QUOTE

Hello.  This week, while researching my research paper about evolution, I found this awesome quote!  It was about my topic, which is : Should the theory of evolution be taught in high school.  This quote is for the argument AGAINST evolution in school, and I thought it was interesting.  Here it is:

"Question is: Can you tell me anything you know about evolution, any one thing, any one thing that is true? I tried that question on the geology staff at the Field Museum of Natural History and the only answer I got was silence. I tried it on the members of the Evolutionary Morphology Seminar in the University of Chicago, a very prestigious body of evolutionists, and all I got there was silence for a long time and eventually one person said, 'I do know one thing - it ought not to be taught in high school.'"-Dr. Colin Patterson 

Isn't that interesting? I thought so!  It is weird because i would have thought that an evolutionist themselves would have thought the other way around, that evolution should be for sure taught in school.  This quote is obviously said by someone who is against evolution in school, so it is very biased, but still, it struck me as strange.  What kind of person would be an evolutionist, but still be AGAINST one of the most controversial topics of their own profession?  If I was an evolutionist, I would be all for evolution in schools, not saying that I am, but still!  Most people agree with their jobs, or maybe that is just my impression.  But, what kind of person would have a job that they didn't believe in?  I guess I could understand if they were extremely poor or in dire need of money or if they were only trying to support their family, but if it wasn't absolutely necessary that you had a job, wouldn't you find one that you agreed with?  I know this is biased because the only jobs I have ever had are babysitting jobs, but even those I pick and choose.  If the last time I babysat the kids were whiny and needy and difficult, I am probably not going to want to babysit for them again.  That is just how I see it.  But no matter how you see it, you have to admit it is a pretty good quote.

Nineteen Minutes #2

Okay, so I finished the book this week and it was AMAZING!! The end did disappoint me a little bit, I admit, but it was still really good and I recommend it to EVERYONE.  This time, instead of just summarizing the book, I would like to analyze a quote from the book.  There are a ton of good quotes, but this is one of my favorites:

"Nobody wants to admit this, but bad things will keep on happening. Maybe that's because it's all a chain, and a long time ago someone did the first bad thing, and that led someone else to do another bad thing, and so on. You know, like that game where you whisper a sentence into someones' ear, and that person whispers it to someone else, and it all comes out wrong in the end. But then again, maybe bad things happen because it's the only way we can keep remembering what good is supposed to look like" 

Wow, deep, right?  Well, this quote is a huge theme of the book.  The book is all about that one horrifying act of violence that Peter did and it's affects on a lot of people's lives, like a domino effect.  And this quote says it all!  We have all done bad things and then we feel bad about what we did.  That is the force that keeps us all from doing all bad things, a conscience.  I know I have one for sure!! And I have seen consciences do some pretty crazy things to make itself feel better.  And that always brings us back to the good side of things.

Free Verse Poem

The Olden Golden Days

Oh, those olden golden days, how I miss them.
The Wii, the iPods, the Blackberrys are old news now.
Now, in the new blue days are so sleek and shiny.
There aren’t any more glitches in those old computers,
That used to freeze up every second.
iTunes is old news and so is the old fashion Ugg.
Now we have space gear and spaceships
Instead of sweatshirts and SUVs.
Those days are long gone now.
Those golden olden days.

Bibliography annotations

Allen, Greg. “Bill Lets Fla. Schools Teach Evolution Alternatives.” National Public Radio.  29 Apr. 2008

Greg Allen is the Miami correspondent for NPR.  He has been working there for six years.  He graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania in 1977. In this article, the Florida legislation was considering a bill that called for “academic freedom” or to question the theory of evolution.  The bill required that teachers give a thorough explanation of the theory of evolution, and then let students analyze it.  Supporters say it promotes academic freedom and critics say it is a “smoke-screen” or an excuse to bring religion into school.  The critics argue that it is wrong according to the separation of church and state.  This supports the argument against evolution in schools.

McKnight, Peter. “Religion in Disguise.” SIRS. 29 Oct. 2008

Peter McKnight was a professor in philosophy in science, ethics, and writing at the University of Western Ohio.  He has written for multiple newspapers and was formerly an attorney, also.  This article attacks the groups opposing the theory of evolution.  It explains how ridiculous the claims and acts of the creationists or intelligent designers who believe in a God and believe that modern science doesn’t leave room for God.  This article clearly supports the argument for evolution in schools.

Nineteen Minutes

As I said before, a total Jodi Picoult spree.  Her book Nineteen Minutes is an amazing book, and I'm not even done!! It is scary at first, but I love it right now and I can hardly put it down.  IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THIS BOOK, DON'T GO ANY FURTHER!!!!!  Peter Houghton was teased his whole life and he had never had more than one friend at a time, his first being Josie Cormier.  Their moms were friends after they were born and they became best friends until the mothers, Lacy for Peter and Alex for Josie, got in a fight.  Peter and Josie were still friends, just not at each other's houses, only at school.  Then, in sixth grade, Josie became popular and she told Peter she couldn't hang out with him anymore.  That is when Peter became friends with Derek.  In their sophomore year, Josie started dating Matt, who was ridiculously mean to Peter along with his friend Drew, and always had been.  Then, in their junior year, Peter's older brother was killed in a car crash with a drunk driver.  The brother, Joey, had always been the favorite, perffect son and Peter had known.  Peter was really into creating video games, and he created one where the losers in a school shot down all the jocks.  Derek helped him create it but Derek didn't think twice about it, whereas Peter had planned the whole thing.  On March 6, 2007 Peter struck Sterling High School and went after those who had victimized him his whole life.  He killed ten kids, including Josie's two best friends, Courtney and Maddie, and her boyfriend Matt.  As Peter was about to kill himself, Patrick, the detective, found him and put him into custody.  The trial is the part coming up in the book for me and I cannot wait to get to it!!!!!! Everyone should read this book!!! It is soooo good! 

The Tenth Circle

Okay.  Mrs B, I know this is supposedly late, but please sympathize with my long and sad story of a computer being unavailable to me and not thinking of handwriting it because I am really sorry and I have learned my lesson and please think about your morals and the ethical thing to do when making your decision.  Thank you.  Now to my book.  I am kind of on a Jodi Picoult spree.  The Tenth Circle is a story about a girl who is raped.  Her mom is having an affair with one of her college students, being a professor.  Her dad is a comic book illustrator.  Anna was raped by her ex-boyfriend who broke up with her.  They were both drunk and it was a huge deal.  Meanwhile, her dad and mom aren't even sleeping in the same room anymore because her dad found out about her affair.  I really don't want to ruin all of the surprises so if you haven't read this book, DON'T KEEP READING!!!!  Thank you.  So, Anna presses charges, but all of the evidence is against her, and the town is outraged because Jason, the ex-boyfriend, is the town's hockey star and their small town hero.  Then, the idea of drugs come into play, and it turns out Anna was on a date rape drug. This means that Jason would be tried as an adult.  Then, Jason's hockey scholarship is revoked because of the incident and he is found dead in the river, thought to be a suicide.  But the detective on the case doesn't believe it.  He finds a reason to arrest Anna for murdering Jason, but before he can get to her, she runs away.  She goes to her dad's home town of Akiak, Alaska.  Her parents follow her there and the police follow them there.  To save their daughter, both parents "admit" to the murder.  But we find out on the last page that it was in fact Anna's mother and it was a complete accident, since Jason had come on to her.  Wow, it was an intense book, but I liked it!!

My Sister is a Keeper

I know that I'm supposed to prolong my quarter reading for the quarter, but come on!! This book was too good for me.  I sobbed at the end of this baby.  Okay, My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult, is one of the saddest and at the same time freeing books I have ever read.  Anna is the youngest daughter of Sara and Brian, who genetically crafted her to be a perfect match for her older sister, Kate who had one of the rarest forms of Leukemia, APL.  All throughout her life, Anna has been donating blood, bone marrow, and all types of this-lyte and that-lyte.  At the age of thirteen though, she is sick of it and files a lawsuit against her parents for medical emancipation, because they have asked her to donate a kidney to Kate.  Meanwhile, the oldest son, Jesse, is a drug addict, a frequent drinker and an arsonist.  Sara and Brian have completely given up on him.  The lawyer bringing Anna's case is Campbell who is in love with the guardian ad litem the court assigns to Anna, Julia.  There are discussions of the past and the future and in the end, Anna gets emancipated.  It was revealed that Kate asked her to bring this case to court because Kate didn't want to live the way she was living anymore.  Immediately after the court's decision, Sara, Brian and Jesse are at the hospital with Kate, who is dying.  While there, Brian, who is a firefighter, gets a call for a car crash.  Anna and Campbell are the victims.  Campbell seems fine, but Anna is rushed to the hospital.  She goes brain-dead.  Campbell finally decides to transplant Anna's kidney into Kate.  Kate lives and goes into relapse of the APL.  As you can see, this is a heck of a tear-jerker.  I would recommend this book to anyone and EVERYONE!! It was amazing, and Picoult portrays all of the characters points-of-view impeccably.  I LOVED IT. 

Quarter 2!!

This Quarter, I will be reading My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult.  YAY!!  I chose this book because all of my friends who have read it absolutely LOVED it!

Post 7

This week I read Twilight, by Stefanie Meyers.  It was the best book ever!!!! I read it sooo fast because I could not put it down!  In the book, Bella, the protagonist, is moving from Arizona to Forks, Washington, the rainiest place in the world according to her.  Her dad lives there and he takes good care of her, but the book really gets good when Bella meets Edward Cullen.  Edward is a vampire, though Bella doesn't know it at the beginning of the book.  She finds out later, after he saves her life twice.  None of the Cullens drink human blood or harm humans.  This is so intense because they fall in love.  But Edward won't suck Bella's blood, even though he REALLY wants to, because he loves her.  Bella meets his family and start spending more and more time with the Cullens.  Then some vampires who do kill humans and suck their blood so when Bella is there when they arrive, they immediately try to attack.  They do not succeed because the whole Cullen family is determined to keep Bella safe, especially Edward.  But, the visitors are not discouraged because the have a "tracker" in their clan.  Therefore, Bella cannot go anywhere without protection.  Finally, Edward decides it would be best to send Bella back to Arizona until things cool down.  This does not work because the tracker follows them there and "kidnaps Bella's mom". But he really didn't.  He just tricked Bella into thinking that so she would try to go and save her mom, alone.   Bella does go and it turns out her mom is safe and sound and not with the tracker.  The tracker attacksBella and almost kills her.  She is saved by Edward at the last second!! then they all live happily ever after... or at least until the next book!

Post 6

Okay, here we go.  Well, in light of the upcoming elections, this week I read a lot of articles about the candidates and their views on important issues.  I discovered a lot and I hope it will help me decide what is the most important issues to me when I can vote.  Since the economy isn't doing so hot, there was a lot of articles about that issue.  None of them told me exactly what either of the candidates will do about it, but as far as I can see, both have some good ideas regarding it.  Also, the environment was written about in quite a few articles that I read.  Both John McCain and Barack Obama want to stop the United States' dependance on foreign oil and Obama especially wants to curb global warming, which sounds like a plan to me! The tax issue is where I saw the biggest differences. McCain does not want to raise taxes for anyone, while Obama wants to raise taxes for people earning over 250,000 dollars in annual income.  Then, also they agree a little on healthcare.  They both want to increase healthcare benefits and lower the price.  But my favorite article was about the slander in all of the add campaigns.  I mean, shouldn't they be focusing on the issues, not who voted for this bill and who voted for that bill? People change and times and ideas change, so why dwindle on the past?  We should be looking to the future and trying to decide who can help the US be the best it can possibly be in the next four years, not looking for the faults in the candidates.  Everyone has faults so why should we punish anyone for them, because no one can honestly say they are perfect.

Post 5

For this post I'm going to talk about my new favorite song's lyrics.  The song is John Mayer's version of live "Free Fallin'". It is soooo good! the lyrics talk about a good girl who does everything right and good.  She loves her country, horses, her parents, her boyfriend, and she is good to all of them.  then the song goes into talking about things that he is bad to.  Especially the girl.  He says he doesn't even miss her even though he broke her heart.  He is freeee fallin.  Then  he says that there are vampires in the forest and they walk around and have a better life than him. He also talks about how the town is really small. and how it is boring and that is why he is a bad boy and if there was more to do he wouldn't be free fallin.  John Mayer does this song really well because his voice captures the mood and makes you feel like he IS free fallin.  The music is slow and great. I love this song!! Its my new favorite... Give it a try!!!!

Post 4

This week I read the school newspaper, Zephyrus. This month's issue was a really good first issue, or at least I thought so.  There were a couple of really funny articles about lots of different things, but my favorite was the one about Michael Scott, or the boss at Dunder Mifflin, on the hit t.v. series, The Office.  That is my absolute favorite show and I was excited to see it featured in the school paper.  It was about how there are a lot of surprises about to be revealed in the season premier, and since I had watched that, I was very expectant of all of the love stories that were left hanging at the end of last season.  Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly were about to get engaged but were interrupted by fellow co-workers, Angela Martin and Andy Bernard, who proposed right as Jim was getting up the courage to get down on one knee.  Though that was a huge disappointment for fans, they got a very big surprise when Phyllis Vance walked in on the newly engaged Angela making out with her ex-boyfriend, Dwight Shrute! Everyone was in shock. so I anticipated the new season's premier with excitement, and it did not disappoint.  Jim and Pam got engaged, Dwight and Angela are having an affair, also, the super-kid Ryan who had moved up in the company very quickly and then been arrested for fraud, came back as Pam's replacement when she took off three months for art school.  All this in one hour! The said article described very fully the anticipation everyone who avidly watches the show was feeling, and as for me, it got me even more excited about this season.

Post 3

SORRY Ms B!!! I know this is late and I'm going to use one of my late slips.  Anyhow, back to the post.  This week I finished Pride and Prejudice.  I can't remember where I left off last time but I'll just start up.  I LOVED THIS BOOK!! It was so twisted and it doesn't explain itself very well but the story is so ironic and just funny sometimes.  At first Elizabeth absolutely HATES this man and by the end, she is completely in love with him.  And the man she thought she loved is married to her sister and is a complete idiot and screwup.  Also one of her other sisters is in love with one man at the beginning and is "indifferent" in the middle and is head over heels in the end ALL FOR THE SAME GUY! Jane Austen is brilliant and I can't even imagine how she comes up with these things.  There's a quote that I found that said that nothing much happens in her stories, but at the end of every page you still can't wait to turn the page.  I think this is so true.  Ms Austen has this simple but complex story that probably could take up maybe one hundred pages and she makes it almost four hundred pages that are entirely enthralling.  I also read the introduction after I finished the book and it said that all Jane Austen did was describe how men and women acted around each other in her time.  I realized that this is so true but no one ever thinks of it as that simple because she knows just how to make it interesting.  All of the interactions between Mr Darcy and Elizabeth are so plain and boring but the author spices it up somehow. I still can't figure it out, but you can be sure that I will.

Post 2

Okay, I'm still reading Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen. By now I'm far enough along in tthe book to understand the story very well. Elizabeth Bennet is a very headstrong and stubborn girl. When Mr. Bingley, a rich man, comes to their town, Jane, Elizabeth's sister, falls in love with him, and him with her. Mr. Bingley also brings his two sisters one with a husband and Mr Darcy. Mr Darcy is twice as rich as Mr Bingley, but, supposedly, ten times as proud.But, just as we thought that he would propose, He leaves and dooesn't think he will come back. Elizabeth thinks this is the work of his sisters who disapprove of Jane's family, not including Elizabeth, her wealth, very low, and her connections, which were very important back then. Jane goes after him to London, but fails. Meanwhile, Elizabeth is proposed to by a ridiculous man named Mr Collins. Her friend Charlotte accepts him later that week. Elizabeth goes to visite them and MrDarcy happens to be staying in the neighboring lot. After Elizabeth finds out that Mr Darcy has broken up Jane and Mr Bingley, Mr Darcy exclaims his passionate love for Elizabeth and asks for her hand in marriage!!! She refuses because of his actions between her sister and Mr Bingley. I am excited to see what happens next!! 'till next time, Emily.

Post: Week 1

This week, I started reading Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen.  I really liked the movie so I decided to read the book.  So far I've read eight chapters and I like it a lot better than the movie.  Jane Austen has a really good style of writing, and, even though I have to work at understanding the old english, it is worth it!  I'm looking forward to the rest of the book! 

EAT is starting..... NOW!!

Don't even ask what EAT is.