The Next Great President

President-elect Barack Obama gave an astounding victory speech on the recent election night, November 4, 2008. His speech reflected the message of his campaign: the overwhelming problems our country and its people face; how we as a united nation can make positive change; his being elected was not his victory alone, but a victory for all Americans and affirmation of what America is supposed to be; and of course, it creatively interwove throughout the speech the tag line he used throughout his campaign, “Yes, we can.”

His being elected into office is not the end, but the beginning in the right steps our country needs to take. He is the leader this country needs, leading through empowerment, educating the public, being inspirational, and as an exemplary role model for every American. Excerpts of his victory speech from November 4, 2008, that reflect the messages I mentioned and his being the best choice as our next president, are as follows:
“For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime -- two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century…Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope… This is your victory… This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were… It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice. .. In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long…This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.”

Is there really a need for textbooks?

While I was reading the article The Need for Texbooks, by the Fischbowl, I realized one need for textbooks was emphasized. In this article, the author speaks of spying a tornado instruction poster on a wall. Unexpectedly, the author discovered a need for textbooks that answers the question if schools really need them. If for nothing else, students need them, to shield and protect themselves against a tornado, should any other means not be available to them. The author was making a statement about our schools, for much is said about our schools for this unlikelihood to be the reason students need books. Shouldn’t the reason students need books be for learning?!

Soution to the Job Crisis

New jobs are being created by the millions. Energy efficiency has created 1.5 million jobs in California from 1977 to 2007. This shows how energy efficiency is not only good to are environment, but gives Americans a numerous amount of job opportunities. If the new president of the United States realizes how important energy resources are and how scarce they have become he will send a lot more funding to energy efficiency. Millions of new jobs will open and the planet will be healthier if the president funds this. This will allow many Americans to dig themselves out of the hole that the economy has created. Global Warming is also a huge issue which the funding for this will resolve. Over all this is a great solution to help many Americans as well as global citizens in the environmental crisis.

Are Americans Getting The Privacy They Deserve?

The Article about privacy by the Fishbowl talks about our citizens being denied of privacies, because of the government embarking on people’s lives and personal privacy. This article is referring to the Patriot Act.
After 9/11 the government decided to put an act in place that would spy on terrorists so they would catch them before there was another attack, this act was named the Patriot Act. This act sounds great; however it has invaded the privacy of many innocent American citizens. The government can tap phones, access email, and stock you. I think we do need to come up with a way to stop terrorists, but this isn’t the solution. A good solution would be to focus on foreigners who have a criminal record instead of innocent citizens. The Patriot Act is completely violating the privacy rights of Americans and the government has to change this act or discard it.

Young Voters Make The Difference

Young voters are making their voices heard and their influence count in the current American presidential election! Many late teens and young college age kids seem to have become more politically active than in the recent past presidential elections.

The letter, Young Voters Know What's at Stake: Our Future, states young voters are the future key to defeat global warming and to change Washington. The reason these young voters are more politically active is because the president elected to serve in office in 2009 will put policies in place that will critically affect their future. Economy, war, unemployment, educational funds, equal pay for women, minimum wage, and global warming are most of the main issues at hand and of great concern for young voters.

Young voters are aware of climate change and many of them are working together to make the world becoming green a top priority. They know we need a president with the same priority and goal. Many college age voters need help paying for school, want to know they can find a job when they graduate, or need a job that pays a decent wage now. Women are tired of getting paid less than a man, especially since, with high divorce rates, many of them will become single mothers. Young people do not want to witness more of their friends dying in the war, or having have to pay for continued borrowing for the war with Iraq.
Young voters are influencing the outcome of this presidential election with the internet. They are having their voices be heard in mass, through facebook, myspace, and blogs. They are also highly involved in campaigning for their favorite candidate.

Its Not All About Technology

Is it all about technology? Learning these days is mostly about technology. For instance, this blog is my homework in English class which requires a computer. When I read this article it really made me think about how far along we have come with technology. Although, there are some techniques you have to learn without technology such as people skills. One of the biggest ethics to success in business is having good and reliable contacts. In order to succeed it is critical to have experience with socializing. But over all I don’t think it’s all about technology.

United Airlines Has Gone Berserk

In the article “UAL logs $700 million in additional fees” they discuss that if you are going to fly United Airlines you might want to bring some extra money, because ULA is charging $50 per extra bag brought. This is huge to me, I fly all the time and almost every time I fly I’ve got a couple of bags with me. If you’re a frequent flyer like me you might want to try a different airline, unless you’ve got that extra money to throw around. I think instead of making more profit United Airlines will make less because of all the customers choosing a more affordable airline.

A Tragic Death With New Technology

In the article “tweeting the funeral “in the Fischbowl it talks about a driver who killed three people and a reporter broadcasting the funeral through via text messaging with a program called Twitter. First of all I think that was a tragic incident and those people shouldn’t have died. On the other hand I believe the program Twitter is a good idea, because it informs people of the tragedy and allows them to support the family’s loss. This also allows people that don’t have time to watch the news or read the news paper to be informed in what’s going on.

PLN response on Barack Obama

Barack Obama has raised more money in the month of august than any presidential campaign has risen in a monthly period in U.S history. His candidacy has raised over 66 million in that month; I believe this is happening because we have never needed more change in Washington than now. Everyone that knows this is fighting for Barack Obama to win the next presidency. I personally went to the democratic National Convention and I’ve contributed to his campaign. McCain has agreed with over 90% of what Bush has and we don’t need more of the same.

Your Learning

1) After viewing Mr. Fisch's world-renown "Did you Know" powerpoint, some of the things that strike me about the facts presented include _________.

2) The value of learning is _______.

3)My role as a learner is _______.

Summer Reading

Over the summer, I read a few books, to include a book by Ben Hogan, Five Lessons The Modern Fundamentals of Golf . The content was what drew me to reading it. It is about how to improve your golf game. I liked how thorough his explanations for technical moves were. His description was easy to follow and the illustrations were very helpful. I was able to apply some of what he taught in the book, into my game.

Another book I read was Learn To Earn by Peter Lynch.. My grandmother got me this book, so that I can better understand money and the economy as I get older. I liked it because of who got me the book and her reason. I also liked it because it's about money and may help me with my future. What I liked most about the content is the basic idea it's supposed to teach its readers. His idea is that the stock market is simple, when a company's earnings rise, then the stock price goes up. To quote the book, "this simple point--that the price of a stock is directly related to a company's earning power--is often overlooked, even by sophisticated investors." The biggest point I learned is that wiser investments take time.