Reading Response Journal Entry 2

Novel Journal Entry: Black Wind Author: Clive Cussler It all started when the Japanese boats of I-403 and I-411 had tried a last desperate measure against the Americans during the last days of the World War II, a suicidal mission to bomb the American coast using a new secret biological weapon, a weapon so terrifying that it could rip apart the power of the Americans inside out. Although both of the attempts failed, the monstrosity is condemned to slumber in the bottom of the sea for 60 years, to be later on reawakened a force of pure evil, seeking to finish his enemy with the force of the weapon called, Black Wind. Two coast guards dead of aerial cyanide poisoning, a team of scientists suffering from the supposedly-long-annihilated smallpox, encounters with assault-riffle-armed fishermen, mysterious deaths of the U.S. ambassador and citizen, an assassination of a powerful U.S. tycoon in Japan, and an evil plot compiled in an unknown land has compelled Dirk Pitt and his sister, Summer Pitt, the two children of the head of NUMA (National Underwater and Marine Agency) to once again jump in action to detect and thwart evil plans that is yet to be unfold. After a visit to a small beach town and a history lesson with one of his friends, Dirk Pitt knew that more than poaching and minor aerial poisoning or political stability is at stake, but the lives of the millions living in American soil as he dives down to the remnants of the 60 year old monster, the I-403, finding that the biological bomb canisters has disappeared in the middle of the sea. When all outrage is thrown to Japan for the death of the U.S. citizens, a great force is working behind the scenes to unveil a plot so evil and so monstrous, that it could reshape the world as we know it. Through murder and assurance of the U.S. forces removal from South Korea, Dae-Jong-Kang, a powerful businessman in the center of South Korea and a puppet used by the North, has worked an incredibly evil plan to reunite the two Korean Nation by force. Backed by the whole North Korean Government and a truly evil and devious mind, Kang has become unstoppable. His plot to overthrow the South Korean government will be covered by another, more evil plot, is something big enough to change the focus of the American public eye from the invasion of South Korea by the North to something else worse, that is, providing there are any Americans left… As Dirk and Summer dives to recover the remaining bomb canisters from the I-411, located 2000 meters under the South China Sea with the submersible Starfish, Kang has launched an assault team to take over the command ship for the Starfish, the Sea Rover. After taking hostage of all on board and forcefully recovering the bomb canisters from Dirk and Summer and sinking the Sea Rover with its crew locked inside a cargo hold, Tongju, the leader of Kang’s assault team, and the murderer of the U.S. citizens in Japanese soil under the guise of the Japanese Red Army (a Japanese terrorist group bent on reforming the empire) kidnapped Dirk and Summer to be taken on a trip to Kang’s fortified residence as hostages. The Korean tycoon sentenced death on the two by drowning them in a cave after a good long chat with Kang in the dining room. As they narrowly escaped from the underwater prison/cave, the pair informed the head of NUMA, their own father, Dirk Pitt senior and of the former head of NUMA, vice president Sandecker of the plot, a barricade is set all around the perimeter of U.S. waters, the crew of the agency finally find the launch vehicle, a taken-over “Sea Launch” platform to launch satellites from the sea, but in this case, its the newly made biological bomb, not the smallpox virus-filled bomb of Black Wind in the I-411 and I-403, but a one filled with “Chimera”, the hybrid of the highly contagious smallpox virus and the deadly, immunity destroying capability of the HIV-1 virus, creating a combination that could decimate and eradicate the entire American population in a matter of weeks, and its nozzle is pointed directly to the city where the G8 leaders meet, Los Angeles. How are both Pitt to stop the evil plot with only a ship, a blimp, and a submersible? What will happen at the confrontation in the middle of the sea between good and evil? What is the fate of Dae-Jong-Kang? What if the NUMA agents are too late to stop the launch quickly? How will Al Giordino, a good friend of senior Pitt make a rescue of the “Sea Launch” crew with his blimp? Find out all in the BLACK WIND!

What’s interesting about this book is that this book can cover up historical facts interestingly and combine them with action, suspense, thrilling scenes, and heroism to compile a great novel to read with easy vocabularies. Many people can quickly recall that they might consider history as something boring during their childhood days at school, but we can truly learn history through novels also. Novels that can combine the essence of history with action and attractive plots can quickly engross readers to read the book and learn history at the same time. This book teaches us about history and science the interesting way. I like history at school just because I consider it as a plot to follow from a point in the past to follow until today, so that when I learn history, I could think of it as something not boring but ass some story to follow with plot twists, actions, and thrilling scenes as I picture it on my mind. I take history lessons just as if I was reading novels , I enjoy it as something that is full of humanity, people’s efforts and perseverance, and many thrilling scenes. By engrossing readers in this environment, readers could learn history, science, and even new vocabulary the interesting way, making history lessons, English lessons, and science lessons as something very interesting to follow as it is compiled in quick-paced, action-filled novels. Striking lifelike-details and accuracy of descriptions is also something I assume as points that made this book as one of the New York Times Bestseller. What’s incredible, the author can predict and describe shipwrecks in accurate details, as he could with floating ships and vehicles. This meant that the author has a great compassion for what he is doing and that he knows his field better than most people. What’s even more interesting, the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) is not a fiction agency, although the characters are, the NUMA does exist, and the head of NUMA is Clive Cussler himself in the United States! So this means that Clive Cussler has mastered his field quite well, as he has his own share of experience with real shipwrecks, as what he depicts in The Sea Hunters and The Sea Hunters II. Knowing your field well is something I also learned when doing my research. When we research enough to know our field well, we could easily compile essays or editorials. But when we don’t, we can’t truly comprehend what we are doing, and therefore, making low-quality works. So, as I have learned to understand my field to the smallest detail before compiling anything about it, this novel’s author and his descriptions used in the novels suggest that he does understands much about his field , and that he could compile great novels with underwater salvage operations or shipwrecks as the main interest or topic! From all the books that I’ve read, such as The Day of The Jackal, The Dogs of War or the Odyssey files by Frederick Forsyth, The Liberty, The Saucer, and The Intruder by Stephen Coonts, or even the Atlantis Found, Raise the Titanic, or Sacred Stone, by Clive Cussler, the Black Wind has a quality that no other of these novels does have. This novel has a great passion for historical fiction, as the others told us less about it. The other novels I’ve read only has briefly made chapters to explain on historical facts, but in the Black Wind, the background is stated quite clearly as the history of the novel’s story is clearly well-compiled. I see that historical facts can be something very supporting for the outline and the outcome of a story, since historical fictions tend to rely much on history as its background, and the more historical facts we put on a historical fiction novel, the better the foundation gets and the more realistic it becomes. This is really something I learned from compiling historical fiction novels from the Black Wind. Inconceivable

: Unbelievable. Something inconceivable is something not understandable, something unbelievable, and something very great that it actually became quite hard to believe.

E.g.: Inconceivable! Your theory stating that humans can breathe in space without helmets and oxygen tanks is absurd! Aft

: In the front most or the backmost part of a ship or airplane, referring to the protuberances on the front tip of ships, the backmost rooms on the lower decks, or the front most and backmost compartments on an airplane. E.g.: The last time I saw him, he was strolling on the stern aft deck to catch some fresh air.

Vaulting

: To leap highly or energetically, sometimes with the help of poles. This word can refer to people doing high-jumps, or just people in such a rush that they will jump over fences and obstacles on their ways quickly.

E.g.: Once he knows that he woke up late, he just dashed out of his house after a quick shower and vaulted over his fence. Trundle

: To roll along like a wheel. This word can refer to the wheel itself rolling off down the road, or anything that rolls down the road without stopping just like3 a wheel, although in the text it refers to a wheel in the novel. Sometimes, if humans can roll forward in rapid succession, they can also be considered as trundling forward.

E.g.: He tried a crazy stunt again for fame. He just trundled down Hindenburg Hill and now he broke one of his legs. Purge

: Getting rid of sins. Purge can refer to the cleansing of sins and anything involves cleaning or throwing out the wrong and keeping the justice held. This can sometimes also refers to throwing out corrupt politicians out of cabinets, saying that the cabinet has been purged from corruption.

E.g.: The country’s cabinet was purged from corruption and bribing a few decades ago, so the country’s at a good state now. Loll

: To lean or to lie. This can refer to anyone slouching over a crouch at lunch time, and if we say, that someone’s lolling around, we can assume that that person is having his break and lies down somewhere to rest up. It usually refers to lying down, but sometimes, sitting can also be considered lolling.

E.g.: Now that we’ve finished our work, we can just loll around and do nothing at the Café, does that sounds good? Fender

: A protective device, guarding the front of the automobile, and sometimes the back also. It is sometimes also called the bumper of an automobile. It protects the car from crashes, suppressing the damage done to the cabin from a square crashes from the back or the front.

E.g.: I was saved by my fender last night. A drunk just barreled against my SUV with his Minibus, and if it’s wasn’t for my fender I might not be here right now. Perturbed

: To disturb greatly or to upset someone greatly. This word can refer to anything that anyone does to harass others greatly and any actions done to do so, ranging from taunting to bullying others. Perturbing someone will result in making the other person upset or angry at the cause.

E.g.: He was so perturbing; I have to move away at a radius of 10 meters from him just so that he wouldn’t harass me so much anymore Animosity

: Ill will, resentment. Animosity refers to a quarrel or resentment that anyone has with the other person. This can range from just friendship resentment, or maybe

political resentment between two parties, or even resentments between many powerful nations at the Cold War or the First and Second World War. E.g.: U.S.A. is currently at an animosity with Russia over the aggression frenzy at Georgia a while ago. Seam

: Layers. The seam here refers to layers. This can range from layers of different density of metamorphic rocks, volcanic rocks, and sedimentary rocks on parts of the Lithosphere and Hydrosphere, to layers of dresses worn by women on a wedding party. In the text it refers to just a dress, because the dress seems to have seams or layers because it is a thick Chinese dress.

E.g.: There are so many seams of the dress that it looks like the thing weights more than me! Moor

: A plain of barren and open land that has only little amounts of grass or trees on it, kind of like the tips of a desert, where only little amounts of shrubs grew. This can directly refers to the tips of deserts, or just any open space anywhere that has almost no vegetations except a few shrubs on it. It sometimes can also refer to plains, although not used much.

E.g.: Yesterday night, I was driving my Land rover in the middle of the moor, while suddenly, out of nowhere, a land yacht just burst into view! Skiff

: A small boat. Skiff doesn’t usually means speedboat, but it does refers to the small boats that are used by traditional fishermen to gather fist, or the boats used by sailors to get to shore when they anchor their ship off the coast at older times, or the boats that are used to evacuate sailors when their ship is on fire or under an emergency in the age of Columbus, or of any rowboats that are found in the more traditional countries.

E.g.: You planned to journey through the River Nile with a skiff, that’s suicide! Who knows what’d the crocodiles do to you? Consolidate

: To combine, to make things into bigger objects by combining it with other objects, forming a compact object. This can refer to just plain objects combined into one, but sometimes can also refer to combining organizations or groups so that they form a union or a joint association. This can refer to things such the joining of the U.S. after the civil war between the Confederate and the union

E.g.: We should consolidate these two plates for the outer hull shouldn’t we? It should double the pressure it can hold underwater. Chronometer

: a tool for recording time intervals. It is often used or on underwater voyages to keep track at oxygen reserves, intervals of time needed to do actions underwater, helping the owner to predict how much time is needed to do all the action until the oxygen reserves emptied.

E.g.: Check the chronometer! According to mine, we only have time to do 3 more shipments to the submarine before we need to resurface. Nagging

: Complaining or being a source of annoyance. When people are nagging, they are complaining so much to other people that they became annoying for others to bear.

People who like to complain are often called annoyances or naggers. Generally, nagging usually refers to oral annoyances instead of action-based annoyances. E.g.: You’re always nagging about my work and my salary! Why don’t you start looking for a job yourself for a change? Bulkhead

: A sort of layer separating compartments, a partition, like those in a computer for example. Generally anything from a pole to layers of concrete, a partition called a bulkhead is anything that is used to separate things that have been compartmentalized before. This term is usually used for separators of compartments on a ship’s cargo section, usually at the frontal part of the ship, separating many cargoes from the others.

E.g.: Are you going to store our bags at the storage rooms? If you are, store them on the room on the left of the main bulkhead. I always store my things on that spot on my last cruises with this ship Vista

: A far view through an opening, like if we are staring out of a villa window on the top of the mountain, we can call the sight we see to the horizon a vista, a distant view over an opening. When we are standing on top of a cliff in a house, looking through a window for example, what we see to the horizon, such as the seemingly endless sea, we can call the view a vista through the window.

E.g.: How are you enjoying the painting? It was taken by an artist depicting a vista of the Hindenburg plains in Germany 20 years ago from his house on top of a cliff. Windbreaker

: A sort of jacket-like apparel that protects the wearer from extreme winds. It is just like a jacket, but thicker for protection from the wind, not from cold. The jackets that motorcyclist uses can also be considered as windbreakers since it gave the wearers a refuge from the winds. It is not designed to stop cold, but to stop harsh winds.

E.g.: Where your windbreaker tight! We’re going to fly against powerful winds on the North Atlantic with this World War II Morane-Saulnier aircraft. Zealous

: an emotion of enthusiasm and passion of pursuit of something, such as hunters when pursuing their prey often chase them zealously, with great passion, great enthusiasm not to let it escape. Zeal can sometimes also refer to policemen when they are hunting down a criminal relentlessly, and when they’re warm on the trail, they’re going to pursue them zealously, with more enthusiasm.

E.g.: Come on! We’ve track it down to its lair! Chase him zealously, men, don’t let him escape! Bluff

: Cliff. Bluff in short, means a cliff or generally any steep bank on the walls of a mound or a tectonic rising over a flatter surface. This can mean generally to any land rising above the ones around it, or cliffs banking off the tip of an island or a coastal area.

E.g.: Be careful, don’t fell from the bluff, it’s a good 100 meters to the jagged boulders down on the base!

Magazine Journal Entry Reader’s Digest, April 2008 Pg 81 – 87 Travel Islam extract from Lonely Planet Bluelist: Best Travel in 2008 As Islam springs into mind, probably some would directly relate the word to the Middle East. As the Middle East is now a center of attention in newspapers is quite a hot topic nowadays, and is the place of the beginning of Islam itself. Islamic civilizations are more than just mosques and such, but there’s more than that! Islamic civilizations can prove as elaborate and exotic civilizations and its culture breathtaking. Islam actually possesses the greatest treasures of the natural world and gems of the modern civilization. Ranging from Spain to South-East Asia, Islam has spread its influence, culture, architecture, and its ways worldwide. In Spain, a western country that has opened its gate towards Islam laid a great treasure called the Alhambra, a great marvel of Islamic architecture, not only for the city or the country, but for Islam itself. In Afghanistan, The Minaret of Jam has been a splendidly made to reach up to 65 meters in height when it was built in the 12th century by the Islam, and unknown to the western world until the 19th century, it is still a testament to the splendor of Islamic Architecture. In Bukhara, Uzbekistan, the architectural marvels of the Islamic world has reached its best. Its mosques, over 1200 years old in age, has not changed at all in the last 12 century, and it is a great relic of Islam at its first days of infancy, as it is still a pure Islamic architecture. The last great culture of Islam that is renowned worldwide is the travel of Hajj, a great journey of the Islamic followers that travels to Arab to venture as the Prophet does, from Mecca to Medina, as they relive the Prophet’s journey 1600 years ago in his quest to spread Islam. The gatherings of millions of people in Arab is said to be the greatest mass gathering in the world, as all Islamic countries opens its gate towards those leaving on Hajj to visit forward to Arab. It’s a splendid sight seeing millions of people in a place, visiting one single place and crowding against it, such as in the Kasbah, a holy relic preserved only for Islam. Islamic religion can’t get more intriguingly fascinating than this! What’s interesting about this article is that this article can take us deep into the world of Islam, its cultures, monuments, its heritage, its natural wonders, from the distant East, the Middle of Asia, to the Edges of the West, every great monuments and events are beautifully depicted in the article. The usage of language is not complicated, but its basic and attractive, making people see deeper into the world of Islam, not only to the Middle East, not only to terrorism happening in many Islamic countries, but to the wonders and cultures it has to offer for us, look outside of terrorism and Radical Islam, but instead to many of its good sides, its wonders and its culture. The usage of language doesn’t involve hard vocabularies, but it does teach us a thing or two about Islamic history and cultures. This article reminds me that I have learned to always look outside of the box, think outside of what others think, think differently, be open, look on the positive sides, and although others have labeled it something bad, we can look outside of the box, outside of its bad sides, but look further to its great aspects or what does it have to offer for others, for its community, or for the world. This has made me someone more optimistic, as I have tried my best to not label someone badly, but rather look on their good aspects. If many deemed Islam as something radical, something dangerous, and something related with terrorism, this article has made us think otherwise, that it is a great teaching that has incredible influences of its own in many aspects of life, in architecture, in religion, even in our way of living. This will make us think that under the label of terrorism, radical teachings, and some the enemy of the West, referring Iran and its quarrels with the western countries, and the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization that supposedly hides under the protection of some Islamic countries. This has blocked our point of view that Islam is not this! It is a way of

learning to reach heaven, it is a way of living, it is a great religion that supports good deeds as daily habits, and it is a gem of the world heritage and fascinating cultures. So in the middle of the tension between the west and the “evil” radical Islam, it is wise to always see that Islam is not all about Al-Qaeda, or the boldness of Iran fighting against westerners’ politicians, or radical movements caused by radical teachings at the Madrassah, or acts of terrorism on which Islam is many times condemned upon, but we should see it as a gem of civilization and culture where Islam is one of the main contributors to architectural revolutions in the Middle East and in Eastern Europe, the ones that starts sea trading to reach the Mediterranean Sea, and they are also the ones that settles to many great cities in Europe that the Christians was not able to conquer at the time. Incredible strategists and thinkers, Islam in Arab are not only a colony of religious thinkers, but also of incredible mathematicians, since many of our known mathematics theory, including the Algebra, one unique but rational mathematics theory is found and developed by the Islam in Arab a few hundred years before it spread to Europe. A tool called the Astrolabe, used to measure the height of stars and planets on the sky, is tools first invented by Arabs in the Middle Ages, used for navigating, and are very useful during sea travels. What’s even more stunning, I’ve also learned that our numbers of one to ten (1-10), the ones commonly used around the world and has been made standard calculation methods, is actually the ones invented in Arabia by the Islam! So much does it contribute to us, that Islam is one of the biggest religions that are spread all over the world! Although Islam has bad sides, including that of terrorism, it does not mean all Islam is bad, but it has contribute so many to our civilization nowadays, that we sometimes, as non-Islam, doesn’t gave their civilizations as much credit as how they actually deserve. So, if we look at the good sides of it, I doubt that Islam has many competitors in the world that contributes just as many things to our daily lives. Debunk

: to expose a plot or to expose the truth. If we are hearing rumors about something, then when we check out the rumors and it turned out to be false than we have debunked the rumor, showing the truth and learning of it from a direct search on the spot concerning the rumor, so we will either hear others talk about the truth of a rumor or we ourselves seek the truth about a rumor. This is debunking a rumor.

E.g.: I’ll debunk the myth of the Loch Ness myself when I get to Scotland! Tout

: Publicizing loudly. When we publicize something loudly, making the public know about something loudly, then we are touting something. When we tout, we publicize loudly, either through press conferences, a speech in front of public, or any other media, it is considered touting something to the public.

E.g.: Great, our months of working in secrecy are lost just because of him touting our project to his pal at the bar last night.

Magazine Journal Entry Reader’s Digest, August 2008 Pg 84 – 88 The Plastic Brain Taking example from Howard Rocket, a young football player who gets himself into a coma when he slips in the middle of a game and hits the back of his head badly on the field, who loses his ability to walk out of a brain malfunction, but persevere to do so, and in a few years, he has run again in the fields of Toronto. How is this possible when doctors condemn him to a lifetime on a wheelchair because of a fatal brain damage? Doctors quickly search for the purpose and they have found out that the brain is not a machine that could not grow and only breaks down, but it could also regenerate itself. This effect is what scientists called neuroplasticity. If someone was to do activity that are done continuously over years, he or she could alter the brain to concentrate or work better in that activity, even if the brain is damaged. By working tirelessly on some activity, people could change the way their brain works or the way their brains do something. The brain, through continuous mental exercises can heal many kinds of obsessions, fears, and incurable traumas. Engrossing in meditations is also a way to increase the brain’s ability to perceive something, and to retain consciousness through our lives. We can take example from Buddhist monks and their meditation habits. Research shows that their brains produce more Gamma waves than ours, which results in better or higher brain perception, such as perceiving something and consciousness. Pain is also something that can be evaded through mental training and neuroplasticity, because when we have pain, we usually think quite much about it, therefore amplifying the actual pain sensation, but when we alter the brain to think on something else, it will greatly reduce the pain felt by our body. The brain has incredible nurseries in the Hippocampus, where new brain cells are produced each day, and by concentrating on repairing damaged parts of the brain, we could alter the hippocampus to produce more concentrated amounts of brain cells and direct them mostly to repair the part of the brain involved in our activity to alter the brain. I predict that this finding can change the way doctor predicts their diagnosis, making brain damage as fatal and irreparable, as they thinks brain only breaks down, but it doesn’t repair itself, but this will make doctors realize that the brain could be repaired, and that even when doctors used to think that some forms of brain damage are irreparable, but with the development of the neuroplasticity research, doctors could recommend patients to take advantage of this and resort to brain alteration and mental training to repair their damaged parts of the brain through continuous training. The scientific facts and the real examples given to support the article is very intriguing and carefully chosen has made this article as a very educative and an inspiring article to read. The people who have successfully heal themselves from brain damages are made to testify on this article, showing their past experience and emotions when the tragedy happens, and how does they alter the brain so that it heals by itself. This factor has made people believe better that they can actually change how their brain works. This article reminds me that we can always alter the brain to do the extraordinaire, and I have learned that we can do more than we thought we can if we push our brains to the limit and more! By pushing it relentlessly and as tirelessly as possible, we can alter the brain to work harder and do the extraordinaire. I have always tried to push my brain to do so, since if I can, I can optimize the use of my brain for my own study benefits. By pushing my brain to the limit, there will be new was I can study and there will be new opportunities tat I can open. I learned also that nothing breaks down and can’t get repaired in our body, so we shouldn’t be shy to try and push ourselves to do more, since by doing so, we can achieve more, but our body can repair itself if we push ourselves out of our comfort zones. There is no limit yet to our brains, because in an article

I’ve read, I now know that even Einstein only uses 30% of his brain until the last minute he lives, because most people only uses 20-25% in their lives. Imagine what possibility the brain could unfold if we use 35% of our brain and even more! I have planned to optimize the brain’s use and alter my brain to always do better and better! Pushing out brain to the limit is always a good thing to do. When we are given a certain standard that we are capable of, why not optimize the use of it? It will not hurt to optimize and to maximize our brain capabilities. Our brain can be pushed to the sheer limit where the human mind will be at its limit, and through mental training perhaps, we can even develop our brain to reach higher limits while operating, and further enhancing or boosting the capabilities and function of our brains. Sometimes people say, if we can do it the easy way and obtain our objective, why do the hard way? I’ve always disagreed with such methods of thinking; since I’ve always tried my best to make thins the harder way, but with better results! If the easy way can produce a 98, I will do the hard way just to get a 99. 1 point is still 1v point, but if intense labor and thinking can increase the results just with a fraction of a point I will deliberately do what is required. I say, when better can be done through the harder way, why stop at the easy way. Life’s not easy, and I intend on making it hard for me from early age, so that when I graduate, I will not be surprised to fight the hostilities of life in the harsh world, preparing myself just for hard work later on. This is what I know I can actually use it in my daily life when I work later on by pushing my brain towards the limit and more! Prognosis

: The expectation of someone to recuperate from their diseases. If doctor prognoses something to his or her patients, the doctors are “forecasting” their future with the disease, is it going to heal easily or not during the course of a certain time span. .

E.g.: The prognosis was delightful: I can play basketball again in a month! Rigorous

: Harsh activities conducted by someone. Usually rigorous can refer to either hard or strict activities undergone by a person. If someone does rigorous training that means that the person is undergoing strict, hard, and tireless training.

E.g.: The doctor proposed a rigorous diet and lots of exercise for me next year! Excruciating

: Something agonizing or torturing. If something is excruciating, that means so to extreme that it tortures us or that it’s agonizing and painful for us o bear. It usually refers to the pain felt by many.

E.g.: The stomachache was so excruciating that it felt that if my stomach was overturned times and times over. Compartmentalize

: To separate into compartments. Usually refers to compartmenting goods when we manufacture and packs something, but sometimes also used in science, especially biology involving separating between two different things, such as compartmenting between two different stimuli received by our brain.

E.g.: We need to compartmentalize those boxes of ammunition so that it fits the container in the frigate!

Magazine Journal Entry Reader’s Digest, January 2008 Pg. 36-41 Deadly on the Road, by Helen Signy Deadly crashes are often caused by drunk drivers in the middle of the night, but what research shows, sleepy drivers may be even more dangerous. Drunk drivers may realize that they are drunk, and try as hard as possible to be aware, but sleepy drivers may not be well aware of the risk or the idea that being a little drowsy can get them killed. When driving with even a little drowsiness, people gets more dangerous than they will if they are drunk, since they doesn’t realize their conditions at all and the risks of it. If people drive for 8 hours straight, they will get as dangerous as people who have an alcohol count of 0.05% in their blood (which is enough to drive most of our mind to the subconscious), and probably even more. Just little drowsiness can cause a fatal crash. “You start to lose attention because you’re bored. Then your scanning pattern change so you’re not looking around as much. Your reactions are slow, your steering corrections become less often, and your ability to maintain constant speed decreases. Blinks starts to turn into longer eye closures. Once your eyes are closed for, say, half a second then things are really bad. That’s long enough not to see something.” Says Professor Narelle Haworth, a specialist in injury prevention and rehabilitation at Australia’s Queensland University of Technology. Research shows that microsleep or small intrusion of drowsiness can penetrate even the best intentions to stay awake. Once we sit, does repetitive task, and starts to get bored for just a millisecond, that’s where microsleep takes place, and with it, drowsiness. Many people still drives when they have lack of sleep or when they are sleepy, and this can risk other people’s lives. People who are at risk of driving sleepily are night shift workers, young people (as the young are more vulnerable to the microsleep because they need more sleep than adults does also), People with sleep disorders, such as insomniacs can pose to be very dangerous driving at night, and males, because research shows that three quarters of fall-asleep crashes are caused by male drivers. Road modifications are a good way to reduce sleep-induced accidents, such as by using small strips (bumps on the roads) on highways or at the sidewalks, preventing sleepy drivers from getting microsleeps through even the smallest of blinks. What’s interesting about this article is that the usage of real examples has created a persuasive environment for the readers to comprehend the dangers of driving in drowsiness. The writer can make readers believe that even a little drowsiness can prove to be deadly when on the road through persuasive and attractive language and of course, research studies. The writer gathers data from professors and many research studies to prove the theory. Incredibly, the writer can include scientific examples, such as of the microsleeps to reinforce her statement. This is an effective article and can even be made into a great editorial. Since persuasion is already present in this article. Usage of scientific language but not complicated ones can also prove to be very intriguing to use, since it gave authority to the writing, but does not forces people to open the dictionary too many times. This article can be related on how I think that even a small problem can quickly induce a great problem if not immediately solved. If a problem is left to grow, then we will receive troubles controlling it later if it has grown to become a great epidemic. When problems are not taken care off well, they can manifest into something dire and uncontrollable. Like if I have problems at school with my duties and my friends, I will have to be capable to solve the problems in a short time o prevent undesirable side effects from taking place later on. I have always tried to avoid trouble and

if I get myself into one, I will do everything possible to end the trouble once and for all without delaying even one bit. I will not eat lunch if my troubles are not over with, because I will need to stop it from growing into bigger problems and trouble me even more. I always thought that if a small problem is allowed to grow, it would have taken only a while for it to blossom into one heap of a trouble. For example, I’d say that global warming is just a phenomenon pushed aside by many scientists a decade ago, saying that’s it’s something usual, an incline and decline of the world temperature is just periodical, it cannot be something serious. Same thing with drowsiness, when we started to get drowsy, we’d just brush it off as something unimportant, then, when the eye starts to induce eye closures, we might start to think differently about the dangers of drowsiness. Like now when global warming is being taken into account quite late, if people also take into account their drowsiness late, than it might be too late until they have been sleepy enough to have themselves a 1-2 second eye closure, then it all goes bad. Either we endanger out own live, or worse, the lives of many. If global warming for example was also taken into account later, that might prove to get us to a stone’s throw away from total global climate change and hundreds of species’ annihilation, as well as a global change that would make our lives different from any aspects. The many problems in Indonesia is also something to be taken care off, such as the cries of the agony of the lower-class and the less fortunate, and the many suffering from the incredible economical instability, rising oil charges in Indonesia, as well as the general prices and tax. Although World oil prices have steeply fall, why does the government does not lower oil prices in Indonesia? Many asked that question, but it all goes unanswered. If these conditions kept advancing, it might not take long for the people’s protests to turn into horrendous riots that may have resulted in catastrophic damage to civilian properties, vehicles, even government facilities, and later on riots turned into bigger conflicts, and might result in large damages and political instability. Racket

: Confused noise. Racket usually refers to a confused or a jumble of noise heard. Usually racket doesn’t mean one kind of noise, but many jumbled noises joined together creating a frenzy of noise. This can usually be heard when traveling on a noisy highway. We can always hear people shouting on each other as well as cars honking on a crowded or busy road.

E.g.: My kids created such a racket with their new musical instruments that I can’t get a decent afternoon nap! Impaired

: Impaired means Damaged. People who are impaired usually refer to those with disabilities, such as the ones that are physically disabled or mentally disabled. Impaired can also refer to something less than normal, something lesser.

E.g.: Although he is visually impaired from birth, it doesn’t stop him from studying! He has an amazing will to persevere!

Magazine Journal Entry Reader’s Digest, May 2008 Pg. 114 – 119 The Rise of Cyber bullying, by Phil Mckenna Now, in the modern age, as the Internet widens its grasps on the world, a new kind of bullying rises with it also. This kind of bullying is known as cyber bullying, which is bullying using the service the internet provides almost unlimited access to billions of computers worldwide. Because most internet accounts provides anonymity and privacy when using the internet, people using the service has the advantage of doing things without being known by public, and many has made use of this advantage with cyber bullying. Many people does things that they wouldn’t dare to do in the real world, since they can remain anonymous while doing so. Lots of people posts embarrassing photographs, gossips, taunts, or videos of their friends through anonymous accounts that they possess, thus, guaranteeing their security while doing so. Being bullied by one person is bad enough, but it gets worse when millions of people worldwide has the access and authority to open every bit of information posted in the internet, including those concerning bullying others. “It’s schoolyard bullying taken to the next level.’ says Justin Patchin, a criminologist in the University of Wisconsin. Examples of the bad effects of cyber bullying can be taken from Ghyslain Raza. The teenage Canadian made a video of him playing with a pretend light saber, but accidentally left it at school. /as the other students found them, they post it in the internet, and it became the most downloaded video of 2006, as many worldwide find it amusing. The distressed teenager was so shocked, that he finished the school year at a psychiatric ward for prolonged treatments. The anonymity, lack of direct face-to-face contact, and 24/7 365 days a year services provided by the internet has taken bullying and cruelty to new levels in the internet, because there is almost no limit to what we can post and do in the internet. Websites focusing only on labeling, harassing, and taunting others have sprang up in the internet quite some times by now, such as ratemyteachers.co.uk., where insults about teachers are posted freely on the webpage and can be viewed freely also. Some other webpage encourage posting taunts and names fort others. Evasive actions are now taken by the governments worldwide to take down every form of cyber bullies and websites that encourages bullying in the internet, but it is feared that as long as the internet is still present, and when services to post online are available, it could not be overcome that easily. I predict that this article will create great changes in criminology in many countries worldwide, making them aware of the actual threats of cyber-bullying, because the article also includes many real examples of people who killed themselves or them rendered mad because of the stress having bullied through the internet. It is a common knowledge that in this era of globalization, internet is something that connects the whole world. The articles have listed some websites that are specialized on posting other people’s names, insulting them, making jokes about them and so on. These examples can persuade even criminologist to take action as soon as possible. Even now, in England and America, criminologist has taken drastic measures to close down websites that includes calling names and making jokes about others. They are doing their best to stop cyber bullying from the roots in the internet to prevent further damage on civilians’ life. It seems that cyber bullying has been a great issue in the international world. I have known that even some Cita Hati students (I will not mention who) have make websites posting many gossips and who know what, but it is specialized only for that class (This is true because I have been asked to join that class in the web last school year, but refused). This is an experience that I encounter that show how students can make websites and post anything they want in it, creating the threats of cyber bullying even direr in school environments and can even be carried out by Junior High students! This has become my concern in my daily lives not to be

tempted to see such sites although some has claimed it to be quite “funny and intriguing”. Who knows what does the students chat about in Friendster or Messenger? Can be anything! I think we could see in our daily lives that bullying is a very bad case for many students. A decade ago, before the Globalization era starts booming like nowadays; internet is something very distant to me. Although I was still 4 years old, I was also told by my father, that at that time, Internet was something “fancy” for my family. But only in just some 8 years, the globalization has changed my ways of searching for information. As well as globalization strikes, bullying also happens to change during the time. At first, my impression about bullying is that it’s something that’s done physically, something hurting others mentally or physically directly, including punching, harassing, calling names, and taunting, but in the next 8 years, it all changes when I can see that bullying doesn’t use any schoolyard anymore, but it changes into something that is done in the cyber world. We don’t hit others physically anymore, but mentally, which I’d say it’s worse. If through the internet anonymity is guaranteed, than people could just harass and hurt others mentally without being exposed. A loyal friend could easily backstab us on the internet. Hurting other people mentally could get them killed or crazy, but through their victim’s own hands, since they can commit suicide! Many people have been rendered to a suicide because of the unbearable pains that they have to bear because of the cyber bullying. Many have also been rendered insane from cyber bullying, that people started to take seriously the dangerous threats of cyber bullying. Beware of the threat! It’s real! We won’t know what others publish about us in Friendster or blogs, so we should always prepare ourselves from the worst as now, police are also taking evasive actions to control the gravity of the situation concerning cyber bullying.

Magazine Journal Entry New York Times, 28th August 2008 http://news.bbc.co.uk/ Powering Up by: Matthew Preusch In Three Rivers Recreational Area, Oregon, three decades ago, electricity is something premium, but now, people powers up their homes using from propane lamps to solar panels, and the innovation has not yet stopped. Mr. Doug Still, the late owner of Three Rivers Recreational Area has plans to establish the land as a hunting preserve, but instead turned the area as camping grounds for those on vacation. “When I first came out here it was wild, wild West,” said Mr. Shay, who owns a vegetable oil distribution company in Portland. “People walked around with six-shooters and you thought there was a snake under every rock.” But today, it was more like that there are Porsches in every garage at the 3,800-acre Three Rivers Recreation Area, occupied by 500 houses, all powered by “green” power sources, ranging from cheap windmills, to solar panels costing thousands of dollars, in the attempt to slow global warming, as the Recreational Area also has energy-preserving prepositions. As the Recreational Area rises from an old camping ground to a million dollar business in 3 decades, the successor of Mr. Doug Still, Mr. Lorne Still has changed the lifestyle of the people staying there, from being very basic to really extravagant. The cheapest land offered in the Recreational Area is a 5-acre one costing $ 125,000. The Broker for the Three Rivers have stated that the property cost are going up real fast, because the place is now even more famous because of its water-ski in Lake Billy Chinook, and also boating and fishing for the three rivers joining into the lake. I just 30 years, the sale price of the land have risen from completely off charge, to $125,000 per 5 acre of land. Incredible! I believe that this Recreational Area has both given the owner incredible profits and has help the fight against global warming. By preserving energy through the usage of alternative energy and the preserving of nature around the area, the recreational are is going to prosper even more, since it can preserve its natural beauty for more people to enjoy. The history of the recreational area is quite intriguing, and the quotes by the brokers and old residences have emphasized and let us see the change happening in just a clip. The things said by Mr. Shay for example, notes how much has the nature changes in the last 3 decades, and that the “green” policy continues to further our fascination about the place. The Recreational Area supports extravagant lifestyle as well as its nature and its beauties. The usage of language is also quite attractive to engross readers on the history and the success of the Recreational Area. Through mentioning its short history with the founder, the late Mr. Still, and its progress through the ages as it was handed down to the current owner, Mr. Lorne Still, the author has successfully made the readers read more and more about the article. The list of its success over the year has also done the same thing. During my days as a student, I have learned that glamorous lifestyle can not be supported if we are using alternative energy, because many still thinks that our way of making energy now is the one that produces the most energy, but if we are using alternative energy, we should not use them too much because they doesn’t cover for a glamorous lifestyle, but only for basic needs. This is not true by using solar panels nowadays and geothermal energy. These two alternative energy can produce large amounts of electricity to support even extravagant lifestyle (usage of lots of electricity such as in large houses), enough to light the biggest of houses if using sufficient energy producers. I thought different before I have learned more about it, that it is capable of lighting many machines simultaneously. A Geothermal energy has almost no limit, therefore if it can be accessed in greater quantities, it could replace oil-generated fuels in the next few decades. Although both of this energy sources needs lots of money to access, it can produce enough energy for us to spend for

even glamorous lifestyles. In Three Rivers, there are also many large residences that are powered by solar panels. This also goes to prove that solar energy can power up even large homes. Juniper : A group of coniferous plants with needle-like leaves and berry-like pines. Junipers are known to grow on plains in the North America, and it seemed that in the Three Rivers estates three decades ago, junipers seems to be one of the most populous plants in the area. Junipers can refer to many different kinds of species actually, many still having relations to the pines in many tundra. E.g.: We shouldn’t have planted those junipers; they’re too big for our garden. Suffice

: Suffice means sufficient or enough. If we say that something is enough, we’re saying that it suffices the requirements. An example is when we are tested when inquiring for a hire at a company. If the company says that our profile suffices their requirement, which means that our profile is good enough to be accepted by the company as a worker.

E.g.: Sorry, your working experiences does not suffice our requirements, we can’t hire you. Tinker

: To mess around or to fiddle with anything. To tinker with a car for example is to mend the car unskillfully or to mess around with it. Sometimes, tinker can also mean playing with something. When people run out of energy for example, they would be tinkering with many different things to fulfill their needs for energy should the old energy source run out or is damaged.

E.g.: Stop tinkering with my car’s engines, you can get it damaged! Amenity

: Amenity is the agreeableness of something. Like, when using alternative energy used to be something not important or troubling in the past when oil are abundant, now, it is an amenity to find alternative energy. The sentence means that in the old times, finding alternative energy is something troubling and disagreeable, but now, many has think that it is indeed something important agreeable to be done.

E.g.: Thinking of it, hiring him to do the dirty work has been an amenity after all, eh? Raffle

: Raffle means lottery. A raffle ticket for a quilt means that there is a lottery in which the winner is awarded a prize which is a quilt. If I’m buying a raffle ticket for a car, it means that if I’m lucky and I win, I will get the car as a prize because the raffle ticket is a lottery.

E.g.: Hey, I’ve won a holiday to Hawaii from my raffle ticket last month!

Newspaper Journal Entry BBC Newspaper: 6th March 2007 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6407299.stm

How can fuel become contaminated? Contamination of fuels are said to be more likely to happen during manufacture than during shipping or storing. Research has proven otherwise. During the manufacture, crude oil are separated to make 5 different kinds of oils, ranging from jet fuels to cooking oil, and in that process, fuels are less likely to be contaminated since they are separated through 4 different tubes. In storing, sometimes, containers are used more than once on different types of fuels without being cleaned after each use. If gasoline are stored in a container that was used for cooking oil before and it haven’t been cleaned yet, that means that the gasoline will be contaminated with cooking oils remaining on the container. The same also applies with shipping oil with tankers. If tests are not conducted to measure the oil quality after storing, it is feared that the oils will be mixed up along with some substances that are supposed to be mixed with certain kinds of oils. If octanes, used for gasoline are mixed with other kinds of petrol for example, the machine using the petrol might not work properly. Octane can be very dangerous since it can combust if not used for the proper machinery; therefore, contaminated oils can prove to be very dangerous. In UK for example, reports of ethanol-contaminated fuels are received from different parts of the kingdom. Although fuels are only permitted to contain a maximum of 5% of Ethanol, a contamination can add more, making the fuel more combustible than before. Investigations have been conducted to overcome this issue. What’s interesting about this article is that this article has great scientific support over it, and it shows that even the contrary of our logics can be proved to be real in our lives. We may think that fuels are commonly contaminated during manufacture, but scientific example shows otherwise. In Indonesia, sometimes we may have problems with the quality of fuel here. I have experienced many of my own problems with the car concerning fuel quality and purity, since the troubled part seems to be in the machines, typically in the combustion unit. Because of impure fuel, my car has experienced some troubles (because my old car is very sensitive to problems, so even if other cars don’t experience the same incident, my car does because of its old machinery). In Indonesia, although minor, some reports of fuel contamination are heard once in a while. We might think that its Pertamina’s fault for not providing good quality fuel, but most of the times, the fault is in shipping and fuel storage. In the article, the effective use of persuasive language has also cleared the fog on fuel contamination. Such as the usage of research results and evidence of the problems in UK is a good way of convincing people on the idea that fuel contamination is something widespread and is not as we think it is. Usually, tankers and oil trucks are the ones that contaminate fuels with various other substances, not the manufacture itself. If not careful, sometimes storage in petrol stations is also mentioned to take a great role in the contamination of fuels. In the manufacturing process, if fuels are contaminated, they are contaminated with small amounts of other kinds of fuels, but in shipping, contamination can range from alcohol to octane, rendering the fuels impure for usage. This fact is the contrary of what many people think. Therefore I learned to view problems in many different perspectives to solve. We sometimes are required to think on the contrary of what other thinks. We sometimes are needed to think differently, sometimes the opposite of how we usually think just to find out the truth of a problem correctly, without misjudging the possibilities of different outcomes. I learned that if

we want to finish a problem effectively, we sometimes need to see things from different point of view, taking into account the problems through the eyes of many. This will lead us to see things differently, and we then can wisely set a solution in which we can make a just answer to the problem, reducing the frailties of the solution but increasing its efficiency for all aspects and for all sides in the execution. We should not only see an economical crisis from only economists, but also from politicians, mathematicians, astronomers, and the public, seeing what they all think about the problem and their opinions and point of views to solve it. This can really make our efforts to find an answer to the problem to be very effective, by really thinking deeply into the problems of many different peoples, what they will lose if they are to cooperate eliminating the problems, and also how will the outcome affect different kinds of people in our environment. Thinking of the contrary sometimes help us understand what our rivals perhaps, are thinking. When we are working, if we can see others from their point of views, their way of thinking, their characteristics, we can assume quite well their tactics in advancing, and we can also counteract those tactics and advance faster ourselves. This can make us prevail over others in the world of competitive business. People usually thinks about their own products and worry about the others’ after the others launch or publicize their products, then they try to counteract it, and others will do the same and so on and so on. This has made work as something repeated over and over again, they launch products, then we launch, then they launch, and so on, and who couldn’t keep up with the pace would get wiped out. I’d say we need to make our own pace, where we always think and plan two steps ahead of others and counteract their products at the same time thy launch them, and if we play our cards right, we might just reap lots of profit while our competitors doesn’t. We’d need a cunning mind to uncover other people’s plans and counter them fast enough to reap ourselves profit while suppressing others’ but if we prevail, we are in for some serious profit. So, sometimes, thinking on the contrary and thinking about other people’s visions are a good way to survive in the world of work. Unleaded

: Unleaded means that the substance is not mixed with essence of Plumbum or lead. In this case, unleaded fuel means that the fuel has been refined from leads, which sometimes are found in crude oil. Unleaded oil can mean that the fuel has been purified for use, since leads are not used for the combustion process in machines. Another example is the purification of quartz from general rocks. Usually, quartz is mixed with many substances of rocks, including some amount of leads. This quartz will be quickly purified, producing an unleaded mineral

E.g.: This mineral has just been unleaded in a purification plant in Glasgow. Batch

: The number of produced material at a time. So, batch means the quantity of materials produced at a given time or at once. In this case, the batch refers to the oil products. These oil products are refined and shipped at the same time, making them a “batch” of oil shipped at the same time. Batch sometimes can refer to other products, such as in farming, when it is time to harvest, farmers usually ships their batch to the market, meaning that farmers ships their products at once to the market at that time, during the harvest season.

E.g.: Where’s the batch of those newly-mined coals? They should have arrived yesterday night!

Newspaper Journal Entry BBC Newspaper, 28th August 2008 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7586605.stm

Putin blames US for Georgia role During the first days of the U.S. intervention in the Georgia war, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has launched an oral assault against the decision of the U.S. intervention in Ossetia. "The suspicion arises that someone in the United States especially created this conflict with the aim of making the situation more tense and creating a competitive advantage for one of the candidates fighting for the post of US president", Said Mr. Putin. There have been reports of the existence of U.S. citizens in the area as a plot of one of the Presidential candidate to reach the post of presidency faster. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino rejected the allegation. "To suggest that the United States orchestrated this on behalf of a political candidate - it sounds not rational," she said. "Those claims first and foremost are patently false, but it also sounds like his defence officials who said they believed this to be true are giving him really bad advice." U.S. threatens to destroy the nuclear cooperation pact planned before in response to the claims made by the Russian Prime Minister. In Europe, France and the European Union committee have held an emergency meeting in order to settle down the consequences for Russia. As the Russian ambassador for the EU fights against the sanctions to be bestowed upon Russia, the tension between the Russia and U.S. has broken the partnership that was forged after the World War. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described talk of sanctions as the working of "a sick imagination". This statement has reaped emotional responses from all around the world as it made matters in U.S.-Russia partnerships worse and have been responded grimly by the EU. As Mr. Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president guarantees that the actions of Moscow are supported by the nations, Russia fails to get support from any Asian countries as well as the ones in the EU. The best part about this article is that this article captures all the [political tensions happening in the middle of an international issue, such as the Georgia war. The Russians clearly disliked the interruptions the U.S. gives them in the middle of the war, and in the same time, the EU is outraged with the attack, planning on giving Russia sanctions for the attack. Russia will have to contend with the sanction problems, the support of other countries for its aggression, and also about the destruction of pacts between U.S. and Russia. The stubbornness of the political leaders are well shown and again, the usage of quotes in the article have made the article very attractive, as the quotes of the Russian leaders as well as the American leaders and those of the EU have been shown to attack each others, blaming each other for the assault’s results. The political instability in Georgia is also captured well in the article, showing how the troops of Georgia is thrown out of Ossetia and many other cities, while many of its civilians are killed during the assault. As the U.S. attacks Russia economically through destruction of economical pacts, the tension of the leaders of the EU is also well shown, showing the leaders of the EU, especially those from France facing the tensions of giving sanctions to Russia, one of the most powerful force in the world, owning the greatest amount of military force in Europe. In short, it is chaos in the West. This is something important to remember, that instability are often caused by a single desire to obtain something, as Russia has envied Georgia’s rich lands for quite some time, and with little provocation, the Russian leaders took advantage of it to assault the nation. This goes to show, that some small desires can change into bigger conflict, now reaching international levels just by little provocation. I learned that from this article. So, if we have a problem with something, we should finish it quickly before the worst happens or just get over with it. This is a solution to make sure that small problems do not develop themselves into the big ones that we can’t handle.

Envisaged

: mentally picturing something. This can also include mind maps, since mind maps are not drawn real, but are mentally envisioned in our minds. To imagine is also called to envisage, since we imagine some picture in our mind also.

E.g.: Have you envisage the outline of the major project report? Subsequent

: following after something. Successions can also mean subsequent. Such as in the article above, subsequent refers to a succession of counter-attacks by Russia against the Georgian army, resulting in the expulsion of the army from Ossetia and Abkhazia after the military aggression.

E.g.: He subsequently failed after his depression so many times that Mr. Mass will have to demote him.

Newspaper Journal Entry BBC Newspaper: 4th September 2008 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7497218 Sarah Palin Attacks Democrats In the middle of the heat of the United States’ election campaign, the Vice president of the Republican Party has counterattack against the numerous scandals thrown to her the last week and attacks the Democrats with the former elects of the Republic. Mrs. Sarah Palin, the vice president from the Republic and the governor of Alaska, had given her first major campaign speech to an enthusiastic crowd at the convention in St Paul, Minnesota. She attacks back against the Democratic Party elect, Mr. Barack Obama, saying that he has talked of CHANGE (which was the slogan of Barack Obama), but has done nothing and promised nothing concrete concerning it. She promotes Mr. McCain, the Republic’s elect, as someone who has”determination, resolve and sheer guts". She also mentions that some politicians, such as Mr. Barack Obama, has used Change to promote his career, but some others, such as Mr. John McCain, who uses his career to promote change, as he was proud to serve America. Former Republican elect and governors, such as Mr. Mike Huckabee and Mr. Mitt Romney have supported Mr. McCain in fighting against the Democrats. With more and more critics thrown to the Democrats, It seems that the democrats are under a heavy rain of fire. The Republics all agreed that “Mr. McCain and Mrs. Palin are more than qualified for presidency, while Mr. Barack Obama is not.” Mr. Huckabee also mentions that the scandals thrown at Mrs. Sarah Palin has been very tacky, and has said, "I am so tired of hearing about her (Mrs. Palin) lack of experience. She got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, than Joe Biden (Vice President Candidate for the Democrats) got running for president of the United States," Mrs. Sarah Palin closes her speech by saying, that she has no scandals to hide, and that she is more than ready for Vice-Presidency. I think that the usage of language in the article as well as usage of quotes has proven to be quite effective in making this newspaper article interesting to read. The complexities of rivalries between political parties are well captured in the article, featuring the sibling rivalry between the two political parties in the U.S., the Democrats and the Republic as they compete for the title of presidency. Tackling others, political scandals, and other kinds of ways to bring down the other parties has clearly been involved in the election. The interesting quotes used in the articles by famous governors and former president elects (such as Mr. McCain) has been effective to make this article engrossingly attractive, as we could well see the harsh comments of the political leaders just to get their party to became on top of the other. One thing that I’ve learned from this article is that sometimes, politics can be very dirty. People would often uses scandals and harsh comments to bring down the other parties, just to get their hands on the power on top. This has made people think that politicians win by cheating or through the dirty work. Although true for some, I have learned it is wrong to always think like that, because since I have quite an interest on politics, I conclude that not all politicians are “dirty”, because some, (In Indonesia a minority) are known to embrace each others and agreeing to a fair fight for power. Although not much, those politicians are the ones I admire, such as President Soekarno, they who don’t tackle others through unfair judgments, scandals, and harsh comments are the ones who we can trust to lead our society to a better future, since they know how to respect others, and how to respect their people’s opinions and makes great judgments..

Salvo

: Salvo is a great gunfire, usually coming in rapid successions. Salvo doesn’t necessarily means bullet, but anything coming with great speed like gunfire. In the article above, salvo means rapid succession of scandals thrown to Mrs. Palin, from the pregnancy of her daughter to the records of her past in the Independence party (a party that votes for Alaska to be independent). E.g.: She is trying hard to persevere under the salvo of gossips thrown by her workmates. Lavishes : To Lavish means to expend, or to give freely something in great quantities. Lavish can refer to goods or services, even praises. In the article, Mrs. Sarah Palin comments on Mr. Barack Obama lavishing his voters with praises and encouragements when they hear, but talks bitterly about them when they are away. E.g.: He only lavish us with praises when we work hard for his benefits, but if we don’t he’ll always backstab our trust. Prescription : A written rule or direction. Prescription can mean any kind of direction or rules written, such as a medicine prescription, or any kinds of rules needed to conduct something successfully. In the article above, prescription refers to the “rules” or recommendation made by the Republican Party in order to “change Washington”, prescribing on electing John McCain and throwing out the Democrats from the white house. E.g.: My doctor prescribes an antibiotic for me yesterday. Credentials : Something that gives confidence, such as if someone is confident of an aspect of his life; it is the same with having credentials for it. In the article, John McCain is praised for his confidence in national security matters that he is confident of being a contender who can wipe out “evil” radical Islam. E.g.: I praise your credentials at your work, but aren’t you overreacting? Tacky

: Shabby, not of good taste. Tacky in the article means a bad publicity stunt, in which the media takes political scandals for a publicity stunt, in which now, Mrs. Palin is the victim of it. So, the tacky here means the lack of taste or the “shabbiness” of the media in making the scandals about Mrs. Palin only for a publicity stunt.

E.g.: Stop using that tie to work; it’s even tackier than James’

Newspaper Journal Entry BBC Newspaper, 22nd October 2008 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3203941.stm

Dutch Solar Car Wins Famous Race In the world of solar-powered cars, the Nuna II has become the ultimate. The Dutch-built solar-powered machine is an incredibly complex piece of machinery, made by the European Space Agency (ESa). The ESa has successfully applied solar panels used for satellites for the Nuna II, the same type used by the communication satellites and probes made by the ESa, such as the SMART 1, a lunar probe that left earth to map the moon in 2003. Due to its incredible power source, the Nuna II finished the 3,010 Km race in only 30 hours 54 minutes with an average speed of 100 Km/hours during the whole trip from Darwin to Adelaide. The Nuna II won the race in both 2001 and 2003, making it the fastest solar-powered car in history. In the second place came the Australian Aurora, and the third, a team from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from the U.S. The first solar-powered car race dates back from the ‘87. It was initiated to motivate research and development into photovoltaics for future transport needs. The cars run in the daylight and for as long as their batteries will allow them in the dark. In the ’87 the winner, a car from the Sunraycer from General Motors Industry has the top speed of 67 Km/hour, compared to the Nuna II, registering more than 97 Km/hour on average. How the people make the cars are very intriguing. Some used the regular solar panels used for houses, but some even used the ones used for satellites. How people look into the future of transportation is already something very awesome, since the future of transportation are solarpowered cars or hybrid cars, which saves the amount of fuel that we use everyday, since the quantities of oil in the world has decreased significantly during the era of the industrial revolution. The subject of the article is also more interesting than just the invention of better solar-powered cars, but its application on the road. Here, we can see how solar-powered cars do if they are used on the road, we could see their performance, their weaknesses, their credibility and their reliability if used in certain terrains. A practical example is always better than theories, and what’s better than showing how a solar-powered car does on real life than a cross-country race? Through these races, many scientists will later on conduct better experiments to finish their cars, to improve upon it. As the article shows the race from the first day to the second and gives some specifications of some of the cars, we are able to see how each cars does if they are specified in some ways. Like for example, if they are specified to use satellite-grade solar panels, how fast can they run, or how much energy can they store overnight. This has make people look even further to the future technologies of solar-powered cars. I learned that it is very important to always look to the future. And through this article, we are shown how great the impact of alternative energy on our society are getting greater, and with more people starting to actually try out solar-powered cars, the future of the solar panel technology and solar-powered cars seems to be quite bright. We all need to look into the future and embrace it, and through this event, I have learned also that we need to prepare our best for it! Seeing through the vista of the window of the future is something very important. For example, I learned that when globalization hits Indonesia, many people are still unprepared for it. Those who can’t prepare well for their future is getting crushed low under the constantly changing rules of the society. As globalization hits every aspects of human life, those who are not aware and those who does not prepare themselves well are facing an agonizing moment now, especially with the coming of foreign industries and the low export levels that we now are facing, many are facing

the only option in life to succumb to the rapidly rising prices of oil and daily needs. Seeing the future of solar cars as new means of transportations is just as important as to make sure that we are ready to face many agonizing changes that maybe “bestowed” upon us later in life. As globalization hits, people started to industrialize, and as many got richer, they get consumed with greed and started to corrupt our country’s money and resources. This has led to a standstill in Indonesia economy, and has made the lower –class people suffer even more. In transportation itself, as globalization and modernization came at the same time, the solarpowered cars technology is going to globalize and modernize themselves in each country. If people in Indonesia could not modernize their means of transportation in preparation for a global transportation shift, then Indonesia will suffer hard from being a backwater country during the modernized period. We should always remember that in this period, changes occur drastically, innovations borders on the extreme, and that if people doesn’t start to prepare and adjust themselves and change themselves to become modern and effective of time and energy, they will be wiped out of the better-classed societies. When we fail to prepare, we fail to prevail, because the preparation is half the battle itself in the world of business. We should always adjust ourselves through time, adjusting on its changes, always improving and taking the most opportunities through any given time, and always using all our might and well-being in finishing these opportunities to reap the most of the benefits from it. We should always be ready for a change!