Switzerland and its Vote on Executive Pay

             I was always a firm believer on the idea that hard work pays off. It is frustrating to me, that the government is telling CEO's that they can't reward themselves for the hard work and great business that they are bringing in. The consequence of rewarding themselves because of their hard work, being jail time up to three years or to have to forfeit up to six years of their salary, is not right. Bringing in the text of peoples initiative into the Switzerland constitution did not agree with me. Giving shareholders voting rights with more power, but along with not threatening criminal sanctions was rejected and it is not surprising. I give great gratitude for Mr. Vasella, declining a severance package of seventy-six million dollars. That is a great deal of money and a great deal of money to give away. Much voting will be going on by shareholders and pension funds coming up. I never expected any outbreak to occur in such a prosperous society, but in a society where a taxpayer is due his money, it would be reasonable for such an outbreak to occur.

Twitter Doing It Big

              I cannot say that I am a fan of Twitter nor one of the 230 million users. I used Twitter on my smart phone for two weeks and then deleted it. I never really liked it, but maybe thats because I'm kind of shy and don't like sharing my feelings or "tweeting" them. I stick to Facebook, as my main social media and would choose Facebook over Twitter any day. I do agree that Twitter may have been a little too cautious and could have made a lot more money than the amount that they came up with, but that decision may have been smart, although a problem like the one Facebook had to go through could have been waiting. I think that it is amazing that Twitter and Facebook are along side Google. Google is an outstanding search engine that every human being uses and it is a great accomplishment to be at Google's level. The prices for Twitter are shooting up every week and changing rapidly. A five dollar increase occurred in a single week, from $44.90 to $50. I do not want to say this, but I do believe that Twitter will leave Facebook in its dust. Twitter going public is an amazing accomplishment, that would put any huge company into a nervous state. This will only show how many people really believe in Twitter and what people will dig into their pockets to throw down their money for such a company. A six month waiting period occurred before twitter went public. Twitter going public is a huge step and I think its time that  Twitter is ready to throw down with the big shots and label its stock.

Bigfoot

               It seems so bizarre and strange for someone to even be looking for Bigfoot in the first place. I never have believed in any of those myths or the mythical creatures that interest the minds of so many people. It boggles my mind to know that men were out in the woods hunting for Bigfoot, let alone that in the act, one of the hunters shot one of his friends. It may be true that most religious people do not believe in such mythical creatures, spooky stories, and haunted houses because as a Christian, I believe in none of it and think its nonsense.
               Getting past the event, which does boggle my mind, that took place in Rodgers County, Oklahoma, where three men went hunting for Bigfoot and one of the fellow hunters got shot accidentally. If it is possible to think past that event, lets think of what even made these men believe that there was such a mythical creature in the first place and what made them go out and hunt for one. I would assume that these men did not have much practice for any religion and probably did not believe in one God. It is also understandable to believe that all humans want an answer to questions. If there isn't an answer to a certain and interesting question, then one would probably imagine an answer, an answer that is interesting and cool. It seems that these men went out to hunt for Bigfoot because they were interested in catching such rare game, but there are many other aspects that could be filled in for their actions. They could have wanted to become famous, rich, special, or could have just been mentally insane. Mentally insane may be a good answer to the question, for these men could have answered the question, of why one of the fellow hunters were shot, with a simple answer of, "it was an accident." Instead much more investigation went into the incident and unanswered actions appeared to be suspicious.
              I personally believe in none of the mythical creatures and myths that roam the Internet and the minds of so many individuals. Maybe the event that took place was an attempt of murder that was blamed on a hunt for a mythical creature. I do not think it is crazy to say that, for three men were out in Oklahoma looking to hunt Bigfoot. I'm going to leave with the question of, "Was the event that took place in Rodgers County, Oklahoma an attempt of murder, or actually a hunt for Bigfoot?"

Caught Spying

             America and Germany are allies and therefor, America should have no need to spy and snoop into their business. If I had an Allie, I would expect trust, care, concern, and honesty to be present. It is not right to tap into ones communications, and I believe Angela Merkel handled and expressed herself in a very good way. She did not express anger but rather stated the necessities that must be present between allies. Angela Merkel seemed to remind America that trust must be present between them two and that they both need to focus on rebuilding it.
              Getting caught is an issue alone but then getting caught lying is a whole other issue at hand. America stated that they had not monitored and will not monitor Germany's communications in the future. This statement digs a hole for America because America has admitted to monitoring in the past. It is a very risky barrier to cross when weighing out the consequences of spying on Germany. The risk of finding something for intelligence benefits does not out weigh the diplomatic damage that will rise.
              Matthew Yglesias' five year plan seems promising but only in some parts. In his step one, of solving short term unemployment, I believe that suspending the printing of the federal reserve until nominal income catches up is a great idea and has a lot pushing for it to succeed. I do believe that his second step is interesting, but I do not know if it will be successful. It seems alittle radical to start taxing land value, because of all the aspects that land value includes. His step three, on raising all the different real wages seems to be promising also. I do not agree with his fourth step on how we could raise population threw immigration. I believe that he really jumped and aggressively pushed for ways in which we can allow immigrants into the United States, and I'm not too big of a fan. I believe  Mathew yglesias' fifth step is trying to change something that does not need to be changed. I believe copyright terms are fine at the level at which they are at, and do not need to be scaled back.

Chaos in Moscow

         Ethnic violence was the catalyst of a riot in Moscow which caused much trouble for the residents and police of Moscow. Migrants seem to be a huge problem in Moscow and I believe that much effort should be put into expelling them. To have a resident of Moscow say, "We are scared to walk the streets at night," is not alright nor healthy for the production and success of Moscow. These migrants are causing to much problems than the good that they bring to Moscow. Another resident also stated that these migrants take up low paying jobs, like construction that many residents would not do, but if that is all they are doing then much effort needs to be put into the act of expelling them. The great help by Moscow's police, detaining around 1600 migrants, a statistic stated in the article posted  by (Reuters.com) shows a great start. Ethnic violence can be started very easily in Moscow and I believe careful steps must also be taken to quell the violence that may erupt. Different ethnic holidays is one of the examples that may cause violence to erupt. Migrants are said to be targeted during these ethnic holidays and that they should take much caution in transporting from day to day activities. A lot of chaos is occurring in Moscow at the moment and can definitely be taken care of. Steps must be taken to quell the chaos and violence.

The 3rd Golden Age of Television

          The golden age of television was a time period where much criticism was focused on movies and television shows. Criticism was expressed through female and male critics, which supplied directors, writers, and producers many different angles to view, change, or not change the way they wrote and later produced a movie. Many different types of television go through criticism and through the boom of serial television, came the boom of criticism. Online criticism heavily increased in quantity, quality, and in its respectability. Martin and Sepinwall do not focus on how television could be different from what it is today because of criticism but rather what it is and how it came to be. It is amazing to step back and look at what had to happen and what created the shows and movies that we all watch today. I never really appreciated the steps that must have been taken to produce these great movies and shows that exist today. Criticism is a harsh step to have to deal with but a very helpful tool in creating great writing and shows. I believe that if one can really appreciate criticism and understand it along with the ability to use it for their own advantage, a writer can truly produce a great piece.

Government Shutdown

John McDaid

            The house and the senate couldn't agree on a bill to fund the government and because of it we have been put into a government shutdown that started on october 1. When I first heard of a government shutdown, I thought that it meant everyone that works for the federal government would be without their job completely and entirely and all parts of government would close. Some people in government stay and work during the shutdown and only parts of the government are shut down. This situation is horrible for our economy. Areas around Washington D.C. are said to lose $200 million each day in economic activity for each day that the government is shut down. 800,000 federal workers are estimated to be sent home. A prolonged and serious government shut down has only happened once before but smaller government shutdowns have happened seventeen times before. I wouldn't say that the government can ever really be prepared for a government shutdown but it is definitely something that should be further looked into because of how badly the economy can be affected by one. A government shutdown wouldn't happen if congress could just agree and follow through together. I wouldn't blame any particular party but congress definitely needs to pull together and seal the trench that is causing these problems.

Somalian shooters

John McDaid

        This is another horrible incident that has occurred and another that we have to read. I agree with all the survivors on how they explain the Somalian shooters. The Kenyan survivors explain how they are inhumane and had no feeling or emotion in there face. Again I want to express my feeling on how there are mentally unstable people in the world that we live in. To make a connection from the last reading, The Naval Yard Shooting, in both cases people act inhumanely and seem to be mentally unstable. I do believe there is a difference between The shooter in the Naval Yard and the Somalian shooters. The Somalian shooters seemed to commit this action more through anger and order. It is a horrible incident to have to deal with and go through and am very sorry for all those who were involved. I would categorize the article in the website, The Counter Punch as informal because it is not a refutable news source with a good editter, but more of a blog with an oppiniated author that does not cite good enough sources. I believe that is favored toward the perspective of someone who is against the form of policy of the United States.

Naval Yard Shooting

John McDaid

           The violent rampage that occurred in the navy yard is a horrible event that I wish never happened. I believe that there were many things that could have been done to stop this horrible incident, but in this case it just didn't work out for the better. It is crazy to know through examples like this one, that there are such mentally unstable people in our world today that could not only think of doing these kind of things but actually pull them off. It is a sure sign that Mr. Alexis had many mental problems. In my eyes I believe that there were too many red flags that popped up before the incident, to allow Mr. Alexis to still have security clearance. It is a shame that nobody was able to highlight and put the red flags together because this would have never happened. I just hope that the security clearance systems can learn from this event and prevent a future incident like this from happening. 

Syria

John McDaid

            The civil war that rose due to simple and peaceful protests during the Arab spring in 2011 has caused many problems and deaths in Syria. The economy of Syria before the civil war was very diverse. Agriculture, industry along with excavation, retail, and tourism made up Syria’s economy. The economy of Syria was crushed due to the break out of the civil war. Unemployment dropped four times its original standing. Hospitals were dropping, leaving only 30 of the 75 running and treating patients.

            I believe the self-interest of many Syrians is to get out of their homes and move on with their life somewhere else. I do not disagree with the two million people who fled from Syria to Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, and Iraq. I think that the self-interest of the country has been lost for most Syrians. I wouldn’t call this a selfish move in any way because of how bad Syria is at this moment. Chemical warfare in Syria killed 1,429 people, which included 426 children. Of the hospitals that are still working and treating people, 3,600 patients were treated with neurotoxic symptoms. Homes being destroyed, people being killed/injured, and huge amounts of hospitals closing are sure signs that I believe will and obviously have triggered the feeling of self-interest in the minds of many Syrians.

            Self-interest doesn’t always have to be selfish. The United States in their action must choose a side. Whether they choose to be inactive and not help the people or if they want to be active and help the people, the decision will nonetheless, be one of self-interest. Mill uses the example of democratizing Syria, as a possible solution to its problems. Mill explains that turning Syria’s government into a democracy is not the one and only solution to solving Syria’s problems. However the United States government will like the people of America to believe that because it is in their interest to have a democracy in Syria. There has been democratizing failures of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya, that could affect the decision of pursuing a goal of democratizing Syria. Syria could very well be a democratizing failure along with them, or could be a goal accomplished. It is in the self-interest of the United States to get involved and fix the problems that Syria had created for itself or to let Syria suffocate in the hole that will eventually collapse on top of its head.

            Intervening with Syria sparks the thought of self-interest. There is the thought of self-interest in the minds of fleeing Syrian’s and also in the minds of United States people in whether of not to intervene and find a solution that will help Syria out of the mess that they are in.

A Reflection of Adam Smith's Writing

John McDaid

Dr. Herron

A situation may not always be seen and probably will not be seen in the way that you want it to be understood and processed in the mind of a bystander. Sympathy may be given to you or someone else. Sympathy for yourself may not be the strong and barely controllable emotion that is felt from a bystander.

Paragraph seven was very interesting to me because I could relate very well with the example and substance of the paragraph. “The furious behavior of an angry man is more likely to exasperate us against himself than against his enemies. As we are unacquainted with his provocation, we cannot bring his case home to ourselves” (Smith para. 7). In the heat of the moment sympathy may not be felt for you but rather your enemy. A bystander may not have seen what situation put you into this rage and anger, but rather may have only seen your enemy nervous, scared, and defeated. Naturally people would feel sympathy for the underdog and the weaker man. People feel sorry for what is going to happen to the mans enemy because all they may have seen was an angry and enraged man about to defeat someone. Naturally people shy away from conflict, so a bystander would take the side of the man who seems to not want to fight. People naturally sympathize for the mans enemy with fear and resentment.

I was put into a situation that was very similar. I was competing in a wrestling tournament and was beating one of my opponents at the time. For whatever reason, my opponent’s father was not all right with that. Numerous times he walked onto the mat and kept trying to break the match up. I continued to wrestle and later on won the match and placed 3^rd in the tournament. I was receiving my metal and my opponent’s father started an argument with my father. People broke it up and sent the man outside. Little did my father and I know that the man was waiting right outside the doors. My father and I headed to the exit to leave and as soon as we opened the door, the man jumped my father. I was pushed away and was helplessly watching my father fight over something so stupid but something so right for him to defend himself. He defeated the man and got out of the building but only ten yards from the building, he was stopped by a police officer to be questioned and accused of beating up a man for no reason. My father was accused of beating this man up because he did, but was accused of doing it for the wrong reason. All witnesses said that they only saw a man throw the first punch and continue to throw more. They didn’t know that he was only defending himself but also that he was jumped before the first punch was thrown. My father now looked like the bad guy because sympathy was shown for the wrong person.

There were passions that expressed excitement of sympathy, but the sympathy was shown for the wrong person. I don’t disagree with what people thought and said of the fight, because it is what they saw. I strongly agree with Smith and how in some situations there may be no passion that would trigger sympathy. 

Motocross first evolved in the United Kingdom from motorcycle trials competitions, such as the Auto-Cycle Clubs's first quarterly trial in 1906 and the Scottish Six Days Trial that began in 1909.[1][2] When delicate balancing and strict scoring of trials were dispensed with in favour of a race to be the fastest rider to the finish, it was called scrambles, said to have originated in the phrase, "a rare old scramble" describing one such early race.[1] Originally known as scrambles racing in the United Kingdom, as the sport grew in popularity, the competitions became known internationally as motocross racing, by combining the French word for motorcycle, motocyclette, or moto for short, into a portmanteau with "cross country".[1] 

Motocross first evolved in the United Kingdom from motorcycle trials competitions, such as the Auto-Cycle Clubs's first quarterly trial in 1906 and the Scottish Six Days Trial that began in 1909.[1][2] When delicate balancing and strict scoring of trials were dispensed with in favour of a race to be the fastest rider to the finish, it was called scrambles, said to have originated in the phrase, "a rare old scramble" describing one such early race.[1] Originally known as scrambles racing in the United Kingdom, as the sport grew in popularity, the competitions became known internationally as motocross racing, by combining the French word for motorcycle, motocyclette, or moto for short, into a portmanteau with "cross country".[1]  ^{(Wikipedia 44).}

The two competitions that started motocross were the Auto-Cycle Clubs and the Scottish Six Days. Motocross started in the United Kingdom. The whole idea in the beginnings of motocross was to be the first person to finnish in the race, but they weren't called races but rather "scrambles." The word motocross was created by combining the French word Motocross with cross-country (page 1 wikipedia.)

"In 1952, the FIM, motorcycling's international governing body, created an individual European Championship using a 500 cc engine displacement formula.[4]^{" (Wikipedia paragraph 3.)}