Alternative Energies in America: Are We Overspending or Under Spending?

Recently, there has been a large debate over weather or not we should increase or decrease spending on government funded alternative energy resources. Companies like Solyndra, have received over $535 million in federal aid in order to push forward to a greener energy. However, Solyndra has recently filed for bankruptcy even after receiving the millions in aid. This failing business has left taxpayers furious and enraged, claiming that the government is wasting their money. Recently, another alternative energy company called NRG Energy is establishing a 4,000 acre solar energy plant northwest of Los Angles, in San Luis Obispo County. This plant, costing 1.6 billion to set up, with approximately million solar panels will only be able to power 100,000 homes. With stats like these, it appears that alternative energies will never gain the spotlight from the traditional fossil fuels. However, the amount of spending on fossil fuels compared to alternative energies is approximately six times as much. In 2010, fossil fuels received 409 billion dollars in subsides while renewable energy sources obtained a mere 66 billion in federal funds. In the past, multiple companies have failed to find an alternative source of energy before we have found one successful company. Bryan Welsh, author of the article, believes that if we are to better our climate, environment, reduce pollution, and become independent of foreign oil it will take enormous changes to our energy system. And not just by a few billion dollar change, but one in the trillion dollar range. Clearly, the author is trying to reach out to the public of America to expose the need to find an alternative source of oil. This desirable change will only come in time, but hopefully sooner than later.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2099480,00.html

11/11/11 The coolest birth date of the century

11/11/11: a day that occurs only once a century. This rare occurrence has pregnant women all across the world giddy, hoping that their child will be privileged enough to be born on this day. With more than 4 million babies born each year, only a select few thousand will be lucky enough to have claimed this as their special birth date. Julie Madayag, a mother expecting a daughter on 11/11, felt that this date was “a very cool due date” and that when she went into get an ultrasound, even her technician even was excited about it. This epic date has created quite the buzz on twitter. Folks all around the world tweeted about 11:11 on 11/11/11, along with many parenting sources on twitter such as parenting.com. They claim that pregnant women “in Korea are scheduling c-sections to ensure 11/11 b-days. (Wow.)” ( Rochman). Obviously the uncommon date has moms all over the world taking the necessary action to ensure birthing their children on this date, permitting the baby has reached the proper 39 week incubation period. Recently a study published in the journal Birth, claims that many full-term pregnant women try to induce labor with myths such as walking, having sex, and eating spicy foods. Madayag, being one of the women to participate in these myths, claimed that she ate Thai food the night before 11/11/11. This once in a lifetime experience will make memories for many mothers as they bring their children into the world, along with the life-long claim of their children being born on this extraordinary day. 

http://healthland.time.com/2011/11/11/being-born-on-111111-the-coolest-of-due-dates-can-thai-food-nudge-things-along/

Frankenstein Blog Post Four

If I were to rewrite Shelley's last chapter of Frankenstein, I would definitely include a final battle.  I like how Shelley has Frankenstein chase his monster all across different terrains, being taunted by little clues, but  I would have ended the book with an epic fight scene. Frankenstein would have found the monster in the North and they would duel. The monster, being unarmed, would inflict near fatal wounds to Frankenstein. However, Frankenstein came prepared. He would have an arsenal of small handguns, knives, and a rifle. Frankenstein would shoot the monster multiple times but it would prove ineffective. The monster is simply too big and too strong. With the monster charging at him, Frankenstein would pull one of his multiple knives out and throw it at the monster. He would make a direct hit in the shoulder. This would simply stun the monster and he would continue his charge.Frankenstein wouldn't have enough time to reload so he would resort to his second to last knife. He would throw and land another hit, but this time it would be in the thy. The monster, being a complete B.A., would withdraw the knife from his thy and lick the blood. Afterwards he would tackle Frankenstein and begin to beat him to death. Barely hanging on to life, Frankenstein would remove his last knife and slit the monster's throat. This would end the monster's wrath. Frankenstein would descend from the cold, snowy, north only to be found half alive by Walton. He then would retell his tale as set up by the letters in the beginning of the book.

Frankenstein Blog Post Three

In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein brought his monster to life without fully understanding the discoveries that he made. Frankenstein, even though he believed what he was doing was simply making scientific advances, was conceiving an unnaturally made child. Although he was not technically produced in the natural way, Frankenstein’s monster still developed in ways similar to that of a normal human. When the monster was first brought to life, he was a confused “child” that didn’t know his place in the world. When Frankenstein ran and hid in horror, this cruelty was one of the first things that the monster was exposed to. In some ways, Victor Frankenstein abandoned his “child” at his “birth”. Right from the start the monster was exposed to injustices that shaped his new, undeveloped mind. In parallel to modern times, if a parent isn’t present during the early stages of their child’s life then the abandoned child is likely to be in a bad living situation and engage in risky behavior. Frankenstein was that “parent”; he left the monster homeless, and without a family to nurture him so he was exposed to the hardships of the real world very early in life. As the monster was living on his own in the woods, he again found the cruelties of the world when he tried to connect with the blind, old man. Without being able to see the monster, the man was accepting of Frankenstein’s monster because he could not see the imperfections that others would exploit. However, once his family returned they exposed him for being the yellow skinned, black lipped, eight foot tall creature that he truly was out of fear and paranoia. Again the monster was wronged; but the cruelty doesn’t end here in the novel. When he comes in contact with William Frankenstein, the child is terrified for his life because of the gruesome features of the monster. Here, another human judged him for his exterior. Later in the novel, after Frankenstein revokes his promise that he will make a companion for the monster, he has finally been betrayed by all humans that the monster has encountered. I believe that if the monster had someone like him to keep him company that they would live peacefully in exile together. The only reason that the monster committed any of the crimes he did was to get revenge against the one who wronged and abandoned him from the moment he was brought to life. Overall, I feel that the monster’s actions were justified by the way he was treated by his creator and that Victor Frankenstein deserved the comeuppance that the doctor received.