Culture Blog #3

The article I read is about a small, poor country called Senegal, where people were trying to grow more rice for themselves. After a year of high prices for grains, including rice, the farmers felt that they would like to try to grow  a higher percentage of their countries' needs and cash in on those prices. An old government project, from the 1970's. had developed land and irrigation canals surrounding a river. The project was abandoned, but now that farmers have the opportunity to make money, the government tried to restart the program. Farmers were trying to make a profit, but could potentially lose everything if the world price for rice drops as a cause of overproduction. This is a classic example of supply and demand and how a culture deals with it. Many different places around the world deal with local problems in different ways, and this is one example of what could be a successful feat for a country.

Polgreen, Lydia. "West Africa Villagers Stake Their Fortunes on the Future Price of Rice." The New York Times. 26 Jan 2009. 7 Feb 2009. .

Struggle Blog #2

Recently, Jennifer Hudson's mother and nephew were killed. The police were looking for murder suspects, and think Hudson's sister's ex is the killer. It's such a surprise to the neighborhood that he is a suspect. This is because he loved her son, and wasn't the type of person to kill, so they thought. I think this is a huge struggle because the family and their surrounding friends thought they could trust him, but they didn't know his real personality. Also, it would be hard to see who is telling the truth because the police could be wrong, or the ex-husband could be lying. On another note, Jennifer Hudson has to deal with these horrible murders too. She's mourning, trying to find the killer, and dealing with the press all at the same time. These are many huge struggles.

St Clair, Stacy and Deanese Williamsharris. "Jennifer Hudson family tragedy: Suspect William Balfour's relatives, friends in disbelief." Chicago tribune 28. Oct 2008 3 Feb 2009 .

Natural Disaster blog #1

I read an article about an earthquake in Guatemala  and Mexico. It was a 6.5 magnitude earthquake, but didn't hurt anybody. I chose this article because I was in Guatemala when it happened. It only lasted a couple seconds and was very confusing. It was interesting because if this happened in Minnesota or somewhere here, it would be a big deal, but since they're so common in Guatemala, nobody was effected by it or even acted like anything happened. It's amazing to see the different reactions and things that phase people in other cultures or places in the world. I'm very surprised that it didn't effect the city more, considering it's magnitude.

Arriola, Moises . "Strong earthquake off Guatemala-Mexico coast." Reuters India. 2008. Thomson Reuters. 31 Jan 2009 .

Outside REading #9: Beautiful Stranger

For the past couple weeks, i have been reading the book Beautiful Stranger, and A-List novel by Zoey Dean. It is the 9th novel to come out in this series of books. It is a book about a girl named Anna who moved from her New York compound into her fathers L.A. mansion. IN this book, anna has now been in Los Angeles for about a year and a half. Anna is already having friend problems and just broke up with her boyfriend, so she decides to leave L.A. for a long weekend with her best friend Sam. They load their private jet to NYC and get excited for a relaxing weekend in her real home, but it turns out its everything but. Sam surprises her fiancee in New York and finds him out to dinner with another woman. While Sam is busy with that, Anna gets re-acquainted with an old high school friend named Logan. Will she go back to her drama-filled L.A. life? Or stay in NYC for good to be with Logan?

Outside Reading #8: Details from Rod Blagojevich's 74-page affidavit

In CNN, there is an article about the Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, and how he is being put in jail. Rod tried to sell President-elect Barack Obama's senate seat for money. He and his chief of staff, John Harris, also are related to fraud regarding a children's hospital and the Chicago Cubs. I think this episode is going to bring a lot of attention to the politics in the U.S. ad especially in Illinois. It is going to make it very hard to trust officials because of Blagojevich's actions. These actions also represent people in this day and age. Everyone lies, cheats, or steals at one point in their life, and that is not healthy for our culture. Circumstances have gotten to be so bad that our country comes to a point where a valued official gets caught doing one of the most fraudulent things possible. 

You can find the article here.

Outside Reading #7: Saliva Tells You a Cold Is Coming

Today, i read an article about a new test being created to predict when you are going to catch a cold. When tested, many people had a significantly less amount of bacteria-fighting protein in their saliva a couple weeks before getting a cold. This test can be done by doctors and there will hopefully be a take home version soon. I think this is very useful because it will prevent more sicknesses. They will be prevented because if you catch the bug early enough, it can be reversed and your immune system can be boosted up. If this is true and it is successful, it will bea huge break in modern technology because of the sickness it can prevent. 

Read the article here.

Outside Reading #6

Over break, I watched the new movie The Clique.  It was based upon the book series The Clique by Lisi Harrison. They are very easy and fast moving books, so I decided to read them again. These books are about a girl named Claire who moves to Westchester, New York from Florida. She moves into her father's friend's guest house. A girl the same age as her named Massie Block lives in the main house next to her. Massie and her three friends Alicia, Dylan, and Kristen are the three most popular, richest, and most desired girls in all of Westchester. Claire started out as being hated by Massie and her clique, but towards the third or fourth books, it's almost as if Claire takes Massie's spot as the queen bee. I used to love these books and they are a great way to relate to a teenager's life!