Oil Spill Annotations

Source #1:

The Spill. 26 Oct. 2010. Frontline. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/the-spill/etc/introduction.html>.

Oil company, BP, has managed to create a bad reputation for the face of foreign oil by neglecting to attend to safety concerns. Cost-cutting measures have continued to lower the safety threshold and both injure and kill over 20 people so far. Frontline investigates and describes how this company has slowly decreased in safety and trust. It also shows just how dangerous the oil spills can be, leading to fire, explosions, and the death and injury of many bp employees. Lack of leadership in the company is the main cause of confusion with safety measures and cost-cutting which is making the company untrustworthy and not true to their word that they will bump up the safety measures to keep employees safe. 

Source #2:

Pelley, Scott. "Blowout: The Deepwater Horizon Disaster." CBS News. CBS Interactive Inc., 16 May 2010. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. <http://www.cbsnews.com/news/blowout-the-deepwater-horizon-disaster-16-05-2010/>.

The deepwater horizon disaster refers to the tragic explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico by bp, the largest oil company to date. It claimed 11 lives and is particularly terrible because there could have been many things done to prevent this disaster. To cut costs, bp avoided doing things for safety measures, not sealing the cement blocks being the largest of the cost-cutting activities, and that lead to the oil spill heard around the world. There could have been so many things that could have prevented this but bp has a major lack of leadership, starting with the CEO, that have ruined bp forever. 

Source #3:

McClatchy, David. "BP's Troubled Past." Frontline. PBS, 26 Oct. 2010. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/the-spill/bp-troubled-past/>.

For years, bp has been avoiding necessary safety measures to cut costs which has let to the injury and death of multiple employees. Now, there are documents being released that identify that bp truly could have done so much to save the lives of their employees but instead, they thought of the money aspect of it because they are greedy. Not only were people killed in the Texas City explosion, but there was a huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 people. The sad part of the whole story is that bp just needs new leadership to guide them in the right direction to make their company safe again and to prevent any more disasters from occurring anytime soon.

Smoke Meth Hail Satan Pt.3 j

Big Pharma And Meth Cooks Agree: Keep Cold Meds Over The Counter

     Meth production is both dangerous for those cooking and those using, it is corrosive to their communities as well.  The key ingredient is found in many cold medicines that can be found on the shelves in any convenient store.  Law Enforcement is trying to find a way to make this more restrictive and limit peoples easy access to buying this product, the ingredient which is known as the decongestant pseudo-ephedrine.

Heisenfelt, Ann. "Big Pharma And Meth Cooks Agree: Keep Cold Meds Over The Counter." NPR. NPR, 26 Sept. 2013. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. <Sources: http://www.npr.org/2013/09/26/226476602/big-pharma-and-meth-cooks-agree-keep-cold-meds-over-the-counter>.

Former meth addict describes highs and lows of drug abuse

      Brad Hearon, a former meth user, describes the night, during which he was cooking meth, that ruined his life.  At 19 years old he was cooking meth in a car with his friend, who's decided to light a cigarette, which caught the car on fire, he left Hearon to burn alive.  He was found 4 hours later burned to the bone.  He has had many surgeries and had to completely learn how to take care of himself again.  Meth can cause serious injuries and fatalities as it leads to paranoia, anorexia, hallucinations, hair loss, tooth decay and more.Ortiz, Erik. "Former meth addict describes highs and lows of drug abuse." NY Daily News. NY Daily News, 19 Apr. 2013. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. <Former meth addict describes highs and lows of drug abuse  http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/meth-addict-describes-highs-lows-abuse-article>.


The Meth Epidemic Summary
     Meth is the most addicting illegal drug in America. Meth cooks have found ways around the laws passed and pharmaceutical companies are fighting them.
Byker, Carl. "The Meth Epidemic." PBS. PBS, May 2011. Web. 07 Feb. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meth/etc/script.html>.

essay 9

     Policy agenda is a set of issues, problems, or subjects that get the attention of people involved in policymaking, examples would be government officials or decision makers. Even if they do not make the final decision, they play a role in policy-picking. The National News has the ability to inform everyone through raising awareness, providing information and demonstrating importance of the problem.  This will also help them get the attention of government and policymakers.
     Although everyone may not pay attention to the news, they are trying to get everyone to understand the dilemma going on. The President gains media attention easier than the Congress simply because he is the President. He is known as the leader of our country, who represents our nation, so he can gain interest in the public very easily.  Being just one person he has an advantage over the many members of congress.
     The viewing patterns were substantially higher in each age group in 1974. It has dropped by roughly 1/3 or more in each age division from the years 1974-2002. The pattern of youngest watching the least to oldest watching the most has stayed constant, but overall every category of ages have significantly dropped. The President is able to get attention by stating when he will address the country in advance so everyone is aware of when it will be happening.  The president will be more likely to use an alternate form of media to get issues out to the people, since TV viewing is so low in our society.

Essay 6

Essay 6:

In the U.S. political system there are several linkage institutions that can connect citizens to government. Elections constitute one such institution. Because of low voter turnout other linkage institutions can connect citizens to government.  Age and education are the two main factors that relate to ones likelihood of voting.  As voters become older they are more likely to take their own position and vote.  Along with age the more educated a person becomes the more likely they are to vote.

One current government electoral requirement that decreases voter turnout is preregistration to vote.  Many people don't want to take the time beforehand to register themselves to vote, states which allow registration on the same day have a much higher turnout.

Media is one of the linkage institutions that connects people to the government and helps them become more involved in politics.  The internet gives people more access to politics than the have ever had, and gives anyone the opportunity to be educated and involved in politics.  The newspaper, news on TV, and magazines are all also forms of media that are constantly updating citizens about our government and elections.

Essay 8

Essay 8:

In the United States Congress, the majority party exerts a substantial influence over lawmaking. However, even when one party has a numerical majority in each chamber of the United States Congress, there is no guarantee that legislation supported by that majority party will be passed by both chambers. Rules of each chamber independently influence the likelihood that legislation will pass in that chamber; legislation passed by one chamber is not always passed by the other.  The majority party  has an advantage by assigning members to committees and appointing the heads of the committees.  Through this their committee controls most of the rules and sets the agenda.  The speaker of the house is also from the majority party.  They control debate, and assign bills to the committee.

The House and Senate have many differences which makes it likely that legislation may be passed in one chamber but not the other.  The Senate is less formal with its rules and procedures than the House, making it difficult for the two to agree on legislation.  Another difference is that in the senate, a senator can filibuster to stop a particular bill, but the House rules committees, so they can kill bills that are passed by the Senate.

Even though the House may pass a bill, the Senate can kill the bill with  a filibuster, even if the majority may want to pass the bill.  If the Senate passes a bill, the House Rules Committee can kill it before sending it through to other representatives. 

NoKoBloPo

     North Korea is by far the worlds most secretive society, and their isolation from the rest of the world has cause not only people from other countries to become curious, but even their own people.  Towards the end of World War II Korea divided into two zones, the northern zone being controlled by the Soviet Union, and the southern by the U.S.  Communist leader, Kim II Sung came to power in 1946, backed by his soviet leadership. In 1950, North Korea invaded the South, which ended in an armistice three years later.
     The U.S. intelligence team continuously tried to keep an eye on North Korea and we have always been one of their top enemies.  North Korea had huge industrial development, and their "guiding light" became Kim II-sungs's personal philosophy of Juche.  When he died in 1994 he became the "eternal president" of North Korea.  Since then Kim Jung-il was president, and now his successor, who is his third son and was trained since he was a young boy, Kim Jong-un is in power.  He has announced and planned nuclear tests, and missile launches and has put his country under speculation by the rest of the world.
     Recently North Korea has issued near daily threats to the United States and South Korea.  They have conducted three nuclear tests since 2006, and have been threatening the use of a ballistic missile.  China is their closest ally and many people in their country seek ways to sneak out.  The Obama Administration adopted a policy of "strategic patience" in 2009 [NY Times].  The United Nations Security Council has passed four resolutions since 2006 aimed at penalizing North Korea for its nuclear weapons program [NY Times].  North Koreans are enduring huge human rights violations right now, and most people are suffering of starvation, malnutrition or are being beaten or severely punished if they are even assumed to be criticizing their government.
   
With the conditions their country is facing I believe that we will see a regime change within our lifetime. As for now Kim Jung-un seems to be high in power, and does not seem worried about his nations condition.  But the society wants to reform, as many of them seem to secretly disagree, and I believe that slowly they will find a way to overthrow or remove their leader.

Citation
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/northkorea/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15256929

Essay 10

While interest groups and political parties each play a significant role in the U.S. political system, they differ in their fundamental goals.  The fundamental goal of interest groups in the political process is to gain access to politicians, so that they can influence them to protect their particular interests and ultimately increase the likelihood of favorable legislation being passed.
The fundamental goal of major political parties in the political process is to gain control of government positions, and to implement legislation that holds to their beliefs on how the government should be running.  By doing this they will get their party elected into office and gain control.
One way interest groups will support political parties is if a leading candidate supports the same interests as them, then they are supporting each other to gain more power.  Another way interest groups support  is by giving money to politicians f a particular party to help them get elected to government positions, and interest groups can rally public support for certain issues of a party (grassroots).
When interest groups give money to politicians to help them get elected they are essentially giving themselves access to that politician.  Through doing this they will influence the politician to vote certain ways on legislation, or try and persuade the politician to support legislation that will benefit their policies.  By backing a party powerful interest groups can have likeminded people elected to office and throw their weight around in the party, influencing major decisions.