1) My US Senators are: Evan Bayh (Democrat) and Richard Lugar (Republican)
2) My US Congressman, based on where i live is: Andre Carson (Democrat)
3) My State Senator, based on where i live is: Mike Delph (Republican)
4) My State Congresswoman, based on where i live is: Vanessa Summers (Democrat)
5) Mitch Daniels is up for reelection as Governor.
Andre Carson is up for reelection as Congressman.
Vanessa Summers is up for reelection as State Congresswoman.
6) Answered in questions 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 (in the parenthesis by their names)
7) Mitch Daniels (Republican), Jill Long Thompson (Democrat) and Andy Horning (LIbertarian)
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
American Freedoms Blog
The Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights gave American citizens many rights. These included but were not limited to the right to free speech, the right to freedom of religion and the right to pursue “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Not everyone is equal in this country financial, however, with regards to Constitutional rights, everyone is equal. Every now and then there are legal battles where people feel their rights were infringed upon (such as Ferguson vs. The City of Charleston) but these get ironed out and such cases can then be called upon in the future to further everyone’s equal rights.
These equal rights are what allow people to be free and choose what they want to do. This freedom should not be taken away because people might then be forced to do things that they would not enjoy, and since you only live once, why do something you This right to freedom is considered inherent in America, which is why it is considered such a great nation and a bastion for those wishing to escape prejudice and slavery. People who are constantly oppressed are also more likely to rise up and overthrow their masters, whereas people who are free can pursue their dreams and become what they want. Freedom should be inherent in every nation, but regrettably it’s not and that is why the thirteen colonies broke off from the British Empire.
My rights are all that are listed in the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, the Amendments and more. They include freedom of speech, religion and assembly as well as the right to bear arms and resist self- incrimination. These are the reasons that I enjoy being an American so much and love the country I am in. My rights have never truly been infringed upon or taken away but I have felt that people have not respected my opinions on what my rights are. Whether it is my stance on gun control or gay rights people will always argue. This irritates me that they go to the extent to try and convince me that I am wrong without fully checking out their own ideas, but it is their right to do so based on the First Amendment.
Due to their rights within the First Amendment it is sometimes hard to convince people that they are wrong or that the way they are putting their ideas out there are wrong. This is because there is no way to stop them from saying it. They can say whatever they want and when you argue or tell them not to say it they can simply respond with “It’s my First Amendment right,” which also tends to lead to the problem that people do not think about what they are saying before they say it. Because they have the protection of the First Amendment they can say whatever they want without thinking about it and eventually get used to it, saying whatever comes to mind without fully examining the idea because they really don’t have to.
People have always had the ability to overthrow their government, as long as they do so in large enough numbers. This isn’t something that should be done on a whim, however, only being done when the government is completely and truly oppressing either all of its citizens or a large portion of them. This revoking of human’s rights is a viable reason to revolt because humans should never have to live without their inherent rights.
These equal rights are what allow people to be free and choose what they want to do. This freedom should not be taken away because people might then be forced to do things that they would not enjoy, and since you only live once, why do something you This right to freedom is considered inherent in America, which is why it is considered such a great nation and a bastion for those wishing to escape prejudice and slavery. People who are constantly oppressed are also more likely to rise up and overthrow their masters, whereas people who are free can pursue their dreams and become what they want. Freedom should be inherent in every nation, but regrettably it’s not and that is why the thirteen colonies broke off from the British Empire.
My rights are all that are listed in the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, the Amendments and more. They include freedom of speech, religion and assembly as well as the right to bear arms and resist self- incrimination. These are the reasons that I enjoy being an American so much and love the country I am in. My rights have never truly been infringed upon or taken away but I have felt that people have not respected my opinions on what my rights are. Whether it is my stance on gun control or gay rights people will always argue. This irritates me that they go to the extent to try and convince me that I am wrong without fully checking out their own ideas, but it is their right to do so based on the First Amendment.
Due to their rights within the First Amendment it is sometimes hard to convince people that they are wrong or that the way they are putting their ideas out there are wrong. This is because there is no way to stop them from saying it. They can say whatever they want and when you argue or tell them not to say it they can simply respond with “It’s my First Amendment right,” which also tends to lead to the problem that people do not think about what they are saying before they say it. Because they have the protection of the First Amendment they can say whatever they want without thinking about it and eventually get used to it, saying whatever comes to mind without fully examining the idea because they really don’t have to.
People have always had the ability to overthrow their government, as long as they do so in large enough numbers. This isn’t something that should be done on a whim, however, only being done when the government is completely and truly oppressing either all of its citizens or a large portion of them. This revoking of human’s rights is a viable reason to revolt because humans should never have to live without their inherent rights.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Supersize Me Response
After watching "Supersize Me" I felt slightly disgusted about our fast food industry. Once I started researching more though, I realized that the feeling of disgust wasn’t really with the food industry, but rather, was with the people in the United States of America (USA).
While the fast food may be very unhealthy, (specifically things like the Baconator, the Big Mac and the Quarter Pounder) it is the choice of the consumer to eat the food. They could have gone to McDonalds and gotten a salad instead of the Big Mac, but instead they ordered the unhealthy item. The amount of obese people in America was also very surprising to me and disgusted me. The fact that so many people disregard their health was surprising and made me feel ashamed about the nation. What made me feel even worse was that some people were attempting to pass the blame off on the fast food industry. This attempt to pass the buck amazed me because, only here could people actually consider something like that valid. It is also only considered valid because it is against a “big bad corporation.” That corporation was just filling the need some people had, it’s the person’s fault they couldn’t exercise enough self-restraint to not eat the burger. If it is supposedly McDonalds that makes people fat and not people themselves then do guns kill people? Do pencils misspell words? No, the people do, it is the people who can’t show enough self- restraint then attempt to blame someone or something else. In a way, I find it degrading to humans that they would resort to such low acts. Saying, “Oh, but it’s the food or corporations fault that I’m fat” is not only stupid, it is degrading to that person. The idea that the corporation or food has more control over your actions than you yourself do is making yourself out to be less of a person than you truly are.
Not only that, but the corporations have nutrition facts, whether at the restaurants or online. If you are eating there and are concerned about your weight, it is your responsibility to see if what you are eating is bad. It is not as if the corporations are hiding the nutrition facts from you in a global plot to make all Americans obese. The other thing that irritated me in the movie was how he just ate unhealthy food like the Big Macs. This is again showing what customers with no self-restraint would do, which again, is no fault of McDonalds. It is not their job to sit next to you and rap your knuckles with a ruler every time you try to order a Big Mac. The final thing that I disliked about the movie was the vegan girl friend in the back continually talking about the pros of being a vegan. Though this really has nothing to do with the message of the movie it just really annoyed me. I wanted to tell her to shut up, I choose to eat meat because it tastes good and is good for me. If she wants to be a vegan that’s fine but shut up and stop trying to convince me otherwise.
Overall, it was a good movie to watch, but I believe that it’s message was horrible and the conclusion was really skewed.
While the fast food may be very unhealthy, (specifically things like the Baconator, the Big Mac and the Quarter Pounder) it is the choice of the consumer to eat the food. They could have gone to McDonalds and gotten a salad instead of the Big Mac, but instead they ordered the unhealthy item. The amount of obese people in America was also very surprising to me and disgusted me. The fact that so many people disregard their health was surprising and made me feel ashamed about the nation. What made me feel even worse was that some people were attempting to pass the blame off on the fast food industry. This attempt to pass the buck amazed me because, only here could people actually consider something like that valid. It is also only considered valid because it is against a “big bad corporation.” That corporation was just filling the need some people had, it’s the person’s fault they couldn’t exercise enough self-restraint to not eat the burger. If it is supposedly McDonalds that makes people fat and not people themselves then do guns kill people? Do pencils misspell words? No, the people do, it is the people who can’t show enough self- restraint then attempt to blame someone or something else. In a way, I find it degrading to humans that they would resort to such low acts. Saying, “Oh, but it’s the food or corporations fault that I’m fat” is not only stupid, it is degrading to that person. The idea that the corporation or food has more control over your actions than you yourself do is making yourself out to be less of a person than you truly are.
Not only that, but the corporations have nutrition facts, whether at the restaurants or online. If you are eating there and are concerned about your weight, it is your responsibility to see if what you are eating is bad. It is not as if the corporations are hiding the nutrition facts from you in a global plot to make all Americans obese. The other thing that irritated me in the movie was how he just ate unhealthy food like the Big Macs. This is again showing what customers with no self-restraint would do, which again, is no fault of McDonalds. It is not their job to sit next to you and rap your knuckles with a ruler every time you try to order a Big Mac. The final thing that I disliked about the movie was the vegan girl friend in the back continually talking about the pros of being a vegan. Though this really has nothing to do with the message of the movie it just really annoyed me. I wanted to tell her to shut up, I choose to eat meat because it tastes good and is good for me. If she wants to be a vegan that’s fine but shut up and stop trying to convince me otherwise.
Overall, it was a good movie to watch, but I believe that it’s message was horrible and the conclusion was really skewed.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Americans Question 1
1) Is American society too competitive?
American society is a very competitive culture where the worth of a person is not measured by their morals or beliefs, but instead by how much money the have. Politicians don’t talk about working together; they talk about who is at fault to give them an advantage in the election. Businesses don’t work together to make better products or advancements in technology that would help the people and environment, instead the focus on shipping jobs overseas for cheaper production, undercut the competition and make products as cheap as possibly (even if they have to sacrifice quality) all to beat out the competition.
This amount of competition, however, does not just apply to the American culture, but instead applies to cultures all over the world. The world just tends to see America as more competitive because it is a larger nation and seen as a world leader. This competition also extends beyond just a culture to the whole world, as people (and nations) constantly compete against each other for dominance and the claim of most powerful nation on Earth. A great example of this worldwide competitiveness is the Cold War that the US and Soviet Union were involved in. These two great nations were constantly striving against each other to be the best nation in the world, which meant creating more and more nuclear weapons, so many that we now have a surplus, and which eventually led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Specifically within the US, however, there is still a lot of competitiveness, though that is what makes America what it is. The constant struggle companies have against each other allows Americans to buy goods cheaper than they would otherwise be. There are downsides to the constant struggle though, such as the shipping of jobs overseas and the monopolizing of businesses. Neighbor to neighbor Americans do not seem to be as competitive, though that is just from my experience which is severely limited since I only have one neighbor who is an elderly lady. From what I have seen though neighbors don’t seem to be as competitive, and seem to want to help each other out with their problems unlike the politicians and big businesses who are constantly fighting for control of the economy and country.
So I believe that the major controlling powers in America (the government and the big businesses) are too competitive, overly so to some extent. These politicians should be working together instead of competing, the businesses, however, should be competing, but not to the extent they are (sending jobs overseas away from Americans and lowering the quality of items for a lower production price and sale price). The common American does not seem competitive with his or her neighbor (though I think people will be competitive to a smaller extent, especially kids on subjects such as grades and videogames). This whole world, not just America, is competitive, it always has been and always will be and it is something we will have to get used to, whether we like it or not.
American society is a very competitive culture where the worth of a person is not measured by their morals or beliefs, but instead by how much money the have. Politicians don’t talk about working together; they talk about who is at fault to give them an advantage in the election. Businesses don’t work together to make better products or advancements in technology that would help the people and environment, instead the focus on shipping jobs overseas for cheaper production, undercut the competition and make products as cheap as possibly (even if they have to sacrifice quality) all to beat out the competition.
This amount of competition, however, does not just apply to the American culture, but instead applies to cultures all over the world. The world just tends to see America as more competitive because it is a larger nation and seen as a world leader. This competition also extends beyond just a culture to the whole world, as people (and nations) constantly compete against each other for dominance and the claim of most powerful nation on Earth. A great example of this worldwide competitiveness is the Cold War that the US and Soviet Union were involved in. These two great nations were constantly striving against each other to be the best nation in the world, which meant creating more and more nuclear weapons, so many that we now have a surplus, and which eventually led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Specifically within the US, however, there is still a lot of competitiveness, though that is what makes America what it is. The constant struggle companies have against each other allows Americans to buy goods cheaper than they would otherwise be. There are downsides to the constant struggle though, such as the shipping of jobs overseas and the monopolizing of businesses. Neighbor to neighbor Americans do not seem to be as competitive, though that is just from my experience which is severely limited since I only have one neighbor who is an elderly lady. From what I have seen though neighbors don’t seem to be as competitive, and seem to want to help each other out with their problems unlike the politicians and big businesses who are constantly fighting for control of the economy and country.
So I believe that the major controlling powers in America (the government and the big businesses) are too competitive, overly so to some extent. These politicians should be working together instead of competing, the businesses, however, should be competing, but not to the extent they are (sending jobs overseas away from Americans and lowering the quality of items for a lower production price and sale price). The common American does not seem competitive with his or her neighbor (though I think people will be competitive to a smaller extent, especially kids on subjects such as grades and videogames). This whole world, not just America, is competitive, it always has been and always will be and it is something we will have to get used to, whether we like it or not.
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