Favorite Literary Piece

As a class, we have read and discussed many vastly different pieces of literature. These different types included memoirs, autobiography's, speeches, novels, and short essays. My favorite type of literary works are novels and my favorite novel that we have discussed this year is The Scarlet Letter. The Scarlet Letter started out by introducing a sinful character. This character, Hester Prynne had committed adultery and adultery was one of the most unforgivable sin in Puritan culture. Therefore, the society had rejected her. Now, she must fight through the loneliness and emptiness by herself to reach her goal to be with her lover. The story is not just about a couple who committed adultery but also the impact on them by Puritan culture. Nathaniel Hawthorne describes this situation in such a detailed manner, yet the richness in detail is very relevant to the suspense of the story rather than detail that is given to fill space. Also, Hawthorne was able to grab the reader's attention by touching up on the feelings of passion, revenge, loss, grief, hope, and redemption. This story also appeals to me because it is timeless. Even though it is written in the American Romance Era, it pertains to a problem that still exists today as we experience a high number of unplanned pregnancies. The Scarlet Letter could also relate to today's society because of the idea of hiding the sins of the elite class. Just like how Dimmesdale's sin was suppressed  the lies and the sins of our upperclassmen are suppressed as well.  Nathaniel Hawthorne presents the issue from everybody's perspective and lets you decide who you want to sympathize with. Anyone who has  been teased when they were a child or had parents who withheld important information can sympathize with Pearl. However in Pearl's case, she committed no fault yet such a huge sinful burden rests on her shoulders even though we witness redemption by the act of good deeds by Chillingworth at the end. All these elements were so well dissected throughout the story that it makes The Scarlet Letter one of my favorite novels of all time.

Suicide Bombing on U.S Airbase

Associated press, Huffington Post

On Sunday, November 25, Jalalabad Airbase was attacked by Afghan suicide-bombers. According to a Taliban spokesman , the suicide bombers blew up a car in the entrance of the base, entered the premisis, and engaged in gun battle for about two hours. The Afghan Defense Ministry general however claims that the attackers had not entered the airfield. The Nato military coalition supports these claims and described the incident as a failed attack. We are still unaware of the exact number of casualties and wounded, as the assessment of the attack is still incomplete. This attack is frightening mainly because of the suicide bombers. This shows us that there are many people that are so angry, fed up, and disgusted by America that they are willing to die for their cause, bringing America down on its knees. The military should prepare for any more future attacks.

A Memory That Changed My Life

  Our childhood is filled with many unforgettable memories. These memories could be good, bad, funny, sad,and even embarrassing. Some of these memories will be stuck in your head for the rest of your life because it has taught you such an important life lesson and has changed your life in one way or another. One of those was in the year 2003, when we had just bought our new house. I was joyful and very enthusiastic about the new life I would live in that new house. This was also the first time in my life where I had my own room. With all this excitement in a seven year old, I decided to call my friend Hagop. While we were talking I went on and on about my new home. I would not stop talking about my new room, my large backyard, my Jacuzzi  and my basketball court. In other words, I was showing off. My father overheard this conversation, and just as I put the phone down, I realized something was wrong. My dad was mad and I had absolutely no idea why. We sat down and he gave me a very serious talk about showing off. My father told me that no matter how much your material possessions are worth, you should not tell anyone nor brag about it. My father emphasized the importance of being humble in life. Of course a seven year old can not grasp that concept in a day. However as time went by and i started to become more mature, i looked back on that day and understood that people like you more whenever you are humble. That memory will forever stay in my mind because thanks to my father's need to teach me simple life lessons, I acquired a very important trait that most people find hard to do. Be humble in life. It is more important than people think it is.

Five Reported Deaths Connected to Monster Energy Drink

David Dishneau, Huffington Post

On October 28, it has been brought to the attention of the Food and Drug administration that five people had  been reported dead within twenty-four hours of consuming the Monster Energy drinks.These reports claim that people had negative reactions after they consumed Monster Energy drink.The can of the drink contained twenty four ounces of content with 240 milligrams of caffeine.That is about seven times the amount of the caffeine in a twelve ounce can of soda. The autopsy of all five that were deceased revealed that the cause of death was related to some form of cardiac arrest. According to a survey taken about five years ago, energy drinks made up about three percent in the sale of caffeinated drinks. That statistic has changed now. The sale of energy drinks today make up about seventeen percent of the sales. Monster has benefited the most from the sale increase. Monster has thirty five percent of the sales of the energy drink market while Red Bull had thirty percent and Rockstar had nineteen percent. As this drink gets more popular, more people are being exposed to its harmful effects. The Food and Drug administration claims that they have all hands on deck investigating this issue.

Three Virtues to Moral Perfection

In these past few days, I have worked on three virtues that lead to moral perfection. These virtues are Temperance, Silence, and Cleanliness.

Temperance: The virtue of temperance is clearly intended for self-discipline and control. It is explained by Benjamin Franklin as,"Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation", meaning that you have to know your limits very well. You should know the correct amount you should consume to satisfy your hunger or thirst yet make sure you are not bingeing at the same. Temperance was one of the easy virtues to master. I have mastered it at a young age and the reason for this is soccer. If I overeat, i will not be able to perform at my highest potential because i will be carrying extra weight. However, if i undereat, i will lack the energy to perform. Finding the balance might be difficult to do so but for me was quite a success.

Silence: "Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation." The virtue of silence teaches you to be a selective talker. This means that you have to overthink and analyze before you talk so that you talk only if absolutely necessary. Unfortunately, this is quite difficult for me and within these three days, i have not seen success with my progress of mastering this virtue. Everyday I see many  people, mostly ones that i just met. I have grown up in a social environment and absolutely hate refraining from speaking what is on my mind. I talk to many people everyday and I find absolutely no harm in my conversations. However, most of these conversations could be avoided because the talk has no sole purpose.

Cleanliness: This virtue by definition is, "Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation". This is very difficult for me to overcome.My weekends are filled with many events such as social gatherings, sportong events,even work. I am forced to keep myself clean because I am going to be with people. However, it is simply very difficult to make time to clean a room which I once again have to clean later. I was unsuccessful in the cleanliness of my habitation until the last day. I was expecting guests to arrive at my residence and a dirty home says a lot about your character. In respect to my guests, I cleaned my room and it felt very nice. I have actually found it to make my life quite a bit easier. If i had more time to master this virtue, there is no doubt in my mind I would be successful in doing so.

Voter Fraud Found in Vernon Election

Sam Allen,  Los Angeles Times

An election officer on Monday claimed that voter fraud occurred during Vernon's June City Council election, throwing out seven of the sixty-four ballots cast and declaring a new winner in the race. The election was between Reno Bellamy and Luz Martinez who were running as candidates for the secretary of The Chamber of Commerce. Martinez lost the election by four votes in which seven had been thrown out. Superior Court Judge Debra Yang concluded that five of the voters in question were not residents of the city. Two others, she said, did not properly mail in their ballots. This now changes the entire outcome of the election. When Bellamy was questioned, he responded by saying that the hearing process was bogus because it is corrupt. He claimed that Judge Debra Yang was receiving 1,000 dollars an hour for her services. He was quoted saying, “The city government itself ran this show. When it comes to an election, they shouldn't be playing that part. They shouldn't have any say in who wins—that’s more corrupt than the old Chicago mob." To see voter fraud in a city with a population 112 people just shows us that voter fraud will and may have already occurred in much larger and more significant elections. It is obvious that new methods of voting need to come in to place in order to make elections fair.

The Scarlet Letter #3

Throughout The Scarlet Letter we were introduced to all the main characters and their problems. We also witnessed their emotions regarding the adulterous sin Hester committed with Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. All the characters suffer either emotionally or physically. However I sympathize more for Roger Chillingworth. Roger had things to take care of and promised his wife they would meet up in Boston. After he was finished taking care of things, he expected to come to Boston and resume the relationship he had with his wife. However, he comes to Boston and the first thing he sees is his wife being punished in front of the whole town while holding her illegitimate child. This makes him feel backstabbed. He is so fueled with rage, he swore revenge on Hester's lover. As Hester's punishment was public, Dimmesdale's and Chillingworth's was internal. Dimmesdale's guilt was eating him inside and Chillingworth's envy and jealousy was bothering him. Chillingworth did not sin however, he has to live the rest of his life thinking about how things might have ended up if he was the father of Pearl. Dimmesdale did absolutely nothing to deserve this kind of emotional distress. Hester and Dimmesdale are the only ones who deserved the punishment for the sins they committed.

The Scarlett Letter #2

“Mother,” said little Pearl, “the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom. . . . It will not flee from me, for I wear nothing on my bosom yet!”
“Nor ever will, my child, I hope,” said Hester.
“And why not, mother?” asked Pearl, stopping short. . . . “Will it not come of its own accord, when I am a woman grown?”(Hawthorne 126). This is a conversation between Hester and Pearl that foreshadows bad events that will occur. As they are walking in the forest to meet up with Dimmesdale they take a narrow and dark path. The clouds cover up most of the sun but it manages to seep through and touch the end of the dark path. Pearl tries to touch the sunlight but everytime she gets near it, the sunlight disappears again. She blames the lack of sun on the letter and indirectly asks this question to point out the fact that evil is correlated with the letter. Eventually after playing with the sunlight for a while, Pearl manages to catch it but as soon as Hester reaches for the light, it disappears again. This shows the darkness and isolation in Hester's life. Pearl is very smart and realizes many things that others do not. She realizes that her mother is the only woman wearing an "A" on her chest. She does not understand the meaning of the scarlet letter yet. Pearl thinks that you get the "A" as you become a grown woman but still does not understand why the light hides from Hester.  This quote is important because the narrow and dark path that they walk on foreshadows a bad occurrence. It also shows that Pearl's lack of knowledge about the scarlet letter is bothering her inside and she wants to know more by indirectly asking questions about it. She realizes that evil , Roger, and Dimmesdale all have to do with the "A". This quote also shows Hester's grief and the severity of her punishment. She has been living in darkness which symbolizes the lack of life and isolation. That itself has really made Hester suffer and she hopes that Pearl will never face such punishment.

Generation i? 40% of teens say they have an iPhone

Los Angeles Times, Deborah Netburn

"Iphone fever  is not just an adult affliction. It has trickled down to the younger population as well", says Deborah Netburn in an article from The Los Angeles Times. According to a new survey, about forty percent of teenagers have an Iphone. Since it has become such a hot item in the market, this number is exponentially increasing. In the spring of 2011 only seventeen percent of teens said they owned an Iphone. By the fall of 2011 that number had grown to twenty-three percent. In the spring of 2012, the number was increased to thirty-four percent. However it has now reached forty percent. Apple's Iphone has successfully targeted its initial target, the teenage generation. They have market this product very well and it sure shows in the statistics. One of the factors that made the Iphone so successful is its price. You can purchase a new Iphone with a contract for about 200 dollars and if that is out of your price range, then you can purchase the old iphone for an even more affordable price. Apple's analysts expect this number to keep increasing as time goes by. Based on the consumption of Apple's line of "I" products, it is fair to say that this generation is generation "I". 

"The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The ending of "The Scarlet Letter" has many possibilities that might lead to different outcomes. The way the story goes so far, Roger Chillingworth has sworn revenge to the mystery father of Pearl. Some clues are given that Pearl's father is Reverend  Arthur Dimmesdale like the fact that he does not ask Hester directly who the father is on the gallows. Roger has convinced everyone he is a doctor and has moved up in Salem's social hierarchy. What might happen is that Hester will accidentally tell Roger because she is very lonely and desperate for companionship under the condition that the reverend will remain unharmed. However, since Roger is so fueled with rage that he will take action that might cause Arthur Dimmesdale to die. Society then will blame Hester who has no choice but to flee Salem and Hester will forever be alone. Whatever path this story will take, a happy ending is nowhere to be found.

Gas Prices Set a Record in California

Nancy Rivera Brooks, Los Angeles Times

In the morning, Nancy Rivera Brooks wrote an article about the soaring gas prices in California. As of now, the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in California is 4.614 dollars. Prices of gas are increasing about twelve cents a day from the beginning of this week. Why the sudden increase in prices? Gas prices started to skyrocket when Exxon Mobil's refinery was shut down in Torrance due to a power outage as well as other problems in other refineries. Analysts say that the gas prices will begin leveling off next week when the refineries will return to their regular production. The gas prices are so high right now, some gas stations have temporarily closed down because they can not afford to fill up their huge storage tanks that can hold thousands of gallons of gasoline. The last time prices have been this high was in 2008 when a gallon of gas cost 4.610 dollars. It is times like these were having a hybrid or electric vehicle will be worth it.

Iraq Prison Break: 12 Killed In Riots

Qassim Abdul-Zahra, Huffington Post

Yesterday, on September 29, 2012, A prison break was taken place in Iraq about eighty miles away from Baghdad. In this prison break, the security was breached, the guards were overpowered, and many Al-Qaeda related inmates had escaped. According to Iraqi officials, ten guards and two inmates were casualties of this clash as well as thirty-two wounded. They also claim that they have caught most of them men on the run but their task to capture the ones who escaped has been difficult because they inmates burned all records before leaving. This is a big embarrassment to the Iraqi government. Since the United States gave Iraq the power to control their own prisons, many escapes have been made and those people that have escaped may be a very large threat to the United States of America. This just gives America one more problem to take care of. However, the Iraqi government has assured that all these men will be caught.

Builders Aim for Super-Energy-Efficient Homes

Alejandro Lazo, Los Angeles Times


On September 22, 2012 KB Home, a home construction company has introduced their model of a net-zero home in Lake Forest. A net-zero home is a home that produces as much if not more energy than your home is consuming. This model ended up to be a success. After running numerous tests, it was concluded that on a warm sunny day if using the proper appliances and lighting, your home can produce more energy than it consumes. The surplus of energy can be sold to the Southern California Edison Co. The California state government has tried to promote the use of methods of green energy such as solar panels by providing incentives to customers. However these promotions have failed due to the weak housing market. Now that the house market is starting to pick up again, people are expected to remodel their homes to make them more energy efficient. In coming years, California laws will require more energy-efficient homes, with the goal of having all homes built in 2020 being net-zero. This can be a huge step towards a bright future and an answer to many of the world's problems. 

SOAPST "Speech in the Virginia Convention"

"Speech in the Virginia Convention", Patrick Henry

Patrick Henry's "Speech in the Virginia Convention" is arguably one of the most important speeches we have had in our country's history. He was an attorney who had an amazing talent in public speech. He was also one of our founding fathers and was even willing to fight and die along-side the soldiers to gain independence from Great Britain. Patrick Henry is speaking at The Virginia Convention. His audience members are the congress members of the Second Continental Congress, and The President. The delegation has gathered in Virginia to decide whether they want to fight for their independence or not. Patrick Henry's intention was to persuade his audience. He speaks in a scholarly, and enthusiastic tone to show that he is very serious and polite. He is enthusiastic in order to inspire the fellow Americans so they can also join the battle for independence. It is the bravery of Patrick Henry and the rest of our founding fathers we owe our independent nation to.

City College Of San Francisco Budget Meeting Spurs Protests, Threats Of Bankruptcy

Robin Wilkey, Huffington Post


On September 13, 2012 a board meeting took place at City College of San Francisco. The purpose of the meeting was to address the financial problems that California's largest public school was having. This institution provides a learning environment for 86,000 students. The meeting was interrupted by dozens of student protesters who demanded the board's resignation. They protested against increased tuition and educational cuts that limit a student's potential to learn and excel. The Accrediting Commission of Community and Junior Colleges stated that the cause of this financial crisis is the weakness of leadership on all levels.After a financial review in July, it was made clear that ninety-two percent of the schools funds were spent on salaries and benefits.The college chancellor, Jack Scott, was quoted saying, "all hell would break loose if trustees did not take necessary austerity measures". City College of San Francisco has until October 15 to submit a financial plan to save the school. It would be sad to see 86,000 students being refused education due to insufficient funds.

Jobs Data Weigh on Obama, Fed

On September 7, 2012, Conor Daughtery and Damian Paletta of the Wall Street Journal called,"Jobs Data Weigh on Obama, Fed" The article consisted of both politics and economics. Currently, we have twelve million people unemployed in America. The Labor Department just announced that more jobs are being created as time progresses. Just this month alone, 96,000 jobs were created. In the month of July, 146,000 jobs were created. The unemployment rate decreased from a national average of 8.3 percent to 8.1 percent. President Obama says, "We need to create more jobs faster." He also stressed the importance of being patient as the severity of the job crisis will not be taken care of over night. The Republicans immediately took advantage of this opportunity and restated the answer to why we need change in the oval office. This is important because these economic facts show us that America is past the stage of being at rock bottom and is now finally starting to get up on its feet. The path to a better future is more clear. 

Cookies 'n Cream

In the fall of 1978, Huggs McShane made Oreo ice cream in the Galleria Mall in downtown Portland, Oregon. McShane wanted to experiment with new flavors which resulted in the creation of the best ice cream flavor, coookies 'n cream. Cookies 'n cream is also called "King Kong of Ice Cream" because it rapidly climbed to the top of the World's Favorite Ice Cream Flavor list. This ice cream flavor contains vanilla, milkshake, Oreo cookie, and a sweet taste which will never leave your taste buds. With cookies 'n cream you get the best of both worlds. You get the chocolaty Oreo flavor and the sweet vanilla flavor. Your indulgence in this flavor will want you to come back for more. This desert is in fact delicious, or tasty, and appeals to the majority. Dunking your Oreos in milk? A no-brainer. Dunking them in vanilla flavored ice cream? Now that's genius. Do you want another good reason to have cookies 'n cream? Oreo cookies 'n cream is Kosher! So people of all religions could enjoy it without conflicting their own religious laws. This ice cream also has one gram of fiber, five grams of protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium, and Iron! Can anyone please find a reason not to enjoy one right now?

Navy SEAL Spills Bin Laden Raid Secrets

On August 31, 2012 Mark Hosenball and David Alexander from the Huffington Post wrote about the potential legal actions that might be taken against former Navy SEAL, Matt Bissonnette.The United States Defense Department is considering taking legal action against Bissonnette because of the non-disclosure violations he committed by writing a book called "No Easy Day" which contained some secrets on the raid on Bin Laden. These secrets were not available to the public and publishing this book will break some agreements he signed before serving his term. However, Bissonnette's lawyer argues that this book does not contain government secrets. For this reason, The Pentagon is debating whether there are sufficient grounds to punish the former war hero for his actions. Steven Spielberg had interests in turning the book into a movie but after this controversy, he no longer has these plans. The Book, "No Easy Day" is currently under review by The United States Defense Department. Their verdict will soon be announced. The government should be very careful of releasing this book to the public. If the book contains any government secrets, than our national security and our country's credibility is at stake.

U.S Plans Missile Defense in Asia

In The Wall Street Journal, Adam Entous wrote about the new defense plans that will allow The United States to install missile based defense weapons throughout Asia. The United States military said that the sole purpose of this new defense plan is to eliminate all future threats of North Korea but these weapons if installed can also counteract the Chinese military if one day needed to. The Obama Administration is fully cooperative with this plan. This Article is significant because it shows us a prime example of what The United States does but should not do. They stick their nose in another continent and set up military bases in attempts to bring "hostility" to that region and eliminate any future threats. In fact, America is the biggest threat to all other nations and these "precautionary" actions are building up hatred towards America in other countries and instigating World War III.