The buddha Said I am Awake

February 26, 2014 · 9:41 am

PODCASTS – (Economics) – Chapter 2 “Economic Systems”

In an effort to improve understanding of key terms in Economics I’ll post MP3 podcasts of “terms to study” regularly throughout the semester. These terms will serve as a core for unit comprehension and exams. Each is also listed in the classroom on the front whiteboard and will be targeted for class discussion. When I place a numeral that corresponds to a particular class hour next to the term on the front board, I will assume that all students in that particular class hour understands the term. Any student can veto my decision by simply raising their hand and asking for a clarification. We will continue to work through the definition until that student is comfortable with the term. However, once the class hour numeral is on the board, quizzes will be drawn from the corresponding term. All quizzes are two terms 10 point essay answers (twenty point total) and are based on a working understanding of the word; that means you’ll be answering in essay format.

Quizzes will be often and unannounced. So it is important for you to review your notes and the below podcasts regularly throughout the semester. Terms will also serve as a basis for Unit Tests and the Final Exam. Consequently a good way to review would be to listen to the podcasts.

Terms below in blue have been podcasted. Merely go to the term and you will find the podcast in MP3 format.

Continue reading →

Comments Off on PODCASTS – (Economics) – Chapter 2 “Economic Systems”

Filed under 3 Economics

Tagged as econ, economics, podcasts

· 5:44 am

Gay Marriage, Adoption, Science, and the Law

Things are happening fast on the struggle for Marriage Equality in the United States. Michigan is currently in the nation spotlight, as its own marriage laws are being challenged by two lesbian Michigan citizens in Federal Court. Concurrently, many reflections of the Civil Rights Movement can be found in the Marriage Equality Movement. Each finds its Constitutional grounding in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. Each is caught in a struggle between the Federal Government and States Rights.

For this assignment – for three days – I want to you read, write, inform yourself on the legal arguments surrounding the Marriage Equality Movement in the United States. Particularly, I’d like you to look at the current court case playing out in Detroit as well as Arizona’s SB 1062, which allows private businesses to refuse service to homosexuals, based on personal religious views.

I have created a Blendspace below that deals with these issues, and adoption and science in regard to homosexuality.

Continue reading →

Comments Off on Gay Marriage, Adoption, Science, and the Law

Filed under 1 Senior Current Issues, Uncategorized

Tagged as gay adoption, gay marriage, gay rights, SCI

February 23, 2014 · 8:46 am

Michigan’s – Defense of Marriage Amendment (2004) in Federal Court

Go here for more information on DeBoer v Snyder. Go here for coverage at the national level.

This week (DeBoer v Snyder), a lawsuit will commence in Federal Court brought by April DeBoer and her longtime partner Jayne Rowse residents of Michigan challenging the state’s DOMA law. The two women, both nurses in Oakland County, seek to adopt the three special-needs children they have been raising together since 2010. Each has already exercised her right to adopt as a single parent. But under a Michigan law that forbids unmarried couples from jointly adopting, neither is legally recognized as the legal parent of her partner’s children. The case challenges the constitutionality of Michigan’s law passed in 2004 which defines marriage as only between and a woman.

The state of Michigan is defending the law based on its 10th Amendment rights of the state to determine its own sovereignty on the issue. The 2004 Constitutional Amendment was passed by a majority of Michigan citizens. April and Jayne claim that their 14th Amendment rights of equal protection are being violated.

By the time a new law permitting gay marriage in Illinois takes effect June 1, same-sex couples will be free to marry in at least 17 states (contact the Yampolsky & Margolis Criminal Defense in Las Vegas for legal help). Four more states either recognize civil unions between gay couples or honor same-sex marriages consecrated elsewhere.

In Michigan and 32 other states where state laws or constitutional amendments bar same-sex partners from marrying, elected officials defending the status quo are under siege. Freedom to Marry, a nationwide advocacy group, counts more than 40 pending lawsuits in which LGBT plaintiffs seek to invalidate restrictions on same-sex marriage.

Stay tuned….

Comments Off on Michigan’s – Defense of Marriage Amendment (2004) in Federal Court

Filed under 1 Senior Current Issues, 2 Government

Tagged as 14th Amendment, gay rights, GOV, Government, SCI

February 20, 2014 · 6:13 pm

Protected: Bob Wood – 2014 PGP, Curriculum Map, IDP, and Year End Evaluation

Comments Off on Protected: Bob Wood – 2014 PGP, Curriculum Map, IDP, and Year End Evaluation

Filed under Uncategorized

· 4:15 pm

Pussy Riot – “Putin will teach you how to love the Motherland”

Go here for the latest on Pussy Riot in Sochi. Go below for their new music video “Putin will teach you how to love the Motherland.” And here for Maria Alyokhina’s editorial, Sochi Under Siege, in the New York Times.