Blog #7: Change

This year, 2009, is to be known as the year of change. Barack Obama is officially the fourty-forth president of the United States. Obama is the first African-American president of the United States. In order to become the fourty-forth president, Obama has to defeat one of the most powerful families in American-politics. He defeated Sen. John McCain. Besides being the first African-American president of the U.S., Obama has brought another type of change to this country. The United States has been lead by a republican president for the past eight two presidential terms. Barack Obama is a democrat, a democrat leader will dramatically change this country. As we all know our economy is in a recession, Obama plans to change that. He also plans to make other dramatic changes. In my opinion Obama is exactly what this country is ready for. He understands that what this country is going through and what needs to change in order to enhance the lives of Americans. His powerful faith in himself and the people are inspiring. Obama gives the United States, hope. Something that has not lurked this nation in many years. Barack Obama has already began to change this nation.

Frieden, Terry. "Obama-mania to Palin Power: 2008's top political stories." CNN. 31 Dec.
2008. CNN News. 22 Feb. 2009 [httpp://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/3
/2008.lookback/index.html#cnnSTCText]

Blog #7:

Blog #6: Hope

    For those who are in need of face transplants, there is hope. Many people have been brutally injured or have birth defects upon their faces. And most of those people have never regained or possessed confidence. Well now there is hope, the woman who received the first face transplant ever has reclaimed her confidence. The patient, who prefers to be anonymous, can finally eat, smell, and drink again. Victims and or people with deformed faces are usually very unhappy and lack confidence. The reconstructive surgery gives them hope in the sense that there is a possibility to lead a normal life. Our confidence comes from both our inside and outside beauty. Yes, inside beauty is more important that outside, but outside has a great influence on people's confidence. Imagine yourself with a deformed face from an accident. You would be one, emotionally disturbed from the actual accident, and two, you would loose a lot of your confidence.  Those who unfortunately posses this problem, just want to lead a normal life. They want to have a normal look. Looks may not be everything in life, but confidence is important. With facial reconstructive surgery, there is hope for those in need. There is hope for a better life.

         Landau, Elizabeth."CNN." 16 Feb. 2009. CNN News. 17 Feb. 2009

              [http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/02/16/face.transplant.patient/index.html]

Blog #5: Beliefs

Bishop, Richard Williamson, has strong beliefs regarding the Holocaust. " I believer there were no gas chambers," he admitted. After the interview the Roman Catholic Church revoked the excommunications he had been under. Also following the interview the Roman Catholic Church received severe criticism from Jewish leaders in Israel. When I read this article I was in shock. I understand and take into consideration that different people have different beliefs, however. How can a person say that millions of people did not die during the Holocaust when it has been recorded, observed and remembered by so many. According to the article he is ignoring the real facts and evidence. It is almost as if he is oblivious to common knowledge. The Holocaust is an excruciating and unforgettable time period in history. Because of the millions of deaths that took place due to starvation, torture, and being intoxicated with gas. Survivors, family members, and friends were left devastated and heart-broken. These people are the hard evidence that the gas chambers did exist. That six million Jews did die. In this case how can a man deny the fact that these people did die. In my opinion he has no right to deny the deaths of millions. I understand that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. When it comes to the Holocaust, an event that has been documented and recorded in so many ways. You cannot deny death.

Allen Greene, Richard. "Holocaust denier strains Catholic-Jewish relations."CNN:Europe.2009.
CNN News. 12 Feb. 2009 [http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/02/12/catholic.jewish.relations/index.html?iref=newssearch]

Blog #4:Roles of Genders

I have finally begun the second book in the Twilight series, New Moon. The Twilight series is written by Stephenie Meyer. In this series a man, Edward Cullen, is the hero and also a vampire. The heroine is Bella Swan. Edward is always saving Bella's life through out the story. And therefore Bella is always getting into such trouble where she needs to be rescued. New Moon and the rest of the Twilight books are categorized as love stories. In love stories the man is always the one who saves the women, whether it be from an evil step-mother or from vampires who cannot control themselves. Therefore in love stories the gender role of a women is to give impression that she is helpless and in need of love and affection. While the gender role of a man is to save the women and be the hero, providing the love, protection, and affection. However, in this series there are good women vampires, heroines, that also protect Bella. In that case there are both heroes who are men and women. So men don't necessarily always have to be the "big shot" who saves the day. Both men and women can play the same role. 

Meyer, Stephenie. New Moon. New York: Little Brown and Company, 2o005

Blog #3: A Different Culture

On January 29th 2009, Pope Benedict XVI blessed two lambs in Vatican City. The Pope blessed the two animals because their wool will be used to make shawls for newly appointed archbishops to wear. The lambs were blessed while they laid in two baskets, and wore a crown of flowers. The shawls were presented to the archbishops eight days after the blessing. Growing up Jewish I understand that blessings in any and all religions are very important. I personally do not, but many Jews believe in keeping kosher. Part of keeping kosher is eating specific types of meat that are blessed. I understand that this totally points in the opposite direction, however. Both religions view animals as a gift. Gifts that people must show their appreciation for before using them to enhance their lives. While reading this article I realized there were some differences between Judaism and Christianity. For example the Pope is the head of the church, and is known by all christians around the world. I do not recall a famous rabbi that is known world-wide. Another difference is that Christianity has a number of holidays or traditions that are symbolized by an animal. Judaism does not have any symbolic animals apart of our culture. All religions have both similarities and differences. 

Associated Press. "Pope Benedict XVI blesses two lambs whose wool will be used for shawls for new archbishops."  Star Tribune. 8 Feb. 2009 [http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/faith/37998594.html?elr=KArks7PYDiaK7DU2EPaL_V_9E7ODiUiD3Pc:_Yyc: aUU]

Blog #2: Overcoming Struggles

Just like every other teenage girl, I have been reading the Twilight series written by Stephenie Meyer. In this series Bella Swan moves to from Arizona to Forks. Due to the move Bella must attend a new school, and make new friends. For Bella this is a difficult, she is very shy and humble. Therefore making new friends and adapting to a new life-style is challenging. I personally have gone through a transformation similar to Bella's situation. In ninth grade I opened enrolled in Edina. However I knew some girls through sports before attending Valley View. As the small group of girls did help me in some ways, it was still a challenging switch. Academically speaking the switch was difficult, I had more school and homework. Due to my personal experience I could perfectly imagine how Bella was feeling. That was until I got to the part where she becomes involved with a vampire, Edward Cullen. Along with adapting to new school and making new friends, Bella must change her life-style for Edward. And Edward must do the same for Bella. Bella cannot tell anyone about the Cullen family, therefore living with a large secret. Edward must keep himself from taking Bella's life. Together they overcome their struggles.

Meyer, Stepenie. Twilight. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2004.

Blog #1: Natural Disaster

On Tuesday, January 27th, Louisville, Kentucky suffered from a brutal ice storm. Since the storm began twenty-one deaths have been reported, however they may not all be storm-related. The terrible storm left thousands without power. One official predicted that it could take up to two months to regain all the power that was lost. Kentucky's governor, Steve Beshear, called it "the biggest natural disaster that this state has ever experienced in modern history." As devistating as this natural disaster was for many, there are some positive affects. Communities are comming together and helping one-another to survive the after math of the storm. Residence are even opening their homes for others. I personally have never experienced an ice-storm, therefore I did some research on them. I learned ice-storms consist of freezing rain and high winds. One resident of Louisville said large branches had fallen from his front-yard trees numerous times. These events occur due to the weight of the ice that forms on trees, home, power lines, etc...Ice-storms usually occur with little to no warning, meteorologists have to be very careful when watching for and predicting ice-storms.