Question of the week #8 answer

One of my favorite holiday memories is from new years a few years ago.  Every New Years we always go out to our friends' house and crash there for the night.  The other kid in this house and I have basically been friends since we were born.  Anyways, our friends live out in Faquire county on about 75 acres so my dad and I often go out there to go hunting.  On this particular New Years Eve, my dad went hunting and I went with him (as I was too young for my hunting license then).  Honestly, I was kinda bummed because I wanted to stay with my friends and play around, but I would've felt bad if I didn't go with my dad.  When we got out there and got set up, it only took 15 minutes for us to get a deer!  My dad let me gut it too!  It was so much fun.  Since we got back to the house so fast I had plenty of time to go play with my friends and stuff for the rest of the night.

Current Event #8 Leaving Iraq

http://www.politicalcartoons.com/cartoon/c0dc44bb-2039-4f8a-b928-5a30cb181273.html

The cartoon was drawn by Steve Greenberg.
Key objects: the soldiers represent American troops leaving Iraq; the billboard represents an opinion of the war; and the fortress represents Iraq.
Greenberg uses ridicule in his cartoon.
The cartoon has to do with the departure of American troops from Iraq.
The cartoonist's message is stated clearly on the bill board.  In summary, he says that the war in Iraq was totally unnecessary and unwarranted.
Greenberg's point of view is a democratic one that was against the war.

Question of the week #7 answer

For Obama's job approval, his polls say that he is at %43 approve and %50 disapprove.  This does not make the future look to bright for Obama.  However, at the other end of the spectrum we are seeing Newt Gingrich starting to lose support too.  The republican candidates seem to have a tendency to rise and burn bright for a short period of time... but then they do something that burns them out.  For Gingrich, it was his announcement that he supports child labor that burned him out.  Having said that, I think Obama's odds at getting reelected are at about a %65 chance that he will get reelected.

Current Event #7 Gingrich and child labor laws

http://www.politicalcartoons.com/cartoon/ac3c587e-767d-4b21-9294-288531f44cd1.html
Randall Enos is the author of this cartoon.
The only "objects" in the cartoon are two middle class women.  They represent the mothers of middle class children.
I'm not sure what the proper terminology for the technique used is but, Enos sets up the cartoon like it's going to be another Sandusky joke and quickly turns it around to a Gingrich joke.
The cartoon deals with the fact the Gingrich recently stated that he supports child labor laws.
Enos' message is simply that child labor laws are wrong and that Gingrich should not be voted for.
Enos' point of view is one that is against child labor laws.

Question of the week #6 answer.

I feel like Mitt Romney is most likely going to get the Republican nomination.  He has had the least amount of problems in his campaign and almost zero controversy surrounding him.  One specific reason he could win the Republican nomination is because many Republicans believe he would be the best challenger to Barack Obama.  However, one specific reason that Romney could lose the Republican nomination is because he has not run a very intense campaign and has not generated a lot of enthusiasm among his party.  

Current Event #6 Black Friday

http://www.politicalcartoons.com/cartoon/f7708099-b050-4271-8a8e-89f14268c761.html

David Granlund drew this cartoon.
The key objects are the people laying in stretchers and the ER sign.  They just represent the victims of the nearly violent masses of shoppers on black Friday.
Granlund uses exaggeration because very few people ever actually have to go to the ER after black Friday.
The cartoon deals with the aftermath of Black Friday.
The cartoon's message is just that there are long lines for the ER after Black Friday. 
Granlund's point of view is that Black Friday Shopping is unnecessary and pointless.  Why would you want to go wait in long lines in the stores, just so you could go wait in long lines for the ER afterwards?

Question of the week #5 answer

To be honest, I think Governor of Texas, Rick Perry,  has a snow ball's chance in hell at getting the Republican nomination.  They only reason that he could possibly win is because he has money.  Perry is a machine when it comes to fundraising and he certainly outshines most of his opponents in this department.  The primary reason he will lose though is because of how unprepared he has been in most of the debates.  He has fumbled through multiple debates with only a couple successful ones under his belt.  Also, he has the whole incident with the HPV vaccine on him still, which will certainly detract his number of female voters.

Current Event #5 Congress declares the tomato paste on pizza a vegetable

http://www.politicalcartoons.com/cartoon/0a9bbca7-e11c-46f4-bb0b-5083592a2feb.html
The cartoon was drawn by Jen Sorensen.
The key objects in the cartoon are the people.  They are all against healthy foods and support greasy cafeteria food.  They pretty much represent the idea that congress is currently supporting.
The cartoonist uses ridicule.
The cartoon deals with the act that congress recently passed saying that the amount of tomato paste on cafeteria pizza is enough for a full serving of vegetables.
The cartoon's message is that we are slowly ridding schools of vegetables by passing rules like this.
The point of view is that the passing of this rule is absurd and totally wrong.

Question of the week #4 answer

In my opinion the biggest political issue facing Virginia right now is abortion laws.  You either want abortion to be made illegal or you don't.  I personally do not believe it should be made illegal.  I believe people should have a choice of whether or not they want to have a child.  The primary argument against abortion is that it is an unchristian thing to do because it is taking the life of an unborn child.  However, the fetus is not considered a human being until about 8 weeks into the conception period.  Also, in a country with so many different cultures and religions, who are we to restrict the actions of other people based on one majority religion?

Current Event #4 Herman Cain Denies Sexual Harassment Accusation

Herman Cain, a Republican Presidential Candidate, was recently accused of being involved in several sexual harassment cases between 1996-1999.  He denied the accusation and responded with, "Bring me some facts.  Bring me the accuser." Herman Cain's chief of staff, Mark Block, stated, “Every negative word and accusation in the article is sourced to a series of unnamed or anonymous sources. Questionable at best.”

http://news.yahoo.com/herman-cain-denies-sexual-harassment-allegation-bring-accuser-140303941.html

Current Event #3 College Students echo Occupy wall Street Protests

http://news.yahoo.com/college-students-echo-occupy-wall-street-protests-041052358.html

College students started protesting this week about constantly rising tuition costs and the lack of jobs.  The movement, named "Occupy Colleges", is led by Natalia Abrams.  When asked, she said "Our goals are in direct solidarity with Occupy Wall Street." Students in about 140 schools in 25 states participated in coordinated protests, sit ins, marches, etc etc. Colleges across the country all participated.  The declining reality of the American Dream of working hard, going to college, and making it to the top of society is what drives these students to protest.  Personally, I really hope that these students succeed in their protests soon as I am a soon to be college student.  As an American citizen, I would also like the American Dream to even be possible for me once I'm out of college also.

Question of the week #3 Answer

President Obama's presidential report card:

Health Care= B: I believe that to get a estimation for a grade for this subject, then one really has to observe the Obama presidency from start to now.  When President Obama first created and enacted his plans for health care, he did a good job to create a plan that he was composed of his original ideas but, also gave congress some room to make suggestions for change. However, he did this to try and make sure all opinions of the people could be satisfied on this subject.  This unfortunately, has led to some inefficiency in getting things done when it comes to health care because there is so much debate on what will be enacted and what won't be.

Economic Downturn= A=   thats why


War on terror= A= Obama has been bringing troops back at a fairly consistent rate and also doing more to establish a stable democratic government over in Afghanistan.  O yeah, and he got Bin Laden

Reelection Bid= B-= Obama is the only logical choice for the Democratic party.  And while he may not be going all out in his campaigning right now, he certainly has raised enough money to suggest otherwise.  If the Republican don't get their act together soon then the election may be pretty clean cut in favor of Obama.