St Machar Academy Modern Studies Department

President Barrack Obama released a new campaign ad yesterday attacking Repbulican candidate Mitt Romney’s record on jobs. The ad features interviews with steelworkers made redundant after Bain Capital, a company co-founded by Mr Romney bought their steel mill and then closed it down.

The Romney campaign has responded with their own ad criticising the President over high student debt levels. Unfortunately I can’t link to a lot of the campaign ads as Aberdeen City Council’s web filter blocks access to youtube but a quick search for Romney or Obama campaign ads will get you several examples.

After his recent declaration of support for the right for gay couples to get married, ABC news has this story on Newsweek magazine’s latest controversial cover story which proclaims Barrack Obama to be America’s first “gay” President.

The article isn’t actually “outing” the President rather it is supposed to point out his strong record on supporting gay rights.

The First Gay President

The BBC reports today that ships from EU naval forces have carried out a series of attacks on mainland Somali to disrupt the operations of pirate gangs who are responsible for seizing ships in the area and holding their crews for ransom. A good example for questions related to European co-operation.

The full story can be found here. Further information about the scale of the pirate problem can be found here.

The  Equality and Human Rights Commission regularly publishes information related to areas of inequality in Scotland and the rest of the UK.  In 2010 they published “How Fair is Britain?” a review of progress (or lack thereof) being made towards a more equal society. You can find the report on the EHRC website. However, you may find it easier to look at some of the press coverage of the report which synthesises a lot of the main points and is easier to read through. Thankfully, the EHRC has collected links to all of the major coverage at this page. Many Higher candidates struggle to provide up to date exemplification in essays related to gender and race so this is well worth a look before Friday!

A common essay question is one centered around the role and effectiveness of backbench MPs in Parliament. Students often tend to be overwhelmingly negative in their assessment and dismiss MPs as largely useless except in exceptional circumstances. However, pupils looking to beef up their essays with a little more complex analysis might want to read this blog from the London School of Economics which, while suggesting that they still need more power, makes a case that Select Committees at least are one area where rank and file MPs can make a difference.

A brief refresher on what Select Committees do can be found here.

In 2009 a Select Committee (informally known as the “Wright Committee” after its chairman Tony Wright MP) made a number of recommendations which the coalition has agreed to implement. If fully implemented they would give backbenchers more power.

One of the topics that often comes up when talking to pupils about Higher Paper 2 is the background knowledge required to pass the DME.

The SQA gives markers quite a wide scope of what is acceptable when marking the paper. Additionally, the two written sources normally have a number of “prompts” in them designed to remind you of BK to include (e.g. references to “fundamental principles of the Health Service”, “recent government policies” and so on).

The best source of background knowledge is the news and accurate reference to any recent stories related to the theme of the DME will attract marks.

If you are looking for further information you might wish to try some of the links below…

HEALTH – The Scottish government carries out an annual survey of the nation’s health, the reports can be found here. Be warned that there is a lot of data collected here! I would suggest starting here - this press release gives a brief overview of recent health trends in Scotland contained in the most recent report.

Health in Scotland 2009 Time for Change: Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer is a goldmine of information – it offers tables on life expectancy, infant mortality etc in Scotland and compares them internationally. There is also information about a variety of schemes targetting poor health. Well worth a look.

A good overview of recent statistics on binge drinking can be found here.

GENDER AND RACE INEQUALITY -Information about Gender inequalites can be found at the Women’s Resource Centre. You might also try googling for the latest s e x and power survey (I can’t get a link due to the internet safety filter!)

A good source of information about inequalities and ethnic minorities can be found here. It’s amounts to almost a complete set of course notes and also has a page of internet links at the end.

POVERTY AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION – A wealth of data on poverty accross the UK can be found at the Poverty Site.

More stuff here: Child Poverty Action Group and here: Joseph Rowntree Foundation. A good report on the JRF’s findings can be accessed from The Guardian’s website – get it here.

Government policies on welfare reform can be found at the Department for Work and Pensions.

Click on the link to the Standard Grade revision page and you will find instructions on how to access a very useful powerpoint which gives detailed anwers to many common questions that come up in the Standard Grade exam.

Archived article from The Guardian newspaper about Britain’s gender inequalities. Useful for Higher pupils. Find it here.

I have collected all of the relevant essay questions from past papers up to 2010. The document can be downloaded from here: Exam questions

One of the powers the President of the United States holds is the power to make Executive Orders. 

Executive orders are regulations issued by the President. Provided that they are based either on his constitutional powers or laws passed by Congress, they have the force of law. Federal courts will enforce them just as if they had been enacted by Congress, provided that they do not conflict with federal laws. An executive order that carries out a law may later be revoked by new legislation. An executive order can be nullified, or canceled, if the Supreme Court or lower federal courts find that it is unconstitutional. For instance, in 1952 the Supreme Court ruled that President Truman’s seizure of the steel mills during the Korean War violated the due process clause of the Constitution because the President had seized property without being given statutory authority by Congress.

Originally, executive orders based their legitimacy on Article II, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution, which contains the phrase “he [the President of the United States] shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” This phrase was interpreted as a management tool, a way for the president to enforce Congress’s wishes. Almost immediately, presidents tried to widen the scope of the short phrase.

The president’s power to issue executive orders comes from Congress and the U.S. Constitution. Executive orders differ from presidential proclamations, which are used largely for ceremonial and honorary purposes such as declaring National Newspaper Carrier Appreciation Day.

Executive orders do not require congressional approval. Thus, the president can use them to set policy while avoiding public debate and opposition. Presidents have used executive orders to direct a range of activities, including establishing migratory bird refuges; putting Japanese Americans in internment camps during World War II; discharging civilian government employees who had been disloyal, following World War II; enlarging national forests; prohibiting racial discrimination in housing; pardoning Vietnam War draft evaders; giving federal workers the right to bargain collectively; keeping the federal workplace drug free; and sending U.S. troops to Bosnia.

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/executive-order-1#ixzz1lnRRTUpQ

If you are going to include this in an essay about the powers of the President then you should look here for recent examples of Executive Orders signed by President Obama.