Government Class

Virginia same-sex marriage ban

2006-01-19T08:55:00.000-08:00

What is the point of banning marriages in Virginia that are recognized in other states. The reason people say gay marriage is wrong is because it says it in the bible. Doesn't making a law based on what the bible says violate the whole idea of separation of church and state. Another thing, who is it going to hurt if two people get married. It would improve the economy of VA if they recognized the union, because more people would live here if they were accepted. The rate of divorce in the U.S. is getting higher, shouldn't politicians want to do something to slow it down, such as allow more marriages to be recognized.

Bush's New Immigration Policy

2005-11-29T09:07:00.000-08:00

Immigrants usually come to this country to work and to support their families, they should be allowed to to that without being hassled. It doesn't really seem like it would be an inconvience to have them here. I think that they should be allowed to be here and pay taxes like a U.S. citizen if they want to be here. If they can't support their families in their home country why can't they come to the "land of opportunity" which is what some people call the United States. If U.S. citizens really have a problem with immigrants then they should think about why a person would want to leave their family for a low paying job. Immigrants usually have no other choice, and since we can't do anything to fix the problems of their countries it should be easier for them to become citizens and get jobs here.

Treatment of Detainees

2005-11-15T09:19:00.000-08:00

The "terrorists" seem to have to wait an awfully long time for their trial. What good does it do? It already seems like some of them aren't even terrorists. But the men have been imprisoned for so long. I don't understand why they haven't been tried yet, is Bush trying to find a valid reason to imprison them. Maybe he should have thought about that before, some reason besides someone's religion, maybe some action was dangerous. All thought this country was founded because people wanted religious equality. Maybe Bush missed a few history lessons, or maybe he doesn't care. Get these people to trial before they die in prison.

Kaine won the election

2005-11-09T15:07:00.000-08:00

I'm not really surprised that Kaine won the election. As the years go on I notice a tradition, there are more and more politicians that lie. Kaine lied in his debates about his mudslinging ads, and he lied in his mudslinging ads. O well, just another shmucky politician to add to the list.

Tunnels Under Baltimore Harbor Open After Threat

2005-10-18T18:59:00.000-07:00

What kind of a threat was this? There are not enough specifics in the article about why they closed the tunnels. It must have been pretty serious if they were checking under trucks with mirrors. I didn't know police could do that. Those are pretty important tunnels in that area, I wonder what they did with all that traffic. It seems like there are a lot of terror hoaxes under big cities lately. First in New York City and now in Baltimore. Could it be possible that it's the same person making the threats or is it a coincidence...?

Virginia Gubernatorial Debate

2005-10-11T11:24:00.000-07:00

The debate was very informative. Kilgore did a better job saying why he was the better candidate, Kaine stayed in Warner's shadow. The remark from Kilgore about Warner not being on the ballots is very true. Kaine talked a lot about what he did with Warner. I wonder what he'll do without Warner. I enjoyed watching the debate and I learned a lot about the candidates political opinions on situations.

the Government response to Hurricane Katrina

2005-09-08T08:54:00.000-07:00

The government could have done more about hurricane Katrina. There were warnings for a week before the hurricane happened, there was enough time to evacuate everyone prior to the hurricane. The city only told it's residents to leave 12 hours before the hurricane struck. A lot of the people in New Orleans are people that don't have a lot of money. The lack of money makes it harder for people to leave. Even if the people had the money to leave they don't all have family or friends outside of New Orleans. A lot of people had no method of transportation because buses were packed and not all people have cars. The government should have used school buses and army vehicles to relocate people with no transportation. And they should have started evactuations sooner.

Gas Prices Webquest

2005-09-06T09:00:00.000-07:00

Gas Prices Webquest
Chloe and Elle
Mr. Daly
9/6/05

1. Research the impact of Hurricane Katrina on gasoline prices. Why did it cause an increase in gas prices? What are some problems that this increase may cause? What are some things that are being done to control costs?
Hurricane Katrina destroyed many gas supply lines in the Gulf Coast. The pipelines in the Gulf Coast were one of the main supplies of gasoline in the United States. The cost of transporting gasoline also rose. One of the countries biggest concerns are inflation, increase in transportation system cost because of shortage of gas. Many governments around the world have had to take control, such as the Venezuelan government losing money because they’ve had to sell gas at “lower than market prices”. And in Cuba, they have been suffering electricity shortage. To help control costs in the long run, places like China and India have been investing money in natural oil reserves to prevent crisis. Many costs have been kept under control through a few generous donations of oil and gas from other countries, Bush has opened up the country’s emergerncy supply, and many gas stations have set limits to how many gallons or how much money they can spend each time they go to the pump.

2. Research current gasoline prices across the country. Write a summary on why some states or areas have higher gasoline prices than others. Think about the area's location and population, does that affect their gasoline prices? Include current prices in your explanation.
Areas in the country with higher gas prices are states such as California and Wyoming which are farther away from the main pipelines. The cost to transport gas is higher which makes those prices higher. In high traffic areas such as New York and Washington D.C. the prices have risen to nearly $4.00 a gallon because the demand for gas is so high and there is a lower supply at this time because of Hurricane Katrina and the War in Iraq. Areas such as Hawaii which have low demand for gas at this time have lower prices.

3. Describe the changes in gasoline prices in the last fifty years.
Type your answers here….In 1955, the national average was 1.85 per gallon, the prices decreased to 1.68 ten years later in 1965, but then increased 12 cents in 1975. By 1980, the prices spiked to a whopping 2.50 a gallon, due to the Iranians issuing an embargo on the US because of our support for Iraq, the prices gradually decreased to 1.51 by 1990, and then to 1.28 in 1995, and now ten years later, with the ongoing war and Hurricane Katrina, the national average sits at 3. 05, and will soon decrease.

4. Compare gas prices around the world. Do certain regions have lower prices than others? Which countries have the highest prices and which have the lowest? How does the current prices in the United States compare to the rest of the world?
The highest gas prices are in Amsterdam ($6.48 a gallon) and the lowest prices are in Venezuela($.12 a gallon) The countries where gas is produced have cheaper gas because the supply is higher. The price of gas in the United States is average compared to the rest of the world.

5. Write down or copy/paste the URL of the websites you take information from so you can quickly go back to it if you need to to prove your point. Keep a list of the websites you visited to hand in.
http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/global_gasprices/

http://www.gasbuddy.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_Prices

http://money.cnn.com/2005/09/01/markets/gas_prices/index.htm?cnn=yes

My Private Idaho

2005-08-30T12:05:00.000-07:00

I sort of understand that being the president can be a little bit stressful, but why does Mr.Bush need this time to vacation. After sending the military to country...making an unessecary war can be quite stressful. But this doesn't seem like the appropriate time to take a vacation. Especially after he seemed to stress the importance of getting the terrorists out of Iraq and creating a stable government. Also there is a hurricane...shouldn't he be trying to deal with the nations problems. Holidays are for vacations, not national and international problems. Maybe when he has to start paying more for gas he'll notice there is actually a problem with him taking so many vacations.

Bush Says "We Will Win the War on Terror"

2005-08-25T14:57:00.000-07:00

It is impossible to "win" a war. Everyone involved loses. Lives are lost and money is lost. The events that happened during the Cold War in Vietnam are going to happen again. Isn't the point of studying history in school learning from our mistakes. The States keep trying to convert the governments of other countries to the government of ours. Not every country can have the same government. Anyway this situation can't be resolved by blowing the crap out of people. The situation should be resolved by discussion.

"Anywhere there is injustice, gets rid of justice anywhere"-Martin Luther King Jr.

This war is an injustice.

Tropical Storm Katrina Slows, Gains Strength

2005-08-25T09:06:00.000-07:00

Watch out for rain

another test

2005-08-25T08:42:00.000-07:00

just trying again

test

2005-08-25T08:17:00.000-07:00

Just seeing if this blog works...