Adultism

Last Wednesday Martha and Greg's 8th grade class went down to a breakfast/lobbying protest and then to the Georgia State Capital to lobby for HB 200, which is a human trafficking bill. When we were at the lobbying workshop people kept looking at us and making comments to us like we were either dumb little kids or sketchy 8th grade kids. One lady said to my classmate, a growing boy, "there are 80 people here, don't be a pig." He didn't even have that much on his plate. Another lady talked to us like we were 5 thinking that we couldn't carry a plate and a drink at one time. Lastly, after the workshop two, white, lunch bags were taken. The lady at the church that was hosting the breakfast emailed our teacher and told her we stole them, not asked if we did. That was really the only time in my life where I have really noticed Adultism towards myself but I am sure it has and will happen many more times.

9/11

I remember 9/11 very vividly. I was in Pre-K at the time and my memory of it was when the principal of TCS, my school at the time, shut school down for the day because she didn’t know if they were going to hit Atlanta. I went home and my mom watched the news the whole rest of the day, she thought Atlanta was a possibility since we have a lot of important buildings such as the CDC. Also, that same morning my aunt, who lives in New York, had a doctor’s appointment in the city for my two twin cousins. Her appointment was at 9 o’clock in the morning, which was approximately when the plane hit. Luckily, she was running late, because my grandma was able to hear it on the news, call my aunt, and my aunt went back home. I still think about how lucky I was that my aunt was able to turn around, every time I hear the national anthem. If she was on time and didn’t get stuck in traffic, something might have happened to her. There are a lot of images of tragedy in my head right now, and most of these images come from the media, and from hearing about it from my family.
The causes for 9/11 were that it was The World Trade Center, which is the building that is the head of our economy. Also another cause for this was, because the terrorists were looking for an important building in the U.S with a lot of people in it. That is why they tried the Pentagon, and the White House too. The effects of 9/11 are almost as tragic as the event. There is now a ton of security everywhere, no one is trusted to do anything, and especially Middle Eastern people can’t go anywhere without people looking at them funny, and thinking they are terrorists. It has also had a big affect on me, I am now afraid to fly on a plane, especially one going to New York. This is a big problem since my family lives in New York and we go there often. Although, I am afraid to fly it has also had an affect on me since I am also one of the people who judges Middle Eastern people. I know I shouldn’t and I am trying not to, but it is scary to me since 9/11 was so personal to my family and me.

Tri-State Water Wars Liam/Ben

Georgia, Alabama,and Florida have been arguing over something different than who’s better at football for almost 20 years. These three states have been arguing about allocation of water from two large bodies of water that cross their borders. The outcome is a critical, environmental decision in this area. Georgia is trying to make sure that it has enough water for its expanding population especially in metro Atlanta. Alabama is worried that if Atlanta uses too much water it won’t have enough for its needs. Florida wants to make sure that it can sustain its very successful shellfish industry.

Water used to be very abundant, but water issues began with droughts in the 1980s causing debates over water that have gotten progressively worse. The drought in 2007 was the most recent one when Lake Lanier got twenty feet below normal level. Some groups of people are proposing that Lake Lanier be raised two feet above it normal level to add 26 billion gallons of extra storage incase of emergencies. Georgia says it has the right to the water in it’s rivers and lakes, but Alabama and Florida blame Georgia for using to much water and not enough is getting down stream to them and that the lack of water is destroying ecosystems down stream especially in the gulf.

After the Chattahoochee River enters Florida it becomes the Apalachicola River. By the time the Apalachicola enters the gulf it is very low and polluted. If too little water flows into Apalachicola Bay then salt level increase. This was especially bad during the drought of 2007. The high salt levels kill oysters and other animals caught in commercial fishing. This threatens the lively hood of the fisherman and ruins the local economy because commercial fishing is one of the most important businesses in the region.

The three states are involved in a court case in the United States DistrictCourt. In 2009 the judge ruled that metro Atlanta has very little right to take a lot of water from Lake Lanier even though almost 3 million people in the Atlanta area get most of their water from that lake. Georgia population has doubled since the 1960s and more people means it takes more water to sustain them. The judge has given these three states until July 2012 to negotiate a deal. If these states don’t reach an agreement the judge will order severe limits on the amount of water that can be withdrawn from the lake. The state of Georgia has filed an appeal that will be heard on March 9, 2011.

Georgia must continue to conserve water in order to prepare for the drastic measures that will be imposed in 2011. The Georgia legislature passed some laws in 2010 to help with Conservation. Conservation is important but Georgia needs to find ways to increase their water supply. If Georgia is not alowed to use much water from Lake Lanier this will have a huge impact on the environment, agriculture, and the economy of this state.

Citations:
"Georgia Once Prayed For Rain, Now Plans For Drought : NPR." NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR. Web. 13 Feb. 2011. <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125190243>.


"Water Wars Background — Alabama Rivers Alliance." Alabama Water Rally Online Registration Is Open! — Alabama Rivers Alliance. Web. 13 Feb. 2011. <http://www.alabamarivers.org/current-work/water-wars>.

"Tri-State Water Wars History." Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper. Web. 13 Feb. 2011. <http://www.chattahoochee.org/tri-state-water-wars-history.php>.


"Tri-state Water Wars: Act Now on Water Contingency Plans | Ajc.com." Atlanta News, Sports, Atlanta Weather, Business News | Ajc.com. Web. 13 Feb. 2011. <http://www.ajc.com/opinion/tri-state-water-wars-527806.html>.

"Tri-State Water Wars." Southern Environmental Law Center. Web. 13 Feb. 2011. <http://www.southernenvironment.org/cases/tri_state_water_wars_al_ga_fl>.

"Arguments Set in Tri-state Water Wars Case." The Augusta Chronicle. Web. 13 Feb. 2011. <http://chronicle.augusta.com/latest-news/2011-01-26/arguments-set-tri-state-water-wars-case>.

WATER

Ben Siegel

World Today

February 5, 2011

There are many water issues facing every part of the world today. A water and sanitation has hit our world and has caused a lot of health problems, and deaths. A lot of statistics are mind blowing like the fact that 884 million people don’t have the access to safe water. A person from the U.S taking a five-minute shower uses more water than a person in a slum uses in a whole day. Also, one last crazy statistic is that the water and sanitation crisis have taken more lives than any war has with guns.

Although this is such an intimidating issue people are doing a lot to help, and it is making big impact. For instance, in 1999 a seven-year old kid named Ryan Hreljac heard about the water crisis in Africa and started a foundation called Ryan’s Well Foundation, which puts water pumps in Countries where there is not access to safe water. Ryan is not the only one, after hearing about what he could do many other people have made a pledge to help this issue also, and are making a difference.

About 12% of the people worldwide don’t have access to safe water and as a result of water related diseases more than 3½ million people die every year. There are more than 1 billion people who don’t have access to sanitation facilities at all. One way to try and resolve some of these problems would be to invest in safe drinking water and sanitation facilities everywhere. If water systems were improved around the world the number of missed school days would decrease by nearly 300 million. The conservation of water would also help in terms of more water preserved plus the sanitation systems would work better.

There are a few ways that we as a class can help this global crisis. One is that we can spread the word, meaning tell everyone what’s going on in the world in which they live. Second, we can fundraise for Ryan’s Well and other organizations like that. Lastly, we should educate people on this horrible topic, by going to schools or places where we could speak and tell everyone how big of an issue this really is and that everyone should help.

Australian Open 1/26/11

Ben Siegel and Celeste Padula

The Australian Open is one of the four tennis tournaments that make up the Grand Slam, the others being the French Open, the US Open and Wimbledon. They are the biggest and most prestigious tournaments each year, but the Australian Open holds the record of the highest ever single-day night/day attendance. Australia has hosted a tennis tournament since 1880, and in 1969 the tournament was first called the Australian Open. It is the first Grand Slam tournament of each year, held in the middle of the Australian summer, on the last fortnight of the month of January.

The Australian open used to be played on grass until the year 1988, when they switched to hard ground courts. Mats Wilander is the only male player to have ever won on grass and hard courts. The two main courts used in the tournament have been named Rod Laver Arena and Hisense Arena.

Even with all the flooding that has happened in Australia recently, the tournament will still be held in an Australian city. Currently, 5 different Australian cities have ever held the Open and two New Zealand cities, despite the name, the ‘Australian’ Open.

This year, as in the past several years, American tennis fans have hoped that Andy Roddick, the top ranked American man, could win the tournament, even though there are many other good younger male players. There have been a lot of discussions and comments made by former top players about whether or not the American men can ever be the top ranked players again. A lot of pressure is always placed on Roddick.

Two big stars of the Australian Open are Federer and Nadal. Former American tennis star Andre Agassi said, “It is not brain surgery to realize how much they’ve (Federer and Nadal) dominated,” Agassi told NPR. “But what I am sort of suggesting across the board, globally speaking, is that tennis has gotten much more competitive.”

Agassi also stated that court surfaces are a reason that the American men are not able to keep up with some of the best players from around the world. Americans tend to play with a Clay court instead of Hard courts used in the Australian Open. Clay slow down the ball and produce a high bounce, taking away the advantage of big serves. Clay courts are cheaper than the other types of court like Hard and Grass. Learning how to play tennis on a Clay court is a disadvantage to Americans because out of the four Grand Slam tournaments, the French Open is the only to use Clay courts.

Andy Roddick, the last American man in the 2011 Australian Open Draw, lost in the fourth round to Stanislas Wawrinka. This is the first time since 1987 that there has not been an American man in the quarterfinals of the tournament. At the time of the loss, ESPN analyst Patrick McEnroe said that, “He [Roddick] has been thoroughly dominated tonight.”

While there are always some upsets in every tennis tournament, most people predict that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will play each other in the final round for the championship. Nadal is ranked number 1 in the world. He has won the last 3 Grand Slams and is going for four, which would mean winning the Australian Open. The last person who won the four Grand Slams in a row was Rod Laver in 1969. It looks like Nadal could do it but the last time Nadal lost in a Grand Slam event was in the quarterfinal round in the 2010 Australian Open. Since Rod Laver, the Grand Slam record holder, has a stadium named after him, so a win by Nadal could give him one as well.

www.espn.com

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/event_guide/history.html

http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2010/09/03/from-the-baseline-us-mens-tennis-searching-for-answers

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/articles/2011-01-24/201101241295867813865.htm

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/articles/2011-01-24/201101241295867813865.html

http://www.wtatour.com/page/Tournaments/Info/0,,12781~836,00.html

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/articles/2011-01-23/201101231295746864454.html

http://tennis.india-server.com/australian-open/history.html

http://www.npr.org/2011/01/16/132975282/Flooding-Doesnt-Dampen-Australia-Open

World Today

Ben and Celeste

Despite the recent news about the potential risks of the Measles, Mumps, Rubella vaccine (MMR), there are many benefits of the vaccine, which seem to cancel out many of the risks. As with all vaccines, the most significant benefit is not getting the illness and the side effects are typically mild. Fewer than one in a million suffered a severe allergic reaction from the MMR vaccine. However, if one doesn’t vaccinated and, for example, does get measles the risks are; developing a rash, cough, and a fever. In a more severe case one may contract pneumonia, seizures, or even death.

In 1998 a British surgeon named Andrew Wakefield wrote an article that was published in the British Medical Journal where he claimed that there was a connection between the MMR vaccine and autism. Now scientists have concluded that this was a deliberate misrepresentation. It has now been shown that a law firm hired Dr. Wakefield to provide scientific evidence that the vaccine caused autism. That firm paid him $750,000 for his work, which it now has been shown was false. Mr. Wakefield, also known as Dr. Wakefield until the British General Medical Council stripped Mr. Wakefield of his doctor license, published an article in The Lancet in 1998 saying that the MMR vaccine could cause autism for your child. Last year in February, The Lancet retracted the article after all the controversy it was getting, but perhaps a little to late.

“When his article was published, all the parents took it very seriously,” said Alison Singer on CNN. “Taking away the vaccine didn’t lower the risk of autism, but made the children more vulnerable to other diseases.” After the article triggered a boycott of the MMR vaccine in Britain, the immunization rates crashed to 80 per cent.

Mr. Wakefield is now at the possible risk of criminal charges. In his study on autism, Mr. Wakefield had ‘in an unmistakably intentional way, altered the data to produce a result that wasn’t there,’ said the BMJ. Over two-dozen other studies prove that Mr. Wakefield must have changed something to get this false answer. Mr. Wakefield, though, continues to defend himself, saying that he didn’t transform the answer into something else, and that he would never do such a thing.

Dr. Richard Besser (my best friends dad!), ABC News Senior Health and Medical Editor, recently wrote an article entitled “The Fallout of Fruad” about Dr. Wakefield’s fraudulent study. Dr. Besser stated, “I’ve worked around the globe and have watched children die from measles, meningitis, tetanus and other diseases that could have been prevented had there been access to vaccines.” While Besser was clearly bothered by Wakefield’s study questioning the vaccine safety, he also stated that, “the journal had a responsibility to more thoroughly review a paper presenting such a novel theory.”

Even though Dr. Wakefield’s study has been shown to be false, there are parents of autistic children who will always believe that the cause of the autism was a vaccine or a combination of vaccines. A lot of research money is being spent on finding out the cause of autism and how to prevent and cure this disease. Hopefully, a cure and treatments will be found, and that not too many parents will shy away from giving vaccines to their kids. The benefits of vaccines have proven to far outweigh the risks.

It is hoped that parents will be reassured that vaccines don’t cause autism. Dr. Besser said, “study after study that tried to verify Wakefield’s hypothesis found no connection between vaccines and autism. Scientifically, the issue has been laid to rest. Convincing the general public of the safety of vaccines is a task that may fall to those experts who take up the cause in the popular media.”

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Editorials/1221024.html

http://amfix.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/07/the-mystery-of-autism/?iref=allsearch

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/door-closed-on-autism-vaccine-health-scare/story-e6frg12c-1225983434121

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-02-02/health/lancet.retraction.autism_1_andrew-wakefield-mmr-vaccine-and-autism-general-medical-council?_s=PM:HEALTH

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/autism-mmr-vaccine-study-author-andrew-wakefield-hits-back/story-e6frg12c-1225983487308

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40930256/ns/health-mental_health/

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Autism/dr-bessers-notebook-autism-vaccine-link-fraud/story?id=12555692

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002026.htm

Ben and Celeste

January 5, 2011

Conflict in Ivory Coast

On October 31, 2010, Alassane Ouattara challenged Laurent Gbagbo for the Presidency of Ivory Coast. This election was very close and ended with a run-off that was held on November 28, 2010. The runoff was very close, and in the end the country’s top elections officer declared that the former president, Laurent Gbagbo, had lost his power to Alassane Ouattara. Gbagbo, mad at losing his presidency, refused to give up his power. As a result of Gbagbo’s reaction to the election and his anger, the people of Ivory Coast are taking sides and causing violence in the streets. The natives there are scared that they will witness and be a part of a second civil war.

The day after the news of Ouattara’s win, the head of the Constitutional Council, a close ally of Gbagbo, threw out the vote totals from parts of the north (the base of Ouattara’s support) and claimed that Gbagbo was the winner, causing both men to claim presidency.

Then another sign of Gbagbo’s anger over his 45% to 55% loss to Ouattara was when he then closed the borders down and blocked all foreign television stations. The next night 8 people who supported Ouattara were shot and killed by automatic-weapon-toting gunmen at an opposition party headquarters.

The former president still has support over the army and is brushing aside threats to leave office from neighboring countries, which are expected to have to go to using military force if Gbagbo doesn’t leave soon. Ouattara is now barricaded in a hotel with the help of the United Nations peacekeeping troops, angered by Gbagbo’s stubbornness.

Since most of the citizens are not armed, they have cleverly decided to bang their pots and pans together to make it sound like gunshots. One lady named Edwige Tonete, who is so scared to even step outside of her house, talked to CNN about these recent days in Abidjan. Edwige Tonete is just old enough to remember the last recent civil war in Ivory Coast, which took place in 1958. She told the CNN reporters, “I don’t want to live like we did.” Tonete speaks for all Ivorian people when she says that, those that lived through the last civil war and those that were either not born or not old enough to recall it. Without saying anything specific about the conditions during the last civil war, it was clear from Tonete’s tone and the fear in her voice that no one would want to live through something as frightening as a civil war.

Not surprisingly at all, the United States and a few other countries have stepped up in this situation of horror in Ivory Coast. They have recruited a large number of soldiers to help with a United Nations peacekeeping force in Ivory Coast. Another thing that the U.S has done alongside the U.N, the European Union, the African Union, and some West African states is create a group called ECOWAS, Economic Community Of West African States, which has gotten together with the electoral commission to peacefully convince to Gbagbo and his supporters that Alassane Ouattara is the winner of the election, and that Ouattara is now the President of Ivory Coast.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/23/AR2010122305481.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/04/world/africa/04ivory.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=ivory%20coast&st=cse

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-12-30/world/ivory.coast.impact_1_ivory-coast-laurent-gbagbo-abidjan?_s=PM:WORLD

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/03/world/africa/03ivory.html?_r=2

Maus

1. What do cats represents in the book?
The Nazis
2. What is the main theme of the book?
Oppression and Family
3. What does the son learn a lot about in the book?
The history of his family
4. How does this book relate to RCG?
It is about the Jews and other groups who were oppressed during that time period
5. What animal were the Jews portrayed as in the book?
Rats
6. Why were the Jews portrayed as rats and the Nazis as cats?
The Jews were rats because cats chase rats and eat them, just like the Nazis are killing the Jews
7. Why do you think it is important to learn about this period in time?
So that history doesn't repeat itself
8. What happened to the father's family?
They were killed, some in concentration camps and some were just killed
9. Who is one example of a non-Jew that helped the Jews?
The person in the black market that he stayed with
10. Why did the laws keep getting harder and harder for the Jews?
So that it would get harder for them to survive

A very big theme in this book is Oppression. In RCG we always talk about how to deal with the oppression. In Maus the Jews have to deal with it and they can't do anything about it. Can someone tell me how you think the Jews are handling this situation? Right, so the Jews can't really do anything about it except for hide and try to make it out alive. Does anyone else have something to say about how people during the Holocaust were oppressed? Yes, they oppressed by not being able to leave their homes, and by all of the laws that were made that pretty much made it impossible for them to do anything.

Another main them is Family. This book talks a lot about it and it comes across as very important. The only way that they are able to survive is by sacrificing themselves for the family to survive. Does anyone relate to that? How family is so important to him. At one point in the story though he says that family is not important just money and food. But, it obviously was, because still the family worked together to protect each other.

Also, another big part of the book is also related to family but it is his ancestry. The son learns a lot about his family history and his ancestors, which made him a lot more family orientated. Throughout the book the father would tell him stories about how his ancestors would stand up for each other and help each other out. That also made him want to become more family orientated. Do any of you guys feel like you should become more family orientated? Lastly, the son starts going over to his fathers house and spending more time with him.

Numbers, By The. "Airport Screening: Would Profiling Work? - The Week." The Week Magazine:

Political News and Cartoons, Current Events and Entertainment Online. Web. 30 Nov. 2010.

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The new full body scans and full body pat downs are not going over to well with travelers. Some are taking

it so far as to compare it to Racial and Religious profiling. A lot of Muslims are arguing that they are the

only ones being searched. Some top security officers are saying that not only is profiling mean it is also

useless. They said that it won't detect diverse terrorists, because Muslims are the only ones being searched.

Numbers, By The. "Is Obama's Federal Pay Freeze a 'gimmick'? - The Week." The Week Magazine: Political News and Cartoons, Current Events and Entertainment Online. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. .

Obama has announced that for the next two years anyone who works for the federal government will not get any raises. The good thing about this is that their salary cannot drop either. Even though he has announced this Congress still has to approve it, and if it does go through it won't save a lot of money. Some people are saying that this was a bad move and "won't win him any political points."

China's towering inferno

"Apple's Beatles Announcement: A Letdown? - The Week." The Week Magazine: Political News and Cartoons, Current Events and Entertainment Online. Web. 16 Nov. 2010. .

In downtown Shanghai, China on Monday 53 people were killed and 70 injured in a monstrous fire destroyed a 28 floor apartment building. The fire is thought to have started by "flammable nylon and bamboo scaffolding" outside of the building and took about 4 hours for firefighters to get it under control

Apple's Beatles announcement: A letdown?

"Apple's Beatles Announcement: A Letdown? - The Week." The Week Magazine: Political News and Cartoons, Current Events and Entertainment Online. Web. 16 Nov. 2010. .

Starting on Tuesday Apple said that it would start selling Beatles MP3's. This ended a 20 year long legal case about whether they could sell the music or not. After this they made their home page on apple.com all about the Beatles. Was all of the hype leading up to this day a big let down? That is the main question people are asking.

Obama's settlement stand: The end of Mideast peace talks?

• It is Important that I did this article for two reasons. The first one is that it is a very big topic right now in the world. The second one is that I am Jewish and and Israel is my homeland. The second one is more important to me, because if my homeland is not safe and that is the only place I can be safe than I don't feel safe.

• President Obama says that he is worried about the decision Israel made to start building the 1000 new homes in East Jerusalem. Obama, who right now is on his nine day trip through Asia, insists that the talks he started in September through Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas should keep going. Obama’s disapproval of Israel is a signal that the peace treaty between Israel and Palestine has failed again.

Donorboy by Brendan Halpin

Some of the main themes in Donorboy are grief, trust, acceptance, and the definition of family. The author is discussing both Rosalind’s and Sean’s loss of their mothers at young ages, their ability to learn to trust and accept each other and other people, and how to be a person that you can like.

Through the e-mails and texts Rosalind, the main character of the book, learns to accept Sean and her new situation and maybe most importantly she learns about love and family. Throughout the novel, many situations show Rosalind opening up and trusting Sean and herself. While this progression was slow throughout the book, one situation really causes Rosalind to change. Rosalind finds herself in a terrible situation with drugs at a friends house and sends Sean a secret text that he was able to understand and come rescue her.

The book had many interesting sections but a few stood out to me. The first one is in a journal entry that Rosalind wrote in her diary where she calls herself lucky even though most people would not find her situation to be good luck. Next, there was an e-mail from Sean to Rosalind where he talks about many things including their great weekend in Philadelphia and how proud her mothers would have been of her. Lastly, at the end of the book Rosalind runs away so as not to experience Christmas day without her moms and Sean tracks her down in New York City and it is clear to Rosalind how much Sean loves her.

Rosalind doesn’t like the person that she becomes after her mothers die. This easily relates to my life in the junior high in the past year and a half (mostly last year though). Last year I was new and I didn’t like the person that I became. I was a suck-up and it got to be so bad I wrote my speech about it this year. I was a big suck-up especially toward all of the 8^th graders who I really wanted to like me as a friend. I have also witnessed some seventh graders this year sucking up to me and to other 8^th graders.

I enjoyed Brendan Halpin’s Donorboy very much. The author developed the character really well and it was easy for me to read because it was written in e-mail style. I would definitely recommend it for next year’s reading bowl. It was a great book.

My Parent/Teacher Conferene

1. When you (Martha and Greg) meet with my parents during conferences I think that you guys will say I am doing well this year in school and with friends. Also, I think that you might mention I am doing a better job of not talking in class.

2. I would like you to mention that I am working really hard to get all of my work in and that I think it is paying off. Also, I would like you to mention that I am not sucking up to people this year and I am talking more in class.

3. There is nothing that you can't tell my parents during the conference, because I don't have anything to hide.

The Chilean Miners' Doomed Pact of Silence

"The Chilean Miners' Doomed Pact of Silence - The Week." The Week Magazine - News Reviews and Opinion, Arts, Entertainment & Political Cartoons. Web. 19 Oct. 2010. .

Only a few days after the Chilean Miners were rescued from the mine one of them already broke their very unique pact. The pact was that none of them would sign a TV deal or a book deal without the rest of the group. The man who broke it was nicknamed "Super Mario." He claims he broke it because "there are certain things that need to be told."

Does Christine O'Donnell Not Know the First Amendment?

"Does Christine O'Donnell Not Know the First Amendment? - The Week." The Week Magazine - News Reviews and Opinion, Arts, Entertainment & Political Cartoons. Web. 19 Oct. 2010. .

This morning in a debate about teaching creationism in schools, the Delaware Republican State Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell made a comment that shocked the audience. Christine O'Donnell stated that the first amendment prevented making laws that established religion.

Europe terror warning: Time to cancel your travel plans?

U.S government officials have been warning travelers about their trips to Europe, because of recent evidence from Al Qaeda that they may be planning some Mumbai-style attacks. State department officials are trying really hard to convince Americans to be very cautious as this may be a bad time to travel to Europe. Some believe that the warnings are so vague that perhaps they should not have been issued. Officials have not specifically what countries to avoid or what threats have been made. They have only said that tourists should avoid public transportation and popular tourist destinations. This makes it very hard for travelers to know what to avoid. Others believe that this warning is not strong enough to make people cancel their plans but should give people a reason to be careful and practical.

The Week

Celeste and I picked The Week Magazine as our source.

The Week Magazine was founded in the United Kingdom in 1995. It became an American magazine 6 years later in April of 2001. Then 7 years later Australia adopted the magazine in October of 2008. The Week Magazine has a liberal slant, but does a fairly good job of keeping it fair and balanced. The interesting thing about this magazine is that they write hardly any of the articles in it. They get their articles from other magazines and sources which are: Yahoo News, The Financial Times, AOL News, Politics Daily, Global Post, Real Clear Politics, Newser, and Salon.com

The Week gets/writes articles about a lot of things such as: The U.S at a Glance, The world at a glance, famous people in the world, Talking points for books and current events, Health and science, Reviews of books and films, and business. The Week is a pretty thorough Magazine and we hope it helps us learn about new things.

Twist

Twist is an americanized play of Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist. The main character in the play, Twist, is a biracial kid who is an orphan in Prohibition Era in New Orleans. Twist is an archetype orphan who will do absolutely anything for love. I think his character represents all orphans and mixed racial people who don't think they belong to a specific group like white, black, etc. Twist is also called a mulatto, which makes him feel even more like he doesn't belong to a group. In the orphanage Twist gets teased by all the kids, and they tell him to ask for meat on his birthday so he does. When he does he gets sold to a funeral to dance at all the funerals. Twist hates it there so he runs away to the Jewel Box Theatre and lives there with Boston and the boys. Boston used to be Twist's dad's dance partner back when they were younger. While living with Boston he discovers that Della Boston's girlfriend birthed him. Della wants the best for Twist but Boston only wants money. So Della is trying to give him to Mr. Pruhdomme who is a big time lawyer and show bizz fan, but Boston is trying to sell him to his uncle for $1000. Twists uncle is white and a very mean man.

Twist's mother is white, and her brother Lucius is white as well. Twist's mother died during childbirth and his father died just before he was before. Twist was born an orphn. Lucius, Twist's uncle in the story, paid the orphanage 200 dollars to keep since Twist's mother had died in child birth. Nine years later, though, Lucius decides he wants Twist so that he can use him to do illegal things for him, even if this may result in Twist's death. Lucius character represents the typical villain in this story. There are many different villain archetypes that are portrayed throughout literature. In this play, there is a bit of irony with the villain because all of the main characters are black yet the villain is white. Often in literature and plays, the villain would be stereotypically black or some other minority. Villains can be schemers, lunatics, backstabbers tyrants and many other nasty characters. In Twist, Lucius seems to be "The Bastard" because he can't have what he wants (to be wealthy) so he lashes out and hurts those around him. Throughout the play, Lucius chases Twist in an effort to kidnap him, but Twist is able to avoid him and remain on the run. Ultimately, Lucius gets what the viewer thinks he deserves and dies.

The thing that worked really about the production was that everyone could sing and dance really well. Also the beginning scene was fantastic. One part that needed to be improved in particular was the scene in the orphanage when he is singing a sad song and everyone behind him is doing something funny. If I was being hired to get the production ready for broadway I wouldn't change much. The only scene I would change is the one in the orphanage when he is singing, but other than that the play was great.

Children Inspiring Hope Part II

The object I'm going to send to Ghana is a baseball.  I chose to send a baseball to Ghana because it is pretty much my whole life.  Baseball means a lot to me.  To me it represents life, in baseball you go through slumps, just like in life.  In baseball you have good days and bad days, jut like in life, but in baseball you always work your way out of things, just like in life.

Also on the photograph I am sending of myself, i am going to write about how i would like to bring peace and friendships to people everywhere in the world so that we can all work together.  I will also say how peace is very important to have especially with friends which is what these people in Ghana are going to turn out to be, at least to me.