Conserve, Reuse, Recycle

"Have you figured out yet that I'm going as

a cadaver, an anatomical gift?"

Semrau purposely leaves information out. I think he does this to really capture the reader's attention. His intent is to make it sound like he's really going green, but in reality, he wants his body to be donated. Throughout most of the article, he's talking about how going green can be a good thing. He says, however, that he prefers to reuse, instead of conserve or recycle. He is, of course, referring to reusing his body, but the reader does not know that yet.

I think his writing strategy was pretty effective. It definitely caught my attention and made me think about everything he said a little differently. If he just said from the very beginning that he planned on becoming a cadaver, sure it would have been a lot easier to understand right away, but it also would not have held my interest, or make me really think about what he's going to do. Sharing this and not telling the reader right away what he's talking about, gets the reader interested in what he has to say. It caught their attention that he was not talking about what they thought he was. It worked for me anyway!

Savior of the Nations, Come

In this hymn, Luther is talking about Jesus Christ's birth and how we should praise him. He uses diction to help us better understand his theme, which would be that Jesus is God, who came down from heaven as man, and we should praise him. In the first and second verses he talks about Jesus being born of the Virgin Mary and coming to earth as man. He uses the words "flesh and blood" to describe Christ as being true man. In verses three, four, and five, he goes on to talk about how the world "disowned" him, but he was still "enthroned" in heaven. Then he rose from the dead with "victory" over sin. Luther says that his song of "triumph swells". He also says that his kingdom will be "boundless" and we are waiting to see its "glories". This shows that he was also true God, because only true God can die and raise again to save man from their sins. The last two verses are more about us and our response to what Jesus did for us. He says we should have faith in him and keep our faith "bright," and that we should praise the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Lyrics to "Savior of the Nations, Come"

Sermon Diagnostic

1)  26 verbs

• makes holy
• slain (3 times)
• is lamb
• died (4 times)
• lives (2 times)
• rose (2 times)
• reins (3 times)
• makes us alive
• is there
• smiles (2 times)

2) There is a major difference between Rev. Borghardt's sermon and  Edward's sermon. Rev. Borghardt's sermon focuses on Jesus loving and saving us. He mainly talks about how much God does for us, and how Jesus died and rose again for us out of his love for us. His sermon includes Jesus, which is the most important part of a sermon, according to Pastor Wilkens. Edward, on the other hand, mainly discusses how sinful we are and how we all deserve hell and damnation. He says we should fear God, and he rarely mentions Jesus and everything he does for us.

Fuzzy Dice???

Basically, this article is discussing how people disagree with the law that says that objects cannot be hung on the rearvirew mirror because it's an obstuction of view. They claim that small items like beads or airfresheners don't block their view and a new law is needed.

"I call it a 'gotcha' law. It's an excuse to pull someone over." ~Sen. Ron Jelinek

I like this quote because it's a short and sweet way to say that this ban is not necessarily very important. The way the law is written now, it could be used just as an excuse to pull someone over. If it was revised, it might actually make more sense.

Personally, I think the current ban is not necessary. I don't think a rosary or even an airfreshener really blocks your view. Fuzzy dice, however, may be different since they are larger. I think that the ban needs to be revised so that police can pulll someone over if they have reason to believe that the object on your mirror is too large and could block your view, but I don't think it's necessary to ban hanging any objects on your mirror.

Law banning items from rearview mirrors is being rethought

Mitch Albom's Article

According to this article, Albom is saying that he doesn't think that race should be brought up in situations like this. He believes that the race of someone doesn't always influence what they do or what other people think. Albom is saying that LeBron's real issue is his "boundless ego" and his thinking that "he can't possibly be at fault for anything."

When people bring up the race matter, they miss looking at who he is as a person, which influences what he decides to do, like create an hour long TV special as a "celebration of his legend". So Albom is basically saying that LeBron has a huge ego and is only concerned with his popularity and money. Race has nothing to do with it.

I have to say I definitely agree with Albom. Sure LeBron is a great basketball player, but he does tend to let his ego get in the way...and being black has nothing to do with it. Apparently, the general public also agrees that he let his ego get out of hand. He became the "sixth-most-disliked athlete, according to the latest Q Score". While he was adored by everyone, it wasn't just black people that liked him, just like now it's not just white people that dislike him. His ego, his selfishness, and greed finally turned people away.

I think it's about time. I was always disgusted with him on the court. Yeah, he plays great ball, but he just looks so full of himself. You know he thinks he's all that, which, to me at least, is not a good quality in anyone. Like Albom says, "ego knows no color". Albom doesn't see LeBron as a black person. He sees him as a sports star who let his stardom get to his head, which is how I currently view him.

To me, Albom's most effective point is probably when he says,

"But LeBron didn't become internationally famous with only black fans liking him, and he didn't reach this sudden infamy with only white fans bailing out." and "LeBron now has a boundless ego, he has surrounded himself with people who tell him his feet don't touch the ground, and he can't possibly be at fault for anything."

These stand out because he's saying exactly what he means to say throughout this article: race doesn't necessarily have to be the solution to everything...LeBron's big ego is what triggered all of this commotion.

Mitch Albom: It's not race, LeBron James, but it might be you