FYI: Helen Thomas Takes On the Presidents

FYI: A Different World...For Perspective

FYI: Newsies-Newsboy Strike 1899 Musical-Newspaper Heyday

Assignment #3 Your Political Party

Make your own party platform! Scan the PowerPoints for this Chapter re: Dem and Republican platforms for a quick overview for ideas. Then

• Pick your new official party name (not from above!)

• Your party goals will be:
• Security
• From inside our borders (add 3 strategies)
• From outside our borders (add 3 strategies)
• Health (add 3 strategies)
• Economy (add 3 strategies)
• Education (add 3 strategies)

          Write three strategies you will implement immediately to reach each of these 4 goals as                     indicated above

Due Friday. Post here on class website!

FYI: Nurse in Quarantine

Kaci in Quarantine in Tent Outside N.J. Hospital 

More Info Here

FYI: A Story About Caring in Difficult Circumstances

FYI: Summit County Issue 12 Public Safety

Decent summary of this issue on the ballot in Summit County, Ohio 

http://www.tallmadgeexpress.com/news%20local/2014/10/19/summit-county-executive-presses-case-for-passage-of-issue-12

Summit County Safety Communications

Study Tool Questions>Help With Source Info on 2 Questions

Chapter 6- Which ethnic groups get studied more/less re: political opinions?

• Look in Section re: Group Differences in Political Opinions

Chapter 6-What area of American life remains decidedly segregated?

• Look in Section re: Agents of Political Socialization

Hope this helps!

bf

FYI: Sojourner Truth Spech "Ain't I a Woman"-Delivered by Kerry Washington

"Ain't I a Woman?" 

 Speech Delivered in Akron, Ohio 1851 (High Street Church-Women's Rights National Meeting)

FYI: Faux Interest Group-SINA

Hoax interest group stirred up a lot of controversy (and support) in the late 1950s and early 1960s!

G. Clifford Prout and Naked Fawn

Society for Indecency to Naked Animals (click for more)

FYI: UA Make a Difference Day

Oppportunities for your Extra Credit community Assignment!

Make a Difference Day (click here)

FYI: Voting By Felons

procon.org

Very Useful Web Site on this subject

FYI: Mental Disabilities and Voting

People with disabilities denied voting rights, group says

"Voting access is a common problem for voters with disabilities face. However, voters with intellectual or psychiatric disabilities face a particularly insidious barrier to equal participation in the electoral process.  These barriers take form in state constitutions, state laws and election-day practices. The rationale for these laws and practices is that voters with intellectual or psychiatric disabilities do not understand the process or issues well enough to cast legitimate votes and are particularly susceptible to manipulation. Of course, many voters without intellectual or psychiatric disabilities cast votes without being informed about the issues and without knowledge of voting procedure; however these voters are free to exercise their franchise.

While states have the ability to establish their own voting requirements, voting is a fundamental right protected by federal law. However, neither federal law, nor the ADA has sufficiently protected the voting rights of persons with intellectual or psychiatric disabilities. There have been few challenges to this form of discrimination in federal courts. Until state law is amended or federal law forces the expansion of voting rights protection to those with intellectual or psychiatric disabilities, the education and training of election officials is paramount to ensuring election access to all voters with disabilities."

Source: "Voting Rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act:Are People with Intellectual or Psychiatric Disabilities Protected?" 2007

Authored by:

Michael J. King

Roufeda Ebrahim

---

FYI" Ohio on Voting if One is Mentally Ill

Ohio Constitution

No "idiot" or "insane person" shall be
entitled to the privileges of an elector.
OHIO CONST. art 5, § 6.

Ohio Revised Code

Voter registration is cancelled if the
person is adjudicated incompetent for
the purpose of voting, OHIO REV. CODE
ANN. § 3503.18.


Ohio Revised Code-Mental Health Statutes

Persons taken into custody
either voluntary or
involuntarily may vote
unless adjudicated
incompetent, or unless the
Revised Code specifically
denies the right to vote.
OHIO REV. CODE ANN. §
5122.301.

Ohio Revised Code-Developmental Disabilities/ 
Mental Retardation Statutes

Persons with mental
retardation and developmental
disabilities have the right to
participate in the political process.
OHIO REV. CODE ANN. §
5123.62(W).

FYI: Ironic

No protests allowed on Supreme Court Plaza. Political buttons may have be removed.........

Wait.....what about the First Amendment!

The First Amendment’s Limit: The Supreme Court’s Plaza

FYI: Americans Speak Out

FYI: Supreme Court on Gay Marriage

"WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court on Monday set the United States on a historic civil rights path, paving the way for the majority of Americans to reside in states where same-sex marriage is legal.

The court declined to hear appeals from five states that were challenging lower-court rulings legalizing same-sex marriage. By passing on that debate, the court gave a final legal stamp of approval to marriage equality in five states: Indiana, Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia and Wisconsin. It also set the stage for legalization in six other states that also fall under the lower courts' jurisdiction: Colorado, Wyoming, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

When all is said and done in those states (which could happen in short order,according to the Associated Press), same-sex marriage will be legal in 30 states and the District of Columbia."
Source: Huffington Post 11/6/14

FYI: What Ohio House and Senate District Am I In?

Go to:

www.ohiohouse.gov

www.ohiosenate.gov

Use the tool on the home pages to find your Distrct #. You'll need to know this in case you want to check on who is going to be on the ballot in your area and do your background check.

FYI: Akron Area League of Women Voters

An excellent resource for all candidtates! This group doesn not make any specific recommendations. They're "non-partisan", and supply information to all voters.

http://www.lwvaa.org/archive_voter14.htm

You are qualified to vote if:

• You are a citizen of the United States.
• You are at least 18 years old on or before the day of the general election. If you will be 18 on or before Election Day, you may vote in the primary election for candidates, but not on issues.
• You have been a resident of Summit County for at least 30 days immediately before the election.
• You are not incarcerated (in prison) for a felony conviction under the laws of the United States, this state or any other state of the United States.
• You have not been declared incompetent for voting purposes by a probate court.
• You register to vote at least 30 days before the election. 

• Source: AALWV

FYI: Beacon Journal Endorsements

I often use the Beacon Journal endorsements as a guide to the many people seeking my vote. It's helpful with their brief backround info before I make a decision. This archive shows all the endorsements they've made on a running basis. All their endorsements are not in yet. Keep checking right up to the lection.

http://www.ohio.com/editorial/endorsements

FYI: Summit County Board of Elections Info Before You Vote

Visit summitcountyboe.com in order to:

1. Find your ward/voting location
2. View your before you go to vote

Use menu on left side. 

Use Voters>Polling Location Lookup

Use Elections>Ballot Lookup

FYI: Happy Yesterday?

See below for your straw poll results.

Compare with 80% "Yes" for 18-20 year-olds in  national scientific poll taken over course of  21 months in 2008/9

FYI: Akron Homeless Wronged?

Thanks for raising issue in class today. Fourth Amendment Constitution issue re: illegal search and seizure?

FYI: Smelling Liberal, Thinking Conservative

Never in my wildest dreams!

Smelling Liberal, Thinking Conservative Article

gistville.com

FYI: Straw Poll Results!

Straw Poll

Favorite Hamburger-9:55AM AUS Class

• Burger King Whopper
• Swenson's
• 5 Guys
• Wild Goat Cafe (Kent)-Veggie Burger
• Pucker's Sports Bar (North Canton)
• Swenson's
• Wendy's
• Swenson's
• Syway Ultimate Burger
• Ohio Burger Co. Double Cheese Burger w/Bacon
• Ohio Burger Co. Chicken BBQ
• Flipside Burgers Hudson
• Firehouse Grille and Pub
• Hamburger Station
• 5 Guys
• Kewpers (Lima)
• Penn Station
• BSpot Burgers (Cuyahoga County
• Rally's
• Wendy's Baconator
• Swenson's
• Swenson's
• Mad Mike's Florence, KY
• Swenson's
• 5 Guys
• Winking Liuzard
• Firehouse Grille and Pub
• Thurman's Cafe (Columbus) Thurmanator

Swenson's 6 votes winner

Ecelectic Award-Wild Goats Cafe Veggie Burger

FYI: 2014-15 Supreme Court Docket

"Washington (CNN) -- The Supreme Court is scheduled to tackle some key cases in its 2014-15 term, which starts Monday.

More than three dozen appeals are currently on the docket. Perhaps three dozen more are expected to be added in coming months. The caseload for the term is usually settled by February, with the term effectively ending in late June.

Other important appeals that may yet be added cover such issues as same-sex marriage, affirmative action, abortion rights and further litigation over President Obama's health care reform law."

Here's an example of one pending case to be heard soon:

Anthony Elonis

"FREE SPEECH: Elonis v. United States

AT ISSUE: The limits of policing "speech crimes" in the Internet age, especially laws aimed at protecting those harassed or bullied online. What is the level of proof needed to convict someone of making criminal threats?

THE CASE: Anthony Elonis was convicted in federal court for threatening language in Facebook posts aimed at his estranged wife, judges and law enforcement. Some were expressed as rap lyrics, which Elonis said were "therapeutic" for dealing with emotional pain. But prosecutors said he crossed a dangerous free speech line.

THE ARGUMENTS: Elonis' lawyers argue that the government did not prove that his statements showed a "subjective intent to threaten," based on Supreme Court precedent. But the Justice Department replied that his online comments were serious in nature, not a case of "careless talk, exaggeration, something said in a joking manner or an outburst of transitory anger."

THE IMPACT: A ruling here could have broader implications for free speech amid the explosion of popular and often anonymous social media. Are sites like Twitter in the same category as more conventional news links, and are general threats made online different from those made in person?"

Source: CNN 10/3/2014

FYI: About Those Hens

Peter DiSilva-NYT

FRESNO, Calif. — A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit filed by Missouri and five other states asking the court to strike down a California law barring the sale of eggs in the state produced by hens in cramped living conditions.

Score one for the chickens!

FYI: CVS False Advertising Example

CVS Fined

Assignment #2 on Class Website-Genes and Political Ideology

"The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree"

Iactually have a particular interest  in this subject....a blend of Psychology and Political Science. Read the Current Controversy article on page 142 in your text about the findings of Funk, Alford and Hibbing re: the realionship between one's idelogy and your genes. They found there may be two "genetically rooted" types of political personalities": liberal and conservative. This finding has been hotly debated (see http://research.sanford.duke.edu/papers/Perpectives-GeneticsJune2008.pdf).

I think one might consider broadening the possible application of this finding to a possible genetically rooted conservative or liberal personality, in general.

So, having read the "Current Controversy" and considered your own family, do you think the rule of nature (genes) is a major factor in your family as far as conservative or liberal peronality is concerned? (see the 3d paragrpah for a brief description of these types)?

1/ Indicate whether the study's finding makes sense to you and why

2/ Present your perspective on this nature or nurture argument in an overview of your observations re: your family and your self! You do not have to indicate whether your or your parent's ideologies are conservative or liberal.

3/ Indicate if you have found your beliefs becoming more or less like your parents over time.

Post your response below. Remeber, all can see. Due end of day Monday. One standard typed page equivalent. Of course, responses too brief will not receive credit.

FYI: Marriage vs. Civil Union vs. Domestic Partnership

Marriage vs. Civil Union or Domestic Partnership

Civil union and domestic partnerships are a second-class status, and when people take on all the commitments and responsibilities of marriage they should not be treated like second-class citizens. While these legal mechanisms provide a measure of protections to same-sex couples and their families, they are no substitute for the full measure of respect, clarity, security and responsibilities of marriage itself. They exclude people from marriage and create an unfair system that often does not work in emergency situations when people need it most.

The only way to achieve equality is to provide the freedom to marry for all committed couples.

Despite their inequality, some states are creating these legal mechanisms to recognize gay couples. While this does show progress and provides same-sex couples with important responsibilities and protections previously withheld, we also see the repeal of these laws when the freedom to marry is achieved because they are found unequal to marriage.

In June 2013, the United States Supreme Court struck down a central section of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, which excluded same-sex couples from marriage - and from the 1,100 protections and responsibilities that marriage triggers at the federal level. Now more than ever, we see why civil union and domestic partnership are unequal to marriage. The landmark decision extending federal protections to married same-sex couples does not apply to committed gay couples who enter into civil union or domestic partnership, mechanisms that have been created by the state as a specifically separate status from marriage. 

DEFINITIONS

What do these terms mean?

CIVIL UNION: Civil union exists in three states: New Jersey, Illinois, and Hawaii. Civil union was first created in Vermont, in 2000, to provide some legal protections and responsibilities to gay and lesbian couples at the state level, but in 2009 the state legislature ended gay couples exclusion from marriage after realizing civil union created a second class citizenship.

Cobbled together as both the state and the nation were just beginning to engage in a conversation about the inherent unfairness of legal discrimination in marriage, civil unions have since proven to be ineffective, a separate but unequal status (pdf) that often heightens the need for access to both the tangible and intangible protections that only marriage can afford. The protections and responsibilities do not extend beyond the border of the states in which the civil union was entered, offer murky access to separation laws, and no federal protections are included with a civil union.

DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP: Domestic partnerships are a form of union under which gay (and sometimes non-gay) couples in some states or regions can formalize their partnerships.  Oregon's domestic partnership law went into effect in February 2008. However, as with civil union the status remains a separate and unequal legal compromise which does not apply when a couple travels out of state, and offers no federal protections. Aside from Oregon, a hodge-podge of domestic partnership laws (statewide/district-wide in Nevada) and registries offer a wildly varying selection of protections and responsibilities which can change from zip code to zip code. Many domestic partnership registries offer no rights or protections at all and simply serve as a written acknowledgment of a couple's commitment to each other.

Source: http://www.freedomtomarry.org/pages/marriage-versus-civil-unions-domestic-partnerships-etc

FYI: Iron-Jawed Angels

Hillary Swank as Alice Paul and Frances O'Connor as Lucy Burns

FYI: Speaking of Plastic Bags

This Affects Us All-Read To See Why

Trash on tundra shore in Greenland-Icebergs in distance

New Report from World Wildlife Fund:

We've lost 50% of Earth's Wildlife in Past 40 Years

FYI: Rosa Parks and the Landmark Bus Seating Story

Rosa Parks Role

Henry Ford Museum