Federal Reserve

I believe that the Federal Reserve is an asset to this country. They have helped America multiple times when we were in time of need. In that movie that we watched it listed many pros of the Federal Reserve. But also a lot of cons. One time the head guy of the Federal Reserve decided that he should raise the interest rates really high so then the economy would be really good after a couple of years. So when Reagan was president, that was when they had an economic boom. Everyone was like 'wow Reagan is so cool this is because of him' BUT IT WASN'T it had nothing to do with him it was the federal reserve. But in the early 2000's the housing market had crashed and you wanna know why? The Federal Reserve. The took too much money for too long and printed too much money and made the economy go down to almost the depression. I believe that its a good idea that it is run by private bankers instead of politicians because politicians wouldn't be looking a the whole goal of the federal reserve but just to get votes of people by lowering interest rates. 

Net Neutrality

Net neutality is when internet service providers should enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source, and without favoring or blocking particular products or websites. Meaning that internet providers like Comcast or Verizon should have access to the internet to give to people. But should not have the power to block other websites. For an example, people who had netflix and their internet provider was verizon were experiencing slow loading speeds. And netflix said on the bottom of the load screen, that it was the internet provider's fault. So Verizon took it upon themselves to slow down the internet to the people who had netflix using their provider's internet. So then netflix would get more complaints and no one would want to use netflix anymore. Internet provider's should not be able to have this power. And that is why the FCC should make this bill. To make rules so then bigger companies cannot shut down little companies.

Underground Economy

The underground economy is when people don't have a full time or regular job. It is very big in the United States and without it, the economy would crumble. It is said in the article that this shadow economy has made 2 trillion dollars. Even if it isn't on record it is still helping the economy because people are still spending that money. Like having an under the table job and you get money. You spend that money goods like food and other necessities and that money goes into the economy.  But even though this shadow economy is helping, things need to change. People who are paid under the table don't get social security or health benefits. And normally get paid less than minimum wage.

Merit vs. spoils

The spoils system and the merit system are two different things. A spoils system is a practice in which a political party, after winning an election, gives government jobs to its supporters, friends and relatives as a reward for working toward victory, and as an incentive to keep working for the party.The merit system is the process of promoting and hiring government employees based on their ability to perform a job, rather than on their political connections. It is the opposite of the spoils system. 
The spoils system was always used until after the Civil war system's abuses prompted civil service reforms designed to cut down the number of government posts filled by appointment and to award jobs on the basis of merit. The Pendleton Federal Civil Service Act of 1883 provided the initial basis for the adoption of the merit system in the recruitment of federal officials, and by the late 20th century merit systems had almost completely replaced the spoils system at the federal, state, and city levels of government.

There are more than 100 merit system school and college districts in California which employ almost 60 percent of the total classified (non-certificated) school employees in the state.  A merit system  may be voted into a district by local Board of Trustees action, by a majority vote of the district's classified employees, or by a majority vote of the voting electors of the school or college district.  The merit system was first adopted in Santa Monica College as part of the Santa Monica City Schools by the Board of Education on May 9, 1938.

Phones

 Question 1:
Police had pulled over David Riley because his car registration had expired. But when they did, they found two loaded guns in the car and they also searched his phone. That is when they found text messages and videos which associated with a local gang. That's when the police arrested him. But in court there was a problem. The police didn't have permission from David Riley to look at his phone or got a warrant from a judge. And since a persons' phone is part of their property they got the information wrongly. He was suppose to serve 15 years in jail but the Supreme Court had to overtune his conviction because of the phone. It definitely is a landmark case because the court doesn't really have a law about being able to search through peoples phone. When the Founding Fathers created the Constitution they made it very vague so then in the future we would still be able to use it. Such as the First Amendment that protected the right for free speech and also the Fourth Amendment that protected the right to privacy. I believe that we should make a law that police CAN look at a persons phone without a warrant or the persons permission ONLY if there is probable cause such as two loaded guns found in the persons car. 

Son Kills Father Over Allowance

So Thomas Gilbert Sr. is the founder of Walnscott Capitol Partners. I don't know what it is and you probably don't know either but it basically means this guy is loaded. He has been giving his 30 year old son, Thomas Gilbert Jr. $3000 dollars every month as allowance. $2400 was in rent for the 30 year old man and $600 for spending money. When the father was sick of giving all this money to his son ( so would I), he began cutting the allowance $200 each month so then the man, full grown man could learn how to be responsible and, I don't know get a job maybe. But the relationship with the father and son was already strained enough and that was he final straw for Gilbert Jr.Since he just wanted to continue doing yoga and surfing all day.
So ol' Gilbert Jr. decided to pay his father a visit. His mother, Shelley Gilbert was excited because she thought Gilbert Jr. was there to make amends with the father. When he saw his mother he asked her to leave and buy him a sandwich and a soda. You could probably tell how rude he is just by that sentence. But she obliged and left. While she left Thomas Gilbert Jr. shot his poor father, who was just trying to teach him a lesson, in the head. Shelley came back with the sandwich and the soda to find her husband dead, and her son no where to be found. She called the police and told the operator, "My husband's been shot by my son!" When police investigated the crime scene they believer that he tried staging the scene by putting the gun in the father's head, and then fled the scene. Police later found the gun's case in Gilbert Jr's apartment along with loose rounds and clips. Then saw an open suitcase filled with clothes. He was later arrested.

Electoral college or nah?

The electoral college was created because communication was really slow back then.It was also created because the government (aka Alexander Hamilton) was scared of the people. And back then not a lot of people had an education and were illiterate. So they didn't think the people were smart enough to do it either. So the elites would come together and vote for the people. But now we get texts and messages from people within seconds so what's the point of having it now? It usually is fair because the electoral college would or SUPPOSE TO vote on the popular vote. And when they don't they get fired because that's not cool. One time it did fail when Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams were running for president. John Quincy Adams won even though Andrew Jackson had the biggest amount of electoral votes. If that's not called cheating then I don't even know anymore. I do believe it's fair but there is no reason to have it anymore. There are no more illiterate adults that can vote, we are all educated and can make decisions for ourselves. There is no need to have the 'elite' to choose for us. But the candidates are suppose to have some certain things to be able to get nominated for the electoral college.  The winner must have the biggest popular vote. And that the popular vote has to be sufficiently distributed across the country to enable he/she to govern.

Mays Gilliam is the man

Chris Rock other known as Mays Gilliam was a normal guy living in an impoverish city that runs where buses run over bikes and they bomb buildings that have a cat inside. And that how he got noticed. He was on the news for saving an old lady's cat. And that is when Debra Lassiter, Martin Giller, and Bill Arnot find Mays.

This funny movie explains what presidential electors have to do to win. Now Mays Gilliam is coming from a very different world than what the rich and politicians are used to.  Mays had to go to a very formal party to get donations from very rich people. And his party was telling him to be very polite and stick to the script but Mays did his own thing by taking over the DJ's spot and started playing better music that everyone was dancing to. His party thought he was being ludicrous and said he was making a fool out of himself when really everyone liked him for being him.

Thats when his campaign gave him strict speeches to give to the people even though Mays wanted to say something else. He would go state to state to go give speeches are aren't even his words. And his polls were still low. But he couldn't take it anymore that and he shut off the speech thing and that is when he was able to speak his mind and that is when people started liking him. He made up multiple slogans such as "that ain't right" and "knock out ya kids".

Most of the time Mays Gilliams rival would do a lot of pandering in his campaign. Whenever he ended a statement he would always end it with "God bless America, and no place else" Which I just want to say is really annoying.

Whenever there is a political elections it just sounds like gibberish to me but Mays Gilliam made it so then anyone could relate and understand what he was saying.

CURRENT EVENT

This is a really ridiculous story, but it is a current event nonetheless. So there was this guy (his name wasn't released) it was a normal morning. Going to work. He was driving his truck while smoking. When it dropped on his jacket. Like any normal person you'd think he would brush it off, or just take the jacket off right?

This guy freaked out and JUMPED OUT OF HIS MOVING TRUCK. Since it was still going in reverse,  it knocked him over. And that's not the worst of it. Since the truck was still moving, he ended up getting his head and chest run over. Yep. Right now he is at a Colorado hospital in critical condition. But the doctors believe that he will not have any life-threatening conditions. But wait, there's more! While this whole event was happening, there was a passenger in the van. He was apparently a relative, and he didn't do anything? Just sitting in the van while there was a very big bump? 

VOTE FOR MARTHA

On Tuesday November 4th, people of Massachusetts will be deciding who our next governor should be. It is against Charlie Baker and Martha Coakley. Unfortunately I am not 18 yet, so I can't vote. But If I were 18, I would vote for Martha Coakley. Cause she's rad.

One of the reasons why I like her is because she wants to start from the beginning. To the little guys. Martha wants everyone to be able to go to Pre K and Kindergarten, which some kids aren't able to. And the reason for that is because of buses. There is a huuge wait list for school buses. And who need to drive buses? People. And you know what that means: More jobs. She believes if there are kids going to school at that age, it would better for them. More education is always better. And charter schools? Who wants charter schools? No one. We don't like you Charlie Baker.

Second reason why I'd vote for her is that she will help with college. Martha will expand financial aid which will help so many people who want to go to college. And making more community college opportunities, so then people don't have to pay as much as private colleges or universities.

Third reason why I love her: Sick days. People should be allowed sick days. People get sick its a humanly thing so having sick days? Why is it a big deal? So what if teens are just skipping work because they don't feel like it. People deserve to have some paid days off. One thing I don't like about her is that she 'criticizes Baker for focusing too much of welfare reform'. Come on Martha. We all know that our welfare sucks.

Fourth reason why I would vote for her is because she cares about the environment. She is willing to go as far as double funding to the MA Clean Energy Center. She wants every home with an energy audit within 8 years. If that's not dedication I don't know what is.

Vote for Martha #marthacoakley2k14 
GO MARTHA

Lincoln

Lincoln had a lot of problems trying to ratify the 13th Amendment but the biggest problem was racism. Many people thought that blacks should be equal, but up to a certain point. They thought the 13th Amendment would bring other rights to blacks. Such as voting, which back then they thought African Americans were stupid. And oh man  inter racial marriage which was a big no no back then. This caused a lot of resistance to the amendment. Even Lincoln's cabinet wasn't too keen on the idea. In the movie they thought Lincoln was joking. People were thinking that things could lead to being able to rank in the military, which apparently no one wanted. And a lot of common folk thought they would be just taking all the jobs. And white people didn't want them to hold office either. One of the reasons Lincoln wanted to ratify this Amendment was so then the war could end. Also, to get the black vote. Lincoln didn't even really like the idea of slaves being free either but he said, "he'd get used to it."
So is Lincoln ethical? I believe he is. He might of done it for the wrong reason, but he did a good deed.Since he was twisting the truth in the movie. But to get votes, he offered jobs to lame ducks, which is a little low.
 I guess he's not 'Honest Abe' after all.

MEMES

This is for the fifth amendment. Its funny cause she shot a person and shes trying to get away with it but there's witnesses that saw her do it.



 Haha get it.... cause it's the guy from csi miami and even though it states in the fourth amendment that you need a warrent to search someones property, he does it anyways.

Petoria

I believe Petoria is a Authoritarian government, since Peter is the only one in charge. As he was singing, Cant Touch Me. Peter Griffin was saying that he could do anything that he wanted because he had diplomatic immunity. He can jaywalk on the street, and touch your sister's teeth. He could invade Joe's pool without any trouble, and the american government couldn't stop Peter. Everything was awesome till the government started to take action. They decided to cut electricity, water, and heat. They didn't even let Chris or Meg go to school. The Griffin family couldn't leave their land because the american government set up a blockade full of tanks and guns pointed straight at them. So they couldn't get any food at the store. Since Chris and Meg couldn't go to school, Lois had to educate them herself. And Petoria had no military to protect him from the american government. If Peter had a Federal government, and a lot more funds, Petoria would've lasted longer. It was amazing how long Petoria lasted as much as it had.

Ratifying the Constitution Was No Easy Business

It was so difficult to ratify the Constitution because a lot of people were against it. A lot of people just wanted to revise the Articles of Confederation. And not make a whole new government. But more states had to agree to make a new government. In Article VII it said it needed nine states had to ratify the Constitution for it to go into effect. Not a lot of people agreed with ratification either. There were people called Antifederalists who even used pamphlets and public meetings to oppose the ratification of the Constitution. Some people where even saying that delegates were exceeding their power by getting rid of the Articles of Confederation and an illegal document. Some MORE people said that it was only going to represent rich people which poor people wouldn't want. But what the majority of what people were saying was that it gave too much power to the central government. But have no fear, the Federalists where there. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay said, under the pen name Publius. That if they did reject the Constitution there would be anarchy and civil strife, which no one wants. At the beginning of October 1787 they made 85 essays for New York newspapers which answered to everyone's problems with the Consitution. One of the things to calm down people's concern was the Bill of Rights. (I couldn't find a good gif that related to this post so heres a gif of Will Ferrell playing the flute)
 

Why did the Articles of Confederation fail?

Why did the Articles of Confederation fail? It only lasted 8 years.Why? Well that's because it was too weak.

 

A man named Daniel Shay was in the war and the government is suppose to pay you for your services. But the articles of confederation didn't allow to  tax so they had no money to give to the soldiers, including Shay. Just like the rest, Shay was given an IOU from the government. But Shay was a farmer and he needed money. But courts all over Massachusetts were foreclosing a bunch of farms and that's when they decided to revolt. Shay brought together a bunch of farmers to go to courts to stop from foreclosing. But no one could stop them? No the government couldn't stop them because there was no executive branch to enforce any acts passed by Congress 1. After a while the government had to hire a militia to stop the rebellion. 

They made the Articles of Confederation so then the government would be weak, unlike a monarchy. But they made it too weak, unable to govern America.

What might life be like if there was no government? Why do you think humans organized governing bodies?

I believe that if there was no government no one would really be safe. Like the movie The Purge.

If you don't know what the movie is, its when once a year, the government allows a 12 hour period where all criminal activity is legal. No one would be able to call the police and all ambulances would be suspended. Now that would only for 12 hours, but just imagine having no government at all FOREVER. People would be driving 100 mph in a 25 mph zone (which is a little ridiculous). There would be no police since they are part of the government. Which might sound great for younger kids, there wouldn't be any school either. Bigger companies wouldn't have to follow the rules that the government has set for them. Like if I went to the grocery store and a certain food says it has no fat but it really has 11 grams of fat which is just rude. I would be brushing my teeth with toothpaste that doesn't actually whiten my teeth?? Companies could sell us defective items without telling us. I wouldn't want a hairdryer that instead of blowing hot air, blows fire, I mean they did say it would dry your hair really fast. But over all we wouldn't be safe. Guns are usually regulated by the government and with no government a CHILD would be able to get a gun easy. You may think that a guy with a mask and a really big gun is scary but what about a baby with a gun.
 I don't wanna live in a world where babies are roaming the streets with guns in their hands but it will happen with no government. I think people want to organize governed bodies so then everyone could stay safe. Especially from babies with guns. We have laws for a reason, usually to kept people safe from bad things. It could be from fire blowing hairdryers to a cereal box that lies about how much fat is in it.