cartoon number 4?

Avatar People-COLOR
By Joe Heller - Green Bay Press-Gazette * Posted 12/19/2009 12:00:00 AM

http://politicalcartoons.com/cartoon/9d24f8b8-2b4e-493f-b071-c3c7a773ee7e.html

This cartoon is an awesome one comparing our nation right now to a awesome new movie that came out called AVATAR. This is a joke saying that people are seeing a movie with pale skinny people fighting for their lives when they could look out in the cold and see families with no home, no food, and especially no health care. This is a reflection of the health care bill being not adequate or not being pushed through congress fast enough. This is also a reflection of the welfare of people of our nation today and how we have a lot of hungry and homeless/ jobless people in our nation. It is a serious issue and we need to remember this for the holidays.

Favorite HOliday

my Favorite holiday used to be easter. I loved looking for eggs and coloring them and eating them then eating peeps and getting an easter basket. But Easter's fun died out along with the increase in my age. Now, i would have to say my favorite holiday is either Christmas or Halloween. I cant really decide between those two. I love christmas because it comes hand in hand with winter break which also entails New years. So overall, during christmas, i get presents, get to give presents to my family, i dont have to do any household chores or jobs or yardwork, i can eat all day and watch movies and do anything. Then open the remainder of presents later. And sometimes if it is an awesome present, i get to use it that day, and that makes the day awesome. And the food and nog is sweet too. For halloween the day and night is awesome too. There are pumpkins, pumkin seeds, and candy! candy is so good and you can indulge yourself. And there are usually parties and the girls dress up in scandalous outfits which is awesome. Or you can go trick or treating. All the houses are made up to be spooky and everywhere you go there is a theme or spookiness. GOOd times. And those are the best holidays. Both times, you get to spend time with family and friends, which i cant think of a better way to have fun.

Political cartoon 3

http://politicalcartoons.com/cartoon/8b15fbf8-a410-415c-a21b-dcdd313cd42c.html

This is a political cartoon depicting the current status of the health care bill in the senate. It pokes fun at the indecision and amount of time being used. It is called the Health Care Lights and is by Nate Beeler from The Washington Examiner and was posted on 12/11/2009. Luckily, it also adds a little holiday spirit to the whole entire debate. The donkeys represent how the democrats want to simply send in and okay the current bill just because they are tired of debating it, even though they know it has flaws. They are saying they just want it put in because its good enough and they want to take a break/recess. I agree with the cartoon saying how it is lame for the democrats to just give up and take a break with a not so awesome health care reform bill. This is important and they need to get it right and not just break out the awesome tasting egg nog.

Political cartoons

religious symbols post

This year i have heard a lot about all of the controversy going on about religious symbols in public areas. I think in loudon or sterling or somewhere near here, i heard on the news that they were debating in the city hall whether to ban the annual christmas tree that they put up at the center of town because it was upsetting some people. I think this is stupid. If jewish or muslims want to express their view and not see the christian's christmas tree, then they need to stay away from the town hall and they need to put up a big menorah or Quron book in their yard. Heck, even petition to put it up at town square. But freedom of religious is what founded this country and so we need to understand that these decorations are just expressing that. FOr the holidays, there should in fact be hundreds of decorations of any holidays for any religion during the winter. The more decorations the better. But if anyone wants the tree to just be put down, they have serious problems. its not all about them.

2nd political cartoon

http://www.caglecartoons.com/images/preview/%7B80728ed5-8710-411b-bc4e-cbfcfb4f15ff%7D.gif

This cartoon describes the health care debacle going on it the senate. The cartoon is drawn by By Nate Beeler from The Washington Examiner and was Posted on 12/9/2009 of PoliticalCartoons.com. The message of the cartoon is that although many people are disapproving of the health care reform bill, saying it is too costly, the government finds it necessary to spend that kind of money, otherwise nothing would get done. The bill costs 848 billions dollars, which is a huge reason of concern. I understand the message of the cartoon, but i dont completely agree. The bill could always be improved upon, more time would just be needed. I think that is what the bill needs though--improvements.

Health Care debacle

The united states has been struggling over the long lasting debate over a good system of health care. It is a difficult topic to overcome. Recently, the House approved of the legistlation with a vote of 220 to 215. This vote is too close. i think with a vote this close it means that the bill isnt a good one, and not a favorite among the people. Now though, the debate has been moved for the senate to approve. The bill waiting approval is a whopping 848 billion dollars. I dont know where we are getting this cash. More debt probably, or swindling china. The debate will be difficult though, becasue a small group of conservatives within the Democratic caucus have not made the votes needed to avoid a Republican filibuster. With a filibuster, nothing will get done. I think that this bill is too controversial to be a good bill, and more time is needed to find a better one. It is an important matter, and forcing it through cant be a good idea.

What about the new principal?

I have already heard who our new principal is and i am pretty excited. Nevertheless, our principal should have certain qualities which set him or her aside from all other administrators. First of all, they should be very, very good with people. They should be able to work cooperatively with other groups and be very understanding. Second, they should be a great leader, who knows and can set correct priorities for himself and the school. I think they should be able to interact in a friendly manner and not be an old loser or a really big nerd goody goody. They should also be very into school sports and not be a nerdy person, for the pride and spirit of herndon doesnt lie in the acedemics, but in the sports!

Week 1 cartoon

http://www.politicalcartoons.com/cartoon/460aa068-4cdd-43b7-ad43-2645ddbb5f34.html

Obama china debt
By Cardow - The Ottawa Citizen * Posted 11/20/2009 12:00:00 AM
© Copyright 2009 Cardow - All Rights Reserved.

This is a political cartoon explaining America's and China's relationship with one another. It is drawn by Cardow and was published on PoliticalCartoons.com. The baseline issue mentioned here is how America is in Chinas palm right now because of our current domestic issues. First of all, China has America "courtsying for them" because we are in grave need of their plethora of money. China has a lot of this money because they are a exporting nation. we on the other hand, import a lot of our stuff. Therefore, domestically, we have little extra money. China has a lot though, and when we need some, we ask them for help. Here, this cartoon shows and explains that America, more specifically President Obama, is being totally controlled and ran by the Chinese indirectly. This i think is a correct message, because we rely so much on their money for borowing. I think we should find a different way to decrease the National Deficit and NOt have to rely on China so much, for it could bring up probelms in the future.

current event 6

Trick-or-Treating at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

By Jeff Zeleny

President Obama had a bunch of kids and military personnel be able to come up to the house on Halloween night. The kids were able to roam the lawn and the obamas handed out candy and the military personnel were able to party on the first floor of the white house listening to some old records. This media event is a nice one to do. Kids were selected from elementary schools from across the district. This was thoughtful. Unfortunately Barack didnt want to dress up, so he was boring and just wore a sweater. A couple of other weirdo's like the white house press secretary (darth Vader), dressed up too. Mrs. Obama was Cat woman. Barack made a comment on how he thinks cat woman is sexy or something creepy. This was a nice thing to do for the children and stuff. Everyone loves halloween.

Who is my favorite president?

my favorite president of the United States of America is George Washington. George Washington was the greatest leader in our nation's history in my opinion. We as a nation were able to rally under his leadership and accomplish many goals that were considered impossible at the time. He served as Commander-in-chief of the continental army for the entire session of the Revolutionary war. He seemed to have to ulterior motives in his head except for the well being of all persons in the new country. When the states were trying to ratify a constitution also, during the meetings of the continental congress in philadelphia, washington oversaw the entire convention and was the only one allowed to write anything down and stuff. he was given huge amounts of respect and power. This was because people trusted him because he was a good guy. He also went to go bathe at Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, and had his own special bath. Thanks George.

current event 5

H1N1 Widespread in 46 States as Vaccines Lag

By JACKIE CALMES and DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.

The H1N1 virus has been sweeping along quite nicely. Obama recently declared it a national Emergency. He now is allowing hospitals to set up special sites to accept and treat patients with it, and he is allowing, with a waiver for the patient, to be sent to special treatment facilities or other hospitals if a surge of patients come. The swine flu is getting crazy, and people are looking for vaccines. Obama and hospitals exclaim that the epidemic has nothing to do with the shortage of vaccines though. Only 16 million doses of the vaccine were available now, and about 30 million were expected by the end of the month, and the expect to have around 200 million by the years end. Hospitals are told to accept all people despite medicare or medicade issues. People are so willing to get the vaccine that people are ending up lying about if they are pregnant or not in order to get a priority for the vaccine. They are trying to get more doses out to the public, but doctors and specialists have to grow the strain in eggs, so there is a limit on the speed of growth. Numbers of the flu death are high just like the swine flu, but the problem here is that it more affects young people whereas the regular flu affects more old people.
I will try and get a vaccine.

The Virginia Governors Race?

Alright so this is what's goin' down right now. Republican Robert F. McDonnell holds a seven-point lead over Democrat R. Creigh Deed, 50% to 43%. This was based on a survey held on October 12. The winner will most likely, and i say, be McDonnell. Overall i think he will win because americans are looking for some counter balance with a democratic president. He was bombarded for some social views he showed in his college paper that he wrote in 1989, but come on, that will pass because it was yearrssss ago. Earlier in my blogs, the biggest problem facing virginia was the transportation and McDonnell proposed to fix that problem mainly. This is a big help, especially when Deeds stumbled during the debate and people came to the conclusion that he would raise taxes to fix the transportation problem. Overall, six percent of the vote has not been counted yet in my percentages in the first sentence, but still, those wont help Deeds. You can give the deed of ownership of governors office to McDonnell, Deeds.

What is the biggest political issue facing the state of Virginia?

The most heated debated issue is Virginia now is the Transportation problem. Everytime you hear about a problem or crash with the metro or metro buses or anything, you know that means one thing... huge, huge backups. But that is just one of the more obvious problems. Although a lot of Virginia tax dollars go to the transportation, it is often being used to help all around the state, a lot of which is not nearly used as much as it is in the northern virginia region surrounding DC that would potentially support commuters. They often try to extent Metro railways also, but insufficient funding deters that from happening. Roads up here are frequently used and deteriorate much faster than down in the southern part of our state also. When it takes hours for commuters to get to their job, you know there is room for improvement.

current event 4

Dollar’s Decline Brings Troubles

By NELSON D. SCHWARTZ

Published: October 18, 2009

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/19/business/global/19dollar.html?hp

Due to economic crisis among other factors, the US dollar, which used to rule the currency world as one of the most valuable currencies, has declined recently over the years. Specifically, the dollar’s 16 percent decline since March has made headlines. Last week the dollar neared $1.50 against the euro, compared with $1.25 in March. This brings about many consequences. For the bad part, this drop could force American consumers to get used to paying more for many imported goods as well as trips to their favorite vacation spots. There is one good side of this downturn though. The positive part is that this in fact helps american exporters. A weak dollar could be beneficial to the American economy by helping long-suffering manufacturers, rebuilding a stronger industrial base and improving exports even if it makes life harder for trading partners around the world, especially in Europe. Over the long time, a weaker dollar could close the United States’s long-running trade deficit, helping decrease the gap between exports and imports, and this could mean American products can become more affordable overseas. While some people find this change helpful or necessary for balance, critics say it points to a weaker america. While the White house says they support a strong dollar, they currently make no progress in doing so.

Grade: B

Well, i can say strongly that the task Obama had to take on was a daunting one. Plus we all can see, he hasnt done anything terribly wrong. But some good things! opening foreign diplomatic talks, and even a Nobel Peace prize! wow, i didnt even know you could get a piece prize for doing that, what ever it is he did. peace or something. What he did right intially is that he filled america with confidence. He gave us exactly what we needed to hear in the midst of a war and economic crisis. And the bold moves he has made thus far have shown he does have good intentions. His budget and the stimulus package invested money in the right places. his ideas helped with improving health care and education, rebuilding our roads and bridges, creating green jobs, getting universal broadband, and generally helping the low-income and working class folks most affected by our economy crisis. This is all good stuff. i am just no sure its an A work yet, but hes not doing bad stuff, he wants good stuff done. A small problem was the bail out and how it didnt help banks restructure that much to be sufficient small banks. But overall, hes passing, and close to pretty good.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-lux/obama-rolling_b_192748.html

current even 3

Blogtalk: Gays, Bloggers and Pajamas

By Maria Newman

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/blogtalk-gays-bloggers-and-pajamas/


As we all know, gay rights are extremely important, especially to a country where freedom is meant for everyone. But recently there has been some drama after the Sunday Gay Rights march. There is talk about how the government cares little or none to the interests of this political group, meaning they think of the group as merely a fringe group. On NBC, John Harwood, senior White House correspondent for CNBC was asked whether the White House was worried about the march and he responded, "

Barack Obama is doing well with 90 precent or more of Democrats so the White House views this opposition as really part of the Internet left fringe.

For a sign of how seriously the White House does or doesn’t take this opposition, one adviser told me those bloggers need to take off the pajamas, get dressed, and realize that governing a closely divided country is complicated and difficult."

Well this wasnt a hit for the bloggers/gay rights activists. They began blogging in their pajamas in a huge collaborated rant of how the government really doesnt care about gay rights. Mr. Harwood, in an attempt to fix the problem of what he said, then stated how he wasnt only attacking gay rights activists, but rather anyone who complains about an issue in government. This response didnt really even help him either, but rather insulted all the rest of the bloggers in the world.
What i have to say is to not put down people with an opinion, especially when its the people's opinion, and especially when youre in politics. I believe people can blog when ever they want in their pajamas, too, about gay rights(oh yeah) or about any other boring topic. The politician, although he didnt want to, should have just kept his mouth shut and relished the truth to himself silently in his head. But its good to know the gays are stepping forward tough.

One political issue i am interested in?

Of course, one main issue of politics that interests me in many ways is the issue over gay marriages. The issue is that even today in the free world of America it is still illegal, frowned upon, or not recognized for same sex couples to get married. I happen to live in a unique situation. My neighbors to the right are a gay female couple, and to the right is a gay male couple. They are both really great people. And the lesbians are some of the coolest bunch i have ever met--just overall great people. The lesbians were also married somewhere in the carribean or something. Knowing such people and being friends with such people makes me serious about how this group of humans, doing no harm to anyone, are being restricted in the United States to their access to pursuit of happiness. The idea is wack. There can be regulations on gay couples adopting kids and stuff, but overall they should not be restricted. I also am looking out for my bicurious future.

current event 2

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/us/politics/04jobless.html?ref=politics

Over the recent years, American economy has been plummeting. We are now in a recession, and almost on the brink of a depression. Recently, with bailouts and what not, legislation has been pushing towards pulling the United States out of this downfall. Unfortunatley, 9.8 percent from 9.7 percent and that 263,000 jobs were lost last month. This called for even more changes, and the president was first to speak of the change. In legistlature, they voted to help out the unemployed in America by extending enhanced unemployment benefits past December, continuing a tax credit for workers who have been laid off and extending a tax credit for first-time home buyers. An extended bonus congress hopes to add also is that they add 13 more weeks of benefits to states with an unemployment rate over 8.5 percent. Over the last couple years, the situation has improved, but still needs more help. Democrats are most fervent about this situation. Some critics say Obama's stimulus package wasnt good enough, also.

I think this is a good thing that legislation is acting on this problem. People with no jobs cant help out economic situation. Money is needed by people. I do believe people are giving Obama a hard time about this and his stimulus. The job at hand wasnt an easy one for the rookie president. But overall i think the article was good.

Early Word: What to Do About Iran By Janie Lorber [blog]

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/the-early-word-4/

With Obama as president, there was some relief to many citizens of America. But the task at hand was a daunting one. Obama would now how to deal with affairs in Iran. Ever since September 11th, 2001, the nation has been tormented with the idea of a foreign terrorist threat, and even so, a threat that a foreign country has weapons of mass destruction. The problem is that Iran still is a threat. The U.S. is still not sure whether they have uranium enrichment program which they are secretly hiding. Obama's idea was to now start diplomatic talks with Iran discussing the situation, something that has not happened in over 30 years. In the talk, Obama plans to tell Iran that they must allow inspectors to check documents and the construction of the clandestine plant. They must do this within weeks, or military action will take place. Certain supporters are pushing the Iran sanctions bill through congress hoping to get it signed. Obama said that he is willing to do any actions necessary.

I think this is a rational idea by the president. He makes an informed decision that an action must be taken, but he tries to move forward with this issue in a passive-aggressive manner. He wants to be firm, but does not want to seem hostile. He knows if he is to get anything done, it will have to be in a sort of cooperation with this nation of Iran. It is good to see that new diplomatic talks are being held after so many years.

I think this is a good article, it is shorter so i dont lose interest, but it is effective in displaying the authors point. They have background, as well as appeals to authority. So it works for me.

Which political party are you most closely aligned with?

I would consider myself more closely aligned with the Democratic party, although I have not paid much attention to politics before. Though when certain ideas are brought up, I have always been fervent in my beliefs. These beliefs Ive had, had more than not been aligned with democrats. I think this is due to the idea that Democrats tend to be more socially liberal, which i believe is far and honest way to approach things. With a conservative, republican societies, certain aspects would be banned or frowned upon, even though the whole story is not known. Such ideas are like that of abortion. I believe that abortion should be legal. I'm not saying that it is okay to have an abortion everytime a woman becomes stupidly pregnant, for such an idea should not be taken lightly, but i do say that someone should not have to live with such a regret or mistake, say if she was raped or something. The choice should be ultimately up to the citizen. No one should have to go through their life without the justice and freedom to be as happy as possible. Also, another problem, is that gay marriage is frowned upon mostly from republicans. This also makes no sense to me. In the land of the free, it should not matter what someone else is doing to make themselves happy as long as they do not hurt you. The idea of wanting to stop someone else's happiness is sinful. Also, Democrats believe in economics from the bottom up. The idea is the economy will improve if the people at the bottom do better. This leads to the welfare system, minimum wage, and universal health care. This method makes more sense to me than a top down system. Along these lines, i find myself more associated with the beliefs of democrats.