United States | Media on War

War and Its Impact on Society

War is one of the most prevalent things that can occur to a society, having lasting impacts on its citizens. Many times there is controversy within the nation as to whether or not a country should get involved in a war.

When war is imminent for a society to get involved in, sides can often be taken by its citizens who have definite opinions about the issue. Many take a strong stance in support of the military and in them being sent to the scene to fight. These people may have family members in the military or have been in the service themselves. There are also those who feel that the country should stay neutral regarding other country’s affairs or are strongly opposed to violence.

These feeling can often be inflamed by what people see, read and hear from the media. Stories of atrocities, fighting and critical issues can bring these feelings to a strong edge. Often, people have to be very careful what they take as the truth from one source or another. Propaganda and biased interpretations of events can be used to influence people’s opinions one way or another. Citizens have to get information from a variety of sources and work to find the real facts beyond what is being said. This can help them to make a more educated decision about the real situation and what action should be taken.

War and the efforts necessary to fight one can run deep into a country’s culture, government and people.

Filed Under: War Tagged With: Citizenship, History, United States, War

Journalists are Heroes

The recent things going on in Egypt have taught us a lot about what journalists are willing to endure in order to bring us fair and accurate information about what is going on around the world. Many journalists traveled to Egypt and they put their lives at risk in order to get as close as they possibly could to all of the action. Journalists do this not for the ratings, but because they genuinely care about the rest of the nation receiving the latest and most important news about important topics. When civil unrest erupted in Egypt, those journalists traveled there and then refused to leave because they wanted to be at the forefront of the action and they wanted to make sure that everyone back home had a good idea of what was going on.

Though you may not necessarily agree, it is important to understand that journalists are heroes too. They are putting themselves in harm’s way because they want to deliver the news. They’re not doing it for the popularity or the ratings, they’re not doing it for a pat on the back. They really, genuinely just want to make sure that everyone in the United States has a good idea of what is occurring, even if it means putting themselves in risk in the process. If you ever had any doubt about the integrity of a good journalist, hopefully the recent goings on in Egypt were enough to completely change your mind about the hard work and dedication that they exhibit every single day.

Filed Under: Media Workers, News Tagged With: Egypt, Journalist, United States

Resources for Military Families

Being a part of a military family can be hard. It is difficult for husbands and wives to have to deal with deployments and all of the other things that are involved in having a military spouse. If you know someone who is a military wife or a military husband, then one of the best things that you can do for them is simply to be a resource for them, helping in any way that you can. It will benefit them significantly just to have someone near that they can rely on for help, and you will get some peace of mind knowing that someone you care about is getting the support and the care that they need.

There are a lot of different ways that you can be a resource for a military family when they are in need. Just make sure that you are always keeping in mind that they are in need, especially when the spouse is currently deployed or stationed somewhere else. Military families often have it rough, and you are going to want to do anything and everything in your power to help them out no matter what it takes. Help them with their errands, bring them hand me down clothing for their children or just ask them how you can help them. They will be thankful for all of your help, and you will feel better about being able to help a family that needs a little bit of extra assistance.

Filed Under: Military Family Tagged With: Family, Military, United States

Support our Military, Not Our War

Here is some food for thought: People often believe that in order to support our troops, you have to be completely in support of the war. But who is really completely in support of the war, anyway? Do we need to be at war? Here is something to consider instead: You can be completely in support of the United States military, all branches and all soldiers, without actually believing in whatever the war is about, or without actually supporting the war effort at all.

How you feel about the war is ultimately up to you to decide, but this is the food for thought: Do your feelings about the war have to impact how you feel about the troops? Can you be completely, 100 percent in support of the soldiers that are over there fighting for us without being completely 100 percent in support of the war? Of course you can. So tuck away your feelings about the fighting, and focus all of your attention on those who are fighting. Our sons and daughters, our sisters and brothers, our mothers and fathers are all overseas and they are being heroes because that’s who they are and that’s what they do. Let’s focus on what really, truly matters: The heroes of our country, that will do anything to defend us, because they are all that really matters, they are all that really should matter. Keep this in mind and it may completely change how you feel about the war in general.

Filed Under: Military, War Tagged With: Support our troops, United States, United States armed forces

Novel Ways to Improve Literacy

Many Americans make great effort to read proficiently. A deficient in reading skills keeps one from living to their potential. Some reading learning disabilities do not respond to the standard techniques. Playing video games may be an answer.

In the past, scientists believed a brain stopped developing after childhood, and neurons never changed. Brain damage meant maintenance care and not rehabilitative care. The last several decades of brain research show that is not true. Brains are flexible, and can be rewired. Everyday people recover from damage to the brain, learning disabled begin to read, and people improve skills by gaming.

The American Psychological Association states video games can undo dyslexia. Fast ForWord is a game based on groundbreaking 2003 research study by Elise Temple, PhD, John Gabrieli, PhD, and Dr. Tallal. Using MRIs, the team demonstrated playing the game improved thinking and performance in children with dyslexia. During the children’s game time, the study established improved activity in multiple brain regions. The improvement continued even after game time when children practiced their reading.

A popular game named Dance Revolution also had an effect on brain processing. Tammy McGraw , an education specialist with the Appalachian Educational Laboratory did a study with 62 sixth graders, who had ADHD. ADHD is a condition that makes it difficult to concentrate for long periods of time, and effects memory skills. After using Dance Revolution for an interval, the study revealed noticeable improvement in the areas of attentiveness and memorizing. Skill levels rose as the frequency of gaming time increased.

People are diverse inside and out. There is no right or wrong way to learn. Learning and teaching is about finding the right tool that plays best to a student’s strength and allows them to learn in a fashion that is efficient and suitable for them. For some people that is games.

Filed Under: Educational Reference Tagged With: John Gabrieli, United States

Information Wars

It is not news to anyone that technological advancements are changing the way people interact at an incredible pace. Cell phones have made it seem that everyone is always available, social networking websites have created new ways to think of friendships, and privacy is changing right alongside all of this. It was not long ago that war media was limited to a small amount of productions funded by news sources and designed to tell a certain story. It wasn’t long before that when people saw some of the very first video footage of war zones. For better or for worse, the way the world views war has changed greatly along with advancements in technology and it is continuing to change constantly.

While the citizenry used to be subject to the filters of media outlets and the inadvertent bias of the reporters that covered a story, they can now get a much more raw version of the situation. Communication has moved from the occasional letter and military report to a constant flow of information. Members of the military can now upload videos to the internet almost immediately. They can talk to those back at home through email, or chat face-to-face on the computer. The sheer number of pictures that can come back from a war zone is like never before. With the ease and widespread use of personal cell phones and digital cameras, information has little boundary left to contain it.

This can be good and bad. While it is exceptional that those serving can more readily talk to their loved ones, it can also be alarming how much information is freely distributed. The available quantity of information can make it easier to track troops and predict military strategy, which is dangerous. But, whether we like it or not, the world is changing and war is changing along with it.

Filed Under: Media Workers, War Tagged With: Mobile phone, Science and Technology, Technology, United States

Preparing for Changes in Life: Moving House

: Image via Wikipedia

One of the certainties in life is that things change. This may be due to just the natural process of growing older or other factors outside your control. What can be controlled to some extent is how some of these changes are handled so that they are easier to deal with. Even anticipated changes come with their own challenges.

One major life change is moving house. This can be quite traumatic, especially if there are sentimental memories attached to the home. One reason for moving from one house to another is that the family is growing due to the arrival of children. The issue of mortgage payments may also impact moving decisions.

When it comes to finding the right new home, a company such as Portland Property Management can help make the search and transition easier. A company that specializes in property management tends to be better able to identify suitable homes. These companies are also able to ensure that the property is in good condition before you move in. If the move was related to advancing age or physical limitations, these companies can offer assistance with general maintenance of the property.

One thing is certain, it can be much more difficult moving house busy periods such as Christmas. As such, these times should be avoidded if possible. For the more adventurous, moving is often seen as a fun activity. Many people look forward to the feeling of starting over, having a new beginning.

Moving to a new location can be seen as heralding a change in the season of one’s life. For some people this change of scenery is revitalizing and provides an impetus to try new things. Such a big move should be handled as carefully as possible for the sake of young children.

Filed Under: Media Workers, War Tagged With: Business, Christmas, HotPads, Management, Property management, PRWEB, Real estate, United States

Bringing Home Economics Back

: Image by Esthr via Flickr

The education system prides itself on teaching the children exactly what they need to know but in high school there seems to be a shift away from what they need. There used to be a time in high school when children took a class called home economics. In this class they learned how to budget and how to save money at the grocery store. They learned how to manage a home. This class over the years, due to shifts in financial backing and the managing of a schools funding, has taken that sort of class out of most of the public schools. Some private schools still teach this sort of thing but even these schools are gearing more toward business, math, and science.

So why aren’t these classes more important to schools. The truth is most of these students could benefit from these classes. In a world where being an adult is harder and more complicated than ever before it’s important that children get a course in the things that they matter.

A teenager, especially in their last year of high school, is approaching an age where they will be inundated with credit card offers and be applying for student loans and thinking about getting loans for a car. Having a basic understanding of how credit works will go a long way in being able to manage the constant barrage of credit offers as well as learn how to stay on top of their credit score.

The interest should be to educate children on practical knowledge at a time when they are generally disinterested in their studies. It’s one of the things that could benefit a teenager. However, unless the funding in these schools increase or the priorities in the school change there will be lots of teenagers without proper knowledge or real world happenings.

Filed Under: Educational Reference Tagged With: Credit card, Education, Educators, High school, Home economics, K through 12, State school, United States

The Problems with Extreme Media Outlets as Educational References

: Image via Wikipedia

There is a media outlet that will portray and say anything that comes to mind. There are democratic media outlets and republican media outlets. There are extreme right wing outlets, extreme left wing outlets and ones that are just down the middle of the line outlets. In fact, anyone with an opinion can start a radio show, get a talk show, write a newspaper or form an Internet site.

With that said these media outlets allow students to have a wide range of places to cite when it comes to the type of educational resources that are available for a paper. Because of the wide range of sources that they have a paper can have extremely contradictory facts.

For example, a college student writes on the downward slope of the economy. This student sites a democratic newspaper that says that only 10% of America has lost their jobs and 5% are on unemployment. The Democratic party is in the lead of the house so they would put these numbers in favor. However the same statistics are shown on a Republican only media outlet and they are citing numbers such as 10.5% of Americans have lost their jobs with another 4% in limbo, while 4% of the populations on unemployment and another 2% isn’t on it and won’t qualify in a week.

If a student were to take one of those numbers their paper would be based on an extreme side of the issue for either side. What students need to realize is that there are so many different extreme sites that allow them to get a number of information that when a college paper needs to have numbers referenced the best choice is to go to the source and form their own opinion. That way the numbers and facts that are used are not swayed by extreme media outlets.

Filed Under: Educational Reference Tagged With: Baseball park, Democratic, Parties, Politics, Rachel Maddow, Republican, United States, Website

Wikipedia as an Educational Reference

: Image via CrunchBase

An issue is sweeping across American college campuses like rapid fire. It’s the issue of educational references and what is and isn’t allowed. It used to be that when a student studied and researched a paper they went to the library pulled out stacks of books and started to research by hand. With the advent of the Internet students have started to turn to search engines such as Google and Bing to find their information.

The problem that arises from searches such as this is that there are many ways to force a search engine to read a website and put it at the top of the rankings. These websites might not always be the most reliable or information based as they should be. While that isn’t the problem the problem that arises from this type of situation is when students use these websites as sole sites of information for research based in papers.

Anyone can put anything on the Internet and claim it as fact. If a student does not check the information that is put out there with books or real websites they could incorrectly be using fake information to write their papers. The problem with sites that are user based is that no one checks the accuracy of the information and the integrity of the paper is challenge when that happens.

Many colleges and universities are taking these types of websites seriously when it comes to the type of research that is required for a research papers. Research papers are now being required to have X amount of book resources or journalistic resources and there is no longer the ability to use sites such as eHow, WikiPedia and other user based information portals as references.

Research may have just gone back to the old fashioned ways of books and journalistic papers.

Filed Under: Educational Reference Tagged With: Bing, eHow, Google, Research, Search, United States, Website, WikiPedia