How bad can the market get?

Source: http://xpartan.es

The market has the potential to make a man rich but, it also has the potential to bring the economy to its knees. How does this happen and what are the impacts?

We can never be 100% sure on when this happens but we can however see warning signs and prepare for the worst. We ignored a reticent Fed and when the Depression hit, and terrified president Hoover only made it worse. It wouldn't be until the end of World War II, 17 years later, that we finally got back on our feet. A great article to learn about The Great Depression can be found on Investopedia. No author directly claims credit for this source however, this website is the most reliable economic website there is.

To start, we need to know exactly what it was and what happened during this period of time. In this article Investopedia explains that "The Great Depression was the greatest and longest economic recession of the 20th century and, by some accounts, modern world history." Investopedia also says that "Contemporary accounts of the Great Depression date its beginning to the U.S. stock market crash of 1929." The Depression was caused by the crash of the stock market on October 24th 1929, a day known as Black Thursday. On this specific date stocks plummeted and banks failed which caused everyone to lose everything and caused the economy of the United States to have its worst crash in history. The impacts of this lasted until the end of World War II, some 17 years later. During this time unemployment was incredibly high. In 1929 (pre-crash) the unemployment rate was 3.2%, by 1933 it was 24.9%. Even after government spending and two presidents trying to reduce it by 1938 it was still at 18.9%. Without jobs the economy couldn't recover. But why did it last so long?

There are several potential factors that contributed to The Great Depression's 17 year lifespan. According to Investopedia some of these factors are "Many of President Hoover's interventions damaged the economy's ability to adjust and reallocate resources. The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 triggered a 66% decline in global trade between by 1934. Hoover encouraged businesses to raise wages and keep prices high at a time when they should have fallen, and effectively banned further immigration to the United States in 1930." Hoover was not the right man for the presidency during this time of need. The decline of global trade prevented the economy from getting out of the Depression and, paired with high prices and wages causing less people to be employed and less buying power to the consumer created four dark years in the United States. The final question that needs to be answered is how could this have happened after the Roaring 20's?

The answer once again lies in Investopedia in an article titled What caused the Great Depression? In this article written by Andrew Beattie who has spent most of his life writing, the causes of the Depression are explained in depth. Beattie explains "The Great Depression was the result of an unlucky combination of factors - a reticent Fed, protectionist tariffs and a Keynesian, government-centered recovery plan." This quote sounds a bit complicated but what it's basically saying is the Federal Reserve cut the money supply by almost 1/3 when the market crashed which caused all recovery hope to be lost. On top of that the reserve refused to bail out banks. So, by increasing the supply of money during the 20's the reserve created the bubble that caused the depression and refused to help when the depression hit. Also, President Hoover's tariffs only made things worse. The tariffs pretty much cut off international trade altogether. Eventually, through World War II the U.S was able to get out of the depression but the damage was done.

This leads to a final thought, how exactly does the stock market impact the economy?

How Our Attitudes As Consumers Affect the Ocean

source: www.theguardian.com

Ok, so we know there is a problem with the way we fish. But the question is why? And why now? People have been fishing in one way or another almost as long as people have been around, so how is it we’ve managed to completely throw off the balance of the ocean so recently? In Paul Greenberg’s TED Talk, The Four Fish We’re Overeating and What to Eat Instead, he helps answer these questions. Greenberg is the author of the New York Times bestseller Four Fish, which has won the James Beard Award, and he writes regularly for The New York Times. His work has also been included in major publications like National Geographic Magazine, GQ, The Times (of London) and Vogue. He cites our unsustainable attitudes as consumers of fish as the major issue.

As a society we’ve completely narrowed down the natural environment to not see a whole ocean of edible fish, but instead just four: shrimp, tuna, salmon, and cod. That’s not to say you won’t eat any other fish, but it’s very rare that you will see something like carp on the menu at a restaurant. As consumers we’ve done this with more than just fish; red meats and poultry have been narrowed down into the main groups of four as well. At first glance, this doesn’t necessarily sound like a bad thing--certain fish just taste better right? Well the longterm effects are finally starting to become clear, and at the rate we’re eating our four favorites, the oceans will not be able to sustain our habits for much longer. They way we eat has led directly to the extreme overfishing of these four species, and a lot of environmentally degrading methods of catch followed to maximize supply.

Our love of these four fish has severely damaged the populations because we take  “between 80 and 90 million metric tons out of the sea every year. That’s the equivalent of human weight of China”, which has put each of our key species on the path to extinction. But it also, increases the risk for other species, too. Fishermen have been turning to more careless methods of fish harvesting in order to keep up with demand and that leaves us with staggering statistics like the “15 pounds of fish that are regularly killed to bring 1 pound of shrimp to market”. Just by broadening our diets, as consumers, we can help save the four key species and dramatically decrease the amount of bycatch wasted.

In my future posts, I plan to address the most damaging fishing methods and some more sustainable methods we can replace them with.

Are zoos prison for animals? PP#2

Are Zoos Prisons for Animals?

Everyone loves a good trip to the zoo. It’s fun for everyone in the family, but you don’t realize how miserable the animals are within these habitat structures. An article from PETA, states that keeping an animal within zoo walls is keeping a human within a prison and people pay to see them. To make it even worse some people who visit these zoos antagonize the animals. Taking animals out of their home just so people are allowed to look at them for a couple of seconds and then have some kids abuse an animal causing it to freak out is just unethical.

http://www.peta.org.uk/

Within a zoo there are hundreds of different species that people can pay to see. Most of these creatures are behind bars or are in habitats not suitable living quarters for them. What we don’t see is how miserable these animals are. Some of the world is attempting to create world peace, but how can we at peace with each other when we aren’t at peace with the world around us.  We abuse the animals we keep enclosed, “ a gorilla named Jabari tried to escape by jumping over the walls and moats of his enclosure, only to be fatally shot by police at the Dallas Zoo,” sources later learned that a group of kids were throwing rocks at the gorilla trying to antagonize it.

What we don’t see is how miserably these animals are. Making, “the animals imprisoned in zoos are sad and don’t want to be kept in artificial environments.” Having the animals inside enclosures that don’t simulate the freedom of the wild is bad for the animals health. At Sea World the Orcas they keep within those tiny pens which are like bathtubs to them when they swim in the wild they travel on average 100 miles a day, but when held at Sea World they can only swim up to the length of their pen on a daily exercise.

Is Playing a College Sport Worth it?

-Time for Professional Student Athletes? , By A.S./New York

   

Source: shermanreport.com

Playing a sport in college is seen as an amazing thing, kids grow up dreaming of being good enough to play in college, but is it really worth it?. An article written by the economist.com -Time for Professional Student Athletes? , By A.S./New York explains this very well from an economic standpoint. Students that play college sports are being ripped off, and scammed by the NCAA and colleges.

One of the key parts of playing a college sport is the misleading glory of an athletic scholarship.  The NCAA makes billions of dollars off these athletes and all the athletes get is their tuition, and more often than not only part of their tuition.  According to the economist, “It has been argued that it exploits the student athletes who cannot be paid for their talent and labor, other than their athletic scholarships.” These college athletes are essentially owned by their team working full time for their sport. The difference is that they don’t get paid and they also have to manage schoolwork on top of this. If you want to have a social live too, good luck because your live consists of a job that is extremely stressful, and extremely underpaid.

 Another disadvantage of being a full time student athlete is that you can only do three things, go to practice, go to school, and study. This eliminates the opportunity for these students to have a job therefore they have no income throughout college.  “One alternative is to simply pay the athletes; in addition to their scholarships make them employees of the university.” This topic of paying athletes is a highly disputed topic that makes sense very often. These athletes are working a job much harder than anyone else and are getting no revenue from it. In fact the NCAA puts very strict rules on this prohibiting any forms of possible income from being an athlete. Also these athletes are in a worse place job wise after their college ends.Because of their sports that means they have minimal time to do well in school and to have internships.  “Others find the low graduation rates among the top athletes, and questionable curriculum and standards, an affront to universities' central educational mission.” These top athletes are at a much lower chance of graduation than any others because they have to manage their time much more. Because of this they either do not graduate or are forced to take very easy classes that will not help them in the future. For this reason i do support the idea that these athletes need some form of compensation for their sacrifices they are making in order to play for their team.  

Future research: Should college athletes be paid? How much?

Warner Bros

BLOG POST #2
Before this company pours a load of money into a production, a budget must be finalized and Warner Bros does this exceptionally well. With information from Wikipedia on "Film Budgeting", any well put together budget must be divided according to the importance of each part, in this case it would be actors, settings, post work, etc. Also, Warner Bros must use gross budget as opposed to net budget since they cannot spend money that they do not have. Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_budgeting)

How does Warner Bros pull this money game off?

http://static.srcdn.com/

Every year Warner Brothers entertainment makes a couple of million dollar decisions. Through the vast expanse of Wikipedia articles, I found one that explained the costs that goes into budgeting for a large scale film production, like those in which you would associate with Warner Bros. The article explained the numerous costs in detail and gave specific examples of movies and their budget costs. Using Wikipedia is resourceful and reliable considering that many educated individuals can share their knowledge collectively, in one place. When Warner Bros budgets they must consider the basic following: Rights, equipment, places, talents, crew and pre and post production. All of these aspects accounted for allows for a successful production.

When budgeting for a large scale film production, the production company, in this case Warner Bros, must consider the following and more: story rights, screenplay, producers, cast, directors, music and post production. A gross budget is the realistic budget in which a production company must work off of. This kind of budget is defined as, “the grand total of actual spending to produce the project and not to be confused with net budget, which represents the final out of pocket for the producer after government incentives or rebates”. Net budget in this case would be the profits after the film which can very greatly.

Warner Bros must also consider many more things when budgeting for films aside from just the money in the film. The company must first chose which film to produce. This decision is the first and most important because the time and money spent on these films cannot be wasted as Warner Bros would lose a lot of money. A film like "Suicide Squad" took many years to make but made seven times as much money as was budgeted in which means that Warner Bros did their job right. But that then begs the question; how does Warner know which films to produce?

Preserving the Environment in Daily Life

Neil Fortman

Preserving the Environment in Daily Life

Source of  pic : http://www.experiencescottsdale.com/

Source of article:http://search.proquest.com/docview/229121860/707A5EDC14394CA6PQ/3?accountid=6263

Too many people say they want to preserve their environment, yet barely recycle or don’t turn off a light when they leave a room. We could all be helping to preserve the environment for our and other's future. Our efforts to preserve the environment pale in comparison to the Hydrogen House, which should serve as an example of how help preserve the environment.

The article found in the database Proquest Research Library called “The Hydrogen House: Fueling a Dream” from The Environmental Magazine, speaks about the amazing tactics the Hydrogen House uses to help preserve the environment. The author,Janice Arenofsky, quotes the  executive director of the Hydrogen Energy Center saying that, “ "Beaulieus House uses less energy, which means less need to collect it. Nothing is wasted. Each function is taken care of either by design or natural law."” We can all individually start taking steps to creating something like the Hydrogen House. More specifically the Hydron House helps preserve the environment by “ burning hydrogen for fuel cleans the air of pollen and gases better than forced air systems, says Beaulieus” and using “Only low-toxic, solvent-free adhesives and sealants, water-based floor finishes and stained concrete.” As individuals, we don't need to got as far as building a house that is totally efficient. To lower our individual impact on the environment, however, we can take some aspects of the Hydrogen House and use them in our our lives. But even by taking a few more steps to the recycling bin or picking up litter that you see on the ground, we can help in the effort.

FUTURE RESEARCH: Looking forward, I will definitely want to research whether people voluntarily change their daily lives to help preserve the environment or not.

Zoo's Safety Protocols

Are Zoo’s preventing accidents such as Harambe from happening? What protocols are they taking?

Source: Youtube

Next time you go to zoo how would you feel if you had to watch a 20 minute safety video before entering the park? Zoo’s cannot rely on people to know the safety precautions even though most people consider them to be common sense. What should zoos be doing to prevent situations such as the Harambe Incident?  

A CNN article titled, “The basic -- but often ignored -- rules of zoo safety” pointed out what zoos have and are doing to prevent and it’s effectiveness or lack thereof. The author Sandee LaMotte is the executive producer of CNN social first online committee and values opinionated articles as well as concrete research and using writing to deliver the facts. I assume she wrote this in response to recent increased interest in zoo safety and prevention of incidents, this article is relevant and this article has the most recent incidents and also dates back, being published in the year 2016. She includes great videos (taken by people who took a trip to the zoo) that display the points she discusses. Zoo’s aren’t doing enough to inform them of the risks and ways to avoid bad situations. Zoos are indirectly informing people of precautions to take and that is where they went wrong, they are not necessarily at fault for incidents that occur but they should do more to prevent them.

Zoos claim to provide proper safety information in a way that is obvious and visible to the public. The author points out that people already know these rules and simply choose not to follow them resulting in possible harm of themselves or people around them. Well in my opinion even if the zoo has presented the rules and people choose not to follow, they should enforce them cause after all they are for their safety. Okay, if you are lost on what these rules are that’s about to change.

Some rules are to not tease the animals, don’t dangle for a better angle, say no to photos, and to teach respect. These are the rules that the zoos publish on their websites and other hard to view places. These rules are set to prevent situations for example, “another family was not so lucky. Elizabeth Derkosh lifted 2-year-old Maddox to the top of a 4-foot wall for a better view of the African painted dogs at the Pittsburgh Zoo. Maddox fell backward into the enclosure and was mauled to death by the dogs.The family sued the zoo, citing internal safety committee documents that discussed other parents "dangling children" into the exhibit and claiming that the zoo should have acted sooner. The zoo countered, claiming the mother was at fault. The case was settled in 2014; the African dogs were relocated to other zoos.” These accidents wouldn’t happen if there were guards or watchmen at each exhibit just monitoring the activity and stopping the dangling before it went too far. Although the article doesn’t vocalize it, I strongly believe zoos should do more to increase protection.

Another view the article takes is that regardless of what the zoo does parents need to take it in into their own hands to educate and keep their children safe. Zoo’s claim they provide the assumed “common sense information”  to the parents visiting the zoo with their children but when the parents don’t read it that’s out of their control. Zoos do their part  “And even with the best of safety features in place, things can go wrong. In April 1994, a cheetah at the Jackson, Mississippi, zoo scaled a fence and attacked an 8-year-old boy who had been teasing the animal. Luckily, the child suffered only minor cuts and bruises. It's best, experts say, to teach children to respect animals and their habitats.” This leaves the zoo as more of a hassle because it makes parents feel pressured to watch their kids more than they often would because of all the responsibility on them and prevent chaotic situations. The author proves that legally zoos are doing enough to help but ethically I believe they are lacking. Why not make it extremely safe… better safe than sorry right?

Next blog post I would like to look into the question of: What more can zoo’s do to appeal or make animals more comfortable? If spreading safety information is such a an issue then why not start at the root of the issue? Animals acting out. These animals are in captivity against their will so maybe there are other ways of containing the animals that will make them less likely to act out.

The Costs of Eating Meat

 Is It Worth It?

Most people love a good steak every now and then. What would you say if you were told it could have a negative toll on your health?  Would you still eat it, or explore other options? Washington Post author, Darryl Fears expands on the idea that there are more severe risk health effects, such as high cholesterol, diabetes, and heart problems, when it comes to eating a diet with meat vs. a meatless diet.  The added cost of Eating Red Meat - A Quicker Death, Scientists Say. explores all different viewpoints with support and evidence.
 

 

SOURCE: http://blog.fablunch.com



1. “New research offers more evidence that vegetarians not only live better, but also longer.”  Researchers have proven from many years of research, that those who consume a vegetarian diet live not only better, but longer as well. Over 150,000 participants tested by Mingyang Song at the Massachusetts General Hospital in a time span of 4 years, helped prove this theory to be in fact true.

2. “Song's team found that a 10 percent increase in proteins from animals resulted in a 2 percent increase in mortality overall, and an 8 percent rise in death risk from heart disease.” Although meat from animals contains necessary proteins, it also contains many processed chemicals that are harmful to your body.  Your body can only handle so much, until you develop a heart disease.

3. “But a 3 percent increase in protein from plants led to a 10 percent decrease in mortality and a 12 percent drop in risk of death from cardiovascular-related mortality.” There are many good suggested substitutes including tofu, chickpeas, and veggie burgers as well.  All of which are significantly healthier for you body in comparison to meat.

4. “ Processed meats are filled with potentially unhealthy additives such as sodium and nitrates.” Studies have shown that out of 36,000 deaths, 13,000 were of cancer, and 9,00 were from cardiovascular diseases. Red meat includes a byproduct called TMAO that encourages fatty plaque.  According to many resources, the more TMAO in your body, the more it builds up, thus resulting in the consumer to become prone to heart disease.

5. “A research fellow at the hospital's Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit: Plant-based proteins from sources such as beans, nuts, quinoa and seeds are a healthier choice than steaks or beef products such as hot dogs.” Eating these substitutes results in a lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, lower body mass and much more!

Future Research Question: What are the costs of eating a vegetarian diet?

Military Benefits at a Glance

Source Image: http://uncw.edu

Joining the military has numerous benefits to it. The source I am using is Military.com. This is reliable because the articles give you real information about what you should know about the military. A reason many people join the military is the amount of benefits they will receive.

One benefit to joining the military is that if you go in as an enlisted member, your pay will increase the longer you stay in as you advance in rank. This is especially good if you wish to make a career out of your service. Because of higher pay, this will cause more people to stay in the service. This will also help keep our military strong because of the amount of service members. “If you decide to make the military your career, you will be eligible for retirement pay, including continued health benefits and on-base shopping privileges similar to those you enjoyed while on duty”. This is another strong factor people might consider when signing up.

Another benefit to joining the military is the health benefit. “As an active duty service member, you are eligible for $50,000 to $400,000 in life insurance coverage at a cost ranging up to $29.00 a month”. This can become extremely helpful because you never know what kind of injury you might encounter while on or off duty.

Compared to civilian jobs, you are given much more vacation time while being in the military. “Unlike any other job you will find, the U.S. Armed Forces offer their members 30 Days of fully paid vacation (leave) each year, starting the first year of your enlistment”. This is extremely helpful for those who have significant others, and or have children at home. This allows for an extended period of time to be spent with your family.

Future research question: How do military benefits compared to civilians' benefits?

The Availability of Technology to Student with Special Needs

source: http://techemergence.6pt2ple0ha5k4gsbf1.netdna-cdn.com/

    Every day each one of you use some kind of technology, whether it be a computer, a phone, or a television. Using these devices come very easy to you, for example, you can unlock your phone without even thinking about the numbers you are typing in for your passcode. But, unfortunately, there are kids our age that struggle with simple tasks like "sliding to unlock" their phone. There are students across the globe who struggle to type on an ordinary computer keyboard due to a physical disability they may have.

In the article from the Future of Children Organization, Use of Computer Technology to Help Students with Special Needs by Ted S. Hasselbring and Candyce H.Williams Glaser, they tell the readers about the different types of technology available to a student with special needs and how it makes their lives easier in the learning environment. It is unfair for these students to be at an even greater disadvantage than everyone else. With that being said, there is technology available for those who are unable to succeed with the same computers or iPhones as ordinary students in order to help them get the best education possible.

     “Approximately one of six students in schools across the United States cannot benefit fully from a traditional educational program because they have a disability that impairs their ability to participate in classroom activities." This is a mind-blowing fact to read. There are students that surround you that are unable to participate similarly to you in the classroom. Most students do not even realize what a disadvantage these people are at. It is most definitely unfair for students who have specials needs to be unable to participate with the class lesson even if they would like to. It is not like one in every five classes there is someone with a disability, but one in every six students! This is a large chunk of the population of students that do not deserve unfair standards.

“Technology has proven to be an effective method of giving such students opportunities to engage in basic drill and practice, simulations, exploratory, or communication activities that are matched to their individual needs and abilities.” Since it is more common to hear about the newest laptops available in the classroom than a special monitor for certain disabilities, it is great to know that the advancements in these certain technologies are being beneficial to the students.

So, let's talk devices and services.

What exactly are the types of technology that are being provided to the disabled students? For example, there is something called “descriptive video services (DVS), which provide narrative verbal descriptions of visual elements, have proven useful in helping students who are blind or have low vision to use educational programs in regular classrooms.” The benefit of this is normalizing these students to the rest of society to minimize the "outcast" aspect of their lives. If visually impaired students are now being able to "see" what is going on, then these students are going to feel more comfortable in the environment with other students who are not visually impaired.

In addition to DVS, there are also advances for those who are physically disabled. There are "basic keyboard adaptations that assist physically disabled students to use computers include replacing standard keys with larger keys that are easier to see and touch, reducing the number of keys on the keyboard, placing letter keys in alphabetical order, and providing keys that are brightly colored and easy to read.” Types of advances like these keyboard adaptations are remarkable due to the possible strides that special needs student would take. Students now are becoming more comfortable with computers because of the helpful color-coded keys. This is causing the retention these students can possess when they, if possible, transfer over to regular computer keyboards.

FUTURE RESEARCH QUESTIONS

What type of bigger and better technologies do we expect in the future to accommodate students with special needs?

Is it possible for technology to eliminate certain academic challenges that these students may face?

What are technology companies doing to benefit the disabled students?

Broadway Post 2: What I Did For Love/ Sunrise, Sunset

What I Did For Love/Sunrise Sunset

Or Why Broadway shows close long before their sunset

https://s-media-cache

“They say for every bright light on Broadway, there is a broken heart, an unrealized dream.” 

Two time Tony winner Sutton Foster made this rather unfortunate, but painfully true observation of one of the most notoriously difficult professions. Despite being a challenging business to break into, there are still many inspiring success stories of new “classics” such as Wicked making it big and producing huge stars. However, why do shows with engaging stories, talented casts, and brilliant scores close after a few weeks, or some never even see the great lights of Broadway?  Renown blog that chronicles news regarding the Great White Way, The Broadway Bulletin, claims the main causes of shows closing are a lack of ticket sales and funding, being housed in the wrong theatre,  and not gaining enough commercial attention.  

1) The unfortunate reality of any business is that if you lack to funds to continue improving the show and keep it running, maintaining the project is very difficult. If ticket sales are not turning as big a profit as is necessary to offset production costs, keeping the show alive is not only difficult, but also very risky financially. Shows such as Shrek and Spiderman: Turn off the Dark took $27 million and $79 million to produce, respectively, and as both were met with lukewarm reviews and rather small crowds, they were not able to earn back everything they had spent. The producers obviously wanted to cut their losses at that point, even though this meant closing two excellent shows with very talented casts. Similarly, Bonnie and Clyde, a promising show with an engaging premise and two of the biggest names in musical theatre as leads, Laura Osnes and Jeremy Jordan, was forced to close after just four weeks on Broadway due to declining ticket sales after taking a couple of critical hits. The unforgiving nature of show biz is that it can be nearly impossible to get a hit without the funding to keep it alive.

2) Another cause of Broadway shows flopping is simply that a show can be housed in a theatre that doesn’t best showcase the story. Next to Normal, for instance a simple show with a small cast did exceptionally well in a smaller theatre, providing a more intimate setting, which fit well with the story. Larger shows, like Wicked, that contain huge numbers, elaborate sets, and impressive orchestras require a larger space, which is a reason it has been met with so much success at the Gershwin.  These varied settings also help to ensure that the right crowds are being drawn to these shows, as people looking for a more personal, quietly powerful experience will be drawn to shows like The Last Five Years, fans drawn to classical, lyrical shows will attend My Fair Lady or The King and I, whereas audiences hoping for a fun, loud, feel-good show will gravitate towards Aladdin or Matilda.

3) As many Broadway-theatre-goers are tourists, gaining commercial attention is very important to accumulate interest and bring in ticket sales.  Methods of obtaining this include producing an iTunes soundtrack, a very powerful form of advertising that can also turn a profit in itself. As a passionate theatre kid, I can tell you there is nothing more frustrating than hearing rave reviews about a Broadway show and not being able to access the soundtrack to hear the gloriousness everyone is talking about. Additionally, advertising in ways that introduce the everyday person to the show, as there are not enough die-hard fans with the proximity to New York, as well as the funds, to keep the show afloat. This can include social media buzz or talk shows that can assist in obtaining attention. Tourists will often go see shows they have at least heard of, which is one of the reasons famous shows such as Wicked or Phantom have done so well for so long.  
Future Research: Why some show last for decades with great success. How they keep things "fresh"

Author's Note: Best "Forgotten Shows"

• Bonnie and Clyde
• Shrek
• Thoroughly Modern Millie
• The Bridges of Madison County
• Carrie
• Chess
• Sundays in the Park with George
• On the 20th Century
• Heathers
• Hunchback of Notre Dame
• Jekyll and Hyde
• Ruthless