Political Science: Squeezing out all of the juices

School is often remembered for the content matter that is learned and discovered in class. Homework and tedious book work hallmark classroom settings, and it can often times become tiresome. However, political science was different than what is usually expected from a class. Instead of skimming books for answers that would only be remembered for maybe a few weeks, we spent time studying in depth the topics at hand. Political science taught me that school should be spent fully understanding and comprehending the subjects being reviewed. It is important for people to use their knowledge in places other than at school, and how could this be done if nothing is remembered after a 45 minute class. Overall, political science has allowed me to realize that learning is in fact meaningful, and should be made to stay with you for the long term.

Blog Post #5

The 2008 presidential was a very important one not only due to it's political implications, but also due to it's prominence to social cultures on Earth today.

Impact of the youth vote and technology on the campaign

The impact of the youth vote on the 2008 election was an especially big one. Compared to the generation of peace, love, and drugs of the 1960's, our generation has been expected to make active differences on the world. According to MSNBC , youth votes are the votes that could have pushed Barrack Obama over the edge to win the election.

The use of technology for the 2008 presidential election could have had just as much of an impact on the election as youth votes did. Adequately constructed campaign ads were key in this election to prove whether it was Obama or McCain that the country wanted as their president. Shows such as Saturday Night Live could have been the kryptonite of either of the major presidential parties. Skits mocking presidential party affiliates flooded the October SNL scene, showing at prime time on NBC's line up. Being humans, it is only natural that things we see and hear become 'constitutionalized', meaning that every thing that is seen or heard is automatically true. With this knowledge, SNL battered the Democratic and Republican parties hoping to instill unintelligent and humorous images of presidential party affiliates, into the the minds of millions of SNL watchers.

SNL searches for a Barrack Obama



Implications for the Republican Party

This 2008 presidential election has been a roller coaster for the Republican party. Many people love what the Republican party stands for, however what was brought to the table this year was not of common Republican support. Republicans are generally known to be advocates for 'less government' for example less gun control, but this is not what Americans need. In this article, the writer says that people want to see more action in the government during a very turmoiled time with a failing economy, and proper tax spending within the government. This election has been a huge awakening to the Republican party, that they need to get their views together in order to prove to Americans that voting Republican is what they need to do for a stronger America.

Blog Post #4

Blog Post #4

The McCain blogette has new posts almost every day! More recently, however, little McCain discusses the importance of the debate that occurred on Wednesday the 15th.

A diva, isn't she?

The importance of this debate, for John McCain, was more important than his others. Why, you may ask? Because according to electoral polls, McCain is behind Obama in electoral votes in the country.
Electoral Polls

In last nights debate, different tactics were used by both presidential candidates. McCain seemed to be more on the offense, attempting to persuade the public that their reasoning to decide for Obama was too soon, and that he, John McCain, had plans for America which, would solve all of their problems. Obama's strategy can be seen as defensive. Since Obama is substantially ahead of McCain in the polls, he simply just wanted to keep things at a neutral, meaning he said nothing that would change the mind of anyone who had planned on voting for him.
Video of 10/15 Debate

McCain Blogette Review

McCain Blogette Review

The McCain Blogette has to be one of the more interesting blogs out there. What I believe makes this blog so appealing is the use of photos, color, and content of the blog. This blog is done by Presidential candidate John McCain's daughter, Meghan McCain. The McCain Blogette seems to reek of political campaigning and propaganda right? Surprisingly, the correct answer to this is no. Yes, of course there are political postings in this blog but this is not all this blog has to offer. Meghan also posts about her book signing of her children's book, My Dad John McCain, at a book store and even of her music interests!

Little McCain Blog

Going onto a blog, I usually expect to see uninteresting facts and information that no common person would lie to read. However, I honestly didn't mind taking a glance at this blog and didn't dread to write or talk about it. Recently, I've come across a number of blogs that caught my interest. Never would I have thought that I would find myself looking up specific subject blogs at home at my own leisure.

California Dreamin' is the title of one of the posts Meghan McCain posted up onto her blog. This post talks about one of a few book signings Meghan did on a California book signing tour. McCain recently wrote a children's book, titled My Dad John McCain, which talks about her life and experiences with her father. This book signing tour was clearly created to promote John McCain's presidential candidacy, and from in my opinion, it's working. When presidential parties reach out to the 'common person', especially little kids, this gives people a feeling and safety with that specific party. Whoever thought up the decision for Meghan to go on a book signing tour, it was the right one.

Shark Egg Blog

I came across this blog about shark eggs and how they adapt and change depending on their environments. Not just any sharks however, these eggs are from 2 different species of deep sea sharks. A few miles down from the surface of any ocean, water pressure is very high, and it is also very dark. Not only this, but hardly any sunlight reaches these areas either. Because of this, any animals that can survive down there must be highly adapted to do so. Deep sea sharks did exactly this by genetically enhancing their eggs to be able to survive in such conditions.

Shark Blog
(scroll down)

Cold and Water pressure were a huge factor in how these eggs progressively changed over the past. The darker egg in the blog is an egg that obviously has a dense shell to protect it from water pressure and to provide warmth for the baby shark. Also, it is obvious that the egg seems to resemble some type of plant, of course for camouflage purposes. The second egg also seems to have the same type of tough shell to protect it from the elements. What differs greatly between these two eggs is their shapes. The orange egg seems to have a corkscrew type shape. According to the article, this is to help wedge the egg in between rocks to keep them safe as they grow.

The Dumbest Generation?

Is it true? is our generation the dumbest generation forthcoming? Absolutly not is the answer to this silly and very uninformed question. Author Mark Bauerlein, author of the book The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future, begs to differ. Mark feels that teens today are wasting their time on highly unnecessary material, and that they are wasting away in a society that does not truly seem to worry all that much about teens. As a matter of fact this is not true at all, And I will show you through example that Mark Bauerlein is, indeed, wrong in his views on possibly the most stunning generation ever to roam the planet.


They don't store the information

"For digital immigrants, people who are 40 years old who spent their college time in the library acquiring information, the Internet is really a miraculous source of knowledge,'' Bauerlein says. "Digital natives, however, go to the Internet not to store knowledge in their minds, but to retrieve material and pass it along. The Internet is just a delivery system.''

I, personally, am one to go on the internet for far more than a quick gossip or an icebreaker. There have been hundreds of times that I have gone on the internet, just to read up on a topic i found interesting such as space, and how things worked. There are definitely many more teens out there, besides myself, who enjoy casually surfing the net, researching everything that comes to mind.

They don't read books -- and don't want to, either

"It's a new attitude, this brazen disregard of books and reading. Earlier generations resented homework assignments, of course, and only a small segment of each dove into the intellectual currents of the time, but no generation trumpeted aliteracy ... as a valid behavior of their peers.''

If our generation didn't enjoy reading books, would they still continue to 'pleasure read' even after discovering the amassing 14 total books they had to read this year? I sure don't think so. I often sit down in my favorite chair down in the living room, and crack open some philosophical book my mother has recommended to me through request. Reading is a release for me, and I am often calm after I read. I am among many of teens these days, who still do not mind to read.

They can't spell

Lack of capitalization and IM codes dominate online writing. Without spellcheck, folks are toast.

I was recently made fun of for using such up-tight and proper grammar in an IM conversation. I also realized I can usually answer a fellow classmates how-do-you-spell questions with little struggle and 100% confidence. Not to be showoffish, ofcourse. The choice to use bad grammar, or not to spell something correctly in an online conversation is, more times than none, purposeful to be able to send a message in a shorter amount of time than it normally would.