A Different type of Game

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/viewers-freak-espn2-airs-video-game-tournament-article-1.2200403

Last Sunday ESPN2 aired a tournament for the new popular video game called Heroes of the Storm. The winner of the tournament was able to get a full paid education to the college of their choice, the tournament was christened Heroes of the Dorm. Fan feedback was mixed throughout some were outraged and others were confused. Some people found that the commentary by the other gamers or shout casters, was engrossing and the viewers were completely absorbed by it despite not understanding what's going on. Others were calling this a farce complaining about how there should be actual sports on the channel. But this wasn't a new thing the creators of the game started this agreement with ESPN.

I personally like these so called “e-sports” and do watch these types of events from time to time, but I don’t really like to watch these types of games which fall in the MOBA genre. I also might be a little biased but I do think that having this type of programming is a valid form of entertainment, I don’t consider it a sport but I wouldn't consider poker a sport either. There is also a precedent for these types of event because during the summer ESPN also conducted a broadcast for a 11 million dollar tournament on their website for a game called DOTA 2 which is similar to Heroes of the Storm. I think that while the outcry is justified as it is not  a known form of entertainment, it is still a valid form. Thousands of people play literally hundreds of different games every day, there is already an established network of these types of games with or without ESPN. I believe that “e-sports” is a prominent part of this society and will continue to grow in popularity.

Professional Problems

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/16/us/espn-reporter-britt-mchenry-tirade/index.html

The situation that is occurring right now for ESPN reporter Britt McHenry is that she has been suspended for one week. She was at a towing company in Virginia and insulted the establishment and the employee there calling it a scumbag place and insinuating that she was better than them because she has a degree in journalism. She also made fun of the employees appearance commenting about missing teeth and the employee’s weight. Britt has only been working at ESPN for one year and will be able to return to her job in one week. She apologized about her crude statements via twitter. Many other people would constantly call her out and asked for her to be fired from her position.

I chose to do this article because I wanted to speak my mind about professionalism in popular culture and media. Right now there are a lot of people who are plain unprofessional on air or in public in all facets of the media and this incident provides an example of it. She knew she was on camera at a certain point but still continued to berate and attack the employee. When you are one of the faces of a multi-million dollar corporation that type of behavior cannot stand and should not be allowed in any professional environment. I see news anchors and other members of the media berate and attack the people they are reporting on. I feel like that shouldn't happen the news is there to provide a clear succinct view of what is happening in the world. I feel like the news is being mired by all these petty fights due to differing political values and I feel like there should be a more harsh punishment if something like this were to happen again.

Scientology Surprise

http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/10/media/hbo-scientology-going-clear/

Right now in the 21st Century with the prevalent influence of the sciences a new religion has started and deemed itself the Church of Scientology. Right now HBO is undergoing a massive and in depth documentary over the practices and the members of Scientology. The documentary is called Going Clear and it airs on HBO. Some prevalent members of the church include John Travolta and Tom Cruise. My article is about how the normally litigious church has currently taken no action against HBO going clear.
I think that the documentary will be a helpful tool to understand the beliefs of this religion and what it is trying to do for our community.

Scientology is viewed with disdain from most people, and I think there is a good reason for it. There are plenty of talks about how paying your way to the top or placing family members under house arrest. I think that if we let people be more informed about what this religion is and how corrupt it is there can be more informed ways to express your distrust. As the church is thought to be very corrupt. As well as the fact that they sue many people or groups looking to expose there actions.

Skutt Sucks

http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2015/04/online-petition-seeks-to-save-job-of-gay-speech-teacher-fired-by-catholic-school/

Right now in Omaha there is a massive problem occurring with Skutt Catholic. They fired a teacher named Matthew Eledge for his sexual orientation and when he decided to marry his partner. Eledge has been a long time speech and debate instructor for skutt and has led Skutt to many victories. When he was fired many students and parents decided to make an online petition to revert the decision to let him go. You can go currently sign the petition at https://www.change.org/p/skutt-catholic-high-school-end-employment-discrimination-against-mr-eledge-and-future-faculty.

I personally think this was a horrible decision made by Skutt Catholic and am deeply appalled by the action they have taken. I don't understand how if you fire someone for their sexual orientation that is the same type of discrimination as firing someone for their skin color. If we want to have a truly free society you need to not let there be barriers like this in our community. Having the right to choose who you want to marry shouldn't be chosen for you by the government, your workplace or anyone else.

Middle East Troubles

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/04/middleeast/yemen-saudi-forces-houthis-al-qaeda/index.html

Currently in Yemen Shiite rebels are fighting against an army filled with a host of members from other Arab countries and soldiers loyal to the displaced Sunni president. In the city of Aden there has been intense fighting and airstrikes for the past two weeks. The International Red Cross said that supplies need to be provided for the injured citizens because their injuries are so critical it needs to be treated within hours. Russia submitted a draft calling for a halt to the airstrikes but the UN meeting adjourned with no resolution. Right now in Yemen, according to the UN, 519 people have been killed and 1700 people have been wounded.

. I think that the fact that there hasn't been a resolution to the talks calling for a cease-fire is unacceptable. An anonymous diplomat said that the draft was missing key elements. My question is why are the lives of your people worth less to you then defeating the rebel Shiites. I wonder if your people would be happy or proud once the war is over, because at the rate this warfare is going there will be many more people killed and more destruction all across Yemen. The first goal of a leader in my opinion is to ensure the safety of your people and then try to further your political goals.

My Lifestory

Hey guys how's it going, I'm going to start my first blog, by introducing myself to you. I was born in Commerce Township, Michigan which is right next to Novi where I lived for 8 years of my life. Its a relatively small area and was populated by a bunch of my parent's college buddies, so we had a lot of fun there. We ended up moving here almost 6 years ago because my dad quit his job at Ford to work at a different place. I ended up at a public elementary school called Aldrich Elementary, and then went Kiewet Middle School.

I'm a Hindu and my parents were born in India so our family visits there a lot. We generally go every other year and go to religious places or visit family. To the left of you is a picture of the beach at Bendamurlanka (pronounced Ben-moor-lan-ka), this is my Grandpa's village where he owns a farm and such. My cousin recently started a GoFundMe with my help to help children get books and stuff as the area is generally poorer. Here is a link to the page http://www.gofundme.com/ccywdw.

My grandpa as a farmer owns a couple of farm animals here is a picture of them, my sister named the white one named Bellam which means ornery and my cousin named the other one Lakshmi who is the goddess of wealth in my religion. Last winter actually we visited the Taj Mahal and the red fort in India which was a good experience for me since I have never visited a tourist attraction there before and it felt like a very different experience. An effect of my heritage as well is that I watch a lot of Bollywood movies.






A few of my personal interests are music, games, and movies. I consider myself to be a somewhat musical person as I play the guitar and the saxophone and have been playing them for a very long time now.  I used to play tennis as well. I love to watch movies, my favorite movie of last year being Whiplash and my favorite of all time probably being Godfather part 2.