TOW Rewrite: Flashback to the Election

America is divided like never before. When facing the threatening fiscal cliff, lawmakers were finally forced to cooperate with one another to prevent the nation from careening into another recession. The 112th congress was ranked as the worst congress to ever be assembled, simply because they were unable to "work across the aisle". As Barack Obama is reelected as the face of the nation, he yearns to bring in bipartisanship and to get things done, especially considering there is much more lee-way with a second, term free of concern for reelection. But there is no way to ensure that this will actually happen, especially with the Republican distaste for Mr.Obama. The following cartoon was created to illustrate the divide still evident following the reelection of Obama and was published immediately following his reelection.  This cartoon was taken from the International Herald Tribune which is the global version of the New York Times, a very popular and credible source for US politics news. The author creates a very stark contrast between the Obama camp and GOP camp. He accomplishes this by juxtaposing the two images of each side. The left side is very celebratory and seems almost patriotic. In general, the sense taken from this image of Obama is one who is very positive and progressive, especially with the woman wearing the "forward" t-shirt, an allusion to Obama's '08 campaign. The GOP looks sinister on the right side of this image(note how the "left" is the liberal democrats, and the "right" is the conservative GOP) and refers to a common stereotype of the wealthy-business oriented GOP with the inclusion of the suitcase. When looking at the contrast between the two sides of the cartoon, the GOP seems very devoid of happiness without the confetti and smiles. It almost seems as if the GOP is shouting back and interrupting Obama rather than simply tacking on the statement, "of gridlock". In doing so, the author successfully creates a negative connotation of the GOP and a more positive connotation of the Obama administration, as if they are the protagonists of a situation marred with greed and failure. Following viewing this cartoon the author creates feelings of more distaste and anger towards the government, particularly towards the GOP. In this author's eyes, the future of our country and its success will be continually halted by the filibustering and political blockades out in place by the GOP, the sore losers. Only time will tell if this holds true, perhaps the 113th congress will surprise every American by lifting the nation back to its previous success.

Concluding a biography and the life of Steve Jobs

I'll admit it, I cried. A lot. When Steve Jobs died last year it was something incredibly painful to come to terms with. Pictures had leaked of an ill Jobs who was on medical leave at the point in time and I simply dismissed them as rumors, nothing legitimate. Many people would probably think I was crazy to be so attached to someone I never met. In fact, people jokingly posted condolences on my Facebook wall. But, in reality, many are attached to honestly less-accomplished individuals such as (ready for it) Justin Bieber.(my head screams at the meer mention of that name) For the greater part of my early teenage years I had looked up to Jobs as an idol of mine, a great innovator and business man. Jobs carried a cult following and to many was an incredibly influential individual. It is hard to imagine a world without the influence of Jobs. Whether it be a Mac(original or current), iPhone, or iPad, nearly every individual owns the device. His influence in the technological realm is simply unparalleled. It is simply fitting to acknowledge how incredible an impact Jobs had on our daily lives. So, for what it is worth; thanks Steve.

Anyway, back to the book. From the onset of the text, I was very interested in seeing how Isaacson would close on Jobs' life. Unlike many other biographies Isaacson had access to Jobs right before his death and was able to pull a great deal of personal intricacies from Jobs' struggle with pancreatic cancer.  I was able to draw my personal connections to the timetable at the end of the text. Isaacson used many flashbacks to where Jobs was shown spending a great deal with his family in the closing chapter in his life. I remember when the original iPhone 4 came out and the antennagate controversy which had surrounded it, amidst all of this Jobs was dealing with cancer and wanted to spend time with his family. He miraculously balanced both, going on a trip to Hawaii, returning back for a press conference, and then rejoining the family again in Hawaii. It exposes a more delicate side to Jobs, even at a time which would often be associated with scared expectations of the oncoming death. But I was not at all disappointed with the ending Isaacson provided. Isaacson said, "Biographers are supposed to have the last word. But this is a biography of Steve Jobs. Even though he did not impose his legendary desire for control on this project, I suspect that I would not be conveying the right feel for him-the way he asserted himself in any situation-if I just shuffled him onto history's stage  without letting him have some last words."(567) Isaacson concludes the text with the thoughts of how Jobs wanted his legacy to appear. It was poignant and provided more insight in those few pages than a whole chapter in Steve Jobs could provide. In the eyes of death, it is incredible what can come out of an individual, it opens them up completely. It brought the story of Jobs full-circle, from the small garage in the orchard fields of the silicon valley to his incredible prowess with which Jobs left the world, it brings up an aire of nostalgia to hear how Jobs described himself and how he wanted people to remember him. When I concluded this book I realized how much I really knew about Jobs, which isn't much. I followed the general assumptions portrayed by the public. It makes you step back and reevaluate how every celebrity is perceived. Maybe there is truly more to them than the public perception. Steve Jobs provided an incredible and unparalleled  window into the life of Jobs. And I would be inclined to read the book again without hesitation.

The United States: A land of incredible variety.

It has always been a dream of mine to explore all 50 states in the US. Many would ask; "Why would you travel to states like North Dakota or Iowa? That must be so boring!". It might be the case, but if you never go, you never know. The beautiful thing(and sometimes something which can prove problems) about the United States is the incredible variety it provides. Meeting someone in rural Wyoming would be incredibly different than an individual living in Chicago. It is the curiosity that meeting those widespread group of locals that drives my quest to meet the locals of each region. This infographic puts a number to each congressional district of the US based on the Gallup well-being index and provides interesting insight to each location and their respective locals. The general trend shown by the map shows many urban(and the surrounding suburbs) to have the highest composite scores. When looking at the smoking category, most of statistics were concentrated in rural locations in the interior south, another interesting trend to consider. My expectation for the stress demographic would be that urban areas would show high levels, but on average the suburbs of the cities showed even higher levels of stress than the cities they surrounded.  I also found it interesting that many assume that the sometimes dreary city of Seattle is riddled with depression, but it turns out to be one of the least depressed areas on the map. This shows that many preconceived notions don't tend to hold with different areas of the United States, and further advances my curiosity of the different areas of the US(I've actually considered going to Seattle and the NW US for the future.). This map provides a whole different look at interesting demographics and presents it in a very concise manner. Each district can be clicked on to provide a raw score and percentage which further my actual understanding. If zip codes could be entered, that would be a small improvement. But the map certainly furthers my belief that America is a great land of many differences in personality of both the people and the culture of every region.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/06/weekinreview/20110306-happiness.html?ref=multimedia