The Shoe Hero

In a region filled with political opposition and years of war and conflicts, Iraqis took to the streets not to fight but as a celebration for their newest national hero. The even happened Sunday night as President Bush was making his final speech in Iraq, an Iraq journalist named Muntader al-Zaidi threw his shoe at Bush shouting "This is a gift fro the Iraqis; this is the farwell kiss, you dog!" then he threw his other shoe shouting "This is from the windows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq!" He was promply hauled off into the lobby where his screams could be heard as the presidents body guards beat him. Mr. Zaidi faces up to seven years in jail for committing an act of aggression against a visiting head of state. The ordeal lasted only a few minutes but it has almost all Iraqis singing. Many groups paraded threw the streets with shoes up on flag poles and in Damascus a signs reading "Oh, heroic jouranlist, thank you so much for all you have done." Mr. Zaidi, "provided a rare moment of unity in a region often at odds with itself." A man offered to pay $10 million to buy just one of the famous black dress shoes. A man who was closing up his shop to go out to celebrate with friends said "This is like a holiday, this is just what we needed for revenge"

Eggs, Peanuts, Soy, Milk, Wheat, Fish, Shellfish and Tree Nuts

90% of food allergies in children come from eight foods. They include egg, peanuts, soy, milk, wheat, fish, shellfish and tree nuts. Now 4% of the US population has food allergies, but ten or 15 years ago not much was taught about food allergies in medical training. Now you go to preschool and there are a lot of notes and precautions about kids there that have various food allergies. It's an increasing health risk and there aren't a lot of studies about it. Now there is an international study that is trying to search for the causes. The study is being conducted in Boston, Chicago and a province in China. They are skin prick testing in China and found that 12 to 16% of the rural population had reactions to shellfish and peanuts. But in the country overall under 1% are diagnosed. This is a very complex issue and all the answers have not been found yet. A boy in the study got kissed by his grandmother and something in her lipstick made his cheek break out in hives. Food Allergies can be life threatening, 200 die each year in the US and cause 30,000 trips to the emergency room. The study is only in it's beginnings and it will take awhile before enough is known to make any helpful conclusions.

Terrorism in Mumbai, is it all over for India?

This article is by one of the people who also wrote one of my articles for my research assignment. As I was reading the article I was thinking wow, this is really well written but I didn't know who the author was. After looking him up on google,(at first I thought he was a girl, the name sounds like mine). He is actually a really cool person who is an award winning journalist and has a high position in the UN. This is what he blogged about a week ago after the terrorist attacks on Mumbai; over it's long struggle, India has adapted to deal with tragedy. Their resilence and openness has made them strong. After earlier attack on Mumbai in 1993, stock traders went to work without computers, lights and a shattered building. They sold their stock the old fashion way, with yelling and shouting and paper. Bombs and bullets can not destroy India. Many of India's cities are open, with grand bridges welcoming those in by sea. Their mix of language, culture and 1,000's of good on the open market are found; these are all parts of great India. Now after these recent attacks India's openness can not fade, fear can not grip citizens of Mumbai, because then the terrorists win. India must continue to be the open, cultural place it was, without fear of smeared evil.

5 Truths About Heath Care in America

In five years health care will be one-fifth of the U.S. economy, and per-person; spending will nearly double. The U.S. spends far more money on health care than any other nation. We aren't very healthy respectively but we do make the most medical advances and innovations in the world. For every dollar the U.S. spends on health care 31 cents of it goes to hospital care, 21 to physician and clinical services and 9 to nursing home care. For all this money and energy we rank pretty low on almost every health statistic for developed nations. Our average life expectancy is 77.9 years only 34th in the world. Infant mortality rate is no better, we are tied with Poland and Slovakia as 29th in the world. Out of every 1,000 live births 6.9 babies die, this statistic is linked with economic status and a mother's access to health care. Even with all our great hospitals and research Americans fall far behind in the healthiness of our daily lives. Education, Income and Race and sex are key factors, smoking is on the decline but still half of men with GED diplomas are smokers, but just 6% of men with a graduate degree light up. Americas' top killers; heart disease, cancer and stroke now only account for 5 out of ever 10 deaths, less than the 7 out of 10 in 1980. Prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women are the most common forms of cancer, but they are also the most survivable. Even with our very interconnected world rural areas still do not have enough doctors available, plus the 45.6 million of Americans uninsured. Almost 32% of Hispanics are uninsured as well as 8.1 million children. America is starting to realize it's extremely poor state of health care, we are no where near our goal but we are getting there, slowly.

Freshly Squeezed

As food prices rise and grocery bills increase up to 7.5 %, the fastest rate in 18 years, food companies are going beneath the consumer radar to give people less for the same price. It's a trend that is just now being noticed by many regular grocery shoppers as they feel their carts becoming lighter and the bills becoming bigger. A Skippy Peanut butter can has a larger indent in the bottom making the new sized jar 16.3 oz instead of the old 18 oz for the same price. For companies it has become a large part of their business, General Mills has a new "Holistic Margin Management" team, devoted to saving the company millions but cutting seemingly unnoticeable margins in the packages of their products. The company is encouraging all employees to think of new ways to cut costs on packages, such as thinner soup lid on Progresso soup cans which can save almost 360 tons of steel a year. Fruit Gushers fruit snacks used to have a distinct design for each flavor, but after a resent study they decided to cut costs by having a generic package for all flavors saving the company 3 million a year. One reason the companies have been able to get away with this is because more people are eating at home again and they pay more attention to the price than the sizes. But now with the economy looking grim for many and the pinching of budgets, more Americans are noticing the difference; making it harder for companies to get away with it. This all goes back to what you think you see on the shelf isn't always what you get.

In Search of Cheap Food

What's the connection between a Minnetonka based company, Papua New Guinea and world food prices? Palm oil is the connection, it's the most widely used vegetable oil in the world. It's in a lot of foods that we don't even realize, cereal, breakfast bars, snacks and more. And 30% of it comes from the islands of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Cargill, one of Minnesota's largest companies is one of the largest producers of Palm oil in the world. They have plantations on the island of Papua New Guinea where they hire 15,000 workers for their plants seasonally. They extract the oil and then ship it to the US where it is processed and then put into foods on grocery sheaves in all but 3 countries. Palms produce more oil per acre than any other plant like Canola or soy by up to 50%. The large plantations feature rows of tall 4 to 6 year old palms and workers who walk up and down the rows with long poles to snip off the fruits and send them tumbling to the ground where the oil from their kernels is extracted. For hundreds of years New Guineans lived like they had for 1,000 of years as subsistence farmers. The island residence speak over 800 distinct languages and has the world's 3rd largest rain forest. In the 1960's the US government and World Bank decided to introduce a cash crop to the island to improve their standard of living. Now with more worldwide food shortages and an increase in food prices Cargill and other local farmers are expanding their plantations into the treasured rain forest. The company and the farmers argue they do this to improve their lifestyles and send their children to school but as the prices increase so will the amount of deforested rain forest that can never be recovered. It is a recurring problem that sometimes feels so far away for us, that is until your next visit to the grocery store or bowl of General Mill's cereal.

The Abundance of Katherines blog #1

Colin Singleton is a child prodigy with some relationship problems. He has dated 19 girls all of them named Katherine. After being dumped by #19 his best friend Hassan decides it's time for some vacation time on the road. They end up in Gunshot Tennessee, a one factory town that makes tampon strings. Colin knows every priminister of Canada, 90 digits of Pi, and the 43 anagrams of the word dingleberries. But he is taking on a new mission to prove his Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which could predict the lenght and predictability of an relationship anywhere. Colin will make the world safe for every dumpee everywhere. I'm on page 191 and Colin has just perfected his theorem, which is really long and involves a lot of math symbols I don't even know.Colin may be smart and a 'prodigy' but he is convinced that he is not yet in fact a genius. Prodigies as Colin says have a lot of potential but usually they don't have any more likely chance of winning the Noble Prize than any other regular smart person. Colin wants to make something of himself - be remembered forever. But to achieve greatness he must come to terms with his own 19 timed broken heart and what he really wants to do with is extra ordinary life.

Maus a Survivor's Tale Part 1 My Father Bleeds History

Maus is a very quick and fascinating read especially because the whole book is one long comic! It is the story of Vladek Spiegelman, a Jewish survivor of Hitler's Europe and his son, a cartoonist who tries to come to term with his father, his father's terrifying story and History itself. The Nazis are cats the Polish are pigs and the Jews are mice giving the previous thought well known events a whole new perspective. The great drawings flashing between present day New York to 1940's Poland. This amazing tale of fear, suspicion, betrayal and impossible escapes had me on the edge on my seat expecting the end for Vladek and his family at any moment. I have read other survivor stories but this is by far the most raw and profound. I am getting part 2 soon, and will have to be careful to put it down enough to do my homework. This book makes me very appreciative of all the food I eat and the warmth of my house. Vladek and his wife Anja ate bread once a day while they were hiding in a barn. Vladek told Anja to chew pieces of wood to make her less hungry. In a Polish POW camp Vladek hundled in tents and thin blankets to keep from getting frost bite. He made a chess board out of bread crums and woodchips to help pass the time. a Pultzer prize winner that Newsweek said "Maus compels us to bear witness in a different way: the very artificiality of its surface makes it possible to imagine the reality beneath"

Letters to Anna

Anna Politkovskaya was a Russian journalist who worked for one of Russia's last independent papers. In 2006 she was killed by a hired killer, who the killer is and who paid him to do it is still unknown. The Putin regime is fighting a dirty war in Chechya, there are many rebels there that want it to be a separate country. There has been genocide and many acts of brutality. Most journalists would avoid traveling there and reporting about it. She reported on Chechnyan residents who's lives were ruined by the conflict. But she had to let people know about the tragedies of so many people diapering with out a trace. She criticized the Russian handling of Chechya rebels terrorist actions. One occurred in 2002 when rebels took over a theater in Moscow and held 900 hostages. Politkovskaya, a hero in Chechya was asked to serve as a mediator by the rebels. The mediation failed, and in the end the authorities pumped in a toxic gas that killed 125 hostages and the terrorists. Two years later, terrorist took over an elementary school on the first day of school and took a 1,000 hostages. The Kremlin sent the military to storm the school and 333 hostages died. Politkovskaya had appeared on Radio Liberty two days before her murder and criticized the Chechyan government leader. She has also criticized Putin, Russia's previous president. She was secretly followed for two days and then fatality shot after going into her apartment. The editor of her newspaper shut down the paper, saying "no newspaper was worth such sacrifices", he was later overruled by his staff because they had to carry out the mission of the paper. The are no answers to who gave the order to have her killed. But many believe the Russian government had something to do with it. A film with English narration has been produced in titled "Letter to Anna". Her story has been talked about with admiration around the world.

'Such a Rough Diamond of a Man'

A new children's book by Candace Fleming tells the seemingly well-known story of Abraham and Mary Lincoln. This little book contains a virtually untold story of the romantic side of Abe and the beautiful love story of the couple. Mary Todd was a southern belle, who lived on a wealthy plantation in Kentucky. Mary loved to read books like Abraham who once said "My best friend is a man who'll give me a book I ain't read yet." Mary did have slaves on her plantation but her mother made their house a stop on the underground rail road. Both Abraham and Mary lost their loving mothers when they were young. However, Abraham loved the widow his father married and Mary hated her stepmother. There was also their love for politics, their ambition. Mary was sure her husband would do great things even though her family strongly disapproved. She once said to a friend who asked her what she saw in him,"such a rough diamond of a man, the important thing is the diamond itself, clear and flawless under its film." They married and Mary was a hardy house wife, she and the children went with Abraham to the white house. She later said she awoke everyday with"a sense of misery." Then came the civil war, her son's death from pleurisy and her husbands assassination. She came full circle and wondered in Europe until returning home to be put on trial for insanity. She returned to the house where she was married in Springfield. She wouldn't sleep on her husbands side of the bed and died there wearing her wedding band inscribed with the words "Love is eternal."

Deported in Coma, Saved Back in U.S.

Antonio Torres, a legal immigrant was badly hurt in a car crash last June. Uninsured and suffering life threatening injuries, the hospital in Arizona quietly deported him across the boarder, despite outraged protests from his parents. Not ready to give up Mr. and Mrs. Torres contacted a hospital in California that was willing to take him and sent a donated ambulance to bring Antonio back to the U.S. While his condition was severely worsened by the long transport, after several months in the California hospital Antonio has made a profound recovery. He is now able to walk and talk with his cane swinging in the air to emphasize his points. He wants to work in the Alfalfa fields again and live close to home. Mr. Torres recalls the horrible hospital experience when the social worker told him and his wife that just after two days of study the doctors had concluded that his son had sever brain damage and that he would either never wake up or be confided to a nursing home; never being able to speak or walk again. The social worker told them it was best to pull the plug on their son, when they said no she was angry. A hispanic leader in Phoenix, Mr. Espinoza who has been working with another immigrant paitent battling another hospital in the Phoenix area. He came with Mr. and Mrs. Torres to talk wiht the hospital's social worker. The social worker told them it was best to pull the plug on their son, when they said no she was angry. Mr. Espinoza recalls the meeting when he offered to raise money to keep Antonio a room and a ventilator Mr. Espinoza said the social worker repiled; "Gee, that would be like taking money and throwing it down a black hole because this kid is going to die! I've got Mom and Dad crying, and she says that other patients would be better suited for that kind of investment." Now with the whole family back together in Arizona Mr. Torres said,"Imagine if I had said, 'O.K. disconnect him." However stories like Antonio's are happening all over the southern states. Uninsured Immigrants find themselves at the mercy of these hospitals. Mr. Green, president of the city-owned hospital in California where Antonio was treated said, "our mission here is to provide health care access to our community and anyone who comes to our E.R. is considered part of our community. This was a kid who came to this country legally, worked here legally and had an accident. For God's sake, don't we take care of our folk? To me, this case shows one of the disastrously broken pieces of our health care system."

A Rise in Kidney Stones for U.S. Children

No longer are kidney stones solely a middle aged disease. While the data isn't fully acquired yet, Hospitals throughout the country are seeing a huge rise in kidney stones in children. The median age for these stones is 10 but there is also a huge spike in the disease in 20 and 30 year olds. While many doctors disagree on the details the overall census is that diet imbalance is to blame. Most kidney stones are a mix of highly concentrated calcium and oxalate, a byproduct of certain foods with very little water. The most common producer of this oxalate is salt. "What we've really seen is an increase in the salt load in children's diet," said Dr. Bruce L. Slaughenhoupt, co-director of pediatric urology and of the pediatric kidney stone clinic at the University of Wisconsin. Especially high salt rates are found in these favorite kids foods; canned soups, sandwich meats, packaged meals, and even in sports drinks like Gatorade. The combination of these salty foods with very little water for the salt to dissolve in is the most likely cause of kidney stones in children. Active kids who drink little water and lots of salt and who have a family history of stones are at most risk to develop kidney stones.

The Journey of our DNA

The journey of our DNA began some 200,000 years ago when a small group of modern diverse humans set course to colonize the world. Over the slow migration of 100,000's of years those early ancestors spread their diverse DNA throughout the world. Only a handful of people carrying their genetic markers walked out of Africa and then to all other lands of the world. These early humans were hunters and gatherers who were in Europe 40,000 years ago and crossing into North America 20,000 years later. Scientists are able to know where certain groups of people come from by studying different parts of our DNA. All humans have 99.9% identical DNA through out the world. The difference is .1% and is responsible for all our differences. The fathers ancestry can be tracked through the Y chromosome. In the breaking apart of these we can see that all males around the globe share similar 'base' DNA patterns of African males. From then new mutations occur adding on top of the first ones to create ethnic diversity we see in all people today. The mothers history can be found from the mitochondrial which is passes from mother to child. Using both the mother and father history, genetic patterns can be found telling where and when a certain group of people migrated around the planet.

This is a video of Nelson Mandela's first televised interview. Mandela was a huge figure in non-violent acts of protest against the apartheid in South Africa. He was later put in jail for 27 years until the apartheid was ended and he was elected the first black president of South Africa. This video is about how one hero can not do it alone, part of their fight is to spread their message, as Mandela did in this interview. I chose this because it gives insight into the first of Mandela's actions, when studying heroes it is important to know their start. From this artifact I learned that heroes continue their cause even after they are in hiding or under arrest, as Mandela did. It shows how their message will continue to prosper under the understanding of everyone that will listen.

(This is a preview for a movie about Gandhi's life. I've seen this movie and know it is extremely accurate.) This academy award winning movie provokes the deep understanding of the struggle to liberate India. Gandhi was the forward figure in the movement, who preached that, "In this cause I too am prepared to die, there is no cause in which I am prepared to kill." His words of non-violence formed the liberation of India from the English empire, and influenced many revolutions to come. This artifact depicts the effect that one person can have on the whole world. They didn't fight but rather told everyone of the immorality of what they were doing that made them stop. We learn that peace heroes can be regular people who let their message be known and like Gandhi are prepared to give their life for their cause.

Lord of the Manor

The eighteenth Earl of Pembroke, or Lord Herbert is 28 and has the mightly task of running his families' 14,000 acre estate. The job has been past down to the eldest male heir since the manor was built in 1542. The land was given to his family by King Henry the 8th with around 20 bedrooms, 14 farms, 200 residential properties and over 140 employees. The estate is also quite large tourist atraction getting around 70,000 visiters a year. The manor has an ancient sculpture collection, the largest private collection of Anthony Van Dyek paintings, very old and traditional furniture and large extensive english gardens. Lord Pembroke has his own private quarters in the mansion, but he spends most of his time in the modernized library with a 43-inch plasma-screen TV stocked full with DVDs. The long dark corridors bring nightmares and the past to life, and as a child one of the Earl's favorite activities was exploring the vast array of secret rooms in the manor. While the mansion and grounds are huge there is always people around, staff, visitors, watchmen or residents. His favorite family heirloom is a lock of Queen Elizabeth 1st's hair.

Peace Heroes

Peace Heroes in a Box

"I just wish George had as much courage in his entire body as Casey had in his little pinky, then he would meet with me." ---Cindy Sheehan is camped outside the Crawford Texas home of US President George W. Bush, who refuses to meet with her or other war-protesting parents of soldiers killed or wounded in the Iraq War.

This story shocked alot of people and got them thinking about the motives of war. I remember hearing about this on the news and thinking of all the attention Sheehan was getting and how by raising her concerns and going straight to the president about it she was able to make a difference. She was not scared of the critics she only wanted answers about her son. I chose this because it is a recent example of how one mother raising questions about her son, raised questions about the war.

"Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding." - Albert Einstein

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." -- Mahatma Gandhi

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. --- Eleanor Roosevelt

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." --- Jimi Hendrix

All of these quotes are short but meaningful, they represent the main parts of being a peace hero; understanding surroundings and similarities as much as differences, forgiveness and compassion, the overall dream and working to reach that dream while not becoming consumed with power. I chose these because they tell the story of all peace heroes and their quests and goals.

"This has to stop."
Biography [1] [2]

Rachel Corrie was killed on Sunday, March 16, 2003 while trying to stop a bulldozer from tearing down a building in a refugee camp in Gaza. Her body was crushed by the bulldozer passing over her several times. She had been acting as a Human Shield, trying to stop the demolition of a family home.
Rachel wrote to her mother shortly before she died, "I spent a lot of time writing about the disappointment of discovering, somewhat first-hand, the degree of evil of which we are still capable. I should at least mention that I am also discovering a degree of strength and of basic ability for humans to remain human in the direst of circumstances - which I also haven't seen before. I think the word is dignity. I wish you could meet these people."
"... This has to stop. I think it is a good idea for us all to drop everything and devote our lives to making this stop. I don't think it's an extremist thing to do anymore. I still really want to dance around to Pat Benatar and have boyfriends and make comics for my coworkers. But I also want this to stop." (more)
Rachel was a senior at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. Rachel grew up in Olympia and graduated from its Capital High School. Her teachers have remarked that she was "a shining star, a wonderful student and a brave person of deep convictions."
To quote Naomi Klein, "These do-it-yourself social movements have emerged as a kind of activist "third way," an alternative both to the purely symbolic dissent of demonstrations and the suicidal impulse of armed aggression, and their members are exercising their rights throughout the world. The true faces of modern activism belong to people like the late Rachel Corrie ... Corrie wasn't in the occupied territories to give comfort to suicide bombers; she was standing with the with the nonviolent group, International Solidarity Movement trying to keep a Palestinian family home from being demolished."

I would have moved out of the way but why didn't she? She found courage to fight a terrible injustice. The Palestinians lost their land, their rights and now their home and she wanted to help. I picked this article because it talks about the tragedy of an ordinary high school girl trying to make a difference. It makes you wonder if it made any difference at all, did it make us think about how others don't have our basic rights.

Thomas Woodrow Wilson
Reelected in 1916 as a peace candidate, he tried to mediate between the warring nations; but when the Germans resumed unrestricted submarine warfare in 1917, Wilson brought the United States into what he now believed was a war to make the world safe for democracy. He supplied the classic formulations of Allied war aims and the armistice of Nov. 11, 1918, was negotiated on the basis of Wilson's Fourteen Points. In 1919 he strove at Versailles to lay the foundations for enduring peace. He accepted the imperfections of the Versailles Treaty in the expectation that they could be remedied by action within the League of Nations. He probably could have secured ratification of the treaty by the Senate if he had adopted a more conciliatory attitude toward the mild reservationists; but his insistence on all or nothing eventually caused the diehard isolationists and diehard Wilsonites to unite in rejecting a compromise.

Wilson's ideas on peace and forgiveness were unique after the first world war. He fought for his 14 points which we now know if they would have followed them, the second world war could have been avoided. He also created the League of Nations where nations could communicate in a peaceful way with eachother, and ofer aid to those in need. This article is significant because it is about how sometimes all great efforts don't end up with results, sometimes the hero fails. But their mission lives on and the League or United Nations still stands today with tons of influence.

Since leaving the presidency, Carter and his wife Rosalynn have been involved with building homes, all over the world, for the poor in the Habitat for Humanity program. Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit, nondenominational Christian housing organization which, since 1976, has built more than 100,000 houses in more than 60 countries, including some 30,000 houses across the United States. He hammers a straight nail and works humbly side by side with all the volunteers as a common citizen. In 1982 Carter and his wife Rosalynn founded The Carter Center to promote human rights, democracy and health care.
His work at The Carter Center has given Jimmy Carter world-wide recognition as an international mediator and promoter of democracy and human rights. He has traveled the world mediating conflicts and monitoring elections, in East Timor, the West Bank, Haiti, and most recently in Jamaica. Carter visited Cuba in May 2002, the first US president to do so since 1959 when Fidel Castro assumed power in a communist revolution. Carter spoke on Cuban national television and urged Castro to expand civil liberties and allow reform through fair elections. In Cuba Carter also publicly urged the US government to lift sanctions against Cuba. Back to Top
In October 2002 Jimmy Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. According to the Nobel Prize Committee Chairman Gunnar Berge, "Carter has stood by the principles that conflicts must as far as possible be resolved through mediation and international cooperation based on international law." Jimmy Carter was awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his "untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development." Shortly after receiving the prize, Carter left for Jamaica to observe the strife-filled Jamaican national elections. Nobel Committee Chairman Berge noted that the choice of Carter, who opposes unilateral US military action against Iraq --- the impending war --- should be interpreted by the world as a criticism of the efforts of US President Bush to attack Iraq rather than search for other, non-violent resolution of the present crisis.
His dedication to peace and the compassionate work of Jimmy Carter is a continuing inspiration to all people. Carter is a leader with ideals and the perseverance to work energetically toward those ideals, to make the world a better place, to bring fairness, equality, and decency, basic human rights, to all people. Jimmy Carter is a peace hero for the world.

This article is significant because it is about what Carter did after his presidency. While most retire to their large houses or make occasional speeches for their party former president Carter spend his time building houses all over the world while making an organization of his own. Sometimes greatness can be achieved even after positions of power. Just because someone is moved from the spot light doesn't mean they fade away.
from: http://www.peaceheroes.com/quotes.htm

Conclusion

All the collected above artifacts imply that all peace heroes have four things in common; the overcome different situations in their own lives to accomplish greater good, face disapproval, endangerment or imprisonment, use compassion and take action, and finally non-violence. After this peace heroes are divided into two major groups; well known and ordinary achievers. For instance, Martin Luther King Jr. is a very well known and admired peace hero while some like Rachel Corrie lead courageous acts all by themselves. Many well known peace heroes are great speakers and are able to lead people into action to overcome injustice without violence. Others had previous prominent leadership positions like a former president or religious leader. Jimmy Carter began some of his most notable work after his presidency striving for acceptable homes for all. While Gandhi did not have any previous government positions he shaped a country and movement more powerful than the greatest military. Not well-known can be divided into direct action such as being on the scene or in a rally and non-direct action like creating an organization or raising money for a cause. Many peace heroes have humble beginnings giving us the message that we all can achieve great acts of kindness, understanding and bravery that shape our world.

A Rocker's Trip Into His Father's Head Space

Rock and roll star Mark Oliver Everett never really knew his father. Now 25 years after his father's death, Mark or 'E' to his friends and fans will get an unexpected view in to the life of his brilliant father Hugh Everett. Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives is a documentary about Everett; a major quantum physicists and creater the Theory of Quantum Mechanics in the 50's. His theory is right up there with Einstein's theory of relativity and Newton's theory of gravity. The theory, about the possibility of parallel worlds was at first rejected by the scientific community, the devestated Hugh Everett withdrew almost entirely into his own mind. The documentury is about his son's journey to understand his withdrawn life and theory. He describes his visit to the dorm room where the theory and largely created as, "in the music world this would be like going to Abbey Road Studios." He met with some of his father's fellow students who are now in their 70's as well as students who have spend their careers studying his work. They are extatic to met him not because of his famous lyrics and rock and roll history but because he is the last living family member of one of science's greatest folk heros. The film will be showed on Tuesday on PBS as the 50 year anniversery of the theory and the 25 year anniversery of his death. The whole expierence has been an emotional look in to the past for Mr. Everett; a long over due journey in to the mind of our time's greatest quantum physicist.

Paul Krugman wins the Economics Nobel Memorial prize

Mr. Krugman was awarded the Nobel Memorial prize on monday. He is a professor at Princeton and has a regular Op-Ed column in the New York Times since 2000. His column has gotten him strong supporters and critics as he is a growning pain to President Bush and now Senator McCain. He was awarded the prize for his academic reserach that began in 1979 about world trade patterns and where and why goods are produced. He said in an interview monday,"to be absolutely, totally honest, I thought this day might come some day, but I was absolutely convinced it wasn't going to be this day." He says he doesn't expect this prize to influence the way his colleagues or critics see him or his work. He began his writting career writting about economics in Slate magazine and Forbes in the 1990's. Now his columns are more centered around politics and his academic works around international finance and trade. The prize is the last of the 6 Nobels to be given out this year. While the economics prize was not one of the original Nobel awards, it was added by a Swedish bank in Alfred Nobel's memory, hence the name Economics Nobel Memorial prize. The prize includes a total of about $1.4 million. While there may be critics there are always the supporters. Paul A. Samuelson, a previous winner said,"I praise today's prize as being deserving and even overdue, but more than that I reproach the Pulitzer prize committee, which owed him at least a couple of prizes in the past. Paul Krugman is the only columnist in the United States who has had it right on almost every count form the beginning."

Hacking Harvard

Just today I started the book Hacking Harvard a novel by Robin Wasserman. It is about a truly brilliant hacking (similar to pranking) team who takes on a high stakes bet to get a slacker in to Harvard. I am on page 214. The team has just used a tiny camera, invisible earpieces and 3 geniuses to help their slacker, Clay get a perfect score on the SAT. Eric, the moralist who plays by the rules, has just found out his best friend Max made the bet a little higher stakes than he lead the rest of them to believe. What started out as just $100 per person is now a $25,000 bet that could get them in serious trouble if they should fail. In hopes to prove to the college board and millions of stressed high school students, that life isn't all about where you get in; the team will have to follow the Hacker's code, stay focused and don't get caught! This is a pretty interesting read that gives some good life lessons on planning for the future. It really got me thankfull I'm not applying to college just yet and also a little freaked out for the SAT, (they have some sample questions in the book.) I really can't figure out if they will succeed or fail in the end, I guess I will find out.

Sun Country files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy October 7, 2008

Sun Country filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy over the weekend. All of the companies voting shares were held by Tom Petters, who's office was recently stormed by federal agents on account of fraud. Petter's other businesses have been taken over by a court appointee while they sort out the case. By filing for bankruptcy Sun Country wanted to prevent being seized by the court. Also, Sun Country was expecting to recieve a loan from Petters to cover costs during the months of October and November. The company has already cut their workers wages by 50%, promising to reimbuse them in 2009. The CEO Stan Gadek said in an interview, "We're not in bankruptcy because of our business model being broken, we are in bankruptcy because of the recent events at Petters Group World-Wide." The company said flights and service will continue as usual during the up-coming holiday season and that there will be no major increase in ticket or baggage fees. They are confident they will be able to make up their losses during their peak season when many Minnesotans flee the cold harsh winter.

A Book I Just Finished....I Am The Messanger by Markus Zusak

Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver without much of a future. He can't play cards, is completly hopelessly inlove with his best friend Audrey, and things are looking like business as usual until the day he stops a bank robbery and he gets the first ace in the mail. Ed becomes the messanger, chosen to care, helping and hurting (when necessary). He becomes devoted to his mission, changing people's lives through small acts of caring. Until he realizes by changing others, he changes himself. "If a guy like you can stand up and do what you did, then maybe everyone can. Maybe everyone can live beyond what they're capable of" (Zusak 357). This book has the reasuring message, that if Ed Kennedy can do it, so can all of us. I just recently finished this book and it pretty much tops my favorite book list and favorite author. With stunning truth and brillance that is Markus Zusak, this book shows the huge effects of small actions and the message that we all can make a difference.

Something I read today...from the New York Times

Yesterday the $700 trillion bailout plan what to be voted on in congress. Despite major endorsements from the President and major party leaders, the plan suprisingly did not pass. The writers of the plan pushed it through quickly - needing quick results. But the experts and many of the Congressmen weren't confident in the plans future success. The main reason for the rejection of the bill was that many of the House and Senate members recieved tons of calls from their states, telling them to let Wall street fail. Then just 15 minuets after they voted to reject the bill, the stock market took it's biggest plung in two decades. The Dow Jones lost 7 % by the end of the day. Now today seeing the huge turmoil in the global economy, Sentaters are trying to come up with a new bill and quickly before the finanil crisis possibly trickles down to Main street consumers and we have our selves in a lot of trouble.

Homero and Codi

In the book Animal Dreams we are constantly shown the differences between Codi and Homero. However there are some similarities that are important. They are both very secretive, Codi with her miscarriage and Homero about his past. These secrets are very important to the shaping of their characters and bring a lot of change to their lives. Homero and Codi are very educated. Homero has been Grace’s doctor his whole life, as well as reading many encyclopedias and constantly making sure his children will have a better life than the other kids of Grace. Codi almost finished Medical school as well as many odd jobs and her childhood encyclopedia readings. Although she rarely admits it, she is a very resourceful and highly competent woman. Homero and Codi isolate themselves from the community. Homero is constantly withdrawing from Grace, elevating himself and his children from the rest of Grace. Codi, called the ‘empress of the universe’ in high school, she has spent her whole life searching for the place she can belong. But she has always been looking for the greener grass on the other side, not even realizing the best place was right under her feet. Codi finally starts to see her weaknesses in one of Hallie’s letters, “I was getting a dim comprehension of the difference between Hallie and me. It wasn’t a matter of courage or dreams, but something a whole lot simpler. A pilot would call it ground orientation. I’d spent a long time circling above the clouds, looking for life, while Hallie was living it.”(page 225). Father and daughter have many differences; their similarities are harder to see but just as important.

Article Summery

A Professor and a Wall Street Deal Maker Bury Old Dogma on Free Markets
reported by Peter Baker, Stephen Labaton and Eric Lipton, written by Mr. Baker. From the New York Times, sunday september 21 issue

The greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression has welded together two of the most unlikely and brilliant Wall street and Washington men to make the ultimate economy saving team. The authors of this piece describe Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Fed and Henry Paulson, the treasury secretary, as a powerfull team. Both have different personalities and backgrounds that make them the perfect pair. Bernanke is professor who spent his whole career studing the great depression. While Paulson was the head of Goldman Sachs for 10 years. Using Paulson as their public speaker and front man and Bernanke as their background economist mastermind, they won't go down without a fight. I really enjoed this article. It gave interesting personalities to the sometime machine like Wall street economists working day and night to prevent a deep global financial crisis.

The Fork, The Spoon and My Brain

When I was around 8 years old, I remember I could never set a table with out making up a silver ware story. The spoon was the princess. She was always forced to stay next to the knife, the snotty prince. You see, the princess was in love with a poor town’s boy, the fork. But they could never be together because they were on opposite sides of the plate. In my mind that wasn’t right. So I simply always put the spoon and the fork together and the snotty prince all by himself. I am imaginative. I make up all kinds of stories and parallel universes in my head. Now today, I set the silver ware the proper way without the princesses and princes. Now, I lose myself in fantasy novels with a little bit of reality mixed in, and use my imagination to tell stories to my younger sister. But my imagination will always be there, somewhere in the back of my head, to help me solve everyday problems and make everyday life more interesting.