Final grade in opinion journalism.

Excuses time..

I think I deserve a C (worth a shot anyway, couldn't hurt to ask) in this class. I realize that I am still missing a few blog posts and my presentations were never the greatest but I always put a concerted effort (that is quality too the best of my abilities) into most of my blog posts. (I have most of them on edit but have not published them because I could not think of away to finish them or at least to give them some semblance of quality, probably should have posted them anyway).


It wasn't always easy trying to give a presentation. Especially compared to some of the more eloquent students we have in this class. (Its the first public speaking course I've had in a while)



Outside of those reasons its hard to defend my position. I had pushed allot of assignments back (from this class and a few others) until the final week and was unable to edit or create most of the the posts I would have liked due to time constraints (trust me I was up pretty late). If nothing else I've learned a lesson in procrastination. Such habits would never get very far in the journalism world and if I treated my job as I do some of my college classes I would be out on my ass without any excuses ever been asked for. I can only hope that I devlop a better work ethic as I get older. But whatever happens, happens, if you know me I don't hold grudges or anything like that (its my own fault anyway) and if I have to do it all again, I will. Not going to stress on it too much.(Only a sophmore so hopefully I have plenty of time)
And with that I finish my stay of execution ;)

(free topic) 3 Reasons on why the Atlanta Hawks should fire Coach Woodson (and 3 reasons on why they shouldn't)

I've gotten a lot of feedback from friends and fellow Atlanta sports enthusiasts on their disappointment that the Hawks have nearly choked away a first round playoff series and now many are calling for Mike Woodson's head (or his job which ever comes loose first). A few others point to how much this team has improved under Woodson's tenure and that it would be a huge overreaction to fire him just now. I've sorted through the best arguments of each and will present the top 3.

Reasons why Woody should be canned.






1.) Its seems like he has no idea what he's doing. Hawks fans like to joke that the most game adjustment Woodson likes to make are simply to glare at his players.And as the game goes on (Hawks have been awful in the third quarter by the way) thier turnover and scoring rates rank near the bottom half of the league.What the sam hell is woody doing. To quote an email I've gotten from a friend.

I've been able to incorporate Woodson's coaching technique for my ten year old son's soccer team. When the other team adjusts to our game, I glare at my kids. The further we get behind, the more I glare. It's an excellent strategy. But I gotta tell you, my kids must stink because we keep losing.

That's the perception anyway, maybe we're all wrong but so far Woody has not delivered in the big games.

2.) And to pile on that, in the Woodson era the Hawks have really struggled securing the big game particularly on the road. Hawks struggled mightily in this category during the regular season losing 3 out of 4 to both the Cavs and the Magic. To be fair they did sweep an aging but still potent Celtic squad which in the end helped them secure a playoff spot.

3.) Alright lets talk playoffs. Based on regular season merits alone Woodson would be in very little danger. But in the past 3 playoffs runs the Hawks have lost their road games a combined 2-11 and lose by an average of 22.0 points. In that time the Hawks have advanced to the second round once (only to be swept by Clevland) and in both 2009 and 2010 playoff series the Hawks were pushed to the brink of game 7 elimination by severly overmatched teams.


Reasons Why he keeps his Job

1.) The Hawks were crap before he got here and have vastly improved win totals in each of his 6 six years at the helm. logic says that if trend continues a finals visit or a championship can't be that far around the corner.


2.) If Woodson goes so does Joe Johnson. Johnson the Hawks leader since he got here in 06, has a contract that expires at the conclusion of the season. Currently Hawks ownership is in negotiation to get him a new one but if you cut loose his coach its unlikely that the Atlanta Star would be willing comeback as their are plenty of other teams out there willing to pay Joe far more money.


3.) Who are you going to replace him with. There are few immediate candidates lined up to succeed Woody, and it would do no go to get rid of an established figure if you don't have some one in mid to fill his shoes once he's gone. Phil Jackson's rumored to be leaving the Lakers if they don't repeat but I don't put much stock in that and even if he was that doesn't garuntee that he'd want to come here.





There you have it a few reasons why and why not Coach Mike Woodson of the Atlanta Hawks should be fired. Sunday's game (1p.m ABC) against Miluakee will most likely decide Woodys ultimate fate as I don't see him coming back if the Hawks drop that game.

Whales and Ethics

There's a show on Animal planet called "Whale Wars" in which environmentalists (The Sea Shepeard Conservation Society) and others take to the ocean to try prevent inhumane Whale hunting practices. Often they result to aggressive and often violent means to harass the fishing ships, putting themselves and the fisherman in danger. The question. Does the ends justify the means. Are the Whale Pirates (its what they are referred to on the show) justified in trying to stop cruel fishing practices even if they put humans in danger.

Its an interesting question. Does anyone have the right to circumvent the law in defense of actions they believe are right. Many critics and even a few other environmentalists have been critical of the Sea Shepperd Society. They charge them with being ineffective and dishonest in order to achieve thier goals.

Paul Watson, head of the Sea Shepard Conservation Society and main captain on the show has on numerous occasions been accused of artificially creating media incidents and on one occasion even been accused of faking being shot. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7282760.stm).

In one instance the protesters threw stink bombs onto a whaling ship and the fisherman responded by by throwing flash bangs at the the Sea Sheppard. In another episode Watson had two of his colleagues sneak aboard a whaling ship to purposely create an international incident through their detainment. (They were eventually relased after a huge political standoff between Australlia and Japan.)

My Favorite SuperHero

How easy would it be to say Batman? Ol Bats was popular before, but ever since the Heath Leadger award winning Dark Knight movie, Batman has transended the Super Heroes of Comic Books and has become a icon of American Culture. So I'll go a different route.....





Yep Freakazoid!



For those of you who grew up in the 90's watching the cartoon Animaniacs you may remeber that Freakazoid began as a seires of animated shorts(along with the vastly more well known Pinky and the Brain) that would eventually be given its own time slot.

He was the chronically insane superhero that did battle with equally batsh@t crazy villans (with names like the Nerdarator and Cave Guy). Alright so he's not really my favorite but looking back on it Freakazoid had its own blend of slapstick humor that set it apart from other more serious hero toons. Freakazoid couldn't even fly he would just run around with his hands up in the air going woooooosh. In fact I can't remember if he had ANY real powers.

You may notice in the title card above that the show was produced by Steven Spilberg (Yes that speilberg). Spilberg wasn't shy about putting humor that would be over most childrens head in the show often refrencing celebrity and political humor.

Alas as with many of the WB Speilberg spinoffs the show was cancelled after a few seasons in favor of more action packed shows as Pokeman and Yugi-Oh

Objectivisim

Created by author Ayn Rand, Objectivisim is the philosophy that stresses the goals and rights of individuals. Rand argued that "there is no greater moral goal in life than achieving one's own happiness".

Essentially, followers of Objectivisim strive for a capitalistic laziez faire society where scientists and industrialists can be left unhinderd to pursue thier trade that will, in the end benifit society as a whole.

In her books, Ran idealizes the "producer" who lives by his own efforts, who does not give or recive undeserved and honors achivement over envy.



Ayn Rand's own words on what objectivism is.
The survival of the organism is the ultimate value to which all of the organism's activities are aimed, the end served by all of its lesser values

My philosophy, Objectivism, holds that:

Reality exists as an objective absolute—facts are facts, independent of man’s feelings, wishes, hopes or fears.

Reason(the faculty which identifies and integrates the material provided by man’s senses) is man’s only means of perceiving reality, his only source of knowledge, his only guide to action, and his basic means of survival.

Man—every man—is an end in himself, not the means to the ends of others. He must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself. The pursuit of his own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life.

The ideal political-economic system is laissez-faire capitalism. It is a system where men deal with one another, not as victims and executioners, nor as masters and slaves, but as traders, by free, voluntary exchange to mutual benefit. It is a system where no man may obtain any values from others by resorting to physical force, and no man may initiate the use of physical force against others. The government acts only as a policeman that protects man’s rights; it uses physical force only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use, such as criminals or foreign invaders. In a system of full capitalism, there should be (but, historically, has not yet been) a complete separation of state and economics, in the

They see religion as a short circuit of society holding back many of its greatest thinkers and inventors. Faith is a disease that gives humans the ability to hold themselves and others back without any evidence or reason.

Existence exists

Objectivists see the world acing independently of the mind


Existence exists" is most easily understood by noting that when another person dies, you continue to live, to go to work, to eat, etc. even though the other person has absolutely no thoughts at all about the world once he is dead: the world exists not in anyone's mind, but independently of it. Accordingly, Objectivism concludes that the nature of things is objective: an Oak tree rises perpendicularly to the earth whether or not you believe that to be the case - A is A.

Objectivism asserts that logic is man's means of concept formation/knowledge, and that truths are absolutes.

Because every individual is faced with the same choice - to live or to die - Objectivism holds that each individual should be the beneficiary of his own actions: each man should live and think for his own sake, not for others'. In other words, rational self interest is the ethics of Objectivism. Accordingly, Objectivism is the antithesis of altruism, in which each man either sacrifices himself for others, or sacrifices others for himself.

http://www.objectivistcenter.org/cth-32-408-FAQ_is_Objectivism.aspx
http://www.mondopolitico.com/ideologies/atlantis/whatisobjectivism.htm
http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=objectivism_intro

The Visit

Last week me and my roommates went to go see the visit. And while I wasn't blown away huge special effects or stage props, It was the first Georgia Southern play I'd ever attended and I was pleasantly surprised with how professionally it was executed. There were several people in the play (a few friends) that I knew personally and was blown away that they could legitimately and convincingly, ACT. I had no idea.

On to the play....


To make a long story (nearly 2 and a half hours) the visit centers around a small (German?) town receiving a visit from incredibly wealthy and former citizen Mrs. Zachanassian (admittedly had to look that one up, no way my memories that good) under what at first seems very friendly intentions. Come to find out she had a prior relationship with shop owner and future burgermiester (a word I probably butchered but its like a mayor) Anton Schill. Evidently he'd impregnated and abandoned her. Well now Mrs' Z is back and she wants revenge. She offers the town a billion marks for what she calls justice. His death. The rest of the play centers around Anton Schill coming to the sudden realization that the whole town is slowly taking up her offer.

As I said before I thought the acting was brilliant. Everyone from the burgermiester and the school teacher to the blind twins everyone played a very convincing part. But overwhelmingly I was blown away by the characters of Schill and Zachanassian. They were really really good. I could have been watching a movie. Much more than I expected from a campus play.

How Insurance Works (The Basics)

In many aspects of life, there is a measure of risk. (Risk being Probability x Consequence). Buying Insurance probably won't stop a car from hitting you or your house from burning down but in certain situations it can help people deal with the Consequence.

Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. In simple terms, Insurance is a contractual policy that a company agrees to take on to protect against a persons risk. In return the policy holder agrees to pay an annual or monthly fee that is worth a fraction of the total risk.

There are many different types of risk so of course there are many different types of Insurance

Health- Health Insurance typically covers the cost of medical treatments and prescription drugs.


Life Insurance- One of the few insurance policies that you have to be dead to reap it. Life insurance helps the policy holder's family (or other designated beneficiary) recive some sort of monetary compinsation in the event of the holder's death.


Auto Insurance- This insurance protects you from financial loss in the event of a vehicular accident. Many states including Georgia require that all drivers have some sort of Auto Insurance.


Property Insurance- Property covers everything from Fire, Flood, and Earthquake insurance to the far less likely Volcano and Terrorist insurance.


Liability Insurance- Helps cover the policy holder against legal claims (like financial loss when losing a law suit.)


and many many more


Now like alot of things Insurance can have a dark side. First depending on the situation your insurance policy is probably not going to cover the entire situation. (Often only covers a %). In fact most companies will actively look for ways to pay you less or not pay you at all. Remember that Insurance companies aren't there solely for your benefit but like many businesses are seeking a profit.

They've also been accused of discrimination. An ederly person for instance will have a tough time finding health or life insurance because orlder people ususally require more care, in which many companies can't see a profit.

Expectations for this Summer

Now originally I'm from Atlanta but I spend my Summers down in Florida (I have Friends and Family there. And its where I work)

While most people prefer to frequent Fort Lauterdale, Tampa or Daytona,
I usually spend my Summers in Jacksonville, going downtown on weekends. Hey it has just about every thing those city have without the overcrowding and insane prices. The Landing (like downtown Atlanta cept its on a pier) has some of the coolest shops and bars.


Newly added to the city is one of my favorite unheralded sports Arena football. If you've never been its a blast. The field is only 50 yards long but if you like high scoring and close up action (your never seated more than 200 feet away.) you have to give this a try.


The Jacksonville Sharks

But of course the main attraction as with anything in Florida is the beach. Now to me personally its just as pretty as any thing they have in Panama City or Miami (ok maybe not as blue, but still) without having to work around 10,000 other people looking for a spot.

World War I and How Gavrilo Princip changed the History of Europe (and the world)

Alright most of us know how how the first World War started. Archduke of Austria Franz Ferdinand is assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip as the Archduke's car was touring Sarajevo. This kick starts a domino effect (Austria declares war on Serbia, Russia declares war on Austria, etc.) sending most of the worlds major nations headlong into war.
























I'm gonna make the case that Gavrilo's actions on that day for better or for worse quite possibly changed the course of not just of 1914 Europe, but of the entire world for the next 100 years and maybe even our lives today.

First we have the previously mentioned consequence. World War One. Now it is not necessarily true that Princip alone is responsible for the first World War. Long before the Archduke's death, Europe sweltered under Nationalist politics and some sort of war (be it economic or actual conflict) was possibly inevitable. But most history books would agree that Princip provided the catalyst.

Nearly every major power on at the time contributed in some way to WWI. By the end of it several million lay dead, tens of millions more wounded and far more than that were homeless. It was by far the deadliest war in the history of the world.


to that point....


After the Central Powers surrender in 1918, Germany incured huge amounts of war debt, leading the German Mark to be almost completely worthless, again Millions without a home or a job. The tremendous political unrest that followed would allow this man to be elected chancellor....


























You can kind of see where this is going. World War II, Holocaust, Post World War II Europe.

Again millions lay dead, entire nations lay in tatters, the United States and the Soviet Union (who's very existence is tied closely to WWI) emerge as the worlds leading superpowers and warfare would never be the same again.



From here we move to the Cold War, the space race, East and West Germany, the Iron Curtain, along with the Berlin Wall, and the Korean and Vietnam War's.



If you really wanted to, you could go much deeper. Such as the technologies that came out of both World Wars (faster airplanes, New Medical Techniques, Television), post economic America, the hippie counter revolution of the 60's (in large part a reaction to Vietnam) and how British in 1916 and the United States and Russia in 1980 set the stage for the Mujahideen which would become the Taliban.

All can be traced back to a seemingly small conflict between Serbia and Austria and an Assassin named Gavrilo Princep. Its amazing the repercussions small events can have on History. And if you really really want to dig into it, through a set of very loosly connected events its entirely conceivable that we could live in very different world had just a few of these things gone different. Think about that next time you watch the World News.

5 Editorial Cartoons (explained)

Editorial Cartoons are often a simplified and hilarious ways to look at what current issues are headlining the news. Since the days of woodcuts, newspapers have featured these political satires. But they can sometimes be confusing to the reader if they don't know the backgrounds behind the joke.


(note many of the panels were cut off by the edge of the blog. Sorry their is nothing I can do about it but if you wish to view the entire toon simply click on the picture and you'll be given a separate tab.)




By Walt Handlesman

NewsDay

The cartoon is a reference to allegations that Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele used or someone in his staff used political funds visiting a bondage club.



By Steve Kelly

The Times-Picayune

This cartoon refers to many Americans concern with Health care yet total disregard for their own personal health.




Chris Britt

The State Journal-Register, Springfield

This one pokes fun at Vice President Joe Biden's comments that Health Care was a big "f***ing deal".



Clay Bennett

Chattanooga Times Free Press

I've got two theories on this one.

In this one, a brick with a Tea Party press release denouncing acts of intimidation and violence. The irony is that in the weeks leading up to hostility against the Tea Party protesters, many pro health care, liberal supporters and congressman were threatened, harassed and reportedly one political HQ had a brick thrown through its window.


or

Perhaps it is a shot at Tea Party leaders denouncing violence yet doing nothing overtly public to stop it.



Michael Ramirez


Investor's Business Daily


And finally we have this dig at President Obama, over his unwillingness to "reach out to Israel" despite having attempted rhetoric out to Iran, North Korea, and Russia.

Obscure political Parties in the U.S

The The U.S. Marijuana Party/ The Pot Party






Both the Marijuana Party and the Pot Party, support pot legalization. The Marijuana party differs in that it makes a more concerted effort to endorse candidates/change laws/ get marijuana legalized and taxed whereas the the Pot party just wants to get high and legalize pot.

https://www.usmjparty.org/

http://usmjparty.blogspot.com/ (right here on blogspot oddly enough)


Prohibition Party


At the other end of the spectrum we have the Ultra-Conservative Prohibition Party. This party was anything but obscure in the 20's and 30's controlling much of the U.S political climate and even successfully campaging forward its own Constitutional Amendment (Eighteenth). The Prohibition party is still around today and even received 208 votes in the 2000 presidential election. They still run on a platform of banning or at least limiting the sell of alchol but have also extended they're campaign to fight drugs as well.

http://www.prohibition.org/

The American Nazi/Knights Party(KKK).
The shady and violent histories of both these parties is well documented. Both run on a platform of a whites only government and are generally rooted in racist ideals. The biggest difference between the two parties are their religious ideals. While the Nazi party sees a religious movement in of itself, the Knight party supports an aggressive government reform based on christian values. The Knight party also supports attaining power through violence while the Nazi party (they claim) directly opposes this.


The Pansexual Peace Party




This extremely liberal political group, as the name implies, supports a platform of open sexuality (straight, gay, lesbian) for all Americans. They also take a strong stance on environmental issues, sexual education in schools, and the legalization of hemp farms. Where it gets really weird however is PPP's roots in Wicanism

http://www.freewebs.com/pansexualppp/


The Family Values Party

As you may have already guessed, this party is super conservative and religious in every way. The party's main views include its opposition to the public funding of abortions and opposition to gay marriage and homosexuality. Founded by Tom Wells who claimed that in Christmas 1994 God spoke to him and told Tim to create a political party.


The Socialist Workers Party.



This Marxist based political party believes heavily in more rights for the labor force and reformation into a socialist government. Like the Prohibition Party, The Socialist Workers Party saw its hey-day in the political arena of the 20's and 30's but lost most of its influence to post World War Two McCarthyism. Still the socialists have pushed fourth a candidate in almost every presidential elections since its foundation even gaining nearly 10,000 votes in 2004 (Rodger Calero) and 8,000 in 2008 (split between to candidates)

and Finally we get to the semi serious American Beer Drinkers Party.





The ABDP's official statement:

We are a rag tag group of loyal American's that have become disillusioned with politics as normal. ( as in RepublicDemocrat Party Inc. ) What we propose and stand for, is a change to a new political system of government, based on the needs of the citizen, as dictated in the Constitution's Preamble. If you don't remember what that says, don't worry, no one in Washington does.

They believe that many of the worlds problems could be solved by just sitting and having a beer.

Review of Mirror Mask

You ever dated a girl who looked really really pretty but when you finally got her into that deep conversation stage you realize there isn't a whole lot extra going on "up stairs".

Thats about how I feel about Mirror Mask. From gorgeous golden backdrops to a colorful cast of characters, visually Mirror Mask is beautiful. I thought the acting was good but I don't really know that much about acting so I'll leave that phase alone. While reminiscent of many other fantasy genre's it also feels original. Maybe too original . 45 minutes in I was lost.

The Story begins with a young girl Helena and her desire to be "normal. You see , Helena's family are traveling circus entertainers (which actually sounds pretty cool) and she just wants to live in "the real world". Soon Helena and her mother fight, somehow leading mom to collapse.


From here Mirror Mask desends into an almost Narnia like story where guilt ridden Helena ecounters some unusual chracters and through a series of events is transported to a sort of Wonderland (complete with evil queen).

The plot gets really confusing after this something involving a war between light and shadows and a Helena clone princess.

Overall its wasn't a bad movie. Once again the special effects were stunning. But I never picked up any underlying messages of the movie (if there was one) other than guilt for a parent can sometimes make you forget your own self intrests. (After spending the first part of the movie complaing about it, she ends up in her Family's circus anyway, but she's seems much happier, so maybe an acceptance of what you have?)

Still I highly reccomend this for young girls. Its still deeper than Twilight and far less depressing than Pans' Labyrinth (wierdest movie ever).

March Madness (Sweet 16 Picks)

Game of the Week


(12) Cornell vs (1)Kentucky

Cornell is probally the best of the "Cinderella" teams and this looks to be a really good game. But Kentucky has far too much talent and in the end the Wildcats will get the win. Still though, can't wait for this one. It looks like a good one.

Kentucky 86 Cornell 82

(5) Butler vs (1) Syracuse

Butler is a solid team that plays solid Basketball and thier getting a Syracuse team thats dealing with a few injuries. But still, no upset here. The Orangemen play excellent defense and have one of the best outside games left in the tourny. Talent wins out again

Syracuse 76 Butler 64

(11) Washington vs (2) West Virginia

Vest Virgina just lost its starting point guard, while the Huskies have looked impressive. While the rest of the country is mooning over Northern Iowa and Cornell, washington has quietly knocked off some quality oppennnts and I think they contiune tommorow night.

Washington 69 West Virginia 67



(6) Xavier vs (2) Kansas State

Kansas St ended the Regular season as one of the hottest teams in the country which seems to have carried over in the postseason. I think Xavier, while a great team might be a little overmached here (and K st has already beat Xavier by 15)

Kansas St 89 Xavier 67


(4) Purdue vs. (1) Duke

Before the injury to Robbie Hummell Purdue looked like a good matchup to upset some number 1s and go deep. Now facing a depleted roster and a balaenced Duke team Purdue run could be over.

Purdue 57 Duke 67
(6) Tennessee vs. (2) Ohio State

I like Ohio State's offensive balance on offensive. They can kills you with the 3 or they can bang it inside. But I gotta feeling Bruce Pearl who's been pretty good againt big time opponetts and I think the Vols find a way to pull it off.

Tenessess 73 Ohio St 72


(9) Northern Iowa vs. (5) Michigan State


Northern Iowa threw a whole wrench in the system beating number one overall seed Kansas last week, destroying millions of brackets in the proccess. Meanwhile Michigan St, played a down to the wire thriller with Maryland winning on a last seond jumper. Should be an intresting matchup but I don't see Northern Iowa pulling off a huge upset yet again.

Northern Iowa 57 Michigan St. 69


(10) Saint Mary's vs. (3) Baylor

While Saint Mary's should be congratulated on making to the sweet 16 they did so against relativly weak competition, beating Richmond and cold Villanova. Baylor is easily the toughest opponent the Gaels will have faced. If St. Marys can't come out with a slew a threes, expect Baylor's defense to wear them down.

Baylor 77 Saint Mary's 65

Capitalism vs Socialism

Capitalism is the economic system in which production and distribution are owned and operated by individuals. (As oppossed to Socialism that advocates ownership by the community.)
In keeping with the idea of political thought, here are some of the motivations for each.

Motivation
Capitlism: A person acts in thier own self intrest of making profits, catering to the needs of the consumer, often building a cheaper and higher quality product.

Socialism: A person works for the benifit of all, where wealth is shared throughout the community

Profit
In captialism some people are paid huge sums, because other people believe they have unique talents which are worth paying for. If they fail to perform, then they will stop being rewarded so highly. This is all part of a dynamic capitalist system which values individuality and rewards ability and risk-taking.

Scocialists claim that captialism rewards people in preverse ways. (Is it fair that the firefighter or the soldier who risks his life makes far less than the movie star, baseball player).

Goverment Involvment
Capitalists believe the guiding hand of government is too strong in a socialist system; it means that change is slow – which means that innovation is missed. This isn’t just pro-business, it has real effects on the lives of citizens - people are poorer because of it. In a capitalist system, economies are diverse enough that when problems happen in one sector, others are often insulated by their differences.

In the socialist view the economic priciples of the capitalist systems are essentially unplanned, so they often crash, producing depressions that damage the lives of millions. Socialist economies are planned, which means that problems can be foreseen and prevented. Ultimately, socialism guides with the aim of human happiness in mind, rather than the glorification or gratification of a particular individual or class.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76frHHpoNFs

The Twenty-Sixth Amendment

The XXVI Amendment standerized the national minimum voting age to 18.

Passed by Congress March 23, 1971. Ratified July 1, 1971.

Note: Amendment 14, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by section 1 of the 26th amendment.

Section 1.
The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.

Section 2.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

The admendmant was passed in 1971 during protests against the war in Vietnam. The argument was "if they were old enough to die they were old enough to vote".

It is important to note that while this lowerd the voting age to 18 throughout the country states have the option of lowering the minimum age even further (17 or rarely 16) if they wished.

While XXVI Admendmant is a generally popular one, many still argue that 18 year olds aren't yet mature enough to vote. While others belive that Under 21 years olds should only be allowed to vote if they have served in the military.

United States leading in Medal Count

For more than a week now Vancouver Canada has been hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics. And as of today the United States holds a slim medal lead over Germany.

G S B Total
1, United States 7 8 10 25
2. Germany 7 9 5 21
3. Norway 6 3 5 14

Some of the highlights for the U.S so far

> Bodie Miller (DownHill Sking)finally takes the Gold after a dissapointing 2006 Torrino Olympic showing
> U.S Men's Hockey upsets heavily favored Canada 5-3 to take the number one seed into elmination tournament.
> Apollo Ohno wins winter Olympics record six medalsin Speed Skating.
> Snow Boarder Shaun White wins Gold again

U.S Hockey plays its next game Wednesday against an opponent yet to be determined. Among other events still ahead for team U.S.A lies men's arieals(free style skiing), couples and individual figure skating, bobsled, women's speed skating, and ski jump.

Macroeconomics and Microeconomics

Economics is a broad subject that can be divided into two areas: Macroeconomics and Microeconomics

Macroeconomics is the big picture. Its the study of the aggregate performance of the economy.

- Macroeconomists througly study the GDP (Gross Domestic Product)
- Inflation Rate
- Unemployment rate

Microeconomics is the study of decisions that people and businesses make regarding the allocation of resources and prices of goods and services.
- Supply and Demand
- Oppurtunity Cost

Microeconomists are concerned with the interaction between individual buyers and sellers and the factors that influence the choices made by buyers and sellers.

It is important to know that while these two studies of economics appear to be different, they are actually interdependent and complement one another since there are many overlapping issues between the two fields. For example, increased inflation would cause the price of raw materials to increase for companies and in turn affect the end product's price charged to the public.

Video

Erik H. Erikson's Eight Stages of Devlopment.

Erik H. Erikson believed that personality isn't just shaped during Childhood but throughout a person's life.

Stage 1 Infancy -The Challenge of Trust
Between birth and a year and a half infants face thier first challenges and begin to gain a sense that thier world is a safe place. Family plays a key part in this role.


Stage 2 Toddlerhood - The Challenge of Autonomy
From 2 to 3 Todlers learn skills to cope with the world in a confident way. The child will begin learning the difference between right an wrong. The child could also begin to try to asert it will. (such as telling the Parents NO!)

Stage 3 Preschool - The Challenge of Initiative
Between ages 4 and 5 learn to engage thier surrondings. They will begin to copy the adults around them. It also when they start asking WHY?

Stage 4 Preadolescence - The Challenge of Industriousness.
Between ages six and thirteen. Children enter school, make freinds, and strike out on thier own more. Parents no longer seem the complete authorities they once were.

Stage 5 Adolescence - The Challlenge of Gaining Identity
Teen Years, Almost all teens experience some confusion as they struggle to establish thier identity. Teen starts to identify with others but also begin to devlop thier own identities.

Stage 6 Young Adulthood- The Challenge of Intimacy
From 18 to 35 the challenge for young adults is to for and keep intimate relationships with others as well as balancing the need to bond with the need to have a seperate identity.

Stage 7 Middle Adulthood- The Challenge of Making a Difference
Middle Age, The challenge of middle age is to contribute to the lives of others in the family, at work or in the world at large. Failure could result in becoming self centered.

Stage 8 Old Age - The Challenge of Integrity.
At around 65 people will begin to reflect more on death, and look back on past acomplishments with a sense of integrity and satisfaction. Self asobrbed personalities could suffer from dispair over missed oppurtunities.

Georgia set to reform property tax system

Georgia state senators says thier striking back against the downturn in the housing market by a bill that they say would grant homeoenwers more power.

The author of the bill Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) says this bill will "bring fairness to an unfair system". Among the points purposed in the bill, is that homeowners will only be taxed only for the price of their home, Statewide uniformity of assessment notices and appeal forms and Year-round property appeals.

Copy of the bill

Ga. Assembly to Put Fourth Bill on GA. Dome.

Georgia Legislators are getting set to extend the tax collections that pay for the Georgia Dome. (GA Dome is owned and operated by the state). The bill, however is contingent upon keeping the Falcons in house. And that is not a guarantee. Built over 18 years ago (1992) the venue is fast becoming one of the oldest stadiums in the NFL.

A few opponents of the bill point out that a new stadium could bring future sites of the Superbowl back to Atlanta ( haven't hosted a SB since 99') and many other events that could generate tremendous revenue for the city.

The current contract with the Georgia Dome expires in 2020 and while that is still a good 10 years away it can take several years to build a stadium (and that's after you can agree on who's paying for it). Its often a long negotiation.(the Dome has yet to pay off $214 million dollars used to pay for it; And is not expected to till 2017.)


The Georgia assembly expects to have a desision by late this week

Late Night Wars

Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien,. . . .Jay Leno (again)




As has become a well documented incident, The NBC has quiet the conundrum on its hands. After replacing Jay Leno with Conan O'Brien as the host of The Tonight Show, NBC is once again replacing it's host, (not even a year in) with the guy whom they had already replaced. That's right, Jay Leno.

It all began back in the Fall when Jay Leno and NBC decided that while Leno would retire as host of the tonight show (already promised to O'Brien) he would stay on at NBC and be given his own show at 10:00, never before heard of in Prime time television.

Many people thought this was a terrible idea. The show would have to compete with 10:00 local news and pimetime dramas of other networks. I was with NBC on this one. I thought the idea of dropping a variety show one hour earlier would be gold for Leno and NBC. My thought was that not everybody would want to stay up past midnight to watch a late talk show and that this show could potentially tap into a brand new audience. What else were people watching at 10 anyway? There was a reason that the drama's that came on and 10, well, came on at 10 and not 8 or 9 (a much better primetime viewing slot)

Well they (that is the critics) were right and I was wrong. While neither the Jay Leno Show or O'Brien's Tonight Show flopped in the ratings category they did not get the expected ratings boost and Local NBC affiliates began to complain that Leno's show was a poor lead-in to their local news programmes. And since the local NBC's were a prime source of income for the Network, what the affiliates wanted they got.

NBC immediately announced that they would move both comedians back to their old slots and O'Brien immediately announced that NBC could go to hell. Well not in those words. But in a matter of days Conan made it clear he would rather quit than have such a humiliation forced upon him.

It seems kind of childish on the surface but you have to remember that the Tonight Show meant alot to O'Brien. He grew up a big fan of Johnny Carson and after writing for both the Simpsons and SNL O'brien was also a writer for the early years of Leno's Tonight Show. The Tonight Show itself is more than half a century old, had already gone through several hosts, but none were forced to to give it up after only 6 months to the guy whom had already retired. It was a public humiliation.

But don't feel too bad for Conan he and his writers ended up with a pretty nice 45 million dollar seottlement with NBC and thats a pretty nice parting basket. And NBC made a nice bundle as well. The last Month also saw some of both show's highest ratings, as auidences just couldn't get enough of the two commedians taking both jab's at each other and NBC.

But the questions still remain. What will happen to the Tonight Show once Leno returns? Where will Conan go?

Social Networking.

I've always had mixed feeling about social networking (meaning I'm gonna ride the fence on this one).


Facebook (and before it Myspace) is great way to keep in touch with old highschool classmates (sparing us the akward phone calls of trying to look them up), metting your freind's freinds, and coamparing vaction photos with an old sweetheart. Sites like Twitter give us an insight into the daily lives of our favorite athletes and celebrities, often getting the news before even the major 24 hour news networks can get it.

But these tools do raise an intresting question of where socalilizing is going in society. Now I'm not saying that the Internet is going to completly terminate human contact as we know it, but in these days of Online gaming, shopping, dating even colleges it does seem like we are just one step closer to having our lives dominated as much by online obligations as we do in the matieral ones. (The idea of how popular 2ndLife and World of War Craft have gotten almost makes me want to cringe)

Proper ways to use a Semicolon

(Connect independent clauses)
- I wanted to go to the movies; we could not agree on what movie to see.
- Dr. Hernandez gave me the news; it was cancer.
- It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.
(As an extra comma)
- We stopped in Boston, Massachusetts; Albany, New York; Philadelphia Pennsylvania ; and Hartford Connecticut.
- The event days are as follows December 27, 2010; January 5, 2011; and February 17, 2011.
(Between independent clauses linked by a conjunction)
- When I go outside, I usually wear my read sneakers; but I could not find them.

Obama's first year in office (A term of public perception)

As someone who voted for Obama, I was really rooting for him to succeed in his first year in office. The verdict. . . . disappointed, but when you really think about it not really surprising. Caught up in the "hype" that was Obama's sweeping election, I think many people we're expecting a swift end to the recession, where almost every American would have a job and the United States would once again be the the grail that other free republic's could aspire to.

We know now that those expectations we're unrealistic. Fixing an economy takes times and it could very well get worse before it gets better. I think the Obama Campaign is partly to blame in this. They were all too willing to stoke the fire's of change, promising and end to pandering to lobbyists and the same old politics. A brilliant campaign ideal (The McCain camp liked it so much that they threw in thier own conservative "Rouge" in Palin) , but one that has backfired as things today don't feel much different than they did a year ago.

In addition to people whos expectations might've been to high, they're are also the people who are genuinly scared (perhaps irrationally)of the effects the Obama administration could have on thier lives. Today its whether or not he tough enough on Islamic extremists. If you recall six months ago it was "Death Panels" and a "Socialist Democracy".

A big part of this can be attributed to GOP slanted press (Particularly a certain News Network that rhymes with Fox News). But the white House has done a poor job of dismissing these fears (We never received straight answers regarding the Public Health Option). During his election Campaign there was a slew of "fear stories" regarding topics such as Obama's Birth certificate, his Religion, his middle name. Obama and his supporters made quick work, striking down these subjects, which never gained footing. This time around many of these new allegations have stuck and the less educated are scared

Its too early give Obama a grade. It takes more than just a few hours, but possibly the passing of several years to accurately (and fairly) grade an administration's effectiveness. Both Ronald Regan and Bill Clinton (generally considered successful administrations by their respective parties) had mediorce showing in their first years in office.

But its undeniable that the public at large is starting to have reservations. This month alone the democrats have already lost a special election in Massachusetts (a historically democratic state) in the process losing the majority they needed to pass a Goverment Health Option bill. At the same time many media polls show his aprovall ratings (Personally I don't always trust these) have dropped to nearly 50%.

To me Obama's first year is a bit of an enigma. I would have liked to see more, but I understand that an economy can't be saved in a day and the current state of things can't be attributed to him alone. Another year or so might give us a better idea of where his 4 years are heading.

New Blog

This is the first entry in my newest blog. As a tool for my new journalism class I will post 2 to 4 posts a week dealing with a variety of topics from politics and philosophy to peer review of other blogs. This will be a new adventure for me in the bloggsphere. I've kept blogs before but ususally involving topics like sports, game reviews and local events. But this is a bit more serious (see academic) than my ususal posts.

Not to skate around it, if given the choice between writing a review on the House's new proposal for water conservation or the Falcons newest assistant coach, well I'd probally go with the latter (I'm a sports journalist dammit). But I'm sure any good writer or college professor would tell me it would be wise not limit yourself to one exprtise but to become well rounded in as many subjects as possible so this could be helpful from more than just an class requirement stand point but from a personal one as well. Expect many editoral peices (and way too many parentheses)