http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/opinion/09dowd.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

“Everywhere I go, some white person is asking some black person how they feel.”

It was a very important day for this country when Senator Barack Obama was elected President of the United States of America on November fourth. African Americans all across the country joined together in jubilation and relief as history was made and racial barriers were finally brought down. Both black and white citizens together stood cheering in front of the White House, knowing just how much this victory meant.

In the days following the presidential election, African Americans were constantly and continuously asked how they felt about Obama’s victory. “Aren’t you excited? How do you feel? What is this moment like for you?” I have to wonder if these questions are appropriate or, in a way, offensive. It must be very exciting for African Americans, having finally won the presidency for the first time in history, but is it right that they keep having to answer questions about it? Shouldn’t the American public stop questioning them about it and just let them have their happiness and peace?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/09/arts/television/09live.html?_r=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin

I read “An Election to Laugh About” in The New York Times. The article was well written and definitely caught my attention immediately with its title. The piece focused mainly on the characters Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton, both portrayed on Saturday Night Live by Tina Fey (Palin) and Amy Poehler (Clinton). Author Bill Carter pretty much got his point across in his first sentences. Everyone likes a close election, a passionate election, but people love a funny election. And frankly, the politicians this year are making it quite easy for writers to pull together a side-splitting satire.

SNL ratings are bumping up and audience attendance has increased. They even have decided to do a segment solely devoted to the election. In the article it was briefly stated that “…. We’ve just been through Bush and Clinton…. That’s kind of the golden age….” However, Palin, Obama, and McCain have all been popular targets for many comedians and comedy shows, Palin of course taking the cake with Tina Fey’s performance on Saturday Night Live.

I believe this article is correct. This election has been, if not a successful campaign, a hoot. The characters in this election are easy to exaggerate and I think the interest of the youth of the nation only encourages this. I feel like more of my generation is involved in this election than ever before, due to Barrack Obama I believe. They see a similarity in him that they haven’t seen before. Of course, age isn’t what makes you a good candidate. However, the interest of the youth in this election has led to higher ratings of debates and more so for stations such as Comedy central. Personally, I love satire. It’s definitely more interesting than the debates. And I figure, if it’s all done in good fun, why shouldn’t we have a little laugh?

In an article found in the USA Today newspaper titled “Next President Confronts Staggering To-Do List” , the author, Susan Page, asks the question, “Why exactly would anybody want this job?” She describes how our country is in the worst shape it has been since the Great Depression, and that no other president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt has been elected to deal with the problems our country faces now. Instead of John McCain’s view on the budget or Barack Obama’s view on national health care, the candidates need to address the economy, stock market, and the bank crisis. During tonight’s final debate, these issues should be the main topic of discussion; this is the nation’s main concern right now and their views need to be addressed. Much of the other topics discussed earlier in the campaign will have to take a backseat to the economy. In order for our country to survive this economic disaster, the next presidential nominee will need to make the economy a 24-hour job.

In a recent article of The New York Times author Joanna R. Shelton wants to know why political candidates aren’t going into detail about the current economical and financial problems that we face. Her article Answer the Questions focuses on the responsibilities the new president will have to face, along with how we got into this mess in the first place. She relates the current situation to the great depression.
Shelton does a great job with opening some food for thought. She then continues to talk about not only the history of the problem facing us, but also how it is similar to the great depression. She then throws some stabbing lines at Obama and McCain both saying that their focus must be redirected. The ability to deal with the current economic problem is going to be hard work, “Achieving that goal could be the toughest task facing the new president.”
This article does a good job of drawing attention to the fact that neither candidate is willing to answer the questions that currently face them. Obama and McCain are not saying how they plan to truly fix the current system. Instead they are making roundabout speeches about fixing the economy but never get into detail. Many citizens of the United States are beginning to question who will actually be able to pull us out of this blunder if their one.

I’ll pass out a printed copy of the assignment in class, but if you lose it, you can find an extra here: Article review assignment.doc

In Gloucester, Massachusetts 17 girls made a “pact” to get pregnant together and raise children together. Seventeen girls getting pregnant is four times the normal number. Because the number was so high, parents got together to discuss what needed to be done. The school has 1,200 students, which is not too big of a high school. There was about 20 parents that got together to discuss the new policy of contraceptives being available through the school’s clinic with parental consent. I think that this is a very good idea although I do not think that as many students will use the clinic if they need parental consent. Many students do not feel comfortable talking to their parents about sex, so they will hopefully find another option for contraceptives. I think that this is a good step in the right direction because students in high school do have sex and they need to learn about how to be responsible about it. By providing them with the right resources, it will hopefully help to decrease the number of teen pregnancies.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/10/09/2008-10-09_pregnancy_pact_school_in_mass_allows_con-2.html

The author of the article “A Fool’s Paradise,” Bob Herbert, in the New York Times, brings up an interesting view on the current status of the United States’ economy.  Bob supports the idea that the low employment rate is the real cause of the recession.  He argues that if people are not given well paying jobs, the problem at hand will never subside.  Along with a love for self-help books, it seems to be a habit for Americans to go with the quick, easy way out of situations.  However, we may have let this go too far for that.  If people continue to make little to no income and incur more and more debt, nothing will be solved.  According to Bob’s statistics, the average household’s debt has increased by a third, but the income has remained stagnant.

The fact of the matter is that lenders and salesmen have made purchasing high-cost items too easy.  They are too eager to make a sale no matter what the effects on the consumer.  On top of that, consumers are generally no conscious of the long-term effects these large purchases have.  With that said, it is almost apparent that these people are now getting what they had coming to them.  Their impulsive buying has caused their consumption to be greater than their income.  I cannot imagine what else they thought would happen.  It is actually inevitable that debt does not just disappear, contrary to popular…denial.

Unemployment will always be present; however, right now it is at almost two percent higher than the acceptable percentage.  The unfortunate reality is that unemployment directly affects the majority of other factors that regulate the economy.  High unemployment rate leads to more debt, less spending, lower GDP, and supports a recession.

         Did anyone happen to catch the Vice Presidential debate last Thursday night? A better question might be, did anyone catch Saturday Night Live’s spoof of the debate the following Saturday? Tina Fey’s now famous impersonation of Republican Vice Presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, has become a rating’s monster. The widely watched parody of Sarah Palin has turned the VP nominee into somewhat of a national celebrity. The question is, however, is all this publicity good for the candidate? Palin is portrayed by Fey as flirtatious, dimwitted, and inexperienced. Some Americans are even beginning to have trouble telling the two apart. The accent, the appearance, and the movements of both are so similar it’s scary.

         The article I came across in the New York Times titled, Laugh, Or the World Laughs at You, discusses both the benefits and drawbacks of parodies, such as those made famous by Saturday Night Live. While Sarah Palin has no doubt gained national celebrity, the picture the parody portrays of her cannot be beneficial to her or the Republican Party if she is hoping to be taken seriously.  She is, however, handling the attention quite well. As suggested by the article, she is able to laugh at herself, while America does the same.

In an article I found on the MSN website titled “Mo. Officials Suspect Fake Voter Registration”, I find it very surprising the amount of fake voter registrations being found within the ACORN group. ACORN is group which is used to bring more people to register and vote. In the article the author does not give a specific amount of false registrations, but puts out numbers over the hundreds. People were registering with non-exsistent addresses, invalid driver’s licenses or social security numbers or duplicate registrations. It is a crime to falsify this information, and the FBI has become involved with the case.

With the amount of hype this election has drawn, it is not very surprising that people are falsifying information in order to vote in this historical race. This issue makes me wonder whether the voter registration deadline should be sooner in order to avoid last minute rushing. This early date could give poll officials enough time to verify information and maybe have it corrected.

Good Neighbors Make Fences
October 2, 2008
Eagle Pass and Nogales
The Economist
http://www.economist.com/world/americas/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12332971

With such a large gap between wages in Mexico and the U.S. there is a very obvious reason why people are trying to sneak illegally immigrate into the U.S., for higher wages.  Illegal immigrants are willing to sacrifice anything, even to some their life, to enter into our country. Since 2000 the death toll has been more then 1000, which the author points out “is more than three times the number of people who died attempting to cross the Berlin Wall in its 28 year history.”  In September 2006, a 2,000 mile long fence was approved to go up across the U.S./ Mexico Border, but is a fence enough to stop illegal immigrants from coming across?
I believe the solution isn’t just to build a fence it is also to work with the government of Mexico to help solve some of the major problems that occur there. Mexico’s government has recently started to crack down on the drug trafficking that occurs there, which is a huge step forward for the country. Encouraging changes like these and others major changes will help the country of Mexico grow stronger economically and give the country’s citizens less of a reason to want to move.