Star Wars

Luke and Anakin Skywalker go through almost the same steps during their lifetime. Anakin starts off as an innocent young boy and is later seen to be the savior. Luke goes through these exact steps except he isn't tempted by the darkside. Over time Anakin was broken down by the darkside and eventually turned evil. He gave into his anger. Luke was also presented with this problem and he too almost gave in. He didn't though. They were both also thrusted into the Jedi world and were presented with many problems.

These two characters are nearly mirror images, the only difference being that Anakin gave into the dark side. He did make up for it though in the last movie by killing the Dark Lord.

Community Service

Community service, there are many things that can could be done. I chose to help out Corbin Brooks of Mt. Shasta, a football player who ended up breaking his neck during a football practice. The West Valley varsity baseball team who has until this year never played on a real baseball field during their home games. Children in the US who’s parents don’t have the funds to have an enjoyable Christmas through the program Operation Christmas Child. Throughout these experiences I learned many things about myself and other people.
I chose to help out Corbin Brooks for many reasons. He was somebody who really needed the money and he got injured playing a sport that I also play. It was really sad to me because I know how much work there is not only during the football season, but in the off season, and for that to be taken away from him, its’ heartbreaking to anyone. I had already played two years on the West Valley varsity baseball field, and it is possibly the worst field around. The ground was so choppy and there weren’t even any basepaths. So I took the opportunity to fix up the baseball field before I left WV. Operation Christmas Child is probably one of the coolest things ever. I thought it was really cool that I could help out little kids who wouldn’t have been able to experience Christmas like I did.
We held a carwash for Corbin Brooks next to Dill’s Deli for approximately 10 hours. Throughout the day many people came through to donate to Corbin Brooks. It was so cool to see how many people responded to car wash. We were busy all day and there were always more cars to be washed. I did many different things from holding signs to drying off cars. We ended up earning making a lot of money and I’m sure it was much appreciated by the Brooks family. I felt good helping out someone in need, especially somebody who was injured playing a sport that I play. Like it was something that every football player risks and something that nobody wants to see. I was glad there was something I could do and his injury made me realize that I’m always a moment away from something life-changing.
Fixing up the West Valley baseball field was a project that took forever. I have worked for about 25 hours in all on the baseball field and it’s still a work in progress. There were just so many things wrong with the baseball field that it’s nearly impossible to fix, but we started by ripping out the base paths and putting in DG. It is the first actual infield at West Valley and it makes the field look much better. Beside that we cleaned up around the field. We put new dirt in around the bullpen and we put of a green screen on the outfield fence. I chose to do this because I love baseball and I think it’s a great thing to do for the teams of the future. I know I would’ve loved to have an infield.
The Operation Christmas Child was fun and easy. I took a shoe box and filled it with little toys that any kid would want and just wrapped it and sent it in. I felt good about myself and I know that some little kid was really going to enjoy my present. All of my community service taught me to give and I felt good about doing it. Like it was something that was going to help other people and I really enjoyed doing it.

Luke Skywalker

Luke Skywalker is the hero of Star Wars. He has many helpers along the way such as, Han-Solo, R2-D2, C-3PO, and princess Leia. Luke's threshold guardian is Obi-Wan Kenobi. Throughout the movie Luke is forced through many hardships and he begins to learn about what is actually happening in the world, and he becomes something bigger.

Luke starts off as a farmer on some little planet. He is shown as being this curious boy who wants some adventure in his life. Well trouble finds him and the Empire ends up destroying his family. Luke proceeds to join the Rebellion and search for the princess. Once he finds the princess Luke proves helpful in the escape and once they get to Yavin V Luke becomes a hero by destroying the ultimate threat of the Death Star.

Han-Solo helps Luke in the end by killing the fighters that were shooting at him. R2-D2 adn C-3PO help Luke by telling him information and fixing various problems for him. Leia is the princess and comes up with lots of ideas.

Today's Economic Problems

I believe people are responding perfectly. Everyone is coming together and in most instances everyone has someone to lean on. There aren't too many people who have nowhere to go and most people have things figured out. My family is perfectly fine. Both of my parents make quite a bit of money, my dad being an engineer and my mom a registered nurse. My parents are kind fo the ones that hold up the rest of my family.
Since my immediate family isn't in any economic trouble we have been able to help alot of my relatives. My uncle who has always been in construction is now out of a job because of the recession. He has had a tough time getting another job and he is actually planning to go to the Virgin Islands with my other aunt and uncle to do construction there. So for now we are supporting him and letting him stay in our house in hope that he can make some money to get over the the Virgin Islands where construction is still booming. My aunt and uncle who are also in a bad financial situation are also trying to get to the Virgin Islands to make some money. They might also have to move in if they can't continue to pay the rent on their house. These situations have an effect on my family, but it's really no big deal.

"intellectual Property"

I wouldn't be affected too much. I never download stuff illegaly anyways. I usually get my music from other people and i guess that they sometiems get it from Limewire. I know people that get alot of music from sites that allow u to download songs without paying. For them they would be forced to spend alot of money on songs that they wouldnt be able to get anymore. I think the music industry would just take a big hit. I mean sure some people would start to buy stuff, but most people would either find another way or just forget about it. Alot of stuff that is downloaded is expendable and unimportant.

Intellectual property is very important. People need to be paid for the work that they do. It's they work and their ideas. Nobody would like to spend alot of time on something that people can just take for free. Ideas belong to people and everyone should be paid for their work. That's just how it is. People should be compenstaed for their work.

Foreign Policy

We are in a position to try and please everyone. I'ts like we don't have a choice. If we don't help out one country or treat them the same they hold it against us. We are force to take care of everyone of countries resent us. It's really hard to please everyone, every country wants their own thing and it's just hard to help everyone. "It includes a Washington establishment that has gotten comfortable with the exercise of American hegemony and treats compromise as treason and negotiations as appeasement." We as a nation don't feel like we have to follow other people's demands and we have tried to just push people around, but people are tired of that, and compromises must be made. Yes he should change it a little, but he can't just give into everything and say sorry for everything the last president did. He needs to stand up for what we have done, protect those who need it, and go after those who represent evil.

Stem-Cell Reseach

I don't think it really matters. Let states do what they want. There are other places to research stem-cells, but that being said if there are reseach facilities on federal land then they should be used for whatever the federal government wants them to be used for. The power of the federal government should be more than any one state's, and decisions should be made accordingly. It isn't the states money being spent anyways. I understand that they want to stop the killing of embryos but its for the good of everyone else, and once stem-cells are fully understood im sure they could find a way to replicate them. This is something that could overtime save millions, and i believe that it's worth it.
Obama has made the decision to open up hundreds of reseach centers. This is our president and we are the ones who voted for him. This will also help states who were already spending money on stem-cell rearch, they won't have to spend near as much because of the money they will get from the federal government. The United States should make their decisions together and there is just only so much states can do because other states will just recieve more funding.

Newspapers

I believe that in the future newspapers will become obslete. They just aren't needed anymore. So many many people can get their news from other, more convienient places. I get my news from the internet or the tv. It is just so much easier and you don't have to pay a penny. I mean why would people continue to pay for newpapers when there is a cheaper and more efficient way to get your news.
If newspapers dissappeared i wouldn't care at all. I don't use newspapers and they aren't important to me in any way. They are just a waste of money. In the future i will continue to just get my news off the internet, it's just so much easier. I' m sure some people will miss them, and alot of jobs will be lost, but it will just be one more old thing that's been replaced. It's just the way the world works.

3 topics

Sports
I enjoy sports and there are just alot of controversial things in baseball. In baseball alone tehre are many things such as steroids to write about. Steroids in general is a heady topic. It is everywhere, in the olympics, and in professional sports.

Terrorism
Terrorism is a huge deal. Not only is it very scary and dangerous, it is a real life problem. There are crazy people all over the world who just want to see the world crash. They dont care about people and i find that interesting. I would like to learn about people's motives for killing.

Torture
Torture is very controversial. Some people would say its very necessary to idk stop terrorism or get answers. I dont really think it's that necessary but there are instances where answers are needed. I mean sure its cruel but they aren't good people in the first place. This topic would be interesting to learn about.

Steroids in baseball

Allan Doherty, The Primadonna of Primobolan, Steroids in Baseball, February 7, 2009, March 3, 2009, steroidsinbaseball.net/articles/rodriguez1.html

Alex Rodriguez tested positive for two different steroids in an 2003 anonymous drug test, and hwo he got in trouble for a supposed "anonymous" drug test is beyond me. In his 2003 season A-rod was the MVP of the American league and Home Run leader and he is even supposed to become the home run king by the end of his ten year contract with the yankees.

Alex was actually on the same steroids that Barry Bonds took, and reportedly Barry didn't test positive for the steroid in 2003. This raised the question, how many people didn't even get caught? How many people made it past the steroid tests? Many baseball players took steroids, whether they were pitchers and hitters. The whole steroid era was messed up, and if they planned on enforcing rules on steroids they should have tested for them more intensly. You can't just make rules and not plan on enforcing them. Competative edge won over in baseball and it really is the commisioners fault.



Allan Doherty, Kirk Radomski's "Bases Loaded", Steroids in Baseball, February 2, 2009, March 3, 2009, http://www.steroidsinbaseball.net/articles/radomski.html

Kirk Radomski's "Bases Loaded", is a book that describes the underhanded world of professional baseball. He describes the commisioners direct disregard of steroids and the media's hush hush attitude. "I think what Mark McGwire has accomplished is so remarkable, and he has handled it so beautifully, we want to do everything we can to enjoy a great moment in baseball history."- Bud Selig.



Allan Doherty, The Mitchell Report, Steroids in Baseball, March 3, 2009, http://www.steroidsinbaseball.net/mitchellreport.pdf

For more than a decade there has been widespread illegal use of anabolic steroids
and other performance enhancing substances by players in Major League Baseball, in violation of federal law and baseball policy. Club officials routinely have discussed the possibility of such substance use when evaluating players. Those who have illegally used these substances range
from players whose major league careers were brief to potential members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. They include both pitchers and position players, and their backgrounds are as diverse as those of all major league players.

Allan Doherty, Mark McGwire's Final At Bat, Steroids in Baseball, December 5, 2006, March 7, 2009, http://www.steroidsinbaseball.net/articles/mcgwires_final_at_bat.html

This goes to show hwo people who took steroids are going to have a hard to get into the hall of fame. People dont care about stats once people know who took steroids. People are now looking to exclude people who have taken steroids from the Hall of Fame and some great baseball players will never even have the chance to be a Hall of Famer because of a mistake that they made

Allan Doherty, Baseball's Integrity is in the Cellar, Steroids in Baseball, December 6, 2006, March 10, 2009, http://www.steroidsinbaseball.net/articles/baseballs_integrity_in_cellar.html

Bud Selig has been a joke of a commisioner. He never actually did his job and he has ruined the integrity of baseball. He has literally been worthless. Vincient Fay actually made a steroid and drug ban in 1991 because of a potential problem. Selig a past owner was just interest in making money for the league and for the owners.

Allan Doherty, Balco Timeline, Steroids in Baseball, March 10, 2009, http://www.steroidsinbaseball.net/balco.html

This timeline shows the effect of steroids in not only baseball but all sports. Many high profile athletes took steroids to get an edge over the competition. Even though all these sports had anti-doping agencies, it didn't make a difference. Steroids are just too easy to get ahold of and there are too many drugs to try and test for.

"Death to a Dream"

Based on the article written by Joel Kotkin it isn't very likely that California will make a comeback, and if there is eventually a comeback it won't be anytime soon. The University of California, Santa Barbera forecasted that California will actually lag behind until 2011. California has made a comeback before actually in recent history, but there are just too many things wrong right now. Unemployment is up at 10% and is still expected to rise. Kotkin believes that the people in the legislature of California is still just taking us backwards. He doesn't believe the people of California made a good choice in electing a movie star in running the state, and the California has just turned into a laughingstock.



The writer believes that the only way California can turn things around is for it to make jobs for themselves. He thinks that people like the Cardenas family need to try and make a business for themselves and take things from there. He also believes that the people fighting to make things greener aren't helping, but just hurting.



I don't agree with his reasoning. The way the housing plummeted isn't the government's fault. I mean things could have been planned for, but it wasn't the government's fault. I don't know that much about the government and their decisions, but if the government is making bad decisions it's still the people's fault. They are the ones who chose who was going to run the government, therefore it was their fault.

Everyone is going to be effected by the new budget. When the new budget was first engineered it failed to gain the two-thirds vote that was needed, and the Democrats were trying to pursuade just one Republicn. Eventually the Democrats agreed to ban legislative pay increases during deficit years, and they eliminated a 12 cent gas increase that they planned on putting in. Maldonado, the senator who agreed with these circumstances, also made California political primaries open and nonparisan.

The new budget has $15 billion in spending cuts, $ 12.8 billion in temporary taxes, they borrowed $11.4 billion, and they made a new reserve fund with $1 billion. If the state recieves money from the nation some of the taxes will be reduced and the borrowed money should be cut in half. Billions of dollars are going to be out of schools, and healthcare institutions, sales tax is going up by 1 percentage points, and the licence fee is raised to 115% of the old price. Although the gasoline tax has been shot down, residents income tax rates were raised by a quarter of a percentage point. Althought the new taxes are only supposed to last two years it could be extended for another two years by the voters. But all that being said small businesses are going to be given tax breaks, and so are some parts of the movie industry which is huge in California. Both tax breaks are considered huge wins for Republicans who just wouldn't give in.

Tropic Thunder

Tropic Thunder was easily the best movie of the year. There were alot of very good actors in the movie. All the actors were funny, but Tom Cruise definately stood out. The entire movie was funny and there weren't any boring parts. The movie literally went from one funny part to another, and it kept me lauging the entire time.

Robert Downey Jr. was incredibly funny and i thought he played the part perfectly. Jack Black is funny in every movie he has ever been in, and the same with Ben Stiller. I thought the storyline was good and it was a very intense movie. I mean how can you go wrong with a movie that is hilarious and action packed. I mean even the action parts were funny.

I could see this movie over and over again because its just so perfect. I mean what more could u want in a movie. Its funny, it has great actors, and it has alot of action. It was so unlike any other movie and the storyline was just so different. It must've taken alot of time to get all of the top-tier actors, and it was surprising to see all of those actors working together

new era . new responsibilty

President Obama made the statement that "this is a new era, with new responsibilities". In my opinion Obama is absolutly right about this. Life is changing and so are our responsibilities as a nation. But not only just as a nation, but also as a community. As a community we need to come together, make smarter choices. Personelly, we need to do whats best for us. save the money we need. The way life is going right now, we need a change. Obama believes that with change, comes new responsibilty.

As a nation, the tasks that we need to take on are large. We need to change our lifestyles. Large businesses are having to close their doors because they can no longer make payments. They cant pay their employees, so they are having to lay people off. As nation, this effects us largly. We need to stop using money we dont have. Thats what got us in this situation in the first place.


This effects our community in just the same way. Most bussnisses in Cottonwood are locally owned. When you go into a store, the chances of you knowing the people working there are pretty high. Everyone knows everyone. And before, we could go into a store, buy stuff from them, and give them business. But now the way our economy is, people cant spend as much money, which means the stores cant make money, so there letting people go, and some are closing their stores.

Personnely what this means to me is that the chances of me being able to find a job thats hiring is pretty low. People are having to lay employees off, they dont want to hire anyone new. So when i leave for college, it will be hard for me to find a job, so i wont have extra money. This problem effects everyone. The new responibilities we need to take on to be able to get through this are important. We need to save the money we have. Make it spread out so when we actually need it, we have it. We shouldnt drive extra because of gas prices. And most of all we need to stop spending money we dont have on things we dont need. If we follow these rules as a nation, community and just as an individual, will be able to get through this tough time. Its time for a change, and we need to be the ones that make it happen

Life's Lessons

I understand exactly what Douglas Soccio is saying. I mean most of the people who go though school don't care. Everyone is just happy with C's and it isn't right. They see school as a place to see their friends and not a place to learn, they simply just "put up with" school. This isn't true for me though, my parents have been on me since kindergarden about my grades and it's a very important part of life. Without smarts what can you do? Nothing. There aren't many jobs that don't require some thought so why not get ur time's worth while your at school and actually take advantage of the opportunity we have here as Americans. I mean other less fortunate places would die to go to school. It just makes sense to me to take advantage of every day.

Throughout school I have realized that the friends I make through sports and school are very important. I mean during football we do all this work, basically year 'round, and in the end it may have seemed like it was all for naught, but when you look deeper you realize that the season was more than just wins and losses. It was friendships and bonding, and coming together not only as a team, but basically brothers. I mean we will share that forever, I mean no matter what happens you will always have memories, and friendships are just something that should be cherished forever.

I have also learned to show up and perform everyday no matter what happens. It's the same in school and in football. No matter how bad i feel or how tired i am i know that when i go to school, or step onto the football field that i have to do well. Its not really an option, it's what i have to do. I know that in order to succeed you have to do your best all the time. I mean when somebody takes SAT's they aren't thrilled about it, but its the people who just start selecting answers who won't make it in life. People must perform in undesirable circumstances, bar none, it just has to be done, and through school i have learned the importance of this.

Hamlet's Character

Hamlet is a victim of circumstance, I mean after his fathers death he was alone. He resented his mother for marrying his uncle, King Claudius. Hamlet had a right to be weary of his uncle and his spies, I mean things happened so fast I'm sure he was very confused. Then when he finally learned that his uncle had actually killed his father he wanted nothing but revenge. He had nothing else to do, he had nothing really to live for. He needed revenge.

I don't really see how Hamlet was just a power hungry prince. He didn't kill his own father and he didn't want to kill Claudius for the power. He just wanted to kill Claudius for revenge. Hamlet is a man of intellect though. I mean how many people would think to act mad as a diversion. I believe that was a very smart move. That being said he did push away the one he loved in order to fullfill his revenge. Truthfully Hamlet is a man of many sides and throughout the story he changed and evolved.