bp Oil Spill Assignment

Source #1:

The Spill. 26 Oct. 2010. Frontline. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/the-spill/etc/introduction.html>.

The large oil company bp has managed to create a bad reputation for the face of foreign oil by neglecting to attend to safety concerns. Cost-cutting measures have continued to lower the safety threshold and both injure and kill over 20 people so far. Frontline investigates and describes how this company has slowly decreased in safety and trust. It also shows just how dangerous the oil spills can be, leading to fire, explosions, and the death and injury of many bp employees. Lack of leadership in the company is the main cause of confusion with safety measures and cost-cutting which is making the company untrustworthy and not true to their word that they will bump up the safety measures to keep employees safe. 

Source #2:

Pelley, Scott. "Blowout: The Deepwater Horizon Disaster." CBS News. CBS Interactive Inc., 16 May 2010. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. <http://www.cbsnews.com/news/blowout-the-deepwater-horizon-disaster-16-05-2010/>.

The deepwater horizon disaster refers to the tragic explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico by bp, the largest oil company to date. It claimed 11 lives and is particularly terrible because there could have been many things done to prevent this disaster. To cut costs, bp avoided doing things for safety measures, not sealing the cement blocks being the largest of the cost-cutting activities, and that lead to the oil spill heard around the world. There could have been so many things that could have prevented this but bp has a major lack of leadership, starting with the CEO, that have ruined bp forever. 

Source #3:

McClatchy, David. "BP's Troubled Past." Frontline. PBS, 26 Oct. 2010. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/the-spill/bp-troubled-past/>.

For years, bp has been avoiding necessary safety measures to cut costs which has let to the injury and death of multiple employees. Now, there are documents being released that identify that bp truly could have done so much to save the lives of their employees but instead, they thought of the money aspect of it because they are greedy. Not only were people killed in the Texas City explosion, but there was a huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 people. The sad part of the whole story is that bp just needs new leadership to guide them in the right direction to make their company safe again and to prevent any more disasters from occurring anytime soon.

Divided Government Essay #12

a) A divided party government occurs when one party is in the presidency and the other controls one or both chambers of Congress. Because in a divided government one party can check the other's agenda, it is exceedingly difficult for a party to carry out its policies. Divided party governments in modern times have affected voter behaviors. The inability of a party to bring its promises to life has contributed to voter disillusionment in the democratic system, decreasing trust and confidence in the government.

b) Well when you have to buy your way into office like some politicians do, people lose faith in the government and the people who voted for them. People can not think for themselves they have to have the media decide for them. People are less inclined to vote for someone if they have no thoughts or ideas on aspects of government and are just successful because of their money.

c) One specific consequence of the decline in trust and confidence in government for individual political behavior is lower voter turnout. When voters can't trust the possible candidates, they are less inclined to vote at all. Another consequence is party disloyalty which for example could be registering or voting as an independent instead of a Republican or Democrat. 

Trust and confidence in government have declined in recent decades.
a) Explain how divided government has contributed to the decline in trust and confidence in government. Be sure to include a definition of divided government in your response
b) Explain how the increased cost of election campaigns has contributed to the decline in trust and confidence in government.
c) Explain two specific consequences of the decline in trust and confidence in government for individual political behavior. 

http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap04_frq_gopo_us_36217.pdf

Re-election Rates Essay #11

a) There are two patterns displayed in the graph shown. One is that the House of Representatives and the Senate lines on the graph are inverses of each other. For example, in 1981, while the re-election rates in the House of Representatives were up and around the 90 percentage, the re-election rates in the Senate plunged to half of that rate, around the 55 percentage. Another pattern is that the House of Representatives' re-election rate is always and constantly higher than that of the Senate's. 

b) One factor that contributes to incumbency advantage is wealth, it takes a whole lot of money to run a candidacy. The fact that elections take a lot of money to run makes it very common to have wealthy business owner or someone who comes from money run for re-election. The other factor that contributes to incumbency advantage is that the citizens already know the incumbents name, face, and what they stand for. Since they already have political background and experience, it makes it easier for a voter to choose them, rather than some yahoo that is running for the first time.

c) One consequence of incumbency advantage is that since they continue to be re-elected, there is a higher chance of corruption in Congress. Nowadays we hear every day about a new senator or representative scandal. If the incumbents were never re-elected, there would be no chance for the congress men and women to get antsy and start doing or participating in illegal things rather than focusing on doing their job and serving their country. 

The graph above shows reelection rates for incumbents in the House and Senate. From this information and your knowledge of of the US politics, perform the following
tasks.
a) identify two patterns displayed in the graph
b) identify 2 factors that contribute to incumbency advantage. Explain how each factor contributes to incumbency advantage.
c) Discuss one consequence of incumbency advantage for the US political process

http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/repository/govpol_us_01.pdf

Meth Assignment

Source #1: 

The Meth Epidemic. Dir. PBS. 14 Feb. 2006.http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meth/. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.

In the recent years, meth has overwhelmingly become one of the most distributed and used drugs in the United States. Its content has slowly and slowly become so pure that it is now also one of the most dangerous drugs on the market. Shows like AMC's Breaking Bad glamorize the making and use of methamphetamine though the truth is that it can deteriorate your body and kill you. Meth is making it way up a list of drugs that can seriously harm you and its not coming down anytime soon.

Source #2:

Engle, Jonah. "Big Pharma And Meth Cooks Agree: Keep Cold Meds Over The Counter." npr. npr, 26 Sept. 2013. Web. 18 Feb. 2014. <http://www.npr.org/2013/09/26/226476602/big-pharma-and-meth-cooks-agree-keep-cold-meds-over-the-counter>.

The meth epidemic is becoming more and more dangerous as the days and weeks pass by because in every state except Oregon, the decongestant pseudophedrine (a main ingredient of methamphetamine) is still not a prescription drug. This allows cookers to obtain the ingredients they need to create the meth through the "shake and bake" method, which means they put all the ingredients together and shake them to crystallize it. This is obviously dangerou on so many levelsbut that mny chemicals in that small of a space leads to fires and explosions, and eventually harming the cooks themselves. Since Oregon made pseudophedrine a prescription drug that you can only get over-the-counter, the number of meth labs in the state as decreased by 90%. If we could get all states to pass this law, maybe we can start to get a handle on thismeth epidemic.

Source #3:

Rawson, Richard. "How Meth Destroys The Body." Frontline. PBS, 14 Feb. 2011. Web. 18 Feb. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meth/body/>.

Using meth has become overwhelmingly popular in the past decade, but what people don't knnow, is the harm it can do to your body. When ingested, methamphetamine releases a massive amount of dopamine to the brain. So much so, that researchers have suggested that one hit of meth releases more dopamine than having an orgasm. However, after the first use, your body builds up a tolerance to the drug which requires you to use more and more of it to feelthe same high again. And that is the biggest risk of the drug: you will get to a point where you need large amounts of the drug to feel high and that will eventually kill you. Not to mention the way it deteriorates the body through your skin, teeth, and most importantly, the brain.