Another Great Depression?

If something similar to the Great Depression happened today I would have the most trouble giving up traveling. If we were in a large economic recession I'm sure that my family would stop paying for gasoline. (We can barely afford it now) I hate staying at home and being bored, i would probably start reading books, which would be new to me. Our economy is going into a recession, but hopefully we learned from the Great Depression and can fix our countries problems.

Teddy Roosevelt: Wildlife Conservation

I found a very interesting article while I was researching Teddy Roosevelt.
http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life/conservation.htm

I has a good opening paragraph that basically summarizes what Roosevelt did as far as conservation.

"One of President Theodore Roosevelt's most lasting and significant contributions to the world was the permanent preservation of the some of the most unique natural resources of the United States. According to the National Geographic, the area of the United States placed under public protection by Theodore Roosevelt, as National Parks, National Forests, game and bird preserves, and other federal reservations, comes to a total of approximately 230,000,000 acres or about 84,000 acres per day!"

Teddy was said to have a interest in natural history, this made him more environmentally conscious. Roosevelt is remembered today as one of the first presidents to help conserve our wildlife.

City of Factories

I found a great little video clip from a PBS documentary. It's called "MAQUILÁPOLIS [City of Factories] Take a look.........

http://http//youtube.com/watch?v=tRdu5qo-htU&feature=related

A Typical Day for a Mexican Sweatshop Worker

I found a great source discussing the topic of Mexican sweatshops. Its called “Sweatshops In Mexico”
Labor is a lot cheaper in Mexico than in the Unites States, so it is cheap and convenient for American companies to have their products made in Mexico. Not surprisingly, a lot of the factories that made these products were built near the US/Mexican border. These factories are known as "maquila" or "maquiladora".
This is what a typical day might have in store for a sweatshop worker.

Pay and working conditions can be terrible. This is what two women told human rights workers about the maquila where they work in Tehuacan, south-east of Mexico City:
Each shift is from 8.30 am until 8.30 pm, but if workers do not complete the number of clothes they have been told to make that day, they must work longer without any pay;
On Saturdays, people must work from 8 am until 5 pm without a lunch break;
Workers are paid between $30 and $50 per week;
Girls as young as 12 and 13 work in the factory;
When workers leave the factory (to go to lunch or to go home) they are searched to make sure they haven't stolen anything;
When women are hired, they are tested to see if they are pregnant. If they are pregnant, they are fired.
If you arrive 15 minutes late, you must work for 3 days without pay.
When one man was sick for a day, he lost a whole week's pay.
When maquila workers organized an independent trade union about 10 years ago, one of its leaders was assassinated. And on one occasion when some human rights workers visited a maquila, armed guards put guns to their heads. The maquila workers were terrified that their bosses might find out who had been talking. So life as a Mexican sweatshop over is got a great life at all. I am very grateful for being born in the greatest country in the world.

Invention In Late 19th Century

A late 19th century invention that greatly effects my everyday life would be the telephone. The telephone, invented by Alexander Graham Bell (March 3, 1847, Edinburgh, Scotland - August 2, 1922, Baddek, Nova Scotia) invented the telephone (with Thomas Watson) in 1876. Bell also improved Thomas Edison's phonograph. Bell invented the multiple telegraph (1875), the hydroairplane, the photo-sensitive selenium cell (the photophone, a wireless phone, developed with Sumner Tainter), and new techniques for teaching the deaf to speak. Obviously Bell has improved life for the rest of us. Without a telephone, (or should I say cell phone), I wouldn't be able to carry out my daily routine. In today's society, communication is an important factor in almost every Americans life. The constant need for communication is growing, and Bell started it all.

California v. Bakke

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke,(1978) was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States on affirmative action. It made quota systems in college admissions but affirms the "constitutionality" of affirmative action programs giving equal access to minorities.

Minority applicants to the University of California, Davis, Medical School went through a different admissions process than white applicants. Minority applicants who checked a box stating they wished to be considered as "economically and/or educationally disadvantaged" applicants were directed to the separate admissions committee. Bakke applied to the school in 1973 and 1974 and was denied both times. In 1973 he had a benchmark score of 468 out of 500, but no regular applicants were admitted after him with a score below 470. Bakke, however, was not considered for four special admissions slots which had not yet been filled. Bakke wrote a letter of complaint to Dr. George H. Lowrey, the Associate Dean and Chairman of the Admissions Committee, complaining the special admissions program was not what it claimed to be (a program to help the underprivileged), but a racial and ethnic quota.

Handed down on June 23, 1978, the decision of the Court was announced by Justice Lewis Powell. The court ruled 5-4 that race could be one, but only one, of numerous factors used by discriminatory boards, like those of college admissions. Powell found that quotas insulated minority applicants from competition with the regular applicants and were thus unconstitutional because they discriminated against regular applicants. This is a prime example of reverse discrimination which we discussed in class.

Brown vs. Board of Education

Brown vs. The Board of Education was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court, which overturned earlier rulings going back to Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, by declaring that state laws that established separate public schools for black and white students denied black children equal educational opportunities.

But in class we discussed something very interesting. Did this ruling change the people's attitudes towards African-Americans or did it just change the school. Our class came to the conclusion that people didn't change just the school's rules. After the integration of schools, many parents pulled there children from public schools and enrolled then in a private academy. so public schools ended up closeing.

Here is a map of states regarding school separation.

Plessy v. Ferguson

On June 7, 1892, a 30-year-old colored shoemaker named Homer Plessy was jailed for sitting in the "White" car of the East Louisiana Railroad. Plessy was only one-eighths black and seven-eighths white, but under Louisiana law, he was considered black and therefore required to sit in the "Colored" car. Plessy went to court and argued, in Homer Adolph Plessy v. The State of Louisiana, that the Separate Car Act violated the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution. The judge at the trial was John Howard Ferguson, a lawyer from Massachusetts who had previously declared the Separate Car Act "unconstitutional on trains that traveled through several states"
I don't understand what the thought process of people in the 1800's was!

Women's Less Than Full Equality Under The U.S. Constitution

This is an article i found that was very interesting.......................
(Patricia Ireland, NOW President)

At a time when women are astronauts and truck drivers, it is hard to believe that the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee women the same rights as men. For most women, equality is a bread-and-butter issue. Women are still paid less on the job and charged more for everything from dry cleaning to insurance. The value of a woman's unpaid work in the home is often not taken into account in determining divorce settlements and pension benefits. When women turn to the courts to right these wrongs, they are at a distinct disadvantage because of what has and hasn't happened to the Constitution.In 1776 Abigail Adams urged her husband, John, that he and other framers of our founding documents should, "Remember the ladies." John, who went on to become our second president, responded, "Depend upon it. We know better than to repeal our masculine systems," and women were left out of the Constitution.Nearly a hundred years later, Congress adopted amendments to the Constitution to end slavery and provide justice to former slaves. The 14th Amendment, passed in 1868, guaranteed all "persons" the right to "equal protection under the law." However, the second section of the amendment used the words "male citizens," in describing who would be counted in determining how many representatives each state gets in Congress. This was the first time the Constitution said point blank that women were excluded. Similarly, the 15th Amendment in 1870 extended voting rights to all men -- but not to any women.It wasn't all doom and gloom for women in the 19th and early 20th centuries, though. Two women active in world anti-slavery efforts, Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, were leaders at the first-ever "Women's Rights Convention" in Seneca Falls, N. Y., in 1848. Their "Declaration of Sentiments" included this play on the Declaration of Independence, "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal."These women and others went on to form what became known as the suffrage movement. We now consider the suffragists the "first wave" of the U.S. feminist movement. During their long campaign to win women the right to vote, they used strategies including marches, pickets, arrests and hunger strikes. They triumphed in 1920 when the states ratified the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which corrected the long-time injustice the 15th Amendment had put into writing.Suffragist leader Alice Paul authored the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to remedy women's exclusion from the 14th Amendment. Introduced in 1923, the ERA was buried in Congress for nearly 50 years. In the late 1960s, the "second wave" of feminist activists took up Alice Paul's cause. After getting the ERA voted out of Congress, we held marches, organized boycotts, lobbied and worked on election campaigns to try to get it passed by the necessary three-fourths of the states. When an arbitrary time limit expired in 1982, the ERA was just three states short of the 38 required for ratification.The history of supreme rulings on women's rights makes clear why a constitutional guarantee of women's equality is needed. During the first 200 years of our country's history, the Supreme Court justices never saw a discriminatory law against women they didn't like. Illinois wanted to keep women from practicing law? The court in 1873 cited "the law of the Creator" as good enough reason to protect these delicate creatures -- grown women -- from being sullied by the corruption of legal and business practices.Time and again, women were really being protected from making too much money. Oregon wanted to limit the number of hours women could work? The court in 1908 ruled that women must "rest upon and look to (men) for protection" and also -- in a contradictory view of men -- that the law was needed "to protect (women) from the greed as well as the passion of man." Michigan wanted to allow women to work as waitresses but keep them out of higher-paid bartender jobs? The court in 1948 did not see this as a violation of the Constitution's guarantee of "equal protection."In modern times, Supreme Court rulings on women's rights have zigged and zagged, backward and forward. In a 1961 case, the justices upheld Florida's virtual exclusion of women from juries because "women are the center of home and family life." The defendant had bludgeoned her husband to death and wanted jurors who might understand how she could be driven to such a deed.Finally, in 1971, pioneering feminist attorney Ruth Bader Ginsburg made the first breakthrough in the court's "anything goes" attitude toward sex discrimination. She convinced the court to throw out an Idaho law that automatically gave preference to a man over an equally qualified woman when appointing the person responsible for disposing of the property of someone who has died. Ginsburg went on to become the second woman appointed to serve on the Supreme Court. In 1973, the Court struck down a U.S. Air Force policy that automatically gave a married man family housing and medical allowances, while a married woman had to prove she was the "head of household," ie, that she provided all of her own expenses plus at least half of her families in order to qualify for the family benefits.But in 1977 the justices were back to an old-fashioned view, a more narrow reading of women's equality. A bright eighth-grade girl, named Susan, who'd won science awards wanted to attend Philadelphia's all-boys Central High. It was an academically superior public school; even the school board admitted Girls High had inferior science facilities. But the Supreme Court upheld Central High's exclusion of Susan solely because she was a girl.More recently, in a 1987 decision that is the only Supreme Court case dealing with affirmative action for women, the justices upheld a county's voluntary plan. The justices allowed the promotion to stand, and the women became the first ever promoted to one of the country's 238 skilled craft jobs. A qualified woman was promoted over a man who had a slightly higher score based on interviews with a team of three men. One of them had called the woman a "rabble rousing skirt" and another had refused to issue her the required coveralls for a previous job.A case that was before the court in its 1996-1997 term drove home the inequities that still exist at the dawn of the 21st century. A jury had convicted a judge of violating the civil rights of five women by raping, sexually assaulting and harassing the women. An appeals court overruled the jury. Even though courts have ruled repeatedly that it is a violation a person's civil rights to be beaten by a police officer, the appeals court could not see anything in the Constitution that would put this judge on notice that it is just as wrong to rape a woman.Without a constitutional guarantee of women's equality, even favorable rulings and good laws on women's rights can be ignored, revoked or overruled. Feminist activists have not given up on a women's equality amendment. We know that to get women into the Constitution we will have to elect a lot more people who support that idea. We look to the young women and men who are addressing issues of equality and justice in high schools across the country. We are confident that this "third wave" will soon be ready to accept the baton.
I do believe as a part of the "third wave" that we can carry the torch of women's equality, and give equal opportunies for all.

Catholic School Girls Steal Cookies

Last week at the Holocaust Symposium schools from all over came too learn about the terrible tragedy that occured durning the 1900's.Anyway's........There were a couple of private schools that made Conrad Weiser look like a bunch of unorganized bums. When we separated into groups, Mike W., Zach B. and myself were put in a group with about 5 Catholic girls. After the survivor finished her story, he were able to go out and get our lunch. There was a big table with bagged lunches, inside each was a sandwich, chips and a cookie etc. Well, when we went to go get our lunch, all the Catholic chicks were opening all the lunches and stealing the cookies!!!!!!! I was infuriated >:( My opinion has deff. changed about Catholic schools.

Brett Favre is Finally Done!!!!!!

Brett Favre announced this week that he is officially retiring from the NFL. It is about time. At least he will retire on top. I do believe that he was one of the best quarterbacks of all time. He is definitely the most entertaining player of my time. He ended his career at the right time, i am happy for him. Now we will see him next to mike Ditka and Rafael Palmero doing levitra commercials..........

They are all horrible! Whats the difference!!!

Officials at St. Mary's Academy in Kansas refused to let a female referee call a boys basketball game. Ummm....... i dont undertand. I play football baseball and used to play basketball. I remember having women as refs. They are no different, they call the games just as bad as a man would. I dont understand what the difference is, it is ridiculous. The ref. Michelle Campbell said: "I have never experience anything like that. I was dumbfounded" Oh i bet you were Michelle, this once again proves that women are still not seen as equal to men (not me but in general). If i was in this situation I wouls sue St. Mary's for all their money!!!

Gibson Les Paul BFG

If I ever have enough cash, this will be my new baby!!!

Species: MahoganyProfile: 1960’s slim taperPeghead Pitch: 17”Note: No truss rod coverFINGERBOARD:Species: RosewoodScale Length: 24-3/4”Number of Frets: 22Nut Width: 1.695”Inlays: White side dots onlyFingerboard Binding: None
HARDWARE:Plating Finish: Gun metal (Trans Cherry finish)Distressed Black Chrome (Trans Black and Trans Gold finish)Tailpiece: Stopbard (distressed)Bridge: Tune-o-maticKnobs: Two wooden volumes, one wooden toneTuners: Grover (distressed)
ELECTRONICS:Neck Pickup: P-90Bridge Pickup: Zebra Burstbucker 3Controls: 2 volume, 1 tone, 3 way switch (no washer or cap)Kill switch

Women's Rights

"Women are human beings, and consequently have all the natural rights that any human beings can have. They have just as good a right to make laws as men have, and no better; AND THAT IS JUST NO RIGHT AT ALL. No human being, nor any number of human beings, have any right to make laws, and compel other human beings to obey them. To say that they have is to say that they are the masters and owners of those of whom they require such obedience."
This is a quote from a piece written by John T. Kennedy. It perfectly describes my feeling towards women's rights. Who has the right to say women can't contribute. Women have fought for there rights and earned them. Sadly, I believe women still don't have the same opportunities that men have today, for various reasons. They have just as much to offer in today's society, I don't get why it took so long for women to become "equal".