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.

Unit 5 Discussion

Please read the following link describing the events around the military funeral protests done by Westboro Baptist Church:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/us/09scotus.html?scp=5&sq=westboro%20baptist%20church&st=cse

This example is a perfect reason why Unit 5 is the best (although, as the 2009/2010 alumni, we may be a little biased) and most heart-wrenching unit out there. How do you balance our freedoms with what is "acceptable" in society? Comment on your reactions to this instance, but don't just talk about how horrible these signs are--think about instances where freedom of speech should be limited. Imagine if the funeral was for a mass murderer, and the people protesting had non-violent signs about world peace.

Signing off:

Unit 5

We the People Blogging

Welcome to Beyond 116 – our We the People’s blog! As you know, a critical part of this class is staying up to date with current events through listening to NPR (91.7, 88.5) and other content based news sources. The goal of this blog site is to encourage the habit of listening to serious news forums, share what you learn, keep up to date on current events, and to provide a forum for “non teacher directed” academic discussions. Initially I will provide links which I would like you to follow; we will discuss significant articles and events, you will have the opportunity to share substantive pieces which you have found and respond to what your colleagues have found. Pay particular attention to current events connected to the Supreme Court, Congress, executive powers, and court cases.

Starting today – June 9, I will submit a new post to our blog which I expect everyone to respond to before June 16 in order to ensure you are able to subscribe. I will start us off once school is out posting a variety of blogs; but I expect you to take it from there. I will continuously read your discussions and will add my comments from time to time. However, I expect it to be a student led forum for discussion. In order for you to receive full credit, I expect you to:

1. Post at least one substantive response to a post every two weeks (five over the summer – at least three by August 16); and

2. Provide a link to a relevant and substantive article from a credible news source such as NPR, New York Times, etc. ON FOUR DIFFERENT OCCASSIONS (at least two by August 16).

I look forward to the adventure ahead!