Reaction Article #12

Macao gloomy as more layoffs hit once-booming casinos

My Reactions:

According to Mark McDonald in “Macao gloomy as more layoffs hit once-booming casinos,” The Venetian, Macao’s biggest gaming company, fired half of its gondoliers two weeks ago. Casino operators and gaming experts believe that the reason why casinos are mostly deserted is that China controls the visa by the new regulations. People said the layoffs are brutal and afraid that it is just a starting.

In these recent years, the gambling market is growing fast. Since Macao is the only legal place for gambling in China, it attracts lot of tourists from mainland China. They travel around, visit the heritage site and experience the life of the city. Gradually, casinos and hotels were built everywhere and tourism has become Macao’s main industry. However, the global economy crisis causes big problems. Those companies which in financial difficulty are planning to have agreement of cutting the salary with their staffs in order to cut down expenses. Besides, some massive hotel and casino construction projects stand half-finished. Many labors were laid off and sent home. The gambling Mecca is depressed and has become quiet.

As I concerned, gambling causes many social problems. More and more teenager dropped out of school to become dealers. Casinos do not require a high education degree and they offer a high salary. But, they would be weeded out soon after a few years since they are not competitive enough. What is more, gambling addiction is also a serious issue. It is a type of impulse-control disorder. It can hurt a person’s family and ruin his/her life.

Reaction Article #11

Bush attacked with shoe in Baghdad visit

My Reactions:

According to Jennifer Loven in “Bush attacked with shoe in Baghdad visit,” President Bush was attacked while he was having a joint press conference in Iraq on Sunday. The protester hurled two shoes at him and shouted loudly. However, Bush ducked, and avoided the kiss of the shoe.

In my opinion, to attack someone with shoe is extremely impolite. He should not do something like that even though he was really angry. It was good for him to express his opinion in public, but it was better to express it in peace. In Arab culture, throwing shoes at someone is considered an insult. But, in some opinion, that guy is regarded as a brave man since lot of people do not agree with Bush’s policy in Iraq.

In 2003, the U.S. troops invaded Iraq because citing intelligence claimed that it hided many weapons and it might cause a big destruction. Actually, the weapons were never found. What we see is that more than 4209 members of U.S. military were sacrificed in the war. Besides, the high cost of projecting troops is proving to be unsustainable and it cost U.S. taxpayers around $576 billion in the past five years.

Reaction Article #10

A Gay Marriage Surge

My Reactions:

According to Arian Campo-Flores in “A gay marriage surge,” people are debating on the legalization of gay marriage since the measures were banned in California last month. It shows the datum of surveys and we can see how people think of these issues by the rate. Generally, there are more people disagree with gay marriage than the opposite and it seems that the younger you are, the more likely you are to support same-sex marriage.

In my opinion, being gay or lesbian is not guilty. They have the right to choose their own life and be respected. Some people are stubborn that they cannot accept homosexuality because of their deep-rooted traditional concept---marriage is sacred and only between men and women. Actually, marriage is not only an institution like this, but the everlasting promise with your true loves. In some religions, homosexuality is unacceptable because it is considered to be immoral and to against their religion understanding. However, some people still believe that both heterosexual and homosexual are a gift from god and I am totally agreed with this. I think what they should do is to fight for their right by expressing their will freely.

Reaction Article #9

One man's 3-year experiment in eating organic food - all the time

My Reactions:

According to Tara Parker-Pope in “One man’s 3 – year experiment in eating organic food - all the time,” Dr. Alan Greene was inspired to be 100 percent organic after knowing that livestock got sick less by a switch to organic practices. He wanted to know whether becoming organic might improve his health or not. Therefore, he has insisted on eating organic foods everyday for three years.

In my opinion, the organic routine is not easy to hold out because organic foods are more expensive than conventional foods. Consumers always have to pay higher costs to buy organic products and it stops people from trying organic foods. As it has been available in many places, people can buy it easily and that is why it is becoming more and more popular. For me, I will choose to eat organic foods because there are lots of advantages. Organic food means that crops were grown without the use of pesticides and artificial fertilizers. People believe that organic fruit and vegetables contain up to 40% more antioxidants than conventional food. Besides, it is also said to benefit the environment since the organic farms use less energy and produce less waste.

Reaction Article #8

How do you raise ‘normal’ kids in the White House

My Reactions:

According to Suzanne Smalley in “How do you raise ‘normal’ kids in the White House,” the president-elect Barack Obama will move into the White House soon with his family. People are not only interested in his policies, but also concerned about how they will raise their children in the White House.
In my opinion, it is not easy to keep their children in normal since they are the celebrities and everyone in the world is taking focus on them. Therefore, they have to face public and media everyday because people think what they do is interesting. In fact, it brings a bad effect to the children, they are too young to deal with the situation and have no idea what to do. It is just too stressful to them.
Besides, living in the White House, a place where may be the center of power in the world and offer excellent care, might not help children to grow. It is because they are well protected and people in the house will look after them carefully. After a long time, they might be over spoiled and take things for granted. For this reason, I think it is good for the Obamas to enforce the kids do chores and handle their own stuff.

Reaction Article #7

That Dress? Everyone Has an Opinion

My Reactions:

According to Ruth La Ferla in “That Dress? Everyone Has an Opinion,” Michelle Obama wore a red-and-black sheath to the stage on Tuesday night. People put focus on her dress and have different opinions. Some of them thought that it was a charming dress, but the others said it was a terrible look.

In my opinion, people put too much focus on her look instead of Obama’s victory speech. I know there are many political celebrities who spend much money in hiring personal stylist in order to attract viewer’s focus easily. Actually, public may prefer them using these money in helping the poor. It is not so important that whether they are dressing fashionable or not. What people really care is their contribution to America.

Besides, I think the comments were just so mean to her and she had made a right choice. It is good for her to choose an American designer frock. Especially red is an American color and it represents the spirit of American, passion and freedom. However, she just has to be who she is and choose what is right for herself. I look forward to see how she works in the white house.

Reaction Article #6

Rape Victims’ Words Help Jolt Congo Into Change

My Reactions:

According to Jeffrey Gettleman in "Rape Victims’ Words Help Jolt Congo Into Change," the rape problem in Congo is considerably serious. Lots of women have been raped in the past few years. International organization and the government hope to encourage victims to speak out in order to fight for their right and bring out better outcome.

I was shocked by this article because women in Africa are much poorer than I thought. There are rapes every day, women are living in danger and worrying about how to deal with the situation of being raped. In my opinion, I think impunity is an unreasonable system. For this reason, bandits are encouraged to break the law indirectly, and without taking any criminal responsibility. However, the government has to put much effort on keeping women safe as well as providing counseling to victims and their families. They did nothing wrong. We should help them to get over from guilt and embarrassment.

Besides, there are also lots of problems in Africa, people are suffering in starvation, war and poverty etc. They struggle with their life and have no choice. I think we are fortunate living in our city compare with them. What we have to do is to treasure the things around us and give a hand to those who need help.

Reaction Article #5

Working women hold key to world prosperity

My Reactions:

According to Madeline Chambers in "Working women hold key to world prosperity," women are facing challenge of looking after both sides of childcare and their work. Governments hope to encourage women to have children by setting tax system and offering several benefits.

Before the Middle-Ages, women were in the low position of the society. They were restricted by deep-rooted concept which believed that men were the only breadwinner in a family and women had no right to disobey something unfair. In this case, lot of women suffered a great deal in those days. But, women's position has risen gradually since 1945. The world started to care about women's right, they have the right to be educated, to vote, to work, to express their opinion and to choose their own marriage.

Nowadays, women are much stronger than before. It is because they are well educated. They are tough and will fight for their right. However, I totally agree with what the writer says, if governments want to increase the labor force in their own countries, they suppose to put women into work in order to encourage economic development and raising low birth rates. In my opinion, to achieve these, not only offer financial incentives and nursery places, but also instill the concept of generate encouraging to next generation.

Reaction Article #4

ER Overload

My Reactions:

According to Mary Carnichael in "ER Overload," the emergency rooms in America are always crowed. People believe that it is caused by the uninsured, but the expert disagrees with it and find out some other reasons.

In my view, the word "emergency" is a dangerous situation that you have to deal with, but it seems that most people have mixed it up. They come to the emergency department for non-urgent care just because they are over serious of their illness and want to save time instead of waiting for primary care doctor's treatment. However, it causes great inconvenience to those who need treatment immediately. More times it takes, more dangerous the patients are. What is more, the assumption is unfair to those who are uninsured and this is a kind of discrimination.

I think the situation of ER in Macau is as same as in America. It is because there are only two hospitals but they have to serve for five hundred thousand population. People usually have to wait at least one hour for treatment. Lake of facilities and staffs are the main reason of this problem. The government has to do something first such as giving resources and financial assistance in order to add more facilities and hire more professionals. But it is useless if we do not do anything. As the article mentioned, "this is a system wide problem. All parts of the system need to sit down and discuss it as a whole."

Reaction Article #3

Developer Taubman Asia Brings Ritzy Retail to Cotai

My Reactions:

According to Ray Granlund in "Developer Taubman Asia Brings Ritzy Retail to Cotai," Tanbman Asia is going to create a luxury shopping mall at Macau studio City with lot of well-known brands in order to develop it as the shopping centre in Asia.

In my view, having a comprehensive shopping mall in Macau is a really good idea. It might attract more tourists since there are theatres, hotels, gaming around, they can spend the whole day there and their shopping desire can be totally satisfied. Besides, the shopping mall will be designed as a modern architecture, I believe that it will probably become a landmark and enhance the tourism in Macau. However, The Venetian Resort Hotel was grand opened on August 28, 2007. It offers first-class facilities and has luxury shopping square. In this case, the competition between casinos is getting intense.

On the other hand, I think there should be more middle-class department stores in Macau but not only high-class shopping mall. Indeed, there is one department store in downtown. It is inconvenient to get there and people do not have more choices. I think the government should deeply concern about it.

Reaction Article #2

Why fewer Americans are adopting children overseas

My Reactions:

According to Pat Wingert in "Why fewer Americans are adopting children overseas," Foreign adoptions have decreased gradually in these recent years. People said that it might be the influence of political issues.

Most of the countries now are having the problem of low birth rate, people are not willing to raise a child. This is why the governments are asking people to adopt orphan among their own nation. But, is it proper to concern adoption with political issues? In my opinion, adopting children should not be restricted by political issues. Adoption is a personal choice and of course the government has no right to interfere with their decision.

Besides, there are two reasons why people do not want to adopt. Children in some countries are getting older and they are not easy to be chosen. The other is that it is quite different to be approved and is much more expensive since human trafficking of orphans is getting serious.

Although I have no experience of adopting any child before, but I know having a child means responsibility. It is a lifetime commitment. You have to take care of her/him and threat her/him as your family member. To help them get away from shadow.

Reaction Article #1

Paris's Bicycle Days

My Reactions:

A new bicycle rental service in Paris and it is popular among the citizens.

In my view, renting bicycle is a very nice program in urban areas. The reason is that it is convenient for people to get to other places since there are a lot of stations around the city. Besides, the main purpose of this program is to improve the traffic and pollution. In fact, mankind has been causing damage to the ozone layer since the start of the Industrial Revolution, and the global warming threat is causing more and more problems. Therefore, to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide is the most effective action to preserve the environment.

In addition, the mayor has said that he hope this idea can help Parisians and tourists enjoy the city by bicycle. I think this can become a big attraction in Paris. But for one thing, the government has to insure traffic safety by revising the law to require helmet wearing.

Personally, I think the service can also be popularized in Asia, especially in some of the country where the traffic is very heavy during rush hour. it can encourage people to ride on bicycle instead of driving car and relieve the traffic jam.