BR#2: The Hunger Games

   Have you ever imagined what it would be like to talk to your favorite book character? I have. In a recent book I have read, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, my favorite character would have to be Peta. Peta is one of the main characters, later in the book, but not at the very beginning. Peta is chosen along with Katniss to represent their district in the hunger games.
   If I were able to talk to Peta, I would ask him what was going through his mind during the games, would he of died for Katniss, if he never would of been chosen would he ever approached Katniss? Just pretty much simple questions, questions that most people would ask. I would imagine his answer for the first question to be, "Just trying to survive", and if he truly cared about Katniss I would expect him to say "Trying to protect Katniss and make sure she was safe." I would also expect him to say he would of died for Katniss. But if The Hunger Games never would of happened, I do not think he would of ever approached Katniss, I do not know why I think that, something just tells me that's what would happen.
   If I was ever going to really talk to Peta, I would sit down and think about questions I would ask him. These questions just came off the top of my head. Who knows, maybe one day I will get the chance to talk to him.
   If I could change the ending of this book, I would not have both Peta, and Katniss surviving. I would probably choose Katniss. No I have not read the other books, but that would make for a better story when Katniss returned home. Gail would be able to come in the picture sooner. At the end when Katniss kills the guy on the top of the cornucopia, after he falls off, Peta would realize that Katniss accidently shot him too. Peta would not want to suffer so he would eat the berries. That is how I would end the story.

CC#4: Fatal Hot Air Balloon Crash

   In a recent article on CNN entitled Deadliest Balloon Crash in Decades Kills 19 written by Mariano Castillo tells us of a horrific balloon accident.
   Castillo states, "Tuesday morning, as one of the balloons prepared to land, an explosion pierced the air, followed by a spreading billow of smoke." Imagine what the people of Egypt thought was happening, if it was me I would be thinking terrorist attack. The people on the balloon probably did not think something like this would happen when they boarded the hot air balloon.
   Later Castillo says, "One of the balloons had exploded, and its 21 passengers and operators plummeted some 1,000 feet (300 meters) to the ground." 1000 feet is quite a ways up, I would not of been on the balloon in the first place. A question that pops into my mind is why were 21 people on one hot air balloon?
   Lastly Castillo states, "Two people -- a Briton and the pilot -- are hospitalized." On the bright side everyone was not killed in this horrific accident. But out of all the people on board BOTH pilots survived, that seems very odd.
   It was before I was even born but this situation reminds me of the Hindenburg blimp that caught on fire, that was a very big deal in history.
   Because of this very reason right here, I'm afraid to do any type of flying at all. But maybe one day ill have the nerve to do something like this, maybe even skydive. That would be an adrenaline rush!

Choice topic: SEC

  If you live in the United States you have probably seen a sporting event of some kind on television. Wether it be football, baseball, basketball ect. Where I live sports are a way of life. Mostly football. To live in the South and not like football is like living in St. Louis and cheering for the Yankees. In my opinion the SEC is the powerhouse of sports. For one, the past two years the Alabama Crimison Tide has won the BCS national Championship. Alabama football is the father of college football. Not many collegiate althletes can say they have won back to back BCS national championships. That is a pretty big deal. Also last year Alabama took home the Womens College World Series championship. That is in softball if you were wondering. Bama took on Kellani Rickets, one of the best pitchers in the game in the championship series. Alabama has been a finely tuned, well oiled machine these past couple of years. Now in the presyent, Arkansas Razorback baseball is ranked no. 1 in the Nation. Last year the Razorbacks went to the Regional tournament. Maybe this year Arkansas will snatch the national championship. And lastly, the Arkansas Razorback softball team has been handed a honorable start to their season. Yesterday improving their season to 7-0, is the best start in a very long time. Hopefully a title is looming for the Razorback softball team. Without sports my life would be completely boring, especially without softball and football.

CC#3: Deleware courthouse shooting

In a recent article on CNN, entitled 2 women, gunman killed in Delaware courthouse shooting written by, CNN staff intels us of a shooting at a Deleware courthouse.

 In the article CNN reports  "Three people are dead, including a gunman who opened fire in a courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware, Monday morning, Delaware State Police said." Here lately there have been more and more shootings happening. That is certainly not a good thing.


CNN does not give us a motive of why the gunman opened fire in this Deleware courthouse, they tell us "The man entered the lobby of at the New Castle County Courthouse around 8 a.m. and began shooting, said State Police Sgt. Paul Shavack." People do not just go to a random place and start shooting at random people, it just does not make sence.


The article tells us that "Wilmington Mayor Dennis Williams has told reporters that police killed the gunman." Atleast the officer went in and did something about the shooting. The officer probably saved many more lives that could of been taken.

 Since the shooting at Newton, these things are becoming more and more common. Our nation needs a serious reality check before things get even worse.

Quite a few years ago a shooting happened not to far from batesville, it happened in Jonesboro at Westside school. Two boys pulled a fire alarm and waited for the kids to come out and opened fire. This incident happened way too close to home, and hopefully another one never happens again.

Book review #1 13 Reasons Why

   Jay Asher's 13 Reasons Why tells us a story behind bullying, and how far one girl goes to make sure the people that caused her pain, know what they did.
  The style of this book was very dramatic, and very back and forth. By that I mean it went from person to person quite a bit. In this book, a boy recieves a set of 13 tapes that tell why a girl commits suicide. The book goes from the girl talking on the tapes, to the boys commentary on what she is saying. I like this style of writing by the author because you get to know the story and opinion of two people. I also like how dramatic he is, because it makes me feel what the characters are feeling.
  Hannah, the girl that commited suicide makes me feel sorryt her, and want to psychically ask these people why they did what they did. Hannah sends out 13 tapes, each with two sides, and a different story to tell. She is very detailed in what she has to say about each person, and it makes me realize, if you do not know what a person is going through, don't do something stupid, that could potentially make the person go over the edge. When Hannah is talking it makes me feel very sympathetic towards what those people had done to her.
  The setting of this book is in the town where Hannah goes to school. If you read the hard copy, like I did, then the covering comes with a map of all the places she points out in her tapes. The guy, Justin Foley, that recieves the tapes in the book, goes to all the places she has marked, and he almost takes the place of Hannah, he feels all of the emotions he thought she would feel, and it makes the stroy that much more interesting.
  I would highly reccomend this book. It puts in perspective what some people actually go through and what goes on in their lives. The book also makes you take a step back and think twice about your actions, and what you say. This book was amazing, and I cannot wait until 13 Reasons Why is turned into a movie.

CC#2: Boy Held in Bunker

   An article on CNN "Boy Held in Bunker", written by Lateef Mungin, and George Howell, talks about how a man took a boy in an underground bunker, and has had him in there for several days.

"A kindergartner, snatched from the safety of his school bus by a gunman and stashed in an underground bunker;" This story reminds me of the book The lovely bones, but how could a man take a child, one with special needs, and keep him in an underground bunker. 

   "The gunman stormed into the school bus Tuesday afternoon and demanded that the driver hand him a child." The man did not just take the boy, he also shot the bus driver multiple times at a close distance with children on board.

   "Davis, who works a night shift, said Dykes worked on his bunker in the middle of the night -- every other night, between 2 and 3 a.m., for a year and a half." If a man was out in the middle of the night working on something no one knows about, why didn't someone investigate it? I know i would have.

   This story reminds me of the book The Lovely Bones. The book was amazing, but it makes me wonder if this man got the idea from that book. People are crazy.

American Dream Essay

   What is an "American Dream?" To live in America means to be free, to be able to pursue whay you want. It is written in the constitution,"Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." In a few years from now, I see myself graduating high school, going to college at ASU, and eventuallly going to medical school to become a doctor.
   Being a junior in high school, my ultimate goal right now is to graduate,and go to college. I do not want just to graduate, I want to be a honor graduate and make my family proud. My dad never graduated from college, and my mom waited until she was older. She had four kids, two twin babie, and and older son and daughter. I have seen the struggles she had to go through, and it was tough. I want to be able to go to college, and focus on school, and have the college experience. I will hopefully become a freshman during the 2014 fall semester at Arkansas State University. Not too far from home, but just far enough. While I attend college, I want to meet new friends, but more important than that, I want to keep my best friend and the friends I have made throughout high school. This is where I want to be in the next five years.
   In the next ten to fifteen years, I see myself going to medical school, and graduating from medical school. I want to become a doctor. During medical school, I hope to find a man I can start a family with, and grow old together with. After medical school, I hope to have a great job at Childern's Hospital. I have had numerous experiences with that hospital, and the place is phenominal. After I find a job, I want to build a house, and start a family. I want to be able to take care of my family, not just my children, but my parents and grandparents. There is still a lof of deatails to be worked out for the next ten to fifteen years, but this is a good start.
   Everyone's "American Dream" is different, and each and everyone of them include obstacles we have to face. No one knows what the furtre holds for us, but with hard work, dedication, and perseverence, I think I have a pretty good idea.

CC#1: Proof of Heaven

   In an article entitled, "The Science of Heaven", a nuerosurgeon named Dr. Eben Alexander debunks other doctor's reasonings of how people have "visited" heaven when they were in near death experiences.
   When Dr. Alexander spoke out on his experience, like others have done before him, doctor's said that the unbelieveable trip "was a brain-based delusion cobbled together by my synapses only after they had somehow recovered from the blistering weeklong attack." This pretty much says that the doctor's say that the brain was still functioning while in the coma, and that's what caused the dream.
   But, Dr. Alexanders coma was different from others, the part of his brain that controls his neurological function, the cerebal cortex, was completely shut down. Alexander said, "Yet in spite of the complete absence of neural activity in all but the deepest, most primitive portions of my brain, my identity—my sense of self—did not go dark. Instead, I underwent the most staggering experience of my life, my consciousness traveling to another level, or dimension, or world." Coming from a doctor, that believed that these experiences came from synapses, is reamarkable, and the part of his brain that controls these actions was completely shut down, I would love to see the critics explain this one.
   Proving the point even further, Dr. Alexander says, "My synapses—the spaces between the neurons of the brain that support the electrochemical activity that makes the brain function—were not simply compromised during my experience. They were stopped."  When the activity in your brain is completely stopped, there is no way of having these experiences, but Dr. Alexander did.
   This story goes to prove that our God does unimagineable things. He proves to us everyday that he is always there, and this happening to a doctor who believes in science, is even more remarkable.

Season of "Peace"

   An article on CNN entitled, In Newtown a Season of Peace Destroyed written by Rose Arce, and Soledad O'Brien talks about the tragic shooting of an elementary school. Just like any other town around this time of the year would be getting ready for Christmas, which they were, but their holiday peace was interrupted by the actions of a senceless individual.
   In the article, In Newtown a Season of Peace Destroyed, Arce says, "Now, the high spirits of the holidays have been darkened. Signs in storefronts have stopped declaring holiday cheer and are calling instead for prayer and mourning." 20 children are not going to see Christmas this year. How can a town celebrate the most wonderful time of the year when something this tragic has happened? Parents have to sit and look at the presesnt they have wrapped up for their children, that will never be opened, and all of this happened because, well... nobody really knows why, that is the big question.
   Also in this article O'Brien says, " Like a lot of mothers in the area, she had been swept by panic wondering which school had an unfolding crime and whether her child might be among those injured or killed." Getting a call from a school saying there has been a school shooting is horrific enough, but having to wait for everyone to go through the record of that school, to see if they were going to get to see their child again, had to be even worse. Parents sent their kids to school that morning not knowing what was going to happen, probably getting anxious for Christmas break.
   Lastly in this article Arce states, "It was as if an entire town suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder." Using this analogy the writer put everything into prespective. Everyone in the town, whether their child was among the taken or not, still are suffereing and wondering why this would happen in their town. Around this time of the year people are getting ready for Christmas, parents are worried about what to get their children, but none of that even seems to matter anymore. Everyone just wants to mourn the loss of the taken.
   I have twins brothers that were born in 2006. They are now 6, and in the first grade. To know that this happened to kids their age makes me sick, I could not imaging life without them, and I do not see how these other people are coping. I hope I never have to live through something like this, but my thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Newtown Connecticut.

Looking for Alaska

     Looking for Alaska, a novel by John Green, is about the life of a typical teenage boy, who goes off to a private school where his father used to attend. He meets some people there that turn into life long friends, and the situations they go through bring them even closer.
     One possible theme for this novel could be that when bad things happen, do not sit around and think about what ifs, do something to memorialize that person, do something that they would do.
      Green's writing style draws the reader in by putting the reader in the place of the main character. The reader relives the experiences in first person. You feel the same emotions as the main character, you go through all the situations as that person.
      The setting for this novel is in Alabama, at a private school. The way the author perceives the location is very southern, and very hot. The school is around a lake, that all the kids go to. They also have a smoking hole that they go to. The setting seems much like a ordinary high school but just a little bit more. The principal of the school seems to live in a big house on the outer most part of the campus. The author makes out the principal to be this awful person who doesn't let the kids get away with anything, but they really do.
       This book reminds me of the book 13 Reasons Why. This book has a girl in it that is very different, and she dies in a car accident. Her friends go to the ends of the earth to figure out what had happened, and why she had left when she did. Also in the book 13 Reasons Why there is a girl that has committed suicide and she sends tapes out to people to tell why she ended her life. The guy that recieves the tapes in the book is trying to figure out why his name are on the tapes, just like the kids in Looking for Alaska are searching for the reason why Alaska died.
       I would reccomend this book to anyone who enjoys a good read, especially teenagers. Some teens may be going through the same situations, and this book might help them. It taught me not to look at the bad in every situation, try to find the good.

Marines in Israel

 An article on CNN by Barbara Starr, entitled US sends warships near Israel In Case Evacuation Needed, is about warships that are being used to evacuate people from Israel if needed.
In the artcies Starr states,"This is due diligence. It is better to be prepared should there be a need," one official said Monday. Both officials said the ships would be used only for assisting Americans and not for any combat role." The ships are not being taken over to Israel to use in the Israel-Ghaza conflict, but merely just to evacuate Americans out of Israel. It would also be more safe to use these warships in case of an attack, warships would be more prepared to protect the passengers.
In the article Starr says, "The most immediate impact will be on the ships' crews and the estimated 2,500 Marines on board. They had been scheduled to return to Norfolk, Virginia, just after Thanksgiving; their homecoming will now be delayed several days depending on events, the officials said." Among these soldiers some of them are getting to come home for the holidays, but since the conflict has US citizens involved the soldiers are doing their part and protecting their people. Even though it is hard not seeing your family and the best time of the year, their families should be happy for what these soldiers are doing for their country.
 Lastly Starr explains, "The U.S. military also maintains three to four ships off the coast of Israel that are capable of shooting down ballistic missiles. That deploymentt has stretch for some months in the face of a potential ballistic threat from Iran." Our military is not only helping the American citizens in Israel, but helping protect Israel. Our military is going to help Israel in any way they possibly can, and that is all anyone can ask for.
 The people in our country should take after our military, we should not only help out the people we care about and know, but also the people that are outside of our little "cliques."
 Knowing that our military is helping out fellow American Citizens instead of coming home for the holidays is upsetting, considering my uncle is in the military, but if that means another family gets to see their loved one again, that is quite alright. People need to put other people before theirsleves, and this country would be a much better place than it is now.

"Political Parties"

    When it comes to people and their "political party" some take their beliefs way too far. Becoming very upset, people end friendships and have heated arguments. It should not matter what political party you belong to, doing what is best for your country should be your main concern. People say you should not believe this or you should not believe that, people are too busy worrying about what a certain group of people think and not worried about what is best for this country. Yes, some beliefs should be taken into concideration, but when a person does not agree on something just because it came from a certain person that belongs to a specific group of people, that is taking it just a little too far. Political advisers need to have America in mind, not just theirselves. America need to be put back on track, becoming the best nation we can be.

Wish I was bacteria

       In a recent article by Veronique Greenwood, entitled "It's all in the rings" Greenwood informs readers of new bacteria that live off of caffiend and eplains why humans cannot.
       The article states, "While humans show the caffeine derivatives, the most simple of whice is known as Xanthine, the door, the bacteria hang onto them, chopping down the rigngs to their component elements and havervesting energy. Humans get energy from many things, and most people say that they live off of caffeine, but it says here thats not possible.
         The article also states," The specific rason caffeine isn't an energy source for us, thus, is that we don't have the gear to digest derivatives further." These bacteria have a power to digist the derivatives further and hang on to and harvest the energy.
         Lastly the article states, "As Mani Subramanian, Summer's adviser, points out, 90% of the cells in our body are bacterial, and research into the human microbiome, our totat coplement of bacteria, has revealed that we are veritable rainforstes when it comes to bacterial diversity." We can live off of many things but caffeine just is not one of them, even though our body is 90% bacteria.
        Every day after we finish with out medical classes at the college we always stop and get coffee, and one of my friends always says, I could not go the rest of the day without my coffee.
        It makes you wonder some day in the future if it would be possible to live off of something like this, just because we have a certain cell in our body. Anything is possible in this day and age.

Flying Saucer!

   In a recent article by Fox News, entitled "Government report on Secret Flying Saucer Program mad Avaliable", Fox News describesa blue print to build a "Flyng Saucer" during the Cold war.
   The article states "The new released documents not yet posted on the national website of the National Declassiacation Center, offed details on a cold war era plan to build a round, vertical take off and alanding aircraft that can only be described as a flying saucer." They tell us that during the cold war that they were trying to make a air craft that had all of the classifications of a flying saucer. That would of been amazing if they could of actually came through with it.
   The article also states that "The disk shaped craft-- which comes complete with an ejector seat and was powered by a "ram jet"-- was designed to reach a top speed of Mach 4 and reach a ceiling of more that 100,000 feet, according to the lengthy document." Aircrafts in the present day still are not designed to have these qualifications, it amazes me that they were still trying to accomplish this back during the Cold War.
   Lastly the article states "Much of the 114-page document is devoted to detailed descriptions and schematics of the propulsion system, as tested in a scale model seen in a series of photographs." Some of this information has not been released to the public, so just imagine all of the information they are not telling us, no telling what this "Flying Saucer" would be capable of, especially if we used some of the technology we have today.
  Just this weekend I was headed home with my family and my granny yells out "Did you see that flying saucer?!", and of course me and mom did not see it, but it makes you wonder what could be out there, the government does not tell us everything.
   To know that back during the Cold War they were trying to come up with something this advanced, is mind blowing. You never know, in this day and age we have the technology to actually come up with something of this magnitude.

Hazing at Wynne High School

      In a recent article by Jason Miles, he goes over the recent accusations of 5 junior varsity football players for Wynne Arkansas, that supposedly put a noose around a African American players neck before practice last week.
      The 14 year old African American claimed that white males put a noose around his neck in the locker room and drug him around. Miles interviews parents of students at Wynne High School, and one woman says, "we love Wynne, it's a good school system, and sometimes we just mess up." Since this incident on September 24th, only 2 white males have been suspended, 5 more are still pending. Miles goes on to say, "black and white parents are equally outraged", but what if the situation had been the other way around? If a white student had gotten a noose put around his neck, and African Americans drug him around the locker room, this situation would be handled differently. The police would be more involved, and people probably would of been arrested.
     This all reminds me of when i went to Midland High School, in 9th grade. Towards the end of the year, a school board member published his thoughts of "being gay" on Facebook. Our school made National News. We were on CNN for something bad, people were scared to go to school, for the fear of someone coming to school and shooting, or bomb threats. Needless to say the board member stepped down from his position, and that resolved almost everything. These situations are real and scary, and I would not wish this perdicament on anyone.

The inference I drew from the inforgraphic WTC time line is to prove that we can rise back up and be even better after the "storm." The new tower will be 1,776 feet tall, 1776 is the year we declared our independence. This building represents our country in more ways than one, and this goes all the way back to our founding fathers. The main structure is 1,368 feet tall, the same height as the WTC tower 1. Even though that horrific accident happened we are rebuilding the new trade center with representation from the old WTC tower 1. The tip of the rotating beaco that flashes the letter "n" for New York in Morris code. This is a patriotic sign for New York, even though this accident happend, we still want this structure to be in our city and represent even more than the towers did the last time.

Haley's Reading Bucket List

Speak- by Laurie Anderson: This book is about a young girl about my age, that goes through a very rough situation. The things this girl goes through are very interesting to me and I love to read about them. I have sadly, watched the movie before reading the book, but the movie was amazing. The books are usually ten times better. I have seen everyone with this book at one time or another.
I Am Number Four- Pitticus Lore: We have watched the book trailer in class, and I enjoyed that. The book has gotten really good reviews. My teacher and other people have reccomended this book to me. I have not ever read any books like this one, and I have been looking to try something new.
The Perks of Being a Wall-flower- by Stephen Chbosky- The movie is coming out and I want to read the book before watching the movie. This book is about kids my age going through high school, and everything that lovely place has to offer. I can relate to this book because of the age range. Everybody wants to read this book, so why not jump on the bandwagon? What could it hurt?
The Hunger Games- by Suzanna Collins- The movie to this book has already came out, but i have not seen it yet. I have to read the book before I watch the movie. Everybody has rant and raved about how good the book's are and how great the movie is. People say the movie follows very close to the book. I have seen previews to the movie and it looks AMAZING.
The Fault in Our Stars- by John Green- I love the author of this book. We watched a commentary on this book in class, and it sounded like something I would enjoy reading. It seems like it would be very inspirational. I love books about reality and what people have to go through. It's not amusing to me it just amazes me how strong people are.
Water For Elephants- by Sara Gruen- I have seen the movie to this book unfortunately, but it was amaizing and the book should be even better. I want to read this book because it seems like it would be a good read. A few people I know have read this book, and they loved it so I figure I would give it a try too.Paper Towns- by John Green- Once againg I love the author of this book. This book was mentioned in a commentary we watched in class, all his other books are interesting so I figured this one would be the same. I do not really know what this book is about, but I would really like to read it.
13 Reasons Why- by Jay Asher- The movie rights to this book have been sold. I have read the first of this book but never got completely finished with it. I fell in love with the first part of this book. Teenagers go through lots of stuff, and this book opens up peoples minds to what they could be causing other people.
Miss Peruguins Home for Pecular Children- by Ransom Riggs- The book trailer for this book was creepy but intersting. There was a hook in the trailer and it kept me wondering, so i figured why not read the book. Everybody in class wanted to read this book after we watched the trailer, including me.
Kisses from Katie- by Katie J. Davis- This book seems very inspirational. It is about something that is actually going on. It is not happening in our country but other countries. The girl that helps these children is in high school, and she has accomplished all of these things, that are truly amazing.

I was suppose to be one of the happiest people, because I was aboard the Titanic, the unsinkable ship, but that all changed the morning of April 15, 1912. Captain Smith was in charge of running our ship, and making sure we get to New York safely. It turns out he had been given repeated ice berg warnings, and he still kept the boat going at full speed, and even when we hit the ice berg, he still didn't care because he was steering the unsinkable ship. It seems as if one moment nobody had a care in the world, and the next everything was chaos. Almost all of the women where deployed on life boats including myself, but my brother was one who was left behind. Our life boats where only filled to half capacity, we had plenty of room left on the life boats, but there was so much disorder that the crew didn't care. If it wasn't for them my brother could possibly still be alive. I will not forgive Captain Smith for such mindless behavior, the situation could of been handled much better, and quite possibly even avoided if he would of listened to the warnings and steered his ship according to conditions. I will never forget the morning of April 15, 1912.

Pity

When a soldier has done as horrible things as this SS soldier has done, he does not deserve anyone's pity. "We heard screams and saw the flames eat their way from floor to floor..". He experienced all of these things, and still went along with it. If he really means what he is saying to Simon, then he could of said no to those things, and even if he would of been killed for not obeying, then he would of been put out of his misery, and not be suffering as much as he says he is. "The screams from the house were horrible. Dense smoke poured out and choked us." It is hard to imagine the feelings these people had, going through such punishment for nothing: scared, confused, and unwanted. It seems as if this soldier is just confessing all of these things to make himself feel better, not to die in peace. He knew what he was doing when he joined the Hitler Youth, and if he did not want to be a part of all of this, then why did he do it in the first place.

Forgiveness

For over 20 years, a warlord kidnaps children, forcing them to be soldiers or sex slaves. Here lately all over Facebook, and the news there is this guy named Kony. He has kidnapped children and turned them into soldiers, and sex slaves for over 20 years. I understand that everyone is capable of the same things, but something like this that keeps happening and he does not care, should not be forgiven. He is not doing this for a reason, he is simply doing this to keep his power, and nothing else. Forgiving this guy should not even begin to cross someones mind.