Elections Blog Post

       Last night, it was announced that Claudia Tenney won the Congressional Race in the 22nd District (New York). Claudia Tenney is pro-Trump, so it's very fitting that she won and Trump did as well. She was mostly self funded and though Kim Myers had more ad campaigns and endorsers, Claudia Tenney still won. She only raised $254,541 for her campaign, but she was projected to win from the start. I choose to focus on Claudia Tenney for my candidate in the New York 22nd Congressional Race and she won. Claudia Tenney previously ran for Congress and lost against the incumbent Richard Hanna, however, this year Richard Hanna wasn't running for reelection, so Claudia had a larger chance of winning. Claudia Tenney and Donald Trump have most of the same conservative views, so it's no wonder she won the race. Claudia Tenney won the vote with 120,777 and 47%, while Kim Myers had 103,955 and 40%, and Martin Babinec, (a millionaire) only had 32,303 and 13% of the votes.

8-Day Blog Post: Cycle 7 Live Election!

If you go to CNN looking for a nice whale story to write about, you will not find one. There is only coverage on the election right now, as there should be. Currently, the election in Florida is back and forth on different counties and it's still a toss up which way the swing state will sway. The Cuban vote is said to sway the election in Florida. My entire family is nervous, as am I, to see who will be the next ruler of our country, more or less.  Apparently the Cuban vote is swaying mostly toward Hillary Clinton, and it's interesting because Donald Trump basically said he would evacuate all immigrants, so the Cuban's have no choice. The Cubans, almost turn into single-issue voters, for their own safety!

8-Day Blog Post: Cycle 7 Your Brain on LSD

On CNN, a photographer reports his findings about a group called the Merry Pranksters, a clique of teenagers back in the 60s who experimented with LSD in educational and "safe situations." The photographer explains that he was a sponge in their adventures, he never took part in the then legal drug use, but instead admired them from afar and soaked up whatever information they had to offer. Though the drug is now illegal and highly dangerous, the photographer makes the case that America lost a sense of journalism, because it used to be wild and free, but now it's controlled and concealed. The fight for freedom of speech in the first amendment is still being heavily debated today as to whether we are really free, or if the government will judge and label others based on what they do.

8-Day Blog Post: Cycle 6 How Louisiana Turned Disaster Into Dollars

On Politico, a story describes the effects of Hurricane Matthew on Louisiana. The horrible wreckage and death counts in Louisiana still leave people heartbroken and empty handed today, however the state officials had already planned for the impact after previous natural disasters swept the state. The officials had a recovery plan in place with specified factions of money and sanctions of supplies to separate areas. With the plan in place, they were able to receive even more money from the government for means of recovery in disastrous situations. The government should obviously implement plans like this in every state and take notice of the state officials in Louisiana who took such an innovative approach to planning for recovery.

8-Day Blog Post: Cycle 6 US Inmates Launched a Nationwide Strike

On CNN, an article detailed the life of prisoners and their struggles in gaining independence. Recently there have been uprisings across the country for freedom. Prisoners are claiming that the prison system is allowing the inmates to be treated as slaves in a legalized manner. The Supreme Court ruled that the prison must be clean and a healthy environment for prisoners to live in, "[y]et the 13th Amendment of the US Constitution, while banning slavery, allows prisoners to work for little to no pay, in what inmate advocates say crosses the limits of human decency, amounting to modern-day servitude." The quote from the article describes a dangerous battle between inmates and the government; while the inmates struggle to find independence, they begin to band together and form riots. The government has made significant efforts to improve prison facilities, but it is obviously not making the prisoners feel as if they have equal rights. The prisoners deserve minimum wage and while the debate rages on, prisoners become more likely to revolt.

8-Day Blog Post: Cycle 6 Polls Show Battleground

On Politico, an article described a recent poll taken on Friday, claiming that the race was tightening. This was before the Comey letter was released and Trump has since tweeted marking that he is in the lead. Though the announcement of the criminal investigation was late, some may still consider it an October surprise. It will be interesting to see if the announcement of the investigation will lead to any backlash on Clinton and whether it will severely affect her campaign.

8-Day Blog Post: Cycle 6 2015 Airport Machete Rampage

On CNN, a video shows a man in the TSA lines at an airport pull a machete from his waistband and proceed to swing it at nearby civilians. The man was shot three times and died the next day in the hospital, but the horrors of the situation still haunt people a year later. The situation raises questions about gun control, weaponry, and mental illness. The man was said to have a mental illness, which makes officials question why this man wasn't cared for and if we should vamp up our mental health facilities. The government has yet to take a stand on this issue, but it's clear that airports need more security tactics and we should improve our mental health facilities.