Is Baltimore the new Ferguson?

Is Baltimore the new Ferguson?

http://cnnuslive.cnn.com/Event/Baltimore_Riot?Page=0

Yesterday, the Baltimore Orioles played the White Socks in a game that will be written in the record books...because there were no fans at the game.  Is is due to the frighting death of 25-year old named Freddie Gray who dies of an unexplained spinal cord injury.  This sparked rioting, which was peaceful at first and then it quickly escalated into a violent brawl resulting in 10 arrests. Because of this Maryland’s gov. declared a state of emergency, called in the National Guard, and the city’s mayor set a curfew.  This sparked such a wave that even president Obama spoke out on this matter saying that the U.S. has to do some sole searching over the pattern of black deaths recently.  Also, that everyone in the riot were thugs and criminals.  This connects to Ap Gov because it relates to the constitution on the matter of freedom to assembly and the court case Brandenburg Vs. Haze. 

Senate Confirms Loretta Lynch as Attorney General 166 Days After Nomination

Student Blog

Title:  Senate Confirms Loretta Lynch as Attorney General 166 Days After Nomination

Source:  http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/senate-confirms-loretta-lynch-attorney-general-166-days/story?id=30527905

Author of Article:  Arlette Saenz

Date:  April 23, 2015

Blog by:  Drewv Magan

The Senate narrowly approved Obama’s nominee for Attorney General, Loretta Lynch.  President Obama originally nominated Lynch back in November 2014.  It took the Senate 166 days to confirm the North Carolina native.  In a tight vote, 56-43 (Senator Ted Cruz was absent), the first African American woman was confirmed as the country’s newest Attorney General.  

Many Senate Democrats felt that the majority led Senate put her nomination on the back burner.  However, the Senate Republicans say that the President’s executive immigration action and an anti-human trafficking bill took priority over Lynch.  

President Obama was excited about her confirmation today and said that “America will be better off it.”  He also stated that as head of the Justice Department she will oversee many different areas including, counter-terrorism, voting rights, public corruption, white collar crimes and much more.  

This relates to what we are currently studying because the Attorney General’s Office (also known as the Department of Justice) is a Cabinet position in which the President nominates a person and the Senate confirms him or her.  That is exactly what happened here.  Obama chose Lynch because she had some of the same ideologies as he.  The Senate carefully examined and questioned her record and past decisions before confirming her.  This is a great example of how our checks and balances system works. 

Title:  Can Rubio, Bush Both Compete for the Latino Vote?

Source:  http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/13/politics/election-2016-marco-rubio-jeb-bush-

latinos/index.html

Author of Article:  Nia-Malika Henderson

Date:  April 13, 2015

Blog by:  Drewv Magan

Two presidential hopefuls from Florida want to be President.  They both speak Spanish, they’ve

both served in government and they are both Republican candidates.  Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush

are in a battle over who will be able to get the most Latino votes in the 2016 election.  Rubio is

the son of Cuban immigrants and Jeb Bush is married to a Mexican woman.  Each has loyalties

to the Latin-American community.

Although Bush hasn’t officially announced that he is running, the fact that they are both

candidates from Florida with similar stances on issues is making it awkward for FL activists and

donors.  Rubio is a Bush protégé and he running against Bush is risky because the Latino vote

may be split.

Jeb Bush has always been a proponent of immigration reform.  He is respected and adored by the

Latino community in Florida.  However, they see Rubio as living the American dream as he was

born to Cuban parents to immigrated to the US.  Both are strong candidates and voters will

struggle with who to vote for.

The GOP will have two Latin-American (Rubio and Cruz) and one Latin-American by marriage

(Bush) to pick from.  This should help the Republicans change how they are viewed by

Democrats in terms of getting the Latino vote.

Many analysts feel that Jeb Bush will have more pull with the Latino community because the

Bush family has always supported and courted them in past elections.  Rubio will have his work

cut out for him.

This article relates to our current study of the Presidency and how important it is to court

minorities as they are starting to represent a large percentage of the voters.  Unlike in the past,

the typical Presidential candidate is not middle-aged, Protestant, white man.  It is inspiring to see

people how people from all backgrounds have a chance in America.

Shooting in Kenya

Somali Militants Kill 147 at Kenyan University

Live link: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/03/world/africa/garissa-university-college-shooting-in-kenya.html 

In recent news, Somali militants burst into a university in eastern Kenya killing about 150 students in the worst massacre since the bombing of the United States Embassy.   About five to ten militants roamed the halls, going door to door, class to class, asking students if they where Christian or not.  If the happened to be Christian they were executed on the spot.  By the time reinforcements arrived the killers were shot, they had already killed 147 people and were on the top story of the school.  Some survivors stated "All we heard in the moments leading up to the attack was distant gunshots."  Not only was this a tragedy to the families and the country; but this further damages Kenya's tourist attraction, in turn creating economic struggles amongst its citizens.

This connects to Ap Gov because it goes hand and hand with the department of Foreign Affairs and how the U.S. has installed a department of Homeland Security incase another mass murder occurs in the U.S. again.