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
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
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
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
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
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)