The RP’s Weekly Web Gems: The Politics of College

How has technology changed college today? This is an extensive topics that includes countless new developments which have found their way into the lives of college students inside and outside of the classroom. See here for an overview of rapid changes seen in the past 20 years. [VatorNews]

The most recent explosion from Apple has been the iPad. Since its release, there has been much speculation on the extensive possibilities tablets could provide not just for college classrooms, but in all areas of education. [Online Colleges]

Could the end of the printed textbook be approaching? Between 1986 and 2005, the average price of textbooks rose 186 percent. As the technological age takes us over, it seems clear a major aim of new businesses would be to eliminate these bulky, expensive books from college life. See here for some projects currently underway. [The Chronicle]

A new study has concluded that access to search engines like Google has actually hindered students’ ability to effectively research, rather than furthered it. The study attempted to understand the dramatic changes in how college students conduct research and to determine the effects on the students. [The Conversation]

Not only are the students utilizing new technologies, but the universities as a whole have begun using the opportunities provided to further their messages as well. In particular, social media has become a focal point for many institutions, including usage of Facebook, Twitter, iTunesU, and YouTube. See here for twenty schools that have put a particularly large emphases on these technological outlets. [Best Colleges Online]

The RP’s Weekly Web Gems: The Politics of Liberty

Here are the details on tonight’s GOP debate from Nevada. I wonder what the Vegas odds are that Herman Cain’s “9-9-9 Plan” is mentioned within the first 9 seconds. [2012 Election Central]

The recently freed American hikers detained in Iran support Occupy Wall Street in Oakland, California. Do you? [Mercury News]

Lady Liberty

90% of North Koreans who defected to South Korea considered Kim Jong-Il’s remarks as good as law. Makes the Supreme Court’s constitutional jurisprudence read like a peaceful bedtime story. [Yonhap News Agency]

The RP’s Weekly Web Gems: The Politics of Fashion

Politics of Fashion

BREAKING NEWS: Uniqlo, a Japanese Fashion Retailer, is taking over the world. No, seriously.   [WWD]

Having trouble finding make-up to complement your Halloween costume? Look no further! Check out these Halloween-inspired make-up collections:   [Fashionista]

Will you be watching Project Runway‘s spin-off, Project Accessories?   [Lifetime]

Sale and Karl Lagerfeld typically do not belong in the same sentence. However, at Macy’s, they do. Uh oh.   [Racked]

It’s time to stack up your nail polish collections for the Fall!   [Fashionista]

THE RP’S BREAKING NEWS: The Rise of Herman Cain?

President Cain?

 

 

 

A recent Rasmussen poll has Herman Cain beating President Obama in a head-to-head match-up. [Rasmussen Reports]

The RP’s Weekly Web Gems: The Politics of Pigskin

The Politics of Pigskin

Here is Peter King’s Monday Morning QB article in which he breaks down the weekends news and results. [Sports Illustrated]

The Oakland Raiders are rushing to find a replacement at QB after Jason Campbell went down with a season-ending collar bone fracture. Their first contact was with David Garrard, former starting QB of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Adam Schefter has reported they have also touched base with Josh McCown. [ESPN]

Here is your preview of tonight’s Monday night game featuring the NY Jets vs. the Miami Dolphins. [CBS New York]

Check out some of the Week 6 winners and losers around the league. [Yahoo! Sports]

Here is a recap of the action from this weekend’s college football slate – featuring Lattimore going down for the season, Kansas State surging, and Georgia’s D. Coordinator losing it after their game. [The Big Lead]

The RP’s Weekly Web Gems: The Politics of Faith

The Politics of Faith

What insight can Buddhism offer to the Occupy Wall Street movement?  Here’s one perspective. [Elephantjournal.com]

Israel has agreed to release 1,027 Palestinian inmates in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.  While this news has been met with joy, it has also been surrounded with controversy. [CNN]

Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith often makes headlines.  Here’s an article that gives a more in-depth look into Romney’s role in the Church of Latter Day Saints. [NY Times]

 

 

The RP’s Weekly Web Gems- The Politics of the States

Moderate State Senators in New York continue to be targeted by the National Organization for marriage.

The National Organization for Marriage’s assault on moderate Republicans in New York shows no signs of stopping. After State Senators James Alesi, Mark Grisanti, Roy McDonald, and Stephen Saland, all of whom represent traditionally-Republican areas of Upstate New York, were feted by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg last week, NOM released an advertisement entitled “Money Dance,” in the style of the popular Jib-Jab political videos. The ad, which portrays the four Senators dancing in pairs while wearing tuxedos (intentionally evoking wedding couples) while being showered with cash, accuses the men of being bought off by wealthy donors who support same-sex marriage. [Albany Times Union]

In response to Republican-backed legislation that would require welfare recipients to undergo drug tests, Ohio State Representative Robert F. Hagan has put forth a bill that would require state-level elected officials, including lawmakers and Supreme Court justices, to take drug and alcohol tests. Such requirements would extend to people standing to benefit from the Troubled Assets Relief Program. The bill also includes a procedure for recalling elected officials in the State of Ohio. [Columbus Dispatch]

On the topic of recall elections, Wisconsin has a second round coming up on the horizon. By Wisconsin state law, legislators can be target for a recall after they have served one year of their terms; in November, 11 Republicans and six Democrats will become eligible. The 17 legislators join two Republicans and four Democrats who were targeted by recall efforts that failed to garner enough signatures in the last round of attempted ousters. Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau), Senate Majority Leader, has said that he is considering targeting many if not all elegible Democrats. The current spate of chaos is on top of a pre-existing effort to recall Governor Scott Walker. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

Pennsylvania Democrats seem to be stricken with the same incumbent-challenging ailment as establishment Republicans. Tim Burns, a businessman from rural Western Pennsylvania, has entered the race for the Republican nomination for Senator, challenging single-term incumbent Bob Case, Jr. Burns, a failed 2010 Congressional candidate, joins a crowded, but relatively undistinguished, Republican field that includes numerous other Tea Party-backers and businessmen. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

Occupy Iowa protesters are running into legal troubles with Republican Governor Terry Branstad and his administration, as the state has refused to reauthorize a protest permit. In an effort to avoid being arrested by the State Police, the protestors were working to pull together as large a protest as they could, numbering in the several hundreds and aiming for at least 1,000. [Des Moines Register]

In a rather odd move for a man who was elected claiming he would create 700,000 jobs on top of expected growth, Florida Governor Rick Scott told a radio show that he “didn’t have to create any jobs,” and only needed to focus on making sure that job growth was positive. The comment was made on a show hosted by Bud Hedinger, a conservative talk radio host in suburban Orlando who broke the right wing radio mold by pressing Scott on his jobs record and the fact that he now questions the usefulness of Florida’s economic prediction models. [St. Petersburg Times Forum]

California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, roundly criticized his state for complacency about jobs. Pushing his jobs plan, one that has been overshadowed by Governor Jerry Brown’s, Newsom said “We’re like the aging high school football player that talks about the good ol’ days,” referring to the state’s breakneck jobs creation record between the 1950’s and 1980’s, at a conference in Beverly Hills. Interestingly, Newsom attributed the problem, at least in part, to bitter partisanship in Sacramento, calling the state legislature “tribal.” [Sacramento Bee]

The RP’s Weekly Web Gems: The Politics of Beauty

The Politics of Beauty

If you’re a fan of American pop culture, you’re certainly aware of comic books and the influence they’ve had on American culture—from Spider-Man to American Splendor. And if you’re not familiar with the hysteria created by comic books in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, you must read one of your correspondent’s favorite books, The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America. So is the recent release of The 99, a group of Islamic superheroes embodying the more positive attributes of Allah, a cause for multicultural celebration or hyperbolic cries of “propaganda!”? Read more about the “controversy” from MSNBC. [Islamic superheroes: Role models or propaganda?]

If you watched a football game this weekend, you probably noticed a whole lot of pink going on. In fact, unless you’re color blind, you’ve probably seen a whole lot of pink everywhere lately as October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. But is it too much? Is it just another over-simplified “symbol” that makes people feel like they’re doing something to help when in fact they’re just putting on a ribbon? Nothing more than putting a bumper sticker on your car? There are plenty of critics that think so. Check out two pieces on thinking outside the “pink” box. Amid Breast Cancer Month, Is There Pink Fatigue? from National Public Radio, and more from Breast Cancer Action.

Finally, unless you’ve been maniacally focused on getting the latest iPhone recently, you may have noticed that there’s a little protest movement going on in Manhattan (and Rome, Paris, Peoria, etc., over the weekend). Check out this send up from the New York Times, as the rich have had it up to their mink stoles with all of the attention given to the plebeians of late. [Occupy Poor Street]

The RP’s BREAKING News: The Politics of the Wellness

Rest in peace, Dan Wheldon. The popular NASCAR driver, who won the Indianapolis 500 for the second time this May, died this weekend in a collision during a fall series race in Las Vegas. [NY Times]

The RP’s Weekly Web Gems: The Politics of Wealth

The Politics of Wealth

 

 

Steve Jobs was a lousy role model. [Forbes]

Google’s tax bill has been released…read all about it here. [Fortune]

Apple’s iPhone 4S hits stores as fans remember Steve Jobs. [CNBC]

Suburbia begins to slip below the poverty line. [Huffington Post]

Surprising new study finds that wealth managers now prefer to use Apple iPhones over RIM’s Blackberry’s. [Reuters]

The Recovering Politician Bookstore

     

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