Real Life Pirates?!

I was reading an article in Time today, and it was about the rescue of Richard Phillips, the American ship captain held hostage since by a bunch of Somali PIRATES. I just think it is very interesting that we still have piracy going on in our world. When I was little, I always thought it would be SO cool to be a pirate or even get captured. The movies all made it sound so adventurous, but in real life they are a huge problem around Europe! This just blows my mind that there are people on ships stealing and kidnapping like a childhood movie fantasy. I feel bad and worried for those people who actually stand a risk of being taken or stolen or even killed by pirates, and I truly hope that the countries fighting the war to stop them will come out on top.

GAY IDOL?

In the Mother Jones article I read today, they were talking about a contestant on American Idol, Adam Lambert. The big controversy over him is that he is gay, and the article noted that if he came out on idol he would probably lose a lot of votes... If you ask me, that shouldn't matter if he is a good singer. When a song comes on the radio you don't think "hmm. if this person is gay I don't wanna hear him sing." If a song is good or a singer is good then that's it. I'm not a big fan of some groups or things that some singers do, but if I like a song then I like it. Music is made to make people feel good!!

World Wide Currency

Today in my Econ class, our bell ringer was to read the article "China calls for new global currency" and respond to it. I thought it was very interesting and would make for a good blog. The article explained how, for mainly trading purposes, that there should be one global currency used, instead of try in convert all the different types. The four main ones used are the dollar, euro, yen, and British pound. China thinks it would be easier and more convenient to switch it and use one kind for everything. In theory, I think this sounds good, but in reality, I don't think it will happen. Too much change and conflict is involved in this along with too many countries. I think it would be more of a hassle than its worth. I realize the system we use now is maybe not the best, but it does work and that is what counts.

Salicornia to save Earth

In the article I read today in Mother Jones, they were talking about a atmospheric physicist named Carl N. Hodges who has done extensive research about a plant called "Salicomia". Supposedly this saltwater plant has a large amount of varieties that cam be used to feed humans and animals. Also it is very cheap and can be prepared in numerous ways, and also is healthy and good for the environment. I think this is the kind of research worth spending time on, because we wont have plentiful resources forever and any little bit people can come up with to help is useful.

Apple IPODs

The article I read today in Time magazine was about the new shuffle IPOD that apple has recently put on the market. The main "face" of Apple, Steven Jobs, is on sick leave until June, so he was not able to present the new item to the public. This was less interesting to me in the article. It was talking about how the company presented their product, but the product itself was what caught my attention. What I am continuously curious about is why in the world does "smaller" seem to be better these days? This new IPOD is about as big (or small) as a pen cap and has no screen; you find out what is playing when the thing "talks" to you. That, to me, would be annoying: not knowing what song is on, or to be able to get to the song you wanted. I guess that is why I have an IPOD with a screen, though.

T.V. for Babies?

In the Time Magazine article I read today, there were researchers trying to figure out what TV did to toddlers and infants under two. They wanted to know if watching TV made a difference in vocabulary or motor skills. I thought it was interesting that they did not find a huge connection there, but more so related to the parents. The studies revealed that reading and interacting with children at an early age does more for their brains and overall skills than any amount of TV does. I do not have children, yet, and I do not plan to for a long time, but I do enjoy finding hints such as this to lock in my memory for when the day comes. Anything to make being a parently less confusing than I am sure it will be.

Dream Meanings

I read an article in Time Magazine today about people trying to find meaning from their dreams. The person who wrote the article was saying that it was, and I quote, "a dumb" thing to do. I disagree with this. I usually make a lot of connections with my dreams and my real life, and sometimes it even helps me in some areas. Also, I get the feeling of deja vu quite frequently, so my dreams are obviously connected to my waking life. I feel that if people wish to look for symbols or anything else in their dreams it is not a "dumb" thing to do; it's personal choice like everything else.