Twilight Post 4

Bella is safe and wakes up in the hospital. It's pretty funny when Edward kisses her and her heart literally stops for a second. Bella's mom, Renee, tells Bella she thinks Edward is in love with her. It's funny to Bella how other people think Edward is just an average highschooler. Bella pleads with Edward to not leave her side, but she's really pleading for him to stay with her forever. It is really sweet that Edward takes Bella to the prom. Edward wants to make sure she can enjoy being human, perhaps because he expects she won't stay human long.

Twilight Post 3

Right now in Twilight, Bella is being watched by Alice and Jasper. It's really scary when Bella sees Alice drawing where she sees James is heading to, and the place is Bella's mom's house. Bella is very selfless. She worries only about the Cullens, not thinking once about her safety. When James calls her, saying he has her mother, Bella immediately goes along with his instructions. Bella leaves a note for Edward asking for him to not go after James. Bella doesn't want there to be a chance for him to get hurt. It's interesting in a way, that Bell and Edward see each other as in need of protection. I mean, Edward is practically indestructible. It must be Bella's caring for Edward and the Cullens that makes her think somewhat irrationally.

Twilight Post 2

When the nomadic vampires (Victoria, James, and Laurent) arrive, Bella notices obvious differences between the them and the Cullens. They walk cat-like, have red eyes, and, of course, hunt humans. The scene is very tense as soon as James realizes Bella is human. Once they are able to drive away, Edward loses control of his emotions for the first time in the book. Edward usually acts cool-headed, but he now acts as though the only option is to run away from James for as long as possible. When Bella shares her plan to tell Charlie she's going to Phoenix, Edward lets up a little. Alice convinces Edward to leave Bella with her and Jasper. Edward's initial reaction really shows how much Bella means to him. Edward can't bear to risk Bella getting hurt.

Twilight Post 1

Twilight is going well, right now Edward is telling Bella about Carlisle's history. When Carlisle was turned into a vampire he had a powerful urge to drink human blood. He fought against it, though, and eventually grew immune to the urge. It must have taken incredible amounts of self-control to not kill anyone. Carlisle became a doctor and eventually saved Edward and Esme while they were dying.

One of the most creative ideas from the book is the Cullen's playing baseball. They wait till a thunderstorm, then play in a large clearing. The vampires hit the ball so hard that it sounds like thunder. Whenever there is a thunderstorm I might wonder who's playing baseball. :)

Howl's Moving Castle Part 5

This is my last post for Howl's Moving Castle. I'm reading Twilight next.

Howl's Moving Castle ended like a fairytale. After Howl defeats the Witch of the Waste, Sophie is able to free Calcifer, who was once a shooting star. Lettie likes the rescued Wizard Suliman, and Martha and Michael stay together. The scarecrow was really Prince Justin under a spell. Though free, Calcifer returns to the fireplace. Sophie and Howl fall in love, her spell breaks, and Sophie is young again. The end.

Twilight:

Bella reactions in the book are rather amusing. She is calm when Edward tells her about reading minds and she isn't afraid of his family. When she sees a cross in the Cullen house, though, she is shocked.

It was very interesting when Bella had the nightmare with Edward, Jacob, and Mike. She didn't fear for her own life when she saw Edward, she was afraid of him being hurt when Jacob turned into a werewolf and was going to attack him.

torure links and notes

against torture:

http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2008/07/15/2569/on_us_and_torture_a_look_back_and_a_route_forward

http://www.refugemediaproject.org/projects.other.php#video

http://www.campaigntobantorture.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=150&Itemid=89

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0627/p02s01-uspo.html

http://www.cvt.org/main.php/Newsroom

http://www.cvt.org/main.php/Advocacy/TheCampaigntoStopTorture/WhatCVTknowsaboutTorture

for torture:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-smerconish/in-support-of-torture_b_10783.html

http://ncronline.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2006a/032406/032406h.htm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/6063386.stm

http://bbsnews.net/article.php/20071103022922321

Torture Notes

Is torture effective and ethical?
more specifically: Should waterboarding be used by the U.S.?



Hitchens, Christopher. "Believe Me, It's Torture." SIRS. 2008. 7 Dec 2008 http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SMN0307H-0-6805&artno=0000283287&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=&title=Believe%20Me%2C%20It%27s%20Torture&res=Y&ren=Y&gov=Y&lnk=N&ic=N.



Christopher Hitchens experienced waterboarding firsthand to judge whether or not it is really torture. This is the definition of the torture from the contract he signed:



' "Water boarding" is a potentially dangerous activity in which the participant can receive serious and permanent (physical, emotional and psychological) injuries and even death, including injuries and death due to the respiratory and neurological systems of the body. '

Hitchens admits that this form of torture is not nearly as bad as others, so it is not like the U.S. is as bad as Al-Quaeda or anything. Hitchens believes that waterboarding is torture and we should not use it, as it can easily lead to enemies using torture against our troops. Though torture is used to get information, it doesn't get all true information. A CIA report of a terror suspect stated that the information they recieved from torture was "not all of it reliable." Last, Hitchens believes that waterboarding is opening a gateway for harsher techniques.

Miller, Greg. "Waterboarding Is Still an Option." SIRS. 2008. 7 Dec 2008 .

Greg Miller reports how waterboarding was confirmed to be legal by the White House. He states that the tactic was only used on 9/11 suspects. He defines waterboarding and its origin:

"Waterboarding refers to a practice that involves strapping down a prisoner, placing a cloth over his face and dousing him with water to simulate the sensation of drowning. The technique has been traced to the Spanish Inquisition and has been the subject of war-crimes trials dating back a century."

Miller says Republicans are divided on the issue. McCain has been trying to outlaw it, though, saying it violates the Geneva Convention. CIA Director Michael Hayden says not letting the CIA used such techniques will endanger Americans. An anonymous official thinks waterboarding should not be considered torture. In order to train American troops in case of capture, waterboarding methods are used on them. The officer says waterboarding doesn't affect people intellectualy like other forms of torture. If that was not the case they wouldn't have used the method.

Howl's Moving Castle Part 4

Hey!

It seems that Howl is getting along with Sophie, as he didn't get mad at her for following him.

About the spell Michael was trying to decipher: Howl says he mixed some papers up and the spell was just a poem that belonged to his nephew. Howl takes Sophie and Michael through the one unknown door. Through the door is another world, which appears to be in modern times. This is quite an interesting twist, as Howl is actually from here. Howl returns the poem to his nephew, visits the nephew's teacher to get the spell that the poem had been switched with. The teacher, named Ms. Angorian, gives the spell back. While there, Howl suddenly puts his hand on his heart. When back inside the castle, Calcifer says he felt it, too. Howl explains that the Witch of the Waste put a curse on him that he would have to return to her after 10,000 days. The day is closing in when Howl will have to face her.

Pretending to be Howl's mother, Sophie talks to Mrs. Pentstemmon, Howl's former teacher who works for the king. She hopes that she will discourage the teacher from making Howl find the King's brother. Howl has enough to deal with now that he has to face the Witch.

Sophie has changed so much since the story began! She used to be a shy, unsure girl who wanted to blend in. Since the spell was put on her, she has been outspoken and fearless. She seems to be gaining respect as the story progresses. I wonder what will break the spell, though. She can't stay an old lady forever, after all. Maybe Howl will help her, if he can stop being narcissistic for one second...

Next week is part 5! :)