Social Issue Articles

http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=S44-4241-0-7831&artno=0000318025&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=Iraq%20War%20%282003-%20%29&title=Obama%3A%20All%20US%20Troops%20Will%20Leave%20Iraq%20by%20Year%27s%20End&res=Y&ren=N&gov=N&lnk=N&ic=N

           Obama has chosen to withdraw all troops from Iraq in hope that it will end the war that started in March of 2003. He did this because him and thee people at the Pentagon knew that any U.S. troops will not be given immunity from prosecution of crimes. The Pentagon saw this as a deal breaker to stabilize Iraq. I think that this is a good idea at the moment, to get the troops home and to have no troops in Iraq, because that way the Iraq government will think that we don't want too fight anymore and we want peace. On the other hand, they might take advantage of this and get ready to make a big attack on the United States, but Obama thinks that won't happen so we'll just have to see what happens in the future.


http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=S44-4241-0-7831&artno=0000317602&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=Afghanistan%2C%20History%2C%20Antiterrorist%20operations%20%282001-%20%29&title=Afghanistan%3A%20A%20Decade%20of%20War&res=Y&ren=N&gov=N&lnk=N&ic=N

          The United States came to Afghanistan to destroy an Al-Qaeda base that Osama Bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda made the September 11th attacks happen, and make sure that no Islamic terrorists would find a safe place there. This war costed the U.S. tax payers $450 billion to fund. I think that the Afghanistan war was the easiest plan of action to stop the terrorists from terrorizing the United States because it destroys any hope of messing with America while everyone is fighting back in Afghanistan.

          Both these articles are about current wars that are relevant to the United States. They both are still going on, but Obama hopes to end them soon

Two Voice Poem

WE INFLUENCE THE ENVIRONMENT

I make the world warmer

I create oxygen for the living things

WE INFLUENCE THE ENVIRONMENT

I melt ice in the North and South Poles

I enrich the soil for plants

WE INFLUENCE THE ENVIRONMENT

I make the summers hotter and the winters colder

I help things grow and live

WE INFLUENCE THE ENVIRONMENT

I destroy the world

I make the world better

The Son of Neptune (Yet again)

          I'm reading The Son of Neptune (don't worry, by next week I will have an new book to respond to). I think a theme in this book is dedication to family. I think this because after their entire journey, Percy, Frank, and Hazel still make it back to Camp Jupiter and fight the cyclops army even with how tired they are from fighting in Alaska. Also Percy was determined to save his "family" at Camp Jupiter and his "family" at camp Half-Blood.

          After their battle with the giant in Alaska, Percy, Frank, and Hazel still made it back to Camp Jupiter and defeated the army attacking them. He said in the book that he wanted to protect both his families at Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood and was determined to do so. He loves his families so much that he would sacrifices his own life for them. That shows dedication to family because he is determined to keep his family safe.

          Percy is determined to save his family from Camp Half-Blood because he was taken away from them be the Greek goddess Hera (or Junio in Roman mythology). His new friends from Camp Jupiter have become like a second family to him and he now wants to keep them safe as well as his original family. He really loves his families and the things he does for them really shows how much he cares about them.

          In conclusion, I think that a theme in the book is dedication to family because of how Percy risks his life keeping his family safe from harm. He also manages to keep two families safe which must be a lot of work, but that means he is that dedicated to his family.

Social Awareness Song: World is on Fire by Sarah McLachlan

Hearts are worn in these dark ages
You're not alone in this story's pages
The light has fallen amongst the living and the dying
And I'll try to hold it in, yeah I'll try to hold it in

[Chorus]
The world's on fire and
It's more than I can handle
I'll tap into the water
(Try and bring my share)
I try to bring more
More than I can handle
(Bring it to the table)
Bring what I am able

I watch the heavens but I find no calling
Something I can do to change what's coming
Stay close to me while the sky is falling
Don't wanna be left alone, don't wanna be alone

[Chorus]

Hearts break, hearts mend
Love still hurts
Visions clash, planes crash
Still there's talk of
Saving souls, still the cold
Is closing in on us

We part the veil on our killer sun
Stray from the straight line on this short run
The more we take, the less we become
The fortune of one that means less for some

[Chorus x2]

            I think that the message of this song is that people are suffering from starvation and other people don’t care about that, they just care about their own lives, but there are people who care. It also says that if we help each other out through the tough times, we can get by them. Another message I think is in this song is that we don’t pay attention to the things that are affecting other parts of the world and sometimes we don’t even realize they’re there, we’re blind to them.

            I think the message of people not caring that other people are suffering from starvation is in the song because it talks about bringing water to people, which might also imply food with it. The people not caring about it would be the really rich people, they don’t donate any of their fortune to help the less fortunate, but there are people who care and they spend time and money helping the poor people get by in their lives. This is shown in the line: “The fortune of one means less for some”. It basically says that if one person suffers, some people don’t care.

            I think the message of helping each other during tough times will help us get by because of the line: “You’re not alone in this story’s pages” because it says that you’re not the only one going through this and it can get better. This means that you have people you can relate with and you can get through it together.

            I think that the message of problems in the world being ignored by people in other parts of the world is in the song because of the line: “We part the veil on our killer sun”. It says that we reveal the troubles of the world and they aren’t good. Those problems affect the world and we ignore them. Those problems are addressed by some people, but no one listens to those people and they end up regretting it.

The Son of Neptune (Again)

          I am still reading The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan. More has developed in the book since my last blog. Frank now trusts Hazel much more than before, he literally trusts her with his life. Percy is remembering a little more of his past as he dreams and meets more people. Also Hazel is free of her black outs because of Frank.

           Frank has literally given Hazel his life. His life stick, a stick that if burned up will end his life, is now in the possession of Hazel, he trust her that much. This shows a growth in Frank as to where he is more trusting of his friends and would risk (or give) his life for them. He gives his life to Hazel, not only by trust, but because the god Iris told him to give it to someone he trusted so that they would keep it safe.

         Percy is slowly regaining his memories of his past as he meets more people on his journey like Phineas and Iris. They keep giving little hints to his past even though they could just tell him what his past was like. In his dreams, he sees what is going on with his other friends and Jason, Leo, and Piper. His memory also just randomly comes back sometimes.

        Hazel has stopped having her blackouts into the past because if Frank coming into one with her and having her tell her past to him. This also required trust because she let out some deep secretes talking to Frank and she might not want certain people to know. She only trusted Frank enough to tell him and only him, she didn't trust Percy enough, she didn't even trust her own brother enough to tell him.

The Son of Neptune

       The Son of Neptune is the sequel to the The Lost Hero which is the start of the series that is the sequel series to The Percy Jackson Series, all by Rick Riordan. I like how he started off the series with a whole new set of characters instead of going straight to Percy's story because it created more of a mystery of what happened to him and why everyone's looking for him. This brought a lot of things into the story line that made it more enjoyable to read. He changed much about the story by throwing in Roman mythology as well as Greek mythology.


         The new characters that Rick Riordan introduces are Leo, Piper, Hazel, Frank, and Jason. All of them except Jason each play a part in helping either Percy or Jason try to regain their lost memories, get them back to where they belong, and to stop Mother Nature herself, Gaea, from destroying the world and the gods. Each of the characters goes through some emotional drama with their parents, each other, and even themselves. Some don't know how to control their powers, some fall in love with each other, and some are angry at their parents for what they did to them, giving them dangerous powers and not helping them in their lives.


           The new thought-provoking aspects of the books make you have to remember who is who. You have to remember who the Greek Gods are as Roman Gods and vice-versa because they use both names through out the book and it make you have to go back in the book to see who they were talking about. They also mention names later in the book that they might not have mentioned since the beginning of the book, making you re-read that part so you aren't confused. These really made reading the book a lot more enjoyable for me  with all the brain work going on (if you didn't know, I'm always doing something in my head that retains to before).


            The Roman mythology that is put in to this book, like I said before, made the book a lot more complicated with the references to Romans and even some new Greek references that haven't been used in his books before. This gave me a little more understanding of a Roman, Greek relationship throughout the books that work in real life. This was kind of like a history lesson tied in with the fun of reading. The author's use of the mythology and terms were very accurate and if you don't believe me, go look for yourself.


I would strongly recommend you read this book, it's just amazing.

First Post

This is my first post on my new blog on Blogger.com. Yay!