Political Posts Week 9

    There is many people talking about protesting the electoral college vote because of the winning majority vote. Progressive groups are actively organizing and supporting protests in attempt of a switch in vote on December 19th. There was an overwhelming amount of votes in favor of electors challenging Trump. About 91 percent of respondents were in favor of the push. This being said, these people are still in doubt of this change actually happening.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/electoral-college-vote-protests-232311

Political Posts Week 9

  Many cities and communities continue on the Trump protests. This includes the city of Chicago who has definitely not given up. City workers, earlier this week, removed honorary street signage near the Chicago Trump International Hotel and Tower. This was aimed at his comment calling Chicago a "war-torn country." They have also began brainstorming ideas on how to block the sign in the sky. Exhibiting the passion going with this issue, “To suggest that Chicago is more like an Aleppo or a Baghdad is unfair,” Alderman Brendan Reilly told reporters after the council voted to strip Trump of the honorary signage. “Yes, Chicago is struggling with some big issues right now like most major cities are. But, that doesn’t mean you paint this city with such a broad brush.” 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/2016/12/07/when-pigs-fly-chicago-gets-creative-trump-protests/95086770/

Political Posts Week 8

     Trump is planning on making many changes in our country and it's policies. He vows to minimize the environmental restrictions that are placed on us now. Trump's goal is to reduce restrictions, "for every new restriction made, two old ones are to be eliminated." He also aims to protect against cyberattacks and privacy issues online. His first main focus in his first week of presidency is to begin his changes in the immigration system. These are just few of the changes he desires to make in the next 100 days, or at least take steps toward making these changes.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/22/politics/trump-first-100-days-plan/index.html

Political News Posts Week 8

   The topic of artificial intelligence is quickly rising. A law firm gave Carnegie Melon University $10 million dollars to begin research  on artificial intelligence in the form of robotics. The big questions begin to unravel with their research such as, "What happens when you give robots smart, independent thinking but limit their autonomy. Also, how will we ensure the robots are always doing what they are supposed to instead of making decisions for themselves. With this advanced technology, there is no way to predict how far our country could advance within the next decade.

http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/11/21/502905772/scholars-delve-deeper-into-the-ethics-of-artificial-intelligence

Political News Posts Week 8

   This story is about helping people spot when "fake news" is getting spread or being claimed as truth. In our culture we live in today, news and gossip are spread at extreme  rates. This information being false can cause much controversy and cause the people not to know the truth, which should be valued. This video shows how even serious issues, such as voter turnout for the presidential race, can even be altered online to satisfy the viewer(s.)

http://www.nbcnews.com/video/how-to-outsmart-fake-news-814732355751

Informal and Formal Powers of Senate

Senate:

Formal Powers:

• impeachment (holding trials of impeachment) 
• treaty (2/3 vote to approve)
• appointments
• war declaration
• expulsion of members
• confirmation of high level appointments (advice and consent)

Informal Powers:

• filibuster
• cloture
• levy and collect taxes

Political Posts Week 7

    Alabama, along with many other states, have been experiencing a serious drought. Recently, in Tennessee a state if emergency was put in place in response to a serious wildfire. Authorities begin to be concerned about air quality because of the smoke, while thousands of firefighters stay on high alert. Many residents have been forced to evacuate their homes in response to the wildfires.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wildfires-blanket-southeast-skies-burn-thousands-acres-extreme/story?id=43466028 

Political Posts Week 7

   An American University student was seen burning a flag in response to Trump's presidency after the election on Tuesday. Reactions carried out this strongly in response to an election hasn't happened since my generation has been alive. Trump has been known as a sexist, homophobic, racist, bully, and people have been severely upset about his election as our president. This shows great concern for America and the way it is going to be led for the next four years.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/11/10/american_university_students_burn_american_flags_in_trump_protest.html

Election Post

   The 22nd district of New York was victory taken by Claudia Tenney. Claudia Tenney was the Republican representative for this district. Tenney received 44% of the total votes, while Myers received 38%, and Babinec receiving 12%. Her acceptance included reassuring her district that she will provide a voice for the middle class, small businesses, family owned farms, and many more who don't have a voice in Washington.

Political Posts Week 6

    The White House remains a main image representing the United States. This being said, many parts of the White House the public hasn't ever seen before and it remains very private. Obama has decided to release photos of his private head quarters to the public, as he emphasizes that it is the "people's house." This is a nice step to have the openness to be able to view the exclusive parts of the White House.

http://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/2016/11/01/93137068/

Political Posts Week 6

   For a period of time the births of premature babies had a recognizable decrease. Recently, questions have been raised regarding the premature birth rates beginning to rise again. The care it takes to keep the premature birth rate down is described as a difficult task. The states are aware that it is an important issue and are addressing the issue. To return the rate to a more controlled number, attention needs to be shifted to African American women and women of other ethnic groups, where preterm births were mostly found. This is considered a competitive issue as each state aims to keep their numbers of premature births lower than others.

http://www.nbcnews.com/video/premature-births-on-the-rise-797944899581

Political Posts Week 6

   Hurricane Matthew caused major destruction on it's path through the seas. The hardest hits for the US were on the coasts of Florida, South Carolina, and Georgia. The most impacted being the 18miles of dunes in Flagler County located in Florida. Numerous streets were ruined along with countless homes, churches, apartments, and many other buildings that need to be repaired. This hurricane has caused major impacts along America's coasts, which directly relates to politics and how to find a resolution to the issue. Repairing the damage from this storm will be pricy and take time.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/11/01/500293722/hurricane-matthew-took-a-big-bite-out-of-southeastern-states-beaches

Political Posts Week 6

  New evidence was found that suggests new facts are emerging about Amelia Earhart's death. Amelia was a key figure of feminism throughout history. She aimed to accomplish things that only men had done before her. New facts just now emerging about a death that happened that many years ago has to be alarming as to how our deaths are being investigated. It also sparks questions as to how accurate what we are told in history really is, compared to the possibility of underlying truths.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/11/01/new-evidence-could-prove-amelia-earhart-died-castaway/93103232/

Political Posts Week 6

   This blog post is about a historic building in Washington, D.C exploding. The name of the building was "Emmanuel Bucio." The cause of the explosion and massive fire is under further investigation. The incident happened late Monday night. Everywhere we seem to look these days there is some type of devastation surrounding us and the country we live in. This affects our country and it's issues with maintaining safety and security, which is the governments job to do. Terrorism and violent outbreaks is a major problem in our country today, especially with the recent issues with discrimination we have been facing.

http://www.today.com/video/caught-on-video-historic-building-in-washington-state-explodes-792979011820

Missouri's Senate Race

1. Claudia Tenney vs. Kim Myers congressional race (22nd district New York)

Myers: 27

Tenney: 33

This was last updated on August 25, 2016. Tenney leads Myers by 6 points.

2. Missouri's Senate Race:

Roy Blunt- 

• Republican representative
• First elected into the senate in 2010
• Seeking re-election
• Secretary of state (1984)
• Bachelor's degree: Southwest Baptist University
• Master's: Missouri State University
• Top supporters/resources: Crawford Group, Goldman Sachs, Monsanto Co, Capital One Financial, and Blackstone Group 
• Pro-life, does not support same sex marriage, believes in getting rid of the immigrants, and putting up the boarder

Jason Kander- Democratice representative

• elected Secretary of State in Missouri 
• seeking re-election
• Served two terms in the Missouri State House
• American University, Georgetown Law
• Endorsed by HRC
• Pro-choice, supports same sex marriage, has no known stances on boarder control at the moment, no responses on the subject of keeping God in the public sphere

Standings of the Race: Blunt and Kander are currently tied, both with the number 44 

https://ballotpedia.org/Jason_Kander

https://ballotpedia.org/Roy_Blunt

https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_election_in_Missouri,_2016

Political Posts Week 5

   Suicide numbers have escalated a severe amount over the years and much of these has been attached to social media. Social media has started taking a stand and providing larger prevention of suicide incidents. Online social enjoyment should not be harmful for others and bullying should not be such a huge online issue, especially for the younger generation. Social media sites are taking steps in general for people to feel more safe and be more accessible to people with special needs within their site. Facebook has even come up with a tool for describing the pictures posted to blind people. This issue relates to the fact of people feeling like the government, along with these sites need to make effort for safe internet usage for people. Social media is meant to connect people to the world around them and a huge importance should be placed on connections with others around us.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/10/20/technology/instagram-suicide-prevention-tools/index.html

Political Posts Week 5

   Police safety is a rising concern for citizens and those responsibilities for the safety of the officers of our counties. A deputy who was responding to a roadside service call was shot dead on Wednesday morning. This officers, Hastings, had only been on the force for about a year. This also shines light on the fatality of two officers in Palm Springs in the last couple weeks. The killings of these officers in California is just some of many around the country including Dallas and Louisiana. These outrages are a major concern and are causing many fears of policeman across the country which should not be the case.
    http://www.waff.com/story/33433509/california-officer-is-the-states-4th-shot-dead-in-2-weeks

Political Posts Week 5

    The new airline regulations have aimed to reach one of the biggest complaints nationwide. Lost baggage is a major problem with airlines and has frustrated countless customers in the past. When a traveler shows up on a skiing trip with none of their skiing clothes for the cold weather, it can be quite frustrating. So, airlines have a new policy where even a slight delay of luggage deserves a refund. This new regulation is also causing airlines to be more competitive with online baggage claim to avoid refunding customers by finding the luggage quicker.

http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/new-regulations-crack-down-on-biggest-airline-passenger-complaints-789464643665

Political Posts Week 5

     After the death of two thirteen year old kids, the investigation of a drug twice as powerful as heroin is under investigation. This drug, pink, is something you can legally buy online.. yet it is proven to be twice as powerful as an extremely illegal drug, heroin. It is a synthetic opiod, that is being shipped to America from abroad. This is becoming a national issue as deaths around the country have happened, yet only four states have made it illegal. The DEA is getting involved as rising concerns of these communities continue.

http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/pink-drug-twice-as-powerful-as-heroin-but-legally-available-on-web-788659779592

Political Post Week 5

    The US has probably been curious about some details about living under ISIS, well this video gives some of that information. The people who were living under ISIS fled and now had to also flee their village because of a threat from ISIS, so now these reporters are with them in their "safe spot." Women don't have shoes on, had to leave valuable possessions behind, children were crying, overall it was just a horrific situation. They are hungry, but they are thankful to be away for ISIS, who killed people who smoked, they took phones, they starved people.

http://www.cnn.com/videos

First Quarter Reflection

   During the first quarter I have grown a lot as far as reading intentionally in order to understand the material. I did well on the first test, which I felt had to do with actively learning in class. In the future for this class I want to focus on getting all 5 posts on my blog every cycle, and study more actively for tests.

Political Posts Week 4

 Since the fatal shooting in Charlotte committed by a police officer to a man of color, there has been endless rebellion and protests of the people in the community. More than fifty people spoke out against policemen in this community including a young girl, in tears, stating that she was scared to leave her home. She goes on to say that she was born and raised in Charlotte and that she has never felt this fear or emotions toward her home until now. This is a huge issue for the government and the city of Charlotte because it is the state's duty to provide safety for their people.

http://abcnews.go.com/

Political Posts Week 4

An NBC news reporter talked with a group of people about any changes that might have happened, as far as who they support, based on the presidential debate Monday night. After asking the group whose vote changed, zero said their vote was changed. Trump made an effort to appeal to African American voters, once again, during the debate. He was deemed as unsuccessful, according to an African American man interviewed within the focus group.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/minds-hard-to-change-despite-dramatic-debate-773705283533 

Political Posts Week 4

There were many key elements in Monday night's presidential debate. Donal Trump replied very defensively to a question regarding how he has handled previous racial issues. Trump also made a point by saying when Hillary releases her thousands of lost emails, then and only then will he release his tax returns. This made a point that Hillary has been doing similar things that he's been looked down upon for. Trump continues to claim he has better judgement than Hillary does and that there's "no question about that." Hillary then states that Trump's attitude toward nuclear weapons is troubling and concerning.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/2016-presidential-debates/6-key-moments-first-presidential-debate-between-trump-clinton-n655121

Political Posts Week 4

  There are many different issues being targeted for debate at tonight's presidential debate. Hillary has been seen in many debates over the years making her style known, whereas Donald Trump is a complete wild card. Nobody really knows what to expect from him in tonight's debate. Press seems to think the key for Trump in this debate is to keep a cool head on his shoulders and to not come across as aggressive as he has in the past. A motive for Hillary is to get the real Donald Trump to come out, or as Donald would say "Trump 2.0." This is overall a golden opportunity for both sides to show their personality and who they truly are as people.

http://video.foxnews.com/v/5142073529001/debate-keys-and-goals-for-donald-trump-and-hillary-clinton/?playlist_id=928378949001#sp=show-clips

Political News Posts Week 4

   There has been many instances in the news lately where police have been accused and viewed as racist towards black men. The most recent of these happened in Charlotte, North Carolina just yesterday on September 20th. This has caused major controversy and debates over the situation including key elements such as if he was armed or not. Police are looking for any way to justify the fatal shooting, but citizens of this community are convinced this shooting was not justified. The community is absolutely outraged and have began violently and verbally protesting the police of this area. This relates to politics in the way that public safety falls under the governments "scope" of what they are responsible for handling. This is a rising concern for citizens because it leads to questions of how much we can actually trust our policeman whose job is to protect us.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/09/21/protests-break-out-in-charlotte-after-police-fatally-shoot-man-they-say-wielded-firearm/

Political Posts Week 3

    Trump has proposed his new childcare plan which includes child care spending rebates, guaranteed 6 week paid maternity leave, and creating dependent care savings accounts. He is taking a democratic issue and has turned it into a Republican policy. Trump has definitely used this to help gain the approval of women all over the country and to help himself get a better voting turnout. This is a very strategic method used by Trump as the paid maternity leave has been a major issue for women all over the country. There is also concern about how this affects the economy and how this lengthy paid maternity leave will get paid for.

  http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/09/14/special_report_panel_will_trumps_child_care_plan_move_the_needle_with_women.html

Political News Posts Week 3

  The legalization of marijuana has and will continue to be a debatable political issue. There has been a larger increase in legalization supporters than ever before, as polls show that over half of the country is in favor of legalization of marijuana. There are many aspects to why people want the legalization to occur and many of them actually have to do with political aspects and the well being of the people. The legalization is believed to reduce crime rate and remove young people from putting themselves in criminal, dangerous situations regarding weed. It is also believed to extremely help the economy and job market by opening up one of the largest cash crops to the United Sates legal system. It also is believed to benefit the government by giving them the ability to tax marijuana and receive money from the legalization.

http://www.drugpolicy.org/marijuana-legalization-and-regulation

Political Posts Week 3

  The Zika virus is moving into the U.S. and this has caused many concerns for our leaders and citizens. Zika is a virus that is transmitted by mosquitos to humans, and then sexually transmitted. For females, the Zika virus is known to cause babies to be born with undeveloped brains. At this point, there is no vaccine or treatment for the virus, so all those affected can do is rest and drink plenty of fluids. This is a political issues because of the future affect it could have on our population decrease/growth. Also, when there is a widespread panic over the people, it is the governments job to attempt to resolve and find resolutions for the issue.

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-35370848

Political News Week 3

  Hillary Clinton's health has been an ongoing issue and debate throughout this campaign season. The democratic party has already been holding secretive meetings in order to discuss replacements for Clinton if things were to go wrong. She was diagnosed with pnuemonia late last week, but claimed her dizzy, light headedness came from dehydration and nothing else contributed. Her reason for not telling the media about her diagnoses was that she was planning on not making it into a big deal and just continuing her busy schedule as normal. There has been growing concerns that Clinton has other health concerns that she is not sharing with the media and the democratic party members. People are also concerned about Clinton's transparency, for this is not the first time Clinton has kept secrets from the media.

http://video.foxnews.com/v/5122874846001/clinton-opens-up-about-delay-in-sharing-pneumonia-diagnosis/?playlist_id=928378949001#sp=show-clips 

Political Posts Week 2

   Hillary Clinton raised $143million dollars in August. It has been announced that the donors have been fleeing from the Republican Party and going to the Democratic side for donations. This is mostly because of Donald Trump's "devisive rhetoric." Of the total money Hillary has collected, $62 million has gone to "Hillary for America," while the other $82 million for the Democratic National Committee.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/sep/1/hillary-clinton-raised-143m-august-campaign-says/

Political News Posts Week 2

   Sharanda Jones was sentenced to life with no parole, despite her lack of any criminal record, for the trafficking of cocaine. She had been in jail for seventeen years when Obama reached out to communicate with her. He made the decision to grant her clemency, which is a pardon. She had applied for her case to be reviewed by the president and felt overwhelmingly blessed to be one of the ones chosen to be released. This is a beautiful story because this woman truly seems to be repentive and fully committed to a new life of freedom and not messing it up. She has started a movement and she believes her voice needs to be heard because in prison she had no voice. She got arrested when her daughter was eight and its amazing how she wants to make up for time lost with her and have a close relationship with her because of the times in her daughter's life she has missed.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/01/politics/clemency-sharanda-jones/index.html

Political News Stories Week 2

   I chose to hear more about Dwyane Wade's reaction and feeling towards Trump's tweet that he posted regarding Dwyane's cousins murder. His tweet seemed to show no sympathy toward the situation, instead his motive seemed to be to direct the attention from the circumstances toward recruiting voters and campaign supporters. His words had an "I told you so" nature to it and this was very offensive to not only Dwyane, but many others as well. His tweet read, "Dwyane's cousin was just shot and killed while walking her baby in Chicago. Just as I have been saying. African-Americans WILL VOTE TRUMP." On another note, Dwyane was also grateful that attention was brought to devastating controversy happening in his city constantly. The tweet sparked conversation and attention, rather Dwyane agreed with how it was said.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/dwyane-wade-trump-tweet-about-cousins-death-left-a-bad-taste-in-my-mouth/

Political News Post Week 2

  Today I chose to do my blog research on Trump's views on immigration. He believes that any undocumented immigrants should be deported immediately. This being said, republican voters and other republican leaders are having concerns that Trump is still indecisive about his policies on immigration. Recently, however, Trump has made it very clear how he feels toward immigration. He believes that they "have to go," and if they don't have a place to go, then we will "work with them," but they cannot stay in America. He also forms a focus around deporting the illegal criminal immigrants. This news story also touched on Trump's tweet and reaction to the shooting of Dwayne Wade's cousin, and uses this as an opportunity to get African-American voters on his side.

http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/trump-campaign-struggles-to-strike-right-tone-on-immigration-policy-753207875527

"Culture War"

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34611878

    These two videos, followed by a short article, in my opinion seem to determine that America is in fact in the midst of a culture war.  From women's rights to gay marriage to legalization of marijuana , everywhere we turn theres debates going on between citizens in America with different beliefs.

Political Blogs Week 1

     Today I chose to do my political research on Hilary Clintons e-mail issues. The FBI just recently discovered 15,000 of Clinton's emails, this is a problem because work related emails for or from the presidential candidates can't be private. This is to ensure no unfair advantages or so that no information gets leaked that is not suppose to be. Thousands of the 15,000 emails discovered were classified as work related, which could cause serious legal issues for Clinton in the presidential race. The FBI is now debating rather to make these emails public or keep them to themselves. Clinton has not responded very well to this issue, she has responded more with outrage, which does not help her case.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/the-fbi-just-uncovered-15000-more-clinton-emails-heres-why-thats-a-problem-for-her/2016/08/23/c693d8d6-6945-11e6-91cb-ecb5418830e9_video.html

Political News Story Week 1

     I chose to do this political blog post to follow the progress of Trump in the election. A realization between both Democrats and Republicans has effected the view on this turning in to a "stolen election." Since the election in 2010, Republicans have tried to form a system of stricter voter identification laws. Democrats seem to view this as a way to cause an obstruction to the voting process, benefitting Republicans. There is a theory that Trump is encouraging his supporters to be election day volunteers, which can be viewed as him trying to pressure the voters to side with him, known as voter intimidation. Words have recently spiraled around Trump as manipulative and fraud-like, which could be argued as true because of his latest face in the news. This raises high concerns for republicans. Figures within the political race have gotten quite offended by these accusations. For example, "It's a sad day when Donald Trump and the Republicans have to rely on scaring people out of voting to try to achieve their electoral aims," says Marc Elias.
   I am not entirely sure how to feel on this issues because I can see where both sides come from, but if Trump really is being manipulative in his ways of voting I cannot agree with that.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/22/us/politics/donald-trump-a-rigged-election-and-the-politics-of-race.html?_r=0

Political News Story Week 1

     Today I chose to do my political research on a city in Arizona who may have been "forgotten" by Obamacare. This was mostly caused by national insurers holding back and co-op plans failing. This competition decline causes the prices to go up and causes less people being able to afford it, such as those in Pinal County located in Phoenix, Arizona. This healthcare plan problem is growing within this community, as fewer and fewer citizens can afford healthcare insurance. At one time there was a nonprofit co-op plan put in place for those in this community who could not afford healthcare, but that plan quickly unraveled leaving the citizens of Pinal County to make tough and risky decisions.
   In the future this community has some serious conversations and decisions to be made regarding the issue of insurances of their citizens.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/the-county-obamacare-forgot-227251

Political News Story Week 1

     I focused on a story about the recent abortion laws in the state of Florida. Yesterday Florida decided to drop a pretty serious set of abortion laws that would prevent any state funds from going to any organizations that provided abortions. This law would have also included more serious inspections for abortion clinics. The notion has been filed to be revoked. The planned parenthood organization of Florida was very thankful to the courts for stepping in to protect health care systems. The state still has the option to repeal the notion made by the court to forgo further fights to set the abortion laws. The governor of Florida is "pro-life" so there is a chance the state will revoke the request to no longer make an attempt to pass the abortion laws, which governor Scott agrees with.
    Personally, I would have to agree with the decision to not go further in the case to pass abortion laws. Women should have the choice to have children or not since their lives could be the only ones that get effected by the birth of the child. To take away a women's right to choose rather to start a family or not is unconstitutional in my opinion.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-abortion-law-definitively-blocked-federal-judge/

Political News Story Week 1

      Today I chose to do my political news blog on the rivalry between Clinton and Trump. Trump has begun to point out Clinton's health as an issue that needs to be addressed in the race for presidency. This seems to be ironic because Trump is a year older than Clinton. The opinion is stated in the video I watched that Trump is pointing out these health concerns of Clinton's out of his own insecurity and ego. Trump has been heading in the direction of falling off the deep end ever since his convention. Trump has hit a low point in the presidential race and is trying to take some of the light off of his downfalls and turn the attention on Clinton.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/clinton-health-concerns-pushback-227159

Most and Least Religious State Summary

   While reading this article I learned that Alabama and Mississippi are the most religious states, while New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Maine in New England are among the least religious states. In this analysis there were several different factors that could cause a citizen to be considered highly religious. To be considered as part of the "highly religious" citizens of a state, the person must perform two of the four observable behaviors. These behaviors include praying daily, attending religious services once a week at minimum, having a belief in God with certainty, and vocalizing that religion is important in their life.

     Political scientist are most likely interested in this data in hopes it will help them predict the political stance of the majority of each state. Religion usually seems to play a role in rather a person is Republican or Democratic, so this religion survey helps predict which states each representative needs to win over.

The Start of AP Gov.

    I have already learned a lot from our few AP Gov classes we have had. It has helped me to realize some of my own political views and think deeply on what I truly believe. It has also shown me that I can get pretty passionate when it comes to my personal beliefs. A new concept to me is that you can relate pretty much anything to politics. Before this class I viewed politics as just boring election stuff and did not ever take the time to evaluate if it was an interest of mine or not. From the few class meetings we have had I can already tell it is going to be an interesting course.