"Benjamin Franklin Biography"

             Surprisingly, this week we only read one story. It was a part of Benjamin Franklin's autobiography. It was interesting, because it showed Franklin's priorities when he was seventeen years old. The overall autobiography is discussing his life, ideas and the goals he wants to achieve. The specific portion we read was when he was seventeen in 1723. The audience is the readers. I think, that teens can connect more with this specific part, because we are almost the same age. It shows us his perspective during that time. The subject of the story is moral perfection and self improvement. Benjamin Franklin's tone was informative, practical and descriptive. There are specific qualities a person has to do to achieve moral perfection.

           There were many categories in Franklin's chart. Every day, he would work on one, and if he improves, he moves on to the next category. One of the examples are silence and tranquility. He always started of his day with a question. "What am I going to achieve today", and at the end of the day answer the question. Even though, today, we live in a technological world and we do not emphasize on moral perfection, I think what he did was pretty incredible, because he tested his own abilities, and maybe if his environment did not interfere, he would have succeeded.

Heaven On Earth

           Are you curious about my title? I am not exaggerating. I have traveled to many places, throughout the 16 years of my life. The most amazing, astonishing, and impressive place I have ever visited is Beirut, Lebanon. Even though it does not sound like the "best vacation spot", for me it is home. It is beautiful, breath-taking and full of different cultures. There are many hotels, and even though they might not be five-star hotels, they truly connect you to the incredible culture that fills Beirut.

           I go to Beirut, almost every summer. It is not only the beauty that attracts me, yet my whole family lives there. Even though we live on different continents, we are still pretty close. Going every summer, creates an unbreakable bond, that I think will last a lifetime. When we go, I meet new people and I usually learn new things every day. The thing that I love the most, is that the people in Beirut are not materialistic and do not care about your physical appearance. All the people are nice and simple. I have made many friends there, and I truly love meeting people. They are all different from my friends here, that is why they interest me so much. Today, with the help of Facebook, from time to time I can talk to them.

           Lebanon is incredibly important to me. It connects me more to my parents, because I get to see there old houses and their lifestyles. Beirut is heaven on earth. Trust me, it is amazing, I repeat it is amazing!

This is one of my cousins

One of the most extravagant places in Lebanon.

"Speech in the Convention"

     This week in class, we emphasized on speeches. We read many types of speeches, including oratories and sermons. One that we read was "Speech in the Convention". This speech was given by Benjamin Franklin in 1787, at the Constitutional Convention. His purpose was to persuade the people into unity and agree to pass the Constitution.

      While giving this speech, Benjamin Franklin was eighty-one years old and he wanted the people to understand that the they have to agree to the Constitution for the right reasons, not just the money. Throughout the speech, his tone was calm, reasonable and logical. He explains how the people are the "instrument", and what they hear has to be echoed. Also, that the people have to be unanimous. This emphasized the importance of unity. The only way that it was going to work was if, the whole plan was well administered and enforced. Finally, Franklin explained that even though most intelligent people have good ideas, they are also prejudice and selfish. He believed that he had an almost perfect document.

Yummy In My Tummy

        I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream, but I scream more for Mochi. What is a Mochi? Mochi is a traditional Japanese ice cream with different natural flavors. By far, the flavor that I can not stop eating is definitely Strawberry. At the first bite, you would be confused, because it does not feel like ice cream, but once you bite deeper into the refreshing, cooling and tantalising Mochi, you will not be able to go back to "regular" ice cream again.

        If you are like me, a messy eater, Mochi is definitely your ice cream. It comes in small round pieces, lasts a few minutes before it melts and when it melts it only melts in your mouth. Yummy. The other thing  I like about Mochi, is the portion control and the convenience.

        I am always interested in finding exotic foods from different cultures. When I found this ice cream I was astonished by the shape and amazing taste. Not only did it tickle my taste buds, but it also connected me to the Japanese culture. This ice cream is delicious, tasty and has an unforgettable flavor. Trust me, after eating this sphere like, squishy and colorful ice cream, you will definitely become an advocate of Mochi.

"Insulin May Slow Alzheimers, Study Finds"

   

“Insulin May Slow Alzheimer’s, Study Finds", was written by Melisa Healy, in the Los Angeles Times, on September 13, 2011. Alzheimer’s disease is a neurological disorder that gradually deteriorates.  It was proven that if a patient inhaled a concentrated cloud of insulin through the nose, twice a day it appears to slow down or even in some cases reverse the symptoms of memory loss. This incredible study involved only 104 people. By inhaling the insulin it boosts the failing metabolism in important areas of the brain that could postpone or perhaps overturn the progression of this horrible disorder, in its early stages.  Insulin is a popular metabolic hormone, best known in treating diabetes.  After many studies, it was concluded that people with diabetes and pre-diabetes have a higher risk of Alzheimer’s.

Researchers from the Veterans Administration’s Puget Sound Health Care System in Washington decided to test the insulin on people without diabetes who had been diagnosed with mild Alzheimer’s. The study participants were separated into three groups: 36 of them inhaled 20 milligrams of insulin twice a day for four months, 38 got 40 mg twice a day, and 30 were given a saline solution. After two months of the treatment, the participants that were treated with 20 mg of insulin had better performance on a memory test. Even after two months without the insulin treatment, the gains persisted. I think this article is extremely important, because it shows the progress and importance of science and medicine. An estimated 5.4 million Americans are believed to have Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s is a horrible disorder which can ruin someone’s life making them loose all their memories. This study will definitely help patients with Alzheimer’s and hopefully science will be able to conduct much more successful studies to improve the lives of many people with grave and terminal diseases.

"Mission Update"

      Throughout this week, we read the blog "Mission Update." The speaker of this blog is Steven Squyres. He is blogging about his experiences and excitement of the landing of Opportunity. The blog  is in 2006, during the landing on Mars. Clearly, the audience of this story is the world. Anyone on the Internet can be interested and read his blog. His whole purpose was to inform and to attract the audience's attention. The subject of the blog is the life on Mars, and the landing of Opportunity. Finally, throughout the entire blog his tone was excitement.

      The overall idea of this blog was to show Squyres's enthusiasm about the landing of Opportunity. Writing about his emotions about the events that occurred  must have been an amazing experience, especially because he was in space. We are extremely lucky, to have read this blog, because we saw the perspective of Squyres and how exciting it really is to be in space.  The most fascinating fact, was when the speaker was explaining the view of Mars. He was awestruck. This makes the reader want to go online and see some amazing pictures of Mars.

Mars

"Russian Plane Crash Highlights Air Travel Safety Issues"

  

             The “Russian Plane Crash Highlights Air Travel Safety Issues” article was written in The Los Angeles Times, by Sergei L. Loiko, on September 8, 2011(reporting from Moscow). Hockey is an incredibly important sport in Russia, just like football is an essential sport in America. On Wednesday, a premier Kontinental Hockey League team’s jet crashed into the Volga River shortly after takeoff. Even though Russia is powerful, its weakness is the substandard quality and safety of air travel. Aircrafts are a necessity for the economy to flourish. The Yakovlev-42 jet crash killed forty-three people, thirty-five of them being players, coaches and team officials, including eight crew members. Sadly, only one player and flight engineer survived, but with serious injuries. Many athletes passed away, including former NHL player Brad McCrimmon, who had just signed a contract to coach Lokomotiv after working as an assistant coach. The game was planned for Thursday and it was going to be his first time coaching as the head coach. The Kontinental hockey League was organized and sponsored by Russia. This crash may cause a huge damage in the league’s reputation.

After many investigations, it has been concluded that the jet crashed because of mechanical malfunction and human errors. Coincidently, this was not the only Russian aircraft that has crashed. In June, Tupolev-134 crashed on the highway trying to land. Forty-four people died.

This article is extremely important, because it informs people about the dangers of the Russian aircrafts. I never knew that the Russian airplanes are old, inefficient and that the pilots are not properly trained to save the airplane during an emergency. It is truly unsafe and dangerous to be on one of those aircrafts. It would be really unfortunate to lose more lives.  This article really caught my attention, because innocent lives were lost due to the lack of experience. After being introduced to this horrible news, I do not think I will ever travel in a Russian airplane. One of the aviation experts expressed his professional opinion stating, "I hate to say it, but the situation is so bad that planes will continue to crash.”

"A Journey Through Texas"

Throughout this week we read many stories.  In “A Journey Through Texas”, the speaker, Cabeza De Vaca writes about his journey in 1528, visiting various tribes in Texas. The purpose of this story was to inform the reader about the culture, lifestyle and customs of the diverse tribes. The subject of this story is exploration and knowledge. He was writing to the Spanish King and Queen, hoping that if he informed them about the tribes, he would be paid much more.  The tone changes throughout the story.   In the beginning it is informative and descriptive. Then it shows anger. Finally at the end of the story, the tone changes to happy.

While The Spanish group were in the first tribe, they acted mad and instilled fear in the people. Then, they started moving north, exploring the unique tribes and ideologies. The second tribe they visited was filled with naked people, who had nothing significant to give.  The group decided to continue their journey towards the north. They endured seventeen days without food.  Following their harsh journey, they found a friendly tribe, between two mountains.  The tribe lived in abounds, which were permanent huts. The people were extremely helpful and the Spanish group learned many of their customs. Cabeza De Vaca had finally encountered a tribe who had an abundance of maize. He had accomplished their goal.  

My Favorite Book

I have read many books throughout my school years. Out of all those books my favorite one was the Kite Runner. The narrator, Amir remembers an event that happened twenty-six years before. He was still a boy in Afghanistan. Before that event he had a very nice home in Kabul with his father. They had two servants. Ali and his son Hassan. Amir and Hassan were best friends. Everything in Amir's life was perfect, until Afghanistan's king was overthrown. After that, many horrible events occurred, but Amir did not treat Hassan as a friend anymore, yet only a servant. Amir moves to America and looses touch with Hassan, but when Amir finds out that Hassan died, he came back to Afghanistan. Rahim Khan told him the truth about his family. Hassan was truly his brother. That was not the only news he was told, he was also going to take care of  Hassan’s son Zohrab. After overcoming many difficulties to find Zohrab, Amir took him to America . Zohrab was traumatized from all the humiliation he was put through. He was extremely sad.He had lost his family. Amir wanted to make him happy and he knew what a great kite runner Hassan was. When Amir flew the kite, Zohrab smiled, reassuring him that everything would slowly get better. My favorite quote from the book was “For you, a thousand times over." Hassan had told Amir this when they were just little boys. It was ironic because, after twenty-six years, Amir was saying this specific saying to Hassan's son. He was trying to be like Hassan. He was ready to be Zohrab's father. This is my favorite book, because it shows how friends do betray each other, but at the end, they do not have to apologize. Their actions speak for themselves. I am not saying that it is right to lie or betray your friend, but if it does happen, try to make it up in a different way. I also really love how Amir and Hassan had a brotherly relationship in the beginning of the story. They portrayed what true friendship meanss. Even though Amir was a coward, Hassan was a loyal friend. I take him as an example, and try to be like him. Always loyal and honest.