QUESTION OF THE WEEK #4

Hmm. It's hard to say what my favorite holiday memory is.  I think that I just have a tradition in particular that I really enjoy every year...and that would be making Chistmas cookies.  Ever since I can remember, my family has always made Christmas cookies, because of course Santa needs cookies on Christmas Eve, and because we love to eat them!  The process all begins when my mom makes sugar cookie dough and lets it sit in the fridge for two days.  After the long period of waiting (and stealing lil pieces to eat of course :)) my sister and I take out the dough and the flour and the sprinkles and the frosting and the cookies cutters.  Let me just tell you right now, that making cookies is not a simple task.  It's taken years of determination and practice to perfect the process of rolling out the dough with rolling pins to the perfect consistency and then the careful placement of the cookie cutter shapes on the dough in a way that will produce the largest number of cookies from that particular piece of rolled-out dough.  It takes a steady hand and a stubborn desire to succeed to remove a cut piece of dough from the cookies cutter in a way that won't ruin the shape.  Many deformed shapes have been deserted over the years I've spent practicing.  However, the fun doesn't end when the dough is cut out and put on the the cooking sheets.  Sprinkles are the world's most messiest and fun creation.  It's impossible to create a batch of awesome cookies without having sprinkles strewn across the kitchen floor--but hey! It's the best part!  After the cutters have successfully cut, the sprinkles have been sprinkled, and the oven has been preheated begins the excruciating but extremely good-smelling wait for that buzzer to ring.  However, it's worth it every year to get a little taste of those yummy yummy cookies.     

Political Cartoon #4

1.  This cartoon was drawn by Taylor Jones.
2.  The key objects in this cartoon are obviously President Obama, the presidential podium, meant to represent his authority and the fact that he's giving a speech, the mission exhausted banner hanging in the background which symbolizes the grueling effort of the war in Iraq, and the speech bubble, which represents that the exhaustive mission is not yet over.
3.  The main techniques this cartoonist uses are caricature and ridicule.  He makes Obama look a bit ridiculous by drawing his ears and head huge and the rest of his body relatively small.  The speech bubble emphasizes how much more ridiculous he is by making it seem as though he doesn't even know the condition of the economy and the unemployment rates of the country.  The huge banner really emphasizes the fact that the struggle for these soldiers is not yet over.
4.  The cartoon deals with the recent end of the war in Iraq, therefore the soldiers coming home, and also it deals with how poorly Obama is handling the unemployment and economic statuses of the country.
5.  The cartoon is basically saying that all these soldiers are going to be coming home from the war in Iraq, which in itself was a very grueling and tiring mission, and expecting relief and relaxation and some benefits of some kind.  This won't be the case however.  Their mission is going to continue to be grueling and tiresome because when they get home they'll have to find jobs when there basically are none to be had in the U.S. right now.  The cartoon infers that they're also returning to a president who hasn't taken much initiative in locating solutions to the jobs problem and just doesn't really care.
6.  I think the cartoonist is trying to get across that Obama isn't really making much of an effort to create more jobs and better the economy, especially in this time now when our soldiers who should be recieving benefits are returning home.  He basically thinks the government, especially Obama, is really messing up right now.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK #3

The president's job approval rating hasn't gone up from 43%, and his disapproval rating hasn't gone down from 50%.  The prospects are looking pretty grim for Obama from a historical point of view.  Aside from Jimmy Carter, Obama holds the lowest approval rating of all  presidents in office this century during their third year in office.  This looks bad from this view.  However, this number is up from Obama's approval rating of 41% in August, and he's remained steadily at 43% for a few months, which is actually a good thing.  His campaign team really needs to be focusing on getting the approval rating up by December however.  Despite his extremely low approval rating, Obama seems to be competing perfectly well in the polls about the general election against the Republican candidates so far, though this may be just because he appears to be a better option than the terrible consortment of candidates the GOP has come up with.  He still has a possibility for reelection.  Though the president with the lowest approval record who's been reelected lately was George W. Bush with a 48% approval rating, which is still a large percent away from the number that Obama has right now.  In order to have a solid chance at reelection he needs to work on getting his approval rating up.    

Political Cartoon #3

1.  This cartoon was drawn by Milt Priggee.
2.  The key objects in the cartoon are the train, meant to represent Herman Cain and his campaign to be the Republican nominee and the beautifual woman standing in front of the train blocking its path, which is meant to represent the woman with whom Cain was having an affair with.
3.  The cartoonist uses mostly caricature.  He doesn't really ridicule Herman Cain, he just gives the straight facts.  He amplifies the characters to make them dominant features and to exaggerate their meaning.  He doesn't use satire either really.
4.  The cartoon clearly deals with Herman Cain's withdraw from the GOP race for nomination.  He seemed to be on the fast track to success with the Republican party.  They were excited about having him as their choice candidate, and he was ranking number one just a few short months ago.  However over the last few weeks a number of scandals have come out regarding Herman Cain.  He was accused of sexual harassment by several previous co-workers. It seemed as though he could possibly recover from this, until the shocking news emerged that he'd been having an affair for about thirteen years.  He then withdrew from the race, obviously what the cartoon is attempting to portray:  the woman getting in the way of his fast-track campaign.
5.  The cartoon is trying to say that what really threw Herman Cain off-track were the women that came out and complained about Cain, and that his campaign was completely ruined by the scandals that emerged.
6.  The cartoonist's point of view is that Herman Cain had an impressive thing going for him, and that it's a shame that such a small thing (the woman) could have stopped such a powerful force like him, but that it's his own fault that he let his 'friends' stand in the way of his success. 

QUESTION OF THE WEEK #2

Mitt Romney is upsettingly one of the best candidates for the Republican nomination.  I believe he is simply because he looks better than the other candidates at this point, and its too late for other people to come forward.  Romney has definitely been the guy that the Republican party agrees to settle for.  They don't like him, and he's not their top pick, but after the Herman Cain scandal broke, and their love for him died, Romney was left standing as the steady, normal one.  For that reason he just might win.  People simply hate him less than the other candidates and that may be enough to get him through to the presidential election.  However, the reason people don't like him are many in number.  Early on, Romney showed a lack of committment to one side or the other.  He was caught on video sharing different opinions on the same issue, and trying to please all groups, which was not reassurring to Republicans in general.  That showed them a lack of strength in him.  More recently, he's also showed a huge weakness in dealing with the media.  He hasn't made many appearences on major networks, and a lot less than Gingrich has.  He's also tried to avoid media contact as much as possible on the campaign trail, which is a huge misstep for him.  The candidates should be using the media to their advantage as much as possible, because it's how the people get to know the candidates, and how the candidate's image is portrayed.  These weaknesses, along with others have made Romney appear to be a weak candidate, especially as Gingrich and Huntsman and being looked at more closely.

Political Cartoon #2

1.  This was drawn by Tim Eagan.
2.  The key objects in the cartoon are the giant robot head that is supposed to represent Mitt Romney, the running elephant, who's supposed to represent the Republican party, and the giant man, who's supposed to be Newt Gingrich.
3.  The cartoon uses ridicule and caricature to portray its meaning.  The Republican nomination candidates look like ominously large imposing people who seem to be the object of the 'elephant's' nightmares.  It mocks the Republican party for choosing nominees who are literally the party's worst nightmare, by literally making the nominees the object of the party's nightmares.  The caricature of the elephant is also mocking because it's scared and doesn't really know what to do or how to escape the nightmare.
4.  The cartoon deals with the race for the Republican nomination for presidential candidacy, and the terrible nominees that are running for the role and the terrible position that the Republican party is in because of all this.
5.  The cartoon is trying to say that no matter where the Republicans turn, they aren't finding a solution.  Their main two nominees are terrible, and they have nowhere else to turn.  At the end of the cartoon, the elephant looks rather dejected and annoyed, which I'm sure is how the Republican party is feeling right now. 
6.  The cartoonist's point of view is hard to determine.  The cartoonist appears to almost feel sorry for the Republican party because literally no matter where they turn a nightmare is staring them in the face.  The cartoonist appears to think that Gingrich and Romney are unsuitable candidates and that they're imposing and persistant and won't give in.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK #1

At this point, Rick Perry kind of looks like a joke to most people.  He's had some particular moments that have caused people to question his intelligence and his accountability.  He gave a speech in New Hampshire that left people wondering whether he was drunk when he gave it.  It was almost like he was trying to be a comedian, but just ended up coming off as crazy.  When asked about his thoughts on the speech at a later date, he had no regrets on the speech and thought it was a success and that people really responded well to it.  He also seems to have some senior moments.  While explaining which three agencies he would cut if he were made President, he forgot what the third one was.  He doesn't seem to have given much thought to those issues if he can so easily forget one of them, leaving the people wondering if he would really be a capable president.  He also had some disasters in debates early on in the race that really affected people's vision of him, and shifted their focus to Herman Cain.  I suppose he could win if Mitt Romney continued switching opinions on issues and if this Herman Cain scandal amounts to much more than it already is, or if some scandal arises about Mitt Romney or the other Republican candidates.  He really seems like an unsuitable option at this point though. 

Political Cartoon #1

1.  This political cartoon was drawn by John Darkow.
2.  The main object is of course the gigantic, fat superman, meant to represent the supercommittee assigned to trying to find a solution to our debt problems.  Then there's the small telephone booth which represents the country's deficit and the debt that we owe, whihc is constricting the supercommittee and not letting them get out of this situation.  Then there's the newspaper box next to the phone booth that declares an epic fail, representing the failure of the supercommittee to produce a solution.  There's also the moon in the background, symbolizing the end of the day, and the end of the time period allotted to the supercommittee to come up with a solution to the problem.
3.  The cartoon uses ridicule and humor, because it mocks the 'supercommittee' by making it this fat, dressed up character, that is stuck in an embarassing situation of not being able to get out of the telephone booth.
4.  The event that the cartoon deals with is the supercommittee that has been assigned the task of finding a way to make cuts or somehow raise money to get rid of some of this debt that we have, and the upcoming deadline of that committee, and their failure to actually come up with a solution.
5.  The cartoon is saying that the supercommittee is unable to budge because it's trapped by the federal deficit.  No one knows what to do with it, and there's no way to escape it, so the committee is trapped, and they've come up with no solution of how to get past the federal deficit.  The cartoon demonstrates that the supercommittee just wants to get out of the situation their in, and they want to depend on others (911) to help them do so.  It also shows the public's thinking that the supercommittee is a failure because of what the newspaper says.
6.  The cartoonist thinks that the supercommittee is embarassing and foolish, and hasn't gotten anything done really, because they're trapped in by the deficit, and that they're simply looking for a way out of it at this point, when the deadline of their committee is closing in.  The cartoonist thinks that the supercommittee was a gigantic failure.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK #5

Honestly, at this point, I think that Mitt Romney is going to win the GOP race for nomination.  All of the other candidates have faced issues that are going to be hard to come back from and Romney seems to have the cleanest record and the best campaign.  Herman Cain seemed like a real opponent for Romney until these allegations of sexual harassment came forward.  His response towards them have brought real question to the truth behind these allegations and it'll be how they progress which will determine if he'll succeed in winning the nomination.  Michelle Bachman has kind of fallen out of the race almost.  I hear almost nothing about her when compared to the rest of the candidates, and from what I have heard, she doesn't really know what she's talking about.  Rick Perry has a seemingly clean record, but his speeches have left an impression of him that has left some people questioning his sanity.  In a speech he gave in New Hampshire, he sounded drunk, and it's been made fun of on late night shows already, indicating the fact that America thinks he's kind of a joke.  Mitt Romney has had the best impact so far, but a big problem in his case is the fact that he keeps changing his position on key issues.  At different points in time he's stated completely different opinions from ones given before.  This is going to cause a real trust issue with people as they start to question whether he's actually going to follow through on the ideas that he's portraying.  Overall, the Republicans have put together a rather lacking bunch of potential nominees. 

Current Event #5

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/lawyer-4th-cain-accuser-will-speak-publicly-monday/2011/11/07/gIQA6KwPvM_story.html

In the last week, three, now four women have come forward anonymously to accuse Herman Cain of sexual harassment in the '90s when he worked for the National Restaurant Association.  One of the women has even said that he tried to persuade her to accompany him to a corporate hotel room.  The fourth accuser has not yet spoken, but is backed up by a celebrity lawyer named Gloria Allred.  She's put together a tough defense and it'll be hard for Cain to counter now that four people are coming forward.  Cain has not handled the attack well though.  He's denied all claims, but his denial has been shaky at times.  These accusations came forward just as he was becoming a frontrunner with Mitt Romney in the GOP race for nomination, so he is beginning to blame his opponents for the accusations, claiming that Rick Perry's campaign put them forward.  This all just seems like a big excuse to me.  Surprisingly though, Cain hasn't dropped many points remains a frontrunner with Romney.  This all seems very fishy and I know that my trust in him has gone done since these allegations have come up, but more due to the way that he's dealt with them.  It will be interesting to see what the fourth accuser has to say and how her lawyer will back her up.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK #4

If not the biggest, than one of the biggest political issues facing Virginia right now is the question of energy and whether we should continue off-shore drilling on the coast of our state.  Ever since the BP oil spill in the Gulf, environmentalists and Democrats alike have been very anti-drilling.  They are readily trying to prevent drilling from happening to protect the environment and people along the coast.  President Obama has actually supported their position and has made moves to halt drilling on the Virginian coast.  The Democrats have provided a plan for new energy that Republicans argue will hurt the coal-mining industry.  Republicans disagree with the Democrats on issues of drilling on the Virginian coast.  They believe that Obama is making a mistake by trying to halt oil drilling, because the price of oil will raise greatly.  They believe that safe and carefully planned drilling that won't harm the environment or the people of the region is completely acceptable.  The search for new sources of energy continues, and as they're found they're more increasingly judged on how their affect the different industries of our nation.  Virginia is just one example of a state that's facing controversies over oil drilling, especially with environmentalists all over drillers because of the havoc wreaked by BP on the population of aquatic life in the oil spill.

Current Event #4

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/us/politics/31obama.html?scp=1&sq=obama%20and%20the%20student%20loan%20plan&st=cse

Today in the U.S., student loans have become a cumbersome load to pay off after exiting college.  Students coming directly out of college and newly entering the work force would most likely have pretty low-paying jobs, which become further low-paying due to the 15% they would have to pay the bank to chip away at their debt.  This has become a real issue for some kids, who struggle to pay off debts.  Obama just signed a bill into law that revamped federal student loan programs.  Students now have to pay only 10%, at a time, and their debts can be forgiven earlier if they pay on time.  Obama also put more money into community college education programs.  For students, this bill is an obvious plus.  However, not everyone is happy about this bill passing.  Companies like Sallie Mae who are huge student lenders have started saying that they will be forced to fire thousands of employees due to this new bill, which means more unemployment, definitely not a good thing on Obama's record, as he enters into campaigning season this year.  Personally, I think the bill is an excellent idea.  I think it's ridiculous for kids just out of school to have to pay incredible sums of money, when they're probably just making enough to pay for rent and a little to save up.  Banks have been benefitting way too much, at the disadvantage of the students.  If this bill means a little more unemployment, to help education, then so be it.  Plus, I believe those companies that are complaining are overexaggerating a little on how much they'll have to cut back on, because they just don't want to see all that money go away. 

QUESTION OF THE WEEK #3

I give Obama a B.  In terms of his health care ideas, I do think he's making the right call.  As the beginning of the baby boomer cohort are going into retirement soon, health care is a very valid issue, and it is really important that as many people have it as is possible.  He's made that possible with the Affordable Care Act.  Insurance companies are held responsible more, health care costs are to go down by a lot, which is really good with the ridiculous prices that they are today without coverage from your employer, and everyone is able to enjoy the benefits.  He really hasn't done much to help the economic downtown.  The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that was passed to not let unemployment rise above 8% was obviously a waste of time and money because it's been at 10% for the last two and a half months.  In terms of the war on terror, I think Obama is doing an okay job.  He was against the war in Iraq and has made moves to pull our of Iraq but all for the war in Afghanistan and against Al Queda and intends on continuing to pursue it, which is a good move in my opinion.  He's also made certain things focus points for improvement and attention in the U.S. like chemical plant security, nuclear waste, and terrorism risk insurance.  He's dealing well with the mess that the Bush Administration left over.  In terms of his reelection bid, Obama is doing outstanding at raising money for the cause.  He's raised over 70 million dollars for the campaign.  He calls himself the underdog in the upcoming presidential race, but his reelection is really depending on whether we swing out of this economic downturn soon enough to benefit him in the race.  He faces competition for the position for sure.

Current Event #3

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/15/us/hydraulic-fracturing-brings-money-and-problems-to-pennsylvania.html?_r=1&ref=us

Oil companies have made their presence known in Pennsylvania in recent years.  3,000 wells have been drilled there in the last three years and thousands more have permits to be drilled.  The presence of the oil companies has had both positive and negative outcomes in the counties, especially Susquehanna County.  With their presence, the entire area has expanded and grown more industrious.  Hundreds of jobs have been created to adjust to the companies being there.  Hotel and restaurant chains have expanded, as well as house rental agencies. Jobs have also been created to supply the gas companies with equipment they may need.  Cabot, a gas company, also donated money to the Red Cross to build a hospital there soon.  Their presence turned the area into a booming place.  The negative drawbacks however are the strain that the companies have placed on the local people and businesses.  The residents of the counties lack the skills for the high-paying drilling jobs, housing costs have increased and many people are going homeless, and small roads are crumbling under heavy trucks.  The gas companies also don't pay a local property tax.  In my opinion, the presence of the companies is a good thing for the counties.  Their presence has created a booming industry that's been able to rapidly expand to accomodate further needs of the gas companies.  Perhaps as the gas companies stay, more money will be put into education and other communal needs so that those high-paying jobs won't be things that the locals can't partake in.  I think that the counties should be scared of anticipating the day when the oil companies won't be in their state, because all of those jobs that help keep the oil companies running will go away.  They need to establish a balance between the gas companies and the local people because that's the real problem here. 

QUESTION OF THE WEEK #2

One issue that I'm particularly interested in is the issue of prayer in school, and in general the separation of church and state.  I'm interested because I'm in school, and I see this issue come into play sometimes.  I also have opinions on the matter because of this fact.  In the issue of schools and religion, I believe that the school is a learning institution, and it should remain just that.  Students should be able to be taught all of the different views on religion and life.  They should be taught about the views of every religion and they should be taught evolution as well.  We could look at evolution as the religion of the scientists.  Children should learn all about religion because it is a pertinent issue in the world we live in today.  On the other hand, it should only be about learning it.  Prayer time should absolutely not be forced upon students.  That is a violation of the right of freedom of religion.  In the case of the Pledge of Allegiance, the word God does appear there.  I believe that students who do not wish to say the Pledge because of that word should still say the Pledge but just omit that part.  The Pledge should still be necessary because it promotes nationalism and country unity.  For students who do wish to be very open about their religion in school there are religious schools that they are able to attend.  Though, I believe that students should be allowed to profess their faith in school if they want to, such as praying, as long as it does not directly effect or involve other students, or their own personal religions.   

Current Event #2

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/world/middleeast/secret-us-memo-made-legal-case-to-kill-a-citizen.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

Anwar al-Awlaki was an American-born radical Muslim who was hiding in Yemen.  He was suspected of being involved in the dealings of Al Queda, and was directly involved in the war between the U.S. and Al Queda.  There's been a huge controversy over his case, because the U.S. killed him in a drone attack over Yemen.  As a U.S. citizen, some argue that it was against the law in many ways that he was just killed and not given a fair trial.  However, in recent days it's been revealed that a secret memorandum was passed by the government last year that made it acceptable to kill Awlaki alone, as long as it wasn't feasible to capture him.  The President of Yemen also gave the U.S. secret permission to bomb on Yemen soil to eliminate Awlaki.  However, another American citizen was also killed in the bombing, a man named Samir Khan, who was not an authorized kill.  Khan was also a radical Muslim.  He'd written a magazine promoting terrorist activities in the Arabian Peninsula.  The U.S. is in a lot of trouble for his death because now the families of both the killed men are suing the government.  I believe that the government was alright on this count though.  Both men were dangerous to the U.S. and if the government created a memo that did allow for their deaths than I think it's acceptable.  There was no feasible way that the U.S. could have landed in Yemen and tried to take him on land.  The air strike was completely necessary.  The government was right in not landing in Yemen.  That could have produced a whole slew of other issues for the U.S., much more than the families of the two men being angry.  Yes, they were U.S. citizens, but they betrayed the country when they participated in the activities of Al Queda and I believe that that fact alone should make their citizenship null and void.  Whether or not they were citizens, they were a constant threat to the security of the country, and their elimination was necessary.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK #1

I'm definitely more closely aligned with the Democrats, based on their views.  In terms of health care, I don't necessarily believe that the government should be able to force people to buy health insurance, but I do believe that health insurance companies should not be able to discriminate on who they sell to, and that health insurance should be cheaper and more readily available to a wider group of people, in order to encourage use of it.  I'm also very big on environmentalism.  We should be trying as hard as we can to conserve our resources and keep our companies environmentally safe.  I also believe that everyone should have equal opportunites despite race, sexual orientation, or gender.  I believe that women should absolutely have a choice in reproduction rights.  The government should try to reduce abortion as much as possible by educating the masses more on reproduction and contraceptives, but the choice should be left to the woman actually having the child.  I'm not a huge supporter of the death penalty, and I don't believe torture should be used.  I do not agree with the gun control views of the Democrats, however. 

Current Event #1

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/03/us/lawmakers-want-to-end-tax-breaks-if-they-can-agree-what-they-are.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

In recent times, during the recession that the county's been in over the last couple years, the government has been giving tax breaks to certain businesses in order for them to make more money and also to create new jobs for hiring.  It's a nice idea, but frankly the tax breaks are not helping our 1.2 trillion dollar national debt that we're trying to reduce.  This article pointed out some industries that are benefitting from tax breaks which are really taking away from money that we could be using to lower our debt.  The article points out that multiple congressmen and senators have supported the tax breaks, and that Obama's party has supported the breaks overall.  Some symbolic ones exist, such as breaks for oil companies and corporate jets.  While these kind of breaks look to be benefitting our economy, there are some companies that are benefitting from tax breaks that seem excessive.  For example, the beer industry has been benefitting a lot, as well as NASCAR tracks.  These industries seem like luxurious things to be gaining more money when we have such a large debt to pay off.  Senator Tom Coburn pointed out some ridiculous things that are recieving tax breaks, like cat food, toupees, and breast implants for exotic dancers.  These seem ridiculous in comparison to President Obama's opinions on possibly eliminating loopholes for oil companies in order to put teachers back in their jobs, as he explained in one speech.  We should be getting rid of tax breaks for the seemingly unecessary companies mentioned above before even touching oil companies profits.  Republicans are especially against reducing tax breaks because to them it's the same as increasing taxes.  Tax breaks need to become more of a serious venture only used for industries who can actually use them to help.  Otherwise, tax breaks should be eliminated to help decrease our national debt.  

Mooooovies

I love movies.  They're pretty much the greatest thing since sliced bread.  My faves include She's the Man, Into the Wild, Grease, Dumb and Dumber, Pride and Prejudice (the Keira Knightly version of course), Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, and who could forget...HARRY POTTER. Yeah, I'm an hp nerd. I was really sad when it all ended this summer :( Was real depressing. Catch ya on the flip side