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/