Q4 Outside Reading #6

For my last blog of the year, I finished reading the book Juiced, by Jose Canseco. This was one of those books that people think never end. Not like it's bad or anything, but there are a lot of different stories within the novel. The final chapter/section of the book was about the future and how baseball will change in the years to come. Like I have already stated, Canseco believes that many more young athletes will rely on steroids to get their chance in Major League Baseball. Before it was only a couple of people, but he was the most well-known for it. An analogy he gives occurs when he says, "I love playing baseball, but sometimes I feel like the gorilla in the zoo. People watch the gorilla, stare at it, point at it, trying to figure out why it's doing what it's doing" (269). This quote is significant because that was what the past was like if somebody used steroids. He compares that to now, where most people are using steroids because of the effects. Now there isn't one specific gorilla, there are many and it isn't out of the ordinary present day. When I started reading, I was completely against steroids, but after reading I'm still against them, but now I can see both sides of the argument, and see why so many people use them.

Q4 Outside Reading #5

For my fifth blog of this quarter I read Juiced. I'm not quite finished with the book, and there wasn't very many important details this section, but there was one. Jose Canseco was traded to the Rangers and that is when steroids started to get really popular. This movement changed baseball forever because now people rely on drugs to get better. When I first read this it made me a little disappointed in the Major League players, but then Canseco gave a really good analogy. He said, "If you're an editor at a newspaper, and you can get a souped-up computer that's faster, more reliable, and can do things the old one couldn't, of course, you're going to want an upgrade" (137). I think that this gives the reader a good idea on how steroids are thought of. To them it isn't messing with their body, but part of their job. Although, the other side of me thinks that there is no way that you can compare your body to a computer. There are limits to what is right and wrong. Overall, I think that even though it is thought as a good idea, it is morally incorrect.

Q4 Outside Reading #4

This week, while reading Juiced by Jose Canseco, I came across an interesting quote that was a great lesson for everyday life. The quote is "Sometimes, players need to maintain their intensity on the field by being intense off the field" (118). This is a great quote because there are a couple of meanings that it could have. The first meaning is that to succeed, you need to work hard to get there. The point to this is that nothing comes without practice or hard work. For example, you need to "practice like you play." One would think that the previous meaning is what he meant, but really, he means that to be successful on the field, you have to do significant things in society. He used this quote while talking about how some great ball players are jerks off the field. There are some people not like that though. to be productive on the field, they have to help society. Jose Canseco sure got ripped apart for being one of the original steroid users, but there is a lot more to him. He just wanted to do whatever it took to be successful, and that doesn't mean he is a bad person. Actions are taken according to circumstances, and they don't always reflect on the person who took them.

Q4 Outside Reading #3

During the chapters I read this week in Juiced, Jose Canseco talked about the media a lot. The primary subject was the way it changes the outlook on a person but also that nobody acts as they normally would. People like Alex Rodriguez and Cal Ripken would act like perfect people. He also said that in theory, this wouldn't be any fun to interview, but the reporters keep going back because they just might slip up. This is so true in today's society. If anything goes wrong with an interview, it is seen all over the place. The editing used to put stories together turns a statement in a way that isn't even close to the true meaning. The other element of the media is changing the public appearance of somebody. In the novel, Jose Canseco has the media turned against him because he is a minority in the MLB. People didn't like to have the greatest player be Latin-American, so why not make a true American the best. This is a particularly key element of today's media. For example, politics. In political campaigns the media is used to make people think one way about the candidate that is supported, and another for the opponent. This book covers many different sides of baseball and I found these chapters gave me a good idea of how reporters really change things.

Q4 Outside Reading #2

This week in my outside reading book I learned more about Jose Canseco's first few years in the major league. There was one moment in particular that really stood out though. He says how in his first full year he won rookie of the year with 33 home runs and 117 runs batted in and nobody had really done that before. Because of his steroid use, getting those stats were like hitting 45 home runs now. That kind of hit me. If you take that idea and compare it to today's major league players, there is a big change. In 1986 there were probably 3 people with 35 home runs. Now, there are probably like 8. Taking this into consideration, that means there must be dozens, if not more, people that use steroids. That just isn't right. If you have to take an illegal substance so you can succeed, then there isn't as much point in succeeding. Many people think the same way as I do, so testing has greatly increased and some big name players like Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro, David Justice, and many more. It's a very unethical decision, but it's their risk to take.

Q4 Outside Reading #1

For my fourth quarter outside reading project, I decided to read "Juiced," by Jose Canseco. This book tells about the ups and downs of Canseco's life starting with his childhood until his major league experience. As of now I'm around page 30 and he is talking about what is was like playing baseball as a kid. He wasn't the fastest or the strongest in his age class but he worked hard. There was another part of his childhood baseball career that I felt I could really relate to. He said that his dad would go to every single game and yell at them if they made a mistake or done anything that wasn't perfect. My dad sure doesn't act like this, but I had a coach who was close to the same way. If you did something wrong he would let you know. Originally I didn't like this coaching style, but it makes you try harder. When I had this experience I worked my hardest and had the biggest increase in skill, similar to Canseco. He admits to not liking it and even crying, but the determination gave him the MVP of both the JV and varsity teams in consecutive years. I have enjoyed this book so far, and even though I don't usually get as attached to biographical novels, I think I will really enjoy this one.

Blog #15 Someone Overcoming Odds

For my blog post about overcoming I odds, I found an article that talks about a Timothy Rau, 16-year old boy, who has the rare condition of ataxia telangiectasia, or A.T. This is a disease that slowly causes a portion of the brain to deteriorate. Even with this condition, he manages to do some of his favorite activities, like snowmobiling, whitewater rafting, and hiking. The main reason why I chose to use this article is the fact that A.T. causes many people to die even before their early twenties, but that doesn't seem so in this case. Charlie Rau learned from his son, "If you get a disease that is going to slow you down and you can't do everything you want, at least you have to keep a good attitude and keep going. Do what you can. Don't let it stop you." That is a great lesson that everybody should learn.



(Not a website)

Blog #14 Love

For my blog I chose to read an article about a ten-year old boy who annually raises money for people with cancer. His name is Tyler Bush and he lives in Carter County and in first grade, while watching a children's hospital infomercial he decided to annually raise money for children with cancer. Before Tyler the school raised about $1,000 a year. Now, they raise an average of $10,000 a year. The reason that I chose this for my article on love is because this person has no particular connection to people with cancer, but out of the kindness of his heart he helps thousands fight cancer. It is a great way to help and show you can make a difference.



(Not a website)

Spanish-American War

Blog #13 War

For my blog on the topic of war I found an article from CNN that talks about Pakistani protests. The article is about how the police had to fight running battles against protestors who threw stones and defied a government ban on rallies. It isn't necessarily on the topic of a more famous war, but it is a war between the citizens and government. The cause of the fighting is that the citizens were going to have a four-day march onto the capital of Pakistan. When the police heard about this they tried to stop them by waiting and firing tear gas. The government has way more power in Pakistan so there were a lot of arrests made. After hearing about what happened even Hillary Clinton tried to resolve the conflict. If the two powers could find a balance, it is a relatively easy conflict to resolve.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/03/15/pakistan.sharif/index.html


Sayah, Reza, and Zein Basravi. "Pakistan to reinstate chief justice." CNN.com. 2009. 15 Mar. 2009
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Group Assignment Russia vs. Georgia conflict

My first article is very informative from USA Today. What I have found out is that the main reason for this conflict is that Georgia launched a military strike on the province of South Ossetia, trying to reclaim the territory after 16 years of having slight independence. In return to this action, Russia sent tanks in. Originally, this shouldn't have been a problem because Georgia broke off of Russia in 1991, but the Russians feel that they need to have power over the bordering countries.

The other article I found was NPR.org. The information I obtained from this website was the different sides to the war. On the Georgia side, they believed that they needed to retake control because even though it is an independent territory, the crime rate is extremely high in South Ossetia. On the Russian side, like I said earlier, Russia was just trying to control the border to try to make things better. But by airstriking Georgia to gain control, it brought more countries into the mix and made the whole conflict worse.

Blog #12 Imperialism

For my blog on the topic of imperialism, I looked up an article about the United States and how we are an imperialist country. The main idea of the article is that America gained independence so we could be a our own country and not part of what was looked upon as an "English Empire" because of the monarchy system. For the most part we had maintained that until America became more populated which led to more money. Since then, we have taken control of armies, natural resources, etc. I don't entirely agree with this article for one main reason. We may be a powerful and unified nation, but that doesn't give people the right to say that it is imperialism. We just look out for the greater good of our country no matter how that may hapen. Overall, the article had some good points, but it was a little bit sided towards the non-Americans.


http://www.slate.com/?id=2075261

Hitchens, Christopher. "American Imperialism, Then and Now." Slate. 10 Dec. 2002. 10 Mar. 2009.
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Blog #11 Global Issue

For this blog I decided to post about an article on global warming. Ever since it was discovered global warming has been a big issue within society. The article I looked at came from TIME magazine. There were a few interesting facts. One was the level of carbon dioxide in the air. During the last ice age the level was just 180 p.p.m., after the glaciers melted the level went to 280 p.p.m., but now, the total is at a huge 380 p.p.m. the carbon dioxide level directly affects the temperature, and out of the 20 hottest years, 19 occurred after 1980. The other surprising fact I found was the amount of melting ice from Greenland. In last year alone, 53 cubic miles melted away. That amount of ice can be compared to about five times the size of Los Angeles. After reading this article, I decided that I should really be more careful about how I impact the environment because this situation is more serious than interpreted by the average person.

Blog #10 Holidays

For my ninth blog post about "holidays," I chose to comment on a poem called "Christmas Joys." The reason that I chose this poem was because I can relate to it really well. The first example is when the poem says, "Evergreen boughs that fill our homes
with fragrant Christmas scent." I chose this because when I think of Christmas, I think of a Christmas tree. This line basically says that if Christmas could have a smell, it would spell like a good pine tree. I totally agree. The other example that I liked a lot was when it said, "Colorful lights that twinkle." The moment I heard this I just thought about how my brother, dad, and I used to all go out looking for the best Christmas lights so we could take my mom on the grand tour. There aren't many poems that I can really relate to very well, so that's why this one really made me think.

Blog #9 Bollywood

For my eighth blog post, which is about Bollywood, I chose to talk about the movie Bride and Prejudice since we just saw it in class. People automatically think that if a movie is based on Indian culture that it is a Bollywood film. That's wrong. Since Bride and Prejudice isn't technically Bollywood, I will just focus on those elements of it. The movie does indeed take place in India. We see a more modernized, wealthy part of the country. The next aspect is that there are Indian songs and dances. The music is probably what really separates Bollywood from Hollywood. In traditional Indian films, there are plenty of dance scenes. These really keep the film exciting and up-beat. The last aspect of Bollywood is the wide variety of emotions that are involved. You start out with curious, then happy, then sad, then anxious, and you never know what to expect. Since watching Bride and Prejudice without knowing much about Bollywood, I learned that it the movies the business produces are actually pretty good.


(Not a Website)

Blog #8 Text Addressing Culture

For my seventh blog post I picked out an article that is called How to Tell if You Are an American. This isn't necessarily an article but more of a list of things most Americans do. The topic that I will pick out to discuss is the one idea that every American knows about David Letterman, Bill Cosby, Mr. Rogers, the Fonz, etc. The fact that they put all these people gives the impression that Americans watch a lot of TV. This is a pretty true statement. The majority of our culture is either about television or it is displayed on television. For example, the news keeps us up to date rather than a newspaper, entertainment comes from the TV rather than playing games or sports, and companies gain publicity and money through the widely spread advertisements. I don't really like the fact that we are known for TV and fast food, but to some up American culture, that is what separates us from the other countries.

http://www.zompist.com/amercult.html



"American Culture." The Metaverse. 25 Feb. 2009 .

Blog #7 Change

For my sixth blog about change, I decided to write about an article from the NY Times called "Responding to Recession." This article is from last year, so Paul Krugman, the author, discusses the presidency and how each of the candidates can change the recession. The article was a little biased towards the Democratic Party so it was said that Obama, in theory, had the best economic plan. But the main reason why I chose to use this article as a topic for change is because the recession has cost so many people money and jobs that they had to completely change their previous lifestyle. An example to show this scenario in the economy is the statistic of unemployment. Since last year, unemployment has gone from 4.9% last January, to 7.6% this January. If over 1,000,000 jobs lost doesn't show change, I do not know what will.



http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/14/opinion/14krugman.html



Krugman, Paul. "Responding to Recession." The New York times. 14 Jan. 2008. 22 Feb. 2009.
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Blog #6 Hope

For my blog about hope I chose to write about the video Dodgeball because it has a great aspect of hope in it. First off is the fact that the gym is being closed and they need to get enough money to stop that. To do this they decide to take up dodgeball. After this they have to play against their rivals who are buying their land, Globo-Gym. Globo-Gym is much stronger and has more to help train them for the competition. So after all these events happening Average Joe's needs to have a lot of hope for the opportunity to win. In the end, their hard work and determination payed off and not only did they win their gym, they received Globo-Gym's as well. It may have been a movie, but I believe shows has a great way of showing that all the hope you have for something pays off in the end.


(Not a Website)

Blog #5 Spirituality/Religion

For my fifth blog post about spirituality and religion I thought a fitting book to talk about was Angels and Demons, by Dan Brown. In Angels and Demons the plot is about a killer who is killing the bishops that could replace the pope when he dies. Each bishop is killed by one of the original four "elements," earth, wind, fire, and water. The other reason that this book is related to religion is because in the plot, they supposedly proved that the earth wasn't created by an outside force, but rather by antimatter. The antimatter is then ironically placed in Vatican City and would literally and figuratively destroy Christianity. Because of this topic in the story I felt that it would fit the topic of spirituality and religion.


(Not a Website)

Brown, Dan

Blog #4 Gender Roles

For my fourth blog about gender roles I decided to look at the earnings of males and females because that has been a largely talked about subject. a few hundred years ago there was a large difference between what men and women could do and we may not think there still is but you'd be surprised. After finding an educational webpage with the statistics it showed that the average male makes about $38,000 a year and women make and average $27,000 a year. This is a large difference which brings up the question of discrimination. I don't believe that their is discrimination but in society, women have taken more of a motherly role. Rather than working, we are moving closer towards a single income nation. One person works, one stays home. This article helped show the difference between genders very distinctly and with nice visuals.



http://www.womensmedia.com/new/Lips-Hilary-gender-wage-gap.shtml


Lips, Hilary M. "Gender Wage Gap." Women's Media. 2008. 11 Feb. 2009.
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Blog #3 Different Culture

For my third blog about a culture different from mine, I chose to write about the book Nectar in a Sieve. This book is written in India, so there are a few aspects of culture that differ from our society. The first I noticed was the time where Nathan killed the cobra when it scared Ruku. In our society this wouldn't be a big deal, but cobras are considered holy in their culture. This was a little bit of foreshadowing. After the cobra was killed there has been a drought, flooding, lack of food, and they have lost two children. The other aspect that is non-religious was the idea of arranged marriages. These marriages are supposed to match social classes together. For instance, the larger the dowry that you have, the higher you can marry in the social classes. These are two aspects of Indian culture that are different from ours.


(Not a website)
Markandaya, Kamala

Blog #2 Overcoming a Struggle

For my second blog post I found an article in the New York Times about the pilot whose plane crashed into the Hudson River. The article starts with quotes from the pilot's transmitter saying that they lost thrust in both engines and were going to crash. After this the pilot knew that he was going to have to crash land in the Hudson. Long story short, they gently landed in the river where they were met by multiple rescue boats. This article fits the topic of overcoming a struggle for multiple reasons. The first is the physical struggle. The pilot had to control the crashing plane and guide it onto a target. The more important struggle that was overcome was the mental struggle. Knowing that so many people's lives are in your hands puts tons of pressure on you, let alone the panic that you face when you are in a life-threatening situation. The pilot overcame both of these and led all the people on the plane to safety, even though it was in a river.

"http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/faa-releases-flight-1549-tapes-2/?hp">


Otterman, Sharon. "F.A.A. Releases Flight 1549 Tapes." The New York Times. 5 Feb. 2009. 5 Feb. 2009.

Blog #1 Natural Disasters

For the outside reading blog on natural disasters I found an article on Hurricane Katrina. I found the article from the L.A. Times and it is about the large amount of money Hurricane Katrina took away. Now that the victims lost their possessions and the cost in the economy is rising, the number of homeless people has gone from 6,300 before, to 12,000 after. There have been a few attempts to assist the people that were harmed, but when a group called UNITY offered temporary housing, only 61% said yes. This is a great opportunity. Finding an affordable apartment is growing close to impossible. The cost of an efficiency apartment has gone from originally $463 to $764. There may be people trying to help out with natural disasters such as hurricanes, but they can only help if the recipient is willing to try.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/21/us/21suit.html

Schwartz, John. "Judge Allows Katrina Lawsuit Against Corps of Engineers." The New York Times. 2009. 1 Feb. 2009.

Class Activity Post

I felt that the activity we did in class was surprisingly effective for helping realize what is important to you. The way that it helped find out who you are is that it separated the important stuff from the non-important stuff. I originally struggled finding eight unique things about myself so the first couple rounds weren't very challenging. As we started throwing away more and more traits the difficulty increased. The choices suddenly became more important because they were the ones to separate me from everybody else. Since this activity showed what is unique about me, I thought that it was very useful.