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.
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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.