Segment 1
GRIM REAPURR
Oscar the cat seems to have an uncanny knack for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, by curling up next to them during their final hours. His accuracy, observed in 25 cases, has led the staff to call family members once he has chosen someone. It usually means they have less than four hours to live. "He doesn't make too many mistakes. He seems to understand when patients are about to die," said Dr. David Dosa in an interview.
“http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/”
What does a cat know that well-trained, medical professionals are missing? Is there more to the dying process that cannot be measured by diagnostic equipment? What is this cat tapping into? Or are cat just truly the furry minions of satan called to push helpless seniors over to the other side?
YOUR FRIENDS ARE MAKING YOU FAT
If your friends and family get fat, chances are you will too, researchers report in a startling new study that suggests obesity is "socially contagious" and can spread easily from person to person. The large, federally funded study found that to be true even if your loved ones lived far away. Social ties seemed to play a surprisingly strong role, even more than genes are known to do.
“Obesity is socially contagious”
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070725/D8QJT64G0.html, July 25, 2007
Do we tend to gravitate towards people who are our same physical size or do our peers really influence our concept of what is an acceptable weight? Should we use comparison as a determination of what is ideal? Why do we do that?
INDONESIA TRACKS HIV/AIDS
Lawmakers in Indonesia's Papua are mulling the selective use of chip implants in HIV carriers to monitor their behavior in a bid to keep them from infecting others, a doctor said Tuesday. John Manangsang, a doctor who is helping to prepare a new healthcare regulation bill for Papua's provincial parliament, said that unusual measures were needed to combat the virus.
“Microchips mulled for HIV patients” July 24, 2007, http://www.breitbart.com/article
Is this a good idea to keep up with the carriers of a deadly, infectious disease? Would this have kept Andrew Speaker off an international flight? Does the reaction to this have more to do with the disease they are monitoring than the public health concerns?
Segment 2
Live Talkback segment
Could they get away with the chip implant system for HIV patients in the U.S.? What would be the public outcry against it from groups like the ACLU? Why shouldn’t we be able to discreetly monitor highly contagious individuals with a disease widely linked to behavioral activity? How would we determine the cause to be from a promiscuous behavioral activity and not another cause without violating human rights and privacy rights issues? Why do we rush so quickly to minimize the embarrassment of the negative outcomes of people’s choices and protect the rights of the guilty of the victims?
Segment 3
THE YOUTUBE GENERATION PUTS POLITICS UNDER THE MICROSCOPE
Can you get truth of an issue from a vacuum, a cloistered, highly researched, highly controlled environment like a press conference with someone who many call Tony “The Snow Job” running the show? What about from a structured debate with questions that have been put through the news media gate-keeper filter? CNN blew the doors off the old format of political candidate debates last week with the first YouTube debate moderated, not by Chris Matthews, but someone even colder...a snowman. (Yes the kind with the button nose and two eyes made out of coal). Now, many are saying Republicans are unwilling to engage their free-for-all online debate invitation on September 17th. Can you really maintain credibility in today’s day and age without the trial by fire? What does a convincing trial by fire look like today, if not the Man Against Nature fare?
“Republican Candidates: Afraid to Face the YouTube Generation?”, Wired Magazine, July 27, 2007
What does it mean to hold the power and control in the political scene today? Is power achieved through closing off and posturing from a distance or from opening up and being transparent? How far is too far in trying to connect with voters in the greatest popularity contest on U.S. soil? Is there still a place for drawing a “need to know basis” line in a campaign for the hearts of voters? What approach do you trust more? Are we cynical of the guy trying to hold all the cards in the conversation?
Faceoff Debate
Wendy Wright verses ????
Will the YouTube debate(s) have a real affect on the 2008 Presidential elections? Will this increase the number of young adults involved in the political process-will they end up voting?
Segment 4
THE YOUTUBE GENERATION GOES TO THE POLLS (cont’d)
YouTube has already left its mark on politics. Mitt Romney has gone on record giving the snowman moderator from the Democratic YouTube debate the cold shoulder over Global Warming. Republican George Allen lost his Senate seat and a likely spot in the 2008 presidential race after a YouTube video caught him referring to a man of South Asian decent as "macaca"—an ethnic slur in some countries. In the presidential campaign, buzz-worthy video clips have included Bill and Hillary Clinton's spoof of "The Sopranos" finale, Edwards' combing his hair to the tune "I Feel Pretty," and a buxom model professing her crush on Obama.
“YouTube Take Two…”, July 27, 2007, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article
“Online Questions Challenge Candidates”, July 23, 2007, www.breitbart.com/article
Is the way a candidate handles himself in this forum, a good indication of their ability to lead? What affect will this have on future debate formats? Will they become more voter involved?
Segment 5
THE VOLUNTOURISM INDUSTRY TAKES FLIGHT
Millions of Americans hit the high seas, the friendly skies and become road warriors every summer to re-claim a little bit of what corporate worlds and cubicle stole from them over the last 12 months. And a new voluntourism industry is offering a whole new type of trip – a mixture of volunteer work and sightseeing. One part feel-good humanitarianism, one part globe-trotting exotic fun, these trips take the long-time model of church mission teams and Peace Corps groups and give them a commercial feel.
“Vacationing like Brangelina”, Time Magazine, pp. 49, August 6th, 2007
So are volunteer vacations a great way to give back or just very expensive guilt trips that are low results and high on guilt?