Unlikely Friendships

Unlikely Friendships

By: Jennifer S. Holland 

Started the day we picked out our book of the month and ended on November 9th. 

I read 207 pages.

I would rate this book a ten out of ten

I wonder if all animals can be like the ones portrayed in this book or if it is just not normal and these animals in the book are more or less one of a kind. What if all animals could be friends with one another? It would be interesting to know whether or not these animals in the book know that they are friends with another species of animal completely different than their own. They should be enemies if anything because in most cases one of the animals should be eating the other rather than making friends with it. What has to go on in the mind to tell them it is okay to do something that for the most part seems very unlikely to happen? I think that every one of these animals is making a decision to do what they think is right. Rather than fighting with each other they try to find common grounds and become great friends. It is good to see that animals have feelings to and this is a great example of it. They all clearly have happy or in some cases hurt feeling which is why they go out of their way to look for comfort, even if the comfort lies at the hands of a different animal entirety. I am surprised that some of these animals were able to become friends because of their differences. For example, there was one case where a snake had become friends with a hamster. A snake and a hamster in my opinion are there most unlikely animals to form a friendship. Hamsters are related to rats and mice which on any occasion would be a snake’s dinner. Why would this time be any different? The snake made a decision not to eat the hamster and all it took was a little bit of time before they were friends. I’m not sure that all animals are like this. It’s just lucky that some animals are able to form a special friendship between them. Besides, wouldn’t it be bad for all animals to be like this? If all animals were friends with each other than where would they get food? I mean you not going to eat your friend. People would have to make food for every animal on Earth! Although it seems that these animals can’t become friends it not necessary true. Any two things can become friend as long as you give the other one a little time to try. Maybe that what people should do, give everyone a little time and give yourself less time to judge them and more time to become there friend. 

Authors

Saki:

·         His real name is Hector Hugh Munro
·         He was born on December 18, 1870 in Akyab, Burma and died on November 13, 1916.
·         Saki is considered the master of short stories.
·         His parents were Charles Augustus Munro and Mary Frances Mercer.
·         Saki started his writing as a journalist by writing for newspapers such as Westminster Gazette, Daily Express, Bystander, Morning Post, and Outlook.
·         He wrote the short story called “The Interlopers”.

 

Edgar Allan Poe:

·         He was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston Massachusetts and died on October 7, 1849.
·         He had one older brother, William Henry Leonard Poe, and a younger sister, Rosalie Poe.
·         His father abandoned Edgar’s family in 1810 and his mother died a year later from tuberculosis.
·         Poe was taken in by John Allan who was a successful Scottish merchant in Richmond.
·         John Allen put the Allen in Edgar Allen Poe even though they never formally adopted him.
·         Poe enlisted in the United States army under the name Edgar A. Perry.
·         He claimed he was 22 but really he was only 18.
·         On October 3, 1849 Poe was found in the streets of Baltimore.
·         He was taken to the Washington Collage Hospital and he died there on four day after he was found.
·         When he was found he was wearing clothes that weren’t his. He was never alive long enough to explain why he was in that situation, but he kept repeating the name “Reynolds”.
·         Some say Poe’s last words were “Lord, help my poor soul”.

 

O ’Henry:

• O' Henry is just his pen name. His real name is William Sydney Porter.
• He was born on September 11, 1862 in Greensboro, North Carolina  and died on June 5, 1910
•  When his was born the spelling of his middle name was Sidney but he changed it to Sydney in 1898
• His dad was Dr. Algernon Sidney Porter and his mother was Mary Jane Virginia Swaim Porter.
• His mother died of tuberculosis when he was three years old.
• He travel with Dr. James K. Hall to Texas in March 1882 hoping that the change of air would help the persistent cough he had developed
• He took up residence on the sheep ranch of Richard Hall.
• Some of the jobs he did included pharmacist, draftsman, bank teller, and journalist.
• He was a member of the Hill City Quarter which was a group of men who sang at gatherings.
•  In 1894, he was accused by the bank of embezzlements and lost his job but was not indicted.

Julie Otsuka:

·         Julie is a Japanese American author.

·         She was born on May 15, 1962 in Palo Alto, California.

·         Her father worked as an aerospace engineer, and her mother worked as a lab technician.

·         She had two brothers as she was growing up.

·         Julie attended Yale University and graduated with a Bachelor degree in Arts.

·         She wrote the novel When the Emperor was Divine.

 

Haunted Barn

 I live on a farm that is called Ruff's Chance farm. Our farm dates back to the 6th century which makes it around 400 years old. Back then we had slaves because at that time just about every farm had them to help. To those who believe in ghost, they might see that there is a very high possibility of our farm being haunted. I have always thought that it could be but was and still am not sure if it’s true. There is a red barn that is on my farm and it has that scary look to it. Only some of it has been redone such as the roof but other than that it is all original. One day about three summers ago we went to the red barn to look for proof of ghost. By us, I mean my two sisters, Emily and Jessica, my cousin Henry, and my other cousin Brittany. Henry lives on the same farm and Brittany lives on a neighboring farm which used to be part of our but now it’s not.

            Everybody knows that people say ghost will show up on a camera so we went to the barn at night with one to try and photograph ghost. We go in through the bottom entrance. There is a long hallway that goes to the bottom story of the barn. The door at the end is for some reason slightly open. When walked slowly up to the door and went in. We walked around carefully and took multiply pictures. We didn't look at them until we got outside because we were scared of what we might see. When we looked at the picture for the most part there was nothing. But there we a couple of picture that till this day are unexplained  There where tiny, round, white or clearer, ball like objects. The orbs always seem to be hiding in the corner. We left right after that. The next day I was walking around there and walked down to look thought the hallway. The door was open which was weird because I had personally shut it behind me and I was the last one out. We have gone back a couple more times since then but there was nothing. There have been a couple of nights when I would be walking by myself or with a friend and the light to the down stairs was on at around 12:00 o’clock. We just run in, turn it off, and try not to over thing it.

This is a good story because it is relatable to my life. It is exciting, keeps your attention, and might be scary to some people.

            

MY BOOK OF THE MONTH

The book I am reading is called Unlikely Friendships by Jennifer S. Holland. This book doesn't really have a main character because it is about different animals. There are forty seven different pair of animals that are unlikely to be friends because of their differences. One example is the African elephant and the sheep. The elephant's mother had died and it was alone in till it meet the sheep. The book is trying to say that friendships have no bound and just because your different doesn't mean you can be together. I chose this book because I thought it looked very interesting. Also I want to read about unexpected friendships between two animals.

http://www.google.com/imgres?num=10&hl=en&biw=1304&bih=683&tbm=isch&tbnid=jde3cYALg_U4WM:&imgrefurl=http://www.ourhenhouse.org/2012/01/book-review-unlikely-friendships-by-jennifer-s-holland/&docid=l1fADA2EVMsPFM&imgurl=http://www.ourhenhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Unlikely-Friendships.jpg&w=425&h=486&ei=GaZpUPKdELLO0QGuiICgBQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=345&vpy=136&dur=1607&hovh=240&hovw=210&tx=106&ty=146&sig=102306388804197588492&page=1&tbnh=154&tbnw=135&start=0&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0,i:77

  

MY POSITION RESEARCH PROJECT

Andrew Ruff

Mrs. Zurkowski

Aquas

September 25, 2012

Medical Marijuana: Good or Bad?

            There are a lot of problems concerning the legalization of medical marijuana. Some people might think it’s good, some people might think it’s bad. Can marijuana really help cure diseases such as cancer and other harmful things? Some people believe it while others think it’s a rumor. But can marijuana properly be viewed as a good medicine to treat such a terrible thing? Marijuana contains cannabinoids which some claims can help reduce nausea and increase appetite in cancer and AIDs patients (Sack). There is a ton of people who will state that smoking medical marijuana helps in their everyday life. Medical marijuana cannot be viewed as a proper medicine because it basically hands a get-high-free card to just about anyone along with all the risk of health issues (Sack).

            So many people think that just because one doctor says it may help cancer that marijuana is such a good medicine but nobody glances an eye at all the negative effects of smoking pot.  Everybody would be shocked to learn that the marijuana that they are smoking for the problems might actually cause the problems (Sack). Marijuana may contain cancer-causing or otherwise harmful hydrocarbons and may contain toxic contaminations such as mold or pesticides. Chronic marijuana use is associated with a lot of well documented health problems including a variety of cancers to adults and to children who were exposed to the drug in utero (Sack). It has also been associated with many long term health problems such as depression, anxiety, and psychosis (Sack). All drugs legally approved for the United States undergo extensive safety studies. Marijuana doesn’t meet these criteria. If marijuana can actually help with all these terrible health problems that we have today then that’s greats but the risk of using pot is too high. What if it just makes your problem worst?

            What if marijuana doesn’t even help certain problems? What if getting high just makes people feel a little better? A new study at the University of Arizona show evidence that medical marijuana might just not help certain problems you may have (Wingett Sanchez). They tested to see if it would help with anxiety, depression, migraines, or post-traumatic stress disorder (Wingett Sanchez). They only found a little evidence that it would treat post-traumatic stress disorder but not enough to confirm it (Wingett Sanchez). It had no effect, good or bad, on migraines (Wingett Sanchez). The test didn’t show positive results that it would help the anxiety but uses of marijuana have been linked to cause depression in the long run (Wingett Sanchez). “In the eyes on the United States federal government cannabis is an illegal drug and has no place in the clinic.

            Stopping medical marijuana is very important to the public’s health. If medical marijuana is legalized in all fifty states then the number of various diseases will skyrocket. Although it may help with some problems including, although it has not been fully proven, the killing of cancer cells, the risk of enabling it to every person is too high. “Just because some doctors practice bad medicine with legal drugs doesn’t make marijuana a good medicine” (Sack). In any state with legal medical marijuana, doctors with hand out a marijuana card with asking very few questions. In other words, anyone can get marijuana as long as they can answer a few questions. “Anyone who wants to get a medical marijuana card knows there are unscrupulous doctor who will give you recommendations with few questions asked” (Sack). “Without a doubt, medical marijuana hands a get-out-of-jail-free card to people who just want to get high” (Sack). Because marijuana does not have safety standards marijuana cannot be viewed as a medicine (Savage). “Making marijuana legally available for medical use will not improve patient care” (Savage). If marijuana is legalized it will only send a statement to the people of United States saying that the use of marijuana is safe which will increase the use a marijuana and cause a major public health crisis. If everybody is smoking pot the hospitals will be overrun by sick patients and people who “are not feeling well” because of all the negative effects of it. Besides, there are few patients whose issues cannot be solved by proper medications without the use of medical marijuana. If a proper doctor is taking close care of his patients then there problems should heal just fine without the use of marijuana. “The introduction of medical marijuana would not help to solve people’s problems but make them worst” (savage). “Rather than support medical marijuana, legislators should work to improve access for all citizens to good quality health care to treat all problems” (Savage).

            There are some people who still think marijuana is a good idea.  There is some research that says that marijuana can help kill cancer cells. It has been shown to reduce nausea. Smoking marijuana of a daily bases can potentially help you feel better. Just getting high for most people is all it takes. Some might think it wrong to look at it that way but most people who are in favor in medical marijuana think that is getting high makes you feel better than just go smoke some pot. They don’t care about what it really does but rather how it makes you feel. Although there is countless research that shows smoking marijuana has multiply effects on you, some people are still all for medical marijuana.

            Everybody in America should work together to put a final end to medical marijuana in all states. To do this we should make drug laws for strict. Also we need to make the penalty for the use of illegal marijuana worst. People need to first stop the states who are currently allowing the use of medical marijuana. We need to spend more time to research of the negative effects of marijuana and expose the results of the test to the public. There also needs to be a test to finally prove or invalidate the effects of marijuana on cancer cells. If it is proven that it does help to cure cancer then people should work on getting rid of the negative effects of pot.

            Marijuana is a very bad idea for medicine and should be stopped. This topic is important to others because if marijuana is approved for all states it will cause a major public health issues. Then again if marijuana can help cure cancer then it might one day make a great medicine.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

                                                              Web Sources

Grant, Bob. “Medical Marijuana:somke, Fire, and Science.” Scientist. Jul 2012:36. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 16 Sep 2012.

Leff, Lisa. “Pot-Based Prescription Drug Looks for FDA OK.” Desert Sun. 22 Jan 2012: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web.  16 Sep 2012

Sack, David. “Is Marijuana Good Medicine?.” Los Angeles Times. 26 Jul 2012:A.23. Sirs Researcher. Web 16 Sep 2012

Savage, Seddon R. “Medical Marijuana Is Not The Answer.” Concord Monitor. 27 Apr 2012: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 16 Sep 2012.

Wingett Sanchez, Yvonne. “Medical Benefits of Pot in Dispute.”  Arizona Republic. 17 Jul 2012: A.1. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web 16 Sep 2012

blog #2

         Over the summer I read the book Black and White by Paul Volponi. It was about two high school basketball stars, Marcus and Eddie. They commit a crime and then have to face teenage criminal detention. The book I compared it to is called The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin. It was about three kids trying to find someone they could depend on because their mother neglects them. My book is different because in my book they are trying to stay out of prison rather than just staying alive. Also my book has to deal with crime. The books are the same because all the people are on their own and trying to stay either alive or out of prison. 

                The book I read this summer was Black and White by Paul Volponi.  My first choice of research topic is the issue of teenage crime.  This issue has two sides because some people just look at it like it's just kids being kids. My paper would argue that this is not okay.

                

                 My second choice of research topic is racism. It has two sides because some people are still racist toward blacks. My paper would argue that this is wrong.

My Unique profile.

        My full name is James Andrew. Despite James being my first name I have always gone by my middle name, Andrew. I came from St. Margaret middle school. I have been a student of St. Margaret's since Pre 3 besides second grade when i went to Hickory Elementary for one year. I didn't like it as much so I went back. I play soccer for John Carroll on J.V. I have only been playing soccer for two years but I really like it. I am looking forward to a great school year with all the wonderful teachers.