Syria's Chemical Weapons

As of recently it was made known that Syria's president Bashar al-Assad loaded his bombs with chemicals. The United States will have to get involved if he chooses to use them on his own people. For me hearing this was shocking! How can you have a war against your own people? The answer is power he wants to stay in command and make his people fear him. This way they won't rebel. To hear of conflict within Syria and they are fighting themselves was sad news. That power means so much that you would threaten or kill your people to keep it. Chemical Weapons is the last straw and just how far will they go? Only the future can tell.

PPC Assumptions

When we learned about the economy there was one thing that stuck out to me the most, the PPC assumptions. Each assumption had me thinking about how untrue they are based on todays economy.

The first assumption is that resources are fixed. Meaning we cant increase or decrease the amount of resources available to us. This is a complete lie. When you look at todays world people are constantly buying new land, changing their businesses, and finding new ways to move forward. Which is why they say a PPC graph can be increased to set new efficiency  levels when resources are increased.

The second assumption is all resources are fully employed. This means that everything is at its maximum height when it comes to production. However, this isn't true either because products are constantly changing prices and sales depending on the customers. The Ipad Mini for example isn't selling as well because they are charging way too much. Then other versions like Sony sell the same size for less, so they will get the business.

The third assumption is only two things can be produced. This can't be though, because several large companies like Apple, Disney, and car dealerships all sell more than two products. This rule was set to make the graph easier. However, not many companies choose to sell only two products.

Finally the last assumption is that technology is fixed. Technology is constantly growing and changing. It started with the Space Race and hasn't been the same since. To say that technology is fixed is ridiculous when the Iphone five just came out with brand new technology.

More States Legalize Marijuana

In class we talked about all of the states that were deciding to legalize marijuana. We watched a video on the topic and I decided to look up an article to get more information. The link is here: http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/07/politics/marijuana-legalization/index.html?hpt=hp_inthenews. The article got me thinking and here is what I thought.

As time progresses more and more states are starting to legalize marijuana. Those that want to legalize marijuana, argue that marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol and tobacco. They also go as far as to say alcohol and tobacco are more dangerous.  So it shouldn't be any more illegal than alcohol and tobacco. Another point according to Alan Duke is, "Legalization could save U.S. taxpayers the $10 billion spent each year on enforcing marijuana prohibition, and eliminate the criminal cases against more than 750,000 people arrested per year for possession,". This evidence supports those pro marijuana, proves that taxes would decrease, and the number of arrests would go down. However, they do not want to see the many down falls to legalizing marijuana. 

They said crime rates would go down, but Alan Duke found proof to say otherwise. "Three forfeiture lawsuits were filed and warning letters were sent to 71 "illegal marijuana stores" in Los Angeles and Huntington Park, California, in September by federal authorities." Marijuana brings trouble wherever it goes. They say crime will go down, but they are giving drug dealers free rain to sell out in the open. With marijuana you may not be able to over dose, but your self control and memory will be gone. Then there is the fact when they call it "medical marijuana". If you are truly sick then it is understandable, but people are lining up for their "get marijuana legally" cards. These people are completely healthy whic means the marijuana was never for medical use. That was only an excuse to legalize marijuana and get it more conveniently. This is all just a way for them to make marijuana more accessible and legal. So the only question left is what will the Government do? A large majority are starting to legalize and the government wants balance. Do they make a law flat out calling it illegal or do they pass a law to make it legal? Only the future can tell.

Checks and Balnaces

The checks and balances is what balance our three branches of government. This keeps all of the branches under control and not going farther or making laws that are un-Constitutional. I liked learning about this system because I thought the branches just made laws and that was that. To learn that the system of checks and balances made sure the laws are truly Constitutional and that way no one can ever feel cheated out of their opinions.

Democracy or Republic?

Why is the Constitution considered both Democratic and Republican?

Both elect a president and both let the people vote. Each has their own little differences. The democrats let the people choose representatives who elect the president. Whereas the republicans let the citizens elect the president. This is why our democracy has two different parties to choose from. These views are left for more citizens so they can have two candidates  to choose from. These point of views give the citizens the chance to pick a candidate who they think will suit our country the best. Having two parties gives the true meaning of Democracy.

Swaziland

Why are the women more prone to getting HIV/AIDS than the men?

The women are more likely to attain HIV/AIDS  because they constantly expose themselves to un-clean conditions. Then they live in such a poverty enforced state that they cannot take a proper cleanliness pre-caution. More of the men work for the king and live ok. However, a larger majority is the women because of the exposure of so much skin and bad conditions added together. It is a breading ground for disease. The men wear clothing except for guard shifts, which isn't as bad, so less of a spread in the end.

Postcards From Hell

The one that hit the hardest and just brought a feeling of overwhelming sadness was the was in Afghanistan. A little girl no older than my eleven year old cousin screams in terror at the sight of over seventy people laying dead at her feet. The look on her face is what really got to me. It was the moment someone broke her heart and realization dawned on her for the first time. Honestly, it disgusted me to see so many innocent lives taken for no reason. To put the little girl through so much pain, that she should had never had to feel at that age. Some of the other postcards held similar pictures. Bodies lined up and covered, all innocents. Death stood out to me and the sadness of it all to, because it is all so wrong.

The failed states have poverty, natural disasters, and wars in common. The majority of the pictures featured people living in ruins, buildings crumbling, lack of food, and droughts, caused these states to fail. However, their is also the war that leads to these conditions. We should be able to help make a difference, so why are most of them only getting worse? I think the answer is because a lot of us don't know how bad it really is. I knew their is poverty and wars in the world, but not until I saw the pictures did it click. Maybe the solution is spreading the word. However, words don't always work, we need to try and spread the word, by showing the word.

Reserved Powers

The Reserved Powers are stated in the Constitution under The 10th Amendment. They focus around each states individual powers. I never knew about each state having their own Constitution and honestly it made me feel naive. When I entered this class, I thought it would be like any other history class all things I already knew. However, I was surprised to learn about all the bigger things that goes into the Government. Learning that each state makes the decisions on marriage or simple things like school laws was really interesting. To see that each state has a say is great for Democracy. The Constitution of each state is great for separating and giving each person more of a voice. The U.S. Constitution is also the only thing that can over rule a states Constitution. This is a great way to keep the reserved powers under control, but can also be negative if the state has a right. Over all the Reserved Powers are a fantastic part of our Democracy.

Separation of Powers

In class we learned about the three branches of Government. It was new for me to learn about the separation of powers. With every branch of Government they have to be checked by each other before the bill even has a chance of being allowed to be passed. When I first learned about this I thought it was a great idea for a set number of reasons.  For one it spreads out power through out the entire Government. This is great because no one person has control over everything. This really shows how our Government is all about Democracy. The Legislative makes the laws, the Executive branch enforces the laws, and the Judicial branch interprets the laws. Seeing as they also separated who does what, it makes a nice balance between the different powers. The separation of powers backs that up too, because the Executive branch can't just enforce a law until the Legislative and Judicial agree.  I really enjoyed learning about the Separation of Powers because it really opened my eyes to the Government.

Proposition 8

Today in class we talked about Proposition 8. Honestly, I was shocked and horrified at the news that this article shared. I thought we were a country who was moving from discrimination. So how is it that with every one step forward we take four steps back. For many years in California there has been no problem with sam-sex marriages and then all of the sudden California decides to pass a law stating it is marriage between a man and a women only. My question is why? After all these years why make a fuss about it? They have never done anything wrong or tried to hurt us so why out of the blue now. It seems strange that in the United States we all try to be less discriminatory and think the world is moving forward (with the exception of a few people) and yet a state passes a law like this and stirs up trouble again. Maybe everyone is looking for a problem but doesn't that old saying go "don't fix what isn't broken"? It seems strange to me that after coming so far with slavery, sexuality, religion, and so much more that the U.S. had to fall backwards again. Are we not supposed to learn from our mistakes? The answer is yes we are so why do we keep repeating them over and over again for no reason. In the end right always wins over wrong. It may take a while and years of hard work to open peoples minds and stopping them from being naive, but when it finally pays off things run so much smoother. It is just sad that the U.S. has hit another bump in the road with something as silly as caring about if someone else wants to get married to the same-sex. This is life and seeing this issue pop up again is shocking because I thought the U.S. was past this, that the world was past this. I guess not, but someday we all will get along and that, that will be the day.