In recent times, more companies have been trying to merge and create jobs for the economy. Many companies have increased their lobbying spending. These corporations include Time Warner, AT&T, and Bayer. These companies have been increasing their spending on lobbyists, whom are hired to make negotiations with the legislature about decisions that would suit the companies and the economy the best. This increased spending has been facing antitrust scrutiny from the government as antitrust concerns continue to persist. The mergers of one of more major corporations can cause an increased amount of competition in our economy. Pharmaceutical giant Bayer and seed company, Monsanto plan to merge, same with Media company, Time Warner with AT&T. These companies mentioned to have increased their lobbying spending to convince the government to let the mergers move forward. Trump after meeting with the CEOs of these numerous companies criticized or supported the mergers through his notorious tweets. However, it is unclear how much of an effect Trump’s ideas will have on these big mergers as these cases have for years been independent of the investigations. As we proceed forward there is more news to come.

The Cold War: Economic Crisis

During the Cold War, there were many problems that arose in the world. A major problem, though, was the economic crisis regarding oil. The Prices of Oil skyrocketed, under the OPEC embargo oil prices jumped 400% in one year. With the oil prices going up, the price of everything goes up because that means the price of energy went up. Everything requires energy. The cause of this inflation was an increase in government spending, so the deficit increases. When the government is in debt, they jack up the prices for items. The American manufacturing economy collapsed because the American workers were not producing as much as they were being paid.

Arms Race

The arms race was a race between the United States and the Soviet Union. Reagan called the Arms Race a race between the good and the evil, with the Soviet Union being the "Evil Empire." Reagan also portrayed the Soviet Union as a country that would not negotiate. The Soviet Union was putting way too much money into the military and they weren’t spending anything on daily essentials such as making soap or food. The workers that were in charge of making those resources were put to build arms for the military instead, making daily life in the Soviet Union during the Arms Race subpar.

I'll be back.

Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger born July 30, 1947 is an Austrian-American actor, filmmaker, businessman, investor, author, philanthropist, activist, former professional bodybuilder and former politician. He served two terms as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011.Arnold started weight lifting at age 15 and at age 20 he won Mr. Universe and 7 time Mr. Olympia. Many may know him as being the governor for California and being the star of the Terminator. He went from a immigrant boy coming to this country to becoming a beast in the weight room to being a governor and a movie star. What can't he do! 

Women rights

Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls of many societies worldwide, and formed the basis to the women's rights movement in the nineteenth century and feminist movement during the 20th century. In some countries, these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom,and behavior, where as in others they may be ignored or suppressed. They differ from broader notions of human rights through claims of women being seen as house wives and always being seen as the moms. The ones to pick you up from soccer practice to go get some ice cream after a cut on your knee. Women are more then moms and house wives!

MAD

During the Cold War, the time period where the United States and the Soviet Union were against each other in many differet political and military aspects. One of the most prominent and infamous parts of the Cold War was the nuclear arms race. Both sides of the war were fighting each other to see who could build the most nuclear bombs and the most powerful bombs in order to establish protection and supremacy. One important feature to come out of the nuclear arms race was Mutually Assured Destruction, or MAD. The concept of MAD was very simple: both sides, the Soviet Union and the USA, had the military capacity to be able to fully destroy the other and cause complete destruction of each other. This strategy was used as a form of deterrence as a way to stop the use of any nuclear weapons.
In my opinion, MAD is a bad idea because it allows each side to keep building up their weapons supply to keep up with each other and also encourages other nations to join in because they also want protection. By building up more and more weapons that have the capacity to destroy the entire world, it puts everyone at a huge risk that may not actually be worth it in the end.

Women's Rights Movement

During the 1960s, women were beginning to feel a desire to become something more in life. They desired to leave behind their aprons and wedding rings (for younger women) for a lifestyle that allowed them to embrace their freedom and youth in ways that hadn't explored before.Women became more free with themselves and desired to express themselves in new and different ways, without being held back by society's expectations. A book called the Feminine Mystique encouraged women to "be more than her husbands wife" and to do something about the dissatisfaction they felt in their lives. This new found desire for accomplishment and individuality was a major factor in the women's rights movement.

latin americans

African Americans were not the only people fighting for civil rights. Another group that fought were the Latin Americans. In class I learned that Hernandez was not treated fairly at all when being tried in court. Mexicans were legally given the right to participate in jury duty. However, far after the civil rights movements, Mexican Americans and other Latinos were still viewed as lower class humans than many other races. They were only believed to be citizens because they were born there. However, after this trial, the Mexican Americans are viewed with more equality than before.

Richie Nixion

Richard Mihous Nixion was born in Yorba Linda, California. After completing his undergraduate studies at Whittier College, he graduated from Duke University School of Law in 1937 and returned to California to practice law. He and his wife, Pat Nixon, moved to Washington in 1942 to work for the federal government. He subsequently served on active duty in the U.S. Navy Reserve during World War II. Nixon was elected to the House of Representatives in 1946 and to the Senate in 1950. His pursuit of the Hiss Case established his reputation as a leading anti-communist, and elevated him to national prominence. He was the running mate of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Republican Party presidential nominee in the 1952 election. Nixon served for eight years as vice president. He waged an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 1960, narrowly losing to John F. Kennedy, and lost a race for Governor of California to Pat Brown in 1962. In 1968 he ran again for the presidency and was elected when he defeated Hubert Humphrey.

The Persian Gulf War and Its Effects

The Persian Gulf War began when Iraq invade its neighbor Kuwait in 1990. Arab powers like Egypt and Saudi Arabia were alarmed by this action, and feared that Iraq would attack them as well. The invasion of Kuwait was alarming to the United States as well, because if Iraq succeeded in its campaign it could have potentially had control of a large majority of the oil supply, and the US had not forgotten the economic crisis it suffered in the 1970s from middle-eastern oil embargoes. Saudi Arabia allowed the US to use it as a staging ground, and in 1991 the US began a massive air offensive known as Operation Desert Storm. After 100 hours of ground fighting, the US and its allies had won, and much of the Iraqi forces in Kuwait had fled, surrendered, or been killed. The Persian Gulf War was important to the American people because it restored confidence in the military. In Kuwait the US did not have to worry about cold war repercussions like it had in Vietnam, so it was able to utilize its full potential. In addition, the technology of war had improved greatly since Vietnam. Smart bombs and stealth aircraft were widely used allowing the US military to be terrifyingly precise with its bombings. Also, unlike in Vietnam the press was only allowed to see what the military wanted it to see, which was simply smart bombs hitting targets and not the suffering of the victims of the war. Overall, the Persian Gulf War was a much needed victory for the US, boosting confidence in the US military, as well as restoring American pride.

The Concept of MAD

Following the Cuban Missile Crisis, and new type of danger was looming over the human race: Nuclear Holocaust. With both sides of the Cold War having the ability of a first strike, the press of a button could kill millions. It was from this fear of a surprise first strike that the idea of Mutually Assured Destruction, also known as MAD, was formed. Simply put, MAD is the idea that if you can guarantee death to anyone trying to kill you, even if they can kill you they won't sacrifice themselves doing it, and thus a conflict never arises. In the Cold War, MAD was built upon the ability of a massive response with nuclear weapons in the event of the enemy initiating a first strike. This guaranteed nuclear response was made possible by 3 key weapons: Submarines, Bombers, and Missiles. Both the USA and the USSR had many nuclear submarines lurking by the enemy's coasts. If the order was given, any one of these subs could launch up to 24 nuclear missiles at the enemy without even surfacing. ICBMs were also key in MAD. In the event of an attack, ICBMs (inter-continental ballistic missiles) could be launched at enemy cities. In addition, both sides used long-ranged bombers equipped with nuclear bombs. Both sides guaranteed that there would be bombers in the air at all times, so that if they were attacked these bombers would be able to fly to the enemy and drop the bombs. Overall, using these weapons allowed each side to guarantee that they could kill 25% to 50% of the enemy's population if they were attacked. These unacceptable losses were the foundation of Mutually Assured Destruction in the cold war, because it assured both the USA and the USSR that nuclear war would be nuclear suicide.


Works cited:
http://www.rickcampbellauthor.com/styled/index.html

economic boom world war II

After the second world war, even though we won, there was still a slow start to our economy. The countries that lost the war, Germany and Japan both had a lot of casualties. In 1968, Japan became the worlds 2nd largest economy. Japan experienced a growth of 9 percent in the economy between 1955 and 1973. Germany became the second largest economy by the 50s. As the economy grew, renowned brands like Sony, Volkswagen, Toyota, Mercedes, and Toshiba sold well all over the world. This cause Japan and Germany to have more efficient employees than the United States. More people started buying Japanese and German goods. Many large U.S. corporations lost money or saw a decrease in profits.

Nixon, Good or Bad?

Nixon is known by lots of American youth, and certainly was known by me until I learned further, as the man who did that Watergate Scandal thing, and I didn't even know what that was until this year, but that's how I knew Nixon. Because of this, I always thought that Nixon was this awful corrupt president, and that he was one of the worst we've ever had, regardless of the fact that I knew nothing about him.
This, however, wasn't totally true. Nixon got America out of Vietnam! This was a feat multiple presidents before him had struggled to do. This was the biggest achievement of any president in the last decade.
Aside from Vietnam though, he was a little rusty. He did several suspicious things, including bugging the white house, and other shady actions, including the Watergate scandal, which he was no doubt a part of. Still, I would argue that Nixon was ultimately a benefit for America, mainly due to his action in Vietnam. I would also like to point out that the shady things he did were, in my opinion, probably not too different than presidents before him, and that he really didn't have any good choices once they were found out. Did anyone think he would realistically tell the press and media he was involved? That would kill his presidency in an hour. He did what he thought was the best for his position, and really the only real option that he had.

Nixon Caught on Tape

It's a well known fact that Nixon installed a recording system in the white house, after all, that's how the Water Gate Scandal went down. Fun Fact: In X-Men Days of Future Past, after Mystique tries assassinating Trask, Nixon meets up in his office and tells his officers to start recording the conversation. Just goes to show that even to this day, even Hollywood is having fun trying to make Nixon references and jokes. It just goes to show the impact technology has implemented on the world. If it weren't for the recording system, Nixon and his CIA agents would have most likely been able to escape trial from Water Gate. Countless trials and prosecutions would have been voided for lack of concrete evidence. We can take as Nixon as a historical example of this, but in reality, it happens all around us now in the present day. We are all mini-newsreporters with our phones, being able to shoot video, take pictures, and record sound.  Perhaps one of us, the readers of this blog, might be the ones responsible for catching the president ordering a latte with extra cream at Starbucks, and thus, exposing him and having yourself become very wealthy. That's just how life goes now.

McCarthyism? And a side of salty McFries?

We should all remember who McCarthy was. He's the guy that complains about the food at a fast food chain after he finished eating what he ordered, and then, threatens to sue the company for that. Realistically, as far as I know he didn't sue a restaurant, but what he did do was falsely accuse a multitude of people for being supposed Communists. During the red scare, having this power and influence was a very big tool. A tool for what you may ask. A tool for beating up bushes? Nope. A tool for beating up potential political adversaries or any other individual who may have had posed a challenge for McCarthy. But lets face it, he wasn't the only one with this type of power. Anyone, even seven year old Dylan from Texas (alright, maybe not), could get away with calling someone else a Communist and getting them jailed. The paranoia in the United States at this time was way too great, perhaps greater than when the population blamed George W. Bush for doing 9/11. Just like in politics, there will always be some random salty individual who will take a bite out of his food and blame the restaurant for it; just as McCarthy proved with his fake "Communist list".

Hernandez Vs. Texas

When we look back at the time when the Civil rights movement we just think of the people they were fighting for were the African Americans, but they weren't the only racial group that were being discriminated at the time. Mexicans and other Latin America minorities were being targeted in Texas. in class we learned that when Hernandez was trialed he was not given all the fairness he should have received. Looking at the jury that had given him their decision none of them were of the same racial group as he was. Mexican Americas were indeed classified as a social group at the time giving them the right to be part of jury duty, but from the time they had been given the opportunity to be part of a jury they were never chosen. This was due from the fact that the whites still viewed them as sub humans that were only given the citizenship because they were born there. If we look at the present day we can see that we as a nation have indeed progressed since we no longer see these kinds of jury in which one could have biased thoughts as a group since they are from the same racial group.

Greg Louganis

Going back to the 1980's and 1990's where Greg Louganis took place in the Seoul Olympics. His experience there was a very special one. At the time he was talking part of the high diving event where he had suffered a concussion when he hit his head on the springboard. This did not prevent him from completing the rest of his event trials. Making it to the finals with the most points in the qualifier he was able to win the gold medal. Why is this special? What's special about this is that Greg at the time was HIV positive. Despite knowing that he had HIV and had suffered a concussion that when he dove blood would go into the pool. He not only risked his life, but as well the lives of other divers. Well this is what they would have said back then. The truth is that his blood did not have any chance in infecting the other divers since the gallons of water with chlorine killed the HIV before it made contact with any other diver and the only possible way it can really cause infection on people is if HIV has a way into the body. Which the human skin prevented it from getting into the body. On 1995 Greg announced that he was HIV positive making most of his sponsors leave except for old trusty Speedo. People would also hate him even more as he also announced that he was gay.

Overview of the 1990's

The 1990's was an era of change and was characterized by a change in culture and alternative media. New movements such as the grunge, rave and hiphop music were rising through the country as america kept opening up to new cultures. In the first two year of the decade, communism collapse, and the decade was then politically described as a "movement toward the right wing". the 1990's also saw a huge advancement in technology with the "world wide web" and the first gene therapy being put in trial on the first designer baby.

Bill clinton was a dominant figure in the international affairs in the 1990's. He was known for his attempt to negotiate peace in the middle east. His endorsement advanced free trade in the united states.

Overall the 1990 was an era of change where people started discovering new ways of having fun and were evolving.

America's Backyard

In the time period of the Cold War, there wasn't only action and tensions going on in countries in the Eastern hemisphere. We have learned about the communist uprisings/movements in Vietnam, Korea, etc.. Also we have learned about the communist revolution in Cuba from Fidel Castro, but there is also more going on in the neighboring countries of the U.S. and Cuba. An unexpected communist uprising, being the first in Central or South America, was occurring in Guatemala. Guatemala was heavily based on the United Fruit company, where that company actually owned railroads, ports, etc.. The leader of Guatemala who was a communist was Arbenz. Unfortunately for him, he failed to maintain control any longer by the Americans. However, this wasn't going to be a hopeless time for the Latin-American countries to give up on a communist regime. There was a revolution in Cuba to overthrow the dictator of Cuba, in which the U.S. had assigned just like in other countries. Now Fidel Castro took control of Cuba, showing anti-american actions by controlling U.S. properties in Cuba and being communist. Cuba and Guatemala were in a similar situation because the U.S. tried to overthrow the communist leaders in both countries. Later on, there will be more up risings in countries such as Niguaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Chile, Guatemala, Cuba, Dominican Republic. Meanwhile in Chile, there was a popular candidate that got elected president and his name was Salvador Allende. Allende having empathy for the poor in Chile, wanted to make regulations that would help the poor. This upset the rich and the U.S.. To the U.S. this seemed communistic and so they set CIA officials to overthrow the leader Allende of Chile. The CIA payed the Chilean military to bomb the palace where Allende was at, and because Chile was a poor country, they agreed to the deal. The U.S. also in Niguaragua, they funded a lot in the Contras who were fighting the communists. Altough they helped each other, they had a bad relationship. And Even in El Salvador where the civil war breaks out is considered the most brutal fighting/war in Central America. The U.S. is so sensitive from neighboring countries going communist that now they invaded Grenada because of communist leader. From all the involvement in Central and South America, we can see just how paranoid and worried the U.S. gets when these communists popup near their country.

Wars Star, Young Padawan. (LAST FRICKIN BLOG WOOHOOOOOOO)

The idea of Star Wars not only included a green midget who talked in weird ways, but also included protection from missiles, by satellites that shot frickin lasers. SDI stood for the strategic defensive intiative. What it proposed was this, that we were going to build satellites in space that could shoot down any missile with lasers. LASERS. Yeah I know it sounds ridiculous but it was a real idea. In my opinion it was used as more of a bluff to get the Soviet Union to back off us, and hesitate before they think of attacking us. They didn't want to have to compete against us, because their economy was going to crap due to all the funds going into the war effort. So it was better for them to be cautious and lay off because, they would've had a lot more to lose if they tried to fight us in an all out war.