Madeleine McCracken

This week we were challenged to google ourselves and look at our online profiles from an outside view. So, I did just that.  I googled first, Maddy McCracken. Apparently, I have my own IMBD account were I stared in the 2012 TV series, "The Creepypasta Episodes". Unfortunately or fortunately, I did not star in this TV show, but this is the first link that comes up. Though, it would be cool to be an actress, but alas, I am not. Another link that popped up was a Facebook link saying that I was on Facebook. I am indeed on the site, but I have a private account. Even though I have a private account, my photos I am tagged in still show up. They are mostly family photos, old dance recital photos, dog photos and first day of school pictures. There is nothing detrimental on there that super embarrasses me, or would deter me from a job. I do not have anything political on my Facebook, just that I attended an all girls Catholic school. I suppose that could rub someone the wrong way,...

In an age of mistrust in the government, specifically in the United States of America, people are upset and feel like the government is hiding things from them. This can be as simple as where tax payer money is going, to things more extreme like Area 51, to ideas that turn into conspiracy theories like the government is part of the New World Order and the Illuminati and are lizard people. I am not kidding, this is a theory that exists. In a democracy, the people have a right to know what is happening in the government and have access to information. Especially when it comes to voting, so they can be informed and partake in politics. If the government started hiding things when it comes to Presidential elections, things could get whack real fast. Some think certain parties do hide information about their politicians, like when Trump was asked about his tax returns or Obama asked about his birth certificate. Transparency also is important for law making, so citizens know what is go...

Once again, hate crimes spread on a university campus.  Syracuse University in New York experiences a slew of hate speech all over campus. Starting with an instance of the n-word and other prolific language against African Americans and Asian Americans, to a swastika drawn in the snow to a verbal attack from a fraternity to an African American female student. Students have been participating in sit ins on campus, demanding information from Syracuse officials and demanding a change on campus. Night after night students sit in halls demanding response, especially from Chancellor Kent, who seems to remain silent throughout the situation. Students grow increasingly frustrated with lack of response and feel unsafe on campus. The fraternity involved in the incident of November 16, Alpha Chi Rho, has been suspended indefinitely from campus. Yet, students with the #notagainsu want to see more done for other fraternities who have shown racial bias. Students have expressed conc...

People's trust has gone in mass media has gone down in the last decade, according to an in class presentation, only 4 percent of people see an increase in trust in their mass media outlets. Mass media like CNN or FoxNews have their own agenda and own bias, and people know this. CNN i have head be referred to as "Clinton News Network" and people associate FoxNews as a conservative news outlets. Echo Chamber was mentioned in class as well. Echo chambers make it difficult to distinguish fact from fiction, which is super prevalent today. With disinformation, the act of deliberately lying to sway opinion and establish a bias, it is really hard to distinguish  what is fact and what is not. Reliable sources are also a tricky subject. What is even reliable anymore? Are anonymous sources even reliable? Are there bias sources? In some articles, unnamed sources are uses...hmm...how reliable (said no one ever). Something i heard that made me actually nervous is the Illuso...

Recently a photo has gone viral, a photo of former President George W. Bush and TV Host Ellen Degeneres enjoying a football game together. At first, people were very angry and upset that the two were together. They have very opposing views, how could they even stand to be in the same room? Ellen Degeneres and the former president have different political views, one being gay marriage. Ellen Degeneres is an openly gay women who is married, and Bush in 2004 supported the ban of gay marriage, but supports civic unions. Yet, Ellen claims that she is still friends with Bush, despite opposing views. I am sure that is not all that two disagree with. In a clip from the Ellen Show, Degeneres spoke about her friendship, stating, "just because I don't agree with someone on everything doesn't mean that I'm not going to be friends with them. When I say 'Be kind to one another,' I don't mean only the people that think the same way you do. I mean be kind to ...

I had a Youtube Channel for a bit of time. I loved making videos for my friends and who ever watched them. It was easy, get a camera or phone, shoot a video, edit on iMovie, and upload. No hassle, no worry. As I kept making videos for my own entertainment or for high school projects, I kept get copyright strikes again and again and again. I just could not stay out of Youtube's striking zone. For a while, I was able to play music behind videos and have no problem, but now, music companies will come for you even if you hum the song, according to GlamLifeGuru or Tati Westbrook on Youtube. I had a video that played the first 5 seconds of a song for a sound affect, and I got striked. I just do not understand how the music industry can detect the such small portions of music. I was not even using my videos for profit, most videos were private, but still I could not get them to stay up for very long. Does the music industry really care that much? Are they really not getting tha...

I have never heard of Antiwar.com, and after briefly reading through the website and articles, I was very intrigued. This website pointed out viewpoints and ideas I have never really thought of before. For example, I did not know that the American Military has killed more foreign civilians than any other military force since dropping the two nuclear bombs in Japan in 1945. The article I read first talked about how no one cared about Syrian civilian's deaths until now. in 2014, you would never hear about the deaths of these Syrians, but now it is on mainstream media. The mainstream media say that all these deaths are by the IS, Russian airstrikes or the Syrian Government forces, but remain silent when the US is responsible for casualties. According to the article, in 2017 the US was killing more civilians in Syria than IS, Russia and Syrian forces. This is information I had no idea about. I think I am ignorant, and don't want to know about war and what goes on. It i...