According to Lewis’ article, It’s the Economy, Dummkompf, Germany is the only country who can save the Euro from collapse. According to Lewis, the Greeks are seen as the most unlikely people to pay back their debt. Germans, on the other hand, are the biggest funders for European nations and their biggest hope for future funds.
Because of this, it is understandable that the German people are frustrated at the situation developing with the Euro. The Euro was developed in part to quell German ambitions by tying its economy to the rest of Europe. And the irony is, that the rest of Europe seemingly is going to rely on the Germans to avoid collapse. In addition to this, Germans do not think that the Greeks have been behaving as they are in the financial situation they are in. German magazines ran headlines that read “Why don’t you sell your islands, you bankrupt Greeks!”.
Lewis goes on to explain that perhaps out of frugality, Hamburg is swarmed with German tourists. Here, he notices a book written by a distinguished anthropologist that explains the historical anality of the German people. He goes over the vast amount of German words relating to scatological themes. This is a very interesting use of language that helps relay the economy issue into more common terms.
Lewis then speaks with finance minister Asmussen. Asmussen claims that the Greek government has not been adhering to the regulations that they claimed they would when entering the Euro zone. Greece’s debt is high, but it’s deficits have not decreased as they were supposed to have. The biggest problem with a Greek default is that it may cause other European banks to fail.
Lewis also makes reference to the problems faced by the Irish economy in his article, When Irish Eyes Are Crying. In this article, he explains that the Irish were among the richest inhabitants of Europe only ten years ago. Today, one of Ireland's largest bank, Anglo Irish, is facing losses of 34 billion euros.
Two other large Irish banks, partially owned by the government of Ireland, are also facing massive losses; although they are revealing much less about those losses. These two banks lent massive amounts of money not only to Irish property developers, but also to Irish homebuyers. However, it is now the homeowners in addition to the banks that will have to cover the losses caused by the burst of the real estate bubble. This is eerily similar to the consequences of the easy lending policies practiced by banks and promoted by governments in the Unites States as well as much of the West.
However, Lewis seems to lay the entire blame on the bankers and those making the loans. If one were to look at the whole problem, one would notice that this debt crisis needs to be addressed by lenders, borrowers, and governments. To act as if the notion that home ownership is a natural right that should be guarenteed by banks and governments is not what led to this problem is foolish. Lewis seems to fall for this trap by stating that "even in an era when capitalists went out of their way to destroy capitalism, the Irish bankers set some kind of record for destruction." This is a logical fallacy, as it is not true capitalism that leads to government intervention to promote home ownership. Banks colluding with government to lower lending standards does not constitute capitalism, but rather corporatism.
I find that Lewis uses very interesting devices to convey what he means about the economy in common-man terms. For instance, "Ireland’s financial disaster shared some things with Iceland’s. It was created by the sort of men who ignore their wives’ suggestions that maybe they should stop and ask for directions, for instance." By this, Lewis uses an analogy to convey that these economic problems are essentially caused by the perpetuation of economic authorities refusing to acknowledge that their policies are counterproductive.
In conclusion, Lewis is very talented at taking complex issues and using common language and analogies to make these concepts much more accessible to those that may not be very familiar with these issues.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Skydiving
It is Saturday, October 22, 2011. You can feel the excitement as you walk up to the large gray airplane hanger. A man greets you as you approach the welcome stand. Archway Skydiving is located in Vandalia, Illinois, about 25 minutes away from Springfield by car. According to owner Jason Mark, Archway averages about 12,000 jumps per year. The most important thing about running a skydiving business is making sure that all of your safety guidelines and equipment are up to date with the United States Parachute Association's standards.
Near the welcome stand to the left, I see an apparently seasoned jumper doing some quick practice maneuvers while waiting for his airplane to leave. "I made my first jump this past June. I've been trying to jump twice per month since then", says Brandon of Springfield. "The first jump you do takes the most work... and guts", he says. "For my first time, I needed to take over four hours of training courses first; they cost $170. It was worth it, though. It's the greatest adrenaline rush I could ask for." According to Brandon, now with his experience, he doesn't need much planning to prepare for a jump. "If I wanted to, I could pretty much just show up at 8 AM and sign in and then jump as many times as I can. It costs me forty dollars per jump now, and I typically jump about 4 times each time I visit."
Just walking away from the stand nervously is first time jumper, Kelly, also from Springfield. Kelly is a bit anxious about her first jump out of an airplane. It is for this reason that she was advised to try a tandem jump for her first time. A tandem jump is when one skydives while he or she is attached to the instructor. This allows for one to jump with less training and more comfort that one will be safe. This is because the instructor is right there to pull your chord in case anything goes wrong or you freeze up. "I was really excited the whole ride out here. Now I'm just so nervous now that we are here", Kelly states. "This will be the most extreme thing I've ever done."
There are many precautions one must take before attempting skydiving. It is vital that you and at least two instructors have checked that all equipment is packaged and stored correctly. It is also important to be trained by a USPA rated instructor in the areas of exiting, canopy control, and emergency procedures. These are all especially important if one is jumping solo, as there will be no instructor there to rectify mistakes. If one is jumping tandem, the experience of the instructor can make up for the lack of experience of jumper.
After watching several people jump, I have decided that the best place for me to enjoy this seemingly exhilarating sport would be on the ground. Everyone who I saw jumped had a great time today. However, I'm not quite sure that parachutes are the dice I would want to be gambling with. Accidents are not 100% avoidable even with the most up to date equipment.
Near the welcome stand to the left, I see an apparently seasoned jumper doing some quick practice maneuvers while waiting for his airplane to leave. "I made my first jump this past June. I've been trying to jump twice per month since then", says Brandon of Springfield. "The first jump you do takes the most work... and guts", he says. "For my first time, I needed to take over four hours of training courses first; they cost $170. It was worth it, though. It's the greatest adrenaline rush I could ask for." According to Brandon, now with his experience, he doesn't need much planning to prepare for a jump. "If I wanted to, I could pretty much just show up at 8 AM and sign in and then jump as many times as I can. It costs me forty dollars per jump now, and I typically jump about 4 times each time I visit."
Just walking away from the stand nervously is first time jumper, Kelly, also from Springfield. Kelly is a bit anxious about her first jump out of an airplane. It is for this reason that she was advised to try a tandem jump for her first time. A tandem jump is when one skydives while he or she is attached to the instructor. This allows for one to jump with less training and more comfort that one will be safe. This is because the instructor is right there to pull your chord in case anything goes wrong or you freeze up. "I was really excited the whole ride out here. Now I'm just so nervous now that we are here", Kelly states. "This will be the most extreme thing I've ever done."
There are many precautions one must take before attempting skydiving. It is vital that you and at least two instructors have checked that all equipment is packaged and stored correctly. It is also important to be trained by a USPA rated instructor in the areas of exiting, canopy control, and emergency procedures. These are all especially important if one is jumping solo, as there will be no instructor there to rectify mistakes. If one is jumping tandem, the experience of the instructor can make up for the lack of experience of jumper.
After watching several people jump, I have decided that the best place for me to enjoy this seemingly exhilarating sport would be on the ground. Everyone who I saw jumped had a great time today. However, I'm not quite sure that parachutes are the dice I would want to be gambling with. Accidents are not 100% avoidable even with the most up to date equipment.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Analysis of The Girl in the Window
Lane DeGregory's article on Danielle, the severely neglected child diagnosed with environmental autism is a very in detail cross-section of the life of a very abused and neglected young girl.
For instance, she uses foreshadowing very efficiently by describing the decrepit scene of the home before finally getting to the raid of the home. On page two, she seems to go into very deep detail about, not only what the officers see, but also how they feel about what they see. This is evident with her account that the detective, "choking back rage, approached the mother. How could you let this happen?" This is very important as it put faces and emotions on the issue at hand and remind the reader that they are reading about real people with real lives.
Another element she uses effectively is side information. Her account about the feral child throughout history, especially those who died from lack of interaction, provide perspective and background as to the experiences of Danielle.
The detail and emotion attached to the account of Danielle's foster parents and their account of her progress is very moving. Allowing Danielle's birth mother to attempt to defend herself ended up making her look worse than before. Not only did this woman allow her daughter to be neglected to such an extent without apology, and then defiantly states "she was fine" while attempting to play victim.
For instance, she uses foreshadowing very efficiently by describing the decrepit scene of the home before finally getting to the raid of the home. On page two, she seems to go into very deep detail about, not only what the officers see, but also how they feel about what they see. This is evident with her account that the detective, "choking back rage, approached the mother. How could you let this happen?" This is very important as it put faces and emotions on the issue at hand and remind the reader that they are reading about real people with real lives.
Another element she uses effectively is side information. Her account about the feral child throughout history, especially those who died from lack of interaction, provide perspective and background as to the experiences of Danielle.
The detail and emotion attached to the account of Danielle's foster parents and their account of her progress is very moving. Allowing Danielle's birth mother to attempt to defend herself ended up making her look worse than before. Not only did this woman allow her daughter to be neglected to such an extent without apology, and then defiantly states "she was fine" while attempting to play victim.
Analysis of “Family shattered after raid, home loss”
In my opinion, Smich’s article on the Harris home raid was as balanced as a story regarding this event could be. The entire story essentially read like a factual narrative until the very end, at which point it offered an opinion.
The raid occurred only because of an animal crime complaint. The author is right in stating that the amount of officers used for this offence was certainly overkill. In addition to this, the police were attempting to tie the family homes to allegations of gang activity in the nearby parks. If Gangster Disciples were actually operating in the area, the traditional action is to investigate with a special gang task force. Instead, for some reason, the police simply raided the home on the first minor offence they could muster.
It appears, because of this, that this action was actually the result of the clashes of two different social classes. There were other courses of action that would certainly been more appropriate regarding the animal complaints. However, it appears that the motivation behind the raid was not to correct any unlawful behavior, but rather to secure an area’s property for a particular social strata. To charge somebody with the crime of “unlawful possession of an unneutered animals by a felon” is almost unheard of. It seems to be a quite obscure law that is only enforced selectively if at all. Because of the law’s obscurity and the overall broadness of the raid, all animal related charges should be dropped and the police should issue a public apology.
Even if the surrounding neighborhood was unhappy with the condition of the Harris home, the Harris’s were never once charged with any infraction. It seems unjust and just cruel to order them to vacate, and then write them property infractions that they can correct with money that for the time being needs to go towards finding them a place to live in the meantime. The Harris family should have been issues numerous warnings before a raid of this scale if it was property infractions that were the real issue.
The issue that the police had with the Harris home was not animal related. Such an enormous amount of police force would never be needed to address such an issue. Specifically, such issues are typically addressed without neighborhood-wide attention drawn. The issue was also not property value. If that were the case, the Harris’s could have been charged with infractions at many times in the past, but they had not been. Instead, the issue seems to be “we can’t find a crime, but just get out, anyway.” It seems that developmental forces including the forces of upper class families movies into more city neighborhoods, pressuring lower class families out. While developmental freedom is important to the advancement of any city; it is important that families are not just run out of their neighborhoods for no reason and no chance to stay. This case, that of the Harris family, is a shameful example of how gentrification can sometimes circumvent the rule of law.
The raid occurred only because of an animal crime complaint. The author is right in stating that the amount of officers used for this offence was certainly overkill. In addition to this, the police were attempting to tie the family homes to allegations of gang activity in the nearby parks. If Gangster Disciples were actually operating in the area, the traditional action is to investigate with a special gang task force. Instead, for some reason, the police simply raided the home on the first minor offence they could muster.
It appears, because of this, that this action was actually the result of the clashes of two different social classes. There were other courses of action that would certainly been more appropriate regarding the animal complaints. However, it appears that the motivation behind the raid was not to correct any unlawful behavior, but rather to secure an area’s property for a particular social strata. To charge somebody with the crime of “unlawful possession of an unneutered animals by a felon” is almost unheard of. It seems to be a quite obscure law that is only enforced selectively if at all. Because of the law’s obscurity and the overall broadness of the raid, all animal related charges should be dropped and the police should issue a public apology.
Even if the surrounding neighborhood was unhappy with the condition of the Harris home, the Harris’s were never once charged with any infraction. It seems unjust and just cruel to order them to vacate, and then write them property infractions that they can correct with money that for the time being needs to go towards finding them a place to live in the meantime. The Harris family should have been issues numerous warnings before a raid of this scale if it was property infractions that were the real issue.
The issue that the police had with the Harris home was not animal related. Such an enormous amount of police force would never be needed to address such an issue. Specifically, such issues are typically addressed without neighborhood-wide attention drawn. The issue was also not property value. If that were the case, the Harris’s could have been charged with infractions at many times in the past, but they had not been. Instead, the issue seems to be “we can’t find a crime, but just get out, anyway.” It seems that developmental forces including the forces of upper class families movies into more city neighborhoods, pressuring lower class families out. While developmental freedom is important to the advancement of any city; it is important that families are not just run out of their neighborhoods for no reason and no chance to stay. This case, that of the Harris family, is a shameful example of how gentrification can sometimes circumvent the rule of law.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Euro Crisis
Frankfurt is a significant center of attention when it comes to economic news lately. It is home of the fifth largest stock exchange in the world. It also houses European headquarters for 218 banks. In Frankfurt is also the Deutsche Bundesbank, the central bank of Germany. Finally, the European Central Bank also makes Frankfurt its home.
Its no wonder that when talking about the European debt crisis, much of the focus is going to be in Germany. Angela Merkel states that this is the “worst crisis since World War II”. Because of the possibility of a Greek default, Germany is considering lending over half the money towards a proposed bailout fund of Greece. This is because many believe that the Euro is vital to the existence of a stable Europe. “The Euro is much more than a currency. The Euro is a guarantee for a united Europe. If the Euro fails, then Europe fails.”
However, Mayer's article seems to inflate the importance of the sustenance of the Euro to Germany's national interests. The article makes a very daring claim: “The European project tamed German national ambitions.” However, this runs with the historical fallacy that German ambitions were the sole cause of the chain of events leading to the World Wars, as opposed to the tension caused by the unstable alliance system. It would not be foolish to question the narrative that the European Union was a miracle that formed a peaceful, cooperative continent from a previously fractal, war shattered one. It would be wise to see the chain reactions of the World Wars, not caused by the lack of a central economic and banking system for Europe, but rather on the flimsiness of the world alliance system.
Furthermore, saving the Euro would require the main thing that the Euro was meant to prevent: Germany taking a dominant role in shaping European politics. According to Mayer, “For the Euro to survive, the finding goes , the profligate peoples of the weaker euro zone countries have to be made to behave like sensible Germans.” This seems to suggest that, if weaker countries are to be bailed out, much of their economic policy might be dictated by German banks. While this makes sense from a German's perspective(they want to make sure that their loans are repaid), it is likely to lead to political conflict between eurozone nations and would not lead to a more united Europe.
Mayer talked to both sides before writing her story. For instance, she quotes Angela Merkel on the importance of the Euro in her introduction. She also talks to working class Germans, including a bratwurst vendor. Many working class Germans want to simply let the Euro dissolve. They believe that it is unfair that they loan money to Greece, while Greeks employ many more entitlements than Germans and in consequence, Greece has been falling on its debt to gdp ratio promises. Many working class Germans see this outcome as predictable and enabled by Germany's guilt for World War II. They believe that people should stop hanging on the past, and begin thinking about the future. Therefore, it would be immoral and not sustainable that today's generation of Germans be made to bail out the welfare-entitlement states surrounding them.
Although Greece facing a default may mean that Germany may not get repaid some of its loans, in the long run it would be worth it to let the Euro dissolve. The alternative is that the standard of living among all Europeans, Germans in particular, will be reduced to the lowest common denominator. This is what any traditional economist would have predicted would happened when you combine two or more nations under one currency, especially nations with vastly different approaches to welfare and entitlements. The economically weaker nations, unless their spending is limited and economic policies reformed, will almost always drain capital from the stronger ones until its entitlement system finally causes a national default, which almost always leads to bailout by the stronger nations, which then restarts this cycle of welfare, loose credit, and bankruptcy that is encouraged by such bailouts.
Mayer's article is an example of hard news. Its important events with information vital to all people. The sovereign debt crisis is happening right now. It had a soft lede, however, in that it tries to draw the reader in with descriptions of Frankfurt as Europe's financial capital. I would say that the article is mostly objective, in that Mayer attempted to get the arguments from both sides of the story. However, I would still say that it is opinionated in that it made a lot of historical assumptions(for instance, that a united Europe is the only thing keeping France and Germany from attacking one another). This shows a historical bias against Germany and for a more integrated Europe.
Its no wonder that when talking about the European debt crisis, much of the focus is going to be in Germany. Angela Merkel states that this is the “worst crisis since World War II”. Because of the possibility of a Greek default, Germany is considering lending over half the money towards a proposed bailout fund of Greece. This is because many believe that the Euro is vital to the existence of a stable Europe. “The Euro is much more than a currency. The Euro is a guarantee for a united Europe. If the Euro fails, then Europe fails.”
However, Mayer's article seems to inflate the importance of the sustenance of the Euro to Germany's national interests. The article makes a very daring claim: “The European project tamed German national ambitions.” However, this runs with the historical fallacy that German ambitions were the sole cause of the chain of events leading to the World Wars, as opposed to the tension caused by the unstable alliance system. It would not be foolish to question the narrative that the European Union was a miracle that formed a peaceful, cooperative continent from a previously fractal, war shattered one. It would be wise to see the chain reactions of the World Wars, not caused by the lack of a central economic and banking system for Europe, but rather on the flimsiness of the world alliance system.
Furthermore, saving the Euro would require the main thing that the Euro was meant to prevent: Germany taking a dominant role in shaping European politics. According to Mayer, “For the Euro to survive, the finding goes , the profligate peoples of the weaker euro zone countries have to be made to behave like sensible Germans.” This seems to suggest that, if weaker countries are to be bailed out, much of their economic policy might be dictated by German banks. While this makes sense from a German's perspective(they want to make sure that their loans are repaid), it is likely to lead to political conflict between eurozone nations and would not lead to a more united Europe.
Mayer talked to both sides before writing her story. For instance, she quotes Angela Merkel on the importance of the Euro in her introduction. She also talks to working class Germans, including a bratwurst vendor. Many working class Germans want to simply let the Euro dissolve. They believe that it is unfair that they loan money to Greece, while Greeks employ many more entitlements than Germans and in consequence, Greece has been falling on its debt to gdp ratio promises. Many working class Germans see this outcome as predictable and enabled by Germany's guilt for World War II. They believe that people should stop hanging on the past, and begin thinking about the future. Therefore, it would be immoral and not sustainable that today's generation of Germans be made to bail out the welfare-entitlement states surrounding them.
Although Greece facing a default may mean that Germany may not get repaid some of its loans, in the long run it would be worth it to let the Euro dissolve. The alternative is that the standard of living among all Europeans, Germans in particular, will be reduced to the lowest common denominator. This is what any traditional economist would have predicted would happened when you combine two or more nations under one currency, especially nations with vastly different approaches to welfare and entitlements. The economically weaker nations, unless their spending is limited and economic policies reformed, will almost always drain capital from the stronger ones until its entitlement system finally causes a national default, which almost always leads to bailout by the stronger nations, which then restarts this cycle of welfare, loose credit, and bankruptcy that is encouraged by such bailouts.
Mayer's article is an example of hard news. Its important events with information vital to all people. The sovereign debt crisis is happening right now. It had a soft lede, however, in that it tries to draw the reader in with descriptions of Frankfurt as Europe's financial capital. I would say that the article is mostly objective, in that Mayer attempted to get the arguments from both sides of the story. However, I would still say that it is opinionated in that it made a lot of historical assumptions(for instance, that a united Europe is the only thing keeping France and Germany from attacking one another). This shows a historical bias against Germany and for a more integrated Europe.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Com 337-- Find a blog
1. What appeals to you? What's the blogger's voice? Does it speak to you?
2. Does the blogger do the kind of writing that Donald Murray talks about? What can you infer about his/her attitude toward the craft from reading the blog? How do those attitudes compare to Murray's? Do the same with techniques.
3. What ideas, techniques, attitudes ... and anything else that comes to mind, whether I'm mentioning it or not ... can you use in your own blogging? Other types of writing that you do?
4. What else about the blog is important that I'm forgetting to ask you about?
---
1. I often read the Hit and Run Blog on Reason.com. This blog appeals to me, because it has a libertarian voice and covers current events and public policy.
2. You can certainly infer the authors attitude about the issue from reading the blog. The techniques are slightly different than Murray's, since this blog is highly opinion based and deals with public policy.
3. Ideas that they use that come to mind include using multimedia cources to add to the blog. Also, the blog tends to use quotes from official sources to confirm its statements.
4. This blog deals with up-to-date current events that are often not headline news, and may therefore be overlooked in other media.
2. Does the blogger do the kind of writing that Donald Murray talks about? What can you infer about his/her attitude toward the craft from reading the blog? How do those attitudes compare to Murray's? Do the same with techniques.
3. What ideas, techniques, attitudes ... and anything else that comes to mind, whether I'm mentioning it or not ... can you use in your own blogging? Other types of writing that you do?
4. What else about the blog is important that I'm forgetting to ask you about?
---
1. I often read the Hit and Run Blog on Reason.com. This blog appeals to me, because it has a libertarian voice and covers current events and public policy.
2. You can certainly infer the authors attitude about the issue from reading the blog. The techniques are slightly different than Murray's, since this blog is highly opinion based and deals with public policy.
3. Ideas that they use that come to mind include using multimedia cources to add to the blog. Also, the blog tends to use quotes from official sources to confirm its statements.
4. This blog deals with up-to-date current events that are often not headline news, and may therefore be overlooked in other media.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Assignment for 9/8
News is a very elusive thing to define. This is because it doesn't really have a completely conrete definition. It is different from fiction, as it is designed to inform, not to entertain. Because of this, news is often shorter and more to-the-point than fiction. There are several different types of news. "hard news" is an immediate, breaking story that cannot wait for publication. "Soft news" on the other hand, is a story that can wait for publication. Soft news is often about a trend or important person. A hard lead is normally about a short, definite event. A soft lead, however, could be about an event that is expected or planned.
There are many different ways reporters like to surprise their readers. One way is to present a significantly outlaying fact; something that is out of the ordinary and can grasp the reader's attention. Surtees quotes Don Murray as saying "a memorable news story creates the illusion of an individual writer speaking aloud to an individual listener".
The "tip" that most surprised me was "rewrite". I guess I am a bit taken back by seemingly being told to second guess your original prose. But once it is thought about, it makes sense to do so. I can use this idea of rewriting in order to fine tune my 'voice' as a writer. This will be very helpful in refining my future work.
There are many different ways reporters like to surprise their readers. One way is to present a significantly outlaying fact; something that is out of the ordinary and can grasp the reader's attention. Surtees quotes Don Murray as saying "a memorable news story creates the illusion of an individual writer speaking aloud to an individual listener".
The "tip" that most surprised me was "rewrite". I guess I am a bit taken back by seemingly being told to second guess your original prose. But once it is thought about, it makes sense to do so. I can use this idea of rewriting in order to fine tune my 'voice' as a writer. This will be very helpful in refining my future work.
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