Why Is Sleep So Important?

Why Is Sleep So Important?

Sleep is very important for the health. Sleep deficiency can be bad for the health and harm you in the long run and can control the way we react, work and interact with others on a daily bases. It can affect how we think and act. “Getting enough quality sleep at the right times can help protect your mental health, physical health, quality of life, and safety.” We are so caught up with having so many things to do during the day that we feel like we don’t have enough time to sleep, so we can get things done, but it’s very important to get enough sleep and take care of your health.

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/sleep-deprivation-and-deficiency

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Are guns the problem or are people the problem?

Are guns the problem or are people the problem?

Some states require permits to purchase firearms and do background checks on people wanting to purchase a firearm. “Estimated to take under 10 minutes by phone or online, the check gives the FFL holder an immediate answer: approve, delay or deny” I believe that background checks are necessary and not everyone should carry guns, but there’s only so much you can do like someone can pass a background and completely go nuts and shoot up his whole family like Chris Watts who shot his wife and children for no reason because he was allowed to purchase a firearm and seemed like a “normal” person to carry. So the question still stands are people the problem or guns?

https://www.dw.com/en/8-facts-about-gun-control-in-the-us/a-40816418

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All The President's Men - Part 1

https://www.politico.com/story/2007/02/howard-hunts-final-mission-002649

          

          According to the film All the President’s Men, Howard Hunt was a former CIA intelligence officer who helped to plot the Watergate burglaries for the Nixon administration.  His mission was to identify “government sources of national security “leaks” to outside parties.”  The film follows the journalist Carl Burstein from the Washington Post who investigated his role in the burglary.  The scene where he begins to gather more information about Hunt taking books out on Senator Kennedy by calling the librarian from the White House library.  The investigation and development of this information was interesting.  When the librarian answers the phone, she is asked about Hunt checking books out.  Her response was an affirmative “yes, I think I do remember.  He took out a whole lot of materials.  Hold on and I’ll see.”  Upon her quick return, she backtracks and states that she was wrong.  In fact, she stumbles in her story, stations that the “truth is that I don’t have a card that Mr. Hunt got materials.  I don’t remember getting materials.  I do remember getting materials for somebody but it wasn’t for Mr. Hunt.  The truth is I don’t even know any Mr. Hunt.”  It is obvious that Carl Burstein was onto something as this conversation was not just strange but I would even say it leans towards a cover-up.

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Has It Gone Too Far?

     Trump recently revealed on a Fox News interview his opinion that Twitter has been censoring him. It is no secret that President Trump has quite the social media presence, much more than any president in the past. However, he states that his pattern of gaining followers has suddenly diminished, leading him to believe that Twitter is behind it. The article argues that Trump’s “complaining may also reflect his unease about recent reports that his posts are generating less and less interaction.” Yes, this statement could be true. However, it could also be false. While the credibility of Trump’s accusation is undetermined, the possibility of it being true is deeply concerning. Fake news is one thing, but censoring people based on opposing political views is a step too far.

Source: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/06/trump-claims-hes-being-disappeared-on-twitter-fox-business-interview

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Taking Fake News Into Our Hands

      An article on Harvard Summer School’s website lays out how we, as media consumers, can take action against the infiltration of fake news in our lives. While it only seems fair that the news sources solve this problem themselves, the reality of this happening has quite a slim probability. Therefore, it is in our best interest to arm ourselves with the right tools every time we open up a news story. We can ask ourselves “who is (or is not) quoted and what do they say?”. A lack of quotes could indicate a lack of facts, demonstrating that this site may not be trustworthy. Additionally, it is an easy step to “vet the publisher’s credibility” by checking the domain name and who the author is. By asking ourselves these questions, we can better spot the presence of disinformation in our society. 

Source: https://www.summer.harvard.edu/inside-summer/4-tips-spotting-fake-news-story 

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Negative Effects of Fake News

The Atlantic posted an article in response to a Pew Research Study on the topic of fake news. It found that “Americans rate it as a larger problem than racism, climate change, or terrorism.” A few years ago, the term “fake news” meant nothing, yet now it holds quite a negative connotation amongst media consumers. They found that most people’s response to the influx of disinformation is to either check the facts themselves or to drop a certain news source altogether. Since many people cut out one or more news sources based on the potential of being bias, many people end up less informed according to this article. Clearly, the presence of fake news has a significant impact on our society. However, instead of ignoring the problem by removing sources from our usual lineup, we should demand as media consumers that something be done about this outrageous behavior! 

Source: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/06/fake-news-republicans-democrats/591211/ 

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Spotlight

The 2015 movie, Spotlight, was based on a true story. "In 2002, the Boston Globe's Spotlight team, a group of five investigative journalists, uncovered the widespread sexual abuse of children by scores of the district's Clergy. They also revealed a cover-up: that priests accused of misconduct were being systematically removed and allowed to work in other parishes." This movie is a perfect example of journalism. It follows these journalists through their investigating and the troubles they have to go through when dealing with such controversial material. There have been many movies and documentaries that follow the similar situations but this is a prime example of investigative journalism. Spotlight also has some popular actors including, Rachel McAdams, Michael Keaton, and Mark Ruffalo.

IMDb

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Journalists in the Wild

Journalists in the Wild:

One famous and interesting journalist is Aura Bogado.  She is known for reports on covering immigration.  She tells the story up close and personal. She meets with the immigrant kids that have been taken away at the border, she meets with the parents that have been separated from their kids, and she meets with parents that have been reunited with their kids after several months apart.  Bogado quotes, “We have documents. We have statements. And, most importantly, we have the voices of people who were directly affected by the polies we write about.”  Bogado reports that parents are very clear about not wanting to share their story but just anxious for an update on their kids.  She reports on the hard news that others wont cover.  She isn’t afraid to post the facts that others won’t touch!

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Investigative Journalism: Homeowners Associations

Investigative Journalism:

 Right now my neighborhood is in the middle of a debate with our homeowners association.  Several residents in our subdivision have been renting their homes out as Air B&B’s and that has gathered a lot of complaints.  Our Homeowners association is now in the process of trying to pass a bylaw stating that now business can be conducted out of homes.  I talked with a few people in my neighborhood and most of them are very upset with this rule.  Several people do conduct business out of their homes, and this will put their businesses at right if this bylaw  passes. I know my wife is a teacher and in the summer she has a Cricut business and sells wooden signs and shirts, this would put her business in jeopardy.  One resident stated “I have been running a car detail business out of my garage for 5 years, how can someone tell me I can’t continue my work all because someone decided to make some money on the weekends with an Air B&B.”  I do agree that this new bylaw is a little harsh but I also see both sides. Neighbors are stating on the weekends the Air B&B houses are loud and have parties that last all night.  I know that the HOA can’t make exceptions for one person to conduct a business and another to not, but in the end I feel like we are all losing in this scenario.

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Relevant Film or Book

LAB B

Relevant Film or Book

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All the President’s Men takes place during the Watergate Scandal.  The White House or at this time was trying every way possible to cover their tracks.  They tried to seal all records and say they were confidential.  When recordings and scripts were release it came about several minutes of audio were missing.  In All the President’s Men, Hoffman’s Character Carl Bernstein states “There is no way the White House can control this investigation.”  Two investigative journalist dig deep and follow a money trail that they believe is to pay off anyone from talking.  They have an inside source they are communicating with named “Deep Throat.”  The truth starts to unfold as these journalist uncover exactly what happened at Watergate.  They publish a story outlining exactly what happened.  This ultimately led to President Nixon’s resignation.  Without these investigative journalist would the public ever have know what was really going on or would the White House had been able to cover it up?  Even after 9/11 I remember being little and watching the news and seeing journalist in the war zone risking their lives to share their story with their viewers.  They gave us an inside look as to what was really going on.  I think without journalism so much would be left untold.  The American Pressdefines the purpose of journalism as, “to provide citizens with the information they need to make the best possible decisions about their lives, their communities, their societies, and their governments.”

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Food Industry Hacks

The food industry is catching on that people know excess sugar is bad for them. Pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Robert Lustig started speaking on sugar “the toxin” after noticing a marked rise in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, obesity and type 2 diabetes in children. In his lecture, “Sugar: The Bitter Truth,” Lustig repeatedly points out, “The dose makes the poison” (Lustig). Because sugar remains unregulated companies can put as much as they want in their products and there are up to 61 different names for sugar. This makes sugar infinitely addable and easy to hide. So when you pick up the TV dinner whose name indicates “fitness,” “leanness,” “health” or “wellness,” ignore these claims on the box. “No sugar added,” or “low fat” are all red herrings. Take a look at the ingredient list and ask yourself if you can pronounce the contents let alone know what they are. [1 picture, 2 links, 1 quote, 147 words]

Source: https://sugarscience.ucsf.edu/hidden-in-plain-sight/#.XRay5y2ZN24

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmC4Rm5cpOI&t=809s

Source: https://www.eatthis.com/unhealthiest-frozen-meals/

The Impact of Fake News

It isn’t an exaggeration to say that the idea of fake news is taking over the media. With some politicians referring to anything they don’t agree with as fake, there has been a boom in internet users double-checking their news sources. While many would think that the rise in infirmity about fake news would lead to more informed constituents, The Atlantic believes the opposite is happening. In an article published in June, they suggest that “the rise of fake news is making it harder for people to see the truth”. Because of the hesitation we now have when coming across an article, we are more likely to jump to the conclusion it is fake news, since we know how easy it is to manufacture an article to say whatever we want. [1 image, 1 link, 1 quotation, 131 words]

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/06/fake-news-republicans-democrats/591211/

Combating Fake New

With the insurgence of recognition of “fake news” in the media because of the current political state the world is in, many people are stuck wondering how to navigate the internet without receiving biased or manipulated content. While there aren’t a lot of ways the consumers can avoid this, there are changes that can be made by corporations or online moderators. A solution offered by Brookings asks “news organizations to call out fake news and disinformation without legitimizing them”. This will allow for more fact-checking to occur and set higher standards for journalism, leading to the public regaining an increased amount of trust in the news and media. [1 image, 1 link, 1 quotation, 108 words]

https://www.brookings.edu/research/how-to-combat-fake-news-and-disinformation/

Fake News and Facebook

In today’s world, we are surrounded by tons of applications and websites that allow us to post almost anything we desire. When we have this kind of freedom, we should be burdened with the responsibility of posting with educated responses and civility, but we are not. It is quite common for misinformation to be posted and make the rounds in the media. Facebook is currently working to combat this, because according to them “fighting misinformation is a top priority”. They have people fact-checking their posts, but it isn’t nearly enough and “they might as well be sifting grains of sand from a toxic beach”. [1 image, 1 link, 2 quotations, 104 words]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-21/facebook-has-assembled-a-small-army-of-fact-checkers-too-small

The Flaws Facebook Has

Facebook is a popular app. You are able to connect to people from all over the world, and social. Although Facebook has so many ads, sponsorship. It is hard to exit the app. Facebook uses algorithms, which learns the pattern of the user and feeds them what they are interested in.

In, "The fatal flaws of Facebook: dissected", they say that
" Facebook’s a compiles data of what you “like” and based on what that content is associated with (what topics, themes, companies, products, prominent figures), it applies a set of generalized tags to your profile. "

It isn't only Facebook, but other social media apps too. This is the system that works for them.

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Clarissa Ward

Clarissa Ward

Clarissa Ward is a chief international correspondent and reports from all over the World. For instances, places like Yemen, Iraq and Georgia and others. She has earned awards from reports she made like,

 " Two George Foster Peabody Awards, one of which she received for her 2016 series, 'Undercover in Syria'; an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award; five Emmy Awards, including one this year for her 2017 special report, 'Syria: Gasping for Life in Khan Sheikhoun';...".

Apparently Mrs. Ward went undercover in seriously dangerous areas in Syria. That is pretty insane! She reported to have seen 11 dead due to an airstrike. We are able to read more about it on CNN. They provide more information there.

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Pregnant Woman Shot and leads to Child's Death

Marshae Jones

It has been reported on June 28th, a pregnant woman got into a fight that lead to shots being fired. The shot did cause the death of her unborn child. It was back in December when she was five months pregnant, and began a fight with a woman. There has been statements like,

"It was the mother of the child who initiated and continued the fight which resulted in the death of her own unborn baby," Pleasant Grove police Lt. Danny Reid told Al shortly after the shooting.The fight had taken place outside of a Dollar General.".

The case is still being process and Ms. Jones may or may not be prosecuted.  

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Buzzfeed

"BuzzFeed editors say their audience used to see their site as a place you could find really cool stuff, but not a place you could trust. They’re trying to change that" (Sean Hemmerle).

As much as Buzzfeed portrays itself as a news source, whether it be about celebrity news or athletes winning the Olympics, many people do not consider Buzzfeed as a trust worthy news source. According to the employees of Buzzfeed, they purposely try to find ways to write the news in a way that is not traditional. This include finding Vine videos of of weird things happening and writing articles about how no one cares about politics. Buzzfeed is tryingto find innovative ways to write about things that people want to read and is entertaining. 

Snapchat overtaking Facebook

"Snapchat is set to overtake it as the digital hangout of choice for teens and twenty somethings this year, as Mark Zuckerberg’s social media site struggles to remain relevant to the youth generation." 

For the younger generation, people are finding it more entertaining to use Snapchat rather than Facebook. This has led to the idea that Snapchat will soon overtake Facebook as the most used app for social media. Young teens are finding it more entertaining that Snapchat features disappearing messages and interesting photo filters that is not featured in the Facebook app. It has been calculated that Snapchat has already surpassed Facebook in the year 2018. This shows how the younger generation can find ways to bring apps to success. 

Daily Mail on Ridiculous News Posts

When looking at various news channels, Daily Mail is one among many. Yet, Daily Mail can not be seen as a credible news source because of its ridiculous news stories and unimportant celebrity gossip. Daily Mail tends to focus on fashion advice and how celebrities tend to dress rather than possibly relevant news about a celebrity's life. For example, in this post, Daily Mail reports about how "Miranda Lambert was seen going for a stroll in New York City on Thursday with her husband of five months, Brendan McLoughlin...[wearing] a casual yet vibrant skirt with lovely lavender floral patterns." This just shows how we have to be able to filter through what news we pay attention to and give importance to the news source we receive our news through.