Journal 10

Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” is an entertaining, satirical piece that pokes fun at the government’s attempts at solving the Irish famine. He uses satire to make people realize that the previous plans were ridiculous. Not only did he poke fun at the government’s plans, he subtly hinted at how poorly the less fortunate were viewed. His proposal was to have parents fatten their children up for the first year of their lives and then to eat (or sell) them. Eating them, he said, would eliminate the famine and selling them would prevent any future occurrences. This proposal is very effective for a few reasons. He does not outright mock the plans, but rather shows a plan that he believes is better (which happens to be eating children). He also makes his proposal sound somewhat logical through his reasons. On top of that, he even makes an appeal to finances through his idea of selling the children. This piece was entertaining as well as highly effective.

Journal Nine

http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/causes/economics.html
Obesity has become a prevalent problem in the United States. Many thousands of people have become obese and have had serious health problems involving being overweight. This article is about the cost of obesity through healthcare and, more specifically, Medicare and Medicaid. This strain on the federal and state budgets has a serious impact on the currently declining financial situation of America.

http://townhall.com/columnists/anncoulter/2008/09/24/they_gave_your_mortgage_to_a_less_qualified_minority/page/2
Racism has been an American issue since the dawn of time. Some people believe that racism (or at least different races) have caused the current financial crisis. Critics claim that banks were forced to dole out mortgages to minorities who could not afford to pay their mortgages if the housing market slowed. When the housing market slowed, low and behold, the minorities defaulted on their mortgages.

http://www.galtoninstitute.org.uk/Newsletters/GINL9303/poverty.htm
Overpopulation is a problem for all countries of the world. Every country is running out of places to put people and as a (possible) result of overpopulation is poverty. Bringing down the overpopulation could be a way to help the financial crisis of America.

Journal Eight

There are many different types of shoes for different occasions. That same theory applies to track. There are sprint spikes, middle distance spikes, long distance spikes, long jump spikes, triple jump spikes, high jump spikes, pole vault spikes, and throwing shoes. the design of each shoe is very different depending on what is needed for each event. Sprint spikes and throwing shoes are probably the most different. Sprint spikes have a very pointed (or tapered to be technical) toe. When laying flat on the ground, the toe of every sprint spike will be about an inch or two above the ground. This is to force the runner to run more on their toes, which makes them run faster. Sprint spikes are also made to be the lightest as possible; very little material is used. Some sprint spikes even have zippers covering the laces to be more aerodynamic. The most important aspect of sprint spikes is the ‘spikes” part. They contain metal spikes that are either removable or permanent (but more often they are removable as they wear down and thus can be replaced). these metal spikes are used to better grip the track while running. The metal spikes are also very crucial to starting the race. Sprinters use what is called blocks to push off of when the gun goes off and the metal spikes give runners more power and grip in the start. Meanwhile, throwing shoes are very different. They have a smooth bottom, often made of plastic. The smoothness allows for throwers to spin quickly in the circle, gaining more momentum and having more energy and force behind the throw. The toe has a very slight taper, more for comfort than functionality (as the taper has no functional benefit). Some throwing shoes also have the zip-up cover for the aerodynamic benefit as well. On the whole, sprint spikes and throwing shoes, though both shoes used for track, have excessively different designs due to what they are used for.