Europe's view on Obama

French President Sarkozy said the election was “brilliant!” In the article, “Europe leaders hail Obama victory” we see how Europe is excited for the next president. These are the main thoughts throughout all of Europe. This historic election brings optimism for the future in Europe’s main leaders. Many countries such as Germany, Britain, and Russia say that they can’t wait until they get to work together. This is great to see optimism from other countries after any election and I truly believe that it sets a positive relationship for the future. They will try to tackle issues on the economy and major global issues happening around us.

One of the biggest issues is the war. Whatever he decides they will still support him through all the international goodwill says Kevin Connolly of BBC World News. So whatever happens with Obama in office we all should support him and hope the best for him whether you like him or not.

Period 1: LEINS, ZACH: Letters Project

On November 4, 2008, voters in the U.S. will elect a new president, as well as 470 members of Congress. Whichever candidates are elected, they will face an array of pressing issues at home and abroad, all demanding attention and action. Where do we start? Voters can express their priorities in the voting booth—but young people also deserve to be heard. It’s your future too. What do you believe is the most urgent issue for the new President to tackle? What would you say to the candidates for the 470 seats open in Congress? What would you want the voting public to think about as they go to the polls? Your letter will be published for the candidates and the voting public to read. Can you convince them of the importance of the issue you care about? Can you move them to action on November 4…and after?

This is your template for writing the letter or persuasive essay you will be submitting to Letters to the Next President: Writing Our Future. Please complete all the areas in white. You may complete these sections in any order, and you may change or edit the information at any time up to the point where you submit your letter or essay. The information entered will be displayed on the Writing Our Future website to help readers find your essay and become interested in reading it.   Information needed for the website before you submit your persuasive piece: Title or headline: Readers are attracted by sharp, focused titles -- like newspaper headlines. Give your piece a short, attention-getting title that conveys your main point. The Economic Crisis Keywords: Choose up to three keywords for your piece to help readers find your piece by topic. Write your words here, separated by commas. Economic Crisis Summary lead: As readers scan the website, they will get the main idea of your piece from the summary lead.  Write a lead of no more than 75 words to summarize your main point and catch your readers' interest. Do you want to go through a Great Depression? We must save our economy so this doesn't happen.       Writer's name or pen name: Your piece will be published under your first name and last initial, or you can use a pen name.  What first name and last initial will you use? Zach L Instructions for composing your persuasive piece: Please use the white space below to respond to the Letters to the Next President: Writing Our Future prompt. You do not need to repeat the title and name that you have entered in the table above. You also do not need to begin with a greeting such as "Dear Future President" or sign your name at the end. Simply begin with the first sentence of the body of the letter and continue to the end, double-spacing between paragraphs. There is no minimum or maximum length. As you compose your piece, remember that you can edit, change, and correct your letter until it is ready for publication and your teacher submits it. You can invite other students or adults to read your draft and to collaborate with you or give you advice about your draft. You can also use the editing tools to help you with final editing including spell-check.

[Compose your piece in this space]

  As we all know this economy hasn’t been the best and continues to decrease as we speak. This is from the stock market, housing market and in consumer products. If we don’t do something very soon we could have another stock market crash and that would be an economic disaster. Fear and worry would devastate every home more than it already has. The entire country would fall apart with little money to defend itself, buy food and so many more essentials.

 

  Gasoline prices have continued to escalate. My grandpa tells me of a time when gas was only a dime a gallon. That is now the impossible. Not only do gas prices kill the economy, it kills our planet too. It emits poisonous gases into the air. From talks about the ozone disappearing to the polar ice caps melting we all must take it into account that we must do something like finding alternate energy and recycling to help prevent this. This could be as easy as driving less, or using alternate sources for energy like wind, water or solar. If ozone damage continues or the ice caps continue to melt it will be a natural disaster that could change the way we live forever. The UV rays from the sun would destroy our skin and if a lot of water dumps into the ocean it will mess up the balance of water. If we don’t act now, who knows what will happen to this planet.

 

  The housing crisis is another thing that really hurts our people. My grandparent’s old house has been on the market for almost two years. This is very serious because sales of homes have dropped a dramatic 40% in the last decade. Homes are also increasing in value, which makes it harder to buy them too. With bad investments we have really hurt ourselves by going into bankruptcy and foreclosure. Soon, trying to sell a home at actual value will be out of the question because no one can afford it. Hopefully, you can turn this around by helping the people, making a plan, or anything that could save our real estate market.

 

  College tuition's have increased so much that the amount paid by loans increased by 24%. Everyone knows that everyone that gets out of college is in a lot of debt and to try to pay back the loans is very hard. The average school tuition has increased by an average of $10,000 in ten years. College’s should lower tuition rates and quit spending so much to help the average student be able to go, have a good time and not worry so much about their bills. Students just can’t spend that much and go for all four years to graduate when money is getting scarce and cost is rising.

 

  Truly, we all must do something to save this economy. Every single person counts in this world no matter who you are or where you come from. It will not be an easy task to do this with all that is happening from the stock market’s enormous drops to the housing crisis. Yet, with time, effort and a good plan we can make this economy better than ever. 

Does Technology Limit Our Life?

Do you think technology is drawing people apart? In the article, “Hi-tech Brings Families together” it explains how people use cell phones, texting and emailing to keep in contact. It is true that it keeps people in contact much easier, but, some people do go overboard. This reminds me of my sister who did four thousand text messages in one month and it was a one hundred dollar fee. So now we have unlimited texting to make sure it won’t happen again. Now days 58% of people have two computers in their homes when just 50 years ago it was only the colleges and big companies that owned computers.

New technology is good because studies show that it has increased long distance family contact by almost 50%. Also it was found out that 25% spend less time watching TV because of the new technology. This is probably because they’re spending more time on the phone or computer. There are many arguments going both ways that are both true. It does keep us in contact more but also limits our social life with family and friends. Either way, technology has and will continue to affect the world we live in forever.

Keep Your Eye on the Camera

These days you are always being watched. In the article, “More of city to fall under camera eye” we see how Denver is using money from the DNC to buy and install 50 new high-tech cameras around the city. Just think how many times your face has been caught on camera on an average day. When you walk into school, go into a store or drive through a traffic light. Wow! That’s a lot of times your on camera. Though, this technology is not just there for any reason. It’s there to protect you from crime that could likely happen to try to make the city a safer place.

It has been a key roll in many court cases around the country. This is like when they where trying to defend a guy of doing a drug deal but they had caught him on camera actually doing it. Cased closed. The cameras could also be used to show burglary, robbery, attack or anything that would ever happen there. Some argue that it is an invasion of privacy because you are being watched so much in today’s world. There is a strong case to back that up but when you argue that the crime rate fell almost 20% in areas that had cameras it is undeniable of its effect to make us safer. Even though it is kind of annoying to be watched so much we all benefit from it. Remember to smile for the camera!

Literaracy Changes

Looking at literacy 50 years ago it would be able to read; but now it is not only that but also being able to use technology too. If you want to be an average twenty-first century person you should know how to use a computer. In the article "Shifting" Toward a New Literacy Mr. Fisch explains how in today’s world it is essential to know how to type, use the Internet and so much more for everyday things like school and work. Literacy has not changed but expanded through the growth of technology. The biggest thing that has changed is the introduction of computers that now our world would not work without them.

This effects our generation of youth by so much from the new learning tools, new computers and more. The stuff we are learning today is ever changing and we need to know how to use all the tools to make our generation successful. People 50 or 100 years ago could have never dreamed of what the world is like today. That is why we need to know how to use these essential literary techniques.

Cell Phones Reading?

Having a cell phone read, tell the difference of money and cheers when others cheers just sounds silly. Hold that thought in the article Cell Phones That Read; Nokia has already invented a cell phone that does that. It is in its early stages and is pricey now but it can soon be as common as a phone taking a picture. It’s almost implausible but people are excited about all this brand new artificial intelligence. The world has changed so much in the past 100 years it is miraculous.

Just think we were amazed to be in the air and now we have people going to the moon and staying at space stations. The world today is changing so rapidly the stuff that astounds us today will soon be yesterday’s toys. This phone is just another step in improving our technology because as Mr. Fisch says computers, phones, and iPods double in many ways (except size) every two years. This has no huge effect on the world but hey it sounds interesting.

FISA Protects America

The Article 1, by Mr. Fisch, explains how the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) protects the United States by getting names of suspected terrorist and tracking their where abouts. It does this by doing a background check without taking away personal rights of the citizen. I think this is a good act because after 911 we have to be very cautious about our safety. It was already proven that this protects America. I do believe all precautions must be taken when it comes to terrorism. Who knows how many terrorist threats have been ceased due to this act. We should feel a lot safer now thanks to “FISA”.

Could this be a cure for cancer?

The article Gene tests 'create undue stress' says that looking at and scanning genes may help lead us to seeing if you have a higher risk to get serious diseases such as cancer, diabetes or heart disease. Some scientists agree with the idea while others like Professor Samani don’t think there is any use for it at the moment. He says there is no real value in it at the moment, causes undue stress and it causes people to think they are safe (if they are in the lower risk level). I think this is a good idea because they are trying to find a way to detect very deadly diseases early so they can treat you before you get really sick. I would probably do the test if they offered it to me.
This could help the world in the near future because if you were able to scan and see if there was anything wrong you could get rid of it before the major sickness kicks in. Imagine how many lives could be saved from this treatment. This could be a cure for countless diseases. In my opinion, it’s worth a try.

Zach's PLN on "Whose Language?"

After reading the article, "Whose Language?", by Michael Skapinker, I realized that English is not just stereotyped with the United States of America but the language is growing more and more around the world.The article explained how the English language is ever changing from how we talk, to who speaks it around the world and how it is growing. This affects the world around me a lot because if many more countries were adopting the language then it would make it much easier for all of us that speak English. This could help travelers, incoming immigrants and many more. In the article it states about one in five people around the world can talk basic English and in ten to twenty years it is estimated it could change to one and three people.

This reminds me about Mr. Fisch’s presentation on shift. He mentioned that China would soon be the world’s most English speaking country in the world. That is pretty shocking on how a country other than the United States of America could be the largest speaking English country. I don’t think anyone expected the answer was China in the presentation. This article really shows that shift does happen like Mr. Fisch said.