3 Topic Ideas

Censorship:
I believe that media should not be censored by the media board or the government. Instead of censoring different types of media to fit certain guidelines, the media should instead only be presented to the appropriate audience only, or created so that it does not need to be modified to meet certain standards. Listening to music on the radio that has been censored is an insult, not only to the audience, but the producers themselves. The censorship diminishes the meaning of the song as well as makin it hard to understand, depending on whether the whole word is censored or all of it. Instead, the songs should be played in their original form or not played at all. A possible solution to the problem could be the producers making versions of the songs that do not need to be censored to pass guidelines, ie. trading profanity with words that can be aired on the radio.

Bad behavior rewarded with fame:
One of the biggest problems with today's society is that anyone can become famous, not only for being a great athlete or entertainer but by doing things that people find off-the-wall or illegal. For example, Paris Hilton became famous for being a crazy partier who does stupid things when she is drunk. She may have been somewhat famous for being a Hilton, but her bad behavior is what really made her stand out. More recently, the Henne family known for their son being "Balloon Boy", became celebrities when they created a scam so that people would believe their son was in danger by flying in a oversized balloon. After the incident, the family made headlines and were interviewed by many news stations. In my opinion, things like this should not be aired on television. People doing stupid things to get their five minutes of fame do not deserve to be rewarded for their actions. I believe that only people who do good deeds or are famous for legal reasons should be acknowledged.

Inapropriate Video Games:

I am a gamer who enjoys playing shooting games such as "Call of Duty" and "Halo 3" just as much as any other guy, but I do believe some games go overboard when it comes to teaching children (whether intentionally or not) to believe that violence itself is fun and performing illegal behavior is entertaining and correct to do. For instance, games such as "Grand Theft Auto" portray the main character as being a normal person in today's society. The gamer progresses through levels by murdering others, and commiting crimes such as burglary and car theft. In my opinion, there is a difference between playing as a US soldier in "Call of Duty" who is fighting a realistic portrayal of a war, and "Grand Theft Auto" where the player is taught to steal, car jack, murder, and smuggle drugs to complete missions.

Adios Amigo: Survivor

If there was one person that I could vote off of celebrity island I would chose Marco Andretti. Marco Andretti is a Indy Car driver who is a decendant from a family with a great racing background. His grandfather and father have both been thought to be great drivers as well as great people by all of those around them. Although Marco Andretti is a great driver as well, he largely lets down his families reputation for being respectable and nice people in general. Whenever a race does not go his way, he blames every other person for the outcome. If someone makes a minor mistake, he openly insults them on live television and treats them as if they are inferior to him.

One comment that strongly influenced my opinion about Marco Andretti was when he talked about a driver that had unintentionally tapped his car when the driver braked late for a turn causing Andretti to spin out. After the race, the driver that made the mistake walked over to Andretti and apologized to him personally. Yet, when Andretti got interviewed afterward, he called the driver a terrible racer and a disgrace to the Indy Racing League. The fellow driver was crushed and felt disgraced by the comment. Another famous bout that Marco Andretti had was with teammate Danica Patrick after the race at Texas Motor Speedway. Marco Andretti was heated after having a long fight for fifth position which was occupied by fellow teamate Danica Patrick. Andretti was upset that Patrick did not give up the position to him even though she was trying to win the race just as much as he was. Andretti automatically assumed that he was the better driver and that she should have given him the position instead of making him fight for it like everyone else. After the race Marco said to the media "The toughest people out there (challenging) me are my teammates, and I don't get that. I think three out of the four of us get what the camaraderie of Andretti Green Racing is." He subtlety called Danica Patrick ignorant as well as ignoring the teams rules when in fact she did exactly what she was told to do.

The reason I have such a problem with people like Marco Andretti is that they have no respect for other competitors. Sports are meant to be competitive and that is what they were created for. They were created to be organized ways for people to see who was better than the other. Saying that someone should give up their hard work to give their teammate the spotlight is rediculous not to mention disrespectful. The other drivers had worked just as hard as him if not harder to get where they are so there is no reason why they should just hand over the win to someone else. Also, there is a difference between confronting someone about their mistakes and blatently disrespecting them in front of a crowd of millions just because you are upset. In my opinion, a great athlete and competitor is not just someone who is the fastest or strongest, but someone who has respect for the game and it's players as well.

Oceans 11: The Review

Ocean's Eleven is a humorous and fun-filled movie in which eleven friends get together to accomplish the seemingly impossible task of robbing three of the world's most guarded casinos in one night. The movie offers an exciting twist on traditional robbery by making the felons the "good guys" and the victim the "bad guy". Danny Ocean, the leader of Ocean's Eleven, is a professional thief who enjoys the thrill of the job as much as he does the money. After just being released from prison(for robbery of course), he begins a search to find ten colleagues who are specialized in a wide variety of fields who can help him with his next heist. The robbery takes place in Las Vegas at three monstrous casinos which are owned by Terry Benedict (a selfish and rude businessman). To none of the group's knowledge, Danny Ocean has an secret motivation for robbing specifically Terry Benedict's casinos. When the stakes get high and the pressure mounts, the group must make quick decisions to keep themselves from being prosecuted to the extent of the law, as well as the extent of Benedict's imagination.

In my opinion, the movie is a fantastic rendition of the famous tale "Robinhood". Ocean's Eleven, is a group of middle class members who strive to be something more. Terry Benedict, who is known to be unsympathetic and downright cruel to fellow businessmen, has gained a bad reputation with another casino owner who would love to see Benedict's casinos fall to the ground. When the group gets together and begins planning for the massive heist, they soon learn that the job is going to be much more dificult than anticipated. When they find out that the casino vaults are three of the most heavilly guarded, fail-proof mazes ever designed by man, they must rethink their whole scheme down to the last detail. The numerous obstacles that Ocean's Eleven face, many expected and some not so expected, are enough to leave the audience in suspense throughout.

I would personally recommend this film to everyone, especially those who enjoy action/drama movies. The movie is also appealing to comedy lovers with it's abundance of very funny actors and their desperate attempts to avoid certain disaster. The movie is non-violent with only a small clip of a "fake" beating taking place out of the camera's view, making it an ideal movie for the whole family. Whether you are a fan of the original "Oceans's Eleven" or a movie-goer looking for an interesting film to pass the time, I would highly recommend this movie.

Anti-Smoking Ad

I believe that the anti-smoking advertisement above could be considered controversial by many people. I myself am very anti-smoking and I still find it controversial in some ways. I find the image controversial because of the extreme way in which it tries to convince people to stop smoking. Many people who do smoke are already aware of the effects it can cause but are currently battling with trying to quit. The advertisement is being very unsympathetic to people who are trying to quit. Even though the picture may be true, striking fear into someone is not always the best way to solve the issue.
I do believe that the anti-smoking ad is very effective. The opinion being expressed is something that we hear all too often in today's society. Therefore, I think showing more supportive ads aimed towards struggling smokers would be more effective. The fact is that the majority of smokers are aware of the consequences of smoking but decide to do it anyway. Showing images such as this are not changing their minds, only making the quitters depressed. Not only is it mean to the people attempting to quit, it is also mean to the people who have quit. It can be very depressing knowing that you could have caused permanent harm to your body. The last thing a person needs wandering in his/her mind is regret and remorse.
My strong attitude about non-smoking comes from my personal experience. It is all too easy knowing whether a person is a smoker or not. Apart from the smoke stench in their car,house, and clothes, you can also smell it in their breath and see it on their teeth. Not only is smoking unapealling externally, it is just as bad internally. Throughout my years of school, I must have taken 4 courses in which the dangers of smoking were presented to us. A person who decides to smoke is completely disregarding all information presented to them about the effects of smoking. That being said, I do believe that a person has the right to make decisions such as smoking on their own, and it is their decision they have to deal with. As a whole, I believe the picture is controversial but at the same time very effective.

Safety and Social Networking Sites

In today’s society the use of the internet for completing daily tasks is a necessity. Whether it is for sending and receiving emails for work or doing research for a school project, much of our lives revolve around the World Wide Web. That being said, it is only natural for people to use the internet as a social medium as well. Since the invention of the internet, many social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook have begun to flourish. Unfortunately, as is the same with all new forms of technology, there are bound to be some flaws and ways for the technology to be misused.
MySpace and Facebook are both common knowledge when it comes to forms of communication. People have begun to rely more on MySpace and Facebook than cell phones when it comes to quick communication with friends and family. With people nowadays being able to access the internet almost anywhere (even places such as McDonalds), it has just become easier to use online social networks to communicate between peers. One of the main advantages of using a social networking site over a cell phone is the fact that a person can communicate with virtually an unlimited number of people at the same time. Instead of being restricted to one on one conversation, friends can have conversations between each other simultaneously. MySpace and Facebook are also great ways to alert friends and family members of upcoming events such as birthdays, holidays, and outings.
On a negative note, MySpace and Facebook also give the opportunity for possibly unwanted visitors the chance to look at someone’s personal information such as their email address, phone number, and location. Also, posting things such as vacation plans can be an invitation for burglars and robbers who know that a house will be unoccupied for a set amount of time. The biggest concern when it comes to social networking sites is how easy it is for sex offenders to register on these sites and use them as gateways to finding new victims. The social networking community is very large and includes a very wide range of ages. Many of these users, who are young adults, are not always aware of the dangers that internet sites can present to them.
In my personal opinion, I think that children should not use sites such as MySpace and Facebook. I personally would not have even known to watch out for predators on the sites if my parents had not told me about them. Schools do not teach kids to watch out for offenders and the sites do not warn their users about them either. That being said, many parents are also unaware that there can be sex offenders on social networking websites. Therefore, the easiest and most sure-fire way to prevent a child from becoming the victim of an online sex offender is to avoid the websites altogether

Live life to the fullest

If I had to create a bumper sticker that modelled my philosophy for life, it would be "Live life to the fullest." Every day you hear about people that are growing old and wishing they had done more with their life. In my personal opinion, there is no point in living life without taking some risks and having fun. I would rather live a shorter life and enjoy every moment of it than to live a long dull life while taking no chances.
When I was a little kid my father always used to encourage me to explore new things and take advantage of oppurtunities. For instance, when I was eight I was offered a ride in a small four seater propeller plane. At first I was very scared and was reluctant to go. I finally mustered enough courage to say yes and to this day I've never looked back. The few hours riding in that plane were a few of the most fulfilling hours of my life.
The memory of riding in the four seater propeller plane will stay with me forever. To this day, I am so grateful that I decided to go. If I had decided not to, I would have missed out on one of the greatest experiences I have ever had. That is why the quote" Live life to the fullest" means so much to me.