The Guardian: Barack Obama's Hopes for a Nuclear-free World Fading Fast

Borger, Julian. "Barack Obama's Hopes for a Nuclear-free World Fading Fast." Guardian.co.uk. The Guardian Media Group, 16 Nov. 2010. Web. 16 Nov. 2010. .

Click HERE for the article I used to write this.

Barack Obama’s hopes of remolding US foreign policy stand on the brink of failure. After two of his favorite initiatives – nuclear disbarment and better relations with Russia – were dealt serious setbacks. Meanwhile in Washington, a republican leader in the Senate signaled that the arms control treaty signed in April is unlikely to be ratified this year. Together the setbacks mark a new low point for Obama’s ambitions set out on a path to abolish nuclear weapons. They also rob the president of the main objective to “reset” US-Russian relations. Advocates of disbarment still hope the door to withdrawal could be left open in another strategic review, next year.

The Guardian: Haitians Turn on UN Peacekeepers They Blame for Cholera Outbreak

Port-au-Prince, Carroll In. "Haitians Turn on UN Peacekeepers They Blame for Cholera Outbreak | World News | The Guardian." Latest News, Comment and Reviews from the Guardian | Guardian.co.uk. 16 Nov. 2010. Web. 16 Nov. 2010. .

Click HERE for the article I used to write this

In 2004 UN peacekeepers came as saviors to the wrecked capital of Haiti. 12,000 UN peacekeepers, one of the biggest UN troops ever, kept peace in Haiti, stopping gangs and criminals. But now, they are being blamed for the cholera outbreak in Haiti. The peacekeepers may have brought the disease when they arrived after the series of hurricanes and apocalyptic earthquake. The epidemic that hit has caused over 1,000 deaths, and has infected thousands. The strain appears to be from Asia, and the soldiers from Nepal, a country with the disease, moved into a base in early October near a river. They are thought to have infected the river. All tests made by the UN show this is false accusation, but appeals from epidemiologist and Haitian leaders have been ignored.

The Guardian: Barack Obama Begins 10-day Asia Tour

Washington, MacAskill In, and Burke In Delhi. "Barack Obama Begins 10-day Asia Tour | World News | The Guardian." Latest News, Comment and Reviews from the Guardian | Guardian.co.uk. 6 Nov. 2010. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. .

Click HERE for the article I used

Obama is going on a 10 day tour of Asia beginning in India today. But it is likely to be overrun with political turmoil. In India they have caught the Obama fever we once had. They have made a Bollywood film starring him, a special fish and chicken dish for him, and they have stripped the coconuts from the trees so they don’t fall on his entourage. But Obama will be unable to leave his political troubles behind. He aims to focus on job creation, the #1 concern of voters. Obama says the trip is mainly economic. Some political analysis complain that he is leaving the country behind, but others say that it’s okay because congress still doesn’t come back for another week. Before leaving Obama looked at the job numbers and then said, “Today, we received encouraging news. We have now seen private sector growth for the 10^th consecutive month.” On Tuesday he will fly to Indonesia, then on Wednesday to South Korea, on Thursday a dinner with China’s leader Hu Jintao, On Friday G20 meeting, then fly to Japan for several meetings.

I think this is important because it shows how much the British follow our news, and our presidents. Many of the other stories in the “World” section included the senate race, and other US events. We follow the British much less with an occasional story on their prime minister.

Reading Bowl: True Notebooks

1) What are the themes of the book? What ideas and/or opinions is the book exploring or discussing?

In True Notebooks the major theme is acceptance, understanding, and hope. Mark Salzman, the author and the main character, undergoes his own journey while teaching his students at the County Juvenile Detention Center. He teaches his students how to be true people instead of embracing the cold acceptance of the street gangs. He does this through writing. Most of the prisoners have turned away from a good life because of the hardships they had to face as children: missing parents, dead siblings, and receiving no good education or love. When this happens a shell is replaced around them. Mark teaches them to release that shell and become loving, understood, and hopeful children.

2) Consider the main character of the book: what does he/she learn over the course of the narrative? How does he/she change? What is the final plot event that causes the character to change?

Mark, the main character, goes on a huge journey through this book; maybe even larger than his students. He first attends the jail to get inspiration on his book. But he keeps coming back, even after the book is done. He learns that the small things in life don't matter; it’s the love and inspiration that you give to others. He learns to focus more on the people and less on the indefinite problems in life. The final point when he fully changes is when Kevin, his star student and friend, leaves for state high security prison. Mark realizes the love he has for Kevin, but he can't get to him. The last few lines are a poem, by Kevin, and it ends, "Though the road may seem long and far, eventually I'll make it. Dear old friend, North Star." The North Star is the only star that doesn't move in the sky based on the earth’s rotation. Mark is Kevin's lifeline, the friend who will not move, or change while everything else is in chaos.

3) What are three sections/events/elements of the book that you find the most memorable or interesting?

1. When Mark first attends the writing class in the M/N unit (his class is K/L). One of the students writes about clouds, "..I look out this window, which is covered with gang engravings, and I see a nice puffy white cloud just slowly floating by, and I think to myself, 'where will this could go? Where does it come from? Why is it that it that it floats so perfectly like a boat on water, yet there is nothing to support and hold up this could? Whose will or power lets this cloud continue to cross this beautiful blue sky?...” This is meaningful because I think the cloud represents hopes and dreams. Who is there to hold them up for a convict?

2. Another profound moment was at the writing retreat. This was meaningful because until then the only thing that mattered to the kids was the gang life, and being out; but at the retreat they finally learn more about life. At first none of the students want to share, but as soon as Nathaniel, a star writer, reads, everyone wants a shot. This ends up being meaningful because the director of probation comes to the stand and talks about how meaningful this was for him.

3. The most powerful part of the book is at the end when Kevin is writing to Mark. He includes his poem about the North Star. As I said earlier, the North Star doesn't move around like the other stars, it's always there. To me this was a great message on the true meaning of friendship.

4) How does the book's subject and themes connect to the rest of your junior high curriculum (what you've studied or been exposed to over the past year and a half)?

The easiest thing I can think of is RCG. All the kids in the prison are either: Black, Hispanic, or some other person of color. The prisoners talk about being discriminated against, and how their race affects their life. Also there is a profound amount of sexism in the jail. Class serves a big role to. Most of the prisoners had little to no money on the “outs” and that’s what drove them to commit their crimes.

5) Did you enjoy the book? Why? Would you recommend it for next year's Reading Bowl?

I thought that this book was great. The fact that it is nonfiction was even better, that it showed a real life experience. It was very powerful showing the life and experiences of someone completely different through writing, to me that was the best part. I would definitely recommend this book to stay on the reading bowl list for ever. It is an incredibly powerful book that should be shared with everyone.

The Guardian: Democrats Target Black Vote as Tea Party Collects Converts

MacAskill, Ewen. "Democrats Target Black Vote as Tea Party Collects Converts | World News | The Guardian." Latest News, Comment and Reviews from the Guardian | Guardian.co.uk. The Guardian Media Group, 20 Oct. 2010. Web. 21 Oct. 2010. .

Click HERE for the article!

The majority of African-Americans still back Obama, which could be crucial in midterms, but in Kentucky some are switching sides. The Democrats will face an enormously difficult and important election. Reverend Jerry Stephenson, is a registered Democrat but he will vote for the Tea Party favorite, Rand Paul. He was prideful of Obama, but still feels like Obama isn't quite perfect for the job. Stephenson is a minority though among African-Americans likely to back the republicans, little more than 10% of African Americans traditionally back the democrats, and Obama won 95% of their vote. The question for Obama is whether they will turn out again for him. The Democrats have spent over $3 million dollars to target the black community. Rand Paul, the Tea Party candidate, receives support even though he opposed the civil rights legislation of the 60s. Stephenson says in response that the country needs independent thinkers, and later went to say, quoting one of Obama's campaign slogan, "There has to be change that we can not only believe in, but that we can see."

Twist!

1) The villain is another archetype, analyze the character of Lucius as a villain archetype, what does he represent?

Lucius represents everything that is viewed as evil in the world. While Angela his sister, represents an angel, he represents the devil. I think he is an original character seeing that he isn't stereotypically fat, or necessarily mean, he is just a seemingly ordinary person. The only bad part to him is the devil inside him. The one that lets him kill his sisters lover, and join the KKK. A totally "Angelic" sister, with the totally awful brother. Everything that she is, looking past the color, good, truthful, able, honest, he is not. An opposite to the perfection.

2) Why do you think the author of the musical chose to set the story in New Orleans. How does the history of New Orleans reflect the racial history of the United States?

I think that the author chose New Orleans because of its racial history. It started out being Native American territory until the French started a colony there. After Napoleon sold the territory to the Americans, many different races and ethnicities flowed into the city. These included French, Creole, Irish, German, Haitians, African Americans and other white Americans. New Orleans has always been a diverse city. New Orleans story is very similar to the Story of the United States. Especially in New York City, many races and ethnicities came to have a better life. I think the author chose New Orleans because in doing so, they chose the whole United States.

3)What worked about the production? What needed to be improved? If a producer hired you to get the production ready for Broadway, what changes would you make?

For me at least, I felt like many of the songs where too similar. When they are too similar then most aren't memorable. Songs like the "Death" song that are unique leave one remembering and playing back the song in their head. More memorable songs would make a world of difference. The dancing I felt like could have been better. At the beginning the tap dancing was amazing, but you never saw anything that good later on. I also thought that the ghost dance was great, but that style would be hard to apply anywhere else. I know that they where trying to have all different dances through African American history, but I felt that like the songs, only few where memorable and most remained generic. Other than those to things, the only other problem I thought was the length, some songs where unnecessary and made it so much longer, I think that if I actually was hired I would somehow address the length. Other than that, It was amazing, I loved almost every minute of it!

The Guardian: Ground Zero Mosque

For me it was very interesting to hear the British side to this issue. We always hear the American version, clouded by our typical views of hate. The British however, look at it just like an observer, not a player. They actually try to find the truth. That's what we should hear; Although, the Guardian may be slightly too "left" for some.

Pilkington, Ed. "Park51 Drawings Prove How Far 'Ground Zero Mosque' Claims Are from Truth | World News | The Guardian." The Guardian. Web. 08 Oct. 2010. .

Click Here for the Article

Summary:

The proposed scheme for the "Ground Zero Mosque" is neither a mosque nor at ground zero. It is, though, a Multi faith Community Center with an Islamic prayer area. The design is actually quite modern and has "Cutting edge design." It has a lattice pattern on the front which creates multiple geometric figures, these figures are often found in the Muslim faith, but you can clearly see the Star Of David in the lattice work also. Sharif el-Gamal, the developer of the $120 million dollar building told the Associated Press that nearly a quarter of the buildings space will be devoted to a sports and fitness center, and also childcare, a restaurant, exhibition space, a memorial, and a spa. Gamal apologizes about the way things had been done. He states that, "I would have done things a lot differently during this process if I understood what we were up against." He also stated, "Our identity has been stolen from us (Muslims). It has been stolen by extremists."

The Guardian Summary

The Guardian is located in the center of London in the United Kingdom. It is one of the largest newspapers in the United Kingdom. It is unique among many papers seeing that it is owned by a foundation, the Scott Trust. The website, guardian.co.uk, is one of the highest-traffic English-language news websites. According to its editor, The Guardian has the second largest online readership of any English-language newspaper in the world, after the New York Times.

Guardian Media Group (often called GMG) owns The Guardian. GMG is based in London. Guardian Media Group owns many different media functions in the UK, making it one of the leading multimedia businesses in the UK. For newspapers, GMG owns The Guardian (the most important thing it owns) and its sister paper The Observer, a paper only published on Sundays. The Observer is the oldest Sunday newspaper in the world. GMG also owns many radio stations throughout the UK and is the third largest radio group in the UK (measured by hours its listeners have listened to the group’s stations). GMG also has divisions that make software for real estate, publish an auto magazine and website in the UK called Auto Trader, and deal with different business-to-business functions for businesses. GMG is owned by a trust called the Scott Trust.

The Guardian covers many different topics. For news, it covers news in the both UK and around the world. The Guardian also covers smaller topics like sports, culture, business, money, life and style, travel, environment, and TV. The Guardian has a strong left wing approach to most issues. Left wing meaning liberal, they generally talk about riots, environment, and other typically liberal topics. They remain one of the most "Left" papers in the UK.

CIH Project

We will all send an object that shows something about us. Like if you love soccer, you could send a mini soccer ball. If you loved chess, you could send a piece. We will send these items along with individual photos to Ghana. A class will receive these items, and then they will send back their project.

I would like to send a small plastic dog. My whole life I have always had a dog licking my face, and most importantly, being my friend no matter what. I feel as if all my dogs have shed off a part of their undying love, and some of their other amazing qualities, and laid them in side of me. This shapes who I am everyday.

My personal peace statement will be, "Paths to Peace: Creating peace through undying love and friendship."

Self Assesment

1) I expected 8th grade to be a very difficult year. Both socially and academically. I expected there to be more responsibility as a student, and more homework expected to be completed. After being five weeks into school I feel as if I am correct and incorrect at the same time. I expected there to be more responsibility, this is true. In eighth grade we are expected to be good role models for the sevies, we have more pressure to do even better on speeches and other assignments. This is a good thing, that we are able to be pushed. When I thought there would be more homework, I was incorrect. We have a pretty consistent amount of homework that I feel as if has not increased (maybe slightly) this year. Socially it is the same scene, and I feel very comfortable this year.

2) Yes. Most of my old friends are still my friends this year. The eighth graders I was friends with last year I still see at carpool, etc. Being an eighth grader is somewhat easier related to social things. The sevies aren't as scary as the eighth graders last year, which makes everything slightly better. I am also friends with a lot of seventh graders in our class and out of class. I am having a good year so far and I am excited for the rest of the year.

3) Last year I tried to be a leader, but it is difficult with the superior 8th graders blocking you. This year, however, I feel that being a leader is easier. I have led in small groups, and in class periods so far. It is difficult sometimes though with the other eighth graders who compete to be a better leader than you. Otherwise, it is very easy to help others by leading them.

4) This year I would like to learn multiple things. I would like to learn to be more organized. I have tried to keep a binder and other organizational methods, but by the end of the year I end up stuffing papers in my backpack. I also want to learn how to write even better. Last year we learned extensively how to write very well, but I want to add on to that skill so that in high school I will not have to work so hard at it. I want to have better grammatical skills, because in high school they don't teach this. I want to have my grammar skills tightened up before high school so that I wont be penalized, or have to work too hard at this.

Children Inspiring Hope

1) This week we were introduced to our year long service project. "Children Inspiring Hope" will connect us to a classroom or classrooms in Ghana. We will share projects of peace that will create bonds of friendship. Amy and Mimi from "Children inspiring Hope" came into our classroom and gave us a presentation on what we would be doing. They showed us multiple pictures and videos. We also had a good discussion about what we would do for our project. Click here for the main website.

2) "Peace-Noun: a state of mutual harmony between people or groups, esp. in personal relationships." When I think of peace, I think of friendship. I think of people all over the globe, no matter their differences coming together. When i think of peace, I think of holding hands with those all over the world. I think of love and compassion. But mainly, I think of joy. The smiles written like a signature on the faces of everyone.

3) The subject for our project is "Paths to Peace: Creating Peace Through ______." You fill in the blank. Which ways are you interested in promoting peace? Music, poetry, service, fellowship, and artwork. I think that we need to create our path to peace with our own hands. It needs to be something that our friends can hold. Something that they can always have with them. A bracelet, a pocket token, a painting, even a index card with a picture and information on it would be something that would never fade. A song, could not be played for them always. A movie, is even harder to play. We have to create something that will never fade away to create peace.

4) Like I said in point 3, we need to make something tangible. A token of peace that will never fade to dust, which will fade to memory, which will fade to legend, which will fall. I think that a bracelet, or a painting would be good. A poem on thick paper, with artwork around it would also be a wonderful option.

Getting Started Post!

Welcome to my first post for the Eliot MaGr 2010 blog. This will be a portforlio containing posts for all of my 8th Grade year. All of my classes will be up here, and I will try to stay as organized a possible! Thanks!