Immigration

In the article "Mexican Immigration to The United States" written by Hernandez, Kelly Lytle published in Oct. 2009, vol. 23 issue 4, in  the OAH Magazine Of History explains how the immigrants migrated to the U.S. to find work and the challenges faced. 
http://web.ebscohost.com.ihcproxy.mnpals.net/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=98acf12e-e334-4704-901f-324412dd30ff%40sessionmgr13&vid=10&hid=20. This article explains how before the 19th century, the majority of Mexican immigrants or Mexican peasants, were isolated into rural areas that did not have any railroads or transportation systems to allow them to immigrate. "But the presidency of Porfirio Diaz (1876-1910), changed the history of Mexican immobility. Diaz pursued program of modernizing Mexico in the image of nations such as Argentina and the United States." Throughout his campaign that he called "Order and Progress" he expanded Mexico's transportation systems  which provided a better railroad system leading to better transportation.  Diaz also encouraged a switch from peonage to wage labor which led to the loss of access to communal land holdings to five million Mexican peasants. Their search for work started a mass labor migration between the United states and Mexico. "By 1920, the Southwest served as an orchard and winter garden to the world. With almost 31 million acres of crops valued at over $1.7 billion in California and Texas alone, the Southwest was the nation's most productive and profitable agricultural region." Soon after, the number of acres of crops that could be harvested boomed to a combined total of over 39 million in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California." The migrant workers were used to plant and harvest the crops and were heavily depended on to do so. "By 1930, an estimated 1,422,533 Mexicanos lived in the United States. But substantial numbers of Mexican workers had also begun to follow the harvests and railroads northward into the Pacific Northwest and had settled in industrial centers such as Chicago, which hosted an estimated 20,260 Mexicans by 1930." The immigrants were able to find work that they could make reasonable wages off of.

 After I read through this article, I was shocked that almost one and a half million Mexicans lived in the U.S. by just 1930. Before Diaz began the "Order and Progress" campaign, there weren't any railroad systems for the migrants to travel on. Diaz gave them a reliable form of transportation by train which would later lead to other forms of transportation. It amazing just how for instance how the Southwest drew so much attention just by harvesting. Its sort of like a gold rush. Once people find out about it, they flock over to get their piece of it. Once word got out that the Southwest had $1.7 billion of crops that were harvested, people came to work and people continued to come which resulted in even more land that could be planted and harvested which gave just about all of them a job. It doesn't surprise me that many Mexican workers moved up north to find work in the factories. I found this article very interesting because it really shows just how many people traveled to find work and made the journey to the U.S. to do so.

Marriage Equality

With marriage equality becoming one of the topics most talked about, this article written by Melissa Harris-Perry called "What Difference Will Marriage Equality Make" published in Nation vol. 296 issue 15. 2013, talks about how people opinions on this matter have changed due to the passing of gay marriage. In this article, she explains how many legislators have changed their personal views on this right now that it has been passed by the government. As she wrote "more than a dozen legislators who changed their minds and now express support for same-sex marriage." She even explained how president Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton have "evolved" and how others joined the bandwagon. "These elected officials like to tell stories of resetting their inner moral compass after wrestling with ethical dilemmas and discovering compassion for gay friends and relatives." Basically saying that as these elected officials get deeper into this issue, they become more aware of those close friends and family who posses these same-sex feelings and eventually "give in" to this touchy subject for some. 

It is only fair that everyone is instilled to their own opinions for this matter and same-sex marriage continues to be accepted and the number of states allowing it is only growing. As time goes on it seems as if just about all states will pass this right and the number of supporters towards this is huge. I personally wouldn't say ska-sex marriage is right. I'm not going to tell people that they can't do it but we all have our own opinions whether we agree or disagree with each other. Showing "that 70 percent of Americans born after 1980 support same-sex marriage" is pretty astonishing. Its hard to imagine just what the number will look like in twenty more years but I'm sure they will continue to rise. I am against gay marriage but and don't see why people would accept it but because the government has already passed the laws to accept it there is no going back. It's only fair for everyone to have their say but for me, I am against it.

http://web.ebscohost.com.ihcproxy.mnpals.net/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=658ff545-5fdc-4a41-97fe-43dbef9a66f2%40sessionmgr11&hid=10

 

Global Children

In the article "U.S. kids worse off than many of their western counterparts" published in The Washington Post, in April, 2013, has Caitlin Dewey and Max Fisher giving specific information as to just how bad the well-being of American children is. This article specifically points out that the United States is in the bottom third on all five measures of well-being and particularly low on education and poverty. "One of the report's more alarming findings for the United States is the degree to which income inequality has increased the population of children who grow up in relative poverty, meaning that America's famously abundant wealth does not equally benefit all children. Economists rate the U.S. economy as one of the most unequal in the Western world." This clearly explains that not everyone is being treated equally and not everyone is benefiting from it so many American children are suffering from it. The ranking they gave the U.S. is 26th. Third lowest out of the 29 western countries that have been compared. The chart clearly shows that the U.S.  is indeed in bad shape and that the American children are falling behind. 

"American kids get more exercise than almost any others studied in the report, but they’re still, by far, the most overweight." You would think that if we are the most active, how can we be the most overweight? We eat anything that appeals to us and we don't worry about the health risks that go along with continually living that way. The fact that we are the most active is something we should acknowledge ourselves for but knowing that we are the most overweight too just cancels out the good about that statistic. It is apparent that there isn't one country that can be at the top of everything but we would think the U.S. would be better off than many other countries. With the amount of poverty we have too really brings your attention to know that we take what we have for granted. We live in an unfair world and for those who make a lot of money who can go blow it on all this high end stuff don't realize that there are people who could only dream of being able to afford the basic needs to get them through the day. It seems that we are unhappy with and feel we want the newer version of it or what we don't even really value, other people would die to have. We don't realize just how good we have it and that others are suffering just to find food and shelter. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/04/18/unicef-u-s-kids-worse-off-than-many-of-their-western-counterparts/

"GIVING THE MACHINE GUN WINGS" written by Gavin Mortimer, published in Aviation History, 10768858, Jul2013, Vol. 23, Issue 6 explains how mounting the machine gun on an aircraft made the plane a dead weapon. http://web.ebscohost.com.ihcproxy.mnpals.net/ehost/detail?sid=1bd41f5d-cbc2-4bb2-85e4-6bb9c73412c3%40sessionmgr4&vid=4&hid=25&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=f5h&AN=87072961. This article talks about how a man named Roland Garros had fitted a machine gun on his aircraft and gunned down an enemy plane. With the discovery of this new effective weapon, it put wings on the machine gun. Even the White-house later wrote "Ronald Garros had given the machine gun wings. His fantastic device gave birth to a new and most deadly weapon, providing the military forces with a lethal piece of armament." Quoted from The British aviation journal Aero had reported that "the whole attitude and jerky action of the machine suggest a grasshopper in a furious rage."Garros later flew his monoplane across the Mediterranean sea from France to Tunisia and it was described as "one of the most notable feats in aviation." Although his aerial fame had been taken over by the time he returned to Europe, he was still seen as a hero to many. After knowing that they could mount a deadly weapon on an airplane, aircraft engineers soon noticed the military potential of airplanes and they proceeded to create planes that were more capable  of just scouting the area.  

Looking back at this article it really shows how making the machine gun not only a ground weapon but now Aerial makes it that much more dangerous. Knowing how effective having an airborne machine gun could be, it became a huge factor for aerial plane duals. When Garros discovered that he could use the machine gun effectively while controlling his plane as well changed the strategies used during the war now that they had protection is they were in fact attacked while scouting the enemy lines. I think putting wings on the machine gun really gave pilots an advantage especially for those who only had spotter shooters with rifles. Having an automatic gun rather than a single shot rifle and with the machine gun being more powerful was  definitely an advantage and with the pilot being able to control it himself was a bonus for those who could. I found this article very interesting. Not only because of the discovery that a machine gun could be used on a plane but that after Garros had shot down an airborne plane with a machine gun, started what they called "dog fights" between airplanes. It was a change for the revolution and an advantage for those who had them.

What He Really Thinks Of Your Plastic Surgery

        In the article "What He Really Thinks Of Your Plastic Surgery" published in the Town & Country Vol.165,Feb2011 by Jamie Rosen is an article about how her future husband asked her to sign a prenuptial agreement.  Quoted from the article,"This prenup would be a promise: a promise to not get plastic surgery." This article was a little unusual because you don't hear about this all that often. The author writes "The romantic view is that when we fall in love with someone, we fall in love with every part of them, including the curve of their nose or the extra bit of fat around their belly. The idea of this person surgically altering themselves just seems wrong." Explaining that When we fall in love, we fall in love with our partners appearance. Once that is altered, it changes everything because that is not what you fell in love with to begin with which may affect your relationship. With research done, it shows "the overwhelming majority of plastic surgery is done on women (according to statistics from the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, women received eighty-nine percent of the 1.5 million procedures performed in 2009)" which doesn't surprise me because you mostly see it done on women. Although some may be against their significant other getting a procedure done, there are also many who don't mind it. Its all personal choice but once you commit to it, there is no possible way you can go back to the exact appearance you came into it with. 

        My opinion of the article is that I am with the idea that her husband had to the extent of promising to not get any plastic surgery work done but I wouldn't go to the extent that he did and put it into a marriage agreement. You truly do fall in love with the appearance you see and changing that overtime I feel would jeopardize a relationship. I myself would not want my wife to have a "fake" face or a body lift on any part of her body because I personally think that when I see famous women or just women who have had a plastic surgery procedures done on TV, I ask myself why they did that because most of the time it doesn't look very good and you can tell that they've had something altered to their body to change their appearance."Fake"women just don't look good. I cant imagine the regret some may have when they see it may have not turned out how they expected and knowing they cant go back. I would be interested to see a study done on how patients feel about the outcome of the surgeries. If they wish they hadn't done it or if they would consider doing it in a different area or refer friends or not. But as popular as it is, patients must be satisfied with it. My view on Plastic Surgery is that I wouldn't recommend it but if its not affecting me and my appearance that Im not going to tell others what they should and shouldn't do because they are going to have to live with their decisions.

http://web.ebscohost.com.ihcproxy.mnpals.net/ehost/detail?sid=acccc059-79b3-4601-8d9c-bcab292f7523%40sessionmgr4&vid=5&hid=25&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=f5h&AN=57679071

Blog 4: Getting to Yes With Iran

          In the article "Getting to Yes With Iran", published in Foreign Affairs Jan/Feb2013, the author Robert Jervis expands on the U.S. foreign policy towards Iran and their nuclear weapons program. As he explains the challenges that the U.S. would face in the attempts of stopping Iran's nuclear weapons. "Make no mistake: a nuclear-armed Iran is not a challenge that can be contained," was quoted by Obama basically stating that it would be extremely hard to stop the growing of nuclear weapons in Iran. "And that's why the United States will do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon."  The U.S. officials have also said that they will take military action in order to prevent the expanding of Iran's nuclear powers but it will be enforced as a last option. They talk about the two main tools that will be used to deal with the growing of their nuclear warfare. Threats and promises; in order to control Iran's nuclear powers they will have to combine the two.

          This article to me really brought out the seriousness that our country deals with. I believe that attempting to stop any country from expanding their nuclear weapons if a huge challenge. Making alliances or compromises aren't always easy to come by. Expanding on that by saying that you either get your point across by using your nuclear powers against others although that may backfire and end up with an all out war. Getting a power house to "step down" is not an easy task because everyone wants to be the leader with the most power. With the main tools being threats and promises, threats will only prepare others to fight back because most wont just back down over a matter such as this. But making promises and alliances with foreign powers can also work against you even though you believe you have gained the others trust. 

http://web.ebscohost.com.ihcproxy.mnpals.net/ehost/detail?sid=e098b964-77ab-405e-8959-e21060b03b95%40sessionmgr14&vid=11&hid=26&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=f5h&AN=84474058

Blog Post 3: Body Art

        In the article "Modified" by Pippa Wysong,  published in Current Health 2, asks the main question "Are piercings and tattoos safe?". She explains how many go from getting the basic ear piercing to multiple piercings on one ear and "These days,piercings often go well beyond earlobes. Belly buttons, tongues, ear cartilage, eyebrows, nipples, lips, and even genitals are targets for metallic barbells, delicate chains, and stud jewelry." Just goes to show to what extremes people go to just for a piercing. She states "An estimated 23 percent of teens have piercings, about 8 percent have tattoos, and another 21 percent want tattoos. It's all part of the effort to be cool or to do something that looks a little different." Once someone sees someone with a new tattoo or all your friends have one and you don't, you conform to it so you will fit in with your surrounding peers. This article is based on Alexis Valentino, who received her fist piercing when she was eighteen months old, her second on her earlobe when she was twelve and he third on her earlobe when she was thirteen. Once she turned fifteen, she got her belly button pierced and yes, she wants more...! With piercings, there also comes danger with them. Infection, choking, allergic reaction or even chipped/cracked teeth from chewing on a tongue stud and the possibility of HIV infection are just some of the examples of dangers expressed through the article. She also talks about "thinking before inking," whether they are  temporary such as a henna,  or permanent as a tattoo, most say" t was a good idea at the time". While people get sentimental tattoos, others look back at it and wonder what they were thinking and the regrets they have on their decision. Tattoo removal is generally $500-$1000 per treatment and it may take up to eight treatments to fully remove a tattoo.

        I myself have nothing against piercings or tattoos. It is personal choice and it doesn't affect what people get on their body to me because they can do what they want. The numbers she shows of people have piercings and tattoos doesn't surprise me in teens because you see in friend groups, if most of your friends have tattoos, you are more than likely to get one too to fit in. I have thought about getting a tattoo but the thought of knowing I will have to live with it for the rest of my life is where the real decision is made. If you get something you know means something to you and worth "showing off," it is understandable. Many people get one at a young age, in friends garages, with inexperienced tattooists, and possibly unsterilized needles without even thinking about how it may affect their futures. Getting a tattoo is a big decision to make and it can affect your chances at job opportunities. Like I said, I have nothing against tattoos or piercing, I just believe that it may be a very important decision and something you should think through for your future before following through with your "brilliant" idea of a cool tattoo at the time and then the regrets you have when it decides whether you get the job you want or not.

vid=3&sid=f3c1ef5d-6aa4-44c6-9406-3781daf2c50d%40sessionmgr12&hid=19&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=f5h&AN=19929031