Marbury vs. Madison

Marbury v. Madison v. Ashcroft

By ANTHONY LEWIS
Published: February 24, 2003

This article explains how after 200 years Americans are so used to judges having the last word that alternatives seem out of the question. It describes how we rely on the courts to enforce what the Constitution promises us. Anthony Lewis talks about how during World War II a security threat was admitted to the government and supreme courts and was denied. He also talks about how "The war on terrorism is an especially dangerous occasion for judges to close their eyes to violations of our rights."

The Marbury vs. Madison case is a landmark case in the U.S law. The case was between William Marbury v. James Madison. In 1800, John Adams was President and there was an election that year. Thomas Jefferson, who belonged to another political party, got elected. There were many positions in the government that were still empty. President Adams appointed 58 new people to office and James Madison, the Secretary of State, was asked to deliver paperwork to these new people so they could start there jobs but Thomas Jefferson told Madison not to deliver the papers to some of the people Adams had appointed and William Marbury was one of them. He then sued James Madison and tried to get the Supreme Court to issue a "writ of mandamus" which his case was then denied.

I personally think that the supreme court shouldn't reject peoples cases if its for a right reason. After this case I and allot of other people probably wonder if the supreme court can just reject cases, what will happen if they reject important cases that involve economical emergencies? like with current wars? That could stir up problems that will only make us go down hill from there on.

Blog Reflectionnn

1. What are you most proud of on your blog? Why?
The one thing that I'm most proud of would be my design on my blog. At first i just had a pink cheesy layout that didn't look professional at all and wasn't very interesting to look at. I then decided that if people were going to view my blog I'd want it to look a little more professional and eye catching. As soon as i made the changes of renaming my headline, adding pictures and videos, and changing the layout my blog looked allot better. I'm proud of this because I'm not very good at graphic design but in this project i really pulled through and ended up with a nice looking blog i became proud of.

2. What would you like to improve on your blog? Why? How?

Some areas i feel i could improve on is getting interesting articles that hook people in easily. The current event articles i had used were semi interesting but i think i could have done better. An example of someone in our class that had really interesting articles was Amanda. I'm not quite sure where to get stories on a guy who eats a bunch of Big Mac everyday but i could have spent more time on finding articles that catch peoples eye and are more interesting. Maybe next time i could ask my classmates where they got their current events from so i could try the websites they used if i liked their stories.

4. How has blogging impacted your understanding of the US? the Media? Current Events? "Old" news (like the Constitution, Federalist Papers, etc.)?

Blogging has impacted my understanding of the U.S from me connecting current day world issues or topics and relating them to "Old News" or my personal opinions. Before this project i didn't know much that was happening around the world. I was never interested in the stock market for example but doing these blogs and reading articles about it got me interested because i have stocks of my own and i could connect what i learned through the blogs to personal matters. I feel like i know more about the presidential election then i had before and my knowledge of the U.S and today's current events has grown. Through these blogs i was able to summarize articles for a better understanding of the, make a class connection, and state my personal opinions and ask questions. All these things have helped me better my understanding of the U.S, media, and today's old and new news that will only continue me to have better learning experience.

Schools and Money Trees

On Obama: Why the Democratic Candidate Is Wrong to Blindly Throw Money Into Schools

Edited on Semptember 25, 2008 8:22 PM

By Lance T. Izumi
September 18, 2008

Barrack Obama recently released an ad attacking John McCain. The ad clearly said that the republican candidate (John McCain) would give “$200 billion more to special interests while taking money away from public schools.” Barrack Obama's education proposal said that $19 billion dollars would annually increase funding for charter schools and classroom technology. Clearly these two were attacking each other for spending more money on school technology and new charter schools.

Our class connection to this topic would be that we have been discussing these candidates and its really interesting how our school kind of relates to what they are attacking each other about. They are both basically saying that they want different schools so that kids can learn in a way that teaches them better by buying technology to do so. In the opposing case, given the numerous studies and reports over the years, giving 200 billions dollars is a risky task to do to somehow " lift up the sinking ship of public education".

Personally when i look at these billions of dollars being handed over to improve technology and uplift charter schools i don't think over doing the money is the best idea. The whole point of charter schools are to be different from the public school system and by just putting money in public schools to get new technology isn't going work. If they wanted to make public schools more like charter schools why don't they just change the curriculum in learning from the public schools to the public charter and use project based learning like we do? If hands on learning if what they are trying to get through to, do u really need 200 billion dollars to do so?

Advice to the Federal Government

Wall St. in Worst Loss Since ’01 Despite Reassurances by Bush

By STEPHEN LABATON
Published: September 15, 2008

On Monday morning the stock market crashed. The Dow Jones industrial average had dropped 504.48 points. The Lehem Brothers were about to go bankrupt and Merrill Lynch basically failed and was bought out by Bank of America. It was the biggest decline since Sept. 17, 2001 after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. “I know Americans are concerned about the adjustments that are taking place in our financial markets,”- George Bush

Our class connection would be that we studied federalist and anti federalist and what ended up happening to fix the situation was a federalist act. The federalist believed in government should take control, basically a strong government. What ended up happening to help save the companies from failing was the government stepped in a lended them money to help get back on track again or it would effect the economy.

In our class discussion i thought that the government should only help certain companies like bank and other important companies that really fuel the economy. My opinion was that the government should give them loans and then they get it back together and things are back to normal, they can pay it back. With lending them the loan they should only allow them to make safer decisions so something like this wouldn't happen again.

One Inspiring Icon

Beezie Madden - Show Jumping Gold Medal Olympian




This article is about my American icon Beezy Madden. Bezzy Madden is on the U.S Olympic show jumping team and has competed in Athens and Beijing. In 1989, she was named the United States Olympic Committee's (USOC) Female Equestrian Athlete of the Year. She was the first woman to pass the million dollar mark in show jumping earnings.

The class connects to this because i think that this project was the most interesting thing we studied all year. Our project consisted of a self portrait and an artist statement. After we all hung our pictures and writing pieces in the commons to display for open house.

I picked this to be the most interesting thing all year because i liked how we tied photography into it. Photography is one of my hobbies that i enjoy doing so that's what made this project really enjoyable.

Federalists or Not

Obama Pledges to Fix No Child Left Behind

by FOXNews.com

Tuesday, September 9, 200

Obama says he is going to fix the "No Child Left Behind Act". He said that if he is elected President, he will provide parents with more schools to which they can "send their children and design merit-based pay plans for teachers, a program reviled by unions but supported by Republican and some Democratic lawmakers."

The class connection is that we studied the Federalist and Anti-Federalists and the "No Child Left Behind Act" has alot to do with that. So by Obama being elected president and making change to this act, wouldn't the government be strong in this case and be taking over a problem? Wouldn't Obama be supporting the Federalists?

I think it would. The Federalists were a group of people who believed in a strong government. I think strong governments take charge in certain situations if there is a problem, or something needs to be changed. In this case its only for the better.

Bush vs. Thomas Paine

Woodward: Bush 'too often failed to lead' on Iraq, troop surge only 1 factor in violence drop


By Associated Press
9:54 PM CDT, September 4, 2008

The overall summary of a news article about a new book that came out which talks about why Bush isn't handing the war in Iraq very properly. They say that he is slow to react to the escalating violence in the country, But they say once Bush decided that thousands of additional troops were needed, he moved with focus and determination even though top military advisers resisted him.

The class connection to this article would be that the enlightenment has something to do with the "War on Terrorism". When 9/11 hit the u.s went into shock and what the government came up with was a war. Thomas Hobbes thought that people should rely on their strengths to protect their personal life, liberty, and property, so wouldn't going into Iraq to stir up violence or using "strength" be Thomas Hobbes philosophy?

My personal connection would be that we hear about the war all the time. In this years 2008 elections the presidential candidates want to do something different about this war and it relates back to us because our parents vote for them. Is Thomas Hobbes philosophy really the right way to handle things?

Are you Pursuing your Happiness?

U.S. Motorists Drove 4.7% Fewer Miles in June

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 13, 2008

During this summer vacation when people are supposed to be going on vacation, 12.2 billion people drove fewer miles in June than in the same month a year ago. More people are staying close to home because of how high gas prices are. Gas consummation is down too so that's not making things any better.

This connects with the class because every one's families buy gas and its an ongoing problem that we want to get fixed. Gas prices are too high and something needs to change.

Personally i think this connects to the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness from the declaration of independence because if the government is about those things, wouldn't a pursuit of happiness be to try and find a better way to lower gas prices so everyone is happy?