beginning my reflection

This semester i was extremely proud of my editorial and some of my older blogs.

The editorial i wrote had a very rough start, especially the thesis i wrote to go along with it. I worked very hard doing draft after draft focusing on the thesis because i realized it would be the backbone of my whole paper. I never had over 10 drafts of anything and that really made this project process unique. It doesn't bore me to re-read my paper and thats how i know its good.

I researched many websites and emailed people from the APL and Seaworld to try to get information however that failed. But i never stopped looking for sources to get my information from. However i only have website resources. But they are all credible.


With my blogs i realized that in order to have an opinion you need to have all of the background information and a structured outline of your views on the subject. It is often hard for me to express my emotions in such a way that makes sense to other people but thats what my challenge was this semester. I think i have slowly but surely progressed. I know that i have a lot of practicing to do for this but I'm willing to keep working at it. Throughout the blogging exercises i always put in where i got the information from and gave evidence for every statement i made. Towards the end of the semester all of the blogs lost my interest so i could no longer see my growth as i did before. Hopefully next semester i can work at it just as well as i began.

Blog #24: Sea Shepherd

Throughout this whole H2O project people in the class have struggled with structure, thesis, and organization. Many have realized they all tie together because the thesis helps structure an organized piece of writing. This article does a great job at showing how a series of events plays out smoothly in a report.

The first thing you notice is the compassion in the writers tone of the article. The first paragraph really draws in the reader by providing an abundance of quick facts about his organization and he mixes in words so tastefully descriptive. This one sentence has so much energy and power it is the perfect example of something you should have in your introduction, "They belonged to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a vigilante organization founded by Paul Watson, thirty years ago, to protect the world’s marine life from the destructive habits and the voracious appetites of humankind" this style of writing is perfect for anybody writing a thesis for an editorial.

Some writers have trouble connecting the past to the future in a relevant way, this article doesn't fail not once to make every sentence count. Giving background information on Watson and answered "SO WHAT" to the story that was being unfolded. "By his account, he was an eco-warrior before puberty. " The writer used a great layout for his information to be read. starting with giving the outside view of Watson in the intro and continuing to get a deeper story. He also mentioned "Watson was also doing, not thinking." which was an honest opinion without being against the organization. Because they are very dangerous about how they go about their process in saving whales. Its actually not a very organized navy. Sometimes they arent sure where they are going or where they are. Also having to go in broken down ships without knowing. This was a great wat to close his article it brought everything back in to summerize Watson. This structure was thoughtfully organized, and will definitly be used for the H2O project as a refrence to structured work.

obama is black. no if ands or buts

Aranas opinion is valid and she has a right to it. And she could be right and/or wrong. Nobody knows what its like to be a mixed black and white kid unless you are mixed. Many articles, editorials, and organizations have been devoted to the "mixed race." Qualifying somebody as Black or White is a very deep opinionated topic which one can only have an opinion on if they have experienced struggles first hand. yes there are civilised people in America however in the end Obama is seen as Black, when he walks into an interview they see the color of his skin without thinking twice he may be mixed, is the Neo Nazi next door going to pass up a hanging just because hes half white?
no. They see him as just another nigger.

"I self-identify as African American - that's how I'm treated and that's how I'm viewed. I'm proud of it."Obama has stated.

And on the topic of "how he is treated" yes Obama is BLACK he deals with being called colored and nigger too.

"I don't want to sound prejudiced or anything, but for one, I am not going to vote for a colored man to be our president,"

If he identifies himself with being black then why must America try to correct him as if they have lived his life. Why is it so important that we discuss this when Obama isn't arguing about it he knows who he is, he knows the struggles hes been through and he can be who he wants. If black America looks up to him as being black and he is OK with that why is the media so bothered? Language can move on but some things will always be the same as long as people are still looked down on by even there own race sometimes.

Racial identity will always be important because although it doesn't define who a person is, it is a part of who they are. Your history is tied back to your race and some people cant let go which causes a domino effect.


for "the black side" of this issue these are pretty good source to look through:
AOL Black Voices
BET

and for the white side. well turn on the TV its everywhere as usual.

Extra Extra (credit) READ ALL ABOUT IT!

Clean Up San Diego!
Some of your very own class mates got involved! You can too!

On November the 22nd local San Diegans joined together at Ocean Dog Beach to clean up the beach! This is an event held twice a month by the non profit organization Coast Keeper. The beach clean up changes in location all the way from Imperial Beach to La Jolla every time, and is held on the 2nd Saturday and 4th Saturday. The group also tests water sheds once a month with trained volunteers. Like our own High Tech High internship program Monica of coast keeper got involved with the program by doing an internship with them because it grasped her interest after college. Brian, a local surfer decided he wanted to be “pro active” in helping keep his hang out spots clean so he started volunteering twice a month. Two women from PETCO volunteer once a month because raises awareness and even if they only volunteer one time a year somebody else will see that and keep the cycle of volunteering going on.

Coast keeper also works with organizations such as Surf rider, and the I love a clean San Diego non profit Adopt a Beach Program and more. Some of our very own high tech high students have joined the crew for their internships! And you can too. If you want to get involved with Coast keeper or want to look at it for an internship next semester you can contact them at: 619-758-7743 or info@sdcoastkeeper.org or you can even check out their website ate www.sdcoastkeeper.org.

TG

What are you thankful for this year?
Im thankful to not have given up when it gets hard, even if i just half way do something now adays its always better than giving up completly. taking things one step at a time. I really feel like i have grown as a learner and a person this year.

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 have my editorial written. I will have it critiqued by a few of my family members and probably middleton. and i will contact other seal groups for pictures.

H20 project check in

What are you discovering so far?

So far i have discovered that i need to have 3 plans just in case one does work. I am having a hard time changing everything last minute and it has been a real challenge fixing every problem i run into with having to think on the spot. I believe i can do this though, with my group doing interviews i really dont have to do that so im going to try to get as much as i can from them because we dont really need 2 people to do similar interviews. Im also discovering how important it is to do the research for a project because each step i make i need to know the history and it is fun getting to know the history as i go on with this project.

What surprises you about this project?

What surprises me the most is how you can give a class one project and they can take it different ways. Its very interesting to see everybody come up with all of there creative ideas and it really challenges me to do my best because everybody is outshining me. So if i want my hard work recognized i have to make it have a WOW factor. which has been my challenge. But the most surprising thing is amount of work it takes to get to one product that sounds easy. Its not..


What are your next steps to have a cool product and a great piece of writing?

My next steps are to interview people on my own time about the la jolla controversy with seals. Not to get it on camera just to get quotes so that im not using all of my classmates hard work for my final product. Setting up an interview failed because the businesses didn't want to put out there opinions but if i asked the everyday people that go all the time or live around the area it would be a lot better and i could have really nice quotes for my article that way its not "ME ME ME" and my opinion. I need to get as much critiqued as possible and make sure i make the changes and not just get critiqued to make it look like i had a lot of drafts. One thing that sets my work different than other articles is that i am going to get CHILDREN'S opinions about the beaches because it is a location made for them so its important to see what they want. im sure they enjoy the seals there so lets all work on keeping it that way!

ARTICLE NOTES

Who has priority over La Jolla Childrens Pool, Seals or People? -local hthma student researches with group to get the facts on la jolla childrens pool.

by ashley matthews

NOTES PAGES

STUFF

http://www.lajollaseals.com/controversy.html

The breakwater wall was built upon a large rock shelf known since 1887 as Seal Rock and Seal Rock Point. First hand accounts by native La Jollan's indicate the presence of harbor seals in the area before and after construction of the wall.

The first is that the City of San Diego has failed, and even actually refused, to enforce Municipal Code Section 63.0102. (b) (10), which makes it “unlawful” for anyone “within any public . . . beach areas within the City of San Diego” to “disturb, or maltreat any bird or animal, either wild or domesticated . . . . “ It is a violation of the City’s own ordinance to harm the seals at Casa Beach.

The second claim is that the dredging of Casa Beach will violate California Code of Civil Procedure Section 526(a), which provides that a judgment may be sought “restraining and preventing any illegal expenditure of, waste of, or injury to, the estate, funds, or other property of a . . . city . . . .”

More stuff

http://www.aprl.org/seals.php

In May 2007, APRL sponsored a Zogby opinion poll to see where San Diegans stand on protecting the seals at Children's Pool Beach. The results: over 80% of San Diegans and 91% of La Jollans want increased protection for the seals

BLECH

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20070516-0806-1mu16seals.html

The survey also shows that 80 percent of respondents want to have a year-round rope barrier to separate the seals from humans. Currently, the rope is up from Dec. 15 to May 15 – during the marine mammals' birthing and pupping season.

LAW

http://sealwatch.org/law.html

The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) was enacted in 1972, and has been amended and updated since. The last comprehensive reauthorization of the law occurred in 1994 and expired in 1999. Since then, reauthorization efforts have stalled as some members of Congress have attempted to weaken these important federal protections. The law remains in effect.

honors

The Revolutionary war was fought for the revolution of the new American people who once belonged to Brittan. The civil war was between the people who once fought for the same revolution but now wanted different resolutions to how America was ran The connection between the two is actually easy to uncover each war wanted a revolution of some kind, one side with an advantage and another destined to lose.
England had the advantage of being an established country and military. America defeated them in the name of freedom, even though they would no longer be the "United States" When America began the civil war the north had the upper hand when it came to every resource except for the number of cotton produced and this was because of slavery. The unions population was 2.5 larger, they had railroads, and 10 times the industrial Capacity.
The south feared that the "Black Republicans" would rise and "undermine" the souths leaders and political powers over their superiors. While the North worried that slavery would be spread to the free states mostly in the North. Because of Industrialization the south started to fall apart because bringing the industrial world to the south wasn't successful. Neither was agriculture. The souths economy depended on slaves. The south needed its own revolution so that they could live like wanted to and be independent from the north. Just as America did from the British.
This war only not only had things in common but it almost was a part 2 of the revolutionary war because the people still weren't happy.

____________________________________________________________________

dear randy, i know i have not met your requirements and for that i take full responsibility i didn't work on this as much as i could have and for that i apologize. But don't give up on me sir, i will make you proud with my editorial...or at least i will try. -Ashley

p.s. this wasn't really late but my computer was freezing so then i finally got it to work and my mom didn't pay our cable bill so our internet got cut off uuuugh the economy sucks when your a poverty stricken black girl. ugh i hope you don't mark me down for this last paragraph being unprofessional. Please don't i just wanted to let you know, that i disappointed myself and i said i would try harder and i did but not my best.

"the black vote"

I personally believe the author of this article only commented on Blacks, women, and young people rather than other races is because he is black. Everyday he is black every day he is black so of course he will speak on what he believes. Orlando Patterson has written other articles about blacks in america and reading the other articles you can get an idea of who he is. Also only speaking of women and young people because Hilary Clinton and Sarah Palin really got women involved and women have struggled in America so if Hilary would have won she would have made history for the women who fought for her to run just as well as obama had black people die for his right too. And Young people because Obama is rather young and his ethnicity draws the young people and the hip hop leaders to get involved in the election. So these were the focus of the campaigns so apparently this is the ending focus of the article.

Blacks in America had technically had the rights to vote but they were very much suppressed and given unrealistic challenges in order to vote. However when the civil rights movement happened people had had enough. The voting rights act was passed. This was to prevent suppression from happening, for many years people died in order for blacks to have the right to vote.

Up until now a lot of black people didnt use their rights to vote and from personal accounts it mostly has been because the lack of faith in the candidates. Not all of the black people voted for OBAMA there were many non-obama believers. But With every election there isnt an obvious guy to win it was always choosing better of two evils. Even though not everybody was for obama he wasnt perfect but he was something new to america as a leader. The black community had a POSTIVE black person to look up to. So it is a really good feeling knowing your vote is going towards somebody that gives you hope to make a positive change. it even was taken so far to have BET (black entertainment) network promote "OBAMA AND THE BLACK VOTE"

top secret plan #20

Well i am going to have one final product to model and that will be an article written about my research and interviews. Basically a quick analysis and conclusion about who has priority over the la jolla children's pool according to the locals. My interview will be a part of Diana's final product and her product will be a video. If we have extra time or work that needs to be done we will make bumper stickers. So i have a pretty clear idea of where this product is going. Along with my article i will have a picture of what i feels captures the essence of my message.

the most important aspect of my article will provide San Diego natives with a pool of information and not only give enlighten them but let them know how they can get there voices heard and involved in the seal dilemma. Giving them information without letting them know how to take action is useless. Another aspect would be the my picture the purpose of my picture would draw the readers in to read the article. and my final aspect is the interviews. will they will provide opinions and information useful for my article, the interest of the reader, and Diana's video.

My plans are pretty realistic the only thing i will probably get a set back on is the transportation with interviews and testing La Jolla Waters. I made my due dates extra early that way i can give my self time to edit and revise my work . It is in a really good order and it is a reachable goal. It will help guide my work because each step leads to a really good ending product. I have planned it so that I'm making little projects for myself and making it into one.
I'm really confident i can do this.

La Jolla Childrens Pool

Well my general question for the final product is going to be "who has priority to the beach? people or seals?" from there i will expand on the background information and the questions that come up along the way. I'm going to work in a group with Diana and Yoselin who will have there own research questions about the seals. This week i did networking research, looking into spots around the location so that i can interview local people. I will work on the video with Diana for my section but i will have most control over a writing piece under dianas video. so we will definatly need a camera and a microphone. We only need 2 or 3 people in our group which we already have. Diana has her resources for who she is networking with and i have contacted these people for a start for information:

Caitlin Denham
Communications Assistant
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
University of California, San Diego
Phone: (858) 534-3624
Email: cdenham@ucsd.edu
caitlin didnt have as much information as i had hoped for but i will still keep in contact with her to find out about any upcoming projects i need to know about she also led me to the next contact

Loran Wlodarski from Sea World Orlando's Education Department.
but i will most likely find somebody from sea world san diego.

Loran.Wlodarski@seaworld.com

I made a call to the zoo but they didnt respond.

In the area of childrens pool i really would like to talk to the people from moondoggies because
they have been there since 1990 and have seen changes and they havnt been there for generations though so they may have a fresher way of looking at things. but you will never know until you talk to them.

The workers at La Jolla Cove Suits may also have a grasp on their views on seals because they are located right on the coast of childrens pool and they probably have a lot of knowledge based on observations and probably petetioners near by.
Also i want to interview random people in the area to get a feel for whos against the seals being there and whoe against the humans trying to get back the beach.


My plan for the next 2 weeks is this:

nov. 7: write all of my interview questions & get more background information on what has been done in the past

wed-fri
nov 12: call places for phone interviews or schedule live interview for the 13th or 14th
nov 13: beach interviews to people in the area
nov 14: edit the video i have of the area while diana does her interviews with her organization

mon-fri
nov 17: Video edit my interviews once more
nov 18: have rough draft of my analysis of my information so far about who has the rights to the beach and why
nov 19: make revisions on my paper and get critiqued by other class mates
nov 20: get critiqued one more time and type up the final product
nov 21: help diana with the video editing or yoselin with her project

Change!

I feel great about the election. On election Night Ralph Nader questioned if OBAMA would be an "uncle tom." This angered me and i took it personally because of personal accounts of people accusing me of being "white washed" or trying to be white. I feel pride that somebody of my color can make it this far. I feel anger at the simple minded people of today and how many people i encountered that day treated me as a black Obama supporter.

My hopes for America are that Obama really proves that he can really make change, and proves Ralph wrong of even asking himself if Obama would basically be a sell out. I hope that this encourages young people to vote in the future. Also when Obama term(s) is(are) over we can know how to research on candidates and choose somebody who will not destroy his hard work. I hope Obama can change the school systems in America i think those need the most help because yes home is where you first learn everything but some homes are broken and we all need to have a good chance at education. I hope he can make living green more affordable because it will help our environment and fix the broken communities of America.

I am worried that change wont come as fast as people expect it and will get impatient and down Obama. I am not concerned about too much though I'm pretty happy Obama won.

I feel like being in this class i have gained a new hunger for knowledge about my current events. I am really excited that i can easily identify connections between history in America and the current situations we are put in. And i am happy i have a plethora of information in my brain about things so if i make a statement it is backed up by facts, even if other facts can contradict what i say at least its not just facts coming out of my behind...

As far as conversations outside of school about the economy and different current events i feel confident. I feel like there is a really good balance between teaching history and current events in this class. i wouldn't really change anything. I have noticed that even my manager at my job didn't even know any other candidates where running for presidents besides McCain and Obama. I feel like i talk a lot with people in the high tech village about politics and it enhances my learning and inspires me to challenge myself and find more.

Beach Q's

I was searching and searching for something interesting and controversial for a topic question for our new beach project. And i stumbled upon an article on Sign On San Diego I felt like this article stuck out to me because it had one question that can always be debated one way or the other. "who has priority at this beach: people or seals?" this seems like a really well directed question and animal life on the beaches of san diego. What first got me looking into the La Jolla beaches was looking at this website because it made it seem like these sites where the best in all of san diego and i hadnt even known you could go snorkeling in san diego. Where were these beautiful beaches in san diego i see on pictures?
The idea of the seals came to mind when the article had mentioned how people scare away the seals and annoy the seals but we share the same living space. So do we have just as much right to it? Also the bacteria at childrens pool is indescribable it was closed for over a year because of the seal ..."waste" its only natural but it is horrible for the health of us humans. but should we just leave the site to seals or should we try to clean it up of mother nature? I havnt done further research just because im not sure if this is my final question but it is definatly interesting.

My second question is where is san diegos tax money going? reading this article just made me think why are we "tapped out" why do we pay taxes and i really wanted to look into it but im not sure if its to broad or not.

Jacksonian Democracy

The democrats mostly saw society as continuing quarrel between "The People" which included farmers, workers, and planters and "The Paper Money Aristocrats" which included people like bankers, and investors. Jackson's Democracy believed in a limited government kind of like the federalist papers the idea of limiting the government was to abolish monopolies and special privileges of the government. So in early America they knew the government couldn't have too much power. They also believed politics and religion should be kept separate. Democrats had most of the everyday common people on their side, not the money hungry bankers, investors, and stock jobbers. However when the democrats decided to do away with all banks and it turned out so much was going on with finances that they had to start banking up again.
A little later on they added the thoughts of equality and opportunity for the white men in the nation. Native Americas, African Americans, and any women were not considered equal. The way of the new democracy shaped the nation because it created a push for negotiations and compromise with decisions in America. Thus creating the foundation of the new American way of life.

ACORN vs. The Government

During the recent debates i heard a quick mention of something called ACORN(Fights Back Against Voter Suppression ) i got mixed up and lost in the gist of the the debate but today i understood the issue at hand. Obama did in deed donate money to the organization however had no tie to the scandal. Acorn claims "there are always some people who want to get paid without really doing the job, or who aim to defraud their employer. Any large department store will have some workers who shoplift." I think this is a very good perspective to come from given to the fact that according to the newyork times "they say the ones with phony names constitute no more than 1 percent of the total turned" this is a very small percentage and of that percentage the false ones had already been flagged for the government to check on "According to Acorn, most of the forms that are now causing controversy are ones that it flagged and that unsympathetic election officials then publicized." Which we witnessed at the debates. In actuality making people sign up 25 people a day was the only mistake ACORN made because they were forced to keep asking people who may have already been signed up or made up people themselves as i read in the Christopher Barkley story. So to sum this up 1% of voters through acorn were fraud, of that 1% the majority of them were flagged, so at that point it was out of ACORNs control of weather people voted twice or not so this really is no scandal. So knowing this we have nothing to worry about because ACORN isn't fraud...or do we? On ACORNS home website they mention what needs to be considered:

"The goals of the people orchestrating these attacks are to distract ACORN from helping people vote and to justify massive voter suppression. That’s the real voter fraud; the noise about a small fraction of the forms ACORN has turned in is meant to get the press and public take their eyes off the real threat, while those hurling the charges are stealing people’s right to vote in broad daylight."

Is this really the bigger concern? according to all of the facts, it definitely is. In Georgia a College student by the name of Kyla Berry got a last minute letter in the mail stating that she couldn't vote because she wasn't an United States Citizen. She knew this was odd because she had been born in Boston. It was too late for her to try to solve this mystery. Apparently in Georgia 2 million people are now having there social security checked to vote. why so late in the year and close to voting? they cant do this. the new york times mentioned "Michigan and Colorado are removing voters from the rolls within 90 days of a federal election, which is not allowed except when voters die, notify the authorities that they have moved out of state, or have been declared unfit to vote." I think that this is a much bigger problem and is happening throughout a lot of these states and random people are being flagged for no reason and causing them not to vote. Where as Acorn flagged the people who actually were questionable and if the government overlooked that oh well, at least they weren't doing as they were in other states purposely stopping innocent voters.

no matter what the date. You can always compare a debate!

I remember i was in the 7th grade when the Kerry vs. Bush campaign was going on. Because of my disinterest to learn about the campaign when i was younger, i decided to take a step back and compare then to now.

While i was reading the 2004 2nd presidential debate I immediately caught Kerry s views on the No Child Left Behind act. He had brought it up because it was one of the things the media was saying he changed his position on. So he decided to clear up everything within his first answer.

"No Child Left Behind Act, I voted for it. I support it. I support the goals. But the president has underfunded it by $28 billion."

When i read this i had a flashback of debate #3 when Obama said"Now we tried to do this under President Bush. He put forward No Child Left Behind. Unfortunately, they left the money behind for No Child Left Behind. "

You can already tell that within 4 years things haven't changed. This is where i see the democratic side staying consistent. The republicans don't show as much consistency on this topic when bush never even really talked about this issue in this debate at all, where as McCain attempted to make it a better plan as he called out Obama cutting him off of his sentences.



The Vice Presidential debate

These debates where so repetitive that i thought my mom kept rewinding the DVR recording of it. But it shocked me when she said she wasn't and it was live. Palin focused on being a regular small town woman rather than answering her questions. As a matter of fact she during the debate she stated "I may not answer the questions that either the moderator or you want to hear, but I'm going to talk straight to the American people and let them know my track record" It then got to the point where no candidate answered a question and the moderator had to say "Governor, Senator, neither of you really answered that last question about what you would do as vice president. I'm going to come back to that..." So i believe both candidates got too off topic with this debate. However with the 2004 debates i believe just as much finger pointing was going on if not more because the issues with iraq where more fresh. As we can see in this commented cheyney made on edwards "What the vice president has just said is just a complete distortion. The American people saw John Kerry on Thursday night. They don't need the vice president or the president to tell them what they saw. " so apparently that never changes.

WWW.PAYFORINFO.COM

So i was searching new york times for an article on Democracy and the Internet when i came across this fascinating article written back in May. The article had mentioned that ISPs want to start charging users to get on certain websites to get there information. Now this may not be a problem for people raking in 6 figures however what about the middle class and lower class? Imagine if i had to pay to have a blogger account i may not have been able to complete this blog assignment for my teacher. Also if everybody had to pay to read articles on new york times i wouldn't have even read the article so i wouldn't have known why somebody was charging me to expand my thirst for knowledge. I think if companies started charging to access websites it wouldn't be a fair democracy anymore because the sources available wouldn't be equal. But thankfully the "Net Neutrality" bill will be making this discrimination illegal. But i wonder how fast it will take corporations to find a way around this? So lets hope congress gets this bill passed fast...

ATTENTION U.S. teens! Hit the Sales racks!

The economic crisis is hurting a lot of American Teenagers lately. As a teen this article interested me the most 1.because of the comic before the article and 2.because of the stories in the article that i can relate to. The first time i actually felt the economy was falling apart was at work. I work at a resturant in a very wealthy part of san diego. In the houses around the area are football players, baseball players, doctors, vets, fire men, police, etc. Pretty much you have to have a VERY good job to live there. One day it had literally been a few months since the new million dollar homes had opened and there was already forclosure signs EVERYWHERE! One woman came into my job and claimed her neigbor moved at night time because they were so embrassed! The first thing i could think of was what would i do in that situation? the kids or teenagers must really feel the change of just moving into a really good house, coming from a wealthy family and now they have to look up what BUDGET means in the dictionary.

In the article it had a story of a teenage girl whos parents didnt even have time to spend with her because they were so busy with work and just had to buy her rewards. And yet another family who had to call a family emergancy meeting to explain the money situation with there kids. I feel it at my home, my parents almost never can just hand me over 20 like they could when i was younger, every cent on my paycheck is crucial to me, i am really learning the value of a dollar. I do admit im not going to generalize my generation but im not going to lie i do feel like things are my rights not privlages. Like i feel like its my right to have a phone not a privlage, and having to pay for my own phonebill and cable bill i recognize i need to have aplan for saving. Or when i get a real job things will fall apart.

During the WW2 Rationing people could determine what was a nessisty and what was for fun, and this is something my generation needs to grasp fast because everything isnt garunteed anymore.

extra extra read all about it THE 4TH DEBATE!

My group had the 4th debate in the lincoln douglas debates. During the 4th debate Lincoln and Douglas debated against the rights of slaves and Judge Trumbulls charge against Douglas.

“...This was a provision for submitting the constitution to a vote of the people”

Lincoln quoted from Trumbull referring to the Toombs bill. Trumbull claims Douglas added an extra part to the bill after he had proposed it to the people to lead them astray. Douglas retaliated in his debate and this is where the reference to Trumbull really gets good.

“He (Lincoln) spent his whole hour in retaliating a charge made by senator Trumbull against me. The circumstances out of which that charge was manufactured, occurred prior to the last presidential election, over two years ago. If the charge was true, why did not Trumbull make it in 1856, when I was discussing the questions of that day all over this State with Lincoln and him, and when it was pertinent to the then issue? He was silent as the grave upon the subject. If that charge was true the time to have brought it forward was the canvass of 1856, the year when the toombs bill passed the senate”

The debate continued on about the Trumbull charge and brought new information to the people. It is hard to say what exactly the truth was because of the the candidates provided valid points and it is obvious lincoln and trumbull agree in some matters as you can see in their abolition of slavery. But is Trumbull really just bringing his opinion up in order to get another candidate chosen that will agree with him more? Or is he making these comments truly in the consideration of the people?

the candidates views on slavery

Ok so i have a very long quote but i feel like the whole quote is necessary. Lincoln didn't believe blacks had equal rights, but he believed we could live in a world together but separately. It seems as if he views black people as inferior to him but who cares if they live in America just don't let them have control or interact with white people.

there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race. I say upon this occasion I do not perceive that because the white man is to have the superior position the negro should be denied every thing. I do not understand that because I do not want a negro woman for a slave I must necessarily want her for a wife. [Cheers and laughter.] My understanding is that I can just let her alone. I am now in my fiftieth year, and I certainly never have had a black woman for either a slave or a wife. So it seems to me quite possible for us to get along without making either slaves or wives of negroes. I will add to this that I have never seen, to my knowledge, a man, woman or child who was in favor of producing a perfect equality, social and political, between negroes and white men -Lincoln

Douglas didn't believe black people should be kept slaves because there were incapable of living as anything else. Lincoln had believed that black people could have there own families and success it just wouldn't cross over to the white people because they were just so much better. and they could be more than slaves. But nope Douglas believed it was slaves they should stay.

I say that this Government was established on the white basis. It was made by white men, for the benefit of white men and their posterity forever, and never should be administered by any except white men. I declare that a negro ought not to be a citizen, whether his parents were imported into this country as slaves or not, or whether or not he was born here. It does not depend upon the place a Negro's parents were born, or whether they were slaves or not, but upon the fact that he is a negro, belonging to a race incapable of self-government, and for that reason ought not to be on an equality with white men. (Immense applause.)

2008 debates

In the 2008 debates i believe that they were not filled with all of the energy and emotion that the lincoln-douglas debates had. However they did have finger pointing just like the older days. There was one instance where lincoln accused douglas of keeping information about the toombs law from the public but when douglas replies back its is a lot of finger pointing. the debate was quite intriging. I reliezed no matter what the candidates will be the candidates politics are politics. They will twist what they have to say how many ever times they need to just to get the votes of the people.

Whats race got to do with it?

I was more curious to see if the race of the population of each state have anything to do with weather it was a democratic state or republican state. I found that it was kinda of random yes the states had a significant corralation between the two. Although as i expected more southern states seemed to be republican, no matter what your race population is you can never really tell. I expected to see more of a democratic view of living in the states that were more populated with african americans because Obama is running but it really didn't change based on race. Here are a few of the sample results i pulled in from my fact findings.

CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATIC
6% black
36% hispanic
60% white

ARIZONA REPUBLIC
77% white
3% black
29% hispanic

LOUISIANA WEAK REPUBLIC
31% black
3% hispanic
64% white

HAWAII DEMOCRATIC
26% white
2% black
8% hispanic

TEXAS REPUBLIC
11% black
69% white
35% hispanic

Yesterday. Today. Tommorw. its all THE SAME!

The Case

The Supreme Court case of Brown vs. Board of Education can easily relate to every generation, from the Dred Scott Case to the t Jena 6 case. Race laws and controversies are always on the rise.

On May 17, 1954 a combination of 5 school segregation cases defined as “brown,” (the brown case in Kansas, and numerous cases from South Carolina, Delaware, Virginia, and Washington DC) and the Board of Education battled in the U.S. Supreme Court about the segregation issues they were facing in those days. This case had taken a while to make it to the Supreme Court but it made it. Finally the court decided that segregation of schools was to be abolished along with the Plessy v. Ferguson doctrine.The plaintiffs (Brown) had won their cases. Stopping all segregation of schools in America but keeping public areas segregated.

(video above contains the Original Footage of School Segregation from that era. Many people were outraged at with segregation)

Yesterday

From my understanding the Dred Scott case was actually not the first supreme court case when the slave was a prosecutor or defendant rather than an object. Dred Scott fought for his freedom and lost the supreme court case because any slave or descendant of a slave had no rights of being an U.S. Citizen. However it created a tremendous amount of awareness of slavery issues to other states.

American Society relates because it was suppose to make schools integrated so you get a chance to be socially accepting of differences. However the segregation of races continues.

Today

In December of 2006 six black high school students had been arrested due to a fight the white students had provoked by hanging nooses on a tree that the black students had tried to sit at the day before. When the students where held on their trial in the small town of Jena, Louisiana (85% of the population is white) all of the jury was white. This upset most of the black community in Jena starting a nationwide controversy about race. The results of the case varied for each student but one thing I didn't read was the white students being punished for provoking the fights:
“The case drew national headlines when the teens initially were charged with second-degree attempted murder after they allegedly knocked out Justin Barker while stomping and kicking him.
After the charges triggered protests, they were reduced to aggravated second-degree battery. One of the teens, Mychal Bell, reached a plea agreement on a battery charge in juvenile court.”

Tomorrow

My final comparison for the Brown v. B.O.E. case is Barack Obama. Had it not been for integrated schooling would he be able to run today? I highly doubt he would have his Harvard law education. Or the chance to run because of his skin . Its funny how everything from the past determines the future, and yet a lot of the past is kept in the present time. I shouldn't have had examples to relate this case to but its sad, will it always be this way?

SOURCES iN ORDER LiNKED (high lighted italic citations are primary sources the blue one is a classmate):

• Bell, Jasmine. "Jasmine's Humanities blogs: Are we going back 1951?." Jasmine's Humanities blogs. 2 Oct. 2008 .

• "Brown v. Board of Education." Brown v. Board of Education. 11 Apr. 2004. Brown Foundation for Educational Equity. 1 Oct. 2008
  

• U.S. Supreme Court. "PLESSY v. FERGUSON, 163 U.S. 537 (1896)." FindLaw Cases and Codes. Thomson Reuters business. .

• APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF KANSAS. "Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954) (USSC+)." Civil Rights: Brown v. Board of Education (1954). The National Center For Public Policy Research. 1 Oct. 2008 .

• JOHNSON, CLIFTON. "THE AMISTAD CASE and ITS CONSEQUENCES IN U.S. HISTORY." Amistad Research Center :: Where Heritage Meets Vision. 2006. Amistad Research Center, Inc. .

• Press release. 9 May 2008. .

• Goodman, Amy. "The Case of the Jena Six: Black High School Students Charged with Attempted Murder for Schoolyard Fight After Nooses Are Hung from Tree." Democracy Now! The Case of the Jena Six. 10 July 2007. Democracy Now! The War and Peace Report. .

• Callebs, Sean. "Judge taken off remaining 'Jena 6' cases." Jude Taken Off Remaininf 'Jena 6' cases. 1 Aug. 2008. CNN. .

• Unknown. "Meet The Candidate." Barack Obama and Joe Biden: The Change We Need. Obama Biden. .

WHENS MY REVOLUTION!

In the year 1846 Dred Scott and his wife filed for a case to be free in the St.Louis Circut Case
The case was dragged out 11 years and eventually made it to the United States Supreme Court In 1857. The chief justice of the supreme court at time was a former slave owner (so i can imagine this was an automatic classic case of majority/ignorant rules against slaves). The case was lost because 7 of the 9 justices on the supreme court concluded that any slave or any descendant of a slave you were not a United States citizen. No matter if you were born here, worked here, lived here, you just couldn't even become a citizen. Therefore since he wasn't a certified United States Citizen he couldn't sue or be free. He had to remain a slave.

what precedents were set? From my understanding of the word the only precedent from this case is probably the fact that it wasn't a law that a slave wasn't a citizen but the justices conveniently declared that they couldn't be citizens. If they hadn't declared that he would have had a better chance of winning the case or coming to a compromising conclusion.

The case was impacting back then because it sparked conflicts between the North (free states) and the South (slave states) right before the civil war in 1861. I dont think the Dred Scott Case allowed for cases such as Brown v. Board of education to happen. I mean it would make sense because black people would know our cases can go to the supreme court and we do matter, However i dont believe a lot of people knew about Dred Scott because thats something the school districts and the government would have held away from everybody. i could be wrong because thats an opinion not a fact.

I believe the Dred Scott case had a big impact on today because just as Fredrick Douglas believed it was a huge way to bring the issue of slavery to the attention of our nation and was a big step to the abolition of slavery in the states. It also showed a enormous amount of determination and passion that the slaves were capable of. Even though Dred Scott did not win this case, it showcased that if at first you don't succeed dust yourself off and try again. The Dred Scott case was lucky to even make it to the supreme court because he was black and not considered a citizen so the fact that they let him try for the case proved that with in time future cases would be won.

Quick Blog Reflection 9/23/08

What are you most proud of on your blog? Why?
Im most proud of my growth in my writing and editing. I can tell when I'm most interested in a blog i find more evidence and get into depth more. I like re-reading my blogs that i wrote well because it makes me proud, i hate re-reading my blogs that are poorly written so those most likely wont get re-edited. I'm also proud of my use of relate able articles.

What will you improve during future blogs?why?how?
In future blogs i will find less blatant ways to connect my blogs to the learning in class because it seems REALLY juvenile. For example if i say "this is a connection to class because it connects to federalism" i need to work a way around the concept. I guess i can observe other peoples writing and look at how they connected i to the class to enhance my writing.

How has the blogging impacted your understanding of you, the media, current events, and old news.
Well i think blogging has mainly effected my knowledge of the things happening with our society today and the current events happening in our country. Before i could barely sit through the news and really pay attention but now i look for "oh is that something that the federalist would believe in or is it an anti federalist move?" or reading news articles has become more appealing with me and i feel like i have the advantage of being knowledgeable about todays common issues that i used to be ignorant about. I feel really smart and proud of my work that i do. Especially with my salvia article.

Why lie i need a beer

The issue of homelessness is always more complicated than it sounds. Coming to school i saw 4 guys with cardboard boxes made into signs pleading for help. I had a few conversations with homeless people on the trolley and there stories are quite fascinating. If they aren't a neglected veteran then they are drug or alcohol addicted victims the thing i noticed most all of them might seem crazy but are highly intelligent have a cousin thats homeless, he let alcohol rule him and ended up on the streets we all tried to help but he chose the streets. One time i was with my friend and i saw him on the bus he didnt recognize me but i felt sick to the stomach at the thought of hed rather be drunk at 2pm on the bus than get help from loved ones. Sometimes this is a choice often time its the only solution but one thing i always wonder where is there family?
Is it the families job to help them or is it the governments? Its hard to ever say if the government should take over and help its argued that it will be giving them crutches not to work and rely on the government to survive. But when is enough enough .
In 1983 a lawsuit between yvonne mcaine and koch was filed. Mcaine was claiming that the city of new york had failed to provide sufficient shelter and creating standards of how the shelters for families should be governed. That was just one of the popular cases of the many others that were to follow. Today i read the quote below and it got me thinking.

"While the number of homeless single adults has fallen a bit, the number of homeless families has risen. There are about 9,000 homeless families, including about 14,000 children, sleeping in city shelters every night this month. City spending on homelessness prevention has risen, to $191.2 million in 2007 from $160.6 million in 2004, and spending on homeless shelters has grown to $603.5 million from $563.4 million, the city’s Independent Budget Office found in a study [pdf] last month." Click here for full article

My question was why are we spending so much money on the upkeep of homlessness when we could simply use the money towards homeless families and grants for college or give them a fully paid house and clothes so that they can get jobs and the kids can go to school and go on to start organization instead of keeping them homeless and spending tax dollars on keeping homeless people homeless. Every state needs to take a step back and really think about this. But then i answered this question in my head and began thinking about the crutches. But have we tried this in history? i think we should just give it a try and see where it goes.
I once heard "well people who cant afford babies just shouldn't have kids" this much is true and i fully agree but why should the kid be put into this situation its not the governments fault that the mother couldn't keep her legs closed or the dad was a sex feigned dummy.

this is really a matter of federalist or anti-federalist should the government step up? or should we make it the job of the kids on the streets to rise above and become motivated for a life they weren't exposed to. This whole thing is a mind boggler and i don't know where i stand. All i know is if millions of dollars are going to be spent on issues that seem to be unresolvable we need to look for another idea for a solution because apparently this one is working.

yesterday i was a federalist

"I know Americans are concerned about the adjustments that are taking place in our financial markets," said Bush, speaking in the White House Rose Garden. "We are working to reduce disruptions and minimize the impact on the [broader economy]."

Bush didn't offer much detail as the Dow plunged more than 200 points and the finance industry suffered one of its worst crises ever, stemming from its investments in the battered real estate sector.

"In the short run, adjustments in the financial markets can be painful, for people worried about their investments, and for employees of the firms," said Bush. -http://www.nytimes.com/ref/us/polls_index.html

I dont really see how bush is planning on reducing disruptions and minimizing the impact on the broader economy. he never really said how in this article. But i do see his view of how in the long run things will be fixed but for right now it will be painful. In class we discussed how bush believed we should just wait it out for the solution to this problem i dont really see it in this article as an obvious statement but the fact that he says it will hurt in the short run for right now i think its safe to say he thinks we should wait.

i agree, because people have turned the stocks into a gambling kind of deal, you never know if your stock is going to go up or down you can have prior knowledge but who knows for sure? just like in craps there may be a 9% chance of you getting a 7 you never know but because you know basically you have almost a 10% chance of getting a 7 you just might play.

I think yes its a shame people are effected but come on now they knew what the stock was all about so they must pay the consequences yes they might have lost but they didn't care when theyre stocks where doing good but others weren't im sure. i think this is a time when i have to agree with federalist bush and it makes me realize i am neither federalist or anti-federalist im more of a kind of sometimes federalist. like an independent. but i don't think bush cares about the people i think he only cares about how it will effect ALL of America. So he will most likely change anything that will effect ALL of america or put little bandages on those but as far as the entire situation and the people getting there money back. noway i dont care what kind of business they were leading just because they where in the top of the pyramid by being ceos and running business, this doesn't change anything. and it makes me wonder, hmmm if this was a whole bunch of stocks poor people owned would it be such a big deal? i bet not i bet i wouldnt even know about it i bet the lower middle class citizens that own shares probably loose money all the time but its never anything anybody cares about because there name isnt "john edward brookes" or some prestigious Harvard graduate.

im so confused about this and i have no clue where the president is going to go with this, but i say just stick it out. because it is bound to happen again stop it now before it gets out of hand and spreads like a virus.

palin

In the readings of federalist 10 and 51 i found that a true democracy was unsafe and 100% of power to one person is not safe, it must  be dispersed. While watching palins interview (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7611677.stm) she said we are a democratic country, but isn't she a republican? I feel like after her campaigning for a new approach to bushs same ideas is smart for her case, but i do feel like she isn't ready to become VP yet i think if we were to give palin maybe 4 more years she could be a very strong leader and could benefit the people. I feel like she could benefit the people because she definitely relates to everybody but at the same time she doesn't come off as educated and knowledgeable as others. I feel like mcaine chose her because of hilary's popularity and here another strong real woman was at his service. Also palin tries to use obamas "change" campaign but in reality she isn't trying to change shes trying to improve which is a good point but i think people just want to start fresh and some people gave up on bush. You see the battle between the parties but i see palin as a democratic republican she shares opinions and views with democrats without saying it while being a republican, and obama sticks with being a democrat. He is a bit more stable, she actually seemed scared at this interview or caught off guard in a horrible way. I think republicans know democrat means for the people decided by the people like a popularity contest. and mcaine is livening up his campaign with a fresh young VP and a new approach to how they relate to the public to win this contest of popularity. But really i think people know. palin

Getting High Legally?

The video shown below is not for kids. viewer discretion is advised <3

So i was reading through the new york times website looking for an article to catch my eye when i came across the legal hallucinogenic "salvia". I was intrigued by this video on the new york times website because it was referring to kids tripping on salvia then posting it on Youtube. Now there are a lot of questions that came to my mind while watching this; yes it is legal in smoke shops but are these kids of age to even be in smoke shops so this is plain out illegal for kids? What are cops doing to stop this, or should they even do anything? is the government trying to ban it? it must be a big deal to make it into the new york times.

I watched the rest of the video and they where mentioning how senates are trying to ban it in states like Texas, legislators all over America are trying to make salvia outlawed, its become this huge drug craze of my generation.

This drug supposedly last 5 minutes and the long term effects are undetermined.Even though the drug was introduced to America in the 90's it has been in Mexico for decades if not centuries used in rituals. I honestly don't think the government should go so far to ban this drug that appears to not be as serious as.. oh i don't know SMOKING! This drug has medical advantages to help mental illness and chronic pain.

No studies have shown salvia to be addictive or toxic so why is the government trying to ban it? i don't think they should do this, and because something is fun doesn't mean they should ban it, tobacco and smoking are addictive and toxic and kill millions why not ban those? So far the drug hasn't appeared to harm anybody. Reports of people dying on salvia is very rare i have only heard one case. Salvia isn't a drug that makes you destructive to others either. So i just don't understand what the big deal is.

i think the title of it being a drug is what makes people so judgmental about it, and before people just go on rants trying to ban something they need to re-evaluate bigger issues that need laws and solving, like poverty, jail systems, school funding, etc.

This capitalist country is willing to toast to the blood of the lives lost to smoking over a fancy dinner paid for by the souls of the addicted. And it is a shame. Even alcohol can be dangerous because it can be poisonous, salvia is just an herb.That would be like somebody ODing on marijuana. you just cant. Any thing can be created for specific use then overused and become harmful. If the government bans salvia but keeps other harmful things legal then at this point they have way to much control and are not using it to the most beneficial health of our countries citizens.

budget cuts

WHAT IN THE WORLD! was my first reaction to this quote i read on a website i came upon today..

"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget for 2008–09 has sent shock waves through the education community. He has recommended a $4.8 billion cut for K-14 education, on top of a $400 million reduction for education in the current year. The net effect is about $750 less per student than K-12 education would normally receive or about $18,750 per classroom."

-http://www.californiaschoolfinance.org/tabid/182/Default.aspx


UM OK. so what happen to his statement that he made in 2005

"Now, let’s talk about the red ink. As you know, when I ran for governor, the state of California was getting deeper and deeper into debt. So when the people sent me to Sacramento I told them that I will go right to work, and I will clean up the mess in our state. Last year we stopped the bleeding. This year we will heal the patient. So I have declared the year 2005 the year for reform in California. We’re going to take action and overhaul the political, educational and financial institutions in our state. "

http://gov.ca.gov/speech/2274/


We were suppose to be out of debt a long time ago, why are we paying for it still today? Why is he taking funds away from education if anything we NEED the money to go towards education these are the kids of tomorrow they may have innovative ideas to bring america up. you never know! By overhauling the educational institutions in our state why must great teachers get fired, and why do students have to pay for the miscalculations of a few big white business men because i know Arnold wasnt the only person responsible. How are children going to better themselves and take advantage of there freedom of speech if they're not givin every resource available to them to get knowledgable. This makes absolutly no sense. Take money from the rich why dont cha! what do the kids of the less fortunate have to do with this. how do you explain to little daveon that mommy cant afford a computer for the house because the government is taking more then last year and daveons school doesnt have computers so how is he to do research for his project? walk in the streets of compton to the library overlooking his shoulder to see if he is going to get robbed? its ridiculous!

7 years ago

i was searching for an article when i realized that sept. 11 was coming up. i remember the day we were attacked by terrorist, it was a very gloomy day even if it was sunny in san diego. I was kept home from school and stayed glued to the news for once (this was usually very hard to get me to do while as a 9 year old). I remember bush's rash decision to go to war with the terrorist who had attacked us which where from Afghanistan..but it had stricken me as odd when the war was later known as the war in Iraq. i mean, call me a dumbly but im more than 100% sure that these are 2 different places. I remember that week my dad telling me he was going to get deployed. WHY did bush make his decision so fast? We also heard the war was because it was believed that iraq had weapons of mass destruction, which were never found thanks for the waste of time and money bush. Next The war was given many titles such as "freedom for Iraq" "war on terrorist" wait freedom for iraq? HOLD ON woah buddy! i may not know all of my American history but im pretty sure we don't free the terrorist. Which is why im sure bush knew the terrorist where from Afghanistan and he just wanted to have a war with iraq, but the "WAR ON TERRORIST" was catchier than "I WANT A BATTLE THAT I CAN CONVINCE AMERICA IS FOR THERE JUSTICE" so this leads me to my huge question of why we are at war. natural sources we rape iraq of ($OIL$)? freedom for iraq? or the protection of our in debt country. i don't know about you but id rather have more funds for my education and retirement than watching this oh so boring game of battleship bush is playing with our troops. BORING give me a reality show why dont cha!

so back to the remembrance of everybody's lives lost on September 11th 2001. the day people where robbed for there rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Liberty they may have because at least there not in this mess of a country now, but there lives where taken. Bush used them, he used them to tame his crave to play in this endless war that makes no sense. in an article i read in fox news they quoted bush saying:

“Five years after 9/11, America still faces determined enemies. We will not be safe until those enemies are finally defeated,”

he said this 2 years ago. i don't understand who our determined enemies are last time i checked those enemies where in Afghanistan those , i thought after we captured Sadan Hussain and Osama bin Ladden the war would be over!! Bush has too much power, Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine had believed no ONE person should run everything i think its safe to say we have enough anti bush movements to have had him empeached years ago. why hasnt he been? i hate politics, there so sneaky. i mean i wanna say YAY obama but im wondering what hes got up his sleeves, but im sure hell be ALOT better than bush.