Putting photos in an already written post is a pain in the ass.

ADK Trip/Maine

Two vacations in two weeks.

So, a month later I am writing about these trips. I know I should have done it sooner, and the trips have lost their freshness, though they are now fond memories.

THE ADIRONDACKS (July 17-22)

Our agenda went as such:
Sunday: Driving up to camp and then upon arrival being drug around (in sheer terror) all day on the tube.

Monday: A lounging day around camp.

Tuesday: A quick hike up Black Bear Mountain, and then a trip to the ice cream stand where I gladly enjoyed some vegan lemon sorbet.

Wednesday: WATER SAFARI and a kayak excursion that lead to us almost sinking one of the boats, finding a hidden lean-to and scaring our family to death.

Thursday: Clogging a toilet, doing some plumbing and The ADK Museum, then hiking back to the lean-to only to find two fat guys hanging out there.

Friday: Packing up for the trip home and some light touristy shopping.


I love these annual trips with my dad and step-mom's family to the ADK, we always have a blast.

MAINE: (July 30 -August 2)

In their first-ever trip to Maine I ventured with my aunt, uncle and cousin to meet my dad and see some of the classic sights. We went to Portland, they had typical family argument, a boat ride and what I believe a wonderful time.

Scholorship: Importance of Fitness in the Life of a Student and in your Opinion.

Fitness is an important part of my life. Since I was very young I have been uncomfortable in my body. For the past three years I have been focused on making myself happy in my own skin by changing my diet, by becoming vegan, and incorporating exercise into my weekly routine. With including these components into my lifestyle I have become happier and life a healthier life.
As a student, there are ways that a schedule will fluctuate and fitness factors that are usually part of a set schedule may be hard to keep constant. While deciding on a school, having fitness facilities on campus will be an important factor affecting my decision. I think a fitness center on campus is important because of a students fluctuating schedule, on a day when the student has a lot of work it is convenient for them to walk to another building on campus and have access to a fitness center at anytime they have, and for a small or no cost, which everyone knows is important to students. Meal plans also help with a student's health. The students have the choice to pick healthy foods, without having to prepare them or purchase them outside of their tuition or school costs. Having the ability to take care of oneself by exercising and eating right leads to good mental and emotional health. When I cannot exercise and when I do not eat right, I become very stressed and anxious. When I am away at college, if I do not have appropriate conditions(workout centers, healthy food, a clean living area) which are key factors in my life, I will not be in a healthy emotional or mental state. All of these factors play roles related to each other, and by making the right decisions while at school and home, by exercising, eating well and being in a stress-free environment lead to having good physical, mental and emotional health.

Sometimes, nothing is better than suiting.

Je voudrais des bottes vegan.

I need to start taking photos again.

Beach Day!

Today, I started guarding again, come to find I am somewhat cheated out of working hours*.

When I arrived home, I was presented with the information that a Beach Day was planned. I quickly packed my "beach bag" with necessary contents (coloring books, crayons, magazines, a book, tea and sunscreen). and was ready.

I haven't been to this beach for many years, it is lakeside, not oceanside, therefore the water not as cold, less people and of course the sand, just as annoying. The trip was nice, I read the entire time, though not reading as much as I would like to, being distracted by the party I arrived with. I only went into the water once, having swam this morning to prepare for the upcoming swim season; of which I am not sure that I will be participating in.

Altogether, I had a fine time at the beach, though not a fan of the sun, it felt wonderful to sit outside in the bright, summer weather.



*Of course when I decide to save all of my money; I am stuck making less.

NYC: June 29th

This trip to the city happened to be spur-of-the-moment, though, plans that just seem to grow out of nowhere usually become the most enjoyable trips. The original set departure time was 7 a.m., however, because of late-night nostalgic cartoons, our it was pushed back about 5 hours. On the way stopping for coffee* at Buffalo Zack's Cafe (which we have adorned Roscoe Diner),
the drive down seemed to be shorter than normal, taking a different route right into the Upper East Side may have been the cause.
Since it was already 4 o'clock, we went directly to the Candle Cafe for an early dinner. I loved the atmosphere of the cafe, bustling and energetically filling take out orders, deliveries and placing plates stacked with delicately arranged food in front of the anticipating customers directly at hand. The manager was overseeing the mechanical chaos of the restaurant, and not a touch of stiffness was apparent between the employees and his presence, more like a friendly acknowledgement and flow. The food was delicious, of course. I also always enjoy a completely vegan restaurant, it's nice to not have to pick and chose over a menu, trying to avoid certain foods and worry how the item ordered is going to be prepared. Even with the delicious food, the hospitality was a tad on the cold side. Switching servers halfway through, our original waitress seemed to be more concerned with meeting her friends during her break, rather than how she was treating her customers. The stiff interactions between the patrons was common of New Yorkers, quickly averting eyes in the same second as they were met, and the broken relationship between server and diner reminded me of why I much prefer the West Coast* to the East.
After our dinner, and espresso (which was divine) we left for the theatre district. It was almost 7, and our goal was to pick up the tickets for Phantom of the Opera before 7:15. We parked the car in a lot directly on Broadway, which was of course incredibly convenient. We were able to pick up the tickets before our desired time, and upon my mother's suggestion, went to a "diner" which in actuality was a bar, and was awful. The coffee tasted like water, and there was no toilet paper in the restroom, which put me in a sour mood. After that terrible experience we walked into Times Square to exhaust the extra 20 minutes we had. Wandering into Sephora to browse the vegan makeup they had available, and because of my girlish instincts, spent a little more time than planned in the store. We walked less than a block to the theatre and waited in a line that was longer than the walk. The wait was short thankfully, and we were able to get in our front mezzanine seats* with time to spare. Not enough time, however, to use the bathroom. Which of course had a line as long as the transcontinental railroad. Phantom was excellent, though with this play I often lose interest at several points in its duration, because, I think, I know it so well. I often forget how well our chorus was trained in school, the actress portraying Christine hit her vowels with an "i" sound* every time, which caused a sharp pain for my well-tuned ears each time it came about. The visual aspects of this show were amazing, the Phantom's lair, ugh, brilliant. The Phantom himself was wonderful, really making the show as spectacular as it is labeled to be.
After the show, we traveled back into Sephora, unable to resist. Testing perfumes I wouldn't be able to afford in a million years, and getting ideas for before-school purchases. I bookmarked Philosophy's new "Field of Flowers" lotion, and of course a cache of Urban Decay products. I did end up purchasing a lipstick from Urban Decay in "Revolution". Seriously, I couldn't stop myself.
The drive back was reminiscent of a red-eye flight, we were so tired we ended up getting a hotel room an hour away from home. Though, the wonderful part about the stop was that the hotel was located next door to a Starbucks. When I woke at 11, I sauntered on over and bought a cappuccino before continuing the drive home.
I think this summer requires another trip to the city, though the nest time, I think, I will extend the stay in a hotel located near SoHo, and not have so many required stops. I don't spend enough time in the southern half of the city and I think that it may be time that I start.





*This coffee is normally fantastic, though this time seemed to be rather watered down. That may have been because I added sweetener (which I hate), before I noticed soymilk was available.

*California is one of the most friendly places I have ever been. Each person smiles at each other when walking down the street. The first few hours walking around we were stiff New Yorkers, but after being in the friendly, warm atmosphere our hard shells melted. The interactions between servers and customers is almost like a friendship, making me feel a bit guilty. The patrons are seated right next to each other, like one large group in the restaurant, and do interact with each other as such.

*Easily the best seats in the house, I love sitting in the mezzanine because one has the ability to absorb the entirety of the gorgeous structure of the theatre and the fine precision of a Broadway show.

* "Music" should have a deep "u" sound in the first syllable after a warm "m" and lighten on the second syllable with a quick, un-clipping final consonant of "c", instead it was pronounced "meiwwzick", which I can't eloquently explain my distaste for.

The City to-day

As I have finished all of my required tests today at 2p.m. Summer is officially HERE!

and I am so ready for it, I have been running again, (though not for the past two days), I have been working on more writings and artwork (drawings and photography), I have worked on my bass guitar and gotten better at it and I have relaxed more.

The only required thing left to do is to take my recertification test for CPR to confirm my lifguard job.

Fuck Yeah.

Aujord hui

I have recently come to terms with the way I used to act, and the way I used to view things.
I understand why I did things in my past, not that they were completely irrational, and I still feel that some of the things I did and said are easily justified.
One of those things was to isolate myself from someone who was once a very good friend of mine, and I went about that the wrong way. A way in which hurt that friend deeply, and I did not realize it until we talked about this lapse in our friendship today. I did have a reason to isolate myself, though the way of going about it was irrational, and was very self-centered, and, at that time, I didn't care how my friend felt. Now realizing how it felt for her and how I would react if I felt that way and if a dear friend of mine did that to me.
However, though I do still see our time apart as necessary, if we did not have that hiatus in our friendship, I feel like things would be just as unhealthy and hurtful as they were before. Now that we are older, I think that this will be a good friendship, rather than how upsetting at times it was before, and now we can make up for lost time without the fear of being bitches to one another.

Uhm, James Franco as a fashion photographer? Yes, please.

Source

I just bought this on white vinyl.

3rd repress, limited to 1000.

My new bb.

Past

A Practice Essay I did for the S.A.T.


http://thefairbear.tumblr.com/post/6152570438/scholarly
















(shit)

Past

Current Event : Week of 6/10 (Last one!)
"A 'Big Thumbs Up' for Renewable Energy"
James Kanter
June 3, 2011

http://thefairbear.tumblr.com/post/6365030082/scholarly

Current Event (Past)

Week of 5/27
http://thefairbear.tumblr.com/post/5853798524/scholarly
"The Issue of Abortion Returns to Center Stage in U.S. Politics"
Luisita Torregrosa
April 19, 2011

Playlist

http://thefairbear.tumblr.com/post/5789936863/5-24-11

DBQ (Past)

http://thefairbear.tumblr.com/post/5627099111/scholarly

Article (Ethical vs. Unethical Journalism - Example of Ethical)

http://thefairbear.tumblr.com/post/5555556492/scholarly

Playlist

http://thefairbear.tumblr.com/post/5437861228/5-13-11

Current Event (Past)

http://thefairbear.tumblr.com/post/5380451434/scholarly

Week of 5/13
"Rule Would Discourage States' Cutting Medicaid Payments to Providers"
Robert Pear
May 2, 2011

Playlist

http://thefairbear.tumblr.com/post/5341777834/tracklist

Current Event (Past)

http://thefairbear.tumblr.com/post/4999586560/scholarly

Current Event : Week of 4/29
"Delayed Miranda Warning For Terror Suspects"
Charlie Savage
March 24, 2011

Current Event 4/7

"Disabled, but Looking for Work" Motoko Rich April 6, 2011 This article follows the story of Christopher Howard, a man who collects social security benefits because of physical disabilities and the loss of his job. He will receive these payments, 574 dollars a month, until he find a job or reaches the age of retirement. Christopher has not been able to find a steady job, because of his disability. He is not alone in the search for a job, and receiving Social Security benefits. Programs that intend to help disabled people obtain jobs have only given a small portion of the beneficiaries jobs. Even while 3.5 million people are looking for jobs, it is becoming even more important for the disabled to get, and keep their jobs. Social Security has been paying far more to the disabled than they are taking in from taxes. At this rate, the disability trust will run out by 2018. The people collecting disability benefits have gone up about 5 million people since 2000, last year they collected around 115 billion dollars combined. One in 21 Americans receive benefits for disability, raising from 1 in 30 in 2000, Christopher Howard lives in Arkansas where the ratio is 1 in 12, one of the highest in the U.S. While people may be recovering, they are scared to leave the benefits and move onto work, they are using them as a type of safety net. However, many beneficiaries cannot work, even when being given the right services and working conditions because of going without work for so long, they are beginning to lose their skills and ambition. What many of the disabled people do not realize when looking for work and "leaving their safety net" of benefits, they are not necessarily going without some support. The Social Security offers incentives to try and encourage people to re-enter the work force. These incentives include collecting the benefits from Social Security for 9 months, making any amount in payment, if their income falls below 1,000 dollars a month they can receive Social Security benefits again immediately for up to three years and they can keep Medicare coverage for up to eight years after returning to work. In 1999 a law was passed by congress permitting the Ticket to Work program, a program that helps beneficiaries in the search for a job. The program has not been very successful, only 13,656 people have returned to work in the past three years, out of 12 and a half million, and less than a third of them made enough money to drop benefits from Social Security. The first time I read through this article I was unsure of the point the author was trying to make. Whether that is because I don't know much about the current state of Social Security or because I was simultaneously trying to read and listen to Jenna rant about math, well, I think I'm pretty sure it was a little of both. However, the second time I read it, and went through with a highlighter, things started to fit together. The author stated several facts, along with the story of Christopher Howard to explain the crisis the state of Social Security is in. I believe, the way disabled and other beneficiaries are collecting social security needs to be changed, obviously. Tax payers are not going to want to pay more taxes in order to pay for the beneficiaries of Social Security. Though, as of now, besides saying "those people just need to get a job", which is known to not be so easy, greater payments from taxpayers is what this is going towards, if that is to be avoided, a new system may be in order. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/07/business/economy/07disabled.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&sq=social security&st=cse&scp=4&adxnnlx=1302188458-yMD11I9e3txPQA5JBTiU2g

DBQ 3/30

Throughout the period of industrialization treatment of workers, the conditions of work and some of the products themselves were dangerous and unethical. In the late and 1880s through the early 1900s Progressive reformers worked towards improving these conditions and through that, American society. Some of their ambitions were improving working conditions, regulating child labor and protecting consumers. Working conditions in the late 1800s through the early 1900s were not usually not regulated. The workers themselves faced dangerous situations at their factories. Document 1 describes some of the horrific working conditions in a meat-packing factory. Workmen would cut themselves, sometimes cutting their own appendages off, sometimes getting infections bringing them to their death. Other workhouses did not have necessary facilities such as fire escapes or proper care for the workers, like giving them breaks or a lunch hour for example. After these conditions and treatments were exposed by progressives such as muckrakers, reforms were taken into action. One of which is represented by document 4. The document is composed of a list of state actions that affected working conditions. For example, recommendations by the New York State Factory Investigating Commission resulting in new laws creating more sanitary and safer working conditions and Massachusetts passing the first minimum wage law. Child labor was also prominent during this era. Children were hired because their small fingers could fit into the mechanical parts of machinery in factories when they were jammed or things such as spools of thread needed to be changed. The children were mistreated as workers as well, besides the fact that children as young as 4 were being employed. The kids sometimes had to walk miles to the factory, they were not given food or substantial wages and sometimes lost fingers and even died. Progressives like Jane Addams, shown in document 3a, pushed for reforms on child-labor. Addams described times when children died in the factories, while the owner of the factory did nothing to improve the cause, and children sitting on stools in sweatshops pulling "thread after thread" out of the machinery. Jane Addams' actions were not in vain, document 3b shows an excerpt from the First Factory Law of Illinois that prohibited children under 14 to be employed and continually prohibited unless allowed in a legal document by the parent or guardian. Document 5 also shows how Jane Addams and other progressives work was successful by a graph showing the drastic decline of child labor from 1900 to 1920. In the late 1800s and early 1900s there were not laws that indicated what was safe for consumers. Food packaging and labeling was not regulated. In the meat-packing industry rats would climb over dead carcasses stored on the floor breeding and leaving feces on the dead cows and pigs for days until the meat was scraped up to be packaged and sold. The meat was also injected with dyes and rubbed with seasoning so it would not look, or smell rotted. Muckraker, Upton Sinclair worked in the meat-packing industry for a time, and wrote a book called The Jungle, that exposed the dangerous and unsanitary conditions in the industry. Sinclair's book lead him to meet with President Theodore Roosevelt, explained in document 2, and forced him to make a promise to reform the industry. President Roosevelt kept his promise to Sinclair by crating a bill which would later become the Meat Inspection Act. Later, the Pure Food and Drug act came about making the mislabeling of food and drugs illegal. The work of Progressives in the late 1800s and into the early 1900s made life in the workforce ethical and safe for the workers, along with the safety of consumers and eventually also expanding democracy. Without the reforms started by the progressives, protests by suffragists and information found by muckrakers industry today would not be as regulated and secure as it is today, maybe not even at all. The effects of the Progressives' work created factories and industries to be what they are today, giving people jobs and producing much needed goods for consumers.

Current Event 3/25

http://thefairbear.tumblr.com/post/4053945033/scholarly

Thematic Essay: Due 3/17

In the 19th century the United States went though a period of immense industrial expansion. The new industries affected the lives of many Americans who were involved with them. Some of these effects lead to one another, such as increased urbanization, immigration and reform movements.

Urbanization was incresed because of the growth of factories as well. Factories were located in areas that had a substantial population, then workers would move closer to the factories in search for employment, creating a city. The new people moving into the urban areas often were able to find jobs because of the need for unskilled workers that could be paid less. Farmers would go to the cities to find work, as they were loosing money from new technology that was replacing workers. Examples of cities that became major industrial cities are Chicago, New York City, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, St. Louis and Detroit. The influx of many people into one area lead to diversity in cities through the factories and housing. With the large amounts of people moving into the area, tenement housing became popular.The amount of people in a condensed area caused severe problems. The sanitation had major flaws, people would store their garbage in the air shafts of the tenements, bathrooms were close together and near living quarters and multiple of large families would live together in small, one room apartments. These conditions caused widespread diseases and deaths. Pollution was also a problem. Sewage ran down the drain systems on streets and water was infused withgarbage and waste. Pollution also caused diseases and death. Along with sanitation and pollution, crime also became an issue. Without a standard police force murders, thievery and pickpocketing were common because of political and financial disagreements. Political bribes also grew from bribery, drafts, voter fraud and kickbacks.

The industrial growth brought needs for cheap labor and unskilled workers. This led to great amounts of immigration. The word of pay rates and jobs reached over to other countries, giving them ideas of hope. Besides the jobs, immigrants left for religious freedom, to flee from civil wars and other things making them believe the streets of America were “paved withgold”. Though, immigration was not a complete benefit, the immigrants themselves were treated poorly by those who supported ideas such as nativism, if they were even let into the country at all. Most immigrants, those without a working pass or sponsor, had to go through extensive processing before they were let into the country. The amount of immigrants turned away at Angel Island in San Francisco far surpassed the amount going in. They also took jobs that were desired by the native whites, causing them to be a target of political corruption. Because of the ethnic bias, racism and discrimination they were sometimes forced to live in ethnic ghettos, slums and tenement housing which were often unsanitary. Because of the discrimination and unhealthy conditions, reform movements became popular to invoke fair treatment and pay for the immigrants and other mistreated groups such as African Americans, women and children.

These were just a few effects from the industrial growth during the 19th century. Though, these effects were a large part of the industrial growth itself. Without immigrants and the building up of cities themselves, the industry may not have grown at all. With the industry grew other events that shaped the way industry is today, such as reform movements involving fair pay and treatment of workers, African Americans, women, and children. Without the effects like immigration and urbanization from industrial growth in the 19th century the industry would not be what it is today.

Poom #1

I feel so restricted.
This sickness makes me
everything I detest.
I am shunned from the
outside world.
Peering from the
windowsill
I look out
on all of the things
I wish I was
and am afraid
I will never be.

Current Event : Week of 3/10

“The EPA Trims Costs to Control Toxic Air Pollution”
Dina Cappiello
The Associated Press; February 23, 2011

On February 23, the EPA stated that it will make regulations cheaper for companies to reduce air pollution. They have found ways to keep the pollution under control and do so with a 50% cost savings to the companies that are running the boilers, heaters and incinerators that have to install them. The companies that burn renewable fuels will not be required to to install the new technologies and only maintenence and “tune ups” every two years would be required. This new regulation proposal will cost 1.8 billion dollars less each year, and still stop the health problems caused by the pollution. A job analysis stated that with the new regulations 2200 jobs will be created, not including jobs coming from the purchases of the pollution-control equipment. Even with these changes, many representatives for boiler owners and manufacturers were not happy with the new regulations. The president of the Council of Industrial Boiler Owners, Bob Bessette, said the changes made sense and will reduce costs, but the regulations can still be improved. Bessette also sated that he “hopes the EPA will consider other portions of the rule that would protect the environment while giving relief to manufacturers, universities and industrial energy providers” meaning, that the company is worried about how the cost will affect their industry. The real shock of this article was the fact that Obama administration originally asked the court for a 15-month extension to review the 4800 public comments that had come in, but the court gave them 30 days to review them and make the regulation instead. Working with their short deadline, the EPA created a new regulation that will require factories to install technologies that will reduce pollution and health risks in three years.

I did not care for this article that much. The writing did not grab my attention, or get it at all for that matter. It was repetitive, but the article did produce information on the recent activities of the EPA relating to the new regulations. I think, that the author may have been able to collect more information about what the regulations actually meant for the companies and for the EPA itself. Along with that, they also could have sorted their information in a more coherent manner. With those two things included in the article, I believe it may have left a better impression on me, as a reader.

Original article is not longer available online.

Current Event: Week of 2/25

“Congress, Obama Brace for Showdown as Government Shutdown Looms”
Paul Kane
February 20, 2011

　

Last Saturday, the House attempted to pass a budget measure that would cut $61 billion from government funded programs. This idea was quickly shut down by the President and Senate Democrats. The measure was passed later that day and now moved onto the Senate. The Senate has previously stated that the “House Plan’s cuts are too drastic. The cuts decrease budgets up to 40%, hundreds of millions cut from border security and funding for the District of Columbia and funding for companies like AmeriCorps and PBS would stop all together. However, the Senate only has a few days to talk about the bill; they only have until March 4th. With this short amount of time, it is rare that the two government branches will agree. Because of the short amount of time and the likely disagreement; it is expected for the government to shut down, or will have to come up with and agree on a new, temporary plan for the budget. If a temporary plan could still be hard for the government to agree on, because that would still have to make substantial cuts.

I thought this article was informative, and interesting. The author gives the impression of the Republicans pushing heavier cuts, and uses quotes from both Republicans and Democrats telling their side of the debates. The quotes help readers to understand what is going through the mind of the government officials while deliberating over the cuts, and trying to find ways to keep minimal cuts to programs such as Planned Parenthood and PBS. I am not sure what my standpoint on the subject of the budget cuts is. On one hand, I would be regretful if things like PBS were cut from the nation; because I feel they are a large part of positive social media. On the other hand, budget cuts are one of the few ways our country will begin to crawl out of the debt we have dug into over the years.

　

　Original Article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/19/AR2011021903916_pf.html

DBQ 2/14

In the mid 1800’s whites in the U.S. started to expand west. With these expansions, the government brought up the idea of a transcontinental railroad. Although, these expansions seemed to be a huge profit to the U.S. the westward movement caused conflicts with the Native Americans who had lived on the land. These conflicts lead to government policies that treated the Native Americans as less than human, and eventually lead to the downfall of their culture.

The U.S. Government set up reservations, to “protect” the Natives. When in reality, they were trying to assimilate them and gain control of their land to build the railroad, distribute to settlers, and mine for gold. Government actions, such as The Dawes Act, divided Native lands into 100-acre plots. One plot to each man and his family, the rest of the land would be sold to settlers. Document 1 shows an act of “de-indianization”, the native women are dressed in “white” clothing and working in a type of factory sewing clothing. Most Native American traditions were stifled, because they were misunderstood. Document 3 shows a newspaper headline from 1890, saying “The Massacre Begun!”. Some people believed the “ghost dancing” the natives did as tradition were meant to destroy the whites, when in actuality they were praying to recover their lands and return to their old way of life. The reservations were not a sanctuary for the natives as some government policies made them out to be, document 4 describes a little girl’s experience of humiliation as her hair was cut off, a sign of strength and spirit in her culture. Some of the government officials saw that the way the natives were being treated was wrong, and tried to reform the way reservations were run, though, their attempts at helping the natives did not go as planned.

From these government actions, the native culture almost ceased to exist. Some of the natives gave into assimilation immediately, while others resisted at the cost of their lives. Document 5 is an editorial, telling of the death and determination of Sitting Bull. Sitting Bull hated the whites for making him leave his home, naturally, what he believed to be his own, and because of this he sought revenge through resisting conforming to the white society which then lead to his own death. The Natives looked up to sitting bull, when he died many of their spirits went with them and they gave into assimilation. Because of the misunderstanding of cultures, whites feared them, and because of this fear, they brutally attacked the natives. At Wounded Knee, almost a full tribe of natives was massacred, just because of their desire to keep their traditional way of life. Killings were not the only cause of death among the natives. The poor conditions of the reservations, as well as introducing whites to the people created a breeding ground for disease. Document 6 shows the drastic decline of the Native population in only 50 years.

The Westward Expansion led to a major decline in the Native traditions and population itself through assimilation and disease. The Natives struggled to keep traditions alive, but they were no match from the inevitable control of the whites through the government regulations. Several regulations, such as the Dawes Act broke up native lands and grouped different tribes and cultures together ruining their only known way of life, treating them as less than human.

Current Event : Week of 2/10

“As Egypt Protest Swells, U.S. Sends Specific Demands”
David D. Kirkpatrick
February 8, 2011

On Tuesday of this week the largest group of protesters gathered in the streets of Cairo, surrounding the Egyptian Parliament and participating in demonstrations and strikes in many cities. During these protests, more than 300 people have died. The protests are against the propaganda, such as state-run television networks and newspapers, that show the protesters as trying to cause conflicts, and “doing the bidding of foreign interests” . Though, through the protests, poverty and uproar that the people of Egypt have caused in the past few weeks, the Vice President, Omar Suleiman, as well as other government officials, are stating that the revolts are in the past. Suleiman, who is leading American-endorsed “orderly transition” says Mubarak, President of 30 years, has appointed an entirely new committee of judges and legal scholars to propose constitutional amendments. Though, this may seem like a positive, the members appointed are considered “Mubarak Loyalists”, the very people the people of Egypt want out of power. The Obama Administration, who have been committed to the transition in government ], tried to influence many details, such as the 30-year emergency law the government has been using to imprison leaders opposing Mubarak. Suleiman stated, the emergency law will be removed when “the situation justifies its repeal.” Even after saying this, the opposes, like journalists and human rights activists have been arrested in the past few days. He also said that there will not be an end to the regime or a coup, because it will cause chaos. Also, warning the protesters to stop their “extremely dangerous” disobedience, saying it would not be tolerated.

This article was very factual, and written in a way that seemed to me the author was trying to give the readers as many details as he could, in the least amount of pages. He has achieved his goal, if that is what it was. On the matter of the people of Egypt, I feel they have a right to protest. Their country is more like a dictatorship, than what “President” Mubarak has made it out to be. History repeats itself, that is how society grows and learns. Looking back through history, most of the revolutions have started out the same way, The American, French and Russian Revolutions had similar protests before the war for freedom itself broke out. In my opinion, I think that is where Egypt is headed at this point.

Original Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/09/world/middleeast/09egypt.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&sq=egypt&st=cse&scp=2

Current Event : Week of 1/27

“Bloomburg Pushes Stricter Gun Control Measures”
Elizabeth A. Harris
January 24, 2011

On Monday, the 24th of January Mayor Michael Bloomberg brought a group of family members and friends of shooting victims to speak at a City Hall news conference. The reason for this conference was to persuade Washington to create stricter gun laws in order to prevent people who have had violent tendencies and mental illness from obtaining the guns. Bloomberg has stated that previous laws, such as a law passed in 1968 after Martin Luther King Jr.’s and Robert F. Kennedy’s assassinations and The 1993 Brady Act, are flawed. The acts prevent people (drug abusers, the mentally ill and convicted felons for example) from getting the weapons through a background check system. Bloomberg explains the reasoning of the flaws are that the system does not have millions of people on record that should not be allowed to purchase guns. Eighteen states have provided less than 100 mental health records and 10 have not supplied any records at all (Mayors Against Illegal Guns; a group Bloomberg founded.) The Mayor is pushing for the President to addresss the issue of gun control, Bloomberg believes that with thecountryy still mourning the shooting in Arizona now is the right time to brace the background check system. Harris closes her article with a quote from Bloomberg saying “You see the fierce urgency of now everywhere, except in Washington.”

I somewhat agree with what Bloomberg is saying, if the records are not complete, states should be required to send in the information needed. However, in the article Bloomberg says that the average 34 Americans killed with guns everyday are shot by people who obtained the guns illegally. In my opinion, if someone is trying to possess a gun, the system will not stop them from doing it illegally. Though, with the system having a tighter hold it will be harder for that person to do so. I think that if gun control laws are going to have a more strict law, they should focus on the reasoning for the person’s desire to have the gun. Overall, it seems as if the gun control debate will have a lingering place of debate in congress.

Original Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/25/nyregion/25bloomberg.html?_r=2&scp=2&sq=gun+control&st=nyt

Current Event: Week of 1/14

“In Wider War in Afghanistan, Survival Rate of Wounded Rises”
C. J. Chivers
January 7, 2011

The article by C.J. Chivers tells of the current treatments of American casualties in the war in Afghanistan. In 2010 the rate was 7.9 percent, down from 11 percent in 2009 and 14.3 percent in 2008. The percentage rate is dropping due to “a series of lessons learned over nearly a decade of fighting two wars” say doctors who treat the wounded. Several of these tactics include having helicopters closer to fighting, having all soldiers trained in basic first-aid and a more frequent use of tourniquets and tracheotomies. Soldiers and medics are also becoming more comfortable with transporting victims with traumatic injuries, bomb wounds, for example. New equipment for the soldiers, such as heavy armored vehicles that are more resistant to explosives and fire-retardant gloves, boots and uniforms, help raise the survival rate by reducing the occurrence and severity of burns. Though all of these techniques help the physically wounded, the soldiers with mental and emotional damages cannot be treated with greater care, and though troops’ lives are being saved they may have a harder time overcoming the affect their wounds have on them later in their life back home (a missing limb, brain damage, etc.) This information was collected through observations and interviews with medics and military doctors from two journalists from the New York Times, who spent a month in Afghanistan to observe the treatments of the wounded.

I enjoyed reading this article, grim as the subject may be. The author filled his writing with interesting information, details and statistics, which I feel are important to include in a well written article. With the amount of things included, along with a description of treating a patient, the article describes of the writer’s time observing the war. It does not give the reader the feeling of being in the writer’s shoes, which may be comforting to some, but it does let one understand what it is like at the medical tent over in Afghanistan. At some parts, information becomes a bit staggered and choppy, showing that Chivers may have had so many details, he struggled to include them all. The article’s ending did feel a bit abrupt, however, the last sentence somewhat tied it all together.

Original Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/08/world/asia/08wounded.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=war%20in%20afghanistan&st=cse

Current Event: Week of 12/22.

“Wells Fargo Opposes Banks on Mortgage-Risk”
Lorraine Woellert
December 11, 2010

This article describes the recent acts of Wells Fargo, America’s largest mortgage company. The bank argued against efforts to exempt new mortgages from the Dodd-Frank Act provision that required the creators of the loan to keep a stake in the debt sold or securitized. Wells Fargo brought about the idea, in a letter, for mortgages that have down payments of 30 percent or more to be exempt form the provision. These “risk-retention” rules would raise costs and cause Wells Fargo to a permanent leading position for mortgage loans and also permanently close out smaller banks and loan offices from the business. Their letter and ideas brought the attention of the Federal Reserve, which are one of six regulators who must decide which loans are to be exempt by April. The “risk-retention” rules were added to the Dodd-Frank Act and then became a law in July. They were created in hopes of stopping lenders from creating the high-risk mortgages that brought about the worst financial crisis in the U.S. since the Great Depression. The provision is supposed to reduce risk for the people who are involved with the loans, and the Federal Reserve believes to exempt as few loans as possible to achieve this goal. The article concludes that the exemption of these loans will freeze capital and bring higher interest rates. The main issues right now are the attempts to decide what will determine a low-risk mortgage and what new mortgages will be exempt.

I thought this article was informative, though at times hard to follow. I believe that, with the information included with this article, the decision constituting exemption of mortgages is not ready to be made. Though I do not fully understand what mortgages require to be exempt. This article has brought new issues to my attention that I had not previously understood or was aware of. To make a full educated opinion on the state of mortgage exemptions I will have to do more research on the topic and what ideas are being proposed.

Original Article:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/12/11/BU1C1GOP3J.DTL#loopbegin

Critical Lens Essay: Due 12/20 -Final Assignment for “A Separate Peace” by John Knowles

“All literature shows us the power of emotion. It’s emotion, not reason, that motivates characters in literature.” - Duff Brenna. This quote is describing the actions taken by characters in literature, meaning, all characters are driven by their emotions during key parts of the work of literature, not by critical thinking or reason. I agree with this statement because of the many works of literature supporting it. Two of these are “A Separate Peace” by John Knowles and “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller.

In “A Separate Peace” the main character Gene is driven by his ever varying emotions through the entire novel, the substance of the work is told in flashback which show the actions, caused by his emotions. In the opening of the book shows Gene sees objects that bring him to feel disturbed and distressed, this foreshadows events that are key turning points and conflicts which are caused by Gene later in the story. One of those key conflict points in the story is when Gene was battling the emotion of jealousy towards his friend, which then lead him to, without thinking, shake the branch of a tree he and his friend are standing on, causing his friend to fall. The action was done without Gene thinking of what would happen in the long run for his friend, which shows he acted only from emotion, and without reason. After, for a moment, when Gene described his friend’s fall as “hitting the bank with a sickening, unnatural thud” show he realizes what he is done, and feels remorse for it, though only for a moment. Gene later attempts to explain his action to the victim of it, and others in the story as done as an impulse only, that he didn’t mean it, and he wasn’t thinking. Gene’s description, on it’s own, explains and proves the quote said by Duff Brenna.

In the Crucible, all of the main characters are fueled by emotion. The “witches” are following Abigail Williams, who started her antics to try and get with of the wife of John Proctor, whom she had an affair with. The other girls accused more people of witchcraft in order to cause confusion and to condemn women they did not like and had personal vendettas with. The characterization is important in this story is important because it shows how each one of the “witches” and Abigail’s followers are so convinced of being self-righteous they continue to accuse other innocent people in attempt to vindicate themselves. At the end of the play John Proctor, then accused as a witch, refuses to confess, in order to keep his pride. He condemns himself by stating “he sees no light from God” and ”God is dead.” They all act under the influence of their emotions of fear, pride, jealousy, and greed; many of the characters die because of occurrences that are provoked by these emotions. Their actions confirm the quote “All literature shows us the power of emotion. It is emotion, not reason, that motivates characters in literature.”

The actions of Gene, John Proctor and many other characters that lead to the climax and conflicts of the story are directed by their emotions. Clearly these two works show, characters are fueled by thier emotions. Many actions done in works of literature are not conducted with critical thinking, they are done rashly with just the influence of how the character is feeling at the very moment. This is condensed in the quote “All literature shows us the power of emotion. It is emotion, not reason, that motivates characters in literature.” From seeing all of these examples the support from the very works of literature the quote is describing it is easy to conclude, characters act on emotion, not reason.

Current Event: Week of 12/10

“Los Angeles at Odds With California Over Beach Curfews”
Ian Lovett
November 25, 2010

In Southern California, beach curfews are a common urban issue. The curfews were set in place in 1988 in Los Angeles and then spread throughout the rest of SoCal, the reason for placing the curfew was to put a stop to increasing crime on the beaches at night. The times the beach are to be closed were first set from midnight to 5 a.m., then after a few violent occurrences (a stabbing and a lifeguard almost being set on fire) the closing time was brought to 10 p.m. The curfew is highly debated between the police and The California Coastal Commission, a state agency. The Coastal Commission says that the people are being denied the right to the beach, which is state property. The Commission, which are in charge of making coastal access available to the public, mentioned the closings aren’t legal without approval from the Commission. The State Legislature stated the Commission overstepped it’s mandate, mentioned restricting it’s power and a bill was never passed. The police in Southern California say that the Commission is being insensitive to urban issues, by not taking into account the safety of the people who use the beach. Though gang activity has become less prominent near L.A. the police still has trouble controlling the beach, people sleep there often, and just as often assaults occur, a Sargent states that crime would “blow up” if there was not a curfew. As of now, officials have not shown any intentions of lifting or altering the curfew.

I think the curfew is a positive thing for the people and police of the Southern Californian beaches. The curfew prevents many crimes from happening and allows the police to focus on other crimes and not have to be patrolling the beach all hours of the day. Though the Coastal Commission says the people are being denied their rights I believe that were the issue presented to them most of the people would agree with the set curfew. The article sates that the issue may eventually end up in court, the Governer-elect will be appointing new commissioners and that will most likely help with the argument. Personally, I think the curfew should remain the same, it was put in place to protect the people of Southern Califorina and is working well to do so.

Original Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/26/us/26curfew.html?_r=2&sq=urban

Current Event: Week of November 30th.

“One Family’s Plunge from the Middle Class into Poverty”By Wil Haygood for the Washington PostNovember 19, 2010 The article tells the story of Chrissanda Walker. She was a nursing home executive until 2009, when she was laid off. She had done great things for the nursing home and was a very generous person to the patients and other people in her community. She would do things like give individual Christmas gifts to the patients and always over tip people for things such as cutting her hair. Her income went from a paycheck of 100,000 dollars to an unemployment benefit of 11,000. She tries to bring in extra cash by selling homemade dinners. The article describes in detail of her past life and how she is now trying everything she can to make ends meet. The article also mentions statistics of the poverty and unemployment rates of the U.S.. Chrissanda Walker is just one of the thousands of people that are losing their jobs, because of the poor economy.

The author clearly painted a picture of the life of Crissanda Walker. The article was written as a descriptive story, rather than a news article. Haygood could have taken his information and condensed it into a basic and detailed description of Walker’s fall into poverty, and added more of the informational statistics he included at the beginning of his writing throughout the article. As a reader, I would have found that format as a better explanation of his point and enjoyed reading the writing more.

Original Article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/18/AR2010111806065.html

California 11/10 - 11/13

11/10: I embarked on my first plane trip to San Francisco, CA. I began my morning extremely nervous and not at all tired, even though I had not slept a minute. Much like a kid on Christmas eve, only without the excitement. I was content with how slow the day was going. That feeling soon left as I stepped onto the tiny plane. (Note that our Airport really shows what a shell our “city” really is.) I was ready to get the take-off and the flight over with. Once the plane was in the air it was much like riding a bus. There was a two hour stopover in Detroit, after which we would land at the San Francisco Airport. This take off reallyfreaked me out. The direct ascent into the sky was horrifying. Once in the air, again it was calm. Throughout the flight I read The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and often looked out the tiny window at the nation going by seemingly slow. Through this trip I have determined that mountains are my favorite geographic feature, the sky view of the Rockies confirmed this. When we reached the bay I was greeted by one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. Usually I am impartial to cities, though, I cannot describe the fantastic glow of Oakland, Berkeley and San Francisco’s lights dancing before my eyes into enough words that described it’s glory. At the airport everything went smoothly enough until we reached the car rental area. There was a bit of confusion with the location of our rental company (some are off site). After two hours of my mother and her confusion we reached the hotel. We were there for no more than 15 minutes when she decided she wanted food. Luckily for us there was a Trader Joe’s not a block down the street. I finished the night with delicious organic almonds, dried cranberries and a hot shower.

11/11: I woke in the morning to find a man was attempting to jump off the Bay Bridge and quite possibly blow the bridge up along with his decent. After a few hours of this the SFPD took him off of the bridge and let traffic through. This confused my mother of which means of transportation to take into the city of Berkeley to get to the UC Berkeley Campus Tour by 10. It was 9:30 by the time we left the hotel and being from New York, we really had no idea where to go, our GPS that seemed to be locked onto the Bay Bridge the entire trip was not a great deal of help. Thankfully I arrived at the campus only around 5 minutes late. The group was stillat the tower and I easily slipped into the group unnoticed. Our tour guide was a lively senior at the college, who jumped about as he described life on campus and the buildings surrounding us. I was a bit disappointed that the tour did not speak of academics or applying to the college of any sort during the tour. Though, I suppose it can be found on the website or through an email. After the tour we drove through downtown Berkeley, taking in our dose of touristy type photographs. We did stop for a much needed coffee at Peet’s Coffee and Tea on Telegraph Ave. When walking on the street I was stopped by a wizard, who asked if I could spare a smile. It did indeed put a smile on my face. While being on Telegraph I stopped in the well known record stores Rasputin and Amoeba, while my companion rushed into a used clothing store. My mother again announced her hunger and this time, I chose our location to dine at. Cafe Gratitude. Soo insanely good. The restaurant is entirely vegan and organic, with 80% of the menu raw. I had the “I Am Worthy” blood drink and the “Sushi Bowl”, of course they were outlandishly delicious. The rest of the day we just drove around, going over the Golden Gate Bridge and in the northern part of San Francisco as night began to fall. We turned in early in CA time, in NY it was midnight.

11/12: This day we arrived at the college in time. University of San Francisco. We were lead into a room where for an hour they did an academic presentation. Unfortunately, during this I learned of the high religious influences this school possesses, which didn’t do much for my regard of the school. When outside however, the view was beautiful. The college sits on a hill overlooking the whole city and the surrounding bay and ocean. Thecampus itself was also beautiful I noticed as we toured it for an hour. This tour was much more thorough with the academic, cost and living descriptions completely incorporated. After this tour we went to the downtown area of San Francisco because again, my mother was hungry. She wanted to eat at a Thai restaurant, which always makes me sick. We went to Amoeba again, and then yet again drove across the city.

11/13: Our last day in the cities. We blew off the last college interview, as we drove around and through that area precisely three times the night before. By the time we were around it was 10. We went to the Cafe Gratitude located in San Francisco this time, I had the “Green Juice” and the “Taco Bowl”, which again were delicious. I had a bite of my mother’s tamale, and it was also delicious. After, we decided to go back across the bay. We stopped at 1234 Go! Records in Oakland. They had a huge collection of punk records, which was quite inspiring as they are a TINY store. After, we decided coffee was again needed and drove down onto Telegraph to acquire some. While walking down the avenue some lovely garments caught my eye in Sway. I purchased a dress, an embellished sweater and a skirt, which I cannot wait to wear. After draining our coffees of each last drop we went into Shakespeare & Co. used bookstore ( we couldn’t before as drinks and food are not allowed inside.) I bought two poetry books, Sylvia Plath’s Ariel and An Anthology of French Poet’s & Poetry (translated of course, my French speaking/reading and abilities aren’t top notch.) By this time it was leaning on late 4:00. We were ready to go back to the airport area to drop off the rental car and prepare for our flight. Though the GPS lead us back over the Bay Bridge and onto Treasure Island. Though, this was a lucky mistake. The view of the city was gorgeous. After we dropped off the car and went to the airport to wait for our red-eye flight at 11:30 pm.

By the way, the flight back was TERRIBLE. I was not able to sleep, which lead to a 36 hour lack of sleep, as I still had homework to do when I came home. Through it all the trip was worth it. I enjoyed the city so, so much and cannot wait to return.

Essay on The Great Gatsby: A man’s book? Optimistic vs. Pessimistic? 11/15

The Great Gatsby was written during the 1920’s. Taking place in a time where the rich lived a wild and alcohol infused life. While discussing his work, the author, F. Scott Fitzgerald said that it “is a man’s book”. I disagree with this statement said by Fitzgerald for two reasons which are supported in the story itself.

First, the men in The Great Gatsby cause the conflicts of the story. Though the men construct the problems for the work the male characters actions are influenced by the females. The affairs, the hatred and upset they cause and even the death of characters are operated by the men there was a women behind their actions. For Tom it was his attraction to Myrtle Wilson. In the case of Jay Gatsby, it was his love for Daisy that drove him to his actions of moving in on her family and stopping at nothing to win her back, all of which eventually leads to his own death. Gatsby was murdered by Myrtle Wilson’s husband who was maddened by jealousy because of Myrtle’s affair.

Second, though Fitzgerald described his book as “a man’s book” The plot revolves around the past love of Gatsby and Daisy, and the love Gatsby still holds for her. As a common stereotype, the “romance” is a theme that girls and women typically enjoy. The unconditional and, at times, maddening love Gatsby shows for Daisy throughout this book shows a more sensitive side of the man that is said to throw lavish parties just because he has the money. While in actuality he is trying to find the girl he loves.

These two points from the book show that not only is this book an exciting read for a man, and does show a masculine point-of-view of sorts, this book could also easily be enjoyed by a woman if one were to read it. Therefore, The Great Gatsby is not just “a man’s book”, but a book for both men and women.

Through the occurrences in the book, I would say that the book is generally pessimistic. Though love is perceived to be a positive emotion, the love that Gatsby feels only ends in his death and the unhappiness of Daisy and Tom. With the other principal characters, not one of them is given complete happiness in the end by Fitzgerald, they are all either dead, or in a neutral or unhappy state after the last sentence has been read.

Current Event: Week of November 15th.

“Likely Gridlock in Congress Could Threaten Economy” written by Paul Wiseman for The Boston Globe. Published on November 2nd, 2010.

The article describes how a gridlock in our government is perceived to be helpful to the economy, because laws that could continue to deteriorate the economy cannot be passed. Wiseman disproves this assumption in his article. with the government not making any laws or decisions, the economy is most likely to stay the same. Republicans are saying that retraction the recent financial regulation will help insurance companies and banks. Though the author states that the Republicans will not gain enough votes to pass a veto from the president. he also states that employers may become even more afraid if the government stats to change existing laws. He quoted people with business experience throughout the writing saying things such as “it is impossible that there will not be any uncertainty after the election” and “inaction is dangerous”. lastly, he presented the idea that compromises in the new congress, by lawmakers from both the democrats and the republicans supporting a grand tax bargain, so that they both may claim to make the tax code better for the people.

I thought Paul Wiseman wrote this article very well. he spoke logically and seemed well informed about the subject. he used good and opinionated quotes which could lead the reader into agreeing with his point of view on the topics. He presented facts to support his reasoning which shows that he did not write the article while heated about something he just happened to see in the news.

Original Article: http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/11/02/likely_gridlock_in_congress_could_threaten_economy/?page=full

A Halloweekend Recap

Friday: After getting out of school (and skipping swim practice) I went home for a quick hour to get settled and collect my things to take over to Pam’s house. We picked her up and then traveled the short distance to her house. Upon arriving we immediately got to work decorating the house in spooky Halloween splendor. That took a good two and a half hours. After we finished that, we dressed in our Halloween attire and waited for the guests to arrive.

The party was small, but definately not quiet, with a loud group and a horror-punk and electronic playlist, assembled by moi, beating through the house. There are not any pictures of this wonder however, peoccupied with decorating, I left my camera in my Jeep and did not remeber that fact until half the guests had departed.

Saturday: So outrageously tired from the night before, even so I dragged myself out of my cozy bed to a feezing outdoors and a freezing pool for an hour and a half long swim practice (which was worthless, we did one set, then played games.) I came back home and napped/read/listened to music, relaxed all day. At 5:30 I started getting ready for the annual Town Halloween Dance. It took me an hour to curl my hair and successfully used half of a can of harispray. I left for the dance at 7:15 (fashionably late) and saw a few friends upon arrival, along with awesome costumes. My personal favorite was Jimmy Neutron, Carl Weezer and Sheene complete with a rocket ship and Goddard. The dance was as usual a let down. The Neutron group lost the contest to “Jersey Shore” (seriously…) and within 15 minutes I wanted to punch the mayor in the face. I did however, take her air horn and confuse numerous people. After the dance, Pam came up to my house and we talked over salad and chocolate.

Sunday: Pam and I woke early to get a start on our Halloween. We watched horror films until 3, and then departed. I came to my mother’s house and continued to watch horror movies for the rest of the night. Along with typing and Vincent Price’s voice recordings.

Current Event: Week of October 29th

The article “U.S. Issues Terrorism Alert for Travel to Europe” was written by Scott Shane. It was published on the New York Times website on October 2nd, 2010 and printed in the New York Times paper on October 3rd, 2010. The article tells of the U.S. State Department issuing an alert that Sunday (September 26th) warning U.S. citizens about traveling by plane to other countries, specifically Europe. They told Americans “to be vigilant about possible terrorist attacks” along with mentioning the terrorist group Al Qaida may be involved. This alert was passed when the British government raised the terrorism threat from “high” to “general” in Britain and some close surrounding countries, such as France. The U.S. is not trying to depress travel to and from Europe, but just advises the travelers to be cautious. I believe that this article was written well. Shane was very direct about the subject of the article within the first few paragraphs. He goes on to describe some events that are perceived as possible terrorist attacks that took place in Europe. I think that Shane could have written more about the U.S. advisory at the end of his article to finish it with the same subject he started with, to leave the readers thinking about the object the article was focused on at the beginning and the title.

Original Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/world/europe/03security.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=terrorism%20in%20the%20us&st=cse

Current Event: Week of October 29th

The article “U.S. Issues Terrorism Alert for Travel to Europe” was written by Scott Shane. It was published on the New York Times website on October 2nd, 2010 and printed in the New York Times paper on October 3rd, 2010. The article tells of the U.S. State Department issuing an alert that Sunday (September 26th) warning U.S. citizens about traveling by plane to other countries, specifically Europe. They told Americans “to be vigilant about possible terrorist attacks” along with mentioning the terrorist group Al Qaida may be involved. This alert was passed when the British government raised the terrorism threat from “high” to “general” in Britain and some close surrounding countries, such as France. The U.S. is not trying to depress travel to and from Europe, but just advises the travelers to be cautious. I believe that this article was written well. Shane was very direct about the subject of the article within the first few paragraphs. He goes on to describe some events that are perceived as possible terrorist attacks that took place in Europe. I think that Shane could have written more about the U.S. advisory at the end of his article to finish it with the same subject he started with, to leave the readers thinking about the object the article was focused on at the beginning and the title.

Original Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/world/europe/03security.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=terrorism%20in%20the%20us&st=cse

A Writing

It’s getting cold outside.

I sit, reading, well trying to. Listening to the people outside that I don’t really know how to describe, that I’m not sure I like or deteste.

I know I like one of….two of them. That’s slightly wrong I suppose, i like all of them, just not what they do.

I wish I was listening to NPR instead.

I feel like something is coming or like something is going to end. I have felt this way for awhile now and I don’t want it to.

This pen smells like sunscreen and there is no toilet paper.

Current Event: Week of October 15th

The Article “Floating on the Edge of a Dream” was published on The New York Times website October 10th, 2010. The article was written by Alison Gregor.

The issue of this article concerns Erick De Leon, a hopeful boxer for the 2012 Olympics. Erick is a phenomenal boxer, however there is one thing standing in his way. Though living in Detroit, he is not a legal U.S. citizen. His parents thought getting citizenship for their children would be too difficult so they never applied for it. Now, this is causing their son a great deal of problems. He has now applied to be a citizen of the u.s., all of the registration items and documents normally take about eight months. This is a major conflict because he needs to be confirmed a citizen by the end of the year to be eligible for the 2012 Olympics.

Reading this article brought about different closing thoughts for me each time I read it. First, I did feel sorry for De Leon because of the stress and upset it is causing him to have to wait in anticipation to become a us citizen and through the duration of that wait loose grasp of his lifelong dream. Though, the last few times reading it I wondered why the parents never came to a consensus of having their children become citizens once they turned a certain age. I also wondered why they did not decide to apply Erick for citizenship once he started training for boxing and the olympics.

Original Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/11/sports/11boxer.html?ref=immigration-and-emigration

Current Event: Week of October 1st.

The article “Insurers Scramble to Comply With New Rules” by Reed Abelson was published on September 22, 2010 on the New York TImes website. It was printed on September 23, 2010.

This article was basically about insurance companies feeling that they would not be able to meet the standards of the new Health Care law that went into effect that Thursday the 23rd of September. Many companies are saying that they do not have the funds to support all of the changes, to provide coverage for all children and have free preventive services. They must do all of this by the end of 2010. Some believe that the new health plans will not be able to last these changes and will ultimately fail. Many companies are trying to avoid regulations and save themselves money by dropping certain policies, stop selling new policies and raising premiums. Though, the compaines are expected to uphold their promises such as providing coverage for children with pre-existing conditions and not disregard clients that are expected to create high bills for their medical needs.

I thought this was a well-written article. It brought me to learn a few things about the health care system in the us. Although, I did not understand some of what the Author was talking about in this work. I think that may be because I am not the most knowlageable person in issues such as healthcare or politics.

Original Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/23/business/23insure.html?_r=1&ref=health_care_reform

Scholarly.
A “Current Event” I wrote for U.S. History

The article “Obama Urges Students to ‘Dream Big’ in Back-to-School Speech in Philadelphia” from The Washington Post by Nick Anderson was published on Tuesday September 14th.
President Obama gave a speech to students at a Philadelphia school, while also being streamed on the White House website and C-SPAN on Tuesday the 14th of September. This speech was labeled as a non-political event. He told students to abide by discipline and to push themselves in their studies; mentioning that he hadn’t always done that himself, and wished he had. Obama also said that his mother convinced him to work harder at his studies and that had stuck with him throughout his post-high school career. Speaking so his speech would send a message to the students and people across the world to focus on their dreams and strive for them through working hard through their education and lifestyles; explaining that nothing would be “beyond their reach”.
This article had some good information about the President’s speech, though the writing was quite staggered. The author jumped between small spurts of educational information about the schools and U.S. education as a whole and reiterating what Obama spoke of in the speech. Nick Anderson could have explained a bit more on some of the educational blurbs he spoke of; some of them were quite interesting; such as the high schools known as “Drop out Factories”. However, this article did lead me to learn a few things; sometimes schools fire teachers to try to financially turn their schools around, Obama has started to do the education promotion speeches annually at schools throughout the country and that George H.W. Bush also made a speech about education in 1991. Even through the repetitiveness it did explain what happened and I suppose that was the key of this author’s writing.

Original Article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/14/AR2010091402623.html

GD/AFI Buffalo August 5 2010

We set off on a late start (1:20pm) from town. All of us raring to go. Stopping only twice on the way, and missing the turn once, we pulled into Darien Lake at 5. We waited in line at the gates for about an hour, then going through security to another line inside the park. In this line I reunited with one of my other friends, Theresa, whom I hadn’t seen since last October. We chatted for a bit about the Camden show, Green Day and family. Then at 6:30ish we were let into the lawn. Pam and I ran to secure decent spots on the lawn, while Seanna was out buying a tour shirt. We had a very good spot, on the barricade and almost the direct center. After a few confused phone calls Seanna made it to our place and we waited a good 5 minutes for the heartbeats signaling AFI was about to take the stage. They had a great deal of energy that night, probably from riding the rollercoasters in the park earlier that day as Havok mentioned. He seemed, from far away, to be having a great deal of a better time at this show than Camden. They played wonderfully for the 35 minutes that they were on, then left, thanking the “people of the lake”. Their setlist was basically the same as Camden, only sans Missing Frame.

After their set a man came handing out pit tickets for free. Seanna begged me to take them. I reluctantly took three for Pam, Seanna and I and headed down to the pit. (If only he had come before AFI’s set I would have been so much more enthused.) After a bit of snaking through the crowd, we made it to the barricade. Both of my friends were thrilled having never seen Green Day. Before long the Drunken Bunny took the stage and the show begun. Unfortunately with Green Day, (one of the reasons I really enjoy seeing AFI live is that they do not do this) they put on the same show. A guitar was given out, toilet paper was thrown, fans excitedly took the stage, even the same words were said. Though they seemed to really enjoy the Buffalo crowd. When Seanna was done taking her pictures and Pam felt sick we left, actually around the same time as I did at the previous concert. Green Day still put on a great show, but once is enough. Setlist: http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/green-day/2010/darien-lake-performing-arts-center-darien-center-ny-2bd5b83a.html

At the end; I really wish I was closer for AFI and I really want to see them live again. Green Day is good, although I wish they would not spray beer on the crowd.

“Peace out bitch”

AFI & Green Day Camden, NJ 8/3/10

Monday night: We picked up Pam around 9 at night. Came to my house and prepared to sleep. Unfortunately, Pam became very ill. We drove her home at 3:30, when we arrived back home I sent my dear friend Rebecca Miller a text asking her if she could take the extra ticket. She eagerly agreed. Tuesday: Leaving home at 7 am, we had a relatively quick drive down to 76. On that highway, as always with Driving into Philly, the traffic was god-awful. We arrived in the city at 12. Upon arriving (and getting a bit lost) we checked into our hotel (Courtyard Marriott) and called Jackie; another friend that was riding to Camden with us. She arrived at our hotel around 12:45. After getting a bit settled and a quick reunion hello, we again, packed into the car (with Banana Bread!) for the surprisingly quick (to me) drive to Camden. Driving up to the Susquehanna Bank Center (around 1), we got out of the car and waited by a fence outside hearing AFI’s soundcheck. After, we walked around trying to find information on how the venue would be issuing us our will-call tickets. Around 2:30 everyone started to form lines in our alphabetical groups (getting separated from Jackie by the unfortunate lack of same last name). Rebecca got there around 3. We waited eagerly at first and then desperately as the day drug on. The humidity and heat was borderline unbearable. As usual my phone basically died right before the show. Finally by 5, bouncers and security came outside to inform us on how the venue would be working. They opened the doors to us at 6. Getting our tickets and going to the line which would mark our tickets and give us pit wristbands (Entering moshing area is at your own risk!) Rebecca and I were reunited with Jackie and continued our way into the venue. We were able to get to the barricade on the right side, one person back. Green Day fans were gracious enough to let us forward, due to our height, or lack there of. AFI took the stage at about 7:15 Opening with a rousing Medicate, and proceeding the through the setlist with singles and a few other well known songs that only lasted 40 minutes at most Another treat, Davey sported one of the audience member’s pink feather boa for a time. AFI Setlist: Medicate, Girl’s Not Grey, The Leaving Song Pt. II, I Am Trying Very Hard to be Here, The Missing Frame, End Transmission, Beautiful Thieves, Dancing Through Sunday, Miss Murder, Silver and Cold, Love Like Winter After AFI finished, Rebecca left. We said goodbye to our friend quickly, so she could get out of the venue before the shoving preceded. Green Day took the stage at about 8:10, though starting with a Drinking Bunny, they put on a great show full of great songs, bringing fans onstage and explosives. Helpfully, they sprayed the audience with water to keep us from boiling in the heat. The audience on the other hand was not as great. There was a plentiful amount of fangirling and dumbasses. I myself had my hair ripped out from a great deal of crowd surfers (DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE BE A CROWD SURFING ASSHOLE, EVER!!!) I was also, rudely punched a few times (not the usual concert punching) That individuals just desserts were given in the ribs from me personally. Green Day (classic as usual) seemed to play forfuckingever. Stupidly Jackie and I did not drink enough water during the humid day and were dehydrated. We got out of the pit (around their cover song montage) to use the bathroom and drink gallons of water. We left early, with Jackie feeling quite sick and I being just plain exhausted. Green Day Setlist: http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/green-day/2010/susquehanna-bank-center-camden-nj-3d5bd2b.html All in all I was happy to see AFI, even if their setlist wasn’t outstanding they, as always, were. I never again want to be in the pit for Green Day, even though they put on a great show, I cannot express how awful the pit really was. I am excited for Thursday and am glad that I am in the lawn, though, being in the pit for AFI would be nice I am sure the show will be great and hopefully fun for all.