The election on Tuesday, November 4, 2008, was full of positives and negatives. I was very happy about the presidential election results. I believe that Barack Obama can and will do a lot to improve our country. I think that his opinions on universal healthcare and his plan to make healthcare and insurance easier for american citizens to achieve is a very good plan and goal. I feel and hope that education will become a higher priority to the government.
One thing that highly concerns me is the war. I do not fully understand Obama's standpoint on the war and how he plans to take us out of it. I am also concerned with Obama's safety. I think it is safe to say that a large portion of the citizens in our country are worried about an attempted assassination. I hope that the people of America can forget their prejudices and come together to pull our country and its economy back up to a place that we can be proud of.

I feel that my own understanding of civic knowledge is far greater than a lot of people my age. My junior year humanities class has helped me so much in my own understanding of our country. I feel that my own opinions are not based so much on what other people think, but what I feel is right or wrong. I have been learned how to form my own opinions and biases and how to dig deeper than just the mainstream media and find out the real facts. I really like the discussions that we as a class have because I like learning from not only teachers but my own peers. I need to improve on keeping up with the assignments that we have and turning them in on time. In my conversations outside of school I feel a lot less ignorant and very well informed of what is currently happening in our country. I sometimes get frustrated with the ignorance of others though.



For my h20 project I will need a video camera, a computer, and some type of program to edit my video.
The people that I need are people from surfrider or other organizations that work to improve the ocean and beaches. I would like to interview these people on what people here in San Diego can do to lessen their impact on the trash collected in the North Pacific Gyre.
In the next few days, I would like to come up with questions that I would ask these people and set up interviews. I would like to get the interviews done by Friday, November 14. This way I could have the raw videos from the interviews and work on those during the week before Thanksgiving break.

What are some of the environmental effects that the great pacific garbage patch have on the plant life in the north pacific gyre?
Plastics in the ocean are not biodegrading but just breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces. The plankton in this area are actually just little pieces of plastic. Fish that swim by and eat the plankton are also eating these mini pieces of plastic. This effects the fishes health. We also eat fish, thus causing us to eat the plastic that was eaten by the fish.

What can San Diego beach-goers do to eliminate their contribution to the collection of trash in the North Pacific Gyre?
San Diego beach-goers can lessen their contribution to the collection of trash by putting their garbage in garbage cans so that it doesn't collect in the ocean. They can also use more eco-friendly products such as allumanium cans/bottle instead of plastic ones.

ACORN is a company that people go through to register to vote. ACORN was being accused of turning in "fake" registration applications. Some of these applications containing names such as "Mickey Mouse". ACORN registers mostly democratic citizens so the McCain campaign was all over ACORNS case.

In 1858, the Illinois senatorial debates between Lincoln and Douglas were a lot more different than the debates that we have today. The format of the debates were longer and a lot more intense. The 2008 presidential debates were significantly different in that they were a lot shorter and less in depth than the Lincoln-Douglas debates.

I think that people cared understood the lincoln-douglas debates more than they understand or care about the 2008 debates. There was less technology and people were a lot more interested in politics because people realized how it directly effected them.

photograph examples

This picture demonstrates a good example of the rule of thirds. The subject (tree) is off to the side with the background (field and sky) making up a large portion of the picture. This is simple, yet captivating.


I found this picture to be an interesting example of "depth of field". In this photograph it focuses on just a few words. The words you are reading are clearly in focus, while the words that you read or would read later are out of focus.


This picture is also a good example of depth of field. The caterpillar and the grass are a lot more in-focus than the background behind the caterpillar are.




I felt that this was a good example of color and filling the frame. It is also a good example of the rule of thirds. The trunk of the tree is off at the sides while the rest of the tree and its leaves fill the entire picture, giving you plenty to look at.

This photograph intrigued me because I felt that it was a great example of connecting to the subject through the eyes and filling the frame.

I thought that this image was a very interesting use of lighting. The lightning and the horizon in the background filled the frame. How the photographer captured the lightning was incredible.

Broader term of 'disabled'

Congress passes bill with protection for disabled
By: Robert Pear
Published: September 17, 2008

In this article it talks about a bill just passed that will protect people with disabilities. This new bill makes a broader definition of the term “disability” than the Americans With Disabilities Act, created in 1990. In the new bill it specifically states, ““The definition of disability in this act shall be construed in favor of broad coverage.”

In this article it states, “The voice vote in the House, following Senate passage by unanimous consent last week, clears the bill for President Bush…The White House said Mr. Bush would sign the bill, just as his father signed the original Americans With Disabilities Act in 1990.” This is an example of one of the necessary steps in order to pass a bill.

"Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law."

In this paragraph from the constitution it states that in order to make a law, the bill must be signed by the president. If the president doesnt sign the bill, it will be sent back and reconsidered by the House of representatives. If 2/3's of the House agrees that it should become a law, then it will become a law.

The Stock Market

the stock market crash

By Stephen Lapaton

Published: September 15, 2008

My advice to the Federal Government on how to solve the current financial issues with Lehman & Merrill Lynch & the Stock Market, are that the government should take responsibility because it is their job to protect the U.S. and its citizens. I don't think that they should take full responsibility though. The government should find a way to loan the banks the money that they need and have the banks pay the government back.