in order to gain supporters.

                There are many nations against them. Iran, for example, is threatened by ISIS so it is rumored that they sent in troops to protect Baghdad, the capitol of Iraq. Furthermore, the US is going to send in 300 military advisors to help, but no soldiers. We have already sent in sodiers before so Obama does not want to send in anymore.

 

 

              Many countries are being very careful about allowing who flies over to the area of war. If ISIS is already rather successful in Iraq, it may be a dangerous threat to all the other nations in the world, especially with all its followers. Overall this is a very catastrophic situation that could cause trouble all over the world.

Rolling Around in Iraq

People in the world today (aside from the current warring states) may thing it's just a life of school, work, food and sleep, not to mention food (did I mention food? Pretty sure I didn't mention food). Because of this, the thought of a civil war during present time is astounding. Iraq and Syria may as well be some tiny little skirmish between two adults. Yet really, Iraq is becoming more and more divided. Iraq risks a civil war as ISIS, a terrorist group linked to the famed al-Qaeda, is benefiting from Iraq's minority Sunnis. They are against the Prime Minister's government, which they say is led with discrimination.
   Recently, ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) have taken control of Mogul. How did they win, you ask? The Iraqi army ran away. Apparently, two divisions, or about 30k men, turned and ran away. Just like that. They were faced with only 800 fighters, but they ran away. Government officials are accusing the army of betrayal; why would thirty thousand men run away when they outnumbered the ISIS soldiers 3750:1?

America is helping fund Iraq, yet this is what's happening...

   So will the US be incorporated into the whole battle scheme? Most likely, no. The Prime Minister secretly asked the Obama administration to help by sending airstrikes, but so far is has been rejected. This whole battle is important because this war is causing "one of the largest and swiftest mass movements of people in the world in recent memory," says Save the Children. We've already experienced a tiny piece of immigration from Central America; imagine more and more from both places, and you have a gigantic amount of flocking.
   The public (by public I mean the global population) The global population, consisting of roughly 26,000 people in 25 countries, voted that US should withdraw all units from Iraq. Two thirds disapprove of America. The Iraqi opinion slightly favored US just after the invasion, yet before, about 85% opposed them. If the people of Iraq, the people actually getting attacked and beaten and killed don't really approve of us, even after helping...something's wrong. National pride may have to do with it, though my opinion is that there isn't enough national pride to sway your answer... 
   America's withdrawal allows room for other countries to intervene, though Iraq may not want it. It means Iraq will owe America some favors. The US has sacrificed lives and paid 1.7 trillion dollars for the war. Think of all the things you could do with that money! You could buy food, give money to the homeless and food! More importantly, the problems in the world, like world hunger. Which is food.
   All these conflicts are obsolete; Iraq in its current state cannot pay the US back, nor can it pay anyone that helps. They might be trying to win some of that money back by collaborating with others;-Countries, like Germany, have firms  that are interested in making deals for oil in Dhi Qar. Iraq Business News has been read in 189 countries, and that was in August of 2013. Now, a lot more people will be paying attention to Iraw's news. 
   The discontinuation of sending America's soldiers completely devastated Iraq in the December of 2011 and beyond. Days after the termination, Sunnis politicians stormed out of parliament. In January, at least 78 people were killed. Won't this happen again?
   The best way for Iraq to stay stable is to just let them go. America can't support them forever, but this parenthood is inevitable. The US will just have to baby Iraq until the Prime Minister gets it back together again.

    

This parenthood was probably planned, but it will last awhile...

The Internet Privacy

 http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/07/06/329182281/report-most-nsa-intercepted-data-from-ordinary-internet-users 
   How long do you go on the Internet everyday? May be over hours. Internet has became an important part in our daily life. There is a large number of Internet users today.

 









   However, for so many users, they don't have their privacies. Their information is sold to other companies, the government or somewhere else. That causes a lot of debates in the country. Should the Internet users have their privacies? Although a lot of companies said they are not responsible to the users' privacies, people don't agree with their ideas. Nobody will take that a long time to read the rules! Everybody knows it.

   I think we shouldn't have privacies because that the government can know if there are bad plans to the country, we will know and stop them. That will save a lot of people's lives. If we act normally, we don't need to care about our information a lot.

Week 3/4 Prompt

Hi guys!

I apologize for the delay. This week I want you to blog about what is going on in Iraq. Do some research. Is this a good thing? A bad thing? Why do different countries/groups have different views on this? What are their interests?

Don't forget there is no class this Friday. Thus, this week's topic on internet democracy will be moved to the following Friday!

Have a good holiday!

Ms. Krissy