Iron Triangle

Many governments in the world, like the US have subgovernments,systems that help make the voices' of small group interested in specific things heard.Without many subgovernments small interest groups would not even be recognized.The iron triangle is one of those subgovernments;congressional committees work with interest groups and a bureaucratic agency to have demand met.Thanks to the iron triangle may small interest groups have a voice in their country governments legislature.

Congressional committees are the part of the iron triangle that puts bills into the legislative process after they work with interest groups.A member of a congressional committee proposes a bill into the committee to be voted on.Members of congressional committees are members of the legislative branch,so when they propose the bill into their committee they work with the other members to get it passed.If one member does not like the bill they can try to get the bill maker to change it to his liking so he will vote for it.For example in my congressional committee,the judiciary committee,congressman Mclenan proposed a bill to give tax cuts to banks who approve a certain amount of low income people's loans.We all thought that other people that needed loans might be overlooked just because they were not low income people.We made him make guidelines for that issue,so we could vote for it.

Interest groups,lobbyists,large corporations, and PACs try to influence the congressional committees' bills so they can have a say in the legislative process.When an interest group hears about a bill that si being debated on in a committee,they try to influence a members vote and they try to get a part of the bill changed.For example,a lobbyist came to me on a bill I proposed on making health care plans have no minimum requirement on benefits the company gives to its patients.He told me about how he did not get the right treatments and tests done on diseases he has and now is suffering badly from them.It was because the health plan did not have to give him anything extra.He changed my mind on the bill, and I changed the bill to setting a minimum standards on benefits given to patients.

Bureaucratic agencies give information on the subject of the bill pressuring the congressional committees to listen to the interest groups and to pass the legislature.The purpose of a bureaucratic agency is to concentrate on one specific subject and gather as much information as it can on that subject.When a bureaucratic agency gives all this information to the committee,they everything about the subject and that forces them to listen to the interest groups point of view.

When iron triangle is spoken to be a subgovernment it is because it works just like the large government before it.The government of the United States has an equal balance of three branches,the legislative,executive and the judiciary.Each has power over one another called checks and balances;this helps the three branches stay equal.So does the iron triangle,it has three branches.The bureaucratic agency,congressional committees, and interest groups.Each also have powers over each other that act as checks and balances.The iron triangle is a system inside the legislative branch that helps the interest groups,lobbyists,large corporations, and PACs voices be heard.

Pyramids of Giza

One of the great wonders of the world is the Great Pyramids at Giza.There were many of thousands of years ago,before Christ was born.How in the world did the Egyptians build such a building?Their technology was not as advanced as are our today in the 20th century.They did not have mechanical devices such as craters,or even cars.All they had were their hands, and maybe a wheel of some sort.

Robert,an architect tried to build a scale model of one the Great Pyramids of Giza,the Khufu pyramid.Robert thought of all the possible ways the Egyptians used to build this pyramid with out modern technology.Probably one of the most difficult ways of building the pyramid was getting the rocks,weighing over 100 tons,over to the sight where the pyramid was to be built,from a quarry.Robert used something like a wheel to transport the rocks,weighing only about 1 ton from a quarry near the sight of the Khufu pyramid.He would have the stone on a wooden plaque and underneath would be logs of wood.A rope would be tied to the rock and men would pull the rope making the rock roll from log to log.As this was done,men would keep replacing logs in front to keep the path going.Even a 1-ton rock was incredibly heavy and took a lot of men,imagine the Egyptians transporting rocks over 100 tons to their destination.It would probably take 10 times as many men and effort.Also don't forget that what Robert was building was only a scale model,the Egyptians built the real thing meant for the Pharoah Khufu to be buried in.

Another problem Robert faced when constructing this scale model of the pyramid of Khufu was getting the rocks to be placed properly on top of one other.When they had the first layer down,the next idea was to place the next layer of rocks.Imagine now lifting a 1-ton rock about 10 feet high.Robert used the idea that the Egyptians might have used a ramp to push or pull the rocks up to where the next level would be.

There have been many theories explaining the purpose of the pyramids of Giza, and how they were built.One of the most popular theories regarding the purpose of the pyramids was that they were used as a tomb.Egyptians saw their Pharoahs as God-Kings rather than just leaders.Pharoahs were worshiped as Gods and thus is understandable that ancient Egyptians would see it necessary for the Pharoah to be buried in a tomb that would be fit for that of a God-King.One argument against this theory was that a particular Pharoah had built at least five different pyramids,surely not all five could have been for his tomb.Some say that perhaps that he could have been cut up and his separate limbs were placed in separate tombs but this theory is unethentical because ancient Egyptians believed that to live in the afterlife one must have his physical body intact.This is the purpose of mummification,to keep the body in good condition for use in the afterlife,so if the limbs were separated it would be impossible to go on to the afterlife.Another interesting argument against the tomb theory is made by Erich Von Daniken in his book 'Chariots of the Gods?'Von Daniken makes the simple point that if ten blocks were laid each day it would take 664 years to complete the structure.This is based on the very elementary procedure of dividing the total number of blocks by ten.No surely thinks that it took 664 years to build this pyramid,even a tenth of this period is unacceptable if the tomb theory of the pyramid is to have any merit.Yet constructing this pyramid in a time of 67 years means that two-hundred thirty tonnes of limestone or granite were laid each day.This means that,on average,a hundred times every single day more than two tonnes of stone would have been precisely put in place.

Facebook

Appearing on the world stage in 2003,Facebbok has revolutionized the average person's social network into an unprecedented web of information available in the palm of a hand.With just a few click sor taps on one's mobile app,one can meet people,see friends from high school and even make contacts with potential business interests.Unfortunately,social networking sites like facebook have not made the world a better place because it is a waste of time for the user.As time is impoortant to people,it can be better spent doing productive things,beneficial for one's life.

As the old age goes,time if of the essence, and if it is not used wisely,the consequences are never good.Social networks have become more than just connections with people,they have accumulated add-ons like Farmville,Mafia Wars and other games in order to keep users entertained.In these games,the user plays for virtual money,often spendingmany hours each a day building farms and collecting sheep and other animals.With millions of users signed-up for such add-ons,it is not hard to deduce that they are wasting millions of hours each day decorating farms and collecting garden tools.It is,however, true that if used right,the site can connect users with people of same interests,thus building a name for a person,if s/he is a writer for example.Nevertheless,a few possible connections with someone one may or may noy know,are not enough to justify endless periods of brain-numbing activity,that lead one to a few more points and virtual coins farm with virtual food and animals.

Farms and animals,however,are not the only roadblock for the progress of a society.With millions of people on-board,their pictures in mostly profiles are available for everyone to view.With the more attractive profiles getting most of the viewing,like before,countless hours are spent looking at pictures of total strangers posting for their perfect Myspace or Facebook photo.Of course,one can argue that this is just another leisure activity,in which people are just letting off some steam.It definitely could be helpful to get one's mind off of a few things,however,like with anything else that addictive,it is hard to put the mouse down and not pay attention to the next hot guy or girl in the Friends list on someone's page.But the friends are not the only issue,new forms of media have emerged,thus attracting more and more users.

The current situation has reached a point, where Youtube videos and other entertainemnt are also connected to the social networks,which entices users to stay connected and online for greater periods of time.As the country faces an obesity epidemic,the chair in front of one's computer,has replaced the couch,in a way,transforming the new user from a couch potato,into a slouched,pic-addicted imbecile,procrastinating and missing life as it passes him/her by.