To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mocking Bird is a great book. There are so many principles we can learn from it and it has been the best book I have read all year. It was enjoyable even though we had to do annotations. I really didn’t like that a few people died expecally Tom Robensen but I also felt that it made sense and that it fit the book. It made you feel many emotions. It makes you mad at Bob Ewell. The book made me feel sympathetic towards Mayella. It makes you sad because of all the racism towards the black people. Tom Robensen should have been aquitted and it makes you angry that he doesn’t win the trial and very sad when he dies.

To the people that argue that it should be taken out of schools I will frankly oppose them. In school we should learn how to read and write and become edjucated. Modern books can help us do that, but I also think that we should learn great principles and learn about our nations history be it good or bad. I think that To Kill a Mocking Bird is a great example of that and teaches so many principles.

Although I think we should read more than one book To Kill a Mocking Bird should be included. A proposition that might help both sides would be to read a modern book or two and then read some classics like To Kill a Mocking Bird and Moby Dick. Like I said before To Kill a Mocking Bird is a very great book and it is now one of my all time favorites. Without school I wouldn’t have read it.

One of my favorite parts of the book is the trial scene. When Atticus knows he has no chance to win and still tries his best to be victorious and in a way is. He purpose is not to gain the respect of others but he does. Sure some people hate him but the people that matter respect him so much and even send him gifts during a very hard time (the great depression). You can see their love and really feel the emotions of the people.

My favorite quote of the book is" you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of veiw... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it." It really means a lot to me and I can really see it.

Overall this is one of my favorite all time books of my young life. I have really enjoyed reading it and learned a lot about principles and peoples emotions and thoughts in different places. I wouldn’t want to switch this book out for anouther and I belive schools should too.

NY TIMES #4

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/12/world/asia/us-demands-that-china-end-hacking-and-set-cyber-rules.html?hp

Check out my comment under Pap from Tennesse.

I think the president is saying a good thing here. The question is will he do anything about it? We can’t have anybody harming our already down economy by stealing secrets from American companies. We should also do something about all the copyright  and patton issues worldwide. We need to protect ourselves  and come up with secure ways of housing our secrets. We shouldn’t go to war over this but we do need to address the issue. We should use our diplomatic powers and people to go and make something happen. I also thought it was very interesting that we said we couldn’t abide by the armistice anymore. We will see how that goes but hopefully it goes well.

NY TIMES #3

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/12/nyregion/judge-invalidates-bloombergs-soda-ban.html?hp&_r=0

Check out my comment under Pap from Tennesse.

I agree with the judge that says we can’t ban sugaring drinks. In the bill he is only banning them for some restaurants and only above 16 ounces but you can get free refills. So what is the point. If people want to get a soda they still could and if they want to not take care of their bodies they can. Its not our place to judge or try to choose for them. I agree with the judge when he says this is a power grab not about watching peoples weight. This is unconstitutional because it hurts certain companies but not others. Kind of like a monopoly.

NY TIMES #2

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/magazine/how-economics-can-help-you-lose-weight.html?pagewanted=2
 
Check out this post on losing weight and my comment below:

This was an interesting article. I agree and disagree. I agree that companies make tons of money selling products and that often people don’t lose weight because of them or are misguided in using them. Like diet soda as stated in the article. Many people buy it but it really doesn’t help. But I also disagree too. The author  has lost a lot of weight and kudos to him but I don’t think that meal substituted shakes are a good answer. Personally I believe that the best way to get in shape is to eat grains and exercise. But I felt this was a great article.  
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NY TIMES #1

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/06/world/americas/hugo-chavez-of-venezuela-dies.html?pagewanted=3&src=mv

Check out my coment under Pap from Tennesse.

Hugo Chaves was an evil man. He wanted power and like other men in history he had the guts, persistence and smarts to get it. Unfortunately, he did not use his power well. He did what he pleased, and ensured that he would be elected again. He put the needs of his county second and gave valuable resources of oil to Cuba. Many people left Venezuela because he didn’t have their best interest at heart, or anywhere near it.  I thought this article was fairly biased. Hugo Chaves will go down in history as a dictator and a power hoarder.

McKay, In a Nutshell

1.       Gospel

2.       Christ   

3.       The  Spirit

4.       Atonement

5.       Life

6.       Calculus

7.       Principles

8.       Family

9.       Love

10.   Plan of Salvation

 

1.       Gospel

2.       BYU

3.       Basketball

4.       Atonement

5.       Granola

6.       Food

7.       Principles

8.       Family

9.       Pizza Pie Cafe

10.   Tyler

 

1.       Elementary Math

2.       Spelling

3.       Grammar

4.       How to eat

5.       How to get enough sleep

6.       Roller skating

7.       Not complain

8.       Love my Family all the time

9.       Tyler’s number

10.   My IQ

 

1.       Not getting into BYU

2.       Not getting a job this summer

3.       Not getting a good job

4.       Tyler

5.       Not being prepared enough for my mission

6.       Sunny

7.       A bad economy

8.       Losing a family member

9.       Losing my  car keys

10.   Utah beating BYU again

 

1.       Tyler

2.       BYU

3.       Pizza Pie Cafe

4.       Family

5.       Friends

6.       Church

7.       Cliff Bars

8.       NBA

9.       Playing Basketball

10.   Movies

 

1.       Provo

2.       Logan

3.       Boise

4.       Temple

5.       Italy

6.       Spanish Fork

7.       Salt Lake City

8.       American Fork Cannon

9.       Tyler’s house

10.   St. George

 

McKay

Bedtime stories for his sisters, Never missing basketball practice ever, Driving his sister around, Cleaning his room,

Aubrey, Leah, Trevor, Meagan, Sarah, Kendra

The perfect basketball shot, The glazed chocolate donut, The Night with no homework,

McKay feels good about where he is in life, McKay is always hungry, McKay always wants to play basketball,

McKay needs his family, He needs to live the gospel, He needs to play basketball.

He gave some sweet duct tape shoes to Kendra, He gives his love to his family, He gives goldfish away in seminary.

He fears failure, He fears snakes, He fears 400 pound basketball players.

He would like to see Italy, He would like to see a championship trophy, He would like to see a BYU acceptance letter.

He lives in a mostly clean room, He lives in a great state, He still lives with his parents.

Pierce

HOT chocolate

How to make hot chocolate in easy steps

1.       Put water or milk on the stove.  If you use water it is easier but if you use milk it will taste better and be richer. It does not really matter but you should try both and use whatever one you like better. As for me I use milk because I think it taste a ton better.

2.       The easy way is just to put hot chocolate powder. But the problem with that is although it is very easy it doesn’t taste the best. It is like getting McDonalds or JCWs. There’s no contest.

3.       So if you have some time and would like some quality hot chocolate you can do a few things. One is you can chop up chocolate and get the right amount.

4.       Another way is you can add coco powder and sugar. Why you need sugar is because coco powder is what is left of the coco bean after they take out the coco butter which contains the sugar.  

5.       A different way is to use unsweetened chocolate and add sugar. It’s the same kind of principle with the coco powder.

6.       A tip is that if you add just a pinch of salt the chocolate flavor will really come out.

7.       To change the flavor a little you can add some candy pieces. I like to add peppermint. You can also add mint leaves or mint extract.

8.       You can also add marshmallows or whipping cream to give it  that creamy taste that people think about when they think about hot chocolate.
 

I have heard rumors that hot chocolate if drunk weekly that it can add up to ten years of your life. So we should learn how to make good hot chocolate and drink it regularly.