Blog # 4 Gender

I read an article called Report Faults Treatment of Women Held at Immigration Centers on the New York Times website. An immigration detention center in Arizona was inspected and turned out to be treating the women held there. The study showed that women there were being properly treated for things such as prenatal care, cancer treatment etc. They were also being mixed in with federal prisoners. Some say that there was nothing wrong with the treatment of these women, and some are appalled at the conditions these women live in.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/21/us/21immig.html

Blog # 3 Different Cultures

I read an article called West African Villagers Stake their Fortunes on the Future Price of Rice on the New York Times website. This article was about how people in Africa make most of their money on rice farming, and that lately the global food prices have fallen. People are scared of losing all their money, relying fully on the profit of rice. Last year other countries quit exporting rice and Ronkh, Senegal had no way to replace it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/26/world/africa/26senegal.html

Blog # 2 Facing Difficulty

I read an article called This Land on the New York Times website. This was about hard living conditions in Akiachak, Alaska. One third of the people living there don't have running water, speak a different language (Yup'ik) and can only eat what they kill or catch. They're prices are also double of what is in the rest of the United States. Later on it talks about how people in the rest of the country are clueless about what is going on in this town, and haven't helped out. I think that there should be a lot more publicity for this town, and that if a ton more people knew of the harder living conditions going on in their own country, they would be willing to help out and save the town. Of course you're going to find the people who could care less, and think well at least it's not my town, but I also think there are some people who truly would want to be there for these Americans.





Barry, Dan. "Remote and Struggling but Still a Bit of America." New York Times. 5 October2008. 2 February 2009. <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/06/us/06land.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1>

Blog #1 Natural Disasters

I read an article about an earthquake in Asia. The whole topic of the article is whether or not earthquakes can be predicted and if people can be forewarned. A lot of people are spreading rumors saying that the government was warned about the earthquake but just ignored it. Four people ended up getting arrested for spreading rumors on the internet. Zhang Xiadong claims that there is no way to predict earthquakes. The rest of the article explains how a lot of Chinese people are very superstitious. One sign of the earthquake was a gathering of a bunch of toads in the streets. I think that there probably are signs of an earthquake, but probably subtle things that would be easy to miss. I think that as the years go on technology and information will improve and eventually there will probably be a way to predict earthquakes.




http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/16/world/asia/16rumors.html?fta=y

Downfall for American Idol

I read a tv blog from yahoo.com about American Idol called "When 'Idol' goes Idle". This blog talked about how with each season of American Idol fans the contestants become less and less talented, saying that Jordin Sparks wasn't as much of an idol as Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Fantasia etc. I disagree with him, because I thought Jordin sparks was really talented, and was impressed with the contestants last year including the last two standing David Cook and David Archuleta. The blog goes on to say that the show has suffered a 8% rating decline last season. After the dip the show decided to change up some things, like add a new judge named Kara DioGuardi, show less of the less talented singers, getting to know the contestant's stories more, lets the judges decide the top 3, and shorter result shows. I think this all could possibly cause some people to watch it, but the majority of people not watching it probably won't start just because of these minor changes. I know i will probably end up watching some of it since my mom is a fanatic, and maybe these changes will end up impacting the show more than I thought.

Jett Travolta

The article I read was from MSNBC.com. It talked about how the funeral for John Travolta's son Jett Travolta's funeral took place in their Florida home on Thursday. Jett died last week in their vacation home in the Bahamas. They tried to celebrate his life rather than his death with a bunch of red roses. It was a scientology funeral, which is the Travola families religion. The cause of death for now is a seizure, and Jett was cremated. I of course think this is tragic and love John Travolta as an actor, and can't even imagine their pain right now.

Picture Perfect Part 2

I finished reading Picture Perfect. After Cassie finally figures out the reason for her severe amnesia was because she had been beaten by Alex, her husband. and knowing she was pregnant had decided to run away but then woke up later not knowing anything about herself, which is where the book started out. After her memory comes back she realizes that she's been trying to rebuild her life with the man she was running away from in the first place and knowing that she is still pregnant takes off once again. Cassie ends up going to an Indian Reserve that her friend Will Flying Horse takes her to, as it was the place he grew up. While Cassie is hiding in the one place that Alex will never think to look, Alex is back in LA searching wrecklessly for her, while his career falls to shambles. After a couple months of learning the ways of Will Flying Horse's Grandparents she finally gives birth to a boy whom she names Conner. Finally when Cassie gets back in touch with Alex she tells him where she is but that she needs more time there to take care of their son Conner. Expectedly, Alex can't wait and shows up to take her back home with him, saying he'll do whatever it takes to never lay a hand on her again and to make their marriage work. After living in LA with Conner and Alex for awhile, Alex's abuse starts up again and she finally realizes that if she can't leave for herself she has to leave for Conner. She then tells the public about the the abusive behavior of Alex fully knowing this will ruin his entire acting career. She does this because she knows that to make it ok to leave she must make him stop loving her, although she sees him at the press release and they have a moment where she figures out that he forgives her and understands. This book is really sad because even though these two people love each other so much, and will probably never love someone the same again they can't be together because they at the same time have a toxic relationship. I was really proud of Cassie for leaving Alex for Conner because it was inevidible that Conner would grow up and most likely take the abuse as well.