Stock Shares

I invested in 400 shares of the Disney Company.  I chose this company because it is a very powerful company, and with the recent release of the Disney movie, The Princess and the Frog, the company should only gain more money in the near future.  Disney owns cruise lines, owns ABC News, and produces movies.  Disney also has its own product line of disney characters from movies, and Disney has its own television channel.  Also, Disney World and Disney Land are two very famous vacation spots for families with young children. I predict that with the recent release of the new Disney movie that the price of Disney stocks will increase, earning me money.  To my knowledge, the stock has not split.  I predict that many products from the recently released Princess and the Frog movie, only adding to Disney's income from the release of the movie.  So, I predict that the price of Disney stocks will increase in the near future.

Supply and Demand of Labor Markets

The supply and demand of labor markets is much like the supply and demand of products.  When the supply of wages is high, many more people try to attain that position. When the supply of wages is low, less people try to attain that job, and if they do take that job, most of of the time it is by necessity.  Athletes, models, and doctors make so much money because it is harder for those types of jobs to be attained, so each person is supplied with higher wages.

I would like to be a doctor, which is a difficult job to attain due to the amount of education required to do so.  However, it is not as difficult as becoming a professional athlete or a model, which requires a certain body type.  Many people try to become doctors, but with the competitiveness of medical school, it is very difficult.  If I do end up becoming a doctor, I will be making a very good amount of money, but no where near as much as professional athletes or models.

Zhu Zhu Pets

The demand for the Zhu Zhu Pets (robot hamsters) is huge right now, especially because it is the Christmas season.  The demand curve for this item could change when the popularity dies down after the Christmas season because people will no longer be rushing around trying to get their children cheap, robotic toy animals.  There is no substitute good for the Zhu Zhu Pets because they are made by a small company, and nobody expected them to become this popular so quickly, so no substitutes have been made yet.  The demand could have shifted to the right during this time of year because it is the Christmas season, and Zhu Zhu Pets are a cheap way to get a child a good gift.  After the Christmas season, the popularity could die down, and the demand could lessen, making the demand curve shift to the left for this product.

Opportunity Cost

Whenever we make a decision, we have more than one option.  When we choose something, that is our first option.  Our second choice is our opportunity cost.  Opportunity cost is like our second alternative, something we gave up when we made our decision.  This weekend I had a choice of how to spend my time: doing my homework, spending time with my family, or reading a book.  I chose to do my homework because I felt that it had the most long term benefits.  Spending time with my family was my opportunity cost because if I had not had homework to do, I would have spent time with them.  I gave up that time with my family to work on my homework, but spending time with my family was my second alternative.

Daycare Bill

I voted for the daycare bill because I think that the children of those mothers should not have to live a bad life just because of a slip up.  Also, it is not always the mother's fault that she gets pregnant, so she should not have to suffer for something that is not her fault.  Many people would say that this bill supports teen pregnancy but I say that it supports education and having teens and young adults bettering themselves.  If a woman got pregnant and did not have the chance to get an education to get a decent job, both the mother and the child would suffer a hard life.

I think that the Democratic party would have voted like me because this bill focuses more on the benefit of individuals rather than the benefit of a group.  This bill gives a privilege to teen mothers, but it does not benefit the masses in any way.  I think this makes me lean more on the Democratic side of the political spectrum.

Mock Congress

In class, we have a mock congress.  I am the speaker of the house, so I sit at the front of the classroom, take roll, and call the names for the roll call votes.  I allow people to speak, and I act as the Speaker of the House would act if the President and the Vice President were not present at a meeting of Congress.  Each day, a bill is proposed and explained by the sponsor of that bill.  We allow questions to be asked, and we allow statements both for and against the bill.  We also allow the bill's sponsor to defend his/her bill against anything that has been said.  Once a motion to vote is made and seconded, the bill is voted on.  If a majority of our Congress votes supporting the bill, the bill is passed and will go to mock Senate.

I think that the bill that allows gay men and women to serve openly in the military has the greatest chance to pass through both the Congress and the Senate.  The bill has already passed the Congress, and it will soon travel to the Senate to be voted on again.  I think that this bill has the greatest chance of passing because our generation is more open to people of different sexualities, and the bill is well written, and covers nearly everything that needs to be known about the bill.

Political Movies

In class, we watched Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and at home I watched Dave.  Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was about a young man who gets put into Congress as a pawn but ends up making a big splash in how politics are run.  Dave was about a presidential look-a-like gets dropped into the presidency as a pawn but ends up making a difference and being a very good president himself, despite his lack of political background.  The two movies had the same basic idea, and both were very well made.  Both movies showed how an average man could be a good politician because he is honest and caring.  I thought that Mr. Smith goes to Washington had a better political story line because Dave also tried to incorporate a love story, but overall I enjoyed watching Dave more because the characters were more interesting and captivating.

Can a Supreme Court Justice affect our daily lives?

Yes, I do believe that a single Supreme Court Justice can affect our daily lives because he/she holds a vote in the highest court of our country, and with only 9 Supreme Court Justices, every vote counts.  The Supreme Court can make things legal or illegal, like abortion, which can affect thousands of people.  With only nine votes to count, one single vote can be he difference between legality and illegality.

Six Year Presidential Term

I feel that limiting the presidency to a single six year term could benefit our country because each president would be able to focus solely on helping us to become a better nation, instead of having a president who focuses on campaigning for the last year of his term.  It could also offer a chance for more diversity among our presidents to come because of the limitation of one term.  It could allow our nation to have leaders from different types of backgrounds, which could help our country in many different ways.