Let give thanks

(an old post from last year on my myspazz page)
W/Thanksgiving around the corner I thought I would look up the "real" history. Not just the happy, fuzzy warm feeling one we have all grown up with. You know, the one where the pilgrims came over on the Mayflower, landed on Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts. They had a hard winter, the next spring, Squanto and his friendly Indian band helped them learn about the land so they could grow vegetables and fish. Then that fall, there was a big feast for three days. JOY

So, I found this nice little story that sums it up pretty well. See what you think.

THE
REAL
STORY OF THANKSGIVING
by Susan Bates

Most of us associate the holiday with happy Pilgrims and Indians sitting down to a big feast. And that did happen - once.
The story began in 1614 when a band of English explorers sailed home to England with a ship full of Patuxet Indians bound for slavery. They left behind smallpox which virtually wiped out those who had escaped. By the time the Pilgrims arrived in Massachusetts Bay they found only one living Patuxet Indian, a man named Squanto who had survived slavery in England and knew their language. He taught them to grow corn and to fish, and negotiated a peace treaty between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Nation. At the end of their first year, the Pilgrims held a great feast honoring Squanto and the Wampanoags.
But as word spread in England about the paradise to be found in the new world, religious zealots called Puritans began arriving by the boat load. Finding no fences around the land, they considered it to be in the public domain. Joined by other British settlers, they seized land, capturing strong young Natives for slaves and killing the rest. But the Pequot Nation had not agreed to the peace treaty Squanto had negotiated and they fought back. The Pequot War was one of the bloodiest Indian wars ever fought.
In 1637 near present day Groton, Connecticut, over 700 men, women and children of the Pequot Tribe had gathered for their annual Green Corn Festival which is our Thanksgiving celebration. In the predawn hours the sleeping Indians were surrounded by English and Dutch mercenaries who ordered them to come outside. Those who came out were shot or clubbed to death while the terrified women and children who huddled inside the longhouse were burned alive. The next day the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony declared "A Day Of Thanksgiving" because 700 unarmed men, women and children had been murdered.
(That's nice, Thanksgiving Day is named after a day of slaughter. Lets go eat.)
Cheered by their "victory", the brave colonists and their Indian allies attacked village after village. Women and children over 14 were sold into slavery while the rest were murdered. Boats loaded with a many as 500 slaves regularly left the ports of New England. Bounties were paid for Indian scalps to encourage as many deaths as possible.
Following an especially successful raid against the Pequot in what is now Stamford, Connecticut, the churches announced a second day of "thanksgiving" to celebrate victory over the heathen savages. During the feasting, the hacked off heads of Natives were kicked through the streets like soccer balls. Even the friendly Wampanoag did not escape the madness. Their chief was beheaded, and his head impaled on a pole in Plymouth, Massachusetts -- where it remained on display for 24 years.
The killings became more and more frenzied, with days of thanksgiving feasts being held after each successful massacre. George Washington finally suggested that only one day of Thanksgiving per year be set aside instead of celebrating each and every massacre. Later Abraham Lincoln decreed Thanksgiving Day to be a legal national holiday during the Civil War -- on the same day he ordered troops to march against the starving Sioux in Minnesota.
This story doesn't have quite the same fuzzy feelings associated with it as the one where the Indians and Pilgrims are all sitting down together at the big feast. But we need to learn our true history so it won't ever be repeated. Next Thanksgiving, when you gather with your loved ones to Thank God for all your blessings, think about those people who only wanted to live their lives and raise their families. They, also took time out to say "thank you" to Creator for all their blessings.

No wonder I am not big on these Holidays. Feasting on days of massacre. Our Presidents naming days as National Thanksgiving Days to cust back on the amount, but it doesn't sound like they cared about the reason behind it. So this Thursday when you are gathering w/your loved ones giving thanks, maybe you should take a little time out and remember the past and how this day came about.

Suggestions

I would really like to keep this blog site going. So I decided this will be a blog dedicated to learning.

I enjoy researching and learning new things. And will probably put up some of my old myspace blogs that I have already researched. But if there is an topic that you might like to know about, let me know. I will gladly do some research and do the work for you.

Can't wait to hear some suggestions.

My learning experince

It seems this will be my last post for this class. It has been fun and very educational. And I will miss doing research for this blog. I enjoy learning new things as well as the research that goes into. My life has been so crazy that I don’t get to do things like this for fun on my MySpace blog anymore. And with having three other blogs (on MySpace) to maintain as well as a CafeMom journal, I don’t see this site living on past this class. I hope anyone who has come this blog has enjoyed it and hopefully leaned a little to in the process.

And now to answer my last blog project questions:

1. How did actively participating in online research and journalism through blogging affect you?

It was fun and a learning process at the same time. I never really looked at other types of blogs or cared before. Also, it was interesting to learn about E-Zines, newsgroups and the like.

2. Do you feel this project was worthwhile as learning tool in this class? Why or why not?

I definitely think it is a great learning tool. In this day and age, most people are on the Internet for everything. I use it to look up things, research places and items. And I use it for all my news (with the exception of all the fires we had last week.)

3. Looking back on your ratings and your research, what is your final thesis statement? Did it change from your initial statement?

My final thesis statement stays the same, “I believe blogging has significantly impacted the print journalism industry”. Not only from the things I learned for this project, but what I have learned about in other classes and my own personal experience.

Vanity and Information blogs

A vanity blog is a web log that the author uses to talk about their life and discuss their views about whatever subject grabs them. I decided not to blatantly self promote myself and my own personal MySpace blog, so the vanity blog I chose is one of my MySpace friends that I subscribe to; Chris (the political scientist). Last Wed he had a joke blog about our age group and what we remember or lived through. He has one about tipping in restraurants and what he experienced and feels is right. He even talks about his political views and encourages his readers to get involved in his discussions.

An information blog is a forum for the authors own personal interests, like football or Notre Dame or in the case of the blog I picked, Notre Dame Football. Since I love Notre Dame football, I thought this would be a great one. A Kevin Donahue writes this blog for the most part. I was impressed with the professional layout it had. It is almost like a news blog, but it is dedicated to college football and has different features and sections, one of them being my favorite college football team, Notre Dame.

And now to answer a few questions on this module:
Do you feel blogging particularly supports this type of journalism as compared to print media? Why or why not?
I think it does. When most of us read blogs or decide to subscribe to one, we pick ones that interest us. The vanity & information blogs still talk about current events or news articles. And they have an open forum so anyone can join in and discuss their views and help educate the masses.

What makes for a good info? Blog?
I think a good information blog consists of accurate information. On the ND blog, the author mentions the hideous uniforms they wore this last weekend against USC. Now if that were all he said about it, I would say eh. But he talks about where they originate, whey the supposedly brought these out and so on.

What makes for a good vanity blog?
A good vanity blog interacts with its audience. It talks about a multitude of things. It doesn’t repeat the same sentiment over and over again. And it is fun and entertaining.

In closing, I would have to say that my research done for this assignment supports my thesis statement on a level of five (based on a 1-5 scale).

E-Zine vs. the Blog

I have to say doing this project was hard. E-Zines are not organized very well as far as searches go. I was looking for a current event or news E-zine, and even under the different E-Zine directories, there seemed to be a lot of fluff. I finally did find a Republican oriented site though.
Project USA
It has a very organized layout and reads more like a newspaper or magazine. And they seem to be published on a schedule.

Where as the blog I chose has more a freeform feel to it and not only talks about politics but also other topics. It also allows you to comment back on the posts. Though with the blog, you tend to get the writers point of view, instead of an unprejudiced approach. So one needs to be open-minded and remember to take things with a grain of salt.

So to answer a few questions on these:
Which do you feel was more professional and effective?
The E-Zine was more professional though I think the blog was more effective in getting its message across.
Which was easier to find on the Internet?
The Blog was easier to find. I had more choices to pick from.
Which was easier to read?
The E-Zine was easier to read, though I think that has to do with the more professional layout.
Did they both cover the same current events?
Not really. After all the E-Zine only talks about the Republican Party and what is going on now. And the Blog is a Republican expressing his views and only posting what he wants.
Did you feel they were credible or trustworthy?
I think the E-Zine was pretty credible. The Blog varies on its credibility since it posts not only news but personal views as well.
Would you be more likely to feel a print source such as a newspaper or magazine was more credible than a blog? Than an e-zine? Why?
I would for the most part, but then again it depends on the blog or E-Zine. The one I chose has more of the writer’s views, making it less credible to me. Though there are plenty of Blogs out there that write more fact based information and keeps their personal opinions out of the equation.

I feel that the blog I chose today neither supports or uncorroborated my thesis statement (rating of a three on a scale of one to five).
[My thesis statement again: I believe blogging has significantly impacted the print journalism industry. Journalists are aware of the audience they have on the Internet and utilizing the potential. I think it would be remiss of the journalist community to ignore this market.]

Entrepreneurial Blogs and marketing techniques

Here is the second post/module for my Media and Society class.

The first thing we had to do was link an Entrepreneurial Blog to our blog:

http://www.youngentrepreneur.com/blog/
On this site the blogger posts different topics in order to help young entrepreneurs succeed in business. Just a few of the topics he discusses are Page Ranks, hiring & firing employees and building an effective website for your business.

And following that, we has to link two more sites we found that discuss the use of blogging as a form of business promotion:

http://www.siliconvalleywatcher.com/mt/archives/2005/01/blogging_is_the.php
The writer of this article states “that great blogs are about great journalism, which is about telling compelling stories truthfully and fairly (not impartially).”

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/05/05/BUG41CGI4K50.DTL
In this article it talks about how blogs have helped different small businesses grow. Such as the aspects of advertising for little or no cost and the ability to produce them with little or no technological skill.

Other ways one can market themselves are good old fashioned adds in newspapers and magazines or on radio and television as well as word of mouth. By blogging, one can save themselves money in advertising, get the word out about their product or service to a wider audience and put out updates faster than other means. As long as one utilizes their blogs lucratively, I believe blogging is an extremely effective alternative to the more common methods. By that I mean that one needs to keep their blogs updated, interact with the consumers posts and put a personal spin on things.

I believe on a scale of one to five that my research supports my thesis statement at a five.

Media and Society - take one

My introduction:
My name is Melissa and this is my first blog post on this site. I am taking a
Media and Society class on-line this year. I think I will find this to be a very interesting and fun class. As well as a demanding and different experience.

One of the first assignments I had for this class was to do some research on a few topics and share what I found out.

The first topic is whether blogging is a credible source of information.
Honestly, I am using my own personal experiences for this answer. It has a lot to do with the source. Say you come across my blogs. One of them states that the sky is in fact green. And I list my reasons for this. The next one says that humans can breathe in outer space, and so on, and so on. Reason would say that nobody would consider my blog a credible source.
Now say that you come across a scientist’s blog talking about proven theorems. He lists what each theorem is and how it came to be. Plus he sites references. That would be a credible source.
Every person who reads blogs, need to take this into consideration. With the Internet being as mainstream and easy to use that everybody and their dog is on it, we have to remember that not everything is truth. And we need to be able to use our common sense.

The second topic is how effective blogging is at reaching an audience.
Once again, I am going to use personal experience as my research. I have been a MySpace user for over a year and write blogs, as well as subscribe to numerous other blogs. One of the blogs I subscribe to points out what makes a successful blogger and how to build a bigger audience that I agree with and think others who are interested in this subject should check out. (http://www.buzznetworker.com/how-to-build-a-large-blog-audience-on-myspace-part-1/))
Blogging can be extremely effective at reaching an audience. If you post regularly and make it an open forum, then you can reach a bigger audience.
I used to blog most every day. I had a decent number of readers, and have been listed in the top twenty read blogs in myspace’s daily top blogger list.
Now I mostly post just once and again, and my readers have gone down. I still have my loyal readers, but since I am not always posting, the interest in me has gone down.
Being a credible blogger can help you reach a bigger audience. If others know that you write accurate information, then you will be more likely to build a fan base.

The third topic is how blogging has influenced journalism.
I think one of the biggest ways blogging has influenced journalism is the fact that they are recognized sources of getting your story out and into the public.
Go to msnbc.com and look up any news article. At the bottom of the story what do you see? A spot to blog the story!
Now say I blog that story. And I have a readership of fifty. Even just having that small amount means that there is a potential for fifty more people to read your story. And then they can pass it on or talk about it with their friends.

In closing, here is my Thesis statement:
I believe blogging has significantly impacted the print journalism industry. Journalists are aware of the audience they have on the Internet and utilizing the potential. I think it would be remiss of the journalist community to ignore this market.