newsblog

The iPad is here. Sort of.
Apple's CEO Steve Jobs today announced his company's entry into the world of ebook tablets and it appears to be an iPhone on steroids -- ebook, newspaper reader, game station, WiFi and 3G connections, workstation for document creation, video player, audio player, hybrid lawnmower, juice blender, etc.... Combined with Apple's new iBook app and store, it could transform the publishing industry much like iTunes reshaped the music industry ... As a tool in schools, it can bypass all those nettlesome bottlenecks and filters mandated by No Child Left Behind and nervous school boards ... As a competitor to Kindle and the like it blows them away with color ... It also serves as a personal video monitor, email/im device (who needs talking) and giant iPod with speakers and mic.

Base model: $499 but, of course, we'll soon covet the top end with 64G storage and 3G which is $829 plus a monthly tax payment to AT&T for data service. All are available in March; line up now.

But, I almost forgot, no Flash. Gee, what's that about? Are you serious?

So, as I catch my breath, do you care? Can you see reading a newspaper on one of these things? Could this replace your laptop? Or cell phone? (Really, tell me, how often do you actually talk to someone on one of those things? Can you see using it in school? (Keyboard app is available) WHAT DO YOU THINK? Comment below, or blog on it with keyword ipad.

Here are some links to stories I found interesting:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/jan/27/apple-ipad-tablet-react...

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10442815-37.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eve-tahmincioglu/apples-ipad-points-to-dea...

http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/01/10_things_the_...

gg

Link: "http://voices.washingtonpost.com">/44/2010/01/obama-continues-to-assail-supr.html?wprss=44

President Obama continued to assail the Supreme Court decision striking down limits on corporate spending in political campaigns, saying Saturday that the ruling "strikes at our democracy itself.” Washington Post

President Obama said on Monday, "I'd rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president."

Amen. Now go do it.

Personally, I wanted Barack Obama to win. I sat there on election night biting my nails and hoping that America would fight through boundaries of change. He was a powerful, intelligent man with the voice of an angel. I thought that surely he would be the wake-up call we needed and that he would put us back on our feet. A year has gone by, and few of his promises have actually come true.

Let us know what you think of the news. What does it make you think? How does it affect you? Cyclone...Democratic primaries...weirdo in Austria. Sound off!
To blog on the news, click here.

What are your thoughts about this story?" Comment below.

Vermont Education Commissioner Richard Cate says state needs to find new ways of teaching math, writing
By Bob Kinzel
Vermont Public Radio

I can break down these
borders, go where I
like and be counted.
I am taxed and I
put in my two
cents at every chance I
get. I have
contributed.
I work.
I am productive.
I am patriotic.
I am a mother.
I am a lover.
I am an American.
So why can't I
be a wife?

An update:

Clinton came back, winning Texas, Ohio, R.I. Obama took Vermont because we seem to care more about the war than the economy.

Tell everyone how you voted or would have voted if you could have -- in Tuesday's presidential primary. Tell us why you are supporting a candidate or why you think she or he would make good president.

"I had explained my need to escape — to find some simple peace and quiet in a muffled, snowbound forest that had no chance of cellphone reception.
“That scares me,” admitted [a friend]."

Beef recall story link

To read beef recall story: Tainted beef makes it to schools.

To read other students comments on recent news stories

While it is known that the largest beef recall in the history of the United States occured last week, millions of pounds still went consumed without any effect on health. With a total of 143 pounds of recalled meat being sent throughout the country, a third of this total was sent to schools, with at least 20 million pounds consumed.

Personally, I think there is not enough focus on the treatment of cattle in this situation. Because there are no obvious health problems from the consumption of this meat, there needs to be more focus on the treatment of animals. When members of the Humane Society sent undercover tapes of workers kicking sick, crippled cattle, there was a national outcry over what we were about to be eating. It's shocking to me that people are more consumed with their food than what happened to their food before they ate it. It seems obvious that there would have been no recall if the animals were treated well to begin with.

Analysis: Obama eroding Clinton's base - If Ohio and Texas weren't already must-win states for Sen. Hillary Clinton, they certainly are now.

Florida: Evolution to Be Taught as a Theory: State education officials voted to add evolution to the required course work in public schools, but only after a last-minute change depicting Darwin’s seminal work as merely a theory.

Both camps cite similarities in wording of speeches of others.

There's nothing in the rules that says a leader has to be original or creative, neither of these traits are required in order to be a good leader. This is why I don't get all of this fighting that has been going on between the Obama and Clinton camps over rhetoric.

The Media Equation: News Isn’t Wasted on the Young - Can newscasts retain the college crowd beyond the elections? [NYTimes -- National]
For more newsblog entries.

I really like this article because it discusses the many effects that our generation has had on the presidential election. There are a few things I would like to touch on:

In response to Obama's jokes, a supporter said, “It wasn’t very presidential, but it was really effective.” Obama is so popular with the younger crowd because of the way he sells himself. (Isn't that what campaigns are all about? Candidates run around trying to attract people.) Compared to the other candidates, Obama makes it look easy by the way he connects and communicates with college students. Our generation isn't looking for a candidate who talks down to us or ignores us like children. Obama also seems so genuine -- just compare Hillary's mock MTV video and Obama's "Yes We Can" video on YouTube.

Peter Newton, Napa Valley vitner, dies.

With the presidential election fast approaching and the primaries occurring all over the nation many people have looked back to reflect on President Bush's term. Many people have complained about his term and what negative things have resulted because of his time in office.

Meet the New Mitt Romney, the Anti-Insider Populist - Mitt Romney, who has been through a variety of iterations of his message over the last year, is now portraying himself as the populist insurgent. [

McCain piles up delegates while Dems split theirs - In what could be a pivotal day for the Democratic and Republican White House hopefuls, voters coast to coast will head to the polls in 24 states and American Samoa Tuesday.

Bush Unveils $3.1 Trillion Budget - The president’s budget plan, which foresees near-record deficits just ahead, is sure to meet resistance in the Democratic Congress. [

I'm glad to see that Obama is finally beginning to trump Cinton's lead on a national scale. Of all the candidates running in this election, I feel that Obama would do the most good for this country. It's weird because I don't even agree with him on all of the issues, but I think his message of change will do a lot of good for America.

Michelle Obama: 'Black enough' questions are silly - Michelle Obama, wife of Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, Friday called questions early in the campaign about whether her biracial husband was "black enough" to appeal to African-American voters "silly."

Michelle Obama: 'Black enough' questions are silly - Michelle Obama, wife of Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, Friday called questions early in the campaign about whether her biracial husband was "black enough" to appeal to African-American voters "silly." - CNN

Silly is such the right word. "Black enough to appeal to African-American voters"?

Wednesday night Vermont citizens testified in Montpelier on a proposed bill that would decriminalize possession and sale of less than 4 ounces of marijuana.

What do you think? What would happen if the state had a law where you would be fined, but not criminally charged, if you had an ounce of pot? Click on the link above, and then click back on your browser.

Comment below or create a blog and put "newsblog" and "OC6" in the keywords (without quotes.)

I got this after reading Big Brain Theory: Have cosmologists lost theirs? (NYTimes).

Infinitely
We wonder.
And if the universe is infinite
(Or there are infinite universes)
There's an infinite number
Of what we can wonder.
And if it's truly infinite

Check out this story in the NY Times:
It may not surprise you to learn that much of the pork and chicken and beef and milk that you buy at the grocery store comes from huge, industrial-size operations that bear little resemblance to the quaint family farms that adorn many food packages.

But you may be surprised to learn that your tax dollars have helped pave the way for the growth of these livestock megafarms by paying farmers to deal with the mountains of excrement that their farms generate. All of this is carried out under the rubric of “conservation.” Congress is about to renew the program — and possibly even expand it — as part of a new farm bill wending its way through the Capitol. ...

After you read it, give us your reaction by posting a blog. Put OC5 and newsblog in the keywords.

This runner has lost both legs and has prosthetics that he uses to run. He attempted to get approval to run in the Beijing Olympics but was denied. For more about the story, go to NEWSBLOG.
To see video, click here.

The Olympics are a time for amazing athletes from all over the world to compete for the gold. I think they are a wonderful time because people from all countries come together and it creates such a peaceful situation, even if we are only routing for our own athletes.
For the men and women who make it to the Olympics, they have accomplished their dream, and those fewer who get the gold medal can be known as the best off the best. Everyone competing made it there of their own sweat and drive.

Admirable Spirit, but Rules Are Rules, by George Vescey, NYTimes

An athlete named Oscar Pistorius of South Africa is almost sure to be denied in his bid to run in the 2008 Summer Games with two artificial lower legs. Pistorius’s problem is that his prosthetic devices are far beyond the contour and function of so-called normal legs.

Pistorius, 21, who was born without the fibula in his lower legs and with other defects in his feet, uses carbon-fiber devices, known as Cheetahs, shaped like the letter J. ... Read more of NYTimes story

Online Challenge #4: Should this athlete be allowed to compete in the 2008 Olympics in China? Check out the story, the related graphics, then come back here, and comment or create a blog entry as to whether you think he should be allowed to compete in the Olympics or should only compete in the paraOlympics. If you create a new blog entry, put OC4 and newsblog in the box marked "Keywords".

I personally hope Obama wins. In class we talked about it too. Some say that Obama won't win because he is african-american and Clinton won't win because she is a female. I can't believe that this country has become so racist. We need a new person to clean up the mess in Iraq. I know a few people that have brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers that have gone to war in Iraq.

Republican and Democrat, Red states and Blue states,
when will it stop, the dividing has begun,
as a nation we must come together,
but the way it is going we are coming apart,
it's time to unite, it's time to stand
we must unite as a whole for a better future
not for the united states, not for north america,