White supremacist groups and the election

White supremacists and hate groups consider political candidates as election draws near. Leaders of racist groups are remaining quiet so far. The nation has only seen a few incidents of threats against candidate Obama.


The NY Times covered the story with the focus on organized racism staying mostly quiet in this election. According to the director of intelligence at the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, hate groups are stunned and haven't figured out how to proceed yet. White supremacist group leaders have been organizing racist mailings and sporadic threats. But, these leaders do not support either candidate. This article goes in detail about hate group leaders being involved in other events.


The USA Today approached the story with a different tune. This newspaper writes about the white-power movement and how it is changing its marketing strategy. White supremacist groups are changing their names to appeal to new audiences and creating social networking on Web sites. Their target audience is middle America, fueled by illegal immigration and the economy crisis. The FBI is calling them domestic terrorist groups. These groups are even organizing family-friendly activities. The cause of this change of behavior is the issue of whites slowly becoming a minority.


The NY Times and the USA Today both are objective over the issue. The NY Times places more emphasis on the group's opinion and what are their actions. The USA Today, however, tells a story of the changes being made in the groups. Both are interesting but, NY Times takes a more direct approach in telling the reader the facts and what is going on in the election.

Tainted Milk found in Italy

The Melamine-tainted milk in China has put nearly 6,000 infants in the hospital. An update to the story was announced Thursday, Oct. 16. Laboratory tests in Italy have shown the first cases of melamine-tainted milk in Italy. Also, the country has separated chinese dairy products and are being investigated.

The USA Today tells the story accurately but vaguely explains what is going on in China. This newspaper gives a lot of background information on the China cases instead of focusing on Italy's cases. According to the USA Today, Naples authorities have seized tons of illegal chinese products.

MSNBC News reports the same story about the melamine-tainted milk issue in Italy with more detail on Italy. According to MSNBC News, the two melamine-tainted containers found in Italy did posed a non-lethal threat.

The two sources have the same topic but, they differ in specifics and in the focus of the story.

Updated FDA story

The updated story on the FDA and children’s medicines was written Wednesday, October 8 in the USA Today. This story is an educational and informational approach for the parents of children, to educate the proper use of children’s medicines. The FDA has not made a decision in the issue of banning children’s medicines. This story includes what not to do list for parents when their child gets a fever. The story is helpful for parents of small children because it lets them know that the FDA and pediatricians are not to blame. Parents do need to be well-informed about the types of drugs they give children, especially the doses. My favorite part of this update to the FDA article is a doctor’s quote at the end, “the fever is our friend.” This sends the message to the parents to not freak out if the child has a fever.

FDA Conflicted with Children's Medicines

When the FDA set the standards for over-the-counter (OTC) cough and cold medicines about 30 years ago, no studies were done on children. Now, the FDA is concerned that OTC medicines are having a negative impact on young children. Research shows that about 7,000 children are sent to the emergency room every year due to overdoses.

According to the story in  USA Today, "a government health official rejected pediatricians' calls for an immediate ban on the over-the-counter cough and cold medicines for young children." But, at a public hearing FDA officials said they felt uncomfortable having it on shelves because there is no scientific evidence that supports continued use of OTC in young children.

In my opinion, the FDA cannot sway in their opinion of this matter because it is a nationwide health issue. Instability in an issue will send the wrong message to parents of young children by confusing them or losing trust in the FDA. Also, if there is no solid evidence that supports the OTC medicines then, it should be taken off the shelves.

Another problem that the FDA was concerned with was the possibility of the parents' inadequate usage of the medicine. The main point being that maybe parents, doctors, and teachers should be educated more. Like a campaign, raising awareness in the proper way in using medicine with children.

I believe that medicine, especially in children, should be a collaborative effort between parents, doctors, and the FDA in following the proper and safety precautions. I cannot wait to see what the FDA plans to do.

Blogging 101

This fall, I have had a few classes at shool discussing the ethical dilemmas regarding social media and its uses. Such as facebook, blogs, and myspace etc. I have never blogged before, but I am in the process of learning the jargon. Social media is an integrated way of communication between writers and readers. I am fascinated by the explosion of blogging. Also, I hope to become familiar with this new type of media.