Perspectives 2500 Spring 2013

By Earl Mays

Sources: The New York Times, Reuters, Yahoo, Forbes, The Huffington Post, CNN

The general conclusion made by the news organization is that the market is recovering, but for how long and is another bubble looming.

The New York Times article “Investors vs. Occupants” from the Economix blog questions the sustainability of the housing market. The key perspective sentence of this article reads as follows, “Investors have helped a very depressed market recover, but they have also been outbidding owner-occupants, particularly since many investors can finance their purchases entirely in cash rather than having to wait for a loan.” This sentence reveals the perspective of the piece as overall informative to the consumer as to what is trending in the housing market. The purpose of the article seems to want to get the opinions of its readers.

Yahoo’s The Daily ticker article titled “This Housing Recovery Is Different: Investors Are Now Big Buyers” explores what the large involvement of investors implies for the market in general. The overall perspective of the article is a warning to occupant buyers and investors that the actions may result in another crisis cautioning that “While these investor purchases are boosting the housing market they are also creating more risks because investors are not necessarily in the market for the long-run as the typical individual home owner usually is.”

The remaining articles from CNN’s Fortune, Forbes, Reuters and The Huffington Post are all about the current state of mortgage rates in the recovering market.  The Associated Press article found on The Huffington Post website gives a breakdown of how mortgages rates have changed and looks to want to inform the potential consumer of the current market opportunity. This is seen in this sentence, “The lowest mortgage rates in decades are spurring more home purchases and refinancing.” Reuters adds more encouragement attacking the issue by examining how banks are helping struggling borrowers pay their mortgages. Fortune’s article attacks the same issue but adds a cautionary perspective by suggesting, “Freddie and Fannie could also set the recovery back. Because delinquency is a criteria in Freddie and Fannie’s plan, it risks encouraging other struggling borrowers to fall behind on their payments just to qualify for the program.” Forbes develops a different perspective by looking at another angle that being the reformation of the mortgage interest deduction. The article explains the pros and cons of doing such and concludes that, “the housing market seems to be recovering, and mortgage rates have begun to creep up from their historic lows last summer. The politics of the mortgage deduction will surely change again.”

The housing market recovery is vital to the economy it will be interesting to see the steps that will be taken to prevent further economic issues in the market.

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/27/investors-vs-occupants-in-the-housing-recovery/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20130321/us-mortgage-rates/?utm_hp_ref=sports&ir=sports

http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2013/03/29/freddie-mac-fannie-mae/

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/27/us-usa-housing-foreclosures-idUSBRE92Q0M420130327

http://www.forbes.com/sites/beltway/2013/03/28/this-may-be-the-ideal-time-to-reform-the-mortgage-interest-deduction/

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/housing-recovery-different-investors-now-big-buyers-145259693.html#more-id

Sources: Huffingtonpost, NY Times, NY Daily News

As the debate rages on between what should be the right way to approach the issues with minimum wage, the 2013-2014 budget for New York was passed with mixed reactions to the parts relating to minimum wage, Charlene Obernauer of the HuffingtonPost seems to be very critical of the budget and feels as if the measures passed was just a smokescreen that essentially left the most hard working New Yorkers out of any major benefit. The wage will increase annually for the next three years, but will try to leave tipped workers out of an increase as well as give businesses who hire teenagers a tax break. When you look at it back at the national level, arguments remain whether it should be raised at all or in the case of Christina D Romer of the NY Times we should analyze whether we should even have a minimum wage at all, rather than attack one side of the argument she looks at both sides. Yet overall, the fact that the New York proposal included a tax break for those who hire teenagers seems to be the one thing drawing rage and criticism across all spectrums, not only in the huffingtonpost but in the NY Daily News as well. It’ll be important to see how it develops in regards to the national minimum Wage

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charlene-obernauer/new-york-minimum-wage_b_2924989.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/waging-war-economics-article-1.1303020

The past weeks in the news there has been reports of nuclear war threats coming from North Korea. The reason for this is that Pyongyang was canceling the 60-year-old treaty that ended the Korean War.

According to the article in the National Post, it makes it seem like North Korea has a tendency of putting out threats in times of tension with the outside world. This publication makes this nuclear threat in a way seem as a joke and that it will never occur as it goes into details of other threats North Korea has done before. However, in case of a war to actually occur South Korea along with US troops are running daily drills.

The article on NBC News/Reuters, proves that there has been a North Korea nuclear test. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), claims that there is no “smoking gun” sign as they cannot detect radioactive traces emitted from last month’s North Korea nuclear testing. This article proves that in fact there are ongoing nuclear test happening in North Korea, but they are using substances that as of right now are not possible to detect. It may in fact be only a treat from North Korea but the testing makes one think otherwise.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/51146314/ns/world_news-asia_pacific/#.UT-ChNFAQSg

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/03/11/north-korea-nuclear-threats-hyperbolic-and-bellicose-rhetoric-but-u-s-will-protect-allies-if-need-be-white-house/

The interest in gun control has been increasing ever so much. With shootings such as the Aurora theatre tragedy and the Sandy Hook Massacre, politicians want to make sure that these gun laws help lower the chances of things like that happening again.

These gun laws would restrict citizens from purchasing many if not all assault or assault-type guns, and magazines that contain more than ten rounds. An article on the daily news website quotes Representative Craig Miner, “we believe it’s not the gun that kills the person. It’s the person that actually kills the person. That sounds kind of cold, but that’s the way it is.” From what Representative Craig Miner, who was speaking for the Republicans, is seems that they do not find that the problem are the guns but the people who use them are the root of it.

Senator Looney and the Senate president pro tempore, Donald Williams, both Democrats, urged action by March 13  -the next day, March 14, will signify the third month since the day of the shootings. They most likely wanted things to happen due to the fact that the shooting at Sandy Hook happened 3 months before as of now and nothing has really been done except in New York, Colorado and Maryland who have already taken action since the Newtown tragedy. It is quoted in the article that they wrote to their colleges saying “…In Connecticut, we must not bow to pressure from those who would delay action as a way of blocking common-sense reforms.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/06/nyregion/2-conflicting-agendas-arise-from-gun-safety-task-force-in-connecticut.html

According to n article on The Weekly Standard, the Washington Time reports that “Mrs. Feinstein’s measure would exempt more than 2,200 types of hunting and sporting rifles; guns manually operated by bolt, pump, lever or slide action; and weapons used by government officials, law enforcement and retired law enforcement personnel.” Not everyone will have to abide by Senator Dianne Feinstein’s gun control bill because if the proposed legislation becomes law then government officials and others will be exempt.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/feinstein-gun-control-bill-exempt-government-officials_697732.html

Vanessa Vasquez

Gay rights seems to be an issue that gets reported with completely different perspective depending on where you go for your news.  Its all about little words that make a difference.  One example was in the San Francisco Chronicle.  Their headline was “Minn. gay marriage bill survives GOP move to block”
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Minn-gay-marriage-bill-survives-GOP-move-to-block-4351839.php#ixzz2NRyRAkKg)

Emphasis on the word ‘survive’.  In another publication, one that is more conservative, this could be written as “GOP unable to block gay marriage bill”, which makes it sound more on the side of the GOP.

There was also one huge anti-homosexual editorial in the Washington Times, an extremely conservative paper.  Titled “Gay Scouts of America” it strongly holds that gays should not be allowed in boy scouts, as it represents a threat to the moral integrity of the organization.  In the Seattle Gay News, this move to consider gays in boy scouts is being hailed a tremendous move.

Sources: NY times, NY Daily News, In the Times, huffingtonpost

There has been a lot of controversy over what the minimum wage should be raised to or whether it should be raised at all. Some argue that if its raised the amount of money that will be redistributed to the lower wage class will not make much of a difference compared to the overall economy. Obama’s call to raise the minimum wage from 7.25 to 9  dollars has started a wave of arguments. While most labor unions and officials from advocacy groups on wages were surprised by Obama’s decision to finally address the issue, arguments are surfacing in regards to the actual amount that it should be raised to. Here in New York,  the Senate introduced a plan in the budget to raise the minimum wage. Once again though while the officials are calling it progress, the issue remains on what the raise should be. Some believe that the white house went with a modest number of 9 to perhaps make it more appealing to Republicans who are opposed to minimum wage raises because it hurts businesses and job growth. Either way, there seems to be general optimism that it will be raised and that negotiations will be able to raise the wage to an amount where everybody is comfortable.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nys-senate-calls-minimum-wage-hike-article-1.1285690

http://inthesetimes.com/article/14696/labor_and_allies_surprised_by_obamas_9_minimum_wage_proposal_scramble_to_co/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/20/obamas-minimum-wage-unions_n_2725460.html

Technology is constantly evolving, and since the conception of the Internet in the late 1950’s much has been done to benefit billions all over the world. Unfortunately, with most information today being stored in computers and other technological devices, it leaves many open to hacking and cyber attacks. Computer hacking is not something new, however, hackers have now taken their talents of cyber espionage to a grander scale.
On December 21, 2011 FoxNews.com published a story about Chinese hackers who breached the computers of four members of The US Chamber of Commerce. The members dealt closely with policies concerning Asia; they weren’t aware that their systems were attacked. The hackers potentially got away with 6 weeks worth of emails involving over 300 addresses before they were shut down in May of 2010. The Chamber’s Chief Operating Officer David Chavern said, “This was clearly somebody very sophisticated, who knew exactly who we are and who targeted specific people and used sophisticated tools to try to gather intelligence.”
The New York Times recently hired a cyber security company called Mandiant, to investigate a ‘sophisticated Chinese-origin attack’ against its servers. After investigating the attacks Mandiant was able to trace the intrusions to one particular neighborhood in China; this neighborhood is home to a 12-story building that is the base for the People’s Liberation Army unit 61389. The origin of the attacks and the location of the P.L.A.’s base seems to be more than coincidence, leading American intelligence to believe that these attacks are direct assaults from the Chinese government.
After Mandiant submitted their extensive 60-page report on the cyber attacks various news outlets gave their spin on the story. According to NBCNews.com the Chinese military stated that they are actually the victims of cyber warfare. They also stated that two of their sites have been attacked over 144,000 times with two-thirds of the attacks coming from American servers. Hong lei a spokesperson from the Ministry of Foreign affairs labeled Mandiant’s accusations as ‘unprofessional’ and ‘irresponsible’. Chinese officials feel that these accusations do not help to solve the problem of hacking in general.
Cyber hacking is a new method of warfare; hackers can gain access to important systems and undo a country from the inside out. The evolution of technology has made cyber warfare as significant as more direct forms of combat; nations fear that their entire infrastructure can be debilitated by cyber attacks.

Sources
NBCNews.com
http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/china-says-us-based-hackers-target-its-websites-1C8628546

NYTIMES.COM

Foxnews.com
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2011/12/21/chinese-computer-hackers-hit-us-chamber-commerce/

NPR.com
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/02/28/173158072/china-accuses-u-s-of-hacking-military-sites

Huffington post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/13/bank-cyber-attack-project-blitzkrieg_n_2295882.html

The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323293704578331832012056800.html

Topic: Drone Strikes

Sources: The NY Times, CNN, Fox News, The Huffington Post, and Dawn Newspaper

In recent years, the United States has developed the process of using unmanned aircraft, called drones, to conduct combat from the air on unsuspecting targets below. The controversial practice has led to many questions and concerns about drone strikes, and the media is currently covering a worldwide debate on their use. Most recently, Kentucky senator Rand Paul led a filibuster to suspend the nomination of pro-drone John Brennan as CIA director. Sen. Paul spoke for almost 13 hours, and talked about the importance of President Barack Obama being transparent with his drone use, and whether or not the president could use drones against an American citizen who is an enemy of the government overseas, reiterating the concerns many people have had about drones in recent months.

So far most of the news outlets covering the drone story have not had a large bias against one side or the other. I believe this is because the use of drones is a touchy and confusing subject, and there is no outstanding consensus on drone strikes for either political party or the American public.

The New York Times, CNN, and Fox News all have broad reports on the drone strikes, and their articles cover a wide range of topics including debates, opinion pieces, and general related reports on what is happening within the US government in regards to drone strikes. There is not much bias coming from any of the articles, which surprised me, especially considering how Fox News can be a very biased news source. However, besides word choice and dealings with strong party issues, reports on drones from the three sources basically read the same.

On the other hand, I found that the Huffington Post was very biased in the way they reported about drone strikes. Taking an anti-drone standpoint, almost all of the articles on Huff Post that deal with drones are adamant in their rejection of the use of drones. This is similar to the last of my five news sources, which is Dawn Newspaper. A source from Pakistan, Dawn is able to provide firsthand accounts and opinions from where most of the drone strikes occur. Since the country witnesses the destructive aftermath of missiles launched from drones to kill an American enemies often, the paper is entirely sure of its anti-drone opinions. I found an article that was released in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shootings here in the US that criticized President Obama for becoming emotional when American schoolchildren were murdered, while he shows no remorse for ordering drone strikes that murder innocent Pakistani civilians, including children. This goes to show how sure Dawn Newspaper is in its anti-drone stance.

Coverage of the ongoing Civil War in Syria has been extremely varied amongst five different news sources. The Guardian’s top story is the recent release of UN hostages held be insurgents the previous week. Al Jazeera is focusing on a number of bodies that have washed up on a river in the city of Aleppo. The BBC is reporting a militant group is claiming responsibility for killing Syrian soldiers in Iraq. Bloomberg is reporting that Turkey has arrested five-people linked to a car-bombing near the Turkish-Syrian border, and Now Lebanon is covering a delay amongst the Syrian opposition for a meeting to form a government. Sprinkled in amongst all of these outlets is concerns about UN reports on the Syrian refugee crisis. Priorities in terms of coverage amongst Western media outlets seems primarily focused on events and impacts outside of Syria while Now Lebanon and Al Jazeera offer more in-depth reporting on events within Syria itself, which may be indicators of each outlet trying to cater to their audiences specific interests on the matter.

Sources

1. Catholic News Agency

2. New York Times

3. CNN

4. All Africa

5. BBC

6. Fox News

As faithful Catholics around the world await the white smoke from the chimney of the Sisteen Chapel, underlying issues surrounding the Catholic church are surfacing. As we all know Pope Benedict XVI has retired from his throne and the cardinals have entered the conclave in hopes to vote and appoint a new Pope. Some of the issues that the Catholic church have been facing in recent months are the many sex scandals involving cardinals and priests. As you may know one of the ancient rules of Catholicism is a vow of celibacy, many people are debating if this vow should be updated. In a world surrounding new advances and tweeting Cardinals many fear that these ancient views may need to change. Pope Benedict XVI retired due to old age felt that he didn’t have enough energy to properly deal with all the scandal revolving around the Church.

Change is to happen with the nationality of the new pope as well. For the first time in history there is a great consideration for candidates outside of Europe including Africa and South America, and people are saying rightfully so. African people have a strong religious faith and Catholicism is widely spreading as well as in South America making up most of the Catholic population. Cardinals insist that nationality will not be a factor in choosing a new pope, rather qualifications and if one should meet the requirements than so be it. Africans as well as South Americans have more conservative views and many people feel that it would be best to raise the profile on the poorest continent.

While many people may argue if choosing a pope from a different region of the world is relevant some argue if a pope really matters at all. Catholic Americans believe that it is possible to “disagree with the pope on birth control, abortion, capital punishment and divorce and still be a good Catholic.”

People are ever growing and changing, maybe it is time to elect a pope that will consider all of the above and bring positive change to the Church and followers in an effort to unite people to the faith and God.

Sheila Haya