Aurora+Morton

__September 15, 2010__


 * //New York City. Imam vows to build//**

I am perfectly OK with the fact that a Muslim community center is being built two blocks north of Ground Zero. It's been nine years since 9/11 and I completely understand that is was a horrible moment in our history, but ostracizing an entire religion for the act of extremists is completely illogical. And while I see why some would see this as disrespectful to the people who died in 9/11 or those who ran to the rescue of 9/11, I also see that this can be another stepping stone to get over 9/11. But we also have to remember 9/11 was nine years ago. There has been more things happening in those nine years that we have to worry about then 9/11. Things like Katrina (which still wasn't completely fixed in places like New Orleans) ,our failing economy should be the focus of our minds or even the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (if we can do that with out playing the blame game). Not about burning the Koran (which is also just stupid) or the latest scandal.


 * P = Great use of vocabulary!**
 * C = Try putting your own voice in your writing without using "I."**

9/20/10 Homework Journal Entries: Role of Women


 * //September 20, 1944//**

My son, Jack has not written home in weeks. All the letters I have written have not been answered and I fear that he has been exterminated. Ianto, Jack’s friend, has not yet left for the war, for he fears that his life and that of Jack’s will be deleted are stopping him. Rose, the poor dear, is also starting to panic because Doctor John Smith also has not said a word, but I try to calm her as much as I can. Sadly I can’t help but still worry for the girl. She is smart, but with only her and her mother, Jackie, together they can’t seem to get things going their way. And she is planning on leaving her mother to join the Red Cross to help those over in the war. That leaves Jackie and me working at the factory.


 * //September 25, 1944//**

Jackie has been left behind by Rose as she went to join the women of the Red Cross. Mickey, the boy next door to her, tries to help her around the house, yet his small deeds of kindness do nothing for her. Jackie now sits at home with only a cup of tea to sooth her hard and broken heart. And her heart is not the only one in trouble, for mine feels weary in these times. I feel as if in any second my heart will stop and never begin beating again.

Jack… I still hear nothing from him, no calls, no letters, not even a note that says “Mum I’m alive.” I wonder if I will ever hear from him again. And it stills my ever beating heart to even think those thoughts, but in times of war faith can only bring us so far before we see the real truth. So, as I sit here in my home, waiting for my son to return to me, I try to hold on to the final strings of hope that nothing will go wrong.
 * //September, 27, 1944//**

September 24, 2010 **// Baby in Airplane trash //**

It is truly terrible that a mother would abandon her child, but it’s even worse that she didn’t even do the right thing and give the baby into at least an orphanage. But in the end the mother abandoned her child. And while it's understandable that the mother could have been in harsh conditions and the way she came to be pregnant with her child may have been traumatic, in the end it is still her child. How does she think her baby will feel when he’s older and find out that his mother left them in a trashcan where he could have easily have died in. There are always other options, and one of them is not dumping your baby in the trash. And it's times like these where people must wonder if there will ever be peace or even some form of tranquility in our day to day lives.

10/7/10

// **Gay adoption ban struck down** // It’s horrible to think that perfectly fine people are not being allowed to have their own child. So, what if they can’t make their own child; at least they are willing to take another child of the streets and into a warm loving home. Plus, one cannot say that a child raised in a gay or lesbian house hold would be any different than one raised in a straight house hold. It also hurts to see all this hate flying around. It’s hate that starts wars. It’s hate that causes people to do stupid things. And it is hate that stops humans from progressing onward into better days. And maybe if this idea could resonate in the mind of others people wouldn’t have to worry about that deep dark hate that seems to grow and manifest in only us humans.

**P= You had some great opinions to share.** **C= Give some more information about the story before giving us your details.**


 * //__November 2, 2010__//**
 * //The Iraq War, as revealed by Wikileaks//**

This article talks about Wikileaks, a website that publishes information on things that the general public did not know. This article is then split into two parts, what the editorials said and what the columnists said. After reading each a person can see that they have two opposite views on what was revealed. The editorials go on about how this was “reckless and politically motivated” (The Washington Post). They say that what the people from Wikileaks are being haughty and in their haughtiness they are putting the people in danger. But when one reads what the columnists have to say you get a different type of view. The columnists go on to speak about how this was not something wrong. That revealing the “lies” of the Bush administration was the right thing to do. These people see what Wikileaks is doing is opening the eyes of America to the truth, even if it’s an ugly one.

“American leaders lied, knowingly, to the American public, to American troops, and to the world.”

Ellen Knickmeyer nicely wraps up how the Iraq war makes me feel. It hurts when someone lies to ones face, but it also hurts when they withhold the info from someone and that someone then hear it from someone else. And this is what this is. This is America slapping us in the face when we hear it from another. Yet, in the end the news is already out. There is nothing that can be done about it. So, take what you have learned and learn something from it. Learn to be kind, learn to be happy, and learn to live life like it should be.