Obama and Race

I found an article on President Obama's thoughts on how racism has affected him as president, his legacy as president, and the public's perception of him. In the article, Obama talks about how race is still a problem, and says, "race was probably a key component in the rising opposition to [my] presidency from conservatives, especially right-wing activists in the anti-incumbent "Tea Party" movement that was then surging across the country." I found it interesting that our president is this open about the issue, almost calling out certain groups as being racists. While race is still in the forefront of some people's minds, I feel that there are much bigger issues that are focused on among these conservative groups.


http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2011/03/02/obama-says-race-a-key-component-in-tea-party-protests?PageNr=3

Cosmopolitan and Sex

Out of about 25 links and videos on Cosmopolitan.com’s home page, I found that 18 of these links and videos either directly said the words sex/sexy, or related to sex. While most of the others had to do with partying and drinking. With Cosmopolitan being one of the leading Women’s magazines, this constant exposure to sex has to produce results over time when it comes to young women and their decision making. Magazines like this do not expose readers to what true life is like, creating a false sense of reality and pressure that would seem to weigh on someone who reads such a magazine.
No matter how well someone is raised, people buy into what the media says, and friends buy into what their friends say. Overall, it is tough to screen out what you see everyday, and media viewers must make a conscious effort to understand what the real world should be like.

LeBron and the NBA

In relation to brand image and identity, I feel that LeBron James has had a big influence on himself and the NBA over the past year.  His controversial way of going about letting the public know which team he will be joining drastically changed his image.  Previously a well-liked superstar who brought one of the worst teams in the league to become one of the best, LeBron's hour-long show in which he "took his talents to South Beach" showed everyone a completely different side.  Ego took over, and now while he is in the NBA Finals, I feel that the decisions he has made over the past year will affect the player he could have been.  His new image of being egotistical and selfish will appeal to certain people, but his previous like-able image around the U.S. will most likely be gone forever.  
Through all this, I wish basketball was more about basketball, instead of three very talented guys who seem to be able to do whatever they want now.  It will be interesting to see if rules or changes come about in the NBA to keep things like this from happening.  But it will also be interesting to see if this continues and gets worse for the next generation of basketball.