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Three Reasons to Use Natural Gas

March 13, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment

Natural gas is a controversial topic. Many believe it could be the answer to the energy problems that are occurring around the world and a good source of power for homes, businesses, and vehicles across America. The other side of the argument is that it is risky, and some believe that drilling for oil could contaminate ground water.

There have been many viral videos, with the most famous showing a man set water running from his tap alight although analysis showed that this was due to naturally-occurring methane in the water. Despite its seemingly controversial nature, there are plenty of reasons for using natural gas.

Image from Flickr

It’s Clean

Natural gas is very clean. It releases the fewest emissions out of any fossil fuel, and tests have shown it to be the most environmentally-friendly choice for use both inside and outside your home.

It’s Domestic

America has plenty of natural gas. Over 90 percent of the natural gas used in America is found here, in rock formations such as Eagle Ford in Texas. It meets 24 percent of the US gas requirements and currently heats over 60 million homes and more than 120,000 vehicles. Over 50 percent of the energy used to heat American homes comes from natural gas, according to NaturalGas.org.

Being domestic has the added benefit that it reduces America’s dependence on oil from Middle Eastern countries. It also boosts the country’s economy, being responsible for directly creating 622,000 jobs and indirectly creating 2.2 million more. Energy Tomorrow states that in 2008, natural gas contributed more than $172 billion to the American economy, making it a very valuable resource.

It’s Efficient and Multi-purpose

From producing and processing to transporting and using the fuel, natural gas has proven to be extremely efficient. It is delivered with a “total energy efficiency” of over 90 percent and the appliances that utilize natural gas are designed to be economical.

It is an extremely versatile power source, too, being used to do everything from heating your home to drying your clothes and cooking food. It’s always being used in new technologies and has recently been used in fireplaces and air conditioners too.

A Detini survey in 1999 showed that 70 percent of new-build homes were powered by natural gas, a rise from 47 percent in 1986. This figure is expected to keep rising due to the dependability of natural gas. There is no risk of running out, political issues, and delays due to delivery problems or the weather.

Natural gas is an energy source that seems to tick every box. It can be relied upon, boosts the economy by raising money and providing jobs, and is found locally. It’s no wonder that energy companies are looking toward exploring this valuable resource.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Domestic, Efficient and Multi-purpose, Natural Gas

The Scary Side of Distracted Driving

July 28, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

The lecture your parents and friends give you about paying attention on the road sounds like just that: a lecture. It immediately falls on deaf ears. After all, you’re old enough to make sound decisions, and you would never put yourself in harm’s way, even with a cell phone in hand, right? Wrong. The truth is that all people who have gotten into trouble driving have sworn they’d never put themselves in harm’s way, but it happens.

Texting

Texting is the biggest and most current offender of distracting drivers. The idea of talking on the phone is foreign to some, but texting is so commonplace that their phone is like an appendage. Each text can take up to five seconds or longer to compose. Those five seconds are the time in which big decisions need to be made. You might think that you’re in control, but people can lose control in far less time than that.
Texting isn’t the craze that causes fender benders. More than 4,000 lives a year are taken by teens who are distracted while driving. It’s a big number, and it’s a terrible number at that. It could be avoided if people would realize that distracted driving applies to them as well. Distracted drivers need car insurance most of all, but they also need to exhibit good common sense.

Friends

Even if you put the cell phone away, you’re still at risk unless you’re driving alone. Friends can be very distracting. They require, in many cases, a large amount of your attention, and that’s something that should be avoided at all costs. When you couple teens who are foolish enough to drive with their friends and text at the same time, it’s mostly amazing that there aren’t more accidents.

Simple Steps

The good news about combating distracted driving is that there are simple solutions to fix the problem. Drivers should keep their cell phone in the pocket or the back seat so they can concentrate on the road. Drivers should also make it understood to friends that anyone who gets in the car must support peaceful driving.
Rules are not around to make driving less fun. They’re around to make driving more fun. Getting into a car accident only makes matters worse for a person physically. If they’re lucky enough to suffer no bumps, they’ll certainly feel the financial impact of their carelessness. There’s no substitute for good common sense on the road, and there never will be.

Filed Under: News

Colonial-era American Newspapers

June 22, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

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Newspapers have been circulating in this country for well over three hundred years – from the British colonies newspapers of the seventeenth century to the Internet newspapers of the twenty-first century. In print or on screen, people have been turning to newspapers as their source of news.

Many early pre-American newspapers were reprints of months-old material from London news sheets. James Franklin, Benjamin Franklin’s older brother, published one of the first original newspapers in Colonial-era America. His new paper – The New-England Courant – printed more than just the public addresses of politicians or old news. It included essays on a variety of subjects and letters of satire. The satirical letters were made up of fake correspondents intended to entertain or serve as a sort of social commentary.

After settling in Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin bought one of two existing city news sheets – both of which he deemed wretched – and rechristened it The Pennsylvania Gazette. The Gazette became a vehicle for Franklin’s wit, satire, and commentary. Other papers circulated during this time. Most of which shared a similar format of wit, essays, satire, and news.

The Colonies were still under British rule and as such, writing anything less than positive about the Crown could be dangerous. Papers writing anything considered “radical” or seditious faced suppression and censor, at least. Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, published in 1776 was called, by one historian, “the most incendiary…pamphlet of the entire revolutionary era.”

From entertaining or informing readers to giving voice to dangerous political ideas, newspapers have had a significant impact on America. Now, as the paper itself gradually fades away, it finds new life digitally and remains a constant news source.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Benjamin Franklin, Pennsylvania Gazette, United States

History of Partisan Media in the United States

June 6, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

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Sarah Palin has gained some notoriety by criticizing what she calls the liberal lame-stream (as opposed to mainstream) media. She points to an alleged hard-left bias in the media and she’s not the only one making claims of political favoritism in mainstream media outlets. Liberals cry that the media leans too far to the right and conservatives cry that it leans too far to the left. Some of these claims are at least partly true. FNC talk shows tend to portray conservatism, and CNN news programs, liberalism. But partisan media bias is nothing new.

By the 1800s, newspaper editors – with ever-expanding audiences – began using their papers as vehicles for specific opinions. As the first political party systems formed, newspapers took sides. Parties used friendly papers to talk to their supporters and occasionally attack political opponents. Some of these attacks were no doubt valid and others were venomous slander full of name-calling and lies.

In a day now, where news is delivered over a variety of mediums, bias in mainstream outlets remains – and much of it does appear to actually lean to the left, according to a UCLA study. Some websites, like factcheck.org, try to navigate the partisan haze and present a more even view of political news.

Those searching for truly nonpartisan news in an environment of media bias may have a difficult time of doing so. If the media persists in presenting a partisan slant – and if history is any example, it will – viewers may have to take it upon themselves to perhaps get their news from a variety of sources and then come to their own opinions.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Fox News Channel, Media bias, Sarah Palin

Big News Stories of the 2000s

June 6, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

The first decade of the 21st Century has come and gone. It doesn’t feel like that much time has passed since 2000, but it was a big ten years. Here, for those who don’t mind looking back every once in a while, are some of the biggest news stories of the 2000s.

September 11th Terrorist Attacks

Americans alive at the time remember where they were when Pearl Harbor was attacked, when JFK was shot, and when terrorists killed around three thousand people on September 11th, 2001. The images of this day are burned into the minds of those who witnessed it. It also awakened us to a threat few believed capable of such an attack.

War on Terror and Iraq War

After 9-11, America and allies began a war on terror that would start in Afghanistan and expand to terrorist groups in other countries. In 2003, following intelligence, allied forces invaded Iraq, ousted the terrorist-friendly government, and began fighting extremists in the country.

Sumatra-Andaman earthquake and Indian Ocean Tsunami

In 2004, the third-largest earthquake ever recorded occurred near Sumatra. The 9.1-9.2 earthquake shook the world, set off quakes as far away as Alaska and triggered a devastating tsunami that swept the Indian Ocean and claimed the lives of over 230,000 people.

Not all big stories of the 00s were huge deadly events. 2007 saw the beginning of a years-long global recession. 2008 saw the election of Barack Obama. The 2000s gave us Google, YouTube, Facebook and more. A lot has happened over the last decade. And given the events of the 2010s so far, the current decade should be interesting too.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Barack Obama, Indian Ocean, United States

An Overview of Cameroon’s Print Media

March 24, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

Every media follows some type of official standards when it prints the stories that is receives. This can be the type of language that it is printed in, who has control over what stories go to print and even what is covered and not covered. Cameroon is no exception to this rule when it comes to how the media chooses to publish its stories. Here is a look at the various Cameroon print publications outlets and who has what say.

Almost all publications that are printed in Cameroon are printed in the official language of the country, French. However, there are various publications that are translated into Bulu, Duala and other languages that are commonly spoken throughout Cameroon. Some of the publications are also available in English.

The print publications in Cameroon are also limited in distribution. Unlike in America where distribution is daily, Cameroon lacks the resources and ability to update as often. The only publication that offers daily service is the official governmental newspaper The Cameroon Tribune. This is published daily in French. However, there is an English version that is printed at least once a week.

Although Cameroon’s constitution allows freedom of the press it does not really have that. The government controls a lot of what is published and should a story be considered a risk to national security the government has the right to pull the publication from the shelves and limit who gets to read the publication. However, the government will usually only do this on issues that are hot topics, those that speak about oppression of government or those that speak extremely bad about the government.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Africa, Cameroon, Government

Cameroon’s Limited Access to Media Outlets

March 20, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

Americans are graced with having access to thousands and thousands of news media outlets. All they have to do is turn on a computer or turn on the TV and they can watch a wide range of news stories that range in how they are presented and what information is given. However, those in Cameroon are not as lucky. Here is an overview of the type of communication and access that those in Cameroon have to various media outlets and forms of technology.

Internet. In a recent study that was run in 2003 it was determined that people in Cameroon have access to the Internet. However the numbers are surprising. Out of 1,000 people only 5.7 actually owned a personal computer. Of those 5.7 people only 4 had access to the Internet. Surprisingly there are three internet service providers that provide access to the country.

Print Publications. There is estimated to be dozens of various government and private publications in Cameroon. The main source of print publications is the government run newspaper, Cameroon Tribune. However, there are also private presses and it was estimated that there are 40 to 50 of those in existence.

Radio Stations. There is a government run radio station that is used commonly by those in Cameroon. There are also various private radio companies and stations. It is estimated that there are over 20 radio stations throughout the Cameroon area.

TV Stations. There is only one official broadcast company in Cameroon. This is the Cameroon Radio Television Station. However the access people have to TVs is limited. There are only 75 TV sets per 1000 people.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Africa, Cameroon, Radio

Freedom of Press in Cameroon

March 16, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

Everyone in America is familiar with the idea of freedom of the press. This allows journalists and civilian people to publish whatever they want and say whatever they want. However, not every country is able to provide that type of freedom to their members of the press. In particular, Cameroon does not have the luxury of providing this type of freedom to their media outlets.

Cameroon is governed by the constitution. In this constitution it allows the people of Cameroon to have a freedom of the press and print or publish what they want. However, there is a slight snag in the theory.

Cameroon’s media is almost completely owned and operated by the Cameroon government. So while they may be granted the ability to have freedom of the press, the government can override what is published and printed. While there are tiny small press operations they are few and far between. The government has also been known to run interference with these small, private presses and have been known to stop stories from running that they viewed as dangerous to the public safety and security of the citizens of the country.

So what does this mean for the citizens of Cameroon? This means that the government will usually prevent any negative press, opposing viewpoints and defaming publications on the government to go to print. Should the citizens only have access to the government run publications it could prevent them from seeing all sides of an issue and could develop very judgmental viewpoints to form.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Africa, Cameroon, Press freedom

Can Media Impact People’s Perception of Crime?

March 7, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

The public’s opinion on crime rates and other city’s crime rates are directly related to the way that media outlets portray certain events. To many people the Internet, radio or television is their only chance to get a look at the surrounding area. This means that when a TV news station shows a lot of crimes in a specific area people start to believe that that is how the whole area is. Here is a look at some of the ways that media impact people’s perception of crime.

It is believed that people who see or read media outlets that are filled with numerous crime stories that these people start to become extremely fearful of their surroundings. These people also have a tendency to believe that crime rates are twice as high as they normally are.

The reverse of the above situation happens when people watch or listen to news stories about their community that are extremely positive. These people tend to believe that there is no crime in their area and that they are safe because there have been no reported crime stories on the TV or radio.

Regardless of which impact a person experiences one this is for sure. When the stories are portrayed on the TV it has a huge impact on the viewer’s perception of crime. Print media and Internet media has a slight impact but does not have such an influencing factor.

It is unclear why media has this type of impact on people. Many researchers believe that those that have been a victim of a crime in the past are more likely to start to develop this type of thinking. Research also suggests that women, elderly people and Caucasian people are more likely to allow media to have this type of effect on them.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Crime, Crime statistics, Prevention