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

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!

Health Care Overhaul

A few of you have touched upon it, but we all need to understand the complex health care debate. My hope and assumption is that all of you have been tuning in to NPR - where there is almost a daily piece on the issue. Please add links to articles or websites that you think will assist all of us understand this incredibly hot topic. Below are a few articles which can start us off ...

You may be wondering if the health care legislation has any relevance to you or your family. The piece below focuses on what the health care overhaul means to you and even has a nifty chart where you can click on your own category.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111499109

The stakes are high, the players are powerful, debate is heated, and "untruths" are rampant. The piece below claims it is a "truth-o-meter." What do you think?
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2009/aug/13/health-care-reform-simple-explanation/


If you receive the Seattle Times, on Friday August 14th on page A3 there is an interesting table that is easy to understand and focuses on the higlights of the legislatoin. Enlarge the "What's on the table" piece of this article:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2009659458_healthcare14.html

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/zoom/html/2009659459.html

ADD YOUR LINKS HERE!!!

As you know, part of the blogging assignment is to do the following:

• Provide a link to a relevant and substantive article of interest to you from a credible news source such as NPR, New York Times, etc. ON FOUR DIFFERENT OCCASSIONS.

Some of you have already posted some excellent links within other blog headings. From here on out, please post your links to great sites in this post - a few of you have excellent links that I hope you will "re-post." My hope is that these links will provoke great discussion as classmates follow these links and respond accordingly. Your responses to these links will count towards this part of your blogging assignment:

• Post at least four substantive responses to your classmates' posts or my posts

At the meeting on Monday, 8/17 I can answer any questions you may have.