Marking Period 4 -Beginning Research

Chemical-Free Nonsense

Science writer of the L.A. Times, Deborah Blum, writes about the discrepancies of food labels, especially when they say something as bizarre as "chemical-free". Through a little research, Blum finds out that chemical-free only means that the product is free of industrial or synthesized chemical compounds; however, she is still skeptical of the safety of "natural" products. Not because of what a company might do to any food product, but the Earth itself has enough toxic elements that can get into our food. So is it nature or the additives that we should be worried about?

Analysis -Thomas L. Friedman, NY Times

Thomas L. Friedman can be classified as more of a liberal voice, but unlike some blind-liberals, Friedman has logical arguments that make sense when he's talking about the importance of the future of democracy and how much the Arab World may or may not be a part of that.
"Help Wanted"
1) Friedman's position is simply that the leaders of a democratic future are going to have to be bottom-up governors to get the best from the people early. After the Arab Spring, if all those little nations are going to become unified, stable, democratic countries, they need a "very courageous and special leader" (Help Wanted)
2) He communicates with his audience by using little metaphors. The title itself, "Help Wanted" demonstrates that someone is going to have to take on this task of "getting all those fish back and swimming together in one aquarium", and they'll need that special leader as soon as possible.
"Watching Elephants Fly"
1) In this post, Friedman hates to see leaders around the world not taking away as much as they possibly can from what has happened in Egypt and other Arab countries this past year. Since no one saw it coming, "what makes [them] think [they] know where it's going?" (Watching Elephants Fly)
2) In this post, Friedman uses simpler, but stronger language to emphasize the value of events such as the Arab Spring, something as common as watching elephants fly. "And whenever you see elephants flying, shut up and take notes". This makes it easier for the audience to understand what Friedman wants to see from the global sphere.

Synthesis -Thomas L. Friedman, NY Times

After reading a few of columnist Thomas L. Friedman's posts, it's pretty easy to tell what he believes is important  (and not so important) in today's society, nationally and internationally: brushing up on what it means to be a democracy and what a democratic government should be doing. Friedman takes the Arab Spring very seriously and knows that the world, especially big countries like the United States would be foolish to not learn anything from this kind of event. He understands how much this could change the Arab World, and if other countries want to help create a stable democracy in those Arab countries, they also need to start answering the most crucial questions of their own nation. What most nations need right now, is a bottom-up government that can find answers for the future of democracy as soon as possible, and the way to do that is to "Shut up and take notes". America has made a lot of mistakes, but what to do with democracy in the Arab World cannot be one of them post-2011.