GO

At the end of the game, in the epilogue, it states that to be the best you need to practice, practice, and practice some more. How cliche is that? This is what everyone tells us for every single thing that we are trying to accomplish. Sad thing is, it is exactly the key to success. Its good to see how people finally agree on a subject for once. Practice only gives us experience, it makes us wiser. However, when human laziness kicks in perfection is almost an unreachable goal. I guess we wish that we had a matrix computer program that would upload all that we need to know about the subject that we want to know, and we immediately call ourselves masters. But the world and life would then be perfect, however. Where´s the fun in that? I rather not know everything that spend my life like a perfect robot...would you?

NIGHT

Its amazing how priorities change during war. At the beginning, Elieser, his family and the rest of the Jewish community kept on practicing their traditional ceremonies and had respect for their special day, Saturday. However, a couple of months into the war, after suffering pains that they could not have imagined before and witnessing gruesome events those kinds of things do not matter. All he could think about was getting through the day, just living one more day. At this point, he didn´t care for his own life as much as he cared about being there for his own father. We are very dependent on all sorts of electronic devices, tools and gadgets that we think are fundamental for our every day lives, but im fact are completely extra. They are useful, sure, but not necessary. Hopefully humanity will one day recieve a smack in the head, a reality check, and we will all come to realize that survival is possible without so many...stuff...

Confucius Analects-Closing Entry

After finishing Confucius´s Analects I sat down to think. After all, this is a book that leaves you in a pensive sort of mood, wondering about the right and wrong way to lead your own life. Sure, if everyone followed Confucius´s teachings the world would be a much better place, a perfect place. Then again, where would all the fun be? If people don´t mess up ocassionally or make mistakes or things like that life´s exitment would be gone. Of course I´m not saying that the world is fine as it is today, that people should be mean and heartless just for entertainment, but I also don´t want the "ideal" world. It´s all about finding the happy or healthy medium, just like everything else in life.

Analects Books 7, 8, 11

While reading book seven, more specifically article 3, Confucius talks on how he is fearful of not living up to Virtue or that he will not be able to recognize where he went wrong. I believe that this is something very common on all of us, because its just normal for us to be stubborn and never want to give in, even when we are completely aware that we are wrong. We are far too proud. It was also interesting because it shows that Confucius did have a flaw, he was vulnerable, or that he sometimes could act in the wrong way.

In article 10, Confucius says that he cannot sing the same day in which he previously cried. I found this very confusing, because I see no reason for it. Life is very short, we are supposed to enjoy every moment of it, right? I don't believe it's wrong to choose to leave sadness behind, forget about it and move on, not drool over the bad events that happened even a few minutes before. I always choose to give small importance to things I do not enjoy or like, so it is easy to see that I do not agree with Confucius on this specific topic.

Analects Books 4, 5, and 6

Tonight I wasn't able to read very far before I stumbled across something worthy of writing about. It was while I read the introduction to Book Four, where it describes the "supreme virtue of Goodness, and those who are Good love the Confucian Way". I misread the word Goodness and took it for God, and it wasn't until I realized that God had nothing to do with Confucianism that I had to re-read it and understood my mistake. However, what was interesting about this accident was the fact that it made me realize just how similar the words Good and God are. It made me wonder if the word God comes from Good. Now, I don't know about time periods, order of events or translations, but it would make sense, seeing that the Church has always described God as the most virtuous being, a noble and generous superior, although a thorough examination of certain Bible parts have made us realize that this is not always so. It is curious, though. Perhaps it is some kind of subliminal message.

Paraphrasing Excersice

1. "The Antarctic is the vast source of cold on our planet, just as the sun is the source of our heat, and it exerts tremendous control on our climate," [Jacques] Cousteau told the camera. "The cold ocean water around Antarctica flows north to mix with warmer water from the tropics, and its upwellings help to cool both the surface water and our atmosphere. Yet the fragility of this regulating system is now threatened by human activity." From "Captain Cousteau," Audubon (May 1990):17.

The cold water surrounding Antartica travels north, mixing with the hotter water in the tropical areas, making the water on top and our environment cooler. This is why the Antartic is such a big origin of cold weather. However, this process is being interefered in a negative way because of our recent relationship with the environment. (Audubon, 17)

2. The twenties were the years when drinking was against the law, and the law was a bad joke because everyone knew of a local bar where liquor could be had. They were the years when organized crime ruled the cities, and the police seemed powerless to do anything against it. Classical music was forgotten while jazz spread throughout the land, and men like Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie became the heroes of the young. The flapper was born in the twenties, and with her bobbed hair and short skirts, she symbolized, perhaps more than anyone or anything else, America's break with the past. From Kathleen Yancey, English 102 Supplemental Guide (1989): 25.

A time of change in America were the 20´s. Although drinking was illegal, anyone did it anyway. The police did not rule the city, criminals did. Classical music was now a thing of the past, making jazz the most popuar music genre. The "flapper" was now the fashion movement that almost every woman was following, and perhaps it was this that was the biggest separation with the way things were done before. (Yancey, 25)

3. Of the more than 1000 bicycling deaths each year, three-fourths are caused by head injuries. Half of those killed are school-age children. One study concluded that wearing a bike helmet can reduce the risk of head injury by 85 percent. In an accident, a bike helmet absorbs the shock and cushions the head. From "Bike Helmets: Unused Lifesavers," Consumer Reports (May 1990): 348.

More than half of biking-caused deaths lay their guilt on head concussions. Exactly 50% are kids that are small enough to be in school, but this can all change. More than 80% of these accidents to the head can be prevented by simply wearing a helmet, because it will reduce the shock to the head and at the same time act as a pillow. (Consumer Reports, 348).

4. Matisse is the best painter ever at putting the viewer at the scene. He's the most realistic of all modern artists, if you admit the feel of the breeze as necessary to a landscape and the smell of oranges as essential to a still life. "The Casbah Gate" depicts the well-known gateway Bab el Aassa, which pierces the southern wall of the city near the sultan's palace. With scrubby coats of ivory, aqua, blue, and rose delicately fenced by the liveliest gray outline in art history, Matisse gets the essence of a Tangier afternoon, including the subtle presence of the bowaab, the sentry who sits and surveys those who pass through the gate. From Peter Plagens, "Bright Lights." Newsweek (26 March 1990): 50

Henri Matisse manages to capture real life in his paintings, making you feel as if though you were at the place of his paintings. Two of his most remarkable works are "The Casbah Gate", a painting which shows the gateway Bab el Aassa, and the painting representing a Tangier sunset and the guard of the gate. (Plagens, 50)

5. While the Sears Tower is arguably the greatest achievement in skyscraper engineering so far, it's unlikely that architects and engineers have abandoned the quest for the world's tallest building. The question is: Just how high can a building go? Structural engineer William LeMessurier has designed a skyscraper nearly one-half mile high, twice as tall as the Sears Tower. And architect Robert Sobel claims that existing technology could produce a 500-story building. From Ron Bachman, "Reaching for the Sky." Dial (May 1990): 15.

Some say that the Sears Tower is the best piece of skyscraper engineering, but some disagree. However, what matter is if the engineers will attempt the construction of an even higher building. William LeMessurier, a structural engineer, for example, is attempting the making of a building two times the height of the Sears Tower, while the arrchitect Robert Sobel says that technology today could produce a tower 500 stories high. (Bachman, 15)

Job 17- End

It's interesting that Job feels that God has limited human intelligence when he sits down with a couple of his friends to try to figure out why his life is turning out to be so miserable when he has done anything but sin. This is interesting because of two things. Supposedly God created humans as an exact replica of him, but as we saw in Genesis he didn't want us to be equal, he still cared about being the mightiest of all. I believe that our intelligence is limited, but we have never come anywhere near to filling it. What I don't believe to have limits is human curiosity, which in a way helps us become more intelligent. The other thing that I considered was the fact that Job was sad because he had not done anything wrong. I believe that most of the people today that encounter daily sufferment, such as hunger, violence, mental problems, or near-death encounters are just like him, people who have not sinned but sadly have terrible destinies. I also think that many of the people who have it all under our materialistic eyes are dishonest, uncaring, and plain bad people. However, they have anything at their disposition, while good people who technically deserve what the rich person has can't even imagine all of the luxuries these people have. This is terribly unfair, but sadly, the truth. This is why I tend to believe that what happens in the lives of people are not realted to the sins you do during your life, but rather by simple luck. Maybe Job is wrong, it has nothing to do with him. But at the same time, maybe things were different in his time.

Job 1-17

All of the chapters on Job deal with the bet that God and Satan made over the honest man. Personally, it amazes me that God, the so-called noblest and wisest of all you play with the life of a human just to win a bet with the devil. It also amazes me that he would even talk to Satan, I always figured that they had no way of communicating with each other, that they did not keep in touch. But what surprises me the most is the fact that he decided to toy with the life of someone who was loyal and completely devoted to his God, someone who despite all of the hardships in his life had chosen to remain faithful to his beliefs. This should be the tyoe of persons he sould be protecting, not harming. It´s somehow like in the movie "Stranger Than Fiction", where the author Karen Eiffel chooses at the last minute to save her character, who also happened to be a real person, from a tragic death because she decided that a person who would sacrifice himself for her book is the kind of person you would want to save, not kill. I wish God was more like Karen Eiffel and less than, well, God.

First Book of Samuel

Chapter 25 Verse 2: There is a mention about a place called Carmel. I wanted to point this out because the most "famous" only-Jewish club in Bogotá is called the Carmel club. I never thought this its name would come out of the Bible or that it had any holy connections, but it does make sense. The point that I am trying to stress is that I am coming to realize that many more things than what I thought actually come from the Bible, starting with clubs all the way to my English teacher´s name. It´s interesting to see these connections.

Exodus Chapters 12-30

While reading chapter 21 of Exodus, God was giving Moses some of the basic rules he wanted humans to follow. In verses 22-25 he starts to say that an eye shall be paid with an eye, an arm with an arm, and so on. This left me confused because i always thought that the entire Catholic Religion was about learning to forgive others and repent on your mistakes, not take revenge. This also goes against Jesus's teachings, more specifically when he states that when somebody strikes you on your right cheek, you should offer your left cheek. It never says anything about striking the offensor back. Ghandi actually has a very famous quote which relates to this topic. He says that "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind", which makes perfect sense. If everyone started taking revenge on whoever offended them, no one would be spared because we all have hurt someone in some point of our lives. Referring also to the rules, I thought that the statements were very similar to those established by Hammurabi in Ancient Mesopotamia. Finally, in Chapter 24, verse 18, Moses was sent up to the mountain to talk with God. He spent a total of forty days and forty nights, which is the exact length of the flood that had Noah building an ark. Why is this number repeated? Does it have any special significance? It doesn't appear to have one, but it has to have some kind of significance to be mentioned twice, but more importantly it was phrased in the exact same way. It would be interesting to know its actual relevance.

Exodus 1-12

These are random thoughts I had while reading Exodus 1-12:

In Chaoter 1 Verse 22, the pharaoh states that all male-borns shall be thrown into the river and all females shall be saved. I found this interesting because at that time, almost every civilization was completely chauvenistic, caring only for the boys. I thought it was nice to see a change for once, where women were not considered unnecessary or not important and instead had more importance than men.

During Chapter 10 Verse 10, the pharaoh's sister names the boy she finds Moses, supposedly because she took him out of the water. What connection is there between the name Moses and being found in the river? Is it in the roots of Moses, or does Moses translate to water in some different language? It would be nice to known for sure why this name was chosen.

In Chapter 4 Verse 3 Moses's rod is turned into a snake. As I have mentioned before in several blogs, there seems to be some weird affection towards the snake, seeing that it is the most mentioned animal in the works we have studied so far. I still do not know where this originates or which story is the one that gave the snake such fame. Why do we relate snakes with evil? Where does this tendency towards vipers occur so often?

Chapter 12 Verse 16: God is talking about a congregation that shall take place during the seventh day. He then starts to talk on how bread has to be eaten and how it should be dipped in blood. I found this extremely interesting because I didn't know that this mass procedure was instructed so early, I always thought it started when Jesus had his last supper. By reading the Bible more and more and with our in-class discussions, I am having to change a lot of my previous ideals, because I have come to realize that well, most of them were wrong. In some way, it is really fun, but in others, it is really confusing because things that you took for granted that you already knew are different, which makes me have to re-think many other things. I just hope I continue to correct my mistakes.

Genesis 11-28

My comments on Genesis 11-28 are just random thoughts, no specific or deep meaning, just questions or connections that popped into my mind as I read.

During the first verse of Chapter 11 it says that "The whole earth was of one language, and of one speech". When were there more languages or speeches? Was the reproduction of men so quick that before the flood there were already different ethnicg groups and cultures?

In Chapter 12 God gives Abraham the promised land, Canaan. I wonder if He would´ve still given it if He had known all of the trouble it was going to cause in the distant future.

Chapter 16 Verse 11: Abram's first son was named Ishmael, which made me zoom back to our summer reading, "Ishmael". Because this book is related to religion, mythology and tales about our existance, I wonder if the author got the name from this chapter. It would be interesting to find out.

Chapter 17 Verse 5: God changed Abram's name to Abraham, telling him that he was now father of many lands. Why was this change necessary? Does the suffix -ham mean lord or owner or father or anything of this sort?

Chapter 18: I was unaware of the fact that God payed private visits, just like a common person. I thought he always sent angels to deliver messages for him, it just never occured to me that he had could walk like a normal person or anything of that kind. I always pictured him like a HUGE being, someone who floated around checking on you. Apparently, I was wrong.

Chapter 25 Verse 2: Why was Abraham shocked when God told him that he would have a son (Isaac) before but wasn't surprised when his second wife gave him a lot more children and at an older age?

Chapter 26 Verse 7: Abraham says that his wife is his sister. This is the third time he has done it, and I still don't understand why. Hopefully I will be able to clarify this point, either by suggestions from readers or by asking in class.

speech

Thank you very much Professor Kombay for that generous introduction. And let me say, that I never expected to hear such kind words from Dr. Falwell. So in return, I have an invitation of my own. On January 20th, 1985, I hope Dr. Falwell will say a prayer at the inauguration of the next Democratic President of the United States. Now, Dr. Falwell, I’m not exactly sure how you feel about that. You might not appreciate the President, but the Democrats certainly would appreciate the prayer.

Actually, a number of people in Washington were surprised that I was invited to speak here -- and even more surprised when I accepted the invitation. They seem to think that it’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for a Kennedy to come to the campus of Liberty Baptist College. In honor of our meeting, I have asked Dr. Falwell, as your Chancellor, to permit all the students an extra hour next Saturday night before curfew. And in return, I have promised to watch the Old Time Gospel Hour next Sunday morning.

I realize that my visit may be a little controversial. But as many of you have heard, Dr. Falwell recently sent me a membership in the Moral Majority -- and I didn't even apply for it. And I wonder if that means that I'm a member in good standing.

[Falwell: Somewhat]

Somewhat, he says.

This is, of course, a nonpolitical speech which is probably best under the circumstances. Since I am not a candidate for President, it would certainly be inappropriate to ask for your support in this election and probably inaccurate to thank you for it in the last one.

I have come here to discuss my beliefs about faith and country, tolerance and truth in America. I know we begin with certain disagreements; I strongly suspect that at the end of the evening some of our disagreements will remain. But I also hope that tonight and in the months and years ahead, we will always respect the right of others to differ, that we will never lose sight of our own fallibility, that we will view ourselves with a sense of perspective and a sense of humor. After all, in the New Testament, even the Disciples had to be taught to look first to the beam in their own eyes, and only then to the mote in their neighbor’s eyes.

I am mindful of that counsel. I am an American and a Catholic; I love my country and treasure my faith. But I do not assume that my conception of patriotism or policy is invariably correct, or that my convictions about religion should command any greater respect than any other faith in this pluralistic society. I believe there surely is such a thing as truth, but who among us can claim a monopoly on it?

There are those who do, and their own words testify to their intolerance. For example, because the Moral Majority has worked with members of different denominations, one fundamentalist group has denounced Dr. Falwell for hastening the ecumenical church and for "yoking together with Roman Catholics, Mormons, and others." I am relieved that Dr. Falwell does not regard that as a sin, and on this issue, he himself has become the target of narrow prejudice. When people agree on public policy, they ought to be able to work together, even while they worship in diverse ways. For truly we are all yoked together as Americans, and the yoke is the happy one of individual freedom and mutual respect.

FALLACIES:
In the second paragraph he uses a fallacy that I´m not sure what the name is but he is buying the students into liking him by extending their curfew by an hour.

Also in the second paragraph, I found an IRRELEVANT CONCLUSION. What does anything from that paragraph have to do with the point of the speech? It is just to get a better name, a more respectable name.

Finally, in the third paragraph, second line, I found the use of ETHOS. He states that he is a "member of good standing", again, only to make himself look better.

Genesis 5-11

Today I read Genesis from chapters 5 to 11. While reading Chapter 8, I noticed that the dove was the animal that indicated that land was now dry. I wonder if this is why the dove is the symbol of hope. Probably it is, but then again it might date back to a myth from a civilization way earlier than when this section of the Bible was written. In Chapter 9 Verse 1 God tells Noah that it is up to him populate the Earth once again. This is the second time that it has been up to a very small group of people to create a huge group of people. No wonder it is said that we are all brothers and sisters. Finally, in Chapter 10 it starts talking on all of the descendants of Noah, which is what they did with Adam and Eve´s descendants. The Bible is becoming somehow repetitive.

King James Version of the Bible

Today we started the King James Version of the Bible. We had to read several of the first chapters of Genesis, which tells the stories that most of us already know, no matter how deeply. I have several comments. For example, on Chapter 2 the creation of the woman is being told. On Section 24 the following passage is written: "Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife..." I found this interesting because I do not understand how the concepts of father and mother already existed, based on the idea that Adam and Eve were the first human couple on Earth, making them the first parents. Also, in Chapter 3 Versicle 1 the snake says to the woman that the forbidden fruit will give her the ability to recognize good from evil, finally tempting her into tasting it. In a way, what the snake said was true. When they ate the fruit, Adam and Eve were banned from the Garden of Eden, and this somehow made them realize the difference between good and evil. Well, not exactly evil, but the difference between good and bad, because they realized that the place in which they had been living in was a paradise and they now had to face difficulties. Finally, in Chapter 4 Versicle 17 we are told about Cain´s wife, which made me wonder where she came from. Adam and Eve were supposed to be the only humans, and the Bible never mentions that they had any daughter that could become his wife. I hope that someone might be able to give me an anser, because I honestly find it very confusing.

Final Myths

Today I read the myth titled Amphion. I found a similarity between Amphion and his twin Zethus with Apollo and Diane. Both couples were twins, and both Apollo and Amphion were good at the arts while Zethus and Diane were skillful with at hunting. I also read the story on Marsyas, and I found it was similar to the myth on Minerva and Arachne. In both stories the mortals were skillful at something and decide to defy the gods, only to end up in terrible situations. Finally, I read on Orion, which made me wonder why Neptune did not punish Oenopian after trating his son in the way he did. Usually, Gods punish offenses, but there is no explanation to why Neptune did not react violently. It would be interesting to find out.

´´´Myths´´´

I read the myth on Admetus and Alcestis and came up with one question. Did Alcestis prefer death to marriage? It seems as if though she did, offering herself for the sacrifice. It makes me feel pity for her, not because she was killed but because she ended up being saved by Hercules, giving her exactly the fate she did not want. Looks like Hercules´s acts were not so heroic after all. I also read the myth titled Antigone, which also made me wonder several things. Why did Adrastus, king of Argos, give Polynices his daughter in marriage AND support with his army when there was no apparent benefit for Adrastus for all this? Maybe there was, only that is was not mentioned. I also thought that this story was simiar to that of the Troyan War in several aspects. For example, both of the struggles started because of a woman, Helen in the Troyan War and the daughter of Adrastus in Antigone. The sacrifices also relate. In this story, Menoeceus had to offer himself in sacrifice so that victory could be a sure thing, and in the Troyan War Agammenon was asked to sacrifice his daughter, Iphigenia, so that the winds would start blowing, giving the Greeks transportation towards Troy. Finally, I read Penelope, but I did not have any comments on it, except for the fact that it was somehow comforting to know that not everyone was unfaithful to their spouse.

...Myths...

The myth of Dedalus is somehow similar to the myth of the young man (I forget his name) who wishes to drive the Sun Chariot and ends up burning the Earth because he came too near to the sun. I also point out that if Dedalus and Icarus were, in fact, able to fly by flapping some feather wings, at what speed where they moving their arms? It had to be really fast for their weight to be supported. I also wonder if a less-smart Greek ever took this myth to heart and decided to try it out himself. Strange things happen, and maybe this in fact occured. Poor person. In the myth Castor and Pollux, they are granted one day in the Underworld and one day on Earth. This is similar to Persephone´s story, who has to remain six months underneath us and six myths up here. I think that personally I would prefer the second option, but I guess that when you are facing Jupiter your opinion really doesn´t matter. I then read the myth about Bacchus, which is coincidential considering that this is the play that we are working on during class.

---Myths---

One of the myths I read today was that of Theseus. I was surprised at how brief the story of the fight with the minotaur was, because it was barely described in one sentence. I had always thought that more importance was given to it, as it has always been the part we were told about. I also found it interesting how Theseus and Medea´s stories are alike when they a close relationship. She was his stepmother, and she had been abandoned by Jason. Theseus later abandoned Ariadne, the woman who was in love with him and had also helped him survive the perils he had to face. It later says that Theseus married Phaedra, the daughter of Minos, the Cretan King. Isn´t she Ariadne´s sister then? I think this is an interesting point to consider, but there is no mention of this in the actual myth translation.

Words

Labyrinth:
"A labyrinth of shop fronts, storehouses, narrow streets and crooked alleys, where the billboards are in English but the protest placards are in German, was built inside a mammoth studio."
I originally said that a labyrinth was a maze or enigma, and this fragment proves it because it talks about the confusion of the streets and the signs as part of a labyrinth.

Palladium:
"At the factory, the sludge is hauled to the metal smelters, mixed with ore and refined into pure nickel and other metals, including platinum and palladium."
From this quote I infer that palladium is a metal or some sort of strong material. i had no previous definition for it.

Museum:
"The first exhibition at the museum, “Inspired by China: Contemporary Furniture makers Explore Chinese Traditions” is an exhibition of 27 tables, chairs, stools and altars made in China starting in the 16th century, paired with 27 contemporary studio pieces."
what I originally wrote is the following: A museum is a place where artifacts are stored and displayed for the public. This fragment supports my definition by saying ti is an exhibition.

Narcissism:
''Mr. Saint Laurent's narcissism and self-loathing are evident,''
What I wrote on my definitions is that narcissism is the word used to describe someone that is in love with him/herself, and this is exactly how the word is used in this fragment.

Odyssey:
"...another film about a cuckolded man who goes on a Homeric nighttime odyssey, encountering women who represent aspects of the wife he fears he has lost."
In this quote, we can see that odyssey is used to describe a journey with obstacles, which is what I wrote down on my definitions.

Meander:
"The Giants know a season is not lost in September, but it can start to meander aimlessly"
On my definitions, I said that meander means to wander aimlessly, which can be applied to this fragment because maybe the Giant´s scores may begin to go nowhere, meaning that they have no more victories.

Protean:
" Since the second test suggested she might have lupus, she would send off blood to see if there was any other evidence that she had this puzzling autoimmune disease. It wasn’t a classic presentation, but the symptoms of lupus were protean."
Using this fragment of the article, I assume that protean means changing or irregular, something that easily changes its shape. I do not have a definition for it inside my notebook.

Stoical:
"Instead, he describes all the more familiar English traits — from a stiff upper lip to stoical humility, from good manners to a good sense of humor — as ingenious strategies for diffusing or deflecting anger"
According to my own definitions, stoical means calm, not showing any emotions. I´m not sure if this fragment either proves or denied it, but when I looked the word up in the dictionary I found that it was true.

Herculean:
"The process took an hour. After that Herculean effort, Ms. Ouellet looked much the way she had before she had her hair done." According to both the article and my definition, herculean means strong, hard work, etc.

Laconic:
" Mr. Shore has reprinted the photographs digitally, with rejuvenated colors as fresh and subtle as the day the pictures were shot. The work’s laconic eloquence speaks of an era and a nation" This article uses laconic as something that uses few words because obviously the photographs cant speak but they still say a lot. This is the definition I put in my notes.

Zephyr:
I couldn´t find any articles in the New York Times that did not use it as the name of a shop, car model and such, but what I inferred was that Zephyr is related to something involving wind, due to the fact that Zephyr is the name if the wind God.

Nemesis:
"Mr. Ahmadinejad’s much-talked-about appearance at Columbia was the opening act of a week of dramatic theater here as the United Nations General Assembly opened its annual session. He and his nemesis, President Bush, are scheduled to address the General Assembly today." Nemesis means the equal of oneself but also the opposite. for example, this article uses it to describe Bush and the president of Iran, both holding the most important position of their countries but hating each other.

Flora:
"Phimphrachanh is known for her refined palette, which she creates by using dyes made almost exclusively from local flora and fauna instead of from the chemicals that produce the brassy hues found in the morning market."
This text gives us the idea that flora has something to do with nature, and because fauna means animals, flora symbolizes plants, which is what I wrote down.

Ambrosia:
" Until the late 1990s, the cupcake often shared the mental dessert pantry with canned peaches and ambrosia; it was nostalgia food, mom-in-an-apron food, happy food." In my notes, I said that ambrosia probably was a herb. Using the text, I still think that it is some type of food but it is not a herb, rather something more sweet.

Hermetic:
"Fortunately, Congress is in the process of demonstrating that such hermetic devotion to secrecy has no place in a democracy." According to this article, hermetic must mean closed, something that doesn´t let anything out. This is what I wrote in my definitions.

Promethean:
"Mr. Jansons bypassed that question by conducting the movement with tireless vigor and bright sonorities to convey the Promethean high spirits of this deceptively humorous music." This quote makes Promethean sound as if it meant creative or original, which is what I have in my notes.

Nectar:
"Meanwhile, the nurse bees feed the larvae “bee bread,” which is a precise concoction of pollen and nectar, and tend to the queen, which lays up to 1,500 eggs a day during the summer." I originally wrote down that nectar is the semen of the flower, the juicy part, and this fragment supports that definition.

Sibylline:
"In more inventive hands, Orientalism inspired some striking images. Sargent's ''Ambergris Smoke,'' a sibylline study in white and beige, is one." Using this quote, I inferred that sibylline has something to do with a witch or enchantress of some kind. I was not able to find a definition for it before.

Tantalize:
"...This anecdote appears in the second book of Herodotus' Histories, and although its veracity is disputed, it continues to tantalize linguists, among whom it has become known as the Forbidden Experiment -- forbidden because its replication would be ethically..." According to this quote, tantalize is a synonym of bother, tease, etc. This is what I also have in my notes

Delphic:
I was not able to find a fragment inside the New York Times where Delphic was used as a common noun, so I looked it up in the dictionary. The definition of the word is dolphin.

Halycon:
"BR5-49 is determined to recreate the halycon days of country music, from Western swing to trucker songs to close-harmony two-beats, adding slyly modern lyrics." Based on this article, I am guessing that halycon is related to fame, sort of the Golden Age of something. i have no previous definition for it.

Platonic:
"There are some lovely moments between Self and the young woman, a platonic flirtation that's touching precisely because they can't leave the claims of their day-to-day lives behind." According to this quote, many people might think that platonic means impossible, something that just can´t happen. This is also the definition I gave the word in my notes.

Draconian:
"...enforcement system that unfairly focuses on drug offenses and other crimes more likely to be committed by blacks, combined with draconian mandatory sentencing and an absurdly counterproductive retreat from rehabilitation as an integral method of dealing with offenders..." Using this fragment, I deduced that draconian means harsh or hard, but in my notes I wrote down devilish or savage.

Calypso:
"...inspirational symbol of high-minded, do-it-yourself multiculturalism, dabbling in reggae and dub, rap, salsa and calypso -- it sounds like a lot, but in concert it all becomes a steamy, hip-shaking kind of polyglot rock." I guess calypso is a music genre, but in all honesty I had never heard about it before. I have nothing written down for it in my notes.

Amazon:
" Hillary Clinton,who famously refused to bake cookies in the background of her husband scareer, is an Amazon, destined to be asmuch the property of myth as of history,between which lies a vast and unfixed common ground" Because this fragment talks about the Amazons in the myth, I guess that it must be an adjective used to describe a tall, strong woman. I had nothing written down for it before.

Siren:
"That's when Mr. Edwards's inner siren should have started screaming." A siren is an object that is noisy and can be easily notices, reason why cop cars and ambulances use them.

Mercurial:
"It is to throw into relief the political world from which Antony had once triumphantly emerged and to contrast it with the mercurial, evanescent world of desire into which he has been submerged"
Mercurial must mean something that changes easily, resilient.

*****From now on, I don´t have any definitions for the words in my notes****

Procrustean:
"...the entire history around the rise and fall of the welfare state, or North-South relations -- would be arbitrary and Procrustean." Because of this quote, I believe that procrustean has to be a synonym of arbitrary.

Aurora:
"Two new 41-cent stamps featuring the northern lights -- aurora borealis -- and southern lights -- aurora australis -- were unveiled Monday in ceremonies at the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum..." These fragments lead me to believe that aurora are related to bright lights, to illumination.

Iridescent:
"A diagonal line, formed by the bird's iridescent turquoise-and-green body feathers and tail plumage, bisects the tree trunk." Iridescent, according to this quote, means colorful lights.

Panacea:
"Intelligence veterans and experts generally applaud the new technology, but some warn that it is no panacea." Because of this quote and the rest of the article, I think that panacea has something to do with healing, like if it was a cure for anything.

Lethargy:
"We live in a condition of paralysis and are not able to do anything about it, to liberate ourselves from the lethargy." Taking this fragment into consideration, lethargy must mean inactivity, monotonous.

Gorgons:
"plates on the front and back warded off evil spirits. Looking at these, you're reminded of the fearsome visages of Greek Gorgons, Mayan masks or European gargoyles." This quote makes me think that gorgon is used as an adjective that talks about an ugly woman.

Haripes:
" Many things fly and float here: men and women, harpies and angels, birds and beasts, toadstools and stars." Because here the article is comparing opposites and harpies is paired up with angels, I believe that harpies must be evil characters.

Hydra:
"...and Shiite militants operate in his area, he regarded Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia as his most serious problem. ''It's like a hydra,'' he said. ''It keeps regenerating its heads.'' " This quote makes reference to the Hercules myth, where he faces a monster that keeps reappearing. This means that when hydra is used as part of our daily language, it must be talking about a problem that keeps coming back or is really difficult to solve.

Lycanthrope:
"...Jack is killed and soon becomes an ever-more-decayed member of the undead, while David turns (painfully) into a lycanthrope when the moon is full." According to this quote, lycanthrope must be a creature who turns into an animal and back into a human.

Martial:
" ...self-preservation, they were not ready to derail the entire system by challenging a military chief who could then invoke martial law" Using this quote I was able to figure out that martial is related to war, to fights.

Sophistry:
" Whether this is conviction or sophistry, it is very hard to throw Mr. Karmazin off his message, even when he seems to be contradicting himself. " Because of the comparison between conviction and sophistry, I believe sophistry is realted to fallacies or biasing something.

Fauna:
"Its performers look as much animal as human. Further yet: Much of its imagery is vegetable, flora rather than fauna." Because it talks about animals and environmental issues, and also because we already defined flora, fauna means animals.

Stentorian:
"Unlike you, he's able to sleep through the stentorian snoring." Using this quote i guess that stentorian means loud.

Pyrrhic victory:
"''this may turn out to be a Pyrrhic victory for them," I believe that the definition of pyrrhic comes from the Pyrrhus myth, where he had to endure many losses in order for him to win, and this article uses the word in that sense.

Gordian knot:
''I think members of my team listened to the president but did not hear him. And today I have cut the Gordian knot, however difficult it may be.'' According to this fragment, Gordian Knot must be used to describe a really complicated problem or dilemma.

Pandora´s box:
I was not able to find an article where pandora´s box was used, but based on the myth I believe that it must be realted to problems, more specifically the source of all problems.

Cassandra:
"He has been the conscience, the Cassandra, the crank, the nag, the pain, infuriating opponents and, at times, exasperating allies" Based on this quote, cassandra must be a word used to describe someone who is annoying or exhausting.

The sword of Democles:
''It's like a sword of Damocles; you're kind of waiting and waiting and holding your breath..." According to this fragment, sword of Damocles is used to describe a constant danger, one that never goes away.

Achilles heel:
"However, flash memory has an Achilles' heel. Although it can read data quickly, it is very slow at storing it." Based on this fragment, Achilles heel is used to describe the weak point of an object, person, animal, etc.

Oedipus:
"Suddenly the world of psychiatry is abuzz with scientific-sounding terms like penis envy and Oedipus complex" This quote shows us that the word Oedipus is still used to describe the situation where the son falls in love with his mother, just like the Greek tragedy.

Midas:
"His Midas touch in foreign tabloids, television, movies, and more recently, digital properties, turns a little rusty when American..." Using this quote as reference, I can see that Midas is used to describe a special talent of a person or ability at something, as if everything he/she does concerning that subject is golden, precious.

Hades:
"...upon to express outrage over Mr. Ahmadinejad s request to lay a wreath at ground zero, even though ice cubes would be made in Hades before that ceremony ever happened. " According to this quote, Hades is still used when talking about hell.

Spartan:
" In-room comforts are Spartan: a fridge (empty), a hot pot with packets of bad instant coffee, and some leaky paper cups." Using this fragment as reference, I believe spartan to describe anything that resembles the Spartan civilization. This means it is used whenever you are talking about hardships, cold hearts, no luxuries, etc.

Titanic:
"...and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra take up residence at Carnegie Hall for the opening week of its 117th season, offering two titanic works: Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (Oct. 3, 4) and Mahler's Third (Oct. 6)." This fragment leads me to believe that titanic means of great size or importance. It comes from the Titans, and very probably this is why the Titanic (ship) was named with that name.

Marathon:
"The deal came after a marathon legislative session that covered parts of three days." Because of this quote I believe that marathon is used not only to describe the foot race but also any other activity that requires large amounts of time and energy.

New Myths

Today I read the myth of Meleager and Atalanta. I thought it was very interesting how Meleager's mother decided to ally with her brothers and not her son. I say it is interesting because normally it would be the other way around, where the mother has a deeper love for her infants than for anyone else. I also found a detail at the end that I have mentioned before several times. I speak about the part where Diana turns Meleager's weeping sisters into birds. It catches my eyes how often transformation occur. Besides, it is almost always into an element from nature, plants or animals, but never into a bed or a column or such. I believe this helps us realize just how much respect the ancient civilizations had towards nature, while we concentrate on using it only to please our self-centered so-called-needs.

The next myth I read was that of Atalanta, which i related to the story of the Turtle and the Hare. In both stories, 2 characters compete against each other in a race, where one is obviously better at the sport. However, the better one gets tempted by something, in one case it being a nap and in the other a golden apple, and in the end they lose. I thought it was curious how this myth connects to the famous fable, and how with each passing moment I come to realize that our lives are very Grrek-based. On Hebe and Ganymede I have no feedback or comments.

Reading Fallacies

Op-Ed Columnist
Refugees? What Refugees?

By ROGER COHEN
A 16-day overland odyssey has brought Mokaled Gamil, a former Iraqi Army officer, to this southern Swedish town, and what he fears now more than anything is resettlement north of the Arctic Circle in some snow-bound place that will ice over his Mesopotamian blood.

“Please, not far north,” he says in passable English, addressing Oskar Ekblad, an official from the Swedish Migration Board. “Too cold.”

The past paragraphs sort of use the APPEAL TO EMOTION FALLACY because with its extensive descriptions such as 16-day odyssey, ice over his Mesopotamian blood, and passable English, the author is making us feel pity for this suffering man.

Even by the fantastic standards of the Iraq war, the scene is bizarre: Gamil, a 45-year-old ex-colonel from an ex-army, stands outside a hostel full of stained mattresses and stunned Iraqis begging a decent Swede not to be dispatched to some remote reindeer-rich refuge.

“Iraqis are destined to begin their lives again at 45,” Gamil, a Sunni who has fled Baghdad’s Shiite militia, says with a gloomy matter-of-factness worthy of Strindberg.

Again, the author is appealing to emotion by using descriptive situations that sound terrible in hopes that these adjectives will help prove his point of the terrible U.S. position concerning the refugees.

Many are restarting in Sweden. Between January and August this year, Sweden took in 12,259 Iraqis fleeing their decomposing country. It expects 20,000 for all of 2007. By contrast, in the same January-August period, the United States admitted 685 refugees, according to State Department figures.

The numbers bear closer scrutiny. In January, Sweden admitted 1,500 Iraqis, compared to 15 that entered the United States. In April, the respective numbers were 1,421 and 1; in May, 1,367 and 1; and in August 1,469 and 529.

True, the Iraqis in Sweden are asylum-seekers, whereas those reaching these shores have refugee status conferred by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. But the numbers — representing the bulk of the Iraqis getting into a country of nine million and another of 300 million — are no less of an indictment for that.

When Tobias Billstrom, the migration minister, says, “Yes, of course the United States should do more,” you can feel his indignation about to erupt like milk boiling over. He notes that given the huge population difference, Sweden’s intake of Iraqis “is the equivalent of the U.S. taking in about 500,000 refugees.”

Here we can see an example of APPEAL TO BIASED AUTHORITY, where only one of both points of views is interviewed. It only asks a person who agrees with the author of the article, but it does not give the other side a chance to explain themselves. In order for this to be a balanced article, it should’ve asked both sides.

Of all the Iraq war scandals, America’s failure to do more for refugees, including thousands who put their lives at risk for the U.S., stands out for its moral bankruptcy. Last time I checked, Sweden did not invade Iraq. Its generosity shames President Bush’s fear-infused nation.

This could be a type of PERSONAL ATTACK, because the author is making clear his opinion about the president, rather than continue with his explanation of why it is so outrageous that the U.S. is not helping more innocent refugees.

I know, the U.S. is showering aid (more than $122 million in 2007) on Iraq’s neighbors to help more than two million fleeing Iraqis. It set up a refugee task force in February and, when that faltered, appointed two refugee czars this month.

“We want people engaged in this 24/7, breaking down barriers and expeditiously helping the refugees,” Paula Dobriansky, the under secretary of state for democracy and global affairs, told me. “We have a moral obligation, and especially to those who have worked at our embassy.”

Once again, we can see APPEAL TO BIASED AUTHORITY because only one side of the matter is being interviewed.

A commitment has been made to process 7,000 refugees in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. Visas for 500 Iraqis a year who worked for the U.S. have been promised. But these are velleities. Concern has been unmatched by results. Bush has never addressed the issue, an example of his Green Zone politics: shut out ugly reality and with luck it will vanish.

Again, PERSONAL ATTACK for the reasons stated before.

An aggressive American intake of refugees would suggest that their quick return to Iraq is improbable: that smacks too much of failure for Bush. Moreover, you have to scrutinize refugees from countries “infiltrated by large numbers of terrorists,” Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff opined recently.

The result has been “major bottlenecks,” in the words of a leaked cable from the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker. Instead of the 7,000 Iraqi refugees supposed to get here this fiscal year, perhaps 1,600 will.

“The numbers are totally embarrassing,” says Kirk Johnson, who worked for the United States Agency for International Development in Iraq. “We can’t recognize a moral imperative any more.”

Again, APPEAL TO BIASED AUTHORITY.

Imperative is right. People who risked their lives for America are dying or being terrorized because of craven U.S. lethargy. Others are in limbo. Bush now says “Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas.” That’s too glib; one may be waiting to be saved.

The I-told-you-so phase of the Iraq invasion is thankfully ending. What is needed now is consensus on American responsibility. That starts with a more open door to Iraqis in flight. Mr. President, say something.

And again, PERSONAL ATTACK.

Gamil lost his job when the army was disbanded. He worked sporadically as a translator. But when threats came — as a Sunni ex-officer he was an obvious target to Shiite militias — “I had to save my life and my wife’s.”

Here we can see once again APPEAL TO EMOTION, because although this part of the article is not fundamental, the author decided to put it in so we could feel sorry for all of the victims and support him in his cause.

Sweden will give him a lawyer to argue his asylum case. Ekblad says the “overwhelming majority” are approved. Refugees then get a permanent resident permit leading to possible citizenship in five years. “Our costs are huge, and we’d like to see more burden-sharing,” he says.

Burden sharing! How about guts? Swedes are polite to a fault.

More Myths...

"The Centaurs" talks about one of the most mythical creatures of all, the centaur. They have bodies of a horse with a torso and head of a man. It talks on the different characters of these creatures. There are some that are rude, mean, and violent, while others, such as Chiron, were noble and smart.

The next myth I read talked about another kind of creature, called Griffin or Gryphon. It is a hybrid between a lion and an eagle. They lived in high nests which were guarded extremely well. Griffins lived around Arimaspians, the one-eyed people of Scythia.

Medea and Aeson is the continuation of the Golden Fleece. Jason asked Medea to make his father younger, which was done after complicated potions, incantations and spells. She also killed Jason´s evil uncle. However, Jason set her apart and decided to marry Creusa. Medea claimed revenge by also killing his new wife, killing the children they had had before and burning his palace down. She then marrried king Aegeus and had Theseus as a son.

The first and third myth are rekated because they show the different characters that exist. The first tells how the same creatures may have different temperaments, while the third shows us how radicallly the mood of one person can change because of one event. The second, however, I feel is unnecessary and do not see its point in this myth recollection, for I have never seen these creatures play an important role in any story.

Myths

Pegasus and the Chimaera is a myth that talks about the horse that was created when Pegasus was fighting Medusa, who was later educated by Athena. It also talks about Chimaera, a frightful monster who breathes fire and its body is a hybrid between a lion, a goat and a dragon. The monster was created by Iobates in hopes that a heroe would destroy it someday, and his son-in-law, Proeteus, saw this as a chance for killing Bellerophon, a man he was jealous of. Bellerophon took Perseus with him because of an oracle´s recommendation, and had an easy victory. He thought that he would become an equal to the Gods. Jupiter made him fall off the horse, making him an cripple which eventually killed him.

The Pygmies are dwarfs, who measured around 13 inches. One story about them tells that they met Hercules and tried to attack him, with the response of a laughter and later taking them to the king Eurystheus.

The third myth I read was that of The Golden Fleece, where Jason, a prince, set out in the Argo with several other heroes, such as Hercules, Theseus, and Orpheus to find the Golden Fleece. After many hardships and small victories (one of them including the meeting between Jason and Medea)they finally obtained the fleece and returned to Thessaly, where Jason claimed his right to the throne.

The first and second myths relate in both, the main character does not achieve their goal (Bellerophon died and the dwarfs were taken away by Hercules). However, the third myth talks about the inmense victory of Jason, for he not only obtained the fleece but he also found love, a feeling that is commonly talked about in mythology. This is one of my personal favorites because I love that it includes more than one heroe, each and every one with its own personal story, separating it from the usual one-heroe stories.

Greek Influences

The story of Niobe, another mortal who challenged a deity. She was proud of her children above anything else, and during a feast honoring Latona, the mother of Apollo and Daphne, she declared that a feast honoring her, the best mother of all, should also be done. When the Gods heard this, a fight between Niobe´s sons and Apollo and Daphne broke out, where the mortals ended up losing their lives. Her daughters were also killed when she called Latona inferior to her still, and the intense grief turned Niobe into a stone that still cries.

The next myth I read is titled The Wedding Feast, which talks about the party that took place because of the marriage between Perseus and Andromeda. Phineus, who was previously engaged to Andromeda burst in, claiming their previous agreement. After a fight, Perseus took out Medusa´s head turning some of his friends into stone. When Phineus begged for mercy, Perseus was firm on his decision and turned him into a statue.

The final myth was one that talks about a monster, The Sphinx. Laius, the king of Thebes, was told that his new son would challenge him when he grew up, reason why his murder was ordered. However, the man responsible for it was not capable. A few years later, the king was out for a ride when there was turmoil on the road and he was slayed by his unknowing son, named Oedipus. Not after long, s Sphinx tormented the highroad. Oedipus challenged her, and she asked him a riddle. Oedipus was able to answer it, reason why the sphinx killed herself.

The first and second myths relate because in both of them, characters are turned into stone, both in pitiful conditions. However, I can relate the third myth to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. During the last challenge, although it was not featured in the movie, Harry actually comes face-to-face with a Sphinx, which will only let him pass if he answers a riddle. Of course, he gets it right and is able to reach the cup that takes him to Voldemort, but that it another story. My point is that with each passing myth it becomes easier to realize just how much our lives are based on Greek influences.

Explanations

Today´s first myth is that of Clytie, a water nymph who falls in love with Apollo with no love in return. For nine days she ate nothing, crying heavily, and watching the sun every day. She finally grew roots and became the sunflower, a plant that worships the sun.

The next myth was that of Hero and Leander, which tells the tale of a youth and a priestess who used to see each other when Leander crossed a river that divided their villages. One night he drowned, and when Hero found out she killed herself.

The one final myth was that of Athena, the daughter of Zeus, goddess of wisdom. She was also very skillful sowing and weaving, so when a mortal called Arachne claimed that she was the best sower of all, Athena was enraged. She dared the woman to a competition. Athena wove twelve heavenly powers, while Arachne wove the mistakes of the gods. The Goddess admired privately the work of the mortal, and out of jealousy touched her forehead, making Arachne feel guilt and shame. She hanged herself, and Athena turned her into a spider so she might keep on weaving forever.

Both the first and third myth explain the creation of two of nature´s wonders. They are perfect examples on how Greeks and every other civilization used Gods and myths to explain natural phenomenons and things that they couldn´t understand. However, I don´t see the purpose of the second myth, because not only does it not talk about important characters but it doesn´t explain anything, it´s just a story.

Blame, Values, and Choice

The High Costs of Ethanol

Published: September 19, 2007
Backed by the White House, corn-state governors and solid blocks on both sides of Congress’s partisan divide, the politics of biofuels could hardly look sunnier. The economics of the American drive to increase ethanol in the energy supply are more discouraging.

American corn-based ethanol is expensive. And while it can help cut oil imports and provide modest reductions in greenhouse gases compared to conventional gasoline, corn ethanol also carries considerable risks. Even now as Europe and China join the United States in ramping up production, world food prices are rising, threatening misery for the poorest countries.

The European Union has announced that it wants to replace 10 percent of its transport fuel with biofuels by 2020. China is aiming for a 15 percent share. The United States is already on track to exceed Congress’s 2005 goal of doubling the amount of ethanol used in motor fuels to 7.5 billion gallons by 2012. In his State of the Union speech in January, President Bush set a new goal of 35 billion gallons of biofuels by 2017. In June, the Senate raised it to 36 billion gallons by 2022. Of that, Congress said that 15 billion gallons should come from corn and 21 billion from advanced biofuels that are nowhere near commercial production.

The distortions in agricultural production are startling. Corn prices are up about 50 percent from last year, while soybean prices are projected to rise up to 30 percent in the coming year, as farmers have replaced soy with corn in their fields. The increasing cost of animal feed is raising the prices of dairy and poultry products.

The news from the rest of the world is little better. Ethanol production in the United States and other countries, combined with bad weather and rising demand for animal feed in China, has helped push global grain prices to their highest levels in at least a decade. Earlier this year, rising prices of corn imports from the United States triggered mass protests in Mexico. The chief of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has warned that rising food prices around the world have threatened social unrest in developing countries.

A recent report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, an economic forum of rich nations, called on the United States and other industrialized nations to eliminate subsidies for the production of ethanol which, the report said, is driving up food costs, threatening natural habitats and imposing other environmental costs. “The overall environmental impacts of ethanol and biodiesel can very easily exceed those of petrol and mineral diesel,” it said.

The economics of corn ethanol have never made much sense. Rather than importing cheap Brazilian ethanol made from sugar cane, the United States slaps a tariff of 54 cents a gallon on ethanol from Brazil. Then the government provides a tax break of 51 cents a gallon to American ethanol producers — on top of the generous subsidies that corn growers already receive under the farm program.

Corn-based ethanol also requires a lot of land. An O.E.C.D. report two years ago suggested that replacing 10 percent of America’s motor fuel with biofuels would require about a third of the total cropland devoted to cereals, oilseeds and sugar crops.

Meanwhile, the environmental benefits are modest. A study published last year by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, estimated that after accounting for the energy used to grow the corn and turn it into ethanol, corn ethanol lowers emissions of greenhouse gases by only 13 percent.

The United States will not meet the dual challenges of reducing global warming and its dependence on foreign suppliers of energy until it manages to reduce energy consumption. That should be its main goal.

There is nothing wrong with developing alternative fuels, and there is high hope among environmentalists and even venture capitalists that more advanced biofuels — like cellulosic ethanol — can eventually play a constructive role in reducing oil dependency and greenhouse gases. What’s wrong is letting politics — the kind that leads to unnecessary subsidies, the invasion of natural landscapes best left alone and soaring food prices that hurt the poor — rather than sound science and sound economics drive America’s energy policy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/opinion/19wed1.html?n=Top/Opinion/Editorials%20and%20Op-Ed/Editorials

The type of rhetoric that this article uses is that which uses the present time, therefore using VALUE. However, it also uses CHOICE by teaching us about different kinds of fuels, which makes us think about which if them is the best. It also combines everything with BLAME, because in the beginning it talks about the defects of ethaol, and its negative consequences on both the environment and the economy.

Even More Mtyhs...

I read the story on Vertumnus and Pomona, whcih tells us how Pomona loved the garden and the culture of fruit, while Vertumnus only loved Pomona. He was not capable of visiting her without usind a disguise, and one day,dressed as an old lady, he told her that it was best if she loved Vertumnus, for he cared anout nothing but her. By the end of his speech she had fallen in love with this man that she had never met, and it was not until that moment that he dropped his disguise. The next myth was that of Cadmus, which tells us how the main character was told by an enchantress that in order to recuperate the sister that had been stolen by Jupiter he needed to build the city of Thebes. After many hardships, including that of killing a snake sacred to Mars, he was able to do it. He then married Harmonia, the daughter of Venus. Gods were giving their gifts to the new couple, but the resentment because of the snake episode caused misfortunes when they had children. One day he exclaimed: "If a serpent's life is so dear to the gods, let me be a snake!", and was in fact converted. The las mtyh was that of the Myrmidons, which were created when a terrible plague swept through the island of Aegina. The king asked Zeus for help, pleading for citizens as plentyful as ants. Zeus consented, and this new race of hardworkers were called Myrmidons, making reference to the ant species. The second and third myth are similar because they show a relationship between man and animals, and the first and second myth are similar in the sense that they both talk about a couple that love each other. I have only one question, and it concerns the second myth. I do not understand how the beginning of the story relates to the ending, and I'm hoping that someone can shed some light.

More Myths...

Today I read another three myths. One of these was that of Venus and Adonis, where the Godess falls in love with Adonis. He was then killed in a fight against some wild dogs, although Venus had warned him to not face them. When Venus finds out she is in deep grief, and using his blood, the anemone or Wild Flower was created. The second was that of Apollo and Hyacinthus. Just like in the previous myth, his lover also died and the God, with inmense sadness, also creates a flower for him, stating one similarity. The third was that of Ceyx and Halcyone, where Ceyx was the king of the peaceful Thessaly. Halcyone was his wife, and they were a very united couple. Ceyx embarked on a journey, where he wanted to consult the oracle of Apollo, concerning his brother's death. He died during his journey, and Morpheus delivered the message to his now widowed wife in a form of a dream. The next day Halcyone, inmensely upset, jumped off a cliff, and reaching out to her loved one, was turned into a bird. The element that this threesome has in common is the fact that they all talk about two loved ones, where one sadly perishes, and some sort of transformation occurs from this event, but not to someone in particular.

Similarities Between Myths

One of the myths I read today is titled Glaucuas and Scyllia. It talks about the transformation of Glaucus into a sea creature and how he fell into uncorresponding love with the sea nymph Scyllia. He consulted Circe, an enchantress, who said that it was best if he forgot about her, but when he said that he was not able to do that, she got angry and targeted this anger towards Scyllia, turning her into some sort of plant. The next myth was that of Pygmalion, a man who created a beautiful sculpture and fell in love with it. He Asked Venus to turn it into a real woman, she consented, and she was named Paphos. The final myth was that of Dryope. She made the mistake of plucking a flower that was really a disguised Godess, and was transformed into a tree as punishment.

The similarity between al of these myths are the transformations. Glaucus turned into a sea creature, Scyllia into a plant, Paphos into a real woman, and Dryope into a tree. It also appears in myth such as Narcisso. who also turned into a flower. I also notice that most of these transformation were into something in nature, probably because it was so important to them.

Myths

Today I started by reading a very famous myth, that of King Midas. He wishes to the God Bacchus the gift of turning everything he touched into gold, but soon realized that this was not a gift but rather a punishment. He later meets with the God Apollo, and because he said that the God's lyre playing had been awful, he earns himself a pair of donkey ears. The king tried to conceal it, but his hairdresser found out and told it to a hole in the ground, and now the story is repeated by the wind. It is similar to other myths because often people learn from their mistakes the hard way, such as Narcissus, who turned into a flower. The second myth was that of Bacius and Philemon, a poor couple that once helped Jupiter and Mercury without knowing that it was them. Because of thier hospitality, they were saved from a flood that their town suffered. This story is identical to Noah's Ark and Utanpishtim's discovery of immortality. It would be really interesting if we found more myths that share the same story and read them to compare and contrast. The third and final myth I read was that of Proserpine, which tells of how Pluto fell in love with Ceres's daughter, Proserpine, and took her by force to the Underworld. Ceres was so distressed that she asked Jupiter for help, and he said that she could leave had she not eaten anything from Pluto's kingdom. However, Proserpine had eaten some seeds, reason why she was ordered to stay in the depht for half the year and come out for the other half. This is how the seasons were created. The only relation I see to other myths is that they were an explanation from the creators of why the seasons exited. After all, myths are supposed to answer the unknown.

Rhetorics

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York said taking credit for the force reductions that Gen. David H. Petraeus, the commander in Iraq, was recommending, and that Mr. Bush appeared ready to accept, was “like taking credit for the sun coming up in the morning.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/13/washington/13policy.html?ref=world
This quote is using ethos because they refer to Hillary Rodham Clinton as Senator, possibly to make her statement more believable and powerful. It can also be pathos because what she says is an exaggeration, surely no one in their right mind would claim such a thing.

“Clearly what’s happened over the last three months has been real success,” said Mr. Boehner, who previously visited Iraq in July 2006.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/13/washington/13policy.html?ref=world
This quote also uses pathos because again, there is an exaggeration within the word use (clearly). This statement may not be as obvious to others.

Unlike the awful, brilliant day of the attacks, this year’s skies were moody and dark, alternately threatening and delivering rain. The ceremony took place not at ground zero, where construction cranes now rise like tentative fingers of hope, but near its southeastern corner, in Zuccotti Park. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/12/nyregion/12service.html?ref=nyregion
This quote uses pathos again, because the exaggeration of its gloomy words makes the scene seem probably much more melancholic than what it really was. It is also Logos, because it uses historical facts to support its opinion.

The United States welcomed the news. “Colombia’s capture of cocaine kingpin Diego Montoya shows what can be accomplished by a government that is relentless, focused and skilled in the effort to dismantle threats to its democracy,” said John P. Walters, the White House drug czar.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/11/world/americas/11colombia.html?n=Top%2fNews%2fWorld%2fCountries%20and%20Territories%2fColombia
This quote also uses ethos, because it uses someone´s title to give more importance to a statement.

Senator Russell D. Feingold, a Democrat from Wisconsin, thanked Mr. Crocker and General Petraeus for their hospitality in both Iraq and Pakistan “over the years.” And Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat, did them one better with committee room show-and-tell. As she described her desert encounter with Iraqi troops in training in 2006, an aide held up snapshots of Ms. Boxer with colleagues in the field. “You were so upbeat, General,” Ms. Boxer recalled. “You told me we — I’ll never forget it — we were sitting in an armored vehicle.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/12/washington/12tvwatch.html?ref=arts
This is, in my opinion, a perfect example of ethos rhetoric. It does nothing but give people´s names and titles, making a huge deal out of their reputation, possibly even a bigger deal than the one they make about what these persons are actually saying.

Comparing Myths

The story of Diana and Actaeon was the first of three myths that I read today. It tells how Diana turned Actaeon, a prince who saw her naked, into a beast as a punishment. I liked the way Actaeon's desperation was described when he tried to do things he could easily do when he was a human, such as talking, and how he no longer found hunting a fun activity. It is also a good example of how the Gods' anger has harsh actions but no consequentions towards them. The second was one named Latona and the Rustics, a short one that tells how the godess Latona (previously unkown to me) punished a group of clowns that denied her water when she was thirsty. According to the story, she let them live, but just like Diana, turned them into animals. This time they turned out to be frogs. The third and last was that of Phateon, the son of Apollo and a nymph called Clymene. A schoolmate of his did not believe that he was a descendant of a God, maling Phateon ask for a sign that indeed he had divine blood inside him. He was told he should go to India, and once there he was told that indeed he was who he thought he was. However, Phateon was tempted by Phoebus's task, that of riding the chariot of the sun. He was told it was a dangerous task, but Phateon persisted. Although he was given advice, at the moment of actually performing his task Phateon got it all wrong, coming too close to the stars and such. He burned the world, which cracked open and then cried out to Heaven asking why all of this was happening. Zeus, in response to her plead, shot Phateon to death. This was my favorite of all myths because it had the best story with more specific details, making it more interesting. Again, it also shows what happens on a whim of a, in this case, part-God, with the difference that here the angered one did suffer terrible consequences.

Greek Myths

Another myth I recently read is that of Pyramus and Thisbe, the love story about the two best-looking youths of Babylonia. It tells how their love was prohibited, and how when they decided to elope they both suffered tragic deaths in a Romeo and Juliet style. The next myth I read was that of Cephalus and Procris, where again Cephalus was beautiful and was in love with Procris, his wife. Again, one of them (Procris) met a tragic death. The last myth was that of Juno and her Rivals, Io and Callisto. The story related to Io tells of an infidelity that Zeus tried to hide from Hera by disguising the mistress, although his wife was already aware of what was happening. Hera asked for the mistress in disguise as a gift, making her a prisoner, until Zeus could bear it no longer and had to ask Hermes to free her by making her guardian fall asleep. The story involving Callipso tells that Juno turned her, another mistress, into a bear, trying to take her beauty away. What all of these myths have in common, not only between them but with every other myth is the fact that there was some kind of love involved. In these particular cases it was only between lovers, but sometimes the love can be represented by the strong bond between friends or father and son.

Comparison

Today I read another three myths. They were the adventures of Perseus, Pandora's Box, and the story of Apollo and Daphne. Surprisingly, these myths had a lot less in common with Gilgamesh than the past three. Pandora's Box had no similarities in my opinion, and Perseus had only one that happens in most of the myths. Its very common that the main character is set out to kill a monster, and this is exactly the characteristic that Perseus shared with Gilgamesh. Finally, Apollo and Daphne's story was also very different except for the fact that our main character was similar to Gilgamesh because he was also part God, being a son of Zeus. Although the fact that these stories were so different and har dto contrast, I think this is good because it makes them more varied and therefore more interesting to read, because learning about the same thing over and over again gets pretty boring after a while.

Gilgamesh vs. Other Myths

After reading other myths I realized that Gilgamesh has a lot of similarities to other myths. The first myth I read was Hercules, which had many of them. For example, Hercules and Gilgamesh were both part God part human, and they were both regarded as something superior to the rest. Both had superior force, and they both set out to kill monsters, although their reasons were different. Both of them also had a loyal companion that helped them through tough times (Gilgamesh had Enkidu and Hercules had Iolaus). Additionally, they both confront a bull of some sort. The next myth that I read was one on Theseus, where we found similarities because both of the characters had to face trouble to reach their goal (Gilgamesh wanted immortality and Theseus wanted to meet his parents). Theseus also confronted a bull, well it was a half-bull, but it is another similarity as well. The third and last myth I read was Orpheus's, the myth about the musician. Although the characters are competely different (one is delicate and artistic while the other is strong and mighty) the stories also share some concepts that are alike. As said in one of my previous blogs, the snake is often a symbol for evil. Orpheu's lover was bitten by one and taken to the Underworld, which is the first similarity. The second is the fact that Orpheus was looking to return his wife from the dead, relating to Gilgamesh's quest for immortality. What is suprising about this is the fact that all of these stories have so many similarities, it is as if they were all different versions of the same story. I would love to keep on reading and discovering deeper, more significant similarities.

The Creation

Throughout the whole course, our purpose has been to see how the fundamental questions have been answered through time among others. The "How Much Shall We Bet?" story is another version, but quite different from anything I had ever read. It´s the first time that the entire universe was created from bets between two friends or brothers or something. Although it is quite interesting, in a way it is also kind of contradicroty because if they didn´t have anything, how could they communicate the bets or draw the symbols? I wish it had some further explanation.

Gilgamesh

After finishing Gilgamesh, I realized something important. Throughout the whole book the only purpose in Gilgamesh´s life was to find something, although this purpose was constantly changing. At first it was Huwawa then the bull of Heaven, and finally immortality. Although I already knew this, it was somehow in the back of my mind, sort of in my unconscious, but this reading really brought it forward. A universal truth is that during our entire lifetime we are always wanting more, no matter how much we have. We always want more money, more accomplishemnts, more anything, as long as it´s more. I wonder if this is something good or bad. It can be negative in the sense that you don´t care about the ways in which you have more of whatever it is that you want to have, but it is also positive because this gives you a sense of purpose, a reason to be alive. After all, what would life be good for if we did not have a reason why keep on living? I guess this all means that it is good as long as we are aware of our actions.

Serpents

After Utnapishitim told Gilgamesh about the flood, his disappointment was clearly obvious because the flood was not going to repeat itself, and therefore he would never gain immortality. However, he then found the magical plant at the bottom of the sea, but later on lost it to a serpent. Once again, I found a connection to the Bible. Because Gilgamesh lost the plant he lost immortality, just as Adam and Eve lost the Garden of Eden to a snake. This time the serpent tempted Eve into taking a bite of the Forbidden Fruit, and so God forced them into exile. I wanted to make reference to how the serpent is often a symbol of evil, not only in classic texts. For example, in Harry Potter Lord Voldemort owns a snake, and the symbol of Slytherin is also a snake. Both of these are evil, making the snake a representation of evil in this famous novel. Another example is the Jungle Book. The evil animal is the snake, and all he wants to do is kill Mowgli. My last example is one that is not a very known movie, called Ella Enchanted. Here, the snake is owned by an evil man, but the snake is also bad itself. All if wants to do is kill the prince in order to gain the crown, and he comes very close to it. As you can see, the snake is very often the symbol for bad, in fact, I believe that it is the most used animal for this purpose. My only question is, what did the snake do to us that caused such hatred towards them?

Noah´s Ark

Since the very beginning of Tablet XI, I found many similarities to one of the stories published in the Bible, one called Noah´s Ark. In this Bible version, God was upset with his people because he thought they were all evil and did not deserve to live. However, there was once person who had been honest and noble, called Noah, so it was His decision to spare him and his family. Noah was told that an enormous flood was about to be poured over everyone, so he had to build an ark if he wanted to survive. He was also told that he had two bring two of every kind of animals alive, one male and one female, and to tell a story when people asked him what he was doing. In "Gilgamesh" we can find the following quote:

"Utnapishtim, son of Ubartutu, abandon your house, abandon what you possess...and build a boat instead...take with you, on the boat you build, an instance of each living thing so that they may be safe from obliteration in the flood...tell them (the other people in the village) you can no longer live in the city, because you are out of favor with Enlil."(pg. 65-67)

The similarities are pretty obvious. Both Noah and Utnapishtim were told to abandon their homes and build some sort of floating device because there was going to be a huge flood. They were also told to take animals on their boats and to tell any sort of story to those who asked questions. Seven is also a common number in the tales, Utnapishtim lasted seven days building the ark, and Noah waited seven days for the dove to return with the olive leaf in his beak. This is also part of another similarity, both characters used doves to prove if it was safe to disembark at the time. Once on the ground, both characters made sacrifices to their Gods, and both Gods swore never to inflict such a punishment on their people ever again. If you look at them really closely, they are almost the same story except for some very small differences.This leads me to the following questions: Is it possible that the stories in the Bible are all (or most of them) copied from other civilizations? Is it possible that the Catholic Religion is not an original one, just a religion that takes bits from here an there, changing some things around? Please feel free to respond to my posts with your comments.

Rocky Roads

In order to see Utnapishtim, Gilgamesh crosses a mountain that no mortal had ever crossed before. According to the book, he had some difficulties getting there: "Weeping and fearful, struggling to keep breathing...alone and companionless, seeing nothing at all...finally struggled out free into the morning air and the morning sunlight. He emerged from the mountain into a wonderful garden." (pg. 51-53). Setting the hardships apart, we can see that the garden he entered was a majestic one, because the story also mentions trees and fruits the color of every precious stone, and beyond the garden, Gilgamesh saw the sea. I make referrence to this exerpt because I think that this is one of the most common happenings around the world, a lesson that many people try to teach us every day, weather it is in a direct or undirect way. It is the lesson that teches us that if we work hard and have perseverance, the rewards will be great. It is true, because you cannot aspire to accomplish great things by being a couch potatoe, you actually have to dedicate yourself to accomplish a goal, and that is the only way in which you are going to do great things in life. As one of my favorite quotes say: "When the going gets tough get the tough going" (unkown author).

God's will

At the beginning of today's reading section, there was a part where a God was talking. This is what je said: "They (Gilgamesh and Enkidu) have killed the Bull of Heaven and killed Huwawa. One of them must die...Enkidu must die but Gilgamesh, the gifted, must not die." (pg. 37). I picked this quote to comment on because I thought that it was interesting that a God was also discriminative. It was made clear that one of the two had to go, and in my opnion, the fact that "the gifted" must not die is a way of saying that Enkidu was disposable while Gilgamesh was not. I relate this to an activity we had once in class, where we had to pretend that there had been a horrible disaster on Earth, and the only 11 survivors were stuck together in one bunker. Because lifetime would be very limited if we all stayed there with the few resources that we had, the activity consisted on the choosing of 3 characters that would survive and 8 that would not. After the presentation of each group one thing was clear: all of the characters that were either elder, handiccaped or disabled were the first to go, no questions asked. I hope that this mebtality that apparently even the Gods have will soon be gone, because it is unfair with those people that do not have the special abilities that others have.

Dreams

For these 2 tablets of Gilgamesh I want to make reference to the dreams that the main character had several times before facing the demon Huwawa. I think that this is very interesting because actually I have woken up several times preocuppied about a bad dream, but in the end the bad omens turned out to be anything but true. This also happens a lot not only in dreams but with simple bad feelings, where you see or hear something and immediately associate it with disaster, but nothing terrible happens. I hope that some of you have felt this way in some point of your life, because it is somehow exiting to see things that happen to you written in a classic such as Gilgamesh.

Strength

At the very beginning of the book, Enkidu was full of courage and strength, believing he could not be defeated. This is why he accepted the challenge against Gilgamesh, but in the end he was defeated. This is a very common happening in the lives of many, a moment where you feel completely powerfull, like if nothing can bring you down, but soon enough you learn that in fact, it can be over. Moments like these are wonderful, you feel inmensely happy, but the low moments are also part of life, so you just have to learn to be able to pick yourself up whenever there is a low point and wait for the good moments to come.

Dust in the Wind

"The life of one man is short. What he accomplishes us but the wind." (Gilgamesh, pg. 16)
I found this quote very interesting because it speaks nothing but the truth. In about 100 years, no one will remember our names, who we were, our what we did during our lifetime. It takes something pretty extrordinary to go down in history, and most of us are not up for the challenge. The quote also speaks another great truth, that our life is too short, so it´s best if we enjoy it in the best way we can. After all, all of this is just dust in the wind.

Introduction

Hello everyone!! The main purpose of this blog is to keep track of the readings that have taken place in our 9th grade Pre-Ap English course. I will be consistently posting entries about the books as my reading progresses. This blog is open to anyone who wants to learn my opinions or comments about the novels. For now, we will be reading Gilgamesh. I hope you enjoy reading my comments!!!