Intro to Media Questions

1. TV, the internet, video games, music, radio, newspapers, magazines, social media apps, cell phones.
2. General Electric, Newscorp, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner, and CBS control 90% of American media, which used to be owned by 50 companies.
3. Emerson College: "Combining tradition and innovation, the Department of Journalism is committed to training ethical journalists who can write compelling, original news stories—and bring those stories to life through broadcast, print, web, and multimedia platforms. As a student, you’ll gain rich experience in the field through class assignments, internships, and extracurricular activities that range from conducting on-street interviews and attending State House press conferences to providing multimedia coverage of the Emmys." "[...] you’ll learn how to tell stories that increase public understanding and awareness, and gain the skills necessary to adapt to—and shape—this rapidly evolving field."
4. "Watchdog" journalism involves alerting and protecting the public when a problem is found -- usually regarding illegal activity, immorality, consumer protection issues, and the environment. Those being watched are the government to prevent abuse of power.
5. I don't know what "liberal bias" means. I know to be biased means prejudiced for/against something or someone, so I'm assuming liberal bias would be either supporting or opposing a liberal idea, cause, person, etc. 

Fake Trees And Fans Could End Air Pollution

People today don't even realize how much we pollute the world we live in. Scientists try and warn us about pollution, but nothing is really changing. Almost every form of transportation spits out carbon dioxide, and our breathing process does as well. Carbon dioxide is all around us, and although plants are helpful in breathing in the "bad" (CO2) and releasing the "good" (oxygen), the rate we produce air pollution is too fast for the plants to absorb. The carbon dioxide left in the air makes it more hot, which is the reason for increased global warming. Scientists are trying to find another way to take carbon dioxide out of the air, and put it somewhere else. So, labs around the world are building their own carbon sinks (process of producing more oxygen and taking away CO2). They are doing so by finding materials that will essentially suck the carbon dioxide out of the air. Labs at Arizona State University are making artificial trees using a sticky CO2 absorbing substance. A Canadian company is making a wall of fans that have an absorbent liquid in them that will suck in CO2 and turn it into a salt. Although both of these technologies are great ideas, neither of them are ready to be put to use yet due to size, efficiency, and cost.

http://www.cnn.com/videos/tech/2015/10/02/orig-ec-engineering-carbon-reduction-sinks-pioneers.cnn/video/playlists/stories-worth-watching/

Potential Sign Of Alien Civilization

"Planet Hunters," an amateur astronomer's group who studies data and records from NASA's Kepler Telescope has recently discovered a very unusual star. This star they discovered is located between the Cygnus and Lyra constellations above Milky Way. The star is called "KIC 8462852," and has a strange flickering light habit. Every couple of years, something happens to make the star's light dim and then brighten again. Scientists believe the flickering could be due to a natural occurrence, but the possibility of the flickering being due to extraterrestrial activity has not been ruled out. The University of California Berkley's SETI (Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence) Group is now studying the star as well and scanning it for radio frequencies. 

http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2015/10/16/alien-structures-extraterrestrial-life-star-kepler-telescope-orig-cm.cnn

Dole Recalls Spinach For Salmonella

On Thursday, October 15, 2015, Dole Fresh Vegetables voluntarily recalled bagged spinach after salmonella was tested positive by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural development. The FDA has said that bags with the codes A27409B and A27409A and a UPC number of 7143000976 are to be thrown out. The spinach was sold to stores in Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Wisconsin. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, salmonella causes around one million illnesses in the United States every year; 380 of said cases die. Most people who get sick recover, but first suffer for four to eight days with severe stomach pains, nausea, and diarrhea. 

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/14/health/dole-spinach-recall-salmonella/index.html

Trump Indirectly Blames George W. Bush For 9/11

Donald Trump doesn't directly blame George W. Bush for the terrorist attacks on 9/11, but he did admit a few reasons why people might be suspicious of him. “You always have to look to the person at the top,” Trump said Saturday. Trump has presented three reasons why Bush could potentially be responsible. First, he argued that Bush's immigration policy was too weak and might have allowed terrorists into the country. Second, the FBI, the National Security Council, and the CIA weren’t communicating about threats. Lastly, George Tenet (Bush’s director of central intelligence) apparently admitted to knowing there would be an attack in advance. Jeb Bush and Trump had it out over twitter, and Trump ended the argument with "Like it or not, Bush was in the White House when the Twin Towers came down." While Trump makes a strong argument of not feeling safe when Bush was president, a recent Huffington Post poll says that over 80% of Republicans believe George W. Bush did a great job keeping the U.S. safe while president.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2015/10/18/trump-triples-down-on-george-w-bushs-responsibility-for-911/

State Of Emergency Declared In Hawaii

Most governments' emergency proclamations are often due to natural disasters, but more recently they have been used to also address issues like homelessness. This past Friday, the governor of Hawaii (David Ige) signed an emergency announcement to help attack and hopefully remove homelessness in almost every county throughout the state. Out of about 1.4 million residents, Hawaii has around 7,620 homeless people, which is the highest rate of homelessness per capita in America. This homelessness is mostly due to the state's lack of shelter space. The state of emergency proclamation will allow the state $1.3 million to fund homeless services such as helping build permanent housing and transitional facilities for families, as well as the chronically homeless.

Gov. David Ige

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/17/us/hawaii-homeless-emergency/index.html

AP Gov - Speaker of the House

1. The Constitution doesn't give a specific description of the role of the Speaker of the House other than they are chosen by the members of the House. The House decides what the role of the speaker will be. They often preside over proceedings on the House floor, influence which bills go where, influence committee assignments for new members, appoint the party's other leaders, and rule on questions of parliamentary procedure.

2. House of Representatives: 
Speaker of the House
-influences bills/where they go
-influences new member assignments
-appoints party leaders
-presides over speaking on the floor
-rules on parliamentary procedure
Majority Leader
-hand picked by speaker
-plans legislative program
-2nd ranking member of majority party
Minority Leader
-organizes minority party
-limited influence
-could be next speaker

Senate:
President Pro Tempore
-selected to take VP's place
-chair often passed to a junior Senator in a ceremony
Vice President
-only votes in event of tie
-president of senate

3. The President and Vice President would have to die or be removed for the Speaker of the House to become President.

4. Samuel Rayburn.

5. Nancy Pelosi became the first woman Speaker of the House in 2007. She represented the democratic party.

6. 1994-1999. He is famous for leading the republican revolution in 1994.

7. John A. Boehner resigned after 4 years because he was not supported by the democratic party, nor was he supported by his own party because the republicans were so split. He couldn't do his job and find a common goal.

8. Kevin McCarthy. It is no longer the case because he gave up because he knew he wouldn't get enough support and he could not win.

9. Republicans think he has a good reputation with most conservative members of the party. He has said he isn't planning on running, but he's thinking about it.

10. Ways and Means Committee is the chief tax-writing committee in the House. The committee has  jurisdiction over revenues such as Social Security, Medicare, and social service programs, tariffs, reciprocal trade agreements, and debt of the United States. 

11. "A legislative sub-organization in the United States Congress that handles a specific duty (rather than the general duties of Congress). Committee membership enables members to develop specialized knowledge of the matters under their jurisdiction." There are 48.

12. The House is fractured and "there is little chance Republicans can achieve legislative victories while President Obama is still in the White House."

13. I'm not sure what I would do in his position. It would be frustrating and difficult to deal with a broken House that is primarily democratic, but if a republican president was to be elected that could help out his situation immensely and he might be able to nurse the House back to health. 

14. No.

15. "A congressional caucus is a group of members of the United States Congress that meets to pursue common legislative objectives. Formally, caucuses are formed as congressional member organizations through the United States House of Representatives and governed under the rules of that chamber." There are about 75. Committees have jurisdiction over specific issue areas, but caucuses are groups that members form to pursue common legislative objectives.

16.  A congressional caucus consisting of conservative Republican members of the United States House of Representatives.“The House Freedom Caucus gives a voice to countless Americans who feel that Washington does not represent them. We support open, accountable and limited government, the Constitution and the rule of law, and policies that promote the liberty, safety and prosperity of all Americans.” Members want a speaker who will give them a bigger say in how the House runs. The caucus is relevant today in the search for the new Speaker of the House.

17. Paul Ryan has headed back to his hometown in Wisconsin to reconsider his statement that he does not want the job as Speaker of the House. His reconsideration itself has excited Republicans who are saying they "see no one else with the potential to bring the fractured party back together." Republicans believe that the fractured House and party leaders could effect the 2016 presidential/congressional campaigns, and that Ryan could be their saving grace. Party elders and conservative leaders have been pressuring Ryan by saying he "should run for the good of the country, to rescue the institution of Congress, and to protect the political interests of Republicans over all." Ryan's associates mentioned that he has no intention of fighting for the job; that he would probably only accept it by acclamation. However, not all conservatives are die-hard Paul Ryan fans. Luke Messer, Representative of Indiana, stated: “I frankly think there is no silver bullet candidate that is going to bring us together, either. It’s going to take a combination of things.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/10/us/politics/desperate-gop-appeals-to-ryan-on-speakers-job.html?_r=0

First Quarter Reflection

At the start of this school year, I was honestly really worried about taking an AP class. I've never taken an AP class before or even an honors class, so I had no idea what to expect. I'm a slow worker and it takes me a while to absorb information so I had no idea how difficult the rushed curriculum would be. However, I wanted to take a government class because I felt in the dark when it came to politics, current events, and even just the basic levels of government and their responsibilities. After this quarter, I think it's pretty safe to say that I have been forced to keep up with current events due to blog posts, and also I was pushed to really think and make connections about the behind the scenes of politics. I have a whole new perspective on how much government really effects me. I think it's awesome that it's only first quarter and I already have a better understanding of what federal grants are, my individual rights, the founding fathers' reasons for creating the Constitution, the scope of government, policymaking, what a democracy is supposed to look like vs. what we actually have today, etc. I have enjoyed the hands on learning and not just having to read a textbook every night - the Alabama Supreme Court trial was really interesting! I've made a habit of being more organized and not procrastinating, which makes the fast(er) curriculum more manageable. I hope to continue to learn more and become confident with my knowledge of government, so I can form opinions based upon facts, not just what my peers/parents tell me.