Why do teens drink?

Our first unit in Health is about alcohol and what is does to the body.

Teens drink for many reasons, but I'll only list three.  The first reason is that they think it's a rite of passage, and part of becoming an adult.  This is a bad reason, because my parents, and the rest of the adults in my religion don't drink.  You can be an adult without drinking.  Another reason is because they want to fit in and feel confident from the alcohol.  This isn't a good idea either, because if all your fronds drink, they'll probably betray you because of being drunk.  You could always find new, no drinking friends too.  Finally, teens drink to escape their feelings.  They might feel sad or depressed in the real world, and drink to have a good time and escape them, but the alcohol just intensifies this depressed feeling.  Also, if you do something stupid, they make you have more guilt, so you feel even worse.  Also, if you drink you can do things you wouldn't normally do and offend people you care about.  Driving while drinking can lead to crashes, serious injuries, and death.

Here's another lego picture : a drunk person trying to beat up his friend.1

Reading Race

Right now, I am reading the Uglies.  It's about a society that when people turn 16 they get a surgery and become "perfect".  In the book, the main`character crashes a pretty party and becomes friends with another troublemaker like her.  When her friend runs away, she is forced to find her.  I think that she will use the bug, and then get her friend to escape, because she tries to tell her before she is cut off by the Boss.

So far I've only read my science fiction book, and I still need to read a historical fiction and a science fiction.  Technically, Life as We Knew It was science fiction, but it was more distopia.  I need to find a historical fiction, but I can find a science fiction in my house (Star Trek books).  Although in my goal it has to suggested outside of my family.  I need to rally squeeze these books if I want to get my goal done.

Google Self-Driving Car

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/28/technology/googles-next-phase-in-driverless-cars-no-brakes-or-steering-wheel.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Aw

I searched Google in the New York Times and found an article about the Google self-driving car.  I was thinking "How can a car drive itself?"  I was even more confused when I read that the car had only two buttons, start and emergency stop.  I should've known that, being Google, they would have made it controlled by a smartphone app.  I don't think this self-driving car is a good idea, because even though there is no wheel turning, and people will like that, how does it know, without any delay, that another car is switching lanes or about to crash into the  self-driving one?  Also, this car is really small, and it looks (awesome!!!!) like a smart car.  I think it looks like it has eyes.

KC - 135 Crash

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/world/asia/2-bodies-found-at-crash-of-military-tanker-in-kyrgyzstan.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3As

My grandfather used to be in the U.S. Air Force.  He flew a KC-135, which is a (the coolest) tanker plane.  Basically they can refuel fighters and other planes in the air.  They're pretty important.  Anyway, I searched that plane up in the New York Times, and found an article about a crash of this plane that happened last year.  I clicked on this article because it's my grandad's plane (and he's awesome!!!).  He told me about another KC - 135 crash, 5 years ago.  I'll make another post about that later.  Anyway, this crash doesn't have the reason the plane crashed, and that was disappointing.  But, here's the link so you can read it yourself:

Why Star Trek: Into Darkness Wasn't a Bad Movie

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/16/mohvies/star-trek-into-darkness-directed-by-j-j-abrams.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Aw

I was searching through the New York Times and found a review of the newest Star Trek movie, Into Darkness.  It was pretty clear to see that the author of this article wasn't a big fan on this movie.  He called the plot dumb, and was upset due to the militarization of Starfleet.  I did not agree with him on this.  I did watch some of the older movies and episodes of Star Trek, and their goal was just exploration.  There were lots of battle scenes , but that was defense.  In this new movie, Kirk is sent on a mission to fire 72 torpedoes at a criminal on a different planet.  That doesn't sound like an exploration does it?  But I think this was totally necessary to the story.  Kirk doesn't realize it's a trap, and doesn't care it's a military operation because this guy killed his friend.  Spock says this is immoral and against Starfleet regulations, but no one cares.  This is why they end up talking to Khan, which gets them on the Vengeance and to admiral Marcus, where he is killed and Khan gets away.  If this mission was not there, the movie would have been ruined.  Also, Starfleet wasn't militarized, it was just that one assignment to the Enterprise that was.

I also think the plot was great, from the bombing of the archive (Weapons Facility), to Kirk dieing in the warp core.  It was cool to see Kirk die in the warp core in Into Darkness after seeing Spock die in the warp core in Wrath of Khan, where the same enemy threatens the ship.

The author of the New York Times review thinks that Into Darkness was disappointing, but I think it was a great movie and that people should remember that this movie, along with the 2009 Star Trek, is an alternate timeline, so everything is different.  And this movie fit that timeline very well.

The Goals of Reading

My reading goal this quarter is to  read at least 1 distopian, 1 science fiction, and 1 historical fiction by the end of the quarter, which will be suggested by people outside my family.  I think this will help me as a reader by making me listen to what books other people like so I can actually see if I like them, and not just stick to the books I know.  I've already read the science fiction, and I really enjoyed it.  Now I'll read the whole series too!

I think that I might have trouble getting the books to read, because I usually read books my parents suggest, and that's basically it.  My book waiting list is The Silo and Into the Black, but now they'll have to wait. I'm not sure who I'll ask to suggest books, so that'll also be a challenge.  But to prevent this from happening, I'll ask early, so I know what books to read in advance so I don't panic a week from my deadline

Hunger Games Salute

link

After a ban of public protesting, Thai protesters show the Hunger Games salute in public to show disapproval.  This trick confuses the general authorities, because they aren't protesting in riots, so should they shoot them?  Arrest them?  “If it is an obvious form of resistance, then we have to control it so it doesn't cause any disorder in the country,” said a spokesman for the junta to the Associated Press.  An article in the newspaper said that the authorities shouldn't track down the protesters who make this sign, because that didn't work well for Panem in The Hunger Games.  And the sign didn't start the revolution.  It was the execution of the man who made the sign.

This was interesting to me because it was cool that a book/movie affected these people so much.  They use a sign from a book to do almost the same thing it was used for in the book!  That is very cool.  I don't know what the people are protesting against, so I don't have an opinion about who is on the right side, but I just think it's awesome they're using the Hunger Games salute.