Same How, Different Whys

What’s wrong with this picture?  Nothing really, just that the democratic donkey and the republican elephant are agreeing on conduct.  So what is wrong with this picture?  If they are agreeing, then why are they glaring at each other?  Well, the cartoonist makes it very clear.  Democrats and Republicans agree on hows.  But the Whys, well, there’s a reason why Gun Control is in blue and Immigration Reform is in red.  Democrats and Republicans may both want strict background checks, limited numbers, and beefed up enforcement, but while the Democrats want them to be implemented for Gun reform, the Republicans want them for Immigration Reform.  Same hows, different whys.  The two parties are saying the same thing, just with different reasons.  So why are they glaring at each other?  

Well, I believe that’s the whole point of this little cartoon.  The two parties are too stubborn to compromise on the one point they actually agree on, because of categorical discrepancies, the very sad thing about party politics. The question left is, will the two parties compromise on this point, or will their separate 'whys' prevent them from moving forward?

Most Earthlike Planets Found Yet: A "Breakthrough"

Aliens, or at least alien organisms, may exist in space, even within the Milky Way.  As Marc Kaufman, writer for National Geographic, reports, the NASA Keplar Mission has found two Earth-sized planets at the right distance from their suns to support life.  This ‘right distance’ as Kaufman defines, is just far enough where water remains liquid, which is essential to life.  According to William Borucki of NASA's Ames Research Center, this is, ‘a breakthrough discovery’.  Scientists call planets like these two ‘exoplanets’, and they are, as Kaufman explains in layman’s terms, planets that are Earth-sized that are rocky or watery or exist in habitable regions in relation to their suns.  But what makes these two new planets so remarkable is that they match all three criteria.  Is this really such a great thing?  Well, according to the quotes Kaufman includes, yes, yes it is, because it is “a very moving moment in humanity's efforts to understand our home planet and the possibility of other habitable planets in the universe”.  

Quotes are great and all, but the fact is that this is all scientific conjecture.  There is a possibility that there is life, and what is important is that that possibility exists.  Through these stars scientists can learn more about our own planet.  Kaufman is informing us of this discovery, and he makes this information clear and to-the point, while also pointing out the opportunities presented by this new data.  Though, he does not mention any sort of downsides or possible negative ramifications of this data, he succeeds in portraying this new data as a breathtaking new discovery for Keplar scientists.  

The White City by Erik Larson

Two great men, existing at the same time, brilliant at two very different things, both handsome and blue-eyed, lived in Chicago in 1893.  One, Daniel Burnham, became the great architect behind the World’s Fair, known as the White City, while the other, Dr. H. H. Holmes, became a serial murderer.  Erik Larson, four times New York Times bestseller, masterfully pieces together the events of that time, with old diary entries, newspaper articles, letters, postcards, and pictures, to tell their story.  

The arrangement of the story in chronological order, switching between Burnham and his associates and Holmes and his psychopathic charms builds the suspense.  When reading of Holmes and his seduction of his latest female victim, a reader cannot wait to see how Burnham will handle his latest challenge in building the fair.  When reading about Burnham one cannot help but wonder as to the fate of Holmes’ latest woman, and whether or not she will live to tell her tale.  Varied sentence structures and abrupt phrases that begin or end a chapter help convey urgency and heighten tensions within the reader.  Larson successfully conveys the history of the two men, their brilliance, and their challenges.  

Student Debts Cartoon

As someone looking into colleges, I have always considered scholarships and other monetary offerings when looking at schools.  Why? Well, this cartoon rather aptly explains the reasons why.  College education in present times is very expensive, and many students have to take loans.  The poor man weighed down with a rather huge load in the cartoon has a five-figure student loan debt -and he has not even finished college yet.  This is a huge issue that Americans are dealing with in present times, that many college-educated students are laden with huge debts before they even finish their schooling.  Combined with the present job-market issues, does not bode well for these students.  

Of course, we have people who don’t believe this is that much of an issue, as shown by the parents standing in the doorway in the cartoon saying “we started out with nothing!”.  Well, better to have started out with nothing and having nothing to lose, and everything to gain, than starting with huge debts that must be paid first before ever gaining anything.  To view these people are irresponsible is to be incredibly short-sighted to the troubles that comes with debts and new times, and is irresponsible of the viewer themselves.  Jeff Parker makes a statement with this cartoon, that perhaps we should not blame the kids for coming back home, be a bit more understanding to their troubles, and maybe actually do something about the issue that is student loan debts.  There is, in fact, a reason why money is a HUGE thing I note when checking out colleges.  I, for one, do not want to be weighed down like that kid in the cartoon with huge debts and other problems.  

Wanted: Talented, driven. Pay: $0

Are unpaid internships an exploitation of students, or are they gaining valuable experience?  There’s a huge list of internship jobs, and as the article makes very clear: “Compensation: ‘non-pay’”.  Except, perhaps, a stipend for travel.  So, the rhetorical question is this: “Is is out-and-out exploitation, or a beneficial opportunity to work closely with mentors in one’s future field of endeavor?”  To me, with a sister working unpaid internships, it’s an issue not to be taken lightly.  Is she gaining real-world knowledge and useful contacts?  Or is she being taken advantage of as an unpaid worker?  

The article lays side-by-side the complaints and benefits, including examples of lawsuits where unpaid interns won millions of dollars for their trouble.  There aren’t many of them, though, simply because people are hesitant to file complaints -after all, they're relying on the company to provide a reference.  The defendants in the article say that they give their interns valuable information and that they leave with something useful.  They also mention that profit company internship programs must pass a test that emphasizes training.  They also placate their workers by saying that the intern does not replace the employee.  Both arguments sound good, especially since their juxtaposed with each other.  But the question is, which one is the truth?  It seems with the last sentence, our article supports the idea that unpaid internships are not all that great -especially when one needs to pay the rent.  

The Missing $20 Trillion

It's a well-known secret that many large corporations use tax havens to avoid paying their taxes. It makes them very unpopular, reducing their bills to the countries they serve in.  It is quite admirable of our legislation to attempt to get those companies to pay their dues, but it is a notion that's rather hypocritical, as noted in the article.
         Take for example Mitt Romney, who has holdings in the Cayman Islands, or Jack Lew, who once had interest in a Cayman fund.  The imagery of countries working on cleaning up their own backyards and reforming their tax systems is a powerful and humorous one, considering the sarcasm this article loves to include.
         Of course, the argument is that politicians are hypocritical and are going about this wrong, and the article explains why, by naming several places that are tax havens within countries, such as Delaware and the City of London.  So the point is made that reform should not just focus on isolated islands.  Of course, tugging at the heartstrings and moral values of the readers helps get the point across that everyone should be helping prevent wrongdoing, in this case by being transparent.
         The argument that lowering the tax rate will result in more tax money initially does not make any sense...until the article mentions that having high tax rates only spur tax avoiders.  It's and interesting and convincing logic; lower the tax rate so fewer companies will attempt to avoid them, without completely abolishing the tax, or raising the taxes so high that it actually harms business and thus encourages tax avoidance.

The Last Lecture

It’s a tradition at Carnegie Mellon to give “Last Lecture’s”, where professors are asked to contemplate their demise and think about the wisdom they wish to impart upon their audience.  Thing is, when Randy Pausch, a professor of computer science, was asked to give his own “Last Lecture”, he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer.  After giving his lecture, he wrote this book, detailing his thought processes before and during his lecture, and writing a few more lectures down, so that his children may have something of him, may know him long after he is gone.  
This isn’t a lecture about death and how to handle it.  Randy makes it quite clear starting from his introduction that his lecture will celebrate life, that is for his children and wife, and for dreams.  This strange juxtaposition of the life and dreams of a dying man make his words more powerful, and when Randy jokes it brightens the mood, so that his audience knows to laugh and celebrate, and that his children may someday know too.  With words chosen for an adult audience, yet simple enough that younger generations may understand, Randy tells his tale of his dreams, and how his supportive parents, and how he has achieved his dreams.  His lecture, and this book, have inspired millions of his audience, and so he has left behind a great legacy to his family, and his students.