Honors

The article and youtube video was about how the penny has lost its worth. I talks about other countries that have abolished there one cent coin and also how everything is now being rounded to the next 5 cents.

I think that the penny is getting to be useless. Coming from a retail background i do not like having the old ladies come in an count out exact change using pennies or the annoying people that do come in and pay there whole purchase in pennies. The penny as a whole lost its value after it was made out of 95% zinc instead of copper. The only thing that we will really lose is the luck we get when we find a penny heads up on the ground. I think this metal could be used to make something else instead of a coin which has no face value. The only reason that i actually keep pennies is that in the end ill be able to trade it in after i get so much of them. I have noticed another trend when i actually do give change. When it is less then a nickels worth of change most people tell me to keep it. If we lose the penny what will we be able to do with all that metal?

This weeks article was about Sexism in the presidential election of 2008. It talked about all of the ways that Palin and Clinton were portrayed throughout the whole election. It talked about how being a mother, Iron Maiden, and beauty all were used to attack these two candidates. It also talked about how some of the sexism was not noticed by some men. It talked about how women should go inform more people about sexism and how common it is. The article used several different examples for all of the sexism that the women were put through.

I found this article pretty interesting. Because i did not follow the election in 2008 i did not notice all of the sexism that they went through. I knew that sexism is everywhere. It is prevalent throughout our society as a whole. I think that sexism is wrong and that both male and female should not take one over the other, especially in the work place. I do take over some things that i dont think my female counterparts can handle, such as lifting and other things, but im not doing it to spite them but to help. My main question is how can people not see the sexism in our society and become aware of what it does to people?

This weeks article was about Benjamin Franklin and the virtues that he decided he needed to work on. It was his recounting on his days and how he approached obtaining these goals. He also talks about how he only finished the first couple before giving up. Some of his stories also talked about finding new qualities he needed to work on. The virtues he listed off were:

1. Temperance
   Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
2. Silence
   Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
3. Order
   Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
4. Resolution
   Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
5. Frugality
   Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself, i.e., waste nothing.
6. Industry
   Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
7. Sincerity.
   Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
8. Justice
   Wrong none by doing injuries or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
9. Moderation
   Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
10. Cleanliness
    Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.
11. Tranquillity
    Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
12. Chastity
    Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation.
13. Humility
    Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

I think that of these virtues would be good to work on. If everyone of these virtues were worked on throughout the world i think that the world would be a much better place. I dont think that everyone would be able to get all of them at once.. This is shown through Franklins example of him that he did not get anywhere close to obtaining his goal. I think that Franklin had the right idea in what he was doing however. It would be make people happier and societys clash less in the long run.

This weeks article was about how the internet is affecting our social lives. It has two different points of view on how the internet is affecting society. The pro is that it is helping us to make more friends and being more social with family and community. The second article talked about how the article before was wrong and that it didnt use the right research so the article came to the wrong conclusions. The second article completed its own research using 8 family’s and it came out with the findings of the internet is harming our friendships. It talks about how we may have more friends but the friendships are not as meaningful .

I think that both of the articles are right. I think it depends on who the people are and what there personality is. I think they both have points that are made. I personally think that the internet helps me to keep in touch with the people im close to. I know everyone im friends with though. I dont meet new friends on the internet i know them all from beforehand. This can be really different for someone else. I have friends that meet other people on the internet and they get close to these friends. I am not sure how close they get but i think it is relative. That is why i believe that everyone is different with using the internet and it affects society differently.

This weeks reading was about how events and actions are random. It talked about several cases where the most random things succeeded. It had stories about movies, books, and actions and it also talked about not giving up even though things are random.

I think that most actions are random. Some things in life are planned but in my life the ones I have the most fun with are the unplanned random events. The most fun events that i do are where i go and do things that are random. I think that most of the things in the universe are random. This however, brings up a question about a guiding hand, like a higher power. This will be a big problem for people that are religious “nuts.” I do think that you should never give up and always pursue things even though it is random.

The begginin short story was about a husband, who’s wife was dieing and a inventor who would not sell the money for a cheaper price in order for him to make money. The husband breaks into the inventors store and steals the medicine. The question is should the husband have stolen. I think that if the inventor was smarter he would have sold it for the price and just get paid back over time.Then he would not have had it stolen and would have gotten better publicity. I think that stealing was the husbands only option.

The article talked about how women and men are different in how they view morality and how they solve problems. It talked about how the different sexes mature differently, women more quickly. It showed some of the results of a twenty year experiment on the different sexes and how there views have changed over the years.

I think that different people, especially different sexes, mature at different rates. I think its not just limited to female vs. male. It also should take into consideration living conditions and other factors. I know that not just your sex constitutes how your maturity has grown.  I don’t know what the man should have done. I know that if i was in the situation i would have stolen it or done other things in order to get the medicine. There are other methods of getting the medicine it really depends on how much longer the wife will last. I know that all my male counterparts would think of it in a l=multitude of different ways as i have. That is why I think that its not just what sex you are its also other elements.

This article was very interesting to read. It was about the state of Iowa and what defines it as a state. It talks about how Iowa is one of the first states that helps define how a presidential election will go. It talks about the authors first impressions of Iowa and how it is different then any other place in the nation. In the article it also talks about how religious Iowa really is. The author is a professor at The University of Iowa who first came from San Francisco. He talks about how Iowans are big hunters and how they say words differently.

This article was really interesting to me just because i have lived in other states and have experienced other places then the state of Iowa. I have lived in Iowa, Tennessee, and Minnesota. All of these places are very different. I liked Iowa so i came back to it. I can understand why other people that are educated have left. I myself do not plan on going to graduate school here. I don’t understand why Iowa is the first in the presidential race though. Why do the Iowa Caucuses matter that much and why are they here first? There are not many reasons i can think of why. There were a lot of facts that i did not know about the immigration here and how they have come for the slaughterhouses. In Tennessee though we also have a lot of slaughterhouses where i am from so we also have some of the immigration there too. In Sioux City i think that they saw the same influx of S-houses during the Chicago’s growth as well and we can see from the abandoned S-houses that it is declining. Many of the things he said were true  but i dont know if he saw all of what Iowa Really is.

These two articles were about how music influences politics and how politics influences music. The first article was about the start of calypso which is an early rap/Jamaican style music. It was very political and fights often broke out after these performers did rap battles.  This article also talked about how if there was any political issue the music would attack the politics. The second article also talked about how the politics is in the music. It talked about different songs and the politics in it.

Before now I had not realized how much politics is in music. Looking back on some of the songs i have listened to through the years it is actually clear to me where the political innuendos are. It was also very interesting to learn about the earliest form of rap. I have heard of rap battles before but not of actual battles over the political issues. It is crazy that music is used so much for the purpose of politics. Everyone does listen to music so it would be an easy form to send ideas and inflections through it but i really had not thought it was big through the years. One of the questions i have is how well it actually works? Does it really sway peoples view points or is it more for just educating people so they can make there own informed decision?

This weeks article talked about Christmas. It talked about how Jesus was not born near that time and that there was only two accounts in the Gospels on the Nativity of Christ. It also talked about how the date of Christmas was chosen and how it has warped through the years to then add Santa Claus and gift giving. It was a very historical summary of how Saint Nicholas got put in with Christs birthday.

The fact that Christs Nativity was only mentioned in the bible twice surprised me. I had to go look it up to see if it was true. I think growing up in the christian church we learned about Christmas, which made it seem as if the Nativity was in it quite a bit. It did not surprise me that the date of Jesus’s Birthday was not known. I had watched off a documentary that this was true. I did not know the story of how Saint Nick got into Christmas either. I think that it is funny the early church tried to take away from the partying over new years with the celebration of Christs birthday. I think that the gift giving has exponentially grown since the industrial revolution and is still growing today. I think as a very economic country that this helps our country to run. I thought this article was very thought provoking and makes me think about the idea of Christmas as a whole.

This weeks articles were on protesting and how it is everywhere in the world. The protests were of differing subjects from the different issues that the countries had. They had varying subjects from education to bank interest rates being to high. They talked about what an occupy protest was and why it works very well. The second article was about different peoples reactions to there occupy experiences and asked them: why they were protesting, how the Obama was doing, how long they would be there, and what there background was. Many of the people did not like what Obama was doing and said they would be there as long as it would take. They all came from differing backgrounds and had very different professions. Most of the people interviewed were jobless and were mad there for the economic situation that America is having.

Personally I do not think that an Occupying protest would work very well. I think that actions speak clearer then sitting and chanting as people and government officials walk bye. I would not go to one but I am glad that people around the world are standing up for what they believe in and will take at least some measure of action against them. I  do not know about the other countries but I do not think the protests are working very well in America. I liked the second article and how it interviews different protesters and asks them about there views and their backgrounds. It really gives it a sense of reality because you do not see much protesting around these parts. I thought this weeks article was very interesting and cant wait to see where the discussion will go.