Saturday, November 29, 2008
Analysis of Thanksgiving and Black Friday/Buy Nothing Day and AWOL
Thanksgiving being the day where we (most Americans) spend time with our families eating turkey and lots of other foods and being thankful generally for the food we eat and the family we have. This holiday traces back to the slautering of natives which does not quite match up. Then the day after thanksgiving, (most Americans) go out to all the sales and buy things they maybe did not really need until it was on sale. Families rush out early in the morning to their favorite stores and buy as much as they can afford or as much as they can get their hands on. Black Friday is closely related to one of the dominant frameworks of America, capitalism, the more money we spend, the higher the increase of our gross domestic product which is everyone's income or the amount of money everyone spends, and if lots of people spend lots of money on black Friday, the GDP will increase. Also relating to one of the main components of capitalism, the free market, the person selling the items can make their prices as low as they want as long as they still make profit, if the prices are low and affordable, more people will buy. But not only do Americans spend money on black Friday, they also spend money of the food they plan to eat on thanksgiving, the costumes they dress up in on halloween, the christmas decorations, the christmas presents, the super sweet 16s, the chocolates, roses, and cards on valentines day. In general, it seems to be that America looks for reasons to spend money, so these holidays and traditions are thrown at us so we can increase the GDP. This also relates to another dominant framework of the American way of life, government, considering that the government controls the flow of money in our economic system, they play a part in this family based holiday. Lincoln even created this holiday as the president, as part of the government. This holiday, and other holidays in addition, relate to the American way of life which is built up of mainly, economics, and government.
Part B
Deeper In The Constitution
The “Full Faith & Credit” provision in Article 4. What does that mean for gay marriage?- This part of article 4 means that congress is responsible for allowing each state to have their own legal actions. Which means that each state can have a set of laws that can be different or similar from the other states, Congress gives the states that freedom. For gay marriage this means that a couple can get married even if they are living in a state that does not allow it but they will have to get married in another state that does allow it. They are able to go to that other state and be legally wed in that state because this article of the constitution allows it to happen.
What is the Supreme Law of the Land? What is the significance, in your opinion, of the “No religious test” clause.-The supreme law of the land is that all decisions are made under the authority of the United States. There is no religious test to qualify for any office or public trust under the U.S. (being apart of the authority of the U.S) This is important because it shows that this country is not religiously based (or appears to be)and does not let religion get in the way of a citizen's success. This article allows the people of the United States to follow any religion they want and does not hold their decision against them when looking for qualification in any office or public trust under the U.S.
Is the 4th Amendment contradicted by MTA, library, and/or airport searches?- The 4th ammendment being that the government is not able to search a persons items or house, and they are not allowed to take a persons items without a good reason. It also states that the goverment cannot search items or arrest a person without a warrent. As we notice when we make our exciting trips to the library (sometimes we take the subway to get there) or go fly to an exhotic place (or not so exhotic, whatever your preference), first we must go through the (sometimes)long and tedious searches where they look inside any bags you carry and sometimes they take items that seem suspicious (they are more strict at the airport), for example, my cousin had her baby lotion taken away from her and she was not too happy about that, perhaps it had some sort of sentimental value or maybe she just had really bad skin, I dont know, but she I know she did feel violated. But the reason that the goverment takes such actions is because they are suspicious and paranhoid about terrorist attacks and do not want to relive 9/11, to make sure this does not happen they feel that they have to search every person that goes on a flight. The ammendment does say that the goverment must have a good reason to search or take items. Whether their reasoning is a good one or not is debatable. The answer to that and to whether this contridicts the 4th ammendment is a subjective one, depending on who you are talking to, you will get a different answer. But I cannot see any other alternative to ensure safty when at an airport, library, or subway. It has its advantages and disadvantages.
What do the 6th & 7th Amendments show about US fears of a bad government which would use its powers to unfairly arrest and convict innocent people?-The 6th ammaedment says that a person who is accused of crime can call a speedy and public trial within the district, the accused must be told its consequences if found guilty and be present when witnesses testify against them. They also give the accused the right to a lawyer to represent them. The 7th ammendment says that Lawsuits based on common law, the people involved have a right to trial by jury, the jury who have no biased view of the case must decide who is guilty and who is innocent. These two ammendments reveal the fear the government have of unfairly arresting or convicting innocent people. Specifically, they allow each side of the case to have an attourney, giving them equal rights and making sure that the one who is guilty is being punished. They also make sure that the jurers do not favor one side over the other before the trial which would give them a slanted view of the case and making it unfair. These two rights make sure the one who is guilty pays the consequences and the one who is innocent remains.
The “Full Faith & Credit” provision in Article 4. What does that mean for gay marriage?- This part of article 4 means that congress is responsible for allowing each state to have their own legal actions. Which means that each state can have a set of laws that can be different or similar from the other states, Congress gives the states that freedom. For gay marriage this means that a couple can get married even if they are living in a state that does not allow it but they will have to get married in another state that does allow it. They are able to go to that other state and be legally wed in that state because this article of the constitution allows it to happen.
What is the Supreme Law of the Land? What is the significance, in your opinion, of the “No religious test” clause.-The supreme law of the land is that all decisions are made under the authority of the United States. There is no religious test to qualify for any office or public trust under the U.S. (being apart of the authority of the U.S) This is important because it shows that this country is not religiously based (or appears to be)and does not let religion get in the way of a citizen's success. This article allows the people of the United States to follow any religion they want and does not hold their decision against them when looking for qualification in any office or public trust under the U.S.
Is the 4th Amendment contradicted by MTA, library, and/or airport searches?- The 4th ammendment being that the government is not able to search a persons items or house, and they are not allowed to take a persons items without a good reason. It also states that the goverment cannot search items or arrest a person without a warrent. As we notice when we make our exciting trips to the library (sometimes we take the subway to get there) or go fly to an exhotic place (or not so exhotic, whatever your preference), first we must go through the (sometimes)long and tedious searches where they look inside any bags you carry and sometimes they take items that seem suspicious (they are more strict at the airport), for example, my cousin had her baby lotion taken away from her and she was not too happy about that, perhaps it had some sort of sentimental value or maybe she just had really bad skin, I dont know, but she I know she did feel violated. But the reason that the goverment takes such actions is because they are suspicious and paranhoid about terrorist attacks and do not want to relive 9/11, to make sure this does not happen they feel that they have to search every person that goes on a flight. The ammendment does say that the goverment must have a good reason to search or take items. Whether their reasoning is a good one or not is debatable. The answer to that and to whether this contridicts the 4th ammendment is a subjective one, depending on who you are talking to, you will get a different answer. But I cannot see any other alternative to ensure safty when at an airport, library, or subway. It has its advantages and disadvantages.
What do the 6th & 7th Amendments show about US fears of a bad government which would use its powers to unfairly arrest and convict innocent people?-The 6th ammaedment says that a person who is accused of crime can call a speedy and public trial within the district, the accused must be told its consequences if found guilty and be present when witnesses testify against them. They also give the accused the right to a lawyer to represent them. The 7th ammendment says that Lawsuits based on common law, the people involved have a right to trial by jury, the jury who have no biased view of the case must decide who is guilty and who is innocent. These two ammendments reveal the fear the government have of unfairly arresting or convicting innocent people. Specifically, they allow each side of the case to have an attourney, giving them equal rights and making sure that the one who is guilty is being punished. They also make sure that the jurers do not favor one side over the other before the trial which would give them a slanted view of the case and making it unfair. These two rights make sure the one who is guilty pays the consequences and the one who is innocent remains.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
The Preamble and First Three Articles of The Constitution
The Preamble:
The Preamble is the part of the constitution before it begins to talk about the regulations and laws etc. it basically summarizes the goals for the constitution and what the constitution will help America achieve. It says that, as a nation, we want a country that is a perfect union: in order to do this, we must be fair, be peaceful and without chaos, defend ourselves, stay healthy, bless ourselves and the coming generations, and create a constitution to make this happen.
Powers and Responsibilities of Legislative Branch:
-Assemble with the congress annually
-Make a record of progress, what was said and accomplished
-Determine rules and punishments for breaking these rules
-Create bills to then become a law
-Deal with taxes, pay debts, and ensure protection for the country
-Regulate bankruptcies and immigration issues
-Regulate the value of money
-Establush post offices and post roads
-Copyright protection
-Deal with issues relating to war
-Protect the citizens from being punished for something they did not do
-Regulate the amount of money the government spends
-Come to conclusions as a congress
(The Legislative branch is most important because it is closest to the people, a group of 45 year old white men in a basement we call our founding fathers decided that our nation should be citizen based where people of the United States can have a say in society which is why this branch has many responsibilities while the other branches do not have very many)
Powers and Responsibilities of The Executive Branch:
-Make decision (with consent of senators)
-Provide information for congress
Powers and Responsibilites of the Judicial Branch:
-The have jurisdiction over cases involving forign conflicts, conflicts between two states, and conflicts between citizens of different states
Description of My Feelings About The Constitution:
When I was taking notes and reading about the constitution I found it very tedious because there was so much to it that did not seem very significant to me. I feel like the way it was worded was somewhat challenging but once I understood what it was saying, it sounded so simple and it made me wonder, why didn't they just say that to begin with?...unless I have it interpreted incorrectly and its actually as complicated as it sounds, if that were the case, just disregard that last comment. But overall it was just tedious and boring for me.
Insights and Questions:
-Is the constitution effective? Does it achieve the goals stated in the preamble?
-Has there been situations where the articles have not been abided by and the government got away with it? (Bush vs. Gore election?) if we can't abide by it then what is the point of it? is there anything we can do to change that?, Personally, I think that there is very little we can do but because we have such little power in society (which completely contridicts the first article, trying to have the citizens involved with government decisions as much as possible) so people will not pay attention to what we have to say (even congress people)
-What's good about the constitution? What's bad about it? What should be changed? and how will the alteration benefit America? What would the consequesces of these benefits be?...there's always a catch
-Is it possible for citizens to be involved in the government as much as possible wihtout having chaos?, I would imagine that there would be many disagreements causing conflicts
-Is it possible to follow meet the standards that the preamble holds for America?
The Preamble is the part of the constitution before it begins to talk about the regulations and laws etc. it basically summarizes the goals for the constitution and what the constitution will help America achieve. It says that, as a nation, we want a country that is a perfect union: in order to do this, we must be fair, be peaceful and without chaos, defend ourselves, stay healthy, bless ourselves and the coming generations, and create a constitution to make this happen.
Powers and Responsibilities of Legislative Branch:
-Assemble with the congress annually
-Make a record of progress, what was said and accomplished
-Determine rules and punishments for breaking these rules
-Create bills to then become a law
-Deal with taxes, pay debts, and ensure protection for the country
-Regulate bankruptcies and immigration issues
-Regulate the value of money
-Establush post offices and post roads
-Copyright protection
-Deal with issues relating to war
-Protect the citizens from being punished for something they did not do
-Regulate the amount of money the government spends
-Come to conclusions as a congress
(The Legislative branch is most important because it is closest to the people, a group of 45 year old white men in a basement we call our founding fathers decided that our nation should be citizen based where people of the United States can have a say in society which is why this branch has many responsibilities while the other branches do not have very many)
Powers and Responsibilities of The Executive Branch:
-Make decision (with consent of senators)
-Provide information for congress
Powers and Responsibilites of the Judicial Branch:
-The have jurisdiction over cases involving forign conflicts, conflicts between two states, and conflicts between citizens of different states
Description of My Feelings About The Constitution:
When I was taking notes and reading about the constitution I found it very tedious because there was so much to it that did not seem very significant to me. I feel like the way it was worded was somewhat challenging but once I understood what it was saying, it sounded so simple and it made me wonder, why didn't they just say that to begin with?...unless I have it interpreted incorrectly and its actually as complicated as it sounds, if that were the case, just disregard that last comment. But overall it was just tedious and boring for me.
Insights and Questions:
-Is the constitution effective? Does it achieve the goals stated in the preamble?
-Has there been situations where the articles have not been abided by and the government got away with it? (Bush vs. Gore election?) if we can't abide by it then what is the point of it? is there anything we can do to change that?, Personally, I think that there is very little we can do but because we have such little power in society (which completely contridicts the first article, trying to have the citizens involved with government decisions as much as possible) so people will not pay attention to what we have to say (even congress people)
-What's good about the constitution? What's bad about it? What should be changed? and how will the alteration benefit America? What would the consequesces of these benefits be?...there's always a catch
-Is it possible for citizens to be involved in the government as much as possible wihtout having chaos?, I would imagine that there would be many disagreements causing conflicts
-Is it possible to follow meet the standards that the preamble holds for America?
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Response to 2008 Election
I thought it was really interesting to see the different people who voted for each candidate. Generally I noticed the families with more money rooting for McCain and the working class families voting for Obama. But I did also notice that there were family feuds where half wanted McCain and the other wanted Obama which was also interesting. I also noticed how each candidate advertised their campaign. Obama had a very formal way of getting people to vote for him in his advertisement, saying what he plans to change in American whereas, McCain had citizens speaking for him and talk about why they want to vote for him and getting it from a different point of view. Obama's seemed to be more straight to the point and specific as to what he had planned as president and McCain's was repetative when it came to what the citizens were saying to emphasize that he plans to do good things for the country.
After Obama won the election, other people's reactions to the win was interesting as well. Those who supported him were screaming and very excited about him becoming president especially since history was made and he is the first black president. The next day at school many of the students were representing him and reciting "Yes we can" from his speach. Obama seems to have set high expectations for himself as president and he promised a lot for the country and I am curious as to if he can live up to these expectations and if American can handle that he may or may not keep his promises.
After Obama won the election, other people's reactions to the win was interesting as well. Those who supported him were screaming and very excited about him becoming president especially since history was made and he is the first black president. The next day at school many of the students were representing him and reciting "Yes we can" from his speach. Obama seems to have set high expectations for himself as president and he promised a lot for the country and I am curious as to if he can live up to these expectations and if American can handle that he may or may not keep his promises.
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