What is the What

   In the book What is the What the author Dave Eggers talks about a “lost boy” from Sudan. The boy’s name is Achak Deng but when he moved to Atlanta he started to use his christian name Valentino. The book walks you through Achak’s life. The book is set in America. Achak was the son of a somewhat powerful father. He escapes the Sudan genocide and goes to a refugee camp. The book talks about Achak’s struggles through mostly flashbacks.
   Achak moved to Atlanta and is staying with another Sudanese man. He has had many jobs. Currently he is in school. However many people make fun of him for being from Africa. One night a women knocks on his door. She asks if she can use his phone. He gives her permission, this was not a good idea. She when into his room and locked the door. She starts to rob Achak. Her accomplice who is a man comes in and ties up and beats up Achak because he talks. While they are robbing him Achak has flashbacks of walking through the desert with 100 other boys. He talks about how some of them were attacked by lions. Also how he saw people infant of him get shot to death. 
     When the robbers leave Achak is unconscious. When he wakes up he sees a boy sitting on the couch watching tv witch was too heavy for the robbers to take. He tries to talk to him but he throws a book. He keeps trying to talk but he never responds. During this Achak has different kinds of flashbacks. He has flashbacks about his earlier life. Such as meetings he attended with his father before the war started. Also one about when the baggara attacked the town and Achak and his mom fled.
       The book shows the struggle and suffering of the victims of the Sudan genocide. There will be a part 2 because I haven’t finished the book. The author does a good job  transitioning from flashbacks to the present. The book is a must read.

   In the book "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien the author talks about a person's life and the Vietnam War. The book is narrated by the person who's life is described. The book talks about how during his time in the military he was a leader of a unit during the Vietnam war.  He had once been deeply in love with a girl named Martha. Martha distracted him from the war so he burned all the photos he had of her. The book goes into flashbacks most of the time and about his life before and during the war.

   The book starts off with a war story. He talks about each person and there backgrounds. During the war the narrator shows struggle through the war and how tragedy's happened at random times and that they were unpredictable. He talks about one time were he was looking at a photo of Martha and he let a soldier named Ted Lavender use the restroom. Ted Lavender was then shot and killed. He took full blame for this and this is why he burned all of his photos of Martha. 

  He had always been in love with Martha. At some points in the story it seems as if he to in love with her. He describes intimate imaginations of him and her. He has very vivid memories of her. There is one memory of when they first met. Martha always thought of him as a friend but he thought otherwise.  Even when he had to stop loving her however he still thought of her.

There was a flashback of what happened before the war. He had gotten a draft notice and was really scared. When he was 21 years old he got home and received a draft notice. He drove to very northern US and went to a hotel. The hotel was very old and rundown. He became good friends with the owner. Even though the owner didn't talk much he felt very close to him. During this time his emotions rolled out and he had no idea what to do.

This is a very emotional book. It does a very good job at describing the hardship and struggle during the Vietnam war. The book however did not do a good job using transitions, often times the story would just switch from one story to another. This is a very interesting book.

  West Antarctica's ice sheet maybe melting quicker than anticipated. Scientists used to think that it would take hundreds, if not thousands of years, for the ice to melt, but now global warming may cause the ice sheet to melt in the coming century. This would cause the sea level to rise about three feet. Scientists old predictions have been shattered by new ones.
   Two or three years ago what scientists thought could be the worst outcome in 150 years, might be happening in 100 years. After 100 years researchers found that the situation could grow far worse. By the middle of the 22nd century water levels could raise up to 1 foot per decade. Scientists had documented such rates of increase in the geologic past, when far larger ice sheets were collapsing, but most of them had long assumed it would be impossible to reach rates so extreme with the smaller ice sheets of today.

   This is not necessarily going to happen. However there is a good chance that it will. This is why people have to make a bigger deal about it. 

The long term effect of this could be the drowning of major city's. This is because of the rising water rates. It could drown city's on the coast such as Miami, New Orleans, London, Venice, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Sydney, and New York city. All these city's are vulnerable because of water rising. They could possibly drown in the next 300 years. 

  This article is very important. There are multiple reasons. This proves that global warming is true. Also how The worlds largest city could crumble. THIS ARTICLE does a good job exlplaning all these reasons and gives you insight on the world's water crisis.

  The U.S said that it may no longer need Apple's help to break into an iPhone that belonged to the shooter in San Bernardino, Ca. This led the judge to postpone the court hearing. The F.B.I are temporarily avoiding the issue. This has been a battle between a powerful nation in the world and a powerful company in the world. The government now possibly has a third party with a way into the phone and open new boundaries in the case.    However the article doesn't include any information on how they might be able to access the phone. This is good for the F.B.I because they will be able access all the information that is on the phone without the help of Apple. This is bad for Apple because their consumers privacy and their first amendment rights could be threatened.    Regardless of what happens with this case it could pose a bigger threat to US citizens in the future. Even though this could help the F.B.I with the case it would also allow the government to access all iPhones with ease in the future. If this case goes on then eventually congress would have to get involved.   The F.B.I is exploring all their options to find a better way into the phone. They are getting the argument from a document called the All Writs Act. The lawyers from the F.B.I are using the writs act which says that it is a order for them to give over the information on how to get into the phone. This act is very vague because it doesn't say if they are allowed to access all of the iPhones instead of one.    The government might be able to access the phone through the third party and postpone the case. Yet Apple still has kept same position, that is to keep the consumers' information private. Despite the third party the case still remains a big deal for Apple, The government, and all consumers.    

Revision of Old Blog Post
Literary Essay


http://16btimoner.blogspot.com/2015/10/have-you-ever-wondered-what-it-would-be.html


Have you ever wondered what it would be like to see the future? In the book Numbers by Rachel Ward, the main character, Jem, can see the date of when people die. She has seen the number of when people will die for as long as she remembers. When she is fifteen, Jem meets a boy named spider. The two are accused of bombing the London Eye, a big ferris wheel. Spider and Jem run away together and fall in love. The only problem is that Jem can see the date of Spider's death, which is very soon. On the date of when Spider is supposed to die, Jem is overcome with sadness. She thinks that if she is dead that the numbers, the dates when people will die, won't exist. Instead of her jumping off the church roof and dying, Spider slips off the wall and sadly falls to his death. The author conveys the idea that seeing the future isn't always a good thing.

 In the beginning of the story Jem can see the numbers but she doesn't know what they mean. The author shows her in a stroller reading out the numbers she sees in the people that pass. Then she sees her mother's number "and all the time, as we we sat there eye to eye her number was there, stamped inside of my skull:10102001". She soon learns what it meant, "four years later, I watched a man in a scruffy suit write it down on a piece of paper: Date of Death:10.10.2001." This shows us that her ability is connected to her mother's death, which is a terrible loss in her life.


 She sees the date of when the love of her life Spider, will die. She is so sad because Spider doesn't know that he is going to die soon, but Jem can't tell him because it isn't right. After they are accused of the bombing, they run away. At first Jem and Spider get away at first, but then Spider is caught.
When Jem and Spider are finally reunited it is the date that Spider is suppose to die. Jem thinks that
if she doesn't exist then the numbers won't exist and Spider won't die. Jem is going to jump off the top of the church, but Spider stops her, after they talk and she has calmed down, "he spun 'round to face me, ready to jump down. Our eyes met, and we held each other's gaze; my warmth and love for him reflected right back to me. It was going to be alright. And then his foot slipped on the we stone and his balance was gone."


   Jem becomes pregnant with spider's baby. When she has the baby boy, she can not see the numbers any more, she is very relieved. Jem's foster mother Karen dies of illness, she had known that she was going to die on that day. At the very end of the story Adam's teacher calls Jem in for a conference.
The teacher talks about a drawing Adam made. "Above the head of the taller figure, arching over like a rainbow, was some writing I think you meant to write mommy, didn't you, Adam? No miss, I told you. It's not her name. It's her number. It's Mommy's special number." This is a big twist to the happy ending. Jem must be super upset at that moment.


   The author does an excellent job overall making the case that seeing the future is problematic. The only problem is that she causes too many people die very young. Most of the major characters die very young. While this makes the book even more dramatic and sad, it is unnecessary. Even if the most of the characters lived long lives, she could still make the point that it is a burden. When someone is blamed for a catastrophic event they will do questionable things. What Spider and Jem are blamed for the London eye, they do something questionable things. When they ran away it was arguable that they should go to the cops and say that it was not them. After Spider dies I think that Jem takes some guilt for it. Reading this book makes the reader glad that they can't see the future.

We all looked up


     This book is about four average high school students that have some connection. Peter is the star basketball player and is getting scholarships from top universities around the nation. Peter cheated on his girlfriend with a girl named Eliza because of this she is now known as the school slut.
Anita is really smart and her parents want her to go to princeton but she loves music and wants to become a musician. Andy is lazy and doesn't care to much. After the world finds out something terrible is going to happen these four all eventually cross paths


    The entire world finds out that there is an astroid that is probably going to wipe out the world. Peter is always the nicest most respectful young man to everyone he hangs out with. Peter has high hopes for the future even going to the NBA. When he finds out that there is a astroid coming straight towards the world all his dreams are crushed. He has a girlfriend, but he cheated on her with Eliza which makes things even worse for him. He tries to keep and setoff a positive attitude to every one around him.


   Eliza loves to take photographs and always has camera right next to her. She had always had a crush on Peter and when she hooked up with Peter she was happy. When the whole school found out what they did, she was known as a slut. Eliza's father is dying of cancer. When she finds out about the astroid she begins to understand what her father is going through.

   Anita is a very smart girl and her parents have very high expectations for her. They think that she will go to an ivy league. Her parents will only let her do schoolwork, nothing else. She wants to become a musician but her parents won't let her so she plays secretly. Andy is the school slacker. He skips a lot of classes and hangs out with the wrong people sometimes. He gradually begins to like Eliza more and more and tries to make her like him too.

    This is an amazing book. It might have some mature content but I think any young adult reader would not put this book down. It cool to see what kinds of things people would do if the world might end. The author does a great job with the backgrounds of each character. I think it is a must read

In the article "Beyond Volkswagen, Europe’s Diesels Flunked a Pollution Test" by Danny Hakim talks about other european diesel cars that failed drugged tests. Many people have heard of the big scandal involving how volkswagen failed pollution tests but were able to find a way to keep it hidden. It turns out that a number of other european diesel cars have been able to keep their falling tests on the down-low. The European Commission started testing diesel cars in 2007. When the results were published in 2011 and 2013 but it did not reveal what cars or manufacturers had been involved in the tests. Big car brands such as fiat and BMW were also involved in more pollution than what was regulated. For a long time cars have kept their secrets hidden but now their secrets are finally being revealed.

The tests were not supposed identify carmakers who were violating the rules. Rather, they were supposed to identify the shortcomings of connecting pollution tests just in labs and to also asses equipment used to test emissions on the road. The tests on the vehicles were run by the Joint Research Center, which is a branch of the European Commission.

Acting on the results, “ European policy makers developed a plan to require mandatory tests to measure emissions on the road with portable devices. The plan was approved by the European Parliament last week, though it has been criticized after automakers lobbied successfully to weaken the tests.” The european regulators have long had an accommodating relationship with the auto industry.

With pollution already messing up the world, car makers lying about how much pollution they let out does not help. Volkswagen had one of the biggest car scandals in the last decades. The aftermath of all these lies is massive. Many workers have had to resign or they were fired. Also they have lost a lot of money because of it.