I enjoyed this movie.  The actors and the direct was well done.  My husband and I both stated that we would like to see it again, if not purchase is when on DVD.

1.) How are the older adults portrayed in the movie?
    The older adults were portrayed as confident, knowledgeable individuals that did not hold back on sarcasm to prove their points.  At times, they were disrespectful of the younger generation.  Swearing in front of children and using sharp tones with each other.  The older adults demanded respect and their voice was to be heard.  They were portrayed as powerful people, in charge, and making the main decisions over politics and Governmental policies.

2.) Who are the vulnerable population and are they different from today's vulnerable populations?
    The vulnerable populations in this movie was the African American people whether soldiers, slaves (free or under slavery rule); and women.  The vulnerable population were not allowed to have their voice heard or to hold positions of any title.  African American soldiers were not allowed to hold positions in high ranks.  The men in the movie did not listen to their wives they talked over them.  The only women allowed to watch the House preceedings was the First lady Mary Lincoln and her freed slave servant.  The day of the vote was the first time that African American people were allowed into the State House and they were segrated off to the side in one location together.
    The United States has made great strides forward in obtaining equality for African Americans and for women.  I do believe that these are still today the vulnerable populations of this country.  The idea that men are 'the man of the household,' in charge, superior to others, is still prevalent in today's society.  I feel that the younger generations are beginning to break away from this form of thinking.  It helps that Television portrays different races, women, and other groups equally.

3.) What issues is Lincoln addressing that our current President is also addressing?
    Both President Lincoln in the movie and President Obama are facing the issues of ending a War and successfully obtaining peace between two groups of people (Union vs. Confederate; United States vs. Terrorism/Iraq).  Also the issue of getting policy's pasted in the House of Representatives.  Items get tabled or turned down.  The rhetoric discussions or arguments between Repulicans and Democrats.  The two groups oppose each other more than they work together. This puts a damper on process for the good of the people of this Country or their constituents that voted them into office.

4.) What new information did you learn from the movie?
    I enjoyed the movie immensely!  I would say I learned more about the life of President Lincoln and the type of person he was.  The actor who portrayed him did a wonderful job in this role.  The movie portrayed President Lincoln as a strong man.  He suffered tragedy in is family life and still carried on to lead this Country.  He made a positive change for this Country by standing up for what he believed in.

   

Three things I learned this week when reviewing 'The Evolution of Social Welfare Policy' timeline link:

1) Slavery began in the American Colony in 1700 A.D. when poor were auctioned off     to affluent businessmen and farmers.  Impotent poor lived in Almshouses while             able-bodied poor were confined to workhouses.

2) For the months of September and October investors lost $100 billion in assets and     the stock market lost 40% of its value.  On October 28, 1929 the stock market                 suffered a 13% loss, The next day, October 29, 1929 suffered a 12% with 164                 million shares traded.  This event marked the beginning of the Great Depression         and was called Black Tuesday. By July of 1932, the stock market value had lost             90% bottoming out.  It took 22 years to completely recover.

3) The Watts Riot in Los Angeles on August 11, 1965.  The Watts Riot broke out in         initial response to a highway Patrol officer pulling over  a black motorist on suspicion     of drunk driving.  This riot resulted in 34 dead, 1,000 people suffered injuries, and         600 buildings damaged.  The real reason for the riots was jobless rates, continued         racism, poor housing, and inadequate inner-city schools.  The good that came out         of  this riot was that President Johnson signed the "War on Poverty" a month after         the riots broke out.

       Win or lose it is the speech that says a lot about the person.  Both President Obama and Governor Romney gave gracious, appreciative speeches thanking all of their families, supporters, and the other person who won or lost.  They both seem to agree that it is time to put the party lines aside and work together to improve America.  Hopefully, this can happen at all levels of government/politics. 
    I worked from 6 am until 11:20 pm at the polls yesterday.  I did not come home and check the results due to being exhausted so I obtained my results online this morning.  I worked at Precinct 5 we had 972 voters.  At this Precinct Governor Romney won the Presidential race.  When we were packing up one of the gentlemen loading up equipment informed us that President Obama won the election per the information he heard on the news.
    For Michigan, hopefully this means a rising economy, more jobs, more incentives for education, less foreclosures, and a brighter future.  Time will only tell what will happen.  The leaders of this Country are doing what they feel is right for the American people.  Some programs will do well others will fail we will never know unless we try.  All of the Michigan proposals 1-6 were rejected.  I felt some of the proposals were moving us in the right direction, especially the renewable energy proposal.  The problem is they were attached to the Constitutional Amendment.  If they were proposed as laws I believe they may have pasted.  People do not want to touch the Constitutional Amendments.  With that said nothing will change at this time and we will carry on as always.
Congratulations to all those candidates who won and may you do an exceptional job for your constituents.  For those who lost the election, hold your head high you fought a good fight and won the reward of knowing you did your best.  The future is as bright as our dreams will take us!

For this assignment I watched the debate.  When it comes to politics I like to research the facts, what the candidates have voted for in the past and/or what the current president has done or is in the proceess of doing for the American people, etc.  I try to avoid commercials and debates due to the character slandering.  The debate on Tuesday October 16, 2012, presented the usual rhetoric.  Questions we asked, the candidates answered them without answering them and then also put a jab in at the other candidate.  In my opinion no question was sufficiently answered.  I know as much as now as I did before watching the debate.  Also I think it makes the person look bad that is doing the jabbing at others.  I would like to see campaigns run in a clean fashion with the facts on the table, I am in a dream world I know. 

I was surprised that in watching the debate, I realized some issues I need to learn more about.  I would like to learn more about Candidate Romney's 5 point plan, how he would hold China accountable, his past track record of women in his administration, proposed tax cut procedures, proposed immigrant trafficking, proposed ways to make America attractive for small businesses, and creating jobs with higher pay while improving the economy.  For President Obama  I would like to research the programs he has put in place; programs not pasted by the House and Senate; check the facts on improvements in the American Economy; licensing of oil drilling, higher wages, raising skills of workers, increasing border patrol, and/or improvements in the last 4 years.  A link I found to research the above is at http://www.factcheck.org/tag/campaign-2012/

    I took the quiz before reading the material.  I received 70%.  That was a surprise because I did not know the material and guessed on some of the answers.  After the reading I retook the quiz and received 100%.  I liked taking the quiz first to see how much of the material I already know or remember from other classes, etc.  I felt the quiz supplemented the reading nicely.

    I did not do well on this quiz (219/1500), therefore I do not know much about the New Deal.  There were only two other questions that I debated on the answer and could have gotten right if I would have picked my other guesses.  I know this was an important part of history, due to the current economic times looking back at this era we can learn at least what not to do and may be what needs to be done to turn things around.  I must confess I did not get to far into the reading this week yet.  So I definitely need to read and learn more about this topic!

I am learning so much from the readings.  Trattner "From Poor Law to Welfare State" has taken us on a deep exploration of how policies were formed and how people were treated.  This week three things I learned from Chapters 5-8 were:

1.) The development of the Public Health Movement caught my attention due to I currently work in the          Public Health field.  I found it interesting that the need for Public Health in the United States was                   recognized in 1692 with the Massachusetts Poor Law enactment and did not officially begin until the             founding of the American Public Health Association in 1872.  The American Public Health Association was influenced by the English Public Health Act of 1848.  By 1879 the National Board of Health was created.  Massachusetts was the first State to develop it's own Board of Health, eventually other States followed.  Over the years, Public Health in the reading discussed addressing concerns with Cholera,typhoid, leprosy, malaria, bubonic plague, dysentery, diphtheria, tuberculosis, AIDS, and HIV. It was interesting to see that Public Health has evolved from no training to trained professionals.  Per today's standards at least a Bachelor's Degree is required.  Public Health has journeyed a long way.

2.) In chapter 6, child welfare was discussed.  In 1740 the first orphanage was set up In Savannah Georgia.  It was interesting to learn the perception of the population.  Children were viewed as nuisances until behavior science developed in the nineteenth century recognized them as future assets.  Many laws have been enacted to protect children.  The protection of children is still a very important issue today.

3.) Chapter 8 discussed "The Settlement House Movement."  I found this to be a very interesting concept of getting the poor and rich to live closely together in society together.  The intentions were for the rich to influence the poor in the efforts of eliminating poverty.  What actually occurred was the discovery of social, ethnic, and prejudice barriers within society.  The National Urban League, pension assistance, youth groups are some examples of programs that developed during this movement.  The rich and middle class moved out of the cities into the urban areas, leaving minority groups in the inner city.  Even though the settlement house movement did not achieve what it had expect to, social barriers were recognized and in time are being addressed.

Critical thinking question:

After reading the history of policy making for the poor, what issues do you see today effecting the poor that could be improved on and how would you go about implementing it?

Three informative and useful things I learned this week was how to use Voice Thread, how to use my Weebly web page, and from the readings a very informative look at policy where it was lacking and how far it had come.