Consumerism In The News

Consumerism is the protection/promotion of interests of the consumers. In this case, the news commits many accounts of consumerism toward mass media.  There are numerous ways to express consumerism through mass media, social media, internet, Television, newspaper articles, magazines, etc. For example: A 10-year-old innocent girl was electrocuted to death by a broken-down ATM machine. A local writer named Chi Mai stated,  "If you bring me these new gadgets related to modern life, that's supposed to mean everything is safe. No one thought ATM machines would kill people. Suddenly you feel, 'Oh my God, this could happen to me.'" However,  that is not the only situation this concept deals with. This situation involves an old male, named Harry Shearers, begging strangers for money. Shearers explains in his defense, "I was a lower-class "dropout" in the late '60s. I had to survive on the streets much as the homeless do today. I found "entertaining" to be a sure way to increase my chances of getting money from strangers because it allows givers to feel they are not wasting their investment."  Another situation involves a woman named Barbara Kruger being stuck in an elevator shaft of an art museum. Kruger proclaims, "I really just wanted to address certain things I normally deal with in my work." Although these stories are totally different from each other, they all represent one concept, they all capture the attention of consumers, otherwise known as consumerism.


http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/05/world/la-fg-vietnam-safety-20100605

http://articles.latimes.com/1990-08-26/magazine/tm-568_1_begging-mitch-snyder-man-bites-town

http://articles.latimes.com/2008/feb/14/entertainment/gd-coverside14


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFlMQAppIpg 

FREE SULEMA!!

Sulema is a victim of "paranoid" schizophrenia, a very serious condition which makes people who have it to commit nearly fatal and/or life-threatening crimes, like burglary, robbery, assault and battery, etc. However, Sulema cannot go to jail, due to the fact that she is incompetent for court, due to the illness. Therefore, she does not deserve to be locked up behind bars. Instead of giving empathy for Sulema, the judge does not even listen to her plea, and sentences her to jail. Her bail is set at $50,000, but they also need $25,000 for more necessities. So, that's a total of $75,000. Free Sulema!!

http://freesulema.blogspot.com/2014/04/free-sulema.html

Monitoring Power

Monitoring power is the term in which journalists watch over major powers, such as government, the wealthy, military, police, etc. This happens all over the country. For example: Police brutality. In 2011, some police officers beat a man named Kelly Thomas to death. However, 2 officers were acquitted, which made people around the world furious and frustrated. Sgt. Jeff Stuart explained in behalf of the police: “We understand there’s a wide range of emotions. We respect people’s right to express their opinion. We just ask they do so respectfully.” However, this wasn't the only situation that deals with monitoring power. According to the LA Times, Muslims sued the NYPD for invading their mosques and monitoring their business. Raymond Kelly, a NYPD Commissioner, defending his employees, reassures the public when he says, "I think the American public can accept the fact if you tell them that every time you pick up the phone, it's going to be recorded and it goes to the government." There is also another interesting story. This one deals with the FBI lessening restrictions in security. As you can tell, monitoring powers are a very serious deal!!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-kelly-thomas-verdicts-threats-20140114-story.html


 http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CDkQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fannarborchronicle.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2013%2F07%2FMuslims-sue-NYPD-for-monitoring-mosques-congregants-latimes.com_.pdf&ei=NRq8U8vHCenQigKA1YD4Aw&usg=AFQjCNHx3wI9iCnRLrJeRXSfQTUF2kuc5g&sig2=UscBlKVSfzNrWWNBBlREbQ&bvm=bv.70138588,d.cGE


http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/27/opinion/la-oe-sanchez-fbi-20110627

Mr. Buchannan

Fred Buchanan, who is currently 18 years old, lives in what is presumably "The Block". "The Block" is a "ghetto" place in Australia. Fred currently lives in the struggle. Compared to a suburban town, The Block is considered to be a Lost And Found: People living in poverty, complications/conditions of supplies, police brutality, injustice, etc. However, there are also several solutions (For example: Summer camps, boxing events, fundraisers, etc.) As Fred explains about his home, "The block is always going to be my home. It's a place where we all go, where we all meet up." However, Fred clearly isn't the only kid whose is experiencing poverty. According to the Washington Post, majority of the students in the U.S are poor in public schools. Mississippi Commissioner Hank Bounds made a comment on such issue: " “What we’re doing is not working. We need to get philanthropies, the feds, business leaders, everybody, together and figure this out. We need another Sputnik moment.” Another example could be an issue in Arizona. Apparently, there was a murder case in Arizona. The alleged convict Bill Macumber described this case as ,  "one of the most extraordinary I have ever seen". 




http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/2013/10/16/34eb4984-35bb-11e3-8a0e-4e2cf80831fc_story.html


http://articles.latimes.com/2013/mar/29/entertainment/la-ca-jc-barry-siegel-20130331

Wuzzup, world? Ya boy here. This is my very first blog, so I am very excited!! Here, I'll be talking about La sports, Video Games (My favorite hobby), and just life in general. Hope to write a whole lot!