Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission

Today during the Soliciter General Elena Kagen's Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Senator Hatch (R-UT) was drilling her about the landmark court case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.
Can one of you briefly summarize thise case?
What significant Constitutional issues did this case address?


http://cspan.org/Special/Supreme-Court-Kagan-Senate-Confirmation-Hearing-34793.aspx

POST LINKS HERE!!!!

6/29/2010

As you discover substantive and interesting current events, post the links, a brief summary, and discussion questions here for others to follow and respond to. It is my hope that these discussions will be student inspired and you will forget about the number of links and responses I've asked you to post and engage in discussion throughout the summer because it is interesting!

HAVE FUN!!!

gw

Bon Voyage Senator Byrd

June 29, 2010

As you may know the longest serving Senator in history, Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) passed away yesterday. Senator Byrd was a favorite of a few members of the WTP Class of 2010 - I believe for his many "Senior Soundbites." Go to www.youtube.com and type in "Robert Byrd barbaric" to watch John Iatesta's (WTP Class of 2010) favorite Byrd clip.

My question to you is, do you think there should be term limits on Members of Congress?

gw

A New Justice???

6/29/2010

PLEASE tune into the Senate confirmation hearing of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagen. You will become very familiar with the court this year and hopefully see them in action in D.C. Below is an NPR link to the hearings - please feel free to share other links especially if this does not work.

http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=128172317&m=128172522

What are the requirements to becoming a Supreme Court justice? What do you think should be the prerequisites to becoming a Supreme Court Justice? Do you think that Elena Kagen has the experience necessary for the court?

gw

Supreme Court Decides On Gun Control!!!

6/28/2010

What an incredible newsday it has been! Please check out the following NPR link (if it does not work just go on to npr.org and find a linke or share another relevant site) on today's Supreme Court 5-4 decision on gun control and discuss WHY IS THIS DECISION SIGNIFICANT?

http://npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=128172317&m=128172522

gw

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Unit One ferr rizzle

Hello future unit one people. Good luck with your future in this class. Remember, the expectations in this class are very high. All of us alumni expect to win and continue the grand tradition of excellence. We at unit one want to provide some helpful websites that might aid you on your quest to repeating as state champs and onto nationals. Good luck future unit one!


http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/magna_carta/

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/magnacarta.html

http://www.erraticimpact.com/names_index.htm

http://thinkexist.com/quotes/top/occupation/philosopher/

http://www.usconstitution.net/cite.html

http://www.npr.org/

http://www.nytimes.com/

Again, all the best of luck!

Unit 6 Discussion

You'll soon learn that Unit 6 deals alot with current events. In fact, it almost entirly current events and how you can apply old ideas and values to them. Expect to know exactly what happened 5 seconds ago for a run through. Your judges will and they will not hesitate to call you out on out dated information.

That being said, I figure with the recent buzz about internet privacy, this would be a nice thing to talk about. These links aren't cutting edge new, but they'll be nough to start your thinking on the subject.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20006314-261.html

http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewarticle/articleid/4144408

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/broadband/12757-What-does-piracy-really-cost.html

http://www.northbynorthwestern.com/2010/05/80894/piracy-and-privacy/

Privacy on the internet is a huge deal right now. I've bet you've seen the "Facebook virtual suicides" over its privacy policy, and I'm sure you're atleast seen what the RIAA and Comcast are trying to do to Congress in terms of internet neutrality.

What do you think about this? Have you ever pirated anything? What is your stance on net neutrality?


Remember Unit 6, time lag no longer exists. You have no excuse for having yesterdays information. You don't even have an excuse to have this mornings information. Keep up with newspapers, NPR, and anything you can get your hands on. I'd recomend Freedom 570 AM. Although it is very polarizing and republican, atleast they talk about politics and not the value of ugly fruit like NPR does.

Unit 6 signing off, see you this Wensday.