History According to Alexander

Alexander Grelier 1/31/19 NY Times: The Myth of the Criminal Immigrant PBS: Fact Check: Immigration Doesn’t Bring Crime into U.S Do Immigrants Bring Crime to the US?               In the past few decades, especially since 2016 when President Trump was elected, immigration has been one of the biggest national conversations in the US. One of the stand-out claims made by the Trump administration is that immigrants, especially those from Central and South America, are often drug dealers, gang members, and traffickers. According to a poll from Gallup in 2017, just under half of US citizens believe that there is a direct connection with immigrants bringing crime, which could be a result of what Trump has to say on the topic. Recently, Trump has been targeting so-called "sanctuary cities" for breeding crime in the US, which are cities that often ignore requests from federal immigration authorities to hold these immigrants after they...

Alexander Grelier 1/10/19 Thinking About Success NY Post 1. Hard work 2. Skill 3. Opportunity 4. Luck I think that hard work should be first because it is the most important key to success. A person may not have much natural skill, but hard work can create skill and will also open up opportunities. For example, if a coach of a soccer team sees a player with not much natural born talent, but the player gives his all, never quits, and shows improvement, the coach will give the player opportunities to prove himself out on the field. However, some skill is necessary to be able to perform in a game. If a basketball player is 4'10" and he aspires to be a starter in the NBA, it just wont happen, which is why some skill is needed and is why I have it at #2. If someone possesses hard work and skill, they will almost certainly be given opportunities to become successful. Lastly I have luck, which I believe is something people tend to prioritize if they don'...

Alexander Grelier 1/9/19 Empathy in Rats Washington Post: A new model of empathy: The rat                  In an experiment by the University of Chicago, published by the Washington Post, researchers look to see if social animals (and in this case rats) would either free another rat from drowning, or go for a small bunch of chocolate chips. In this experiment, the free rat is seen helping the other get out of the cage filled with water instead of going for the chocolate. After, the researchers would give the chocolate chips to the free rat for helping the one stuck in water, and it would even save a chocolate chip for it! These researchers concluded that the rats were showing empathy for one another. After many experiments, the free rat would often save the other from drowning, and would still share chocolate after most trials. This shows to me that empathy isn't something that just humans experience and that it isn't something t...