Endangered Historical Locations

The central goal of the article is to show several historical U.S. landmarks that have become irrelevant these days and are in danger of extinction. The article is written as if to raise tourist attraction to these locations and raise public awareness about the possible extinction of these areas. All of the locations provided in the article have been chosen by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as the most important and soon-to-be-endangred locales. What is most interesting about this editorial is that it provides background information about the locations, so as to let people know about the importance of the locations. I am a bit of a history buff and this sort of information interests me, so I found this article to be really enjoyable. Some of the landmarks included in the article that most interested me were the Ellis Island Hospital Complex (which is a not-so booming hospital nowadays), Malcolm X's home (has been rumored to be turned into housing for graduate students studying African American history, social justice, and civil rights), and the Princeton Battlefield (one the site of a battle during the American Revolution and now a struggle with maintaining rich farmlands as people are closing in on the area in order to build housing).

I found this article on Yahoo! and found it to be really interesting because I had always wondered what had happened to some of these historical locations and I had wondered whether these locales had been kept up for tourist appreciation. The article provided a bunch of pictures of each of the locations that it spoke about. The article is actually very well-written and includes facts along with pictures, so the article is enjoyable to follow along with. Though the article is not a hard-hitting news story, it is a commemorative editorial about historical locations of the past and their relevance today. I did enjoy finding out about a bunch of these locations and I may actually visit a couple of these locations someday because the article made them seem very interesting.

Source: http://travel.yahoo.com/ideas/u-s--landmarks-in-danger-of-extinction-20120605.html

Best Paying Jobs

The article uses information from the US Department of Education to find out what the 20 most common majors are and uses PayScale to figure out how much money a college graduate going into the profession for a range of 2-8 years. The article is valuable in that is provides some analysis on thoughts such as: is it worth it to attend an expensive college if you are going into a major that doesn't provide enough money. The highest paying job by major was a Sales Director with a Business Administration major recieving $122,000 a year. The lowest paying job by major was a Costumer Service Representative with a Political Science major recieving $29,000 a year. The statistics were interesting because I had believed that the annual pay for a lot of these jobs would be fairly higher; however, that is not generally the case.

It is pretty obvious as to why I read this news article. The article provided statistics and information about impending college majors and which ones will provide people with the most dough. The article interested me because I wanted to know how my own college major of Engineering ranked on the top paying jobs list and I also wanted to find out which major had the highest paying jobs. The article is well-written and provided actual statistics from websites such as PayScale, in order to back up the figures they had included in the article. I did enjoy reading the article because I learned about the starting salaries for certain professions and it will help me in deciding which major I will pursue.

Source: http://career-services.monster.com/yahooarticle/best-paid-jobs-by-major#WT.mc_n=yta_fpt_article_best_paying_jobs_by_major

Miley Cyrus Gets Engaged

The main topic of the article is about Miley Cyrus getting engaged to the "Hunger Games" actor, Liam Hemsworth yesterday. Miley is only 19 years old and Hemsworth is 22, and they have been dating for the past 3 years, so their eventual engagement seemed only natural. The article provided plenty of quotes from Miley Cyrus and other worthy quotables about the subject of her engagement as well as how Miley had met Liam back when she was 16, and starring in her first full-feature movie. The article also shared that Miley had recieved her first on-screen kiss with Liam Hemsworth, so he has been with her since she was teenager and now, as she's going into a young woman. Miley's parents are more than sympathetic about her engagement because they have known Hemsworth for the past three years and he has already grown to be a part of their family.

The article was fairly well written considering it is just an article about celebrity gossip. I did enjoy reading the article because I learned an interesting piece of news that I hadn't already known and the article had also provided an interview of Miley Cyrus on the subject of getting engaged, so the article seemed more legitimate.

Source: http://todayentertainment.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/06/12083269-miley-cyrus-is-engaged-to-liam-hemsworth?lite

Ray Bradbury dies at age 91

Just today, I read an article about the death of an iconic science fiction writer by the name of Ray Bradbury. I had only heard of Bradbury as the writer of the novel Farenheit 451, which I read in the eigth grade and discovered that it was one of my favorite novels, despite its convoluted plot. Bradbury lived to the ripe age of 91 and passed away on Tuesday night in Los Angeles. He passed away due to natural causes.

The news took me by shock a little because I had not known that Bradbury lived until the age of 91. The article then went on to describe Bradbury's best known accomplishments, which made me want to read a couple of his books when I get a chance to. What was interesting enough to find out in this article was that Bradbury had a common theme among all of his books: they were a revelation on the future he had imagined for this world. Bradbury had always scorned the idea of using heavy technology.

I chose to read this article because its topic had caught my attention. It was a fairly well-written article (slightly biased; however, because the author of the article seems to be a fan of Ray Bradbury) which provided interesting and less-well known facts about the famous writer. I did enjoy the article because it provided information that I had not already known.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/47706156/ns/today-books/

Senior Reflection #3

I thought I would make this senior reflection a little more personal about graduation. Graduation is nearing (only 12 days to be precise). Graduation, for me, is not only going to be a difficult time with saying good bye to all of the friends I've made, but also good bye to 13 years of organized schooling. High school graduation is like a rite of passage, where we leave the childish/juvenile world and become independent adults. Graduating high school is something that I have been looking forward to for quite a while, not because I cannot wait to get out of school, but because I cannot wait to get out of this town and I cannot wait to meet new people, which is how life is going to be. People say that high school is the time of your life that you will truly remember forever. Though I do agree with that statement, I think that a person's life doesn't truly begin until they graduate from high school and enter college (to realize that they are in charge of their own decisions for once in their lives). I guess all I'm trying to say is that I cannot wait to graduate because I believe there is so much more to this world left for me to experience.

Senior Reflection #2

This past week has been both relaxing and stressful at the same time, since most of my classes are ending as we're preparing for final exams or working on final projects. I've gotten through three final exams: Matrix Algebra, Biology, and English in this past week. Finals week is going to be easy because I've gotten through much of my difficult classes. However, I have a pretty busy weekend ahead of me (with tons of final projects and last-minute homeworks to finish up before the quarter/school year ends) along with graduation parties, volunteering, and so much more. So, here's to hoping that I'll have all my stuff done before the weekend is over, so next week can be an awesome week before school ends! I cannot wait until next week actually because we'll be getting school yearbooks on Monday. I've already had a chance to look at the new yearbook; however, I cannot wait to get it signed by all of my friends before we all head our separate ways to different colleges/states.

Senior Reflection #1

I guess it has been quite a while since I've had a chance to post on this blog, but I thought I would begin with a senior reflection on how this year has been so far. I want to go back and talk about the past couple of weeks, which have been extremely hectic because of AP Exams. I had four straight days of AP Exams, which completely wore me out. However, my AP exams went pretty well, so I've finally gotten over the hump of the school year and I've had a chance to finally relax with just doing simple/fun projects for classes. As of right now, we only have 6 days of school left for this Senior year. I cannot wait until school ends, so I can have a fun and relaxing summer.

The Sacking of Bo Xilai

In the upcoming year, the world's strongest powers (USA and China) will be receieving new leadership. China's president, Xi Jinping, will become the Communist Party's head leader by taking Hu Jintao's leadership position.

On March 15th, the party chief of the southwestern region of Chongqing, Bo Xilai, was removed from office. His removal shows a certain sign of change for China. Bo Xilai seemed to be destined for leadership in the nine-member standing committee of the Politburo. Despite the fact that Bo Xilai's ideas while in office seemed rather extremist (with links to cracking down the Chinese "mafia" and following of Maoist beliefs), Bo Xilai's removal proves to show that there is something wrong with the Chinese political system. Bo Xilai focused on "red" and "anti-mafia" campaigns to discredit his opposition, Mr. Wang Yang, his predecessor in the Chongquing region. Yang has, however, come out on top in the competition with his somewhat liberal beliefs. Xilai's downfall does not come as a shock, as recently, Chongqing's corrupt affairs have been aired out for the Chinese public and the American consulate to see. His removal from office shows that China is moving toward less corruption and taking punishment on those who are firsthand in the corrupt affairs. According to the article, Chinese officials will still be able to get away with corruption, if it is brought out the correct way (without weapons).

The irony of the situation is that just a day prior to the sacking of Xilai, China's prime minister, Wen Jiabao, had said that without the upcoming reforms (removal of corrupt leaders), China may enter another "Cutural Revolution" phase.

Source: http://www.economist.com/node/21550309

China's Prime Minister Bows Out

Wen Jiabao has entered his final year in the office of Prime Minister of China. As he recounts his past years in office, Jiabao warned in a two-hour speech to the National People's Congress of the new problems that China will be facing. He struggled to prove to the people of China that he had changed China for the better since the beginning of his term, so coming to terms with Jiabao's warnings will prove to be difficult for the Chinese people. Jiabao's position will be passed down to his deputy, Li Keqiang, and the presidential position will be passed to the current vice-president, Xi Jinping.

As Jiabao delivered his final state of the union address to the Chinese people and the NPC on March 5th, Jiabao took a moment to talk about the progress that his five-year term as a leading member of the Politburo has helped China. After his speech, the Chinese people discussed the progress that Jiabao and Jintao have made in China. Jintao has worked toward becoming an everyday man of the people. He has looked toward working for the Chinese people, by traveling all across China to gain a better understanding of the way the everyday Chinese man lives. In this effort, Jiabao has believed that building a "harmonious society" in China is the central goal. However, the Chinese people believe that Jiabao's pledge to create a harmonious China has actually not been working over the years. Though China's growth rates have been expanding by double digits compared to any other country in the world, only part of China's population is experiencing the wealth. The gap between the rich and the poor of Chinese society only continues to expand and unrest among the disadvantaged continues to grow. The article showed the number of dissenting people is slowing expanding in China, to a point where the people have become uneasy about their living standards and their economic statuses. They are concerned about the growing gap and this has led to less confidence in the government of China.

Source: http://www.economist.com/node/21549991

China Urges Peace

With the developing threat of the Syrian crisis, China has been urging for a peaceful solution to end the violence in Syria. China has recently stated that they do not want armed intervention to bring the Syrian crisis to a violent end. China wants to be able to negotiate peaceful treaties to end the crisis. China plans on keeping peaceful negotiations by maintaining relationships with the Syrian government and the Arab League.

All of this negotiations and planning for dealing with the Syrian crisis have been lead by the United Nations. The United Nations Security Council recently put up a resolution to have a crackdown on the proptests in Syria. However, China and Russia have vetoed the resolution. China's goal in all of this is to not support the current Syrian government, as that would create even more issues with the protesters. China wants to control the furthering of any violence in Syria because armed intervention did not work well in Libya. To begin the process of peaceful negotiations, China wants to increase political dialogue and support of both sides of the argument. China is seeking to gain the help of other countries in this effort, by pushing for peace between Palestine and Israel.

Source: http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-02/25/content_14690756.htm

Trade Relations Between China and Turkey

In a recent article from the China Daily News, we can understand that the trade cooperations between China and Turkey have progressed exponentially after a meeting between the Chinese vice president, Xi Jinping, and Turkish president, Abdullah Gul. According to Xi Jinping, we can expect that trade relations between the two countries will become more connected, as it is beneficial to both countries.

Turkey has been playing a large role in trying to maintain stability and course for development between foreign countries; this has led to Turkey playing a "vital role in global and regional affairs." The two countries, China and Turkey, will not only cooperate in trade relations, but also in combating terrorism around the world and safeguarding world peace.

There will, of course, be inevitable frictions between the two countries due to their statuses as two of the fastest growing economies of the world, growing competition between the two, and an overall economic slowdown across the globe. However, despite these frictions, the benefits that China will experience due to expansion of trade are also beneficial to Turkey. Strategically, the cooperation between the two countries will create a co-dependent or symbiotic system, where both countries can reap the benefits of their efforts (linkage in cooperation).

Source: http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-02/22/content_14662629.htm

Wen Jiabao Stresses Reform for China

The Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, says that he will continue to push for reform in China despite the problems that reform is currently facing. The premier believes that the only way for China to overcome its difficulties is to implement open reforms. His plans for managing this reform requires that China allow for self-governance of the rural administrations (such as with direct elections of village-level leadership and the need to ensure the voting rights of farmers). Wen wants local affairs to be dealt by the local governments, and in order to implement this, he seeks implementation of a strict legal system along with regulations for the elections. The strictness of these elections will allow for elections to become more transparent and allow for less corruption in leadership. The premier has placed focus on the rural governments because of the lack of reforms and building of corruption in those areas.

Reform is easier said than done. China has had trouble over the years in controlling the local/rural governments from electing or being taken over by poor leadership. The rural governments and their governing areas have faced many problems, mainly with the expropriation of farmland. "Land grabs" have occurred, in which companies have illegally (with authorization) taken farmland for their use. This has caused mass protests in China. Reform, of course, can control this issue, by ensuring the rights of the landowners and farmers. Reform will help protect from the illegal transfer of land by placing strict rules in place. This sort of reform will begin from the local governments to build a democratic form of government in China. Trying to set this system in place will be a major burden on the government, despite the Chinese Premier's strong belief in the program. Reforms cannot protect against rampant corruption within the Chinese government. However, these reforms will be a major advantage for the common man against the wealthy companies building on their lands. Farmers and small landowners will be able to protect their lands from illegal seizure. The government will also be able to organize the allocation of land by setting up separate sectors for spending within the local expenditures, as the article provided that China could allocate funding for "improving soil fertility of suburban land."

Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-02/05/c_131392403.htm

Senior Year

Senior Year has thus far been extremely stressful--with all the college applications, homework, scholarships, etc. I think everyone expected that Senior Year would be much easier at least by this time. Honestly though, I don't think I've really enjoyed Senior Year, but I think that will soon change especially once we hit March. I feel like March will be a major turning point for all seniors because then we're suddenly going to be on the fast track to Graduation. So, I guess I just have to make through the rough patch of Senior year, so I can get to the fun stuff. After February though, I think we can all be glad that we'll be graduating soon! March represents field trips, finishing up lessons so we can just get to the easy review period, finding out about scholarships and colleges. April is the major decision time where we'll get all our college information and have a break from school (Spring Break!) and then Prom time comes around. By May, AP exams will end within the first couple of weeks and we'll get our senior final exams done with! Then it's easy coasting till the end.
I wouldn't change anything about Senior Year thus far though because I know that we'll get a chance to have our fun soon enough!

Huntsman Drops Out

Political Cartoonist: Nate Beeler

This political cartoon has one clear feature that I found particularly interesting which was the fact that Huntsman was "dropping out" of the competition literally, but in a high class, flashy way. This feature seeks to show that Huntsman proved himself and left as an equally good model candidate. Huntsman left as an honest candidate who still wants to fight Obama, but from backstage rather than front and center, which is why he chose to endorse Romney as the key candidate to win the election. The quote said by the media "now that's how you end a campaign!" goes to say that Huntsman left the campaign, but managed to turn the tables. Unlike other candidates, Huntsman chose to endorse a candidate whose views are far from his own--Mitt Romney. This decision on Huntsman's part will definitely give Romney an extra cushion of votes, especially after the rough showing in South Carolina.

The cartoonist clearly has an admiration for Jon Huntsman because he was not satirizing or ridiculing the way that Huntsman dropped out of the campaign. Huntsman left the GOP campaign honorably after a long but good run for nomination. The cartoonist admires the fact that Huntsman chose to leave as a good sport, who continued to endorse his opponents, mainly Mitt Romney. Hunstman is all for helping his opponents on the GOP side to fight back against Obama. Huntsman proved in his declaration of withdrawl that despite his differences with Romney; he knows that Romney will be the best candidate to reap the GOP some rewards (possibly even the presidency).

Who will win the GOP nomination?

There have been a lot of ups and downs so far in the race for GOP nomination, but one candidate has seemed to maintain solid ground: Mitt Romney. Romney has the best chance of winning the GOP nomination because the candidates he's running up against all have some sort of major flaw that seems to keep them from winning enough votes.

Romney has always been a front runner for the GOP nomination because of his speech-making abilities and his abilities in gaining the votes of Republicans and Democrats alike. Romney is the best candidate for the win because: he doesn't freak out democrats/independents because he isn't steadfast in conservative beliefs like Bachmann was or Perry is. For this, Romney would be a fantastic candidate for the Republicans in the upcoming general election. His moderate views can gain him more votes from independents in the general election, giving him a greater chance of winning the presidency.

Rick Perry doesn't have a chance of winning the GOP nomination because of his current status as a "nutcase" (after the drinking incident at a GOP debate) and his strong conservative will. Perry doesn't want to sway to any moderate ideals, which will definitely hurt the Republicans in the general election. Perry's crusade against gay marriage and for school prayer will not help him gain the votes of the growing independents in America.

Newt Gingrich showed real promise these past couple of weeks as he had pulled through from nothing to a person who people know of. Gingrich seems to have a lot of ideas of what he will do with the presidency, but Americans aren't very trusting of the man who has brought a lot of political baggage with him. Independents and moderates have not seen Gingrich as a real candidate thus far.

Rick Santorum has entered the picture again, but not as a really promising candidate. He was pretty low in the ranks for the GOP nomination, until the Iowa caucus. Santorum had spent much of his time in Iowa, spreading his views on how he will change if he is chosen as president, which seemed to pay off as Santorum "surprised" everyone by having a hefty number of votes at the Iowa caucus. Though his victory is short lived because Santorum lacks diversity in his views, he wants to turn back to traditional views of "don't ask, don't tell" and anti-birth control laws. Santorum is a very conservative candidate, which will most definitely hurt him in the run for GOP nomination.

Ron Paul has proved to be a really good competition for Romney in the upcoming election. Paul has some moderate ideas that have/will most definitely appeal to younger candidates (like myself). The only issue with Paul is his old age, which could be a deciding factor for whether voters will choose him. Paul has a fairly good shot at winning though because most Republican voters prefer more conservative views (Paul) compared to the moderate-swaying views of Romney. Romney has stressed that his views are moderate, whereas Paul has managed to sneak in moderate views along with conservative ones.

I think that Romney definitely has the best chance at winning the election, but only time will tell whether he can hold on to his central position.

GOP: Flavor of the Month

Political cartoonist: Rick McKee
The key objects in this cartoon are the "GOP Ice Cream Shoppe," the elephant, the different ice cream flavors, and Newt Gingrich watching from the outside of the shop. The whole "GOP Ice Cream Shoppe" represents the overall GOP race for nomination in the upcoming general election. The elephant represents the Republican public who is voting for GOP candidates. Newt Gingrich watching from outside of the shop is used as a satire. Gingrich is shown as a chubby man looking into the ice cream shoppe at the different flavors. The different flavors represent the different candidates. Rick Santorum represents a "surprise" candidate who pulled forward in the Iowa caucus as a big surprise to voters and the candidates themselves. Other candidates are also shown such as Rick "Nuts" Perry and Newt "Ego Nog" Gingrich.
The cartoonist clearly uses satire in this political cartoon to make fun of the GOP candidates for nomination. McKee uses the different aspects of the cartoon to satirize the fact that each of the candidates have their own key features that keep them from getting the GOP nomination. The elephant (Republican public) is putting up a new "Flavor of the Month." Gingrich has lost his high ranking position to Santorum.
The really interesting thing about this political cartoon is that it does not show the candidate Mitt Romney anywhere (either to say that he never had a chance at winning or to say that he isn't involved in the petty battle for GOP nomination as Newt Gingrich is). The cartoonist is showing how over time American's opinion over who is the next "flavor of the month" is chaning.