Busy Times in Current Events

Hopefully you are following the news on your own. But, just in case you want to read some articles that illustrate what we are studying in class here are some articles I thought you might find interesting.

Redistricting in Massachusetts

The results of the 2010 census are out. As we thought, Massachusetts lost a seat.

New York Times Census Summary

Here is an article about the overall changes noted in the census.


Lame Duck Congress

Here is a great summary about the lame duck Congress.

Have a great break!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just in case you thought I was making up the fact that the President pardons turkeys every year......



Here's the coverage in various news outlets:

NPR

Rueters

CBS

LA Times

Current Events and FRQ

Hello everyone,

Remember we have an FRQ on elections on Monday. This could cover topics in Chapter 10 and what we have done in class since the last exam. Please review the text and your notes. I will have two questions and you will be able to choose one of them to answer.

Here are some articles on the election!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/11/AR2010111107910.html

This article addresses the role the election might have on Nancy Pelosi's future

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-03/wealthy-candidates-reap-poor-returns-in-u-s-voting-booths.html

Remember, the Buckley case says that candidates can spend as much of their own money as they want on a race.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704462704575590510679315310.html?mod=WSJ_ele_main

A Wall Street Journal article summarizing the election results

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/11/11/a_preview_of_2012_redistricting_107924.html

Finally, an article about redistricting

Online Resources for the Election Prediction Assignment

Real Clear Politics gathers courses from a variety of media outlets and is a really good place to go to get quick polling data.

Here is a link to the CNN politics page. CNN is generally considered a "middle of the road" political source. So, keep that in mind when using it.

Here is a link to the Washington Post's campaigns section. They did list all the Democrats first in the competitive races. So, keep that in mind in terms of possible bias, etc.

Here is a link to the Washington Times election section. The Washington Times is considered the more conservative of the Washington, D.C. papers.

Here is a link to Fox News' electoral map. Remember, it is important to use all news sources to try to make an educated prediction.

This is a good place to get started for background on the ballot questions. However, you will need to look at newspapers and news website to get polling information.

Argument day podcasts: Snyder v. Phelps

Click here for a link to the lawyers summaries of their cases that they presented to the court yesterday, October 6, 2010 in the First Amendment case.

Click here if you would like a link to a list of all the coverage of the case.

Frontline Video from Class 10/7/2010

Washington, D.C. Trip Information Meeting

We will be having an informational meeting about the trip to Washington, D.C. during February vacation on Wednesday, October 13 at 7:00 in Room 125.

If you would like to read more about the program online the address is http://closeup.org

Current Events Articles for 9/26

Economist

We will be discussing ideology, parties, and elections in October. Obviously the TEA Party is going to have an impact on these mid-term elections. This article discusses the impact of the TEA Party on the Delaware primary election to fill Joe Biden's vacant seat in the Senate.

New York Times

This article is a year old, but students find it interesting to see the conflict in a federal system. I bet you never thought of football players as employees protected by state law.......

The Boston Globe

This "article" is very short. I want you to know all of these questions. More importantly, I want you to think about how they might be examples of federalism.

The New Republic

This article if from The New Republic. This is a very liberal magazine. However, it is a good overview of the past two years and addresses the question of polling, which is a topic we are discussing soon.

Summer Current Events Articles

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/06/28/kagan_hearings_will_set_tone_for_midterm_elections/

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/06/28/brown_outpolls_kerry_obama/

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/06/28/senator_robert_c_byrd_92_was_longest_serving_us_senator/

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0623/The-McChrystal-Rolling-Stone-article-the-story-behind-the-story

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/07/05/26_flub_question_on_us_independence/

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/06/us/06guns.html?_r=1&hp
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/30/AR2010063003801.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/29/AR2010062905209.html?sub=AR

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/07/12/3_political_seats_open_in_west_roxbury/

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/07/09/curb_on_gay_marriage_upended/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/12/AR2010071201655.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/12/us/politics/12whitman.html?ref=todayspaper

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/07/11/how_facts_backfire/?page=1

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/business/22regulate.html?_r=1&ref=politics

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/with-banking-question-everything/?src=mv&ref=business

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/21/education/21standards.html?bl

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/07/mass_legislatur.html?p1=News_links

http://www.economist.com/node/16541619?story_id=16541619

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/us/politics/28donate.html?_r=1&ref=politics

http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhttp://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2010/08/05/federal_judge_strikes_down_calif_ban_on_gay_marriage/

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/06/us/politics/06prop.html?ref=politics

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/08/06/kagan_heads_to_high_court/

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/08/14/protests_at_funerals_a_test_of_free_speech/

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2010/08/13/judge_keeps_gay_marriage_on_hold___for_now/

http://www.scotusblog.com/blog/2010/08/14/prop-8-who-speaks-for-california/

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2010/08/08/plans_for_new_mosques_drawing_protests_across_the_us/

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/28/us/politics/28beck.html?_r=1&hp

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/08/28/running_hard_against_the_scott_brown_effect/?p1=News_links

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/11/us/politics/11stevens.html

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/09/04/patrick_holding_thin_lead_in_poll/

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2010/08/31/obama_to_honor_troops_as_iraq_combat_mission_ends/

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/09/04/urban_violence_rarely_a_campaign_focus/

BLS in the News.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Watch this clip please. Think about how the government interacts with the issues brought up in this piece.

President Obama's Speech on the BP Oil Spill

This is the President's first Oval Office address to the nation since taking the Oath of Office. Pay attention to what he identifies as his responsibilities and what he is going to do with the Constitutional powers he has.

Summer Work

You may pick up the summer work packet the week of June 14 in my classroom Room 125. If you didn't get the packet, you can find it on the "summer assignment" page.