Blog #3 Exit Here

i finally found out what happen in Hawaii. I wasn't expecting that. I liked the book a lot since it took place in Iowa and it wasn't a true storie. The book just showed that things change all the time. It also showed how much drugs can take control of everything and everybody you know in a split second. The kids father wanted him to follow in his steps an go to USC the kid didn't want to because he didn't want to live up to his father expectations he did what he wanted to do. i thought that was pretty awesome. i enjoyed the book a lot some parts were dry but in the end it i just wanted to know what happen in Hawaii so i kept reading it and i did find out in the end. if you wanna know what happen in Hawaii pick up the book and i'll promise you will never want to put it down.

Blog #3

The end of A Season of Miracles was really good. Just walking on the beach and talking to your friend about anything is satisfying. I could pictured this in a movie. I like walking on a beach. I never seen the movie of this book and I will now since I read this book. The questions that I would ask the author are did you every experience little league like in the book? Because I like baseball stories and like to know peoples reasons of writing books.

Surrender

When it came down to the end of the book, I was not satisfied. Don't get me wrong, the book was really REALLY well written. There were times when I thought to my self, "Wow, this lady really knows how to use the English Dictionary to her advantage." I think that is why I kept reading this book. It was very well wrote. IF I actually got the chance to meet Sonya Hartnett, I think the one thing I would ask her would be, why did you write in the style you did. Why did you have it as one chapter is one of the main characters point of view, and then the next chapter would be the next main character. Overall, I would recommend this book to someone else, to someone who is a very skilled reader, and understands some large words. Very well written Sonya, very well.

Post #3 please don't tell

My book was a exciting book, I loved it!! The beginning was a little slow, towards like the 3rd chapter it started to get really good! What made me really mad is Sophie the girl in my book waited a year to see this guy that she goes on vacation with every year, and had known him since she was little. Well he kissed her their vacation on the beach... This year was suppose to be different because she thought they had feelings for each other well turns out he brought his girlfriend on vacation with him and told Sophie that he thinks of her as a sister... I'm excuse me what u kissed her and then told her that he thinks if her as a sister... Excuse me  like no that made me so mad..!!!!
My questions to the author would be
Why isn't there a second book, to tell me what happens between Ethan and Sophie?
Overall it was a great book and I would totally read it again and I recommend to all the women that enjoy the romance novels :)

Do Hard Things... but how? That is exactly how the book ends. Through out the whole book the authors show examples of teens and young adults doing hard thing in their lives. The authors end the book in a very satisfying way, they explain the plan of action needed to do hard things.

1. Identify what you need to be honest about and to whom.

2. Decide what negative patterns or actions need to end.

3. Recognize people who can help you get to where you want to be and connect with them.

4.Figure out one or two key things step that, once taken, will back going back a lot harder then going forward.

5. Expect success.

These 5 steps are just the starting points on the road to overcoming low expectations the authors explain.

The only question that I want to ask the authors is how did they come up with this stuff. This book is a good challenging read. I would recommend it to anyone who want to make a difference in the world but just cant figure out where to start. 

1/3 book

Sue is her name. She's the mother of Veda her baby girl that has been kidnapped along with her nanny Marilyn. A man keeps calling her phone, giving her directions and she must do what she is told or else she'll be punished. She picks up a young man who is knows more then what she does. Sue doesn't take any chances on risking losing her daughter. While the cold wind whistled, her cheeks turned red, her hands were cold from digging in the dirt. As she walks to the car she sees that there's someone in the car. It's Marilyn, she has been beaten and was bleeding heavily from the head. She had been struck there with a blunt object. On the corpse there's a letter on her stomach it has "punished" written on it. Talk about jumping out of your skin. Sue continues to drive to the destinations she was instructed to do.

Blog post #3

Being a SEAL is not as glorified as it sounds. After Wasdin escaped death multiple times in Somali and Mogadishu he struggled to live life as a normal person but soon found something he was good at and would support his family. After reading this book I now view military men differently and SEALS are heroes to the extreme , who often endure the most challenging missions. But after all of Wasdins time and stories that he shared during his tours in Iran,Somali, and Mogadishu I began to form an opinion against the government about Veterans. In many cases Veterans struggle after wars,so why is it that the government does not do more financially for higher ranking and classified level SEALS. In my opinion a decorated and honorable SEAL should have no worries financially as a Veteran , because they have paid their dues and put their lives on the line for their country to the fullest. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and his personal life stories and I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys war stories or simply just like action!

blog post #3 -Combat Trauma

Injured mentally, physically, and emotionally these are all defects of being in combat.  After reading this book by James D. Johnson, I not only have I learned what soldiers go through, I feel like in most of the stories I was there and could picture what they were going through.  This book is one of the best books I have ever read and would recommend this to anyone that is as interested as I was.  It talks about family, war, what the soldiers did after combat, and the affects they experienced because of combat.

Blog #3 My Life Next Door

The ending to my book was very good. The book was kind of slow through out the middle but then when I finally found out what the secret was and what Samantha's mom did to the Garret family I was appalled! I wasn't surprised about what her mom did only because she is somewhat of a selfish person because she is in politics and I feel like when you are in a campaign it can make you very competitive and selfish. I love how Samantha finally stood up for herself and the Garret family because her mom shouldn't be able to tell her whom she can and cannot love or talk to. 

**SPOILER ALERT**

It was very sad finding out that her mom was the one that ran over Jase Garrets parents, while Sam was in the back seat sleeping and later on was the reason Sam broke up with him for a little while because she new the truth. I think another reason it was hard for her to tell was because the Garrets don't have health insurance and her mom would definitely be paying the price for all of their medical bills. She didn't want to hurt her mom or Jase by telling the truth, but it was breaking her down mentally and physically. She lost a lot of weight and finally her friend Tim confronted her about it. I just can't believe her mom would hit them and then run away from the scene but then again it could've really hurt her career in politics. So will her mother fess up and take responsibility for what she did? I will leave you with that question.

My question to the author would be why and how could you make someone so evil?! But it was definitely a good read. :)

speechless part three

        In the direction the story line was heading I could predict that something was going to happen between Sam and Chelsea at the end of the book. But there was a particular special surprise at the school dance, that I was not expecting to be there. Noah, the guy that got beat up because he was gay. Chelsea, vow of silent broke when she saw Lowell the popular guy bullying Garrett. She couldn't control herself, she had to do something. Lowell was the very first person she had talked to since she took the vow of silent, since the night of the party. Chelsea friends and especially her parents were very happy that she was finally talking again.

                                    "Hate is easy, but love takes courage" ~Noah

         I wonder how she went about writing this book? Was is based on a experience she endured or did it happen to one of her friends. I just wanna know how and where she came up with this story line.

My Life Next Door

One of the main characters in my book would be Jase Garrett. They are everything Samantha Reeds family isn't. The Garrett family is loud, messy, unorganized, carefree and affectionate. Samanthas' mother hates that they are so messy, she finds it unflattering and disgusting. When Jase and Samantha meet she makes it very awkward because Jase knows she has been watching him from her rooftop, but he doesn't mind. He thinks this is adorable. So, once Samantha really gets to know Jase and his family she doesn't mind how loud and obnoxious they are and never really cared when they were. She finds out Jase is a very loving and affectionate guy. He loves football, his parents have a plan for him to go to college but he was a fast muscle car. I love Jase as a character, it makes me want a boyfriend like himself, and I think as I get more and more into the book I will discover more about him. I think his actions about trying to date Samantha are adorable and they are such a cute couple. Jase doesn't remind me of any characters because most guys aren't as compassionate towards a girl and Jase really is.

Do Hard Things. The authors, Alex and Brett Harris, list five kinds of hard things. The first two are things that are outside of your comfort zone, and things that go beyond what is expected or required of you. These two ideas are a challenge to our young culture. Brett and Alex use many examples to explain these two ideas. They say that if people, not just young people, want to better themselves, then they always push themselves to do more. I agree with this statement, we need to strive to do our best and go beyond what is expected of us. There is so much that people can do if only they would go out and do it.

blog post #2- Combat Trauma

Throughout the book "Combat Trauma", there is not a specific character that is focused on, in this book they focus more on multiple points of view of different soldiers that have experienced different things.  Some people who talk about their trauma they go through every day are John Adame: who was a radio operator in E/3/60th Infantry, Terry Gander: who served as a rifleman in B/3/60th Infantry, John Iannucci: who served as a rifleman in B/3/60th Infantry, James D. Johnson: who spent 20 years in the army, and then was a therapist/pastoral counselor for fifteen years, and so much more.
These combat veterans served for our country and experience flashbacks everyday of what they consider "hell".  They explain their stories of what they saw, what they did, and how they survived.  They all talk about their stories of combat and what they tried to do to keep their minds off of what they witnessed.  They also talk about why they retired from their career after the war, a phrase they used a lot in this section was "did what I could until I blew up".  Which means they accomplished what they could before they couldn't deal with the combat trauma anymore, everything kept on reminding them of war and would go back to the day that has been kept in their minds for 40+ years and "blow up".

Speechless Part two

    Chelsea, Who doesn't know Chelsea she's POPULAR in her school everyone at least knows of her... NOW the entire school body know her for betraying her so called "friends". Chelsea no longer has popular friends because she turned in Kristin boyfriend and another guy from Chelsea school for beating up this kid, Noah for being gay. Now everyone knows her as betraying the populars and all of the rumors the group is making about Chelsea. Ever since that night Chelsea has taken a vow of silents.
     Are Chelsea's action reasonable? yes, she is finally finding her way in life. With the help of her new real friends Sam and Asha, who really do care about her. With Chelsea taking a vow of silents she is able to get a handle on her homework and actually is starting to pass her classes, she is thinking of others. She is filtering everything that she is thinks about and it helps her to come to an understanding.
      Chelsea has to face the POPULAR students everyday at school. The first week they egged her car, she has dealt with verbal abuse. Chelsea's NEW friends Asha and Sam work with Noah and his partner which makes Chelsea feel very uneasy, she doesn't know how react around him.
     I admire Chelsea for her vow of silent, she has gone through a lot with her dad losing his job, and her with the problems at school. Teens aren't always the nicest. I really think this is the best thing for her.

Human Trafficking by Becca and Chambree

*Warning some material may be disturbing.

http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-human-trafficking

http://www.humantraffickingsearch.net/

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2011/05/sex-trafficking-201105

http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2012/192360.htm

http://wqad.com/2013/10/15/iowa-survivor-of-human-trafficking-speaks-out/

http://www.ted.com/talks/sunitha_krishnan_tedindia.html

http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/fs/2013/211624.htm

http://www.interpol.int/Crime-areas/Trafficking-in-human-beings/Types-of-human-trafficking

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/11/05/teen-sex-trafficking-victims-share-stories-with-cbs2kcal9s-melanie-woodrow/

http://stophumantraffickingny.wordpress.com/a-survivors-story/

My Life Next Door

I am reading My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick. The book so far is pretty good. I am about half way through it so I am getting to know the characters a little more. I was immediately engaged in the book because when I read the back of the book it says something happens and either Samanthas family will save her or her boyfriends. So, I thought that was very interesting. I just really want to know what is going to happen, so when I start reading I can't put the book down  :) Samantha is the main character in the book along with her boyfriend Jase. They are next door neighbors and her mom hates them. Her mom is a neat freak and Jases family is far from neat freaks. His parents have a large family, so cleaning is a hassle to them and is uncommon. If Samanthas mom ever found out that they were dating or hanging out during late hours, I am wondering what would happen? Samanthas mom is also dating a really odd guy, so it'll be interesting to see what happens with him...

House of Sand and Fog

I picked this book, and expected it to be good. Why? Because Oprah said it was an amazing book, and kind of peaked my interest when I read about the families back ground. They came from Iran, and my dad's adoptive family came from Iran. They bought a house, and when I was 5, my father bought a house on a "spur of the moment" kind of thing. So I figured this book would be a good one, and I could emotionally connect to this book. Well I was wrong. This book has been draggggggging on, and it's not peaking my interest one bit.
While reading, I read, just to get the 1/3rd assignment done. I am making no emotional connections to this book, and I just want to throw it at the window in my room, and hope it's open! But I don't want to risk breaking my window. It's definitely a book that I wouldn't recommend if you have a mind like a squirrel.

So far in A Season of Miracles is about these kids play little league baseball. They get in third place every year. So this kids on the team found this other kids that hits line drive all the time. He is trying to get him on the team so that they can be in first place this year. The hard thing about this is he is trying to hind this kid from the other teams. I can't wait to find out what happens next.

When reading this it remineds me when I played little league when I was a kid. It was fun, and I enjoy reading this book because of that. I thought this book is well writen and the story is great. I just want to keep reading this book. I miss playing little league and I feel that I am in little leauge again when reading this book.

Seal Team Six 1/3

In my book I Am A Seal Team Six Warrior, while reading I am rushed with a bunch of different emotions. With battles being highly detailed and life obstacles being overcame it really caught my eye how organized and well put together the events are. Wasdin uses the power of words to give people an amazing and almost crystal clear idea of how things went in the military. Being pulled deeply into battles and training stories I sometimes forgot that i was reading. Feeling completely engaged I would have to set timers while reading and every time I finished I was motivated to go to the gym and physically accomplish something.

A couple of chapters into this book i began to notice that he would take us forward but still return to past events and describe events that occurred during training and things that happened in the lives of other SEALS. But i still feel i have yet to come across the best mission or battle in this book. I can't wait to finish this book,but when i do be on the look out for the next blog!

Combat Trauma 1/3 Summary

In my book "Combat Trauma" so far I love everything about it.  Learning about how people that were in combat in the 1800's have the same trauma as the people ion the war today.  After reading the first chapter the book caught my eye and pulled me in until I found myself reading until 2:00 in the morning and not realizing it.  Every page made me want to read more and more until i could not keep my eyes open anymore.

Throughout the first couple of chapters it has interviewed veterans that have experienced war and have been out of war for 40 years.  It talks about how veterans cope with their trauma and what the experience on a day to day occurrence.  Some veterans life to talk about what they saw during combat and others hold it in until they die and nobody actually knows how they feel.  I cannot wait until I have more free time and finish the book.

In my book so far, a mother gets a call from a stranger saying he kidnapped her daughter. He threatens to kill her daughter if she doesn't follow his rules of the game. If she calls the police, or anything her daughter will be dead. It's a race against time. It was hard for me to get into the book, but after awhile it got interesting and I'd like to know what happens in the end.

Exit Here

So far my book has been about this kid who went to Hawaii and he didnt talk to any of his friends from back home. he didnt return there calls or anything. Something bad happen down there and he dont talk about what happened. So he comes back home and everyone is mad that he stop talking to them. So now he has seen how much his friends have changed what the drugs did to them. But he gets caught up doing drugs again an he got back with his girlfriend that he left. And now the question is what happend in Hawaii

A call for action. A call to not only except and meet, but to exceed the low expectation our culture has placed on us. These word describe "Do Hard Things" in a nutshell. This book is not only an exciting read but challenging one as well. Sure the words and idea are easy to understand but the real challenge of this book is the execution of these ideas. The book focuses on the low expectations our culture has put on young people. It challenges young people to brake through the easy limitations and excuses our culture places on us and expects us to do.

I really like this book. It brings old common ideas I've heard over the years into new light. I feel excited and empowered as I read Do Hard Things. I can not wait to finish this book and read the second one in the series.

Speechless By: Hannah Harrington

Speechless, is just a few words that come to my mind while i'm reading this book. Not because there is nothing to say about it, by no means is that the case...

 This girl (Chelsea) has a BIG mouth, I don't mean size, I mean that she doesn't keep anything to herself, she has no filter. She soon found out that her "big mouth" can get her in to a lot of trouble and having her close friends turn against her. Since Chelsea knew her mouth got her in this mess the first place she decided to take a vow of silents. (like the monks). She was going to be absolutely silent... She convinced herself that no one would want to hear her side of the story anyway... But how does she know, she doesn't.

I was not expecting this book to be filled with drama. But I was engaged right when I started his book. "keeping secrets isn't my specialty. It never has been, ever since kindergarten when I found out Becky Swanson had a crush on Tommy Barnes... Managed to circulate that fact within our fifteen minute recess".(1)
Reading this book makes me think how I would react in her situation, it would be hard to deal with, it's confusing, why she wouldn't talk and it's kind of  distributing all at the same time.  It makes me want to keep reading to find out what will happen next with Chelsea.

Please don't tell

I actually like the book so far. It started out really good and I didn't have any problems getting into the book at first. The more I started reading more I started to hate one of the guys in my book, his name is peter and he kissed Sophie the last summer they saw each other on there family vacation. When Sophie showed up for this years vacation she had no idea peter was bring a girlfriend and his cousin Ethan. Honestly I think peter should have told Sophie that he was bringing a girl because she has waited a whole year for him because of the kiss that they had on the beach last vacation. I want to kept reading to find out more and see if peter or Ethan is right for Sophie!!!! Can't wait:) !!!!

I Am A Seal Team Six Warrior

I Am A Seal Team Six Warrior, to me seems like  a book about Howard E. Wasdin and his road to becoming a SEAL. It is a national bestseller and from a preview of the book I feel  as if it won't disappoint . I feel that in this book will be very detailed battles and it will really make you visualize what being a SEAL is really like. The road for Wasdin is long but not certain as he overcomes many obstacles in his life in order to become the best.  The cover of this book reminds me of Call of Duty, so i figured it would be action packed seeing that there is a very detailed picture of a soldier on the cover with an assault rifle.

Combat Trauma By James D. Johnson

Nightmares every night, depression, anger, and flashbacks about combat, these are the emotions and problems former soldiers face on a day to day life.  In the first couple of pages of the book a former soldier is having a nightmare about being shot in combat and not being able to do, not being able to scream for help, and not being able to move to safety.  It talks about how real the gunshots sound and how real the blood feels rolling down his side and when he feels like his life is over he wakes up in his own bed next to his wife.  He still doesn't know weather or not he is dead or it was just a bad dream.

Chasing the Dead

The reason I chose this book is because I love reading mysteries, and suspense stories. This book is about a mother who goes out of her way to save her daughter that has been kidnapped. The book is full of suspense and anyone who loves mysteries and thrill books I highly recommend this book. I think that the mom is being lied about her daughter being safe and that she's just going in a circle.

Mckennas book

My Life Next Door

This book is about a girl named Samantha and her mom is a crazy neat freak and she has very high expectations for Samantha. Next door lives a very odd family, the Garretts', where it's loud all the time because they have a large family. Samantha's mom tells her to stay away from them, what will Samantha choose? She is suddenly faced with a huge decision... Which family will save her?

speechless

the book picked was speechless. I picked this because somebody is going to revel there the truth about them selves. That they have never talked about. She learns the hard way that she need to stop talking about other people.

House of Sand and Fog

House of Sand and Fog, to me looks like a very mysterious book. It is a foggy cover, and a far middle of no where farm house. It is an Oprah's Book Club book, so that must mean it's good! While flipping threw the pages, and reading the back cover, I think this book is going to be about a married man who falls in love with his mistress, and then there is a tragedy of some sort. The cover didn't inform me what it is going to be about, but the way that they make it seem, it is a huge tragedy.

Exit Here by Jason Myers

i think this book is going to be about drugs an partying but something will happen that will change things with a group of people. the reason i choose this book is because one of my friends told me to read it and said ill probably like it shes mostly right about my book choices.

The book i am picking is called Please Don't Tell. The reason why i picked this book was because i like reading love mysteries. This book is about a girl named Sophie, and her family takes a trip every year with another family that has a son named Peter. Sophie and Peter have been best friends for along time, and on there family trip this year Sophie is going to tell Peter that she wants to become more then friends. Well things change when Peter brings his Girlfriend from college with him, and Sophie ends up   going island hopping with Peters cousin Ethan. Sophie's fait ends up changing after the long day on the island with Ethan.

The book I am going to read is Do Hard Things. The reason why I decided to read this book is because when I was in high school, one of my teachers recommended this book to me and i never got the chance to read it. After reading the back i think this book is going to be about how our generation is underestimated.

The book I picked is A Season of Miracles. The reason why I picked this book is because I like baseball and that it looks like a great story. After reading the back of the book I think that this book is going to be about a kid that plays little league baseball and it changed his life.

Evil out weights Good

What I've learned about genocide I believe that evil out weights good. Hitler, Khmer Rouge, and Cambodia.         Hitler who ruled Germany had soldiers storming through the streets of Germany and take every Jewish person to be taken from there homes and forced onto cramped train carts. After their long journey they entered a concentration camp. The men who were young, and strong and could handle hard labor were kept, while the elderly, women, babies, and children were misled by soldiers telling them they were getting showers but they were taken to a gas chamber where over 11 million people were killed. The strong men worked for days. They had little food to eat, they were worked like dogs and everyday their lives were in danger. The soldiers could kill you without any reason, and they made the people that were going to be killed dig their own graves. Talk about having no soul or care for another human being.
         The Khmer Rouge a group that took over Cambodia killed over 1,386,734 innocent people, and many more were forced into work camps, the children became mindless zombies obeying every law. People who were suspected of being part of the government were executed. Children, were set out to kill and watch over the workers.
             Jim Jones someone who had a certain charismatic to him led people to drink poison because he promised that they'd be reborn with a new profound life. He had people leave their homes and move down to this village he had and he made them work, but he always had food and shelter for them. He had the voice that everyone wanted to hear. The people didn't think for themselves, and he made these people drink poison, but when he asked his followers to do so, some refused to do it. So the doctors there held them down and gave them a shot in the arm to spread the virus. He told his followers that if they truly believed that what he says is true then they shouldn't listen to anyone else.

So in conclusion  evil weighs out good in situations and it should be the other way around but it's how the world is, but we should change that by not having history repeat itself but the only way to change the world is by changing what we do in times like these.

Evil Outweighs Good

Terryon Hudley

Genocide paper

            An estimated eleven million people were killed. Six million of these people were Jews. 1.1 million of these people were children. So where is the line that separates’ good and evil? The bad outweighs the good in a lot of situations. Pure evil orchestrated the Holocaust and other genocides dating from WWII to present day. It is very easy to be evil and do wrong; however, it is amazingly challenging to do the right thing and be a hero.

            While reading the book and researching other genocides, I realized that evil is more persuasive than good. This also tests religious views as it tested Elies’ when he asked “Where is god now?” By asking this seems like he wonders how could someone sit back and watch a little boy be hanged. How is that godly? This shows that evil outweighs good seeing how easy it to watch or participate in evil rather than stand up and fight against them. It took long enough time for eleven million people to die before someone could come save the Jewish race. Elie also followed his question about god with and answer “Here he is hanging there on the gallows.” He says this because he just saw a young boy being hanged for working against the Nazis. This just backs up the conclusion I have come to that evil outweighs good.

            Currently, in today’s age there still very bad doings and inhumane killings. Just recently a gunmen opened fire on college students; at least forty of them died. There is no escaping evil. This man had an option to pull the trigger. Why did he not pull it? The temptation and possibly the enjoyment of evil doings over powered his good will. This was the third attack on schools since June. All of this because you believe western education is a sin… While reading this article I wondered what propaganda le a group of people to do these things.

            Overall, I would say that evil pans out to be way more persuading than good because all of these occurrences have been nothing but evil. It is rare that you hear about heroes on the news but every single day there is a new murder. Not completely giving up on people I just don’t understand. Why is evil more enticing than good to a lot of people? Why are there more murders than rescues?  Why is good always being outweighed by evil?

Evil Outweighs Good

Keaton Segebart

Professor Kepros

College Reading

30 September 2013

The Terrible Evil

            From what I have learned about genocide I personally believe that evil outweighs good. After reading night and darkness and watching the killing fields there is no doubt in my mind that evil by far outweighs good. No one in their right mind could kill that many people if they were good.

            As the psychologist said in the most recent Ted video we viewed “the world is, was, and always will be full of evil. Evil is the exercise of power. While watching this clip I saw pictures. Pictures, might I add, that should have never been taken. These things that happened in these pictures should have never happened and is a perfect example of evil outweighing good. The chain of command in that situation prevailed over the younger personnel would listen and obey their superiors.

            Genocide. What exactly is genocide? "Genocide," a term used to describe violence against members of a national, ethnical, racial or religious group with the intent to destroy the entire group, came into general usage only after World War II, when the full extent of the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime against the Jews of Europe during that conflict became known (www.history.com/topics/what-is-genocide). Hitler’s attempt to wipe out the Jewish population was an ultimate failure when the Allied Nations liberated the concentration camps. This is another prime example of how evil outweighs good.

            After rereading Children of Cambodia I came across two sentences that caught my eye. “My dear friend Sakon was married to a handicapped Khmer Rouge veteran against her will. He was mentally disturbed and also suffered from tetanus. (Children of Cambodia)”. These two mere sentences are showing that people were forced to do things they didn’t want to do. The story goes on to say that Sakon’s husband suffers nightmares of his crimes and killings. And then he beat her. In the end he ended up killing her by stabbing her to death.

“Schools were turned into Khmer Rouge headquarters where people were interrogated, tortured, killed, and buried. School yards were turned into killing fields (Children of Cambodia).” This caught my eye because the Khmer Rouge took over schools, which is a negative deal because children were unable to get an education. Instead the Khmer Rouge killed more innocent people. This is another prime example of evil overtaking good.

When it was all said and done with an old man stated "It takes a river of ink to write our stories.(Children of Cambodia)" That tells me that they went through a lot and have a lot to tell us. It tells me that the genocide was bad and should have never happened. Evil outweighs good in so many different ways. These are just a few that I have stated. From the Hitler era to Cambodia to now evil outweighs good. It always has and always will. 

Evil outweighs good..

Allie Murphy

Genocide

College Reading

9/30/13

Genocide: Good vs Evil

The systematic and widespread extermination or attempted extermination of an entire national, racial, religious, or ethnic group. Night, This Killing Fields, Elie/Oraph interview, and TED they all tell different stories about genocide and how good and evil challenge each other in each story. All four of them are examples of evil but in every story there is good also.

            What I have learned from watching/reading: The Killing Fields, Elie/Oprah interview, reading the book Night, and watching TED is that it can go both ways with evil outweighs good or good outweighs evil. On the TED show, a person is asked questions, and for every question they get wrong, a voltage of electricity shocks them. The person that controls the amount of voltage that shocks the person is told that no matter how high the voltage and the outcome of the shocking, they will not be held accountable for what happens to the victim. They could be hurt really bad or end up dead without getting into trouble for causing it.

 In one scenario on the TED Show, evil overweighs good because a person could end up killing an innocent citizen without having to feel guilty, because they know that there are no consequences for their actions. In a different scenario, a man falls onto the tracks of a subway as it is headed his way. A man that sees him has his children with him. He puts them to the side and goes to lay on top of the man in the middle of the tracks, preventing him from being hit. The good overweighs the bad in this case because the man risked his life for another person, even though his children were there waiting for him and watching this happen.

            Elie Wiesel wrote a personal novel, Night. In this book he talks about his journey in life living through the holocaust, and the many struggles between good and evil that he was faced with. At Buna, a concentration work camp, Elie witnessed a boy getting hung for disgracing the SS officers. At this point Elie started to lose his faith. “ For God’s sake, where is God? Where He is? This is where—hanging here from this gallows…That night, the soup tasted of corpses.” Elie used to be a strong believer in God and faith, but he let the evil outweigh the good and lost all hope in any higher power. To Elie it seemed that there would never be a chance for good to find and rescue him.

            Even though Elie’s journey was filled with evil and hardships, he started out with a strong religious foundation. He had a lot of faith and a good outlook on life. He believed that God would give him the strength to make it through each day. “I pray to the God within me for the strength to ask Him the real questions”. Elie listens to God for directions on where to go and to guide him through life. Good outweighs bad because Elie has hope and is optimistic about the life ahead of him, even though he did not know at the time what he would be facing.

Last year Elie did an interview with Oprah at the main gates of one the concentration camps, Auschwitz, in Germany. At Auschwitz Elie and Oprah looked at a room in the museum that had children’s clothes and suitcases. Oprah asked if many of the babies lived and Elie replied, “ They had no chance. No”. This shows that Evil took over because the women and babies in Auschwitz didn’t survive at all. Babies were killed and since many women never left the sides of their children, they too were murdered.

In the movie The Killing Fields, The Khmer Rouge people were formed to be the leaders of Cambodia. They turned on their own people and turned fields into places where they made their people slaves for working. If they didn’t work, they were shot, killed, and dumped in ditches within the fields where millions of other innocent Cambodians were gathered. Since Cambodia was bombed, the Khmer Rouge thought they were headed down an endless path and took over the country. They evacuated over 2 million people in the country and forced them to walk to the country-side where they were forced to work and killed.

In all the stories that we have looked at evil outweighs good because in each story the victims would try to find good but because of the situations the evil made them lose hope for any good. In Night by Elie Wiesel he thought there was good in the beginning because he had a lot of faith but after he left his home for the holocaust that turned very quickly to evil outweighs good. In the show TED the people that were doing the shocking to the victim did not have any consequences so they would go ahead and shock them anyway. In the movie The Killing Fields Cambodia was bombed and the Khmer Rouge took over and started killing there own people. I think that evil outweighs good because in theses stories the victims had to experience horrible things that permanently impact their lives.

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Genocide

Genocide

There isn't a word that can describe it.

I asked myself why did hitler hate jews so much? so i looked it up. They said he never had anything against jews. He started hating them after Germany lost World War  II. After they lost they went into a great depression and riots started to happen. (If i am not correct, correct me if so)

I still dont understand how one person can do such a mass masquer do that so many people and get a joy out of it. It shows how much far hate can take a person. It makes me sick. 

I have read Night its a great book i had to read it in class after i learned about the Holocaust and what it was all about. I loved it the first time but as i read it the second time i know whats coming and i barely wanna turn the page its sad and all i can think why did these people have to go threw this there could have been docters, people who could have cure cancer.  Then after watching the clips with Opera and Elie Wiesel it made it more harsh seeing all those shoes,suit cases, hair etc. It makes it even more harder to turn the page cause all i can see emotion Wiesel try to hide during the interview.

The Genocide

To me the genocide is a big war about power which nobody really wins.  There is a leader who is in charge of the whole community/ country and whatever he says you have to do or you will be killed.  Many mothers and fathers were killed because they had to give up their children and they wouldn't listen to them.
I don't know what i would do if i had to leave my parents and never see them again, especially at a young age like most kids had to deal with.  There is nothing more important than family and i feel like if all of your family is taken away from you and you have no one left then there wouldn't be a reason for me to be alive.  I could only imagine how those kids felt seeing their parents leave or even killed, and it would be way worse to see the children being killed in front of their parents.

The Sandlot

When I think of any movie in the world, The Sandlot (1993) comes to mind.  The Sandlot is a movie about a group of kids trying to get a baseball back from what they think is a viscous dog.   His mom just got a new husband and Scotty Smalls (the kid) has nobody to hang out with.  One day Bill (the stepfather) is going to teach him how to play catch... didn't turn out so well when Smalls caught the ball with his eye.  Smalls always had a love for the game and one day he was walking around town and saw a group of kids at a baseball diamond playing ball.  As he was watching he heard a growl behind a fence.  He didn't know that it was ...THE BEAST!
Scotty can't throw a baseball or catch a baseball because nobody taught him. All the kids made fun of him because he wasn't good at baseball but there was one kid...Benny (The Jet) Rodriquez, that was determined to teach Smalls about the game of baseball.
One day smalls grabs his dad's signed base ball by Babe Ruth (one of the best baseball players since..... ever).  Long story short, the ball gets hit over the big green fence in the outfield and is taken over by the Beast behind it.  The group of friends try whatever it takes to get the ball back until one day Benny "The Jet" Rodriquez jumps the fence and is in one of the biggest pickles of his life.

This is a blog about my favorite book... Wait, to be honest i don't even remember the last time I read a book. Just wait! If your starting to judge me because I don't remember the last time I read a book, you should ask the person next to you when was the last book they read. School just started and I had a great summer. Didn't read any books though. Surprisingly I have read one book and enjoyed that one book,the title of this book is Touching Spirit Bear. A thrilling action packed book with an amazing story line. The main character Cole ; is very rebellious and that attitude is what got him on a deserted island with a bear. Cole and I are a lot alike were both crazy and have been arrested multiple times...JUST KIDDING! But during the time period I read this book I made various connections. The point of view he had on things, he took things for granted and tried to bench pressed more than he could handle in this circle justice system. This program is of Native American Origins and focus's on the healing of the criminal.

Genocide

I am ANGRY,ENRAGED, and INFURIATED! How could you take so many innocent lives? There is no good enough reason to try to eliminate one whole race or group of people. Doing so your killing families... like your own. How would you feel if it were one of your babies and your wife being killed just because they were Jewish? Pretty bad i bet! Killing a whole race because you feel they are inferior to yours is ludicrous, especially when you don't know them on a personal basis. Everyone is equal and taking out an entire race is just a terrible objective.

Interview

My thoughts about genocide is that how could something happen for such a long period of time without anyone really knowing whats going on or how many people are suffering and dying and why no one tried to stop it? It should never matter what color your skin is, your hair color, the color of your eyes or the race you are, we are ALL PEOPLE, human beings, with life and feelings inside of us, so how this happened is beyond me. The people that participated in killing the Jewish are disgusting, how could you kill innocent children and not feel anything? How could you see people suffering and growing weaker and weaker and their bodies withering away? What if this was their children? Their own families or even them?

Night

The documentary about the book "Night",was very interesting and I liked it a lot.  It was very sad, but of course it was going to be sad.  I thought the place where all the shoes, clothes, and hair were was very interesting.  I also like how he talked, he was very moved by where ever he was.

Genocide

Why leave an unforgettable place, just because someone said that you needed to be evacuated. Was it because they told you they were going to shoot you and kill your whole family? Is their time left that you can send your kids away to a different country, fast, and allow them to live and just let your self parish in the unknown?
To be honest I don't know what I would do in that situation. I think it would be life to death to me... Is there really something to live for once your family is murdered? I don't even have a clue what I would pick. The whole genocide thing just really blows my mind. There is one person, in charge, and everyone listens to him/her? I'm sorry, if someone in the parking lot at Walmart said, "Hey lookie here! Help me move this car on its side and we can light it on fire, because it's blue!!" I'd look at them and think they are crazy! Yet this kind of stuff is still going on. I don't feel it's right by any means. I do believe in an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind though. Looks like it's going to be a cold dark world.

Wiesel Interview

After watching the Elie Wiesel interview with Oprah I saw, in my head, what the holocaust really was. Yes, I learned about it in high school. Just seeing the walk through of the prison camps and hearing Wiesel talk about the pain and suffering that the Jews went through during the holocaust. The sad things that Wiesel talked about in all the parts of the interview and the things he showed touched me and made me resent the holocaust even more after seeing what the Germans did to the Jews. Elie taught me more about the holocaust and what it was actually like in the 6 clips we watched.

Genocide

Genocide is a terrible thing. killing off a mass amount of people just because it make you feel better isn't only wrong, but its sick. some say "people have been killing people for years," yes thats true but that doesn't justify it. we all have to ask ourselves does our end justify our means? does killing people because you view them not only as a inferior race but not even human make it right? I say no. you should too.

Elie

I'm sure all of us have the question of why would people in the right mind would do something so horrific as this. Harming millions of innocent people in the most cruelty way possible. Well I know that I have these thoughts running through my head after watching the interview with Oprah and Elie. I think we'll never really understand the exact reason why Genocide happen.

It makes me cringe at the sight of all the hair that was shaved off of  men, women and children scalps. Hair is not just on your head but it individualized everyone. We recognize people by their  hair. It makes us who we are, it gives us our own personality. Losing your hair to cancer is one thing but having your hair being sold for profit to a factory is a lose of dignity and self worth.

Elie Wiesel Interview

No words can describe the pain and horror the Jews were put through. The Nazi's were nothing, but wanting to control everything and everyone. When I first heard Elie speak about what happened in Auschwitz I was horrified. The size of that camp was enormous and I couldn't believe that someone would go through that much just to harm innocent citizens, and it was unsettling that the people who passed away from hard work, starvation, suffocated, or even just killed for no reason were treated like dirt. They didn't care what happened to you as long as it was one less person to worry about. I found it interesting that after so many years have passed, Elie still has no answers, it makes me wonder what questions weren't answered, what else would he like to know? After so many years, of going through that hell, I think he deserves some answers as to why and how another human being could do something like this. Over 5 million Jews would die before the camps were destroyed. When he said "I chose this madness," what did he mean by this? Was he referring to the unanswered questions hes had all these years, or from seeing friends, family, neighbors, and other close people he may have known vanished without question. I think that the Nazi's were inhumane, when they lied to the elderly, mothers, and children, and babies were told they were getting showers, but instead they were killed. That's sick and during the movie seeing what they did to those innocent lives, almost made me sick. How could someone sit there and be ok with killing innocent people who didn't do anything wrong to you? I found it interesting that they would shave the hair off of the corpses and people who were still alive, and sold it to make cloths. I know that there were more genocide, but this one stuck with me, I couldn't imagine living in that world where you were hated for no reason. It makes me think "Why was it so important to the Nazi's to do this?" I'd like to ask the soldiers who were in charge how they would feel if it was their mother, father, brother, sister, friends, who were being killed, and I'd like to know what they would say in that situation.

Elie Wiesel interview...

There is no words that can describe the horror that the nazi's have put the jew's through.... When i was listening to Elie talk about where the last time he saw his sister, mother, grandmother you could just hear in his voice how much he still hurts from it... Another thing when i was watching the interview there was mounds of hair and shoes, the suit cases that had there name and birthday on it. You knew there was pictures,clothes,brushes,shoes in them.. It makes me sick to think that some people like Hitler could do something like this. I mean Elie still today this day ask himself why did i survive. NO one in there right mind should ever have to feel this way.
What is really sad about this interview is seeing the baby clothes where you knew that they had no chance going in to the concentration camp....

Ellie Wiesel interview

I am thinking of why or how those evil people had the courage to kill all of those people, especially the children and babies. If I was a surviver, I would be miserable and lost for a long time. I don't think there is any thing that is more sad than the Holocaust. When I was hearing Ellie Wiesel speak I can feel and visualize what pain he was in. I am speachless of watching this interview.

movie

Fire poof   it is about a mairrg they r trying to make the mairrg work. he did not what to do anything he what her to do all the work aord the houes. he didn't what to holp her holp her paerin out becus her mom wus scik she need a new wiee cahr and a new bed.

Pursuit Happiness

 Pursuit of Happiness is a true story very touching in many areas in some others life as well. He was a good family man with a wife and son, they also worked at one point however the father became jobless the wife income was not enough to keep the house running smoothly, being behind in rent along with in need to continue to pay for child care was difficult for the wife, she became angry with her husband which lead her to leaving him with their child to make it on their own, the young man and son lived homeless here and there at times sleeping in public bathrooms carry backpack with necessary things to get by, he continue searched for work making a few dollars when possible the people he had contact with never knew he was homeless he kept his head up through everything, its everlasting as a reminder to keep holding on to the end.normaharris13@gmail.com

Love The Twilight

I love.............. the (Twilight) its such a thrill and so romantic. I love............ how Bella and Edward are so much in love, but I always wonder why Bella an Jacob didn't get together instead  since its oddefince they love each other.

green eggs and ham

My Favorite childhood book of all time was Green Eggs and Ham. My father would always read this to me before i went to bed every night. My father always got  This book was published in August 12, 1960 but then it was renewed in 1988. I do not like them,  Sam-i-am i do not like green eggs and ham. Sam i am is always trying to get them to eat Green Eggs and Ham with a mouse in a house with a fox in a car.. etc. By the end of the book everyone loves Green Eggs and Ham.

The Freedom Writers Diary

There was a point in time where there was tragedy, violence and horror that happened in South Beach, California from 1993-1996. There was a teacher named Erin Gruwell that had a lot of motivation and perseverance, that taught the kids that had no sorts of knowledge and motivation until Erin made them better as readers, writers and better people outside of Wilson High School. Erin Gruwell was given the "unteachable" students these kind of students are more concerned about gang activity and would rather do that instead of read Shakespeare or any other books that would actually make them learn. They say that Wilson High School was located was so called a safe place to go to school for the rich and the poor and the kids that wanted to go to Wilson School had to take at least two buses at least every day to go to school. This story about a young teacher trying to succeed in everything she can do possible, and one thing that Erin did right  was in the end she braugt abunch of her "unteachable" students to becoming teachable and that is one thing to be proud of.