Fallin Leaves

In the most recent part of the book i read many interesting things have taken place. After Adeline and Carl the chemistry professor end their relationship Adeline is set up on a blind date with a man named Bob. But before Bob and Carl Adeline was married to the first man she had met when she arrived in america. When she was staying with Christopher who she had known in china she met a man named Brian who was very sweet and nice. She fell in love with him immediately because he was very charming. He was very cultural and into the chinese culture which attracted her. Especially since she had just come to America and was not used to the surroundings.

Falling Leaves

In this part of the book i read about how Adeline after being abandoned at boarding school wrote a short story and entered it into a contest. After this she won, which included her being recognized in the news papers and such. This was a great honor even her father recognized her for it which he normally never did. Her winning was a major turning point because her father decided to let her go to medical school in england with james. Even though Adeline could not choose what she wanted to study she was still given the opportunity which meant a lot because she probably wouldn't of gotten it if she hadn't won the contest. This was a great opportunity that she got and it also brought her closer to her family that Niang had taken her away from when she sent her to boarding school. This was a very good thing for her. After attending medical school she fell in love with a chemistry teacher named Karl, he was bipolar and very weird. But somehow she saw the best in him and still loved him. There hole relationship revolved around writing letters to each-other and staying in his lab, it was very weird. Eventually he told her to leave and meet someone new because he knew he would only hold her back from accomplishing many more things. After graduating from college she then traveled to america to take a position at a hospital. This was her first real job but somehow she was still controlled by Niang even though she had a job and was supporting herself.

Falling leaves

In the most recent part of the book i read many interesting things happened. Adeline was sent away to a boarding school in Tanjin because her parents did not want her, also they ordered the nuns to make sure that Adeline was to have no visitors, mail, or packages of any sort given to her even if people go to visit or something is sent. Adeline went through her whole stay at boarding school never getting anything, of course she did not know her parents had requested she didn't so she felt unwanted. Since the communist invasion of china was going on at this time many people fled to other places like Hong Kong, eventually Adeline was the only one left in the school. Finally when it got to a point that Niang's(Adeline's stepmother) sister decided to leave, the sister went and took Adeline out of boarding school and brought her along with her and her family to Hong Kong to join the rest of the family. I think its really sad that Adeline was left in such a weird situation and nobody was even aloud to visit her.

Outside reading 1

I am reading the book Falling Leaves. So far in the first chapter i have learned alot about her family background. Adeline describes the members of her family like Grand Aunt. Grand Aunt opened the first women's bank in Shanghai this was a great accomplishment especially for a women in that time. The bank apparently made alot of money and was very successful. Also we learn about her father and Ye Ye's business and how profitable it is. Also we learn how she lost her mother when her younger sister was born, and how her father met her evil stepmother Niang. Adeline shares alot about her child hood in this first chapter and begins to describe how her stepmother emotionally and physically abuses her and most of her siblings. Of course Niang's biological children are not abused in anyway unlike the other children, instead they are treated like kings, they are given many privileges the other children do not have and they are treated kindly unlike the other kids. They are even fed much better food compared to the other kids. 

Outside Reading

I chose to read the book Falling Leaves by Adeline Yen Mah. I decided to read this book because it seemed interesting. Once i read the back it made me want to read more and learn about the authors emotionally abusive stepmother, and he life growing up in china. I think it will be a very god read for me because i like to read auto biographies there very interesting, but only if there telling a story. I would also like to learn about the authors background and why she chose to go to england and america, and if she ever found the independence she was looking for. I think it will be very good book to read, it will be veryy interesting to learn about the authors childhood experiences.

Someone Overcoming Odds.

Weinraub, Bernard. "Rebuilding Brian Wilson's 'Smile'". The New York Times. March 21 2009. September, 12th 2004. 

This article is about Brian Wilson a former beach boys singer. He was thought to never be able to create a album that would sell. He overcame the odds and was able to make a very good album called "Smile" this album sold alot of copies and was a hit. This was very unexpected considering his age but he was able to do it anyway. I think its really cool that he was able to make a successful album especially since he's so old and hasn't written or sung in years. But i guess its good that he did and its also pretty cool that he was able to do it by himself and without the other members of the beach boys. He's probably no used to going solo but its still good that he was able to accomplish so much on his own.

Global Issue

New York Times Topic. Global Warming. March 21 2009. 

Global Warming is a major global issue. This article is about global warming. On feb 2 2007 the UN scientific panel studying climate change apparently claimed that the warming trend is rising because of human activity which is apparently the main thing which is increasing global warming in the world. Global warming is caused by pollution which is increasing the temperature causing the ice caps and glaciers too slowly melt. Eventually the melting will cause land to be flooded and become non existent. There has been much more scientific evidence that is showing that carbon dioxide and other gasses that trap heat have caused the average surface temperature to go up one degree since 1900 which is alot. 

Love

Allan, G. David. " A Romantic Valentine's Day In Paris". January 15, 2009. March 17, 2009. .

This is a article in the travel section of the NY times about a romantic trip to paris on valentines day. The author of this article tells about her and her husbands romantic trip to paris and what they did together. The couple went to many fancy restaurants and stayed at a fancy hotel. This made their trip very romantic especially since it was on valentines day. One of the restaurants Ms. Shannon recommended is the Bar Hemingway which is located at the Ritz paris which is a very fancy and expensive hotel. This article also recommends many romantic spots in paris to spend with your loved one even some that are inexpensive. Like the Eiffel Tower which is a very big spot for tourists to go to and its also very romantic and free. This article is about love because it talks about what there is to do for couples on valentines day in paris. Also it tells what a couple did on their romantic trip to paris. Also a few people recommend places that are very romantic to spend with someone you love. 

Bollywood

Mehta, Suketu. "Bollywood Confidential". The NY Times Sunday Magazine. November, 14, 2004. March 17, 2009.

In this article Mehta talks about bollywood and the Indian film industry. The Indian film industry has apparently started up in many areas around the world besides India. Such as in New York, Russia, Israel, Iraq, Iran. Also Bollywood movies have been translated into many different languages such as French, Mandarin, Malay and others. Bollywood apparently believes in motherhood, patriotism, and true love. All the storied the movies tell are "pre-cynical". Hollywood movies are much more about family then the Bollywood movies are.  This relates to when we watched the movie Bride and Prejudice in class. In this movie we saw many things about bollywood just like in the article.

War

Gall, Carlotta and Sangar Rahimi. "4 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan". New York Times. March, 15, 2009. March, 15, 2009. 

This article is about the war in Iraq. This article talks about how 4 American soldiers got killed in Afghanistan in a road side explosion. This has apparently been one of the worst attacks in a long time. The Taliban have took responsibility for this attack. Also in another attack on sunday a suicide bomber blow himself up on a main road south of Kabul which killed two afghan civilians and wounded 9 others. The bomber was apparently standing outside a high school and was planing on attacking members of a Afghan intelligence security force that apparently had passed by that spot later that day. Also there was another bombing in the southern city of Kandahar which almost killed the mayor. These tragic events are the actions terrorists have been taking during the war in Iraq. Many people have been killed due to these bombings and its a horrible thing that people take their lives just to kill others.

National Holidays

Novick M. Susan. "Tables Bounty: Keeping it Local". The New York Times. March 21, 2009. November 14, 2008. 

Thanksgiving is one of the biggest national holidays. In this article it describes the preparations people take to make their thanksgiving meals on Long Island, NY. It tells how people buy the items they need to make their meals at local markets. Doing this apparently strengthens the local economy by keeping the money in the community. It also responsible land development by supporting local farms and farmers. They buy all their items locally including the turkey. With the ingredients they all make very big really good thanksgiving feasts.

Indian Culture

Brockman, Joshua. "ARTS IN AMERICA; Weekend for Indian Artists to Get Their Business Done". August 22, 2002. March 1, 2009. <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F03E4DC163CF931A1575BC0A9649C8B63&scp=4&sq=Indian%20Culture&st=Search>.

In this article the author tells about how early Saturday morning, many collectors who had stayed up all night near the booths given to popular Indian artists that they like. Were waiting patiently and excitedly while they were holding their place in line at the Indian Market. Many people apparently wait up to a few days to go to the market. The Indian Market gets its name because it is a large market that sells Indian art outside in booths around many different city's plazas for two days, but it has become over the years a week long celebration of Indian culture with many museum exhibits, benefit auctions, gallery openings, music and a film festival.
The Indian Market, started in 1922, it was made by the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts. The market has up to 80,000 people who go and see the are. Some even spend millions of dollars on the art. Many of the Indian artists Profits from these few days, supports them for the rest of the year. This is just like the crafts fair we have in Edina during the summer except i think the Indian artists probably make a lot more money then the Edina ones.

Change

Swarns, L. Rachel. "First Lady Talks About Pollution and Climate Change at the E.P.A.". March 1, 2009. February 26, 2009. <http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/first-lady-talks-about-pollution-and-climate-change-at-the-epa/?scp=4&sq=change&st=cse>.

This article is about how Michelle Obama recently visited the Enviornmental Protection Agency or E.P.A. While she was there, she told many or the employees there viewing he speech that they were in the forefront of the Obama administration’s many great efforts to clean up polluted communities and fight against climate change or global warming. Michelle Obama also spoke about her husband’s economic stimulus package. She told the Employees that it would provide more money to help the agency do its work. Also it would include creating more energy-efficient buildings, making cars and trucks more fuel efficient and doubling the nation’s supply of renewable energy in the next three years. Michelle told about her husbands ideas and planned actions to change the environment for the better, just like how the Bush administration had also been trying to improve the climate during Bush's presidency but now its Obamas chance to do it and hopefully succeed.

Hope

Kristof, D. Nicholas. "Earthquake and Hope". May 22, 2008. February 18, 2009..

This is a article on how when their was an earthquake in china and the chinese always rush to where the earthquake is to help clear away ruble and donate to the victims and also help them. The chinese citizens are very hopeful and they always help as much as they can. Private chines donations were made and have raised over 500 million dollars to help the victims of the earthquake and to help fix what was damaged. Many citizens did many things to help especially in the media. Mr. Wen is a very big public speaker and he has gone to china many times to speak about earthquakes and offer hope for the people that have none. Speaking on these issues, blogging, and propaganda is illegal and has been banned by the police in china so what Mr. Wen does is illegal but he still does it so he can spread his hopefulness to the citizens of china  even though he is technically not supposed to. Spreading hope to the citizens of china about the earthquake is very honorable and kind of Mr. Wen

Gender Roles

Frosch, Dan. "Report Faults Treatment of Women Held at Immigration Centers". January 20, 2009. February 16, 2009.

There was a study done by the University of Arizona to tell us about the 300 women held at immigration detention centers in Arizona, and the problems they face such as the bad health care, and abusive mistreatment. This study was conducted from August 2007 to August 2008 by the Southwest Institute of Research on Women and the James E. Rogers College of law, which are both at the University of Arizona. The study was released on january 13th. Researchers in this study examined the conditions women went through in these detention centers. They are being held in these centers because they are in the process of deportation proceedings. There is estimated to be about 3,000 women being held in these centers nationwide. The study concluded that the people watching these women or the authorities were very aggressive towards the women when keeping them detained even though they rarely were at flight risk. The women experienced very bad hardships such as no care for them if they were pregnant, no treatment for cancer, or any other serious medical conditions. Also in some cases these women were put in jail with federal prisoners even though they do not belong there with criminals. Women are treated very badly in these centers and they are too weak to defend themselves most likely. Its horrible that they don't even get medical care. Even though they are technically not citizens they still shouldn't suffer because of us its cruel. 

Beliefs, values

Mishra, Pankaj. "How India Reconciles Hindu Values and Biotech".August 21, 2005.Feburary 15, 2009.<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/21/weekinreview/21mishra.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2>

American scientists and businessmen are jealous that religious and moral considerations do not seem to prevent Indian biotechnologists from doing certain types of reaserch. But the difference of ethical issues would have certainly appalled Gandhi, who is father of the Indian nation's ethics and values. Gandhi has accused modern medicine, along with much of modern sciences and technology, of being to violent and not good. He is a vegetarian and he believes in no violence no matter what. His beliefs are from traditional Indian beliefs, mainly Hinduism, which is also the faith of most indians including the scientists and buisnessmen. so they are technicly going against their faith when doing the experiments and reaserch they do today. Apparently most Christians, who believe that a embryo is a person, will probably find more support for their beliefs in Hindu texts than in the Bible. since many Hindus see the soul the true Self which they call atman as the spiritual part of peoples personalitys. After death , the soul soon finds a new temporary place to stay . So, for Hindus as much as for Catholics, life begins at conception. Old fashioned Indian medicine known as Ayurveda saysthat fetuses are alive when it is growing inside a pregnant women. This assumption is shown in "The Mahabharata," the Hindu epic about a war. But the religions and traditions we know as Hinduism are more diverse than Islam and Christianity. they have arguments that contradict eachother though. Indian thoughts of stem-cell research often offer this story as an early instance of human cloning through stem cells taken from human embryos. Other Asian scientists have also pressed myth and tradition into the service of modern science and beliefs.

Culture

In my APWH textbook i read about the Aztecs which were a naive american group of indigenous people located in mexico. Their culture is very different then mine considering their's had human sacrifice in it. The Aztec priests would cut open a live human and eat the heart. This was a common practice used at that time. Even though the priest ate the heart it was still considered a sacrifice towards a god. Also the Aztecs worshiped many different gods not just one. They sacrificed a lot to their gods including humans. 

Facing Difficulties

This article is about how justice Ruth Ginsburg had to get surgery at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center today for what was apparently and early stage of pancreatic cancer. Apparently during an annual check-up in late january where she had an CAT scan doctors discovered a approximately 1 centimeter tumor in the center of her pancreas. She will remain in the hospital for seven to ten days.  Ruth is facing many difficulties considering she has cancer but she is also overcoming her struggle considering she probably had surgery to remove the tumor and is now recovering from that surgery.
Liptak, Adam. "Ginsburg Has Surgery for Pancreatic Cancer." New York Times February 5 2009 5 Feb 2009 .

in the article superstitions about quake meet the web, irritating the Chinese authorities i read about how many people believe earthquakes can be predicted in china. They say that blogger write about how the most recent earthquake they experienced in china could of been prevented because there were many warning signs. These apparent warning signs were considered by many to be the ponds draining out of no where, the cows hiding against their enclosures, and the large amount of toads that showed up in the town the earthquake most affected. These blogger use their superstitions to determine when there will be an earthquake, even though scientists cant even predict an earthquake because there is no way to. Many of these blogger were even arrested for releasing false information about determining earthquakes. I think that people should rely on science and facts to predict natural disasters even though its not accurate rather then peoples own superstitions on the warning signs of natural disasters. Its really weird that people get arrested in china just for expressing their views on the warning signs.

Hillary Clintons works for Carter...

In this chapter Not only does Bill get an offer from Jimmy Carters staff but to work for his campaighn but so did Hillary except she would help run his campaighn in Indiana and Bill would help run it in Arkansas. Hillary explains how working with only men on his campaighn helped her learn alot from a whole new perspective. Carter won the election. Hillary and Bill had to move from the house theyd gotten married in to Little Rock soon after his win.

Hillary Clinton .....

In the book living history Hillary describes many parts of her life before running for president. In the most recent section of the book i read Hillary tells her readers about her trip to Arkansas, and what became of it. After Hillary and Bill returned from Europe they went on a trip to Bills hometown of Arkansas. There Hillary would meet his mother, but not his father because he had died in a car accident on the way to visit Virginia Bill's mother. After her husbands death Virgina moved to New Orleans to become an nurse anesthetist so she could make enough money to support her and her child. After getting her degree Virginia moved back to Hope, Arkansas to raise Bill. Virginia married again to an abusive alcoholic, Bill protected his mother and brother from his stepfather as much as he could. Later on Roger died from cancer. Later on Virginia remarried man named Jeff. When Hillary first met Virginia, Virginia did not like her at all, but Jeff encouraged Hillary and Bill's relationship even though Virginia did not approve, but later on Virginia came to accept their relationship because her and Hillary had one very important thing in common they apparently both loved Bill. Hillary later on left Bill so he could continue his teachings in Arkansas to work for the newly made Children's Defense Fund. There she did alot of work with juveniles and tried to help them because they were put in the same cells as mass murders and rapists even though they had only committed small crimes like stealing or trespassing, the organization led an effort to try to separate the juveniles from the other criminals, they also tried to provide them with more protection. Also at the CDF Hillary took surveys of disabled children with mental and physical disabilities who did not attend school. Hillary learned from these children that they really wanted to go to school but because of their disabilities they couldn't. Due to the survey congress passed the Education For All Handicapped Children Act this bill made getting an education accessible for all children with any kind of handicap. Bill later on ran for congress, he was also offered a job to join an impeachment staff, but Bill turned it down to run for congress. Since Bill did not take the job Hillary was the next one to be offered it, and she took it.

I think that its really nice of Bill to care about Hillary so much. The fact that they had just returned from Europe and hes already taking her on another trip to visit his family shows he really cares for her which is sweet. Its really sad that Bill never got to meet his real father and had to suffer because of his stepfather. I don't think that would be a good experience of having a father. Its sad that all three of Virginia's husbands died, she was a widow three times which is even more sad. I cant believe Jeff died that's horrible especially because he was the only real father Bill had ever known and he was so kind to everyone including Hillary. Its good that Virginia came to except Hillary though because obviously Bill and Hillary's relationship wouldn't work very well if Bill's mother didn't like her. Its really great that Hillary works for such great organizations. I agree that children who commit small crimes should defiantly not be placed in the same cells as major criminals. Its good that the CDF tried to change that so children could be separated from others and have more protection. Its also terrible that handicapped children couldn't attend school back then, its really good that congress passed that bill because i think everyone deserves an education no matter who they are or if they have problems or not. Running for congress is a really good start for a political career, i think it's really good that Bill did that, even though he turned down a great opportunity to do so. It's so funny that after bill turned down the job offer Hillary got the same one. That's a pretty weird coincidence. It's good she took the job though because that's a really good start for her career to.

On the Waterfront (Answer to blog Question.)

In the movie On The Waterfront the beliefs of the characters are very different when it comes to what the difference is between a traitor and a whistle blower, or a "stool pigeon" and an "informant on criminal activity" are. Terry Malloy one of the main characters is a former boxer, he works for Johnny Friendly who is the leader of the local union which is basically the mob. Terry is torn between telling the truth about Joeys murder for his new found love Edie and keeping it a secret for his own and his brother Charlies sake. In the beginning of the movie Terry covers for the mob because he believes at that moment what they did was the right thing, in a way by keeping this secret Terry was protecting himself, and his brother from getting in trouble because they were involved with joeys death. Also he felt that if Edie knew the truth she would never forgive him. Later on in the movie after Terry meets Edie and falls in love with her he decides he needs to tell the truth about Joeys death, even though he risks their relationship, he felt he needed to tell the truth for Edie's sake because it meant alot to her. Edie Doyle was Joey Doyle's sister in the movie. After Joey was killed she decided to enlist the help of the priest and investigate Joys murder herself because everyone was to scared to go against the mob, no one else was willing to help, even the police. Edie believed that the truth should be told no matter what it was. She convinced Terry to testify against Johnny Friendly in Joeys murder trial. When the mob found out about this they tried to get Charlie, Terry's brother to kill him. Like Edie the priest also believed that the truth should be told. Even though like Joey who had told on the mob wound up dead, anyone who told on them would also be in grave danger. Most of the characters in the movie wanted the truth and encouraged people to come clean, except the people in the mob. But most of the characters were to scared to go against the mob considering they knew what would happen to them if they did. But some brave characters like Terry told the truth and was in a way rewarded for it, but that truth caused him to loose alot including his own brother, who was killed because he refused to kill Terry. Even though the truth about Joey caused many losses there were also many gains. Truth beats lies and secrets.

I think a person is being a tattle tale when they tell on another for doing something very insignificant. Like if a person were to take your pencil and you then told the teacher. That would be pointless because you'll gain nothing from telling except maybe getting your pencil back and being made fun of by other students. When someone is truly speaking out against improper behavior it would be about something that really matter to you and hurts you alot. Like if someone makes fun of your race or religion. Compared to having your pencil stolen being made fun of for those things is very important because it could really hurt someone and should not be done. If something really matters to you then i think it should be reported, but if it matters to you and is really insignificant it should be dealt with by yourself because its pretty easy to do most of the time, or you could just ignore the problem completely.