Blog 14 - The Parting...

This is your last blog ever for AP Government and Economics. This one is very simple. What did you learn this year that sticks out more than anything else? What suggestions would you make for improving this class? I want honest answers (I will not roll your cars, so you have nothing to fear :) ).

Blog 13 - Wikileaks One Week, Government Wanting Input the Next

Last week you wrote about Wikileaks and the loss of government information.  This week the government is seeking information.  President Obama promised in his campaign to be more open and transparent than previous administrations.  Many feel that he has not met this promise.  Many others feel that he is trying.  Follow this link to the White House;  read the statement and review the website (ExpertNet) for their objectives.  Assume the role of a hypothetical participant.  What would you submit to the President?

FYI - The Wal-Mart Case is Heading to the Supreme Court

Here's the story:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/12/06/scotus.gender.pay/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn

Thought You Might Like This

Blog #12 - Wikileaks

I'm posting the blog a little early this week because I want you to familiarize yourselves with the stories surrounding this issue on your own.  In other words, you will have to watch the news, listen to talk radio, read the newspaper, and search the Internet.  Once you have accepted the assignment, ponder the following questions as you formulate your responses.

1. Who is legally responsible for the wikileaks?
2. Is this a First Amendment issue?  Why or why not?  Explain your response.  (You may also want to incorporate the Pentagon Papers).
3. Is there a case to be made that this violates the Espionage Act of 1917?

Blog - November 26, 2010

Enjoy what is left of your Thanksgiving Break.  NO BLOG FOR THE WEEKEND.

A New Admissions Policy?

This is not a blog, but I saw this article and thought you might find it interesting considering you all are at that point in applying for college and getting your admission letters.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/19/AR2010111902997.html

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope you all enjoy the holidays.  See you on November 29th.

Blog #11 - Academic/Social Pressures

This blog will be a little different.  Last night while sitting around talking to several of my colleagues who are university professors we began to discuss the growing pressures placed on students by parents, community, and peers.  One of the members of the group actually has research interest in this area and she posed several questions to me regarding this issue.  I told her what I had witnessed from my students, but I also said I would pass along the questions to you guys and forward your responses to her.  So, from a very cold downtown Denver, CO (and not much snow yet) here are your questions.  Please discuss in general.  I'm not asking you to pour out your problems here, but just discuss in general.

1. First, do you feel any pressures to perform academically?
2. What pressures have been placed upon you to perform academically and by whom?
3. How do you meet your academic goals?
4. What affects have these pressures had upon you?
5. Have the pressures led you to cheat and take shortcuts? (you don't have to provide specific details - discuss in general).

You may also add any additional comments you wish.

Blog #10 - Justices Debate Video Game Ban

This week in a sometimes testy hearing, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court struggled to define how the First Amendment should apply to a new medium.  The medium - video games.  Read the article from the New York Times and weigh in with your opinion.  The justices ask several interesting and philosophical questions.  Address those questions and provide your own opinion as to whether or not you think the ban is a violation of First Amendment rights or a protection for American citizens. 

Blog #9 - A New Bypass

Last night while the storm raged and many of us were at the candidate forum, a group of concerned and interested citizens were in the PWB gym discussing the new eastern bypass.  Read the article from the Tuscaloosa News and provide your thoughts.  I'm not giving you questions this week, as you tend to answer my suggestive questions directly.  I would like to see you expound with your own thoughts.

TEST!!!!!!!!

Don't forget you have a chapter test on the Legistlative Branch.  I suggest you study your notes (PowerPoint) and read the book!

Blog #8 - Culture of Poverty

In the 1960s many social scientists performed research on poverty, and the government even sponsored a study on poverty.  Much of what was revealed was not pretty.  It still isn't pretty, but the interest is coming back.  Read the following article from the New York Times and discuss your opinions.  The overarching questions that I have pertaining to the article are 1) what should the national government and local governments do that they are not currently doing to solve problems and 2) what can the individual person do to make a difference and change things?

Blog #7 - Education of a President

As the mid-term elections draw near, I have been thinking about what President Obama promised to do, what he has gotten done, and not gotten done, and what a Republican controlled Congress may mean for him and the country, among other things.  Peter Baker wrote the article I have chosen for your blog this week.  It is a length article, so you may want to read it in the print view.  Write your response to the article.  You may want to think about Baker's position on the interview (how did he approach and conduct the interview - journalistic style).  Other questions you might want to consider when reading:

What has gone right for President Obama?
What has gone wrong for President Obama?
What does President Obama see as his "tactical lessons?"
What does he still need to do?
What will a Republican controlled Congress mean for him?

Parliament

I asked you to watch a clip of Parliament and just free write what you saw and your thoughts on how Parliament is conducted.  If you are not lucky enough to find them on C-Span, you can find plenty of clips on line.  I would like for you to post your musings here, but if you don't get a chance at least bring them to class on Friday.  If you find a clip online, post the link to the clip in your response.

No Blog

I think we have all been working pretty hard over the past few weeks.  In order to play catch up and rest a little bit you will not have a blog this weekend.  Enjoy your three day weekend.  See you Monday.

The Poverty Gap Widens

No blog on this one, just thought you all might find the article interesting.

Figures released Tuesday by the US Census Bureau reveal sharply worsening conditions for tens of millions of Americans under the impact of the economic crisis and the accumulation of vast wealth by a relative handful. Some of the figures, for particular states and regions, are simply staggering. Michigan residents experienced a 6.2 percent decrease in median income in the course of one year, from 2008 to 2009, while Illinois has suffered a 24 percent increase in poverty in the past decade. More than 36 percent of Detroit’s population officially lives in poverty. Overall, the 2009 American Community Survey reveals that median household income fell in the US nearly 3 percent between 2008 and 2009, from $51,726 to $50,221. This was the second consecutive year in which household incomes dropped. Median income declined in 34 states, and increased only in sparsely populated North Dakota. “Thirty-one states saw increases in both the number and percentage of people in poverty between 2008 and 2009,” reported the Census Bureau in a press release. “No state had a statistically significant decline in either the number in poverty or the poverty rate.” National median income is down 4 percent from its peak when the recession officially began in December 2007. Last year alone, noted the Washington Post, accounted for $1,500 of that average loss. The Associated Press, based on an analysis of the Census Bureau numbers, reports that the income gap between the rich and the poor “grew last year to its widest amount on record as young adults and children in particular struggled to stay afloat in the recession.” The US also has the greatest income disparity among the advanced capitalist countries. The proportion of Americans living in extreme poverty, defined as half the derisory official poverty line, or $10,977 for a family of four, rose from 5.7 percent in 2008 to 6.3 percent last year, an 11 percent increase in the number of people living in dire circumstances in one year. The 2009 figure was the highest level since the US government began tracking the very poor in 1975. To the everlasting shame of the American political establishment, the District of Columbia, home to the US government, has the highest proportion of residents living in extreme poverty of any state or district, 10.7 percent. The top 20 percent of the population, those making more than $100,000 a year, took in nearly 50 percent of all income generated in the US in 2009, while the 44 million people living below the poverty line received only 3.4 percent. “That ratio of 14.5-to-1 was an increase from 13.6 in 2008 and nearly double a low of 7.69 in 1968” (AP). The top 5 percent of the US population in terms of income, those making $180,000 or more, added slightly to their annual incomes last year. The most revealing statistics, however, relate to the wealthiest 1 percent, 1/10 of 1 percent and 1/100 of 1 percent of the population—no news about their gains in 2009 has been reported yet. New York, Connecticut, Texas and the District of Columbia, along with the territory of Puerto Rico, had the largest gaps between rich and poor. Similar income gaps, reported AP, existed in major cities such as New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Boston and Atlanta. Some 22 percent of Mississippians live in poverty, the highest proportion of any state’s population, and only five states (Alaska, Connecticut, Maryland, New Hampshire and New Jersey) had fewer than one in 10 residents living in poverty in 2009. Other social phenomena reported by the Census Bureau are associated with job losses and declining incomes: • Median property values for owner-occupied homes dropped 5.8 percent in 2009 when adjusted for inflation. More homes are empty, as the share of vacant units has grown every year since 2006, to 12.6 percent in 2009. Fewer people are moving, either from their current homes or their current states. Home ownership declined for the third year in a row to 65.9 percent, from a peak of 67.3 percent in 2006. The average size of a household living in a rental unit has increased since 2006. • People are delaying marriage, especially in the working class. For the first time since the government began recording such data, less than 50 percent of women 18 and over were married in 2009. The share of adults 25 to 34 who have never been married climbed to 46.3 percent in 2009. “The decline in marriage is greater among the poor and less educated” (USA Today). • Americans have fewer cars, as the percentage of homes with more than one automobile declined in 2009. • The poverty gap between young and old has doubled since 2000. Official child poverty is now 21 percent, compared to 9 percent for older Americans. The figures in 2000 were 16 percent and 10 percent, respectively. • The AP reports research indicating that “lower-skilled adults ages 18 to 34” suffered the “largest jumps in poverty last year as employers kept or hired older workers for the dwindling jobs available.” • The number of US households receiving food stamps rose by 2 million in 2009 to 11.7 million, the highest level on record. Forty-six states experienced increases in food stamp use. As noted above, the US Midwest has been especially ravaged by the current economic slump. More than 9 million people in the region lived in poverty in 2009, 1 million more than the year before, and up from 6.3 million in 1999. Four million people in the Midwest, once a global industrial and economic center, live in extreme poverty, an increase of half a million in 12 months. Nearly 3 million children live in poverty in the area, an increase of almost a third in a decade. Median household income in the US Midwest declined from $54,600 in 1999 to $48,400 in 2009. Eight million people in the region have no health insurance. The Detroit News noted Tuesday that, “Michigan families have been hit the hardest by the recession, with incomes plummeting and poverty rising at rates seen nowhere else in the country.” Median household income in the state has dropped nearly 21 percent since 2000, or almost $12,000, the biggest decline in the country. The ranks of the poor swelled in Michigan by 159,000 in 2009 alone. The number of children living in poverty in the state rose to more than half a million in 2009, or 22.1 percent. Approximately 30,000 single-mother households with children in Michigan were poor last year. The state’s national ranking in household income fell from 16th in 2000 to 35th in 2009. According to US census officials in Detroit, with whom a WSWS reporter spoke, while the overall poverty rate in the city is 37 percent, for those under 18 it is 51 percent. In neighboring Ohio, the official poverty level reached nearly 16 percent in 2009, or one in six residents. Nearly 1.5 million people in Ohio are now counted as poor, up from 1.2 million in 1999. Seven percent of the population (800,000 people) lives in extreme poverty in the state, an increase of 45 percent. Nearly 200,000 more Ohio children were poor in 2009 than in 1999. Median household income fell more than $7,000 over the same period. In Indiana, 14.4 percent of the population lives in poverty, or some 900,000 people, up from 560,000 in 1999. The number of those in extreme poverty in Indiana in 2009 (400,000) was up 60 percent over 1999 (250,000). The child poverty rate increased by 68 percent (from 11.7 to 19.7 percent) in the decade 1999-2009. Poverty increased among Illinois residents by nearly a quarter during the same 10-year period. In Chicago in 2009, more than 10 percent of the population lived in desperate poverty and 31.2 percent of children were categorized as poor. Florida experienced the second sharpest decline in household income in 2009 after Michigan, 5.7 percent, while in California in 2009 one in seven people lived in poverty. In the face of widespread—and growing—economic suffering, the American political establishment remains cold and indifferent, concerned only with defending the wealth and privileges of a tiny minority. As of late Tuesday afternoon, neither the White House nor any leading Democratic Party website carried a response to the Census Bureau figures, which register a portion of the impact of the greatest economic crisis since the Depression of the 1930s.

Global Research Articles by David Walsh

Blog #6 - A Nation of Nincompoops

I read this yesterday and at first I found it laughable.  Then when I pondered upon it, I came a little bit concerned.  These are the children who will one day be in charge.  Read the article printed in the Tuscaloosa News and respond to the prompts.

1. What is your opinion?
2. What might this mean when these children matriculate to the real world?
3. Do you have a nincompoop story to share? (optional) 

Just so you will know if you are a nincompoop or not, here is the definition obtained from www.dictionary.com

Nincompoop - noun - a fool or simpleton.

Blog #5 - Velma Hart, Typical Middle-class American

This week, take a look at this video.  Two questions are posed.  One, does Velma Hart have a valid point? Does President Obama respond well to her point?

On a different front, you are that next generation he is talking about.  Do you feel that he truly represents your best interest?  Why or why not?

Blog #4 - Bentley and Sparks square up for a debate

The first of two televised college campus debates between gubernatorial candidates Robert Bentley and Ron Sparks will be held Thursday night (9/16) in the Moody Music Building at the University of Alabama.  Unfortunately, you will have to either watch it on TV or listen to it on the radio.  Only UA students and faculty received the free tickets. 

It will air on Alabama Public Television and Alabama Public Radio, beginning at 7 p.m. Debbie Elliott, a UA graduate and National Public Radio correspondent, will be the moderator.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

Either watch or listen to the debate and answer the following questions:

1)      What are their stances/beliefs on bringing revenue to the State of Alabama?

2)      What is their opinion regarding the question of gambling (bingo/lottery)?

3)      How do they feel about the system of education in Alabama?  How do they propose to solve the problems?

4)      Pick two additional issues that are debated and discuss them in your own opinion(s). 

Blog #4 - MTVs Teen Mom lands on cover of US Magazine

Your blog this week comes from a different angle.  US Magazine has placed teen mom Maci Bookout and her son on its cover.  You may have the magazine and read the story or at least have heard about it.  If you have not, do the easiest thing and Google the story.  The questions I pose to you this week:

1. What message does this send to teenagers?
2. Is this a situation, the explotation of teenagers and teenage parenthood, that should involve government intervention?  Explain your reasoning.  If you answered yes to this question, what would you recommend? 

Blog #3 - Obama Marks End of the War in Iraq

On Tuesday night, President Obama spoke to the nation from the Oval Office.  Your blog this week is about that speech.  Read the following article or watch the video online via CNN, C-Span or YouTube.  After doing the background work, answer the following questions.

1. What formal declaration did President Obama make in his Oval Office address to the nation Tuesday night?
2. What did the President emphasize about the war in Afghanistan?
3. a) How did Republican leader Senator Mitch McConnell respond to President Obama's speech? b) Do you agree with Senator McConnell's response? Explain your answer.
4. What domestic policy did President Obama address in his speech last night?
5. How did the President's remarks to the troops at Fort Bliss differ from statements he had made when he was a presidential candidate? (see paragraph 11).

Liberal vs. Conservative

The below link will redirect you to a website that not only defines Conservatives and Liberals, but explains their beliefs and a variety of topics.

http://www.studentnewsdaily.com/other/conservative-vs-liberal-beliefs/

Blog #2 - De Tocqueville - Democracy in America

The first thing you must do is read the article you picked up from me.  Then, respond to the following.

To quote De Tocqueville, "The entire man is, so to speak, to be seen in the cradle of the child."  He also says that nations must be viewed in the same light.  What does he mean by this?  Are there advantages and/or disadvantages to this?

If De Tocqueville were to come back to America today, what do you think he would write?  Would he be disappointed in what he saw?

Blog #1 - August 20 - Controversial Issues

Since this is your first blog, I will not be providing an assigned reading from which you are to answer questions, as is usually the task.  This week I will start you off with two very interesting and potentially controversial questions.  Answer them with your opinion and back them up with facts from the Constitution.

1. What is your opinion on a Mosque being built near (two blocks away) Ground Zero?
2. Should the President be allowed to be a guest on talk shows, such as The View and David Letterman?  Why or Why not?  What impact does this have on the Office of the President?

Test Post

You should be able to access this blog and post a comment.