Wed. April 27--6th hour

View the following and comment--

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHGs4535W_o
What factors hurt Richard Nixon in the debate with JFK?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DtTTB-Njgk
How is social media being used in campaigns?

PAC /527 links for assignment

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Political_action_committee

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_action_committee


http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=527_committees

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/527_organization

Why you should love $5 gas??

More expensive gas could be a good thing? Appraently, there are some possible benefits. See the list below...What do you think?

Fewer people will die on the road. The less you drive, the more likely you will survive.

Shorter security lines. Soon, hardly anyone will be able to afford to fly willy-nilly around the country or globe. You will breeze through the maze of airport checkpoints.

Less pollution. Less driving means cleaner air.

High prices lead to lower prices. If gas prices rise enough, the government will open up areas now closed to oil production, and oil companies will be able to invest in more-expensive methods of extracting oil. Soon we will be drowning in the stuff, and prices will drop again.

More exercise. It can't hurt to walk the three blocks to the grocery or bike to school or work.

Local businesses may profit.If you can't afford to drive out to the Wal-Mart or The Home Depot, you may be buying instead at the local supermarket or neighborhood hardware store. In addition, as the cost of transporting, say, grapes from Chile, goes out of sight, you may turn to regional farmers for your produce.

What do you think? Do you love it? Is there anything you could like about it?

Georgia governor to sign law targeting illegal immigration

Gov. Nathan Deal of Georgia plans to sign into law what may be one of the nation's toughest anti-illegal immigration measures, his spokesman, Brian Robinson, said Friday.

Unmoved by threats of boycotts and lawsuits, the Republican-dominated Georgia Legislature passed the tough law Thursday night, during the final hours of this year's legislative session. Robinson did not say when the governor would sign the measure.

"The bill reflects well the priorities and principles on which the governor campaigned ... last year," he said. "We believe that it reinforces the law in Georgia."

Among other things, the bill allows law enforcement officers to ask about immigration status when questioning suspects in certain criminal investigations. It punishes people who transport illegal immigrants during the commission of a crime and imposes hefty prison sentences on those who use fake documents to get jobs.

After the vote, the bill's author, Republican state Rep. Matt Ramsey, declared, "We have done the job that we were sent to do." Ramsey said the bill addresses issues forced on the states because of the federal government's decades-long failure to secure the nation's borders.

What do you think aboiut this bill? It sounds like the states are starting to do what the national government has failed to do. What do you think about this?

Ariz. Legislature OKs presidential 'birther' bill

The Arizona Legislature gave final approval late Thursday night to a proposal that would require President Barack Obama and other presidential candidates to prove they are U.S. citizens before their names can appear on the state's ballot. Arizona would become the first state to require such proof if Gov. Jan Brewer signs the measure into law. Republican Rep. Carl Seel of Phoenix, the author of the bill, said the bill wasn't about opposition to Obama. "This bill is about the integrity of our elections," Seel said. Thirteen other states have considered similar proposals this year. The proposals were defeated in Arkansas, Connecticut, Maine and Montana. So-called "birthers" contend since the last presidential election that Obama is ineligible to hold the nation's highest elected office because, they argue, he was actually born in Kenya, his father's homeland. What do you think about this law? Is it needed? Could it affect the 2012 election?

Which PoLiTiCaL PaRTy are you??

Take the quiz to see what party you "belong" to. Tell us what you got and if you agree. Go to: http://www.gotoquiz.com/political_party_quiz_2

White House Replica for Sale

Want the presidential digs without the presidential headaches? There are two replicas of the White House for sale. One is in McLean, Va. It was built by a Vietnamese engineer who built it in the mid-'70s. The house is for sale for $4.65 million and has six bedrooms, seven bathrooms, a gym, a home theater, a wine cellar and even an oval office (with a piano instead of a desk). The White House for sale is in Atlanta, Georgia and listed at $10 million. This White House has an Oval Office, a Lincoln bedroom and a pool in the backyard.

Texas May Get New Highways with 85 MPH

Legislation is working its way through the Texas statehouse that would allow future highways to have speed limits of up to 85 miles per hour. Texas already has about 500 miles of rural interstate that allow 80 miles per hour. None of those or any other existing roads would change. The 85 mile per hour limit would only apply to newly constructed roads that are engineered for that speed and only if the Texas transportation commission approves.

Backers say it’s just another tool in the toolbox. Representative Lois Kolkhorst is the lawmaker who introduced the bill. “We’re a big, big state, ” says Kolkhorst,”and so as we try to move goods and services and more importantly people from destination to destination, it could be an option for the future.”

But the discussion comes as highway deaths are down across the nation. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says from 2009 to 2010, traffic deaths fell three percent. In the region that includes Texas, deaths are down almost seven percent. It’s so low, the national traffic fatality rate will be at its lowest since 19-49.

That’s why some strongly oppose the plan. For example, insurance industry officials say any increase in speed whether it’s on an existing freeway or new one could cause more accidents leading to more injuries and fatalities. Says Jerry Johns, President of Southwestern Insurance Information Service, what’s worse is that people already tend to drive over any posted speed limit. “So does translate to people driving 90? 95?” asks Johns. “That certainly does pose a hazard to the other drivers.” Despite the concerns, house lawmakers unanimously passed the legislation this week. Now it heads to the Texas senate. Lawmakers there could vote on it in the next few weeks.

What do you think? Is 85 too dangerous?

Prison Gardens

A plan moving through the Minnesota Legislature would require some Minnesota prisons to plant gardens that would help feed prisoners.

Supporters say it would save the state money and give inmates a productive outlet while they serve their time. A bill sponsored by Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen, R-Glencoe, and discussed Tuesday in a House committee, would make eight of the state's prisons till up ground for agricultural use by inmates. "Hard, sweat equity work creates a strong back and a sound mind," he said. "It's especially needed for our young people, and also all ages actually, and especially people in a correctional institute."

Corrections Commissioner Tom Roy told lawmakers he thought it was a good idea. He's the former director of Arrowhead Regional Corrections, the workhouse for five northern Minnesota counties, just outside Duluth. "For years, that facility has had a pretty significant farming operation, including vegetables, hay and also raising livestock," Roy said. "They still have a slaughterhouse on grounds, and chickens and other things meet their demise in that slaughterhouse quite regularly." Roy said that some of the jail's potato and pumpkin crop even finds its way on to local food shelves.

Greengage cited programs in other states. They include an organic flower garden at California's famed San Quentin prison and a landscape horticulture program at New York's Rikers Island. Oklahoma officials said prison farms made nearly $1 million selling firewood, beef and pecans in 2009. Gruenhagen said the state's fiscal crisis is part of the reason he's pitching the idea.

What do you think about having prisoners grow food or sell things to support the prison?

Judge Rules on "boobies" Bracelets

Breast cancer fund raising bracelets that proclaim “I (heart) boobies!” are not lewd or vulgar and can’t be banned by public school officials who find them offensive, a federal judge in Pennsylvania said Tuesday in a preliminary ruling.

The ruling is a victory for two Easton girls suspended for defying a ban on their middle school’s Breast Cancer Awareness Day.

“The bracelets ... can reasonably be viewed as speech designed to raise awareness of breast cancer and to reduce stigma associated with openly discussing breast health,” U.S. Judge Mary McLaughlin wrote in a 40-page ruling issued Tuesday. She added that the school district had not shown the bracelets would be disruptive in school.

District solicitor John Freund said he was “very disappointed” with the ruling. He said no decision has been made on an appeal.

“We find it very difficult to believe that the judge could not find that there was a sexual double-entendre in the message,” Freund said. “If the ruling stands, certainly the educator’s job is going to be that much more difficult in deciding these issues with the court second-guessing them.”

Easton is one of several school districts around the country to ban the bracelets, which are distributed by the Keep A Breast Foundation of Carlsbad, Calif. The nonprofit has said it sells the bracelets to engage young people in breast cancer awareness.

What do you think? Do you agree with the federal court judge?