1st Period mr. Daly's Government

2006-01-19T07:19:00.000-08:00

VA Gay Marriage Ban.
I think that the impending ban on gay marriage and acknowledging same-sex marriages and civil unions is absolutely insane. It's pointless! Everyone has the right to love whomever they want.. that should definitely fall under the "Pursuit of happiness." It's dissappointing to me that they're blocking people from being able to have the same rights as their heterosexual peers.
This quote, from my Daily Press link, makes me sick:"Some have asked whether or not the people who love each other and are committed to each other should have marriage," said Sen. Stephen Newman, R-Lynchburg, the sponsor of both measures. "We of course understand that individuals love each other, care for each other ... they even have commitments to each other--but they don't rise to the level of commitment of marriage." How can someone's sexuality dictate how much they can commit to another person? Just because the person they want to commit to is of the same gender, that doesn't mean they can't be as committed to each other as a man to a woman. In some cases, they're more so, because dating in the gay community tends to be more difficult. (It's easier for a guy to hit on a girl than a guy to hit on another guy. If a gay guy hits on a straight guy, he's dead meat. If a straight guy hits on a girl, she might do a bit of damage to his "family jewels" but he won't be going home bruised up.)
Everyone deserves to be able to commit to the one they love not only through loving each other, but also through the eyes of the law.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/13/AR2006011301785.html?sub=new

http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/virginia/dp-va--xgr-gaymarriage0117jan17,1,6431954.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

2005-12-01T05:55:00.001-08:00

I think that Bush's new immagrant's policy is a pretty good idea. There are a LOT of illegal laborers in this country, many of whom take jobs that actual American citizens could have. Although most of the illegal immigrants come here because there's a better chance for them in this country, and they usually have families back home in Mexico that they're trying to support, hopefully the increase in green cards that Bush is proposing will in itself cut back on illegal immigration, and some of the measures Bush proposes to increase security won't have to be put into action, so our tax dollars can go to something that most Americans will see as more worthwhile.

2005-11-17T05:54:00.000-08:00

I think that the torture of detainees is wrong in any context. No one should have to go through torture, and then in some cases, not even see a real trial. I think that there should be an investigation into some of these prisons to see how big a percentage there really is of detainees who have beden aquitted, and yet are still in these high-security prisons, against their will, thousands of miles from their loved ones.

2005-10-10T06:37:00.000-07:00

Personally, I usually support the democratic ticket, so I'm fairly biased towards Kaine. I haven't seen the debates yet. From what I've read thus far, it sounds like Kilgore did a fair bit of mudslinging, but I also have to wonder if we really want a governor who can't think of any more eloquent phrasing than "Make stuff up." Kaine sounds like he's really just a different face for Gov. Warner's beliefs. Although it makes me nervous he's pro-life, I don't think he'll outlaw abortion. Since a lot of my friends are bi or gay, it makes me happy that Kaine wants to expand homosexual rights.
Ultimately, I think I would vote for Kaine if I could vote in this election, lack of eloquence or not.

2005-09-08T07:22:00.000-07:00

I think that the response to Katrina has been very poor. More was done to help the survivors of the tsunami in December of last year than is being done currently for the people who were affected by the hurricane. My friend's parents had no choice but to wait it out in New Orleans, because they don't have a car, and couldn't evacuate. It's been over a week now, and she's starting to assume that they're dead. If the government had made an effort to help people evacuate, she wouldn't be in this situation. We knew it was coming, we knew New Orleans was going to get messed up, so why wasn't there an effort made BEFORE katrina hit?

2005-09-06T07:31:00.000-07:00

Gas Prices Webquest
Alicia Dolmetsch
Miles Tyson
Mr. Daly
9/2/05

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?
The Gulf Coast has a major portion of America’s oil refinery, and the ports of Louisiana import a large percentage of foreign crude oil. The increase in gas prices was caused by the major pipelines connecting Louisiana to the rest of the country were shut down because of hurricane Katrina. This increase is causing a rise in gas prices and a shortage in many states along the Gulf Coast. But this could encourage greater fuel efficiency, and science may put more effort into hybrid cars. To control costs, Bush has released our oil reserves.
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.
US Avg- 3.064 VA Avg- 3.221 Maine Avg- 3.343 TN Avg- 3.042 NV Avg- 3.111 OR Avg-2.933 CA Avg- 3.076 IL Avg- 3.086 NY Avg- 3.393 GA Avg- 2.938 LA Avg- 2.704
The low prices on the west coast are explainable, they mostly most likely don’t rely on the Louisiana ports for their gas and oil. The high prices in the New England and Mid-Alantic regions are a domino effect reaction to the drop in available gas. The inexplicable average is that of the southeastern and Gulf Coast regions, which are lower than the national average, and all we’ve heard is how incredibly high the prices are there (up to over 6.00 a gallon!)

3. Describe the changes in gasoline prices in the last fifty years.

In 1980, the price of gas was at its highest (with the excpetion of the present). In 1950 though, the price was exceptionally high in comparison to other prices at that point in time. The average price of gas in 2002 seems amazingly cheap, it’s hard to believe we (as a country, that is, considering most of us in this classroom weren’t driving at that point.) were paying so little.
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 US is in the middle with 3.047/gallon of regular unleaded gasoline. Europe (highly developed) seems to have the highest prices, while Africa and other developing areas seem to have the lowest prices.

2005-08-30T09:40:00.000-07:00

Maureen Dowd's article about Bush's vacationing ticked me off!!!

He's busy relaxing and "hangin' loose" while our soldiers are still fighting in Iraq (I didn't agree with this so-called war in the first place, and now that my friend's brother is over there, I despise this "war" even more.) I hate that the president is supposed to be a representative of the people, and yet he's far from the average American.

I'm surprised that more anti-Bush journalists haven't caught onto his obsession with weight and exercise. It could definitely add more fuel to the fire.

But honestly, Bush's vacation is getting a little out of hand. I could understand taking a week or two to rest and then get back to the oval office, but how can you really lead a country from a resort?! Then again.. maybe it's better that he stay away... unless he plans to bring our soldiers home.

2005-08-30T06:54:00.000-07:00

test

2005-08-28T19:51:00.000-07:00

Foreign languages no longer just for big kids
I think that this is a great opportunity for kids. I started taking foreign language courses (one in Spanish and one in German) when I was in third grade and continued them until I moved to Charlottesville in 8th grade, where those types of courses weren't offered, so I've had to start all over.
But it's given me a great interest in learning languages, and it makes it easier for me to pick other languages up, because I started hearing other languages besides English at an early age.
It's great more schools in America have picked up on this. My cousins in Austria and Switzerland, who are close to my age, a few younger, a few older, are all fluent in German, French, English, and (in the case of my cousins in Switzerland) Italian. To make American children think English is all they'll ever need is a joke, and starting early will help them learn quicker when they get to highschool and college level language courses.

2005-08-25T10:16:00.000-07:00

Okay, this is my blog. Yay.