current event

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/01/20/transit.talks.ap/index.html

I think that the contract that New York proposed to its transit workers was pitiful. The workers should get an increased salary because of the amount of work that they do. New York really takes their transportation servers for granted and this strike's purpose was to show New York how much they really need them. I think New York should support their public transportation employees better by giving them health care benefits without having to take it out of their salaries. The employees need health care the most since they spend all day in the polluted airs underground and they become more susceptible to diseases and viruses due to the harsh working conditions. The city is so rich and it wouldn't hurt to show that they appreciate their employees. If there were to be another strike, it would of course be a hard blow to New York's routine, but if that's what it takes for New York to realize there's an issue, then I believe it's necessary. A world class city should not be having these types of problems.

harriet miers

When I first heard about President Bush appointing one of his employees to the Supreme Court, I was pretty surprised mainly because she was replacing a very important woman in politics, Sandra Day O'Connor, and the second was because she had had no prior experience in the position of a judge. After reading these articles and seeing her in the news, it's definitely changed my thoughts on her. She has accomplished a lot in her years, both for the president and for past firms she's worked with, defending companies like Microsoft. There's no doubt that she has the charisma to be on the Supreme Court, and though she lacks the skills that many of the officials have, it could add a new dimension to how we view supreme court justices and their qualifications for the future. As it mentioned in one article, the greatest chief justice, John Marshall, lacked the experience, as well as the former Judge Rehnquist. She have proven to be quite an impact behinds the scenes of Bush's administration and is just as powerful, if not potentially more powerful than Condoleeza Rice. Though in really controversial times like this and reconsideration of cases like Roe v. Wade, I'm not sure our country is ready to see what such a inexperienced person has to offer just yet.

Bush touts Iraq vote; Democrats want clear U.S. strategy

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/10/15/BushDems.radio/index.html

A leading Democrat, retired Gen. Wesley Clark, sent out a cautionary message about the larger context of what he says is expected to a "large turnout for the referendum: While it "seems to be an important step" for the country "let's not kid ourselves about the difficulties that lie ahead."

I really liked this opening quote from the article because it shows that at least one government official in this country has come to the realization that the Iraqi constitution is not a document that will be accepted by a country that highly dislikes America, overnight. Yes, President Bush is trying very hard and has done beyond good for the sake of the Iraqi people, but he needs to understand that this is going to be a long, hard adjustment for the people. Many Iraqi's, at the polls this weekend, expressed that though while they are voting, that they feel their voices aren't really being heard by their country or ours, and that all they want is peace and equality, but America and its military are making it very difficult, due to terrorists.
The Article did state that Americans are becoming severly frustrated with our government for its hasty decisions lately, and they have insisted that we should have pulled our people out a very long time ago, but the Bush administration has continued to ignore that.

Clark said: "Mr. Bush is long overdue in providing a plan to achieve Iraqi military sufficiency, to build domestic political consensus inside Iraq around a new government, to achieve regional political stability around Iraq, and to finally achieve an efficient reconstruction effort in Iraq.

Really now, all we can do is back out, and try to help only when we are asked.

debate

jerry kilgore needs to go back to learn public speaking, because he was stuttering like crazy, and virginia shouldn't be represented by a man who can't represent his state without stuttering and sounding justified. he kept accusing tim kaine and saying how he was mediocre, while kaine stood mature and confident and took the false(maybe true) criticisms like a man. in the long run, i feel caught in the middle after watching the debate because they both said opinions that i both agreed and disagreed with.

Hurricane Katrina Thoughts

the government has done a fairly decent job dealing with hurricane katrina thus far. they have evacuated many of the disaster stricken areas and have sent out as much warning as possible about the severity of if people were to stay at their homes. the government has done a really good job with dealing with our oil emergency, by opening up emergency supply reserves, and the whole world is helping us cope with this issue as well. and i think in the long run, our government has done a good job keeping friendly ties with these countries. i think that many people feel like they have been neglected by the government, but there is only so much they can do. they have funded nearly billions of dollars to help these people out by to getting them shelter and food and necessary supplies. all of the states have been very generous opening their doors to the victims and sharing with them their communites.
there are some things that i don't agree with such as the military officials with their guns threatening people, because it's not a very good method to helping people who have traumatized enough. and another thing is, what took so long for us and the world to realize that these people needed help! they waited like five days for help to arrive.
though it will take months and likely years to get things back to their regular routine, i think that though it's extremely difficult for people to cope with this disaster, that we all need to be patient, and be appreciative that we live in such a good country that is willing to help out to such a large extent.

GAS WEBQUEST

Chloe and Elle
Mr. Daly
9/6/05

1. Research the impact of Hurricane Katrina on gasoline prices. Why did it cause an increase in gas prices? What are some problems that this increase may cause? What are some things that are being done to control costs?
Hurricane Katrina destroyed many gas supply lines in the Gulf Coast. The pipelines in the Gulf Coast were one of the main supplies of gasoline in the United States. The cost of transporting gasoline also rose. One of the countries biggest concerns are inflation, increase in transportation system cost because of shortage of gas. Many governments around the world have had to take control, such as the Venezuelan government losing money because they’ve had to sell gas at “lower than market prices”. And in Cuba, they have been suffering electricity shortage. To help control costs in the long run, places like China and India have been investing money in natural oil reserves to prevent crisis. Many costs have been kept under control through a few generous donations of oil and gas from other countries, Bush has opened up the country’s emergerncy supply, and many gas stations have set limits to how many gallons or how much money they can spend each time they go to the pump.


2. Research current gasoline prices across the country. Write a summary on why some states or areas have higher gasoline prices than others. Think about the area's location and population, does that affect their gasoline prices? Include current prices in your explanation.
Areas in the country with higher gas prices are states such as California and Wyoming which are farther away from the main pipelines. The cost to transport gas is higher which makes those prices higher. In high traffic areas such as New York and Washington D.C. the prices have risen to nearly $4.00 a gallon because the demand for gas is so high and there is a lower supply at this time because of Hurricane Katrina and the War in Iraq. Areas such as Hawaii which have low demand for gas at this time have lower prices.


3. Describe the changes in gasoline prices in the last fifty years.
Type your answers here….In 1955, the national average was 1.85 per gallon, the prices decreased to 1.68 ten years later in 1965, but then increased 12 cents in 1975. By 1980, the prices spiked to a whopping 2.50 a gallon, due to the Iranians issuing an embargo on the US because of our support for Iraq, the prices gradually decreased to 1.51 by 1990, and then to 1.28 in 1995, and now ten years later, with the ongoing war and Hurricane Katrina, the national average sits at 3. 05, and will soon decrease.


4. Compare gas prices around the world. Do certain regions have lower prices than others? Which countries have the highest prices and which have the lowest? How does the current prices in the United States compare to the rest of the world?
The highest gas prices are in Amsterdam ($6.48 a gallon) and the lowest prices are in Venezuela($.12 a gallon) The countries where gas is produced have cheaper gas because the supply is higher. The price of gas in the United States is average compared to the rest of the world.


5. Write down or copy/paste the URL of the websites you take information from so you can quickly go back to it if you need to to prove your point. Keep a list of the websites you visited to hand in.
http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/global_gasprices/

http://www.gasbuddy.com/

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

http://money.cnn.com/2005/09/01/markets/gas_prices/index.htm?cnn=yes

Divided They Stand reflections

i think bush administration has done a good job with attempting to help the iraqis. they have finally established authority and finally have a solid paper document to abide by. it's good to see that this document could establish a bond between the three divisions in iraq, the sunnis, kurds, and shiites. this constitution is an excellent start to a new beginning and hope that the iraqis will be able to solve their issues through this and not through violence. it frustrates me that so many americans think that this constitution was a bad idea, because it's so necessary in this case where there is chaos and violence everywhere. i'm curious to see what parts of their constitution would be "strange to us" as well as to see what happens in the future and how they follow through with these new established ideas.