Redistribution of wealth debate

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redistribution_of_income_and_wealth
http://origin-www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-11-25/leaving-the-justice-out-of-wealth-redistribution
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/09/americans-reject-wealth-redistribution/404806/
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/redistribution-of-wealth.html
http://www.debate.org/redistribution/
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/progressivetax.asp
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/02/04/can-tax-policy-distinguish-the-rich-from-the-middle-class/we-need-a-truly-progressive-tax-rate
https://toughnickel.com/personal-finance/Flat-Tax-vs-Progressive-Tax-Pros-and-Cons-for-the-US
http://www.debate.org/opinions/progressive-tax-vs-flat-tax-does-progressive-taxation-help-the-poor
http://study.com/academy/lesson/understanding-the-progressive-tax-code.html

Current Events Report

1. Use a reputable news source. Choose a source that offers well-written and well-researched news. Avoid blogs and other personal websites. Determine the credibility of the source by examining the author, the news source, who owns the news source, and so on.^[1] Some possible news sources might include your local newspaper or larger newspapers such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Atlantic monthly.

2. Choose an article on the topic that interests you, such as healthcare, government, technology, international news, or sports. These are still very broad topics, so you should be able to find plenty of news.
3. Make sure the article is a good length. You should choose an article that gives you enough information to work with. It should help you understand the topic at hand, and it should give you enough material to write about in your summary. An article that is one to two paragraphs long is not going to be lengthy enough.
4. Read the entire article. Take some time to read through the entire article. Make sure you understand what the article says. Your objective with this assignment is to write a summary of the news story, so you need to fully understand the article.
5. Outline the news article. The first paragraph of the current events summary is a summary of the events discussed in the article. Write an outline of the article, focusing on the five Ws and H. You may choose to rearrange the five Ws and H so that your summary makes sense.
6. Outline your thoughts about the article. The reflection paragraph is your opportunity to make connections between this article and the community at large. Think about why this story is important. Think about the connection to your community, or your state, or the country. You might also think about the connection to your class. What themes are you discussing in class that relate to this article? ^[6]
• Even though the reflection is short (usually just a paragraph), you should still aim to make an argument, at least to some degree. Determine the main point that you want to make and think about how you will support that main point.

You can choose an article from:
http://www.theatlantic.com/
http://time.com/
Popular Science, etc.

Current Events Report

Due October 5th, 2016

We have a long weekend ahead of us.  Rosh Hashana is a Jewish holiday that celebrates New Year.  If you are Jewish, La'Shana Tova to you and your family. If you are not, enjoy the long weekend.  We have our first periodical report due. This assignment is not designed to inundate you with work.  It goes together with my evil master plan to help you develop your reading, writing, and critical thinking. The following list is a suggestion on the process of writing this report.  I want to eliminate guesswork and concentrate on text analysis.

1. Use a reputable news source. Choose a source that offers well-written and well-researched news. Avoid blogs and other personal websites. Determine the credibility of the source by examining the author, the news source, who owns the news source, and so on.^[1] Some possible news sources might include your local newspaper or larger newspapers such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Atlantic monthly.

2. Choose an article on the topic that interests you, such as healthcare, government, technology, international news, or sports. These are still very broad topics, so you should be able to find plenty of news.
3. Make sure the article is a good length. You should choose an article that gives you enough information to work with. It should help you understand the topic at hand, and it should give you enough material to write about in your summary. An article that is one to two paragraphs long is not going to be lengthy enough.
4. Read the entire article. Take some time to read through the entire article. Make sure you understand what the article says. Your objective with this assignment is to write a summary of the news story, so you need to fully understand the article.
5. Outline the news article. The first paragraph of the current events summary is a summary of the events discussed in the article. Write an outline of the article, focusing on the five Ws and H. You may choose to rearrange the five Ws and H so that your summary makes sense.
6. Outline your thoughts about the article. The reflection paragraph is your opportunity to make connections between this article and the community at large. Think about why this story is important. Think about the connection to your community, or your state, or the country. You might also think about the connection to your class. What themes are you discussing in class that relate to this article? Even though the reflection is short (usually just a paragraph), you should still aim to make an argument, at least to some degree. 

You can choose an article from:
http://www.theatlantic.com/
http://time.com/
http://www.economist.com/
http://www.popsci.com/
And other reputable sources.  You can also visit your local library and peruse the printed periodicals.
Here is an amazing piece of argumentative writing

Art & Poetry

“When I say artist I mean the one who is building things … some with a brush – some with a shovel – some choose a pen.” ~Jackson Pollock

Please click on this link to view the list of New York City museums.  We live in the best place on earth when it comes to culture (and food and people).  We are going to visit two.  Spend some time exploring the rest.  Most of the time, you get student admission at a discount or free altogether. 

In the very least, go see my lilies at MoMA.  Sit in front of them and give yourself at least 15 minutes.  Keep looking... 

If you like music, turn on Debussy's Clair De Lune.  Enjoy!

Things to read & Think about

http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-unlikely-story-of-a-change-is-gonna-come
http://www.npr.org/2014/02/01/268995033/sam-cooke-and-the-song-that-almost-scared-him
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEBlaMOmKV4
http://newsreel.org/video/THE-LANGUAGE-YOU-CRY-IN