Sunday, October 26, 2008

Journal Entry # 9

Picture # 1
1.) When you are 18 you can enroll in the army but not drink.
2.) When you are 18 you can enroll in the army but not drink because enrolling in the army is good but drinking is not.
3.) When you are 18 you can enroll in the army but not drink because you are doing a good thing for the country by enrolling.

Picture # 7
1.) Drinking and driving is not good for you.
2.) Drinking and driving is not good for you because you can die when you drink and drive.
3.) Drinking and driving is not good for you because your brain is not functioning properly when you are intoxicated.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Questions for Active Reading

Questions for Active Reading pages 271 and 285
Page 271
1.) I think reading the first and last paragraphs in a passage help the reader to understand what the passage will be about typically because in the introduction paragraph it is supposed to be an overall of what is to be expected through out the passage and the conclusion paragraph is supposed to sum up all the points that was made throughout the article.

2.) It is important to know that Lightman is a scientist because it allows the reader to lend more belief to the passage. More importantly what Lightman writes is credible because of the simple fact that he is a scientist. An artist or a social worker are not that likely to write a passage such as the one Lightman wrote because that is not their area of specialty.

3.) In the last paragraph Lightman is more lighthearted. And he is not so much lighthearted when he gives out factual information. I think that the effect of this is to make it interesting because a lot of times science can be a bit dry and boring or hard to understand. When Lightman writes lightheartedly he adds some comedy to it.

Page 285
1.) In paragraph 16 " Transitions are found in the fossil records. Preserved transitions are not common, and shouldn't be. but not because of our understanding of evolution."

2.) In paragraphs 16 and 17 states some interferences.

3.) When Gould used that reference it made it gave an idea as to what he would be talking about.

Journal Entry # 8


This controversial image is saying that uncle Sam is trying to save the Caucasian people while leaving the African American people to drown.
This image is saying that Uncle Sam is calling all the shots in America and he wants the African Americans last and wants to keep the Caucasians safe.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

In the News - U.S close to $1 trillion Deficit.

1.) In your opinion, what do you think the US government should do in order to stabilize the economy to not be in such a huge deficit?
I think that as a country we should end the war in Iraq that is just wasting money in which we do not have to spend in the first place. That should give us a few billion dollars there and increase taxes slightly not by much due to the way the economy is very unstable, but just enough so that it doesn't hurt people financially.

2.) Do you believe that taxes should be raised in order to pay back the debt that we are in?
I do believe that the taxes should be raised in order to pay back the debt that we are in right now. I cannot think of another way that we could get out of debt without increasing taxes. I believe that if we do not do something about it now that we will always carry this debt with us.
Obama is saying that he is not going to increase taxes but what he is not saying is how are we going to fix this debt.
McCain on the other hand is saying that he does have to increase taxes in order to get back some kind of stabilization.

3.) If you were president of the United States in January of 2009, what would you do in order to solve this deficit problem?
I think i would definitely have to raise taxes or come up with a really great plan to get the country out of debt and out of debt fast.

Project II Draft III

She was a very strong woman in her time. She bore 12 children and was married to a very powerful politician who passed away at a young age. She was proclaimed by many to be the best roti maker ever and I have seen the mystical patterns that she made using crochet hooks and yarn. I have heard stories about her renowned recipes, and expert card playing strategies; but I have never tasted the chef’s hand or seen the great card shark in action. In the last decade of her life, my paternal Grandmother suffered from Alzheimer's disease. She spent one of the most difficult parts of her life living with my two younger siblings, my parents and myself.

My Grandmother was born in Grenada, moved to Trinidad and finally years later, began a new life in Florida. My family at the time lived in South Carolina but visited Gran’s house every summer. I remember finding out that she was coming to live with us so we had some renovations done to the house and designed a master bedroom for her comfort. As a few months went by her memory began to deteriorate. We were slowly losing the one we cherished. The doctors thought it would be best if we took her back to where she was most familiar. So that summer we moved into her house in Florida.
Alzheimer’s changed the person we once knew. Gran became a different person; we had to do everything for her: feed, bathe, and dress her. She developed an aggressive behavior courtesy of the mind erasing disease. One thing about my Grandmother is that she always loved to dress up. Everything had to be perfect, the wardrobe, hair, nails, shoes and pocketbook to match. Despite her forgetting she was hungry and our names she never forgot how much she loved to dress up. I can remember every three days my sister and I would polish her nails a new color.
A few years past and my Grandmother’s eldest daughter decided that she wanted to take care of Gran, so she took her away. This meant that she only got her nails polished on weekends. One weekend we went to get her but she wasn’t there. My Aunt explained that she put my Grandmother in a nursing home: my Dad’s biggest fear. Since my Aunt had power of attorney there was nothing we could have done about it. Now Gran’s nails were done twice a month because my Aunt wanted to take her on weekends too and the home only allowed patients to be dismissed on weekends.
As I grew older we got to see our Grandmother less due to her immobility. Unfortunately, we made too many excuses not to go see Gran and before we knew it my Grandmother developed a urinary tract infection. She was hospitalized for a few days and then transferred to Hospice. I spent my 14th birthday in Hospice with her praying that she wouldn’t die or at least she wouldn’t be in any pain since she lost her ability to speak.
March 20, 2004 the day after my birthday, Gran passed away just as we left Hospice that night. After that all I thought about was my Grandmother’s nails. They were not done in her favorite pink colored polish, nor were not done to match the gowns she had to wear in Hospice; they were not done at all. I reflected and cried about all the times that I could have done Gran’s nails but always found something else to do. And at that second, that’s when I started to believe that you cannot take the moments you have with people for granted. Eventually we all have to go and I never want to be in the same position that I was in with my Grandmother, regretting the fact that I didn’t take that extra five minutes out of the 1,440 minutes of the day to polish ten fingernails. You never can tell when your last moment with that one person may be so, cherish the time you have with those you love and this I believe.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Journal Entry # 7

The sort of trouble that Orwell suguests that the English languages is in is that when using it it lacks imagery, its not very presices it seems very vague. Some of the bad habits may be passed down through culture from generation to generation even though the people may haven known better. And when using the English languge people use to many phrases an not enough simple words.
Since Orwell wrote this essay about 60 years ago I think that the language has deteriorated even more. I think it is because of all the new modern technology. Text messaging and instant messaging has shortened the language and even invented new words, words with different spelling and completely new acronyms.
I completely agree with them. My 12th grade English teacher lived by the very same rules. He made us write our essay and then do a draft looking for and editing each rule one draft at a time. I think that was really helpful because u focus one one thing at a time.
I think what Orwell means by focus on pictures and perceptions before writing is know, feel, and understand what you want to write about before you write it and then when you begin to write you will be able to choose the right words to convey your meaning. I have done this before and its like brainstorming without writing it down. It does help. It kind of creates a path and helps you narrow down the way you want your writing to go.

Questions for Active Reading Ch 6

Questions for Active Reading Page 158
1. I would revise my project one paying close attention to dimension. I think I need to work on that one the most because there was a word count of 700 max and I went over that by about 100 and I did get it down to 702. I tried to get only the important things in without losing depth. The other things that Murray wrote about i think i have a pretty good handle on.

2. I always try to read aloud my work, especially when i am having difficulty with grammar. No matter how many time i do read it aloud it always seems to me that something could be changed.

3. When Murray quotes a few authors and then gives a phrase to go along with the authors it does make me pay more attention to the suggestion about editing papers, it feels like it is a personal suggestion from the author themselves.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

In The News

In regards to Stacy's In the News I think just to be on the safe side religious art such as those should be viewed in the relative place of worship. If it was in the public there are many evil people out there who would get offended and vandalize the art which then would offend the people who followed the faith that the art depicted. So I think just to prevent any of that happening I think that it should not be in the public eye.

I think that any religion should be able to display their art if it is in the appropriate place due to people disrespecting other people's religion. I think people should keep religious art in a religious art gallery or within their own place of worship.

Should the government be involved in the funding or do you agree its unconstitutional?
I don't think that the government should be involved. But if they were I suggest that they fund all religions or none at all.

Would it be much more acceptable if an independent group of people did it since in America we do have "Freedom of Speech"?
Either way there are people out there who are not going to accept it and show hatred to the art, so frankly I don't think it would make a difference who does it.

Project 2 Revised

“The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From the Tree”


It's not only children who grow. Parents do too. As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours. I can't tell my children to reach for the sun. All I can do is reach for it, myself. ~Joyce Maynard

When an apple falls from the tree there is nothing to look up to other than the very same tree it fell from. And in time that one little apple will grow up to be exactly like the tree that it fell from. This aphorism is easy to understand in that sense. However not all apples that fall from the tree falls near to the tree. There are a wide variety of different scenarios that may change that apple’s life.

In so many ways the aphorism is also true. Due to Biology an apple or in a more realistic case a child cannot turn into another species, or rather into someone with different DNA and genetics[l1] . There is nothing anyone can do to alter or change the DNA that a person has. In which the aphorism would be very true. A child and his or her parents are very much alike based on genetics and DNA.

Although genetics in biology also have a way of skipping one or many generations and not revealing itself until many generations later. In this case the genes are the same from the parents to the child; however the phenotype is different causing the child to not necessarily looking like the parents but maybe someone else from the family “tree”.

But then again, what about nature verses nurture? Nature would ultimately adhere to the aphorism and reveal that the apple would turn out to be exactly like the tree. However the nurture side would argue that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree granted that no one else picks up the apple and cares for it until it has ripened. Nurture would disagree with nature in the sense that other things affecting and influencing the apple would shape the apple more than the parents of the apple ever could.

There are many twins out there who adhere to this aphorism and just as many that do not. There have been studies done where twins were split up from birth and the twins turned out to be exactly alike and other studies that the twins turn out unlike each other and more like the parents who raised each child.

In a much different take on this aphorism, there are children out there who have seen who their parents are and vow never to have this aphorism said about them. The child may not be able to get away from their parents genetically but they do have a choice as far as mannerisms, characteristics, and decisions that their parents have made.

Robert Fulghum once said “Don't worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you”. At a very young age the child may not realize what is right from wrong but as they get older this is what determines how far the apple falls from the tree. A young child may not understand the actions and the consequences that accompany the parents’ choices and as the child grows up he or she most likely will idolize their parents and try in every possible way to become more like them. Then as they grow older and don’t have a grasp on how to make wise decisions and learn from their parents’ mistakes then they will continue to follow in their parents’ footsteps and prove the aphorism true the other side to this particular aspect starts off rather similar but ends up quite differently. Of course the child will grow up wanting to be exactly like his or her parents but then somewhere along the way the child realizes that throughout life their parents have made some decision that they themselves do not want to make and in this case the apple will fall a good distance away from the tree.

China's most famous teacher, philosopher, and political theorist, 551-479 BC Confucius once said “Gravity is only the bark of wisdom's tree but it preserves it.” Most of the time the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree but there are those few times in which an apple falls from the tree and rolls far away.

Gay Adoption: Statistics [l2]


[l1]Was: genetic history

[l2]Consider

Project 1 Revised

She was a very strong woman in her time. She bore 12 children and was married to a very powerful politician who passed away at a young age. She was the best roti maker ever and I have seen the mystical patterns that she made using crochet hooks and yarn. I have heard stories about her great strength, her renowned recipes, and her card playing strategies; but I have never tasted the chief’s hand or seen the great card shark in action. My Grandmother suffered the last decade of her life with Alzheimer’s. She spent one of the most difficult parts of her life living with my two younger siblings, my parents and myself.
My Grandmother was born in Grenada, moved to Trinidad and finally years later began a new life in Florida. My family at the time lived in South Carolina but visited Gran’s house every summer. I remember finding out that she was coming to live with us so we had some renovations done to the house and designed a master bedroom for her comfort. As a few months went by her memory began to deteriorate. We were slowly losing the one we cherished. The doctors thought it would be best if we took her back to where she was most familiar. So that summer we moved into her house in Florida.
Alzheimer’s changed the person we once knew. Gran became a different person we had to do everything for her: feed her, bathe her, and dress her. She developed an aggressive behavior courtesy of the mind erasing disease. One thing about my Grandmother is that she always loved to dress up. Everything had to be perfect, the wardrobe, hair, nails, shoes and pocketbook to match. Despite her forgetting she was hungry or our names she never forgot how much she loved to dress up. I can remember every three days my sister and I would polish her nails a new color.

A few years past and my Grandmother’s eldest daughter decided that she wanted to take care of Gran, so she took her away. This meant that she only got her nails polished on weekends. One weekend we went to get her but she wasn’t there. My Aunt explained that she put my Grandmother in a nursing home: my Dad’s biggest fear. Since my Aunt had power of attorney there was nothing we could have done about it. Now Gran’s nails were twice a month because my Aunt wanted to take her on weekends too and the home only allowed patients to be dismissed on weekends.

As I got older we got to see our Grandmother less due to her immobility and my Aunt insisting my Grandmother being moved to different homes further away from us. Unfortunately we made too many excuses not to go see the new Gran and before we knew it my Grandmother developed a urinary tract infection. She was hospitalized for a few days and then transferred to Hospice. I spent my 14th birthday in Hospice with her praying she wouldn’t die or at least she wouldn’t be in any pain since should lost her ability to speak.
March 20th 2004 the day after my birthday Gran passed away just as we left Hospice that night. After that all I thought about was my Grandmother’s nails. They were not done in her favorite pink colored polish, they were not done to match the gowns she had to wear in Hospice, they were not done at all. I reflected and cried about all the times that I could have done Gran’s nails but always found something else to do. And at that second, that’s when I started to believe that you cannot take the moments you have with people for granted, eventually we all have to go and I never want to be in the same position that I was in with my Grandmother, regretting the fact that I didn’t take that extra five minutes out of the 1,440 minutes of the day to polish ten finger nails. You never can tell when your last moment with that one person may be so, cherish the time you have with those you love and this I believe.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Peer Editing- My Questions

1. Do you think that I should give a definition of what an aphorism is?

2. Do you understand the quotes that I incorporated throughout the passage?

3. What other examples can you think of to prove or disprove the aphorism “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree”?

4. Is it clear when I use the apple as an analogy for a child?

a. Do you think that I should stick to one?

5. When talking about genetics and phenotype should I give definition s of them?

a. Do you think that part of the passage flows well?

6. Do you understand the part about nature versus nurture?

7. Am I using the word “aphorism” too much?

8. Can you think of a different title to title the work?

9. The three paragraphs where I talk about children wanting to be or not wanting to be exactly like their parents is that clear to you?

a. Do you think the structure should be changed?

i. If so how would you recommend?

Project # 2

“The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From the Tree”
It's not only children who grow. Parents do too. As much as we watch to see what our
children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours. I can't
tell my children to reach for the sun. All I can do is reach for it, myself. ~Joyce
Maynard

When an apple falls from the tree there is nothing to look up to other than the very

same tree it fell from. And in time that one little apple will grow up to be exactly like

the tree that it fell from granted that no one else picks up the apple and cares for it

until it has ripened. This aphorism is easy to understand in that sense. However not all

apple that fall from the tree falls near to the tree. There are a wide variety of

different scenarios that may change that apple’s life.

In so many ways the aphorism is also true. Due to Biology an apple or in a more

realistic case a child cannot turn into another species, or rather into someone with

different DNA and genetic history. There is nothing anyone can do to alter or change the

DNA that a person has. In which the aphorism would be very true. A child and his or her

parents are very much alike.

Although genetics in biology also have a way of skipping one or many generations and not

revealing itself until many generations later. In this case the genes are the same from

the parents to the child, however the phenotype is different causing the child to not

necessarily looking like the parents but maybe someone else from the family.

But then again, what about nature verses nurture? Nature would ultimately adhere to the

aphorism and reveal that the apple would turn out to be exactly like the tree. However

nurture would disagree and state that other things affecting and influencing the apple

would shape the apple more than the parents of the apple ever could. There are many twins

out there who adhere to this aphorism and just as many that do not. There have been

studies done where twins were split up from birth and the twins turned out to be exactly

alike and other studies that the twins turn out unlike each other and more like the

parents who raised each child.

In a much different take on this aphorism, there are children out there who have seen who

their parents are and vow never to have this aphorism said about them. The child may not

be able to get away from their parents genetically but they do have a choice as far as

mannerisms, characteristics, and decisions that their parents have made.

Robert Fulghum once said “Don't worry that children never listen to you; worry that they

are always watching you”.

At a very young age the child may not realize what is right from wrong but as they get

older this is what determines how far the apple falls from the tree. A young child may

not understand the actions and the consequences that accompany the parents’ choices and

as the child grows up he or she most likely will idolize their parents and try in every

possible way to become more like them. Then as they grow older and don’t have a grasp on

how to make wise decisions and learn from their parents’ mistakes then they will continue

to follow in their parents’ footsteps and prove the aphorism true.

The other side to this particular aspect starts off rather similar but ends up quite

differently. Of course the child will grow up wanting to be exactly like his or her

parents but then somewhere along the way the child realizes that throughout life their

parents have made some decision that they themselves do not want to make and in this case

the apple will fall a good distance away from the tree.

China's most famous teacher, philosopher, and political theorist, 551-479 BC Confucius

once said “Gravity is only the bark of wisdom's tree but it preserves it.” Most of the

time the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree but there are those few times in which an

apple falls from the tree and rolls far away.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

In The News

I believe that the trooper did intentionally hit Grant. Due to the fact that it was sad that the trooper was caught on tape saying that he hit Grant and he meant to. I'm still undecided about whether or not it was a racist act. I would like to believe that it was not but yet still there is a part of me that wants to say that it was an act of racism.
I think that there are not many cases brought to the public's attention because the feds don't want to have a state that doesn't trust their authority. They rather have these cases kept silently than let the public know about it and then question the authority of officers.
I do think that the punishment was reasonable. There are some people who attempt to commit murder and get way with less than that. I do believe that there is favoritism given to those who were suppose to be protecting and committing to the community's safety. I think the reason for that not that I do believe there should be a reason is that the person who gives off the punishment looks at what good the officer has done and counteract his/her punishment.

Journal Entry # 6

What do you think about serial killers?
Serial killers I believe are individuals who have just snapped with the world. They
either had a grim and sad adolescent life, which emotionally and physically scared them
for life and they just turn on the world and seek revenge or refuge in causing people
suffrage.
Or they are just individuals who have had a wonderful or moderate life but because
something happened, for example a stalker guy who has a girlfriend but she dumps him and
hides cause he's a stalker, so she goes out with someone else he gets jealous and doesn't
want her to be with anyone else so he kills her finds that enjoyable so he keeps killing
or someone who believes some type of person is bad...rapist or prostitutes so he just
decides to kill them all...purge the world

Do you think that they have a myth?
Their myth is their criminally insane, if they have a consciousness of what they’re doing
and they have emotions that are triggered by their actions who’s to say what’s insane
anyway? It’s funny every time someone kills some people their defense attorney decides to
tell them to plead for insanity
And serial killers look like jack Nicholas with some huge evil smile or they always use
knives and stab people and wear masks and are just these scifi beings when they can be
normal every day people, could be a priest

Do you think that they are able to caught by their MO?
Yes I believe they can be caught by their method of operations like Sherlock Holmes says,
"Eyes and brains Watson eyes and brains"
Say the person is a throat cutter it can easily be known whether the killer is a lefty or
a right and depends on the cut, if they have surgical background or butchery background
or novice regular person background
choice of weapon...hunting rifle..person might like to hunt, 9 millimeter could just be a
normal person thats one of the easiest accessible guns,

how clean the kill is...easy to tell if a crime was rushed or carefully planned out..no
finger prints on the door knob (possibly using gloves), no footprints possible (used some
kind of bag, taking good care of how they hit the body and how they stop the leakage of
gunpowder or their hair (could be a clearly shaven person...all over...but hmmm after
shave could catch them) yeah so basically if it’s too clean..the person is smart and has
experience like with guns

Do you think that a killer always leaves evidence behind?
there’s always evidence left behind. Always. witness sightings, finger prints, foot
prints, phone records, emails, credit card purchasing locations, no matter what something
gives you away, unless you’re absolutely invisible and metal gear solid ect

How about taking a treasure from the crime scene?
tells a lot about the criminal basically serial killers get caught cause of these
criminal psychologist that study psychos and their habits and all sorts of people and
their habits basically serial killers get caught cause of these criminal psychologist
that study psychos and their habits and all sorts of people and their habits especially
if you take a weird item, like a piece of vase from this china set...you know?
Crimes I don’t believe are ever perfect in this lifetime...maybe before 1990 but now it’s
virtually impossible