daily blog 5/31

The Statue of Liberty is a symbol for immigrants that they have they reached the new land and as they arrived at Ellis Island. It certainly meant a lot back then but we talked about if it has a purpose now. At this point it's just there as a symbol I think and a memory of the days when ships came in to the "new land"!

daily blog 5/26

I am pretty sure that everyone knows what I'm trying to say when I attempt to get a point across in a discussion but it seems that no matter what anyone says, someone else has to shut it down. I admit, I am guilty of doing this to people but it's actually really obnoxious when you're trying to make sense but people won't take you seriously. Like today in our discussion about how worker's rights should be dealt with. It was kind of difficult to understand at first what would really be the best way but soon enough, as usual, people formulated opinions and the class turned into one big argument. Like always. Don't get me wrong, I like to debate but it really does get tiring after a while.

daily blog 5/25

Westing was all we talked about today. Like, if that is a a good enough way to judge someone's character for accepting people in to certain things (like police academy or something). And also the difference between knowing and understanding which actually don't mean the same thing (which people sometimes confuse). Ultimately, understanding encompasses both meanings because if you understand something, you typically know it.

daily blog 5/24

Today's class was full of confusing hypothetical situations that got everyone in a fluster and that some people seemed to take to literally. It seems the topic of wages in society and how that system works was a little bit too much for us to grasp. By the end I think most everyone understood what Mr. Boyle was trying to say but it sure took a long time to get there.

daily blog 5/23

In class we talked about Rockefeller and how he made his success to a monoply with the oil business. One of his major steps was selligh stocks which is a good business tactic. We then landed on the topic of the stock market and how it works. It was good to learn that because I feel like I always here about the stock market but I never really knew what it was and the point of it until now.

daily blog 5/19

We learned the definitions of monoply and oligopoly (besides that the first one is a game). They have to do with their being only one (mono) company in a certain field or multiple (oligo). Some examples of oligopoly are the cereal business; kellogs, general mills, post, etc. As for monopoly, Andrew Carnegie was a good example of that with his steel industry! Throughout the course of his life he improved his business by buying out other companies and incorporating materials to make a cheaper product which in the end, resulted in a monoply.  

daily blog 5/16

Again we talked about Andrew Carnegie but rather than focusing on the way the world sees him, we focused more on his opinions. For instance, his views on the wealthy of this day and age (such as Paris Hilton), some of his business tactics, his thoughts on how the rich should use their money, and other opinions of his. All in all it gave me a better idea of who Andrew Carnegie was himself and also I learned some good life lessons like, always let your lawyer take care of it!

daily blog 5/10

We learned about the positives and negatives of industrialization through a popular children's book, The Lorax. I always got the gist that that story was about all the negatives of factories and major companies and how they ruin nature but I never thought of it showing the positives. Even though that book is for little kids, it really does apply to real life in many ways.

daily blog 5/9

We talked about Thomas Edison and his supposed genius and how it affected society. We did so by reading either Calvin Coolidge's speech or a letter by a 1920's housewife. I had the wife's letter and I found it interesting how much they depended on electricity and how much we do too in this generation. As for thanking Edison for this, I don't think that is completely necessary. He may have sparked a good deal of technology revolution but he didn't invent most of the things that she was thanking him for in her letter. I think he's just a little overrated and I wouldn't necessarily call him a genius.

daily blog 5/3

This is my 100th blog post! And it is also the 3rd day that Osama bin Laden has been dead. It's a weird thing to see people celebrate over someone's death. As much as he was an evil person, I still don't think its something to throw a party about. When I see people in the streets celebrating his death, I just think that this makes us like Al Qeada when 9/11 happened. The discussion we had in class about the situation was very interesting and I learned a lot more about the whole situation and also what we have to be afraid for. I'm just afraid Osama supporters are going to want revenge and lash out against the US. With all that aside I do feel a lot safer now