Liatening Mid-Term (Election 2008)

1. Barack Obama ( Democrat)

When I listened to his speech, I was so impressed. So I want to introduce to you his background and policies. First, his background is a little bit sad to me. His parents divorced when he was two. He only saw his father once more before he died. His mother remarried, and moved the family to Indonesia where he lived for four years as a child. He returned to the U.S. to live with his grandfather. With the help of scholarships, he worked his way up. He earned a degree in

international relations from Columbia University. And then he went to work as a community organizer. I think this special background makes him strong and polite.

Also I'd like to mention about his policies. Health care for uninsured children & Dearth penalty reform & Welfare reform & Tax relief for low-income workers and so on.

He promised to people many policies. He championed a law to help prevent weapons from falling into the hands of terrorists and brings a new face of American leadership around the world. He has promoted greater use of alternative energy, and higher fuel efficiency standards and a law to open up the budget process to greater public scrutiny.

2. Rudy Guiliani ( Republican)

He mentioned his six main policies.

- Fiscal discipline

- keeps us safe

- cut crime in half

- save our schools

- cut taxes 23 times

- cut walfare in half.

3. Bill Richarson (Democrat)

"We have to undo the damage. The world is waiting"

He is one of America's best Governors. And also he has more international experience than just about anyone else in the 2008 Field.

Here are his policies.

- Tax cuts for putting people to work

- over 80,000 new jobs

- 6th in the nation for job growth.

4. John Edwards (Democrat)

He mentions "Two Americas"(middle class / upper class). However he wants to make America one. There are some ways to unify America.

- Everyone has the same opporunities I've had.

- Cut taxes on low-income workers

- Expand the earned income tax credit for single workers

- Reduce the mariage penalty

- Creat 1 million stepping stone jobs

- Expand affordable housing near good jobs

- Enact the Employee Free Choice Act

- Enforce labor laws

- Ban the use of permanent replacementsfor striking workers

- College for Everyone

- 1 year of public college Tuition, fees and books for 2 million students who take a part-time job.

- Universal Health Care plan

- Gairantee affordable coverage to every famely

- Abusive credit card companies

- Predatory mortgage lenders

- Payday loan shops

5. Ron Paul (Republican)

- Supports a non- interventional Foreign policy

- He is the ONLY presidential canidate who would follow the constitution like the founding fathers did.

- This also means that ONLY the Congress can declare war, NOT the presidant.

- He voted against the Iraq war and has never voted to raies taxes, for and unbalanced budget, for a federal restriction, on gun ownership, to raise congressional pay, taken a government-paid junket, voted to increase the power of the executive branch.

- He voted against the patriot act , regulating the Internet and Iraq war.

As president of the U.S. he will:

- Bring our troops home from Iraq and end the war

- Secure our borders from terrorism

- Stop illegal immegration & No amnesty for illegals

- Limit big government in your private affairs & lives

- Abolis the IRS & income tax so that it's fair to you.

6. Hillary Clinton (Democrat)

"Hillary is the best combination of mind and heart."

- She fights for women's rights

- She supports for children's health

- She also fights for better health care for many different people

- She is trying to show exemplary conduct to people

Actually, I really enjoyed this project. Because I can learn lot's of things from these movies. Also I can understand the current issues in U.S. And I learn about the candidate's background. I hope Obama will be elected in 2008 presidential election because I like his policies and I love his passion to national people. Thanks for reading my blog! Thanks Rachelle!

The movie opens with a fascinating credit sequence that provides a capsule history of Saudi Arabia from the 1930s (when oil was discovered beneath its arid surface) to September 11, 2001. This is followed by a seemingly idyllic setting: men, women, and children enjoying a softball game at a picnic. It's what one might expect to see anywhere in America, except this is Riyadh, in a secure community where foreign oil workers live with their families. Terrorists have decided to use this event as a chance to capture the world's attention. Posing as policemen, suicide bombers get into the compound and blow themselves up - taking more than 100 people with them, including two FBI agents. The reverberations are felt in Washington, where agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) is readying his forensic team for an on-site investigation. With him are Janet Mayes (Jennifer Garner), a pathologist; Adam Leavitt (Jason Bateman), a computer geek; and Grant Sykes (Chris Cooper), an explosives expert. After some political arm twisting, Ronald is allowed to fly to The Kingdom, but only after he agrees to be babysat by local police colonel Al-Ghazi (Ashraf Barhom), who's more interested in not making waves than in solving the crime.
It gives us a rousing, jarring opening that pulls us into the story. Then he dials things down for a while. The political and investigative aspects of the movie are fascinating to observe, but they aren't the sort of things to get the heart racing. Nevertheless, there's a sense of urgency. We see tensions between the Saudi police and the army, the Americans have only five days and are being kept on a tight leash, and there are indications that the terrorists may be planning a follow-up attack, possibly targeting the new arrivals. As the FBI unearths clues about how the first bombing was orchestrated and interviews witnesses, men are shown assembling more explosives. The last 30 minutes of The Kingdom is balls-to-the-wall action.

The Kingdom is a hard film to pigeonhole because it crosses genres so freely. The pacing is also a little unwieldy. Those who are there for the higher octane elements may distracted during the lengthy investigative section. And those who are hoping for something with the heft and complexity of Syriana may find the all-action conclusion to be a little too loud (not to mention that the resolution hinges on couple of minor contrivances). Overall, however, the film is smart and engaging, and if it plays a little on our fears of the next big terrorist attack, it does so without feeling exploitative.

Interview for President Election in 2008

When I started this interview, I decided that I would try to interview many students as much as possibe. But in contrary with my hope, most students in UT were so busy because of their midterm exam and papers. So I interviewed only 4 people. Two students told me they didn’t have enough time to participate in my interview. Most of them said they will vote for next president election in 2008, and they are registered automatically. They hope next president will make society different from Bush.
And they usually concern about health problems, environment issues, immigration and Iraq war. One of them told me he will vote for Obama. Because Obama’s policies are so good for most people in U.S. Two students said they used to follow their family’s opinion, because actually they don’t know the candidates than their parents. That is shocked to me. I think most young people are very concerned their government and president.

I really like this interview project. Because it gave me lots of opportunities to approach American students and I learned their opinion for their government. I thanks for Rachelle to give us this awesome interview project. And next time I will prepare more questions and then talk many things with other people.

New Tactics Aim to Make Korean Film a Hit in the U.S.

Korean companies like Hyundai and Samsung started as punch lines but overcame quality and distribution problems to become industry giants. Now, a film producer based in Seoul wants to pull off a similar trick in the movie business. The producer, Hyung Rae Shim is aiming a film squarely at American moviegoers, an ambitious and expensive endeavor called “Dragon Wars.” Hissing, computer-generated dragons terrorize Los Angeles as a television reporter unravels a mystery that will stop them. The film’s $30 million budget, which typically does not buy the kind of special effects that American moviegoers have come to expect, is thought to be the largest ever for a Korean studio. Based on a Korean legend, “Dragon Wars” features American actors (Jason Behr from “The Grudge” plays the lead) and has a large marketing budget, even by Hollywood standards. Unlike most Korean films, “Dragon Wars” was filmed in English and distributed in South Korea with subtitles, a controversial decision. Korean pride will deliver big audiences, at least in cities like Los Angeles that have burgeoning Korean populations. To stoke that pride, Mr. Shim included a written message at the end of his movie, one that underscores his desire to make Hollywood his playground: “D-War and I will succeed in the world market without fail.”

Have you ever seen the Korean movie? If you don't, I really recommend you guys to see this wonderful movie!! It has lots of awesome computer grapics and is like lively moving dragon! The producer, Hyung Rae Shim has been making lots of movies like Dragon Wars. But he failed and failed because of lack of computer grapic designing! But finally he did it! He creates sweet movie! I am very proud of that! Let's go to theater to see “Dragon Wars” this weekend! ^^

49ers' Lawson Tears ACL, Out For Season

The San Francisco 49ers have started the season 2-0 for the first time this century. The team pulled out tight victories against division rivals the Arizona Cardinals and St. Louis Rams. As the team was preparing for their upcoming showdown with the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday at Heinz Field, rising defensive star Manny Lawson suffered a devastating knee injury in Wednesday’s practice. “I heard a pop…so I was nervous. I tried to test it out, but really I just had to wait for the MRI,” said Lawson. The results of the MRI confirmed that Lawson tore his ACL and would have to undergo season-ending surgery. The loss of Lawson is a big blow to the Niners’ defense. He was expected to have a breakout season. In his rookie campaign, Lawson compiled 57 tackles, 2.5 sacks and one interception. The former first round pick out of North Carolina State will likely be replaced in the lineup by veteran linebacker Hannibal Navies. With Lawson done for the year, the onus will fall on rookie linebacker Patrick Willis to lead the linebacking corps. The Niners’ selected Willis in the first round of this year’s draft. The former standout at the University of Mississippi has already shown flashes of greatness in his young pro career. In two games, Willis has compiled 19 tackles and forced one fumble. While the loss of Lawson is a big blow, the team has enough depth at linebacker to overcome it. Brandon Moore, who lost his job to Willis in training camp, should push Navies for playing time. Moore led the team with 114 tackles and 6.5 sacks last season.

When I heard this terrible news, I was so sad. We can't see his awesome playing in the field anymore this 2007-08 season. It must be the horrible attack to the San Francisco 49ers because they loss the Niners’ defense. They should make up another roster to replace Lawson's. I wish he will recover his surgery and then cone back to field to show us sweet play!!

Listening Log 2

Listening Log 2
Business Finance
Professor : Woochan, Kim
Class : T/TH 14:00-17:00 UTC in UT

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Today I learned about valuation of bonds and valuation of stocks in finance class. The common stock holders receive type of Cash dividend and the price at which she can sell the stock. We call this a dividend discount model as that value of a stock is equal to the discounted present value of all future dividends. This is so even if you sell the share in a year or two. We can make this be simplified the equation. That is Zero growth model, Constant growth model and Differential growth model. Contribution to the market risk is that because people should only be concerned about market risk, and what matters is how much that individual asset contributes to the market risk. Note that standard deviation is no longer a good measure since it includes diversifiable risk, which does not matter once people hold a diversified portfolio.

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In this week, the title is so difficult for me to understand all of the class. But I tried to concentrate to professor during the class and asked some questions after the class. I think that it is so good experience for me to attend the lecture because I can learn how the other students do their study and what they think about some topics. It is enough benefit to me. I will do my best!

Listening Log

Listening Log
Business Finance
Professor : Woochan, Kim
Class : T/TH 14:00-17:00 UTC in UT

When I attend the class yesterday, I learn that how to reduce our risk in investment and to make more benefit in economic activities. Professor said that if investors hold a diversified portfolio, diversifiable risk should not matter. That is, diversifiable risk need not be compensated by a positive return. So then, can shareholders expropriate other stakeholders?
The answer is Yes. But, how? Pay less wage, delay payment to suppliers, default on debt, pollute environment, charge monopoly price to consumers, evade tax and so on. How can this expropriation be prevented? Long-term shareholders have incentive to protect other stakeholders.Government also protects them by law. And also we have to invest diversity because of risk.



Actually I"m not UT student, but I really wanted to attend this class because my second major is Economic. So I visited the Professor"s office and asked him politely to permit the class to me.
So now I can access the blackboard on UT online website like UT students, and also I can check out my homework and documents. I"m really happy to attend the finance class with UT students. I will do my best and I hope to learn lots of things from the class.

Dreaming JUNO

I always wonder beautiful world!!