The Giant Magellan Telescope Will do Wonders!

The Giant Magellan Telescope Will do Wonders

Discover Magazine

February 2006

The Biggest Game in the Cosmos

by Thoams Levenson

In Tucson, Arizone a ginat oven is baking twenty tons of borosilicate into a parabola 330inches across at about 2139 fahrenheit...Over three days the glass will be baked. Then, over several months the glass will be cooled and polished within .000001 of an inch "theoretically perfect" shape.It will have 400 atoms of aluminum coating; making it the largest telescope mirror in the world.Yet, it will no be used until the next six are built.But will the astronomers have enough money to build it?

Freedman, the director of the Carnegie's Institution of Washington observatories says that they have colelcted 17 million and they still need the rest; about $500 million to complete the task.

This telescope could find earth size planets around the stars according to Freedman and it could tell us about the bits of living chemistry in other planet atmospheres. It could also give us clues as to how our planet developed.

Consider what we have learned from the 60 inch telescope on Mount Wilson, near Pasedena and its' follower, the 100 inch telescope on Mount Wilson.

In 1924,Hubble told us that he had learned that theMilky Way was not the only galaxy. Then in five years, he discovered that we were apart of an expanding universe!

What do you think of this project? Do you think it could bring us a long way or not at all?

 

The book "See Jane Hit" by Garbarino

The Book "See Jane Hit" by Garbarino

NBC

Morning News

According to Mr. James garbarino, girls used not to have power; but now girls are doing more sports and they are allowed to be more active and expressive.He points out that all children have aggressive tendencies and that if a girl has the right teachers and coaches, her aggression can be channeled correctly.

However , he says that we cannot just assume that this is the case.He says that nationwide we are seeing more girls demonstrate aggresive tendencies in cases where the girl is not given the encouragement and help that she needs. Some girls are hitting others severly; even to the point of beating the person up.He mentions that especially when a girl is abused she needs to begiven special help.

What is your take on this?

Personally I think children and teens need more teachers and mentors to guide them. Lately I have experienced some children not being seen or heard and then they seem to feel lost.I think that this author makes some interesting points.

Figure Skating: Surprize Upset

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NBCSports.com

Figure Skating: Surprize Upset

Miss Arakawa got the gold!Japan has not had the gold in this sport for years if ever! She was so excited! her performance was flawless!

Sasha Cohen, U.S., had a very striking and memorably choregraphed performance. However, she suffered from some weaknes in his hip which made her fall twice while executing a double spin. Choen had moved the judges so much by her tenacity and her refusal to settle for a mediocre finish that thye rewarded her with the silver!

Slutskaya won the bronze for her strong movements and her bold strokes in her modern dance.

Wonderful!

 

Back to the Future II The Second Part of Scalzi's assignment

 

 

Back to the Future II

6. People will communicate through their tv talking to your tv (given that the tv is much smaller.)

7.My people will meet with their people by special craft....

8. Friends will show up more. (I hope!) :)

Culture is based more on character belief systems rather than where one is from.

9. I will grow interesting spices in the kitchen.

10. I will be able to find many more pets.lol

 Ok! Now you write down your future as you dream it! Or leave a link!

(John started this! lol)

Scalzi's Assignment: Back to the Future

Back to the Future

Scalzi asks us to invision ten things about our future and put them down!lol!

1. I'll drive a flying car!It will be run by hydrogen.

2.We will have solar generators that the children will be able to swing by the house, plug in, get some energy, go home and plug into their own house.

3.People will have chips in their skulls, but they will all be much younger than my contemporaries.

4.People will only have trade wars and the only effect that is a apart of this will be of a business nature and only in response to insensitivity to a country's  culture, religion or race.

5.I will participate in new art forms which will be more fluid and yet retain more of the internal design that the artist places inside of the piece. it will be called "virtual transparency."

Ok! Now it's your turn! Write down ten things that will happen to you 10 to 20 years from now! Or you can leave a link!(it's all John's idea!)lol

A Tribute to Ondine Monet in San Francisco

A Tribute to Ondine Monet Jlander

Check out Carly's blog, called Ellipsis...Suddenly Carly.http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com

She has a beautiful drawing of a mermaid which depicts her rich fantasy life and her deep love of the earth and the sea.

Carly writes about her intersting times growing up. She lives in Berkley, across the bay from San Francisco.Her poetry and her prose go well with her journals, and she takes pictures when she travels and incorporates her pictures and her travelling journal into her blog.

Carly loves cats! Carly's cat Elvis has a unique personality.I I was particulary taken with Elvis and I love it when he licks his stuffed animals!

Carly has manyfriends here and she cares for people in a very real way which is reflected in her beautiful stories.

 

 

 

 

A story - They Went at Dusk - A teen adventure

This is a true story . The names have been changed!

They Went at Dusk

They went to the forest in the evening; John carried a large puppy, Serena carried a smaller one. Serena's friend went with them. John wanted to celebrate the great seminar he had put together. He passed the sign and told the women"let's go this way!"He was elated and walking into the national forest was a cahrge too.

They really enjoyed the scenery for the next two and a half hours: the beautiful trees shivered slightly in the cold and there was a silvery quality on the bark.

However, after three hours John became uneasy; he noticed that he did not know where theywere. In fact the scenerey did not look familiar. He had walked up on top of these hills wiht his freinds on many an occasion and this troubled him. He sighed. He thought back; he had followed the signs that were posted; however he had not arrived where he had anticipated. "Serena?" "yes?" " I am not familiar with this part. Something is wrong."

Serena's back stiffened. No one had brought provisons for the nightfall and she was defiantely hungry. She knew that John did not have food either.She clutched her littel puppy tighter to herself."Well," he reflected, we just have to make it out of here." "Did we follow the signs?" she asked.

John thought... the signs... oh no! Someone had switched the signs!"oh..Serena? I think someone switched the signs around! I did get out alst time with Ian but the signs took me out of the woods!"

He sighed.

There was apatch of glacial beautiful ice underneath them all of the sudden and he slipped; clutching the puppy, instead of falling, he and the dog were hanging from a tree on a rock embankment.

The three walked for hours; theri muscles spasmed. At one point John's muscles would not go on and he fell.

Serena's friend Sarah went and helped him get up.

Serena gritted her teeth. They walked for the rest of the night around the hills . Finally they ame out at a vilalge across from their town. Three houses were dimly lit adn as they rang the bell people refused to answer theri doors. Finally a friendly Englishman wiht two labradors answered the door. When he saw the three young people , exhasted and drawn, he offered them water adn granola bars. "Thank you!! Oh and May we have the telephone please?"He handed them teh telephone. "Ian please come and get us!" John said.

"I'll be right there! " Ian said. And he was. The exhasted oung peole went home. It had been an exhasting night. It was five in  the morning.

 

Aplogies:Shani Davis won the Winter Olympics

My Apologies! Shani Davis Won the Winter Olympics!

Mr.Davis is a great athelete and I want to thank psychfun and princesssaurora for these corrections.

Touche! He did a wonderful job and I hope to learn more about him in the future.

Shan Davis is First African American To Win Gold

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NBC Olympics.com

Shan Davis First African American To win a Gold Medal In the Olympics!

Shan Davis is so exciting to watch!His speed and determination are rare to behold! He is very exciting!

This was history in the  making and Mr. Davis did such a wonderful job that reporters watching him were astonished! Bravo!

Belbin/Agosto Bring U.S. The First Ice Skating Medal in thirty years

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NBC Olympics.com

Belbin and Agosto Bring U.S. The First Ice Skating Medal in Thirty Years!

This couple has brought our own American magic to the ice! Their enthusiasm and exquisite talent on the ice is incredible! America can be very proud with this couple and their silver medal!

Puerto Rico- How it became A Commonwealth

Puerto Rico and How it Became a Commonwealth

In 1898, Puerto Rico was invaded by the United States at the beginning of the Spanish-American War and Puerto Rico was run by a United States military regime. In 1917, the Jones-Shafroth Act gave Puerrto Ricans US citizenship. They could be recruited actively for World War I and they were.

The Great Depression impoverished Puerto Rico and some nationalists followed Pedro Campos, who asked the US. for independence.

In 1946 President Harry Truman appointed the first governor Jesus Pinero. In 1947, they were allowed to elect their own governor.Luis Marin was the first governor.

In 1950 two politicians who wanted independence tried to assasinate President Harry Truman. Truman allowed the country then to hold its' first referendum in which Puerto Rico drafted their own constitution.

In 1952 they picked a common wealth as their prefered relationship to the United States.

Since then they have had narrow victories between the two parties: one for keeping the common wealth status and one for acquiring statehood status. In 2005 Preident CLinton and President GeorgeW.Bush called for a federal election in Puerto Rico to settle the matter.Many people in Pueto Rico (including here in Jland) are asking Americans to promote their desire for statehood. They think that this would stabilize the country, give them benefits of citizenship and make theri safety an well being a higher priority to most Americans today.

Donna's Journal

Donna's Journal

Donna is the single mom of a nineteen year old athletic

person . She has worked full time all fo her life and last summer she became " addicted to graphics" ! She creates beautiful graphics that go along very well with her subjects and many are symbolic of what is going on in her life. You can find her at:http://journals.aol.com/nightmaremom/thisand thatand hockey/

 

Donna has a second journal that people should check out for graphics tht people may want  to tag.

You can find it at:http://journals.aol.com/mydsdesigns/DsDesigns/

Extra Credit :Sam the Boat Man in Georgia

Sam the Boatman in Georgia

Here is Jland I know Sam the Boatman in Georgia.

He is a great family man; going out of his way with his wife Paulette to help their children and their grandson.

Nothing is too much for them.

He also helps people out on his dock. When anyone has serious trouble they know that they can get emergency help or battery help; he even assists them in moving their boat or debris when necessary. He is always there for family and friends. Here in Jland he always has a cheery word for everyone.

You can find him at :http://journals.aol.com/gaboatman/Docklines/

 

Jlanders To Help one Another

JLanders to Help One Another

Our illustrious teacher and resident writer, John Scalzi, asked us to talk about things that we do to help each other.Here is JLand people have suffered many losses and yet they have hung in together, prayed together, communicated a lot! I think that that is big!

We have had lots of things come up here as individuals and as a group and I was thinking that we have really persevered, listened to each other, tried harder, and tuned in to each other's lives.

We have shared more things, learned more things, made more friends and survived more calamities

than I remember ever reading about in the newspaper.

We have helped make this community stronger by branching out, reaching out more, thinking in creative ways.I think that our society needs people like Jlanders so we can survive and grow more than ever before!

Puerto Rico; A Visit to A wonderful Island

Puerto Rico; A Visit to a Wonderful Island

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Introduction

We have some JLanders who are from Puerto Rico.I thought that you might like to hear about their island informally here. Please keep in mind that I am doing research for them. If I make an error you just tell me and I will correct it! thanks!

In 1493 Columbus discovered Puerto Rico on his second voyage. there were at this time 50,000 indians originally from South America called Tainos.The Tainos made the mistake of showing the Spainish their gold and inviting the Spainish to take as much of it as the wihses. The Spanish went home. In 1500 the Spanish king and queen said that it was okay to bring slaves to this island. In 1508 the Spanish came back with the mission to populate, set up a mission on the island and govern the native population there.

In 1509 the Spanish established the repartimento; a system for splitting up the native population as unpaid slaves among the Spanish. Two years later the priests tried to change this system by requiring that the native peoples be paid well. The Spanish ended up reversing this position by paying them very little and keep them busy.

In 1510, the native people drowned the leader Diego Slacedo to see if he was immortal or not. When the Spanish leader Ponce de Leon heard of this he ordered the killing of 6,000 men.

In 1513 African slaves were introduced to the island.In 1521 more Spanish settlers arrived and they had no women among them so they got native women and Puerto Rico became a mixed race.

In 1595 Sir Francis Drake set the island on fire and caused plague to attack the villagers on the island. The English withdrew.

In 1599 the Spanish sent 400 people over to set up the government of the island in the name of Spain.

Who Let the Dogs Out?..lol!

Who Let the Dogs Out?Lol!

I was getting groceries before Christmas break and my friend left a present for my teen...only we never got it! :):)I looked everywhere because my teen had seen her put it down on the counter  he thought!

Nowhere to be found..until yesterday! Yesterday we found it buried in the yard and frozen!:):) It was still a big chocolate bar with almond paste inside and a Border's card! His birthday card was on top...so now finally he can write that thank you card! lol!

Has your dog ever done that?

Or your cat?

Kildow endures and Achieves her own Sense of Triumph

Kildow endures and Achieves Her own Sense of Triumph

MSNBC.com \NBC sports

February 15, 2006

Ms Kildow skied hard and achieved her own definition of triumph in Italy; she fell going 50 miles per hour for an estimated 15 feet; yet she decided while in the hospital, having her back and pelvis examined, that she would reenter the race!

She did finish the race with a lot of effort; coming in at number eight! The reporters covering the event were very impressed with her fortitude and her resolve.

She stated that she had won according to her definition because she had completed the race in the best way that she could. Reporters said that this completion will give her the necessary confidence that she will need in future races.

In your life have you found that you can step up to the plate in teh midst of adversity and win the day on your terms?  Please tell us about it.