Current Connection 2.1

In the article, How to decide on a career(even if you don't know what you want), it helps to prove that decision making can be hard, but it shouldn't be. Decsion making is never an easy thing; moreover, the thought of deciding on a career tends to give people a sense of fear, but it doesn't have to be. There are ways that one can make an easy decision on the type of career they would be most interesed in. There are thousands upon thousands of careers to chose from, but don't let the numbers scare you. Decide for you!

In this article by Annie Favreau she starts of by stating, "only five percent of people find a good career match on the first try." Contemplating on this percent, we are drove away by the thought of not being able to make it into that five percent; however, even though most people do not find that career their first go around it does not mean we should stop trying. Good oppurtunites come to those who wait.

The article also elaborates on the topic by proclaiming, "you don't have to be head over heals for a career in order to thrive." She is stating, firmly on the situation, that you do not need to give up career that would be best suited for you just because it isn't the most amazing thing to do This world, a wide range free to roam, a place in which one can acieve what they please and desire, is full of people who want but can't have. We cannot all have the perfect dream job, but we can still find a career where we will be happy to work instead of being run over by the stresses of the world.

Another strong point that Mrs. Favreau is making is clearly shown when we states,"your 99.99 percent guarenteed to find multiple careers choices where you can shine." Expressing her most optimistic side, she is declaring that you do not have to settle for that one option. Explore all your opions , because odds are you will find something that will trully spark an interest, bringing you to  a happier life in the long run.

I am faced with many choices for career oppurtunites ahead of me; however, I know that as long as I keep in mind that I can be happy at my job instead of stressed I will have an easier process of elimination.

Deciding on a career is only hard if you make it hard!

/http://blog.brazencareerist.com/2013/02/15/how-to-decide-on-a-career-even-if-you-dont-know-what-you-want/

Current Connection 1.1

Marc F. Bernstein informs readers about the supreme court case that follows up on the Brown vs. Board of Education in his article "Should Race be a Factor in Assigning Students to Public Schools?"

According to Marc, "The specific issue before the court is whether the school districts can take account of students' races to ensure ethnic balance among the districts' schools. But the implications are far broader." "The U.S. Supreme Court decides two major cases this spring involving the use of race in assigning students to public schools within a district." This statement may seem surprising, but it is just asking for a balance, something all of us crave in our daily life. Such as a balance of good and evil, a balance of light and dark, the people that brought forth this case want a balance of ethnicities at the schools.

After talking to his son he learns one of the best skills in today societys is "getting along with people who are culturally different and not being judgmental of their customs." So passing this and making schools more diverse instead of having more whites here, and more asians here, would broaden students learning of different cultures instead of them being around people that are pretty much the same as them all day.

Bernstein further explains, "should schools be permitted to "balance" 3rd-grade classes in terms of boys and girls or students of different races or ethnicities? Can teachers "mix" small learning groups to include students from different backgrounds? Can preference be given to certain students with regard to entrance into elective programs when all other considerations are equal?" Something has to seperate students when grades, absences, and volunteer work are all equal. Could this be the deciding factor? Maybe it will, or maybe it will not, its all in the hands of the supreme court now.

Making schools more balanced could lessen the amount of discipline needed, or the amount of fights. It could raise the overall grade of the school. Many good things could come because of this, but also many bad things could come of this. We will just have to wait and see.

 

Stuck!

     Imagine being on a cruise and getting away from all the struggles of life and just relaxing.Suddenly, the captain's voice comes over the speakers, "Folks, the engine just caught fire and we are going to be stuck for a while. Sorry for the inconvenience." CNN staff reports this story in the recent article Carnival cruise ship to be towed after fire strands it in Gulf of Mexico and explain the situation that the cruise ship was in.
     The passengers were obviously in a pickle, and did not expect their vacation to become a "trip gone bad." The news reporters state in the article, "The Carnival Triumph was about 150 miles off the coast of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, heading back to Galveston, Texas, when the fire broke out in an engine room Sunday morning, according to Carnival Cruise Lines. The ship's automatic fire extinguishing system kicked in and soon contained the blaze, and no injuries were reported, Carnival said Monday." Thankfully, nobody was hurt down in the engine room and the crew got to the fire and controlled the accident before anyone was seriously injured. The ship was still in deep water and only going about two miles an hour, so the ship was out of trouble.
     Brent Nutt spoke with his wife who was on the ship and says, "She said they had no power, no running water, and she said she hadn't been able to eat anything yet." That problem was soon solved and "guests have been supplied with food and refreshments throughout yesterday and this morning and the ship has supplies on board to last until the vessel returns to port," states Carnival. The electricity was soon turned back on with emergency generators, and people were actually able to use the toilets again! Man, that would be awful to be without a toilet.
     All of this trouble kind of has benefits. The cruise line said, "After being towed to Progreso, those aboard the Carnival Triumph will be flown back to the United States at no cost to them, the cruise line said. They will also get a full refund, credit that can be used toward a future trip and reimbursement for all expenses, except casino and gift shop purchases." Even though, the trip was not all that great, maybe the discounted one will go a lot smoother! If the passengers would have had to pay, I am sure there would have been many unhappy people.
     I do not know why, but this incident kind of reminds me of the Titanic. None of the Carnival passengers died, but them being stranded out in the ocean makes me remember the tragedy of theTitanic. I have never been on a cruise, but I do not intend to get on one after all these stories!
     In conclusion,  many passengers on this cruise had their vacation ruined, but everything worked out in the end.
    

oh where, oh where has our bacon gone!

http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/28/tech/web/apparently-this-matters-bacon/index.html

     Did you know that there was talk of a bacon shortage? I didn’t, but if I had, I’ll have to admit that I would have been among those who “collectively freaked out over the possibility that we might have to one day hit up the buffet and actually eat fresh fruit -- with all that "nutrition" and "flavor."”  Wait, was that sarcasm? Bellini, you cannot underestimate the flavor of bacon, because guess what: We put bacon in other food to make it taste better. It has power.  Bellini at least understands that, though.

“Without question, bacon is the most interesting meat in the world, and if it were capable of original thought, we wouldn't even be having an election this November in America. We would simply appoint bacon as our forever leader and live dutifully under its rule. "Today, for no apparent reason, I instructed U.S. troops to invade Calgary." "Hooray! Thanks, bacon!"”

     The point is, I read “Apparently This Matters: Bacon Shortage” and was scared at first. What would I become without bacon? When the National Pig Association put news out there that there would be a shortage of bacon in America, I believe we might have found the world’s new most destructive weapon, simply heartbreak.

     Seriously though, I’m not sure if it should warm my heart or worry me that people would completely drop the subject of “topless photos of Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge” to talk about the loss of bacon. Bacon is amazing, we’ve established that, but I realize that everyone has their own opinions. So, that means there must be people out there who don’t like bacon, right? Well, apparently not as many as we might have expected! Because, obviously, Catherine’s throne was taken over by bacon. Again, is that sad or simply fascinating?

     Bellini goes on to tell us that this scare was just a “big misinterpretation of facts”. If the shortage was such a big deal, I’m sure it was also a big deal being a hoax. You can just imagine the relief around the world! I mean, you might as well claim it the cure for cancer!

     All in all, bacon has now done a tremendous amount of things for all of us. It’s tasty. It’s important. It invaded Calgary. It revealed the secret for the world’s new most destructive weapon, forget the bombs! And last but not least, it is the cure for cancer. I think it actually might be time to consider bacon for president. As I said before, you just cannot underestimate the power of bacon

Arsenic

It is a true that arsenic is a “Potent human pathogen that can set up children for health problems later in life” as Consumer Reports claims it is. What I find hard to believe is that it is rice and rice products so heavy that I can affect your well being later on in life. It has showed up at what they are saying is an alarming rate,  we are talking micrograms per serving. Consumer Reports is even telling people to cut back on how much rice they take in through strict diet changes, even when arsenic is found in almost everything on earth. Consumer Reports has even worked with scientists to decide what needs to be done to stop arsenic levels from being as high as they are. They suggest that the EPA should phase out the use of arsenic containing pesticides, the USDA and EPA should end the use of arsenic laden manure as fertilizer, and that the FDA should ban the feeding of arsenic- containing drugs and byproducts to animals. I believe it is all just a big hype, and should blow over soon.

On the other hand, the Arkansas Rice Federation responds to the article by Consumer reports saying “We understand that arsenic is an alarming word but consumers should know that arsenic is a naturally occurring element in our air, water, rocks, and soil. It has always been in our food supply and no pesticides containing arsenic are used in rice production.” 49% of all rice grown in the United States is grown in Arkansas, and the Arkansas Rice Federation is planning on keeping it that way. They say that the FDA has made it clear that no changes are recommended regarding rice consumption. Lastly they state that, They will be working with the FDA, food scientists, nutritionists, and manufacturers, as they look further into this issue.

Book Review

Jennifer L. Weber's Summer's Bloodiest Days is intreguing, I thoughly enjoyed the Civil War facts that I learned in this book.
I can make connections though the entire book. One example of a connection is this book deals with the Civil War, like another book I read called The Red Badge of Courage. I could also make a connection to the movie American Outlaws. Which has some scenes from the Civil War in the beginning of the movie.
The characters in this book are of different varieties of hero's. Like Some people would say that Robert E. Lee was a hero, but others would say he was a villan.But I think that Robert E. Lee is one of my favorite characters mentioned in this book.So the characters in this book are from one extreme to the other. Another one of my favorite charcters in the book is Genneral Stonewall Jackson. I liked him becuase he was a fearless leader for the Confederate Army.
The setting of this book is to take place in in the 1800's in our quarreling country, all the way from the far south to the far north this book covers it all. This is a time that is entreaging to me but some people would find it boring.
I would reccomend this book to anybody that enjoys learning about this event, and millitary facts
of the Civil War.

Current Connection

Kwala Mandel, a writer for Yahoo! News, states in her article, "Heckler interrupts Romney rally in Virginia," that someone interrupted the Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, to encourage action about the environment when Romney was speaking at a rally.

In the article, Kwala Mandel states, "Mitt Romney was interrupted at a rally Thursday in Virginia Beach, Va. A rowdy audience member took advantage of a pause during the Republican presidential nominee's speech and shouted 'climate change caused Sandy!'" The heckler interrupted Romney to try to encourage an emotional reaction from the crowd, and, at that, he was successful. He blamed the recent storm, Sandy, on climate change and, by extension, the U.S. government and people (at least in the crowds eyes).

Kwala Mandel also states, "He then flashed a sign that read 'End Climate Silence.' While Romney seemed to take the heckler in his stride, the crowd (and security) reacted much more strongly." The man's "End Climate Silence" sign was meant to encourage people to start talking about climate change, because climate change really has not been a big topic in this election, though it really probably should be. Romney did not seem to be bothered by the heckler, but the crowd on the other hand, was not pleased.

The article then states, "The man was booed and his sign was pulled away from him. As the heckler was led out of the event, the booing was layered with chants of 'U-S-A!'" The crowd did not react positively to the heckler's seemingly accusatory declaration about Sandy. They probably felt that he was blaming the U.S for the storm, and they felt that they were defending their country (and favorite presidential nominee) from the words of the heckler, an insulting nuisance.

This is yet another article that reminds me of events in the Middle East. The first time I watched the video, the way the crowd started chanting "U.S.A." and booing reminded me of videos I have seen of radicals in the Middle East chanting "Down with U.S.A" and booing. I understand why the crowd was chanting now, but the first time I saw the video, it really took me by surprise.

The heckler may have meant well with his message, but if he wanted a positive reaction (I don't think he did), then he was unwise to go to a presidential rally at this point in the race. Though he was booed out of the rally, he was successful in his mission to get people talking to some extent, as there are over 15,000 comments on the article.