Question 1: Weather Story #1
You are writing a weather story about a hurricane, and you want to put it in perspective. Find a site that offers a list of hurricanes, and write the name of the site and the URL; then answer these questions: Clue: Check the National Hurricane Center.
Answer 1: The costliest hurricane since 1900 was hurricane Katrina in 2005. Katrina struck and caused extensive damages in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and south east Florida. The estimated damages are over $80,000,000,000.
Snagged this information through the National Hurricane Center at this url... http://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/damage.asp
Question 2:
This site offers great tips for earthquake preparedness... http://earthquake.usgs.gov/prepare/
Question 3:
In the past year (since last January 28th), there have been two fatal plane crashes in the state of Colorado. There have been 42 non-fatal crashes in this same year.
Found all this through the query at this url...http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/Response2.asp?spage=1&x_page_size=10&sql=Y&p1=1%2F28%2F2009&p2=1%2F28%2F2010&p3=&p4=CO&p5=&p6=&p7=&p8=&p9=&p10=&p11=&p12=&p13=&p14=&p15=&p16=ev%5Fdate&p17=Desc&p18=&p19=&p20=United+States&p21=&p22=&p23=&p24=
In 2000 the NTSB conducted a major investigation of Alaska Airlines.
In 2006, 49 people died in the plane crash in Lexington, KY.
Thats all she wrote.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Rathergate
When it comes to having outstanding credentials in the journalism industry, few are on par with the former anchor of CBS Evening News Dan Rather. This is why it came as such a shock when a report on W.'s service in the national guard prompted a Marie Antoinette styled beheading of three CBS executives including Rather himself. In the contemporary news media, not even 24 years of rock star like notoriety can save you from the clutches of blogosphere speculation.
As far as the controversy of the actual report goes, Rather could have stated that Bush was spotted in a XXX theatre next to Pee Wee Herman and it would have only improved my opinion of our former president. The interesting part for me was not derived from the speculation that the documents suggesting Mr. Bush disobeyed an order to appear for a physical examination were fraudulent. The interesting part was the corporate and public reaction to the mere blogosphere supposition that the documents were fraudulent.
In a modern day David vs. Goliath, Rather and CBS initially defended the story's credibility against some partisan blogger's claims that the memos were forgeries, initiating a week long 'he said she said' dispute that to this day has not come to a satisfactory resolution.
The counterintuitive part of this whole story comes in when considering the public's reaction to the controversy. After CBS conducted a PR stunt aimed at finding out who the public sided with, it became apparent that the blogosphere's version of reality was coming out on top and so Rather was subsequently asked to step down.
This unimaginable turn of events signals a dramatic shift in the public's perception of what reliable journalism means today. The public looked at Dan Rather's 24 years of service as a prominent news anchor and decided that it was not as reliable as a small group of relatively unknown 'bathrobe journalists' who were slinging their stones at the giant from a personal computer.
The CBS corporation sought exoneration by asking Rather to resign his position, but the interesting thing was that the CBS corporation sought exoneration in the first place.
As far as the controversy of the actual report goes, Rather could have stated that Bush was spotted in a XXX theatre next to Pee Wee Herman and it would have only improved my opinion of our former president. The interesting part for me was not derived from the speculation that the documents suggesting Mr. Bush disobeyed an order to appear for a physical examination were fraudulent. The interesting part was the corporate and public reaction to the mere blogosphere supposition that the documents were fraudulent.
In a modern day David vs. Goliath, Rather and CBS initially defended the story's credibility against some partisan blogger's claims that the memos were forgeries, initiating a week long 'he said she said' dispute that to this day has not come to a satisfactory resolution.
The counterintuitive part of this whole story comes in when considering the public's reaction to the controversy. After CBS conducted a PR stunt aimed at finding out who the public sided with, it became apparent that the blogosphere's version of reality was coming out on top and so Rather was subsequently asked to step down.
This unimaginable turn of events signals a dramatic shift in the public's perception of what reliable journalism means today. The public looked at Dan Rather's 24 years of service as a prominent news anchor and decided that it was not as reliable as a small group of relatively unknown 'bathrobe journalists' who were slinging their stones at the giant from a personal computer.
The CBS corporation sought exoneration by asking Rather to resign his position, but the interesting thing was that the CBS corporation sought exoneration in the first place.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Poorer Than You.
Live every day like it will be your last, that's what they tell you, right? Have a good time, and do it all like you're about to meet Ted Bundy in the back of a dark alley somewhere. What 'they' neglect to mention is what your supposed to do when you've been living like that for five years only to find out you have herpes, alcoholism and pertinent financial issues that are as alive as you are and going nowhere just as fast.
This is where the poorer than you blog comes in. When the naivety wears off, and the unavoidable obstacles of life rear their chaotic heads, poorer than you can help bring in the structure that is necessary for survival.
This blog's main purpose appears to be helping the poor youth of today onto more stable grounds financially. Certainly the target demographic for the blog is the college aged person who intends to take control of their own meager financial situation.
As the title of 'Poorer Than You' suggests, nobody from the Fortune 500 will be dissecting this blog for ideas. The main goal of each posting seems to revolve around keeping your head above water. From putting away a gradually increasing fund for 'emergencies' to the posting on how to flip some quick dough online, this site is tailored towards the future oriented college aged individual.
While most of the help this site provides seems almost common sensical, it lays the ground work for becoming a financially responsible member of society. With clearly outlined formulas that a 6th grader could comprehend, (What is my goal? How do I get there? What progress have I made?) the simplicity of the blog is ironically at odds with the complexity of the financial world. This simplicity is refreshing to beginners, and promotes a zen like ability to take life one thing at a time.
Stephanie, the web log's host, has no compunctions about sharing personal information such as her bank statements, and makes it clear that her methods are slow but effective. She insouciantly declares her own situation, and makes it easily relatable to her audience.
Overall, the blog does the job it set out to do admirably. I'm glad I now know where to turn when I have to start living my life like daddy's not sending me money anymore.
This is where the poorer than you blog comes in. When the naivety wears off, and the unavoidable obstacles of life rear their chaotic heads, poorer than you can help bring in the structure that is necessary for survival.
This blog's main purpose appears to be helping the poor youth of today onto more stable grounds financially. Certainly the target demographic for the blog is the college aged person who intends to take control of their own meager financial situation.
As the title of 'Poorer Than You' suggests, nobody from the Fortune 500 will be dissecting this blog for ideas. The main goal of each posting seems to revolve around keeping your head above water. From putting away a gradually increasing fund for 'emergencies' to the posting on how to flip some quick dough online, this site is tailored towards the future oriented college aged individual.
While most of the help this site provides seems almost common sensical, it lays the ground work for becoming a financially responsible member of society. With clearly outlined formulas that a 6th grader could comprehend, (What is my goal? How do I get there? What progress have I made?) the simplicity of the blog is ironically at odds with the complexity of the financial world. This simplicity is refreshing to beginners, and promotes a zen like ability to take life one thing at a time.
Stephanie, the web log's host, has no compunctions about sharing personal information such as her bank statements, and makes it clear that her methods are slow but effective. She insouciantly declares her own situation, and makes it easily relatable to her audience.
Overall, the blog does the job it set out to do admirably. I'm glad I now know where to turn when I have to start living my life like daddy's not sending me money anymore.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
From morning until night, every individual is subjugated to overwhelming amounts of sensory input. The magnitude of this torrential influx only seems to grow exponentially as the twenty first century dismantles various informational filters that existed in the past. With the sophistication of the internet and other modern technological advancements, the pool of information readily available to the average person now appears infinitely deep. While these changes are liberating, it is becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate between the "incredible medley of fact, propaganda, rumor, suspicion, clues, hopes and fears." This medley that Lippmann describes refers specifically to the prototypical news gathering agency of his time period (the newspaper office), but almost one hundred years later it has a more universal application.
Now that advertisements and propaganda have penetrated every viable orifice of American society, the distinction between fact and fiction has become slightly more ambiguous. The responsibility of sorting through this olympus sized pile of shit no longer rests solely in the hands of the newspaper office. Since the informational filters of Walter Lippmann's time have broken down, "the task of selecting and ordering that news" bypasses the professionally trained journalist and becomes the responsibility of the consumer himself (or herself).
This startling change in the balance has uprooted the long held practices of journalism, but the "task of selecting and ordering" information is still one of the "truly sacred and priestly offices in a democracy." Its just that now these priestly offices are filled with media illiterate sheep and not trained professionals. Since the task of selecting and ordering information is a sacred one, and the means of doing so are temporarily out of professional hands, this leads one to hope for an increase in public awareness. This kind of educational directive could potentially empower an entire nation of media savy individuals (an effect with profound implications for the journalistic occupation), but until this ideal is reached the custodial obligations fall upon those with a superlative understanding of how our media works.
This quote from Walter Lippmann's "Liberty and the News" almost seems outdated at first glance, but its basic conclusion is still translatable to contemporary society. While the newspaper offices of Walter Lippmann's era are no longer the means through which varying strands of information are injected into society, the task of ordering this information will forever be a sacred part of this functioning democracy. Without the informational filters of Lippmann's era, the monumental responsibility of sorting this news falls directly onto the heads of the public, and yet another Bono like call to increased public awareness must reverberate through American society.
Now that advertisements and propaganda have penetrated every viable orifice of American society, the distinction between fact and fiction has become slightly more ambiguous. The responsibility of sorting through this olympus sized pile of shit no longer rests solely in the hands of the newspaper office. Since the informational filters of Walter Lippmann's time have broken down, "the task of selecting and ordering that news" bypasses the professionally trained journalist and becomes the responsibility of the consumer himself (or herself).
This startling change in the balance has uprooted the long held practices of journalism, but the "task of selecting and ordering" information is still one of the "truly sacred and priestly offices in a democracy." Its just that now these priestly offices are filled with media illiterate sheep and not trained professionals. Since the task of selecting and ordering information is a sacred one, and the means of doing so are temporarily out of professional hands, this leads one to hope for an increase in public awareness. This kind of educational directive could potentially empower an entire nation of media savy individuals (an effect with profound implications for the journalistic occupation), but until this ideal is reached the custodial obligations fall upon those with a superlative understanding of how our media works.
This quote from Walter Lippmann's "Liberty and the News" almost seems outdated at first glance, but its basic conclusion is still translatable to contemporary society. While the newspaper offices of Walter Lippmann's era are no longer the means through which varying strands of information are injected into society, the task of ordering this information will forever be a sacred part of this functioning democracy. Without the informational filters of Lippmann's era, the monumental responsibility of sorting this news falls directly onto the heads of the public, and yet another Bono like call to increased public awareness must reverberate through American society.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)