Outside Reading February 11

For this outside reading, I am supposed to talk about gender and gender roles. The article I read is called, "A Breadwinner Rethinks Gender Roles." This is about a family with a newborn baby trying to figure out how they are going to take care of it while supporting the family. Opposite to many cultures, the man quit his job to take care of the baby while the mother became the breadwinner. Although this is somewhat uncommon, I don't find it that extreme. I think that when a family is put into a situation like this, the adult who has the highest income should keep their job. This would be best for the parents and the family as a whole.

Dunleavey, M.P.. "A Breadwinner Rethinks Gender Roles ." New York Times 27 Jan 2009 11 Feb 2009 .

Oustide Reading February 8

For this outside reading, I am going to comment on a culture different from my own. The title of this article is "23 killed at Madagascar protest." These people were protesting outside Madagascar's Presidential Palace. The people didn't like what the president was doing, so they protested. Reports aren't sure who was shooting. Some say that mercenaries were shooting and others claim the army guards were shooting into the crowd. Either way, it was very hectic. I think that the government could have handled this a better way. Violence didn't have to be used and just caused more chaos.

"23 killed at Madagascar protest." CNN 7 Feb 2009 7 Feb 2009 .

Outside Reading February 4

For this outside reading, I am going to comment on someone overcoming a struggle or facing a difficulty. The article I am going to comment about is called "The shrinking of Federer and who will stop the Williams sisters?" It's about Federer losing once again to Nadal, and the dominance of the Serena sisters. Federer has been struggling a lot lately. He is 6-13 all time against Nadal, and is now the number 2 player in the world. He has been known for his dominance on hardcourt, but now that Nadal has beat him, he no longer is. Federer needs to get a better inside look on his game and how he can improve.


Wertheim, Jon. "The shrinking of Federer and who will stop the Williams sisters?." Tennis Mailbag 4 Feb 2009 6 Feb 2009 .

Ouside Reading February 1

For this outside reading blog, I am going to comment on an article about a natural disaster. The natural disaster is about an earthquake that occurred in Sichuan Province in China. It occurred last May. This particular earthquake scored a 7.9 on the Richter scale which is pretty high. Over 15 million people were living in that area at the time. 12,000 casualties were recorded but another 18,000 people were missing.

"Sichuan Earthquake." The New York Times 1 Feb 2009 .

Outside Reading January 14

For this outside reading, I am going to comment on an article in the Star Tribune called, "Blast of Heat withers Wolves' perfect '09." It was written by Jerry Zgoda. Let me just start by saying most good sports articles I read in the paper are written by Mr. Zgoda. I guess he's pretty good. Anyway... the wolves were on a five game winning streak before they blew the game Monday night. They had a 13 point lead in the second quarter. Watching the highlights, it looked as Dwayne Wade had a pretty good game, with 31 points and eight assists. I think that the wolves still suck because really how good can you be when you finish a five game winning streak and your record is still 11-23?

Outside Reading January 11

For this outside reading, I am going to talk about an article that I read in Tennis magazine. The title was "Pre-match coffee, good or bad?" It was talking about whether drinking coffee before a match helped your play or not. The end result was that it actually gives you more energy that lasts throughout the match, although it comes down to personal preference. I have never drank coffee before a match and don't plan to. Warm drinks usually make me tired so I don't think it would work for me.

Outside Reading January 4

For this outside reading I am going to talk about the Vikings game that was played today. The matchup was between the Minnesota Vikings and the phillidelphia eagles. It was a wildcard game. The Vikings didn't start off very well and after two field goals by the eagles, I started getting nervous. Finally the Vikings started scoring. Our defense started playing really well and got a few turnovers. Adrian Peterson's 40 yard touchdown run gave us hope, only to be shut down later by a long touchdown run by Brian Westbrook. The Vikings offense was really why we lost. I would blame it on the playcalling, but bad execution also played a big role. Tavaris looked good at times, but his inconsistency caused many turnovers. Even though the Vikings lost, they had a decent season and I am excited to see them next year.