Prime Minister's Questions

Picture that every week, the entire Republican Party gets to confront Obama and ask him questions and essentially try to make him look bad every week. That is exactly what happens in Parliament in England. This is the most recent PMQ. Also, this can lead to some very funny moments in the House of Commons, so here are some examples of that.

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Could a system similar to this work in America today? Comment below on why or why not if you wish.

Interesting Economics Video

I saw this video and it got me really interested on how corrupt the monetary system is. Mike Maloney, an excellent economist made a series of videos called Hidden Secrets of Money and this is episode 4 of the series where he simplifies the whole monetary system so it is comprehendible to the average mind. There is some debatable things that he mentions but I thought he got it correct. I hope you all enjoy!

2015 State of the Union

Last night President Obama gave his 6th (though by his count his 7th) State of the Union address to Congress and the nation. The State of the Union is prescribed by the Constitution and it requires the President to update the Congress on the current state of the country, however, the event has come to be dominated more by tradition than by Constitutional requirement. Either way, it is one of the most important political events of the year, and one of the rare moments when the President is able to speak to Congress,the Supreme Court, the Joint-Chiefs of Staff, and the people at the same time. While the speech may be more theater than substance it is still an awesome show of power as it calls for essentially the entire government to assemble in one room. It is also a true confluence of linkage institutions as you can see the media, political parties, interest groups, and campaign rhetoric all on display. Here is a video to help provide some historical background on the event:

 I hope you took some time out of your midterm preparation to watch some of Obama's speech, but if you didn't the good folks at PolitiFact.com have taken the liberty of transcribing and annotating the President's speech. In their version PolitiFact fact-checked Obama's speech to see if his claim's are valid or simply political versions of a humblebrag. Check out the results:

Barack Obama's 2015 State of the Union address: annotated

Vote in Our Poll:
Do you agree with President Obama that "the shadow of crisis has passed, and the State of the Union is strong"?

Political Ad: Cliven Bundy Challenges Eric Holder

Because there aren't enough elderly white men who are willing to speak their mind about race issues. This is an ad by Kamau Bakari a self proclaimed member of the independent american party, and a congressional candidate. It features Cliven Bundy who you may recognize as the rancher who refused to stop his cattle from grazing on government land. Its almost impressive how awful this is.

Jon Stewart's Crossfire Interview: "Stop, You're Hurting America!"

In October of 2004 Jon Stewart appeared as a guest on CNN's Crossfire with Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson. For those of you who don't know the show Crossfire (you shouldn't because CNN cancelled it after Stewart's interview), it was a "debate show" that pitted liberal and conservative pundits against each other. When Begala and Carlson asked Stewart to join them on the show alone they had no idea that Stewart was preparing to "confront" them for their "partisan hackery" that he thought was "hurting America". The clip has since become famous as an example of Stewart's rise as a media "watchdog" and CNN's declining respectability. 

Questions:

• Do you agree with Stewart's critique of shows like Crossfire?
• Is the media upholding its role as a linkage institution when they air shows like Crossfire?
• Is Crossfire meant to be more "news" or "entertainment"?
• Is Stewart unfairly criticizing the hosts of Crossfire while hiding behind the comedy aspect of his show?

Be prepared to discuss these questions on Wednesday!

Priming and Framing in the News Media

Here is a video you should find helpful when looking for priming and framing in your media comparison assignment.

Remember:

• Priming = When the media provides a context for public discussion of an issue
• Framing = When the media provides a focus and environment for reporting a story, influencing how audiences will understand or evaluate it.

Compliments Courtesy of VP Joe Biden

Hello all! Since I'm sure you are all diligently studying for our fast approaching midterm, I thought I would post a lighthearted article to take your mind off of voter turnout and linkage institutions.

As some of you may know with the coming of the new year also comes the coming in of a new Congress (the 114th to be exact). Part of the tradition oat the start of a new Congress is the swearing in ceremony of newly elected members. In House the Speaker, John Boehner, swears in new members (which generally means a copious amount of tears of shed by the Speaker. However, the real fun of the swearing ceremony happens in the Senate where VP Joe Biden (the Human Gaffe Machine) gets to swear in new members. 

For those of you who are unaware, Biden is a former Senator himself and has a reputation for putting his foot in his mouth and saying things that aren't exactly Vice Presidential. Yesterdays swearing in ceremony gave Biden yet another chance to insert his foot in his mouth as he decided to compliment each of the new members of the Senate. Luckily, for us the Washington Post complied all these compliments into a Joe Biden Compliment Generator and now we can all be complimented (inappropriately) by the Vice President!

Here are a list of my favorites:

• "We have something in common. We both have sisters who are more beautiful and smarter than us."
• "How old are you? Fifteen? I hope mom has a big fence."
• "You've got some killer eyes. The girls are in trouble."
• "Mom, do you realize in parts of Arizona this would risk your reputation."
• "You have one job. Keep the boys away from your sister."

Check out the article and compliment generator here:

The Joe Biden Random Compliment Generator

Interest Groups Review

As discussed in class there will not be a quiz on our interest group unit, however, I have uploaded a quiz I have given in the past to the class materials page. The quiz should serve as a review tool for you to use to prepare for the midterm exam. If you have any questions about the quiz feel free to stop by room after school and we can discuss. Remember that there will be questions on the midterm about interest groups, so it is in your best interest (ha!) to look over this quiz. Also, you can all thank Zach Lepore as it was his idea that I put the quiz up on the blog.

Finally:

• I have posted your midterm review sheet to the class materials section (you can find it at the top of the page). While you're there I suggest you take a look at the FRQ writing guide to re-familiarize yourself with the tips and tricks that we discussed earlier in the year. Remember you will have 3 FRQs to write in 75 minutes on exam day.

• Your midterm review day is scheduled for Thursday (1/15) after exams. If you cannot make it on Thursday, I am more than happy to meet with you at a different time.

• If you are looking for study tools outside of the Barron's books and the study guides, I suggest looking in your textbook. There are some excellent practice questions starting on pg. 711.

NAACP

NAACP by Logan Durant and Ethan Pernal

NEA

National Education Association Prezi - Alyse DeLuca


https://prezi.com/j0ruaszihfy8/edit/#23_30863873

National Organization for Women Prezi

http://prezi.com/yjyytm8wjsea/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

National Organization for Women (NOW)

https://prezi.com/w4fq2l8qbtx_/national-organization-for-women/

NRA Prezi

I hope it passes the rubric.

NRA PREZI by Kevin Jacobson

ACLU prezi by Megan, Kayla, & Christie

https://prezi.com/edmnnp1_kjhu/american-civil-liberties-union/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

NRA (Amber and Bailey)

I've spent far too long trying to figure out how to share this prezi xD



https://prezi.com/p8jh9mmhtjsh/edit/#9_116903689

Presidential Insults

I couldn't resist sharing this

NEA Prezi By Julia and Susan

https://prezi.com/5k92fbor3fzt/national-education-association/

AARP Prezi

Prezi

Interest Group Prezi

I am not sure if we were supposed to post this to the blog or not, so I'm going to post it now just in case we need to post it.