Obama blames 'bad apple' insurers for canceled coverage

Description: Obamacare
Date: November 13, 2013
Found at: http://nyulocal.com

This article is on the topic of Obamacare. The article stated that "the termination of individual policies has given his Republican opponents additional ammunition to criticize the program they have tried to stop since its inception in Obama's first term." Many people that were under Obamacare have been having their coverage cancelled or found their monthly payments beyond what they can afford.


Obama was seeking to assure people that the government was not going to take over health care, and that they could keep their old plan if that is what they preferred. He needed to do this because many people do not trust the government to make health care decisions for them. I think that people find it hard to trust the government because it is difficult for some government officials to relate to a common individual. Some think that the government doesn't really care or think about the average person. Also, the government tends to make drastic changes to certain things and it affects many people in a negative way.


It is not right for a President to be untruthful to get the public to accept something he sincerely believes is for their own good? The President shouldn't have to hide the truth at all. They are suppose to be leading a country. If you are untruthful your are demonstrating that it is okay for the citizens of your country to be untruthful.


Personally, I am not into government or politics. Some things about the government are just hard for me to understand. For example, this whole Obamacare thing. I have no idea what it is all about. Reading this article was a little confusing, but I understood the basic points. I think it is very beneficial to know more about the government because it could directly affect the future.

Article Link: http://www.reuters.com

Dogs Are People, Too

Gregory Barnes, a professor of neuroeconomics at Emory University, and some of his colleagues have been training dogs to go in an M.R.I scanner completely conscious and unrestrained. They were hoping to discover how dogs' brain works and what they speculate of humans. After training and scanning a dozen dogs it was concluded that dogs are people, too. Results from the M.R.I scans showed an astonishing

similarity between dogs and humans in both the structure and the key function of a key brain region knows as the caudate nucleus. The caudate plays a major role in the anticipation of of things we enjoy. Meaning, dogs enjoy some of the same things humans enjoy.

Description: Dog
Date: January 20, 2013
Found at: http://andreanotk.blogspot.com

Personally, I don't know where this whole research is going. I can't imagine dogs and humans being thought of as equal. I understand that there may be some similarities between dogs and humans, but there is still a fine line that separates humans from dogs and other animals. Dogs may enjoy the same things as humans, but that doesn't necessarily mean that we share the same emotions. I believe that humans have certain levels of emotion that dogs don't. I both agree and disagree with Berns when he states that, "DOGS have long been considered property." There are laws that are now set in place that protects dogs from things like abuse, just like how there is for humans. However, I also agree with the statement made in the article that said, "Though the Animal Welfare Act of 1966 and state laws raised the bar for the treatment of animals, they solidified the view that animals are things — objects that can be disposed of as long as reasonable care is taken to minimize their suffering."

Article Link:http://www.nytimes.com

Athlete Suspended For Driving Friend

Description: Drunk Driving
Date: August 19, 2011
Found at: http://www.nighttap.com

Erin Cox, a High School senior volleyball player, was suspended for five games and lost her position as captain of the team after she drove to a party to pick up a friend that was too drunk to drive. Upon arrival at the party, police were already at the scene arresting several people for underage possession of alcohol and warned others that they’d be called to court for drinking. Cox was among those that were called to court regardless of Boxford police officer Brian Neeley’s confirmation of Erin’s sobriety.


If I was in Erin Cox’s situation I would've done the same thing. I wouldn't want to just leave my friend drunk at a party or have her take the risk of getting into a car accident due to drunk driving. The school’s decision to suspend her from five games and strip her from her captaincy would affect her in a very negative way. Considering she was an athlete, she probably wanted to continue to play volleyball in college or earn a sports scholarship. Her suspension would lead colleges to believe that she is not the best candidate for their school or sports team. The whole situation looked really bad for Erin Cox. The article mentioned that, “Cox's mother, Eleanor, told the Boston Herald her daughter was among those summoned despite Boxford police officer Brian Neeley vouching for Erin's sobriety.” I don’t understand how Erin Cox was still punished and the police officers vouching for her sobriety was totally disregarded. Personally, I think any school would've done the same thing considering the circumstances around the situation.

Article Link :http://espn.go.com

SAT Writting

Description: Writing
Date: February 27, 2012
Found at: www.sjpl.org

This article discusses the current SAT writing process. Reading this article is an eye-opener, it discusses what SAT essay-graders are really looking for and mentions a few tips that may help future students taking the SAT. After speaking with SAT essay-graders Anne Ruggles Gere, a professor at the University of Michigan, discovered that essay graders, "go through a very regimented scoring process, and the goal of that process is to produce so many units of work in a very short period of time,” Basically, the whole grading process in rushed. Essay-Graders must only spend a maximum of three minutes grading an essay. Personally, I think this time should be expanded. It takes longer than three minutes to read and essay, evaluate it, and score it. Most essay-graders will just skim over the essay, instead of actually reading it.

Description: Writing
Date: October 17, 2013
Found at: diomas.ucuenca.edu.ec

It was also mentioned that, "the SAT have indicated that in scoring it really doesn't matter if you say that the War of 1812 occurred in 1817." I think that is just ridiculous. This, to me, shows that the SAT is just a joke. It is possible for someone who just rambled on an essay about inaccurate information to get a higher score than someone who put valid and meaningful information on theirs. I couldn't agree more with Perelman when he said, "What they are actually testing is the ability to B.S. on demand".



This article also mentioned some great tips that would be helpful in the near future. Les Perelman suggest that, “To do well on the essay, he says, the best approach is to just make stuff up.” Most students spend most of the time given to write essays just thinking about what to write. To avoid wasting time, it's best to just make things up. Perelman tells his students, “to always use quotations, because the exam readers love quotations” This is something that I didn't know before about SAT writing. Another great tip that was mentioned is to use big words. Considering that those who grade the SAT essays take no longer than three minutes scoring and only skim a text, I think that this is really helpful.

Article Link: http://kellygallagher.org/resources/AoW%201314_8%20SAT%20Writing.pdf