IHSS Blog 2018-2019

Read one article on the front page of IHSS that you haven't read and write a 15 sentence blog in reaction to the article.  Tie the contents to something that you have learned in class this year. As climate change becomes more and more of a heated topic, and as scientists and environmentalists push for change, the issue of global warming and climate change is pushed into the faces of government officials. More and more people are pushing for federal actions to help prevent climate change, however, it has been shown that not all are in support of this progressive movement. There is a new standard on the way we address climate change that has been put into place all over the world- taxes. Everyone in the world values their money; it is a driving factor in our lives. So when applying taxes to everyday goods that worsen greenhouse gases, it puts citizens in a state where we have to choose; our money or the sacrifice of many of the luxuries we've grown accustomed to. This is h...

Asher Forman Mr. Roddy IHSS 13 May 2019 What is a Recession - Connections to IHSS Economics Intro      A recession is essentially a huge downfall in the economy, and it affects everyone. Although, how does a recession start, and what are the impacts? Surprisingly, this economic downfall occurs after a large chain of unfortunate events. The first being a sudden slow in employment from factory jobs. When these jobs start to become a lot harder to get, a sudden demand for items starts to become smaller. As people don’t want to buy products anymore, companies start to slow down in business. This means that business’ aren’t bringing in as much money. Now they can’t afford certain things such as hiring a bunch of new employees. This means that companies have to start either fire their employees, or just stop hiring new ones. Once this happens, people then begin to realize that the recession is hitting them with full force. The employment rates usually stay below 10%, whi...

Izabella Curtis Mr. Roddy IHSS 9 May 2019 (Stupid) Abortion Laws           This week, the stupid governor of Georgia signed one of the most restricted abortions law in our country. Georgia's new law effectively outlaws the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy.  Republican governors in three other states - Mississippi, Kentucky and Ohio - have signed very similar laws this year, making a more severe tactic of the anti-abortion movement. The current constitutional standard under the Supreme Court's Roe vs. Wade decision is that abortion is legal up until the point when the fetus could survive outside a women's womb - usually about 24 weeks into the pregnancy. Honestly, I can't understand why MEN are making these laws. Abortion should be a choice, I am sorry if that is CRAZY for me to think. But jesus christ is it your body? no. Then it definitely should NOT be your choice. I really cannot express how stupid this law is. Most people do not even ...

In the last year, Katy Perry has released a new shoe to her line, and basically made a huge mistake. Her new shoes were flats that were black with red lips and a nose and eyes. Although it is possible that she wasn't thinking of impact of what the shoes would have, but it is a racial thing. "The misstep highlights an ignorance of cultural context and perhaps a lack of diversity among decision-makers." (Quartzy). It is strange that the new shoes, although looked at by a bunch of different people before making its way to the shelves, didn't make anyone question the "black shoes with a red-lipped face".  Marc Bain, who works for Quartz, recently wrote, "Brands are often rooted in one particular country and culture, which may be reflected in their hiring, but they're also asking a global, diverse audience to buy their products. Those consumers are more empowered than ever, and brands are learning fast that they need to keep all of them in mind-from the ...

For many years, people have accused the war on drugs of targeting minorities and people in lower income neighborhoods. Recently, one of Richard Nixon's advisers named John Ehrlichman came out and stated that the war on drugs was created by Nixon's campaign in 1968 to target the two most prominent groups that were against his campaign. These groups according to Mr. Ehrlichman were African Americans and Anti-War hippies. He explained that since they could not target these two groups, they decided to start heavily criminalizing marijuana and heroin as they believed it would target both the hippies and African Americans. What really surprised me when I found this article is how there seems to not be any coverage on it and how nobody seems surprised to hear Ehrlichman's statement. The fact that our federal government got away with targeting African Americans through the War on Drugs is quite honestly embarrassing and very disgraceful.  Also, since legalization and decriminaliza...

For my article, I read about how a small university in Illinois has thrown away old yearbooks because they figured out students and teachers had done blackface in many of the pictures. There's also alot of racist imagery, and words on the pages. The librarian was instructed to get rid of them, but it was against school policy, so it took a fight to get it down. The librarian was on twitter saying how instead of owning up to having a history of racism, they wanted to delete all evidence. This is just an example of all of the blackface we are experiencing today. So many people are being "canceled" because of old, or new photos of them are surfacing of them in blackface. It is an extremely racist act. But unfortunately, we are seeing it alot recently.

Abigail Lynn Mr. Roddy IHSS May, 9, 2019 Race Relations in the United States          The United States has history in regards to prejudice and and unfair treatment towards various races. While a lot of progress has been made, race relations can still be strained at times. Three quarters of black and asian americans said they have experienced discrimination or  unfair treatment because of their race. They also stated that they are often subject to slurs and jokes. This survey also found that white Americans face less discrimination and were more likely to be dismissive towards issues regarding race and prejudice. For example, more than 50% of white Americans said that too much attention was being put on race relations.         I found this survey to be really informative. I thought it was interesting that white Americans were more dismissive towards discrimination and many stated that too much attention was being p...