"I've Moved on" -Hilary Clinton

The Monica Lewinsky scandal with Bill Clinton happened in 1973 so I was very surprised to see this article on Nytimes talking about how Hilary Clinton has "moved on" from the scandal. When I first saw it I thought: obviously she has moved on! The scandal happened over 30 years ago! It was clear that Hilary Clinton moved on when she decided to stay with her husband after it happened. Then I asked myself why was this article about Hilary Clinton "moving on" published in 2014 in the first place?

I think that this article was published because she is said to be running for president in two years. Family is such an American value that she needs to make sure the public knows how great her and her husband's marriage is right now. This scandal is not relevant anymore but she needs to start thinking about gaining votes right now and she can play the angle of how great her family is. Not only does this article talk about her marriage but it also talks about how her daughter is expecting a baby in the fall. Clinton said that she was not dwelling on the decision on whether to run for president but she is thinking about,“With the extra joy of ‘I’m about to become a grandmother,’ I want to live in the moment.” Although she may not be thinking about running for office and she may be excited to become a grandmother, I question whether she thinks that label that will make her seem like a better candidate for president.

Going to College: A Must?

As we have been discussing class recently, this article from the Nytimes really struck me because it talked about how Americans with four year college degrees make 98% more an hour on average in 2013 than people who do not have a college degree. One part of this article that really stuck out was when the author said college is, "...the most reliable ticket to the middle class and beyond." 

Americans have become so obsessed with college. I would argue more obsessed than any other country. It has become almost a given that if you want to be part of the middle or upper class you must go to a four year college. Living on the North Shore college is always a topic people are chatting about because for most, it is not even a question whether a New Trier graduate is going to college or not. What I find interesting about the North Shore is college is taken so seriously it almost becomes part of your identity. People will make immediate judgements subconsciously after you tell them what college you attended or are going to attend. Why has is become this way? Why has college become so important to Americans? Comments appreciated! 

FDA Stepping It Up

Today, as junior theme topics have been throwing around, I became interested when someone said they were doing their paper on the farming industry in America today. It is becoming a well known fact that farming these past couple of years has really changed the food industry. Drugs are being used to make animals grow faster, fruit is becoming bigger, etc.

When I saw this article I was very interested because it was about the junior theme I heard about. According to the article the FDA made an announcement that manufactures cannot sell drugs for the use of speeding up growth in animals. Therefore farmers will not be able to make their animals grow fatter faster.

This news made me very happy to hear because I believe our society has become very accecepting of long food labels with chemicals we've never even heard of and do not really think about what we are putting in our mouths. I do not think it even crosses people's minds that when they have chicken for dinner there is a huge possibility that it was fed antibiotics to grow faster that medical experts are still skeptical about. What do you think? Why has society become so accepting of these antibiotics? Is it because we don't know or is is it we just don't care?

What Not To Wear?

Recently in school, girl advisories have been required to watch the documentary Miss Representation which is about how girls in society today feel pressured by media to look or dress a certain way that attracts men. Iv'e been watching it for a couple days now so when I saw this article from CNN about whether it matters what women wear to work, I became very interested. The article is about how Loyola Law School in Los Angeles sent out a rather disturbing memo to all of their female lawyers recently. The memo read: ""I really don't need to mention that cleavage and stiletto heels are not appropriate office wear (outside of ridiculous lawyer TV shows), do I?" 

I would have to agree with this article in saying that this memo seems sexist to me. Why didn't they address what men are supposed to wear? It seems to me that whoever wrote this memo thinks that women are getting judged by their appearance and it doesn't really matter what kind of lawyer they are, it matters more about what they look like. In my opinion if a women is doing well at her job it shouldn't really matter what she looks like while she's doing it. It would be one thing for a woman to come to work practically naked but if stiletto heels make a woman feel more powerful or she prefers feeling taller she should be able to wear them without having to worry about being judged. 

What are your thoughts on this memo? Do you think that today's society focuses too much on what women look like?

NSA Overstepping Their Bounds

"I've called President Obama to express my frustration over the damage the government is creating for all of our future." -Mark Zuckerberg

Now that's quite a statement. When I saw these words on CNN I immediately had to read this article to find out why Mark Zuckerberg personally called the President of the United States. It turns out that Mark Zuckerberg is frustrated with the government because his engineers have been working endlessly to improve their security not from criminals but the government. I would have to agree with Zuckerberg saying the NSA has overstepped their bounds. They have now made it possible to inject bad software into innocent people's computers which allows them to sneak into anyone's web browser.

This compliant from Mark Zuckerberg may be ironic because Facebook makes money from people's personal information but I would have to agree that the NSA is becoming a threat. Unless they have a valid reason or concern with evidence they should not be allowed to go into anyone's browser. As citizens we have a right to privacy and that should be maintained. 

Outdated Parade Rules

As St. Patty's Day being today and after attending the Chicago parade this past weekend this article from CNN caught my eye. It exclaimed that two major beer brands "Heineken" and "Sam Adams" have pulled their sponsorship from the parades today in Boston and New York because both parades have banned sexual orientation to be displayed. Therefore none of the veterans who wanted to march as part of the LBGQT group are not allowed to identify themselves as gay or lesbian with signs or t-shirts.

It defense to their rule The South Boston Allied War Veterans Council who is organizing the Boston parade said, ""We invite all to join us to celebrate this historic event, but we must maintain our guidelines to insure the enjoyment and public safety of our spectators," The fact that this council brought up public safety to me was very concerning and surprising. I believe that we live in a society where people who are gay and lesbian are very much accepted. For someone to say that gay pride is a concern of "public safety" seems like a very outdated statement to me. 

Overall, I support the decision of Heineken and Samuel Adams. I do not think it is morally right for anyone to try to stop people from showing their sexual orientation. What are your thoughts on this situation? 

Does A College Education Guarantee Economic Safety?

I've always been in the mind set that if you go to college you at least certain to get  a job after that will put food on the table every night but after reading this article from the NY times, my perception has completely changed. This article gives two shocking examples of people who have gotten a college degree but can barely afford food to eat because the minimum wage is so low.

Landon Howard is a graduate from University of Tennessee four years ago who obtained a bachelor's degree in social work but could not find a job. He currently works as a prep cook at the Tupelo Honey Cafe. He is only scheduled about 20 hours a week making $9.50 an hour. He only brings home about $200 a week and had to move back in with his parents. 

According to John Schmitt of the Center of Economic Policy Research,“Minimum-wage and low-wage workers are older and more educated than 10 or 20 years ago, yet they’re making wages below where they were 10 or 20 years ago after inflation." So even though people 20 years ago were working the same job as Landon Howard graduate of University of Tennessee, they were making more money often without a college education much less a degree.

What do you think? Should the minimum wage be raised in America? Would this solve problems for Americans like Landon Howard?