Obama Meme

Two Termz

 President Obama two terms!!

Oregon Shooting

Oregon mall shooting. CNN states that Jacob Tyler Roberts, the shooter, had no more hope in life. He was suicidal. Here's the article.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/12/us/oregon-mall-gunman-profile/index.html?hpt=us_c1

North Korea's Rocket Launch

Although North Korea insists that its rocket launch was simply for weather purposes, the rest of the world remains skeptical about their intentions. North Korea is a clear enemy of the United States and its allies. The U.N. seeks to place further sanctions on North Korea. Despite all this, China continues to support them. Here is an article about their most recent rocket launch.

http://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-next-step-nuclear-test-041048723.html

Hear it from a Teacher-Education

I found this article about a teacher's position on the No Child Left Behind law. He makes an interesting point.

 

 

 

When teachers I work with complain about how awful the American education system is, how it's spiraling out of control, and how students aren't learning anything these days due to NCLB, I remind them that education has come a long way since the days of cave men. Humanity has learned to read, write, and count into the millions--the billions, and beyond. We're improving all the time.

I do think, however, that since the passage of NCLB, the quality of education has been slowly taking a downward turn. Creative teachers are leaving public schools, because NCLB restricts creativity (in both teachers and students). Our art programs, music, and even trade-related courses like wood-shop classes have been slowly disappearing from the curriculum, because creativity cannot be tested in a multiple-choice venue. Rote memorization is what schools are focused on, because that's exactly what IS tested on the state-mandated tests. All extra funding is funnelled into math, English (esp. grammar), and reading.

Until this year, I've always taught my middle schoolers how to write poems. This year however, I was told to cut poetry writing from the program. Our test scores increased significantly, but our creative thinking skills did not. What else did I cut? Story-writing, letter-writing, and creative journals. The principal is pleased as punch, because all of the kids know what a dangling modifier is. Or at least, they did when they took the test. But how useful is that in life? Not very. I can't remember the last time someone in the real world even said the words "dangling modifier" to me. It's pretty pointless stuff. For some reason, though, it's on the test. Somebody at the state department of education thinks dangling modifiers are more important than learning how to address an envelope.

Go figure.

If we keep going like this, allowing NCLB to dictate what we teach without giving teachers and students anything to motivate creativity, we may just go back to dragging our knuckles and living in caves. But at least we'll all know what a dangling modifier is.

Source(s):

I've taught in public schools for 17 years. I also maintain an educational blog. To find my blog's URL, please click on my avatar and read up on my personal info. Thanks.

Does Education Work in America?

The American education system is often criticized, because American children have the tendency to score lower on tests than many other nations. Currently, The United States is ranked 31st in education. Sounds bad right? In addition to this, some  critics say that America is losing it's global innovation status. But is this really true? I mean, the United States is home to huge international companies such as Facebook, Google (Android), Apple, Microsoft, and many more. Everyone around the world uses these companies' products. All these companies have really kick started during the past ten years. I don't see other nations with this many cutting edge technological firms. We may not be book smart, but at least we know how to innovate.

"How Do We Improve Public Schools?." The Moderate Voice. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2012. 
Desk, News. "Education Olympics: How Does the U.S. Rank?" PBS. PBS, 13 Aug. 2012. Web. 07 Nov. 2012.

Spain's Recession

It appears that the U.S. is much better off economically than Spain. The Spaniards are currently facing off the chart unemployment rates that have led to huge riots and social unrest. Hey, at least the United States appears to be slowly recovering.  Check out the article:

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/02/business/spain-sovereign-bailout/index.html?hpt=ibu_c1

Romney's Supreme Court

How would Romney's Supreme Court look like if he were to be elected president? The answer: conservative. Is this good? Check out the article:

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/romney-supreme-court-look-105500607--election.html

Are the Chinese Really That Desperate to be #1??

The White House was hacked last month and it came from China. Luckily for America, they breached an unclassified network which means that they did not steal any top secret information. What they did try to hack were nuclear military commands. Pretty scary huh?

Check out the article:
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/hacking-attack-did-not-reach-classified-data-official-174943343--election.html

How Americans Waste Money

Did you know that Americans waste about over half a trillion dollars each year on pointless things? We waste about $29 billion on candy and about $165 billion on wasted food each year. This is ridiculous. Check  out the article for more info:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/13-ways-americans-throw-away-money.html

A New World of Drones

It used to be that the United States had complete control over drone technology. That was ten years ago. Now, however, more than 70 countries have invested in drone technology. The US no longer has a monopoly, because the rest of the world has them. However, there are only a handful of countries who possess combat ready drones. Nevertheless, if the countries can build a high-tech drone, then what can stop them from loading them with missiles? Right after 9/11, the US had about 50 drones. Now, it has about 7,500 drones. China is also attempting to catch up to the US. Will this usher in a new era of how wars are fought?

Check out the article:
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/01/opinion/bergen-world-of-drones/index.html?hpt=ieu_t2

How Americans are Overpaying for Utilities

Did you know that Americans spend four times as much as the French in phone, cable, and internet services. We also pay 38 more times than the Japanese in internet data. But I thought the U.S. was one of the most technologically advanced countries. Crazy huh!?

Read the article and check out the video.
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/why-phone-cable-internet-bills-cost-much-130914030.html

The Middle East and the Embassies

Is the Middle East overreacting? In a way they are, because they did not have to murder three Americans (including an ambassador) and injure many others. The U.S is now questioning whether Egypt is an ally or an enemy. Obama has also responded by sending two warships to the coast of Libya.

Check out the article.
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/13/world/arab-leaders-reactions/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

Obama vs. Romney...A Closer Look at Their Convention Speeches

It was very well noticeable that Romney attacked Obama in his speech consistently. However, he also spoke about the issues that he aims to solve. For example, Romney stated that he would create 12 million new jobs and that America will become energy independent by 2020. He also said that he would bring a better future for the United States, but did not exactly say how he would do it. He also did not mention anything about the war in Afghanistan, which brings up the question of whether he wants to finally bring the troops back home or not. Romney said that he will have a tighter grip on foreign policy, and he referred to Russia when doing so. This also brings up the question of what Romney wants to do with Russia.

As for Obama, he said that he would create more jobs by investing in renewable energy. Obama will push America to become less dependent on foreign oil by creating solar and other cleaner types of energy. He also said that he would give rewards to corporations that brought jobs back to the United States. He aims to set better education standards for the nation so that American students can once again have a high standing among the world. Obama will focus on nation building as well as foreign policy. Most importantly, he emphasizes the significance of women's choice.

Word Cloud for Romney's Speech @ the RNC

World Cloud for Obama's Speech @ the DNC

China's currency manipulation...Good or Bad?

"China is taking American jobs away" is the common statement that Americans from across the nation are saying. However, is this actually a bad thing for the United States' economy. I think not. The main reason why China is able to provide the U.S with cheap consumer goods is because the Chinese purposely undervalue their currency. What does this mean you ask? Well, "the lower the value of the yuan (China's currency), the better it is for China’s exporters. Basically, if one dollar buys 7 Yuan, and an exporter sells a Chinese shirt for 10 dollars, then he pockets 70 Yuan. But if one dollar was worth only 5 Yuan, the exporter would only be able to pocket 50 Yuan." The value of the U.S dollar is also purposely overvalued for the same reason. The downfall to this, however, is that it leads to the inflation of currency so there is a limit to how much currency can be undervalued or overvalued.

So is this manipulation of Chinese currency good or bad? The truth is that currency manipulation results to be  a great thing for both China and the United States. While Chinese exporters benefit from an undervalued yuan and an overvalued dollar, American consumers (especially lower class individuals) and businesses who buy their products from China benefit as well. In fact, if China was to re-evaluate its currency, then the U.S would be worse off economically, because Americans would no longer have access to cheap consumer goods. If the yuan was to appreciate, it would be like a protectionist tariff against Chinese goods. Due to this, only domestic producers who compete against foreign rivals would benefit. The minority would win while the majority loses.Overall, we should actually be thankful to China, because without them, our situation would be much worse.



Manshu. "How Does China Manipulate Its Currency?" One Mint. N.p., 26 Jan. 2009. Web. 06 Sept. 2012.


Perry, Mark J. "China Manipulates Its Currency." Eblogger. Google, 1 Nov. 2011. Web. 06 Sept. 2012. 

Is 400 trees worth moving the retired NASA shuttle?

So now that Endeavour is retiring, the question is how do we get it to the science museum in Los Angeles? The question is solved, but the price is hefty. 400 tress will be removed in order to transport the shuttle. To environmentalists, this is a horrible idea, because not only are they removing 400 trees, but the machines used to cut down the trees are releasing emissions. On the bright side, two trees will be planted for each one that is cut down. Unfortunately, it will take about a century for the trees to reach their full height.

Check out the video and article

Is Israel Right?

As Iran continues to develop it's nuclear program, the international community seems to not place any strict regulations. Israel, however, is preparing for a possible attack from Iran. They believe that if necessary, they will have to take matters into their own hands.

Should the international community focus more on Iran? I think we should, because if the United Nations does not act now, then the weapons of mass destruction might land into the wrong hands.

Check out the video

Interview Reflection

Interviewing my fellow classmates on the political issues of the day made me realize that not everyone is well informed on the current events and problems of our nation. About one-third of the people I interviewed are not aware of how the United States government spends taxpayer money. Sadly, others were not aware of what unemployment insurance and welfare was. When I asked a peer about whether welfare should have stricter regulations, she said "What's welfare?" I was truly shocked by her response, because this shows that there are many students who need to be knowledgeable of the world around them. We are the generation who is going to run the nation, and we do not not even know what is happening in our own country.

Furthermore, I would have liked to interview a more diverse group of people. Everyone I interviewed were seniors in high school, and I did not interview anybody over 17 years of age. Also, almost everyone I interviewed was a Hispanic or Latino, with the exception of one Indian. I interviewed 9 males and 1 female. My results would have been better if I interviewed different age groups, a variety of races, and a diverse combination between males and females. Due to the people I interviewed, my results do not accurately reflect the nations' point-of-view.

Does Romney ever answer a question? jeesh

Check out this video of Mitt Romney ignoring a man in a wheelchair.

Mitt Romney ignores man in wheelchair.

Hurricane Isaac...A National Problem

Due to the raging storm in the Gulf of Mexico, many oil platforms shutdown, thus preventing normal oil flow. National gas prices rose 4.8 cents.

Is it time for an alternative energy source? I think it is, because our current energy is never consistent in prices. We need a stable, cheaper, environmentally friendly, and reliable source of energy.


http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/29/news/economy/gas-prices-isaac-ohio/index.html?hpt=us_t4

Should we take a second look at our deportation policies?

How would you feel if your parents were suddenly stripped from your life? Read this article, because this is exactly what is occurring in our nation today.


http://news.yahoo.com/parents-deported-happens-us-born-kids-160817545--finance.html