Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin has generated attention to herself and the GOP since her nomination as VP. There have been ups and downs with her nomination. People were wondering who she was and what she was about. Everyone was looking for information about this hockey mom from Alaska. As people began to know more about her they either liked her more or less. She has garnered attention non the less. In the beginning it was positive, thunder from the Obama campaign was stolen with her nomination. Who would have imagined that the first female vice presidential candidate would come from the GOP. Hillary paved the way for female presidential candidates. After the initial shock factor wore off other things surfaced about governor Palin and her family. Her 17 year old daughter was pregnant and people claimed that her austic child was really her grandchild. Then stories evolved about the firing of her ex-brother in law and whether the firing was ethical or not. After that Tina Fey from SNL played governor Palin to the admiration of its viewers. Governor Palin's first several interviews with the media did not go so well and it caused some to shift their opinion about her. Recently Palin has been in the news about attacking the Obama campaign (which is normal during a presidential campaign) but also about the amount of money that was spent for her and her family on clothes for the GOP convention. A debate about whether the media is liberally biased took place in class with evidence from both sides of the argument presented. My only question is if Hillary was still in the presidential hunt would how much money was spent on her and her family for the DNC be an issue? Would her contacts be a fashion statement like Palin's glasses? Should be people really be concerned about how much people spend on clothes for a national convention? If it is deemed necessary to examine such an issue should not all candidates expenses on clothes be published and given equal time to discuss how much was spent and why?

Sports and the economy

Sports are an American past time. They help to alleviate the pain that today's society faces by allowing people to focus on other things than what's going on in the world. In fact the Olympics were created to rekindle the human spirit regardless of race, nationality, or economic status. I was reading through ESPN the Magazine and discovered a news portion that stated that the federal bailout plan gave NASCAR $100 million dollars in relief over the next 15 years. David Stern the commissioner of the NBA stated earlier that 9% of its players would be cut because of economic factors. I don't tend to think of the sports market as one that is losing money because of the economy but it does make sense. Sports is a business like any other in many aspects than not. The fact that the federal government is providing NASCAR with such large amount of money says something about the importance of sports to the American culture. Granted that NASCAR is not as popular as some other sports a statement is still made.

Global interest rates

Rates for interest were cut globally yesterday to avoid more damage to each sectors economy. Decades and decades ago it would have seemed infathomable to have such an occurance happen. It only goes to show how interdepent the global community has become. The U.S. is a major source of influence not only socially but also financially. The current financial crisis in the U.S. has caused other markets to respond. Reading this report reminded me that through this time America is not the only one suffering. Other nations use the dollar in determining their currency and if the dollar loses value then their currency also loses value. It would be interesting to see how citizens of other nations have responded or are responding to our current situation.