Help! I Need a GOOD Job...What!? So Do You!?

Every college student that doesn't go to college on a full ride scholarship, usually takes out a loan. Each of them plan on paying for these loans, that amounts to mountains of debt, through their glamorous careers. This was highly unlikely, and most of the students that have tried this are still up to their ears in debt, even though its been 10-20 years since they took out the loan. This is even more unlikely now. The job market took a massive blow and its still on its knees gasping for air.

On August 23, 2005, Hurricane Katrina demolished New Orleans. Countless businesses were detsroyed, peoples homes were lost, and insurance companies couldn't handle the tremendous burden on their shoulders. We can see that this effected the population on every socioeconomic level. This caused a chain reaction in America's economy.

People withdrew stocks in fear of losing money. How does this affect us? It's simple. Everything is connected. With less stocks, big businesses crumbled like shotgun shacks in a magnitude eight earthquake. With less assets available to big businesses, the smaller businesses they sponsored lost money. Since the smaller businesses lost money, they weren't able to support the wages of their employees. As a result, people lose their jobs.

Places such as South Dakota haven't suffered much. Their state unemployment rate is only 2.8%. However, there's another extreme. Michigan has an unemployment rate of 8.5%. Florida is tied for 17th place with an unemployment of 5.5%. If you'd like to see the unemployment rates of all the states as of June 2008, go to http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/state_unemployment/index.html

What can be done to restore order to the economy? It's, frankly, pretty simple. The job market must be restored. The person with the most say in how the job will be restored if it is going to happen is the next president. My advice to you is to vote with great consideration and not go with trends. If you'd like to see John McCain's view on unemployment and his solution, go to http://www.issue2008.com/mccain-on-jobs-unemployment/. If you'd like to see Barack Obama's view on unemployment and his solution, go to http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/group/paHQblog.

We are now in a time that we must be wiser about our decisions. I urge you, now more than ever, don't do anything without two solid back-up plans.

Sarah Palin: Pivotal Player or Waste of Space

Everyone was shocked when John McCain selected Sarah Palin as his Vice President candidate. However, everyone knew of his motives. It's apparent he wanted to win the women's vote that Hilary Clinton once clenched in the palm of her hand.

According a Washington Post/ABC News poll, McCain gained 20 points among white women ever since he joined forces with Palin. It seems that his plan worked. However, CNN conducted a poll, and McCain only gained 3 points after Palin joined his party. It's up to you to decide which one is credible and which one isn't.

According to the CNN poll, white women support McCain more than they do Palin (69% to 65% approval). Would it make much sense to collaborate with someone that doesn't have much support as you do in the area they were intended to dominate?

White women also seem to support McCain's opponents, Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Senator McCain should have reevaluated his actions before performing them. Will this be an uphill battle for McCain or does he have an ace up his sleeve?

For more information, go to http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/09/is-palin-influencing-white-women/#more-17859

Cell Phones: The Next Generation Drug

Cell phones are the way we connect to the world or is it? Most of society uses cell phones to connect to network with people they know, having personal conversations in public places. It is rare to find a community that is close, because cell phones don't promote establishing new relationships with people we aren't familiar with. A perfect example would be T-Mobile and their "my faves" plan, which reduces the use of one's minutes by applying no charge to talking to people in the "my faves" list.

Do we control cell phones or are cell phones in contol of us? Can we go a whole day without our cell phones? Most would struggle with a challenge such as this. However, there are some that do make efforts to not have their lives controlled by cell phones. These people turn off their phones, leave them at home, or find other methods to separate themselves from this cultural epidemic.

On the other side of the spectrum, there are those who wish they could use their cell phones wherever they go. Many petition for cell phone use on planes, trains, and other mass transit systems that hinder cell phone signals.

Why don't you try leaving your cell phone away for a certain period of time? You might be shocked.

If you'd like to read a blog on this topic, go to http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-media-zone/200809/cell-phones-and-other-icts-the-devices-that-are-eating-the-world

Technology May Eventually Discard of Privacy

Technology advances at a pace that no one man can comprehend. In matter of fact, there's a computer chip out there called an RFID chip. RFID stands for radio frequency identification.

With this technology, a sensor can detect an ID of anything, whether it be on food, supplies or even someone's personal information. China and Europe have already implemented this technology into their cultures. America has begun it's distribution of this technology in several states, i.e., Vermont, Michigan, Washington, and Arizona.

It may seem this information is harmless, at first. This technology can make inventory for businesses to go smoother. Also, it can raise awareness of who's in a certain place at a certain time. However, one's personal information can easily get into the hands of the wrong person without the correct security measures taken.

If you'd like to read the blog I received this information from, it's http://engineeringethicsblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/rfid-and-privacy-spy-in-your-pants.html

Who really owns the house?

In the story, the House of Sand and Fog, there is a battle on several levels-racial, sexist, economic, cultural, and various others- for a home. The question is- who does the home actually belong to: Kathy Nicolo or Amir Behrani?

Kathy Nicolo, one of our candidates, is a woman who cleans other’s homes for a living. She has a rocky relationship with her family. She was an alcoholic and a substance abuser. She was left by her ex-husband recently and has been living a life of seclusion since.

Amir Behrani, our other candidate, is formerly a wealthy colonel under the dominion of the Shahanshah. He was exiled from Iran when the Shahanshah is killed. He has splurged most of his wages in attempt to find his daughter a suitable husband, and now he needs a more suitable source of income to provide for his family, the way he’d like to.

Kathy originally owned the home. However, her husband leaving her as he did left her mind immersed in thoughts of her past. She even stopped checking the mail, which shows a great amount of irresponsibility on her behalf. It seems the government has sent her months worth of mail regarding her taxes. Since Kathy didn’t respond to the mail, the government took the house. At this point, Mr. Behrani capitalizes. He didn’t know about Kathy’s history of the house. All he was looking for was a good investment.

Soon afterwards, Kathy discovers the government was wrong about her “tax evasion”. Mr. Behrani learning of this, claimed that he would sell the house to the government for an amount similar to rate given from real estate.

Kathy did practice a lot of brash decisions during this whole process. She went to the home, caused a raucous, and severely hurt herself (pages 72-73). She was then tended to by the people she despised.

Kathy dragged in a law enforcement officer. Because of Kathy’s influence, he practiced actions that jeopardized his life. As a result of his actions, he lost his job, went to jail, and caused the emotional death of his family. Meanwhile, she caused the physical death of Mr. Behrani’s family through her actions.

Do you think Kathy is justified because of what happened? Do you believe Mr. Behrani received the just deserts for his actions? Why or why not?