Summary
The article “Freeze!” starts off by focusing on a banker that has working for sixteen hours, carefully watching the collapse of the global economy. All of sudden, the world is having extreme credit problems and the economy is in a “frozen” state. The American economy alone has gone down 8.4 trillion dollars in the last year. When something bad happens with in the economy, people start to freak out. They try to sell anything they can, such as stocks, and they stop putting lots of money in banks. There is a lack of interbank lending, and money is beginning to “dry up.” Blame is being placed on nearly everyone: politicians, the wealthy, the poor, various political parties, and banks.
It is believed, that in the end, Americans will ultimately pull through this crisis by working harder, implementing new policies, and slowly paying off debts as they did in the past during the Great Depression. However, a person can only work so hard – there are only so many hours in the day. Worst case scenario: America may no longer be the most powerful country in the world, and we will become a little poorer. But in the end, globally, we will overcome the economic slump.
Questions
1. The end of the article mentions that this crash may "the end of the empire". Is America really an empire, and can we really consider this the end of the United States as a financial superpower? How much will this impact the rest of the world?
2. How has the blame game affected the progress of solving the global economic crisis?
3. How might the upcoming election affect the economy? What kind of impact might either candidate have on the economy if he became president?
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
The Nation: Follow Up for Sarah Palin
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081027/pollitt/print
If John McCain wins the election, it is possible that he may overturn Roe v. Wade. No questions related to women have been asked, so not much is known about John McCain's view on equal pay, Supreme Court, violence against women, and rape kits. Palin's view of abortion is this: she believes that the person should not abort the baby even if the conditions are infavorable. However, she contradicts herself by saying that the circumstances would be awful or there will be many negative consequences to the birth of the baby. In a recent CBS interview, she metioned jail time for victims of rape who had an abortion. This has never happened before, so the question that comes up is really why she mentioned it in the first place.
Discussion:
1. Is it right for Palin to be going against generations of women and a Supreme Court Decision?
2. Do you think that Sarah Palin would keep her right-winged views if she was a victim of rape?
3. What affects your decision on which candidates you support?
4. What are the predicted effects if Roe v. Wade is overturned?
If John McCain wins the election, it is possible that he may overturn Roe v. Wade. No questions related to women have been asked, so not much is known about John McCain's view on equal pay, Supreme Court, violence against women, and rape kits. Palin's view of abortion is this: she believes that the person should not abort the baby even if the conditions are infavorable. However, she contradicts herself by saying that the circumstances would be awful or there will be many negative consequences to the birth of the baby. In a recent CBS interview, she metioned jail time for victims of rape who had an abortion. This has never happened before, so the question that comes up is really why she mentioned it in the first place.
Discussion:
1. Is it right for Palin to be going against generations of women and a Supreme Court Decision?
2. Do you think that Sarah Palin would keep her right-winged views if she was a victim of rape?
3. What affects your decision on which candidates you support?
4. What are the predicted effects if Roe v. Wade is overturned?
Friday, October 3, 2008
"Back to the Jungle"
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200809u/tainted-milk
"Back to the Jungle" - By Corby Kummer
“Back to The Jungle” talks about the growing issue of the unreliability of obtaining safe food in the world. Kummer talks about how international crises such as the tainted milk in China are becoming too common, and about how little is currently being done to protect against them. US companies are also failing to help stop this problem, as many manufacturers are ignoring and holding up recently passed laws that intend to protect the country from food poisoning. The manufacturers think that it is too expensive to follow certain procedures, such as identifying food origins by country, which would help people decide which foods they want to buy. Despite their view of its unimportance, this type of information could help consumers make a decision about what products they think are the safest to consume. More concerns have arisen from pet food poisoning, which has killed and caused many pets to become ill. In her book, Pet Food Politics: The Chihuahua in the Coal Mine, Marion Nestle warns that this food poisoning in pet food is just a sign of things to come in human food, and uses animal experiences to serve as a warning. There is evidently a problem with food safety, and Kummer makes it clear that the FDA or another new organization needs to step up and try to help protect the public from these issues.
Discussion Questions:
1. Can you really put a price on safe food?
2. What products do you believe are the safest to consume?
3. Do you believe the FDA is doing all it can do to keep the food industry healthy and safe?
"Back to the Jungle" - By Corby Kummer
“Back to The Jungle” talks about the growing issue of the unreliability of obtaining safe food in the world. Kummer talks about how international crises such as the tainted milk in China are becoming too common, and about how little is currently being done to protect against them. US companies are also failing to help stop this problem, as many manufacturers are ignoring and holding up recently passed laws that intend to protect the country from food poisoning. The manufacturers think that it is too expensive to follow certain procedures, such as identifying food origins by country, which would help people decide which foods they want to buy. Despite their view of its unimportance, this type of information could help consumers make a decision about what products they think are the safest to consume. More concerns have arisen from pet food poisoning, which has killed and caused many pets to become ill. In her book, Pet Food Politics: The Chihuahua in the Coal Mine, Marion Nestle warns that this food poisoning in pet food is just a sign of things to come in human food, and uses animal experiences to serve as a warning. There is evidently a problem with food safety, and Kummer makes it clear that the FDA or another new organization needs to step up and try to help protect the public from these issues.
Discussion Questions:
1. Can you really put a price on safe food?
2. What products do you believe are the safest to consume?
3. Do you believe the FDA is doing all it can do to keep the food industry healthy and safe?
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