Blog Post #6: EOTO (The Printing Press)

    The printing press is one of the most significant inventions ever made in the communications field, and it helped to do a lot within that field. The original printing press that everyone knows about was created in 1450 in Germany by Johannes Gutenberg, but there was one made earlier. The first printing press-like object was actually made in China in 868 AD, and it was a fundamental form of printing a book called block printing. The first book ever made in this style was called the Diamond Sutra. Though, as I said earlier, the printing press was truly created until 1450 by Johannes Gutenberg. The first book that was ever printed from this print was a Bible, and it was called the Gutenberg Bible, published in 1452. The inventions of the printing press would spread around Europe, and by 1491 Italy, Spain, and England had the printing press set up. The spread of the printing press around Europe led to the creation of the first-ever official newspaper called Relations from a German publisher in 1602

The impact of the printing press is something that is kind of obvious. First, it led to widespread literacy because publishing books became more accessible, so they became more popular. The easier it was to publish and print books, the more people could get their hands on books and learn how to read. The next way the print press changed the world was through the global news network that it helped to start. The fact that news could now be put on a piece of paper and shipped anywhere was a new concept, one that the people of the time learned to use so that news was able to be spread. The last way it changed the world was the ability to spread ideas; very similar to the new network, anyone could put their thoughts down on a piece of paper and have it move, and the world with people reading. The printing press was able to lead to ideas being able to be adapted from anywhere in the world.

    The printing press was a very important invention and one that led to a lot of good in the world who knows what the world would look like if it never existed. I think that it helped shape the modern communication field as well because, without it, that field most likely would not exist. 

Blog Post #5: Anti-War

   The voices of anti-war people are not being heard or listened to in the news in recent years. I say recent years because there were times in our history when voices of anti-war protesters were seen and heard, just not listened to. The greatest example of that was the anti-war movement during the Vietnam war; there were thousands of protests that happened in the U.S and around the world, but they did not mean anything because the war still happened. That seems to be what happens either the voices of anti-war protestors are heard but ignored, or they are not seen at all.

 There are a lot of examples of anti-war voices that have been out there, either being ignored or unheard. One example of unheard voices is what is going on right now with the crisis in Ukraine going on; there are large-scale anti-war protests that are going on in Russia currently. Though it seems that no one wants to talk about it, all the news articles are about different things. I went onto google news and looked up the war in Ukraine. There are no major stories on the news about these instances that are going, but USA today published a story about it very recently; weirdly, these voices are being reported on, but they are not being pushed into the headlines.

A great example of voices that were ignored comes from an article I found titled ‘Why Was the Biggest Protest in World History Ignored?’ which is about a protest that was held on February 15, 2003, all over the world against the war in Iraq. Around 10 million people around the globe in approximately 600 different cities participated in this protest against the war in Iraq, but no one talked about it. How was an event of this magnitude just forgotten and pushed aside? It shows that the voices of anti-war protest mean nothing to the government because only a little bit passed a month after this, the U.S entered Iraq.

 Another excellent example of these unheard anti-war voices is the websites like  ANTIWAR.COM and the American Conservative website. There is apparent outrage towards any kind of war on these sites, but no one knows about them. The articles on these websites are the exact opposite of what we hear in the news, and I believe it is important that we hear this side as well. The about us page of  antiwar.com gave me a clear idea of what these sites are and how we should use them by saying that the website “embodies the politics of the possible.” It is clear that these websites should be looked at as an idea of where we should go as a result of how politico is now.

I think overall, the voices of those who are anti-war need to be heard more and should give a spot in the news. It is important to have both sides of an argument, even if it is about the topic of war, and that is what we as a nation are sorely lacking.

Blog Post #4: The Postal Service (EOTO)

What is the Postal Service?

        The postal service is the medium that makes it possible for any person to send a letter, packet, or parcel to any addressee–in the same country or abroad–in the expectation that it will be conveyed according to certain established standards of regularity, speed, and security. The government controls it, or it is a government agency, and is usually funded through taxes or some sort of federal funding.

A Brief History of the Postal Service 

    The history of the postal service is long-winded, so here is a shortened version of the beginning of the postal system. One of the earliest recorded postal systems came from Persia in 550 BCE during the reign of King Cyrus the Great. The system they set up would work with stations that they had built. A message carrier, called Chapar, would ride from post to post, and at each post, they would swap their horse for a new one. This swap would ensure that the delivery was speedy and the horses were at maximum performance. While this system was the one that most resembled the postal system that we know today, there were reports of other postal-like systems in earlier years, around 700 to 1700 BCE. This was the Assyrian postal system, but it is not exactly like ours because it had nothing to do with ‘mail’ and was more about gathering intelligence. 

    The other claim to the first postal system was in China, and this date is different depending on what you read. The best-described source I found says it was around the Chou Dynasty, around 1000 BCE. This is where the posthouse relay system that would be copied by most other civilizations. Though the system was developed in 1000 BCE, it did not go into a high state of development until the time of the Mongolian Empire. Under the reign of Genghis Khan, the idea of Örtöö was created. Örtöö is a messenger and postal system that was used in the Mongolian Empire. This system is also referred to as the Yam because that was the name of the route that system was built. The postal system that was created was a route of post stations that were set up, and riders would ride from post to post; each station was filled with food, shelter, and spare horses. These riders could cover 120 to 190 miles per day which were amazing for the time. Another big development in the postal system happened in India during the Mauryan Empire (322 -185 BCE).  They developed chariots called Dagana that were used as mail chariots sometimes. They were used mostly by kings and local rulers to deliver information and sometimes personal letter as well.

   In Europe, there were also developments in the postal system. The first was in Rome with the creation of  Publicus. It was organized by the Roman emperor Augustus Caesar (62 B.C.E. to 14 A.D.). This system uses light carriages with fast horses connected to deliver mail to stations that would distribute the mail. The name of these stations was posta, which comes from the word posata, meaning 'place of rest,' and this is most likely where the name postal came from. There was another system running in Rome, but it was much slower, and it was a heavy carriage pulled by oxen. The other big development was the creation of the Thurn and Taxis postal system during the Holy Roman Empire. The Thurn and Taxis system was created during the reign of Emperor Maximilian I and was run by Franz von Thurn und Taxis. It ran from 1209 and onwards.  It was a system that the Emperor created to run through the Italian states. Even after the empire's abolition, the Thurn and Taxis system would still be used until it was absorbed into the Postal system of the new German Empire. 

The last big country to develop its own large-scale postal system was the United States; it was started in colonial times when they had to start getting mail back and forth from England. Then they created a route for the postal system, which would come to be known as Route 1. The first centralized postal system was created in 1693 and would continue to develop as new deputy postmaster generals came into the system. Then following the Revolutionary War, the postal system was established under the Constitution in 1789.

 Citations:            
https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Postal_system#Middle_East
https://www.britannica.com/topic/postal-system
https://dbpedia.org/page/Yam_(route)
https://www.thecenterforruleoflaw.org/rule-of-law-blog/july-3-1527-the-first-known-letter-from-north-america-is-sent-by-john-rut-while-at-st-johns-newfoundland 
https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.%208.98&lang=original 

The Impact of the Postal System 

There are three big impacts of the postal system, which are connecting the world and making a more well-informed world, it fosters democracy, and being a big part of the economy. The first thing is that it connects the world and makes everyone more informed. Sending and receiving letters from anywhere in the world helped to begin to make the world feel more connected. The other big impact is that it fosters democracy in the way that all news can now be transported anywhere in the world, so people are able to pick their sides and have their own opinions. The last impact is probably the biggest one, and that is that it is a big part of the economy. One article that I read brought up the terms natural monopoly, economies of scale, external benefit, and economies of scope as the economic principles to see the unique assets of the postal system. The natural monopoly helps to keep the service of developing mail at as low a price as possible. The economies of scale are the fact that all postage is the same amount, no matter the distance. The external benefit is the fact that the postal service helps the economy expand without directing doing anything. The last principle is that of the economies of scope combine two similar goods or services to help save cost. 

Overall I think the postal service has benefited the world over the years. The creation of the postal system was a crucial step in the communication field. It would lead to many other inventions being made, and without it, who knows what the world would look like today. 

Blog Post #3: Eight Values of Free Expression: Promote Tolerance

      The value of Free Expression that I connect with the most is that of promoting tolerance. Tolerance is the willingness to accept behaviors and beliefs that are different from your own, although you might not agree with or approve of them. This is a significant thing to remember when considering the first amendment and how we all have to coexist even if we do not always agree. Tolerance is something that a lot of people in the world need to work on because a lot of things are happening and have happened, which shows that a lot of people do not understand this concept. Being able to accept others for their beliefs even if you do not personally share those beliefs is an essential thing for a person to be able to do. There are a lot of times when there is a divide between people because they can not accept a particular part of another person's behavior and beliefs. 

    I believe that tolerance brings about a certain amount of respect that is really needed, especially dealing with topics. I found an article that talked about the theory of tolerance. In this article, they talk about an experiment that they ran to see the effect of tolerance on the evolution of tolerance over the years. The experiment concluded that tolerance was a socially desirable thing with multiple benefits. 

    One topic that I think shows, why tolerance is so important is abortion. With recent developments, abortion has become a country-wide topic of discussion again, so where does tolerance fit into the discussion? I think it fits in with regard to the fact the way one person feels about abortion is not the way another needs to feel about abortion. There are people who are religious and think that abortion is an awful thing and that is okay. There are people who think abortion is wrong, and they do not follow a religion, which, again, is okay. There are people who think abortion is fine, and once again, that is okay. In each of these cases, there are people who believe one way about the topic of abortion, and all of them are within their rights to believe what they want, but the problem comes when they try to force their belief on another person. The idea of promoting tolerance supports the fact that each person is entitled to their own belief and should not be forced to agree with another person. That is what a person looking at this should realize, that even if they do not agree with what the person believes that it is that person's beliefs, and they should leave it at that.

    I think overall, tolerance is a very important thing for everyone to remember when it comes to the First Amendment. The First Amendment gives people the right to say what they want, and tolerance is when others remember that they can not limit a person's freedom of speech because they do not agree with what the person is saying.

Blog Post #2: The Supreme Court

    The Supreme Court is the head of the judicial branch of the U.S. government. It is comprised of nine Supreme Court Justices. The Supreme Court was first established in 1789 by the Constitution and organized by Congress. 

    Growing up in school, I did not learn much about how the Supreme Court operated. In watching these videos (Part 1 & Part 2) and reading the History article, I learned many things I never knew about the Supreme Court and how it works. 

   

    The biggest thing that I learned from watching the videos was how the Justices interacted with each other. It is something so simple, but I never really thought about it when hearing about the Supreme court and its cases. It really helped to change how I look at the Justices - hearing them talk during cases, listening to the questions they asked, and watching how they developed their opinions. In the video, some of the Justices talk about how they interact at their conferences, where everyone can speak, and there is a time for everyone to weigh in on their decision for a case. The video also talks about how, during the time when an attorney is arguing a case, there is still a sense of conversation because the Justices are asking questions. These facts about how the Justices communicate and interact to come to a decision on a case were eye-opening to me. 

 

    The most surprising thing for me in the video was how nervous the Justices are when a case comes to them. The fact that the Justices still get nervous surprises me. Because you would think at that level, they would be prepared for anything. I think it shows that there are humans making these decisions and not some high-up power that we could never imagine. It really helped to humanize the Justices and make me look more into how they come to the decision they do. However, this may raise the question about what personal or biased feelings they may bring to decisions – they are human, so it’s very hard to be impartial. 

 

    My most important takeaway from everything I heard and read about the Supreme Court is how, even though the Justices come in with a clear thought of how they will vote when they enter the room to deliberate, their minds could possibly be changed. This is important because it can show that if an argument is good enough, it could sway the opinion, showing the importance of a good argument.   

 

    After watching the video, my views on the Supreme Court have not changed. I definitely did learn a good amount about the Supreme Court from the video, but I still view it the same. I always believed the Supreme Court was important in maintaining the rights that people have. I still believe that is the case because the rules or decisions that come from the Justices help to set a way that certain types of legal issues are handled. I think overall, the Supreme Court is a very important part of the government, and the jobs it does and how the Justices handle those jobs is a very important thing. 

Blog Post #1: My Top Five New Sources

Introduction

    The place where you get your news matters. Getting it from only one source can make the way you look at world events and other news very one-sided. Here are my five different sources of news: 

New York Times

    The New York Times is usually the first source of news that I list when talking about different places to get you new. I originally started to read the New York Times because of my mom. She had a subscription to the Times and started to send me articles, so I would read them a lot. Then when I would start to look at the news in the world, I would look at the New York Times because I trusted them. I would recommend the Times because I think it's an exciting place to look at the news. A lot of times, people look for videos on what is going on rather than reading about it, and I think that this is a place to start reading about the news. I also think it is a good look at what journalism is because there are not many 'good' sources for that anymore. Though others might disagree, for one reason or another, I think the New York Times is still a good place to find and read your news from. 

Twitter

      Twitter is the first place I go for news, and I tend to see news from it first. I find myself on Twitter a couple times a day, so a lot of times, when breaking news happens, I see it on Twitter. I find it really cool that you can see both sides of an argument, for the most part, active in the response about topics that are going on. Though I usually use Twitter as a sort of news delivery, and when I find something out there, I then go to another source like The Washington Post or the Times to see what is going on. I would recommend Twitter to people who want to share their thoughts on events and find others with similar thoughts to yours. 

TikTok

        

    TikTok is a relatively new addition to the list of places I find myself getting news from. I started getting into watching TikTok regularly very recently. The reason I have it down as a news source is for two reasons. One is that there are a lot of TikToks on current world events that reveal feelings or information about certain things going on. The second reason is that it has a lot of the popular culture news that is going on that is different than the regular news that would be in a place like the New York Times. I would recommend this as a source of news because it is an interesting way to hear about the news. It also gives a different view of the news going on, whether through serious videos or comedy ones where they are talking about what is going on. I think that it is just an interesting way to see how people are feeling about certain news that is going on in the world. 

The Washington Post

    The Washington Post is another news source that I picked up from my mom. I like this source of news for a very similar reason to why I like the Times. I like that it seems to be a reputable source of news, so I feel comfortable getting my news from it. I also like that it has clear principles that it is trying to uphold when it comes to journalism. I would recommend this source of news because I think it is a good place to get the news from or at least one side of the news. 

Instagram

    

    Instagram is usually the last place I look for news, but I do tend to see a lot about it on this app. It is mostly through friends reposting things about whatever is going on at the time. I like this source of news because it is mostly done through people posting about topics in the world, so you get to see others' thoughts and ideas of what's going on. I would recommend this platform because it is a free place to post about your thoughts on things even if that is not what most people do, it is still an option.