Change? by Steven Waugh

Im glad that we are all having a good discussion on healthcare reform, and I would like to hear what Phillips opinion on the subject is since Lauren and Stephen already gave their input. I would like to change the subject to another one of Obama's "promises." Im think we can all agree that Obama promised to remove most of the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Earlier in his term he did in fact remove a large number of troops from these areas. In a recent article on CNN, the pentagon announced that it will move forward with plans to send another 34,000 troops to Afghanistan. Huh? I personally agree with the choice to send more troops to the area in order to ensure the safety of the troops there, and maybe a surge in force will be enough to make significant progress in the area. The point I am trying to make is that Obama promised to take troops out, and he did so. But now he realized that he did that too soon, and now he is sending those troops back in. Will Obama make the same mistake with healthcare? Im worried that he will try to do too much too soon, and end up having to fix a larger mess later. I would like to hear everyones input on this situation, because maybe I am overanalyzing the situation.

Poll Bias

Aren't the politicians watching the polls?
Here is an article that talks about polling, and how it is a focal point of politicians. I felt that this would be good for give good insight into Lauren's image and article. Although, its poll contradicts the poll Lauren posted, because it talks about a decrease in the support of healthcare reform, which is a huge part in where this country is headed.

This is a good example of poll bias, which Lauren had talked about. The question that this article's poll asked was, "Public View Of The President's Healthcare Plan? Yay Or Nay For The Democrats?" This question, unlike Lauren's poll question, is short, sweet, and to the point. This leaves less room for bias. Lauren's question is filled with lots of strong wording and adjectives, which conveys the audience in a certain way. I feel that the poll that I discovered is a better gauge for what people think about where the country is going.

By: Stephen Sealy

Washington Post: Obama Poll

Obama & the Economy Poll

By: Lauren Young

Since Steven proposed the idea in his last blog about how Americans always just blame the president for everything, and how Obama is losing approval ratings, I decided to do some research on the matter. Some polls I found from the Washington Post Online state that:

64% of Americans still have confidence in Obama

That there is an increase in the percentage of people who think we are headed in the right direction.

(Statistics based off a telephone survey of 1000 people)

I do not know how accurate this poll is since it might not have had good demographics and it was not conducted by a credible source like AP Nielson Statistics.

However, I find the general claim of this article to state that Americans are starting to think Obama is moving in the right direction. Many Americans still have faith, even if they blame him for problems.

My personal opinion on this article was that it seemed kind of biased. I know it was a survey, but it was still written to favor democrats. Overall, politics are very complicated and I believe it is just human nature to blame political leaders for problems. In my personal opinion, I think anyone in office right now would be blamed for the horrible economy.

Where is the common ground? by Steven Waugh

When will people start sticking to their preconceived notions? There is nothing I hate more than "fair weather fans." In the article "Poll: Public shifting blame for recession," the American people are shown to be following fair weather trends. The recession has been blamed on many things. For one, the housing crisis, and the auto industry has also bore the brunt of the blame. But people mainly blame the recession on either Republicans or Democrats. Republicans have been taking most of the heat for the past two years, but the statistics are showing that people are being swayed towards blaming the current crisis on Democrats.

Obama promised to fix the economy, and millions of people entrusted him with their votes. He has made considerable change with bills such as H.R. 3200 which will create a public option for healthcare. Obama and his "change" have made considerable headway, yet people still have doubts. After blaming Republicans for the economic downturn, some are claiming that Obama has done nothing to improve it, and now some are claiming that he has made the economy even worse! With midterm elections coming up, the American people have a decision to make. Will the Republicans get a second shot at redemption, or will the Democrats, who they are clearly unhappy with, continue to dominate congress? Will America make a stance, or continue to just blame whoever is in office for every problem that arises? Please let me know your stance on the subject at hand, and if you notice some of the same symptoms in our culture.

Public Option? by Steven Waugh

Ok I was going to try to tie in my healthcare argument with Phillips car argument, but I only came up with a few ways to do so. The recent economic downfall has created a revived drive in the governments efforts to reshape the American economy. The American car crisis has been at the forefront of these efforts. Pixars new smart-cars are a new idea that the American people have to look forward to in the future.

But what about healthcare? President Obama promised that "change" would drive his campaign, and a new healthcare platform was at the center of his promises. The house just passed the H.R. 3200 health care bill. For a good summary of the bill look at this summary. It is a great look at the new bill that may be turned into a law if it is successfully passed in the senate.

At the forefront of the healthcare argument is the public option. In theory, the public option is a great way to provide healthcare to everyone equally. But in reality, the public option provides many problems. The mere confusion that will arise with employers trying to figure out whether the incentives to provide the public option will surpass the benefits given by private employers is amazing. The thousand-plus pages of the bill provide people to have many grievances.

Glen Beck is upset with suggested government run parenting programs that would essentially allow government workers to come into your home and "teach" your parents how to run your house hold effectively.

So when is enough, enough? Will the Senate pass the bill? We entrust our leaders to make appropriate decisions that will affect the country in a positive way. In no way am I opposed to the bill because I am in no way educated enough on its contents. I just posted this because I am passionate about keeping tabs on our governments actions and policies. Please let me know your opinions on the bill so I can get a better grasp on how the mainstream student population feels about Obama's administration.

Pixar's Cars Prediction, by Phillip Miller

I apologize for the change in topic but this was too sticking to leave for another time
When are we going to design cars that can speak and hear?
We can do so much with technology these days why not design our traveling bodies with their own mouth and ears. We already have cars that can see......
Cars house our minds nearly as much as our bodies do, it would only make sense to start to design them with as much capabilities as our bodies.....and then some. This topic was sparked inside of me while trying to navigate myself through a car park/ shopping center in North Carolina.

There were not any sidewalks, pathways or pedestrian crosswalks. I felt as though the entire plaza was designed purely for the mobility of cars and not people. I must say though, the plaza well very well landscaped so that made it ok.
It was unbelievable. The day was beautiful and sunny. Not too cold and not too hot, just right. There was not a soul outside unless they were walking to their cars. Everyone jumped out of their cars ran over to where they were about to spend some of their oh so scarce green and then run back into their little safe zones on wheels.
This was a beautiful state with vast amounts of open space all ready to be used for sports and activities but no. Everyone chose to spend their Sunday hiding form the sun and the world outdoors that has not already been processed and deep fried for them.

Atlanta Graffiti

In class, many of our groups had talked about how graffiti can actually make a community closer if everyone accepts it. In the video ATL Graffiti, a girl goes traveling around Atlanta taking pictures and looking at all of the different graffiti. This video shows the interest of not only the people within the neighborhood, but people outside as well. It could even be said that graffiti in a neighborhood, if elaborate enough, can actually attract tourism and people from out of town.

This video does a good job of being consistant and keeping the audience's attention. The music and the cinematographic techniques it uses, such as having the girl walk by the wall several times, grab the attention and keep the interesting flow of the video going. The video focuses on using emotional and visual appeals to persuade the audience that Atlanta is filled with unique and interesting neighborhoods. The artistic perspective it give by the black and white up until the graffiti is seen is an emotional appeal, making the neighborhoods have hip or trendy vibes. The graffiti art itself is the visual appeal. Both of these aspects blend together to maintain its purpose, which is to show the Atlanta community in a unique and trendy light.

Suburban Sprawl - Sprawling From Grace; Driven To Madness Review

Video Link
This video was a trailer for a movie, so the goal of it was to advertise, and to portray the movie in an intersting way for the audience. Tone. The tone of the music is ther first thing that catches the audience's attention. The sound throughout the whole clip is a very fast paced violin with a repetitive beat. This creates an intense and interesting feeling for the audience, which is the goal of the video. Another thing that is intended to keep the audience's attention is the imagery. All of the 5 second clips of images show pollution, clutter, and spread out interstates and houses to create a serious setting. The combination of voice overs and fast paced music in the background, and the images of pollution and crowding provide a powerful message that is both interesting and showing the point of the film itself.

As far as the content within the video, there are a lot of good points. The voice overs describe and layout some of the general problems with sprawl. They also stress repetitiveness of sprawl, and how we keep making the same mistakes over and over. Another point made is that we are hurting both humanity and the world we live in by constantly increasing sprawl. This is appealing to our attachment to the people around us and the world we live in. A very good point is made that "the human being has to be the essential planning component and the scale around which everything is measured, not the automobile." This point is a logos appeal, because it is saying logically the scale that we build everything should be based on what it is being built for, humans. The fact that this is a trailer for a legitimate movie actually shows credibility to the audience. In end of the video, an Einstein quote is used to emphasize their message of repetitiveness, which could be both a logical appeal and an emotional appeal. This allows the video to end on a powerful sure fire message to send out to the audience.

By: Stephen Sealy

Trash & Sprawl: An Artistic Twist

By: Lauren Young

There are several ways in which humans are effecting the environment in a bad way. Two of these seven themes fit in with my main two focuses of my blog posts this semester: Sprawl and Trash. First, watch this video about a man who expresses his opinions through 3D art.

His artwork is created based off seven themes: urban Sprawl, energy, trash, soil depletion, deforestation, plastics, finally red fluid for death and destruction. Each of these themes gets a layer in the original box that is displayed. He then rips off seven strips, layer by layer, and each layers creates trash or debris that goes crashing to the floor. When he's done, there is just a tone of trash on the group, and behind where the strips were in a destructed American flag.

This artwork is amazing because it finds a way to read very clearly to the audience. The audience can tell that all the trash and waste is bad for the environment not only because it is trash, but because he presents it in a negative way just letting it all fall to the ground. As he peels off each strip, it is like he is starting to reveal more and more truths. Lasly, the image of the bent and beat up American flag at the end is so symbolic of the corruption that America is leaving on this earth. I was so happy to discover this video because it shows a very strong piece of artwork that ties into the themes I'm focusing on this year.

No Impact Man

By: Lauren Young

I came across the trailer for the movie No Impact Man (Trailer) while I was researching information for my COA1060 class. So what is No Impact man? How is this relevant to suburbia?

Well, suburban nation mainly just discusses sprawl and why its bad, however, it neglects certain problems sprawl causes, such as extreme amounts of trash. The book does not even go into depth about how much trash Americans produce and how cities are running out of room for trash. This interesting documentary was conducted by a man who decided to become "No Impact Man." He agreed that for one year he would not produce any trash. He would not use any energy (no subway, taxi, electricity, etc.). Also, he got rid of cosmetics, anything disposable, and made many other sacrifices. I thought the concept of this is really interesting because it would be so hard to give all that up for a year. Also, I had never thought about the impact that each person makes on the environment. For example, each person creates around 1600 lbs of trash per year.

Trash is a serious part of Americans lives. Americans produce way more than any other country and we also recycle less than many other countries. We need to start developing solutions to these problems. It is predicted that by 2050 all our landfills will reach full capacity and new ones will have to be opened. This class I'm taking now focuses on trash and it has really opened my eyes to how much waste I produce. The trailer was very well done though and I felt that it was a neat video to share.

Obama Nobel Peace Prize? by Steven Waugh

Last Friday, President Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize. Obama received this prestigious award for his works in international diplomacy and peace talks. I myself cannot argue the fact that Obama has put much effort into his peace talks. The question is did he actually deserve the award? Many are skeptic that Obama has not done enough to deserve the award, and some believe that he hasn't done anything at all. Yes, he has worked hard especially for nuclear non-proliferation, but has the steps he made towards it actually deserve the award. Deserving or not, Obama should use the Nobel Peace Prize to his advantage. The award will help Obama's political standing with Republicans and Democrats as well. Hopefully Obama will use this award to build support for health care reform. On the other hand, the prize could end up hurting Obama in a negative way. I would not like to see Obama get a "big head." The last thing the United States need is a president with a super ego who thinks he can pass any bill presented to Congress. I would like to see Obama use this award to his advantage and break up the bipartisanship that has hindered Congress for the past few months.

Politics and Politricks

By: Phillip Miller

The blog The Buzzman Calls Me Out is a political blog, where the writer goes on about both the left and right wing. This heavily relies on the assumption that the reader is well educated in politics. There is a large amount of referrals to left wing and right wing, which to the uneducated in US government wouldn't follow too well. The author also makes many references to historical data and recent events in the world of politics. Not being learned in this world names such as Malkin, Limbaugh, Hannity and Levin were all unfamiliar to me and I was unable to follow points and make connections. The author uses terms like 'loons' and '”race pimp'” to draw in our attention and make plays on our emotions.

The wrier of this blog also collects a large amount of respect as a learned individual as it clearly appears that he has read many articles and amassed a large amount of data.

One problem with this blog though is that the author speculates about many people's opinions. He also uses many of his which may take away from the logical appeal. More facts and hard evidence such as statistics and quotes would have gone a long way for him.

Overall the articles in Drifting Through the Grift were all of political relevance. They all touched on either side, republicans and democrats. This may be a controversial blog but it will also be a stimulating one, especially in a world such as today. We have a black president and every bills and law and referendum is being scrutinized with a fine tooth comb.

Terminal Station Blog Productive?

Lauren talks about 3 different articles that are in the Terminal Station Blog. These three article talk about crime in Atlanta, a football hall of fame that is being installed, and an article on how Atlantic Station needs a more family oriented neighborhood.
My take on this blog is that it is completely anti-productive. When a person is researching a place to live, one thing they might do is look at some local blogs. That way they get the opinions of the people within the neighborhood so they better understand what the neighborhood will be like from a first person perspective. The Terminal Station Blog is pretty much burning or coming down on the neighborhood that it is representing. If when people are researching Atlantic Station, and they see these post on all of these problems within it, is that going to convince them to move in to help create a better community? Probably not. If the people who post on the blog want families and people concerned about the community moving in rather than having it as bad as they think, then they shouldn't try and convince the crowd of people they desire to move in not to come.

By: Stephen Sealy

Terminal Station

By: Lauren Young

I read some current articles posted in the Terminal Station Blog. The main tone within the article is a negative opinion about Atlanta. The first posts talks about Atlanta crime compared to crime in Boston and other big cities. It questions how affective the APD is, and shares the opinion that Atlanta is not a good place since the police service is not as effective as other places. The second post focuses on moving the Football Hall of Fame museum being moved to Atlanta. This is just another tourist sight being packed into Atlanta. It is also taking up some of the space that is supposed to belong to the Olympic Park. It is supposed to bring in residency, but instead it is just an attraction. This writer feels that Atlanta needs a more neighborhood like feel with permanent residents rather than just being a place of attractions. Lastly, the third post on the front page covered an opinion how Atlantic Station needs more families in the area. The writer feels that it is a nice area, but it needs a more multifamily feel. Overall, the tone describes how Atlanta is a place lacking in sense of community and neighborhoods. The content is all good enough to make it interesting, however the social environment and crime are not impressive.

This blog is mainly written as nonfactual opinions. The author says things such as "that is just an idea of mine, though, with no proof" and " I assume, and hope, that they use the data for more than a web page display and public information." Addressing the audience using these phrases does not make the author very credible in my opinion. Throughout the entire thing, it is just opinion after opinion, a little bit of data, and no support. I feel like if I really wanted to understand any of the topics, I would have to look it up myself. There was not really any fallacies that I could pick out from the blog since it was written in a more conversational tone.

Cluster bleep Nation by Steven Waugh

Clusterfuck Nation strays from the "formalities" of writing. Restraint is no factor for James Kunstler as he frequently cusses in his arguments on sprawl. Clusterfuck Nation offers a different perspective on sprawl. The mere audacity of Kunstler is amazing. Appealing to the emotions of his readers, Kunstler allows one to fully understand his point of views through his fire-like entries.

Similar to many other blogs, Kunstler's main point of interest is sprawl and its effects. Clearly against sprawl, Kunstler provides very appealing arguments battling the small town killer. The main fallacy of Kunstler lies in his ability to use powerful emotional appeals. appeals to the average joe who is sick of driving long hours to work, and tired of coming home to his large sub division of similar houses. At the same time, Kunstler also insults the average man who jumps on the "bandwagon." He insults the american people by saying that they are too easily convinced, and that is why they are unable to battle sprawl effectively. For e Kunstler xample, Kunstler says that the American people were too easily excited when President Obama declared that the recession was over. The main reason behind this is to stamp out the ignorance of the American People. I feel as though Kunstler only wishes us to open our minds. Kunstler uses his blog to provide evidence and support for his opinions. He provides links and descriptions for each of his books so that people can read more into his opinions and standings on sprawl.

Kunstler provides a way of describing sprawl unlike any other blogger. Kunstler's unique style of writing allows him to portray his view of sprawl in a unique and unrestricted manner. People unsure about his positions on certain topics can go read his books to see a more in depth description of his positions. Overall, Kunstler appeals to the inquisitive and naive sides of people.

Little Five Points Exploration

Little Five points was an interesting place to visit. This neighborhood is definatly one of the most culturally unique neighborhoods in Atlanta. From the graffitied unique looking restaurants to the unusual and uncommon things that you can buy in the shops there, Little Five Points pushes the limit to how different it can be from the rest of society.

The downside to such a rare place is the security. I personally visited this place by myself, which ended up being a frightening experience. I was confronted by several homeless people, and I have never seen a police officer go through the neighborhood. And when I visited, it was only the afternoon, whereas if it had been at night, I probably would have been in a lot more danger.

A visit to Little Five Points can be safe and fun though. Just be careful to go with a group of friends, and try not to wait too late to go and visit.

View Larger Map

Sprawl in U.S. vs. Europe

Phillip talks about sprawl in other countries, and how it compares or is in relation with the sprawl that is so common to the United States. I decided to follow in his footsteps by also going to the Georgia Tech library resources and doing research on other places other than the U.S. that are affected by sprawl. I came across an interesting and appropriate article on the comparison between the sprawl in the United States and the sprawl in Europe. The article Sprawl in Europe and America, starts of talking about the sprawl that is so commonly found in America. It then goes into the environmental approach to looking at sprawl, and then leads into the political argument of it. It then goes into its main point, which is the theory that if all other affluent countries are as sprawling as the U.S., then sprawl must be inevitable for affluent countries. Afterward, it concludes that Europe is significantly less automobile dependent than the United States, but still isn't completely rid of sprawl. The article attributes this sprawl in Europe to the pro-sprawl policies that governments have issued. There are some aspects of Europe that are key to limiting sprawl, such as the ability to use other types of transportation other than automobiles. It is the culture of Europe that causes this. It is much more commonplace to walk or take a train or bike then it is in the United States. Overall, Europe doesn't have nearly as much sprawl as the United States, and thus disproves the theory that affluent countries cannot resist or minimize sprawl.

By: Stephen Sealy

It's Called Sprawl for a Reason

Ever since we started the topic of suburban sprawl my mind has been racing about it. One of the major thoughts to pass through my mind is sprawl on a global scale. America is ‘the greatest place on earth,’ how can we not expect nations to follow her example.

Thanks to Dr Hoeffer I have been forced to use my dreaded resource. To my surprise this has turned out to be more enjoyable than torturous.

Using the library resource LexisNexis(I know this is the easy way out), I was able to easily access information about sprawl. Once I saw an article on ethiopian sprawl I was instantly pulled in. The article “Ethiopia; Sprawl Unlimited” touches on many of the disastrous dealings of sprawl.

Although the main concern people have of sprawl is the loss of quality of life and the time they spend in their car Ethiopian have more to worry about. For the very few but extraordinarily wealthy ethiopians the hillsides Entoto Mountain seem like prime residential area. Located just outside of the capital Addis Ababa
View Larger Map, residents have been sacrificing the greenery and natural life for a little breeze and a prestigious view.

This still hasn’t scratched the surface of more major problems. Fifty percent of Ethiopia’s exports come from agriculture. This also accounts for eighty five percent of its employment. Now that the nation has been introduced to sprawl, areas of prime agricultural land are being swept up for short run sub prime housing and markets. This is the small business men of ethiopian cutting the roots of the economy. Another problem associated with this form of sprawl is the eradication of virgin forests to be used as new agricultural land.

The world is being attacked by sprawl, we need to open our eyes to the future. We cannot sustain life this way. The world is building its dream on top of the foundation its destroying.

Manual Labor: Urban to Suburban

The article that I found was Life-Style Differences among Urban and Suburban Blue-Collar Families. I had searched for "suburban life", and this was one of the first article to come up that caught my eye. The first few seemed bland, and I wasn't sure if they would be simple rundowns of suburban life. This article seemed more like a specific comparison on two areas of living between a specific group of people.

Blue-collar workers and their families live in both urban and suburban areas. This article talks about the differences in lifestyles and other aspects vary. The author talks about how suburban life is consistent, and typically have the average family of young parents with a large family. It also talks about how the social class of the suburbs are also typically the same, middle-class. The close-nit social atmosphere within the suburbs is another point the author uses to compare to urban living. The terms "social intimacy" and "voluntary social participation" are used to illustrate the social bond shared within the suburbs. These points are portrayed using studies that the author talks about and elaborates on.

Most of the author's descriptions seemed to be focused on describing the bonuses of suburban life, which I felt made the article seem very lopsided. There were hardly any points that were allowing a debate, but rather a one-sided show that the author was running. Although many of the criteria used by the author seemed unique, the introduction of the article made it sound as though it would be more of a comparison than a one-sided debate. One of the criteria that caught my eye was religion, and how the church activity was higher amount blue-collar suburban families. The down side is that this criteria seems rather biased towards one religion, which makes it seem to lose credibility.

By: Stephen Sealy

Life is not so good in the suburbs

By: Lauren Young

While sitting in the library, I decided to go on the LexisNexis page to look up an article for this blog. I must say, I first just searched for "suburbs," not expecting to match many results. I was shocked to see that there were over 1,000 results for that! So then I narrowed down my search and focused on "life in the suburbs." This matched 7 results, and from there I decided to take a look.

I read the article It's worth the drive to Acton or is it? Readers respond to sprawl, life in the suburbs and Toronto Star series on lengthy commutes. This was very interesting because it was just a compiled list of opinions of life in the suburbs. All these opinions were biased since they all leaned toward the opinion of staying out of the suburbs. It was nice to see that this article was not written from one viewpoint, but from many viewpoints. Different people mainly from the Toronto area, and some not even living there, shared their comments. It was easy to read since each person just shared their opinion in a short and to the point manner.

This article connected with Suburban Nation since it claimed that the suburbs are a bad form of sprawl. I'm sure several people in Toronto love living in the suburbs, but this article only picked out the people who didn't. This article supported its claim by saying the drive was too long, bad for the environment, and that there is more convenience with living in the city. The only bad factor they shared was the amount of pollution in the city itself. This agrees with Suburban Nation since Duany, Platner-Zyberk & Co also argue that the modern sprawl and suburbs are all just cookie cutter houses that create more traffic, pollution, and more commuting to work. Both argue the convenience of living in the city.