Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Secession?


You read the topic heading correctly....Secession.  It has reared it's head once again.  Contrary to what many Americans believe, there was no amendment passed in the post-Civil War years (Reconstruction Era) that official made it illegal for a State to secede from the Union.  The question here becomes, if that should be something added to the Constitution or should States be "allowed" (that is a tricky phrase) to break from the United States.  Many people believed that the question of secession was closed once the Civil War ended, but there is a growing movement amongst several States to either completely break from the Union (forming their own independent country) or portions of a State wishing to break from their current State and forming a new State.

Read this article that appeared in The Daily Beast on Sept. 12th of this year. - Secession Fever Sweeps Texas, Maryland, Colorado, and California.  (This article focuses on three of the States that have the greatest traction toward some form of secession, but there are a few additional ones that have just begun to move in that direction)

This Week's Blog Topic:
Should States be allowed to secede from the United States?  Do they have the "right" (another tricky phrase) to do so?  Would such an a move create extreme problems for the United States, as a whole?  Do you believe that this could lead to another "civil war"?  Or is this simply (as the article seems to hint at), a movement lead by disgruntled Republicans and Libertarians (conservatives)?  

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Apologies.....


You may have head the story about the young college girl named Rachael Sacks that wrote an essay online about being "rich" or maybe a better interpretation would be about "not apologizing" for being rich.  I've included the link below to the original essay and a link to the article that appeared in the New York Post.  Ms. Sacks essay has created a media firestorm, with people becoming furious about her essay, labeling her as a "spoiled rich kid" (something she actually doesn't deny) and other things I can't repeat here.  As a matter of fact, Ms. Sacks makes the cover of Saturday's New York Post (printed version pictured above), with the headline being "Mean Little Rich Girl."

Here's the original essay written by Ms. Sacks: I’m Not Going To Pretend That I’m Poor To Be Accepted By You

Here's the link to the New York Post article: "Don't Hate Me Because I'm Rich"

This week's Blog Topic is two-fold:
1. Is the media (and everyone that is upset over this) making something out of absolutely nothing? Is Ms. Sacks original essay properly depicted in the media?
2. Has our society became overly sensitive over economic differences - upperclass, middle class, and lower-class?  Why or why not?

Monday, October 7, 2013

TWINKIES - AMERICA'S #1 JUNK FOOD!!!



Yeah, you read the title for this week's blog correctly and no, it's not a play on words.  You have been debating some hot topics for the past couple of weeks and I decided to give you a break from the political and social issues and let you have some fun - even though the topic is a serious one!!!

The idea for this week's blog comes from one of your fellow APUSH 2 students that had the NERVE to say that Twinkies were terrible!!!  HELLO!!! Twinkies, like them or not, are an American icon and just as American as apple pie!!!  When the company announced that they weren't going to make them anymore, riots nearly broke out across the nation and people swamped their local stores to stockpile their supplies of this national treasure!!!  Once again, AMERICANS spoke and forced the change and Twinkies are being mass produced, once again, from sea to shining sea!!!

So, that got me to thinking... and as you all know, that is a VERY dangerous thing for me to do... and I came up with this week's blog question!!!!

THIS WEEK'S BLOG TOPIC:
Should Twinkies be officially declared, by an act of Congress, America's National Junk Food??  If not Twinkies, what? (yeah, I have to give equal opportunity for those of you - and you KNOW WHO YOU ARE, MA.... that may have a different opinion!)

PS> Be on the look out for the KeyElement & Lord Gehm Twinkies public service announcement coming soon!