Mediaopoly

We watched this in my gov't class. It's funny.

Youth Vote in California

Young voters making a difference!

McCain is a Citizen and thus can be President

Hopefully this will kill the story that just seems to never die...has John McCain been a citizen his whole life? Okay, so the back story to this is: Senator McCain was not born in America. He was born on a U.S. naval base in the Pama Canal Zone in 1936. Due to this some people have come to the conclusion that McCain has not been a citizen his whole life and thus can not be President.
(Believe me I get phone calls concerning this issue at my internship all the time...)

This potential problem for Senator McCain was reviewed my former Solicitor General Ted Olson (a McCain supporter) and a Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe (a Obama supporter). They found that the phrase "natural born citizen" is an unclear term in the Constitution. Though only a "natural born citizen" can become president it is unclear what the founding fathers meant by that term. The Panama Canal Zone was a U.S. territory when McCain was born, his was stationed while serving in the Navy and his mother was an U.S. citizen. Thus the two person panel found that Senator McCain can serve as President if elected.

So now can we please get back to issues? Like how McCain has said on several occasions that Iran is training Al-Qaeda or that he thinks we should stay in Iraq 100 years...

CA Flunks Computer Access Test

California school received a D+ in the new "Technology Counts" survey. The survey was conducted by the nonprofit magazine Education Week. West Virginia was the only state that earned an A in the whole country and the country as a whole got a grade of a C+.
Each state was graded on three points: "access" (do we have enough computers?), "use" (do states expect and require students to use computers?), and "capacity" (do teachers know how to use computers themselves?). The data was collected from fourth through eight grade classrooms.
California did well in the area of "capacity." We are only one of 19 states to require that teacher have some knowledge of computers to get a teaching credential. California got a B- in this area.
However "use" and "access" are different stories. California got a D+ in the "use" category. This is because though the state has technology expectations for students, it does not follow through and test them on that knowledge. The state got an F in "capacity." 93% of California fourth graders had access to a computer, yet 95% do nationwide. Access to a computer shrinks to 72% in the eighth grade in California and 83% nationwide.
Even better news for the children of this state...with all the budget cuts coming down from Sacramento it doesn't look like California's computer access grade will be going up any time soon.

Deborah Shank on CNN

Shame on WalMart!!!

CBS Exposes Hillary Clinton Bosnia Trip.

ophs...her bad...

Nancy Reagan Endorses McCain

Today Nancy Reagan came out and publicly endorsed the Republican candidate for President Senator John McCain. Nancy Reagan was the wife of former President Ronald Reagan. President Reagan reputation in Republican political circles is still very important, in fact this last primary cycle near every Republican candidate tried to prove that they where true Reagan follower and thus a true Republican.

Senator McCain has had a few problems proving his Republican credentials to members in his party. (Senator McCain has a reputation for being a "maverick" and recently a story surfaced that McCain thought about changing to the Democratic party twice. Once after he lost the race for the Republican nomination in 2000 and in 2004 and becoming Senator John Kerry's running mate. Senator McCain "maverick" reputation scores him points with ordinary Americans but not with the Republican party faithful...so the McCain camp is hoping Mrs. Reagan endorsement will go a long way with "Reagan Conservatives"

Barack Obama: 'A More Perfect Union' (Full Speech)

Barack Obama's speech on race has been called "the most important speech on race in the nations history." Its something everyone should see.

4,000 Americans have died in Iraq

We reached a sad mile stone in the Iraq war today. 4,000 of our brave men and women have been killed in this war.

Debra Bowen will receive the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award

California's Secretary of State Debra Bowen's controversial decision last year to curtail use of electronic voting machines after security flaws were discovered has earned her a national award for political courage.

She will be awarded the JFK Profile in Courage Award. The award was created in 1989 by the Kennedy family. The title of the award comes from President Kennedy's book "Profiles in Courage" which recounts the stories of eight courageous Senators who stood up for what they believe in and thus risked their jobs. In tribute to that book the Kennedy family presents a current elected offical who stood a political stand and risked their job by doing so. The Profile in Courage Award has been named the most prestigious award an elected official can be presented with.

Secretary Bowen will be presented the award by Former President Kennedy only surving child and brother, Caroline and Edward Kennedy.

Looking for New Bloggers

I am currently on the look out for new bloggers to come on board and post things on the blog. So if you are a young mind that can think and you want to voice your thoughts leave a message on this post and we will try and set it up. I'm looking for a lot of different perspectives.

Poll Results

Here are the results of last weeks poll:
Obama 87%
Clinton 12%
Readers made the comments that they supported Obama because of his ability to get elected and his ability to reach independents. Another reader made the point that I did not list the Republican candidate in this poll. This is true, I did not do that. That is because the Republican candidate has been chosen. Once the Democrats get around to choosing their nominee I will have a poll putting John McCain against whomever the democratic candidate is.

Be on the look out for next weeks poll!!! and thank for for all the great comments!!!

Girl Scouts Stand Up to the Governor

One of the best stories I've read in the Contra Costa Times has to be todays article about Walnut Creek Girls Scouts who are passing around a petition against the education budget cuts.

Girl Scout troop 2543 is currently passing around a petition for everone to sign (even kids). The petition is special, it mimics the preamble of the Consistution: "We the people of Walnut Creek Intermediate School, in order to have a more perfect education, urge you to establish an adequate budget for our education ... Please don't leave the students of California behind."

The girls plan on delivering thier petition to local law makers. So far they have collected over 1000 signtures.

You go Girls!!!