AP Chem Blog

My mom said that zinc can cure the common cold. I had never heard that before and it got to wondering if it actually does. There are many articles that say it does cure the common cold and some that don't so i went into our medicine cabinet and found some zinc cold relief. It says in the ingredients that there is 13.3mg of Ionic zinc from Zincum Gluconicum. So I started off by finding out what zinc actually is. Zinc is an element, it is a metal, it has the atomic number 30, the abbreviation is Zn, and is the 24th most abundant element in the earth's crust. Some properties of zinc are that its melting point is 420 degrees Celsius, its boiling point is 907 degrees Celsius, the atomic mass is 65.409, and it becomes ductile and malleable when heated.  So, why would my mom say that zinc cures the common cold? Well, zinc is essential for human life. When someone has to little zinc they can lose their appetite, have a decreased sense of taste and smell, slow wound healing, and you could even get skin sores. On the other hand, i could see why someone would says that what my mom said was false. When you have to much zinc it can cause many health problems such as: stomach cramps, skin irritations, vomiting, nausea, and anaemia. So there are reasons to believe that it would cure the common cold and reasons against. So what to think? I looked it up and it seems to me that the web sites that say that zinc does cure the common cold have a zinc product and are just trying to make money, but the sites that did not have a zinc product said that zinc did not cure the common cold. I don't know what to think. Maybe next time I get sick i'll take some kind of zinc medicine and see if I feel better. Until proved otherwise I believe that zinc does not cure the common cold because if it did everyone would take it some how and no one would get sick.







http://www.lenntech.com/periodic/elements/zn.htm#Zinc
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc Zinc Cold Relief (drugmart brand)

Reading questions chapter 16

1. There are different courts that are in our court system and there is not just one. You start off by going to a district court thane if your case can't be settled you go on and on until you get to the supreme court and you have a decision.
2.Writ of certiorari- a writ which a superior court demands a lower court to give records for a particular case. The supreme court is likely to do this when it is needed and when the justices are all in agreement.
3. Judicial review is how the supreme court can declare a law unconstitutional.
5. The warren, burger, and rehnquist courts all have liberal views and gave a view of less government inter ferment.
6.Court of appeals- a court to which appeals are taken in a federal circuit or state.Blue slips- two different legislative procedures in congress. Senatorial courtesy is when the president consults the senator before nominating anyone in that state.
7. The rules say that not everyone can do it and some people can do it more than others.
8. A class action suit is when a large group of people sue another large group.
9. Solicitor general is the person who represents the US in cases brought against them. Briefs- a summary of the decision of a court.
10. The cout has judicial review and more power because of the power to make decisions
11. For that judges have to much power and against they need to do more than just make decisions.
12. We have them because we need courts that are active and not conservative like the rest of them.
13. The judiciary has to check with the legislative branch before they do some things and they have to check with the executive branch before they do some things.

Reading Review The Judiciary Vocab

1. Judicial review- the power of the supreme court to declare laws unconstitutional.
2. Strict constructionist- conservation among the judiciary, limiting their interpretation.
3.Judicial activist- when a justice takes charge of his work.
4.Federalist No.78 Brutus essays- written to explicate and justify the structure of the judiciary under the proposed constitution.
5. Marbury v. Madison- declared judicial review constitutional.
6. John Marshall- chief justice of supreme court whose opinions helped lay basis for American constitutional law.
7. McCulloch v. Maryland- created the necessary and proper clause.
8. Gibbons v. Ogden- power to regulate commerce was given to congress by the commerce clause.
9. Dred Scott v. Stanford- declared slaves were not citizens and they did not have rights.
10. Roger B. Taney- gave the majority opinion in Dred Scott v. Stanford.
11. Court packing- plan to add more justices to the supreme court.
12. Constitutional court- a high court that deals mostly with constitutional law.
13. District court- the general trial courts of the U.S. federal court system.
14. Court of appeals- a court to which appeals are taken in a federal circuit or state.
15. Legislative courts- court created by congress under article one.
16. Senatorial courtesy- president consults the senior U.S. senator of his political party of a given state before nominating any person to a federal vacancy in that state.
17. Blue slips- two different legislative procedures in congress.
18. Litmus test- a question asked to a person running for a high office and it determines if the interview goes on.
19. Gang of 14- described the bipartisan group of senators who avoided the deployment of a so called nuclear option.
20. William Rehnquist- served as a associate justice in the supreme court and a supreme court justice.
21. Robert Bork- served as solicitor general, attorney general, and a judge for the district court of appeals.
22. Atonin Scalia- associate justice of the supreme court.
23. Clarence Thomas- an associate justice of the supreme court.
24. David Souter- served as an associate justice on the supreme court.
25. Ruth Bader Ginsburg- she was an associate justice for the supreme court.
26. Warren court- refers to the supreme court when Earl Warren was the chief justice.
27. Burger court- gave a variety of controversial decisions on abortion, capital punishment, religious establishment, and desegregation.
28. Rehnquist court- what the supreme court was referred to when william rehnquist was chief justice.
29. Dual court system- when a country has two court systems usually federal and state.
30. Federal question cases- one of the bases for the exercise of federal district court jurisdiction over a controversy.
31. Civil law- the system of law concerned with private relations between members of a community rather than criminal, military, or religious affairs.
32. Criminal law- a system of law concerned with those who commit crimes.
33. Dual sovereignty- says that one or more sovereign may prosecute an individual without violating double jeopardy.
34. Writ of certiorari- a writ which a superior court demands a lower court to give records for a particular case.
35. In forma pauperis- when a judge lets someone who wants to file a suit have counsel for free if they can not afford it.
36. Fee shifting- the losing party of a lawsuit pays attorney fees for the winning party.
37. Plaintiff- a person who brings a case against another in a court of law.
38. Defendant- an individual, company, or institution sued or accused in a court of law.
39. Standing- the legal right to initiate a lawsuit.
40. Class action suit- when a large group of people brings a claim to the court.
41. Law clerks- an assistant to an experienced attorney.
42. Briefs- a summary of the decision of a court.
43. Amicus curiae- an adviser to the court on some matter of law who is not a party to the case.
44. Solicitor general- an officer of the U.S. judicial department who represents the federal government before cases in the supreme court.
45. per curiam opinion- a ruling issued by an appellate court of multiple judges.
46. Opinion of the court- a statement that is prepared by a judge or court announcing the ruling on the case.
47. Concurring opinion- an opinion that agrees with the court's deposition of the case but is written to express a particular judge's reasoning.
48. Dissenting opinion- an opinion in a legal case written by one or more judges expressing disagreement with the majority opinion of the court which gives rise to it's judgment.
49. Stare decisis- judges are expected to respect the precedents established by prior decisions.
50. Political question- a statement by a federal court declining to rule in a case.
51. Remedy- the matter of how a right is enforced or satisfied by a court.
52. Court order- a direction issued by a court or judge requiring a person to do or not to do something.
53. Appellate jurisdiction- power of a court to review decisions and change outcomes on decisions of lower courts.
54. Concurrent jurisdiction- two or more courts from different systems simultaneously have jurisdiction over the same case.
55. Exclusive jurisdiction- one court has the power to adjudicate a case to the exclusion of all the other courts.
56. Original jurisdiction- the right to hear a case for the first time.

Rading Reveiw #1 questions

1. The element the book identifies with political culture are constitutional, demographic, and cultural. The difference between a political culture and a political ideology are that political culture is a way of thinking and ideology is a set of beliefs.
2. Equality of opportunity is giving people an equal chance to succeed and equality of results is making sure everyone gets the same results.
4. There is cultural conflict because of some major issues like abortion, gay rights, drug use, and school prayer. There are two cultural classes in the US: the orthodox and the progressive. Orthodox are people that believe that morality is very important and that moral rules derive from the command of God. Progressive side are people who think personal freedom is as important as tradition. Orthodox includes Protestants and Christians and Progressive includes Episcopalians and Unitarians and people with no strong religious beliefs. Some issues are easy to resolve and some are not.
5. Internal efficacy is the ability to understand and take part in politics and external efficacy is the willingness of the state to respond to the citizens.
6. They believed that the public should not have a say because they are pursued to easily. They have checks and balances and they have different branches.
7. You don't get everyone's opinion, your technique could be bad, and it could be skewed.
8. Four ares that affect political attitudes are family, religion, gender, and schooling. Family effects because what you are brought up on determines how you think, religion effects because your thoughts will be skewed because of it, gender because your gender defines who you are, and schooling because different schooling levels you know different things.
9. Three factors that divide political beliefs are social class, region, and race. Your race effects because different races vote different ways, social class because you would vote for someone who helps your social class, and region because based on where you live you vote differently.
 10. Information and peers. As a politician you have more access to information and your peers would be other politicians and while ours are regular people.
11. They case raise and frame political issues and they state the norm by which issues should be settled. They don't define economic problems and they are or are not high interest rates.
12. It is not an accurate description of the problem, it's an incorrect explanation of the problem, and it proposes a remedy that probable won't work.
13. The moter voter law.
14. Jim Crow laws. They used literacy tests, poll taxes, grandfather clause, and white primary. These were all gradually changes so that there was no discrimination in them and that so everyone could vote.
15. There has been a decrease in voter turnout and different forms of activism have arrived.
16. Decline of popular interest in elections and a weakening of the competitiveness between the two major parties, and because of distrust.
17. For age older people tend to vote more than younger people, for schooling the more educated tend to vote more, and for race whites tend to vote more.

Reading Review #1 vocabulary

Political Culture- distinctive and patterned way of thinking about how political and economic life ought to be carried out.
Political Ideology- Consistent set of beliefs about what policies the government ought to pursue.
Equality of Opportunity- Giving people an equal chance to succeed.
Equality of Results- Making certain people get the same result.
Civic Duty- Belief that one has an obligation to participate in civic and political affairs.
Progressive Culture- Belief that personal freedom and solving social problems are more important than religion.
Orthodox Culture- Belief that morality and religion ought to be of decisive importance.
Political Efficacy- Belief that you can take part in politics.
Middle America- Average middle class americans.
Silent Majority- Unspecified large majority of people in a country or group who do not express their views publicly.
SES- Measures a person's work experience and family economics compared to that of others.
Christian Coalition- Offers people of faith the vehicle to have an impact on issues they care about.
Gender Gap- Difference in political views between men and women.
Liberal- Favorable to change and reform. Opposite of conservative.
Conservative- Person who is averse to change and holds to traditional views.
Libertarian- Upholds individual liberty, especially of speech and actions.
Populist- Member of a political party that represents the interest of ordinary people.
Political Elite- Person with disproportionate share of political power.
New Class- Describes the ruling class of beauracrats and communist party functionaries which usuallt arise in a stalin communist state.
New Deal Coalition- Alignment of interest groups and voting blocs that supported the new deal.
Random Sample- When every person has an equal chance.
Sampling Error- Difference in results when a random sample is taken at the same time.
Weighting- An adjustment made in order to take account of special circumstances.
Quota Sample- Created by gathering a number of people from categories.
Focus Groups- Diverse group of people gathered to provide inscentive.
Instant Response Polling- Polling designed to get instant results.
Push Poll- Organization attempts to influence people under the guise of doing a poll.
Bandwagon Effect- People doing something because others do it.
Refusal Rate- Proportion of people who refuse to give up the sought information.
Exit Polls- Polls based on interviews conducted on election day with randomly selected voters.
Tracking Poll- Conducted each day to assess trends caused by advertising, polling, etc
Skewed Question- A question that creates incorrect results.
Context Effect- People behave differently in different situations.
Question Framing- How you as a surveyor decide to ask for data.
Saliency- Degree to which an issue is important to an individual of group.
Help America Vote Act 2002- Helped make the voting system simpler.
Moter Voter Law- Enables prospective voters to register when they get a license.
15th amendment- Prohibits denial to vote based on race, sex, or ethnicity.
Literacy Test- Requirement of citizens to show they can read before registering to vote.
Poll Tax- Requirement that citizens pay a tax before registering to vote.
Grandfather Clause- If your grandfather could vote you can vote.
White Primary- Practice of keeping blacks from voting in southern states.
Voting Rights Act 1965- Outlawed voting discrimination.
19t amendment- Cant be denied to vote based on sex.
Voting Rights Act 1970- No prerequisites for voting.
26th amendment- Set voting age to 18.
23rd amendment- Citizens of the District of Columbia can vote.
Disfranchisement- The revocation of the right to vote by someone.
Australian Ballot- Government introduced ballot to reduce fraud in voting.
Activist- People who participate in all forms of politics.
Demographics- Characteristics of the human population.

Illegal Immigration

There are more than ten million illegal immigrants in the United States today and this divides America. There are pros and cons to illegal immigration. The pros of illegal immigration some people would say are that all these illegal immigrants help the economy by adding tax revenue, they expand the low cost labor pool, and it increases the money circulation. Other reasons that illegal immigration is not bad is that some people say they bring good values, they are just trying to have the American dream, they do jobs that no one else wants to do, and opposition is just because of racism. The people who are against illegal immigration say that breaking the law by crossing the border illegally or staying longer than your visa permits should be deported and not rewarded with citizenship and access to social services. They say that these people are criminals and social/economic burdens to the average tax paying American citizen. There have been many ways the government has tried to solve the problem of illegal immigration. In 2010 during the lame duck session, a vote came up on the Dream Act. The Dream Act would allow citizenship for illegal immigrants who were between a set age range and enrolled in American Universities or the military for at least two years but it was not passed. This relates to class because of when the Dream Act came up. It came up during a lame duck session. We learned what a lame duck was in class. It is when someone who is in office who knows that they will not be getting re-elected. I think that the government needs to do more to stop all the illegal immigrants from coming into the United States because they take our jobs and they sometimes bring there gangs or violence with them to the US.

sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lame_duck_%28politics%29
 http://www.buchtelite.com/opinion/an-unpleasant-dream-illegal-immigration-students-and-the-dream-act-1.2132567
http://immigration.procon.org/

Japan Disaster

March 11, 2011 a disastrous earthquake and tsunami hit Japan. The earthquake was measured at 8.9, the largest in Japan's history. There are 11,257 people dead and 16,344 people missing. This has not just affected Japan it effected the whole world. The earthquake shifted Japan 13 feet toward America which shortened the day by 1.3 milliseconds because the earth's mass shifted more towards the center and caused the earth to spin that much faster. The tsunami has also hit Hawaii beaches. There were also nuclear power plants that blew up and some of the radiation spread into the water and could contaminate the fish. President Obama says that this earthquake is a "catastrophic" disaster and that the United States will sent over any help and supplies that Japan requests. The pentagon ordered some military ships to move toward Japan to assist and bring supplies if needed. This relates to class because the president is dealing with foreign affairs by deciding to help out and send supplies. This also relates to class because it involves all types of governments. I think that the United States is doing more than enough to help out Japan with all the relief efforts and the charity foundations.





sources:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42027612/ns/politics-white_house/
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110314/ts_yblog_thelookout/japans-earthquake-shifted-balance-of-the-planet

Uprisings in Libya

This uprising in Libya, a state in North Africa has gained a lot of international attention. This uprising started on February 15, 2011, and the inspiration for these uprisings is directly associated to the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. These protests are against their government and their leader Muammar al-Gadaffi.He has been in power for over forty years. The protests started off non-violent but have turned violent. The protesters are saying that Muammar Gadaffi has been giving his supporters guns and weapons to use against them and that he is sending patrols around the city. There has been more than a thousand people killed in less than two weeks. The pros of this uprising are that if they succeed they might get what they want which is a better government and leader. Another pro is that no matter what happens they have gained the attention of the United Nations which has already started to do things. The cons of the uprising are that there will be a lot of people killed because of the protests. Another con is that it has turned the people of Libya against each other with the supporters of Muammar and the non supporters of Muammar. When President Obama was asked about this he said that it is time for Muammar to step down saying that he has lost legitimacy to rule with his violent crackdown on the Libyan people. He also said that Muammar should be punished for all the bad things he did. This relates to class because it is an example of the president being the Chief Diplomat. 

Sources:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110227/ap_on_re_us/us_us_libya_22
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Libyan_uprising
www.youtube.com

Gridlock

Gridlock is the inability to accomplish goals. Gridlock is a direct consequence of divided government. A divided government is when one party controls the white house and the other party controls one or both of the houses of congress. Some say divided government is good because it makes opposition to those in power and it limits spending and expansion of undesirable laws. In our government right now there is a divided government. The democrats control the white house and the republicans control the house of representatives. This causes gridlock because if the president who is a democrat wants to pass let's say his new health care bill, he has to put it through congress and without their approval he can not get something done that would probably be very beneficial to the American people. Some say that gridlock does not exist. They say this because they make the point that it is just part of our type of government and that we will have indecision with anything we do. The cons of gridlock are that it shuts down government operations. The pros of gridlock are that it slows down the decision making process which is an example of checks and balances. I think that gridlock does exist and is not a good part of our government. I think this because why should we have two sides in our government when we could all be on the same team and we could make the United States a better place to live instead of just arguing  with each other.





Sources:
Youtube.com
Wikipedia.com
Notes

Race to the Top

Race to the top is a 4.35 billion dollar United Sates Department of Education program to help create reforms in schools K through 12 in the United States. This program was announced by President Barack Obama and the Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on July 24, 2009. To get the money from this grant you would have to meet certain criteria like how successful your state was at giving kids their education, how good the teachers are in the schools, and doing all the things the government wants you to do. The effects of race to the top are that out of the fifty states forty eight of them adopted common standards for K through 12. Also, there was 350 million federal grant money that went to funding the making of having tests that met the common standards all the states adopted. There was a timetable that was created for race to the top that was separated into two phases. If a state wanted to participate they had to have their entry in on January 19, 2010. Forty states made the deadline. Then if you applied you had to see if you made the cut, so the government announced "winners" on March 4, 2010. Then in phase two the same thing happened just at different time increments. If you were a state that "won" there were different amounts of money you could have been awarded. In phase one the lower range was from twenty to 75 million dollars and the higher range was from 350 to 700 million dollars. Some critics of the race to the top program say that there is too much government interference in education and they say that there is no proof that it will work and that attempts in the past have not been successful. I think that it will be a good thing because we have already seen the benefits of it in our school. Some examples would be getting the smart boards or the class set of ipod touches.





Sources:
http://www.youtube.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_to_the_top
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&biw=1024&bih=580&q=race+to+the+top&aq=0&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=race+to

Terrorist Bombs Moscow

Today, January 24, 2011, in Moscow, Russia, there was a suicide bombing that killed at least 35 people and wounded 180 people. This bombing was at Moscow's busiest airport Domodedovo. This bombing turned the airport into a smoky, blood splattered hall of dismembered bodies, scared survivors, and abandoned suitcases. There has been no one blamed for the bombing but Russia suspects that it was the Islamic militants in the southern part of Russia, Chechnya. They think that it was the Islamic because in March 2010 they bombed Moscow's subway system that caused forty deaths. After the attack the president Dmitry Medvedev immediately declared it a terrorist attack and tightened the security on Moscow's other two commercial airports and Moscow's other key facilities. This is the air port's second time being involved in a terrorist attack because in 2004 two female suicide bombers got through the lax security there, got two tickets illegally, and boarded a plane. Once they were on the plane they and were in the air, they blew it up killing 90 people. For the people that were injured in the bombing, Vladimir Putin ordered the health minister to send her deputies to the hospitals to make sure they wounded were getting the care they needed. Back here in the United States, Barack Obama called the catastrophe an "outrageous act of terrorism" and assured Dmitry Medvedev that he has the United States full support. Also, British Prime Minister David Cameron gave Russia his full support. I think that Russia feels the same way we did when we had 9/11 and I feel for them. If this were to happen in the United States I really don't know what our government would do. Would we declare war? Look past it? Or would we do the same Russia did? I hope that this never happens to us and that our security at the airports is on the top of its game.

http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/terror-suspected-in-deadly-moscow-bombing-23951084
This is a link to see the news of the bombing.

This is the bombing the two women did.


 This is the bombing from today.

Sources:
http://news.yahoo.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUfv3D14ZcE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuzNoYa4jQY