Presentation

Historical Disneyland Ticket Prices

1955 - $1 + $0.10 to $0.35 per ride (or average of $0.27 per ride)

1984 - $19.50

1992 - $34.00

1998 - $42.00

2011 - $85.00 or $120.00 (for Park Hopper)

         - All you can eat BBQ $20 + $3 for soda

Maybe average 10 rides in a day in 12 hours spent at Disneyland. Would've cost $3.70 total in 1955 ($1 + $2.70 for the rides)

Found people selling tickets at Craigslist.org. It actually wasn't being sold but rented. $65 for Park Hopper tickets but $70 for Saturdays and Holiday weekends. Still a savings of $50-55 per ticket.

Source: http://allears.net/tix/tixincrease.htm
            http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/tid/2450026952.html

Last blog

Yeheyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! This is my last blog!

I never really liked writing diaries and in reality that is what a blog is. It is nothing but an online diary. I know some people likes to keep their diaries but frankly, I would rather be living life instead of writing down my life.

I guess what I didn't bring up from my last blog which I guess I should mention now is that one good thing came out of World War II, the Europeans were removed from a good part of Asia and particularly in the Philippines. Asia actually belonged to Asians once again. Well enough of that.

I guess Strayer mentions that historians, I guess including himself, don't really like to talk about present history because it is still a developing story. There is no ending to the story and predicting the ending of it would be almost impossible. If there is one thing you can say about us humans, we are quite predictable creatures who tends to do unpredictable things.

If you have read the book or at least most of it, you may have noticed that throughout history, the most common of all the eras are the different battles or wars that have taken place. We do like to kill each other and we also allow evil people into power such as Mussolini, Hitler, George W. Bush. Yes, I think George W. Bush is evil too. We don't seem to learn from our mistakes and we keep on making the same mistakes over and over again. People say that we study history so that we do not repeat past mistakes but this simply just do not apply to most human beings. Just take the people around you, I'm sure you can name a few people who keeps making the same mistakes over and over again even when you or someone have corrected them many times before.

If you truly study history, then I guess you would notice that the Earth replenishes itself one way or another. It eradicates its habitats and I don't think there is a creature that's alive that's been around since creatures came to exist on this planet.

I guess that's the challenge for us humans. To be the first being to outlive our planet or find another planet to live on.

I guess that's beyond the thought process involved for World History and the future is not even upon us yet.

We should all just live our lives the best we could possibly live it.

Goodbye.
Paalam.
Au revoir
Adios (Hasta la vista, baby :) )
Sayonara
Ciao
Zai Jian

Ch 21 & 22

World War 1 and 2 were terrible events that happened in human history. I can't imagine living in a time where there is a World War currently happening. I don't know whether or not I'll be involved in the war. Personally, I don't agree with wars and I think that instead of sending people who have absolutely nothing to do with the argument or disagreement that started it in the first place, we should instead have the leaders that are part of the problem to duke it out themselves. I think that instead of millions of lives lost for senseless wars then it would just be the leaders who, really care less about anybody else, that should be fighting to their deaths. I think in this way, we would have less fighting going on since these people would not want to risk their own lives for a senseless argument. I think we would have more peace in the world.

On the other hand, the world is close to or at over population already. Wars definitely decreases the amount of people on the planet by millions. I know it's a bit morbid to think this way but it's just an alternative point of view and there may be some truth to the matter.

We are still faced with smaller wars in our lifetime and there are areas who experiences fighting battles each day. There are probably a good number of countries out there who are constantly faced with rebellions, coup attempts or just various in-fighting within itself. I know in the Philippines, especially in the south, there are constant battles happening and this has been ongoing for the good 40 years that I've been living. This is actually not bad compared to stories that I've heard in countries within Africa and South America. In some countries in Africa, even children carry machine guns and kill people. Such a terrible thing.

The really sad part about this is that we may have yet another big war within the next 1000 years. A truly global war that would decimate a good part of our planet and kill millions, maybe even billion or billions of people. Then again, this could be some kind of cleansing if you look at it a different way.

____________________

Communism and Socialism are such taboo words in American language. These are bad words and people who speak of them are considered evil by some in America.

If you actually take the very basic premise of Communism then it actually isn't such a bad idea. I think would actually be nice to have some kind of equality amongst people. It would be fair to everyone and you wouldn't have the greed that you would have such as you do in a Capitalist economy. What makes Communism bad are the corrupt and evil people that ran and controlled it. They abused and misused their power. It also doesn't reward people for having great ideas or inventions. I'm sure many people can make lots of arguments against Communism.

Socialism is actually a bit better in which the government have lots of programs for its citizens. The government takes care of the welfare of its people. Again, I think a lot of people in America oppose to this idea and would rather have a free for all society in which everyone is up to their own well being without having any assistance from the government.

I personally do not like the fact that I have paid a lot of taxes and don't really get a lot in return. When I was unemployed, the government couldn't even provide me with basic medical insurance. What upsets me even more is that they spend my hard earned money on ridiculous and unnecessary wars and gives trillions of dollars to countries that they blow off with these wars. The government can't even provide us with jobs or necessary improvements to our country.

I think, to be fair to everyone, we should all be taxed a flat rate and no deductions, exemptions or tax breaks. The rich pay less and less taxes because they are able to write-off quite a bit. The poor don't have any write-offs available to them so they still pay their taxes accordingly. Life is just unfair isn't it.

Part 5

I really hate the self-centeredness attitude of the Europeans and their descendants. I have experienced this throughout my lifetime and still continue to experience this today. I am not saying that everyone is this way but there are a number of people who still thinks this way and that they are superior to people of other races. Honestly speaking, as far as intelligence goes, I have encountered many people who think they are quite smart and are smarter than others. This is actually far from the truth and only exposes themselves to their own ignorance.

I have actually just watched a Chinese movie based on actual facts on when the British occupied China and their treatment towards the Chinese people. Although this story was about the British occupying China it is by no means inclusive only to those two countries/people. It is actually encompasses all, if not most, European invasions. The British mistreated and oppressed the Chinese. They bullied them in their own country and basically did just about every mistreatment possible.

The Europeans didn't have much success in invading Japan because the Japanese were shortly united during the time of the European invasion. They were also somewhat advanced in their fighting techniques and had a lot of experience fighting amongst other clans within itself.

The Spaniards were successful in invading Philippines but in large part due to the Philippines were run separately by different tribes and had no central government or authority. As soon as the Philippines united and coupled with the decline of Spain and assistance from America, the Philippines eventually overthrew the Spanish government.

What seems to be strong a strong trait in Europeans and European descent are the art of deception or commonly know as being two faced. I have encountered several people with this trait and I have noticed it to be common to these type of people. I know it sounds racist on my part but it is merely an observation of the facts. It is also not only an observation of present time but of historical events as well.

One should be careful on how they are approached. They may think that someone is nice to them when in fact they are already being stabbed in the back. Some people likes to put a facade in order to appear kind. I tend to seek out the truth in people and get deep down into it which is their heart or true feelings and intentions.

Chapters 14, 15, 16

There are quite a bit of repetitions in this book. Strayer also seems to go back and forth on the historical timeline a lot.

What I've gathered from the old history book that I have read and taken a class for, it was basically a bunch of lies and half truths. It was strictly written from the Europeans' point of view and they described all others outside of Europe to be uncivilized, nomadic and barbaric people.

Strayer sheds light into this subject quite deeper into the situation. He told us that Europe was actually lagging behind during the modern era. They were behind to China and the Islam territories. The reason that Europeans started to venture out was to find gold, silver and other valuable minerals from other places in which they can use for trade with India and China. The old European centric history book conveniently left this out or really didn't go deeper into the topic.

What I hate the most about during those times were the oppression that the Europeans did to other places they had visited or acquired. They exploited people in most places that they went to except for China and Japan.

They tried to push Christianity down people's throat even though they may not have wanted it. They would kill or punish people who did not convert to Christianity. I am actually a bit disgusted by this practice. So far, the only religion that I haven't read that's done this is Buddhism.

Slave trading is another dark mark in human history. This was another exploitation done by Europeans although this was not solely just the responsibility of the Europeans alone. I think if I were living during those times I would've fought hard at stopping and eliminating slavery.

Oppressing people and people thinking they are more superior than other races are still true today. I have encountered people today who still have this mindset. Sad to think that centuries had passed and we are still dealing with the same issues.

RA #1

The Road Less Traveled

In our class debate on June 7, 2011, a group argued for chapter 8 of Robert Strayer’s book, Ways of the World: A Brief Global History ¹, on why the roads or modes of transportation are more important than what is being delivered on these roads. They have contended that the goods, people or religions that have used these roads would not have flourished if these roads did not exist. They have claimed that the roads are what gave rise to those that were mentioned above and without the roads then these goods, people or religions would be nothing at all and wouldn’t have blossomed the way in which they had. Now I ask you, do you actually buy into this argument or do you believe as I do that the roads are not more significant than what is being delivered on them?

I am not arguing that the roads had no significance whatsoever. However, I am arguing that the roads are merely a tool that is used to deliver the things that are of importance. Without the goods to be delivered then the roads would’ve never have been built in the first place. The roads are created because someone or many people have found the need for them to be created. They need a way to deliver their goods, their people or their religion in a faster and more efficient way.

Let me now discuss the Silk Road and it rise to prominence and its demise.

The Rise of the Silk Road

“Originally, the Chinese trade silk internally, within the empire. Caravans from the empire's interior would carry silk to the western edges of the region. Often small Central Asian tribes would attack these caravans hoping to capture the traders' valuable commodities. As a result, the Han Dynasty extended its military defenses further into Central Asia from 135 to 90 BC in order to protect these caravans.

Chan Ch'ien, the first known Chinese traveler to make contact with the Central Asian tribes, later came up with the idea to expand the silk trade to include these lesser tribes and therefore forge alliances with these Central Asian nomads. Because of this idea, the Silk Road was born.

The route grew with the rise of the Roman Empire because the Chinese initially gave silk to the Roman-Asian governments as gifts.” ²

The Fall of the Silk Road

“By 760 AD, during the T'ang Dynasty, trade along the Silk Road had declined. It revived tremendously under the Sung Dynasty in the eleventh and twelfth centuries when China became largely dependent on its silk trade. In addition, trade to Central and Western Asia as well as Europe recovered for a period of time from 1276-1368 under the Yuan Dynasty when the Mongols controlled China. The Chinese traded silk for medicines, perfumes, and slaves in addition to precious stones. As overland trade became increasingly dangerous, and overseas trade became more popular, trade along the Silk Road declined. While the Chinese did maintain a silk-fur trade with the Russians north of the original Silk Route, by the end of the fourteenth century, trade and travel along the road had decreased.” ²

Even though the Silk Road has diminished, silk trading today is still thriving. As explained in the History of Silk web page “World silk production has approximately doubled during the last 30 years in spite of man-made fibers replacing silk for some uses. China and Japan during this period have been the two main producers, together manufacturing more than 50% of the world production each year. During the late 1970's China, the country that first developed sericulture thousands years ago dramatically increased its silk production and has again become the world's leading producer of silk.” ³

Now with the knowledge and insight that I have provided you, wouldn’t you now be able to logically conclude that the goods, people or religions that have traveled on the Silk Road are far more important that the road itself? Silk trade is thriving today but the Silk Road is not. If the Silk Road was indeed so important then shouldn’t have the trade of silk be dead as well? The same would go for the religions like Muslim, Christianity and Buddhism; shouldn’t they have been relegated only to the areas in which they had flourished and where they were introduced? Why are those religions still around and in other areas of the World where the Silk Road did not extend to? Why are they still growing globally despite the Silk Road being gone today? The answer is simple, the goods, the people and the religions are far more important the road they travelled on.

Works Cited

1 Strayer, Robert. Ways of the World: A Brief Global History. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s. 2009.

2 The Silk Road: Linking Europe and Asia Through Trade.

http://library.thinkquest.org/13406/sr/. Date accessed June 12, 2011.

3 History of Silk. http://www.silk-road.com/artl/silkhistory.shtml. Date accessed June 12, 2011.

Chapters 11, 12, 13

While reading chapter 11 all that was coming to my mind was:

Blah, blah, blah.

Blah, blah, blah.

Then I read, Muslims can have four wives. My attention sharpened and then I started getting into what I was reading. As I kept reading then more...

Blah, blah, blah.

Blah, blah, blah.

All kidding aside, I already knew that Muslims men are able to marry up to 4 wives providing that he is able to provide a decent life for all of his wives.

What I didn't know was about Muhammad wanting and encouraging war or jihad. I have always wondered and observed that some areas where Muslims and Christians co-existed then there seems to be a lot of fighting between them. The reasons that I hear why they are fighting is because the Muslims wants their own land or create their own country separate from the country in which they currently belong to.

I was born in the Philippines and the southern part of the Philippines is predominantly Muslim in faith. From when I was young up until now, fighting has never stopped. There are constant fighting and the Muslims always claim that they want to be separated and have their own country.

I guess you can tell from my writing so far that I am not of the Muslim faith. I am indeed Catholic as majority of the Philippines are. I really have no biases one way or another. As a matter of fact, I have a few friends that are Muslim and I think they are actually good hearted people.

I think in each religion, you will find good people and bad people. God knows that I have met plenty of people that are Catholic who are just evil to their core. Well maybe not to their core but let's just say they are not very nice people.

Anyways, going back to my observation. I remember in the early 2000s that in Jakarta, Indonesia a governor there put a price on the head of every Christian's head creating a mass killing and rampage throughout the streets of Jakarta. I have seen pictures of young girls beaten, raped and killed. I saw a picture of a teenage girl tortured and killed. She had cigarette burns all over her body and the pole of the broom inserted in her with almost the entirety of the broom handle in her. I know it's quite graphic but I kid you not this is what happened there during that time. I even saw pictures of men/teenage boys holding a decapitated head by its hair with a demonic smile on his face. If you have ever seen the movie Exorcist then you can somewhat picture the look of happiness on this guys face for killing someone and holding the head as if it was his trophy to show off to everyone. There were stories also with those pictures that said fathers were held at gunpoint/knife point while their female child or wife are raped right in front of them. I vividly recall telling a coworker of mine at the time that I would not stand for that if I was the father and/or the husband. No matter how many of the attackers were there I would fight for my family no matter what the consequences are.

Again, let me reiterate that this is by no means anything against Muslims. Christians have done their share of killings throughout history. They have conquered countries and have killed natives who would not convert to their religion and justified it because they called those people heathens.

I remember my grandmother telling me that rebels in the Philippines would confess what they were about to do and ask for forgiveness for the battle and possible killings that were going to happen to the Spanish Catholic priests. These same priests who are supposed to keep the confession private between you and God would warn the Spaniard soldiers and therefore betraying the rebels, the church, their oath and everyone else except for the Spaniard army.

Speaking of Catholics, priests were allowed to marry at one point but a bishop decided that priests are no longer allowed to marry. The reason behind this was when the priests were allowed to marry and have children then all of their possessions went to their eldest son. The bishop didn't like this and therefore outlawing the priests to marry so that the Earthly possessions of the priests goes to the bishop and the church.

What a corruption. I sometime wonder about religions. Religions are supposed to make people good and make people believe in God, Allah, Yahweh, Buddha or whatever name each religion have for God. Instead, they have promoted killing and other evil ways. I know people who such fanatics in their given faith and pray to God on a daily basis in church but who has the foulest mouth and would talk bad about everybody and would mistreat others as well. Now, is this what religion suppose to give us?

Let us not forget that religions are created by people. People are known for their imperfections. People have written the Bible and the Quran. Just draw your own conclusions.

As a child, have you ever played a game where you tell something to one person and then that person tells another and so on until the story reaches back to you. Well most times than not, that story would be altered and twisted by the time that it returns to you. Now who's to say that the Bible or the Quran didn't have this effect. It's just one of those things that make you say hmmm.

The Mongol empire was the largest empire ever amassed in human history. Funny how older history books never mentioned this because they were solely focused on the European and Northern American history.

I enjoyed reading and learning about the Mongols. I especially enjoyed the movie "Mongol" which portrays the life of Temujin and his transformation to Chinggis Khan. I highly recommend this movie.

I actually thought the Mongols only occupied up to Persia or just Pakistan. I didn't know that they made it as far as Europe and even went to Japan. I guess this would explain why some Europeans have Asian features. I don't think they ever ventured into the Philippines. I think the book said they stopped somewhere in Southeast Asia around Vietnam somewhere.

It kinda sounds like the American Indians and maybe the Eskimos were originally from Mongolia. American Indians have the same lifestyle as the Mongols in which they lived in tents and moved from area to area. American Indians have some Asian features which beg me to think they may have originated from Asia.

Mongols were brutal warriors. I've met a few present day Mongolians and they seemed a bit crazy too. There was one guy that I met and he found pleasure in punching fist to fist meaning his fist and your fist would hit each other. I think it gave him some kind of pleasure to think that he's tough especially when he sees the other person complaining of pain. Well unfortunately for him, I didn't feel the pain when we punched fist to fist. I think he felt it more than I did.

Well this was just a small sample and I'm sure not everyone is this way. A friend of mine married a Mongolian lady and she seems quite nice as well as her other friends. There are always exceptions to everything in life.

I think good and bad may be found in each country, region or continent. One can never assume that a country is full of bad people or good people. There are always a mixture of both. Just like not everyone is beautiful, you will also find your share of non-attractive people. This is of course both inner and outer beauty.

15th Century is the Exploration Age. You will find a few countries venturing out to find new trade routes to Asia. Even Christopher Columbus wisely (being sarcastic here) ventured off West ward of the Atlantic Ocean thinking he will land in India. That's why the American natives were came to be known as American Indians because of Christopher Columbus' poor navigational skills.

The book also seem to have left out that people during those times thought that the World was flat and Christopher Columbus would fall off the face of the Earth.

As Strayer had pointed out, this World would be quite different had Zheng He continued sailing and had met the European ships along the way. The power of China during that time would've overwhelmed all European ships/navy during that time.

I believe sometimes that life is set by predetermined circumstances. Things tend to happen because that is how they are supposed to happen. No way that any of the European ships would've stood a chance against Zheng He's hundreds of ships but for some reason he and China chose for him to stop sailing the seas. This caused the Portuguese, Spaniards and the English to flourish during this era.

In one's life, you will notice that there are certain events that you have totally no control over. No matter what you do to prevent it or avoid it, it will still happen as if it were destined to happen. Luck also plays a part within our life. Just like in the 15th century, the European explorers had luck on their side and the avoided Zheng He's ships and were able to sail to othere countries/continents. It's as if they were destined to do so.