Is Prayer Allowed in Public Schools?

In Texas, a federal appeals court overturned a judge’s rulings that prayer would be allowed during the graduation ceremony taking place. Governor Rick Perry and state Attorney General Greg Abbott felt that prayer should be allowed at a graduation ceremony. The lawsuit was first filed by an agnostic family, and they claimed that their son would suffer “irreparable harm” if anyone prayed at the graduation ceremony. The crazy thing about it is that Congress convenes everyday with a prayer. The First Amendment allows Americans to practice free religion. So why can’t people pray in school and public events? This shouldn’t be restricted from being done. There will always be controversy with this opinion. I think that there should be prayer and the people who don’t participate in it will not pray, that’s all.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/06/03/texas.school.prayer/index.html?hpt=us_c2

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Sarah Palin Running for President?

Sarah Palin is trying a new strategy with her campaign party. The reason why she didn't show up in Gettysburg was because she feels that her campaign schedule should be confidential from the public. By this, all of the media is trying to keep up with Sarah. She probably did this to get noticed by this stunt. While talking to reporters she told them to expect the unexpected if she runs for the White House. Overall Sarah Palin is trying to change her approach in the election because no one wants to vote for a candidate that doesn’t catch their attention in some way.
Some people believe that Sarah Palin is taking away from the Republican’s main focus: which is to beat President Obama. Sarah Palin doesn’t seem likely to win the elections.
PREDICTIONS FOR 2012 ELECTIONS
A couple of years ago some thought that Bobby Jindal would be the next best thing for the Republican party and would possibly become the president.
REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENT FOR 2012 ELECTIONS
Mitt Romney
Sarah Palin
John Thune
Tim Pawlenty
Bobby Jindal
Scott Brown
Ron Paul
Mitch Daniels
Jeb Bush
Newt Gingrich
Mike Huckabee
Mike Pence
Paul Ryan
Gary Johnson

On the website below, there is more insight on the thoughts and predictions about the outcome of the 2012 elections.
http://www.elect2012.com/political_blogs.html

It connects back to class because earlier this year we studied and watched the outcomes of the mid-elections and how the candidates were trying to receive votes. When mid-elections were over there was a shift of power in the House of Representatives and the Senate. But we’ll find out the outcome of the elections in 2012.

Questions You Need to Know for the AP Exam

Chapter 4
1.What are the elements that the book identifies with our political culture? What is the difference between a political culture and a political ideology?* America has a written Constitution * separates powers between three co-equal branches of the national governmentPolitical culture is a distinctive and patterned way of thinking about how political and economic life ought to be carried out, but political ideology is a more or less consistent set of beliefs about what policies government ought to pursue.2. What is the difference between equality of opportunity and equality of results?Equality of opportunity is when people are given an equal chance to succeed at something, where equality of results is making sure that people achieve the same result.4. Summarize what the book says about the "culture war" in America.America's culture war mainly deals with abortion, gay rights, drug use, school prayer, and pornography. There are two cultural classes in the U.S.: orthodox and progressive. The Orthodox class believes that morality and religion ought to be of decisive importance, while the Progressive class believes personal freedom and solving social problems are more important than religion.5. What is the difference between internal and external efficacy?Internal efficacy is the ability to understand and take part in politics, and external efficacy is the willingness of the state to respond to the citizenry.Chapter 71. What was the Founder's attitude towards public opinion? Give examples of how we see that attitude reflected in how they wrote the Constitution.The Founders basically felt that the Constitution wasn't made based on the people's public opinions. The Founders created a government that would: form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty.2. Identify three problems in assessing public opinion.Three problems in assessing public opinion are that the information could be wrong, there could be a poll error, or the polling could be unfair. 3. The book gives four factors that affect political attitudes. Identify those four factors and summarize the conclusions about how those factors affect people's political attitudes.Religion, Gender gap, schooling, and information are four things that affect political attitudes.Religion: If you have certain beliefs and the government supports something you don't believe, that person will not support that cause in any way.Gender gap: Women are more likely to vote Democratic than Republican, and men are more likely to vote Republican than Democratic. This affects political attitudes because its a division in sex and political parties.4. The book discusses cleavages which may divide various demographic groups ideologically. The authors give three factors that divide people's political beliefs. Identify those three factors and summarize the conclusions about the correlation between these factors and people's political opinions.Three factors that divide people's political beliefs are Race and Ethnicity, Region, and Social class.Race and Ethnicity: race and ethnicity have a huge affect on public opinions. Younger African Americans will most likely agree with Democrats. Latino public opinions described as: "small, disproportionately oriented toward immigration, and relatively silent on the influence of gender"Region: regions do affect the way people vote on issues and policies.Social class: public opinion and cleavages cannot be determined because no one can set up a system to define each person in America.5. What are the two reasons the book gives why activists or the political elite tend to have more ideological consistency than those who aren't active? What effect does this ideological consistency have on the difference ideologically between politicians and voters?How frequently people use broad political categories to describe their own views or to justify their preferences for various candidates and policies. To what extent the policy preferences of a citizen are consistent over time or are based at any one time on consistent principles. It doesn't have an affect.6. How do elites influence public opinion? What are their limits to their ability to shape public opinion?Elites influence public opinion because elites are at the top and in the public's eye, so people tend to follow their ideas and thoughts. They really don't have limits.Chapter 81. Why does the book say that it is incorrect to sat that Americans don't vote as a result of apathy?Because there is a low percentage of adults registered to vote.2. What did Congress pass to increase voter participation and what has been the result of that law?Congress passed the motor-voter law to increase voter participation and the result was that many people signed up. (In the first two months, 630,000 people became voters.)3. How did states try to keep blacks from voting? Summarize those tactics and how they gradually were changed. The states kept blacks from voting by literacy tests, poll taxes, the grandfather clause, and the white primary. Literacy test- a requirement that citizens show that they can read before registering to vote.Poll tax- a requirement tat citizens pay a tax in order to register to vote.Grandfather clause- a clause in registration laws allowing people who don't meet registration requirements to vote if they of their ancestors had voted before 1867.White primary- the practice of keeping blacks from voting in the southern states' primaries through arbitrary use of registration requirements and intimidation.It changed because the Civil Rights Movement and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. 4. What political effects have there been since the Nineteenth and Twenty-sixth Amendments?* people in the District of Columbia can vote in presidential elections* people between the ages of 18 and 21 can cast ballots5. Summarize the arguments as to why voter turnout has declined.* decrease in popular interest in elections * weakening of the competitiveness of the two major parties6. Make a list of the generalizations that the book makes about which groups tend to be more or less likely to vote.Campaigners: they vote and they like to get involved in campaign activitiesCommunalists: like campaigners in social background but they don't like the conflict and tension of partisan campaignsParochial participants: who don't vote and stay out of election campaigns and civic associations but will contact local officials about specific problems(personal)

Words to Except on the AP Exam

*Political culture- a dsitinctive and patterned way of thinking about how political and economic life ought to be carried out.
*Political ideology- a more or less consistent set of beliefs about what policies government ought to pursue
*Equality of opportunity- giving people an equal chance to suceed
*Equality of results- making certain that people achieve the same result
*Civic duty- a belief that one has an obligation to participate in civic and political affairs
*Progressive culture- a belief that personal freedom and solving social problems are more important than religion
*Orthodox culture- a belief that movality and religion ought to be of decesive importance
*Political efficacy- a belief that you can take part in politics (internal efficacy) or that the government will respond to the citizenry (external efficacy)
*Gender gap- difference in political views between men and women
*Political elites- persons withs disproportionate share of political power
*Random sample- method of selecting from a population in which each person has an equal probability of being selected
*Sampling error- the difference between the results of random samples taken at the same time
*Exit polls- polls based on interviews conducted on Election Day with randomly selected voters
*Literacy test- a requirement that citizens show that they can read before registering to vote
*Poll tax- a requirement that citizens pay a tax in order to register to vote
*Grandfather clause- a clause in registration laws alowing people who do not meet registration requirements to vote their ancestors had voted before 1867
*White primary- the practice of keeping blacks from voting in the southern states' primaries through arbitrary use of registration requirements and intimidation
*Australian ballot- a government-printed ballot of uniform dimensions to be cast in secret that many states adopted around 1890 to reduce voting fraud associated with party-printed ballots cast in public
*Activist- people who tend to participate in all forms of politics
*Middle America- the middle class in the U.S.; regarded as a conservative political force
*Silent majority- an unspecified large majority of people in a country or group who don't express their opinions publicly 
*Social status- relative rank than an individual holds, with attendant rights, duties, and lifestyle, in a social hierarchy based on honour and prestige
*Christian Coalition- a political action and evangelical piety movement based in Washington, D.C., was formed in 1989 by the Rev. Pat Robertson to provide him with a national vechile for public advocacy
*Liberal- favoring proposals for reform, open to new ideas for progress and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded
*Conservative- favoring traditional views and values; tenidng to oppose change 
*Libertarian- liberal principles or doctrines
*Populist- a supporter of the rights and power of the people
*New Class- a term used to describe the privileged ruling class of bureaucrats and communist party functionaries which typically arises in a Stalinist Communist state
*Libertarian- liberal principles or doctrines
*New Deal Coalition- the alignment of interest groups and voting blocs that supported the New Deal and voted for Democratic presidential candidates from 1932 until the late 1960s
*Quota sample- sample group of people used for research purposes who have been selected at the discretion of the interviewer
*Focus groups- a small group selected from a wider population and sampled, as by open discussion, for its members' opinions about or emotional response to a particular subject or area, used especially in market research of political analysis
*Instant responsibility polling- when a president or other political figure makes a speech that is nationally televised the cable networks will devote extensive air time to analyze the address and audience reactions, citing a range of polling data
*Push poll- a political campaign technique in which an individual or organization attempts to influence or alter the view of respondents under the guise of conducting a poll
*Bandwagon effect- a psychological phenomenon whereby people do something primarily because other people are doing it, regardless of their own beliefs, which they may ignore or override
*Refusal rate- the percentage of people contacted who decline to participate in the research study
*Tracking poll- an opinion poll in which the same sample, such as a small number of voters, is questioned periodically to measure shifts in opinion
*Skewed question- phrased in such a way that a certain answer is more likely to be given
*Context effect-  the aspect of cognitive psychology that describes the influence of environmental factors on one's perception of a stimulus
*Question framing- statistical surveys are used to collect quantitative information about items in a population*Saliency- the quality of being salint
*Help America Vote Act 2002- goals: replace punchcard and lever-based voting systems, create the Election Assistance Commision to assist in the administration of Federal elections and establish minimum election administration standards
*Motor-Voter Law 1993- required state governments to allow for registration when a qualifying voter applied for or renewed their driver's license or applied for social services
*Fifteenth amendment- prohibits each government in the U.S. from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's, "race, color, or previous condition of servitude."
*Voting Rights act 1965- outlawed discriminatory voting practices that had been responsible for the widespread disenfranchisement of African Americans in the U.S.
*Nineteenth amendment- prohibits any U.S. citizen to be denied the right to vote based on sex
*Twentysixth amendment- permits citizens in the District of Columbia to vote for Electors for President and Vice President
*Disfranchisement- the revocation of the right of suffrage of a person or group of people
*Demographics- characteristics of human population

Libya Military Operation BREAKING NEWS LATEST RARE VIDEO

Heading for Libya: Video of jets loaded with weapons at US military base

Obama and Libya

The leader of Libya is Muammar Gaddafi. There is a civil war occurring at this time because the people want to be free of his rule. Gaddafi has been ruling for 42 years. Protesters want a new leadership process and a democratic government. This battle began on February 15, 2011. After this outbreak, Gaddafi was having trouble controlling this problem. Gaddafi called in military forces and cencorship and the blocking of communications was put entact.From this point on Gaddafi is trying to kill innocent people and protesters. Rebels began to create forces against Gaddafi. One force is named the Transitional National Council based in Benghazi. The International Criminal Court warned Gaddafi and the members of his government may have committed crimes against humanity. The United Nations Security Council froze the assets of Gaddafi and 10 members of his inner circle and denied their rights to travel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Libyan_uprising

Obama feels that we as a country should get involved with Libya to help those people. But he will not send in military forces. Obama has authorized armed forces to begin a limited military action in Libya in support of a international effort. The International Community gave an offer to Gaddafi to seize fire immediately, which would stop the war; but Gaddafi ignored the offer. The "no-fly" zone has been enabled and will be led by international partners. A broad coalition is coming together of many countries to save Libya. And overall Obama will keep the U.S. informes on what is happening in Libya. Basically America and other coutries are coming together to help Libya get under control.

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,2062337,00.html
http://americanintelligence.us/index.php?/blog/1/entry-20252-the-libyan-war/

Tsunami in Japan 3.11 first person FULL raw footage

RT footage of Japan Kesennuma 'ghost' port city smashed by tsunami

Japan's Epidemic

Just a couple of weeks ago near Tokyo, Japan there was an earthquake then the area was hit by a tsunami, which caused many nuclear power plants to leak nuclear fuels. Officials say about 350 people are dead and 500 people are missing. The Fukushima nuclear power plant was effected by the tsunami. Many people had to leave their homes becasue of the leak of nuclear residue and water damage. Officails also said that in the Fukushima power plant a boiling water reactor at the plant was running much higher than normal after the cooling system failed. Hilary Clinton (U.S. Secretary of State) said that the U.S. Air Force had flown emergency coolant to the site of the problem, but Japan wanted to handle the situation on their own. Many homes and buildings were destroyed from the water.
The Japanese government says that highly radioactive water has halted repair work and plutonium has been found in the soil. Since Fukushima's cooling systems were down, radiation has leaked into the air and sea. Prime Minister Naoto Kan believes that the situation is unpredictable but he will get the problem tackled.Workers can only pour water on exposed rods near the plant because if it is exposed to the air it will cause more problems. Radiation was found in the tap water in Tokyo and that infants shouldn't drink the water.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/business/a/-/world/9096164/japan-on-maximum-alert-over-nuclear-leak/

America is trying to help Japan while China sits back and doesn't care. Towns like Austin, Texas is working to help Japan by having JASGA collect an emergency relief fund. "JASGA" stands for Japan'America Society of Gretaer Austin, Inc.

Kids from Sommerville Elementary School in Ridgewood, New Jersey made paper origami cranes to support the victims in Japan. To read more about this article click link below.
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/usa/Schoolchildren-Make-1000-Paper-Cranes-on-Behalf-of-Japan-Victims-118666469.html

Where information was found:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12709598

Secretary Arne Duncan Calls for Honest Answers About Education Reforms

President Obama US Department of Education Webcast

The Department of Education

The secretary of the Department of Education is Arne Duncan. Barack Obama appointed Arne as secretary on January 20,2009. Just recently Duncan worked with a board of education to raise the percentage of questions students must answer correctly to be deemed proficient on the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) and the Michigan Merit Exam Tests. Duncan likes these changes becasue even though most students pass state tests it is still basically a failing percentage; students have to get 40% or more questions right to pass these tests. By making the percentage higher students will at least try to acheive and score better scores on these tests.
In Texas, teachers are worried about a massive lay-off due to pay cuts. Texas has until September 30 to receive $830 million in federal emergency funding to prevent teachers from lossing their jobs. But Texas is having trouble with actually receiving this money in time. Duncan is trying to help the state. Arne Duncan is a really dedicated secretary who wants to improve education all over America. Barack Obama and Arne work together to save the public school systems for the future generations.
Connection to class: This was on the list of cabinet departments. The mission statement is to strengthen the Federal commitment to assuring access to equal educational opportunity for every individual; supplement and complement the efforts of states, the local school systems and other instrumentalities of the states, the private sector, public and private nonprofit educational research institutions, community-based organizations, parents, and students to improve the quality of education; encourage the increased involvement of the public, parents, and students in Federal education programs; promote improvements in the quality and usefulness of education through Federally supported research, evaluation, and sharing of imformation; improve the coordination of Federal education programs; improve the management of Federal education activities; increase the accountability of Federal education programs to the President, the Congress, and the public.

Information was found from multiple stories and articles from google.com

Presidential Press Conference on the 2012 Budget

President Obama Unveils his Budget to Win the Future

Obama's Plan for the Future

Obama feels that the Budget Reform is extremely important and is needed to save the economy. Both political parties amd members need to work together to achieve the overall goal: to help the economy. This proposal budget promises $1.1 trillion in deficit savings over ten years. Repubilcans have critized the President for avoiding entitlement reforn in his budget, but Obama is glad that they have critized him.
The budget cut that was passed by the House of Representatives cut total funding for nuclear security programs by more than $600 million. The reason for this cut is that Barack Obama wants to encourage other nations to not use nuclear weapons, because mainly Barack dreams of a world without weapons.
In Barack's budget proposal for 2012, he calls for an estate tax with a $3.5 million exemption and a tax rate of 45%. Republicans are majorly opposed to an estate tax level like this. Obama's proposal will go into effect in January 2013. It cannot be confirmed whether the estate tax reform he has proposed is a tax increase or decrease.
Congress still cannot decide on what to do about the budget proposal for the 2012 fiscal year. Many Republicans are against Obama's changes to the government, and plan to go against his changes.
Barack Obama's budget plan will trim the federal deficit by cutting or eliminating about 200 federal programs.
For both the political parties there has been many opinions about the President's choices and ideas. At one point the Democrats were against Obama's tax cuts. Then the Republicans were agreeing with the President. Now the Republicans feel totally different. So the President cannot find support from one group and not get critized by another.
This connects back to class because under the Executive Office of the President there is the National Security Council, the Office of Management and Budget, and the National Economic Council. The National Security Council advises on military and foreign policy; the Office of Management and Budget prepares the national budget and is the largest office; and the National Economic Council advises with economic planning.

Information was found from multiple stories and articles from google.com

State of the Union

The main reason for the State of the Union is to allow the President to present important information to Congress about things in America. Before the State of the Union was called this it was known as the Annual Message. During the 2011 State of the Union, Barack Obama covers many things occurring in America and he what he plans to change. Some things that he talks about in his speech are the unemployment rate being 9%, how he wants to save the environment for future generations, and to decrease the spent money being wasted on wealthy companies and oil companies. Barack notes that public education needs a big change for the better. College graduates need to have access to more money to pay off student loans, and how high school students need to have more opportunities for the choice of college( post secondary). He also talks about other things like illegal immigration, the creation of jobs, and Congress working together. Overall Barack gave a wonderful speech.

Republicans and Democrats
Mostly everyone agreed with what Barack wanted to change, but republicans might like the change and will decide to do something about it in a totally different way compared to Democrats. The hardest thing to accomplish is having both parties to work together. Democrats really supported Barack's ideas and plans.

To me, President Obama had a good speech. All the things pertaining to local education seemed like good strategies and plans to follow by. Our president just wants the best for our country, and we shouldn't look down on his ideas until we as a country know these changes will not work for the better. Change can be a good thing.

videos connected to this blog:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKm7sPRYL_U

Education in America

ABC News: Are America's schools failling our kids?

Why isn't education interesting to kids now-a-days? Kids mainly feel that teachers are boring and that what the teacher is covering in class doesn't matter to them. A high percentage of kids would tell you straight forward that they don't like school. Fifty-seven percent of parents give an "A" or "B" to describe their child's school as the best or good. But truly this is wrong. Public school systems can go above and beyond with teaching children the things they need to know before college. The excuse that public school systems give is that they don't have enough money to improve the learning skills of the childern. There shouldn't be excuses, but ajustments. Some parents have had experiences with their children where they can tell as parents that the child(ren) is not at his/her highest ability in learning. Over many years districts give national tests to students to compare their abilities with other students in other countries around the world. Children in other countries seem to be way ahead of children in America. But even though we know that this is true we don't know the first thing to change to catch up with other countries in academics.

Obama's thoughts on education
Barack Obama feels that we ahould prepare the next generation to be the best. He says that people dealing with children today like parents and teachers need to take the responsibility to make these students work harder, and also to get the children motivated to learn. To change the public school systems he wants to 1.) Improve k-12 schooling, 2.) Expand access to higher education, 3.) Make sure our chilren are prepared for kindergarten. A quick description on these three solutions are: for 1.) Barack wants new teachers, to reform No Child Left Behind so we can support the schools instead of punishing them. 2.) He wants to reduce the cost of college for those who really want to attend, and to have more grant money available. Higher education should be concidered. 3.) To get more programs like Head Start for kids that are soon going to kindergarten. That is an important time in a child's life. Mainly Obama is for change in the education system.

Democratic views on education
Democrats plan on making college tuition tax deductible,to expand Pell Grants, and to cut student loan interest rates. They support public schools including charter schools and magnet schools. Education is the top priority in Democrat presidency. Democrtas have high expectations for education and students. Character is also a good key in education.

Republican views on education
Republicans are trying to take the country back to a time before public education. Republicans promote school choice and home-schooling. They support voluntary student-initiated prayer in school. Republicans want to limit the role of federal government in education, and to increase the access to higher education with saving accounts.

videos connected to this blog:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUiBfAJ1lrk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LB_WKmPyIpQ