The Path of Totality

Go to bbc.co.uk for pictures of the solar eclipse! You can only see it if you happened to be in the Libyan desert earlier today, or if you're going to be in Mongolia later tonight. If you are, please take pictures and post them on my blog!

In the article, they explain how it happens. Basically, a solar eclipse happens ever year and a half, but not everyone on Earth gets to see it. It's when the moon goes right in front of the sun. So you get to see this black circle that is framed with blazing light (the moon in front of the sun). I bet it looks like science fiction, but it's real! I hope I get to see one someday.

In the article at bbc.co.uk, they say that during a solar eclipse, the moon's shadow covering the earth is called "the path of totality." Doesn't that sound scary!?

Writing exercise:
The title of your book is "The Path of Totality." Write what it would say on the back of the book.

Here's mine:
One day, 6 billion people walked the same path. Everyone walked. Just walked. And walked. And walked. They kept moving forward. No one was white. No one was black. No one was Asian. They were all just walkers. And they walked. And walked. And walked. They got tired. They got thirsty. They got friendly with each other. They knew they were heading somewhere good. And on this day, nothing mattered but walking. Until one person stopped walking. And things got bad.

Autre Français Révolution!

Another French Revolution!

As if it wasn't enough that French people in poor neighborhoods went into the streets to stand up to the government this past fall, they are at it again. At nytimes.com, there's a great story about French university students who are in the streets protesting a new law that the government is passing that says that businesses can fire young people from jobs for no reason. Bad!

What if you can't get another job? What if you are paying off your university student loans? What if your family lives in one of those poor neighborhoods and you need that job to pay for their rent? The French government should get it together. Don't they want their people in good jobs and good homes instead of in the streets?

Not that another government doesn't need to get it together (the one that started this unfair Iraq war).

Q: When is it fair to fire someone from a job?

BLOG-O-RAMA!

The World is MELTING!

In an article on timeforkids.com, they say that with a 5 to 8 degree increase in temperature over the next 100 years, the polar ice caps could melt. Then there'd be no ice up there, and but bunches of water flowing into the oceans, causing catastrophes to happen, like earthquakes.

Why is the temperature increasing? Because of energy. But the thing is, energy was a good invention. It gives us light so we can see in the dark and people can work longer; not like in olden times when they had candles and work days were shorter. It gives us cars and planes and trains so we can get places quicker than by horse. And so people can get to hospitals instead of die. We've created a monster of energy, though, and it's taking over the earth. You can post a comment at timeforkids.com by clicking on "What do you think?" at the bottom of the article.


Questions
1.) Can you think beyond your own life, 100 years in the future?
2.) What can we do now to stop the polar ica caps from melting?

BLOG ME!

You Can't Blog in China

If I had a friend in China, she wouldn't be able to post on my blog. In China, they censor anything on the internet that is about big news like the SARS epidemic from a few years ago, politics stuff about wars, or things that would make people angry. But I bet this is what makes their people angry. It should be against the law to keep information private. The government in China is not fair because they get to know everything, and their people don't. But I guess how much do we Americans really get to know about the war in Iraq? What are we supposed to believe? This China story is at cnn.com. Check it out.

Question:

1.) Do you think, even in a democratic country, that we get to know all the real facts about what's going on in our world?

BLOG BLOG BLOG BLOG -- you're not in China!

President Passes Buck

The President, in a cowardly lion (but he doesn't even have brains or a heart, either) move, passed the buck on the war in Iraq. He said that the future of that country would be "decided by future presidents and future governments of Iraq." Hence, what he said before about getting in there, finding secret weapons, taking out the bad people, and setting up a quick democracy before we bid the Iraqi people adieu, isn't happenin.' You can read more about the president's yellow-bellied comments at reuters.com.

This is BAD policy! A shoddy administration!

Questions:

1.) How long should a war be allowed to go on before they call it quits?

2.) If the government fails in a decision (say, a decision to go to war) and they quit in the middle, are you:
a.) annoyed
b.) thankful
c.) disappointed
d.) all of the above
e.) write your own answer

BLOG IT UP!

Arizona Gets a D+

At tucsonweekly.com there's a disturbing story about how Arizona was number 42 (out of 50 states) for good doctors available to citizens. In grades, that is a D+! They said it's because many doctors are moving to other places because medical insurance doesn't pay them enough. Also, they are getting sued too much. Tucson NEEDS more doctors who won't get sued! AND, we need to STOP SUING doctors.

Answer these questions:

1.) How can we get doctors to stay?
2.) What medical problems do you or your family have that would make you concerned?

BLOG ME!

When Earthworms Roamed the Earth

A huge earthworm that was thought to be extinct was found in Washington! Go on kidsnewsroom.org and there is a great story about it. These worms survived ice ages 10,000 years ago! I love hearing about animals who can live for hundreds of years like turtles. And now worms! This kind of worm, a Palouse Earthworm, can't live after you cut it in half, like normal earthworms can.

After you read each article on this site, you should click on "Write Your Own Story Telling us What You Think." I always do. They might print it.

Q: What is your favorite non-pet animal (like an alligator or a rooster)? Why?

Drugs and Immigrants: What's the difference?

Go to www.eastvalleytribune.com. There's a story about putting up borders between Arizona and Mexico. They say they want to keep out "drugs and immigrants." Some Mexicans sell drugs, but not all. Some Americans sell drugs, but not all. They are making it sound like immigrants in the United States are as bad as drugs in the United States. There is a lot I don't know, but I know that a Mexican person is not the same as a bag full of pills.

The truth is, we USE immigrants to do jobs that even black people won't do. And that is just the truth. How it is. If schools were better, everyone who works at Taco Bell would not be black, everyone who is a janitor or a maid would not be Mexican, and everyone who is a lawyer or a senator would not be white.

Questions:
1.) What is a fair way to let immigrants into the United States (i.e. the Melting Pot, e.g. the Land of Opportunity)?
2.) How can we make it so that ANYONE can get ANY job they want?

"White Nationalism Put U in Bondage"

Autumn Ashante knows racism. And this Mount Vernon, New York resident is only 7 years old!

Her poem, "White Nationalism Put U in Bondage," goes:

"Black lands taken from your hands, by vampires with no remorse,
They took the gold, the wisdom and all the storytellers.
They took the black women, with the black man weak.
Made to watch as they changed the paradigm of our village."

She performs her poems in schools. Principal Harrington should bring her to Tucson for a show! She is true GENIUS.

After a recent performance In Westchester, New York, some adults got angry and said that she should not come back. FOR TELLING THE TRUTH? And, IN A FUN WAY? It is one thing to just talk about racism, but it is another thing to perform a poem about it. Teachers should do poems.

Email the New York Post here: david.andreatta@nypost.com, if you want to ask about Autumn Ashante. I did.

QUESTIONS:
1.) Do you think your parents would let you hear what Autumn Ashante has to say?
2.) Is there racism at Susan B. Anthony Middle School?

BLOGGERS UNITE!

Squirt Gun Killers on latimes.com

Franz Aliquo, a man in California, made up a game called StreetWars: Killers. All these people run around the city and try and quirt each other with water guns. Some people say it's bad to play murder. I say, what about boxing? These people aren't really hurting each other like Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali did. And didn't those two go crazy anyway, from being hit so much? I think StreetWars: Killers sounds fun. The people who do it do it for fun and they have jobs during the day, like being a chemist.

So, do you think a killing game is wrong? I mean, come on, everyone knows you can't really kill someone with a squirt gun. What do you think?!

If you want, you can write a letter to the editor of the LA Times by emailing letters@latimes.com about it. AND, blog ME!

There's Water in Them Thar SATURN!

HUGE NEWS! Go on tucsoncitizen.com, there's a breaking story about water found on Saturn's moon Enceladus (no, it's not EnchiLADA)! They are saying it is like those spouting water geysers at Yellowstone National Park!

It means there could be life there. On a moon. That's over a billion miles from the sun! If there's water, there's oxygen and hydrogen. The two basic things for life. The scientists are still researching. But it's great news for people who want life on other planets.

You can't post comments on tucsoncitizen.com, but you can write a letter to the editor. Just email letters@tucsoncitizen.com.

Next time you eat an enchilada, think about Saturn's water-friendly moon as geysers of hot sauce sprinkle your nose!

Answer these questions: 1.) How often do you eat mexican food 2.) Do you think there's life on other planets?

Timeforkids.com!

It's an informative website. Some of the news is too immature though. You can write in if you click "What do you think?" Here's what I wrote about Effa Manley, the first woman to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame:


"I think it's really good to see a woman get in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Now let's see if they'll ever let us throw the ball and hit it, instead of sitting in the stands eating popcorn."

She used to own the Newark Eagles in the 1930s and 1940s. But wouldn't it be good if she PLAYED baseball? WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Have Your Say on bbc.co.uk

Hi Fellow Students and Friends,

If you're bored, go on bbc.co.uk and click on "Have Your Say." You can write anything you want about any stories they have up, and maybe they'll publish it! I have not gotten published. But here is what I wrote today about Dafur:

"I am a sixth grader at Susan B. Anthony Middle School. I would like to see the AU and UN unite. The word Union is in both organizations' names. I think that is a clue. If these powers could really focus on the genocide that is happening, they wouldn't waste their time, and they would work together."

What does anyone else think about it?

Blog me!

Welcome to the Suffragette Weekly Reader

Dear Students and Friends,

You've come to the right place if you're looking for information regarding events at Susan B. Anthony Middle School in Tucson, Arizona! Stay tuned for updates on the Golden Cactus Spring Formal, Trailblazer Award updates, and Variety Show photos!

Go Trailblazers!

Lylice Martin
Editor-in-chief