DUE TUESDAY, 1/19: Current Events Assignment

[Sandra Derstine]

A true understanding of history is demonstrated by your ability to
connect events across time and to recognize significant themes.

Find a news article in an online database (approved sources
are below). Read the article thoroughly. Post a 2-paragraph
response, using the guidelines below. BE SURE TO POST A LINK TO YOUR
ARTICLE!

In Paragraph 1, summarize the article using the prompts below.
Remember that to truly understand the article, you may need to do some
side research!
• Who is the article about? Who are the major players in this
issue?
• What event/issue is this article about? Explain the facts/
opinions of your article.
• When did the story take place? Does it have anything to do with
past events or issues?
• Where is this event or issue occurring?
• Why is this event happening? Is it interconnected with anything
else that is going on or has gone on in the past? What are the events
that have preceded and influenced this?
• How is this story significant? How does this article fit in
with a study of government?

In Paragraph 2, respond to the article using ONE OR MORE of the
following prompts:
• What did you find interesting about this article? What did you
learn from the article?
• What are the implications of your article for you? Your
community? The US? The world?
• What questions do you have after reading this article?
• If this is mainly an opinion article, how would you respond to
the author?
• Predict what you think may happen as this article develops.

[Tatyana McAfee]

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1225447&format=text
 
Dear fellow class mates,
 
I read this article and it was talking about how the US Senate's race to replace Ted Kennedy has come down to one issue and it has nothing to do with Sen. Ted Kennedy’s “legacy.” They are saying that it is the misshapen health-care bills that are causing people to panic. A state Sen. named Scott Brown was saying that he thinks the idea of health care stinks. Brown say that Obama stared to have leaks one they cut Medicare for like $500 billion buckaroos. He says that if he win the race on deciding the health care issue he will deny it(send it back to the drawing board). Brown was asked by David Gergen, "how he could possibly vote to kill health care while sitting in Ted Kennedy’s seat?". Brown's comeback was it's not kennedy's seat it the peoples seat.
 
This article was in the columnist section. It was interresting to read something that shows how competive politics is its like me palying a volleyball game that I'm so eger to win. In this article I did think that this  Brown guy should win this so called race. I think that health care chould be something that happens becuase itis helpful for the peolple who need it the most. Also the only reason why Brown wants it not to happen is because he a republican and think republicans are haters! (Joke). But on a serious note he is wrong to not want health care.

                                                                        - Tatyana

[Bryan D.]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/01/17/democrats_struggle_to_rally_base_for_upcoming_votes/?page=full

This article is aout the democratic party. What is basically happening
is that the partys power/influence has really went down after the
election so mass is trying to bring in barack obama so that he could
really light a fire under the democratic party representatives to kick
start their roll in upcoming votes/ elections. THis event is happening
because the support that the democratic party got when barack obama
was in office actually ended up diminishing really fast. This story is
significant because it is pretty much right on the lines of what we
are learning about in class Barack Obama really being the face of the
democratic party.

What I found interesting about this is that the president really has
much more to do than just take ccare of the country he has to make
speaches and attend parties and such just to keep the way of democracy
in office so that we don't actually just fall into a one party race of
sorts. The president has to make sure that the party he is
representing is actually pushing forward because it reflects him.
After reading this aricle I still question why the power of the
democratic party is going down because dont they already have the
congress and the white house. shouldnt that bring some influence. I
think that as this article develops the democratic party will probably
once again be back on top but it could also turn out pretty bad
depending on the voter turnout in these votes/elections.

[Barbosa]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/01/coakley_brown_t.html

This article is talking about Tuesday’s election for state
senate between Democrat Martha Coakley and Republican Scott Brown.
It’s talking about how close the race has become. A poll came out and
it showed that they are in a tie 48-48 but there is a plus o minus
error of 4.5%. At one point Coakley was a clear winner but Brown made
a push and now is tied. One of their main issues they are talking
about is the health reform bill. Brown promised to be the 41st vote
against, but Coakley promised to be the 60th vote for it. These
candidates have to make a strong finale push to become the senator.
This is important because it affects the people that live in
Massachusetts.

I picked this article because the election is on Tuesday and whoever
wins might seal the fate of the health reform bill. This is an
interesting article because usually Massachusetts will vote in favor
of a democrat but for some reason the republican is tied with the
democrat. It looks like the tide is turning in Massachusetts. But this
also shows that it’s not strictly about the party that they
represents, it’s about the ideas the candidate believes

[n.plaetzer]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/18/us/politics/18massachusetts.html

This article is about the special Senatorial election in Massachusetts
tomorrow. It states that since most people in Massachusetts are
neither registered as Democrats nor Republicans, Martha Coakley has to
fear the unpredictable will of the voters. In contrast to the liberal
image of the state, Massachusetts has voted for Republican Presidents
several times and before Deval Patrick came to power, it was governed
by Republican Governors 16 years in a row. Moreover, the small towns,
where a lot of people feel remote from the government, will vote for
Scott Brown if they want to vote "against the government". The point
that this is Senator Kennedy's seat and it would be the 60th vote for
Obama's health care reform is not getting across.

I personally think that Martha Coakley is missing experience in
foreign policy, although I support her criticism on Obama's
Afghanistan policy. She is also lacking expertise in civil rights
issues, e.g. she has published an advertisement proposing more
Internet censorship in order to "keep children safe". Nevertheless,
compared to her Republican opponent Scott Brown, who is quite a cold
warrior and a fan of waterboarding, it is incredibly important that
Martha Coakley gets elected. I wouldn't vote for Joe Kennedy, the
Libertarian candidate, although I share most beliefs with him. A vote
for him doesn't help to prevent Scott Brown, who is a threat to the
personal liberty of Massachusetts citizens, from being elected.

[gregory lespinsse]

Obama to Deliver State of the Union Address Jan. 27

This article is about President Obama which will deliver his state of the union address on Jan.27. On Monday afternoon the white house announce that the president would speak to congress next Wednesday."Mr. Obama will outline his priorities for the coming year as well as recount what he believes are the achievements from his first year in office." in order for this to happen the President will the media support but Last week Robert Gibbs, the press secretary made a wave relief for fan when he said to President Obama would not interrupt the three hour premiere of the show "lost".

 

That even will show great concern between the political viewer and those who are not, this is consider to be a important even. Some fan are asking themselves why did President Obama has tended to present his speech, may be the reason is because it not part of their job to follow the media schedule and what is tent to say are more important then a three hour TV show. I don't support Robert Gibbs on that decision because i believe that the president speech are more important.    
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/18/obama-to-deliver-state-of-the-union-address-jan-27/
 

[Catherine Denis]

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/18/get-out-the-vote-pitches-in-massachusetts/

In this article it tells of the strife of the two senators running for
senate trying to get more votes for themself for tomorrow's polls.
Senator Scott Brown is targeting undecided voters and independents who
seem to be disconnecting with Martha Coakley's side of matters. He
believes that they're all hoping for the 41st vote on the health care
reform when voting for him. Martha Coakley also spent hours
encouraging voters to vote Tuesday. She even went into a diner in
Newton, Massachusetts to greet the customers and ask for their votes.

I had no clue what Senators Scott Brown and Martha Coakley were
running for. I was just surrounded by negative ads about Senator Scott
Brown. I saw the same ad on YouTube that told you to call him and ask
him what the heck is wrong with him and his motives. However, I didn't
really pay attention so I didn't really know anything about his
motives. All I knew was that somewhere I saw that he had an upper hand
to Martha Coakley in popularity somehow. However, I've only heard one
person encouraging him on a positive note and it was a man I saw on
the street asking me too vote. I still don't understand either of
their motives. It worries me because I don't know what'll happen to
the health care reform. From this article, though, I felt that people
are more involved into this election than more recent, non-
presidential, elections like this.

[Jason Salinas]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34923900/ns/politics-capitol_hill/

 

Voters are Going to the polls on tuesday to vote for the new U.S. Senator. What seemed like a sure win for Democrats representative Martha Coakley, has now turned in to a race with republican representative Scott Brown. If Scott Brown wins the voting then it would turn around and take away the democrats supermajority in congress and President Obama's agenda will be different for at least 1 year in offfice. Democrats own the vtes 60 to republicans 40, but an upset or narrow win will be an upset for Massachusetts. Coakley has been criticized for a bad campaign by taking a week off during christmass break, while Brown's appeal was on the rise.

On Thu, Jan 14, 2010 at 11:16 AM, Sandra Derstine <sandrad...@gmail.com> wrote:

--
Mr. & Mrs. Salinas

[Abby Perez]

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/01/13/obama_promises_all_out_relief_effort_in_haiti/

This article is about Obama and Haiti. This is about how Obama is
helping Haiti after what they went through, after the earthquake
happened. This story took place January 13, 2010 and this happened
before in the 1900's. This is occuring in all of Haiti. This story is
significant because Obama is trying to make everything better in Haiti
since the earthquake has happened.

What I foudn interesting about this article is that Obama is actually
helping Haiti. I learned that Obama isn't such a bad guy, that he
would actually help those that need it. The questions I still have
after reading this are: how are things going to change for Haiti? Will
things get better? Will people all around the world help to make this
better? I think that people from now on will help one another, that
each country will help other countries to make this a better world for
people to live.