Deadly Fire In Brazil by: Vincent Bevins

In the Los Angeles Times, there is an article about a nightclub in Brazil that caught on fire, because of a flare lit by the live band. The flare caused the roof catch fire, and because of the inhalation of smoke and asphyxiation 232 people died. Authorities in Santa Maria spent the day rescuing survivors, and going through the tragic aftermath of the fire. "There are so many bodies that we couldn't get all the way to the back of the nightclub," Lieutenant Moisés da Silva Fuchs told local media, referring to the now-destroyed Kiss club in Santa Maria, near the Uruguayan and Argentine borders(LATimes). When the people of Brazil woke up they were shocked with images of firefighters pulling out people from the nightclub and trying to put out the nightclub. The President Dilma Rousseff, cancelled her plans of going to Chile and instead traveled to Santa Maria, she also was filled with emotion and tears. "I'd like to tell the population of our country, and of Santa Maria, that we are all together in this moment," Rousseff said. Most of the victims were students of local Universities. It was stated that the main entrance door was locked during the fire, but that statement was denied by the main DJ at the club, DJ Bolinha. The DJ told officials that people were pushing each other in order to rescue themselves from the fire. These are some facts about how most of the fires occur at nightclubs, "A welding accident reportedly set off a Dec. 25, 2000, fire at a club in Luoyang, China, killing 309. At least 194 people died at an overcrowded working-class nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2004. A blaze at the Lame Horse nightclub in Perm, Russia, broke out on Dec. 5, 2009, when an indoor fireworks display ignited a plastic ceiling decorated with branches, killing 152. A nightclub fire in Rhode Island in 2003 killed 100 people after pyrotechnics used as a stage prop by the rock band Great White set ablaze cheap soundproofing foam on the walls and ceiling"(LATimes). This article proves that a great night can have a turn for the worst in just a blink of an eye, and can be the worst night ever, killing many people.

Doctors Having Doubts About Vaccines

In the Los Angeles Times there is an article written by Eryn Brown, about doctors having doubts about vaccines. Parts of the U.S. have had waiting rooms filled with people who have the flu, but California is not one of them, do far. However Police Officers say that it may not last for long, because California is also beginning to catch the flu. People don't have to be afraid there is still precautions people can take in order to not get sick or spread the flu. They may wash their hand s and if sick they should stay home in order not to spread germs. Many are afraid that there is not enough room for people in the waiting rooms and others felt like vaccines are not a safe alternative to not catching the fl. However, years of evidence have shown that vaccines are near perfect. People do not get vaccinated as often as they should or even at all, and "the U.S. Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention reported in November that fewer than half of American children and adults were immunized during the early part of the flu season". Two doctors,  Thomas R. Talbot and H. Keipp Talbot of the Vanderbilt University Department of Medicine in Nashville, told  LA Times, about many excuses people use for not getting vaccinated, and their arguments against those excuses. People may argue that some vaccines are not as effective as other, but the two doctors argued that not as effective not mean not effective at all. Some may also say that vaccines get people sick right after they have received the shot, but the doctors argued that the vaccine causes the illness, the illness is caused because of the vaccine not having time to make one's body immune to a disease. Some may also say that they are healthy and never get sick and therefore do not need the vaccination, but the doctors argued that even though some may be healthy and do not get sick or sick like symptoms, they still can pass the virus onto other. So the key message from this article is get immunized now.

Nature

I spent thirty minutes sitting outside, by myself with no distractions. There was absolutely nothing that could take my mind away from nature, no companionship, no technology, and no distractions of any kind. While sitting outside I used a pen and paper to take notes of the certain things that caught my attention, and anything that appealed to my five senses. While sitting, the wind was the first thing I felt, it was a bit breezy and I could feel the wind in my hair. When closing my eyes I could also hear the wind moving the trees in my backyard, the leaves when touching each other would make a distinct noise. When sitting alone and not speaking to someone, just being there by yourself you hear things that you probably would not before. I heard the cars as they would drive by my house, the birds chirping, and people walking past my house and speaking to one another. When sitting in the company of nature you realize there is so much more to it then you ever thought, and that there was so much you had not noticed because of the lack of alone time with nature itself. Nature and its beauty had not caught my eye like it did, before this assignment. I knew of nature and the beauty it had, but when you spend time alone in nature with nothing to distract you from it, that is when you realize its true beauty, and all that it has to offer. When sitting in nature alone, with nothing to distract me I felt a sense of peace and felt calm. At that moment I had nothing to worry about, nothing but nature was on my mind, I was calm, peaceful, and the stress just flew out the window. I knew from that moment on what nature had the power to do, it had the power to relinquish me from stress, take away my worries, and for even just thirty minutes made me feel at peace with the world and life. All of the sounds and breathtaking things I saw when in the company of nature, that I had not seen before due to distractions in the world I saw today, and it made me realize that nature can add peace and solitude to one's life. Nature for that short period of time made me feel peace in this hectic thing we call life.

Independent Reading Project

During the presentations I was surprised to see that most of the books were similar in the fact that they were about suicide, learning about one's self, sad memories and so forth. However there were other books that were different and interesting as well. I really enjoyed listening about all the books but, there is one in particular that I would read and one that I would not. The book I would read is Child Called It: One Child's Courage to Survive by David J. Pelzer, because I have not read this book before, and during the presentation it  seemed like one that I would really enjoy. I love books that make me emotional, those are the books that keep me interested. Sam, during his presentation made me want to read the book because he made it seem like it is a very well written book, one that has sad moments that are just gruesome and disturbing, but the interesting part is seeing how that boy survives his horrible mother. I would really like to read this book because I am interested to know the details of what she truly did, even though that sounds a bit twisted, but I would also like to see what took place in the escape of the child from his mother. The book I am less likely to read or I just do not want to read is Go for the Goal: A Champion's Guide to Winning in Soccer and Life by Mia Hamm, because one type of person I'm not is a sport lover. I am not someone who watches sports, keeps up with it, knows the athletes names, so therefore I do not think I would really enjoy this book. It does seem like it teaches a lot about life and has lessons to learn, but it also is about her sport, soccer, her team, life, games that she won, aspects of the book that I believe will not interest me very much. However I do think that all the books were very interesting in their own ways, and I would really love to read them all if I could. I also enjoyed the presentations and everyone's book made me want to listen to what they were about.  

A Boy Abducted On 1994, by Andrew Khouri

In the Los Angeles Times, there is an article written by Andrew Khouri, about a boy who was abducted in 1994. In 1994, a five year old boy named Richard Wayne Landers Jr. who lived with his parents in LaGrange County, Indiana was abducted. Police at the time believed that the boys grandparents Richard and Ruth Landers, abducted him and went to live elsewhere. Authorities at the time issued arrest warrants for the grandparents, charges were filed, and missing report for the boy went into databases. In 2008, the charges were dropped on the grandparents because police could not locate the boy or the grandparents. It was said by police that Richards parents, mother and stepfather were living inside of their car when the boy was abducted. Last fall, Richard reappeared and is now married, twenty four years old, and is expecting a baby. He is now living in rural Browerville, Minnesota, where police found him. Richards stepfather Richard Harter gave police the boys social security card in September, they were able to locate someone who lived in Minnesota with the same date of birth and social security number. Police say that they found a man last year in Minnesota that looked similar to what the boy would look like today and grown. Police said, "An investigation ensued, bringing in the Long Prairie Police Department, the Todd County Sheriff's Department in Minnesota, the FBI and the Social Security Administration. Landers’ grandparents, Richard and Ruth Landers, were found living nearby in Browerville, Minn., and confirmed to authorities that the man was indeed the missing boy"(LATimes). The grandparents told police that they are who the police think they are and so is the boy, also Richard Landers was living under the name of Michael Jeff Landers. Sheriff Peter J. Mikkelson said that once investigation is finished he will forward the case to the general attorney's office for further charges. Mikkelson did not comment on whether Richard new about his past before investigators showed up or whether he was going to make contact with his parents.