Are Polls Accurate in Presidential Race?

With the presidential election in less than a week, Barack Obama seems to have a lead over John McCain in the polls. However, these polls have been known to be false and inaccurate. For example, in 1948 all polls pointed to Thomas Dewey being elected but Harry Truman was the true victor. Polls are subject to change and are based off of the small percentage of Americans who were actually polled. Also, a large reason for polls not being 100% accurate is how many people actually show up to vote. A large amount of people may say they will vote for Candidate A when they are polled, but because none of these people actually show up to vote, Candidate B will end up winning. This especially pertains to the 2008 election. Most polls show Barack Obama ahead, but does this truely represent Americans as a whole or is this just the small amount of people who were actually polled talking? Will the people polled actually show up to vote? Many of these questions surround this week's election and we should not solely rely on polls for predictions on winners and loosers.

I found this article very interesting. As a John McCain supporter, I had almost given up hope with "Barack the Vote" sweeping the nation and influencing polls. Reading this article reminded me that we don't know what is going to happen until it actually happens. People may say they support a certain candidate, but when they are actually casting their vote, they can change their minds. This could be an advantage for either candidate. It is really easy to get caught up in the media, but when actually voting, a serious voter rethinks their decision and considers the actual issues. History has proven polls to be wrong, so I think both candidates should be nervous about the election. I don't think that Obama should assume he has won or that McCain should give up and stop campaigning just because of polls. With all elections, the position of President of the United States is not decided by polls, it is decided by the voters. Polls may lean one way, but it is the actual votes that count and decide our country's leader.

Source
Sullivan, Andy. "Are Polls Accurate in Presidential Race?" Comcast.net News. 30 Oct. 2008. 30 Oct. 2008 .

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

For outside reading this week, I looked up some old film reviews and found one on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, one of my childhood favorites. Craig Butler, the author of the review, claims the, "mixture fails to gel". He says the movie is sweet and the adult actors are good, but the children are over the top, the movie is too long, and is too frightening for children. He goes on to say the movie is not very inventive and the dialogue doesn't work. Butler appreciates the movie and enjoyed watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, but thinks the movie missed its chance at being a huge hit among families.
I disagree with Craig Butler's take on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. As a child I fell in love with the songs, the dancing, the flying car, and how the movie incorporates a bit of fantasy into real life. Being a scardy cat when it comes to horror movies, I was surprised that Butler claims the movie is too scary when it never even gave me nightmares. Granted, I did always glance around to make sure an adult was near by when approaching the ice cream truck so I didn't get stolen away like all the little kids in the movie, but I actually enjoyed being a little scared. I was, and still am, mesmerized by the zany inventions and all of the crazy characters. I would give the movie five starts for the memorable characters, the fun props, a catchy plot, and wonderful songs!
www.starpulse.com/movies/chitty_chitty_bang_bang/reviews
Source
Butler, Craig. "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Movie Review." Starpulse.com. 23 Oct. 2008 .
*Starpulse.com should be underlined but BlogSpot won't let me

The Call of Music

The Show

When I first listened to the song “The Show” by Lenka, I was struck by how much it relates to my life as a high school student. Sure the catchy tune and sweet voice were nice to listen too, but the lyrics really popped out at me.

The Show - Lenka
I'm just a little bit caught in the middleLife is a maze and love is a riddle
I don't know where to go, can't do it alone
I've tried, and I don't know why...
Slow it down, make it stop
Or else my heart is going to pop
'Cause it's too much, yeah it's a lot
To be something I’m not
I'm a fool out of love
'Cause I just can't get enough...

I'm just a little bit caught in the middle
Life is a maze and love is a riddle
I don't know where to go, can't do it alone
I've tried, and I don't know why

I'm just a little girl lost in the moment
I'm so scared but I don't show it
I can't figure it out, it's bringing me down
I know I’ve got to let it go...
And just enjoy the show

The sun is hot in the sky
Just like a giant spotlight
The people follow the signs
And synchronize in time
It's a joke, nobody knows
They've got a ticket to the show....
(I want my money back, just enjoy the show).

Lenka sings about being a girl thrown into a crazy world that she cannot comprehend so she puts on a happy face and goes with the flow even though she is scared. She says that life is confusing and she does not know what to do about love. After awhile, all of the chaos in the world catches up, and Lenka just wants time to stand still so that she has a chance to catch up. “The Show” is a song about life and how it can be crazy, fun, overwhelming, and wild at times, but we can all get through it.

I can really relate to this song. I feel like with school, sports, and other extracurriculars, life just gets going to fast and I need it to slow down. Or I will not know what is going on and end up just floating through life and “following the signs”. I really love how, at the end, Lenka sings that life is just a joke and a show. When I get overwhelmed or stressed out about something, I’ll take a step back and see how ridiculous the thing I am stressing out about is. Also, I agree that life is so much easier to get through when you have a friend by your side. A friend can help you find your way and keep you grounded when things get out of control. After first listening to this song as a free download from iTunes, I was amazed at how much this song relates to the chaotic lives of most students.

Source Cited
Lenka. "The Show." Lenka. John Alagia; Mike Elizondo; Pierre Marchand; Stuart Brawley; Jason Lader. 2008.

Question #1

Odysseus was considered a great hero back in ancient Greece, but I do not consider him a modern day hero. To me, a hero is someone who works hard to achieve a worthwile goal and achieves it humbly. Each person has their own definition of hero, but this is how I would define a modern day hero. Odysseus is not a hero because he does not remain focused on returning home. When he finds himself on Calypso's island, Ogygia, at first he is in no hurry to return home. He enjoys having a beautiful woman so enraptured by him. He completely looses sight of returning home to his wife and son. After about a year, he remembers his quest and leaves the island. This shows that Odysseus is not that passionate about returning home and reaching his goal. If he is willing to throw that goal away, or at least put it off to the side, just for a beautiful woman, I do not think he is very hero-like. After leaving Calypso, Odysseus later finds himself on another island with the beautiful witch-goddess Circe. She turns his crew into pigs, but when Odysseus is able to outsmart her and is not effected by her spell, she falls in love with him. Once again, Odysseus is willing to throw away his goal of getting home for a beautiful woman. At this point, Odysseus' return home seems like it will maybe occur on accident in fourty years. By my definition, a real hero would remember their goal and stop at nothing to achieve it. Odysseus' constant delaying of his trip home shows that he does not really care about his goal and living a virtuous life does not matter to him, and is therefore not a hero by my definition.

Along with his lack of focus, Odysseus does not live according to good morals on his return trip. Odysseus breaks his wedding vow that he will remain faithful to his wife, Penelope, when he has sexual relationships with both Calypso and Circe. A hero should not just be someone who accomplishes great things, but a person who accomplishes these things while maintaining their morals. Cheating on one's wife who waits at home, still faithful after fifteen years, is a very shallow thing to do. A hero should look out for all people, not just for himself and what he wants at that very moment. Odysseus does not think about his loving family and abandons his morals for two beautiful women. A hero should not brag about their accomplishments. After escaping from Polyphemus' cave, Odysseus yells back to the cyclops, "Cyclops - if any man on the face of the earth should ask you who blinded you, shamed you so - say Odysseus, raider of cities, he gouged out your eye, Laertes' son who makes his home in Ithaca!" (227). Odysseus is not content that he just beat one of the greatest giants, so he goes and rubs salt on the wound by bragging. A hero should be humble, and Odyssues is most definately not humble. He abandons this moral just so that he can rub it in that he blinded Polyphemus. Odysseus loses focus on his goal and abandons his morals so that he can have a few minutes of fun. His story is very exciting, but in the end, I do not consider Odysseus a hero.

Moderator’s Planned Book Becomes a Topic of Debate

It has recently come out that the moderator, Gwen Ifill, of the vice-presidential debate is writing a book in support of Obama. With the debate fast approaching, it is arguable whether she is really nonpartisan. As moderator, Ifill’s job is to ask the candidates questions and not use her power to turn the debate in favor of one candidate. Many McCain and Palin supporters disagree that the book will be bad for Sarah Palin at the debate. Many think that with all of the media attention Ifill has been getting for her book, she will be extremely careful to not use her position to help Joe Biden. Even with all of the controversy regarding the moderator, this article urges people to closely watch the candidates and their replies, not just the moderator.

Being a republican myself, I know that my opinion is biased on this article, but I am trying to look at it as a nonpartisan observer. I think that Gwen Ifill should not be allowed to moderate this debate. Whether she disregards the media attention and favors the Obama – Biden team or plays it safe and is cautious not to do anything “biased” toward Sarah Palin, the audience will not receive a nonpartisan debate. As much as Ifill claims that she will be nonpartisan, it is easier said than done. I think that the debate should be moderated by someone who truly is undecided on how to vote this November. This way we would hear about the issues that really matter, not just the ones that make a certain candidate sound good. I doubt that Ifill will moderate in a nonpartisan way, but I hope that she does so that Americans have the facts needed to cast their votes this fall.

Link to Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/02/us/politics/02debate.html?ref=politics

Work Cited
Rutenberg, Jim. "Moderator’s Planned Book Becomes a Topic of Debate." New York Times
2 Oct. 2008: 27.

*Blogspot will not allow me to underline New York Times, but it should be underlined.