Deception Point #6

Being attacked by the Delta Force squad our group was frightened to death! The Delta Force squad came down upon them and covered them with their guns, because they wanted to kill them 1 by 1. The first person that the squad went to was Dr. Mangor,she was unconsious so they knew that they would dispose of her easily. They shoved snow down her throat and in her mouth so that she suffocated. This way was preffered because after the victim died the snow eventually melted and no evidence was to be found. As they headed off to Corky, Michael was thinking of a way for the remaining 3 group members to escape. As the squad was about to finish Corky, Michael threw up a mylar sheet that they were all harnessed to and the katabatic winds sent them flying. They group was escaping from the squad, but they weren't out of trouble yet! they couldnt get out of the harnesses and they were quickly traveling towards the edge of the glacier! At the last second Rachel remembered that Michael and her had pickaxes so they started hacking at the ropes. Gabrielle Ashe took the blackmail that was made on her to Senator Sexton's office and convinced the bodygaurd to let her get in. She found that the senator was in a meeting with people from the private space sector the ones who had according to Marjorie Tench, been giving the senator illegal funds for his campaign. In the end Rachels hacking cut the ropes but they were still sliding on the ice and they slid off the edge! They were lucky that there was a small piece of ice hanging on that the fell on. Then the Delta Force squad found them and broke the ice off. Rachel and Michael fell to the ocean but grabbed a hold of the ice and got on board. Delta Force left assuming they had terminated their targets, but they had no idea what would happen next. Rachel all of a sudden came up with an amazing idea! She took her pick and started hitting code on the ice, because these waters were monitored for sounds of whales and she hought that their message might be heard,and they would be found.

-Scott

Deception Point #5

When Michael sees the glowing water he know what the culprit is. He explains that flagellates were in the water and they were making it glow. He tests the water for salt and it is present. The water is supposed to be fresh so this is very bad for the credibility of NASA. Dr. Mangor is very skeptical because her tests showed that the ice was a solid chunk, and there were no cracks for the plankton to get in. Rachel suggests the theory that the plankton were frozen in the hole and were still living when thawed out. Since everyone is so skeptical as to what is going on the group of Dr. Mangor, Corky, Michael, and Rachel travel outside the habishpere to get data on the glacier. Gabrielle Ashe finds out that the secret person who invited her to a meeting at the White House is Marjorie Tench herself. Marhorie says that she has been supplying the anti-NASA e-mails the whole time, and she has evidence to prove that private space companies are funding Senator Sextons election illegally. Marjorie Tench offers Gabrielle some hope. Marjorie says that Gabrielle can be free from the implications of Senator Sexton's crimes if she comes out and says that she had an affair with him. As the group is traveling outside of the habisphere they leave flares to show how to get back. Right after Gabrielle denies the affair Marjorie pulls out the pictures that were evidence of it, and tells Gabrielle to either sign that she had an affair with Senator Sexton, or have the naughty pictures sent to the press. as they get out they set the scanner on the ice and it starts working. Rachel and Dr. Mangor on two seperate occasions notice the flares go out and go back on again. When the results appear they show Dr. Ming's lifeless body half-way down the hole and Dr. Mangor realizes the "meteorite" was put up through the bottom of the ice! A Delta One team member tells his supervisor that the secret has been compromised.

-Scott

2 source annotations

Research question:
Should the government have permission to wire-tap your phones and search your electronic devices if they think that you will have terrorist information?

Lewis, Harry. "Who Else Reads Your E-mail?" Christian Science Monitor Oct 2008. SIRS Researcher. SIRS Knowledge Source. Edina High School. 8 Dec 2008. http://www.sirs.com.

Harry Lewis is a cocerned writer that works for The Christian Science Monitor. In this article, Lewis examines wire-tapping in an everyday person point of view. He talks about the ease of getting information by the government(U.S.), and also icludes the censorship of messages in China. The next thing Lewis talks about is the New York Times exposing the unwarranted wire-tapping happening in the United States at this moment. Finally he ends by giving a quote from a minority in the court of a wire-tapping case which is "[H]eaven forbid that we should intrude on the government's investigatory province and actually require it to abide by the mandates of the Bill of Rights. I can only imagine what our founding fathers would think of this decision.".

Chertoff, Michael. "Searches Are Legal, Essential" USA Today Information Network Jul 2008. SIRS Researcher. SIRS Knowledge Source. Edina High School. 8 Dec 2008. http://www.sirs.com

Michael Chertoff is the secretary of homeland security. He wrote this article to try and prove that what his department is doing is right. First he argues that ever since the begining of time governments have had the right to stop dangerous people. He says that in the 21st century the dangerous things are child pornography and terrorist images which are both contained electronically. Chertoff says that only a small fraction of people are searched and many have terrorists have been caught. Finally he asserts that, not searching electronic devices at our borders would be an open window for terrorists and criminals.

Deception Point #4

This book is getting more exciting every week! This is what I read for this week.

So the group of scientists take Rachel to meet Dr. Mangor. Dr. Mangor has figured a way to get the 8-ton meteorite out of its encasing of 300 feet of ice. They point a laser at the meteorite to heat it up and melt the ice around it. Everyone celebrates as the meteorite is taken out. Rachel is called for a call with the president. The president reveals his real motives for inviting her to the arctic circle. The reason is that he wants her to tell his staff of the discovery that has been made. It is shown that Gabrielle Ashe has been getting her information from an unknown informant who sends her anonymous e-mails. She is invited to a meeting outside the White House. At first she is reluctant to go but in the end she decides to go. as everyone is celebrating Dr. Ming goes back to the extraction hole and sees something that sparks his interest. He needs a sample of the water so he tries to get it by leaning in, but the delta team uses their robot to make him lose balance and fall into the hole. Dr. Ming drowns in the cold water. The group goes to the hole later on and sees the thing that Dr. Ming saw. The water is glowing!

-Scott Haidet

Deception Point #3

I forgot to post over the break so I will have two posts today.

Senator Sexton arrives at a debate, and his opponent is Marjorie Tench the president's senior advisor. Although incredibly intelligent she is a very unnatractive woman. Rachel finds meets civilian scientists Michael Tolland(the creator and main character of a science television show) and Corky Marlinson who tell her about the discovery. Rachel finds out that extraterrestrials have been found fossilized in the meteor! At first Rachel is skeptical but her aprehensions to believe are quickly melted away by the undisputable facts given to her by the two scientists. Marjorie expecting Senator Sexton to bash NASA as he always does in the debate, baits him into a trap. She makes him say that he would do away with NASA if he had the chance and sets him up knowing that there will be a press conference showing NASA's ultimate discovery at 8 P.M. that very night. Dr Wailee Ming meets Rachel and joins her and the other two scientists. He is an archaeologist and explains that the "alien" fits into the darwin classification of animals. The different "aliens" range from the size of 2 inches to 2 feet and if living on earth would be related to lice! The scientists group wants to show Rachel the last remaining scientist: Dr. Mangor who they hint as being a very grouchy woman.

-Scott

Deception Point #2

Senator Sedgewick Sexton talks with his campaign manager; a young lady named Gabrielle Ashe, who apparently is smart and attractive, about which issues he should stress in his presidential debates. Gabrielle was an intern but she came up with the idea of assaulting the president's decision to continue funding NASA even though it has been proving that it is a money-pit. Senator Sexton has had an affair with her which Gabrielle now regrets. Rachel meets the president and he sends her off to the Artic circle because NASA has found something there of extreme importance. Senator Sexton meets with an unidentified man in a parking garage who has been funding his campaign, but also wants something that we don't know back in return(he probably wants a political favor). Rachel travels to the NASA base in a jet that flies 1500 miles per hour and arrives there in 3 hours. When she gets to the NASA base she is taken to a large inflated igloo where the whole NASA team has been researching the "important" discovery. The discovery is shown to be a large meteorite to have come down from space 300 years in the past. Rachel really doesn't know why this is so important, but as soon as she passes the curtain into the research area she is in awe of what she is seeing.

I have ended this blog post on a cliff-hanger and I am excited to read more for next week

-Scott

Deception Point #1

I actually made it to the library! Now I am reading the book Deception Point by Dan Brown.

In the prolugue a geologist is dogsledding and he is confronted by men who tell him to transmit a strange message on his radion. For some reason unknown to us they take him into their helicopter and push him out when they are at a high altitude.
As the book begins it follows Rachel Sexton at a diner. She is there to meet her father: the presidential hopefull Sedgewick Sexton. He called her to the meeting to try and persuade her to work for his campaign. Rachel does not want to leave her job because she has worked hard for it. The story switches to that of a army team in the arctic. The team has been observing a building for 10 days and apparently something big is going to happen there. The reason why the team is observing the building is unknown but I predict we will soon know why they are there. The story switches back to Rachel as she goes to the NRO(the national reconnaissance office). We find out that Rachel's job is to sift through intel and report what is relevent to the president to him. When Rachel arrives at William Pickering's (the NRO director) he tells her that she has been directly requested by the president for a personal meeting with an unknown subject. The president sent a helicopter and Rachel gets in it. Delta one(the army guy) sends in his microbot to eavesdrop on the building and when he does he finds everything is the way he expected it. Rachel arrives at Wallops island and gets out of the chopper. She gets onto Air Force One as directed.

I like this book it is a fast read.

-Scott

Eragon #2

Eragon who is curious about his dragon goes to Brom for some information. He asks how the dragon riders started. Brom replies by telling a story. He tells of the elves arriving from a different land. They killed dragon because they thought that they were food, and it started a large war. It is very unwise to kill things and I think the Elves got what they deserved. Anyways one elf acquired a dragon egg, and he became the first dragon rider. The dragon riders were used to keep peace in alagaesia(the land they live in). Brom also tells Eragon of how he was named after a dragon rider, and he tells him possible dragon names. Roran tells Eragon that he is going to take a job, and won't be able to tend to their farm. When Eragon is communicating with his dragon he chooses a name from Brom's list to name it. He ends up naming the dragon Saphira. Strange creatures come to the Palancar Valley looking for Eragon and his egg. Eragon senses danger and tells Saphira, who abruptly flies him into the spire. The next day Eragon convinces Saphira to fly back to his farm. When he arrives it is burnt and burning. He searches the wreckage for Garrow, and finds him. Saphira flies them into town and they are medically tended to. Eragon escapes so he can run away, but Brom finds him. Brom reveals that he used to be a dragon rider and helps Eragon find the supplies he needs to escape.

-Scott

Eragon #1

Since I have finished reading Stuart Little I will be reading Eragon by Christopher Paulini.

The book starts out with an ambush. A shade (a creature with similar looks to humans but extremely more powerful, and evil), and urgals (brutish creatures)are waiting for an elven convoy. When the elves pass by they attack and slay all the elves, except the one who is holding the blue "stone". The elf knowing that the stone would be captured teleported it away.

The book changes scenes and now tells of Eragon hunting in the spire (a dangerous forest that is mysterious). Eragon is hunting so he can feed his family, but he is having no success. Eragon finds a blue "stone" and takes it with him, when he is not able to kill the deer. Eragon needs meat so he visits the local butcher: Sloan. Eragon is very poor so he offers Sloan the blue "stone". Sloan sends him away because the stone is from the spire, but Horst helps Eragon buy meat anyways. Intent on getting money Eragon, and his uncle Garrow take the stone to a merchant named Merlock. Merlock is not able to buy the "stone" because he does not know what it is for sure. That night Roran(Eragon's brother), Garrow, and Eragon listen to Brom(a local storyteller). Brom tells a story of how Galbatorix(the emperor) rose to power. One night when Eragon is in bed he hears noises and finds they are coming rom the "stone". All of a sudden the "stone" cracks and a dragon comes out! It was really an egg the entire time. Eragon doesn't want anyone to know about the dragon so he hides it in a tree and feeds it table scraps. He learns that he can communicate telepathically with the dragon.

For next week I will be reading a whole lot more. Brace yourself!

-Scott

Stuart Little #5

I will be reading through the end of the book. After this post there will be another post that I will publish today because I forgot to post last week.

Stuart stops by a general store to get a drink of sarsparilla (soda pop). He waits for the manager to come out, and when he does (for his ciggarette break) he offers Stuart a ciggarette! I thought this was strange because the manager just sat next down next to a mouse, and he offered a mouse a ciggarette, that's just weird. Stuart asks the manager if he's seen Margalo and the manager says that he hasn't. The manager tells Stuart of a girl about his height,(2 inches)named Harriet Ames who lives in the town. The next day Stuart sees Harriet at the post office, and is very excited to meet her. Stuart becomes shy and hides from her, but once she has left he decides to write her a letter for a meeting the very next day. He finds out that his canoe is leaky and fixes the leaks with some spruce gum. When 5 o-clock comes Harriet Ames comes down the path for the meeting. The two finally meet and Stuart is ecstatic. He takes Harriet down to the shore for thier canoe ride, and finds his canoe in shambles. Stuart is stressing out about his canoe. Harriet invites Stuart to come to the Country Club with her but he denies the invitation. After a rainy night Stuart continued on his way. He met a repairman on the way, and Stuart asked him if he'd seen Margalo. The repairman said no and Stuart continued north on his way to find Margalo. I thought this was a really strange ending and I didn't like it very much. The ending was too abrupt and open-ended for me.

I am finished with the book

-Scott

Stuart Little #4

Here is what happened in the section that I read. This week (and probably all the next weeks) I will be adding comments about the reading, instead of just a summary.

Snowball is outside with one of his friends, who is an Angora cat. Snowball tells his friend about Margalo and Stuart. The Angora cat asks Snowball why he will not eat them, and Snowball replies that they are family. I like that in this book Snowball has a code of ethics, because normally a cat would eat whatever it wanted. The Angora cat is surprised that Snowball has such self control, and decides to go eat them himself. A pidgeon has seen the whole meeting and in the morning leaves a note for Margalo warning about the strange cat. Margalo decides that she should fly away from the house to stay safe. Since it is getting close to spring she just migrates north. When Stuart has found out that Margalo has left he is very sad. Something I don't understand is how a mouse can get attached to a bird (I guess this is a work of fiction so anything can happen). Stuart runs away from home to find Margalo. Stuart visits Dr. Carey and he tells him that Margalo might be in Central Park. Dr. Carey gives Stuart a car that he can drive that even turns invisible, but Stuart accidently lets it lose. When the gas runs out the car is ruined and Stuart is very dissapointed, but the next day after Stuart finds a suitable travel outfit at the doll shop, the car is repaired, and he sets off. Stuart on his travels becomes a substitute teacher.

I read to page 100

-Scott

Stuart Little #3

By now I have come to the realization that I will never have time to go get a new book, so I am going to finish this one and then pick a new one.

Stuart is hungry so he slips inside the refrigerator, and assumes that Mrs. Little has seen him. His assumption was wrong and he quickly realized that he was stuck in there. Luckily Mrs. Little opened up the refrigerator door 30 minutes later and saved poor Stuart. Stuart wasn't out of trouble yet, because Stuart caught a cold that quickly turned into bronchitis, which kept him in bed for 2 weeks. Mrs. Little is doing the dishes when she sees a bird that appears dead on the windowsill she quickly takes it in the house and figures out that it isn't dead at all. Stuart meets the bird (whose name is Margalo), and decides that she is a very nice bird. He finds out that she wil be sleeping in the fern in the living room, and he is worried for her because he remembers Snowball the cat. Stuart devises a plot to protect Margalo. Stuart makes a bow and arrows, and when night falls he positions himself upon a vantage point of the fern. When the clock struck 10 Snowball entered and was about to pounce on Margalo, but Stuart shot Snowball in his left ear which thwarted his evil plans. The next day Stuart was going to go ice skating so he went outside and traveled in the direction of the lake. A dog came so Stuart hid in a trash can. The garbage men came and dumped the trash and Stuart into the truck! The truck drove until it got to the ocean where it dumped all its trash onto a ship. Stuart new that the trash would be dumped out at sea where he would drown, he prepared to die like a man. Suddenly Stuart sees Margalo and she quickly picks him up and takes him back home, saving his life.

I read up to page 67

-Scott

Stuart Little #2

Unfortunately this week I could not make it to the library because I have been too busy but hopefully next week I will get a different book.

George is afraid that Stuart is lost and attempts to pry open the floorboards and look for him. Mr. and Mrs. Little strongly disaprove and make him stop. George whose first plot was foiled decides that sticking applesauce in the mousehole is a great alternative. Mr. Little becomes fed up and tells George to let him handle the situation. The family searches all around the house and yet they still cannot find Stuart. After lunch Mrs. Little says "Stuart must be dead", to which George replies "If he is dead,we ought to pull down the shades all throughout the house.". George pulled down the shade that Stuart was in and out he flew. Stuart takes the bus to the pond and asks a man sailing a toy boat if he can captain the vessel. The man says of course, if you can beat that other boat in a race. Stuart agrees to those terms and gets ready for the race. Many people hear of the race, and flock to the pond to see it. The race starts, but just about as soon as it does the people start pushing to see and they push a policeman in the water. The policeman causes a huge wave that knocks Stuart off his boat. Stuart climbs back aboard the vessel and continues the race. As Stuart is racing he crashes into a paper bag and gets stuck, but he quickly dispatches it with his pocketknife and continues the race. Stuart wins the race and is invited to sail the ship any time he wants.

I read up to page 47.

-Scott

Stuart Little

Alright I didn't have time to visit the library so I started reading the book Stuart Little by E.B. White(I have not read this book yet). I guess I will be reading this till I visit the library.

A child is born to two human parents and he is a mouse! The family has named him Stuart Little. The little family resides in New York City, and they consist of Mrs. Little, Mr. Little, Stuart Little, Snowball (the Little's cat),and George Little (Stuarts's older brother.) One day Mrs. Little loses her ring down the bathtub drain and they send Stuart down the to fetch it. Stuart makes it back safetly. Stuart shows off his muscles to Snowball and gets caught in the shades. Snowball is devious and takes his hat and puts it by a mousehole. When Mr. and Mrs. Little come they think Stuart has gone into the mousehole, because they can't hear him screaming for help.

I read 20 pages, this week and I will read more and keep you posted next week.

-Scott

Welcome to Kshitij

Welcome to Kshitij, the coolest most happenin' place on the web. Please look around and enjoy all the amazing features my blog has to offer.