Bon Voyage Blagojevich

This past week, Illinois senator, Rod Blagojevich was removed from his position. The vote was unanimous for the removal of the former senator. Not only was the senator removed by an impeachment trial, but also he is not allowed to hold public office in the state again. The senator's name is being taken off of toll road signs as well. The newly appointed senator, Pat Quinn, will have a lot on his plate when he takes over for Blagojevich. He will be starting during a financial crisis and Illinois is also months behind on their payments. Illinois has been known for its corrupt politics previously, however there is a new hope that with Quinn, Illinois will be able to turn itself around. Recently, I went downtown to the second city comedy club. It was a great show and there were many jokes aimed at Blagojevich and how corrupt Illinois is. I am hoping that Quinn will change Illinois so that the state isn’t at the center of political jokes around the country. What do you think will happen? Can Quinn help Illinois?

Water Crisis

This past week in class we watched American Future: American Plenty. It is a documentary about how the world’s supply of fresh water is running low because of global warming and mainly overuse. Many Americans use much more water than needed and this is adding to the global water crisis. Currently, one in five people do not have access to fresh water, and in many countries there isn’t any available fresh water. This once plentiful resource is running out. The picture above represents places in the world where water was once plentiful and now is running low. When resources run low, conflict and wars breakout. Fighting wars over water access is not something the world needs in its future. What do you think will happen if the supply of fresh water keeps decreasing?

March The Mart

Today I worked the fundraiser, March The Mart. It is a walk from the 18th floor to the 2nd floor of the Merchandise Mart in Chicago to raise money for Special Olympics. I helped walkers stay on the right pathways and volunteered my time to help a great cause. It was so much fun, and very interesting! It was a little time consuming preparing for the big day, although it was very worthwhile in the end. I would really recommend anyone who wants to work with Special Olympics or walk next year to do March the Mart. It was very enjoyable!

'First' Dog for the 'First' Family

The Obama family is moving into the White House in just over a week! Although many big events are all happening at once the first family still found time to search for the first dog. The search has been narrowed down to two different breeds: a Portuguese water dog and a Labradoodle. Although the president elect has a lot to deal with currently, with the inauguration and the move, he still has made time to look for a new family pet for his daughters. Recently, the New Yorker magazine had a picture of Obama interviewing a dog. It is supposed to be different dogs competing to become the first pet. I think that it is funny because he is trying to form his cabinet and team by conducting interviews while in the picture it shows him interviewing a dog. What do you think about this cartoon?

Billion Dollar Bailouts? I Thought We Were In A Recession!

I went to New York City for the first time over winter break! It was so much fun being able to walk around and see many famous buildings and avenues. While my family and I were walking around the city, I noticed that people were shopping and spending money left and right. For a county that is in a recession, not many people are cutting back and spending less. This surprised me even more when I saw newspaper articles on the street dealing with the auto industry bailout plans. Congress is giving General Motors and Chrysler a few months and $13 plus billion dollars to rescue the failing auto industry. Not only is congress giving the companies money now, but also in a few months more money will be available for them to use. The auto industry will either flourish from the emergency bailout money or will continue to fail throughout 2009. I think that auto industry in the United States will benefit shortly from the bailout money before having to make more job and factory cuts and close down more dealerships. This is because for most of 2009 the U.S. will be in a recession and consumers will not be spending as much as before. I believe that giving only one industry bailout money while our country is in a recession and in debt already is only going to make the global financial crisis worse.

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?