After the Premier's Visit

Premier Alward was exactly the way I expected him to be judging by the research I did. He was very polite and answered all questions that were asked to him in detail, even if they were broad topics. Right before he left, a student made a remark to him about the hockey team that he liked, to which he responded jokingly that the student’s favorite team would never win the Stanley Cup. Politicians are often viewed as uptight, serious people who need to be treated differently than anyone else, and exchanges like these work to boost their public image. In my opinion, that is what I think allowed Barack Obama to win the presidential election; because he seemed like a normal person.

From what I’d seen about shale gas and the protests, he acted the same way when a question about it was asked as when he was questioned about it. He appeared confident about the project and gave information pertaining to both sides of the argument.

The only problem I had with him is the possibility that he was simply putting on a show. As a politician, he is supposed to appear confident about everything that the party is doing and planning. Because of this, I’m not entirely sure that he was telling the truth about everything. I don’t think that he was lying about anything, but I can’t tell for certain.

Blog #2

I believe the title of Wag the Dog is a very original and effective one. Not only is it visually interesting and makes a person want to see what the movie is about, but unlike many movie titles that simply use one word that describes the film, this one gives the viewer something to think about.

The expression means that something less powerful is controlling something that is more powerful, that should, and normally does, have control. This relates to the film because in the movie, the media is controlling the government and CIA; two things that should always have control over the media.

As part of the expression, the characters that are in control are portrayed as very smart people. In one scene, De Niro’s character completely discredits a senior CIA agent by outsmarting him and turning everything he says against him. The media was in complete control of the outcome of the presidential election in the film. This is clear because every time that the producer and spin doctor stop faking information, the president loses favourability. All it took to change the minds of people from turning against the president was the spin doctor talking about a B3 bomber that he made up in a matter of seconds. The biggest example however remains the fact that these few people created a fake war that millions of people believed and the government couldn’t do anything about it. These reasons are why this film is the perfect example of the expression.

Blog #1

A blog is a website where people create posts about various topics. There are many different varieties of blogs, some are interactive with several different options such as commenting and messaging, some have other media such as videos and images; however, many are simply text based.

There are several different types of blogs and different uses for them as well. Many are personal blogs that are run individually and act similarly to a journal, except made public. Personal blogs are often about a certain topic and consist mainly of posts and media about that one specialty. There are also corporate blogs, which are run by companies, so that they can share information between employees, but they can also be used as marketing and advertising tools that potential customers can visit. On top of the traditional blogs, there are also vlogs, which are video logs, where a person posts a video on a constant basis and speaks what they would have posted instead of writing it.

Personally, I don’t enjoy reading blogs very much; however, there are some that I wouldn’t mind reading. One thing I really do enjoy is playing video games, so any blogs about video games containing reviews or even casual opinions are sometimes interesting to read. I also like to read movie reviews, and before and after I go to a movie or watch one, I usually check the reviews to see other people’s opinions about it.

http://insultswordfighting.blogspot.com/ - video game review blog

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/ - video game review blog

http://www.filmsy.com/ - movie review blog

David Alward Public and Personal Opinion

Mr. Alward and the Conservative government of New Brunswick have had a good term so far, having few very controversial topics. Alward himself is portrayed positively in almost all areas of the media except when the topic is fracking and shale gas. The news reports themselves don’t portray him negatively; however, there are several personal websites, blogs, and videos that are very hostile to him and everything that his government does. Even with the shale gas controversies, Alward and the conservatives still have a huge approval rating lead over the second place liberals as of December according to the Corporate Research Associates, which is impressive considering the huge attention and opposition the shale gas plan received. When speaking with protesters, he is very polite and takes the time to listen to them and answer their questions, no matter how hostile those questions are.

One thing that his government did that I really liked and agreed with was combining school districts. It will save money and take away many of the complexities of the school system by having fewer people making the decisions.

Personally, I think Mr. Alward is doing a good job as Premier, I just hope he can do more good things like combining districts before others won’t allow him to do anything to or for the province.