Lobbying Post: #2 {Chaka Fattah}

File:Chaka_Fattah_official_House_photo
File:Chaka_Fattah_official_House_photo
 I am a member of the 8th district in Philadelphia and I am represented by Congressman Chaka Fattah. Congressman Chaka Fattah attended Overbrook High School where he graduated from and then went on to the Community College of Philadelphia and then the University of Pennsylvania’s Fels Institute of Government where he later received his MGA in the year 1986. Fattah has been a member of the Pennsylvania HOR for 5 years and he has served as the State Senator for 6.

Congressman Chaka Fattah supports many things and has sponsored 6 Bills that all support a different thing but when looking through all of the things Chaka Fattah has supported I see that he is all about children and equality

When it comes to the topic of the electoral college Congressman Chaka Fattah was one of the co-supporters in the Bill H.J.RES.36: “Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to abolish the Electoral College and provide for the direct election of the President and Vice President by the popular vote of all citizens of the United States regardless of place of reside”

When it comes to things we have in common there isn’t much between Chaka Fattah and myself. We both went to schools in the Philadelphia School District, we share the same religion which is a Baptist Christian and we are both democrats that reside in the city of Philadelphia.

 Sources:

http://fattah.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=18

http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/bills.php?cycle=2012&cid=N00001746&type=I&spon_type=sponsor&cong=112

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaka_Fattah 
boys_and_girls
boys_and_girls

Life as a Slacker (Monologue)

                                                Life as a Slacker

 

     I am so tired. I have an English and History project to due by tomorrow morning. There is no way I am going to get all this work done in time. I don’t know how I have gone this whole year without doing enough work to be able to graduate. Hmmm, well, maybe, just maybe, I have just been slacking off a little bit. I haven’t been motivated to do any work.

    I want to be there, at graduation, not watching the other students, but being apart of it. I really do. It is 1:00 am and I haven’t completed any of the projects. I can’t go into school tomorrow without them if I want to move forward with my goals for life.

      I might as well get started. I could always just drop out of school, even though I want to get a high school diploma. Why don’t I just start? What is the English project again? Oh yeah, the paper about that book that we were reading in class. What is wrong with me? Just start.

      My eyelids are starting to get heavier and heavier. I don’t see these projects getting done any time soon. Let me just start to write, I am not sure whether what I am writing makes any sense but I am writing. The clock says 2:30. Whew, I just finished writing the English paper.

              Ahhhhh…..Drifting off…

   I see myself walking into school without my projects. I see other kids laughing at me, pointing at me. I see teachers asking me “why?” That’s when I hear yelling coming from outside of my door. I wake up and hear my mom yelling. “I know you’re still awake in there, your light is still on. Go to sleep!” I slowly lift up my head and hear my mom walking back down the stairs.

      I need to get back to work. I realize that in a couple of hours I am going to have to go to school and hand in my projects. Or what there is of my projects.

     How did it get to this point? Why do I have to do homework? I don’t quite see the reason for homework in general. What purpose could it possibly serve? Is it to make up for the lack of learning in the classroom? Is it that the school year is not long enough, or is it simply to keep us from having fun when we get home? Maybe it is none of the above; all I know is that it is something that I don’t enjoy. Argh, isn’t life supposed to be about enjoyment?  But, I really don’t want to go to summer school! Back to work!

      I can do this. Onto my history project. American history. How hard could that be? I am American after all. Hmmm. It’s supposed to be about World War 2. I know about that, my grandfather fought in that war. He told me all about it when I visited him in Florida. It was fascinating to hear his stories. I particularly remember the one where he flew a plane for 45 hours to avoid enemy territory. This is great. I could write about this forever because I love this subject. It is both fascinating and intriguing. It touches something deep inside of me. Wow, this is great.

    I will finish my projects. I will graduate. I will get my diploma. Hell, I might even go to college.

Monologue:

           

 Pursuit of loss

                   “Here they come! Everyone hide! The police is here!” They screamed while I was recollecting all the junk from the tables of that restaurant. “¡Virgen santísima!” I screamed. I remember myself hiding under the table I was cleaning. I tried to hide as much as possible. Silent, I saw people getting arrested by the police officers. They were screaming, crying, begging. “¡No me lleves! ¡No me quiero ir!”  Those people who wanted the ‘’American Dream’’ like me, begged. Poor fellows. They cautioned me about this. I knew this was going to happen. The police would come one day looking for the immigrants. But thank God I practiced a little bit what to do when that situation came, and at least it helped me. I did not get caught.

 

                     While waiting for the police to leave… I felt like all my dreams got broken in one minute. After that horrible moment, I realized I do not want to live another moment like this one ever again. This whole situation about hiding from the government it’s not as easy as it may seem. Now the confusion starts. I don’t know what to do. I remember I was born in the deserts of México, where my dad had to wake up every single morning, put his clothes on, and go to the farm to start working. After hours of hard work, he came home to eat some Tamales and that was it. Saw my family suffering from economical problems my entire life. They had to work every day for long hours to get some money to feed five kids for two days approximately. I remember when my mom gave me her food because it was not enough. Oh dad, I remember you coming home all sweaty, dirty, and tired. While other people in other places without working and without moving one finger, had more money and food than what we had in three weeks. I was the oldest of my other four siblings. Even though I do not have an education because my family never had the resources to send me to school, I consider myself more educated and smarter than a lot of people who attend school. That’s why I decided to move on and do something for my family. I remember that Saturday. When I packed all my things up and finally did it. Crossed the border from Mexico to United States without finding death. I guess I was so lucky no one caught me.

 

                  Now I am here, without anyone beside me. Trying to find myself in this unknown place. Seeing a lot of different people dressing up, talking and acting in a very weird way. Women dress up almost showing her body, and men decorate their bodies with piercings almost everywhere. The funniest thing is that no one seems like caring about that. “Where are you from?” some ask me. “¿Qué?” I answer. Then I realize they are speaking English. I do not know the language. How will I survive like this? I remember when I used to say: “Nothing will stop me. I will look for a job. That is how I will start. It will not be easy, but I will do it”. “Maybe I will have to hide from the police, but not for my entire life because I will become a citizen. Some people have come here and now they have money and the life they dreamed of. So I guess I will be pretty good…”

 

                    Who am I trying to fool? Right now I feel so lonely, sad, and depressed. When I remember those hard times at México, I get weaker instead of getting stronger. I miss my Mexican culture. I never thought living here would be like this. Here everything is just so different. I am not used to this. It’s hard surviving in here. I can’t communicate with anyone. This is not what I expected. Where is ‘’The American Dream’’ I was looking for? Where is the money I want? It was just a fantasy, rumors people say. What am I supposed to do now? Go back to México, or stay here? This is so confusing. They all say love is louder than pressure. But, is it louder than the pressure of trying to help your family with their economical problems? A pressure you had since you were a kid. Is it louder than having no food, clothes, or money?

 

                     It’s hard being in this situation right now. Where all you know is that your body is in Los Ángeles, California… but your heart is in a little farm at Zacatecas, México.

 

 

¿Por que mi primo? ¿POOOORRRRR QUUUEEEEEE???

- Sería muy enojado con mi primo y me enfrentaría con Susana.

 

- No haría decir nada a Susana, Yo no me gustaría Susana mucho.

 

- Diría a Pedro que él no necisita una chica muy mala como Susana y su primo es muy estupido.

 

- No sería ayudar. No es mi problema.

 

- No es mi problema. Recomendaría a buscar para una chica nueva y no hable con su primo o Susana.

 

- Yo, en su lugar sería más enojado con mi primo como Susana.

 

- Mataría los dos personas! 

Blog Post #3 - Lobbying

Research the Issue

Getting your start as a citizen lobbyist can be intimidating, despite the fact that in a representative government, our elected officials are working for you. There are many written and unwritten rules to be aware of, offices and staff to navigate, and complex policy issues to understand. It is no wonder that these barriers keep people from regularly engaging with public officials on decisions that affect their lives.

Empowering ourselves to make an impact on an issue can be one of the first, and largest, barriers. It's important that as citizen lobbyists, we redefine what it means to be an "expert" -- learning the status of the issues we care about and drawing on our own stories and experiences.

Yes, we need to know about the issue we are lobbying on. But we don't need to draw a paycheck working on the issue, or have a PhD, to have something worthwhile to say.

When starting the process of citizen lobbying on an issue, your group or organization should think about the following:

1. What is the status of your issue at the legislature? Is this a "good" year?

How many elected officials have indicated support for your issue? Is there public support behind it, with good media attention? Who are your opponents, and how much power do they have? Has a policy been written to address your issue, or do you need to work with an elected official to write one?
2. Who is essential to the outcome?

Who are the stakeholders in this issue? Who are the allies you need to have on board because they increase the power you have to move the issue? Which decision-makers do you need to move (committee chairs, legislation sponsors, etc)?

3. Who else is working on this? Can you coordinate?

4. Who can you influence?

5. What is the time frame?

6. When are key dates - meetings, committee hearings, deadlines, etc.

Lobbying Post #2: Anna C. Verna


VernaLG

I live in the 2nd District and it is represented by Anna C. Verna. Anna Verna made history in 1999, she was the first woman to achieve council presidency in philadelphia's 300 years history. Verna was born on April 15, 1931. She joined City Council in 1975. She represents the 2nd district which covers most of South Philadelphia and western end of Center City. Verna has been a strong supporter of the tax reform and has fought for affordable housing in various parts of her district. From 1991-1998 she was the Chair of the Finance Committee, She was trying to restore fiscal stability when philadelphia was on a edge to bankruptcy. Not only she was a great supporter in the tax reform but she also fought crime. President Verna successfully fought for 6 billion dollars in funding in the city's operating budget for an additional 100 police officers and has been a strong supporter of curfew center.  President Verna has made the renovation of housing stock in neighborhoods and affordable housing a top priority. She has worked with many community-based organizations to build hundreds of affordable homes throughout the Second Council District and was honored by the Pennsylvania Association of Non-Profit Homes for the Aging as their statewide “Public Official of the Year” for her work in providing affordable housing for senior citizens.


VernaLG
VernaLG

The Good Friends : Promo

The Good Friends have created their second promo video. Watch to find out what the show is going to be about and when the first episode will air. Don't forget to check out our Twitter at @TheGoodFriends and to e-mail us for more information. 

Science & Society: Food Project

Recipe for Humus​

     Description:
          Humus is a kind of dip for pita bread, it's pretty bitter, although can be made to taste more like garlic depending on how much you add.

     Ingredients:
          1 can of chick peas,
          1/4 of a jar of tahini (essentially sesame seed oil),
          1 cup of lemon juice,
          1 teaspoon of garlic,
          1/2 teaspoon of salt & pepper,
          & Pita Bread

     Instructions:
          Optional) Prep chick peas, you can buy them pre-prepped however this is unnecessary.
          1) Pour all the ingredients into a blender.
          2) Blend until humus is the texture you want (normally creamy with clumps in it).
          3) Taste and add more garlic, salt, pepper, or lemon juice at your discretion.

     Conclusion & Analysis:
          Humus is really very cheap an quick dip to make. It's not really a full meal but goes well with pita bread or other Arab dips, like tableau or  baba ghanoush. It's also quite healthy, not so much in having a lot of nutrition it's really too simple for that, but in the fact that it has (or if you make it yourself has) virtually no calories even in bulk. I can't really recommend it with other foods that aren't themselves Arab because the flavor is a little exotic. Even if your used to American humus, you probably won't recognize this humus because it's bitter, and lacks the excessive garlic most American humus uses. The authentic humus definitely an acquired taste.

AG Bill-Law BM Q1

Click here for my awesome benchmark!

Reflection
I chose this bill because I saw that it was passed very quickly and I thought that it would make for an interesting topic but I also saw that it had a then and now focus because it was made into a law in 1996 but Obama brought it up during his presidency to discuss and argue about. I chose the particular presentation format of a wiki because I was familiar on how to work it and how to make it click out to different pages when the hyperlink was clicked. In wiki I chose a notebook format because I thought it would be ironic with a laptop school and an online project in a "notebook." Some of the challenges for this project was time management and internal destruction. I was so over whelmed with the first quarter and not getting all my benchmarks at the same time, that my planning for doing the benchmark was way off my original plan. My internal destruction was myself telling me it had to be better so do not turn it in yet and my forgetfulness in that the project flew out of my mind. If I were to do this project again I would defiantly make the poem longer and put it on a different site where instead of entire pages dedicated to a couple explanatory sentences I could have little blocks like the comment stickie on googledocs pop up. My research told me that getting a bill to become law can go either way in getting there fast or slow and it all depends on the biase of the Congress people. I can not say that the research was hard but at the same time I can not say that it was easy, somewhere in between is where I stand.

US Vs. Jones

​Jason Davis

Court Case

11/8


US. Vs Jones argues whether the use of a GPS tracking device without a warrant on a respondents vehicle to monitor it's movements is constitutional. The amendment argued in this case is the 4th.The FBI placed a GPS device on a suspect's car -- a Jeep belonging to D.C. nightclub owner Antoine Jones -- and used it to track the car for a month, without a warrant. (In fact, a federal judge had authorized the use of the GPS device, but the device wasn't installed until a day after the warrant expired.)

The placement of the GPS e system is the result of an ongoing case dating back to 2008, where Jones was convicted to life in prison for conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine and 50 or more grams of cocaine base.The D.C. court of appeals then overturned the ruling, saying that it violated his 4th amendment rights. The case is now being argued in the supreme court because the D.C. courts claim Jones had no fourth amendment rights after being convicted. 


On Tuesday November 8th, the case was argued in front of the Supreme Court. Midway through the case, Justice John G Roberts stated that such a right may exist, which may trump the fact that it was in public. In this case, the latest in a continuing series in which the Court examines potential constitutional limits on police use of new technology, the federal government is relying very heavily upon the fact that the GPS technology it wants to use is carried out only when the cars or trucks to which such a device is attached are going from place to place on public streets or highways.


Lebron James



Su nombre es Lebron James. El Es de Cleveland pero vive en Miami. El Es deportista y alt@. El Es tambien trabajador[a]. El Le encanta practicar deportes y trabajar. El Le encanta tambien correr y bailar. El No le gusta nada leer y dibujar.
13090139450
13090139450

Lobbying #2: District 10, Brian J. O'Neill



In my district, Councilman Brian O'Neill represents me and my district (district 10). My legislator hasn't voted in the past because it has not come up yet. 

Brian O'Neill is a Republican Council man who represents the 10th, and only the 10th district of Philadelphia. He was born on December 23, 1949 (making him 62 years old). O'Neill acquainted the "Philadelphia blunt ban," which bans any item that suggest the seller to be doing drugs. This bill (No. 060345) was "adopted and signed by the mayor." This bill included the ban of feather hair clips, which could be used to hold a roach (the small end of a blunt) to smoke marijuanna from. He's been serving since 1980. 

O'Neill went  to Saint Joe's University and graduated from Widener University School of Law. Brian was very much interested in Politics and he is a Chairman of the Board of The Public Technology Institute . He is also chairs the Northeast Airport Advisory Council. He's very much involved within his district and makes sure that things are going over smoothly. 

Martinez v. Ryan

My SCOTUSblog case was Martinez v. Ryan case. Some background information on this case is that Martinez is serving 2 consecutive sentences for having sex with a person under the age of 15. Martinez filed for a direct appeal with the help of a state appointed counsel. But the Arizona Supreme Court denied him.
The question is if the the prisoners have the right to argue that their lawyers were inadequate during post-conviction proceedings, does the the defendant have a right to appointed counsel during that proceeding? Or in other words he has a right to an effective assistance of post-conviction counsel in raising his ineffective-assistance-of-trial-counsel claim. Martinez knows he has this right so he is trying to get an appeal so that things may be reconsidered. Arizona is arguing the whole right to counsel or lack there of as an opinion and that recognition should have been made prior to of the fact that the counsel was ineffective. In my opinion I don't think they will rule in his favor because it seems as though their mind is already made up. But I think that they will at least consider the constitution but still decide against it and go with the state's rules. This case is still pending. 

reflection

https://sites.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/don-t-have-a-cow-vote-by-mail/home 

my part: https://sites.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/don-t-have-a-cow-vote-by-mail/deliverables 

  • How did you group go about making a decision for what to focus on for the project?
    My group & I made the decision to focus on main in voting. We decided that that was the best option to get more people to vote.
  • 11th grade Essential ? - What is the role of the individual in creating and sustaining change? 
    to make others change you have to show that your willing to. you have to show that change is possible to make change

  • How has your understanding of the electoral process and whether or not the US is a democracy evolved during this unit?
    i went from not really caring at all and knowing the bare minimum to now understanding how it functions and the major flaws in our voting system big one being the number of people that vote
  • How did you decide to best relay a message to a national audience with your marketing campaign?
    we tried relating to the audience and tried to show that we understood that they have lives. we had nice and relaxing ads to show we care about their comfort

Lobbying: A Lower Legal Drinking Age

I am lobbying for the legal drinking age to be lowered. There have been a lot of arguments over the course of the years whether the legal drinking age should be lowered or not. Government and politicians have debated about this many times before. 
My motivation is reading on Facebook so many of the kids in my neighborhood's statuses about going out to kegs in the woods, at the "Halloween Spot," which is basically an area on the train tracks behind the local cemetery. I feel as if the legal drinking age was lowered, the teens in my neighborhood wouldn't go out and drink in dangerous places because they needed to hide from adults and police. They could drink in the safety of a friend's house or even at their own, where there could be much less a risk of getting physically hurt. If the drinking age was lowered, adults would be able to moderate their teen's drinking, if they were to drink, so they wouldn't over do it and wind up harming their selves.  
One of the main supporters of my lobbying idea is John McCardell, who is the Vice Chancellor of the University of the South in Tennessee. Minnesota politicians also want to lower the drinking age to 18 rather than 21 because it'll "stimulate" the economy by allowing the law enforcement resources to be used somewhere more useful rather than trying to wrangle teens who drink.

The main opponents within the drinking age debate are:
- teens
- parents
- politicians
- police 
- alcohol distrubuters

Currently there isn't any pending legislation. I would like to see the drinking age to be lowered proposed. I think that it would change a lot for our country, especially those who go out and get hurt by drinking in dangerous places just to hide from the authorities and parents. 
Drinking can be a harmless thing, but when it's taken out of control, that's when people need to worry. There is a lot of comments on how people should be able to drink if they are able to serve in the war. One woman stated, "It's outrages that a member of our military can be subjected to the horrors of the war, but can't legally have a beer or smoke a cigarette. Any soldier who braves military combat and risks their life for our country should be treated like an adult -- in every sense of the word." 

Perry V. New Hampshire

handcuffs
handcuffs
The Supreme Case I was assigned was Perry V. New Hampshire

The situation behind this case is that in an apartment building there was a hijacker that had been robbing cars for a while and one night an elderly woman looked outside of her window and saw a black man standing between cars talking to a police officer in the parking lot. The elderly woman, when questioned told police that he had been the man breaking into cars at night, when the elderly woman was asked to identify the man from an array of photos she could not do so and the only problem the Court agreed to look over was whether or not the absence of any police manipulation of that witness was reliable enough to bring before the jury to be used against the conviction of Barion Perry. 

The constitutional question in plain English  is “In a case should a court be required to exclude eyewitness identification evidence whenever the identification was made under circumstances that make the identification unreliable?”

            The Constitutional Provision involved in my case is The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Which states that “No State shall ... deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” U.S. CONST. amend. XIV, § 1.

The Fourteenth Amendment is applicable to unreliable eyewitness identifications regardless of whether the identification was orchestrated by the police.

After the case was argued The Supreme Court decided that it wasn’t their job or place to decide whether or not the evidence in the case should be used and that the decision of permissible evidence would be left up to the jury. The conviction of Barion Perry still hasn’t been decided mainly because of the evidence debate. 

I’m not to sure how to predict the outcome of this case because it could go in either direction. I personally don’t believe this evidence should

Be used against Perry because I feel like the evidence is unreliable. The witness didn’t see Perry take anything and she was not able to identify him when she was asked. The conclusion of this case is strictly dependant upon the jury so at this point and time this could end either way.

Diario

Si yo estuviera en la situación, yo estuviera muy furioso. Yo tendría a ser muy fuerte con mi voz. Yo tendría hablar algo a Susan porque ella dijo que se casaría me. Yo sería muy furioso con Peter porque él es mi primo, y yo creo nosotros familia. Yo no sería ayudo la situación, yo haría la situación peor. Yo, en su lugar yo creo que yo sería haría nada. Yo sería muy deprimido, y no podía enfrente ellos. 

Jason Best Life

Se llamo Jason Best.Tiene viénta años. Es de Houston.pero vivo Hawaii.Jason es muy alto y flaco. Jason es muy inteligente y comico. Jason le encanta comer y hablar. Jason es muy bueno en el futobol. Jason no me gusta nadar y futbol amerciano.
South Park Avatar Wallpaper1280x960
South Park Avatar Wallpaper1280x960

​Diario 15: ¡Ay dios Susana que as echo!

Si yo estuviera en esta situación en realmente le diría a Pedro que paso entre Susana y su PRIMO.Ademas le mandaria una foto para que el mismo viera con sus propios ojos.No...no le diría nada a Susana después de lo que iso. Yo nunca quiero saber de ella por que destrozo el corazon de Pedro, Pedro no necesitaba este typo de conflicto en su vida.¡Pobrecito!

Después que yo llegaría a mi casa llamaría a Pedro y le contaria todo lo que paso. Si claro y absolutamente ayudaria a Pedro con este conflicto.Tambien le recomendaria a Pedro que nunca se ponga triste o disgustado por que solo es UNA chica insincera. Ay varias chicas en este mundo que arian Pedro muy feliz.Si viera la novia de mi mejor amigo besando a su primo iria lo mismo que ise con ambos Pedro y Susana.

 

estefan

​1) yo estaba en la situation que si la novia de mi amigo estaba besado a su prio yo le tomaria una foto de ella en las manos en la masa porque así si ella dice que no estaba besado a su primo tengo evidencia que si. 

2)yo no le diria algo que pero quando estoy hablando con ella yo tendría a pedro en speaker y aci el puedo oir lo que le estoy diciendo a su novia. 

3) yo le diria perdón amigo pero vi a tu novia besando a tu primo hay mas mujeres que son mejores que ella que realmente te amaran 

4) yo trataria de consolar lo haci se puede sentir mejor.

5) yo le recomendaria que se encontrara otra novia que realmete lo ame. 

6) si yo estaba en su lugar yo romperia con ella porque ella realmente no me ama. 

7) yo le diria a mi mejor amigo pero en una manera donde el no se enoja con migo por decirle y mostrarle  una photo.