Current Events: 5/17/13

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/05/16/after-irs-targeting-tea-party-says-their-fears-confirmed/?hpt=po_t1

Recently, the IRS was accused of increased scrutiny to tea party members, resulting in the resignation of the commissioner of the IRS.

Political Cartoon 5/10/13

Current events: 5/3/13

Current Events: 4/12/13

Makes PaPierre, executie vice president of NRA look bad. Looks like a monster and an idiot for not doing anything against gun deaths.

US vs Universal Health Care

US:

·      Benefits the rich

·      Creates jobs through health insurance

·      Instant gratification

·      Better standards of care

·      Doctors and Specialists get the $

·      Supports individualism

·      Lessens government-regulated wages. More free market.

Universal:

·      Everyone is equal

·      Supports the poor and uninsured

·      Don’t have to worry about finding a job that provides insurance

·      More taxes

·      Longer lines for the less urgent cases

·      Increased government control on health care

·      More government control on factors that would cause health issues (smoking, fast food, etc…)

Universal vs US healthcare

Universal VS US Healthcare

US:

·      Benefits the rich

·      Creates jobs through health insurance

·      Instant gratification

·      Better standards of care

·      Doctors and Specialists get the $

·      Supports individualism

·      Lessens government-regulated wages. More free market.

Universal:

·      Everyone is equal

·      Supports the poor and uninsured

·      Don’t have to worry about finding a job that provides insurance

·      More taxes

·      Longer lines for the less urgent cases

·      Increased government control on health care

·      More government control on factors that would cause health issues (smoking, fast food, etc…)

3/14/13: Current Event Political Cartoon

The above political cartoon is putting a negative viewpoint on American mentality. It is saying that many Americans believed that the fiscal cliff was going to be very hard to get through when in reality, according to the author, the upcoming budget cuts (sequester) is going to be far worse.

Current Events 3/7/13

RAT MASSACRE!  <- Link

Political Cartoons 3/6/13

 This political cartoon portrays the Obama and democratic solution to America (Uncle Sam)'s enormous debt (weight). The democrats are declaring that Obama's increased spending programs that are designed to reduce debt are amazing and are bound to cut debt in half while the skeptical republican party is unimpressed and says that it working is unbelievable. Literally.

Political Cartoons 3/4/13

The above cartoon illustrates the statue of liberty with a surprised expression holding a garbage bucket of nuclear waste. This cartoon symbolizes how America is becoming a sort of "dumping ground" or "garbage collector" of nuclear waste. With various nuclear waste facilities to contain nuclear waste from all over the world. The stature of liberty, which once used to greet incoming immigrants from other countries, is now greeting as much nuclear waste as it used to people.

DBQs

The three countries that increased the amount of money spent on weapons were Germany, France, and Great Britain.

This increased the chance of war by having three world powers with a higher quantity and more sophisticated weapons resource that is necessary to fight wars.

Great Britain, France, and Russia were the members of the triple entente. The members of the triple alliance were Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary. The alliance system contributed to the outbreak of World War 1 by tying the countries together. So that if one country went to war against another the alliances would be pulled in and all six countries would be at war.

The accusations made by Austria-Hungary to Serbia are that they did nothing to stop movements against Austria-Hungary.  They allowed the media to condemn Austria-Hungary and did not punish them.

The two demands that Austria-Hungary made on Serbia was their word that they would punish the movements against Austria-Hungary and that Austria-Hungarian representatives be allowed to help suppress these movements.

Germany was responsible for World War 1 because they "started it" and they lost.

The position that the German delegation leader presented was that Germany was fighting a war of defense and was not solely responsible for World War 1.

He said that the war was caused by the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, imperialism, and the mobilization of Russia.

According to the author all European countries were responsible for the outbreak of WW1.

He said that leaders in Europe did things that lead to a military buildup and a declaration of war or they did nothing to stop these events as evidence for his claim.

The role that the assassination and the ultimatum played in the outbreak of the way is that the ultimatum built up tension and pressure in Europe and the assassination sparked the fire that sent Europe into the blazing inferno of war.

The responsibility that the alliance systems played in the outbreak of the way was that as two countries would enter into conflict their allies would then be obligated to support each other and side within their alliance systems. So if one country had tension with another it would cause both treaties to then be turned against each other and for tension to buildup.

Causes of World War 1:

·      Armament buildup

·      A strong alliance system

·      Anti-Austria-Hungarian groups in Serbia (Black Hand)

·      Imperialistic conflicts

·      Nationalism

·      Military buildup/action

·      Increasing demands made by the two separate alliance systems

Punic Wars Project

2/16/13: Top Ten Most Important Battles of History

1. Tours- I chose the battle of Tours as my most important battle because of its effect on religion. Although the battle of Vienna and Astrianople had the same affect, Tours was closer to the nations that would eventually send explorers and colonists to the new world and would have taken less time for Islam to spread to those countries.

2. Mohammad's Conquest of Mecca- If Mohammad would not have successfully taken the city of Mecca then Islam would most probably not exist. The entire middle eastern region would be completely changed, the second largest religion in the world not exist, and many other important historical events would never have happened or have been dramatically changed.

3. Marathon- If the Greeks would have failed in holding back the Persians at Marathon the idea of Democracy would not exist. Democracy would not have spread to Rome and Western Civilization as we know it would be radically changed.

4. Astrianople- For the same reasons of the battle of Tours I chose to put the battle of Astrianople on my list. Although it happened before the battle of Tours it was also farther away from the countries that would send colonists to the new world, therefore Islam would have reached far Western-Europe first if Tours had been lost rather than if Astrianople had. Besides, Constantinople eventually fell anyways.

5. Yorktown- The battle that decided the fate of the American Revolution is crucial to the history of the world, in both outcomes. Had the British won the USA could still be a collection of British colonies, unless if a second revolution would have risen that was successful. In this second scenario Britain would have then outlawed slavery, thus America would not have slaves. Since America would not have had slaves most of the disputes over which the civil war started would not have arisen and the civil war would never have occurred, saving over 600,000 lives.

6. The Crusades- If the Europeans were to have been successful in their conquest of the holy land then the affects of Islam would be much less prominent in the world has Jerusalem and modern Israel, along with Turkey, would be a christian majority. This christian influence in the Middle East could possibly spread and lessen the strong presence of Islam in the middle east.

7. Second Punic War- I know this is not a battle, but there is no battle that was the clear indicator that Hannibal would not conquer Rome. Had Hannibal, however, succeeded in conquering Rome the ideas of Republic and Democracy would again be lost and western culture would be forever changed.

8. Gettysburg- Under the circumstance that the south had won the battle of Gettysburg the Confederates would have easily been able to march into Washington and declare their official independence. The world would now recognize the Confederate States of America as a country and the USA's affect on future wars would be significantly less if they were divided.

9. Stalingrad- The battle that halted the German advance is one to take note of. Had the Germans successfully pushed through Stalingrad they would have access to much more resources to replenish their army and would have prevented the eventual Russian march on Berlin. This spare time could have given the Nazis the time necessary to develop their nuclear bomb, and potentially use it.

10. D-Day- The battle that ranks the lowest on my list is the battle that turned the tide of the Second World War. Germany was no longer on the offensive and the Western front was officially being pushed into Germany. Had this battle not occurred, or had been lost, the Germans would have been able to continue their offensive tactics or perhaps prolong the war, which could have led to the development of the German atom bomb and the ultimate loss of the war for the Allies.

1/7/13: Obama dictator?

Some claim that Obama is a dictator in the rising and will become the likes of Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin. I disagree with this prediction.  Below I have posted the list of things that are most important in making a dictator, and compare them to Obama to support my disagreement.

Poor economic crisis/conditions of terrible times

Control of the media

Develop a cult of personality

Use the schools

Laws to give you more power

Eliminate other political parties

Isolated/Eliminated potential rivals

Censored free speech

Promised change/better times

Powerful/Motivating speaker

Developed a scapegoat

Perused territorial expansion

Used nationalism

Gained power legally

Used religion

Military background

Hard childhood

Educated but not successful 

America is not in economic crisis. Unemployment is rising and the slight difficulties we are encountering are not nearly as bad as those from which dictators rose from.

Obama does not control the media. Go to fox news channel for proof.

Obama does not have a cult of personality. He does claim to be superior or greater then anyone else.

Obama does not use the schools. Our textbooks are not rewritten to teach us how great Obama and democrats are.

Obama has not passed any laws to give him more power in the government.

Obama has not eliminated other political parties or isolated/eliminated potential rivals. The Republican party is alive and well and Obama is not sacking anyone too close to his power (i.e. Joe Biden)

Obama has not censored free speech. I can say anything negative about Obama that I want.

Obama HAS promised change, even integrated it into his slogan. Wait- what president hasn't promised better times?

Obama is a powerful speaker, but he is no Adolf Hitler. He does not get as into his speeches as Hitler or Mussolini did.

Obama has not developed a scapegoat. Except perhaps the GOP. However his scapegoat is not a religious, ethnic, or racial group as it was for the dictators.

Obama is not pursuing nor has he ever pursued territorial gains. 

Obama does use nationalism a little bit. So did John F Kennedy, considered to be one of the greatest American presidents. ("Ask not what your country can do for you-ask what you can do for your country.")

Obama is not gaining power legally or attempting to.

Obama clearly states that he respects all religions and does not use a certain one to gain power.

Obama does not have a military background.

Obama DID struggle as a child, this is the one main aspect he shares with the dictators.

Whether Obama struggled in middle school/high school is unknown. We know he became successful as he became senator and now president.

Current events

Link for my current event: http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/30/world/africa/drone-poaching-ol-pejeta/index.html?hpt=wo_t4

1/24: Top ten list of things Europeans did to get more power

1. Conquest of other territories.

2. Repelling invaders and uniting the people.

3. Claim the throne from a relative

4. Spread power through trading routes

5. Send Bailiffs to insure the king's rule is present throughout the kingdom and collect taxes.

6. Take power from the lords through a parliament

7. Have unconditional desire to gain land.

8. Mold cultures into one people

9. Be motivated by previous generations' failures.

10. Have ambition to gain power

Revised (Mr Crandel's list)

 1. Common set of laws (Henry the Second)-Incorrect

 2. State officials to enforce the laws (Philip Augustus)

 3. Court system for centralized justice (Henry the Second, Louis the Ninth)-Incorrect

 4. Tax collection by the central government (Philip Augustus, William the Conqueror)

 5. Get those who are a threat to you part of the system (Edward the First)

 6. Standing Army loyal to the king (Philip Augustus)-Not in reading

 7. Get religion to confirm or approve your power (Philip the Fourth)-Incorrect

1/21: Government Definitions

Bureaucracy: A group of non-elected officials that decides and implements the rules, laws, and ideas of their institution.

Aristocracy: Rule by a group of a privileged upper class. Only certain members of society have a say.

Constitutionalism: Governing body is restricted by a set of higher laws.

Autocracy: Rule by a single individual.

Monarchy: Autocratic government where power is inherited, elected upon an individual, or otherwise maintained.

Dictatorship: An individual or small group of individuals has total control of the people. Can take away freedoms.

Totalitarianism: Government controls all aspects of society and daily life.

Absolutism: Usually an autocracy where the ruler has no restrictions and absolute power.

Democracy: Every qualified individual has a say in decisions either directly or through elected representatives.

Oligarchy: Rule by a few individuals who are usually conneted by family ties, are wealthy, or have a valued skill set.