The recession and why it happened from an amateur's point of view

I'm studying Macroeconomics and Microeconomics so I can say that I'm an amateur economist. I want to talk about why the recession happened from an amateur economist's point of view. It's going to be superficial and shallow so don't take it too seriously. Here we Go!

First, one of the reason for the the recession was how America spent money. Americans just bought and bought. The MPC was greater than 1 meaning that their consuming power was greater than that of their GDP. This made people have debts or make people use their savings to the extreme that they was their 401K. They also used their credit cards too much. Instead of paying fully for whatever they buy, lots of Americans paid the minimum price that they need to pay the credit card company an kept postponed their payment. When the deadline for the payment came, they couldn't pay and the banks couldn't get the money so they could pay off their debts to other companies and everything just crashed.

Second, the mortgage system is wrong. The mortgage system in America is that people borrow a huge sum from the bank and pay it back bit by bit and for 10 or more years. It might be convenient for the people since they can get their dream house even if they don't have the money. But, when the economy crashed and the bank kept trying to take back cash quickly and the people couldn't pay their mortgage, the mortgage crisis happened and Fannymay died.

Third, the way America kept minting money is another problem. America is in a huge debt and can't pay off their debts. In a condition like this, America would have gone through IMF but since the global standard for money is American dollars, America just kept printing and printing money to pay off the debts. This made the confidence in American dollars drop significantly. For example, China which has over half of the American bonds decided to not buy American bonds anymore because they thought that value of American bonds keeps dropping and dropping because there are American dollars getting printed as we speak and inflation is happening.

This is just the causes for why the recession happened from an amateur's point of view but I think that this is relevant to why the recession happened.

Math Team

Math team is a competition team that solves math problems. I'm also in math team. The problem on the left is really really exaggerated and so we don't solve those problems. For Freshman, the topic is about algebra. For Sophomores, the topic is geometry. For Juniors, the topic is algebra II. For seniors, the topic is pre-calculus. It's not like a team that kicks people out if you suck but rather a team that is suppose to promote math and learn more about math. So, even if you suck, lots of people come and improve their skills. It's also a fun place because you get to go to restaurants with your friends and eat and talk with your friends. When it becomes state competition, it becomes even more fun because it's now a group work problem solving so people can help you out. We even go on a trip to U of I and sleep over for one day and play with your friends. Last time I went, I stayed up playing Egyptian rat-screw. SO JOIN MATH TEAM!!!!

Les Miserables

Les Miserables is my favorite book. I had other books that I liked like the Count of Monte Cristo or Eragon but by far Les Miserables is my favorite book. It shows that humans are two sides of a coin. One a bright side and one a dark side. Jean Valjean is one example. He is an ex-convict yet he became a philanthropist after the incident with the bishop. But, the people where he set up a factory turned away from him and let him be taken away at the word 'ex-convict'. I also love the dramatic ending where Jean dies and Marius tells him that he is sorry. Every time I read that part, I cry and cry.

The evolution of heavy infantry of the west: early to modern

The heavy infantry were soldiers that entered battle equipped with full armor and weapons that could do heavy damage to enemies. They were not very mobile and moved slowly but once they entered battle in their formations, almost none could break through them. Traditionally, heavy infantry wore armor that was heavy to pierce and grouped together to protect themselves and concentrate their forces to give heavy damage. I will talk about the evolution of the heavy infantry of the west.

First heavy infantry that was introduced was probably the hoplites. They had long spears, a huge round shield, armor that protected all of their upper body, head and the lower part of the legs. These men were grouped together in formation and would face the charging enemy. First, they would fight by spears to fend off the enemy and when some enemies managed to enter the formation, some of the men would drop the spears and would fight with short swords. This was extremely effective and is demonstrated in the ancient times when 10,000 hoplites managed to escape from the middle of the Persian Empire to their homeland, fighting off forces many times their number. But, they were inflexible and when striken in the rear or the back, they were sure to lose since the formation couldn't be moved very well. That's why the hoplites later lost to the agile and flexible army of romans. However, this formation became even more effective when their spears became even longer. This concept was introduced by Phillip of Macedonia and he conquered all of Greece with his army of hoplites. Later, his son Alexander the Great defeated more than 200,000 forces in total with only 42,000 men with this army.

Then, the heavy infantry moved onto Rome. Early Rome actually didn't have legions. Instead, they had three classes of armies. One was the Hastais, then the Principies and the Triarids. In here, only the Triarids were heavy infantry. The Hastais were poorly equipped and the Principies were also poorly equipped. However, the Triarids were from well-off families and could afford the cost of the armor and weapons (since in Rome, every men had to buy his own equipments for the army). The Triarids also followed the hoplite formation so I will not talk so much about them. After the revolution of the army, the whole concept of the army changed. The Roman army now had legions that were mainly heavy infantry. They would each divide into about 120 men led by a centurion. A soldier carried a big rectangular shield that could cover their whole body, armor that had bot chain and plate mail and a helmet. They also had two spears and a short sword that was really only good for stabbing. When they attacked an enemy, they would form a turtuoise formation so the enemy couldn't shoot arrows at them and when they faced the enemy in combat, they would keep their formation at all cost and block with their shield. Then, the soldier would stab diagonally so the enemy would be suprised.

In the medival times, the heavy infantry was very disorganized. In fact, the army itself was very disorganized and often consisted of poorly equipped peasants and the knights. Becoming a heavy infantry cost a lot of money so the poor peasants couldn't afford it since they couldn't even afford a decent sword, and the knights prefered to fight on horseback although some poor knights that couldn't afford a horse fought on foot and became heavy infantry. Therefore, the heavy infantry were made up of mercenaries. These mercenaries didn't have much discipline and often fought as individuals rather than groups. They really have the best morals so when faced with a heavy force, they would run away rather than fight so the heavy infantry wasn't very effective at this time.

Now, when the gunpowder was introduced and became developed, the heavy infantry became ineffective because of their lack of mobility but it is shocking that they used heavy infantry well into World War II. These pictures of men are both heavy infantry in the World War I and World War II. The first picture is a picture of a heavy infantry wearing SN-42 armor.

Groundhogs

The three animals that I would absolutely like to have as pets are hamsters, wombats, and groundhogs because they are cute. Since today is groundhog day, I would like to talk about groundhogs. Groundhogs are mammals that usually live in the Great Plains. They live in large groups and burrow themselves underground. When they are outside, they have some members of their pack to watch for predators. These watchers stand all day, almost motionless and when a predator comes, squills to let the others know. Even if they live in praire regions, they can climb up trees. Sadly, these cute animals live only for 2 to 3 years. That's probably why the groundhog for Groundhog Day keeps changing.

Here are the predictions:
2009
Early Spring
Gina Johnson

2009
6 more weeks of winter

Buckeye Chuck

2009
Early Spring
Saskatoon Evan

2009
6 more weeks of winter
Balzac Billy

2009
Early Spring
Malverne Mel

2009
6 more weeks of winter
Woodstock Willie

2009
6 more weeks of winter

Jimmy the Groundhog

2009
6 more weeks of winter
Octoraro Orphie

2009
Early Spring
Staten Island Chuck

2009
6 more weeks of winter

Wiarton Willy

2009
6 more weeks of winter
Shubenacadie Sam

2009
6 more weeks of winter
Punxsutawney Phil

2009
Early Spring
Dunkirk Dave

2008
6 more weeks of winter
Punxsutawney Phil

2008
Early Spring
Jimmy the Groundhog

2008
Early Spring
Dunkirk Dave

2008
Early Spring
Pat Lane

2008
Early Spring
Balzac Billy

2008
6 more weeks of winter
Sir Walter Wally

2008
Early Spring
Wiarton Willie

2008
Early Spring
General Beauregard Lee

2008
6 more weeks of winter
Queen Charlotte

2008
Early Spring
Malverne Mel

2008
6 more weeks of winter
West Indies Wilbur

2008
Early Spring
Shubenacadie Sam

2008
Early Spring
Staten Island Chuck

2008
Early Spring
Buckeye Chuck

2007
6 more weeks of winter
Holtsville Hal

2007
6 more weeks of winter
Dunkirk Dave

2007
Early Spring
Punxsutawney Phil

2007
Early Spring
Staten Island Chuck

2007
Early Spring

Wiarton Willie

2007
Early Spring
Shubenacadie Sam

2007
Early Spring
General Beauregard Lee

2007
Early Spring
Malverne Melissa

2007
Early Spring
Buckeye Chuck

2007
Early Spring
Spanish Joe

2007
Early Spring
Sir Walter Wally

2006
6 more weeks of winter
Dunkirk Dave

2006
6 more weeks of winter
Punxsutawney Phil

2006
6 more weeks of winter
Buckeye Chuck

2006
Early Spring
Spanish Joe

2006
Early Spring
Wiarton Willie

2006
Early Spring
Fountains Hills Weasel

2006
Early Spring
General Beauregard Lee

2006
Early Spring
Staten Island Chuck

2006
Early Spring
Shubenacadie Sam

2006
Early Spring
Jimmy the Groundhog

2006
Early Spring
Malverne Mel

2006
Early Spring
French Creek Freddie

2005
6 more weeks of winter
Dunkirk Dave

2005
6 more weeks of winter
Punxsutawney Phil

2005
6 more weeks of winter
Shubenacadie Sam

2005
6 more weeks of winter
Spanish Joe

2005
6 more weeks of winter
Octorara Orphie

2005
6 more weeks of winter
Malverne Mel

2005
Early Spring
Wiarton Willie

2005
Early Spring
Jimmy the Groundhog

2005
Early Spring
General Beauregard Lee

2005
Early Spring
Balzac Billy

2005
Early Spring
Staten Island Chuck

2004
6 more weeks of winter
Punxsutawney Phil

2004
6 more weeks of winter
Dunkirk Dave

2004
6 more weeks of winter
Wiarton Willie

2004
6 more weeks of winter
Spanish Joe

2004
6 more weeks of winter
Balzac Billy

2004
6 more weeks of winter
General Beauregard Lee

2004
6 more weeks of winter
Malverne Mel

2003
6 more weeks of winter
Punxsutawney Phil

2003
Early Spring
Dunkirk Dave

2003
Early Spring
Spanish Joe

2002
6 more weeks of winter
Dunkirk Dave

2002
6 more weeks of winter
Punxsutawney Phil

2002
Early Spring
Spanish Joe

2001
6 more weeks of winter
Punxsutawney Phil

2001
Early Spring
Dunkirk Dave

2001
Early Spring
Spanish Joe

2000
6 more weeks of winter
Punxsutawney Phil

2000
Early Spring
Spanish Joe

1999
Early Spring
Punxsutawney Phil

1999
Early Spring
Spanish Joe

Wombats and Wombats and more WOMBATS

Recently I found a new animal that I love. I used to love and still do love hamsters but now, the animal that I want the most for my pet is an wombat. A wombat is a mammal that lives in Australia. They are found in parts of south-east Australia and Sydney areas. They have a well developed pouch and when they have babies, unlike hamsters, they only have one. Wombats have an extraordinarily slow metabolism, taking around 14 days to complete digestion, which aids their survival in arid conditions. They generally move slowly, but when threatened they can reach up to 40 km/h (25 mph) and maintain that speed for up to 90 seconds. Isn't it amazing!! The fastest human can only run 36km/h and we can only retain that speed for about 10 seconds.

Dog Meat

Koreans eat dog meat and because of this, many people think that Koreans are barbarians. There was a world wide controversy over this in which the French were one of the main criticizers. I would like to clarify this.

First, eating dog food is just part of its culture. It defines who they are. In fact, Koreans have been eating dog food for centuries. A 19th century version of gaejang-guk explains the preparation of the dish by boiling dog meat with scallions and chili powder If Koreans are criticized for its culture, French should be criticized for eating horses for riding and eating them, the Chinese should be criticized for eating cats, dogs and monkeys, the Japanese should be criticized for killing whales and dolphins for sushis. Some people

Second, dog food is actually healthy for you. The dog's genes are very similar to humans. On kind of dog food is a soup called gaejang-juk, a spicy stew meant to balance the body's heat during the summer months, this is claimed to ensure good health by balancing one's gi, or vital energy of the body.

Last of all, one of the major controversies of dog meat was eating pet dogs as food. This is a major myth that is held. Koreans eat dogs that are bred called nureongi. These dogs are not house hold pets. But, because of the myth, many Koreans of been discriminated in foreign countries. For example, one Korean friend of mine told me a personal experience that he had when he was young. His family was traveling in Italy when he went into a convienient store to buy ice cream when the store owner told him that he doesn't sell anything to dog eaters. He was really embarrased and had to come out.

I would hope that this essay cleared up any misunderstandings about dog food or misconceptions that people have about Korean dog food. Korean dog food is just part of its culture.