Possible cause for our Collapse

From our 4-day unit i believe that from what ive been told and introduced to, the main cause for our collapse within the U.S economy will be due to a shortage of oil. No matter how much we try to limit ourselves as individuals to help create a unity as a whole group to fight against oil usage, we will still fail to succeed. Those who drive electic cars or hybrids believing they are all for the economy and doing us all a favor, are unaware to the face that the roads they drive on is made from ashphalt or other materials that is mixed into and made with oil.

Also i learned that Saudi-Arabia is in control of most of the world's Oil supply. Whether there economy collapses alone, due to a revolution or civil war, we all go down with them. They also have different beliefs that we see as unethical and would mix ourselves with that type of crowd, except because of they're high status due to oil we need them at times. Also from what ive learned through our filmclips in class, we, as americans, havent yet tried to find another alternative to oil for a replacement to help save future generations.

I remember when i went to the Bahamas i was able to see first hand the kind of lifestyle that the americans and bahamians who lived in Cape Eluethra had kept for so many years. They ran they're camp with solar-energy and used fish poop as nutrients to plant crops and such, they also used corn oil as energy for they're cars. I saw it then in 8th grade and wondered to myself why dont everyone try this.

Easter Island Response

After reading the Easter Island article i thought one of the most interesting points found in the history of Easter Island was that the statues were only discovered in the late 1700's. Who knows how long ago they were actually built and placed. My first historical connection when reading about this was that the Aztec Empire was always admired and seen as an advanced civilization, especially for they're time period of existence. The differences i thought about between our civilization and Easter Island was that our huge models or statues that are found in our country are only buildings or skyscrapers or sightseeings that represent our power or high stature, such as the World Trade Center, or the Statue of Liberty. For art to be placed in a land that is isolated and left to be unseen but only by true art-pursuers and travelers to apreciate is actually very interesting aND its exciting to know that something like that is even out there and ready to be valued.

industrial vs natural

To end this year’s history class we’ve been doing a small unit on FOOD. We’ve watched multiple videos or film clips including: "Our Daily Bread, and "VROOM - Farming for Kids". The unit has mainly been focusing more around Industrial Food/Natural Food, and Americans eating habits compared to Europeans. Just as our last unit, focused on Health Insurance within the US, when compared to Europeans us Americans seem to be in for the worst. To get started on this assignment, I read an article called "The Worst Mistake In the History of the Human Race", and it expressed the author's opinion of Humans today exploiting the use of agriculture that past centuries have carefully tried to spread for much years to come. I also viewed a video showing the abuse of farm animals that are used for industrial producing. Of course I was familiar with slaughterhouses and etc. but there were other arguments that went deep past the main argument of killing live animals, those that I never took into consideration before. One argument the video placed on viewers that really caught my attention was how when animals are batted with metal rods, breaking they're bones, or leaving them in extremely tight rooms with other animals, leaving some already dead before they are actually executed leaving some with natural diseases or curses such as cancer. Also those who have died from the group are taken and placed directly into food producing, without checking into they're physical conditions and whether they are eligible for digestion after purchase.

One huge worry people have about industrial food is shortage. Whether the person is a vegan or a meat-eater the question remains in ones head. That is why all we ever hear about is cloning or insemination. In the video of farm animals and they're abuse, they claimed that turkeys or hens are one of those who have it the worst. After reviewing, it does make a whole lot of sense as Americans all crave a huge turkey for Thanksgiving, or Christmas, both holidays being back to back from each other. Because today's turkeys have a huge section in today's supermarkets, they are needed and sold immediately, although today's turkey's have breast that are too huge and get in the way of the male turkey's chance of actually mating with the other turkey in order to reproduce. So today’s "urgency" means that we must make order quicker and industrialized rather then natural. Humans take the male turkeys and take they're sperm in order to place it into the females, creating artificial insemination and keeping up with today's production. It also explains the turkeys, after being cooked and prepared, dryness in other ways.

In my opinion nothing of this course that I've learned can actually change my eating style because I’ve eaten so much of it already, and we've also established in class that there are two different kind of eaters, those who eat to experience new taste and such as to those who eat only to refuel they're energy. I would label myself as only an eater who eats to refuel energy. Sure, I know now how deep into right and wrong it goes but I think that something as evil as slaughtering animals does serve us a good purpose since in reality those who don’t always eat healthy have relied on this habitual for so many years, and odds are they will rely on it for many more.

Vegetables and fruits and other healthy sources of nutrients and such are always available and probably always will be, at least until this land is used up to its last straw. But in order to get the full amount of nutrition that one needs from eating vegetables one would need to eat probably an excessive amount compared to what they are used to getting from just maybe 1 -2 servings of meat. Also, one would get much less Iron from plants then from a normal serving from Meat, something humans should maybe capture as much as possible. I just think that if we lived in a perfect world where animals lived in farms or wildly and humans only ate plants and gathered they’re nutrients from them and maybe only ate dead road kill since it is an animal already passed, I believe if this perfect world did or once again happened then only complications would occur because how long would it take until we get greedy as a whole and create shortcuts into our eating habits and tamper with mother nature and exploit plants and other things eatable.

Response to "Industrial Food"

After looking over some of the suggested websites reviewing Industrialized food and its cost, it helped me to better understand how everything we eat and/or purchase having to do with food is only apart of a huge chain of costs that we as americans suffer through once again just by being citizens of this great country. before, when i would go food-shopping with my mother i would look at the price of the fresh meat and see that each was different only by a couple of cents. i thought that was only because of weight of the animal, not because of its shipping, its packaging, its corporation costs etc.

I watched the "animal cruelty" video and watched some of the actions that the workers do to the chickens, turkeys, hens, cows, and pigs. I always knew that they suffered and were killed for our own eating habits but i didnt reallythink of the other debatable things that they do, such as skinning them alive, or branding them w/o painkillers, or stuffing them into enclosed boxes and etc. The way they treat them is just plain wrong i thought, and all i could think about during, besides the killing, was how can those workers do they're job for 8 hours a day 7 days a week without being bothered by the squeling and fighting of the dying animals.

1.) http://www.alternet.org/story/13904/
2.) http://www.chooseveg.com/animal-cruelty.asp

Food Assignment 7

Find a simple and delicious sounding recipe using one of your favorite foods - one with easy-to-find and not-that-many ingredients. Could be a dessert, appetizer, soup, or main course. Post it up online now, and then gather the materials and make it. Post a picture of how it turned out and your (and friends) response to it. Bring it in to class and share it with a few people for a couple points of extra credit on the assignment.

Upside Down Pineapple Cake
2/3 cup butter - 3/4 cup brown sugar - 1 can pineapple slices - maraschino cherries
...(if not using regular yellow cake, recipe for scratch cake)
1 cup flour - 1 teaspoon baking powder - 1/2 teaspoon salt - 2 eggs - 2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk

Grocery store and Habitual Food

Whenever my mom goes food shopping and i accompany her, i notice that she starts off at the fruit and vegetables section, mostly because it is the first section you see in the Trade-Fair entrance that we go to. She'll buy both bananas and plaintains, both having sales that usually look like "10 for $1". we also buy mangos, which is mainly for my Macaw Bird. W get grapefruits that is meant for my Brother's new diet, but i eat them too. We buy lettuce, tomatoes, and many more that is listed from my in-class list. Most of these vegetables go into our dinner meals as my mother includes them into her cooked meal. We eat alot of vegetables and fruits throughout the week. In my job, we have asparagus so i eat asparagus maybe 4 times a week. fruits i eat maybe every other day. I eat alot of side vegetables as well in my meals, corn, beets, lettuce, w.e. I also eat alot of salad.

Response to 'Mayday'

After reading up about Mayday, and hearing Andy's short version in class, i thought it was silly of how they came up with Laborday. As Andy compared it, to Mayday, a day where people would rome the streets with they're fists in the air for something that is seen as a huge accomplishment towards the average worker, to Laborday, a day where people celebrate a three day weekend with barbeques and days spent at home or ordering out for lunch and dinner. The event that occured in 1915 celebrating Mayday is remembered and mourned rather then celebrated to this day in other countries Except the one in which the event had occured in. i think thats very interesting and for that to happen so close and near times where people in New York and other places were becoming victims of unemployment. Only question is why were there police present at a rally that has been happening for the last 20 years then. If no incidents had occured then why show after? if my research is correct that is...