Is Governor Going To Affect Olympic Bid?

The Olympic bid committee had a meeting earlier this week to discuss the final plan for Chicago before it is due in February. The plan was really affected by some recent news. Last week, Illinois governor, Rod Blagojevich was arrested. One may not think that this arrest means much to the 2016 Olympic bid committee, but it does. The Governor was going to aid in the financial section for the committee, however he was not able to complete it before the arrest. The committee has re-worked several things into the plan, including the use of more parts of Chicago, like the south side, and creating permanent structures for the games. Many people think that with the arrest Chicago will receive negative attention from the International Olympic Committee, what do you think? Does the governor’s arrest affect the chances of having the 2016 Olympics in Chicago?

Spend Or Save?

The United States is in an official recession. The global financial crisis has been escalating for about a year now along with the decline of the economy and stock market. Many industries, like the auto industry, have had to cut spending and are dealing with tight budgets for the end of 2008 and 2009. With the holidays right around the corner, I am beginning wonder what will happen to the economy? Will it decline even further, because of a lack of consumer spending? Or, will people spend excessive amounts just because it’s the holiday season? I believe that most people will not spend like they have previously spent on past holiday seasons. This is because many Americans have lost jobs along with a lot of invested money that was in the markets. Not only are the consumers suffering, but also the lack of spending has created many losses for store and business owners. The recession has created bad holiday financial situations for everyone.

What do you think will happen this holiday season? What will the consumers do? Spend, or save?

Thanksgiving!

Every other year my family and I travel to one of my grandmother's houses. We will stay home for the long holiday weekend and spend Thanksgiving with my father's side of the family or drive to Pennsylvania to see my mother's family. Each year we share new traditions between the two families. Although we always have new traditions, some always stay the same between the two different families. Both families always say what they are thankful for before eating, help each other cook all day and play family vs. family soccer in the back yard in the afternoon. I am happy that throughout each year these traditions have always stayed the same, but I am also glad that my family creates new ones for each year. What are your families Thanksgiving traditions?

Auto Industry Due For A Crash?

Recently with the stock market falling and the global financial crisis, many industries have begun to run into trouble. The auto industry is one. GM and Ford motors have asked the government for a federal bailout. They believe that receiving money is the only way for them to stay open. Both companies have been cutting spending, letting employees go, and delaying future products. Even doing all this is still not enough to keep the companies afloat in 2009. That is why the auto industry wants to be included in the Bush administration’s $700 billion financial rescue plan. The CEOs of GM and Ford flew on the company private jet to Washington to beg for money. Does this seem a little ironic? If they are trying to cut spending why don’t the CEOs fly commercially and take taxis instead of limos? It makes no sense. However, the companies say that with the bailout they are going to change spending habits but how can one be sure? AIG was given bailout money from the government earlier this year. After receiving the money the top members of the company flew to California to spend a weekend in a nice resort to ‘talk things over’. The company spent ¾ of their bailout money getting massages, playing golf and trying to ‘figure out how to fix their financial problems’! That is crazy! This shows the government that giving bailouts isn’t necessarily going to help the company. I think that the auto industry should be given money to help with their financial problems. However, the government can not keep handing out money left and right so the CEOs of GM and Ford need to change their spending habits for 2009. What do you think? Should the government fund the auto industries bailout?

No Gray Area

You either love it or you hate it. There is no in between. Lately, many more people have been protesting or supporting the war with Iraq because of the presidency. Protestors of the war can’t wait for president elect, Barack Obama, to take office so that the troops can start coming home. Some of these people believe that you either support or protest the war. You can never just be neutral and in between. I agree with this because you should be able to pick your side and fight for what you believe in. Although picking a side does not require you to be radical, it does require some sway away from being neutral and towards your side. This idea goes along with Arthur Miller’s book, The Crucible. Danforth, the judge for the witchcraft trials, wants everyone to understand, “that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between” (87). He is talking about his workers attacking the court and he wants them to know that they are either with them or against them. He makes it clear that there is no gray area. This is like the war issue. One has the choice to be ‘with it or against it’. Do you think there can be a ‘gray’ area in issues today?

Change Is Coming

The campaign slogan of Barack Obama, the 44th president-elect of the United States, is “change we can believe in.” The day after Obama was elected president he was working the next morning on the issues of America. He is not in the white house until January, and he is already working hard towards a brighter future. Working right after the election makes me believe that he will make these changes while in office. Although I am confident he will change what he has promised I am not so sure how long the American people think it will take. Obama is planning on removing the troops out of Iraq immediately after taking office. This plan, along with other ideas for change, will take a couple of years to complete, because one cannot remove thousands of troops all at once. I know that with Barack in the white house change is coming; however, do the people of the United States have the patience to wait?

Civil Liberties

This week in class we looked over the examination of Anne Hutchinson during her court trial in Newton, MA in 1637. We were asked as a class to determine if civil liberty issues were brought up in the trial. My group discovered that Anne was denied the freedom of speech and the right to peaceable assemble. In the trial, Anne was charged with maintaining, “a meeting and an assembly in your house that hath been condemned by the general assembly as a thing not tolerable.” (Page 35 in manuscript). She was denied the freedom of speech and assemble because she gathered men in her house and held prayer and bible group meetings. Anne was not the only person to be denied civil liberties. In Arthur Miller’s book, The Crucible, the girls were caught dancing in the forest at nighttime and were all condemned for witchcraft and conjuring of the devil. These girls were left without their rights to freedom of expression. Although in Anne’s case she was exiled whereas in the dancing girls were given a chance to confess and face jail time or be hanged. I think that they shouldn’t have had their civil liberties taken away. The right to freedom of speech, assemble and expression are very important and they shouldn’t have been denied those rights. What do you think?

First Amendment

In class earlier this week we discussed the first amendment and its rights. We took a ‘quiz’ where we were given ten scenarios that stirred up controversy in the Supreme Court. In groups, we decided if the situation should be limited or protected by the First Amendment. We discussed our decisions and then found out what the Supreme Court ruling was. Yelling fire in a crowded theater was one of the more direct scenarios. I believe that many people would consider this to be limited by the first amendment. Although some of the situations were a little less direct, because only part of the setting was protected while the other part was limited. For instance, an adult wearing obscene clothing in a public place is protected where as a student is not allowed to wear the same item to school. I understand that this should be split, but I believe that the amendments should be set and not have exceptions. How is one supposed to know what is protected and what is limited when they are so many exemptions?

Palin on SNL?

Recently Saturday Night Live has been creating skits about Sarah Palin. The producers have recreated interviews and debates that are humorous and make fun of the vice presidential candidate. Many people know who she is but they also want to learn more about her. Since SNL is making skits about her many Americans are tuning into the show, which is skyrocketing the show’s ratings. These skits are also keeping Palin in the spotlight, which is good for her campaign but not the way that SNL is portraying her. She was not very well known before McCain choose her to be his running mate. This is making it hard for the American people to know whom they want to vote for. They tune into SNL and see humorous skits about a relatively unknown candidate while they still don’t know the real Palin. On the other hand it is very helpful for SNL although I can’t help but wonder when is it going to stop? The producers at SNL cannot write about Palin forever. In fact, I think that after the election in November many people will not want to watch skits about a candidate when we have an actual vice president. What do you think?

Crash of 1929 Again?

Recently the stock market has been decreasing in value. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has been losing points daily and almost every stock price is down. Earlier this month some people predicted this 'crash' and sold their stocks thus driving prices down even further. In order to prevent the market from sliding down more, President Bush signed a $700 billion bail out plan for the banks and market. This did not help the way everyone had hoped and as a result Iceland went bankrupt and the Dow dropped even more. With this terrible economy and a presidential election going on, what do you think the current president should do? What about the presidential candidates? What should we do to prevent a crash?

Biden vs. Palin

In class on Friday we talked about the Vice Presidential debates between Biden and Palin. The TV station split the screen so we were able to see both candidates while the other was talking. While Palin would be talking Biden would be taking notes. While during Biden's speech, Palin was smiling at the camera. We also noticed that Biden would talk about McCain and not Palin because he did not want to be seen as a gender biased, mean old guy that was attacking a women. All the while Palin was smiling like crazy and trying to avoid Hillary-like behavior and aggression.

Secret Messages

Do biased article titles reveal secret messages? After analyzing many article headlines authors have revealed to us that the headlines and articles they write contain secret messages. Along with secret messages you will find certain words that reveal the author’s perspective or bias. While detecting bias in historical texts about various Indian tribes we found that using words like ‘massacres’ and ‘destroys’ gave a negative connotation. Although the author uses such negative words to describe the white settlers he also makes claims that are pro settler and pro Indian as well. He uses the phrase, ‘horses change the Indian culture’. He is stating the Indians are improving. If the author wasn’t pro Indian he would have used other, stronger, words to make his claim rather than using negative words for both the settlers and the Indians. The author uses certain words and phrases that reveal his bias towards the settlers and the Indians.

Election Ads

Now that the race for president is heating up, we are seeing more and more negative ads on the tv. Each morning I will see ads from each candidate. McCain will write one highlighting the negative aspects of Obama and the same with Obama about McCain. Not only do the two candidates write about the other, they also talk about themselves. In one pro McCain ad, he talks about his prisoner of war story and how he loves America. Do you think that the negative commercials with persuade voters?

Did They Get What They Deserved?

Today in class we watched the movie documentary, Grizzly Man. The film followed Timothy Treadwell into the Alaskan peninsula every summer for 13 years. Many see a resemblance between Mr. Treadwell and Chris McCandless from Jon Krakauer's novel, Into The Wild. Each boy passed away after living alone and off of the land for a long time. Timothy lasted 13 summers and Chris lasted 113 consecutive days. Even though they lasted so long, some people would call Timothy and Chris idiots for leaving their lives and going to Alaska to live. Since both boys died out in the wilderness some people think that they got what they deserved. However, Timothy spent 13 consecutive summers with wild grizzly bears and never suffered any injuries. Along with Chris who ate a poisonous root mistaking it for a very similar looking edible one. After lasting so long, the two made one mistake which in both cases resulted in death. After lasting so long without any mistakes, do you think that Timothy and Chris should be considered idiots for traveling into the wild and never returning? Did they get what they deserved?

Speeches With Hidden Messages

For years, presidential candidates have been using certain tactics in their speeches that send hidden messages to their audiences. These past couple of weeks the Democratic and Republican National Conventions have taken place. John McCain recently turned 72 this past August. Many Americans fear to vote for a presidential candidate who is quite old. Although McCain is older than the 47 year old Obama, he isn't going anywhere. At the Republican convention, during his speech, McCain's 96 year old mother was shown on camera. She was very healthy and looked great. This hidden tactic shows that McCain still has a long time to live if his mother is 96 and living healthy. Also, in John McCain's speech, he talks about his misfortune in North Vietnam as a prisoner of war. He was at a low point in his life, nearing death, when he redeemed himself by staying and fighting for his country. In his speech he says that, "my country saved me, and I cannot forget it. I will fight for her as long as I draw breath." He continues to say that he is going to fight for everything this country needs. McCain redeemed himself in Vietnam and is now going from having misfortune to good fortune. John told his life story as a prisoner of war hero in the Vietnam war. His goal was to have his audience know his biography by the last night of the convention. He used a personal narrative to help him show his audience that he has and will continue to fight for his country. Do you think that using hidden messages in speeches will help the presidential candidate?