"Overlooked Brain Cells"

"Overlooked Brain Cells May Have Leading Role"
11-24-13
BY: Geoffrey Mohan

A brain cell that was once thought of as the neuron's sidekick is now being brought up to having a very important role in brain function and development. It is said that these important cells called "astrocytes" have a lead role in the pruning of extra and weak synapses that are links between neurons. During development excess synapses are produce and then pruned back. But neuroscientists explained how some synapses remain but most of them are removed, but they had no explanation for how those excess synapses were being removed. The process of brain trimming has become more clear and most questions are beginning to be answered. It was confirmed in 2001 that without astrocytes neurons are not able to make healthy surviving synapses which are very important links between neurons. If neuroscientists study astrocytes and learn how to control and increase them in critical circumstances then they will be able to prevent certain diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. This could be a way to cure and prevent and other psychiatric diseases that ruin lives of diagnosed people and their families. Neuroscientists are now trying to figure out how to control these astrocytes and make sure that they keep removing weak and useless synapses and stay away from important, useful, and healthy ones. If these cells begin to remove synapses that the adult brain needs then it could be the reason for some unexplained diseases or symptoms.

"Puritans in the 1600s"

http://www.history.com/topics/puritanism

The Puritans were a religious group of people who believed the Anglican church, the church of England was incorrectly reformed and they did not agree with the ways that they were practicing religion or the way they were requiring religion to be practiced. This religious group fled to practice their own religion the way they wanted to. The Puritans migrated to The New World where they could pray and preach their own way of religion freely. Most Puritans favored a presbyterian type of religion or church. Puritans lived by their religion and did everything based off of what their religion allowed. The Puritan migration was mostly consisted of families unlike other migrations to early America which were composed of young men. Puritanism had many different types of believers. This branch of religion spread out into different types of religions, different beliefs were being created. As generations went by Puritanism was slowly declining. The different branches that were slowly being created were also becoming more popular by each generation and slowly taking out the group that started most of them. The Puritans were mostly notable for migrating to The New World and even teaching Native Americans the Puritan religion. These Native Americans spread the religion also. Puritans could have been the start of segregation in religions. 

"Drunk Without Alcohol"

Huffington Post
11/13/13
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/13/drunk-without-alcohol-drug-hangover_n_4260369.html?utm_hp_ref=science


Most people like to go down to their local bar or small restaurant on the weekends to have a couple drinks to relax. Imagine being able to get that relaxing buzzed feel that people describe from some type of drug. This drug is said to give an individual the feeling of a buzz that is acquired from an alcoholic beverage. Dr. David Nutt says there might be an alcohol free buzz feel coming soon from a drug. Dr. Nutt says since this substance is a drug and works directly on a receptor it is possible to reverse the effects with a "sober pill". It is said that the effects of this drug and the reversible drug do not cause a hangover or any hangover like symptoms. The plan to create this "drunk without alcohol" drug dates back to 2009 but Dr. Nutt has just recently thought of the different compounds that could mimic the effects of alcohol. He explains that the drug could be consumed by dropping it in a beverage that way people could enjoy a beverage and acquire the relaxing feeling from the drug. This new thought and process of creating this drug is very interesting and seems as if it will be very difficult to make sure it does its job perfectly. Most experts do not trust the report as of now.

"SOAPST Aspect"

The speaker of the piece of literature from "Education" is Ralph Waldo Emerson, "one of America's most influential thinkers and writers." The occasion or the period where he found himself unsatisfied with the educational system was from the 1820's to the 1830's. Emerson's audience for this piece of literature is anyone who reads it. He has not written it to a specific audience. The purpose of his work is to teach, and inform. Emerson wanted students to learn about different things that he thought should be taught and wanted them to understand that all learning did not only come from inside the classroom. The subject of this piece of literature is that education has been provided and taught incorrectly and that students deserve more respect or a different kind of respect. The author believed that the student should not be forced into absorbing material or be parented. Emerson thought that students should be persuaded into being interested in the subject that was being taught to them. Emerson's tone throughout the passage was very confident, trustworthy, and powerful. Just by reading the piece you could tell that he wanted to make a difference in the way students were learning.

"Colorado Is Asking Taxpayers for $1 Billion to Help Schools"

New York Times
By: Jack Healy
Published: November 3, 2013

The educational conditions in Denver are inadequate. Students are living and learning in terrible conditions while teachers are being cut off from the staff. Many schools have been going through tough conditions trying to keep up with their wealthier neighboring schools and even trying to keep the school open. On Tuesday, Colorado will be asking with one of the most ambitious and risk-full grants in the country. They will be asking for a one billion dollar tax increase. This enormous increase will benefit many schools in Denver that are trying to keep their heads above water. The decision to increase taxes by one billion dollars for school funding will be very hard to make. It will be very difficult for politicians to convince voters to agree to raising taxes. A citizen who does not have any children or is sending their children to a school where funding is satisfactory will not want to increase their tax payments. Denver will end up having to give forty three percent of its budget to school funding. Trying to increase tax payments by any amount will never be easy.

"Syria Meets Chemical Weapons Deadline"

LA Times
By: Patrick J. McDonnell
Ocotber 27, 2013

The Syrian government has officially agreed to demolish all the chemical weapons that have been terrorizing the Syrian civilians. After three years of a terrible civil war the government has agreed to publish a declaration agreeing to destroy all toxic chemical weapons. Syria has agreed to stop the inhumane chemical warfare causing the ongoing civil war, they have created and published a deadline for a declaration that will completely demolish all chemical arsenal. This declaration concludes that the US and Russian governments will not have to go along with strict and forceful measures to end the civil war in Syria. The declaration to destroy all the weapons had a set deadline for Sunday, October 27 to the OPCW or Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The Syrian government met its deadline and turned in the declaration to the OPCW this Sunday, making the organization very proud. All chemical weapon creation facilities have promised and are following along with their declaration to demolish all toxic weapons. Syria has officially and formally become the 190^th nation to join the Chemical Weapons Convention, a treaty banning members from using any type of chemical weapons or creating any type of chemical weapons. This agreement has killed the threats from any air force strikes that were set out by the US. 

"2nd LAX Worker Arrested"

LA Times
By: Richard Winton
October 18, 2013

Another LAX worker was arrested on Friday. Miguel Iniguez was said to have connections with the dry ice explosions. He was arrested and being held with a $500,000 bail. He was suspected of possessing a destructive device linked to the dry ice bomb incidents. Iniguez was working in the same department as Dicarlo Bennett, the man who was first arrested, he was actually Bennett's supervisor. Bennett was arrested earlier in the week being accused of creating two ice bombs that exploded in the LAX airport. Both explosions went off in the employees bathroom. Bennett has pleaded not guilty and his attorney said that he removed the dry ice from a cargo bay to protect a dog that was being transported. Apparently he was scared the fumes would harm the dog. Police reported that both explosions were not intended to be a type or terrorism but only for Bennett's amusement. After both incidents a third dry ice bomb was found but it had not been detonated. This whole incident caused a lot of traffic for the air port since the bomb squad was called in two days in a row and many flights were delayed.

"Concrete Risks"

October 13, 2013
Rong-Gong Lin II
La Times

We are overdue for a very large earthquake and LA could be considered as an old city that is at risk with its old buildings. Most of Los Angeles's buildings are built with mostly concrete and no anti-earthquake precautions. More than 1,000 old concrete buildings are predicted to collapse during a large earthquake. An estimate of about 50 buildings will be completely destroyed causing serious injuries or death to civilians inside and around them. The reason for the predictions for many of these old structures to collapse is because they do not have enough steel reinforcements which create a large amount of support during the sideways motions of an earthquake. Our city has known about these vulnerable buildings for about 40 years but has failed to force owners to make corrections to the structures. Seismologists have reported that buildings that are next to the vulnerable concrete buildings will have to make even more reinforcements because of the chain reaction that collapsing buildings create, once one building collapses it is very likely for the building or buildings adjacent to it to collapse as well. The reinforcements will cost a very large amount of money but lives of innocent civilians are priceless.

Speech Project Critique

Karnie and Rita did an excellent job at presenting their speech project. Their power-point was very well organized and informative. Their topic was very interesting and actually made a different kind of connection with the class. They chose Elie Wiesel's speech about the holocaust. The holocaust was a terrible genocide. The class as Armenians must have been very interested in the presentation just because of that factor. Other than the topic, their presentation was put together very nicely. Both Rita and Karnie knew about what they were talking about throughout the whole presentation. They spoke to the class about the speech and the different aspects and did not read off the project much which kept me listening. They did a splendid job at pointing out different literary devices that were used throughout the speech. The entire presentation was very well put together and presented to the audience with great enthusiasm which kept the audience entertained throughout the whole thing, great job to both of them.

"Redesigned $100 Bill"

Federal Reserve to Unveil a Redesigned 100$ Bill

The New York Times

By-Emmarie Huetteman

A new 100$ bill will be put into circulation on Tuesday, October 8. The new bill will have many different anti-counterfeiting features. The bill will have a new colorful look. The new design will finally be put into effect after being postponed for two and a half years. The re-designed note will have two brand new features. There will be a three dimensional blue strip close to the middle of the bill that has images that appear to move when it is tilted. There will also be an image of a copper inkwell that has a holographic bell that will change colors. The 100$ bill will be the last note to undergo the "New Color Of Money" change, which started in 2003. The 100$ note is said to be the most counterfeited note outside the US, that is why it needed this new change. The changes will make it much easier for people to confirm if a bill is counterfeit or not. The new design took about ten years to complete. It was said to be released in February of 2011, but a printing problem that had come up, which caused bills to be printed with creases. Because of the creases and other small printing problems the Federal reserve decided that the bill could not be put into circulation and thus the postponing of it until now. 

Blog #11 Declaration Of Independence Grievances

"He has made judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries".

The ninth grievance of The Declaration Of Independence states that their former King, King George III has taken control of all courthouses and judges. This grievance refers to the need to separate the judiciary from the executive in order to decrease the chances of government abuse of power. If power was abused then people's unalienable rights would be endangered. It was decided that the tenure of the judges is to be controlled by the King. This grievance could be related to modern situations where judges could choose to not work if they do not agree with the compensation that they are receiving.

" He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people."

The fifteenth grievance of The Declaration Of Independence explains how their King has engaged in war against them. The war was waged unjustly and was very unfair, even though the Americans were not following directions very accurately. This grievance could be related to modern situations in terms of if the US is attacked, they will get revenge.

Blog #10 News Article

U.S. Navy Helicopter Crashes
La Times
September 22, 2013

A Navy Helicopter stationed in Coronado crashed into the Red Sea. The helicopter was carrying five people when it crashed. The helicopter was traveling over Syria to look over the warfare and check for more chemical weapon use. Since the helicopter crashed the status of the five passengers are still not determined. Search and Rescue teams have been sent by the navy. They have been undergoing searches with helicopters and search boats. The positive news about the situation is that the helicopter did not crash because of hostile reasons. This is just the beginning of the problems that Syria is causing for the US. Could there be even more severe problems coming from this situation?

Mayweather Vs. Alvarez

BBC Sport
By: Ben Dirs
September 15, 2013


On September 14, 2013 Floyd Mayweather or Money Mayweather, considered one of the best light-middleweight boxers in history was put up against Saul Alvarez, another great boxer, who was also undefeated. The match was set in Las Vegas and the winner was to become the new champion. This fight created great controversy and was said to be "the most lucrative show in paper-view history". The profits from just the orders on paper-view were very profitable let alone tickets to watch this match went for upwards of 30,000 dollars. Mayweather got his nickname "Money Mayweather" for being known as the highest payed athlete for the past 2 years. After pushing his record to 45-0 Mayweather was awarded with 45 million dollars. His opponent, who was 13 years younger than him with a 43-0 record was no match for his mental skill and experience. After the fight Alvarez said "I didn't know how to get him, it's extremely simple".

Review Claims

Movie Title: Elysium
By: Ben Kenisberg
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/elysium-2013

Elysium, a futuristic movie set in the year 2154 where Earth has become polluted and overpopulated. Most of the population is still in the ghettos of Earth, but the higher class now lives on a space station called Elysium. Matt Damon, the main character has grown up watching Elysium from his ghetto rundown neighborhood. Throughout the movie his main goal is to get everyone on Earth the same rights as everyone on Elysium. Ben Kenisberg, the author of this review uses two different types of claims. He uses claims of fact throughout the whole review, explaining scenes with great detail and factual information. Other than that Kenisberg uses claims of view to show that he thinks the movie has nothing significantly different or better than other futuristic movies. He says "The movie won't get any points for originality or logic". Kenisberg wanted to see, or expected to see something different in this movie. He says how it was not as erratic as it could have been. The review for Elysium by Ben Kenisberg was not a bad one, but makes the audience feel like there should be more to the movie.

F.D.A Approves Drug For Pancreatic Cancer

Source: The New York Times
By: Andrew Pollack

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death. Most patients are diagnosed after the cancer has advanced and is almost impossible to remove by surgery. In the United States alone, there will be 45,000 cases of pancreatic cancer, in which about 38,000 will lead to death. Patients usually live up to half a year. Celgene, a drug administering company was approved by the Food and Drug Administration, to put their drug, Abraxane to use for pancreatic cancer. Abraxane statistically provided a significant prolonging of patients lives'. The drug was effective enough to add 8.5 months to a diagnosed persons life. The F.D.A did conclude that Abraxane might cause some serious side effects, such as lung inflammation, or bacterial bloodstream infections. The fact that this drug grants someone 8.5 more months of life is great, but would someone really want to live those last months, paying 6 to 8,000 dollars a month knowing that their lives are soon to end.

My Favorite Ice Cream

Ice Cream is by far the greatest dessert ever. You can never go wrong with a few scoops of refreshing and satisfying ice cream. When people crave ice cream, it is usually on a hot summer day. I honestly could care less if it was scorching hot or snowing outside, I could definitely enjoy a mouthwatering scoop of ice cream drizzled with some hot fudge. (Pathos) Throughout the history of ice cream there have been three main flavors, Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry.(asyndeton) I love all three. Therefore my favorite flavor of ice cream is Neapolitan. Neapolitan flavor is the perfect combination of all three of the greatest flavors. The creators of this flavor have come up with a perfectly divided tub of ice cream. The greatest part about this flavor is that some people might like chocolate and vanilla more, but thats okay because they can only scoop up some chocolate and vanilla. The hardest part about all this is when you open that tub of ice cream and all three flavors are yelling at you saying "I know you want me"! and you have no idea which one to take the most out of. (Personification) How much better could it get? all three of the greatest flavors in one! (Rhetorical Question)

France Releases Evidence Against Syria

Source: LA Times

By: Kim Willsher

       Paris France says that they have gathered evidence proving that the Syrian President, Bashar Assad, did coordinate a chemical attack on Syria's civilian population. The evidence was gathered by France's intelligence and submitted as a 9 page document. The chemical attacks took place near Damascus on August 21. Bashar Assad and the Syrian government were accused of using highly lethal chemical weapons. France reported that Assad is trying to cause terror among Syrian civilians. The attack confirmed about 1,500 deaths. There were many reports of convulsing children laying in the streets by the French intelligence. After the chemical attacks the Syrian government carried out several rocket bombing attacks to allegedly destroy all evidence of the chemical warfare and to hold up the United Nations weapons inspection. These cruel and inhumane acts of manslaughter are terrible. There is no sense of morality throughout this whole situation, it is truly amazing how a president and government of a country can terrorize their own civilians. 

SOAPST Aspects

"Speech to the Troops at Tilbury"
        By: Queen Elizabeth

       Reading Queen Elizabeth's speech tells the reader that it is coming from a powerful figure. The Queen of England speaks to her people and especially to her troops to support them and to encourage them to fight on. She is very strong willed and assuring to her audience which are the citizens of England and the brave troops at Tilbury. Even though she is speaking to England she also realizes that this speech will be heard around the world. To create a stronger and more comfortable bond with the troops she dresses as a soldier and stands on the same ground as her audience to support them and show them that she will fight for England as well. She has a very hopeful and inspirational tone throughout the speech. Since England is the underdog in the situation The Queen tries to encourage and challenge the people to rise to the occasion. Elizabeth tells her troops and citizens that she is somehow just like one of them but she also mentions how she is above them to show her power. Her appeal in ethos is powerful because of the fact that she is the great Queen of England. She appeals to the audiences pathos when she mentions how she has the body of a "weak and feeble woman" but she reassures her audience by telling them she has the "heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too." Queen Elizabeth's speech is very effective and powerful, she inspires England to fight on and stay strong.

Chocolate? Or Brain Food?

"Chocolate may help keep brain healthy, sharp in old age, study says."
By: Melissa Pandika
Source: LA Times

In this La Times article Melissa Pandika tells her audience about a study done by neurologists. Researchers noted that chocolate can be helpful in improving brain health and thinking skills for the elderly. A group of researchers concluded that older people who did poorly on a reasoning and memory test had less blood flowing to their brains. Neurology researchers wanted to see if consuming chocolate could help improve blood flow to the brain for elderly people. They put together 60 elderly people for their new study. The subjects drank two cups of chocolate every day for 30 days, they had to complete a test before and after each cup. Most subjects showed major improvement after drinking hot chocolate every day for one month. The people who initially did not do well on the test showed an 8% improvement in blood flow to their brains and a one minute faster reaction time on the test. Although the researchers discovered that chocolate does help improve brain health for the elderly they have not figured out what chemical or substance triggers the improvement and are still trying to find out what it is. If they eventually find out what the substance is they could even turn that into a pill form.
        This article is very informative and could be very helpful especially for elderly people. Researchers proved that consuming chocolate could help blood flow to an elderly persons brain which would most likely improve their memory and keep their brain healthier and sharper. Since most elderly people are not physically active this could be a way to help get more blood pumping throughout their body and especially to their brains.

Advertisement post

                                           

      Most or all big companies use rhetorical strategies to grab consumers attention and hopefully convince them to invest in their product. This funny and eye-catching advertisement for a new Sprite drink gives off that cool and refreshing feel you get when you take a sip of an ice cold soda. In the picture the girl is frozen but she seems to be enjoying it and is very excited about it. The advertisement is not only telling people to invest in Sprite but to invest in a new and different branch of Sprite called "Sprite Ice Blue". The girl in the advertisement is frozen with happiness and seems to be very refreshed. There are small details in the picture that make a difference and pull the whole thing together. The new product that they are trying to sell is the "Ice Blue" version which makes most consumers think of something cold and refreshing on a hot day. In the picture the girl is wearing a bluish tank top, has a blue tongue, and has blue eyes. The purpose of this advertisement it that the company is trying to give off the aspect of being completely satisfied and refreshed.This advertisement is trying to target anyone who is out on a hot day or needs a cool refreshment. The ethos in this picture comes from the Sprite bottle which almost all people are familiar with. This appeals to the audience's pathos because of the girls excitement and refreshed look in her eyes that make you want to run down to the nearest 7-11 and grab an ice cold soda. Since there is no factual or numerical information in the advertisement it does not call to one's logos therefore we will never know if "Sprite Ice Blue" really does freeze your face and make your tongue blue.

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch (Favorite Book)

     The Last Lecture is arguably the most sympathetic non-fiction novel I have read. Many professors give lectures or speeches titled the "Last Lecture" because they are either resigning or they have an idea of when their time is ending. Randy Pausch, was diagnosed with terminal cancer, he decided to make his Last Lecture unforgettable at the Carnegie Mellon institute and also turned it into a novel. This lecture gave lessons that would change your view on your life and everything around you. The novel was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, and enjoying and using every minute you have wisely. This novel is Randy leaving his legacy and imparting his wisdom onto the world he was leaving. The Last Lecture is my favorite book because of the impact it leaves on you. The book makes you think about everything you have and living your life to the fullest. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to be reminded about the greatness of life. This book is full of wise and unforgettable life lessons. Randy Pausch has written this book with humor, inspiration, and intelligence that made his Last Lecture at the university so unforgettable. This novel is written to inspire and educate its audience. It is one of the most inspirational novels that will be passed down through many generations.