Vote: Why Not?

          Why wouldn't people go to the polls tomorrow to vote for the President of the United States? Voting will come to a close tomorrow, November 6. People are urging others to vote, get out there and contribute their voice. I have been constantly hearing, "I need to make sure that they vote tomorrow," "If Latinos don't go out and vote, Obama may not win." But when I hear these questions and comments I ask myself, why wouldn't people vote? Out of laziness not to go to the polls? Because they live in a state that is already "predetermined" and it simply "wouldn't really matter"? Or, do people think the candidates are just full of lies and they don't know who to vote for? Many people live in countries where they can't voice their opinion or cast a vote. Here we are in a free country, and people take this freedom for granted. In an opinion piece of the New York Times, Errol Morris mocks the excuses people come up with for not voting by interviewing young voters, between the ages of 25 and 40. He points out several reasons why people, especially young people, should vote.  The goal of the documentary is to urge people to vote.

          After watching Errol's piece, I thought, are these really reasons why people are not voting? The excuses used by young Americans who are able to vote, but choose not to, are inexcusable. According to Morris' article, "only 51 percent of young people voted in 2008. A smaller group is expected this year." In his series of interviews of potential young voters, Morris asked why young people don't vote. Responses ranged from "the issues they care about are not discussed by Democrats or Republicans" to "apathy is actually supported by the evidence"-- meaning the gap between what is said and done can be evidently shown in the past "that it's impossible to trust anyone."Stand up, I don't care whether you are left or right, what you believe in counts for something-- it may be for your own sake or for your nation's sake.  This video is a little on the long side, but feel free to check out Errol Morris's Opinionated Documentary above. As for me, I would definitely vote - I wish I could vote.
       

The Underground Marathon

          How did this year's New York marathon get to be known as "the underground marathon"? Here in the Midwest Region we have not been too physically effected by Hurricane Sandy. A couple of rains here, a couple of gusts of wind there but really, that's it. My brother got off the phone yesterday with his friend from New York and quickly told me, "The storm is crazy out there. My friend just told me a tree went right through his house." Since we are so far removed, it is hard to imagine the effects it has had and the devastation much of America's east coast is going through. Let's look at it through the lens of the New York marathon to see some positive outcomes of the storm.

"Runners took the ferry with supplies to distribute to
residents of Staton Island."

          The New York Marathon traditionally takes place on the first Sunday of November, which would be today! Runners from all over the world have come in past years to run this in Central Park for a great experience. But, this year it was cancelled because of Hurricane Sandy. Despite the cancellation, Americans came together. Thousands of runners showed up for the marathon as a symbol of unity to help fellow Americans. Flags were waved, a symbol of the runners victory, to help those devastated. Because supplies were few, New Yorkers took it upon themselves and improvised to bring what they could: "Diana Binger of Mount Kisco, New York, not only had her 2-year-old son, Owen, in her stroller, but also an impressive stash of Gatorade, bananas..." Runners ran for charity to help victims and help recovery efforts of Hurricane Sandy. While some runners ran through Central Park, others "collected donations for storm victims while going for a run." Thus, becoming known as "the underground marathon."
         People have still continued to show unity from the happenings of Hurricane Sandy. While not having power, people in one of my family friend's building all came together and spent two days in the dark. Everyone brought the non-perishable food they had to have a party and stay with each other. Because of the storm he met people in his own building that he may have never met before. He had a great time.
         After devastating events, it is always important to have support and stay together. We see this now with Hurricane Sandy, but we also saw it in the past with the attacks on 9/11. Though devastated and in fear, America came together to show patriotism and unity. We see similar happenings now as people help fellow American citizens and truly care about each other. The silver lining to events like these is that we really see the great humanitarian side of our neighbors.

"Do Political Ads Actually Work?"

"Kantar Media CMAG finds out that
out of the 1,014,484 ads about the
presidential campaign that have aired
between April 10 and October 22, a
majority have had a negative tone."

            Lately, I have noticed a great increase in hearing the two lines: "I am Barack Obama, and I approve this message" and "I am Mitt Romney, and I approve this message." Not only do these lines come after countless commercials, but the content in these commercials always seems to put down the opposing side, not boost up/brag about their own.  Today we have come to a time that putting down others, helps boost up yourself.  Do people across the United States really listen to these ads? I listened to the npr: morning edition asking this exact question. It turns out that there may actually be influence in ads; in fact, from April to October ads were on a negative term of the opposing side by 7 to 1 provided by the ad-tracking firm.

            Not only do the ads reflect negative light on both sides, but in order to accomplish this goal both Democrats and Republicans are "on track to spend $1 billion each." They will mostly aim at the nine battleground states of Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, Virginia, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, and Wisconsin. The new question that also arises is: When is a good time to show ads on TV? And to what audience do we want to aim for? Ken Goldstein, President of Kantar's Media Analysis Group, brought up an example of white males in the Midwest watching college football games and how commercials with airing time during the games would be very valuable, "campaigns target certain voting blocks."

Ad spending per electoral vote--
source: Kantar Media, CMAG

            Now as I was hearing this story, I started to think to myself... Is this just another curveball ad that will suddenly say at the end, "I am Barack Obama, and I approve this message?" Turns out it wasn't just npr. But a new shocking number did turn up. "Former Democratic nominee, Al Gore, lost by 537 voters in Florida in 2000." That is about 1/16th of the people living in Glencoe! Because of that, Goldstein figured "that there are about 800,000 truly undecided voters in the battleground states; factor in a total of $1 billion in ads -- and that means campaigns are spending about $1,000 per persuadable voter." I guess each and every vote really does count! Personally, one of my brothers used to go to school in Pennsylvania and registered to vote there instead of in Illinois because it has been a swing state. My other brother now goes to school in Denver and will vote there. A recent Obama ad publicized a woman speaking about "her first time" (voting) and making the right decision about who to vote for. The race is on as these ads frequently pop up, my door bell rings with solicitors whom I do not answer to, and phone calls come in even though my parents claim we are on a list for people not to call. Will all of this impact the race to the end?
          Take a look at this video clip of how Governor Mitt Romney manipulated one of President Obama's speeches to put him in a bad "light."  

America's Will to Win

         The front page of today's New York Times read, "Armstrong's Wall of Silence Fell Rider by Rider." With just a little blurb on the front page I continued to read this article about the cycling world's doping scandals and found that there was still a whole other page-- "Continued on Page 14." As more news comes out about Lance Armstrong being stripped of his titles because of doping, I really started to believe that this is all true. At first, I just kept trying to convince myself that he would never go to the extreme of doping to win, but now the U.S. Anti-doping Agency has the proof to back it up. After all, he has been a role model for so many all over the world-- the man who battled cancer and fulfilled his dream of cycling with numerous Tour de France medals!

Landis Floyd and Lance Armstrong pictured together while
they were still friendly with each other. 

          The article introduces one of Armstrong's ex-teammates Floyd Landis "who was among the first to reveal the culture of doping." Landis was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title for failing a drug test. I then went on to read that when a rider joins a team, he may have no idea what is going on on the inside. In the case of the U.S. Postal Team, riders found themselves caught up with their team mates in doping, but not one of them could tell anyone, not even their families. When Floyd Landis first told a journalist of this, he was then asked, "Have you told your mother?" He responded that he had not yet and made a comparison to the Mafia, "When you're in the Mafia and you get caught and go to jail, you keep your mouth shut, and the organization takes care of your family. In cycling, you're expected to keep your mouth shut when you test positive , but you become an outcast. Everyone just turns their back on you." Is this risk really worth the win?
          Armstrong recently stepped down as the chairman of his cancer foundation and lost nearly all of his endorsements-- did he think that he would never get caught? So many athletes have gone to extremes in using drugs to enhance their performance, thinking they will never get caught, but again... what ends up happening?... they get caught. Is our will to win enough to succumb to cheating and lying? Will cheaters prevail as winners? Is our will to win enough to manipulate our bodies? Is it for the fame and money or the pride of winning?

Parking Lot Full

A panoramic view of the booming parking lot of Northbrook Court.

          The other day, I found myself weaving around a huge mall parking lot trying to find a place to park. Finally, I spotted the white reverse lights and put on my turn signal. This whole situation had me thinking: Is the economy really that bad? I started looking into consumer spending and its fluctuations. It turns out that "U.S. Consumer Sentiment jump(ed) to a five year high." This was a surprise to many after a significant decline in US unemployment rate. It turns out that consumers "confidence" has increased-- according to Gennadily Goldberg, a strategist at TD securities, "...confidence index hitting the highest levels since September 2008 should remain a positive as consumers continue to become more optimistic." But how does one truly measure "confidence"? Is it fair to say that the reason consumer spending is up is because people are emotionally more stable? Goldberg then commented, "Improved confidence should in turn begin to filter more prominently into consumer spending, thereby helping support the economic recovery."
          On the other hand, while ones state of mind may be positive, some numbers presented by Labor Department estimates in a Forbes article, state that the US GDP has gone down from 1.7% to 1.3%. This is believed to be because of declining consumer spending and business investment. But then, why in the parking lot was I fighting for a space? Could location be a key factor in this that the economy only affects people in certain areas or are people here, too, hurting?
          

"Melting Greenland"

        This past week, my brother brought to my attention a photograph his friend took while sailing the Northwest passage over the summer. His friend, Ben Yeager, took the photo while maneuvering between two icebergs on a 37 foot mast in Sermilik fjord south of Angmagssalik Island in East Greenland. He submitted the candid photograph to the National Geographic 2012 Photo Contest and has been a top contender.

         After seeing this photograph, it lead me to research the current standings of the United States and global climate change. How are we impacting our planet? I know it has been quite a trend to "go green," but are we really aware of our constant negative impact on our environment? The United States is often known as being "the most significant contributor to historical emissions of global warming pollution." Burning coal or natural gas in power plants and gas or diesel in vehicles make up most of these emissions. The Union of Concerned Scientists analyzed "that the U.S. can dramatically reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and nearly phase-out coal by 2030." Will Americans take action in order to help their planet and generations to come? As one of my teachers always says, "Carpool, ride your bike, bring a reusable water bottle!"It all adds up in the long run, and if people start taking more initiative and having more awareness in what they buy, how much they drive etc. we can help our planet...one step at a time!
          Check out this interactive Global Warming Effect "Hot Map" to see what is going on in the United States and other countries, and how we can take action to help our environment.

The Unexpected Friendship

Driss and Phillipe together
on a walk for some fresh air.

        Over the weekend I saw the new foreign film, The Intouchables. As the movie started and the actors started to speak in French, I thought to myself, I really hope this whole movie isn't in French. It's always a real bummer to be reading the subtitles every minute of a movie. To my surprise, the subtitles were actually a great "topper" to the movie. The script had a very strong conversation feel that flowed extremely well. It completely changed my mind on my thoughts of foreign films!
         Based on a true story, it took place in France and dealt with a wealthy man, Phillipe, who is a quadriplegic (handicapped from the neck down) from a paragliding accident and a young, Senegalese-born ex-con, Driss, who took care of him. Coming from two completely different backgrounds, these two men connected in a way no one thought they ever would. It was almost like they were incomplete without the other by their side. Phillipe was known for going through caretakers very quickly because no one would ever be able to handle his extreme needs and be on call 24/7. Driss treated Phillipe as a normal person, sometimes even forgetting his handicap, helping him to live the most normal life he could with having only a sense of feeling in his head.
         Driss has a sense of "realness" to his personality. He tells Phillipe that his daughter is a brat, laughs at the dancing tree during the opera, gives the neighbor his mind when he is parking in a "no parking" zone. They were both able to understand one another without saying a word. As the old saying goes "Opposites attract." The French Publisher's Agency comments on Abdel Sellou's (character Driss in movie) life as "fearless because he has nothing to lose," while Phillip di Borgo "is fearless because he has already lost everything." Who knew two exact opposite people could come together in such a similar, yet different, way? If your up for a good laugh and smile I encourage you to come see this movie! Check out the trailer to the right!