Friday, October 26, 2007

China: Friend or Foe?

Hmm, could China rule over the world someday? Makes you wonder doesn’t it? Seeing as how it has already started attempting with such a small continent like Africa, I wouldn’t be surprised.
It’s quite evident that China is an incredibly powerful country and has many resources and superpowers that it does indeed have the ability to rule over Africa.
By China trying to become allies with Africa as well as build a government, this worries some because this involvement could result in terrible outcomes.
“China needs Africa’s natural resources to fuel its exponential economic growth” says Michel Cormier in the article
Is China Becoming A Superpower In Africa?. Right there, we gain the information about China needing Africa’s natural resources; therefore, by targeting their natural resources first which will expand their economic growth, then it is likely that China won’t stop there, and will ask for more. China is simply bribing Africa and showering them with things like “investment, forgiving debt and hobnobbing with dictator” to benefit their own selves.
The advantage of the trade between the two countries could be beneficial in such way that it is helping Africa as it is a poor continent, and China is also gaining resources; however, it seems a little hazy seeing as how an enormous country as China would be involved with a really poor continent.
Other countries might get involved to compete for status within Africa, and this would eventually create antagonism and jeopardize relationships between countries that the UN has built.
This issue raises questions such as; will China’s involvement result in problems? Or will it help them gain more territory?


This video does tell us how China is heling Africa. However, I did find another youtube video which I thought was more interesting and explains the situation quite well but unfortunatly the embedding was disabled by request. So here's the link: EuroNews-EN-Agora-China in Africa.


http://p.vtourist.com/1986315-South_African_flag-South_Africa.gif

http://www.cbc.ca/news/reportsfromabroad/cormier/20070214.html

http://english.people.com.cn/200611/07/images/1107_A01.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYTh66HQ5F0

Monday, October 22, 2007

I Now Pronounce you Husband and Robot!

Wow...one question pops to my mind when I read that title: WHAT'S NEXT!?

It's understandable that technology has advanced society in numerous and vast ways, but to me, it seems like it's taking a step backwards now. I believe people have taken it way too far this time to try and create robots who people can actually marry and have sex with. Machines are taking over our lives slowly, but it's ridiculous to know that someday we will hear in the news that someone got married to a robot. Think about it! How funny does that sound? How will your social life, let alone your whole life change? I would be quite shocked to hear that someone actually went along with this bizarre idea.

In the article Sex and marriage with robots? It could happen, it mentions briefly how this would benefit those who are unable to form relationships due to physical appearance or unpleasant personalities. Personally, I find that quite absurd. Wouldn't you rather stay single then marry a robot? I sure as hell would!

Also, don't you find it ironic how last week’s discussion was about marriage rates decreasing in society as there are more unmarried couple then married ones, and now we’re thinking about marriage with robots? In my opinion, I think this would cause a larger decrease in marriage rates.


Robots are for storing database information, not for loving!
This relates to Allan Turing’s theory, in that machines are matched up with human intelligence. Sure, that's logical, but the idea of having a human being marrying a robot is not getting into my head. Yes, maybe it can be proved that a machine can think because it’s programmed that way, but to have emotions and feelings the same way humans express their sensations and affection is impossible in my point of view.
Why are we playing with God’s creation? A man and a woman are meant to get married and have children; not a man and another man, or a man and animals, and certainly not a man and robots!

Here's an interesting video that I thought related to this topic.



Work Cited:
Alexandre Sévigny. Introduction to Communication. Revised Printing. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company: 2005, 2006.

http://www.areavoices.com/areascene/images/thumbnail/cbr3.jpg

http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/ato/lowres/aton938l.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKCabPiYPRs

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0205/csmimg/p20a.jpg

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Ontario Election 2007

To vote or not to vote... that is the question!

Although I am not a person who is really interested in voting and such, after researching about this new system, I believe that the MMP system is not only fair but it would also bring equality to society.

For anyone who doesn't know what the MMP is and how it works, here's a brief summary; it stands for Mixed-Member Proportional. Basically, it is one ballot, two votes: you vote for the local candidate of your choice, as well as the political party of your choice. Here's a video that will help explain it more by York University prof. Raphael:


This system has shown that it will provide more accurate results if people voted for it. Ontario’s current voting system usually gives one particular party more control and power than it actually deserves. While in the new MMP system, it relies on the share of votes each party obtains, which would guarantee each party winning a fair portion of seats. It is quite evident that the MMP system would offer Ontario voters the best of both worlds. Not only would they be getting limited representation but also, accurate and fair outcomes. Besides voting for your favoured candidate, you will also be voting for your favoured political party. The number of votes that each party will win, will establish the overall number of seats in the parliament. This new system would be very simple and rational. Simply look at the bar graph and it will become more clear of how this new system works!

As discussed in class, language reflects attitude and power. For people to start voting for this new system, choosing the right words would mean whether the message is received or not. Some people are not even aware of this new system. There shoud be more ways to inform people about this new system. Therefore, people need to use attitude and power to portray the right message in the right way. At the same time, people need to become more informational listeners. Listen carefully and understand the MMP system before judging prematurely that it's bad and will not work.

Personally, I support the MMP system as it is more accurate, simple, and fair! If you're still not sure whether you should support this system or not, maybe this will help: Ten Reasons To Vote For Mixed Members Proportional (PPM).
So on that note, to answer my question asked at the very beginning of this blog...Yes! Definitely vote for the Mixed Members Proportional (PPM) system!


Work Cited:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu7m8y8dHz4

http://voteformmp.ca/en/10_reasons

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071011.welectrefer11sb/BNStory/ontarioelection2007/home
http://www.decisionmaker.co.nz/images/Voting%20sign.png

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJCCGweAL3o

http://voteformmp.ca/how_mmp_works

Alder, B. Ronald, George Rodman ,and Alexandre Sévigny. Understanding Human Communication. Canadian Edition. Don Mills: Oxford, 2008.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Has Marriage Gone Out of Style?


Wed now, or forever hold your peace!!


After watching the video in the article titled Whither Marriage?, I started to think whether marriage is something right or wrong. No one should be forced into a marriage and everyone should have the right in deciding whether they want to get married and have children. Marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman, and it's not meant to be broken unless there are legitimate reasons. In this generation, people have taken marriage as a joke! And it really bothers me. I guess you can say I am more of the traditional and old fashioned person, but in my opinion, marriage has always been a commitment between two people! Therefore, it requires a man AND a woman...speaking of that, I do not respect how Barbara Kay (Interviewer from the National Post) in the video is blaming women for wanting to stay single and not have children. First of all, it takes two people to get married and those people choose whether they want to have children or not! so I don't really see how this is only women's fault, men are to blame as well. Also, there's nothing wrong with getting married and not having kids. The world is being over populated anyway, so how are couples selfish in not having children?

Many women are afraid that if they get married, they might have to go through the whole heartbreaking divorce; but how will you know that you will be getting divorced? In my opinion, it's fate. You take chances and risks in life, so why not with marriage too?
Also, it should be noted, that in some religions, divorce is still only allowed when a sin is commited in the marriage or one of the spouse' passes away.

Personally, I don't think that age matters that much. A man and a woman should feel ready to settle and then decide on getting married. And if this means the couple are both over the age of 25, then there's nothing wrong with that as long as they are being responsable and waiting to see if they're right for each other to avoid divorce.
I was somewhat disappointed that the video only showed women's perspective on this issue, but then I found a video of a guy's opinion on marriage.



So to answer the big question: Does society suffer when marriage goes out of style?
Well, I believe that there will always be couples getting married and having children because that's a part of life and there will be those who would rather stay single. Personally, I don't think that marriage will go out of style!


I just thought this was a funny comic, so I thought I'd share! It just shows how technology has become such a big factor of our lives.


Work Cited:
http://www.cbc.ca/sunday/2007/09/091607_7.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqaW4nuNce4
http://www.myweddingvows.com/
http://67.119.111.9/AELDA/images/divorc2.gif
http://www.wordinfo.info/words/images/tech-marriage.gif