HW 7d

9)Summary: In the late 90's a man was infected with e-coli from a hamburger. This is because there is feces in the hamburger meat. People used to think that hamburgers were unsanitary but the companions like White castle worked hard to replenish the hamburgers reputation by hydrating the disgusting facts. E. coli 0157:h7 is a mutated form of E.coli needed in the human digestive system. The E. coli 0157:h7 causes disintegration of the lining of the intestine.

Quotes: "There is shit in the meat"
"A single fast food hamburger now contains meat from dozens or even hundreds of different cattle."

Responses: The first quote is blunt. It was placed at the end of the paragraph as a way to summarize the paragraph by giving his opinion.
When I eat a hamburger I don't thinks about the fact that i am eating multible cows. This fact made it difficult for me to eat ground beef for a while.

Chapter 10) Global Realization

In a small town in eastern Germany ware the people have repetitively protested for there freedom, A new McDonald's was built. McDonald's is trying to open more and more restaurants out side of the United States. The world is just as fooled as the united states as a pizza hut in Moscow making certain people so happy that they say "Hail to Gorbachev" as a way of thanking him for bringing the food to their nation. All over the world people are Americanizing and begin to eat and look like Americans. The United states has the highest obesity rate of any industrialized nation.

Epilogue) Have It Your Way
Dale Lasater is a farmer in colorodo who is a patrin to the idea of grass fed beef. Conway's is a restaurant near Colorado springs that has survived the fast food take over. They give there full time workers health insurance and pay them $10 and hour which is $2.64 cents more than the current Colorado minimum wage. These family run companies seem devoted to maintaining there dignity and not franchising.

7c

chapter 8

Precise:
Entering the slaughter house required heavy gear. While walking through you see people quietly cutting cow’s throats with out any expression on their faces. Workers injured, sexually harassed and told to take hormones, all of which is secret because these people are illegal immigrants

Gems:
"I stop and try to absorb the whole scene: the cool breeze, the cattle and their gentle lowing, a cloudless sky, steam rising from the plant in the moonlight. And than I notice that the building does have one window, a small square of light on the second floor. It offers a glimpse of what’s hidden behind this huge blank façade. Through the little window you can see bright red carcasses on hooks, going round and round”
Response:
I love how dramatic this quote is. The author went through a lot to get this bit of information. And it shows how sickened he was and how sickened he is trying to make the reader.

HW 9 - Freakonomics Response

Correlation vs. Causation in Freakonomics:

In the film, Levitt and Dubner go through several examples of how people confuse correlation with causation. They believe that there is a sharp difference between the two and some people just can not see it. One example is when Levitt examines the drop in crime rate in the early 1990’s. Money people have found a connection to the amount of people in prison at that time to the crime rate reduction. Levitt and Dubner argue that the crime rate reduction is due to the fact that many young criminals were never borne due to the legalization of abortion in 1973. The two of them never say that correlation is causation. They spend a segment of the storey discussing how it is quit the opposite. The two of them vaguely imply that “lack of proof is causation.”

Evidence in Freakonomics:

In Freakonomics several forms of evidence are used including statistics and experts. Statistics are used when examining the sumo wrestling scores. They identified cheaters by looking when which wrestlers won which match, They found that it correlated directly with which ever wrestler needed to win to keep there rank up. That means that sumo wrestling buddies were allowing each other to win to remain in control of there salary.

            When Levitt and Dubner were looking for examples of how names can portray someone’s outcome they went directly to two Harvard professors. This type of evidence can be considered a fallacy. More specifically a logical fallacy, because of the fact that both of these men are Harvard professors they seem smart. So by saying that these men are smart they must be right. Unfortunately this is a fallacy that is difficult to get around because of the fact that these men are smart and educated.

             

Response to statement about Freakonomics:

“Freakonomics serves as an inspiration and good example to our attempt to explore the ‘hidden-in-plain-sight’ weirdness of dominant social practices.”

I agree with the statement. I agree because, the movie does attempt to expose what is, “hidden in plain sight.” This is shown in the film when they descuss the possibility of the fact that allowing un wanted babes to not be borne into un-wanting families may reduce the chances that they will become criminals. You do not hear people discuss this on a everyday basis just like you don’t hear people discussing how McDonald’s exploits immigrants.

7B

7:
Precis:
In the small smelly town of Greedy, Colorado, there is a there are tuns of "rural gettos in the American heartland" have taken place in towns like this. 100 years ago a book outraged the government as Roosevelt ordered investigation into a book that was written about the meat industry.

HW 8 - Growing Our Own Food

          This is what would have happened if I had any agricultural skill, but I do not. The true story of the sprouts experiment was a mixture of humorous and disappointing. The first few days were fine. I planted the sprouts and took care of them. Then I was told to bring them home for the weekend. Over the weekend I some how lost the sprouts because of my tendency to lose important objects. That was a complete failure. As you told me, I "neglected the little creatures that were depending on me. "This experiment gave me a new appreciation for farmers and even though the goal of growing sprouts was not met I still learned from the project. Although it was late to get school credit for the sprouts, I was determined to grow sprouts.

            The second try also was a total failure. I brought new materials to school and started growing them. After a day they started smelling moldy needed to through them out. I wish I could have done a better job with the experiment. Regardless of the outcome, I still decided to eat sprouts that I bout at the supermarket. I have always loved sprouts and liked having a reason to get them.

HW 7 - Reading Response 

Chapter 1

Precis: The fast food industry started in southern California in the 1930s as Carl Karcher started a drive through barbeque restaurant. Also in California, The McDonald brothers started there empire. The post world war 2 economy drove both of these companies to be what they are today.

Gems:

"Entrepreneurs from all over the countrt went to San bernardio, visited the new McDonald's, and built imitations of the resturant in their hometowns, 'Our food was exactly the same as McDonald's.'"

Thoughts:

Why did the McDonald brothers secede while the small town imitation restaurants did not secede to the same extent? This is a mystery that was not answered by this chapter. After hearing more about the copies made in small town's I first thought that Americans would have some sort of attachment to these restaurants. But no, looking at it you see that these people were completely open to abandoning there local smaller businesses and going straight to the new big flashy thing.

 

 Eric Schlosser fast food nation responses

Chapter 3

Precis:  Colorado Springs, a town that sprung up like L.A. after World War 2. And during the 90's many people moved from southern California to Colorado Springs partially because of the Christian appeal that grew from a conservative news paper in the town. The largest employment in the town is fast food. When you look farther into the fast food you see that it is all frozen or prefixed when it enters the shop. The employees just assemble the food. These people can be like Elsa, a 16 year old who gets up early in the morning to help prepare the local McDonalds for the day. Many students in Elsa’s school need to go to work in order to have spending money despite the conflicts it imposes on the quality of there education. One of the reasons that students of low income families put up with being abused by fast-food restaurants is because of something called stroking. Stroking is a type of positive reinforcement that is offered to young teenage fast-food workers who may not get parse at home.

Gems:

"They build large signs to attract motorists and look at cars the way predators view herds of prey." p.65

"The easier it is for him (the worker) to use, the easier for us not to have to train him."p.71

Thoughts:

I found this paragraph sickeningly enlightening. When I enter a fast food place i don't think of how kids my age chose to work there because they need the job in order to have spending money. These kids are stuck with there conditions because they are afraid of unionizing. This part was confusing to me. As part of the history of our country more specifically New York City unions have provided security to people. In middle school I was tough all about the New York City Unions and how people banned together to get what they wanted. I associated unionizing with part of American pride. From this chapter i learned that unionizing is not part of the American culture. But could i be wrong? Could it be the fact that these workers are students who are being putt through all of the unfair conditions?