Impact of TPP

We use user-generated contents such as Facebook and Youtube to share news, videos, and our daily lives. Sometimes, we put music to the video that we made by ourselves or look for pictures using Google search and use them just for personal blogs, non-commercial activities in other words, without any citations.

Even though most of us have experienced using pictures from a website without permission or downloading music or films for free, we usually don’t get into any troubles by doing it. However, what happens to the Internet freedom and its regulation if TPP is passed in the U.S. TPP impacts on not only trade but also Internet freedom.

Under TPP, Internet Service Providers will be encouraged to monitor their users’ activities to increase more censorship measures such as filtering the online contents based on copyright enforcement.

Because of this system which turns copyright law into powerful institutions, we may lose freedom of speech or innovation of the Internet in the future.

The U.S. is attempting to criminalize anyone  publishing works in a commercial scale with penalties including prison and fines. Also, TPP could potentially impose Internet users for non-commercial activities like file sharing.

According to TPP, downloading music or movies for free may be regarded as the same as large-scale, for-profit copyright violations, and creating a Youtube video with clips from other videos or copyrighted music can be a reason for being imposed mandatory fines, even if it is for personal or educational purposes. Moreover, there is no exception for individual’s non-commercial copies of copyrighted stuffs.

TPP says that copyright terms will be extended for six of 12 negotiated countries by another 20 years. Therefore, monopoly copyrights would be extended and sharing user-generated contents would be more regulated and have new barriers.

One of the Presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders is against TPP. “Make no mistake: if TPP passes, it will further hurt consumers and cost American jobs. So we must stop it, together,” he says. He regards TPP expands failed free trade policies, because it has already led to cost millions of jobs and shutter tens of thousands of factories across the United States, and it will curtail the Internet freedom. Plus, Trump and Hillary also agree to keep the Internet freedom.

People have already realized that our freedom of speech on the Internet is threaten by TPP. When I interviewed some classmates about what they think about losing Internet freedom, all of interviewees did not understand why TPP tries to regulate the Internet, and they think it is too extreme, so they all oppose it.

As my personal opinion, to regulate the Internet and  its tracking system sound scary because it means that our privacy is threaten and we are under the surveillance of the U.S. society. However, some people it is okay that someone always checks which website I visited or what I typed on Google search because we do not know each other’s face. If the system works well without leaking privacy, I would agree with those who say it is okay.

The other thing that I concern is that now we can download music and movies for free and no one complains if we use a picture from an official website without permission, but to regulate the Internet freedom means that we could be imposed by doing it. Probably, all of us who use the Internet would be criminalized because of the regulation.

Farmer’s Market on Staten Island

 

On every Saturday morning, Saint George Green Market is held by the organization called Grow NYC on St. Mark’s Place and Hyatt St on Staten Island. Local farmers on Staten Island and from New Jersey come to sell their fresh products such as vegetables, cheese, bread, and fruits and people in the community come to buy the flavorful foods.

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I saw a little kid running to a bakery section in the Green Market and saying “Can I have a blueberry muffin?” It made me smile because I can rarely see this heartwarming scene at a big-chain supermarket.

Why is it important to shop at Green Market?

Green Markets are producer-only markets. Everything that is sold here is grown, raised, caught, processed or baked by the farmers selling it. You can buy their product before it gets bad, because it is not the product that is imported from far away, and also you can get to know who grew the food or ask them how they made it.

Moreover, purchasing local foods means that you are supporting local farms and families. If they sell their products to a big supermarket, they cannot get full retail price for their products, and wholesale price is very low comparing to selling the foods directly to customers. Therefore, you can build your community and help the farmers’ families to keep their business by shopping at Green Market.

There is another point of building a community by going to Green Market, because it can be an opportunity to get to know your neighbors. Seeing people in a community and exploring local foods together at Green Market are the best way to built a good connection with your neighbors.

What is the current issues facing farmer’s market?

Even though Green Markets offer us fresh, healthy and flavorful foods, they don’t give everything that we need. Instead, we heavily depend on big supermarkets to get groceries, such as sugar, paper towel, chocolate chip, oil etc. Supermarket is our reality. Even if the quality of food in supermarket is not as good as farmer’s market, we are still satisfied with its price and convenience and even appreciate them.

In fact, the mass-produced imported vegetables in supermarket, tomatoes for example, are usually picked up before they are ripe to avoid them going bad, and it takes one month the color of the tomatoes turns red. Since they are harvested too early and not ripen naturally, these foods are not fresh and lack lots of nutrition.

One of Grow NYC stuffs talked about how hard for local farmers to compete with big supermarket during interview. Since supermarket use cheap labors to produce goods in large quantities (mass production), they can sell foods and other groceries cheaper and most people tend to buy those stuffs because of the price.

Also, Farmer’s market is not always available in the community since it is held once in a week. Therefore, it is not familiar with all the people in the community and not as convenient as big supermarket  because of its limited time.

Solutions

Farmer’s market is one of important opportunities to get locally grown foods. If it disappeared, it would be getting hard to eat fresh local products especially in the city. In addition, not only it becomes difficult to get the local foods, but also it would affect the business of small farms. If they cannot run the business by selling the local products, it would be getting hard for them to keep their farmlands and they might have to give up their properties for development. And finally, no one can get fresh local foods, and what we can get is only mass-produced, a less nutritious foods.

Selling directly to customers and buying their local foods from them mean supporting your regional economy and being proactive each other. If farmers could get paid more by running their business locally, they would not need to sell their farmland for development, also we can continue to get fresh delicious foods. Purchasing locally grown food leads you to reinvest in your community and helps preserve the agricultural landscape.

THE TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT

 

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) is a global free trade agreement negotiated by Pacific Rim countries: United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Vietnam, Chile, Brunei, Singapore, and New Zealand.

This agreement enable to make the exports of Made-in-America goods and services easier by eliminating over 18,000 different taxes and other trade barriers. It will help support American jobs and grow the American economy.

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was entered into force on January 1, 1994. The agreement is negotiated by the United States, Canada and Mexico, which is one of the largest free trade zone in the world. It is the same idea as TPP, NAFTA has eliminated trade tariffs and  barriers to create strong economic growth for those three countries and the strategy has succeeded as a result. It has brought strong economic growth, job creation and better prices and selections in consumer goods.

However, there are some controversies about TPP, and I picked up three key issues.

First of all, the agreement allows companies and countries to challenge another nation’s rules and laws that have the effect of regulating overseas companies from competing in their market.

In Japan, for example, all of medical care are controlled by the government, so if you have a citizenship in Japan, you have to take out one of official medical insurances that the government designate. In addition, the government set all the prices of any medicines and medical equipment.

However, the TPP agreement will abolish those regulations because it will allow to trade medical materials, which means the government in Japan cannot control medical care anymore due to those products imported from overseas. It will make increase the price of medical care and equipment, and some of Japanese citizens, such as low-income people, would not be able to take out the medical insurance because of its high expense.

The other issues are also related to a U.S.-made drug trade.The United States tries to make it harder to pirate U.S.-made drugs and software. During the deal, the United States claimed to last the protection for 12 years. Eventually, the final deal gave five years of protection, but it can be changed depending on the circumstances. However, the multi-year monopolies will drive up the price of life-saving medicine.

Finally, the U.S. labor critics’ questioning that “Is it actually enforced that labor protections for workers in every country?” which suggests that some low wage jobs are lost overseas in the process, for example, if the deal means that manufacture here can use cheaper imported parts, they will be more competitive.

Therefore, organized labor, environmental groups and public health experts strongly oppose the agreement. It will encourage corporate deregulation and send jobs to low-wage countries with poor human rights records including Asian countries.

However, on the one hand, President Obama expects that the TPP agreement will prevent overseas companies from using child labor, improve bad working conditions and set minimum standards for workplaces in the 11 other countries.

On the other hand, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Donald Trump all those strongest candidates oppose the trade agreement.

“I have been trying to learn as much as I can about the agreement,” Hillary Clinton argue. “But I’m worried. I’m worried about currency manipulation not being part of the agreement. We’ve lost American jobs to the manipulations that countries, particularly in Asia, have engaged in. I’m worried the pharmaceutical companies may have gotten more benefits — and patients and consumers fewer. I think there are still a lot of unanswered questions.”

“This trade agreement would continue the race to the bottom for American workers,” said Senator Bernie Sanders, a Democratic presidential candidate.

As I looked for tweets related to #AntiTPP, I found so many tweets and news about anti-TPP and demonstration against the agreement written in other languages such as Japanese, which implies that TPP is a big issue for all of those 11 countries citizens and so many people still strongly protest the agreement.

This tweet says that the United States is trying to invade not only Japanese agricultural market but also medical care and insurance.

 

Outfit of The Day

  

• Sweater (Forever 21) from China
• Coat (Forever 21) from China
• Jeans (LOWRYS FARM *Japanese brand) from  China

I found that all of my today’s outfits came from one country, China.

I checked some of my other clothes as well, and all of them are also produced in China. All of those items are from cheap-price store, including Forever 21 and H&M.

My mother used to care about where clothes came from when she purchase her clothes, because she loves the items made in Japan due to the good quality of Japanese products. And if I wear clothes made in China or the other countries, she always complains about it even if I really do not care where they came from.

Because of my mother’s habit, I  always have awareness of where goods are being made. Therefore, I could expect the result of this investigation. But, I had also expected those products might come from the other countries in South East Asia, such as Indonesia , because usually cheap clothes are produced in developing countries.

Even though some of those countries in Asia or East-Asia are developed, there are some regions that have not been industrialized yet in the countries. In addition, to keep the lower prices, the fast fashion productions heavily rely on low wage, overseas labors.

Here is the reasons why Forever 21 can produce such cheap products. One of the reasons is related to sweatshop conditions of its factories and unfair practices in its shops in America. 

Labors, including immigrants from East Asia and Latin America in the factories and American workers in the stores have complained of their worst work conditions and  low wages, because some of those work under the unfair practices, such as unable to take a meal break, changed their time card to reduce hours and unpaid wages or overtime pay. 

Due to the unfair labor practices, the retailers of Forever 21 has been sued by the United States Department of Labor for ignoring a subpoena requesting information on how much the company’s suppliers pays the workers who make its clothes.

The United States Department of Labor said “Since 2008, our investigators have identified dozens of manufacturers producing goods for Forever 21 under sweatshop-like conditions.”

Even though Forever 21 is a big worldwide company and now sell an estimated $3 dollar from 500 stores in the world, it does not mean that the garment workers also can gain good payment from the company because their wages are based on how many pieces they cut or sew. 

Therefore, their pay can be blow minimum wage unless they work six or seven days in a week without overtime pay. 

And there is another fact, even if the factory is in America, most of the labors are immigrants from other countries such as Asia. 

While we enjoy a trendy fashion with cheap prices and throw them away when the trend is over, someone in the other country keeps working so hard under harsh condition with little wages to make the new trendy clothes. 

Presidential Primary – New Hampshire

On February 9th, the Presidential Primary took place in the state of New Hampshire. It was the first primary vote after the Iowa Caucuses.

And this time, Democrat Bernie Sanders led Clinton 60% to 38%, and finally he won the primary by the wide margin from Clinton.

People responded to Bernie’s winning and showed their happy feelings and expectations for what he will work for the United Sates on social media.

 

On the other hand, Donald Trump also won the primary at the Republican party but…

 

Some people were unhappy with the result and they showed completely different responses from Bernie’s winning…

Blotter

Case #1

Police look for the suspect of a grand larceny that occurred in Staten Island on Wednesday November 4 around 1:00pm. The 34-year-old female lost her wallet, including 50.00 dollars and credit card. 30 minutes later, the suspect purchased an electric heater with the victim’s credit card at The Home Depot located in 545 Target Street, police said. The suspect is regarded as a 20-30 years male with short dark hair and a beard, wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt, light colored pants and brown shoes at the last time he was seen, according to officials. There are no injuries in this incident.

Case #2

On Monday, October 5, 2015 at 11:01, a motor vehicle accident involving a pedestrian stuck took place at Hylan Boulevard and Arden Avenue, police reported. An injured 31-year-old victim lying on the roadway was unconscious and unresponsive according to officers. After EMS transported the aided female to Staten Island University Hospital South, she was deceased at the hospital. As the pedestrian was crossing Hylan Boulevard southbound, a 1998 Mercury Grand Marquis was traveling westbound on Hylan Boulevard at the same time, and the vehicle approaching the intersection of Arden Avenue stuck the pedestrian who was walking mid-block, according to the investigation. The 54-year-old driver of the car was not injured and there are no arrests in this incident.

Case #3

Investigators released photos of two suspects who are wanted for a robbery to seek the public’s assistance. On Wednesday, August 21, 2015 around 12:45am, in front of 6345 Amboy Road, one of the suspects approached a 22-year-old male victim who got off the train at the Pleasant Plains Station. While suspect #1 demanded his property, suspect #2 pushed the victim to the ground and took the victim’s cell phone, and the duo run away to an unknown direction. The suspect #1 is identified as a 20-30 year-old white male with heavy set wearing a hooded sweatshirt. The suspect #2 is also regarded as a 20-30 year-old white male covering his head with a hood, police reporting.

Christmas in Richmond Town and Traditional Tree Lighting

Traditional Tree Lighting Event in Historic Richmond Town

Traditional Tree Lighting Event began at 5:00 pm on Sunday, December 6 at Historic Richmond Town located on 441 Clarke Avenue. The venue was filled with a lot of people, including families and couples. Everyone was holding a cup of hot apple cider served by The Women’s Auxiliary to keep themselves warm. Kids were running around while waiting for the time of the tree lighting. The choir was singing on the main stage. Shortly after it passed 5:00 pm, Santa Claus showed up. Everyone clapped their hands and started singing some Christmas songs. And then, finally the countdown for the tree lighting began “…5 …4 …3 …2 …1!!!” At the moment, the tree lit up and the community was filled with a lot of smiles, joy and love.

“I really love this community because American historic traditions are preserved here and people can enjoy and experience those traditions through the events we hold like this tree lighting,” a member of The Women’s Auxiliary talked about this community. “I want more people to feel it’s important to preserve the tradition of America.” (*It was not allowed to take a video of the interview.)

 

 

The Tree Lighting event was hosted by The Women’s Auxiliary of Historic Richmond Town, which is the volunteer fundraising organization that aims to support and render useful service to Historic Richmond Town on Staten Island. They work on to preserve historic records and relics connected with the early history of Staten Island. The devotion to Staten Island Historic Society makes all their efforts successful.

Historic Richmond Town is a community representing America’s historic town. The town including a museum is divided into four sites with over thirty original historic structures and more than 130,000 historic artifacts, photographs and archival collections dating back to 17th century.

“They are authentic time travelers that carry memories of people, place and lives.”

The purpose of those collections of the historic artifacts are described as “discovery” to show the history of America and to give new insight into one’s life. Those artifacts were found in many hundreds of New York areas over the past hundred years. Each collection of artifacts and structures represents “America” and has its own great true story.There are many ways to enjoy the historic town besides visiting the museum and those sites. They also hold events and programs for guests to show traditional America’s life. Check the event calendar to join their program!

 

There is an upcoming event called Candlelight Tours in Historic Richmond Town on this weekend, December 12. Candlelight Tours has been presented for decades in this community. People can journey from house to house decorated  with candles and oil lamps and enlivened by holiday sweets. Through walking tours of an illuminated Historic Town at night, people can experience as if they visit the people from days of old and feel the holiday mood. The opportunity would bring the people closer to the traditions and nostalgic days of America.

Top Ten List

“Syrian refugees in the U.S. fear backlash after Paris attack“

Syrian refugees saw American people and governors who don’t want those refugees to stay in the United States anymore, and they cannot stop feeling disappointed at the country that has saved their lives. Here is a top-ten-list to get the basic information about this story.

 

Why Syrian refugees have to leave their country?

Syrian citizens have escaped from their country since a five year war had broken out. Because of this civil war, the country is divided into four groups, Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, rebel group against al-Assad government, the Islamic State (ISIS) and Kurds. All of these four groups are trying to expand their territory.

“Bombs are just falling like rain,” said refugees who escaped from Damascus, the capital of Syria.  Because attacks take place in the areas where innocent people live,  the circumstance lead those people to displace their houses and seek somewhere they can live safely.

 

How have those refugees been treated in the world?/Which countries have accepted Syrian refugees?

Many European countries, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt have accepted Syrian refugees in recent years. The admitted number of those people depends on each country. The state which has the highest number of refugees is Turkey, where almost half of the Syrian refugees are sheltered.

The other wealthy countries including the United States, Canada and Australia have also accepted the refugees resettlement.

In contrast, Gulf countries including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and  Bahrain have never agreed with refugees coming to their nations. Even though those in the countries share the language with Syria, they haven’t participated in the 1951 U.N. treaty on refugees, which is the agreement to provide asylum to refugees from all over the world.

 

Anti-Syrian refugees have appeared in America after harrowing attacks in Paris

Because of the U.S. governor’s statements that Syrian refugees are unwelcome in their states after the attacks in Paris, refugee’s agency workers and immigrants themselves have received death threat from people who are against the refugees.

Politicians’ comments about fear of refugees have induced people to lash out at Muslims or people from the Middle East.

Even though Obama declared that the United States would take in 10,000 Syrian refugees, who are identified by the United Nations, over the next fiscal year, 31 governors had talked that the acceptance of those refugees represents threats to their states and the background check wound not help keep ISIL agent out of their states.

However, the refugees just want to live in safe with their neighbors and never intend to attack people.

The Paris attacks created prejudice toward those refugees, and it makes more difficult for American to accept and assimilate the people who come over from the Middle East.

 

Reactions from every state: Who accept or refuse Syrian refugees?

Many governors in the United States have shown their attitude not to accept Syrian refugees in their states to keep the safety and security of their citizens, while some have mentioned that they would be welcome those people and others have not received any refugees yet.

Even though a Syrian passport, which was found near the one of the suicide bomb  attacker’s body in Paris, has not been authenticated, it created concern and anxiety about Muslims coming to the U.S. as refugees, because the attacker desired to be a member of ISIS.

 

How to officially come in the United States as a refugee

Refugee people who want to have citizenship in a country first apply for refugee status through the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). Those refugees have to have left their home land due to the followings:

“A well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, social group affiliation or political opinion.”

If it’s proved that the refugee meets the above conditions, the UNHRC refers the applicant to a third country such as  United States.

After the application is processed by federally funded Resettlement Support Center,  the refugee takes the intensive screening process, including an interview, medical evaluation and an inter-agency security screening process to make sure the refugee does not have any intention to threaten the United States.

Usually all the process for the refugee application takes 18 to 24 months, but Syrian refugees can take longer time because of more strict security concern.

 

The campaign to end refugees inflow

President Obama decided to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees and place them in American communities, but a number of politicians are warning that because they concern terrorist enter the nation pretending refugees. The governors insist that it means their citizens are exposed by the danger of terrorism.

 

What is Syrian American Council?

Syrian American Council is the group which helps the Syrian American community to organize and advocate for a free, democratic and pluralistic Syria through American support.

This organization amplifies the voice of Syrian Americans and the current circumstance in Syria and asks to help and donate through media and campaign to promise the better lives to Syrian refugees.

“Until they can go back home, we are working to ensure that they are treated with dignity here in the United States.” – Syrian American Council

And they also want a member to join in the group.

 

Why have Mosques received threats?

After the attacks in Paris, a hate crime and threats toward mosques broke out in Florida and Canada. The Paris attack sparked Islamophobia and it appeared as the threats by phone call against the Muslim congregation in Florida and the crime by setting the fire to mosque in Canada.

Even though the Paris attack acted by terrorist, American people have grown their concerns toward innocent Muslim community in the United States.

 

What is Islamic Center of Claremont?

Islamic Center of Claremont serves the needs of Muslims in Pomona, Claremont and surrounding communities. ICC provides a religious and educational environment to grow their Muslim community.They host weekly lectures, family events, youth programs, Ramadan iftars and Qiyam prayers.

They have been supporting Syrian refugees as well so that those refugees settle in America. They aim at the level of encouragement from interfaith gatherings.

How can we enjoy Christmas shopping in Staten Island Mall without Santa Claus?

Staten Island Mall decided to cancel the annual Santa’s arrival event and a tree lighting ceremony for this year.

Last year

 

All of us never expected it would be canceled this year. The event including tree lighting and Santa parade just started in last year. The announcement of the cancellation made the mall’s shoppers disappointed and upset.

This year

The facebook page called “Boycott the Staten Island Mall” was created to protest the cancellation of the traditional event in the mall.

The founder of the group, Joe Demarco, wrote that the mall used to have a children’s train at the center of the mall with Santa, then it was moved near JC penny located at the end of the mall.

Even though some shoppers who joined the holiday event in last year were unhappy because of the several hours of programming which took place in the rain, many of Staten Islanders, especially parents who have little children, had still looked forward to taking their kids to the event this year because they wanted to see Santa Claus and take Christmas pictures there.

Some shoppers were shocked since they felt that Staten Island Mall took a tradition away from the Islanders. Therefore, many of them decided not to go for holiday shopping there.

Facebook page of Staten Island Mall

After the Mall heard the disappointed reactions from their shoppers, they decided to host a holiday celebration for the community, complete with Santa, a tree lighting and toy drive on December 4. And they also announced the annual Santa Parade will hold next year.

Did Staten Island Mall need to cancel the annual Santa Parade? – Obviously not.

As we can see, many users of the Mall were excited to attend the Santa Clause Parade, but now, after the cancellation of the event, they are swearing off the Staten Island Mall, which means the Mall is losing number of customers for the busiest holiday season in a year.

As a result of this, there were no crowds at the day of Black Friday at the Mall. This might be one of the outcomes of shopper’s reactions.

Of course, it is no problem that the children’s train with Santa had been shunted off near JC penny, because we can see them if we go there.

However, it does not make people excited about Christmas if the center of the mall is the wide empty space that it used to be.

People want to feel an atmosphere of Christmas and see some Christmas spirits inside the Mall, and then they would be able to enjoy the shopping during Christmas time.

Commercial facilities, including the Mall, cannot manage their business without customers, therefore, they really need to provide amusement to enjoy and celebrate seasonal events with their shoppers.

Taylor Swift – The Success Of Establishing Superstardom

August 30 in 2015, Taylor Swift’s new music video of ‘Wildest Dreams’ was finally unveiled during MTV Music Awards pre-show.

Swift acts a 1950’s movie star falling love with co-star Scott Eastwood. The inspiration for this video was from reading a book by Ava Gardner and Peter Evans, The Secret Conversations.

“since social media did not exist in the ’50s—it would be impossible for actors not to fall in love if they were isolated together in Africa, since there would be no one else to talk to,” GQ magazine reported her premise for the video.

Swift’s another music video ‘Blank Space’ from her fifth album titled ‘1989’ officially became the most-watched video on VEVO with more than 1.2 billion views, the company reported on October 20 via Twitter. This clip became the fastest video to get 1 billion views.

Even though just one year has passed since the album ‘1989’ was released, people have still paid attention to her.

“The character is so interesting, though,” Swift talked to NME. “If you go and read these gossip sites and describe how I am, [it’s] so opposite my actual life.”

Swift creates the character in the video to show a vindictive girl such as herself described in coverage.

She found the irony in this song about the girl who is insecure about her relationships and love, because it is totally like her in media.

“I knew some people would hear ‘Blank Space’ and say, ‘See, we were right about her.’ And that point, I just figure if you don’t get the joke, you don’t deserve to get the joke.” Swift talked GQ about how some of lyrics in ‘Blank Space’ are ironical.

“Half the people got the joke,” she says. “Half the people really think that I was really owning the act that I’m a psychopath, which is fine. Either one is fine as long as they know the semblance of the words, even if they’re incorrect.”

On October 13, Billboard reported that Swift won at the American Music Awards 2015 for six categories including artist of the year, and those winnings led her to the most nominated artist in AMA 2015.

Even though the song categories for this year looks competitive such as Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” and The Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face” face off, and other newcomers are nominated including  Sam Hunt, Walk the Moon and Fetty Wap, her first all-pop album ‘1989’ was the top selling album of 2014, and it remains in top ten in the album charts.

AMA nominees are based on the reflection of album and digital sales, radio airplay, streaming, social activity and touring tracked by Billboard and its data partners.

Taylor Swift, country pop singer song writer, was born in December 13, 1989, in Reading, Pennsylvania and grew up in its Suburb Wyomisssing.

Swift’s interest in music began at the age of nine, and a country musician, Shania Twain, gave her a biggest influence on Swift’s liking to country music.

At that time, she used to work regularly at local events including fairs and talent contests and soon started to learn how to play guitar and write songs.

When she was eleven, she often visited Nashville, where is widely known as a Music City, with her homemade demo tapes and continued travelling back and forth for the next three years. Her family decided to move to nearby Hendersonville, Tennessee with expectations of her music career.

Her song writing ability attracted the attention of SONY and ATV publishing. In addition, Scotto Borchetta, who launched Big Machine Records, found her genius when he saw her performance at the Bluebird Café in Nashville. She got a deal with Big Machine in 2005.

Swift’s self titled debut album, ‘Taylor Swift,’ was released in 2006, which accomplished Number one on Billboard’s country charts and Number five on pop charts.

Her second album, ‘Fearless,’ issued in 2008 included lots of hits such as “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me,” and it made her nominated four Country Music Association awards and American Music Awards in 2009.

At the time of her third album “Speak Now,” she entirely wrote the songs all by herself and it was sold over one million copies in the first week.

Her popularity was growing up with “Red” in 2012 and “1989” in 2014, and a pair of albums officially led her from country music into pop realm. Finally, she moved into stratosphere of superstardom at this point. The statistics of her albums’ sales shows the fact. The sales are steadily growing up.

She writes songs as if they are diary and represents her generation, which always attracts people over the border. She was very good at capturing the voice of teenagers especially in her early works. But now, her songs fascinate more people not only in the United States but throughout the world regardless of age.