TOW #13

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/30/showbiz/actor-paul-walker-dies/

Paul Walker, star of the Fast and the Furious movie series, and a friend, Roger Rodas, died on November 30th, 2013, at around 3:30 PM, while they were on their way home from a charity event to help victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. The cause of death was a car crash, as the car (2005 Porsche GT) slid off of the road and into a light pole before bursting into flames. They were just meters from their destination, which was probably Rodas's shop. Multiple fire extinguishers were used to try to stop the flames from killing the two men inside the car, but they were trapped, and the flames continued to burn. The site was surrounded for hours by fans and curious onlookers for hours, and was later decorated with flowers to pay tribute to the actor. According to the press, Paul Walker was also a philanthropist, who would often give money to those in need. Recently, it was decided that all proceeds from the Fast & Furious franchise would go towards Walker's charity, Reach Out WorldWide.

TOW #12

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ap-gfk-poll-health-law-131659580.html

The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, was flawed in its institution according to many Americans. Rising premiums and deductibles have been blamed on the health care overhaul, which adds to Obama's list of problems. This list, including the functionality of the healthcare website, healthcare.gov, has been under America's spotlight recently. The overall turnout was the opposite of what the White House was expecting, as they were looking forward to a positive reaction from people as they saw how well the law would slide in to current society. Now, on the contrary, the Republicans are using it as another reason to pick at the Democratic party. The benefit, however, is that 11% of people who responded to a survey conducted by the Associated Press tried to sign up for healthcare that they were previously not able to. The survey was conducted via the internet, and the respondents were interviewed online.

TOW #11

http://news.sky.com/story/1181130/australia-gay-marriage-law-reversed-by-court

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25344219

Last Saturday, the ACT (Australian Capital Territory) passed a law that would guarantee same-sex partners marriage. Soon afterwards, the Australian High Court ruled unanimously against the ACT's ruling, saying that it was inconsistent with federal laws because in Australia's Marriage Act explicitly states that marriage can only be between one man and one woman. All of the couples who had been married on Saturday had their unions rendered invalid, which was heartbreaking, but, on the other hand, they did have the moment of marriage which some said was invaluable. Although this is a step backwards for Australia as a whole, the ruling is a baby step in the right direction because it cements the fact that the federal government controls marriage, not individual state governments, like in the United States.

TOW #10

http://www.buzzfeed.com/maxseddon/notorious-anti-gay-activist-flees-russia-over-extremism-case

In Russia, neo nazi groups led by Maxim Martsinkevich have been spreading videos where they lure, capture, humiliate, and physically abuse young gay men around the country. Social media allows them to easily broadcast their cause to young adults and children, some of whom support it, especially when the Martsinkevich's actions align with the recent anti-LGBT law "banning gay propoganda to protect children." This video, however, prompted the Russian police to investigate, and found Martsinkevich guilty of hate towards the Iraqi gay subgroup. He then fled the country instead of facing a court hearing. The Russian police have currently searched his apartment and that of his parents, and his girlfriend has taken pictures of the searches and posted them to her instagram. The video of Martsinkevich shows him shaving the man's head, painting different graphics on his body, and hitting him several times before the screen fades to a graphic that says, in Russian, "no to violence." Hopefully he returns to the country to face trial for his crimes, and the support for the anti gay movement dies down.

TOW #9

http://news.yahoo.com/typhoon-deaths-climb-thousands-philippines-200523335.html

Typhoon Haiyan struck the eastern seaboard of the Philippines on Friday and left behind destruction and devastation in all affected areas. Houses were swept away, flattened, or simply destroyed by the force of the storm. In Tacloban, a ship was even pushed ashore and now lies amongst the wreckage and debris from ruined houses. The death toll from this typhoon sits somewhere around 10,000 at the moment, with more people missing and even more needing critical supplies like food and water. At the moment, typhoon Haiyan is one of the most powerful storms ever recorded, which explains why the cost was so great. Now, the Philippines looks to the rest of the world for support as they try to rebuild their community. This was posted on Yahoo news through the Associated Press, so it appears to be a credible article, especially because of the fact that multiple other sites and channels on TV have been reporting on the same story.

TOW #8

I'm finished reading the book I Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. This book was a collection of essays about the author's life. Overall, the book was very funny and told a lot about the author's life and personality. David Sedaris is obviously a very funny man and has a comic talent, especially when it comes to telling personal stories. He's always able to put a twist on these stories to make them relatable, or at the very least, take something that wouldn't normally be humorous and make it funny and exciting. David Sedaris is clearly a credible author because he writes frequently for Esquire, does commentaries on NPR, and has written a number of New York Times best sellers. In this book, I believe that his purpose was to demonstrate his own skill as a writer and to allow the audience, the common crowd of readers, to learn something about him or get to know him better. He was also able to connect to the readers even though all of his stories were personal, and the audience may or may not have been able to connect to them. I would give the book a 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it to everyone who needs something funny to read.

TOW #7

http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/10/27/us-saudi-womendriving-idINBRE99Q05H20131027

In countries like Saudi Arabia, where the religious, conservative mindset still controls a lot of the social policies, women are prohibited from doing things like showing bare skin and riding bikes. Recently, however, women have been pushing for their right to drive, seeing as no law in Saudi Arabia explicitly bans them from doing so. However, when women are seen driving, they are stopped by police and forced to sign pledges saying that they will not drive again. Police had even set up blockades around the city so that they could peer into the windows of oncoming cars to ensure that no women were behind the steering wheels. Women, however, are taking more and more control of the situation. Activists have started filming themselves driving and publishing videos on places like Youtube, and have also been taking pictures of themselves and sharing them using social media. Male Saudis who support the movement have also been sharing social media clips, including a parody of the Bob Marley song "No Woman No Cry" called "No Woman No Drive". This seems like a positive movement for the women's campaign, although it may become dangerous for some of the women involved. However, they seem prepared to sacrifice a lot for this civil rights campaign, and are continuing to drive regardless of police actions and conservative cleric riots. This article was published on Reuters, and covers the topic adequately. It seems to be written for an audience of people who are globally aware, or they wouldn't understand why women are not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia.

TOW #6

http://www.medicaldaily.com/brown-eyes-turn-blue-new-laser-procedure-may-permanently-change-eye-color-video-245514

Doctors at Stroma Medical have created a new way to make people's eyes blue that doesn't involve colored contacts or the the incredibly dangerous synthetic iris surgery. Apparently, the technique involves a precision laser that will disrupt the layer of melanin, which is the pigment that makes eyes darker, which will in turn lead to the body enacting a normal tissue removal process. The key behind this laser surgery is that all humans have blue eyes, but that some of us are born with a darker layer that covers it. Articles on this topic have been printed on multiple websites, including the Huffington Post and TIME, and the surgery, according to doctors, will be available to the public within the next 3 years. At present, scientists are still testing the surgery and waiting to see if any long-term negative side effects appear. They are also turning to investing and funding to keep their research going. This topic is clearly controversial, as many scientists and doctors alike have said that this seems dangerous and puts a vital body part at risk. Why would you risk your eyes for a purely aesthetic reason? The tone of this article also suggests that the author doesn't completely agree with the process, and that she is somewhat skeptical about the results and the possible negative effects.

TOW #5

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2013/10/11/adrian-peterson-dealing-with-tragic-situation/

Two days ago, on October 11th, 2013, the "secret" son of professional American football player Adrian Peterson was pronounced dead. Adrian Peterson had only just heard about being the father of the child months ago, and therefore probably did not have a very involved relationship with the mother. The child was apparently severely beaten by the mother's current boyfriend, James Robert Patterson, 27, with a steel rod. James Patterson had reportedly had a previous altercation with another girlfriend's child, which ended with another beating. So far, Peterson has asked people to respect his privacy regarding the matter, confirms that he'll "still be playing on Sunday", and he thanks everyone for their support and prayers. This article is definitely credible because they included a video link to Adrian Peterson himself talking about the issue, and was reported on by the Associated Press. Adrian Peterson himself appears to be handling himself very maturely, and doesn't seem to be too emotionally consumed by it, although the media must feel somewhat obsessive to him.

TOW #4

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/30/politics/government-shutdown-up-to-speed/index.html

By now, we've all heard about the government shutdown, which is what the US government is currently going through due to an inability to pass a spending bill. A part of the Republican party, or GOP, refuses to agree to a spending bill because they want to strip funding for the new Obamacare bill. The democrats refuse to agree to a new Obamacare budget cut, so a spending bill was never agreed on. This article was written by CNN as a guide on how to understand the government shutdown, and to make clear some confusion about which positions of the government would be temporarily out of work. This, however, could be bad for the government long-term because a lot of people aren't getting paid and because congress has to decide on what to do about the debt ceiling before October 17th, or the country might default on its 16.99 trillion USD debt. As far as public reaction goes, this government shutdown will negatively affect the GOP because most Americans lay the blame unto them.

TOW #3

http://news.yahoo.com/dodger-fan-stabbing-suspect-released-sf-jail-071711963--spt.html

This article, released by the Associated Press and featured on Yahoo news, was about the suspect in a baseball-fueled stabbing being released from custody this weekend. According to reporters, a man named Jonathan Denver, the victim, found himself in a heated argument with Michael Montgomery, the man who ended up stabbing Denver to death. Denver was with a few family members including his father and older brother, and two friends that had come with them to the game. They were a few blocks from the Giants' stadium when they met with some Giants fans (Montgomery and his friends) and they started to go back and forth with "Go Giants! Go Dodgers!" Afterwards, the banter turned from a loyal-sports-fan-like argument to a brawl between the two men, and eventually between all of the people involved. The suspect was brought in for questioning after saying "incriminating things" about the victim while being questioned on the scene by the police. They were probably comments about the sports game, about the fight, or he may have appeared to be injured when questioned.

TOW #2

http://gma.yahoo.com/woman-arrested-missouri-allegedly-kidnapping-infant-nearly-13-164508975--abc-news-topstories.html

This article was about a 60 year old woman named Sandy Hatte, who was arrested in Missouri this weekend. She was arrested under suspicion of kidnapping the child and the child was returned to his or her father. Hatte had tried to enroll the child in a high school in Livingston when people became suspicious because they wondered whether or not Hatte was the actual parent/guardian of the child. Investigators then discovered that this was a child who had been missing for over a decade, and who was abducted when he or she was only an infant. The child's father had returned home from work one day, and the child had disappeared as well as Sandy Hatte. Hatte had been elusive for the past decade, and couldn't be found by authorities until now. Authorities haven't released any personal information about the child, and Hatte is currently awaiting trial on a $25,000 bail at the Davvies-Dekalb Regional Jail in Pattonsburg,  MO. They have, however, said that Hatte is not the child's mother, although she is related to the child and his or her family. 

IRB Intro

The book that I chose for the first marking period is from the list of the 100 greatest non fiction books, called I Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. I chose the book because I've read some of his essays before and I think that he's a very funny person, especially in his writing. This book will probably be enjoyable to me, and although I don't actually have a copy yet, I'm looking forward to getting started with it.

TOW #1

Recently, in Syria, people have been rebelling against president Bashar al-Assad, trying to get him to step down from the presidency in order to gain more freedom and end the violence in the country. This rebellion started during 2011, when student protesters were held captive and even tortured for drawing anti-government graffiti. Peaceful protesters gathered to argue for the students' release, and the government responded with violence, shooting and the protesters and killing four. Now, there are two sides: that of the rebels, and that of the current government. In August of 2013, Assad was suspected to have used chemical weapons on his own people, which caused a strong response from the United States. Obama held a speech, demanding that Syria stop the use of these chemical weapons, and that if they continue, it will cross a "red line." I found this cartoon on the internet that describes this red line, and how he seems unsure about it. Recently, because Russia is allied with Syria, delegations have been going on between the two countries that include stopping Syria from using chemical weapons. Because of this, Obama might not need to take any military action regarding Syria, and the red line is starting to fade. Also, because the red line wasn't very clearly defined, this cartoon makes fun of other undefined lines that the red line may or may not be close to touching. I believe that the cartoonist, David Horsey, Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist, did achieve his purpose in the cartoon, which was to make a joke of Obama's unclearly defined "red line" regarding Syria. I also believe that he is a credible cartoonist.

Analysis of A Personal Essay by A Personal Essay by Christy Vannoy

This essay was about the author, who wrote about herself, briefly describing a hard past, which included abuse and sodomy by her mother. As an adult writer, she remembers being in a room with others who had written essays, and judging each essay based on how hard the person's life had been. If their life had been hard, she seemed to give a positive response. If their life hadn't been so hard, or they didn't seem to show as many signs of a struggle throughout, she would scoff at them mentally, knowing that their essay wouldn't be considered by the editor to be published. It seemed that the purpose of this essay was to demonstrate exactly how much scrutiny an essay goes through before being published, and what kind of material an editor would be looking for.

The story would be written for an audience of writers or readers. The writers would want to know what would pass the bar, or get published, and the readers would already make the connection that hardship makes for a more interesting story. One device that the author used was to refer to the people as essays, not people, almost as if to say that they were no more important or interesting than what their essay said about them. I believe that the author did achieve her purpose, as she showed her responses to other people's essays and how an editor would critique them.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3009/2978965707_93538e7cb6.jpg

This picture helps to emphasize the time and care that goes into a person's personal essay, as they might be up until very late at night working on it.

Analysis of Lucky Girl by Bridget Potter

Lucky Girl by Bridget Potter is about the author's illegal abortion when she was 19, living in New York in the 1960s. It was to be performed in a manner that was not safe, not done with an anesthetic and not performed by a medical professional, but the author was in desperate need. Back then, having a child before marriage was greatly frowned upon, and her unsupportive family would probably shun her if they had known. This is why, despite the legal and physical risks, she decided to have the illegal abortion. She pooled together all of the money that she had from her $60/week salary, and went to different locations around the state and country. At each station she was turned down because she was too young, the person performing the procedure had been thrown in jail, or because the procedure itself seemed a little bit too unsanitary/unsafe for her comfort. I think that the author's purpose in writing this essay was to show that if people desperately need something, they will get it, regardless of known dangers. She didn't have a lot of money, but found a way to have the abortion. The audience for whom this essay was written was a group of people who have an opinion of the value of choice to a person, and the author achieved this purpose through the autobiographic mode and by describing the desperation behind her own illegal abortion.

This image helps to symbolize the importance of an unborn child to a person's life, and how, if you're not ready for the child, you have the power to choose whether or not it is the right decision to keep it.

Image from: http://dadthing.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/positive-pregnancy-test-427x320.jpg

Analysis of Topic of Cancer by Christopher Hitchens

This essay was about the author waking up one morning feeling so ill that he had found it difficult to move from his bed. He remembers struggling to get up and call emergency services, being diagnosed with cancer, and eventually coming to terms with the diagnosis. He said that the five stages of grief didn't really apply to him in this case, and that he had been cheating death for a while now, only to see the Reaper finally catch up with him. He describes his opinion on chemotherapy, or on cancer "treatment", and says that you end up giving up your hair, taste buds, and coherent thought for a few more years on the planet. He felt cheated because he'd had a decade of plans made out, and he'd felt that he'd worked hard enough to earn them. He didn't feel angry about coming down with cancer, regardless of how negatively he did feel. He appears to be a credible author, and was even the editor of the previous' year's Best American Essays. He contributed to the New Statesman, the Nation, the Atlantic, the London Review of Books, the Times Literary Supplement, and Vanity Fair in his lifetime before his death in 2011 of cancer. I believe that the author's purpose in writing this essay was to detail the life of a cancer patient. He did bring up that having cancer is always described as a battle, and when someone is free of cancer that they had "won the battle." If they died, however, they "lost the battle." He said that what is always pictured is a valiant internal conflict, but that's not what it feels like at all. Instead, he remembered feeling so powerless against the cancer as he was receiving treatment, almost like a sugar lump dissolving in water. The essay was written for anyone who would be interested in the internal struggle of a cancer patient, or anyone who wondered about the struggle for hope.

This is a picture of the author when he was still alive, smoking a cigarette, which is a known cause of cancer.

Analysis of After the Ice by Paul Crenshaw

After the Ice by Paul Crenshaw is a story about how the author's young nephew, Keith, was killed by his stepfather around the time of an ice storm. Paul Crenshaw says that he only remembered the ice because of his nephew's death at the time. He appears to be a credible author, as he is an assistant professor of English at Elon University, and published two essays, one in the Southern Humanities Review and the other in the Connecticut Review. He recalls the interactions with his nephew in the days before his death, and as his very last interaction, remembers when Keith's stepfather brought Keith to the grocery store where Paul worked. Keith was crying, and as soon as Paul held out his hands and let Keith run to his arms, Keith stopped crying, feeling safe. Paul handed Keith back to his stepfather afterwards, and he immediately started to cry again. This part was stated with a bit of remorse, as Paul said that, at the time, it was impossible to have known the reason why. The author's purpose seemed to be to show that as he grew older, he began to forgive the stepfather, and he made himself force the forgiveness out. He felt as though if he had been more receptive before Keith's murder, Keith would still be alive, and he can't forgive the stepfather if he can't forgive himself. I believe that Paul Crenshaw's purpose was also to tell the story of his nephew, and how one event can affect someone for the rest of their life, making them link it to something seemingly insignificant like an ice storm. The essay seemed to be written for a curious audience, one that is into stories about criminals, or one that would like to know how losing someone important would affect someone's life.

This photo symbolizes Keith's situation in the story. He couldn't turn to anyone for help because he knew that his stepfather would kill him.

Analysis of Beds by Toi Derricotte

Toi Derricotte is the author of this piece, and appears to be credible. She has written 7 books, including Tender, which won the Paterson Poetry Prize in 1998, proving that she is a skillful and intelligent author. Beds is about the author as a young girl who lived with her mother and her abusive father, who would beat her viciously. The girl in the story described the reason for the beating as a sort of mental competition between herself and her father. When she cried, her father would describe it as her trying to get attention, and would beat her even more until she stopped crying. She said that her father was smart, but violent, and would beat her in areas where the bruises wouldn't show, and there would be no evidence of a beating. She never once blames him throughout the story, though, almost making it sound like she looks up to him for his strength. She describes him as resolute, and talks about him as though he was one of her closest friends. She gave him pet names, playing with his slippers when she was bored. The story is told in a way that revolves around the different areas the main character slept in. She slept in a bassinet first, then a crib, and afterwards in various beds in different rooms. This essay seemed to be about reflecting on how the beatings have affected her and why they occurred. It appears that the target audience for whom this essay were written was people who were curious as to what it's like to have an abusive parent. The author wanted us to think about her situation without skewing our opinion in any way for or against her father's treatment of her, which is why she told the story dispassionately.

This picture shows an ideal version of the first bed that the author slept on, a bassinet. 

Image Source: http://www.lifamilies.com/chat/p/6579427_1.jpg