Tuesday, November 29, 2011

3rd Analysis Paper

Boomerang Review Plus California and Bust

By Michael Lewis

Michael Lewis is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair magazine, but he also has written books on the economy. As of recently he has written a book called Boomerang which talks about some of the European debt crisis. Lewis has also written an article on Sept. 29, 2011 for Vanity Fair magazine called California and Bust. This article was written about former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and how the state of California was once crated by Schwarzenegger. Now California has economy has changed since Schwarzenegger left the governor’s office.

Boomerang has had great reviews since its release in early 2011. Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times work on article published on September 26, 2011 called ‘’Touring the Ruins of the Old Economy’’ about Lewis’s book. ‘’ Michael Lewis possesses the rare storyteller’s ability to make virtually any subject both lucid and compelling. In his new book, “Boomerang,” he actually makes topics like European sovereign debt, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank not only comprehensible but also fascinating — even, or especially, to readers who rarely open the business pages or watch CNBC. The book could not be more timely given the worries about Europe’s deepening debt crisis and the recent warning issued by Christine Lagarde, managing director of the I.M.F, that “the current economic situation is entering a dangerous phase.”

"Combining his easy familiarity with finance and the talents of a travel writer, Mr. Lewis sets off in these pages to give the reader a guided tour through some of the disparate places hard hit by the fiscal tsunami of 2008, like Greece, Iceland and Ireland, tracing how very different people for very different reasons gorged on the cheap credit available in the prelude to that disaster. The book — based on articles Mr. Lewis wrote for Vanity Fair magazine — is a companion piece of sorts to “The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine,” his bestselling 2010 book about the fiscal crisis. Like that earlier book its focus is narrow. It doesn’t aspire to provide a broad overview of the debt crisis but instead hands the reader a small but sparkling prism by which to view the problem, this time from a global perspective.''

"In the course of “Boomerang” Mr. Lewis introduces us to other, “disturbingly prescient” people, like Morgan Kelly, a professor of economics at University College Dublin, who began noticing in 2006 that something seemed seriously out of whack with the Irish housing market. He also foresaw the collapse of Irish banks, which had lent staggering amounts of money to property developers during the Irish real estate bubble.''

"Among the other intriguing individuals in this volume there’s Stefan Alfsson, an Icelandic fisherman who in 2005 quit fishing and joined the stream of young people becoming bankers, setting himself up as “an adviser to companies on currency risk hedging” — without a day of training. And there are some canny Greek monks who built a vast real estate empire that set off a scandal that Mr. Lewis says helped bring down the government of Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis in October 2009. When a new government took over, it “found so much less money in the government’s coffers than it had expected that it decided there was no choice but to come clean”; those revelations panicked investors, and the new higher interest rates the country was forced to pay, Mr. Lewis says, “left the country — which needed to borrow vast sums to fund its operations — more or less bankrupt.''

"Mr. Lewis’s ability to find people who can see what is obvious to others only in retrospect or who somehow embody something larger going on in the financial world is uncanny. And in this book he weaves their stories into a sharp-edged narrative that leaves readers with a visceral understanding of the fiscal recklessness that lies behind today’s headlines about Europe’s growing debt problems and the risk of contagion they now pose to the world.'' (Kakutani)

Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times puts a lot emphasizes on Lewis’s craft as a writer in the book called Boomerang. Lewis explains what the problem is in Europe, and how it affects the rest of the world. Lewis gives the reader an understanding about the debt problems in Europe, and explains it really well with his ability of knowledge of the subject. Lewis even knows how to quote people, and put into perspective for his readers. Lewis writes for an international audience who understand the European debt problems.

Michael Lewis shows his craft even more in Vanity Fair. Lewis writes in the business and political sections. Lewis diffidently shows any reader his knowledge and research on any article he writes. In California and Bust, Lewis suggests a ‘’fiscal Armageddon’’ is coming to America. Are Americans really ‘’conditioned to grab as much as they could without thinking about the long-term consequences?’’Lewis also uses this story and compares it to what is happening in Europe. Lewis grabs the reader’s attention by publishing a picture of Schwarzenegger oh his bike. Most people still like the former governor, and will read anything about him along with a visual picture even the article is not all about Schwarzenegger.

"On August 5, 2011, moments after the U.S. government watched a rating agency lower its credit rating for the first time in American history, the market for U.S. Treasury bonds soared. Four days later, the interest rates paid by the U.S. government on its new 10-year bonds were plummeting on their way to record lows. The price of gold rose right alongside the price of U.S. Treasury bonds, but the prices of virtually all stocks and other bonds in rich Western countries went into a free fall. The net effect of a major U.S. rating agency’s saying that the U.S. government was less likely than before to repay its debts was to lower the cost of borrowing for the U.S. government and to raise it for everyone else. This told you a lot of what you needed to know about the ability of the U.S. government to live beyond its means: it had, for the moment, a blank check. The shakier the United States government appeared, up to some faraway point, the more cheaply it would be able to borrow. It wasn’t exposed yet to the same vicious cycle that threatened the financial life of European countries: a moment of doubt leads to higher borrowing costs, which leads to greater doubt and even higher borrowing costs, and so on until you become Greece. The fear that the United States might actually not pay back the money it had borrowed was still unreal.''

"On December 14, 2010, the television news program 60 Minutes aired a 14-minute piece about U.S. state and local finances. Correspondent Steve Kroft interviewed a private Wall Street analyst named Meredith Whitney, who, back in 2007, had gone from being obscure to famous when she correctly suggested that Citigroup’s losses in U.S. subprime bonds were far bigger than anyone imagined, and predicted the bank would be forced to cut its dividend. The 60 Minutes segment noted that U.S. state and local governments faced a collective annual deficit of roughly half a trillion dollars, adding that another trillion-dollar gap existed between what the governments owed retired workers and the money they had on hand to pay them. Whitney pointed out that even these numbers were unreliable, and probably optimistic, as the states did a poor job of providing information about their finances to the public. New Jersey governor Chris Christie concurred with her and added, “At this point, if it’s worse, what’s the difference?” The bill owed by American states to retired American workers was so large that it couldn’t be paid, whatever the amount. At the end of the piece, Kroft asked Whitney what she thought about the ability and willingness of the American states to repay their debts. She didn’t see a real risk that the states would default, because the states had the ability to push their problems down to counties and cities. But at these lower levels of government, where American life was lived, she thought there would be serious problems. “You could see 50 to a hundred sizable defaults, [maybe] more,” she said. A minute later Kroft returned to her to ask when people should start worrying about a crisis in local finances. “It’ll be something to worry about within the next 12 months,” she said.’’(Lewis)

Michael Lewis is good reporter because he knows what he talking about. He knows how to use quotes, has knowledge of the subject, and knows how to give his opinion by not making the reader feel stupid. Lewis makes people aware of what is going on in his writing, and he does not go off on tangent of about this what needs to be done. Lewis is more of an informal writer because he gives you the news by being bias, and acknowledging that the debt problems will not be changed overnight. Instead, he offers his opinion and advice to what could happen in the future of American and European debt problems.

2nd Analysis Paper

Family shattered after raid, home loss

By Mary Schmich

The Chicago Tribune

On October 2, 2011, the Harris family home in Chicago, Illinois was raid by the police. The police ran into the house to arrest two family members of the Harris family for animal-related misdemeanors. There was also an allegation of the making and selling of drugs. Reported a neighbor had complained to the city or CAPS about what was going on in the Harris family home. The two members of the Harris family are being accused falsely according to family members. The Harris family has never been in any part of animal cruelty or drug use, but the police have said otherwise.

“In July, Ald. Scott Waguespack's aides contacted the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy office for the 18th District. The alderman's email noted that some neighbors had complained about unleashed dogs and drugs in tiny Privet Playlot Park. The playground is separated from the Harris home only by a vacant lot. While the alderman himself says that he had not focused on the Harrises as a major problem — he was more concerned about nearby empty lots and vacant houses — his office also forwarded to CAPS a complaint letter that had arrived with a photo. In the photo, a little girl stands in the playground staring down at drug paraphernalia. The CAPS office told the beat officers to be on alert.’’

“According to the police, Michael took the dog to the vet that day, but it was malnourished and had suffered heatstroke and it died; the vet gave his report to a police officer.

From there, the case went to the Animal Crimes Unit, which, after surveillance, felt there was sufficient cause to enter the Harris home and to do it with enough force to protect its officers.

After the raid, a news release about it appeared on the 18th District CAPS website.’’

Even neighbors of the Harris could believe what had happened. The police treated the family with little care, and neighbors do not believe that the family should be kicked out of their home. “One neighbor described the scene on her blog.”I felt like I was on 'The Wire!' Fantastic," she wrote. "... The neighbors hung out near our fence, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible, you know, as if this sort of thing happens every day in Lincoln Park. I watch 'Breaking Bad,' yo, I know about meth. I bet they were totally cooking in there.’’

The Harris family cannot believe what they are being accused of. The Harris family shows their dogs to reporters stating that they have never hurt their own dogs. The Harris’s dogs are well feed and taken care of. Also the house that the Harris family currently live has not been well kept according to CAPS, and the house is in a higher end neighborhood. The neighborhood that the Harris family lives in has changed dramatically over thirty years. The Harris family is being evicted from their home of over thirty years.

“Shortly after the raid, one of the Harrises' daughters, Yvonne, stood up at a CAPS meeting.”I said: 'If you all had a problem with us, all you had to do was knock on the door. Let me know. I will address it.'" She recalled the meeting as she sat in her parents' living room last week, surrounded by packing boxes."We're not the cream of the crops here," she said. "We didn't have the money to fix up the property like other people fixed up theirs. We living. We try to maintain here as a family, keep our parents comfortable." At the CAPS meeting that night, several people who had complained about the family were in the audience. None of them said a thing.’’

The Harris family is not happy with the police for the raid. They felt that the situation could have been handled better. Police should have not raided the home without a search warrant and explaining to them of what they are being accused of. The family would have cooperated with the police if the Chicago police searched the home instead of kicking down the door.

“The family doesn't blame the police. They have nothing bad to say about their neighbors. Mostly, they're hurt and mystified and convinced, as some of their supporters are, that they are up against forces of development too big to fight. Mrs. Harris propped her head on one of the boxes. She gazed out the window, silent, toward the playground, where on Sunday several neighbors will throw them a farewell party. "It's not the dogs," she finally said. "It's not us. They just want this property." The facts in this case can be argued. So can what they mean. But what happened to the Harrises should not have happened, not this way. To banish a family from its longtime home, so abruptly, without mercy and without help and with no proof of great crime, is simply wrong. It divides a divided city even more. Chicago is better than that.’’

On October 16, 2011, the Harris family was given extra time to stay in their family home. “They see more clearly how they appear to newcomers and have thought about how they might adjust. They've acknowledged that owning a house involves more than keeping your taxes paid, even if paying the taxes is why you can't afford to fix your house. And despite everything, even knowing some neighbors want them gone, they still love their neighborhood. "I really don't know nowhere else I could fit in," Mr. Harris said. Then he waved a hand up Sheffield. "Though if I could find me something pretty nice up that way, I would be all right." At least he has gained a little time to figure that out from the tattered comfort of home.’’

The Harris family has a little hope now that they are not in the streets of Chicago yet. Schmich wrote mostly here opinion of this piece. She does not get angry or says anything negative about the Chicago police, but she does get a lot of good quotes from the Harris family. She tries to remain neutral on this subject because Schmich is reporting on what is going to happen on the Harris family. Mary Schmich has a good lead on this story, and has also been writing on updated of this story. Maybe there will be updates to come? A good writer does not settle on one if it means something to them personally or professionally.

1st Anaylsis Paper

Germany: Grappling with the Euro, and with Its Own Complicated History.

By Catherine Mayer

The author of the article, Catherine Mayer writes in this Time magazine article about how bad the economy is in Germany. The country of Germany is going through one its worst economical times since the end of World War II. This article further explains why Germany is in an economical crisis and how Germany plans using the Euro to help them. The article also goes into detail about how each city is using their money in these rough economical times. Mayer, first explains what Frankfurt, Germany is like to the rest world. She describes what the city looks like for people who have never been to Germany. “Most German cities are low-rise, fashioned from timber, stone and brick, though concrete and steel have been widely deployed to plug gaps left by Allied bombing raids. But the city on the Main didn't just repair and restore. It reached for the sky, and in the process helped to power the Wirtschaftswunder, Germany's postwar economic miracle.’’(Time) I think the author wants to give the reader a visual aspect of what Frankfurt is like on an everyday basis, but at the same time Germany has a lot of problems. Mayer is writing for Time magazine, so the audience is very wide spread around the world. Catherine Mayer has no problem of getting to the point about what Germany is going through at the current time.

“Now as then, Germany is at the epicenter.”The euro is much, much more than a currency. The euro is the guarantee of a united Europe. If the euro fails, then Europe fails," Chancellor Angela Merkel told her parliament on Sept. 7. But what Merkel has been more reluctant to acknowledge is that Germany, as the biggest player in the euro zone, has no choice but to determine the fate of the euro zone, whether by doing a lot or doing not very much at all. On Sept. 29, parliament will vote on expanding the bailout fund, raising Germany's contribution from $168 billion to $287 billion, almost half the total. The measure is expected to squeak through, but won't be enough to restore confidence and stability. That requires a fundamental change in the way the euro zone operates.’’ (Time)

Mayer goes into great detail on how much each estimate for the decade that Germany has spent. This shows how well the author has done her research. If people know what the statistics or status is on something economy it can draw in the reader’s attention. Mayer is not making up any numbers, and is placing the facts on how have increased or decreased since World War II to when the article was written for Time. Mayer also talk in-depth about Germany’s future economical troubles.

“And Germany is in the hot seat. After two world wars in the first half of the 20th century, the European project tamed German national ambitions. Saving the project appears to require Germany to do the very things the E.U.'s creators aimed to prevent: take a dominant role in Europe and stamp out many remaining national quirks. For the euro to survive, the thinking goes, the profligate peoples of the weaker euro zone countries have to be made to behave like sensible Germans. "It was expected with the start of European Monetary Union that peer pressure would work, but it has not worked," says Jürgen Stark, the ECB's former chief economist, who spoke to TIME just hours after abruptly resigning his post on Sept. 9, panicking already jittery markets. Stark, Germany's top representative at the bank, cited personal reasons but the move was widely interpreted as a protest against the bank's policy of buying sovereign debt to prop up ailing euro zone economies.’’(Time)

The author also goes onto interview people at these banks in Germany to get their opinion on what is going on in Germany. Mayer even quotes Martin Blessing from one of the major German banks. "The viewpoint from a German taxpayer's perspective is 'Why should I write a check to Greece if I don't know if the money will ever come back?'" says Martin Blessing, CEO of Commerzbank, Germany's second largest financial institution. "Germany underwent significant restructuring efforts over the last 10 years, which was tough. All our labor costs basically stayed the same, but in Greece they increased." Yet Blessing says this overlooks Germany's role as Greece's eager enabler. "We exported a lot of products to Greece. In effect we as an economy gave them a vendor loan. The exporter gives credit to the importer hoping that it will be repaid later." (Time) Mayer would also interview with Frankfurt tourists and locals on the economy. Most of the locals did not like the Greeks because Greece is in a more financial crisis than Germany. Greeks come over to other parts of Europe to be served, and maybe possibly looking for work outside of Greece. Along with interviews, Mayer had to do some research on previous financial problems in Europe.



Mayer also had to do some research for this article. It is mentioned at the very how the 2008 financial crisis would affect Europe in 2010. ‘’Stark, the ECB's outgoing Chief Economist, offers a deceptively simple prescription for breaking the logjam. "We have always made good progress in European integration when European politicians set targets and exact dates," he says. "This worked with the single market in 1993. There was a target to achieve the single market in 1993. And then with the single currency which started in 1999. So why not set new targets, be more ambitious?" His proposal: the 17 euro zone countries should "move ahead, leaving others behind" in the push for integration, perhaps appointing a joint finance minister.’’ (Time) The changing to the euro has affected Germany’s economy greatly. Some would say for the better or for the worst.

Donald M. Murray would talk in detail about the craft of Catherine Mayer. Mayer’s craft as a writer would be called a “broadcaster’’. Mayer is speaking to an international audience about what is happening in Germany and in Europe. The biggest challenge Catherine Mayer had had to explain what is going on in Europe for people who do not pay attention on what is happening in the economical world. Speaking to a global audience is a huge challenge for most people, but Murray would show any writer on how to make this article speak to one reader. This article can be depicted to anybody in the world.

A Featured Story and Query to Dr. Ellertsen

November 29, 2011




Christina Ushman

2250 Concord Court

Springfield, IL 62704

(217) 836-9154

christina_ushman@ben.edu



Dear Mr. Ellertsen,

In a recent article I have read in The Sleepy Weasel is that your magazine was looking for featured stories in Springfield, IL. The article said “anyone can write in a story on topic of their own choice. It could be political, entertaining, etc. Anyone could write an article that would like to be published in this magazine.’’

I have recently written a political featured story on recent governors of Illinois. In the article, I interviewed a state worker that wished to remain anonymous, and she shared with me about how she felt the state was doing financially. This person also told me her opinion on what the future may hold for the state of Illinois. This article briefly goes into little detail about the past three governors’ time in the political office.

Thank you for your time.

Respectfully,



Christina Ushman



Peter Ellertsen

1500 North Fifth Street

Springfield, IL 62702

(217) 525- 1420

eellertsen@yahoo.com







The Never Ending Saga of the Governors in Illinois

Within the past decade at least, the state of Illinois has had some political turmoil with the past and recent governors of Illinois. Former Governor George Ryan was in illegal sale activity of government licenses, contracts and leases by state employees during his prior service as Secretary of State. Ryan has also been prosecuted for his crimes, sent to a prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, but he was release due to the recent lost of his wife, Lura Lynn Ryan, due to a battle with cancer. Former Governor Rod Blagojevich has been in media for selling President Barack Obama’s Senate seat in Illinois. Blagojevich is still in the media regarding his final sentencing in a court of law of his actions. Now that Governor Pat Quinn is in charge of the state things are not all is well. Quinn in last few months has put lots of state workers and other Illinois businesses out of work, and is also in the process of closing a couple of correction facilities within the state. Recently in an interview with an anonymous state worker, she tells the truth about how the state has worsened financially.

All three of the past and present governors of Illinois have been in the news for some sort of political scandal. Governor Pat Quinn so far has been laying off many workers and then tries to give them other jobs, but Quinn has not been in any major political scandal that we know of yet. George Ryan was accused of selling government licenses, etc. illegal, and was supporting all his friends and people who were close to him during that time of illegal activity. Rob Blagojevich has been in the news the most his political scandals, and his recent fame of being on reality television shows to claiming his innocence.

Former Governor Rob Blagojevich has been accused of selling President Obama’s Illinois Senate seat, and also lying to the FBI of the accounts that had been made. Blagojevich was arrested by the Federal agents early one morning in his home in Chicago, IL. Then on January 29, 2009, Blagojevich was impeached and was removed from office immediately. After the impeachment, Blagojevich has been on several different television shows claiming that he is innocent and was not treated fairly in the process of being impeached. He is currently waiting for his final sentencing in a federal trial even though he was found guilty of 17 of 20 charges that were made against him. Despite what all has happened to Blagojevich, he has remained claim during all the trials against him. However, state workers have been suffering from all the poor spending of each governor.

In a recent interview with an anonymous state worker who works for the Department of Human Services or DHS, it gave his/her opinion on what each governor has done. Plus, what the future holds for state workers, and the people with families that are struggling in Illinois who need help from the state. This worker also points out what might happen in the future if the of Illinois keeps going the way that it is going.

“The state keeps getting worse all the time. We have no money in our budget to support all the people who need money from the state. State workers have not gotten a raised in years because there is no money for the state economy. Each year, the state goes on for days about passing a state budget. There so many who come into DHS asking for money because they have been laid off from their jobs and it keeps growing. The state also supports so many families who are dead beats because they have been doing it for years, generations and continue to live off the state for free.’’

Not too long after the impeachment of Blagojevich, the state worker also said how quickly the state reaction to his impeachment. As soon as possible, the state of Illinois immediately took down Blagojevich’s name as governor and put up Quinn’s name. The state worker had received a bunch of e-mails back in January saying that changes were being made from Blagojevich to Quinn. The state of Illinois took immediate action on putting Quinn’s name as the governor. The state wanted to get rid of Blagojevich’s name, and put him away in a prison cell for his crimes.

“People in my office were like now that did not take too long. They (the state) were more than ready to take down his (Blagojevich) name. You really have to laugh at the fact that no one likes the guy anymore. Not even his people who have been by his side since the beginning of his first term in office. All the people who have supported him have now turned against him because he ticked off his own people. Within a week, you hardly saw Blagojevich’s name on any of the paper work or the state sign welcoming people to Illinois. Just because we got rid of Blagojevich does not mean that Quinn will be any better. Quinn could be worse than Blagojevich and Ryan combined. Blagojevich was not the only problem that the state has.’’

The state of Illinois does have its share of problems, but trying eliminating one governor will not solve any of the problems. Each governor has done lots of damage, and it’s not for Quinn to be the one who will take care of everything. It will take years for the state of Illinois to recover from the mistakes of George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich. The State Journal Register, The Sun, and The Chicago Tribune have ongoing coverage of the Blagojevich case. The state is currently waiting to hear about Rod Blagojevich the final sentencing after being found guilty. “Will he go to jail, will the sentencing keep getting postponed, or will he walk away as a free man.’’ These kinds of questions are waiting to be answered as the saga continues.





Resources

Anonymous. “Personal Interview” Nov.13, 2011.

"George Ryan." Gale Biography in Context. Detroit: Gale, 1999. Gale Biography In Context.

Retrieved from the Web. 22 Nov. 2011.

Kemper, B. “Why He Matters’’ http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/Rod_Blagojevich

Retrieved from the Web. 22 Nov. 2011.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Writing to a particular Audience.

If you were writing an article on Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Museum for a national audience, how would you go about reporting it? Who would you talk to? What would focus on? How would you organize it?

I actually know someone from church who works for the Lincoln sites here in Springfield, IL. I would interview him, and ask him about the new Lincoln Library. I would be focusing on how the ALPLM has made a difference on tourism here in the city of Springfield. I would be talking to state wide audience on people who like the museum, and even history buffs around the world. I would try to be bias on the article because I would not give any of my personal opinions on Lincoln. I would also visit the musuem to see what is going there.