PressEthic

Out with the fat, screams the city of New York. 'Trans fat gets fried,' as stated in the headline of "The Daily News." According to the article, New York City will be banning the usage of trans fat in all restaurants by July '07. Starting this trend off right, New York will be the first city in the U.S. to completely ban the 'artery-clogging' fat. What was also interesting about this article was that Krispy Kreme, and Dunkin' Donuts and other restaurants that use deep-fried dough or cakes have to July of '08 to can it. I think this is something that U.S. should be doing, we're late to jump-off the trans-fat band wagon, Europe has gotten rid of it with the substitution of lard.

Could it be that shoppers have lost their Christmas Spirit? From the looks of some of the statistics on holiday sales, it seems they might have. In a recent article published in today's "Daily News," it stated that holiday sales have declined from a 3.5 percent gain in 2005 and was the lowest since a 2 percent gain in 2002. Finally, it seems as if the rest of the world is wising up realizing that if they're savvy enough shoppers, and are willing to wait a week or two, they might be able to ge things a lot cheaper. This year's Thanksgiving statistics have show that 32 percent of the retail industry's profit and 27 perecent of the sales where derived in the November through January period.

It seems as if FEMA is finally doing the right thing, according to an article on The New York Times' website. Yesterday, FEMA was ordered by judge Richard J. Leon for Federal District Court for the District of Columbia, to restore evacuees' housing aid. This is something that should have been done MONTHS ago, it is extremely unfortunate that the American government has allowed these people to go this long without the emergency shelter they deserved. What has taken so long for action to be taken? In my opinion, it's quite inexcusable for families who have lost everything to continue to struggle not knowing why they've been rejected for housing aid and then not knowing how to appeal the decision.

The power of technology is getting a little bit out of hand, especially with Verizon Wireless' new YouTube feature its adding to their mobile phones. Of course, unlike the FREE website, the youtube feature on cell phones will be operating through a service called Vcast, costing it's wireless subscribers $15 a month. According to Steve Chen, chief technology officer and a co-founder of Youtube, people will be able to take their phone out and watch a video while waiting on the bus. Are you kidding me? Are the American people really this 'pressed' to watch Christina Aguilera in a video? A cell phone's main purpose is to communiate, not to watch Jim Jones and friends in his"BALLIN" video. What do you guys thing about this, good or bad move for Verizon?

After reading an article about the decline of black lawyers on The New York Times' website, it left me wondering if many large corporations or firms are hiring minorities on double standards. When I say double standards, I'm referring to the research that was presented in the article by Richard A. Sanders, law professor at the University of California. In sum, his research concluded that grades are a large determinent in the gap between black partners and white partners in large law firms; as such, many of the minority lawyers, according to Sanders, are being set up for failure because they're being hired to boost minority pools. I, myself, don't buy this scenario and agree largely with Professor James E.

I just finished reading an article in The Daily News about a black man who was killed hours before his wedding by NYPD police officers. What was specifically interesting about the article was that it never really confirmed any details about the shooting. As I write this, I'm still pretty much assuming that it was accident because no mention of the usual details that lead to minority shootings by police: drugs, robbery, theft. However, this article, in many ways, let the police off the hook. The picture that went along with the article was also especially heartbreaking with the man's 3-year-old daughter sobbing the loss of her Father.

This excerpt discusses New York's potential law to ban underage drinking at home.

This brief account chronicles South Africa's recent bill legalizing gay marriage.

It seems as if I get to answer my own questions from of one of last week’s blog entries. Last week I did a blog entry regarding KFC’s new introduction of trans-fat components into its new and approved cooking ingredients. I asked the question if anyone thought that competitors like McDonalds and Burger King would follows KFC’s lead. The answer to the questions seems to be a blatant “No,” according to the Daily News. Although McDonalds has decided to cut the trans-fat out of its food in Europe, however, over here they’ll still be serving the artery-clogging food we’ve grown to love.

For all those who live in public housing, you could be living next door to one of New York City’s sex fiends. According to an interesting article I read in Sunday’s Daily News, there are more than 200 registered sex offenders living in public housing. When reading this article, I was extremely shocked that the government would allow these felons to live in a place with women and small children. The article even made mention that earlier last week a registered sex offender living in Ravenswood Houses, in Long Island City, Queens, attacked a woman at the complex. I’m thinking this issue has been a failure of the government to keep a close watch on these criminals.

In an article published in Monday’s USA Today, minority enrollment into colleges and universities still seems to lag behind their Asian and Caucasian couterparts. Being a minority, and a product of a HBCU (Historically Black College or University), the article pointed out extremely important factors as to why the growth has been ‘incremental and not transformational.’ According to the article, Beverly Daniel Tatum of Spelman College attributed the slow progression to limited guidance and encouragement in elementary and high schools. I completely agree with her statement. My gripe about the article is that it provided some insight on what could be factors that cause the issue, but never really expanded on it.

It seems as if ‘un-healthy’ Americans may be able to still indulge in their fast-food habits with healthier effects on their body, as confirmed by an article in USA Today. Ironically enough, fast-food chain KFC will be switching to a new soybean oil from a partially hydrogenated oil by April. In a country where obesity is a constantly growing issue, I was extremely impressed and shocked that a chain such as KFC would seek to eliminate the artery-clogging trans fat in its fried chicken. Similarly to KFC, The New York City Board of Health seems to agree with KFC's efforts confirming that they will be hosting a public hearing to consider a citywide ban on the sale of all foods with trans fats.

I recently read an interesting article in Monday’s USA Today that discussed a case regarding ‘partial-birth’ abortion rights and limits. The article discussed how Ilene Jaroslaw, a 43-year-old lawyer from New York City decided to undergo ‘partial-birth’ abortion after finding out the fetus she was carrying had a fatal spinal cord injury. What is specifically interesting is that Jaroslaw had the abortion as Congress was debating its ban on ‘partial-birth’ abortion. The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 essentially restricts certain medical options for women, which is something that the media fails to cover when discussing pro-life and pro-choice.

I recently read an article that, to me, was intentionally biased and aimed to damage attorney Jeanine Pirro’s character. The writer, Serge Kovaleski, whose main goal was to discredit Pirro’s validity in arresting and convicting 100’s of pedophiles, sought to no end throughout the article to prove her a liar in hopes of stalling her support in the upcoming elections. Kovaleski focused his argument largely on her involvement is convicting sex offenders, which happens to be a central theme in her campaign for attorney general. Kovaleski starts the article by specifically pointing out Pirro’s accomplishments in convicting pedophiles only to use that as a springboard to tear that platform down. He begins his argument by utilizing her campaign website stating, “Her campaign site says that the sting operation, which she started in the summer of 1999, led to the arrests of ‘over 100 pedophiles—with a 100 percent conviction rate.” While Ms. Pirro’s press releases repeatedly pointed out that the crimes were felonies punishable by up to four years in sate prison for each count, a review of the cases shows that the overwhelming majoring of people received sentences that let them avoid extensive jail time.”

I read an interesting article in today's edition of "The New York Times" that discussed the machismo of Israel warriors and their "rakish nature." I thought the article really gave insight on the psyche of the Israel man. The article took an in-depth look at high-profile goverment officials who had been suspected of rape or violation of women. According to the article, in this culture, "it was common knowledge that their titles gave them that prerogative." Although the article mainly provided a history lesson in Israeli culture, I walked away asking myself the question, "Where's the accounts from these women who've been violated?" I felt like the article could have discussed more about how they were violates: what ways, how often, what were the consequences if they spoke out, ect. . .I thought those details would have made the story complete. What do you guys think? Or, maybe you may know about the culture than I do--keep me informed.