Twitter is a great way to keep up with what is going on in the world, and follow important people and experts on any subject out there. And in the quest to find new knowledge I made a list for my Tweeps.Okay the first person I chose for my Tweeps list is Malcolm Gladwell, I decided to follow him because I read some of his work in my sociology class, Outliers, and he had some really interesting insight into the correlation merit and age. Basically saying that it is partly natural talent and also working hard to achieve that gives a person a cumulative advantage. There is also a section in Outliers that talks about the lasting effects of cut-off dates, really interesting stuff. Gladwell is a writer for The New Yorker and he has written several books; The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, and What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures. In 2005, he was one of Time Magazines “100 Most Influential people”.  And, “He graduated from the University of Toronto, Trinity College, with a degree in history.”

I also chose to follow Deepak Chopra is a doctor who has written many, many books, which reflect his Indian background. Huffington Post said that Chopra “…is the author of Spiritual Solutions and more than sixty books translated into over thirty-five languages, including other numerous New York Times bestsellers in both the fiction and nonfiction categories.” He was also interview a lot after Michael Jackson had died, because he and Michael Jackson were friends and also the press was trying to find out his professional opinion of what had happened to Michael. “Time magazine heralds Deepak Chopra as one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century and credits him as "the poet-prophet of alternative medicine."

Stephen Colbert also made it into my Tweeps list; he may be a comedian, television host, and an actor, but he is an important part of pop culture, and how experts are changing and no longer need to be just an expert, he is a multi-faceted expert, because he covers so many aspects of information and has such a large following.  Colbert graduated from Northwestern University; The Colbert Report is an Emmy and Peabody-Award winning show, and “In 2006, Colbert was named one of Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People””(PBS).  I think this defiantly makes him an expert. 

The final person that I chose for my Tweeps list is who I think is one of the most powerful people in America, Oprah Winfrey. She is AMAZING. Okay, maybe she isn’t an “expert”, but like Stephen Colbert she is multi-faceted, and she pulled herself up to where she is today, that is inspiring to say the least.  She is a philanthropist, a producer, an actress, a magazine founder, a television host, and much more. So yeah she isn’t an expert, but there is a lot to be learned from her, and a lot to look up to and aspire to be.

 http://www.gladwell.com/bio.html
 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deepak-chopra/
 http://www.pbs.org/wnet/facesofamerica/profiles/stephen-colbert/11/
http://www.oprah.com/pressroom/Oprah-Winfreys-Official-Biography



Tweets from @TZombiegirl500/tweeps

-zombiegirl
 

We are all Doomed

The thesis of the op-ed article from The New York Times, called “Don’t Blame the Movie, but Don’t Ignore It Either”, is basically what the title makes it out to be. The article by Stephan Marche was about the shooting at the theater in Aurora Colorado, and how it was not the movie’s fault, but it was a factor.

            The evidence that Marche used was loose references to media going after rap songs and video games in the 90s’ saying they had caused a rise in murders, these debates finally had come to a close as to not blame the media/medium. He also compared this shooting to the assassination of President Lincoln, and that John Wilkes Booth was, “clearly imitating Brutus from Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar.” He also listed facts about the shooting, and that Christian Bale visited the victims, still comparing this to the assassination.

            So I went to Google, and looked up the things Marche had used as evidence. As for the rap music and video game evidence, I did not find that much on rap music, but I did find evidence that supports the video games causing violence. The video games have been linked to violence, but it is only a factor, which supports Marche’s thesis.

            He also stated many facts about the Aurora Colorado shooting, about what the shooter, James E. Holmes, said before he opened fire on the audience, and what he had said to the guard after he had been arrested, and how many were killed. I had an easy time finding the information of how many where killed, and that he told the police that he was the Joker.

            He also talks about the assassination of Lincoln; it is true that Booth killed the president during “Our American Cousin”, but it is unclear if Booth was copying Brutus, the only thing I could find is a book called, American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies, by Michael W. Kauffman. So I am not really if that is what he is talking about. He also talked about how Christian Bale went to see the victims of the shooting in the hospital. He said that, “Edwin Booth took the opposite approach after his brother assassinated Lincoln. He hid from publicity and resigned from the stage. He believed his career was over, that the stain of his brother’s crime would overwhelm any future performance he could give.” I did find this to be true, I found it on answers.com, and it was a Britannica Concise Encyclopedia excerpt.

            As upsetting as the topic is, Marche did a very good job supporting his thesis with evidence, and still was respectful of the victims and families. I do agree with his thesis, and I think that like with almost everything, you can’t single one single event out to make a decision, no matter what emotional drive is behind it. It is easy to say that a movie caused this, but it is not completely correct.

 

http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2003/10/anderson.aspx 

 http://www.answers.com/topic/edwin-booth

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/73713/John-Wilkes-Booth was a

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2176965/The-Joker-thinks-hes-movie-Crazy-behaviour-Dark-Knight-massacre-gunman-prison-revealed.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/27/opinion/dont-blame-the-movie-for-the-aurora-shootings.html?_r=0