Response to an Article #2

Gay Marriage: Civil Partnership 'Review' Could Expand Unions To Include Heterosexual Couples

I definitely agree with this. In order for true marriage equality to exist, one of two things needs to happen. Either get rid of civil partnerships entirely while opening civil marriages up to couples of the same sex OR open civil partnerships up to include heterosexual people at the same time as allowing two homosexual people to get married.

The second way is inherently better as it allows the most flexibility and is more fair to those who already have civil partnerships.

Response To An Article #1

Article: Supermarkets cash in on unfounded fears about food and health


Comment by another reader:

I would like to know if my food has GM or MSG in it and it should be standard practice for his info to be on labels so that people can make informed choices about what they eat. There are genuine concerns about eating some of these things - but no, I don't have the scientific evidence link that 'proves' this so I expext it will be dismissed out of hand.

My response:

You do know that GM isn't an ingredient, right? Food does not contain GM. GM stands for "genetically modified". Any plant which has been changed from its original (wild) state can be considered to be genetically modified. 

Some examples would be carrots (which were originally small and white), bananas (which were originally so full of seeds they were nearly inedible raw), and roses (which in their wild state are small and only have about 5 petals).

The only problem that I have with some GM foods isn't the food itself, but the huge companies, such as Monsanto, who want to make it illegal to save seeds from the plants you grow.

Open Response to "Jump Off the Coursera Bandwagon"

Last night Al Filreis, my Modern and Contemporary American Poetry (ModPo) professor, posted a link on the ModPo Facebook group to an article by Doug Guthrie, Dean of George Washington University School of Business. Said article decried the usefulness of MOOCs (Massively Open Online Courses) and Coursera in particular, claiming that learning does not and can not happen in a MOOC setting before then saying, in essence, "I'm making my own MOOC, come and join me!". Dean Guthrie is clever, but not clever enough.

Several people have replied (some have taken ModPo, some haven't) and I thought I would add my own experience to theirs. My response can be found below, although I highly suggest you read the article in question first as well as the other well thought out responses.