Friday, June 4, 2010

Extra Credit Fallacy

The fallacy i will be analyzing is the Geico commercial and ads. These commercials and ads try to grab customers to purchase insurance through their company, Geico. Geico does this by using the popular catch phrase, "So easy a caveman can do it". Using this line commits the fallacy of Weak Analogy.

The fallacy of Weak Analogy is committed because the commercial is trying to compare two things that are not really comparable in relevant respects. The phrase compares humans that are intelligent to cavemen who are not as intelligent. Because these two examples are not comparable the phrase commits the fallacy of Weak Analogy.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Blog 2 Ciritcal Thinking

How my own studies incorporate the idea of critical thinking based on the assignments i am given. Some examples of my usage of critical thinking in my studies are
-if i am doing a research paper i am using critical thinking to evaluate if the sources i cite are reliable and if they are accurate.
-If i am preparing for a debate then i would look at both sides of the issue so that i am able to attack my opponents.
-If i am memorizing the formulas for a math test i am practicing the analyzing part of critical thinking.

Yes i believe that more critical thinking work should be done. I believe that more critical thinking work should be done because of how it is an important skill for life. Being able to make good decisions and well thought out choices is what will get people through life's challenges.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Blog 1 Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is a form of educated observation and judgment. This form of higher thinking also forces people to not be bias and also make intelligent decisions about what to believe. Critical thinking is an important skill for humans to be able to interact, make decisions, and also being aware of the world. In today's world there are so many different types of problems that it is imperative that people most have the ability to be able to analyze and make good judgments.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Letterman's Apology

I believe Letterman's apology would accomplish several things. Some of the things the apology would accomplish are self-relief, boost ratings, and re-gain the approval of viewers.

An apology from Letterman would help him in this case. The apology would help Letterman because of how the many Palin supporters wanted him fired. Some Palin supporters even sent threat letters to Letterman. Overall an apology would ease the tension between Letterman and Palin, and also re-gain the approval of viewers.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

David Letterman Vs. The Palin Family

For our third assignment i decided to choose David Letterman's apology towards the Palin family. The incident happened around June of 2009 where Letterman made several jokes about Sarah Palin and her daughter at a Yankees game. Unfortunately Letterman mistakenly thought the daughter at the game was 18 year old Bristol but ended up being Palin's other daughter, 14 year old Willow. After the jokes letterman was called a "child molester", "child rapist", and other foul names.

I chose Letterman's apology because of his apology style. Letterman's first TV apology was more of him trying to defend himself and not focusing on the apology aspect. All though Letterman messed up on his first apology, Letterman's second TV apology was more straight forward and sympathetic.

Letterman's First TV Apology


Letterman's Second TV Apology

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Article Blog

My position on big box stores is that I am for them. I feel that big box stores are an inevitable transition that America will face at one time or another. Although I do believe that there are many problems with big box stores i strongly believe in Social Darwinism. Social Darwinism, which is the fittest survive, is what America and this world have lived by. So why stop now?

An article to help my position is an article from the National Post. The article is called "Recovery latest hurdle for Wal-Mart; Fickle Shoppers" by Denis Dyomkin. In this article Dyomkin explains how Wal-Mart will help the recovery of America's economic troubles. Dyomkin also uses many different financial experts to help back his claim. One expert, Bill Smead, quotes, "The market share that they grabbed in this consumer recession can translate into more sales growth and higher-margin product sales when consumer confidence does come back and the economy improves". Overall i will use this article to help back my position for big box stores.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

The High Cost Of Low Prices Critique Blog

The film The High Cost Of Low Prices has one main goal. That goal is to exploit the truth of Wal-Mart. The main message that is being put out in this film is that Wal-Mart is bad, is a monopoly, destroys towns, takes away from tax payers, unethical, and participates in illegal activities. This message was put out clearly and emotionally. The film expresses this message by showing personal views, images, and statistics about how horrible Wal-Mart is. The film delivers main points through former Wal-Mart employees, sweatshop employees, and small town store owners which creates the film's sources reliable and believable. With all this information i was convinced with only a couple points.

The main points that i found convincing were Wal-Mart is unethical and Wal-Mart takes money away from taxpayers. Wal-Mart being unethical was convincing to me because of how the film clearly shows that Wal-Mart does support ethical morals like it should. Wal-Mart taking money away from taxpayers was convincing to me by how the film provided specific details about how Wal-Mart encourages their employees to receive health care through the government.

I did not find the other main points convincing because of how the film does not exploit any other big-box stores such as Target, K-Mart, or even Best Buy. The film touches these big-box stores only slightly. This gives the effect that Wal-Mart is becoming a monopoly. However Wal-Mart cannot become a monopoly because of those other big-box stores and also because Wal-Mart cannot sell everything.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Blog2: What Makes A Good Public Space?

What makes a good public space are the necessities combined with entertainment. These necessities are anywhere from restrooms, trash cans, tables and chairs, security, parking, and a sense of welcome. Necessities are vital for public spaces because it is what creates a public space public. Without the fundamentals of these necessities the space would fail as a good public space. Entertainment is also another important generality because of how it is what draws people toward the space. Entertainment can be anywhere from movies, open park, shopping stores, restaurants, music, sports, and much more.

For a public space to be able to function it must have an openness welcome feeling. A good public space accomplishes this by adding items that provide the public a sense of welcome and happiness. Some of these items are trees, plants, fountains, fish, lights, or even music. With all these items people feel welcomed to the space and not as if they should not be there. Another important part of a public space is security. Security is important because people should feel safe while at a public space. A good public space provides good security by supplying security guards. Security balances with openness by having the security guards also giving off a welcome feeling. This is done by the way security guards present themselves.

Today society marks off a public space by how good it accomplishes by being a public space. People return to public spaces because they have fun and are drawn back to it. If i am with my friends we will always typically hang out at places where we have heard or been too that generates a good time. Some preventions that make people not drawn back to a public space would be a lack of the necessities, entertainment, and the balance between security and openness. Without one or more of these important fundamentals of a good public space the public space is not a good one.

Security guards wear suits that give off a welcome feeling

Monday, February 22, 2010

Blog 1: Public Space

What i found over the weekend that is a good public space is the Valencia Town Center. The Valencia Town Center has multiple choices for shopping, entertainment, food, and many more things that make it one of the best places to go in Valencia. There are mainly 4 sections to the Valencia Town Center. Area 1 is the brand new Patios outdoor mall, Area 2 is the main Valencia mall, Area 3 is the isle that leads up to the Valencia mall, and Area 4 is at the end of Area 3. All of 4 of these areas are great for public space however, for this blog i will be concentrating on Area 4.

Area 4 of the Valencia Town Center contains mainly entertainment and food. For entertainment there is the Edwards Movie Theater. Edwards Movie Theater is the place for people of all ages. The movies that are screened at this movie theater are typically aimed towards family oriented to popular movies. There is also Tilts, which is an arcade. Tilts attracts people of all ages however leaning more towards young males. Next to Tilts is Borders which is a bookstore. Here People can browse through magazines, search for CD's, enjoy some coffee, and even free wifi. Area 4 has the best food selection of the entire Valencia Town Center in my opinion. If your feeling fancy high in steak house there is Salt Creek Grill, which i am employed by, or if you want Italian there is Buca di Beppoi. If money is a factor then there is always the famous Johnny Rockets or the brand new Mexican Grill, Chipotle. Once finished eating at one of these spots then have some frozen yogurt at Tutti Fruiti. Area 4 is a great place for entertainment, food, and family fun.

Area 4 is most busy during the weekends. Late at night the crowd ranges from around 14-30 yrs of age. Because i work at Salt Creek Grille i have been able to observe that the crowd is usually young teenagers, couples, or families. As far as race goes i do see a very diverse crowd. This area also conveniently has a parking structure just steps away to make the night that more better. There are trash cans evenly divided among the area. What makes area 4 so welcoming are the tables and chairs that all conveniently have umbrellas for shade. There is security that patrol in golf carts and by foot. Security also helps divert traffic during busy nights. Overall area 4 is a great public spot that is located in the middle of the town and provides lots of fun to everyone.

Area 1
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Area 2
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Area 3
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Area 4
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Entertainment
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Food
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Tables
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Security
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Fountains
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Parking
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