Fiscal cliff: How to judge if debt cuts are real

     If President Obama and the leaders of Congress "announce a bipartisan package promising to curb mushrooming federal deficits, will it be real?"
     This question that has many Americans scratching their heads is answered in the article Fiscal cliff: How to judge if debt cuts are real by Alan Fram, staff writer for The News & Observer. This newspaper has been in print since 1880, and is the regional daily newspaper for the "Research Triangle."
     The article has broken the answer to the above question down into a brief checklist as to how to assess the government's work: overall deficit cuts; taxes; and spending. President Obama has suggested a ten year savings plan that would save around $4.4 trillion, and this is should be seen as a sign of seriousness (that things are actually getting done). According to the article, changes in tax laws are being debated, for example whether to raise the income tax for individuals making $200 thousand as well as families making $250 thousand. One of the ways spending is being cut is the hundreds of billions of dollars the Obama administration is saving by easing the troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/11/24/2503243/fiscal-cliff-how-to-judge-if-debt.html#storylink=cpy

     The author's purpose was to inform the audience, the American public, as to the state of economic affairs in America. I think he is able to achieve that purpose, because even me, who knows absolutely nothing about economics, is able to understand what the government is attempting to do in order to reduce the United States's $16 trillion (and growing) debt.
     A literary device that, thankfully, was not used in this article was jargon. If jargon was used repeatedly, such as arbitrage pricing theory and zero-sum game, the common folk would have been hopelessly lost.

Life of Pi – first look review

Life of Pi, a new movie based off of Yann Martel's novel, is directed by Ang Lee (Sense and Sensibility, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon). Stone has many positive comments about the director, writing "one of the things that tells you the director is in his prime - a model of creative evolution - is that his films feel like total surprise when first announced but fit snugly into his oeuvre once you've seen them." Life of Pi, the opening of the New York film festival, is the summation of the principle powering of Mr. Ang Lee's career and a success in the eyes of the critics.
     This article is written by Tom Stone, an arts & entertainment writer for The Guardian. The Guardian is a British national daily newspaper that has been in print since 1821.
     The context of this article is that Life of Pi is coming to theaters on November 21st, 2012. The author's purpose for writing this review was to weigh the positive and negative aspects of this movie, allowing his audience, avid movie goers, a chance to determine whether to see it or not. I think the author is able to achieve his purpose, because he has positive and constructive comments interspersed throughout his commentary. For example, "the film takes a while to get going, like someone roused from their morning meditation ... or as if they had been hit around the head with a brass pot."
     A rhetorical device used in this article was contrast, or the identification of differences between two or more subjects: "director Ang Lee melds so many disparate elements - Aesopian fable and cutting-edge 3D technology, east and west, young and old - that he may have just succeeded in rebranding himself as the Obama of world cinema."

You just gotta keep livin' man, L-I-V-I-N

Because of a recent law passed in Colorado and Washington, a shopping list could possibly look like this:
     -Milk
     -Eggs
     -Bread
     -Cucumbers
     -Pot

     The article, Pot votes in CO, WA raise specter of weed tourism, describes a new law passed in Colorado and Washington allowing adults 21 or older to buy small amounts of marijuana in stores and the law's possible consequences on Colorado's tourism trade. With the tourist trade as CO's #2 industry because of the Rocky Mountains and its skiing industry, recreational marijuana usage could either increase or decrease tourism. This law opens up the door to increased marijuana tourism; however it is projected that there could be a possible decline in leisure tourists. It is also speculated that there will not be that much of a difference: "Colorado ski slopes already are dotted with 'smoke shacks,' old mining cabins that have been illicitly repurposed as places to smoke pot out of the cold."
     Pot votes in CO, WA raise specter of weed tourism was written by Kristen Wyatt, a Philadelphia Inquirer reporter. The Philadelphia Inquirer is a morning daily newspaper that has served the Philadelphia area since 1829, and is the third oldest surviving daily newspaper in the United States.
     The context of this article is that states are now beginning to allow recreational drug usage in their states. There are currently 18 states in America that allow medicinal marijuana usage. The author's purpose is to make people aware of a legal change in Colorado and Washington as well as its social and economic implications. I believe that the author is able to achieve this purpose, because he is able to explain the law as well as the positive and negative effects it will have, and it compares it to a similar situation in Amsterdam, Netherlands. This article could have been intended for people who are planning on going to Colorado and wish to get a well-rounded view of the state before traveling.
     I feel as if the author uses "understatement," or the deliberate expression of an idea as less important than it actually is, either for ironic emphasis or for politeness and tact, frequently in this argument to describe the issue of legalization of recreational marijuana usage in Colorado and Washington. "'Some folks might come to Colorado to enjoy some marijuana as will be their right. So what?' said Betty Aldworth, advocacy director for the Colorado marijuana campaign. The author of the article wanted to showcase the ever-growing opinion that recreational drug use is 'no big deal.'

Angela's Ashes Post #2: The Ending

The final chapter of Frank McCourt's memoir, Angela's Ashes, is quite simply written:

Chapter XIX

     'Tis.

     I will admit that I knew the ending before even starting the book, not from sheer nosiness (I hate reading books when the ending is ruined), rather from having heard others discuss it with disgust. When I started reading the memoir, I expected it to be just as boring and dragging as was described to me; however I was taken on a ride through the slums of the early twentieth century Ireland as a young boy tried to pave a way for himself. And I quite frankly enjoyed it. 

     The ending, contrary to popular adolescent belief, adequately sums up McCourt's intention of the novel. Even though he himself calls his memoir "an epic of woe," the final chapter "'Tis." allows him to end this sad story with a glimpse of hope that he will find in America. This simple statement of agreement shows how McCourt agrees that America is a great country. 

     Frank McCourt is able to show his progression as a person through the course of the novel. As he questions his own morality, he discovers what it truly means to be a good person and emerges from adolescence with a mature toughness necessary to deal with the world. This helps him come to terms with his decision to leave for the United States. Instead of feeling like he abandoned his family, McCourt remains strongly connected to Ireland and committed to providing for his family, making him a good man. 

     

The Scream

The Scream is a painting by the late nineteenth and early twentieth century impressionist artist Edvard Munch. Edward Munch, a popular Norwegian painter and printmaker, used psychological themes to base his paintings, and he greatly influenced the German Expressionism in the early twentieth century. Munch's purpose in this painting was to convey the human emotions of anguish and melancholy, shown by the face that is contorted by the scream. I think the author is able to convey his purpose because the viewer can see the obvious pain in the main subject's pale, genderless face. Another rhetorical device is the painting's use of opposites. The use of hot colors in the sky (reds, yellows, oranges) contrasts with the cool colors of the water (blues, greens, purples) to create tension. The subject is standing by a chaotic environment. Most artists do not paint for an audience, but for themselves. It is believed that Munch suffered from depression, so it is possible that he used the painting as an emotional outlet. However, most people find this painting fascinating and an accurate representation as to a feeling that we have felt at one time or another, making it very relatable. The Scream is part of a larger collection by Edvard Munch called The Frieze of Life. The inspiration for this masterpiece came from the mental institution where his sister was kept, and it is said that you could actually hear the screams of the mental patients from the institution.