Blog #25

One piece of work that I am quite proud of is my American Icons project that I did on my American icon Erno Rubik. I am really proud of this project because it really reflected how I grew up into the person that I am today. This project allowed me to go indepth about why the person I chose was my American icon. I was able to tell my whole life story of how i got into engineering and why Erno was my icon. I think this is a really strong piece of work because we were able to explore what ever aspect we wanted. Instead of just saying "Oh, you must focus on a certain aspect of this person because thats what the assignment is". We got explore and really understand how this person was our icon and how they influenced our actions and what we are today. With that being said, I was really able to get a good product because I was able to reflect so well on why Erno was my American icon.

Another piece of work that I am extremely proud of is my final product for my H2O project. I think I did really well with the actually layout of my article and the content inside of it. Getting to my final product took a lot of critiques and work. I got my actual article critiqued about ten times I would say. I also got my indesign critiqued a lot as well. The critiques I think were the single most important things that helped me get to the final product that I have today. Everytime I thought I had something good. I would get it critiqued and other people thought it was a horrible Idea. The critiques really helped me see where my errors were too. Specifically with my first paragrah. I had to revise that so many times because people were being knit picky on my paper. I didn't mind thoough. All of those knit picky comments on my paper helped me get to my final product so I'm happy.

Here is my article: Water quality is probably one of the most important issues that we should take care of, why? Because it affects everything. If San Diego has dirty beaches, that can lead to a vast variety of problems with wildlife and humans. If the water is too toxic, then the fish will die off, and that just starts a chain reaction of issues with wildlife in the ocean such as loss of population. And if the water is too polluted for humans then that can lead to illnesses such as throat, and ear infections. So water quality is an ever evolving issue that we must get under control now, before our beaches are too toxic to swim in. Water quality has been a very important part of our San Diego beaches since the early 1940’s. standards have been set for San Diego beaches, and there are many programs and organizations that are trying to improve the state of our beaches.

The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has set standards for beaches in California and all across America by which all beaches must abide. There are three indicator bacteria that help indicate if there are more bacteria in the water. Those are Total Coliform, E. coli, and Enterococci. For each bacterium there is a certain level for which those bacteria must not exceed. For total coliform that level is 10,000/100ml, for E. coli its 235/100ml, and for Enterococci it is 104/100ml. I decided to monitor bacteria levels at Pacific Beach and see how well they have followed the EPA standards for the month of November. In my data I found that all bacterium concentrations were under the limit that had been set by the EPA. My graphs go more into detail about actual data. Pacific Beach has followed the EPA’s standards by being under the standards set for them. Pacific Beach is a fairly clean (in terms of water), but they don’t clean themselves.

In San Diego there are a wide variety of water quality programs and organizations, some ranging from little San Diego based programs to international organizations, but which ones are the most effective? To find out which ones have been most effective, we have to look at the history of these programs and what they have actually accomplished in terms of water quality. From word of mouth, some programs that have been effective in the clean water effort are Heal the Bay, and the Surfrider Foundation.

Heal the Bay was founded in Santa Monica Bay California by a woman named Dorothy Green. It was originally a small group of people, but soon swelled into the organization that we know today. Heal the Bay had its first fight for water quality in 1985 when the group discovered that Los Angels was dumping raw untreated sewage in to Santa Monica Bay. Because of the dumping many fish died off and marine wildlife such as dolphins started to develop tumors because of the pollution in the water. Heal the Bay didn’t take this lightly; they took every advantage they got. They held rallies, and even got media attention.

In 1985 Heal the Bay’s actions forced Los Angeles to comply with the clean water act. Even though they are based in Santa Monica, Heal the Bay’s work is present in the waters of Southern California, and even throughout the U.S.

Heal the Bay is a very helpful organization because the fact that every year they give an annual beach report and report card. This report card applies to all beaches in California. With in this report card it gives the reader an immense amount of information on the beaches. They give you data such as Bacteria levels both in dry and wet weather. They also give an analysis of their data and have beach recommendations and beach bummers according to pollution. At the end of the report they give a grade to the beaches depending on how clean or dirty they are. An A grade means that the beaches are very clean and an F grade means the beaches are extremely dirty and the water is polluted beyond measure. Heal the bay is more of a catalyst then anything else. I think that they alert people of the conditions of the beach, and it is our responsibility to take care of the beach. That is why I think Heal the Bay has been effective in the clean water effort.

While on pursuit of effective water quality programs I attended a beach clean up at dog beach hosted by Coast Keeper.

I thought that this beach clean up was a success but I wanted to know what other people thought about the beach clean up, so I interviewed a few people.

At the beach cleanup I interviewed an actual worker from Coast Keeper named Monica.

I asked her “Is Coast Keeper in affiliation with any other programs or organizations that help clean up beaches as well?”

She replied with “We partner with Surfrider, which is a non-profit organization. We are also partners with I love a clean San Diego, which is also a non-profit, and Adopt a Beach organization.”

I then asked her “Do your beach clean ups help with the clean water effort?”

She told me” I think we are helping with the clean water effort because we are picking up things on the beach such as debris, plastic, dog feces, and other harmful things that can contaminate the water”

After my interview with Monica, I then interviewed actual volunteer workers who were participating in the beach cleanup. I asked them, “How effective do you think these beach clean ups are for the environment.

They replied with “Any effort is good. These cleanups will raise awareness and bring the next generation in. It will start a chain reaction of volunteer workers.

After this interview with Monica and the volunteer workers, Coast Keeper really seemed to be on the train full steam ahead for the clean water effort. Coast Keeper is a very effective organization in the clean water effort. Surfrider foundation is equally effective in its effort for clean water.

Surfrider foundation and Coast keeper are actually partnering organizations. They coordinate beach cleanups together. Both organizations set up beach cleanups and usually one group shows up to host to cleanup. If the beach cleanup has a very large turnout, then both groups will show up. Surfrider and Coast keeper organize beach cleanups twice a month, on the second and fourth Saturday of the month. These cleanups are a great way to help improve our beaches, both on land and in the water.

As a result of Surfider and Coast keeper actions, beaches such as PB Point have been cleaner over the years. Don’t feel left out; join in on the clean water effort. Both Surfrider and Coast Keeper are volunteer organizations. How do you get involved? Check out future beach cleanups on the Surfrider website. After all, the beach doesn’t clean itself!

Blog #24

Who is "right" in the controversy involving whaling and the Sea Shepherd?

When observing who is right in this controversy involving whaling it is hard to answer that question. It is a versus situation. This controversy is between what a man believes is right, and what is actual law. Although whaling is wrong, it actually inst illegal and many people believe Paul Watson's actions are absurd, and out of line.

Yes whaling is bad, but the truth is it actually isn't illegal. In an article I was reading called Neptunes Navy: Paul Watson's wild crusade to save the oceans by Raffi Khatchadouria it discussed how "Whaling is not banned, but it is not necessarily permitted, either." To make matters worse for Paul Watson, what he is doing is not approved by his government. This means that even when he confronts what he calls "illegal" whaling boats, there is nothing really that he can do a bout it. A perfect example of this was when Watson attempted to arrest a whaling boat. " Watson had arrested a whaling vessel on the high seas, but he was constrained by the fact that he had no real authority to do so." This man is doing what he believes is right, to protect wildlife.

Since Watson's actions are not only unauthorizedly but sometimes lethal, he has made many enemies, not just internationally, but within his own conservationist community. Because of Watson's actions against whaling, some of those actions put upon whaling boats from countries where whaling is illegal, he has become hated by many countries. "Officials in Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Japan, Canada, and Costa Rica have denounced him; some have even called him a terrorist." It is beliveable to see why these countries denounced him. To them, he is ruing a business that is not illegal in their countries. To make matters worse "In the mid-nineties, Norway convicted him of attempting to scuttle a whale named Nybraena, and he spent eighty days in prison." Watson even managed to make enemies with people of his own kind, conservationist. According to Kristjan Loftsson, the director who manages Hvlur, of of Iceland's largest whaling companies " Watson has made enemies of other conservationist too. For decades Greenpeace has wanted nothing to do with him." This is especially harsh because Watson was the actual founder of Greenpeace.

Paul Watson is a very smart man who actually has good logic behind his reasonings for helping wildlife. Watson believed that the human race was arrogant. He even said "I say, when you're dealing with a species that;s as arrogant as the human race you've got to be arrogant to believe that you can actually change it." With that being said he also believes that everything that humans do, such as art, movies, and architecture is "worthless to the earth". Watson then goes on to make a very good point about how humans view nature, and business; "In anthropocentric society, a harsh judgment is given to those that destroy or seek to destroy creations of humanity". "Monkey-wrench a bulldozer and they will call you a vandal. Spike a tree and they will call you a terrorist. Liberate a coyote from a trap and they will call you a thief. Yet if a human destroys the wonders of creation, the beauty of the natural world, then anthropocentric society calls such people loggers, miners, developers, and businessmen."

It is easy too see where both sides are coming from, but both of them make very good arguments. Whaling is bed, yet not illegal. A man is just doing what he thinks is right. I think this is a unanswerable question. Both sides think they aren't doing anything wrong, yet both sides have a flaw. For Paul Watson, he is doing what he believes is right, but is a wild vigilante whose actions are sometimes fatal to others around him. For whaling companies, they are just doing business that isn't illegal where they live, but the downside is that whaling is bad, and can eventually lead to their extinction. No one really is right, though both make good arguments.

Blog #24

To what extent does the language of racial identity impact the thoughts and actions related to race in the present and future?

Racial Identity is something that no one can ever take away from you. It is there for ever. In today's society America has branded names on certain groups. Such as whites or blacks. If you look just the slightest black, then you are labeled black, even if you aren't. If you are Mexican but look white, then you are considered white. The way that American's just assign names to people creates a sense of racial confusion among the people, and a lack of actual racial identity.

With all of this name calling in America, people seem to loose a sense of who they really are. In this text I was reading called He's Not Black by Marie Arana she discusses how with all of this name calling, people are starting to loose a sense of who they really are. she said "I understand everything you say. I too am a child of two cultures. My mother is German, my father African American. I was born in Germany, speak German and call myself a German-American. But look at me. What would you say I am?" She was referring to her skin, which was light black; her hair, lush and curly; and her eyes, a shining onyx. "I am fifty percent German. But no one who sees me believes it." This is a perfect example of the point I am trying to get across. IF we continue this language set, people will start to loose a sense of who they are, and in time, loose their racial identity.

America has been calling people specific names for so long that in today's society, people are just seen as one race, and nothing more. Marie says in her article "Few who see Barack Obama, it seems, understand that he's 50 percent white Kansan. Even fewer understand what it means to be second-generation Kenyan. It reminds me of something sociologist Troy Duster and bioethicist Pilar Ossorio once observed: Skin color is seldom what it seems. People who look white can have a significant majority of African ancestors. People who look black can have a majority of ancestors who are European." Peoples sense of language has been set for so long that once we see someones skin color, we automatically classify their race, but we don't know the truth. Marie also stated a very good point, a point which to many people rely on, but we need to stop. She said "skin doesn't tell you much. It's an unreliable marker, a deceptive form of packaging."

Many people classify Obama has being just black, but not many people just call him bi-racial. I was In the store the other day and I saw Barack Obama shirts hanging on the walls. The shirts had phrases on them such as "My President is Black", and "Welcome to the Black House". This language that has been set is already set in our minds, we just classify someone as one race. We call Obama black because he is half black. We can't help it. That is just Americans going back to saying, "Oh, he has some black in him so he must be black." This mind set that people have needs to change.

Racial identity has been a challenge over the years because of the language that has been used to classify people. Because of this language, people have a sense of racial confussion as well as a lack of their actually racial identity. As Langston Hughes put it, "I am not black. There are lots of different kinds of blood in our family. But here in the United States, the word 'Negro' is used to mean anyone who has any Negro blood at all in his veins. . . . I am brown." This is the mind-set that everyone should have, not just to help yourself out, but to heal the wound of language that has been unhealed for 100's of years.

BLog #22

What are you thankful for this year?
I am thankful for having enough money to do everything I do in life. Im an expensive child and I am thankful that my mother makes enough money to support our family and let me do what I want to do.

Post three specific things that you will accomplish for this project before TG break is over! Then, bring those things to school on Monday Dec. 2.

-I will definitely have my rough draft of my article near completion
-I will also have mostly all data that I want to have in my article
-I will try to go do different beach locations and get good photographs

Blog #21

What are you discovering so far?
I am discovering that the project deadline is closer then I think, so I really have to start working, and collect my data and get this thing done.

What surprises you about this project?
As of right now, there are no surprises

What are your next steps to have a cool product and great piece of writing?
My next steps are to really get good research, and data, because with that I can really answer my research question. Also if I go to that beach clean up at OB on Saturday, I could probably get so many good interviews. So those are my next steps

Blog #19&20

A was looking at the surfider foundations website, and I really like it. Here are three aspects of why I like it

Three groups, in particular, were excluded from the process: blacks, women and the young. The history of American democracy can be read in good part as the struggle of all three to become fully included in the process.

Three groups women blacks, and the young have made a monumental impact on the 2008 election. Through history these three groups voices have not been heard as loud as they should have been until now. All of those silenced voices weren't shy to speak out in this election. We shan't forget about all other races, but these three groups are the ones who have struggled the most to gain their voice in elections, ever since the 1700's.

The process is ever evolving. In other words this means a foundational change, and something new. The edition of a specific group to the vote population is something new, a foundational change. The addition of groups to the voting population is all part of the ever evolving process. Groups will keep being added because of these processes. The background of these groups goes back to the first presidential election of George Washington in 1787. Since that election these three groups have worked their way to become part of the voting population in America. It's funny to think that the three groups that were excluded from the voting population had the most impact on the 2008 Presidential Election. Black actors of high stature such as Will Smith and Oprah Winfrey who were pro Obama had a huge impact on the black community persuading them to go vote. In this election women also played a part in this election. The women voted 13% more in favor of Obama then McCain in this election. We can't forget about young voters as well. In this election, Obama won 2-to-1 because of the young voters.

I found a great article about how these three groups impacted the election and more!

Here is a link to that article called Hey Barack, Don't Forget: "You Gotta Dance With Them What Brung Ya"

Blog #18

Part 1:
How do you feel about the election? What are your hopes for America and your community in the next few years? What are your concerns for America and your community for the next few years?

I felt very good about this election. The night of the election, as soon as I saw that Ohio and Florida were leaning democrat I was leaning on the edge of my seat. When they had announce that Barack Obama was going to be the 44th president I jumped up and yelled in joy. I could not believe it!

My hopes for this country are that we get through this financial crisis, and that the United States will become less segregated and all people will come together and live as equals. The financial crisis even though I am worried about it, well will be able to recover. The other thing i was talking about is through Obama being president anything is possible. If this country can come as far from black people being slaves to 200 years later being elected the president of the US then I am pretty sure our country somehow will learn how to come together as one.

I only have one concern about Barack Obama being president, and that is assassination. There is no doubt that Obama will try to be assassinated throughout his term as president. If we our so mis fortunate as to loose Barack, then Joe Biden will do a wonderful job filling in for him.

Evaluate your own level of civic knowledge. What have we done well as a class to build your understanding of current events? What can we improve as a class (or you as an individual) to better build your understanding of current events? How do you feel in the numerous conversations about current events that take place outside of class?

I feel that throughout these past weeks I have learned so much about these elections that I could sit someone down and explain the whole thing to someone. I actually understand what the news is talking about now when they say things like California got 55 electoral votes. I don't feel left out of the conversation, I feel like I am part of everything.

I think everything we have done so far has helped me understand current events. I mean going back to the beginning of the year we learned about the bases of American politics. But I think the one thing that has really given me the upper hand and is helping me understand things a lot better are the blogs that we have been doing. In every blog we have to write about something we have been doing in class. These last few blogs have been helpful, especially the one about ACORN and the voting scandal. Before that blog I had no idea there was vote suppression and I didn't even know what ACORN was. But after having to do the blog and getting all the research. I could fill someone in on every aspect of ACORN. So like I stated earlier, everything that we've done so far in class has helped me get a better understanding of current events.

Honestly I don't think there is anything we need to improve in this class

Having learned everything that I have in this class, when ever there is a olitical discussion Im like bring it on. Now a days I can actually be involved in a political conversation and not be the one in the back listening to everyone and laughing when appropriate. I would be the one leading the conversation because of my background research on American Politics.

Part 2:

So for my project my new and revised research question is: What government programs in San Diego have been effective in the cleanliness of beaches?

So my proposed product is an online article with all of my research on it. What I am thinking is having all these different acts and laws that have been passed in San Diego to ensure beach cleanliness.

With these acts and laws I have interviews from city offcials and how effective they think these programs are. Not only that but I will have or try to have interviews of people who actually construct these programs and if they think they are effective. Now I also want to do one more thing and that is to interview people at the beach and ask them questions dealing with what they think the governments effect is on the beach. Along with these interviews I will have comparison data. I will have my water data that I have collected at beaches around San Diego and compare them to the standards of what the government is asking for. I will most likely represent my data in graphs because that is most representable of what I am researching.

In order to get to my final product I am going to need quite a few things. First I will need to come up with a set of interview questions for each with a set of interview both for city officials and the people. I will also need water testing results before I do these interviews (preferably) because When I ask the questions I also want to know if the results I got from the beach shocked them. To Be specific

		Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 2 3 4 5 6 7-Discuss my blog with Randy also come up with interview questions 9- Start looking up water quality programs 10- Start looking up water quality programs 11- Start looking up water quality programs 12- Start calling programs and people and setting up interviews 13- Start coming up with ideas for web layout and final product 14- Start actual web-design layout 16 17- Water Testing at PB point 18- Compare water testing results to governmental standards of clean water 19- Collect all data and create outline for online news article 20- Start on article 21- Have raw footage ready to be edited and start news paper article

Here is a Time line of the next 2 weeks

Water Quality Project Question Summaries and Reasearch

One of my questions that I am thinking about researching is : How much does the government enforce beach cleanliness? Now for this question I want to research how much the government has been involved with this whole issue of pollution on beaches. I mean yes I know they have signs on the beach but the real question is, what are they doing behind the scenes? That is what I am trying to figure out in my research.

In an article that I read called National Clean Water report cites ways to cleaner water they were discussing how the government has been involved in beach cleanliness around the San Diego area, in this specific instance, Coronado beach. According to this website the main goal is to strengthen the Clean Water Act. By doing so San Diego beaches pollutant levels will go down. The Clean Water Act was a law passed back in 1972 that would protect water quality in the United States. This includes "a variety of regulatory and nonregulatory tools to sharply reduce direct pollutant discharges into waterways, finance municipal wastewater treatment facilities, and manage polluted runoff."

For about 24 years San Diego government hasn't really done a good job with regulating Coronado's pollutions levels. Coronado has failed to comply with the water quality regulatory standards of the city. This is when a re-enforcement of the Clean Water Act came into play in 1996. Since 1996 the County Department of Environment Health and the City of San Diego has been examining storm drain runoff and have been working to discover the sources of the pollution. The San Diego government even used about $500,000 dollars to begin re-directing polluted runoff into the storm drain systems.

More recently a bill was passes called "The Right to Know Bill". This bill will allow for statewide water quality standards of all beaches that will protect the health of beach visitors. Another idea in the brainstorming process by the San Diego government is the protection of wetlands. According to Eric Bowlby who is Co-Chair of the San Diego Chapter, Sierra Club Coastal Committee "Wetlands help absorb and filter out pollution. This helps keep our water supplies clean and makes our oceans safer to swim in,". This is just the beginning of my research on goverment involvement with San Diego beaches.

Another question that I am thinking about is: Do different food vendors effect pollution levels at beaches? Now with this question it seemed really interesting to me. When I am at the beach I always see food vendors selling their foods. I wonder though if they are complying with the standards that the city of San Diego has set for them. I want to research how much ( if any) do food vendors expel their waste into the ocean because I am pretty sure that there are least a few vendors who don't care about properly disposing of their waste and just dumping in the ocean. Also I am thinking about what the vendors actually sell to the people. I mean not all the wrappers are going to end up in the trashcan, some are probably going to end up on the beach. This is what I hope to find out through my research.

I an article i was reading ( Doesn't have a name and I can't link it because it is microsoft word document) they were discussing how food vendors effect pollution at beaches. One these causes is urban runoff which is usually caused by poor business practices. Another way that restaurants have an effect on beach pollution is by not cleaning up food or chemical spills by just washing down the storm drain. The main issue with food vendors though is that of plastic and Styrofoam manufactured products. These products are filled with toxins such as dioxins and organochlorines that are harmful to animal if entered in the water. One las thing I want to mention is the actually use of foods. The food vendors at beaches usually tend to use foods with a lot of oil in them. If disposed improperly (which it most likely will) the oil in the food can block off oxygen in the water, therefore killing off all the fish.

Blog #16 Revised Blog

ACORN vs. Vote-Suppression

The ACORN scandal is about a group called ACORN ( Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now). The group according to The Washington Post was "accused of submitting phony or duplicate registrations."After review some articles I have come to realize the difference between ACORN and vote-suppression. In most of the articles that I have read they state that ACORN they state that this accusation that ACORN has committed voting fraud is not true. In an article called I read called Commentary: ACORN issue not vote fraud, but vote suppression by Donna Brazile she discussed how ACORN wasn't vote fraud at all, but in fact, vote suppression. In her article she basically states that "The so-called ACORN scandal is no more than a few canvassers trying to meet their quota and make easy money by cheating the system". In actuality, ACORN has no authority over vote ballads that are sent in. On a website I looked up called Fact Check they even said what ACORN can and cannot do. The website said " ACORN also says it cannot simply discard suspicious forms on its own, but is required by law in most states to submit to local election officials all the forms its canvassers bring in."But that is not all, to back up that statement they put the actual legal statement which read " Only election officials are legally able to determine the validity of a voter registration application." So ACORN is accused of committing voter fraud when they had no power over what gets sent in and what doesn't. If a person sends in a ballad that says Spongebob Squarepants, ACORN can't throw out the ballad. ACORN isn't completely powerless against vote fraud. They have a system for handling suspicious ballads ACORN says "it first flags all suspicious registrations. Staffers call the phone numbers written on completed registration forms to make sure they're valid and also take note of incomplete or duplicate forms. The group says that it alerts election officials to forms that look fishy when it sends them in." We can't call this a scandal for something that ACORN has no power over, so people are just blowing this way out of proportion.
The real issue that people seem to be discussing is vote-suppression. Vote-suppression can widely effect the outcome of the election. A specific type of vote-suppression is vote deception. Vote-deception is simply mislead information given to the public trying to get one side to win. In a news article i was reading called Stealing the Vote: GOP Voter Suppression is McCain's Last Chance to Win the author ( Marc C. Eades) was discussing how the republican party has been using vote-suppression ( deception) to sway the votes so that that McCain can win the election. The republicans were even caught committing these acts. In that same article it has proof of vote-deception. The article states "he Brennan Center also documents widespread cases of voter deception and intimidation by GOP operatives and even election officials. Election officials in Virginia and Colorado have provided incorrect and misleading voter information to students, and deceptive fliers have been distributed by GOP operatives to students and African Americans in Pennsylvania. In Bakersfield, California, conservative radio host Jaz McKay of station KNZR told listeners that Democrats should vote Nov. 5 instead of Nov. 4 because of expected heavy turnout - a favorite trick among Republicans trying to stop Democrats from voting."
Another instance of vote-suppression is happening right now in our present election. I was reading an article from the Florida Sun Sentinel about a flawed voting system in Florida. Apparently there are thousands of convicted felons on the ballad who aren't even eligible to vote. Some of which are even dead! The article even read " That includes at least 600 dead people, 32,000 voters registered more than once and a growing number of convicted felons — now more than 33,000 — who by law should not be allowed to cast ballots." Since Florida has not voter registration data bases. It will take a very long time to remove these names from the ballot.
One more type of vote-suppression I want to mention is the flawed voter-purge system. Because of this flawed system, thousands of people aren't even able to vote. In an article I read from The Jackson Free Press, they were discussing these issues. When there are mis-matches between names on ballots and with-in the system, those names are cut from voter rolls meaning those people aren't eligible to vote. This instance happened to a women named Kyla Berry. She thought that she was registered to vote, but she wasn't. Her name was one of the many thousands cut from the voter roll. Kyla had received news from the election officials that read "This office has received notification from the state of Georgia indicating that you are not a citizen of the United States and therefore, not eligible to vote,". Since that incident, "A lawsuit has been filed over Georgia's mismatch system, and the state is also under fire for requesting Social Security records for verification checks on about 2 million voters -- more requests than any other state."
So the main difference that I have caught here is that vote-suppression is the REAL SCANDAL going on right now as you have read in some of my examples above. There have been no so many more instances of vote-suppression than that of the ACORN scandal. The ACORN scandal was based on false accusations and is not true.

Here is a video revealing the truth about ACORN. In this video, ACORN fights back against vote-suppression.

Blog #16

ACORN vs. Vote-Suppression

The ACORN scandal is about a group called ACORN ( Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now). The group according to The Washington Post was "accused of submitting phony or duplicate registrations."After review some articles I have come to realize the difference between ACORN and vote-suppression. In most of the articles that I have read they state that ACORN they state that this causation that ACORN has committed voting fraud is not true. In an article called I read called Commentary: ACORN issue not vote fraud, but vote suppression by Donna Brazile she discussed how ACORN wasn't vote fraud at all, but in fact, vote suppression. In her article she basically states that "The so-called ACORN scandal is no more than a few canvassers trying to meet their quota and make easy money by cheating the system".
The real issue that people seem to be discussing is vote-suppression. Vote-suppression can widely effect the outcome of the election. In a news article i was reading called Stealing the Vote: GOP Voter Suppression is McCain's Last Chance to Win the author ( Marc C. Eades) was discussing how the republican party has been using vote-suppression to sway the votes so that that McCain can win the election. The republicans were even caught committing these acts. In that same article it has proof of vote suppression. The article states "he Brennan Center also documents widespread cases of voter deception and intimidation by GOP operatives and even election officials. Election officials in Virginia and Colorado have provided incorrect and misleading voter information to students, and deceptive fliers have been distributed by GOP operatives to students and African Americans in Pennsylvania. In Bakersfield, California, conservative radio host Jaz McKay of station KNZR told listeners that Democrats should vote Nov. 5 instead of Nov. 4 because of expected heavy turnout - a favorite trick among Republicans trying to stop Democrats from voting."
So the main difference that I have caught here is that vote-suppression is the real scandal going on right now where as the ACORN scandal was based on false acussations and actually is not true.

Blog #15

The Presidential and Vice- Presidential Debates In their Historical Context

If we place the debates in their historical context, we can see a progression and change of ideas over the years. In this case I am putting them in comparison with the Lincoln Douglas debates as we all know took place in 1858.

With that note, placing either of these debates in their historical context wouldn't be aloud, it would be unheard of. Having a black man run for president, wouldn't even be taken seriously because blacks weren't even considered citizens back then. With the vice presidential debate as well, Sarah Palin is a women, back then she would have been in the house taking care of the children, not in front of a podium telling America what their future plans are.

Now putting these debates in their historical context with the structure of the debates, that is a whole other ball park. These debates are set up in a way the presidential candidates can have a more open discussion with the American people and the last 2 debates have been unscripted, unlike say the Lincoln-Douglas debates. They were 1 and a half hour scripted speeches. So in a way, present time debates are harder then prehistorical debates.

Blog#14

Is the Presidential election run buy You tube?

Click here for link

The YouTube election

by Ivor Tossell

I think that the internet definitely has affected the way people approach democracy. One site in particular is you tube where views have access to thousands of videos dealing with the presidential election. In my opinion, i think you tube is the decider. It can sway your opinion either which way. I really think the internet is responsible for how people approach democracy. I was reading an article where this man named Ivor Tossell was discussing how you tube has become an outlet for democrats and republicans to have a voice about this election.


I think putting the internet in its historical context is completely agreeable. The internet is a place that can be accessed by anyone who wants to use it. Democracy is a form of government where the power is held by the people. The internet does just that. The internet is for the people, by the people.

News Paper Reflection

In our news paper (The Daily Fabulous) I pretty much contributed everything to our final product. I was the one who got everyone’s articles and put them on the article. I got everyone’s pictures as well and put them in there. You could say I was the group’s head honcho. Anything that needed to be done, I made sure I was done. There are some things that I really like about our news paper. One of those aspects is our pictures that we used. I think that we were able to find pictures that no one else really had. When I looked at other people’s news papers, I didn’t see anyone with some of the same pictures as us. Of course with the Dred Scott situation there is only one picture that anyone could get of him. So I think everyone ended up using that same picture. But besides Dred Scott, our pictures were different which I thought was a nice change. Another thing I like about our article is our random picture with a jump line. On the bottom of our article there is a picture of Indians and White men in a room together. Our caption says something like this: A peace treaty is signed between whites and Indians, for more information, turn to page F7. I really like that as well.

There were quite a few thing I would want to change.The main thing though would definitely change in our news paper is spacing, and the use of space. Under the stories on the sides of the newspaper there are just blank spaces. We could have filled up those spaces with extra news paper elements like crossword puzzles or a color in section instead of leaving it blank. Adding on to the blank spaces note, I also feel that are article is a little bland. Maybe some colors would have made the news paper stand out more. Another thing is the use of fonts and font sizes. I think throughout our entire news paper we just used Times New Romans. We could have changed it up a little, giving different stories different fonts and things like that. A part in the paper where we should of have made something stand out more was the pull quote. I mean you can tell it is a pull quote because it was inside the lines, but it didn’t stand out as much as I had hoped. One more thing I would do is change the name. My partner just said that name and I said ok to it without even thinking. I just never got around to changing the name.

I would say for the most party I used my time wisely. I think that if our group had stayed after school some days we would have turned out with a better final product. I feel as if our final product wasn’t our best that we could offer. I don’t know why, I mean I worked on it every chance we got. Another thing that our group could have and should have done was make a time line/task list saying who did what and when. That way we would be on schedule and actually have good work to turn in. The sad thing is, I had tried to download Indesign on my computer so I could work on it over the weekend, but the download took all weekend and it finally finished in the middle of the night the day before the article was due, which wasn’t any help. So over all, more time would have made our article a lot better.

Blog #13

Pictures Pictures Pictures!

When I saw this picture, imediatley recgnized two aspects of photography that we had covered in class. Those two aspects are depth of field and eye level. Depth of field is sort of like the focus of the picture, it is looking at the picture as if you were actually there. That means that some parts of the photo will be in focus while others aren't. I feel this image is a great example of that because when you look at the picture, the first thing you notice are the seal and the penguin. Now eye level is pretty self explanatory. This simply means that this picture was taken from eye level and not birds eye view or something like that. I think this picture was taken at eye level because when i look straight at the picture I'm looking into the seals eyes. All credit for this photograph goes to Planet Earth.

I chose this picture for what i thought was an interesting use of light. I thought this use of light was out of the ordinary. Somehow, the photographer was able to show only the persons face and none of the background. I can't even explain but this picture really stood out to me in terms of interesting use of light.




My final picture is of a rare monkey in Asia. I chose this picture to exemplify rule of thirds. In most rule of thirds pictures, the third section of the picture just so happens to align with the eye level of whatever you’re looking at. In this picture (just by estimation) it looks as if the monkey's eyes lie on the third line. Another aspect that many RT (Rule of thirds) pictures share is that the object is usually offset, meaning that the object in the picture is off to the side. In this particular picture the monkey is not. I think that is fine because you still get a clear view (well not so clear because it is blurry) of the background in this image. Now I am just guessing here, but maybe there is something about pictures being lined up with the rule of thirds that makes it more interesting to look at, just a thought. Again like I stated earlier all credit for this photograph goes to Planet Earth.



I JUST PUT A PICTURE OF THIS UP BECAUSE I WANTED TOO!

Blog #12

Lincoln Douglas debates and the 2008 Presidential election.
Click here for link



In my news article I am writing about debate six that happened in Quincy Illinois. In my article I cover the topic of equality among men. The view that I am writing in my article is more of pro Douglas. In the article i give two quotes. One of the quotes talks about how Lincoln is against racism and just wants all men to be equal. Here is that quote:

"My friends, I have detained you about as long as I desire to do, and I have only to say let us discard all this quibbling about this man and the other man-this race and that race, and the other race being inferior, and therefore they must be placed in an inferior position, discarding our standard that we have left us. Let us discard all these things, and unite as one people throughout this land until we shall once more stand up declaring that all men are created equal."

In another quote (when he is speaking to a more southern audience) he talks about how he never thought that whites and blacks should be equal. He also discusses that the superioty roll should go to the white man. Here is that quote:

"I will say then, that I am not nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way, the social and political equality of the white and black races; that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters of the free negroes, or jurors, or qualifying them to hold office, or having them to marry with white people. I will say in addition, that there is a physical difference between the white and black races, which, I suppose, will forever forbid the two races living together upon terms of social and political equality, and inasmuch as they cannot so live, that while they do remain together, there must be the position of superior and inferior, that I as much as any other man am in favor of the superior position being assigned to the white man."

I try to make Lincoln seem like an inadaquate candidate in this article. That is my main goal.


Over the past 2 weeks i have been watching the presidential debates between Obama and McCain. To put this debate in its historical context, i think the debates back then, even though they were much longer, were easier to address then the one today. i say this because after reviewing the setup of both debates, i noticed a few differences.

In The debates back then, there was no moderator and the topics were pre assessed. There for, both Lincoln and Douglas had time to read over their topics and form their debate. In Today's debates we do have a moderator. Not only that, but the response to the questions can only be answered so well in that short amount of time. Another thing as well is that in this last debate, both presidential candidates had an open question and answer which I am pretty sure both were not scripted. Obama and McCain had to think on their feet in this last debate.

One huge similarity that i want to mention is both back then and now Lincoln and Douglas and Obama and McCain face a giant issue. Lincoln and Douglas with slavery, Obama and McCain with our current economic issue. So to answer the question as to who had a larger issue to face, I can't answer that.

Blog #11

How will America be impacted by the Presidential Election?

Click here for link to American Fact Finder

After reviewing race demographics by state on American Fact Finder I came up with a few possiblities on how race will effect this upcoming presidential election.

While looking through fact finder I found a page that displayed demographics in different states. First I looked up just population in general. The results i found shocked me even more then what i had expected. I found out that the White race out populated the Blacks in America with a 6:1 ratio. That means for every black person there is about 6 white people. While conducting my research, I'm not basing my evidence off of who is voting for whom. I am making a basic generality that the white people will vote for McCain, and the black people for Obama. After finding that out I looked up the demographics of white and black people in different states.

The results i found were not as suprising as i had expected. With my previous findings knowing that white people out populated blacks, it came to me no surprise that there would be a higher percentage of whites in the states. The number one ranked state for white people was Vermont with 96% white people. The Highest percentage of black people wasn't even in a state, but in Washington DC with 55%. Knowing these results and just just basing the presidential election on race, it is inevitable that John McCain would win (again assuming all white people will vote for McCain). Obama wouldn't stand a chance winning at all, lets just put it at that.

We will just have to wait until election day to see the final results

Blog #10

The Civil War, then end of slavery, but not of Racism

Are you aware that racism against black people still goes on today? Racism against black people has been an ongoing problem in America for the past 300 years. An area that is partially open to racism is in the court room. For years racist juries have held unfair trials to blacks. There are many instances of this racism issue especially in court rooms. The first Supreme Court case dealing with a slave was unfair. This case happened before the end of the civil war, but in a free state. That was the case known as the Dred Scott case which I will discuss about that later. Even though the civil war was the end of slavery, it was not the end of racial injustice of black people that still persists in today’s society.

The Dred Scott Case was a very unfair trial. As I stated earlier this case was fought between Dred Scott and his deceased owner’s sister. Dred Scott tried to sue for his freedom but in attempt failed because of multiple issues. The court's holding was that property cannot sue. The holding also stated that being a slave, free or not, they were not considered citizens of the United States and there for could not file a lawsuit of any kind. In this trial the judges saw Dred Scott as property, not a person at all. This is a classic example of racism within the court room.

In today’s society we still see instances of racial injustice in the court room. A more recent unfair trial was of the Jenna Six. The Jenna Six were a group of boys who were charged with attempted murder for beating up a white student who they discovered had hung three nooses from the school tree. The big trial though was of Mychal Bell, one of the Jenna Six. He was charged with aggravated second-degree battery. The word aggravated battery refers to the use of a dangerous weapon. District attorney Walters argued that a shoe was a dangerous weapon. Mychal’s trial went before an all white jury. It was no surprise the jury found him guilty and sentenced him to up to 20 years in prison.Many people feel that this case was an instance of racial injustice. A woman name Silvia Newby, from Dumfries Virginia states “Why are people so surprised? They were black boys right? Black men are railroaded and unjustly prosecuted every day. Racism is very much alive and being the mother of two young black men I make damn sure they know it.” It is more than 100 years since legal segregation and blacks still face racism. With racism there will always be an unfair situation; in this case that happened to six boys in Louisiana.

Blog #9

Scott vs. Sanford Supreme Court Case

The Dred Scott Case was a famous case known mainly because it was one of the first case dealing with a slave suing their owner.

Dred Scott was born a slave to slave owner Dr. John Emerson. Since Dred Scott's owner was in the military they were always moving. Scott's owner died unexpectedly died and Dred and his family were sent to work as hired slaves for their deceased masters sister whos name was Irene Marie Sanford.

In 1846 Dred Scott sued for his freedom claiming that since he had been both in a free state and on free territory that he had become legally, free. Irene turned the responsibility of the case over to her her brother John Sanford. Although Dred Scott had claimed he was a free man, the court declared that since he was not a citizen of Missouri, he could not be considered a free man.

The impact that this trial had on the community was immense. Many anti-slavery journalist called this decision an offense to the freedoms that this country was based on. The main impact was on the government who went through a rough patch after Dred Scott's decision was over turned.

This case is still relevant today because it brings u the topic of unfair trials. All though blacks are free of slavery, the decisions in the courts have not changed. In many cases today blacks are unfairly tried most the time in southern states in front of all white juries. The Dred Scott case was just a classic example of what goes on today and what will most likely persist in the future

Blog#8 Revised Blog

Flooding, Flooding and more Flooding!

Click here for the link

Flooding in India: Why wasn't the government ready?

by Mark Sappenfield

09/25/08

This article discusses how the government took no steps to help India after a flood. I picked this article as a perfect example of what Thomas Hobbes believed. Thomas Hobbes was a man who believed that a person should use their personal powers to protect their natural rights, this is exactly what Indian civilians did when the government did not intervene. This couldn't have been a better example of Thomas Hobbes beliefs. There was a flood, and the Indians protected their lives using their own person power to evacuate the town and set up refugee camps. I guess the Indian government wasn't prepared people may say, well after reading this tell me what your opinion is.

I think all of this could have been avoided, i mean not the flood part, but in terms of evacuating and situations like that. The thing is, this flood happened in India's monsoon season so this is regular, and yet the government still did nothing. The author even states "Monsoon floods are a yearly occurrence for India." Shouldn't this tell you that the government should be prepared for theses things? It was only until after the flood that the government started responding, and what they offered wasn't of much help at all. "The task of rescuing and then organizing food and shelter for 3 million displaced people "is such that only the Army can handle it,"" but where is this army, they certainly aren't in India helping food victims that is for sure. The situation got so extreme that people had to take the role of the government in this case. They were the ones who organized and set up refugee camps, they were the ones who evacuated them selves, not the unprepared government. The two options in this situation were either to die, or protect their own, most people took the Thomas Hobbes resort. That was the right choice

Blog #7

Blog Reflections

What are you most proud of on your blog?
I think the thing that i am most proud of about my blog is how well I am able to connect my opinion to what I'm writing, and what I'm writing is what i truly feel about the situation, and im not just writing it just tot write it. I think with my blogs I've also been able to really connect the article and what we have learned in class. I think I am good at finding blogs that exactly connect with what we are learning in class.

What would you improve on your blog?Why?How?
The one thing that i would definitely most improve on in my blog is the aesthetics. Right now my blog is just a blog. There is nothing on it, no little gadgets, not even pictures or videos. Plus the fact that I have a black background doesn't make my blog anymore pleasing to anyone. So that is definitely the one thing i would want to improve on my blog. The reason i want to make my blog look good is because the blog isn't just viewed by me, but the whole world. I don't want someone in Bulgaria looking at my blog page and thinking its ugly. So overall my blog being aesthetically pleasing will not only make it look better, but be a better representation of what blog is supposed to look like.

How can we better connect our class' blog?
I think something we can do to better connect class blogs is for students to incorporate other students in their blogs. For example, when writing i blog i could say, "and so and so made a very good point about the constitution in their blog about the rights of the legislative branch", things like that. Or if a blog your writing is very similiar to someone else's and you both seem to be on the same subject, you can take direct quotes from them. These are just ideads.

Blog #6

The Government, not so Constitutional?

Click Here for link to article
U.S. Faces "Most Serious" Constitutional Crisis Ever
By Sherwood Ross

This article was about how George Bush has been unconstitutional and has been torturing POW's. The article even states that Bush made a policy dealing with this subject. The authour says “the torture, kidnapping, and degradation of suspected terrorists was part of a deliberate policy, hatched and concealed at the highest levels of the Bush administration.”. I am pretty sure this is not what the fore fathers of the constitution would consider constitutional.

I am no expert on the constitution, but i am pretty sure that policies dealing with the torturing of suspected terrorists is something that originally wasnt in the constitution. I think that since the constitution has been written, the government has become less distant from it. I mean they still have the basics of the the constitution such as the different branches, but in terms of policies and regulations, things have changed. Things went from, we have the right to make laws too, we have the right to torture suspected terrorist. Sometime in between then and now, our government has changed the way it looks at thing, and like i said before has become more distant from the constitution. At this rate, the only thing we will follow from the constitution in the future are the separations of powers.

Blog #5

The Great Crash of 1929, and lessons taming the crisis of 2008

By: IST, AGENCIES?
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/International_Business/The_Great_Crash_of_1929_and_lessons_taming_the_crisis_of_2008/articleshow/3490888.cms

What this article basically states is that this wasn't the worst stock market crash. The crash was of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 1929. With that being said the article also says that America should be able to recover in time. If need be, then get government assistance.

My advice to the Federal government is to just lay back and let the situation resolve its self, but only to a certain extent. After all is is that companies faults that they went bankrupt in the first place. My advice is to simply ( well not simply) change the law about loans to what is was decades back which was in order to get a loan approved you had to have a percentage of that loan up front in cash. If that was the rule when these companies were giving out loans we would be dealing with another stock market crash. I don't want the government involved in this situation, but if this gets to a certain extent where thousands of banks go bankrupt and American gos into debt, then i will allow for the government to intervene. But if not, like i said before, let the companies work it out, let them learn from their own lessons not to give money to people who cant pay it back. My overall advice, don't give what you can't get back.

Blog #4

Welcome to the Gayborhood
Click here for link to article

By Sue-Ann Levey

I chose this article because it relates to the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness of gay people in Philadelphia. This article was about how gays in living in Philadelphia have transformed the a red light district neighborhood filled with sex and prostitution to a gay neighborhood, all in search of the pursuit of happiness. The gay community is not shy to show who they are, in fact, they invite more gays to the community where they are free of all the accusations that world may have of them.

I just find that very cool how the gay community came together and created a separate community where they can feel comfortable with them selves and not have to worry about what other people think. Also to invite more gays to the so called "Gayborhood" is just increasing this community is very generous of them. There is nothing wrong with being gay and i think this community shows it. To me this is one of the true examples of the pursuit of happiness.

Blog #3

Federalist vs. Anti-Federalist
http://www.nysun.com/opinion/they-learned-it-from-callender/85440/

They Learned It From Callender

By Ryan Cole

9/9/08

I chose this article because while i was reading, it seemed like a perfect example for federalist vs. Anti-Federalist. This article discusses how anti-federalist journalist write and bash about Sarah Palin's recent situation with her family. They say that she lied about her 5 month old song Trip actually being her son and so on and so forth. One journalist from the daily Kos even says this in one of their blogs "If health insurance for all, an end to the Iraq War, an end to torture and illegal wiretapping, and a sane energy policy can be obtained at the price of destroying one teenage girl, her family, and the surrendering our self-respect I see that as a cheap trade." The federalist( the republican party) merely don't respond to all the nonsense that they think people ( anti-federalist think if them. The article then goes on to discuss the root of federalist vs. anti-federalist. I will not go into that for it is way to long.

Blog #2

Flooding, Flooding and more Flooding!

Click here for the link

Flooding in India: Why wasn't the government ready?

by Mark Sappenfield

09/04/08

This article discusses how the government took no steps to help India after a flood. I picked this article is a perfect example of what Thomas Hobbes believed. Thomas Hobbes was a man who believed that a person should protect their natural rights, this is exactly what Indian civilians did when the government did not intervene. This couldn't have been a better example of Thomas Hobbes beliefs. There was a flood, and the Indians protected their lives using their own person power to evacuate the town and set up refugee camps.

I think all of this could have been avoided, i mean not the flood part, but in terms of evacuating and situations like that. The thing is, this flood happened in India's monsoon season so this is regular, and yet the government still did nothing. It was only until after the flood that the government started responding, and what they offered wasn't of much help at all. It got so extreme that people had to take the role of the government in this situation. Their two options in this situation was either die, or protect their own, most people took the Thomas Hobbes resort. That was the right choice

Blog #1

More storms and more evacuations

Click here for the original link
Evacuations Are Advised as Storm Nears the Southeast
by Robbie Brown
09/04/08

This article discusses how the government advises residence in south eastern states to evacuate because of the oncoming storms. I chose this article because i connects very well with what we were discussing in class. In class we discussed about a man named John Locke who was a philosopher from the enlightenment period. Locke beilieved that it was the role of the government to protect the peoples natural rights ( Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness). I believe that in this case, the government is protecting peoples lives by having mass evacuations of the city.

I think these Hurricanes are horrible, but i am glad the government is there to help people. In this case, John Locke was right, the government have protected the people and that is what he would want. I feel really bad that these hurricanes are coming back again because New Orleans was just hit about two years ago and they are still recovering. I just hope all those southeaster states will be alright.