The Power of YouTube

Many people use YouTube. Whether it is to watch a funny video, listen to a song, or look at political ad campaign videos. Many people watch these videos and create their own beliefs from them. Much of the videos on YouTube isn't true, but the viewer doesn't know that. The viewer gets the idea from a video and either agrees or disagrees with it. Many of the YouTube watchers can comment on the videos and voice their opinion. With so many people with access to the video, these videos can become viral and it makes the public more involved.



Like with this video, many of these citizens may think that Obama is a unicorn rider and doesn't care about the situation at hand. Viewers can create their own opinion and voice it however they want. Many of the viewers get involved with comments and showing their friends the videos. The public now has an easy way to get involved without leaving their computers sometimes. These videos can promote ideas and people to want to make a change. This is how citizens participate with the Internet and share their ideas. That is why YouTube is such a great way to express our ideas and beliefs.

Obama vs. Trump; 2012

Obama is the 2012 Democratic candidate for President. Here is a video made for his reelection campaign.



Donald Trump will most likely be the Republican candidate for the 2012 election. Here is video for his election campaign.



First off I must say that I absolutely hate Trump's video. All of the stuff in it is just really wrong and unjustified. This video should not be on TV because it sends out the wrong message and wrong vibes. I really like Obama's video because it wasn't out there and really loud, it was more soft and to the point. The people in the video seemed really nice and I would much rather have an advertisement like that. Trump's video looks like it is made off of a little kids computer. You can't take a video like Trump's serious and that is why I think Obama's video is more effective.

The Issue of E-Commerce Taxation

How are we supposed to tax something we buy off of a computer? It is a difficult issue that has everyone trying to compose ideas that will figure out the issue of e-commerce taxation. Taxes are a necessity to make society work. Without taxes, there would be no roads, public schools, police or firefighters, or government officials. But how with a more and more Internet based society and more online shopping does that get back to the states. All of that money doesn't go to the state or the federal government which is not helping our financial issue at moment.

Each state has their own rules regarding what is considered a taxable product or service and what is not. Your products or services may be taxable in one state, but not in anther. In some states if you separately state items on your invoice they are not taxable, if you lump them together, they become subject to sales tax.

It's hard to get a grip on such a difficult subject such as e-commerce taxation. The states and federal government really need to figure out a good proposal to this idea because in the mean time, many states are losing money from things being bought off of the Internet. I hope this controversial issue ends up with a positive result for the states and federal government because major companies don't need to make more money and many small businesses will be out of luck.

We Want the Truth!

The government censors media without the public knowing it. Many news corporation dealing with politics are extremely bias to one particular party, which makes our news less reliable. The government can censor what they don't want the people to see which could cause conflict or public outcry. I don't think that the government should do this because the public should know the truth. If the public isn't getting the facts, then they are being told lies and none of that will help the future.

This report from Fox News was not aired because Fox didn't want the public to know what they were really drinking. My bet is that the government also did not want Fox to air this for fear that all of the milk being bought would no longer be bought. It is unfair for the public to not be able to know the truth in what they are drinking especially if they are giving it to their kids to promote "strong bones" and get their calcium.

One of the main quotes from the Fox station manager is this:

"We paid $3 billion dollars for these television stations. We’ll tell you what the news is. The news is what we say it is!"

This is just not fair because the people want the truth. If news stations are censoring their news, then they will never find out the truth. I don't think it should have happened because the truth is always the right thing.

Here is the clip that Fox denied showing:

New York Times; Keeping You Informed

In the New York Times online website they basically have their whole newspaper plus blogs and comments from readers. It is a very good website with very good writers including Thomas L. Friedman, Paul Krugman, and many others. It is very good that they offer all of their news online for people that don't want to buy a subscription or just can't afford it. They have very interesting articles and it is nice to see what some readers have to say about the articles. 


I think the New York Times did a very good job on the article entitled, Republicans Are Pursuing a Wider Field for 2012 Race,  where they also added a lot of quotes and a picture that added to the whole thing. This article got straight to the point and did not bore you at all. It had a lot of people that had good quotes which made it not as boring and not as bias. 

“The race needs more responsible adults who can actually do the job,” said Fergus Cullen, a former chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party.

I thought that this piece did a very good job because it did keep the public informed. It only told the facts and it got straight to the point. It didn't have a lot of  nonsense writing that the reader would get bored with. The picture and quotes really did add to it because the reader wouldn't leave the page out of boredom.

Check Your Facts

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I think this video from MSNBC does work. It is just informing the public in a semi-brief clip but it really gets to the point. It is trying to show how the Republican candidate, Donald Trump, should really check his facts before he speaks. In this clip it talks about how things he says aren't always true. They talk about the true fact and then show him saying something different. They are trying to make people realize that you shouldn't always believe what you hear.

This first false thing Trump said had to do with the 9/11 terrorists. He said that the families of those terrorists had left a day before the attack happened. First there was never even any evidence that the families were in the U.S. And second when the 9/11 Commission Report came out, it said that Osama's family had left days after the attack after being screened by the FBI.

The second thing Trump tried to say was that Obama wasn't born in the United States. He said his Certificate of Live Birth didn't have a serial number and it wasn't signed. Both of those were false statements. Officials of Hawaii say that the certificate verifies that the President was born there.

This just shows that you should really think about who you are going to vote for president. I also thought this video was straight to the point and got its point across.

New York Times Co. v. United States

The undeclared war in Vietnam caused a great deal of public protest during the late 1960s and early 1970s. A political scientist, Daniel Ellsberg, working for the Pentagon stole and copied a classified paper. The paper was entitled, "History of United States Decision-Making Process of Vietnam Policy" which was then published by the New York Times. The government stopped the Times from publishing the papers. The court sided with the New York Times in a 6-3 vote.

I don't really agree with this decision because one it was confidential papers and two they did not have consent of whoever published it. The public should know how the government makes decisions but not in this type of fashion. The state and foreign policy were in jeopardy in this type of case and the New York Times shouldn't have been able to release the Pentagon Papers.



The per curiam decision made in the Times case was that "any system of prior restraints of expression comes to this Court bearing a heavy presumption against its constitutional validity." This means that the New York Times is allowed to publish these types of things even though it might spark issues. I don't really agree with this because the government should try and maintain order.

Gitlow v. New York

Benjamin Gitlow was convicted for violating the 1902 New York Criminal Anarchy Act. The act defined criminal anarchy as "the doctrine that organized government should be overthrown by force or violence, or by assassination of the executive heard or any of the executive officials of government, or by any unlawful means." Gitlow had been charged with teaching the necessity and duty to overthrow the government in two publications based largely on Marx's and Engels' Communist Manifesto. In a seven to two vote, they upheld Gitlow's conviction.

I think it was a good decision because they need to maintain order as the government. Also what Gitlow was talking about may have ruined the government. I think if someone is trying to overthrow the government publicly, then it shouldn't be allowed. A lot of people will just go with the flow because they want something to follow. People are very impressionable so it isn't in the governments best interest to let people hear these types of things.

Gitlow's publication and circulation of sixteen thousand copies of the Left-Wing Manifesto violated this Criminal Anarchy Act. The pamphlet went on to advocate the creation of a socialist system through the use of massive strikes and "class action...in any form."

Criminal anarchy; "the doctrine that organized government should be overthrown by force or violence, or by assassination of the executive heard or any of the executive officials of government, or by any unlawful means." It is good that the government doesn't allow people to try and overthrow the government because without a government it wouldn't be as good as a society.

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas

In 1954, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas is arguably the biggest court case. It overturned Plessy v. Ferguson which stated "separate but equal" was no longer true. Blacks were denied the right to go to white schools which were far superior than black schools. The courts decision was in favor of Brown that blacks could go to integrated white schools.

I agree with the decision full on that blacks should be allowed in white schools. It wasn't fair that Brown's daughter couldn't go to a school that was a couple of blocks away just because it was a white school. I think that it was good that Chief Justice Earl Warren passed this because in his previous years as governor of California, he had mandated the internment of the Japanese. It is kind of ironic that he was the one to approve this after such a harsh ruling earlier.



This court ruling helped the civil rights movement a great deal. If it were not for this case, who knows where we would be today. The difference between this case and Sweatt v. Painter was that Sweatt dealt with universities, and the University of Texas Law School in particular, while Brown dealt with public education facilities for grades K-12.

Gideon v. Wainwright

Clarence Gideon was arrested for breaking into a Florida pool hall with intention to burglarize it. Gideon requested a court-appointed attorney and was denied because Florida only provided free counsel only in capital cases. At court, Gideon pleaded not guilty and conducted his own defense. He was found guilty and had to serve five years of imprisonment. When Gideon was in prison, he submitted a handwritten petition requesting the U.S. Supreme Court to accept his case on appeal.

I do think it was a good decision to approve Gideon's appeal because it made it so everyone could have a counsel if they couldn't afford one. If the person isn't appointed a lawyer, then they could have no idea what to say or what not to say. If both sides have a lawyer it is more fair to both sides because they know the law more than anyone.



When Gideon was in prison, he wrote a petition requesting an appeal on his case in the U.S. Supreme Court. I think this is very good because it is a person sticking up for themselves. If he had never done this, there wouldn't have been such a monumental case. This video shows parts of his case and how he clearly asked for a counsel and then the judge said he could only ask for one if it was dealing with the death penalty.

Miranda v. Arizona

In 1966, the Miranda decision actually dealt with four similar cases dealing with constitutional issues. The persons involved had been convicted on the basis of confessions made after very long and miserable interrogation. None of these people were informed of their right to counsel and to remain silent. In the title case, Ernesto Miranda, had been arrested by the police for questioning on charges of rape and kidnapping. Miranda wasn't advised of his right to an attorney nor his right to remain silent. After his interrogation, he signed a written confession. He was then found guilty later.

I agree with the decision because the Fifth Amendment clearly states that "no person. . . shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself." I don't agree that he was let off the hook but it does allow people to be aware of their rights. If a criminal doesn't know his rights, then it's not really fair to him.



The Fifth Amendment guarantees that you don't have to tell on yourself. That is why when someone asks you a question and you don't want to answer, you can say I plead the fifth, which means you don't have to answer. It is better than having someone lie, rather then just keeping quiet. That way you can get no information rather than false information.

This whole decision means that when you are being arrested, you must be read your "Miranda" rights. It makes it so that when you are being arrested you are more aware of your rights. Your Miranda rights are; “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you? With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to me?”

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke

In 1978, Allan Bakke was denied admittance into the Medical School of the University of California of Davis. At this time, the school used different admission processes for minority students. Allan Bakke, a white applicant has reasonably good grades and was denied admittance. When he was denied, he sued the Regents, the University's governing board, for a place at the medical school. California's Superior Court found that the special admissions program violated the federal and state constitutions and the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Even after that, Bakke was still denied into the school. On appeal in the California Supreme Court, they supported Bakke, citing the Fourteenth Amendment, he was admitted into school. The Regents then appealed to the United States Supreme Court.

I think it was a good decision because just because they are a minority doesn't mean they should have it any easier. If someone wants to make it into the medical school, then they should have to work as hard as the next person. This doesn't make it equal, this gives other people an easier opportunity. That is why I think when you apply to college you shouldn't have to put your ethnicity because it shouldn't matter. They should only look at your grades and what really matters. If they have your ethnicity, they might take you because they want diversity.



According to the decision, the Fourteenth Amendment isn't aimed at any particular minority or minorities. The Amendment was framed in universal terms, without reference to color, ethnic origin, or condition of prior servitude. I thought this video was pretty interesting because in the end, it says "search on" which is very broad yet powerful. If Allan Bakke didn't "search on" then this wouldn't have happened.

I think it was good than Bakke challenged the system because he fought for what he believed. If he didn't and just kept quiet, none of this would have happened. I think it was good because he was being treated unfair because he wasn't a minority.

Miller v. California

In 1973, Miller sent out advertisements of "adult" books and films that were unrequested. The brochures had sexually explicit photographs and drawings. Miller was found guilty under California's obscenity laws.
When I think of the First Amendment, I always wonder why we can't say things on live television or on the radio. I wish we were allowed to have an actual freedom of speech because they are just words. But in this case I do think that the decision was right. Those types of things shouldn't be allowed because they could get into the hands of impressionable kids that are to young to understand. I think that the state should have legitimate interest in prohibiting dissemination or exhibition of obscene material.

Obscene material is not protected by the First Amendment. 

The new guidelines that Chief Justice Warren Burger suggested  were; First was would the average person find that a work, when viewed as a whole, appealed to "prurient interest"? Second, does the work depict or describe certain specifically defend conduct in a patently offensive way? Third does the work lack "serious literacy, artistic, political, or scientific value"?

I think that the decision as a whole was good. Protecting innocence is good and little kids being exposed to that isn't fair to them. They may want to see that, but their parents don't. Little kids get persuaded very easily and this is good becuase it is one less influence out there.

Plessy v. Ferguson

Louisiana law in 1890, commanded railroads to "provide equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races". If this law was violated, there was a fine of twenty dollars of twenty five days in jail. Plessy, a man who was one-eighth black, sat in the white section of the train going from New Orleans to Covington, Louisiana. When ordered to move from his seat, he refused to move, then was arrested. Louisiana Supreme Court found that the statue under which Plessy had been arrested was valid.

I don't agree with the decision. When there is segregation it is implying inferiority of a race in my view. If you have segregation, then it implies that races cant intermingle. This case paved way for racial equality and made it so everyone was considered equal. I think it is good that we don't have laws about segregation because it is not fair to people who have no choice.



Seperate but equal isn't fair. Why can't two people of different races share the same water fountain. To me it is just two different people but back then it was considered much worse. I don't think seperate but equal is fair and I don't think people of the court were fair. People of the court need to people the type of people to promote change, not stay the same. Justice Brown labeled inferioty of other races because of segregation as fallacy. I disagree with this because I think segregation is makes people feel inferior.

This trial paved way for more change in later years. This paved way for Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. People needed change and this sparked the idea that everyone is created equal. It was unfair to Plessy that this had to happen to him but if it didn't, no one would have noticed the unfairness of the law at the time.

United States v. Nixon

In 1974, burglars from the Committee to Reelect the President broke into the Democratic National Committee's headquarters. Their headquarters were at the Watergate office and apartment complex. The president had many taped conversations from the White House's Oval Office and Nixon refused to give up the tapes. He claimed executive privilege, which protects the Office of the President from being compelled by the Judicial Branch to turn over confidential Executive Branch material.

I do think that Nixon should have to turn over the tapes. The president was just trying to save himself by not handing over the tapes but the I don't think the president should be trying to cover up anything. He shouldn't have special privileges especially when it comes to federal court. When it comes down to the president lying and cheating, that's just not right. So I do think that it was a good decision that he had to give over the tapes because just because he is a president doesn't mean he gets special privileges in court.



This video shows some outtakes from Nixon's resignation speech and his actual resign at the end. I think that executive privilege should only be in lower courts and something that isn't as important as this case was. If it was a minor case then executive privilege should be properly asserted but not when the president is being considered a crook.

This is important for presidents because it sets a standard for them. They can't have special accommodations in court just because they don't want to lose a case. I can see why Nixon didn't want to give up the tapes because he didn't want to resign as president. I don't blame him for not wanting to give them up but I am glad they made him.

Roe v. Wade

In 1973 a woman named "Jane Roe" wanted an abortion. District Attorney Wade of Dallas County, Texas, argued that it went against state law to have an abortion unless it was protecting a mothers life. Roe's life was not endangered, so she wasn't able to get an abortion in the state of Texas.

I believe that this was a very big case dealing with woman's right. I believe that a woman should have a right to choose and it was good for progression as people. If woman had to have a baby and didn't plan to, her life could be ruined. This case paved way for women having more rights.



In this interview with Katie Couric, Palin and her are having a discussion about the case. Palin can't come up with a straight answer to the question. I would find this interesting considering that she is a woman. If I were a woman I would like to know that I have the choice or not. Also Palin can't come up with any other court cases, so I don't think she is very qualified to be in politics.

I think the opposite of Palin. I think that it should have been a federal case instead of state. If only one state had to deal with this problem, and then passed it, many women that would want an abortion would have to go to that state. It is good that it was at a federal level so that it would pass in all of the states. Also the constitutional origin of the right to privacy is First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments.

Trying to Help out Everyone

Part I:

Everyone could use a helping hand. No matter if it is taking groceries out to the car, or having people give you free food and clothes. That is why community service is such a major role in society to make us grow as people. Giving back to the world is just as important as taking from it. That is why I feel that what our school does in the way of community service is necessary for all schools. Kids need to realize that it is not just all about them. We are all human beings and deserve as much as a chance as everybody else. Not everyone is lucky enough to be born into wealthy communities, but everyone should feel obligated to help out other people when they are in a time of need. Other schools should have community service because we are the people of the future. If we do not learn how to give when we are young, how should we be able to learn to give when we are older? Community service is such a viable thing because it teaches us a lot of things about other people and ourselves. Through community service, people learn compassion for others and understand that the world is not as perfect as it seems.

For my community service I worked for two organizations. One of the two organizations was Christmas for Everyone. This was an organization was about helping out families in need so they could enjoy their Christmas without any stress. My second organization was for Walnut Creek Warriors Lacrosse which is a non-profit youth sports program. I did most of my blogs about youth sports, but for this paper I decided that poverty has much more community need. Considering that the income earned by the richest 50,000 people in the developed world almost exactly equals the income of the 2.7 billion poorest (DeRouen) is far more of a problem striking our world. This number is unfair but will not be changed for awhile. If these numbers can’t change, then people need to help out the 2.7 billion who are barely surviving. Anything can help whether it is a dollar a day to a charity or if it is going to a third world country and building the town a school or a family a home.

“The UN measures poverty with a three-part index comprised of education, health care, and economic strength” (DeRouen). This shows that poverty is not all about the amount of money you have. Money is a big part of poverty because if someone had access to a lot of money, then they would not have to worry about getting good education and health care. The poorest communities score low in this category because they have no access to money. And no access to money means no access to food or water which can ultimately lead to death. “Life expectancies are very short in the poorest nations of the world. For example, 2008 data from the World Health Organization indicate that life expectancies are less than 42 years in Afghanistan and Zimbabwe and less than 47 years in Lesotho, Chad, Central African Republic, and Angola. This is in contrast to people in developed countries who can expect to live over 75 years and can reasonably expect to see their grandchildren grow up” (DeRouen). It is unfair that people do not get as good as a life because a lack of money. I feel that everyone should have the same exact chance as everyone to be able to enjoy life. A lack of money should mean no fancy vacations or no five star meals, but not a shorter life. If people in richer countries live about thirty years longer, this should tell developed nations to help out. It should be a moral duty to try and help out the weak when you are the strong.

I believe that when someone is done, you pick them up. Whether they have fallen or they have no home is no different. Many kids I know go to Mexico every year and build homes for the less fortunate. They can’t shower for a week, work hard all day long, and get paid nothing. People care about other people. That is why they would sacrifice their time for other people’s happiness. There is also National Charity Leagues where people do community service like working at food shelters. People like giving their time and are happy to put a smile on someone’s face. Developing nations aren’t the only place where there is poverty. In the United States, 37 million which is 12.6% of the population lives under the poverty line (Smith). If 36.5 million people live in California, which is basically our nation’s most populated state living under the poverty line. And that number is poverty number is growing. In five years, five million people in the United States became poor (Smith). This probably has to do with a bad economy or not being able to get a job. And it is not just that. “Forty percent of children born in the bottom income quintile will remain in that quintile as adults” (Smith). People who are born into poverty have a big chance to stay there. If these people do not have the will power to get out of their current position, then they will have no reason to leave. The government has many shelters for poor people. These people can go there and get food, water and a bed to sleep in. This is probably the best they could get without going to prison. A hot meal, some cold water and a place to sleep that isn’t a park bench is better than what they are used to. The government is also looking into health care so this could possibly help out the people that can’t afford it. Considering that 19 % of children in poverty and 11.2 % above poverty do not have health insurance, this could really help. President Obama has made it so that kids on their parent’s health care plans now have to be on it until they are twenty five. I think this is good because many of those people would probably not have health care because a lack of money.

Part II

“Americans donate $300 billion to charity every year, according to Giving USA 2009” (Dorian).  This is a great start to such an important cause. If every developed country could help out developing countries, those countries would be able to have proper education and health care to live better lives. In the United States, people have a different view on how the government should respond poverty. “Some people believe that the government should be doing more, some believe it should be doing less, and some feel that the current role is about right” (Gorman). I think our government should do a little more about poverty. We have a progressive income tax which I think is good because it deals with income inequality. Our government also has public assistance programs. These programs include federal unemployment insurance, Medicare, and federal welfare programs like food stamps to help poor and temporarily hard-pressed households to make ends meet (Gorman). These to me are very good ways of helping out. These families may be embarrassed of using food stamps but if comes whether to eating or not, I am sure they would rather use the food stamps. “Nearly 40 million Americans received food stamps -- the latest in an ever-higher string of record enrollment that dates from December 2008 and the U.S. recession, according to a government update” (Abbott).  This number isn’t very shocking to me. Everyone struggles to put food on the table and they have got to do it anyway they can. Food stamps are an easy way for them to get food to feed their families and still pay bills. But critics of helping the poverty more and the way the government measures poverty are still there. “One on-going critique is of the types of income that are included in (or excluded from) the poverty measure. By failing to include income that many low-income people receive in the form of public assistance, some critics maintain that the extent of poverty is over-stated. If the value of food stamps, publicly provided health insurance benefits, and cash welfare payments were counted as income in the poverty calculation, many people would no longer be considered poor” (Willis). Maybe we should give these poor people cash payments instead of these benefits and maybe they wouldn’t be considered poor.

As we learned in economics, money is a tricky thing. You can invest your money in the stock market to help you get more, but if you don’t have money you can’t. We learned about capitalism and about how it is all about the greatest good for yourself. I am glad we don’t live in a capitalistic society because then we wouldn’t help the poor. No one would care about the others suffering and would only worry about getting more money. Also we learned about taking loans out on homes, but some people can’t afford homes so they are forced to live out on the streets. We also learned about having disposable income and savings but people in poverty don’t have enough money for that. “Having access to saved income or other assets (e.g. a home) creates stability in a person's financial life” (Tax Policy and Poverty). These people can’t create themselves a sustainable life and then end up living on the streets due to money problems.

Part III

In Thomas Friedman’s, Hot, Flat, and Crowded, a major topic he talks about is how our world’s population is getting very big. If our world is getting bigger and bigger, we need everyone to have an equal opportunity for a good life. This means we can’t have people in developing nations living thirty years less. This is a major disadvantage that no one has a choice because some people can’t choose where they live. If people in developing nations don’t have access to education then they will not be able to have a job that pays a decent wage. And if they don’t get paid a decent wage, then they can’t pay for health care. It is a cycle that needs to be address if more and more people are going to live on this planet.

During winter break, my fellow teammates and I went to Christmas for Everyone where they collected Christmas presents for the less fortunate. There was a whole gymnasium filled with donations of new and slightly used items. There were tons of toys, clothes and miscellaneous items stacked up in huge barrels. The organization was using what looked like a church and Sunday school to help people in need during the holidays. The other great thing about this event was that they were collecting food. They were collecting food so families could have a nice family dinner and not have to stress about coming up with the money to pay for it. It was nice to know that people still cared for other people. We need to have more organizations like this so people can help others. A lot of people are better off than others so I think that those people should give back. Not everyone can be successful; it's hard to make a lot of money. But we can't as people not help out the needy. It felt good knowing what we were doing was for a great cause. I am also glad to see that there were so many people there helping out. Every one could use a helping hand, and for that Christmas it was our hands. It was an eye opener about how many people actually do need help. Even though most of my hours were helping out with youth sports, working for a poverty based organization really put it into my mind that I should help out more with my free time. Poverty is all over the world and you can never stop helping the cause. I knew if I didn’t have a home or food to eat I would love a helping hand and would forever be thankful. That is why many people do community service and give money to charity. “Many researchers told us lower income people give more because they think they are more likely to need charity or know someone who needs charity” (Stossel). This is a good thing because people need to help out their friends and others in their situation. If my community service was for just one Christmas, then there has to be at least five gymnasiums in every city around the world to help out the needy every day. Even this does not seem like enough to help out everyone. It is hard to say whether we can fix this problem as a whole or not but we need to make steps forward to change it. We are all part of this world so we should treat each other like family.

Reinstated!

As this video shows, CAL baseball has been reinstated. The long trip to get their sport back is finally over. These players will play another season. It is great to know that these people who worked so hard will be able to see the feild again. Playing sports at a young age has taught them to pursure their dreams and this is a perfect example of where it can take you. No one knew how this incident would end up but the players never quit. They had hope and a good reason not to quit fighting. These players must be filled with joy because their legacy will live on to see another day.

Hopes are High

There must be millions of thoughts running through the CAL baseball players minds. To know that your program may be saved will make their college years less stressful. These players deserve more years for their determination and will power. When all odds are stacked up against you, some people wouldn't try. But all of the odds were against these players and they didn't back down. These players were told that this would be the last years of their baseball careers at CAL. Usually someone would cry and blame others but the team did the oppostie. They held their heads high and wanted to change something that seemed unchangable; getting their team back.

Five teams were cut from Cal's slate back in September, but rugby, lacrosse and women's gymnastics were reinstated on Feb. 11 after $12 million to $13 million was collectively raised. Although the campus had earlier set a $25 million mark for the restoration of all five sports, it said that baseball and men's gymnastics would not return for the 2011-12 season because they did not meet their respective targets of $10 million and $4 million for long-term sustainability.

These kids learned at a young age you win some and you lose some, but no matter what you give it your all. These kids wanted their future to be through CAL baseball and that is what they are trying to do. One step closer for these young men to get their team back for years to come. They will make history for CAL baseball for years to come.

Reinstatement Please

If you have a team that has won two national championships, five national championship appearances, and over 55 players sent to the major leagues how can you get rid of this program. This is a very good record and some schools haven't even come close to being in the championships. If a legacy like this can be shattered, then other schools should be careful of what may happen to them. I am sure that these kids will never give up. They have to big of a heart to let this bother them. The kids are trying to get pledges and money so their program will live on for years to come. As the coach said in the video, these kids are looking into other schools so this won't be their final year playing baseball. I am sure this is heartbreaking to everyone involved with CAL baseball and they are hoping this will be resolved. Why would they cut a team that won a double header which is tough enough in itself. Hopefully they can see that this is a team worth saving.

Rapping for a reason

Who would listen to a bunch of college kids rap? Maybe someone. But these kids are rapping for a reason. These kids want the ability to play baseball for the rest of their college years. They didn't have to make a rap about how they want their team to be able to play next year but they did. they want their message across that this isn't fair and they want another chance. Like they said in the video, they don't have any fans, but they play anyways. They have a passion to play whether anyone is watching or not. As you can see these kids are having a lot of fun just making a song so they must have tons of fun when they are out playing. Hopefully things change and they are able to play next year. I know it would make all of the players and coaches extremely happy. Also i would like to point out Katie Bruzzone who is an ex-Acalanes student. I thought it was pretty funny to see her in the video. She is in the video around the 3:30 mark.

Off to Alameda

Last Saturday I had to go out to Alameda for a girls lacrosse game. The game was between the Walnut Creek Warriors and the Alameda Attack. The game was at ten o'clock and considering I have never been to Alameda, I had to wake up pretty early. We got there and the town was really nice. I was surprised of how nice it was because it was on the outskirts of a not so nice part of Oakland.

VS.

The first half was heavily in favor of the Attack with a three to nothing lead going into half time. The referees were new to reffing so the coaches had to help them out. Because of that, the Attack girls were getting away with what should have been fouls but did not get called for them. That is why they had such a big lead. After the fouls were clarified, the Warriors scored three straight unanswered goals. They had a chance to score at the end of the game but unfortunately the time ran out.

Even though the girls had been roughed by the other players, when the game was over they were really happy they came back to tie it up. As score and time keeper I got a close look at how happy they really were. They were all smiling and saying great game to their teammates. I am glad to see how they didn't get mad at the refs but played on and still were able to come back at the end.

You Better Stand

BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) is in my eyes one of the greatest things in the Bay Area. It makes travel easier and it is better for our environment. The thirty minute trip to go to San Francisco on BART is much easier than to wait in traffic and pay for the bridge toll if you drive your car. BART is so easy just to hop on and get where you need to go in the Bay Area. But now when you ride on BART you may want to stand instead of sitting in the blue clothed seats they provide. They have been doing research on the seats and they have found bacteria infested in them.

Fecal and skin-borne bacteria resistant to antibiotics were found in a seat on a train headed from Daly City to Dublin/Pleasanton. Further testing on the skin-borne bacteria showed characteristics of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, the drug-resistant bacterium that causes potentially lethal infections, although Ms. Franklin cautioned that the MRSA findings were preliminary.

My idea about what they should do about the seats is make plastic seats that are easy to clean. If you make plastic seats, they would be able to wipe off the germs with a handy wipe. The trains should have paper towels and some sort of sanitizer offered to their riders so they don't have to worry about what they are sitting on. If they keep the old seats, we will have even bigger problems with more and more people standing in the trains, not wanting to sit in the germ infested area. Also at night, the cleaners of the trains could just wipe them down if they didn't want to hand out towels and sanitizer. Either way there has to be a change to the seats because these bacterias could be harmful to many of the 330,000 daily commuters.

Don't Leave Us Twitter - Love S.F.

Twitter is a very powerful website. It was what helped lead Egypt to get where it is today. Without Twitter news wouldn't be able to travel as fast and much of the world would be oblivious to it. May teens and young adults use twitter to find out their information. Not many teens or young adults read newspapers any more, but would rather use the internet to find out what is going on. With Twitter, many people tweet what they think is important to know with a link explaining what is happening and many people click on the links. I use Twitter rather than reading the newspaper or watching the news because I can find out what I want to know when I need to know. Now Twitter is thinking about moving to Silicon Valley to make it less expensive for their business. Twitter is asking for a tax break so they can stay in San Francisco where it originally started up.

“If the tax exemption does pass as currently outlined, Twitter is committed to signing a lease that will keep the company in San Francisco for six years and likely for a subsequent 10-year renewal term,” Rowghani wrote.

Twitter moving would not really affect Twitter users. It would only affect the employees and their families. Twitter is a great website and no one would want this to affect their time spent using twitter. It Twitter shuts down, it would result in a lot more users switching to Facebook which is a much more ineffective way to get information across the world. Facebook is more about talking to friends and "liking" peoples statuses. While Twitter is more about linking people to websites that can get others more informed. If Twitter moves it doesn't really have an effect on its users so this tax break isn't such a big deal. But if this were about Twitter shutting down, it would be a whole different story.

Five Teams Gone

As you have been reading on my blog, CAL is one of the major schools to be hit with sport cuts. The program has lost five of their teams, leaving people in shock and horror. Some people don't know what to do now that they don't have sports. For some people, sports is all they know. This is largely affecting the student athletes role as athletes.

The cuts are scheduled to save $4 million in the 2011-12, the university said. The decrease in teams from 29 to 24 will affect 163 of the school's more than 800 athletes, as well as 13 full-time coaches. Even with the cuts, Cal remains one of the Bowl Subdivision's broadest programs. The average number of sports in FBS is 20.

Many families are upset with the results that are happening. They have tried many things to save their sports. Many people have donated but it wasn't enough. Other sports could take some budget decreases to help out other sports. Instead of the excessive gear they give all of their players, maybe save that money for future years so things like this won't happen. The only other school that has taken hits like CAL has is Rutgers. Rutgers had to get rid of six teams after the 2006-2007 season. When the Pac-10 changes to the Pac-12 next year, Colorado and CAL will be the only schools without a baseball team.

FBS athletics programs drew a greater percentage of their revenue from student fees and their schools' general funds in 2008-09 than they had in any of the previous four years.

If schools are creating a lot of money from their programs, where is that money going? That money should stay in the athletics program and be save so crisis's like these will be avoided.

Warriors Vs Scorpions

A couple of Sundays ago I did some community service. I took the time and score for a girls game. The Warriors were playing the Scorpions. They played their game at Las Lomas High School. The day was pretty rainy but luckily I got to sit under a big tent so I didn't get wet. The game went pretty smoothly considering this is many of the girls first years. They all seem to have enjoyed themselves even though they were playing in bad conditions. Luckily most of them wore long sleeves and leggings under their skirts.

The game went heavily in favor of the Scorpions. But that is okay because even when the Warriors came off of the field they had smiling faces. In sports, it is not all about being competitive but whether you have fun. And if I say so myself these girls were having fun. Knowing that they could just play made them happy. But not everyone was happy. The Warriors were stuck with a few minor injuries. Both of these girls seemed to be okay but just needed to rest.

I feel that it is good for these girls to deal with minor injuries now, so that later they can deal with more serious ones if that happens to be the case. No one likes being injured but it tests your mental and physical strength. I know personally that I hate being injured more than anything and not being able to participate in basketball. I don't let injures stop me. No pain, no gain is always my motto.

CAL Rugby Lives On

What would you do if you knew you might lose something you loved to do? Some might cry, while others might have anger. Others would try to do everything in their power to stop it from happening. At CAL, some sports players didn't have an option. Some may lose everything they love due to some financial issues. Rugby being one of them. Rugby, in the past 30 years, has won 25 national titles and is the reigning national champion. So why would they cut such an excellent program? Not to mention that they are also scholar athletes. It is not easy to play at such a high level of sports and to keep good grades. But these young adults do it anyways. They have the drive and passion to be the best at whatever they do.

With all that, why was rugby demoted? “It started as a financial question,” Barbour told Berkeleyside, “but it became more than a financial decision.” Asked whether she was referring to Title IX, Barbour said: “It’s Title IX  and a range of other factors that came into it.”

Luckily, CAL's rugby team didn't get cut. I have a friend who is a freshman that plays rugby for CAL and I would hate to hear that he couldn't play. Plus a program that has so much success shouldn't be able to just get put up there to go down in the dumps. CAL has dominated at rugby and will for quite some time. Hopefully more sport cuts won't come up like this so they won't have to be worried about losing such a great program.

Play Day

Last Sunday I went to Treasure Island for a girls lacrosse "play day". There were tons of teams with a variety of ages. They only bad part was that it was pouring. We got their around eight in the morning and left around two in the afternoon. My day was filled with keeping score and the time. It was fun to watch these girls play considering it was some of their first times playing.

 The picture to the left shows me waiting in the pouring rain to start my day. It wasn't very fun being soaking wet but it was worth it. Lucky i had prepared and brought a rain jacket. I feel sort of bad for the girls that had to play in the rain because some of them slipped and fell into the mud. I would not have been a happy camper if I had slipped but the girls just got right back up and continued to play. It was fun to see the girls enjoy themselves all day, not caring whether they won or lost but rather that they got to play.

Also what was cool about that day was that after we got to see CAL play Sonoma State. These girls were much better than the little girls but that is obviously because they are much older. The game was fun to watch other than that it was a blow out. CAL won by over ten goals and it wasn't even fair to Sonoma. But Somona didn't care they kept playing hard and got even more excited than CAL when they scored. After all I would call it a pretty successful day and it was fun to get out and help the younger girls.

Mental Health Break

Marcel the Shell. I thought it was pretty cute.

Sport Cuts

This video is sort of old but still relates perfectly. You can see the different reactions in the student population on how the budget affects everyone. Yes, education should come first but it is fun to play sports. They should have taken away money from the football team and the basketball team like one of the people said to make it fair to other sports. I know from talking to friends that play college basketball that they get a ton of gear which wasn't paid by a penny out of their pockets. Maybe they could limit what they give players and save money for other sports to be able to play. It's still very sad to see these sports go. CAL is the only NCAA school without a baseball team in the near future. How could such a prestigious school not have a baseball team? It's just so unfair to me on how the decisions were made and how little they tried to save the schools. These student athletes must keep their heads high knowing that they have bright futures ahead. They know they can achieve whatever they want because sports has taught them to push their selves to the full potential that they know they have. The budget cuts are just a minor set back of what these athletes will achieve.

The Unknown People

Uncontacted Amazon Tribe: First ever aerial footage from Survival International on Vimeo.

In this video it shows a tribe in the Amazon that has never been found before. My environmental science teacher showed us this video because another teacher sent it to her. She didn't go into much detail other than they have been recently discovered so I watched it on my own and thought it was pretty interesting. They want to use this land in the Amazon for the timber and for farming. These people have never seen others that aren't like them. It is wrong for us to be invading on their territory that they have been living on for quite some time. The selfish reasons to go in their and kick them out isn't good enough to get rid of them like that. These people obviously have never seen an airplane let alone know what a cell phone is. I personally think that we should leave them alone and let them find out that there is a real world out there. It is kind of weird to think that these people don't know that there are more people out in the world because we have developed some much as people. You could tell that these people were scared of the airplane because they had only men out and they were holding their weapons. I hope that these people don't loose their land and everything turns out for the best for them.

Gas prices too high

Gas keeps rising and rising. No one is going to stop their day to day activities because of it. But what we really need is for them to stop. Not because of the prices but because of the environment. This very high rise in gas price should be a shift in everyone's mindset to go green. We need to invest more into gas efficient cars and even more into electric cars.

California's average gas price jumped 50 cents in the last month to hit $3.91 on Tuesday, according to an update from AAA of Northern California. That tops even Hawaii, which usually has America's priciest gas. The Aloha State currently pays $3.90 for regular.

As you can tell by the chart the prices are rising fast and who knows when they will stop. My guess is that these prices have raised 50 cents in the past month is due to the revolts in the Middle East. It's crazy to think that just because a couple nations are having political problems that they would affect us all the way over here. I don't want the prices to keep rising. If the prices of gas keep going up, I would second guess driving everywhere because it is just so expensive. I remember the days when I could get gas for under three dollars but now it's pushing four dollars its just ridiculous. Maybe the rise in gas prices will make people second guess how much they drive. It's unfair to the people that have to drive long trips everyday to work because they have no choice but to drive. Maybe this rise will promote green technology and a more environmentally positive outlook. We only have one world so lets trash the place.

Pro-Choice

Having the right to choose is one of the great things about being born in the United States. Other countries aren't as lucky and some people have no choice throughout their lives. One view of the Democratic party is that they are pro-choice, meaning they support the idea that the woman should have the right whether to have an abortion if she feels she needs to. I agree with this because some people aren't fit to have a baby. Most people getting abortions are likely to be young and not wealthy. Yes I do believe that everyone should have an equal opportunity to have a chance at life but sometimes it's just for the better. Young teens don't want the feelings of regret giving away a baby they spent nine months carrying. It would be very hard for that teen to live a normal life after having a baby, because they must spend every waking minute caring for it. Sometimes it's not reasonable for a young teen to have a baby so that's why I think pro-choice is a good thing.

Obama is pro-choice but he isn't pro-abortion. I agree with this totally. I'm not in favor of abortion but I am in favor of choice.

Yes, you must look at both sides of this issue. The interesting question about this debate is whether it should be in politics or not. Why should the government have control on whether you have an abortion or not? Isn't this a discussion between a male and a female? It's hard to say whether the government should have control on this issue, since it is such a big issue. I think if a girl wants to have an abortion, it is much better that she goes to the doctor and get it done right, rather than doing it themselves.

Where I stand

PoliticsMatch Your Political Philosophy The below is a way of thinking about your political philosophy by dividing your PoliticsMatch answers into "personal" and "economic" questions.  It is only a theory - please take it with a grain of salt! Personal Questions:  Liberals and libertarians agree in choosing the less-government answers, while conservatives and authoritarians agree in choosing the more-restrictions answers. Economic Questions:  Conservatives and libertarians agree in choosing the less-government answers, while liberals and authoritarians agree in choosing the more-restrictions answers.   Your Score You scored the following on the PoliticsMatch questions:
Personal Score	45%
Economic Score	35%

Where You Fit In Where your Personal score meets your Economic score on the grid below is your political philosophy.  Based on the above score, you are a Moderate Liberal Populist .

Republicans

One of the strengths of the Republican party is their ability to push parts of legislation that they agree totally with. One of their views, cut spending, is getting viewed more as the right way. Because of Obama's success, or lack of, republicans are viewing the option of cutting spending as the right choice.

The major weakness of the Republican party is how they are turning into extremists with their sub party, the Tea Party. People are getting turned off by all of the Tea Party views so more people are turning toward Democratic views. Even people in the center are turning toward the left because the right is becoming discombobulated. They see that in the right, the people are becoming less and less "one" and breaking off into Tea Party or not.

All of these issues are making the Republicans strong and weak at the same time. The reason they are strong is to fix the economy but they are weak in the sense that they have lost their identity. Their identity has changed into Tea Party extremists which isn't what every Republican stands for.

Democrats

The biggest strengths in my eyes of the Democrats is their view on abortion. I agree totally with the right that a woman has a choice whether to have an abortion or not. Yes, it is very sad that an innocent unborn baby will have its life cut very short, but I do believe that some people cannot handle a baby and it's life would be a lot worse. I believe that abortions should be rare and adoption is a much better option but I think if worse comes to worse the women should have a decision that she has thought through and wants to make.

Another strength I view of the democrats is their position of gay marriage. Obama doesn't exactly support gay marriage but he does support civil unions. I think they get a whole division of people following them just for their views on this topic.

Some weaknesses for the Democrats are that they seem to push bills that are unfavorable for the public. Also the public seems to be more for cutting taxes but Obama is increasing taxes and spending more to stimulate the economy. Obama is trying more and more to stimulate the economy by spending more which is seeming ineffective which is letting bills that deal with cuts pass more.

Hard to move on

They are probably all thinking; why us? Of all the schools, of all the teams that could be cut, why them? Well the truth is someone had to lose. And for Davis sports, the story was sad for some and brighter for others. Some teams got to live to see another season, other teams did not.

UC Davis decided to close four intercollegiate sports teams in trying to address an existing $1.4 million budget deficit and an additional $2.4 million fiscal hole for 2009 to 2010.

Money has always been an issue with everyone. But for money to be a problem at a collegiate level I just don't understand. These schools make tons of money off of their students that I don't see why it is so expensive to have sports. I understand all of the payments involved but still don't get it. It must be hard to know that your season this year will be your last and it must be harder to deal with the problem of what to do next. Some student athletes must face problems not being able to transfer schools to play. So for some, this is it.

Youth sports is preparing young kids to deal with these type of struggles. Youth sports teaches kids that not everything will go as the way you planned. No matter how hard you practice, you still might not win. But youth sports is teaching kids to go 100% on everything so that they have a  chance to win. Also sports is teaching kids to have fun. Everyone wants to have fun so why not try and use your talents as a way to fulfill that goal?

What now?

What do they do now? They were just told that their future with Cal baseball is done, so why try? These kids have a passion and the need to succeed to prove everybody wrong. when faced with adversity some kids may not know what to do. Teaching kids at a young age that losing is a part of life, when faced with real life problems they will understand it better. These kids obviously don't want to be playing their last season as a Cal baseball player. It is very sad to know that these kids will now have to make a choice; either to find a new school to play at or quit their passion. No one would one want be the reason a young man has to loose everything he has worked for since he was in elementary school. It was probably just as hard on the staff to cut the sports as well on the team. This is truly a sad story.

Christmas without presents?

During winter break, my fellow teammates and I went to place where they collected Christmas presents for the less fortunate. There was a whole gymnasium filled with donations of new and slightly used items. There were tons of toys, clothes and miscellaneous items stacked up in huge barrels. It was ran by an organization that was using what looked like a church and Sunday school to help people in need during the holidays.

The picture to the right shows Sohraab and I helping out by sorting, organizing, and moving the toys. It was really fun to join together as a group and help out. I know I wouldn't enjoy Christmas as much if there wasn't a single present under the tree. It made me feel good inside to know what I was doing, was lighting up a kids day. Looking through the toys, even I wanted to play with them. I knew that these toys and clothes were going to make little kids Christmas wishes come true.

The other great thing about this event was that they were collecting food. They were collecting food so families could have a nice family dinner and not have to stress about coming up with the money to pay for it. It was nice to know that people still cared for other people. We need to have more organizations like this so people can help others. A lot of people are more well off than others so I think that those people should give back. Not everyone can be successful, it's hard to make a lot of money. But we can't as a race not help out the needy. It felt good knowing what we were doing was for a great cause. I am also glad to see that there were so many people there helping out. Every one could use a helping hand, and for that Christmas it was our hands.

You can't put a price on dreams

University of California was faced with tragic news when they learned they had to cut some sports teams. The final decision was that women's lacrosse, men's rugby, and women's gymnastics got to have the feeling that they would play another day. Other teams weren't as fortunate. Men's gymnastics and baseball were cut, sending all of its players into shock not knowing what to do next.

The reaction was as varied and muddled as the decision itself. The survivors are joyous. The losers are livid. And Cal's administration looks incompetent. How did we come to this?

It is very sad to think of all the people that lost their opportunity of their dreams because of money. those players could have had other options of schools to choose where they wouldn't have lost their chance of playing because of money. No young adult should face these tragedies for they are only doing what they've ever known; play. These student athletes deserve a lot of credit for fundraising and trying to save their only passion. If only their hard work was rewarded by saving their sport, the story would have been a lot better.

Teaching these young kids to be involved in a sport and be apart of something will  give them lessons throughout life. I pray that budget cuts won't affect high school sports or anymore college sports because for some kids that is all they have. I  wouldn't know what I would have done with out sports throughout my life. It has taught me tons of lessons so I think if we take away sports from kids, it will be a bleak future.

Sad story, hopefully a good ending

This video shows a strong man dealing with a difficult situation. These players were dealt a bad hand but they are playing it anyways. I really do hope that they do make it to the College World Series. It would be a great story, not just for baseball, but for people. It would inspire tons of people. Knowing that a bunch of teens could make it through the hardships and still come out on top would make a story heard round the world. Knowing that these kids have nothing left to play for why should they even play? Well it's beacuse they have a love for the game.

These players must have been playing for a long time. They might have learned these lessons as a young kid dealing with losing the game.They have been set up for dealing with these kind of bad breaks. Teaching these kids at a young age that life isn't always going to go the way as you planned is important for them to deal with the realization that nothing is prefect. That is why I feel that it is important to teach kids sports so they know how to deal with future problems that can occur throughout their lives