weblog #18 Drugs in Portugal: Did Decriminalization Work?

In Portugal, the government decriminalizes the possession of drugs, and the rate of drug use among teenagers decreased surprisingly. On the other side, the US has the strictest laws in western countries. In some of the states, there are even the harshest penalties for drug possession and sales in the world. However, at the same time, America has the highest rates of drugs in the world. I think it may be part of the humanity. The stricter government is, the more violence of the law there are. People are just searching for the excitement of breaking the law or the feeling of doing something bad. Once something bad is decriminalized, it is not considered a bad thing, and then there will be no excitement when doing it. That is why Portugal can have the rate of drug use and possession declined.
However, can other kind of crime be decriminalized, such as murder, theft, or robbery? That can be a great topic in a debate court. Moreover, what if nothing is banned? Isn’t it the same of anarchism? Maybe people would say that it is a step back to the past instead of advancement. How to strike a balance between the two kinds of policies is a serious, controversial, and debate-worthy issue.

weblog #17 Does Facebook Replace Face Time or Enhance It?

Facebook is now the most popular friend-making tool in America, or in the world. It is changing the way how people connect or communicate with each other like blogs or msn. I am not a Facebook user so I am not clear with how it works. The things I can talk about may be cell phone, msn, weblog and BBS.
I do not have many friends and I am not an aggressive person, so I seldom calls anyone or message anyone unless I have something important to tell. Weblog is almost the same thing. I have a blog, but I haven’t updated it for a long time, because no one would look at it after all, so why doing all the efforts? At the same time, I do not surf others weblog, because it is no use and it is wasting time.
On the other hand, I have been using BBS for about a year. I have known many people through it and became friends. I think BBS is a thing that once you know how to use it, it is very useful, in every aspect. When I post articles on BBS, I get responses more than on my own weblog, which makes me feel better and that is the reason why my weblog looks like remains now.

weblog # 16 A Quiet Revolution Grows in the Muslim World

The news is mainly about a new movement in the Middle East. The soft revolution is now gradually having an impact on many sides of the society, including religion, politics, gender problems, and traditions. Up to now, I think the influence is good for those conservative countries in Middle East. Egyptian women have more freedom and more respect. Muslims can read Koran with more aspects and conceptions. Scholars are trying to cancel some cruel traditions like stoning adulterers and honor killings, hoping to change the Islamic world. The Muslim world is also getting friendlier to the US because of the new president Obama, who was the first US president to have lived in the Muslim world and to have Muslim relatives and a Muslim middle name.

The countries in Middle East haven’t had many chances to have changes. The soft revolution may be a great opportunity for them to jump into a new life. However, I didn’t see Afghanistan is the article, which is also has big problems unsolved. Afghanistan is known to have similar problems. Nevertheless, it is now in an unknown situation. The possibility that Afghanistan has same revolution is assumed very little. It may have to depend on the US to see if there is any chance to improve their lives.

weblog #15 India's ultracheap car arrives with load of uncertainties

The news of Tata, the company of small cars, is not new. Their design and idea of Nano unveiled last year opened a new page of automobile manufacture industry. Nano is not only small but also cheap. The biggest advantage is that its emission is specifically low, which makes it be labeled as the most environmental-friendly car ever. Other car companies saw the business and started to make plans, too. However, everyone is still on looking, waiting for Tata to make the first move. If Nano didn’t sell well, the others plan will be done in vain, and that is what they are worried about.

Nevertheless, there are some analysts saying that Tata is delaying their employees’ payments because of the tight financial condition. Although the company denied and claimed that everything is fine, there is surely some sort of harm on the company’s reputation. The question of whether they will succeed added some uncertainty. Because of the low price and low emission, Nano may be the hope of saving everyone out of depression. If Tata can deal with the problem well, they might go on their road of success smoothly and bring the economy out of this terrible global recession.

WEBLOG #14 A Web Awash in Liquor Ads, Promoting Moderation

Drinking and smoking are two problems which were often seen in the society. They both cause a lot of health problems. Therefore, the government has been making a lot of effort on preventing people from getting addicted to them. The government legislated laws that there should be alert sentences on packs, commercials, and ads. Moreover, there are not any cigarette commercials allowed on TV. We are now adults, according to the law, so I have seen many people who do not resist drinking. Basically, drink a little sometimes would not do that big damage to our body. However, I just do not like the smell of alcohol so either beer or wine will I drink.

Except the government, there are many civil foundations or charities that are devoting themselves to prevent people from drinking and smoking. They hold activities, spread fliers, buy TV commercials and persuade legislators to ban smoking and drinking. Nevertheless, I know some friends they do smoke, even though they know what could happen to them. Once one is addicted to it, nothing can stop them from doing it. As a result, I think the decision is on oneself. If they are firm enough, they won’t have any problem of addiction.

weblog #13 A Tough Year for Yahoo

According to A Tough Year for Yahoo, 2008 was a tough year for investors and many employees.

Yahoo! has been competing with Google, Microsoft, Apple, and some other big companies. Most of them provide almost the same services to consumers so it has always been challenging to have any innovation. The news mentioned that Yahoo! is now working on their e-mail service. They want it to be more open and social. However, all of the consumers, including me, know that the most serious problem of Yahoo! mail service is that it is the most easily junk-mail-receiving e-mail box. Many people already turned to use Google or hotmail a long time ago. As a result, it is going to be hard for Yahoo! to pull back users even after the new version mail service is available.

The other thing that the article mentioned is the Internet -connected TV. The market is still very small now. How the company is going to compete will cable TV is an issue worth discussing, because everyone lives at home has their own TV. College students that live outside use computers. Most of us already have known how to watch TV on computers, which is a soft ware from China. If Yahoo! can provide such service better than what we are using now, it might be a good remedy of the bad condition they are facing now.

weblog #12 China's Panda Diplomacy With Taiwan

According to China's Panda Diplomacy With Taiwan, Beijing has sent two pandas to Taiwan as a present.

Sending the pandas to Taiwan may seen friendly, but people all know that there are much more motives and reasons why Beijing and our president would agree with this lovely present. Besides, putting the wild animals in cases in the zoo is actually not doing them any good. Main land China is claiming its sovereignty and our president Ma is trying to show friendliness.

Talk about something more practical. How much money did the government spent to greet the two guests? How much money can the zoo earn from them? How much money does it need to feed them? How many people can they attract, after almost everyone has seen them? To be honest, I am not interested in these two animals at all, although I am really an animal lover. I have seen pandas on TV and pictures for a lot of times. In addition, they are not as new as penguins or koala bears. Therefore, I do not think the panda storm will last long.

Come along with this news, the two sides of the strait began direct daily flight on Dec. 15, which took the two pandas. Finally people come and go freer than before, but there may be many problems coming along, and that is another article.