Where to travel safely in Mexico!

This is the time of year when seniors are getting antsy to finish up first semester and start planning their senior trips. Many parents are obviously hesitant to allow their freshly graduated babies to fly off to Mexico in fright of the drug wars, and obviously because of the movie "Taken". The San Fransisco Chronicle's Five Safest Places in Mexico rates Tlaxcala the safest, with only 1.1 deaths per 100,000. Next in line is Yucatan, which has 1.3 per every 100,000, and has a well-developes tourist infrastructure and thousands of historical and archaeological sites. Puebla, Queretarp,Baja California Sur, Mexico City, Todos Santos, San Miguel de Allende, Hautulco, and Playa Del Carmen complete the list. So, for all you seniors out there, remind your parents that not all of Mexico is dangerous, although any teen on a trip should remain cautious.

The author of this article, Chris Owen, seems to be aware that many people are leaning away from traveling to Mexico in his first sentence, "Crime in Mexico has kept travelers away from some parts of the country that are riddles wit the results of drug carte operations" (www.gadling.com). I think a good strategy of his was to state the obvious right off the bat to get rid of the "elephant in the room" situation. He then goes on to list the places and does not really use any other techniques other than giving a brief description of what attracts people to each area. 

Click here to learn where in Mexico to travel safely!

Bird flu strikes again!

Unfortunately, China has reported their second bird flu death in less than a month. The H5N1 bird flu virus is to blame, although neither victims reported being in contact with birds or poultry. Since people in contact with the victims have reported no symptoms, specialists say that this case does not involve transmission among humans, and that they are still trying to find out what the means of transmission is. According to the World Health Organization, bird flu has killed 343 of the 582 people who are known to have been infected, including 28 of the 42 infected Chinese victims. China is said to be the major breeding ground for the H5N1 bird flu virus since it has the largest poultry population and close contact between birds and people in rural areas. Close by, Vietnam has reported 60 deaths and Indonesia has reported one. I hope that this virus stops spreading and is contained quickly. 

The author of this article, Michael Wines, enhances his logos by including ages, dates, and locations. This helps readers to see just how fast this virus is spreading and to recognize the severity of H5N1. It is helpful that he included information regarding surrounding territories and countries, as it gives perspective on the location and spreading of the virus. Wines also puts his syntax to use within the first three words, "A man died" (nytimes.com), immediately grabbing the readers attention. 

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Uh Oh, Papa John's... Uh Oh

Just when we all thought America was not a racist country… a Papa John's Pizza worker put "lady chinky eyes" as the name for an in-store order. All I have to say is "wow". Minhee Cho is an Asian-American who works as a communications manager at ProPublica. She posted a photo of the receipt (as shown below) on her twitter page, which received over 200,000 views by Sunday afternoon. Papa John's said, "This act goes against our company values, and we've confirmed with the franchisee that this matter was addressed immediately and that the employee is being terminated…We are truly sorry for this customer's experience" (cnn.com). Sorry is not going to cut it, in my opinion. Althought Cho wants this to just blow over, I think that Papa John's reputation will be forever tarnished. 

This article appealed to the logos when it said, "The receipt had been viewed online almost 200,000 times by Sunday afternoon, according to the counter on the Twitpic page" (cnn.com). It was helpful that the author, Alan Duke, added in facts about how many people saw the picture. It was also helpful that he provided the picture so that there can be no disbelief about the article. He also applied to the pathos when he described where Cho works, because it makes us as readers see her as a person and not just a character in an article. 

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Dead Body Found On Royal Estate

On Sunday, the body of a 17-year-old girl was found on one of Queen Elizabeth II's estates. A dog walker found the body three miles from the royal residence at Sandrigham House. Part of the 31-square-mile estate is open to the public and officials say that the crime is in no way related to the Royal family. The body was identified as Alisa Dmitrijeva, who has been missing since August. Hopefully, justice is brought for the victims family.

The author of this article did not use many strategies, and if he had I believe that this would have been a better article. I did not like how the writer did not include the name of the missing girl until the second paragraph. Readers want to know who, what, where, when, and why right off the bat. No one wants to wait until the second or third paragraph to read what happened. I think that the writer was very all over the place and should've thought more about his order.

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Bless Me, Ultima Final Chapters

            Well, I have finished the book and am not sort of at a loss for words on what to say about it. I have to admit; I am a little disappointed by all but the last chapter. I kept expecting something big to happen that would change everything. Don’t get me wrong, big things happened such as Antonio taking his first communion, Tenario’s curse on the Terrez’, and Florence’s death, but I still feel like there are a lot of loose ends left at the end of the book. What ever happened to Antonio’s brothers? I thought that this was the biggest question that went unanswered. Yes, all of us readers want to know the fate of Antonio but he almost says it for us when he was talking to his father and his uncle. Tony explains that he is a Marez first and then a Luna when talking to his uncle. Later on while talking to his dad he asks if you can make your own religion. If I were to write a “tying up loose ends” chapter to this book, I would write that Antonio makes his own religion and helps people to the best of his abilities, just like Ultima. But… I am not going to write this, so we’ll all just have to use our imaginations.

            Anyway, at the beginning of this reading Father Byrnes was explaining eternity and if sent to hell, how long you would be stuck there. This really scared me. A huge pile of sand has to be moved grain-by-grain thousands of miles away by bird. And that is only one day of eternity. Anaya did a great job of capturing the students’ fear… and evoking mine. He writes, “We gasped and fell back in our seats, shuddering at the thought of spending eternity in hell. The story made a great impression on us. Nobody moved” (202). Yeah… I didn’t move either!

            Continuing on the topic of Antonio’s maturity, I thought that he proved a lot about himself in the scene where the mob of students were pressuring him to give penance to Florence. Tony says, “I had stood my ground for what I felt to be right and was not afraid” (Anaya, 214). I thought that it was amazing how Tony stood up to his peers for Florence. He really believed that Florence was telling the truth when he said that he had not sinned against God. Florence believed that God sinned against him, and I believe it too. I thought it showed a lot about Tony because even though he is extremely religious, he was accepting of Florence’s beliefs and opinions. I think this would make Antonio a great leader and/or priest one day.

            After Antonio’s first communion, he is expecting to know all the answers to his questions just because he has “eaten” God. It seems a little ridiculous to me to think that you’d know all of the answers just because you ate a wafer. I am not religious so I do not really feel the same significance but it just seems far-fetched. Tony should know that it would take time to figure out the answers.

            It was very sad when Florence died. He was one of my favorite characters. I think that Florence taught Antonio a lot about life and religion. He taught him that sometimes life isn’t fair and sometimes it’s hard to believe in religion because of the hardships you might have to face. Both of Florence’s parents died and his sisters were whores at Rosie’s. He had a very unfair life and it is even sadder that he had to drown. I believe that Antonio became more accepting of other religions after being so close to Florence and learned even more that God cannot always help people.

            My favorite quote of this reading is, “… life is filled with sadness when a boy grows to be a man. But as you grow into manhood you must not despair of life, but gather strength to sustain you” (Anaya 245). This is Ultima talking to Antonio. It is true that when you grow up you see a lot of sadness, and sometimes that sadness can get you down. There is a limit, or should be, to how much sadness a young child should see, though. Tony has now seen 3 people die and I think that going to work on the farm was the best decision for him.

            Overall, I think that the death of Ultima could have been predicted. This event was foreshadowed in the beginning of the story when Antonio’s family took Ultima in to make her comfortable before she died. It was obvious that this was going to happen. I really enjoyed this book and learned a lot from it.  

Tips To Stay Slim In 2012

       As we start off 2012, it is important to be aware of these 9 bad eating habits. Probably the most common New Year resolutions are to lose weight, eat healthier, or go to the gym more. Well, just avoid these and you’ll be all set!

1.     1. Mindless Eating: Brian Wansink, PhD, of Cornell University found that the larger plate or bowl you eat from, the more you unknowingly consume. To avoid this, eat from smaller dishes and try swapping a large dinner plate for a smaller one.

2.    2,  Nighttime Noshing: If you want to lose weight, eating at night is never a good idea. Just think about this: Whatever you eat at night has 8 hour to just sit inside your body and turn to fat. You can fix this bad habit by telling yourself that the kitchen is closed after dinner. If you brush your teeth after dinner, you’ll also be less likely to eat again.

3.   3.   Endless Snacking: Snacking all day long will obviously lead to weight gain. To avoid this, try to snack on healthy things all day… or just avoid snacking all together!

4.     4. Skipping Breakfast: If you skip meals, your metabolism slows and you will probably gain weight. Try to at least eat a yogurt in the morning.

5.    5.  Emotional Eating: If you had a stressful day, try to relieve your stress by taking a walk or talking to a friend instead of eating 5 tubs of chocolate pudding.

6.     6. Eating Too Quickly: Your brain doesn’t register that you’re full until 15-20 minutes after you’ve started eating. If you eat really quickly, you will probably end up eating more because your brain is unaware that it’s full. Try to take smaller bites and eat slower and you will feel more full.

7.     7. Not Getting Enough Sleep: Not getting enough sleep leads to higher weight gain. So as 2012 begins, try sleep more and you will feel more energized and less hungry.

8.     8. Vegging Out With Video Games: Researchers found that people eat more during the day if they play video games while eating. Try to take frequent breaks while in front of the computer; this will help keep you from getting dazed.

9.     9. Eating Junk Food: Junk food is addicting, says researchers. Instead of completely cutting out your favorite junk foods, try to eat in moderation and only on special occasions.

Good Luck!

Eerie Coincidence...

            Remember hearing about the group of people who helped lift a burning car off of a trapped man last year? Weirdly enough, in the SAME town, a similar heroic act occurred on the first day of 2012. Roger Andersen, 46, lost control of his car in icy conditions and flipped into a frigid Utah river. Two 9-year-old daughters and one 4-year-old son were trapped inside. Onlookers didn’t hesitate to jump into the icy river and try to free the children. One man shot out the window of the car after being unsuccessful in opening the door. One of the daughters found an air pocket and was able to escape but the other was floating at the top of the car. The boy was also upside down in his car seat, floating. After much effort, the children were freed from the car and another bystander performed CPR while waiting for the ambulance. Luckily, all survived this scary accident due to the help of their heroic rescuers.

            The author of this article new that his audience might not put two and two together when they read the town of Logan, UT. I thought it was beneficial that he included a little bit of what happened in that town last year. He used pathos in his article when he said, “’I remember thinking to myself, you’re going to se some dead kids, get ready… I’ve got three of my own and it was going to be an awful start to the New Year’” (huffingtonpost.com). Many people could relate to this and be thankful that so many heroic people risked their lives to save those of innocent children. 

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