Week 11

Reading Log:
Mon:  30min  Thurs: 20min  Sat:  25min  Sun:  25min
CNN.com


This week I read follow up articles about Mindy McCready and her son. She was found with him at her boyfriend's house. I also read about the new football coach that was hired at The University of Kansas. I read an article about Christmas gift ideas for people who are on a budget...and got lots of ideas. I pretty much just read a little bit of everything this week. I read a little in the politics sections, a little in the entertainment section, a little from travel and also from health. Nothing too exciting.


I haven't really seen any changes in my reading habits during the past eleven weeks. I have read CNN.com everyday for a long time. I just never paid attention to how long I read it. I don't do a lot of pleasure reading other than CNN.com, other news sites and then magazines. I have a hard time sitting down to read novels. I pretty much read things to keep me up to date about things going on.


I don't mind having to blog about what I read. I prefer blogging to doing a graphic organizer, I guess. I do, however, think that having to keep a reading log and write about what I read takes away from the "pleasure" part of pleasure reading. I find it not as pleasurable because I am having to keep track and also be able to write about all of it. To me, that makes it less enjoyable.

Week 10

Reading Log:
Mon:  15min  Tues: 15min  Wed: 15min  Sun:  45min
CNN.com


This week I read about a variety of things. I read about Mindy McCready, a former country singer, who had presumably taken her son from his grandparents house and disappeared. Later on in the week, the boy was found, with McCready, in a closet in a home in Heber Springs, Arkansas. I was initially interested in this story because I am familiar with Mindy McCready's country music songs. I find it to be extremely sad that her life has turned out to be such a mess.


I also read an article about Tracey Gold and her new TV special that is going to be coming out. Gold had struggled with eating disorders in her past and uses that to try and connect with woman/girls who have eating disorders on the show. In the article, she talks a little bit about why she wanted to do the show and how she is hoping to shine some light on this huge problem that many people struggle with. 


This was the last week for college football games and I read several articles about different teams and who should be getting to play in BCS bowl games. Along the same topic, I read an article about Oklahoma State and how there were thirteen people who were injured after their huge win over Oklahoma on Saturday night.


I read an article about an ABC show called "Revenge". I love this show so I wanted to read what was said about it. The article talked about how lucky ABC is to have such a successful show on right now. There have been many new shows that have been cancelled, but Revenge has had a huge following. One of the presumed reasons is that because of the recession, people want to watch a rich family fall apart and have a tough life. Also, the article talks about how people can relate to and understand the feelings of wanting revenge on someone.


In politics, there were many articles written after Herman Cain announced he was suspending his campaign. The articles speculate as to who will win the republican nomination...talk about the alleged affair that Cain had that lead to his suspending of his campaign...there are also opinion articles about Herman Cain and how he should have dropped out of the race long ago because of the other accusations that were made against him.


Another article I read was about people's healthiest "vices". After I read the article, I realized it was a year old, but it came up under the "Health" section so I didn't realize that until I had read it. It talks about getting a lot of sleep, eating chocolate, having a girls night out, drinking wine with dinner and several other "vices". The article discusses why these things can actually be healthy for people.

Week 9

Reading Log:
Mon:  25min  Tues: 15min Wed: 15min  Fri:10min  Sat:  25min  Sun: 15min
CNN.com

This week I have been continuing to follow up on the Penn State sexual abuse scandal. I have also began reading about a similar scandal with an assistant basketball coach at Syracuse. This case doesn't seem to be as big of a deal as the Penn State case, but nonetheless it is interested to read about how this man was able to hide such behaviors. I guess he didn't really hide them well though because his wife was recorded in a phone conversation eight or nine years ago talking about how she knows he is inappropriate with several boys that stay at their house often.

In the entertainment section, I have been reading about a twenty year old girl who claims to have given birth to Justin Bieber's baby. She has filed a lawsuit against him and stands firm on her allegations that she did in fact have relations with him at one of his concerts. This should be interesting if this is really true. Bieber has been denying it from the start.

Also this week I spent time reading about Black Friday deals and store information. There were many articles talking about which stores would be open on Black Friday and what time they would open. There were also articles about employees of Target, Walmart and other stores, suing because they believe they shouldn't be working. After Black Friday, I read a ton of articles discussing the chaos that went on outside and in many of the stores. There were children trampled, people pepper sprayed and even some people who were shot. People are crazy...and if we didn't realize that before, surely we did after reading about the happening on Black Friday.

Week 8

Reading Log:
Mon:  20min  Tues: 20min Thurs: 30min  Sat: 15min  Sun: 15min
CNN.com

This week I have continued to read articles about the Penn State sex abuse scandal that is all over the news. There are so many developments that continue to come up. There was also a timeline that was given about Sandusky, starting in 1977. There are several articles discussing the interview with Sandusky in which he admitted to showering with and touching young boys, but not "in a sexual way". The whole thing is so very sad. I just keep reading each and every article that comes out though. There have also been several articles about Joe Paterno having lung cancer.

I have also been reading about how the Natalie Wood case has been re-opened after nearly thirty years. I find this interesting because I know who she was from movies, but I never knew that she died in such a suspicious way. I will be interested to see if there can really be any new developments in such an old case. 

Another article I found to be interesting is the article about the students in California who were suing there school for violating their rights to freedom of speech. The group of students were asked to change out of shirts they were that had pictures of American flags on them. The students wore these shirts on Cinco de Mayo in an attempt to aggravate the Mexican students at the school. There have been past altercations between different groups of students. The administration sent home the students who refused to change clothes. A judge, last week, dismissed the case because he said that the administration was acting in accordance to their school rules. I hadn't heard about this law suit so I thought it was interesting to read about.

The last article I read, worth mentioning, was about an incident at The University of California at Davis. Students who were non-violently protesting were pepper sprayed at "point blank" range. The students were sitting on the ground with there arms linked. There is even a video showing the police pepper spraying the students. They were protesting against the tuition increases at the school. There has also been a letter from an assistant principle to the chancellor that was released in which he is asking for the chancellor to resign. The video was very disturbing and I'll be very interested to see what the police have to say in their defense. All that they have said so far is that they were concerned for their safety. After watching the video, it is obvious that nobody was in danger.

Week 7

Reading Log:
Mon:  10min  Tues: 15min  Wed: 35min Thurs: 30min  Fri: 30min
CNN.com


This week I have spent a lot of time on Cnn.com reading about the Penn State sex abuse scandal. There are sooo many articles about this. There have been articles simply speaking about what the allegations are and the facts pertaining to the allegations and situation and there have been opinion articles about all kinds of different things. First, the articles were discussing how Paterno should be fired for not doing more. Then there were articles about how Paterno did what he should have done and shouldn't be fired. Then there were articles that announced the firing of many of the Penn State administration members. More and more articles have been published everyday, throughout the days. I have also read articles that have specific information about what Sandusky (the alleged abuser) has done to the many victims coming forward. This whole thing is extremely sad. Unfortunately there have been many many lives that have been effected and ruined because of Sandusky. Not only the poor children he abused, but the many people who are having their lives and careers turned upside down because of the ongoing investigation. It is really very sad. I anticipate many more articles to come about as more and more information is discovered regarding this situation.


I have continued to follow the story about baby Lisa who went missing from her Kansas City home early last month. Unfortunately there hasn't been much that has been released. There was an article stating that Lisa's half brothers were both interviewed again. The article didn't say what the interviews were about though because the parents aren't talking to the press about it. I have a feeling this is going to end sadly.


I also read a few articles in the "Politics" section about Rick Perry and his "oops" moment during the Republican Presidential debate. I found the article amusing. I didn't watch the debate so it was funny to hear about what had happened. The article also mentioned that Perry made fun of himself on a late night show. He was quoted as saying he thinks the brain freeze moment will humanize him in the voters' eyes. I guess we will see!

Week 6

Reading Log:
Mon:  20min  Tues: 20min  Wed: 10min  Sat: 10 min  Sun: 40min
CNN.com

This week, I read a ton about two specific topics. First, on Monday, Halloween, it was announced that Kim Kardashian filed for divorce from her new husband Kris Humphries. This story was huge in entertainment because Kim and Kris were only married for 72 days when Kim filed for divorce. They had a huge wedding that was shown on TV in a two part special. It was very elaborate and many people were doubting that it would last. Humphries is an NBA player and is several years younger than Kim. Their relationship was shown on the show "Keeping Up With the Kardashians". There had been some rumors that the two split up, and then Monday, it was officially announced. Kim put out a statement that said that they were still friends and this was a hard decision to make...Kris made a statement saying he still loves his wife and was is devastated to hear that she had filed for divorce. It seems like they are not on the same page. I found this to be annoying, because, famous or not, I think if you decide to marry someone, you are obligated to try and make it work for longer than 72 days unless there is some huge secret that was kept. Of course, nobody knows what the real story between the two of them was, but it has gotten a lot of publicity. Kim has another show called "Kourtney and Kim take New York" that starts soon and is said to show many of Kim and Kris' problems leading up to the filing for divorce. Although I don't think this should be big news, it is, and unfortunately I read all about it!

The other story that I read about and watched videos and news interviews about is Judge William Adams, in Texas. His daughter released a video from six or seven years ago of him whipping her with a belt. The video is extremely disturbing. The daughter claims to have released it because she wanted her dad to see how wrong he was when he treated her this way. The judge released a statement saying his daughter released the video after he threatened to cut her off financially. The daughter has said that her father beat her with a belt and verbally abused her for years. The girls mother claims that she was also abused by the judge. There are so many articles about this topic. Many people are talking about how the judge should be charged with domestic abuse, but because it was so long ago, he is not going to be charged. This has gotten a lot of people talking about corporal punishment. Many people are saying that the Judge is not using corporal punishment, he is simply physically abusing his daughter. Others are saying that parents should be able to discipline their children the way they see fit. There is a lot of controversy about this video and I imagine it will be a topic of conversation and articles for weeks to come.

Other smaller topics that I also read about were the baby that is still missing in Kansas City, the Earthquakes in Oklahoma that were felt in Kansas and sexual harassment allegations against Herman Cain.

Week 5

Reading Log:
Mon:  25min  Tues: 20min  Wed: 15min  Thurs: 30 min  Sun: 20min
CNN.com


A story from Kansas made the Top U.S. stories on Sunday. The grain elevator in Atchinson Kansas had an explosion that killed three people and left three others missing. The explosion was said to have been felt up to three miles away. The cause of the explosion is unknown but the article did mention that the grain can generate toxic gases that can cause explosion under certain circumstances. I was surprised to see that this story was listed on the Top U.S. stories section on cnn.com.


Earlier this week I read a little bit about the Conrad Murray trial. He was the doctor that is said to have been responsible for Michael Jackson's overdose that killed him. The trial is finally coming to an end. they have recently been discussing who if Murray gave Jackson the last dose of medicine that killed him or if Jackson gave himself the dose. I didn't read a ton about it because it doesn't really interest me.


I have continued to read about baby Lisa from Kansas City, Mo that is still missing. Lisa's two half-brothers were supposed to be interviewed this week, but the parents cancelled the police interviews. There was also an announcement made by the family's attorney, Cyndy Short, that she will no longer be representing the family. She didn't say why and there was no mention of another attorney taking over. I still think this whole story sounds off. The parents, especially the mother, have acted very odd. I also think it is weird that they didn't want their half-brothers to be interviewed again. I would think that they would want to do anything and everything they can to find their daughter. The half-brothers were in the house at the time baby Lisa went missing, so I would think they would want to allow the police to interview the boys so as to make sure that they didn't see or hear something that could help with the investigation. 


I read an article about how Kim Kardashian is catching flack for tweeting that she "had Justin Bieber's phone number". She tweeted that along with a 1-800 number and said that he was accepting calls for the next hour. In reality, the number was actually the number to call and vote for her brother, Rob, on Dancing With The Stars. Apparently some of the other contestants were upset and thought that this caused him to get more votes than he would have on his own. She did tweet that she was joking, but people are still thinking that there were people thinking they were calling Bieber. I thought this story was funny because I can't believe that people would actually think she would be putting Justin Bieber's phone number out for all to see...and it was a 1-800 number.