An Air Advancement or Flying Failure?

A very hot topic in the news recently has been the whole concept of "delivery drones", also known as octocopters, which are flying "robots" that would be able to deliver orders that included items with weight in between 1-5 pounds (which make up 86% of Amazon products) (http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/12/02/amazon-testing-deliveries-by-drone/).  According to Fox News, the Federal Aviation Administration today prohibits the flight of these drones for many reasons, including air traffic, and civilian safety.  Despite these rules however, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos believes that these regulations could be changed as soon as 2015.

An Amazon octocopter during a test flight.

The reason that this topic intrigued me especially right now is because with Christmas coming up, holiday shopping becomes a real stress for everyone.  All over the world, in the United States especially, consumers love the idea of one day shipping because it is easy and efficient.  With the new delivery drone concept, Bezos claims that "It drops the package. You come and get your package and we can do half-hour deliveries". 

Along with the efficient reasons for the drone delivery, the whole concept also offers a very environmentally friendly and green way of delivering orders.  The robots are completely electric, using absolutely no gas.  Compared to driving trucks and using airplanes are shipping means, the drones are much cleaner towards the environment, which could potentially revolutionize the shipping industry, along with the environmental issue that America faces today. 

After researching the delivery drones, a lot of questions came up despite all of the potential upside that these octocopters could bring to the country.  There is no questioning the evolution of technology in the work field, especially for manual labor.  So, first of all how would these delivery drones negatively effect the work force in America?  There is no question that thousands of jobs would be lost including truck drivers and mail delivery men or women.  This is not just with drone delivery, but even robots used on assembly lines for example.  Despite the efficient work they create, countless jobs would be taken over.  And second, would public safety be an issue?  How can we know for sure that these delivery drones don't break while mid flight and in the small chance possibly fall and hurt somebody?  I am very interested to see how more of the testing goes with these octocopters, and if the whole concept of drone delivery really gets going in the years to come. 

The Bullying Never Ends

The last five times I have turned the television on in my house, Richie Incognito, an offensive tackle for the Miami Dolphins football team, has shown up.  Recently, the hot topic in all of sports has been Incognito bullying rookie teammate Jonathan Martin.  He (Incognito) sent numerous text messages, along with a voicemail to Martin that stated, "Hey, wassup, you half n----- piece of s---. I saw you on Twitter, you been training 10 weeks. [I want to] s--- in your f---ing mouth. [I'm going to] slap your f---ing mouth. [I'm going to] slap your real mother across the face [laughter]. F--- you, you're still a rookie. I'll kill you" (http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9926139/richie-incognito-miami-dolphins-used-slurs-messages-jonathan-martin).  To top all of this hatred off, Incognito made Martin pay 15,000 dollars for an offensive line trip to Vegas, in which Martin was not able to even attend.

Incognito has on numerous accounts displayed violent actions towards teammates and other players in the NFL however, such as when he was on the Saint Louis Rams in 2006.  He abused many teammates in the locker room, and brought bad chemistry to the team.  He was also named the NFL's "Dirtiest Player" in 2009.

However, Richie was indeed a pro bowl tackle last year, and has demonstrated tremendous skill on the football field.  This, perhaps, has drawn attention away from the fact that he is a cruel person (in my opinion) off the field.  Incognito is the only offensive lineman on the Miami Dolphins in five years to make the pro bowl.

The combination of a terrible attitude off the field towards his teammates, and at times on the field, along with his great talent during the game begs many questions.  First, how does this scandal between Incognito and Martin influence America's youth?  America's young athletes look up to their NFL teams and players, so going even further does this give not just Incognito a bad reputation, but the NFL and professional sports in itself?  And last, what message is this bullying scandal sending to young athletes all over the country?  Being a better football player does not make you a bigger person, and the wrong message has gotten out thanks to Incognito.  

Miami made a clear cut decision just two days ago that Incognito would be suspended indefinitely from the league, and permanently from the Miami Dolphins organization. 

Football: A Game Worth Playing?

The NFL, NCAA, and high school football organizations over the past ten years have drastically changed rules in order to create a more safe environment for players of all positions.  Despite all of these rule changes however, players are still being hurt, such as Green Bay's Jermichael Finley last weekend (http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9857537/jermichael-finley-green-bay-packers-icu-injury).

Finley suffered injuries to his head, neck, and spinal chord, which for two days enabled him from being able to have feeling in any of his extra extremities.  Finley's career will probably be over because of this one play.  Despite this injury being so serious however, this is already the tenth career ending injury in 2013 in both the NFL and NCAA, which begs a couple of questions for players, coaches, and spectators of the league.

Personally, when rules were first introduced to the NFL and NCAA about hitting zones on quarterbacks, as a fan I was very disappointed to hear this.  I had always loved the physicality of the game, especially the bone crushing hits on quarterbacks.  Too many injuries were happening, and spectators and coaches weren't noticing it.  The rule changes were very controversial at first, however over time people began to realize that it was for the betterment of the game and for the players playing it.

So some questions I am left with are both dealing directly with the rule regulations in football, and questions concerning American needs in entertainment.  First, do you all think that football is a game worth playing if over 85% of athletes that play in the NFL sustain injuries that stick with them their whole lives?  And second, what is it about the sport that draws Americans towards it so much, even if it means watching players risk their bodies, and potentially lives?

America's perfect ending

The hit series Dexter, a television show that has been aired by Showtime for years, is finally coming to an end.  Dexter is a serial killer who actually kills serial killers, and throughout his life has been troubled because he lives two lives, one with his son and step sister, and his real job with Miami metro homicide.  The other however, which involves killing serial killers and dumping their bodies off his boat, leads to all of his problems.  After eight fantastic seasons of the show, the last episode will be revealed on Sunday night at 8pm.  Why am I telling you this though?  Why does anyone care? 

In class, we discussed how America has created this perfect type of movie, where the plot starts with the main character at a high point in the road, and then something happens to the character so that he goes down.  Don't be surprised when his or her life starts to improve back to where it was however, because this is what happens all the time in your typical American movie.  The hit television show Dexter has ran with a theme like this nearly every season that has been aired, where Dexter starts off great, but then people start to die, commotion is created, and Dexter needs to solve his problems.  Every season has ended with Dexter catching one or multiple serial killers and fixing his problem.  With the season finale coming up, Showtime.com took a poll and asked Dexter fans if they would rather see Dexter either go to jail, die, or get his five year old kid taken away from him, or if they would rather see Dexter escape the country with his kid and his new girlfriend.  93 percent of voters said they want Dexter to end its legendary run with a great ending to compromise for the plot plummit that took place in the beginning/middle of the season. 

What this leaves me with is a couple of questions.  First, as Americans, I don't understand why we always want that perfect ending.  Is it because it is what we are used to seeing? Or does it reflect the kind of people we are.  I would personally like to see a darker ending to the series, because I am sick of having to deal with the same, easy to expect plot that American shows and movies end with all of the time.