03/31/14 Bellringer

Yes, I think racism is still a problem in the United States as well as around the world.  "Minorities" is an incorrect term assigned to races other than white who are in fact part of a majority.  African Americas, Asians, Hispanics, all of those races are a large percentage of U.S. Population.  They are called "minorities" because they are seen as less than.  They can be just as qualified for jobs/positions or even more qualified than a white person and still lose the position to them because of their race.

03/27/14 Bellringer

I think that the Supreme Court Justices should serve in terms and not for life.  I think that the American people should have a say in who gets voted as Supreme Court Justices.

03/24/14 Bellringer

An Ebola outbreak has killed at least 59 people in Guinea as the deadly hemorrhagic fever has quickly spread from southern communities in the West African nation. The Guinean Health Ministry warned that the disease is mainly spread from infected people, from objects belonging to ill or dead people, and by the consumption of meat from animals in the bush. So far, most of the cases have been in the forest area of southern Guinea, and health officials say they are offering free treatment for all patients.  They've urged people to stay calm, wash their hands and report all cases to authorities.

03/21/14 Activity

Self-Incrimination:

Thirteenth century commentators found an analogue to the privilege grounded in the bible. "To sum up the matter, the principle that no man is to be declared guilty on his own admission is a divine decree." Maimonides, Mishneh Torah (Code of Jewish Law), Book of Judges, Laws of the Sanhedrin 

Excessive Fines, Forfeiture:  The "guilty property" theory behind in rem forfeiture can be traced to the Bible, which describes property being sacrificed to God as a means of atoning for an offense. See Exodus 21:28. In medieval Europe and at common law, this concept evolved into the law of deodand, in which offending property was condemned and confiscated by the church or the Crown in remediation for the harm it had caused.

Federal Admiralty Jurisdiction:

It is especially unfortunate that this has occurred in admiralty, an area that once provided a jurisdictional rule almost as clear as the 9th and 10th verses of Genesis: "And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called He Seas."

Indigent Medical Care:

Not unlike the admonition of the Bible that, "Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country," Leviticus 24:22 (King James version), the right of interstate travel must be seen as insuring new residents the same right to vital government benefits and privileges in the states to which they migrate as are enjoyed by other residents.

Abortion:

In fact, if one prescinds the theological concept of ensoulment -- or one accepts St. Thomas Aquinas' view that ensoulment does not occur for at least 40 days -- a State has no greater secular interest in protecting the potential life of an embryo that is still "seed" than in protecting the potential life of a sperm or an unfertilized ovum.

Non-immigrant Visa for a Marxist:

That one should be excluded who taught that Jesus when he arose from the Sepulcher, went east (not up) and became a teacher at Hemis monastery in the Himalayas? I put the issue that bluntly because national security is not involved. Nor is the infiltration of saboteurs. The attorney general stands astride our international terminals that bring people here to bar those whose ideas are not acceptable to him. Even assuming, arguendo, that those on the outside seeking admission have no standing to complain, those who hope to benefit from the traveler's lectures do. Thought control is not within the competence of any branch of government.

Supreme Court Cases

Religion Supreme Court Case:
Mitchell v. Helms, 2000, is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled that it was permissible for loans to be made to religious schools under Chapter 2 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981.
Minority Supreme Court Case: 
Lawrence v. Texas, 2003, the court holds that a Texas statue criminalizing same-same conduct is unconstitutional.
School System Supreme Court Case:
Grutter v. Bollinger, 2003, colleges using race as a factor in admissions, have approved laws banning affirmative action in public education, in state government hiring, and awarding of state contracts. 

03/20/14 Bellringer

I agree with judicial activism.

03/19/14 Results

Alito, Jr., Samuel Anthony (Nominated by George W. Bush)  (69%)
Roberts Jr., John Glover (Nominated by George W. Bush)  (69%)
Scalia, Antonin Gregory (Nominated by Ronald Reagan)  (69%)
Thomas, Clarence (Nominated by George H. W. Bush)  (69%)
Kennedy, Anthony McLeod (Nominated by Ronald Reagan)  (52%)
Souter, David Hackett (Nominated by George H. W. Bush)  (36%)
Breyer, Stephen Gerald (Nominated by Bill Clinton)   (30%)
Ginsburg, Ruth Joan Bader (Nominated by Bill Clinton)  (30%)
Stevens, John Paul (Nominated by Gerald Ford)   (30%)

03/19/14 Bellringer

I think that it could be made into a big issue, and America should be concerned if the FBI is involved.

03/18/14 Bellringer

1.  There is a treaty to be signed about the ties with Russia and Crimea.
2.  No, I think the U.S. should not be involved.

03/12/14 Bellringer

1.  Possibly because they already knew they were off course.
2.  Engine trouble if the plane blew up or possibly an attack, etc.

03/11/14 Bellringer

1.  No, I feel like the people should come before the profits.
2.  Yes, because it is a life or death situation.

Campaign Ads

1.  Ad targeting all viewers/voters
2.  positive
3.  yes
4.  ad would be portrayed negatively now
5.  no

1.  targeting voters
2.  negative
3.  yes
4.  maybe not be showed
5.  yes

1.  targeting voters
2.  positive
3.  no
4.  wouldn't affect voters
5.  no

03/10/14 Bellringer

1.  I think some tax cuts would be good and possibly less government spending.
2.  I think people living on welfare, etc. are benefiting most from the proposed budget.

02/11/14 Bellringer

Bill- Let hours of operation for Alaskan postal services be an extra 2 hours each day.  Extra 10,000 per employee salary.

02/07/14 Bellringer

If I could make a law about anything I would make it on mandatory drug tests, etc for people who are on welfare.

Important Facts 03/06/14 03/07/14

-  presidential roles - chief of state - head of government
-  must abide by checks and balances
-  representative of all the people of America
-  qualifications - natural born U.S. citizen, 35 years of age, live in U.S. 14 consecutive years
-  presidential succession - vice president succeeds him
-  has happened nine times^
-  president can nominate new vice president in vacancy
-  originally had 2 electoral votes
-  election of aron burr and thomas jefferson there was a tie
-  people running for president go to conventions, debates, etc.
-  national convention both parties decide who they want to represent

-  national convention -- introduce candidates, adopt platform, stir up popular support
-  primaries -- began in early 1900's
-  two different types (delegate selection primary and candidate preference primary)
-  New Hampshire is always first primary
-  caucuses - meeting of a political party gather to select delegates to send to national convention
-  typically current president is nominated

Notes-Executive Branch 03/05/14

- president head of executive branch
- responsible for carrying out the laws
- executive branch includes president, vice president, and presidents cabinet
-  roles of president (chief of state, chief executive, chief administrator, chief diplomat, head of military, chief legislator, chief of party, chief citizen)
-  to be president must be natural born citizen, 35 years of age, has lived within U.S. for at least 14 consecutive years before election
-  4 year term limit, 22nd amendment prevents from serving more than 2 terms or 10 years
-  pay determined by congress (400k)
-  extras (mansion, air force one, personal bodyguard, camp david, health care) 
-  in event of disability the vice president assumes the role of president (temporary/permanent)
-  vice president -- presides over the senate, helps decide question of presidential disability
-  president selected by electoral college
-  electoral college -- originally able to cast 2 electoral votes
-  election 1800 first tie for presidential election between aaron burr and thomas jefferson
-  election of 1800 led to 12th amendment (two elections - one for president one for vice president)

03/05/14 Bellringer

Order of succession if president dies:
Vice President
Speaker of House of Representatives
President pro tempore of the Senate
Secretary of State
Secretary of Treasury
Secretary of Defense
Attorney General
Secretary of Interior
Secretary of Agriculture
Secretary of Commerce
Secretary of Labor
Secretary of Health and Human Services
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Secretary of Transportation
Secretary of Energy
Secretary of Education
Secretary of Veterans Affair
Secretary of Homeland Security