Wild Card

The fact that people across the world are struggling is no surprise. People are literally working themselves to death on little to no money just to provide for their family. For the women of these households it is even harder to provide if needed. That is why recently there has been an alarming rise in women selling their bodies for money, and not in the way you would think. Many women in rural areas are putting their wombs “up for rent”. That’s right their selling their bodies to be used for surrogacy for families who cannot conceive.

“Across the globe, surrogacy is on the rise. As women wait longer to have children, as infertility affects more and more people, and as gay couples look to start a family, there becomes a greater need for gestational surrogates – women who carry the embryo of someone else’s baby.” Refinery 29 

An article found on NDTV features an article with some shocking details about why they want to stop these women from selling their bodies in such a manner. They stated that this type of undocumented surrogacy is unlawful “The bill cleared by the union cabinet last week bans what the government calls commercial surrogacy or the exchange of money for surrogacy. It provides that only "close relatives" can be used as surrogates and also bars newly married couples, NRIs and foreigners, and single and gay people from using surrogates to have babies.”

There are even claims that the rich are exploiting the poor for cheaper surrogacy News Talk. “Surrogacy has been growing as an option in Ireland - but the lack of a legal framework has been a cause of concern.” Why is it such a big problem? Many people seem to think outsourcing is risky for the parent, surrogate and for the child. There is also alarm for, “the mistreatment of surrogate women and what surrogacy means for the children who are born of it, both physically and psychologically.” Refinery 29

In the end I don’t really mind the thought of surrogacy if they are being ethical about it I feel like every woman has the right to do what they want with their bodies. Plus the women involved are just trying to provide for their families. My main concern would be the women getting paid fully and not being mistreated. At the end of the day the most important subject of the matter is the child and making sure they have a safe and healthy environment to grow up in. 

https://youtu.be/H0Z1pbzpbeQ 

Peer Critique

In my opinion Angela provides the most thoughtful and informing blogs we have seen this year. When I come to class I am always interested to see what she has come up with for that day.Through her writing she is  always able to tie her topic into he own life experiences which I personally love. All of her work is well thought out and well researched. Over the year I was personally able to learn so much about her just through her writings and I have thoroughly enjoyed it and i'm not just saying that because we sit next to each other.

Angela, through he blog openly expresses her love for music, which I can appreciate because I am a music lover myself.It has been really interesting to learn about some of her favorite genres and artist. A post of hers that I found to be particularly interesting was her post about the band Rammstein. I liked it because I had never heard of them before and they seem to be international superstars. That is what I love about her blog too i'm always learning something she leaves no stone upturned in any of her blogs.

Another reason why I love her blogs is because it is easy to understand, her blogs are not too wordy.Her layout flows well and her structure is always on point. Will reading I can see her creativity it definitely does not go unnoticed. Her ability to think critically is also obvious, she usually gives me a perspective on things I would have never thought of. All in all I think she does a great job and I also think she should continue blogging even out of class because she is just naturally talented in writing.

Side Note: Along with being a great writer Angela is also a great director/editor I think she has a bright future ahead of her.I have provided some links to show off some of her work because she deserves it.
Totally Obsessed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfBGuqBQM7U
Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDT0hOf-SPQ 

Internation Media

Cambodia bans breast milk exports after        international media coverage

     Even in the case of international news articles and stories that are covered are meant to inform about or help the people they are writing about. Sometimes media coverage of a certain topic can do more damage than intended. Not many know that in Cambodia impoverished women are selling their breast milk to make money to support their families. Majority of the sales made are done so by a company known as Ambrosia which is an American company. But these actions soon came into the light when they were exposed by an article found on Phnompenh Post . This article wasn’t meant to cause harm or to stop the trade of breast milk in Cambodia. The article also stated, “Ros Sopheap, head of NGO Gender and Development for Cambodia, said there was a tradition in Cambodia of mothers breastfeeding the infants of neighbors who could not express milk temporarily. “Occasionally we help each other,” she said. When asked what she thought of adults consuming breast milk, she laughed. “That’s very strange. This is the first time I’ve heard about it.” Even though the article was well informing and light hearted the organization started getting a lot of heat from higher officials after it was posted.

     Most of the worry came from the idea that these women are being exploited for their breast milk. It was stated that “mothers were paid between $0.50 and $1 for each 30ml of breast milk, which was collected twice a day.  “, that totals out to about $7-10 a day which is enough for these women to provide for their families. Another concern was these companies are stealing milk from the children in need to go to adults if they wanted it.“The sale of breast milk is a global trend, with mothers selling their excess lactation online via sites like Only the Breast to mothers who need it for their newborns, as well as to bodybuilders seeking “liquid gold”, cancer patients and breast milk-fetishists who get a sexual charge from consuming mother’s milk. Ambrosia insists its milk is sold to mothers who cannot supply enough milk on their own.”

Phnompenh Post .

      Since the article was made the trade of breast milk in Cambodia has since been banned and many new mothers are out of “work”.  “At its annual meeting on Tuesday, the Cambodian Ministry of Women’s Affairs named the sale of breast milk and participation in commercial surrogacy as two of the newest issues impacting Cambodian women today.” Phnompenh Post . With all the commotion about the sale of breast milk many poor women are suffering far worse because they are no longer able to sell. A Cambodian woman stated, “I would give some of my breast milk to my daughter and the rest to the company to sell,” she said. “I am very sorry that they closed. I am very poor, and I don’t know what to do.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ogrw44m73Q0  

Social Media

Social media has many uses. For people like me it is to post selfies and circulate funny memes found on the internet. For many others though social media is where they get the most of their news. Especially for many of the people in the younger generation. Lately, while scrolling on my timeline I have seen post about girls that have gone missing not only in DC but all over America. This made me think, does re-posting these missing girls really help or is it just there to inform people.

First I wanted to look into the “who”. Who is posting this information? An article I found on The Missing NY helped me clear up that question. When it comes to posting the missing online it usually become as mixture of both the police and community that try to get this missing victims pictures to go viral. It stated that. “Police and other government agencies are using social media heavily to share information about missing people.” The article also stated that when someone goes missing the first place investigators go to is social media’s whether it be the victims account or just to raise awareness. Most missing persons investigators even set up their own pages dedicated solely to the victims. Interesting fact “Facebook, in partnership with the center, started showing Amber Alerts on user’s newsfeeds in January to further aid in searches. An alert appears if a user is in the same location as a recently abducted child. Alerts, however, are rare and most users will never see one.”

So, does raising awareness for missing people on social media help? As an example there has been building pressure across DC because people are alarmed at how many girls have gone missing in such a short time. Social media is literally booming with pictures shares and retweets promoting a better search to find then. Obviously, when people click to share they think their helping but city officials beg to differ. An article found on http://time.com/4715136/dc-missing-girls-social-media/ tells two sides of the story. “Activists say social media can help close the coverage gap, providing a way to publicize the disappearance of minority children and jolt the police into action. “It’s instantaneous. You do not have to wait for the normal news cycle to share information, and you can reach anyone nationwide,” With that being said city officials say that social media doesn’t give the whole truth. Like in the cases of the missing girls, people think because they are plastered across social media that the number of missing girls in that area have recently increased, nut in actuality it has decreased since past years. Officials state, “D.C. has witnessed a slight decrease in the number of reported missing persons, according to police commander Chanel Dickerson, who heads the youth-and-family arm of the department’s investigative division. Police say that over the past five years there were 200 missing persons reports every month, this year 190 cases have been reported on average each month.” Whys such a misunderstanding, because social media has a way of shaping its own story in any situation. It can be used to distort the truth, sure it may help when trying to find someone but the story may not be as truthful as it seems. in this cases many of the women are to be know as "runaways" not victims. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZbRRwgzcOU 

Critiquing a Media Critic

David Edelstein studied at Harvard University and is now the chief film critic for New York, as well as the film critic for NPR's Fresh Air and CBS Sunday Morning. Edelstein is seen as one of America’s top filmed critic and was also dubbed the “Champion of Snark”. To give a little insight about what he likes in a film I have laid out a list of some of his favorites gathered from Rotten Tomatoes .

·         The Lady Eve

·         The General

·         McCabe and Mrs. Miller

·         Shop Around the Corner

·         The Godfather

·         Jaws

·         Bride of Frankenstein

·         Seven Samurai

·         Touch of Evil

·         Night of the Living Dead

 

Recently Edelstein did a movie review over a newer film known as Get Out. In his review he stated, “Jordan Peele’s Get Out is the satirical horror movie we’ve been waiting for, a mash-up of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? and The Stepford Wives that’s more fun than either and more illuminating, too.”, and “Get Out is a ludicrous paranoid fantasy, but that doesn’t mean it’s not alive in the unconscious. Having it out there in so delightful a form helps us laugh at it together — and maybe later, when we’ve thought it over, shudder.” To be honest I really enjoyed his review. Of course this is not the whole review but I like how he took time to make a thoughtful review. When I saw the movie I can say I was not all that impressed but after reading his review it made me think about the movie more in depth. I think his review made me appreciate the movie more than I had before, that is what a great movie review is for in my opinion.

One of Edelstein’s reviews I didn’t totally agree with though was the one he did on the movie Split. First of all I want to start by saying I very much enjoyed this movie, it was very deep and had a good plot in my opinion. Edelstein stated, “My loathing of Split goes beyond its derivative ideas and second-hand parts. Though Shyamalan doesn’t use a lot of blood in Split — there’s barely any — his framing sexualizes the torture of the other two teenage girls in a way I found reprehensible. And his depictions of childhood sexual abuse are clinically accurate enough to make anyone with experience of such things feel sick. All this is used in the most opportunistic way imaginable, to prop up astonishingly dumb ideas about the human psyche.” Vulture

With the many other reviews if read of him I can say I am quite impressed by his work. His ability to breakdown every piece of a movie to me is mind boggling. He really steps past the outside of the film and takes a deeper look and I can appreciate that. When reading his reviews I gained insight on films I never would have thought of. He makes me want to go back and watch movie a second time just to get an idea of what he sees. 

Movie Review

By far one of my favorite movies of all time in the movie Prometheus. This one of the newer sy-fy movies of our time but it is based on an older movie called Alien. To begin this movies cinematography was amazing to say the least. The images shown were literally out of this world. Along with that the story line was acceptably deep but deep enough to one can understand and enjoy the almost 3 hour movie.

Millions of years ago, a spacecraft of an alien race arrived on Earth. One of the aliens consumes a dark liquid, causing its body to disintegrate and fall into a nearby waterfall. We see its DNA break down and recombine, seeding the beginning of life itself on earth. This is how the movie begins. After that I was already enthralled.

In the year 2089 somewhere in Scotland, archaeologist couple Elizabeth Shaw and her boyfriend Charlie Holloway discover a star map in a cave which they had recorded while investigating “unconnected” ancient cultures. So they set out to follow this map in hopes to discover the meaning of life. They came up with a crew of scientist and workers to go on a voyage through space with them. Of course this voyage was covered by and an old ailing billionaire.

We

The ship's crew travels in hibernation stasis at light speed while the android David stays awake at the pilot control to monitor their entire voyage. In 2093, the ship arrives in the orbit around (Note: it is not the same planet first seen in the 1979 movie Alien but is in a nearby region of space) after being awakened from hibernation, the crew are informed of their mission to find the ancient aliens, called "Engineers" who may be the creators of the human race.

Mission director orders them to avoid any direct contact and to return if the aliens are found. But of course it wouldn’t have been any fun if they hadn’t.

When exploring the planet, the crew members find remains of the old inhabitants and come to find out that they have human genes in them. But this voyage of course didn’t go as planned. Within the planet they found some biochemical material and some decided to keep some for research.

Come to find out this material kills humans and was going to be used to get rid of the whole human race. We found this out because end the end many of the crew members die because of the material. The end of the movie only Shaw survives and instead of going back home she plans to find the “headquarters” of our creators to see why the human race was actually created.

In the final shot, in the Prometheus escape pod, an alien creature (very similar to the xenomorph seen in the other Alien movies) bursts out of the dying Engineer's chest. Thus ending an amazing movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmJOO6D5RvA

Technology - The Iconic, Unbreakable Nokia 3310 Is Relaunching This Year

Yes our old school phones are making a comeback. Phones of course are not like they used to be at all. "Sure, we can actually use the internet now, but the bigger screen and modern-day smartphone luxuries just don't compare to old-school week-long battery life, indestructible sassy phone cases, and the best game in the whole world". Popular Mechanics . It is even fully equipped with our favorite snake game, I remember playing that when I was a kid. Nokias big comeback is expected to feature both Android-based phones and tablets, with HMD previously announcing that it will invest a $500 million over the next three years, holding the rights to the trademark until 2024.

The company acquired “exclusive rights to market phones under the storied Nokia brand” and plans to announce four phones at the Mobile World Congress, which kicks off Feb. 26 in Barcelona, Spain, according to Venture Beat.

I belive this could be great for the company, especially with the older demographic. It honestly brings back a bunch of memories in my opinion that would be its highest selling point. Other than the older version of the Nokia phone they or course will have newer updated versions.