BP Releases Video of Oil Leak

Now alot of people know that alot of oil is spilling into the Gulf of Mexico and landing on beaches along the Gulf, but actually seeing the oil and gas spilling from the ocean floor is an eye opener. About 200,000 gallons of oil each day is entering the ocean, and in the first 21 days of the oil spill, almost 4 million gallons have spilled into the Gulf of Mexico.

The below is a video from abcnews showing the oil and gass spewing into the Gulf of Mexico.

When it comes to our environment, I'm definitly side with the Democratic Party

On the issue of our environment, I am seen as very progressive. I do agree that using oil like it is a renewable resource is not the best way for our world to go. We need to look for new technologies or materials to use in the future: like briquettes that are being tested, as a sustainable fuel source, in Kenya.

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is devistating. Although the oil spill occured in late April, the effects are still being felt today. One example of its effects is shown by just looking at the picture above. The bird and the water around it is covered in oil. Unless this bird is cleaned soon by volunteers, it will most likely die. I think that our culture and the rest of the world needs to come up with a solution soon: to our environmental problems of too much carbon emissions being caught in teh atmosphere, not having sustainable fuels, and not having enough sustainable transportation.

An action that is being taken is stated by BBC News "Bundles of absorbent material have been laid along the shore of Dauphin Island in an attempt to protect the resort area." Another action that has been taken is placing a large dome over the leaks.

Republicans

In my opinion the Republicans have more strengths than weaknesses. A quote from GOP that shows a Republican strength is that they "believe in the value of voluntary giving and community report." A weakness from the same source is that they "support low taxes because [they think that] individuals know best how to make their own economic and charitable choices." From yestodemocracy a great weakness that they have is that "Republicans have readily dismissed global warming as being a threat despite all the scientific research that has been conducted". Although this is true yestodemocracy also stated that "in recent years, they have been warming up to the idea that this [global warming/climate change] could be a viable threat".

Another large amount of weaknesses shown on the onetheissues.org website have to do with abortion, gay rights, and our environment. The Republicans think that there should be a "Human Life Amendment" added to the Constitution, and that Abortions should be banned with the legal help of a Constitutional Amendment. The republicans view on homosexuality is very blunt. They want to act upon creating a constitutional amendment that would ban all same-sex marriages, and they support the traditional definition of marriage of a man and a woman getting married.On the subject of our environment. Republicans think that there should be no mandatory carbon emission controls, and that "Cap-and-trade market-based air pollution" restrictions should be reduced.

Democrats

The Democrats have many strengths and weaknesses that help people to choose what political party they affiliate themselves with. To help you decide here are the major strengths and weaknesses, in my opinion, of the Democrats.

In my opinion, since I affiliate myself more with the Democrats, there are many strengths.

From the following links 1, 2, 3, 4, many facts and statements are given. Most Democrats believe in higher minimum wages to help with the working poor. Democrats usually oppose tax cuts for our economy and "typically favor higher taxes"says yestodemocracy. Also on the topic of taxes, many Democrats think that the richer and larger companies should pay higher taxes that the lower earning and poorer people. The Democratic party, as money matters thinks, has a "strong stand on affirmative action, welfare for the lower class, unemployment labor unions, and immigration." When it comes to education, college, and money, Democrats have a great view. They want to "aim to provide low-cost publicly funded college education with low tuition fees and increase availability of grants and scholarships" and that "college tuition [should be] tax deductible." In a short and sweet Democratic view on Abortion, Democrats believe in easy access to birth control, public funding for contraception for the poor, and believe that choice is a fundamental right that all women (should) have.

On the issue of our environment the Democrats have many views and suggestions. From ezinearticles most Democrats want to "strengthen environmental protection laws and impose stringent sanctions on polluters". Money Matters says that Democrats believe that "we cannot drill our way to energy independence". Also that we need to "Develop renewable energy and efficient vehicles. [And that our governments should] Invest in technology and transportation [that is] friendy to the earth".

Discrimination and Gay rights is also an important issue that people look at when deciding what political party they affiliate themselves with. Ezinearticles states "[the Democratic party] believes that discrimination against persons because of their sexual orientation is wrong, and they support adoption rights for same-sex couples". Ontheissues thinks that "Racial and religious profiling is wrong, and that there should be affirmative action to redress discrimination". The also think that marriage laws should be kept at the state level, not the federal level.

In my opinion, from the above given links there are two main weaknesses of the Democratic party. They "believe in the use of military force against those responsible for attacks against the United States, [and that] we do not have to choose between our economy and our environment"

2009-2010 Community Service

PART 1
There are many problems going on in the United States. The issue that I worked on was Education. Education is an important development of knowledge that lets students acquire many things for their life. Whether the student is young, old, or disabled, they all can learn knowledge, skills, training or instruction. The reason I chose education as my community service is that I think education is the most important problem that is currently at hand in the United States. The status of education in the United States is depleting. In effect, due to the current failing economy, the United States Educational system is going through tough times. The United States with a depleting educational system not only will affect our country, but the rest of the world. Many countries, developed and developing, depend on the United States, for resources, money and technology. If our education system starts to deteriorate, the world will start to deteriorate. Developing countries will lose money and resources including food. This will lead to them not being able to improve, and "come up" in the world. United States citizens not being as educated as in the past, will also lead to a possible halt in the advance in technology. I believe that the world should not have to suffer for our mistakes.
PART 2
The status of schools around the United States is upsetting. Since State Budgets are reducing due to the current economic state, schools are losing their funds that they depend upon year after year for many different things. The money that the schools are losing are resulting in many problems. One example is that schools are being closed. Some schools are being closed due to under enrollment; others are being closed due to their poor physical condition. In Washington D.C.,:

in three cases, [the education board] decided to soften the impact of the deeply
unpopular decisions by promising to modernize or rebuild the schools while
students were relocated... Parents in each community were told that new or
vastly modernized buildings would be ready within three years. But the school
system's $200 million-a-year capital program, which has delivered gleaming new
facilities such as Phelps Architecture, Construction and Engineering High School
(Ward 5) and the Wheatley Education Campus (Ward 5), faces a budget squeeze as
tax revenue declines and deficits mount,

this squeeze of money may, in fact, prolong this time they have projected for creating the new buildings.. Another reference, to the effect of loss in school funds, is some school districts are thinking of "scaling back to a four-day school week, and adding an extra hour or so to the remaining days." Four-day-schools is not a new idea to the United States. Some South Dakota school districts have been using four-day schools weeks since the 1930's,:

It was adopted by districts in New Mexico when the 1970’s energy crisis hit, and
the number of districts across the country switching to four days has gradually
increased with each economic crisis, according to the nonprofit, nonpartisan
Education Commission of the States. Currently, out of 15,000 districts
nationwide, the ECS estimates 120 districts in 17 states use a four-day week.
They are typically small, rural districts, mainly west of the Mississippi
River.North Branch, Minnesota, school district superintendent Deb Henton says
her district has cut more than $10 million out of its budget since 2003-2004,
and without the four-day week, 'we would have to look at additional cuts and
adding more students onto teachers who already experience a very high class size
in their classroom on a daily basis. For example, some of my high school
teachers see 215 students a day.'

Deb Henton makes an excellent point. Instead of stressing out the teachers, and making it harder for them to teach, by teacher larger classes, making four-day weeks not only helps reduces the costs each school produces, it helps the teachers teach, and the students learn. The reduced week also lead to an increase "in staff and student attendance".. The third major effect to the budget deficit of states, and schools is having to lose or replace administrators and teachers. By replacing administrators, and teachers, less money will be used on staffing because they are newer staff that do not have as high of a salary as those who have worked at the school longer.

There are many things that the government is doing to help with the economic state of the United States, and the school boards who are struggling to keep schools open. One action that Obama administration is taking is giving money to failing school districts. Together Tennessee and Delaware were given $600 million to jump-start their failing schools... In total across the country "$900 million in grants and another $50 million being given to the school districts in the United States and 5,000 of the nation's worst schools [will get] back on track over the next five years."Other school districts in the country will be receiving money.

The Obama Administration also has come up with the "crazy" idea that dropping students from student loans because the government does not have the money to supply them with the coverage they need. This will reduce the number of students that will go to college. I think that this is wrong because I think that all people should have the possibility to get a higher education. The health care bill will be eliminating:

a $60 billion program that supports private student loans with federal
subsidies and replacing it with government lending to students". Out of the
total $61 billion in savings over 10 years, $36 billion will go to Pell grants,
and smaller portions will go "towards reducing the deficit and to various
Democratic priorities, including community colleges, historically black colleges
and universities, and caps on loan payments.
The Pell grant in the pastonce
covered more than two-thirds of total costs at a public university... [but] now
covers about one-third... the maximum grant could be scaled back by more than
half to $2,150 and at least 500,000 students could be dropped from the
program... So if this legislation did not pass, you would see catastrophic cuts
to the Pell grant program, effectively slamming the door shut for hundreds of
thousands of students, if not millions, who rely on the Pell grant program to go
to school
said Rich Williams, higher education associate for U.S. PIRG, the
federation for state Public Interest Research Groups.

PART 3
What needs to be done in order to make our education system better is to give more money to the school districts that really need the money. Some school district out there may be getting more money than they need. If that extra money and more money from the government go to schools that lack the sufficient funds to keep their school open, then more children will be able to get their education. If schools that are having to stop their extracurricular activities get money, that can give a chance to students to get a college education. Without their extracurricular activity, they may not be able to get a scholarship to go to school, or to get a job. What our school systems need, besides more money, is people who are willing to tutor others, whether for free or for pay. My community service of tutoring a student will help not only her, but also our country. If because of the tutoring, she is able to pass high school, and go onto college, she will be an example of what our school systems need. If there were not tutors or "aids" in the world, we would not be where we are today. More people would be dead because without nurses, doctors may not have the time to do everything. Scientists may have not found the cures to diseases without the help of their aids, and technology may not be where it is today. Without aids, who knows, we may be creating technology that, in this time was created 50 years ago.

Tennessee and Delaware win the "Race To The Top" competition

Even though Tennessee and Delaware were not favorites in the top 16 states to get the money, they won the U.S. Education Department "Race To The Top" competition. The total amount of money given to different states by the Obama administration to help support failing school districts is a whopping $4.3 billion (where the heck are we getting all of that money??).

"Tennessee chosen because 93% of the teachers unions supported its proposal so did every single school district, school board and business leader in the state ... also because Tennessee has a law that is tough on teacher accountability and allows the state to take over chronically failing schools "

Delaware also "had unanimous support form educators and politicians it too has a tough new law that rates the effectiveness of teachers and principals the state was rewarded 100 million dollars".

State Board Of Education Looks At Alisal Schools

State educators considered "new sanctions on the district (Alisal Union School District) that has consistently failed to meet state standards". In the last 15 minutes of the meeting locals, parents, and teachers were able to give their concerns. Their main concern was the appointment of an inexperienced superintendent John Ramirez, who would earn $168,000 a year for three years, with the "hiring of former superintendent Zendejas as a consultant with a pay of $14,000 a month for 10 months".

After being suggested to become a "temporary trustee on behalf of the state", Dr. Nancy Kotowski says that "she's filled that role of a trustee before and would do it until the state board appoints a permanent trustee at the next meeting in May".

Although Alisal Union School District is having trouble keeping up with state standards, I do think that they should be able to get money to help correct their problems so they can hopefully meet state standards in the near future.

What's the next step for policy makers?

The next step for policymakers is increasing college completion rates.

This past weekend President Obama make his weekly address, and make the "two [key] issues that make up this [(Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act)] law: health care and higher education:"

Education. Health care. Two of the most important pillars of a strong America grew stronger this week. These achievements don't represent the end of our challenges; nor do they signify the end of the work that faces our country. But what they do represent is real and major reform. What they show is that we're a nation still capable of doing big things. What they prove is what's possible when we can come together to overcome the politics of the moment; push back on the special interests; and look beyond the next election to do what's right for the next generation.

I agree with Obama that making Universal Health Care a "law of the land", and higher education more popular, will not end our problems or end the work for our country.

When reconciliation passed the Health Care Reform Bill into a Law, it also gave money "to low- income college students attending school on a Pell Grant". Although this is money may not personally help all college students, I do feel that this is an important necessity for many students who are unable to go to college without this extra money from the government.

Later on in Obama's speech, he stated how this money will help students during this country's time of need:

No doubt, increasing financial aid during a time of high unemployment, stagnant wages and increasing tuition is a necessary step. Hopefully, this will get more people into higher education. Our economic sustainability demands a better educated work force But, it's not enough - especially when the latest attempt to focus some efforts on postsecondary education reform, the reconciliation bill, ended up being one more example of education sacrificing new resources to pay for rising health care costs.

The article also points out how education effects our economy. Higher paying jobs usually require a higher education that High school. If there is a lower number of college graduates than normal, there are less people earning a higher amount of money. If they don not have the money to spend, the economy goes down. Since many either do not have a college education, and many do not have jobs because of the economic crisis, the economy goes down even further.

This quote from the article, "Moving forward, the goal should be clear: We should be investing our existing tax dollars in students who complete college. Our future depends on it." I think is a definite possibility, but also partially unrealistic. If we were to spend our existing tax dollars on students who complete college, other systems of our country will start to fail. The most recent example would be that the Universal Health Care system will start to not receive enough money.

Mind Break 3/24-3/30

Here are some America's Funniest Home Videos clips

This video contains animals acting out against being held, animals doing what they were told, and animals entertaining themselves. Some animal actions include a dog playing fetch with himself, a dog taking a womans bikini, and a cat getting cheese out of the fridge.

hope you enjoy like I did.

The Disadvantages of Solar Power

Here are a few major disadvantages to having solar panels in the world.

The first and widely known disadvantage is the price of installing solar panels. Solar panels are high priced because the materials are in low amount and because they are not being produced in mass production, which would reduce the price of solar panels, raise the product availability and thus increase demand. One way for this price to be decreased is having more people in the world buy solar panels. A solution to the low amount of solar panels in the United States, and the world, is for governments to give money back to those who buy the solar panels. Another way is for electricity companies to give money or credit to those who make more energy from the panels, than they use.

Another con to Solar Panels is that they cannot be placed everywhere in the world. Solar panels need to be in an area where there is a large amount of sunlight for most of the day (Some solar panels have the capability of moving with the sun).

The third and probably most interesting for most people is the idea of solar panel powered cars. A problem with these solar powered cars is that if they are not charged, and a cloud moves over the car, the car may lose power. Another con for most people is the fact that these cars can not go as fast as others.

Texas Trying to Change History?

The Texas State Board of Education has finally reached an all time low. How have they done this? By

removing Thomas Jefferson from a list of Enlightenment thinkers who changed the world... By 10-5, it voted down a proposal that teachers' examine the reasons The Founding Fathers protected religious freedom in America by barring government from protecting or disfavoring any particular religion over all others.

The Houston Chronicle states that this has occurred for one main reason. Texans when "not paying attention" elected extremists to the Texas Board of Education without knowing it. Some possible changes that the state of Texas can make in the elections of the board members are

elect[ing] the board members in nonpartisan elections. Maybe they should be appointed by the governor and approved by the state Senate (a process similar to the way federal judges are appointed). Or maybe curriculum authority should move from the state board to the Texas commissioner of education, who's appointed by the governor — a higher-level politician that more voters pay attention to.

I wonder if the parents of these students in Texas have the same feelings that the Board of education in the state of Texas does (against protection of all religion, and Thomas Jefferson).

Washington D.C. Schools

In Washington D.C., 23 schools were announced that they will be closing due to the schools

being under enrolled or in poor physical condition. In three cases [they have decided to] soften the impact of the deeply unpopular decisions by promising to modernize or rebuild the schools while students were relocated.

One problem at the Bruce-Monroe Elementary School at Park View is that despite an approximate

$1 million in improvements... broken water pipes and rodent droppings are a chronic problem... records confirm the allegations, showing that pees-control workers were called to the school... three times in January alone... The rodents are going into the food supply... this school is contaminated.

The problems at Bruce-Monroe are just an example of issues at other school around the country. The example of money trouble in the school system in Washington D.C. show what will be happening to other schools.

The amendment for Student Loaning

Student aid initiative, as part of the final amendments to the heath care bill, will be eliminating "a $60 billion program that supports private student loans with federal subsidies and replacing it with government lending to students". Out of the total $61 billion in savings over 10 years, $36 billion will go to Pell grants, and smaller portions will go "towards reducing the deficit and to various Democratic priorities, including community colleges, historically black colleges and universities, and caps on loan payments".

The Pell grant in the past

once covered more than two-thirds of total costs at a public university... [but] now covers about one-third... the maximum grant could be scaled back by more than half to $2,150 and at least 500,000 students could be dropped from the program... So if this legislation did not pass, you would see catastrophic cuts to the Pell grant program, effectively slamming the door shut for hundreds of thousands of students, if not millions, who rely on the Pell grant program to go to school

said Rich Williams, higher education associate for U.S. PIRG, the federation fo state Public Interest Research Groups.

One of Kentucky's state representatives, Brett Guthrie, stated in opposition that "Instead of making student loans more affordable or preserving choice, competition and innovation in the loan program, Democrats are taking money from struggling students' pockets to help pay for a government takeover of health care". Although there is truth in his statement, I do not think that this is over. I hope the government will come up with a way for the students to gain money, and the government to use money for correct purposes..

To summarize the his position of the student loan amendment, Daniel de Vise wrote

The amount directed at Pell grants would drop from $40 billion to $36 billion, and a portion of the smaller amount would go toward closing an unexpected shortfall in the grant program, oversubscribed because of the recession. The annual Pell grant would rise to $5,975 by 2017 from the current $5,550, and for the first time, it would be linked to the consumer price index. In the original House bill, the Pell target was $6,900.

Community colleges would get $2 billion, down from $10 billion in the original bill. More than $20 billion in initiatives for early education, K-12 school modernization and student loan interest-rate reduction would be eliminated. But a $2.6 billion investment in historically black colleges would survive. The new bill also includes a $1.5 billion initiative that would cap a borrower's monthly loan payments at 10 percent of income, down from 15 percent.

What I did not like about this article was that it was biased. If someone reads this article, they only learn of the negatives of the student loan amendment in the Health Care Bill. To make the article better, I think that there should have been some positives of the amendment.

This is personal to me because I was thinking of applying for the Pell grant program for college. this this information, it shows me that I have a lower chance of getting the grant. Without the money, I may not be able to go to the college of my choice to get the degree that I want.

Mind Break 3/22-3/26

a great part of a Family Guy Episode, hope you are entertained

Past Earth Hour Highlights

this is the official video for Earth Hour 2010: includes highlights from the past year



this video is of the major cities, and famously known structures shutting off their power in 2009 across the world.



Hopefully the 2010 Earth Hour will be an even greater turnout than the past few years.

!!LET THE WORLD UNITE, AND POWER DOWN!!!


"EARTH HOUR IS A WAY FOR THE CITIZENS OF THE WORLD TO SEND A CLEAR MESSAGE THEY WANT ACTION FOR CLIMATE CHANGE" ~BAN KI-MOON (UN SECRETARY GENERAL)

The citizens of the United States are taking things for granted

The citizens of the United States are taking things for granted. When I said this, you probably thought "we're lucky to have fresh water","we're lucky top have electricity" blah blah blah. That's not what I'm talking about. We take for granted our Primary Education. How?? Read On.

Because of the risk of fraud "The British governments said it will stop funding Kenya's Free Primary Education Program through the country's ministry of education...The United States earlier this year suspended about $7 million in funding to Kenya’s Primary Education Program [also] because of allegations of fraud." Many including Musau Ndunda "hopes the British decision will force the Kenyan government to aggressively deal with the issue of corruption within the education ministry" and that Kenya's government will hopefully take charge of the whole situation.

Afterschool programs being shut down

In New Jersey, this past February, Governor Christopher J. Christie "cut $560 million in previously approved education spending, including $5 million for after-school programs that serve 12,000 children in 115 schools. " This is all part of his $2.2 billion bidget deficit in the current fiscal year.

One afterschool program, at Linden's School No. 1, that helps 85 children after school will be closed this friday "after losing its state financing halfway through the year".

Mr. Christie and his education commissioner, Bret
D. Schundler, are expected to cut state aid to individual districts by as
much as 15 percent, and reduce overall school aid for only the second time in
more than a decade. That would probably mean laying off thousands of teachers,
and eliminating a host of extras like after-school and early-childhood education
programs that parents have come to count on.

If the schools had not recieved $1 billion in gederal aid, this "execution" would have occured last year when this whole education problem was starting to sharpen its horns.

'My take is, he’s trying to deal with this,” Mr. Cantrell [president of the New Jersey
Taxpayers’ Association] said of the governor. “I think the reality of
the situation is, it’s such a dire one that there aren’t a lot of choices right
now. Everyone is going to have to sacrifice to resolve this issue, and to say ‘I
should not have to sacrifice’ is just not reality.'

The Linden district, with 6,000 students,
partnered with Jewish Family Service of Central New Jersey in 2003 to start the
after-school program at School No. 1. It has since expanded to two other
elementary schools, serving a total of 274 children, most of whom are black or
Hispanic. More than half qualify for free or reduced lunch.
Families pay $250 annually per child for the program; most of the costs are covered by $259,000 in state financing awarded by New Jersey After 3, a nonprofit group that oversees a network of after-school programs (another $51,500 comes from foundation grants). Mark Valli, the group’s president, said that all but 25 of the 115 state-financed after-school programs would close in the next month; generally, only those that can make up the shortfall with district money, corporate grants and donations will stay open.

The Advantages of Solar Power

Here are a few major advantages to having Solar Power panels in the world.

Since Solar power does not require any fuel besides the sun. Since it does not need fuel to generate electricity, no carbon dioxide, or nitrogen oxide is being release into the atmosphere, not contributing to global warming. The fact that there is not pollution, once the panels are made, it is considered to be "the most Clean and Green energy".

Another reason for why Solar Power is great for the environment is that "there is no on-going cost for the power to be generated" This is the cause of free solar "energy" (radiation). This also is great because it can be used for a very long time, unlike other sources of energy such a oil, where the supply will eventually run out at the present use rate.

Solar Power is also a great source of energy because it can be stored while there is sunlight, to use during a time when there isn't. This in turn cuts electricity costs to almost zero.

One reason why houses may like to use solar panels on houses is the fact that solar panels "operate silently, have no moving parts, and do no release offensive smells[, like natural gas]". Solar panels also are easier to install than large energy plants.

Solar Panels also can move with the path of the sun to collect the most amount of light/energy, to either be used or stored for a later time.

Looking for a better lithium battery

The United States Environmental Protection Agency, and other science groups will be focusing on bringing manufacturers of "various types of lithium-ion batteries together". Together the manufacturers will try to create "environmentally sound manufacturing and material choices". Companies that use carbon nanotubes to make their lithium-ion batteries is their first order of business. They will be taking life cycle assessments of the various materials and processes needed to create lithium batteries to try to minimize the environmental impacts and risk to public health. By mid-2011, they hope to provide companies "with information on how to improve their extraction, manufacturing, and disposal practices [of lithium batteries]".

Mind Break 3/15-3/19

After watching this video, I don't feel so bad when I miss easy shots. Hope this makes you feel better about your soccer skills, it sure did for mine!!

CA schools needing to change

On March 18Th, the state released a list of "nearly 190 schools that represent the lowest 5 perfect throughout California which are eligible for Title 1 funds and have failed to show adequate progress in student achievement... These schools will be required to implement on of four drastic interventions:

1) close the school

2) transform the school through a series of strategies including replacing the principle and increasing instructional time (most students won't be happy, most don't even like school how it is)

3) turn around the school by replacing the principle and at least half the staff

4) restart the school by closing it and reopening it as a charter school, under a charter school management organization or under and education management organization

...
One high school, one middle school and four elementary schools in the Mt. Diablo district are on the list"

"Exactly how many is a 'hella'"?

In math or science class did you ever hear the words "zetta" or "yotta"? Well you may be hearing the word "hella" as a new term in the math and science world. "Austin Sendek, a UC Davis physics student, has started a petition to establish a new, scientifically accepted prefix, 'hella,'...would indicate 10^27, or 1 followed by 27 zeros." To adults this may seems just plain silly, and to conservative adults, this would mean just another way students can swear. At first, still as a joke, he put up a petition on Facebook and now nearly has 19,000 fans with and increase of about 1,000 fans per day. Of course, with "hella" being (mainly) a Northern California slang word, its getting a lot of popularity on Facebook.

Although it seems like "Hella" will not make it into the science or math world, students, scientists, and some adults would be happy to see it go through

hella can be used in front of so many words i cant even list them, just go
to urbandictionary.com (linked to "hella" page) and just look at the left column!

So what was the point of this particular blog? The point was, hey if you have an idea, try it out, test it out, send it to people to get it out in the world. Don't just let it sit in the back of your head as a "shoulda' coulda' woulda' didn't". As people say "If at first you don't succeed, try try again"!

Congressman Bart Stupaks view of the health reform bills

Congressman Bart Stupak, representing Michigan's 1st District, stated last week that it any federal funding for abortion was on the health care reform, they are "prepared to strike [it] down". On Monday "he is 'more optimistic' than he was... regarding legislative negotiations." Stupak says that both he and President Obama do not

want to expand or restrict current law (on abortion). [Although Stupak is] satisfied with the current House bill... he has been vocal in his opposition to the Senate bill... the Senate bill is 'unacceptable' on the issue of abortion...[White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says] ultimately, 'this is not a bill about abortion. This is about health care reform.'... Stupak's coalition, saying, 'The bottom line is that Pelosi needs Stupak's supporters to pass health care reform. She doesn't have the votes any other way.' 'Now, she doesn't want to alienate the pro-choicers. So that's why she, Hoyer and Stupak are working on language that's more conservative than Nelson's in the Senate but a bit more liberal than Stupak's. How they thread that needle is anyone's guess,' Stricherz said.

So pretty much Stupak is happy to pass the House bill, but feels that the Senate be needs to be fixed, and that the only way Pelosi will get this reform passed is with Stupak's supporters.

A few Solar Power Benefits

Today an NBC news station WCSH6 reported some solar power services. In Portland, Maine(News Center) environmentalists are urging Maine's state leaders to include Solar Power Energy use in "Maine's future energy plans".

Hopefully, not only other states in teh United States, but other countries in the world will follow this path in the future of using (a) more efficient energy source.

The report released on Tuesday pointed out key benefits and usues of solar Energy. "They say the sun produces more energy in an hour than all of the coal mines and oil wells do in a year. They also point out that solar energy is cheap, clean and easily accesible."

Solar energy is defenitly cheap to recieve, but puting up the panels is very expensive, "is more expensive than some technologies like wind or coal, but the cost of solar becomes increasingly cheaper as production expands, so it will only get cheaper in the long run."

So what can we/you do? The more people that buy solar panels, the higher the production rate of the panels, inturn lowering the price of the panels because they have more. And to all of those environmentalists or scientists that may read this blog? Keep working, and thanks for working towards making our planet a better and healthier world for all.

.

There will hopefully be a weekly post about solar power, and its advantages and disadvantages...

Mind Break 3/8-3/12

This is a great video. A new game kittens have created: Who ever stays on the longest wins, but watch out for the cabinet and the turns!!



Hope you enjoyed it, and laugh a little!!

President Obama's Newest Education Plan

In the below video, News Channel 3, Obama's newest education plan is explained. His new plan will help school districts in states across the country to "cut down on drop-out rates and improve under-performing schools."will t he $900million in grants and another $50 million being given in total to school districts in the United States the "5,000 of the nation's worst school [will get] back on track over the next five years."

One main question that I have about his is, Where is all of this money coming from? Don't we have debt to other countries, oh China for example that we need to pay off??

Obama's small speech

This past Thursday the Health Care Reform Summit was held. Both the Democrats and the Republican main leaders were there to argue and agree on the Health Care Reform.

After the Summit, Obama gave a mini speech.
Some main areas where Obama says the two party's agree is that the rise in cost of Health Care is a huge problem for families, small bissinesses and our federal budget. They also agreed that

"... small businesses and individuals should be allowed to participate in a new insurace market place that would allo them to get a better deal from insurance companies" Another area where Obama agrees with the two party's is that "people with preexisting problems should be able to get coverage".

A difference that Obama acknowledges is how people with preexisting problems should get coverage, and whether companies should be held accountable when they deny a person care or if they should arbitrarily raise premius. Obama also says in his little speech that he agrees with this.

Here are two (somewhat) inspiring quotes to get this done.

Obama said at the end of last Thursdays Summit that “I’m eager and willing to move forward with members of both pary’s on healthcare if the other side is serious about coming together to resolve our differences and get this done”

“Let’s get this done” says Obama at the end of this speech. Him saying means that he wants the refor to be passed because the United States needs it now not later. I agree with Obama’s last sentence.

Here is the video where I got my quotes from

Obama's Letter to the Congressional Leaders on Health Insurance Reform

In his letter to the Congressional Leaders on Health Insurance Reform March 2nd, he mentioned the Bipartisan Health Care Reform Summit. He stated that in the summit, he was glad that the opposing sides were able to show their difference, and share some common goals. He also has become convinced "that the Republican and Democratic approaches to health care have more in common than most people think."

Obama then listed some examples where the Democrats and Republicans agreed. The three main ideas that the two party's agreed on was

“the need to reform our insurance markets. We agree on the idea of allowing small businesses and individuals who lack insurance to join together to increase their purchasing power so they can enjoy greater choices and lower prices. And we agree on the dire need to wring out waste, fraud and abuse and get control of skyrocketing health care costs.”

Obama also listed some of the areas of disagreement between the Democrats and Republicans. These disagreements include "what role the oversight of the health insurance industry should play in reform". And Obama adds his opinion by stating that

“I believe we must insist on some common-sense rules of the road to hold insurance companies accountable for the decisions they make to raise premiums and deny coverage. I don’t believe we can afford to leave life-and-death decisions about health care for America’s families to the discretion of insurance company executives alone.”

Obama, in his letter to the Congressional Leaders on Health Insurance Reform, also goes to write the "four policy priorities identified by Republican Members at the meeting that [he is] exploring"

Different high school=different preparedness for college

A perfect grade at you respective school may not be an A at another school?? This is all news to me. In the article by Katy Murphy, she talks about how high school students, although academically at bar for high school standards, "about 20% of the freshman who enter Cal State East Bay with a 4.0 GPA need at least some remediation in Math, English or both...". Mike Kirst goes on to talk about students in their first few years of college:

In America, high school course content and homework demand and pacing is detached from college. If you’re not in AP classes, it’s really quite dangerous… It’s more common than uncommon” that students feel they are prepared from their college future in high school, but realize that they were wrong.

Worell also goes to comment about how freshman and sophomore students are seeing college:

Worell has spent years working with low-income, minority students and studying
the psychology behind their college experiences. He said they often arrive on
campus and discover they have a year or two of remedial course work ahead of
them. It’s common for them to feel they don’t belong, he said, and to drop out.

How I'm interpreting this article is that now its not only what colleges we go to that will help our future, but now we have to start worrying about what high schools students are going to? because they weren't as prepared because they went to a lower rated school, "where the standards are lower"? That doesn't seem right. I thought there was a law or something that made it so that all should get equal education no matter where from or what race you are.

Schools and learning essential life skills

This blog ties into my latest blog "School Gardens: Good or Bad" and how schools are not just there to teach reading writing and arithmetic. Some of the life skills that should be taught in schools that have to do with gardening is being able to grow some of your own food, how to cook (you don't have to be a chef but atleast try!), and how to save the worlds natural resources like water by using a cistern.

Jay Mathews, a writer for the Washington Post published an article of February 18 where he talks about the "eight essential life skills... [and] their importance and how to teach them".

The first skills that is or should be taught in schools is organization. Not only can this be used in schools but it can also be used throughout ones entire life. In school students use the skills of organization to do their math, and history notes. You may not think of it, but even writing a thorough essay is being organized, because you are not procrastinating. Another example of school organization is finishing an assignment because then you are organizing your priorities and getting your homework done, and then having fun after.

The second skill is the skill of music. No this does not meant that all students should learn how to play in instrument. Kenneth J. Bernstein, a much-admired social studies teacher and is also a piano player says that although students don not have to learn to play an instrument or learn how to sing they

each may need to learn how to listen, because different kinds of music may require different kinds of listening. In a sense, being exposed to several kinds of music is like learning a second language: It begins to empower one to learn further on one's own, because one has gone beyond the limitations of what one grows up with.

Learning to listen, to music and other things, also teaches students to have patience

The third essential life skill is the skill of teamwork. One way that teamwork is taught in schools is with sports. The teammates have to work together to reach their goal of having fun or a goal of winning the game. Frazier O'Leary says that "'Sometimes it is hard for high school students to understand the value of working together until they grow up and realize that teamwork is essential to success'". Teamwork can also help outside of ones school life. For example there are many times in which teamwork can help with your job: joint presentations, meetings, and job proposals with partners are just a few samples of how teamwork is helped in the workplace.

The fourth skill is exercise. This is important because the correct amount of exercise and nutrition keeps ones weight in check, and can help one reach their weight goal. Some of the positive effects that exercise has on the human body is reducing the possibility of getting a disease, or disrupting ones mental state. Regular Physical activity reduces body fat in turn reducing the potential of Non insulin-Dependent Diabetes, Diabetes types I and II, and the growing problem of Obesity, not only in the United States, but the world. Exercising " can improve you mood and the way you feel about yourself. Researchers also have found that exercise is likely to reduce depression and anxiety and help you to better manage stress.

The fifth Skill is friendship, [and that] "learning to be a friend is what some call social intelligence or emotional intelligence. It includes 'not giving in to peer pressure, becoming self-aware and using that self-awareness to self-adjust as necessary'". This is important for ones life because one always needs friends. Whether it is a person to talk to, or to hang out with. Friendships can make a persons life more meaningful, and can create strong bonds between people that can last a lifetime, and possibly into next lives, if you believe in reincarnation.

The sixth skill is Argument

Bernstein has a favorite trick for teaching this correctly: "I remember once asking students to prepare a debate, three for the affirmative and three for the negative. When they came into class and I checked that they were prepared, I made them argue the other side, not the one they had prepared. With the exception of the class president, who as a politician did not trust me and thus had prepared both sides, they flopped. And in that failure they learned an important lesson: One is far more effective in debate and discourse when one has thought through both sides of an argument."

The seventh skill has to do with being able to think critically. This does not mean negatively criticizing everything. Thinking Critically means being able to analyze what you hear, and to question what you hear/learn. This can help one to decipher between the truth and the false.

The eighth and final skill that should or is being taught in schools is the ability to present things whether it is a song, a project, charts, and many other things. Being able to present these in an organized fashion will make it easier to be understood, and can possibly give you and edge over others in the same work environment.

School Gardens: Good or Bad

An Elementary School in Brooklyn has decided to create a school garden. The first known school garden was "built 15 years ago at a middle school in Berkley California, [and] cost about $75,000".

How much is the Brooklyn school garden going to cost? $1.6 million and "architect's dream"!! Although $1.6 million is alot of money, the money being used to create the new garden will be equaled out by the gardens pros. Some of the gardens pro's is that they will not have to pay for electricity because the building will be powered by solar panels. Another pro that the garden will give the school is that the amount of money that the schoool uses for food will decrease. This is because they garden will be creating food that can be used for the lunches. The compost that will be put into the garden area will also decrease the use of fertilizers, in turn decreasing teh amount of energy that is being used in the world to create the artificial fertilizers. The cistern will also decrease the amount of water that the garden uses because it collects rainwater to be used then, or at a later time when water is less available (a drought).

The Architects have many goals that will use up this $1.6 million. They plan on creating the building that will be powered by the sun, a kitchen with a communal table for the children to share what they have made, and a chicken coop. They also hope to make an area for a compost system, and outdoor pizza kitchen, and a "cistern to collect rainwater." One of the most exciting things that the architects will be creating is a "movable greenhouse [that] will be rolled out each fall."

The Brooklyn Elementary School, with the new garden, hopes to become the "center for study of the environment and agriculture". The school also hopes that the garden will give new learning and teaching experiences to the students and teachers.

Ms Flanagan, a critic, published in The Atlantic and essay titled "Cultivating Failure", where she went on to state that "I have yet to find a single stufy that suggests classroom gardens help students meet the state standards for English and Math". In my opinion, the English and Math standards that were mentioned by Ms. Flanagan, are just to make sure that students are learning the lifeskills of writting, reading, and math. Yes these skills are very important, and should be taught in schools, but they are not the only skills that should be, and are being taught in schools around the world. If not, we would ony be in school for a few hours a day, instead of the 6 or 7 hours that we spend throughout the school week. Some other necessary skills that are taught at schools, is the arts, languages, history, because it can repeat itself, and physical education, which even that is diminshing in schools. But wait, these classes dont "help students meet the state standards for English and Math." Does that mean that they shouldn't be taught in schools?!?! NO!! they should be taught because they are skills that we can use once we are out of school. That's the same with the school garden!

The garden gives students breaks from class so they can concentrate bettwe when they return to class. The garden also will give the students a different, and interesting atmosphere, for students to learn in.Personally at my highschool, we have a garden in which the environmental science class and teh teachers take care of. Each Environmental Science class has their own area to plant different foods. We've learned how to properly weed, plant seeds, prune trees, and many other gardening skills. We also have learned about composting and how to make your own compost. I think this is necessary for students at a younger age, to learn about composting for two reasons. Composting helps save the planet by reducing the amound of compostable waste that is overpopulating land fills, and it lowers the amount of energy used to create chemicals/artificial fertilizers which are bad for the environment and are not as good as natural fertilizers. Its importants for students to learn this becasue then they realize that they don't have to be geniuses to help save the world, all they have to do are simple things like, make your own garden where you can grow some or all of your food. Another possibility to save the earth is to compost which not only saves money, but lowers the amount of environmental damaged done to the earth. And its like the article said, it's not a choice of gardening or education, gardening is education. The students learn how to cook, grow foods, and many other skills that are necessary to one's life.

Been to Target lately?

If you've been into a Target store since January 3, 2010, then you may have noticed a new section of the store with the section title of "Great Save". This new section of the Target stores is available in its 1,740 stores. This section gives "shoppers [the] warehouse club saving without the warehouse [annual] membership fees". These savings include products such as a "six-pack of bath towels for $19.99, children's T-shirts for $3, and 35-packs of Market Pantry bottled water for $3.95. Its stores typically carry 24-packs of the Market Pantry water for $3.99".

I personally think this is a great idea that the Target company has come up with for their stores. They are getting in the program about people wanting to save money, buy in bulk, and stock up on necessities.

Mind Break 2/1-2/9

I didnt really liek the first song (part 1), but being a CSI: MIAMI fan, I ofcourse liked the part 2 song called "Won't Get Fooled Again". Both songs are performed by the group The Who. I also liked how the stage lit up in different patterns at certain parts of the song

part 1


part 2


Hope you enjoyed it!!!

Anit-Whaling Ship vs. Japanese Boat

(To make sure everybody understands, this article was from January 2010, so yes its "old news" but i still thought it was important)

"The anti-whaling ship Bob Barker, and a Japanese harpoon boat collided in the icy waters off Antarctica on Saturday" (but wait, wasn't Bob Barker the host of the game show "the Prrice Is Right"? Yes! He donated millions of dollars to buy the Bob Barker ship for the Sea Shepherds). Although no injuries were reported4d, the activist group Sea Shepherd said "a small hole was torn in the hull of its ship...[but] the vessel was not in danger of sinking. For the past few years, the Japanese whaling ships and the Sea Shepherds have been accusing each other of "acting in increasingly dangerous ways." What I think is that we are not being dangerous enough yet, because the Japanese whalers have not stopped killing the whales for their profit. It's like they aren't thinking to the future, and what the consequences of their actions might be not only to themselves, but the whole world, and the sea life. If whales become extinct we can only imagine what might happen to the sea life. It might go all out of whack because of the non stop growing of the krill population which unbalances the rest of the food chain/web what whales, and krill are in.
There are three main tactics that Sea Shepherd activists. The first is trying to "block the whalrers from firing harpoons" at the whales in the water. If the Sea Shepherds donot succeed at these first two tactics, they deal with the possibility of seeing a whale get harpooned and dragged onto the dekc of the Japanese whaling ship. The third tactic that the Sea Shepherd activists do , is "hurling packets of stinking rancid butter" onto the dock of the ships and "the whalers have responded [most of the time] by firing water cannons and sonar devices meant to disorient the activists." Shooting the water guns also make it harder for the smaller boats, that throw the packets, to get close enough to the sides of the boats to throw them onboard the whaling ships.

The homeless

The Homeless, and facts (All of these following facts and statements are from the previous link, and studies taken in and before 2009).

In the United States "Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington State, and Washington D.C. have the highest rates of homelessness". In 2007, The United States had at least 671,859 homeless people, with the state of California containing 159,732 of the homeless. Of the 159,732 homeless people in California, 29,400 of them were Veterans that were kicked out of their homes.

The recession will force 1.5 million more people into homelessness over the next two years, according to estimates by The National Alliance to End Homelessness. In a 2008 report, the U.S. Conference of Mayors cited a major increase in the number of homeless in 19 out of the 25 cities surveyed. On average, cities reported a 12 percent increase of homelessness since 2007.

In 2009, "One out of 50-or about 1.5 million- American Children [were] homeless

The three main causes of people being homeless is...
The lack of affordable housing
poverty
and Unemployment

Each of these causes can be a lack of education. One can lose their job due to somebody else having a better education, budget cuts, and many other problems.

Do these raising numbers in homeless people, and people becoming homeless have to do with their education, or lack thereof, in their life?? I believe that in most cases, that include children, it does. With children that grew up homeless, most did not have an education because their parents were not able to pay for it. What I mean by this is that since their parents were homeless, they couldn’t pay for clothes, books supplies, food, for their children to go to school every day, they also may not have the luxury of clean clothes every day. Their lack of education creates a domino effect in their life because with no a small or nonexistent amount of education ,they are unlikely to get high paying job, or even a low paying job, they also, because of little to no education, will not have the social skills to interact in the world. The lack of education, no job, and low social skills, can lead them to a life of always being homeless. For adults, education was not always their problem, which led them to their financial downfall. Their downfall could be a result of bad choices like gambling, or non-wise investments. Their financial collapse can also be due to loss of job, as stated earlier, or being demoted, going down the ladder instead of up.

One thing that I think will lower the amount of people who are homeless, not only in the United States, but in the world, is educating the homeless. Giving them their education gives them the chance to get a job, a house, and a continuous paycheck, inturn getting them out of the "homeless catagory".

Writting on a desk and arrested?!?!

Now we all know from school that we aren't supposed to write on desks, but getting arrested from doodling on your desk?!?! This particular school says that they were just following protocol! How can a schools protocol be if one writes on their desk, they get arrested! It's a little extreme!!

Students go to school to learn, Mathematics, History, English, Languages, and ART. But wait, isn't art encouraging people to draw, and can't that sometimes lead to people doing graffiti?!?! Does this mean that we need to get rid of Art classes and schools!! HECK NO!! Yes for drawing on her desk, she should have been punished, but not be arrested! How about some old school, clean all the desks in the room, or having to write down (on a piece of paper of course) to the teacher, why you felt compelled to draw on the desk, or just plain old detention!?!?

iPad: Feminine product or the next big thing?

After the success of the ipod, and the iPhone, Apple has created a new product called the iPad. Let's not get this confused with the iPad spoof of a feminine product created by Apple that was played on an Mad TV comedy television show.



The actual product that was made by Apple, is a tablet computer the size of a notebook. Like the iPhone, the company expects that the iPad tablet will be at its best in its third generation. "Popular complaints included the lack of a camera, multi-tasking capabilities, a USB port, and support for videos made with Adobe Flash software."

I guess we'll all have to wait and see how big of a product this will be. It's not like this is the first personal computer ever, there are other products out there, that people like and are satisfied with. Do we really need every single item that Apple puts into the consumer market??

The Age of Our Universe

The Hubble Space Telescope, 600 miullion years after the Big Bang, has taken the "most complete picture of the early univers so far, showing galaxies with stars that are already hundreds of millions of years old." The reason for these younger galaxies being the color blue, is because the don't have the high heavy metal content that mature galaxies have.

Here is a website for some other pictures that the Hubble Space Telescope has taken (link)

Mind Break 1/26-1/29

This is a great little video to pick up your smile, have fun, enjoy, and make sure you have the sound on to hear the cat running into the trashcan

community service blog 1

I have three ideas for my community service

Tutoring

math tutoring

working at a childrens center

through the senior community service trips

I do not know which one(s) I will be doing, but i have a feeling that they will end up being about education

"Double Atomic bomb survivor dies in Japan"

"Tsutomu Yamaguchi, the only person officially recognized as a survivor of both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings at the end of World War II, has died at age 93." How does this happen you wonder?

Yamaguchi was sent on a business trip to Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, where he "suffered serious burns to his upper body and spent the night in the city." After the bombing, and his business trip was over, he made his way back home to the city of Nagasaki, where the United States dropped a second atomic bomb, just three days after the first. Luckily on August 15, 1945, Japan surrendered, stopping any more atomic bombs from occuring on its homeland.

After the war, Yamaguchi worked as a translator for American forces in Nagasaki and later as a junior high school teacher. Here are some things that Yamaguchi has done in effect to the bombings that he was in:

"Yamaguchi gave talks about his experiences as an atomic bomb survivor and often expressed his hope that such weapons would be abolished.
He spoke at the United Nations in 2006, wrote books and songs about his experiences, and appeared in a documentary about survivors of both attacks."

"Netflix to delay delivery of Warner's latest DVDs"

This is for anybody who has Netflix

San Francisco's Netflix Inc. has decided to delay the sending of Warner Bros. new movies so that "[Netflix] can gain rights to show its subscribers more movies over the Internet... Netflix hopes to reach similar deals with other major movie studios later this year, using the Warner Bros. agreement announced Wednesday as a template." Another reason why Netflix has decided to delay the releases of new Warner Bros. movies, is so that the studio has a chance to raise their sales of the DVD's, which is "the movie industry's biggest source of profits."

here are some pros and cons that Ted Sarandos, Netflix's chief content officer states in the article.

Pros:"[it] will be good for the entertainment ecosystem",and "[it gives a] chance to boost the sales of DVDs, the movie industry's biggest source of profit

Cons: "Newly released DVDs account for about 30 percent of Netflix's shipments," this means that Netflix will be losing about 30 percent of its shipments.

Although Netflix has decided to prolong sending the new releases, Blockbuster "which has been losing ground to Netflix in recent years, intends to continue renting DVDs as soon as they are released". And why doesn't Warner Bros. ask Blockbuster to delay like Netflix? Warner Bros. "studios get a cut of revenue under their agreements with Blockbuster".

El Dorado dreamers have been proven right

(El Dorado also known as City of Z.) For those who haven't heard or seen the animated movie El Dorado, it was "an ancient empire of citadels and treasure hidden deep in the Amazon Jungle." The famous empire has also been known for its riches and its 'golden king'.

As many explorers have searched for this famous city, most have gotten lost in the vast Amazon jungle, and were never to be seen again.

"Now, however, the doomed dreamers have been proven right: there was a great civilisation. New satellite imagery and fly-overs have revealed [in an area spanning 155 miles] more than 200 huge geometric earthworks carved in the upper Amazon basin near Brazil's border with Bolivia. [These] circles, squares and other geometric shapes form a network of avenues, ditches and enclosures built long before Christopher Columbus set foot in the new world. Some date to as early as 200 AD, others to 1283. Scientists... believe there may be another 2,000 structures beneath the jungle canopy. [Many of these structures] have been revealed by the clearance of forest for agriculture... Many scientists saw the jungle as too harsh to sustain anything but small nomadic tribes. Now it seems the conquistadors who spoke of 'cities that glistened in white' were telling the truth. They, however, probably also introduced the diseases that wiped out the native people, leaving the jungle to claim – and hide – all trace of their civilisation."

Watching the movie growing up always gave me hope that El Dorado really was out there. Now that there is scientific proof that the city was real, my inner child is happy to know that believing can lead to truth.

1:5 released from Guantanamo join militant groups?

Detainees released from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay have gotten into trouble. "One in five detainees released from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay has joined or is suspected of joining militant groups like al Qaeda". On what terms have they been released? Are these terms not strict enough to weed out those who are most likely to join "militant groups like al Qaeda?" As the Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell says "the vetting process for releasing detainees was an 'inexact science,' adding: 'You know, we are making subjective calls based upon judgment, intelligence. And so there is no foolproof answer in this realm. That's what makes this so difficult.'"

Anybody happen to hear about the two attempts to blow up a U.S. passenger plane over Christmas break? If you did you probably didn't know this.

"Former Guantanamo detainees... are believed to be behind a failed plot to blow up a U.S. passenger jet on Christmas Day."

As a result of the belief stated above, President Obama chose to "suspend the transfer of additional Guantanamo detainees to Yemen, citing the deteriorating security situation in the country." Of course delaying the release of detainees will not stop Obama's task of closing down the Guantanamo Bay prison. "are 198 detainees left at Guantanamo,... [including] roughly 91 Yemenis." And what is the reason for Obama having to close the prison? Here's the main reason: "detainees were denied due process for years and for harsh interrogations conducted there."