Israel Threatens Invasion

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7270650.stm

All I can say about this conflict is how scared I am. The Palestinian Propaganda has set up a political quagmire that is unbeatable. The terrorist forces use Israel as a buffer for all bad media by setting up inevitable situations.

Lately, the terrorist Palestinian army has been bombing Ashkelon, and the Israeli government has threatened invasion. Unfortunately, the world will see this as another relentless Israeli attack, such that the common public, which views regular media such as BBC and CNN, will believe that the IDF is attacking helpless civilians and not terrorist forces.

I don't really know what can be done, but I do know that when they are done with Israel and gain the land, they will just move towards the Western World.

Vocab Six(Million)

As she began to get increasingly thin and started to emaciate, we investigated her eating habits and found she had been anorexic.

The invention of the telephone made the telegraph seem outdated and obsolete.

Though he was deciding to take care of himself from now on and have more self-advocacy, he didn't exactly attempt it in a sane way. He decided to come in to work the next day and obviate his problems, which took the form of colleagues.

The Irish have a penchant for having a good time.

My musical tastes may be selective. I feel that they are so selective that I am part of a paucity, one of which is shared by only a handful of people.

Vocab Week 5

Donald Trump is one of the most successful of all businessmen in the world. His acumen for where and when to make the right purchases seem to have paid off.











Many call the militia the greatest and most patriotic act that can be done. Those with the fidelity to defend their beautiful home have been rewarded with recognition and appreciation throughout the life of this country.








His steadfast gaze caught me by surprise; I felt like he was staring right through me.
















The school day can be incredibly long. Each student sitting in a class at the end of the day is waiting for freedom; an emancipation from this learning prison by another being with hands.






Many of the presidential candidates want to do what Bush intended: to bolster the still growing number of troops with additional forces.

Breakfast of Champions

Vonnegut, Kurt. Breakfast Of Champions. United States. Delacorte Press: 1973.

After many people have suggested this book to me, I decided to read "Breakfast of Champions" by Kurt Vonnegut. Most recommendations are based on the fact that this is "my style of humor." This book is a dark, satyrical look at the workings of America and the branch of insanity that is self-derived. The novel takes place during the late sixties, when it was written, and reflects the racial and international tension that was going on at the time. This novel helped me understand the crude and vulgar cohesion that is applied in Vonnegut's brain.

Kilgore Trout, an unsuccessful author, is suddenly and suprisingly called to the Festival for the Arts in Midland City, Ohio. Throughout his travels across the United States, we find that his unpublished and uncredited works, which tell of wonderous astronomical stories, are only published in pornography, who use his literary works to interpret pictures of "wide-open beavers."

While he is travelling, an aging car salesman starts to experience the early stages of schizophrenia. After his wife commits suicide, by drinking Drano, he descends into depression while the world goes crazy around him. After reading one of Trout's stories, he loses all sanity and, while taking the book literally, begins to attack all of his friends and collegues.

I thought that this has been the most enjoyable novel i have read since Catch-22. Vonnegut's trademark dark humor helps the book keep a light-hearted view on a man's plunge into madness. The author uses the novel as a basis for attacking all that is accepted in America, from pop culture to politics. I recommend this book to anyone with a sense of humor and a minor interest in the way people work.

This book cleverly deals with the ideas behind insanity and madness. The story is told from two perspectives: one from a peniless author and one from a successful, but insane, car salesman. It seems inevitable, with his wife's death and the tragedies that affect him, that the used car salesman, Dwayne Hoover, would lose his mind.

Each plotline and symbolic item has repetitive representation in the book throughout and all of the psychological aspects of the characters are well defined.

Vonnegut also wrote the controversial war books, "Cat's Cradle" and "Slaughterhouse V," which showcased his simplicity and dark humor. Vonnegut wrote 14 books using similiarly broken up logic and plotlines that meet together to form a story. He is also notorious for throwing theories of story structure and chronology out the window, yet still developing a great book.

Current Event of the Day

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7252010.stm

In China, there is a constant rise of inflation rate of food. Inflation, a term used in economics, encomposses the idea that the value of money is directly tied with supply and demands of the country it is in. The costs of food and the inflation accompanying it are most likely caused by the harsh winter occuring in China currently.

The events in China make me wonder: can a developing country be completely hindered by such a problem? China is well-known as the growing power that many consider to be a future world leader, yet it is being bogged down by troubles that harshly affect most of the population. Each blow in the economy has to be taken at view-point: the country is just too big in population.

China's density in its smallest cities, comprised of no less than three million people, is most likely the biggest problem when it comes to agriculture and produce. The population must be spread out over its country size in order to maximize its ability to survive through famine and economic crises.

Album Review 7

Bob Dylan- Highway 61 Revisited

1 - Like a Rolling Stone*****
2 - Tombstone Blues ****
3 - It Takes a Lot To Laugh, It Takes a Train toCry*****
4 - From a Buick 6 **
5 - Ballad of a Thin Man*****
6 - Queen Jane Approximately ****
7 - Highway 61 Revisited ***
8 - Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues ****
9 - Desolation Row *****

It's definitely been a while! Time to return with a good album!

I don't know where to start or where to begin! This is considered the quintessential album for anyone whoever listened to Dylan, and it sets a milestone in Rock, when Rock and Roll and Folk crossed paths. Dylan never sounded more confident in not just songwriting, but singing and musicality. Every word he spews out from angry, biting lyrics to trippy eccentric imagery to majestic story telling comes out exactly the way it was ever intended to be. He is backed by spectacular musicianship, including Al Kooper's Organ debut (he literally never played organ before!). Songwise, there are no misses. "Like a Rolling Stone" boasts catchy melodies, interesting hooks and that great organ part from Al. This is most likely Dylan's most famous song, and rightfully so. He spews angry lyricsover upbeat music. "Tombstone Blues" kicks into gear with Mike Bloomfield's raging guitar and loud drumming. Following the angry beats of "Tombstone," Bob kicks into relaxed jam mode, and launches off my favorite song "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry." Not only is the title very long and hard to type, but Dylan lays a lazy bluesy vocal over a relaxed chord progression, with tasteful piano fills and solid drumming. Everything about the song is enjoyable and this album benefits from its flow.

I never really got into "From a Buick 6." The two most bizzare songs in the Dylan catalogue show up in"Ballad of a Thin Man" and "Queen Jane Approximately." In the former, Bob spews out non-sensical lyrics with the most bitter tone which can come out of his mouth (which is pretty damn bitter) and the latter could be about anything! The title track is enjoyable but not the best track on here, but has some very enjoyable sound effects. "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" is basically "Train Pt. 2,"with a laid back feel and catchy rhymes. Highway 61 Revisited ends with the epic storytelling song of the album. "Desolation Row" sets a horribly morbid setting of the "Dusty ol' Trail" whilst Bloomfield fills in space with beautiful guitar leads. There is really no downside to this album.

Vocab Words Again.....

Disseminate (v)
Though we all share a common ancestor, at some point the human race began to disseminate throughout the entire planet.








Austere (adj)
The most symmetrical personality would be that of a person who is the most austere. It is just predictable.








Baleful (adj)
The Penguin is the most sinister and baleful character of any show.








Bigot (n)
One of the strangest creatures, the bigot can be anywhere in the world.























Sanguine (adj)
The most sanguine icon ever was invented in the nineties.

Dr. Jekyll-Hyde

Stevenson, Robertson Louis. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Scotland. Longmans, Green & co: Jan. 1886.

The iconic characteristics of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde have penetrated English-speaking society for more than a century. I was curious as to how the ideas originated, and where they come into effect. This book is a revered classic, and I was curious as to why it was so famous.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is less about the actual characters than it is about the inner struggle and turmoil of the being. Jekyll-Hyde, as it is more accurately described, expresses the inner turmoil between sinful urges and moral digression. Both have distinct conflicting ideals that tear the singular being apart emotionally. Each decision and reprocussion are looked at from both perspectives of the same person, and it is important to see Jekyll's view on Hyde's murders and how he views them from a third-person perspective.

I think my favorite character in this whole book is the lawyer, Utterson. Stevenson does well in creating a neutralized main character that helps push the story along. Mr. Utterson has the pleasure of being the holder of both the troubling will and the ability to examine all articles left by Jekyll-Hyde. Utterson is a character that all branch from, and he is the exact synthesis of what a main character should be in a mystery novel.

Many people who tell me they have read this book do not recommend it, and that it is lengthy and long-winded. I completely disagree with this reasoning, due to the proper nineteenth century english giving it a mysterious tone, while each word is excellently spent on the story. The book is short enough to be readable in this format, and long enough to carry the story to an interesting peak. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a good psychological account of self-turmoil.

It is important for us to use this book to realize that there is no perfect good or evil. There is never a decision that is clear as a bell, nor is there a decision that should always be made in every situation. Each choice leads to a greater effect, but we must realize that this is not a linear logic, but a cyclical one, and that this book exemplifies a possibility of righting wrongs.

Chad's Chaos

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/world/africa/05chad.html?_r=1&ex=1359954000&en=95d792d2f3897631&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

In Chad, refugees fled the city of Ndjamena, where fighting between the Goverment and Rebel forces has been breaking out. Chad had previously been the main the refuge for those involved in the crisis in Darfur. Nearly a quarter of a million people from Darfur reside in Chad, and almost 200,000 people have been displaced in Chad by the clashes between the goverment and the rebellion.

It surprises me that so much is going on. This isn't front page news! On the front page of the UT is the Super Bowl, followed by the election. Why don't we care about anyone else? These crises are exact reprocussions of our lack of aid to those in need and our apathy towards chaos in the world.

Millions of people are being displaced in Darfur and in Chad, whilest people mainly care about sporting events. Will others show the same apathy if we are in need? Will we show the same apathy toward other countries in other continents? Should we be investigating the causes of the rebellion and the government opposition? Should we figure out what the situation is and help? Or should we just stay in safe, cozy little America?