Senior Reflection Post #4

Tomorrow is my last day of high school … ever. I know that the other seniors are thrilled but I can’t help but be sad that I will never see some of these students and teachers ever again! I can only imagine that the next week is going to be a complete sob fest because I cry easily as it is. It is going to be nearly impossible to say goodbye to the friends that I have known since grade school. I guess that I’ll just have to suck it up and snap out of it.

Current Event #4

Article: “Abortion Provider Shot Dead In Church”
Writer: Robert Barnes
Source: The Washington Post
Date: June 1st 2009

One of the nation’s few doctors that perform late-term abortions, George R. Tiller, was killed in the lobby of his church in Wichita, Kansas. The main suspect is Scott Roeder, a man who had been spotted leaving the scene of the crime by churchgoers. Tiller, 67, ran the Women's Health Care Services clinic, one of three in the nation to perform abortions after the point when a fetus is considered able to survive outside the womb. President Obama issued a statement late in the day saying he was "shocked and outraged" by the killing. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has ordered the U.S. Marshals Service "to offer protection to other appropriate people and facilities around the nation."

Senior Reflection Post #3

This Sunday is the day of my grad party and I can’t wait. I can’t believe how close June 17th is! I didn’t realize how much money people give to graduates. (I am making bank!) It is so weird to think that in a mere couple weeks I will no longer be a “Herndon Hornet.” I am really going to miss publishing a new issue of The Stinger, dancing at football/basketball games, and just hanging out with my friends in the hallway in the mornings. College is going to be a whole new chapter in my life and I can’t wait to get it started!

Current Event #3

Article: “Back for More”
Writer: Hank Stuever
Source: The Washington Post
Date: 5/25/09

“Jon and Kate Plus Eight” is a documentary about a married couple and their set of twins and sextuplets. The show is about to premiere its fifth season despite the fact that there are rumors of Jon having an affair and Kate’s cruel attitude breaking up their relationship and family. Stuever wonders why Americans continue to watch these frustrating shows such as “Table for 12” about annoying families with insane numbers of children. The pseudo-reality show covers topics as mundane as matching outfits, road trips in the family 10-passenger van, and petty fights between Jon and Kate. Critics can’t help but wonder how the parents really feel about the raising of their litter. The Gosselin family receives tons of freebies such as vacations, a tummy-tuck for Kate, hair plugs for Jon, and various other consumer goods. And for what? Reproducing more than any human should. Set your TiVo!

Senior Reflection Post #2

For some reason, I always thought that senior year would be entirely laid back and that I would just cruise through. Unfortunately, that assumption has turned out to be completely false as we are in the last month of school and teachers continue to give us nightly homework, tests, and quizzes. The thing that really bothers me is the teacher’s that try to be nice to us by giving us projects instead of final exams (no offense Mr. Stroud) when in reality, projects take much more time and effort to do well on than a test. I recently made a calendar for my next month and there isn’t a single day where I don’t have a grad party, dance dress rehearsal/recital, final exam, graduation run-through, prom, or graduation! I wish that I could just enjoy these upcoming events instead of worrying about my reading assignment or the quiz I have the next day. Well, I think that’s about enough whining for now.

Current Event #2

Article: “Breaking up with Disney”
Writer: Jennifer Armstrong
Source: Entertainment Weekly
Date: May 22, 2009

Nearly all of today’s teen stars made their start with Disney. Zac Efron jump started his career and will forever be known as the kid in High School Musical. Miley Cyrus got her big break as Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel and has turned it into a force to be reckoned with. As the child stars turn into adults, there comes a time when they must break away from the company that has bred them for stardom: Disney. In a way, the split is good for Disney because as they get older, teen start tarnishing their reputations with scandals in drinking and drugs. This has created a new trend of agents, managers, and Hollywood execs keeping their eye out for the next big child stars. Former Disney child stars are transforming their kiddie show stardom into big bucks on the silver screen. While they are usually happy to break away from Disney, stars owe their fame and fortune to the Mickey Mouse franchise.

Senior Reflection Post #1

I can’t believe that we are nearly to the one month mark of the day that I am no longer a high school student. I’m not sure if I am excited or scared out of my mind to have to actually be an adult and go to college. I feel as if my entire senior year has passed me by in a matter of weeks. I know that when August 28th rolls around and I have my first day of classes at Virginia Tech I will be ready, but for now I just want to be a little kid living in my parents house forever.

Current Event #1

Article: “Trapped in the Cubicle”
Writer: Rob Sheffield
Source: Rolling Stone
Date: April 30, 2009

Critics are amazed that The Office has stood the test of time and has continued to make the audiences laugh for over five years. The show has probably lasted so long because the goof ball isn’t just the sidekick, he’s in charge. Michael Scott (Steve Carrel’s character) possesses the charm of the middle-American slob. Parks and Recreation is the first attempt to replicate the mockumentary magic that is The Office. Leslie Nope (Amy Poehler’s character) shows the same doofus in charge qualities as Scott. She is never fazed by insults because she is either too happy or oblivious to notice. Sheffield doesn’t think that the show is living up to the advertisements that claim “From the people who bring you The Office!” Rashida Jones (a former member of The Office cast) provides most of the show’s comic relief. The American adaption of The Office is much better than the British original version because it gives viewers a cozy sitcom feel.

Current Event #5 ~ Editorial

Article: “Obama’s ‘Science’ Fiction”
Writer: Charles Krauthammer
Source: The Washington Post
Date: Friday, March 13, 2009

Writer, Charles Krauthammer was on President Bush’s Council on Bioethics for five years and has always been in staunch opposition of Bush’s executive order that prohibits the use of embryonic stem cell research. While he was expecting to be thrilled by President Obama’s overturn of the order, he was in fact turned off that Obama didn’t put an restrictions on the subject. Krauthammer supports the use of discarded embryos from fertility clinics but under Obama’s decision it is possible for scientists to conduct stem cell research on cloned and noncloned sperm-and-egg derived human embryos solely for the purpose of dismemberment and use for parts.

While Krauthammer disagrees, I believe that Obama’s decision may be a direct result of intellectual laziness. Because Obama is a president taking over in a state of national financial and economic crisis, I believe that he is unable to put his full attention on anything but the economy. I find him irresponsible because I don’t think that he should have made such a serious decision without having access to the proper amount of time to think through his choice and the repercussions/consequences of his action.

Current Event #4 ~ Editorials

Article: "Stabbing D.C. in the Back"
Writer: Colbert I. King
Source: The Washington Post
Date: Monday, March 9, 2009

While most D.C. natives are overjoyed with the passing of the D.C. House Voting Rights Act, writer Colbert King doesn’t believe that it’s supporters in Congress deserve any over-the-top praise. King is disappointed by the passing of legislation for the National Rifle Association within the D.C. voting act. The act will remove under 21 age restriction safety laws and even keeping guns out of the hands of people with poor vision. King also brings up the fact that the only reason GOP Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah supported the bill is because his home state will also gain a House seat with the passing of the bill.

I don’t believe that the blame should be placed on the supporters in Congress but rather the interest groups that pushed NRA’s agenda into legislation to be tagged onto a completely unrelated bill. I truly think that if Senator John McCain had been elected, far fewer senseless tack-ons would be able to slip under the radar in either the House or Senate. The district needs to give their praise instead to Democratic senators Diane Feinstein (CA) and Charles Schumer (NY) who are devoted to make it obvious who is at fault for the gun rights amendments.

Current Event #3 ~ Editorial

Title: “GOP Governors and Federal Funds”
Writers: Mark Sanford (Governor of SC) and Charlie Crist (Governor of FL)
Source: The Washington Post
Date: Monday, February 23, 2009

Governors Sanford and Crist have polar opposite views when it comes to the economic stimulus plan. Sanford believes that the stimulus will actually hurt the country rather than helping it by reducing our gross domestic product and devaluing the American dollar. He mentions that after the stock market crash of ’29 the government spent billions of taxpayer dollars which didn’t have the slightest positive effect on the unemployment rate which was in the teens. Also, a stimulus plan implemented in Japan doubled the country’s unemployment rate. Crist on the other hand insists upon the obvious need for an economic recovery plan. He believes that “hard-working Floridians” deserve a $66.5 billion budget next year which would include $4.7 billion in federal stimulus money to create “jobs and economic growth.”

I definitely favor Sanford’s views because he is thinking logically and using past events to form his decision while Crist is speaking like a corrupt politician and is trying to stay in office by “helping” his constituents. Sanford stated that this piece of legislation would be a key example of “do[ing] something for the sake of doing something,” which I believe will be a lot of what Barack Obama will support for the first year or two of his term.

Current Event #2 ~ Editorials

Title: “The Case for National Standards”
Writer: Randi Weingarten (President of the American Federation of Teachers)
Source: The Washington Post
Date: Monday, February 16, 2009

As our country’s economy is spinning into a rapid decline, Randi Weingarten proposes that investing in education will be the best solution to repair the economy for the long haul. Though the borders of Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia are a mere few miles apart, their standards of education have 51 benchmarks of varying content and quality. It has become common knowledge that the U.S. is nowhere near up to par with the standards of learning of foreign countries. Weingarten insists that creating national standards would result in higher levels of achievement. It is unfair for students in states with low standards to be praised under the No Child Left Behind Act when students with rigorous standards are given low self-esteem for not receiving passing marks.

While Weingarten makes some good points, I don’t think that education should be our first priority because it won’t have and immediate positive effect. Of course raising our standards will be imperative in the future, but the government can’t afford to spare the huge amount of money that it would take to accomplish that task. We need to focus all of our attention on the stock market and the housing market so that Americans don’t end up out on the street.

Current Event #1 ~ Editorial

Title: “The GOP Faces the Blue Wall”
Author: David S. Broder
Source: The Washington Post
Date: February 8, 2009

While the GOP has been known in past years to maintain what was referred to as the “Republican lock," the party is rapidly losing their edge to what Ronald Brownstein, calls the “blue wall.” In a blatant attempt to win over a significant portion of the minority vote, Michael Steele, the former African American lieutenant governor of Maryland, was appointed to the position of the RNC's chairman a mere ten days after President Barack Obama was sworn into office.

I completely agree with Broder’s assertion that “Republicans have to change if they are going to climb that wall.” While I associate myself with the GOP, I believe that most of the party members are far too stuck in their ways to realize that they need to take far strides if they are ever going to regain the nation’s majority and win back the White House and seats in Congress. They need to become more open to the more liberal positions on abortion, immigration, stem-cell research, and the teaching of evolution if they ever want to put their more important views into action.

Political Cartoon Analysis #5

Artist: Tom Toles
Source: The Washington Post
Date Published: January 7th, 2009

This political cartoon is a quite obvious jab at President George W Bush. It displays Bush and Cheney in a boat labeled "Mr. Environmentalist" with Bush proclaiming that the portion of the ocean they are in shall become off-limits. Deep underneath the water is a large locked treasure chest containing the "Bush Records."

I believe that all Democrats and anti-Bush Republicans would enjoy this political cartoon because it implies that President Bush made numerous mistakes while in office and that he would be willing to stoop so low as to hide the proof of his mess-ups. On top of that, it shows that Bush is pretending to be interested in protecting our environment just for the excuse to hide his records.

Political Cartoon Analysis #4

Artist: Tom Toles
Source: The Washington Post
Date Published: December 19, 2008

This political cartoon depicts a large man (meant to represent "big tobacco") telling a grave digger that Governor Tim Kaine's new cigarette tax will kill his job. It takes the assumption that if cigarettes are more expensive fewer people will be able to afford their bad habit which will in turn reduce the number of lives lost to lung cancer and other conditions caused by smoking.

I believe that the cartoon takes a witty approach at making fun of tobacco companies and smokers. In the lower right hand corner, a man makes the commentary of "a breathtaking argument" which clarifies the message that smoking kills.