Reform Ranking

1. Right to Vote in the Constitution
2. Universal Voter Registration
3. National Popular Vote for the President
4. Fair Voting/ Proportional Representation
5. Ranked Choice Voting

Trump on Barring Muslims From Entering U.S.

Trump Giving Speech

This afternoon Donald Trump made a speech about how Muslims "should be barred from entering into the United States until the nations leaders can figure out whats going on." Trump has always voiced his opinion on this issue but this is new after the San Bernardino shooting. Death was his reasoning for turning his view of the Muslims. No other presidential candidate is behind him on this and many have spoke out against it.
Donald Trump Calls for Barring Muslims From Entering U.S.

Carson Acknowledges Dip in Polls

Ben Carson

Ben Carson recently talked about his 8 percent drop in the Republican presidential campaign. Five weeks ago 64 percent thought he would be a great president and this has dropped to 42 percent. His reasoning for this is his lack in working with foreign affairs. In his words he has dealt more with life and death situations than those of recent foreign attacks that have been happening. The polls as of now are not looking good for Carson.
Ben Carson Acknowledges Dip in Polls

Ralph Peters Suspended from Fox News

Ralph Peters

A Fox News analyst, Ralph Peters was recently suspended for two weeks because of the way that he described Obama on air. His vulgar description of our president was said on Fox Business Network he also went on to speak for the military and say that the military was ready to fight if he would give them the order to. Ralph was punished for his words, which he apologized for,  and has been the topic of a lot of twitter uproar.
Ralph Peters Suspended from Fox News

Plans to Add New Level to Terror Advisory System

Homeland Security Seal

The Department of Homeland Security is adding anew level to its terrorism advisory system to help the threat of terrorism on the homeland. The level will be the "intermediate" level and it will be used to alert Americans of a high risk when they do not know who is behind it. The previous system for terrorism only had 2 levels a low risk and a high risk section. This change is just being talked about but is hoped to be announced very soon to start putting it to action.
Washington Post New Level to Terror Advisory System

Obama Addresses Terrorism

Obama Giving Address in Oval Office

On Sunday night Obama made an address towards the recent shooting in San Bernardino and the threat of terrorism that is thought to follow it. He said that his top priority is protecting the American people from all types of terrorism that comes forward. Obama did not state any changes in policies however he did ask Congress to get behind him on starting the fight against terrorism and strengthening the gun laws.
NY Daily News Obama Addresses Terrorism

US Man Freed After 23 Years in Jail

Mug Shot of Robert along with Victim

A man was just freed after serving 23 years in jail when found to be unguilty of the crimes we was said to have committed. Rober Jones was wrongfully put into jail on the accusations of rape, robbery, and manslaughter. He was released on bail and had to attend a retrial of his case where he then became free.
US Man Freed After 23 Years in Jail

Bernie Sanders for Legalizing Marijuana

Bernie Sanders

On Wednesday Bernie Sanders introduced a bill that would reduce all federal penalties for growing or possessing marijuana. This would allow states to determine its own laws on marijuana use and the government would ultimately  have nothing to do with it. However there would be penalties for trafficking the substance into other states.
Bernie Sanders Introduces Senate Bill to End Federal Marijuana Prohibition

Obama Defends Syrian Refugee Screenings

Syrian Refugees On Way to US

Obama is fighting his Syrian Refugee program with saying that each refugee goes through a vigorous screening process before even allowed into the US. First applications are reviewed, then each applicant is interviewed, and then another intense review is done including multiple background checks and biological mapping. What Obama is trying to say is that what he is doing is safe and that it needs to continue happening.
Obama Administration Defends its Syrian Refugee Screening

Newest Republican Presidential Poll

Donald Trump

In the most resent poll it seems that Donald Trump has gaining back his voters and Ben Carson has lost his. Donald Trump is in the lead again but the spot for second place is currently being fought after by Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio. This might have to do with the Syrian Refugee situation that Donald Trump has voiced his opinions on very loudly as well as other things. Now the race is getting quite close and interesting.
FOX News Poll

Obama and the Islamic State

Obama Speaking about Islamic State

President Obama recently came out to say that the U.S. is going to do nothing in the "fight against the Islamic State". He believes that the group will be taken out without us as long as the world stops thinking about it as the "new normal". The recent attack on Paris has started a debate on if the U.S. should continue with the invitation of Syrian Refugees into our country. It will be interesting to see how the President continues to handle this time.
Obama Says US Will Not Relent in Fight Against Islamic State

French Government

France is a republic specifically known as the French Republic that operates under their constitution.

The republic consists of a Prime Minister (minister to parliament) which is the head of the government and is picked by the President, a Minister, and a Secretary of State. France has a "multi-party political system"and is also has a sample of political factionalism. Throughout most of France's time their government has been between the on the left led by the Socialist party and the centre- right led by the Republicans. It is hard to have anything other than these two parties rule because they are so powerful. As of now France is governed by the Socialist Party. There are four main categories of French political parties: On the Right, Centre Right, Centre, On the Left and there are about 35 parties all together that make up these categories.
Political Parties in France
Government of France
List of Political Parties
The French Political System

Fourth GOP Debate

Fourth GOP Debate

The 4th GOP debate is being described as "awkward". Donald Trump came back into action with his ideas and views on immigration which caused a stir between him and John Kasich. Bush did better in this debate and showed more of his campaign than we have seen in a long time. Everyone had an opinion on the immigration topic and jumped in even when not asked. Hilary Clinton was also a name brought up many times in a negative way. After this debate it will be interesting to see where the polls go. 

Sharp Policy Divisions Emerge on Awkward Republican Debate Stage

Obama's Veterans Day Speech

Obama Veterans Day 

Today during Obama's Veterans Day speech his focus was set on previous troops and their need rather than the wars that are accumulating. Speaking about the amount of veterans coming home from Afghanistan and Iraq in need of jobs and the U.S. has an obligation to help the people that have helped us. This was very different to other Veteran Day speeches because of the non focus on the wars today but I think that the focus of todays speech was much needed and well appreciated.
Obama's Veterans Day Message Focuses on Jobs

6000 Federal Inmates Released

Federal Inmates

Sheriffs and people are around the U.S. are worried because of the recent release of 6,000 federal inmates. There release was because of the fact that the U.S. sentencing commission reduced the sentencing of most drug trafficking charges. This is the biggest mass release in history and people are worried about how the inmates will adjust to their new found freedom. More than half are currently in half way houses already and it is said that no state will receive more than 80 inmates. This however is not easing citizens worries and concerns, it will be intestine to see where this goes.
Sheriffs Fume at Mass Release of 6000 Federal Inmates

Ben Carson Leads

Ben Carson

In the latest national poll every major republican candidate is being Hilary Clinton and Ben Carson is leading by a 10 point margin. This poll is from the Quinnipiac University and was taken right after the Republican GOP debate last week. Clinton is succeeding Trump but only 46-43%.
Carson, Other GOP Candidates Top Clinton in Latest National Poll

Paul Ryan Elected Speaker of the House

Paul Ryan

Paul Ryan was elected speaker of the house last Thursday and has become the youngest speaker of the house in 150 years. 236 Republicans backed Paul Ryan, 18 more than he needed. Daniel Webster from Florida also ran but only received 9 of the republican votes, and almost every democrat voted for Nancy Pelosi. Ryan vowed to give every member of the House a chance to have their say in legislation. 
Paul Ryan Vows to Unify Party, Reshape House

The Man Behind the Mosque Questions

1. Cable news did not really use any steps to investigate who was actually behind the mosque. They found the man who had originally thought of the project, who's name is El Gamal, but this was as far as the investigation went.

2. Pamela Geller brought the story to Fox News. 

3. Throughout the story we saw people being interviewed about how they felt aft the mosque being build. We saw both sides of the story and learned how everyone felt but we didn't really hear the reasoning behind the building and the facts for it being build. This was touched on briefly throughout but it was definitely not the main focus of the story, the main focus was to get the opinions of the people to make it much more interesting. 

4. El Gamal the real estate agent on this project was approached for an interview by Fox News but would not talk and no other Park 51 workers were interviewed for cable news. There was a lady interviewed for Frontline however that did a good job in presenting herself. 

5. Cable news used sources of historians, non- islamic, to rely on for information. This is not a credible source because they are not a primary source when it comes to islamic knowledge and personal truths. 

6. It is extremely relevant for media sources to understand that its goal will create bias towards the thing that they are covering. Media sources know that when they are coving a story they are pitching it to the world and they know what the world wants to hear. Because of this they can screw the story in a way that creates a bias in order to get peoples attention.

7. Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal was the second largest shareholder in News Corps at the time of the Ground Zero Mosque. 

8. People  began to loose interest in the Ground Zero Mosque because it was such a long and controversial topic that was going to continue for a long time. People moved on and so did Fox News.

Americans and TV News

This article was about the use of TV and news in peoples homes today. It talked about the difference between liberals and conservative and how they watch the news. The difference between each news station and the science behind the way the news is produced. The article talked about how each channel sets up its time slots and why people watch specific news. It touched on the difference between local news and large news corporations and why people choose to watch the local news more.

Top 10 facts from this article:
1. 71% of Americans watch Local TV News while 65% of Americans watch Network TV News
2. People who watch cable TV watch for an average of 25 minutes a day
3. The local news audience is highest during the late 11 P.M. newscast, with 15% more viewers
4. Greatest overlap of news channels is between local and network, 90% of network news viewers also watch local news while 82% of local news viewers also watch network news.
5. Cable news viewers is the smallest group, 3/4 of cable viewers watch some network news and more watch some local news.
6. CNN reaches 20% of adults, Fox reaches 18% of adults, MSNBC reaches 14% of adults.
7. Fox News and MSNBC viewers are compatible with each other, each having around a 30% viewing sharing between the two each way.
8. This is even greater between CNN and MSNBC with each daring about 50% of views between the two each way.
9. 24% of Americans watch ONLY Fox News, 23% of Americans watch ONLY CNN, and 15% of americans watch ONLY MSNBC.
10. Nbcnews.com (used to be MSNBC.com) is the most viewed news website, followed by cnn.com, and then foxnews.com.

Army Cutting Soldiers and Budget Restrictions

Soldiers Coming Home

The Army is planning on cutting 40,000 soldiers by the end of 2017 bringing the number of soldiers down to 450,000. The FAS has said that almost every institution will reduce their size which results in about a 20% cut altogether. According to a survey these cuts will not be enough and more will have to be made in 2018. I am unsure why this is happening however I think it is because of the no need for that many and also to reduce cost.
Army Cutting Soldiers and Budget Restrictions

Police Officer Threw Student Across Room

Photo Taken from the Video of "Attack"

A South Carolina police officer was recently fired from his job after "throwing a high school student across the classroom." There were may videos of this posted on the internet from other students in the classroom and this started an outrage among everyone. According to another student in the classroom it was not wrong what the police officer did, because the girl directly disobeyed orders from the police officer and then refused to get up. The police officer was told to make an arrest and so when the girl refused he instituted violence. This is confusing because now people are starting to wander if police go to extremes in order to make an arrest and if they should be trained to better deal with these situations to not end up in violence.
Investigating S.C. Police Officer who Threw Student Across Classroom

China Abolishes the One-Child Policy

Chinese Parents with their Children

Yesterday China come out saying that they are going to "abolish its controversial one-child policy". They are now allowing people to have two children. The reasoning for this is because they are worried about the aging of their population and worried about labor shortages. This is a big change for China this was the biggest population control experiment in history.
Chila Lifts One Child Policy Amid Worries Over Graying Population

Third Presidential Debate Results

Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush

Tonight was the third republican presidential debate in Bolder Colorado. Marco Rubio was deemed the winner of this debate and took it up a step from the first two debates. Jeb Bush was said to be the loser of the debate which is bad for him because he needs a good night to get his votes up. Ted Cruz also did well and Ben Carson also had a bad night along with Jeb Bush.
Winners and Loser from the 3rd Republican Presidential Debate

Ben Carson Beats Donald Trump in New Poll

Ben Carson and Donald Trump

Earlier this week Ben Carson took the lead in the republican presidential candidate run in front of Donald Trump. Trump has lead for almost 4 months. Carson is leading with a mere 4% but a lead is still lead. Rubio and Bush are behind Trump but are tailing by quite a bit.
Ben Carson Beats Donald Trump in New Poll

Runaway Blimp

Picture of the Runaway Blimp

Earlier today a military blimp from Aberdeen Proving Grounds snapped from its cables and began flowing through the skies. This 243 foot blimp was followed and tracked by two F-16 fighter jets and eventually landed outside of Pennsylvania. There were no casualties only a few power lines were knocked down in the blimps path.
Military Blimp That Broke Free on the Ground in Pennsylvania

Intro To Media

1. Types of Media: TV, Movies, the Internet, Social Media, Newspaper

2.

Six media giants control 90% of the media we see and listen too. This causes the "allusion of choice" the idea that we control what we watch when in reality only 6 main corporations own almost everything. 

3. Students attend lectures and seminars to learn about to "professional ethics, the cultural politics of the 
media, the social role of the journalist, and the importance of the craft".
"Journalism students must successfully complete six required courses in their declared print or broadcast concentration, as well as three or Institute-approved or Institute-offered electives. All students in both concentrations must complete a second major in addition to Journalism." 
http://journalism.nyu.edu/undergraduate/general-requirements/

4. The things that are being watched by the watchdogs are, "personal scandals, financial wrongdoing, political corruption, enrichment in public office, and other types of wrongdoing." It guards the citizens of the U.S. to prevent the abuse of power and to warn citizens of people doing harm. 

5. I have never heard of the term liberal bias but if I was to guess about the meaning I would say that it is used to describe the leaning of the liberal views on different topics. 

Will Paul Ryan Run for Speaker?

Paul Ryan

Republicans want Paul Ryan to run for Speaker of the House after Boehner resigned. It is still unsure if he will be running however it is not believed that he will run. Ryan hopes to run for President one day and the position of Speaker of the House is not a stepping stone to the white house. The only way to work your way up to presidential ranking from Speaker to president is if the vice president and president are removed from office or pass. It will be interesting to see if Paul Ryan does decide to run and if he doesn't who will receive the position for speaker of the house.
Pleading for Paul Ryan

Speaker of the House

1. The Constitution only says that the House of Representatives chooses their Speaker it does not elaborate on the job of the Speaker. (Article I Section II)http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html

2.  Leadership roles that exist in each house of Congress

•      The Constitutional Leadership  

              - The Speaker of the House: the Constitutional leader of the House of Representatives and the                                                     effective leader

• The Party Leadership 

        -The Majority Leader: Represent the Minority
        -The Majority Whip: Count votes on issues and help the majority leader "whip up support"

• The United States Senate 

         -The President of the Senate: The Vice President of the United States and can vote in the case of a tie
        -The President Pro Tempore: Lead the Senate in the Vice Presidents Absence

• The Party Leadership of the Senate 

         -The Senate Majority Leader- "real" leader of the United States Senate, responsible for organizing the actives of the Senate
http://etech.northern.edu/blanchak/pols100/pols100lectures/congress.structure.htm

3. If both the Vice President and President were killed then the Speaker of the House becomes President.

4. Longest serving speaker of the house was Samuel Rayburn of Texas, serving for 17 years.
http://history.house.gov/Institution/Firsts-Milestones/Speaker-Fast-Facts/

5. Nancy Pelosi of California became the first speaker of the house in 2007.
http://history.house.gov/Institution/Firsts-Milestones/Speaker-Fast-Facts/

6. Newt Gingrich is famous for leading the so called republican revolution in the 90s, had to resign the speakership because of an ethics violation and served for 4 years from 1995-1999.
http://www.biography.com/people/newt-gingrich-9311969#republican-revolution

7. John Boehner just reigned from Speaker of the House, he served from 2011-2015. The reason for his resignation as said in The New York TImes, "For Mr. Boehner, who has been pressured throughout his tenure to push for deeper spending cuts and more aggressive policy changes than were possible with President Obama in the White House, seemed both exhausted by the fight and yet at peace with his final move: to leave rather than face a potentially humiliating fight within his party. “My first job as speaker is to protect the institution,” Mr. Boehner said. “It had become clear to me that this prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable harm to the institution.”." He did not feel that he could control the people and wanted to avoid government shut down. 
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/26/us/john-boehner-to-resign-from-congress.html?_r=0

8. Kevin McCarty was considered Boehners likely successor, but he is too moderate for many people. The conservatives would continuously challenge him and thought he wouldn't be able to lead through that total chaos to come. 
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/mccarthy-asked-how-he-will-differ-boehner-i-wont-be-tanned


9. Many republicans hope that Paul Ryan will enter the race for speaker because he is highly conservative. He is most likely not going to run.  
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/paul-ryan-house-speaker-pleas-214586

10. Paul Ryan is the chair of the Committee of the Budget and they determine how the money is spent and then summit the budget.
http://budget.house.gov

11. A congressional committee is a legislative sub-orgnaization in the United States Congress that handles a specific duty. There are over 50 communities in congress and over 100 if subcommittees are included
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_congressional_committee

12. He is not likely to run for speaker because he eventually wants to run for President and the transition from Speaker of the House to President is much harder than Congressman to President. 

13. I understand his reasoning for not wanting to take the Speaker job however I can see the flaws in his plan. He one day wants to become President and that is whats stopping him from taking the job, however he has so much of a following now for speaker and might not have that following when he runs for President. If he runs for Speaker now and gets it he has a relatively high job in politics but if he waits and runs for President he would have an even higher job in politics but also risks not getting the job. I think I would take the Speaker job if I was in Paul Ryan's shoes. 

14. The Speaker of the House is second in line of succession for Presidency after the Vice President, so in a way it is a stepping stone to the white house but only a small chance of actually getting to the white house from that position. One speaker of the house has ever risen to presidency, James K. Polk. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives

15. The congressional caucus is a group of members of the United States Congress that meets to pursue common legislative objectives. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_caucus. There are 76 caucuses'. A caucus is an organization while a committee is legislative and government based.  http://capuano.house.gov/issues/committees.shtml. 

16. The House Freedom Caucus is a "congressional caucus consisting of conservative Republican members of the United States House of Representatives." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_Caucus. It gives a voice to the people who feel like they are not represented by Washington. They are voicing they're thoughts and opinions on who they believe should become the next Speaker of the House. The House Freedom Caucus wants a conservative speaker and someone that can give them more of a say. http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/10/10/447464699/what-kind-of-speaker-does-the-house-freedom-caucus-want

!st Quarter Reflection

The thing that I am most proud of understanding this quarter is my new knowledge of the constitution and the first 10 amendments. I think that it is something that every american should know since it is the basis of our country, when in reality only a few truly understand it and I used to be one of them. I can now understand many more things in the polls and other political discussions. I have started to think of politics as less of a boring stuffy thing that I never followed to something that interests me and gives me a new view of our country. I will never forget the different ways the constitution can be amended because of the chart that I learned for the project. Politics are now not as confusing as they used to be to me and I hope with the continue of the class my knowledge will grow and my ideas will solidify. By the end of the class I want to be able to make my own decisions about politics and not follow my parents.

Hillary Clinton Email Scandals

Hillary Clinton

Yesterday Hilary Clinton came out to say that the new emails that were released were dated before she said that her private server was operational. She is quoted with saying, "There was about a month where I didn't have everything already on the server, and we went back, tried to recover whatever we could recover. I think it's also fair to say that there are some things about this that I just can't control. I can't control the technical aspects of it." Clinton is trying to fix the problems that these emails are causing because they are affecting her political poles. All of this is confusing because weeks ago she claimed that all the emails had been turned in. 
Hillary Clinton Explains Discrepancy In When She Began Using Private Email Server

Joyce Mitchell Sentenced

Joyce Mitchell

A former New York prison worker, Joyce Mitchell, is facing two to seven years in prison after helping two murderers escape. She pleaded guilty earlier this summer with providing tools to the murderers to help them escape from maximum security jail. The two escapes were caught, one was killed and the other was found wounded. Monday she got the sentence of the two to seven years in prison and is quoted with saying, "If I could take it back I would, but I can't".
New York Prison Worker Who Helped In Escape Faces Seven-Year Sentence

U.S. Born Poputlaiton

Citizenship and Immigration

Foreign born population has been growing very fast and "it could break a 125- year old record within the next decade." This information is from the Pew Research Center research that was finalized today. 13.7% of people living in the U.S. were born out of the country in 2015 and this number is projected to reach 14.9% by 2025. The previous highest was in 1890 with 4.8%. This is a "problem" talked about a lot with the presidential candidates, most are for adding more security to the borders and limiting immigration. It will be interesting to see what the country does under this circumstance and how they use these new numbers to make their points.
U.S. Born Population Nears High

Decline to Halt Execution

Angry Judge

On Monday morning a federal judge declined the "halt to the Tuesday's execution of the only women on death row". Her name is Kelly Renee Gissendanter and in 1997 was convicted of murdering her husband with the help of her lover. The lover got sentenced with life in jail while she is being sentenced to the death penalty. Kelly's lawyers tried to get the Judge to to consider a request that they filed in March, but the Judge did not take it. The lawyers plan to take it to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Judge Declines to Halt Execution of Female Inmate in Georgia

Volkswagen

Volkswagen Logo

Volkswagen is facing a huge scandal because they have been "cheating admission tests in the United States according to the Environmental Protection Agency." On some of Volkswagen's diesel vehicles they placed a device that can detect when they are being tested and change the performance to improve adults. This is a problem because the engines release 40 times more nitrogen oxide pollutants that is allowed in the U.S. Volkswagen has come forward saying that they messed up and has recalled over 500,000 vehicles. This problem is turning many peoples heads, not only Volkswagen owners but also environmental activists.
Volkswagen: The Scandal Explained

Republican GOP Debate

All Republican Candidates in 2nd GOP Debate

Last night, Wednesday September 16th, the second republican presidential candidate debate occurred. In past candidate debates and other things Trump has taken over and controlled the entire thing, however this was not the case last night. Of course he got angry and trying to but the other candidates did not just standby this time. Every candidate made good points and none had any major mess ups. Fiorina was the most surprising candidate last night. She stood her ground and even began to take Trump down with his own words. Trump held his tongue much more than usual last night and was seen as a little more cordial. It will be interesting to see where the polls stand after last night and if Trump's following declined and if Fiornia's grew.
Carly Fiorina Delivers As Trump Takes Some Hits In GOP Debate

Homemade Clock Thought To Be Bomb

Ahmed Mohamed's Homemade Clock

On Monday September 14th a freshman from Irvin, Texas was arrested and sent to juvenile detention after bringing a clock that he made to school and it being misconstrued as a bomb. Ahmed Mohamed a Muslim 14 year old who has a passion for robotics brought a homemade clock made out of a pencil case and a circuit board  to school to impress his teachers. Ahmed was taken to the principles office later that day to be threatened with expulsion. He was out of juvenile detention with no charge but his story caught the attention of the media and even made it to the white house. People are upset about the stereotyping as well as the jump to conclusion that was a completely innocent act of a young, innocent boy.
Muslim 9th Grader Ahmed Mohamed Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School

Russia Military Growing in Syria

Antonov-124 Condor

"First clear sign of offensive weapons arrive in Syria"-a no named defense official told Fox News on Monday. Russia's military in Syria has grown to now include the shipment of 6 battle tanks along with more troops. The pentagon has been keeping track of the shipments and so far there are a total of 15 Russian Antonov-124 Condor flights into Syria. Each of these contains a large supply of military cargo. All previous weapons that have been delivered to Syria could be seen as " defensive in nature" but this all changed with the arrival of the tanks. THe large Condor flights are bringing cargo for the Russian soldiers twice a day and this is starting to be seen as the buildup to helping aid the Bashar Assad's regime.
Russia Shipping Tanks Into Syria

US Planning to Accept Syrian Refugees

Syrian Refugees

There is talk that the United States is planning on accepting 10,000 Syrian refugees. Since the  civil war broke out over four years ago in the middle east around 1,500 migrates have been allowed to live in the United States. It is said that the White House has been continuously pressured to do more in the middle east than send money to help thousands of people so this is the solution that is being proposed. However to be allowed into the US you must be a Syrian that was already in the "pipeline" and have been waiting to get in. The reasoning behind this is that the Syrian refugees would boost the United States response. I'm sure many people will have a lot to say upon this topic as it becomes more well known.
Obama wants to admit 10,000 Syrians refugees in 2016

California Bill Passed for Assisted Suicide

California Cancer Patient FIghting for her Rights

On Friday California State Legislatures approved the bill for doctors to help terminally ill patients to commit suicide. California is the fifth state to adopt assisted suicide they accompany Oregon, Washington, Montana, and Vermont. The bill passed in California Senate by a vote of 23 to 14. The law however has changes and means. These includes that the law will expire in 10 years and must be re approved, a private consultant between patient and doctor, the patient must be responsive and answer yes three times before they are allowed to go through with the suicide. The reasoning behind assisted suicide is that it gives people a chance to take their lives into their own hands and "die with dignity". California is a big state that has a lot of influence so if assisted suicide is passed within California it is thought that many more will follow.
California Legislature Approves Assisted Suicide

Federalism

1. "Federalism is the mode of political organization that unites separate states or other polities within an overreaching political system in such a way as to allow each to maintain its own fundamental political integrity"Britannica

2. There are 195 nation-states in the world.

3. There are 25 countries in the world that have a federal system of government. These include Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ethiopia, Germany, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan,  Switzerland, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia,Herzegovina, Comoros, Malaysia,
 Micronesia, Nepal, Russia, St. Kitts, Nevis, South Africa, Spain, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Venezuela, Iraq, Sudan.

4. The countries that govern under federalism all seem to be relatively large in size and population such as the United States, Canada, Mexico, India, and Australia.

5. "A unitary form of government is a converse of federation and is a system in which all powers are centralized in the hands of central government."study lecture notes

6. More than 168 states have unitary governments. The 5 largest according to GDP are China, Japan, United Kingdom, France, and Italy. The 5 largest according to population are China, Indonesia. Bangladesh, Japan, and the Philippines.

7. The difference between unitary governments and federal governments is that power is spread in one and centralized in the other. In a federal government, some rights are given to independent states while in an unitary government is a central power, one high power controls the entire government.

8.

    This political cartoon is showing the idea that states want to benefits of federalism but do not want the federal authority that comes along with it. Thats why the quote on the bottom reads, "in two words, yes and no". They are saying yes the benefits of being able to be apart of the choices but are saying no to the governmental authority that they will have over them. 

                          

                                                                                9. The perspective of government involvement in this political cartoon is that government is too involved in personal lives.  This person is obviously going through cancer treatment and is using medical marijuana to dull the pain. The government is showing their view on marijuana even if it helping people.                                                                            









10.                                                                                  

In this political cartoon government is saying that they believe in federalism and believe that states should be allowed to make they're on rights. But then at the end of the cartoon we see California propose an idea to the government and they do not go for it. I think this is showing that government is much more involved than they would like us to think. 

11. The video uses the metaphor for a three layered cake to describe federalism. It shows that there are three layers to federalism local, state, and federal. As the layers get bigger the responsibilities in each group get bigger. 

12. 

This image shows that there is no layering system to federalism. All local, state, and federal affairs are equal and intertwined with one another. No one section out weighs another.

Women in the Army

On Wednesday the Army announced that "regardless of gender required personal will be allowed to attend all elite Ranger Course classes". This announcement came mere days after two women graduated from combat training. These two women "opened the doors" to other women applicants that hope to be on the same level as many men in the army. All requirements for the course will stay the same, females are held to the same standards as men. It is still unclear on how the transgender community will come into play on this situation but as it seems any gender will be taken in as long as requirements are made. I think that this is great because women deserve the same opportunities as men  but I like the idea that the requirements for men and women are the same to create equality.
Army allows women to attend elite Ranger Course classes

John Kasich Snapchat Filter

The political campaign is being taken over by the internet. Starting earlier this week presidential candidate Rand Paul came out with an app and another presidential candidate John Kasich also "showed up" on snap chat. Rand Paul created the app to expand his campaign into social media users. The app gives news, status on issues, and an easy accessible way to donate to his campaign. Josh Kasick turned to snap chat and made a new filter for the citizens of New Hampshire to promote his campaign. The filter read, " Kasick for president" with a picture of bacon at the bottom. He used snap chat to gather in the youth into the political campaign, because snap chat is a very youth oriented app unlike twitter where all ages are in us. I think that it is a very smart idea to start turning the political campaign to the internet. So much of today is done on the internet so why not campaign on there as well.
@016 Presidential Digital Strategy: Selfies, Laser, and Bacon

Protest for Abortion Right

On Wednesday Texas abortion clinics went to the Supreme Court to ask for a repeal of shrinking the abortion clinic amount from 40 to 10 throughout the entirety of Texas. The last major abortion case was in 2007, so the likelihood of this case being taken is high. The Texans fight is about the fact that Texas is the second biggest state in terms of population and with that comes around 5 million women reproducing a year. Out of that 5 million around 60,000 have abortions. They fought with saying that if the law was put into action that would only lead to the women being put into harm or finding unsafe ways to terminate the pregnancies. The legislatures of Texas are saying that they law needs to be passed because it is for the heath of the women, while the abortion providers are fighting back with saying that it is unnecessary and are just doing it to cut down on costs. The Supreme Court will rule soon if they plan to take the case or not.
Texas Abortion Providers Ask Supreme Court to Reverse Ruling on Clinic

Kim Davis

In Morehead, Kentucky on Tuesday a clerk refused to issue marriage license to gay couples saying it was against her religion. On Thursday Davis will go to court to see if she will be charged a fine or get jail time for her actions. Davis asked that she not be the one to issue same-sex marriage license because "it is a violation of my faith". Davis is going against the constitution that recently passed the right of gay marriage. I can see both sides of this conflict because Davis has the right to religion just as much as gay people have the right to marriage. If she feels so solid in her faith that she cannot will herself to issue marriage licenses to gay people I do not think she has to. However, I understand the frustration among the gay community and its followers, gay marriage is a new right that many people have been waiting on and now they are being denied. I believe that a balance needs to be found between the rights of Americans.
Kentucky clerk ordered to court after refusing to issue gay-marriage licenses

Missouri Transgender Student

A transgender senior in high school asked to be able to use the girls bathroom and locker room and is now being shamed for this. She started to identify as a girl last Febuary and over the summer got permission to use the girl facilities in her school. However, she dropped out of her P.E. class because she felt that she was not wanted in the girls locker room. The students at the school are not taking her request well, and on Monday organized a protest against it. She hopes that this will blow over because she "doesn't want her senior year to be like this". I can see both sides of the situation, on one hand a person just wants to be herself and be able to use what ever restroom she would like, but on the other hand it might make the other girls uncomfortable because it is something so new to them. I think that she should ultimately be able to do what she wants without getting bullied for who she is.

Missouri Teenagers Protest a Transgender Students Use of the Girls Bathroom