World Bank Research

1. What is the world bank?
2. Who is part of it?
3. Where is it headquartered?
4. When was it founded?
5. What exactly do they do?
6. What is the connection between the world bank and the readings we just completed in the textbook?

How A Bill Becomes a Law

Foreign Policy

Diplomacy

• What does acting "unilaterally" mean? What are the dangers of acting unilaterally?
• If Hamas is a terrorist group but were also elected democratically, how should the incoming President deal with them? Do we fight them or talk to them? Neither? Both?

---

Latin America

• What factors have prevented the U.S. and Latin American countries from forging a strong relationship? What challenges confront U.S. policy in Latin America?
• What challenges confront U.S. policy in Latin America?

---

US-China Trade Policy

• Could the large and growing trade imbalance with China have an adverse effect on the U.S. economy?
• What role does the undervalued Chinese currency play?

---

Defense and Security: Protecting Ourselves

• What should U.S. priorities be?
• How should its forces be structured and deployed to meet new security challenges?

---

Russia

http://www.fpa.org/topics4707/topics_show.htm?doc_id=601603

In-Class Essay

Presidential Challenges Project

Later this week we will be writing an in-class essay that answers the following question: what is the greatest challenge facing President Obama upon taking office?

You'll be able to choose from: 

• The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
• Health Care
• Economic Crisis
• Foreign Policy

Preparing for an in-class essay is a unique challenge. You will need to do a few things: first, prepare all the notes, handouts, and other materials you will want to use. Just having them isn't enough! 

1. You'll need to review them. One of the best ways to do that is to write a brief summary of each issue and WHY it is a challenge for President-elect Obama. That will allow you to find any holes in your knowledge.
2. Next, look through your materials and review what pieces of evidence will be most helpful/interesting to you when you're writing. Remember, the idea is to explain which challenge is the biggest. 
   
3. You'll need to review ALL the challenges so you can address the others. Just because you think the war is the biggest challenge doesn't mean you don't address/refer to the others. You will need to explain WHY they are not the biggest. 
4. Sketch out your essay. This can be in the form of a web diagram, bullet points, an outline, or a quickwrite. Do not come to the essay-writing period without a map of your essay! That's like flying blind. 
5. Figure out where you're going to plug in the pieces of evidence you found most compelling. This will make writing the essay easier and allow you to focus on writing it well. 
6. Organize these notes in a way you can easily understand during the pressure of an essay-writing period. 

Health Care Question

Hey Guys--

So our discussion of health care and the uninsured spurred some good discussion. I'd like you to address which of the possible models you feel is most appropriate. Please read the Advantages and Disadvantages from the packet and write a comment about which one you feel is best and WHY. Use examples. 

Also! Respond to someone else's comment, and directly address their reasons. Be polite and respectful, but also disagree if you think they are wrong. Let's get a discussion going on here. 

9th Grade: Judaism and Hammurabi

Judaism and the Code of Hammurabi are both effective ways of controlling a population. 

• Describe how both systems are different both in terms of their method of control and what it would have felt like to be a citizen. 
• Which one is more effective? Why? 

Presidential Challenges Project

President-Elect Obama will face a significant set of challenges upon taking office. We will be exploring these challenges and crises in depth, so you will need to use some of the following resources.

We'll be addressing five issues that President Obama will face upon taking office: 

• Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
• Economic Crisis
• Foreign Policy
• Health Care
• Climate Change

---

Iraq War

Iraq War Timeline

Iraqi Contractors

Great Article on War in Afghanistan

1. How will we get troops home?
   
2. How many do we need in Iraq? Afghanistan? 
   
3. How much are these wars costing us, total? 
   
4. What is the status of the Iraqi government?
   
5. Is it stable? 
   
6. What is the status of the Afghan government? 
   
7. Is it stable?
   
8. How many have been killed? List both soldiers and civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan.
   

Electoral College!

In class you read about the electoral college, the actual method by which the President of the United States is chosen.

After you've explored the electoral college, please answer the following questions:

• Does the electoral college accurately reflect the choice of a majority of Americans? Why or why not?
• Would a simple majority (who gets the most votes) be more fair? Why or why not?

Ballot Measure Commercials

Proposition 1A
Yes on 1A
No on 1A

---

Proposition 3
Yes on 3
No on 3

---

Proposition 4
Yes on 4
No on 4

---

Proposition 5
Yes on 5
No on 5

---

Proposition 7
Yes on 7
No on 7

---

Proposition 8
Yes on 8
No on 8

---

Proposition 10
Yes on 10
No on 10

---

Videos on Propositions

• What do the groups who air these commercials hope to achieve by showing them?
• What information do they convey to someone viewing them?
• How do they convey this information?
• What techniques that you saw do you think you could use in your group?

Who Votes?

In SOCCOM, we've talked about how the profile of typical voters feels out of place for some of us; some students even talked about how the "likely voter sounds like my grandma." We strategized about how to increase voter turnout, but I'm curious:

Does the part of the population that votes accurately reflect America? Why or why not?

Fmr. Secretary of State Powell endorses Obama

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama for president on Sunday's edition of "Meet the Press." Powell is a significant figure in American politics, especially because he served in a Republican administration and has thrown his support behind the Democratic nominee. What, if any, will the effect of this be on the race?

This is the photo Powell refers to:

Street Art + Current Events

An absolutely brilliant piece of street art that has to do with the current economic crisis!

Debate Thread

So that was by far the most interesting debate, I thought. Lots of good lines, lots of serious answers on serious issues. All around, a good way to end debate season.

In the comment thread, post a quotation from each candidate that you found surprising or controversial! Plenty to choose from this time.

Nation vs. State?

What's the difference between nation and state? Comment away...

AMAZING Song + Video

So I know it's risky to post two music things in a row, but this video was sent to me by a good friend tonight and I've watched it four times straight and downloaded the song. 

The song is a South African style of dance music called kwaito, which emerged about 15 years ago. The video is simply amazing as well. 

Basically, if you like music, you'll enjoy. The bloopy little synth line is rad. And If you like dancing, you'll enjoy. And if you are interested in, you know, anything at all, it'll be worth four minutes of your time. Check the kid with T-Rex arms at 4:00 in. The whole thing is worth watching though!

Comment away. I want to hear what you think!

Song(s) of the Week

Ok, so in 7th period Henry mentioned Phil Collins, who is a great musician from the 1980's/90's. I'm guessing most of you haven't heard of him, so I decided to post one of his best songs in honor of that class period. You can download the track by clicking on the link and then clicking on the bolded text that says "Download File" on the page it takes you to. 

Phil Collins - In the Air Tonight

I also decided to post up a song I just heard in the car earlier today that I liked. You guys might hate it, maybe not. But we'll see. It's by a band called Keane (total coincidence that I have a student by that name!) and it's from a brand-new album. It's got sort of an 80's sound, but I like it. 

Keane - Spiralling

If you want me to post music that is more along the lines of what you like, let me know in the comments what you've been listening to. I'm into everything except country. 

(NOTE: THIS DOES NOT COUNT AS YOUR BLOG ENTRY. YOU STILL NEED TO READ THE POLITICO.COM ARTICLE)

Worst Debate Ever?

The following article from Politico.com claims this debate was the "worst debate ever."

Read the article, and write a comment in which you a) explain what the article is saying in your own words, and b) explain whether you agree or disagree and WHY.

"With the country at one of its most interesting — not to mention terrifying — moments in a generation, John McCain and Barack Obama met in Nashville for what was surely one of the dullest and least satisfying presidential debates in memory.

There have been boring debates before, of course. Truth be told, probably only a fraction of these encounters, over the 32 years since general election debates became a fixture of presidential campaigns, actually delivered on their promise of great political drama. And even interesting debates are inevitably somewhat stilted affairs, as candidates cleave to their scripts and try to avoid blunders.

But the Belmont University showdown was something entirely different. Place the gravity of the moment next to the blah-blah-blah artifice of the rhetoric and overall insubstantiality of the evening, and this is what you get: The worst presidential debate ever."

Click here to read the rest of the article.