CNN Situation Room

The CNN Situation reports that Joe Biden plagarized a speech from Great Brittain in the 1989 elections, resulting in forced withdrawl. In addition, he admits to the camera--American public--that Hillary Clinton would have been a better pick for Obama. Uh Oh. Joe Biden has stated that he does not feel Obama is ready to be the president. I found this to be quite interesting, considering he is Obama's running mate. I wonder what changed his mind? I wonder when he changed his mind? Hmm...

Education: John McCain

A lady wearing a khaki jackets stands in a seated crowd and holds a microphone to her mouth. "What are your thoughts on the government's role in special education for people with disabilities both as children and as adults especially with regard to autism? I have two of my own so I just wondered what you thought was the government's role, you know, how do you think the government is dealing with it now and what you think the government should do to help in the future?"

John McCain is wearing a blazer and responds, "In interest of full disclosure, my wife Cindy was a teacher of special education before I took her away from an honest line of work." The crowd laughs. He continues, "The fact that we don't fully fund special education in America is a disgrace because it is a federal responsibility."

It could be the food we eat and the environment we live in that is causing the rise of autism in America. John McCain says he doesn't know the answers, but he would glad to provide he can for research & for assistance to parents who bear a burden that is hard for us to comprehend. He tells the lady she is wonderful and thanks God for people like her and wishes to help people that carry a burden like her.  

I am adament about conventionally grown foods and pesticides being used to farm in America. McCain grows emotional while responding to the lady and this shows a side that I usually don't see in presidents. I believe he truly wants to help. Moreover, I believe Cindy, as the first lady, will take a special interest in education and this topic of autism. 

New Hampshire town hall Q & A. On special education & autism. 

Education: John McCain

The question: What would you do to help prepare students in Iowa and around the country compete in the global economy? 

The answer: I think I would implement the No Child Left Behind Act more effectively so that we can have better performance out of K-12. I think it was a good beginning. Many people say they just wanna scrap it. Well those that want to do that I say, well do you want us back to where we were before we passed that law? But it needs to fixed and I think we can fix it. I think we need more student loan programs. We need to reduce the interest rate as we recently did. I think also we have to think about incentivising math, science and engineering students because that is the need for the future economy of our country and we have a real shortage of them. 

John McCain would like to make education affordable and available to every single American. He's not saying that people have to receive that education, but at least it would be available and affordable & we are a ways from that. He would start with telling math, science and engineering students that he is going to do everything he can to make sure they receive an education in those specialties and then broaden it out into every other. 

I like that John McCain wants to fix the No Child Left Behind Act because I agree with the notion of educating children before it is too late for them to advance in school grades. I do not like that he pinpoints math, science and engineering because those students already need a huge incentive to learn the complicated formulas and equations involved. First, Bush already cut funding from education and that kicked art & physical education right out the door. Second, I am not intersted in math or science or engineering. Third, where will children have their outlet? I will never be convinced that a sequence of numbers is a creative outlet. Lastly, I am sad that John McCain did not mention the arts or any other form of creativity (dance, music, film, pottery, sculpting, theatre, silk dying, painting, sketching, band, orchestra, athletics) in his top priorities pertaining to education in America. 

www.bigthink.com The Des Moines Register 1:30

Education: John McCain

McCain states, "And find bad teachers another line of work." The crowd smiles, claps and applauses. He says he wants choice and competition, furthermore, homeschooling, charter schools, vouchures, all the choice in competition. He wants every American family to have the same choice that he and his wife, Cindy, made and Senator Obama and Mrs. Obama made as well, and that was, "We wanted to send our children to the school of our choice." He continues, "Charter schools work my friends. Homeschooling works. Vouchures in our nation's capital work." Thousands of people in Washington, D.C. are applying for a vouchure system. New York City is reforming. As we know, the hurricane devastated the city of New Orleans, & they now have over 30 charter schools in the city. He believes it is all coming up, but is going to take dedicated men and women, paricularly in the teaching profession to make it happen. He closes with, "It is being proven that choice and competition for every American family is the civil rights issue of the 21st century because every citizens child now has an opportunity to go to school, but what kind of opportunity is it if you send them to a failing school?" I agree that we must give everybody the same opportunity and choice. I like that he brings his family scenario into the equation because many American families can relate. I have heard Obama speak about his family working hard and sacrificing to send him to school, so he wanted to send his children to a similar school. I believe that choice creates competition. Department stores have been at it for years by carrying different lines and displaying windows in contrasting fashion. Whether it be Macy's, Nordstroms, Dillards, Barney's, Neiman Marcus or Sears, likewise, they display similar products. People choose where to shop depending on their interest. In other words, department stores are all big with lots of stuff stacked high inside, but each has its own specialty. Analogously, charter schools offer basic classes but excel in one specialty: art, music, science, computer animation, arithmetics. Giving people the chance to choose creates competition in our daily lives, between department stores, and will with schools. I think with competition in the picture, failing schools will begin to improve and be in the road to cheering fans and superb reviews because I wish to see every child in a school that has the ability to prepare them to be the positive role models in our communities and lives. Likewise, no child should be stripped of that opportunity, from an opportunity that is as vital as wind is for a sail. An opportunity that is education.  

Road to the White House. Presidential candidates' forum, Saddleback Civil Forum on the presidency. Lakeforest, California. Saddleback Church. Campaign 2008, C-SPAN.

The Sarah Show

Thousands wait as long as 90 minutes to get a glimpse of her and women drive more than hour to see her in a nearby city. She has lifted McCain in the polls & has put Obama into confusion. She is living out a Cinderella story unlike any other in recent political history & fans are waiting for the glass slipper to fit. White women have swung away from Obama by as much as 20 points. Charollet Schworer, a retired thrid grade teacher from Kentucky who voted twice for Bill Clinton says, "I sat there, tears rolling down my face, watching my TV." She continues, in reference to the Republican Convention, "I felt energized, truly energized for the first time." The campaign denied all news interviews for nearly two weeks after she joined the ticket. She never banned library books, though she raised the possibility while speaking with a librarian. She did not end up selling her jet on Ebay, Brett Favre bought it instead. I really like that about her, that she has a private jet in her possession and chooses to sell it. I like that she takes an interest in books, but do not like the idea of banning them because I believe books are ideas and thoughts from creative minds and everyone has the right to read and write what they wish...the first amendment is freedom of speech. I feel many women can relate to her, while I am not a mother at this moment, and enjoy seeing a woman as a political figure...the nineteenth amendment grants women the right to vote. Grandmother's tell of getting goose bumps when she speaks and women flock to see her give speeches. Although she tells the same jokes, I have to agree, they are quite funny. 

Scherer, M. (2008, September 22). The Sarah Show. Time, 42-43.

Notables: McCain & Obama

This article can be found in the Nation/World section of The Tampa Tribune, Monday, September 8, 2008.

I have re-read this article as I learn more about the candidates through youtube, newsweek and TV. I find them interesting and strangely helpful, enlightening the public about presidential candidate preferences. Perhaps see how much you have in common?

Titled "Here are 32 things you may not know about the presidential candidates."

3 things I have in common with presidential candidate John McCain:
1. He carries a lucky penny in his pocket. I wear a lucky ring on my finger.
2. He has a stuffed dancing hampster on display in his Senate office. I gave my neighbor a dancing hampster at his 60th birthday bash.
3. He is serious about the finer points of barbequing and he likes to deep fry turkeys in peanut oil. I love barbequing and deep fried turkeys in peanut oil.

4 things I do not have in common with presidential candidate John McCain:
1. He was addicted to the TV show "24." I was addicted to the Showtime series "The Tudors."
2. He played Scrooge in POW's staging of "A Christmas Carol" at the Hanoi Hilton.
3. He talks to fellow prisoners of war, those with whom he shared a cell in Vietnam, almost daily. I am not a prisoner of war and was not alive during the Vietnam War.
4. He has seven children.

3 things I have in common with presidential candidate Barack Obama:
1. He considers his worst habit checking his BlackBerry. I check my BlackBerry a lot.
2. He carries a good luck charm, a tiny Madonna and child. I carry a good luck card in my wallet.
3. He has promised his daughters, Malia and Sasha, a dog this fall. I have a golden retriever named Sasha.

4 things I do not have in common with presidential cadidate Barack Obama:
1. He has two Grammy awards for recording his best-selling books.
2. He is a good, but cautious poker player. I prefer blackjack.
3. On his first date with his wife, they had ice cream at a Baskin-Robbins in Chicago.
4. His mother's name was Stanley Ann Dunham--her father, Stanley, wanted a boy.

Yay for the presidential elections!

Click this, find Florida.
http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/president/whos-ahead/key-states/map.html

Newsweek: Republican Convention Issue

Now I open up the Republican Convention Issue of Newsweek & turn to a picture of McCain & Palin, taken Friday, August 29 in Dayton, Ohio. Flip the page to Palin sitting on a sofa, skyline through a window in the background & bear skin--grizzly--rug placed over the arm rest. "Elected at 42, Palin is Alaska's youngest governor and the state's first female to take office." Woo hoo! Sarah Palin was a beauty queen in her hometown of Wasilla, being crowned Miss Wasilla in 1984, before I was even born! The article is titled "McCain's Mrs. Right." A photo of Palin displayed with a caught fish in hand. "One of Palin's first acts as governor was to sell the governor's jet on Ebay; she thought it was wasteful." That is awesome. She fired the chef at the governor's mansion in Juneau because she doesn't want her 5 children to think it is normal to have a chef. Awesome as well. Instead of hiring a driver to drive along state-troopers, we can spot Palin driving her own SUV--with not so many troopers--while talking on the phone and tending to her children. She is a working mother who wants to make a difference in America, a difference we can all benefit from. I have kept a blank canvas while researching this election and no matter what the circumstance, I am always impressed with Sarah Palin. She is so down to earth. My creative writing professor said, "I felt that if I pricked her with a pin, she would actually bleed; she is not just a poster or image on television." Newsweek stated, "Arriving home, she ran into the house, kicking off her shoes, grabbing her red sandals and yelling for her children." Sarah Palin is a breath of fresh air for me. She is a hunter, fisher, mother, volunteer, snow mobiler, basketball player, politician, beauty queen, sportscaster & member of the American Rifle Association.

This article is written by Evan Thomas
This article is written by Karen Breslau
September 8, 2008, Newsweek

Newsweek: Democratic Convention Issue

I read an article in Newsweek titled “The Tragic Bonds of War.” This article is written by Jason Cohen and appearing on page 14 of the National Democratic Convention Issue. A soldier tells a story from the 86th Combat Support Hospital in Iraq where, “We see death every day.” He says that when someone dies, he or she not only leaves the earth, but takes a piece of the--still living--ER staff. “We are not supposed to think, to dwell on who is in front of us—we think instead about what is in front of us: a collapsed lung, an amputation, an evisceration.” He says that his patients become a part of him. “As a fellow soldier, I share a special connection with my patients. When one dies, I lose a piece of myself.” One night, a soldier was flown in for critical attention and immediate care. Ann, an ER nurse, realized that this soldier was not like the others—they attended college together. She tried her best to save her fallen friend, giving everything but her own life. Fallen soldiers are more: fathers, daughters, classmates, lieutenants & friends. At the Support Hospital in Iraq, they are called Angels—as they are zipped into body bags and flown away. I have not heard a story with such sentiment since the beginning of this war in Iraq. I either blind sight them or haven’t been reading Newsweek. I took a Vietnam course as an elective in high school, my teacher being a war veteran, & know how much of the war and death tolls were accounted for & shared with the American people. What’s up with that? These are not statistics to hide.

Education: RNC: Special note

I am focusing in on education for my Isearch. McCain said that education is the civil rights issue of the century. I agree. McCain said, "Equal access to public education has been gained but what is the value of access to a failing school?" There is no value, it is a waste of time. This means more than half of children are continuing to learn in a poor environment which in turn shapes the future of our country. Education is key. My main issue is communication between parents and schools. McCain said, "Senator Obama wants our schools to answer to unions & entrenched bureaucracies. I want schools to answer to parents & students. And when I'm President, they will." I believe McCain wants to empower parents and I like that a lot. 

Writer's Workshop in McGraw-Hill Guide p. 132

The purpose of my exploratory assignments are too discover new and different opinions through the act of writing. I will learn as I write in each. There are no other group members present. The audience is me, my professor and my classmates. I can visualize family and friends reading my work. They can expect to find valuable information pertaining to education for orphaned children. I can appeal to my readers by stating my beliefs. I want to form questions from my answers and convey my thoughts clearly. I will try to keep an inquisitive tone. By reading and writing as an explorer I will gain fresh outlooks and new insights. I am held responsible for my words and will represent diverse perspectives honestly and accurately. My research will be accurate. I have chosen my invention strategies: freewrite and flowchart. Organization will fall into place, after conducting research. I will revise my work with a fresh & critical eye to make certain it fulfills the assignment. I will accept constructive criticism from my peers & thank them for helping me. I will edit after--only after--revision. I will document all outside sources. 

Invention Strategies

3 invention strategies I use: brainstorm, freewrite, concept map. Invention strategies are important because they let me explore my ideas and reflect. I can incorporate invention strategies into my formal assignments by using them to decide my topics, and go from there. These strategies help me decide what I like the most. I re-read my paper during the revison process and decide if I am clear, concise & answering my original questions. These strategies are important because I see if my thoughts are flowing properly. I like to comment on the sides of my paper. I like to have my paper read by a friend. I like to read comments from my peers--funny or brutal--because they say it like it is. If they have questions, I can answer them more clearly which ultimately strengthens my paper. I can incorporate this into my work by following my criteria and revising more than once. 

Borack Obama: Democratic National Convention

Obama thanks the applauding audience of this great nation. Joe Biden: running mate. Obama states, "I am grateful to finish my journey." Then introduces his wife, Michelle, and daughters Melia & Sasha. Obama states negative factors in present-day America and says we are a better country than we live in now; he wants to use our money to try and change America. "Pull yourself up by your boot straps. Even if you don't have any boots, you are on your own." Obama plans to cut tax breaks, cut taxes on 95% of American families, and vows that in 10 years he will end our independence on oil--oil addiction--from the Middle East. Obama promises to: provide affordable healthcare for every single American and end discrimination, to protect social security, provide world-class education, invest in clean coal technology, invest $150 billion in the building of fuel efficient cars, invest in early childhood education & pay teachers more. Obama says, "I will pay for every dime by closing corporate loopholes and tax savings." That's nice. Obama seems to have no real solution to his "oil addiction" & will find ways to harness nuclear power. 

I ran for president of my private Catholic school. I promised italian ice & free dress days: waterslides & rainbows. We contracted Mike's Italian Ice & we, the students, had to pay for each hot pink cup. Sweet. I was in over my head. 

Obama states, "I will never hesitate to defend our country, but will send troops with a clear mission, the equiptment they need & proper benefits when they return." But is a hesitation. More promised money, money, money. 

Glad to hear Borack Obama is a money tree. 

Glad to hear Borack Obama has been supporting our troops for the past 5 years...not.  

Glad to hear Borack Obama bash his fellow Americans throughout his entire speech (McCain, Bush, Palin). I am vibing a quick temper from Obama's statement, "I look forward to debate." Followed by an imitation of John McCain, "We all put our country first." I babysat a 3 year old & we played a game together called, mocking. 

Obama says that patriotism has no party yet he separated parties his entire speech.

While Borack Obama inhaled, John McCain ate the blows as a POW. What a grand display of patriotism. 

As a special sign of inspiration for people, Borack Obama's story is great. As for leading our country... no me gusta. 

John McCain National Republican Convention

Sarah Palin National Republican Convention speech September 3, 2008.

Palin is honored to accept nomination as Vice President of the United States with running mate McCain. Palin is grateful and starts speech with a multitude of heart-warming thank you’s to the enthusiastic audience. Sarah accepts the challenge and knows how tough fights are won; this is a time for politics and a time for leadership. Palin is a mother of 5. Her oldest son, Track is enlisted in the military and will be deployed to Iraq. Sarah knows about family ups and downs and says, “The greatest joys bring challenge.” Palin pledges to be a friend and advocate once in office. Her face gleams in pride when speaking of her husband Todd and children. Sarah introduces her parents, Chip & Sally, and states, “one of the many things I owe them is a simple life lesson that every woman can walk through a door of opportunity.” Sarah was born and raised in a small town full of honesty, sincerity and dignity: proud of America. Sarah refers to herself as once being an average soccer mom. Sarah jokes throughout her speech. Palin states, “We cannot leave ourselves at the mercy of foreign suppliers.” I feel that Palin is a real person and not just an image on a poster. Palin gives a sense of inspiration for our country’s amazing future and I truly feel she is all about the people of the United States of America. I like the idea of laying more pipelines (as she is well educated on the topic because she is the governor of Alaska). I like that she vetoes waste less spending and gave close to half a billion back to Alaskan citizens. I like family; she is all about it. I am a people person; she is all about the people of the United States of America. I support our troops in Iraq; she is proud of all who serve. McCain will serve our country now like he did while occupying "prisoner or war" status with optimism and anticipation. Palin releases courage, energy and guts from the stage. Sarah Palin's energy should flow through our pipelines for then we would never run out. I rub chill bumps from my arm.