The Philippines

Aftermath of the Philippines

Typhoon Haiyan, one of the worst storms recorded, swept through several islands of the Philippines. One of the areas worst affected by the typhoon was Tacloban. Guiuan, a town of 40,000 people, is in dire need of help as well.
There are many ways we can help the people in the Philippines, but there are key needs that must be met in order to stop future disasters of different kinds. After the earthquake in Haiti, help was rushed in but Cholera was spread because of unclean water. If this were to happen to the Philippines, it would lead to years of bad fortune for its inhabitants. Operation USA has begun covering this base by providing water purification supplies.
The three basic needs must be met for the people of Tacloban and Guiuan: food, shelter, and water. Shelterbox, an emergency relief organization, has been passing out tents and survival kits for people with no homes. They have committed to help 4,000 families and have so far provided 504 Shelterbox tents to people in Manila, Philippines. The World Food Programme has already given two-million dollars and is working to provide fortified biscuits to the Philippines.
Although these basic needs must be met, there are others that get put on the back-burner of the situation that can become real issues if not taken care of. Mosquitoes are directly related to Malaria which is easily spread in muggy areas. With all the water in the Philippines, this creates worry. In addition to an emphasis on providing water, we should also be donating bug spray to keep mosquitoes away.



Sites:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24887746
http://www.divinecaroline.com/life-etc/culture-causes/after-disaster-twelve-unexpected-things-victims-need
http://www.shelterboxusa.org/about.php
https://secure2.convio.net/fwfp/site/Donation2;jsessionid=6567FE8838700712A5C7325B5C0F13DA.app261a?idb=1237175804&df_id=2141&2141.donation=form1&2141_donation=form1
https://donate.opusa.org/?

Federalism in Government

Federalism has been a crucial part of our government since its beginnings. Its definition has changed over the years and has been interpreted in many different ways, but the meaning and importance of the world is still clear after all the government has been through. Categorical grants and federal mandates have been used to increase the power of the federal government for state issues; Block grants and the tenth amendment have been used to increase the power of the state governments to decrease federal government intrusion.
Federalism is defined as, "a way of organizing a nation so two or more levels of government have formal authority over the same people and land". The levels of government can be national, state, or local governments and the people and land are always shared.
Categorical grants are only used for specific categories and have strings attached, generally requirements of the states. Federal mandates are requirements of local and state governments to comply with federals rules to continually receive money. Both of these give more control to the Federal government, increasing federalism in the nation. However, the states have fought back with rules of their own.
Block grants are given automatically to support broad programs in the state, like social services and developing community programs. The Tenth Amendment states that powers not delegated to the National Government by the Constitution nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states or people respectively. Both of these laws give more power to the states to overcome control by the federal government.
Federalism is an ongoing fight in the U.S. government. Whether through categorical grants or mandates, the federal government manages to maintain control over the states. However, the states have fought back with rights of their own to protect and preserve the power they have.

Gradual Change of the Constitution

Our country was founded upon the Constitution that still stands today, but not without change over the years. This proves that our government can survive economic strife and other challenges by changing ways. An amendment can be added in a formal or informal way, however, amendments are most commonly added informally.
Article V of the constitution has a formal process written out. It is a two step process including a proposal and ratification stage. The proposal stage requires a two-thirds vote in each house of Congress with two-thirds of the state legislatures. Ratification requires a vote of three-fourth by the states. Another method is through a Constitutional Convention called by two-thirds of the states. The amendment needs a vote of, again, three-fourths of the states to be ratified.
Changing the constitution can be done informally as well. The elastic clause allows the government to change the constitution if it is "necessary and proper" for the time being. The air force was created with this because all the constitution allowed was an army and military, but an air force was necessary so the constitution was changed informally. Executive Action is also an informal change. The president can change or add a constitutional amendment if need be during a crisis, such as adding nuclear allowances during a war.
Informal change is used most commonly because it is a quicker way of change. Most changes are necessary because of something currently happening, which makes it an urgent matter that must be dealt with quickly. Using an amendment already created and changing it to suit a need is much quicker than having to formally draft and ratify an amendment.

Hugh Sloan, Watergate

Hugh Sloan, Secretary of CREEP

Hugh Sloan was born in Princeton, New Jersey on November 1st, 1940. He married Deborah Murray, now Deborah Sloan, in 1971 and became the treasurer of the Committee for Re-Election of the President (CREEP) shortly after. Mr. Sloan played a lesser role in the issue of Watergate, but still had some effect on its outcome.
His role in Watergate is less central than others, but still important in the aftermath. He participated and observed in many events, some of which he was accused of wrong-doings, and others in which he was defended. On March 20th, 1971 during a CREEP meeting, Nixon decided to spend $250,000 on "intelligence gathering". In other words, Nixon stated he wanted to spend money to spy on the Democrats. Sloan, the treasurer, confirmed the amount and wrote checks for the certain people involved.
In July of 1972, five men supposedly from the CIA, were arrested after attempting to bug some of the Democratic party's offices in the Watergate Hotel. Checks for large sums of money were later found deposited into the bank accounts of the burglars. This was one of the first connections of Sloan to Watergate, and only escalated further from here. In November of 1972, Nixon was reelected as president despite the controversy; however, the trouble continued.
During the trial, "the Watergate Seven", Sloan admits to giving almost $200,000 to the secret espionage team for Nixon. This led to G. Gordon Liddy and James McCord being charged with the conspiracy and wiring of the Democratic headquarters and were immediately put in jail.
Although Sloan played an important role in the Watergate break-in and the following court cases, he was never jailed or prosecuted. He soon left politics completely, and became a part of many successful businesses. The scandal of Watergate will continue to be studied for a long time; as long as Hugh Sloan is alive, his name will be next to one of the biggest scandals of all time in America.











 Citations:
 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2160868/Watergate-scandal-The-women-helped-Bob-Woodward-Carl-Bernstein-topple-Nixon.html (wife of Hugh Sloan)

http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=hugh_sloan_1 (role)

Link to general information on the Watergate
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/watergate/timeline.html