CC#4: How Did Woman's Body Come To Be In L.A. Hotel Water Tank?

In a recent article by Alan Duke, titled "How Did Woman's Body Come To Be In L.A. Hotel Water Tank?", the author informs readers about a body that was found in a Los Angeles hotel water tank.

The article states "The decomposing body of Elisa Lam floated inside a water tank on the roof of the Cecil Hotel while guests brushed their teeth, bathed, and drank with water from it for as long as 19 days." That is really disgusting. Just imagine drinking a glass of water and then later finding out that a dead body had been floating in it. That is sickening. And how someone could bring themselves to do something like that, I have no idea.

The article also states "A maintenance worker, checking on complaints about the hotel's water, found the 21-year-old Canadian tourist inside one of four water cisterns Tuesday morning, Los Angeles Police Sgt. Rudy Lopez said." It must have been quite a shock for the maintenance worker; when he woke up that morning, I bet he was not expecting to come across a dead body. That must have been terrible.

The article states "But for a week, they never complained. 'We never thought anything of it,' she said, 'We thought it was just the way it was here.'" That is what Sabina Baugh, who had been staying at the hotel, said. When she turned on the tap, the water would be black for the first few seconds, and then it would go back to normal. I would be worried if I saw black water coming out of the tap, and I would probably complain at the first sight of it, too.

I would say that the article connects to me. This is because I like books and movies that are about murders and mysteries. Do not get me wrong, I think what happened to this girl is awful. The police do not know who killed her, and say "Falling into a covered water tank behind a locked door on top of a roof would be an unusual accident."

Elisa Lam, a Canadian tourist staying in a Los Angeles hotel was murdered and her body was put into a water tank. The police are unsure as to what she died of and who killed her. It was an international case, and because of this, may have gotten more attention than most of the several thousand missing person reports made in Los Angeles each year.

The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy

I have always really liked to read. Books are adventures. I have read various books by various authors, including Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz, Bag of Bones by Stephen King, City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, and I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. But I think my favorite books are the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien.

I do not know exactly when I first watched the movies, but it was when I was a little kid. They instantly became my favorite movies. They are still my favorite movies. I tried to read the books when I was in sixth grade, but I did not understand them, so I quit. This school year I decided that it was time for me to read them. I could not just start with The Fellowship Of The Ring, though, I wanted to read the two books that took place before it: The Silmarillion and The Hobbit.

The Lord Of The Rings trilogy is about a gold ring. The ring is the One Ring, forged by the Dark Lord Sauron. The One Ring has immense power, and seems to have a mind of its own. Bilbo, a hobbit, found the ring in The Hobbit, and kept it for himself. In The Fellowship Of The Ring, he gave it to his nephew, Frodo. The trilogy chronicles the journey of the fellowship (Aragorn, Legolas, Gandalf, Gimli, Samwise, Frodo, Merry, Pippin, and Boromir) to destroy the ring before Sauron can discover its whereabouts and reclaim it.

J.R.R. Tolkien used vivid imagery in these books, as well as beautiful metaphors and similies. A quote from The Two Towers that uses these is "Suddenly through a rent in the clouds behind them a shaft of sun stabbed down. The falling showers gleamed like silver, and far away the river glittered like a shimmering glass." I really like his writing style.

The books really spoke to me. They were wonderfully well written. I immersed myself in these books, and when I finished reading the last book, The Return Of The King, I wasn't sure what to do next. I recommend you read The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. And if you want to explore the creation of Middle-earth (where the books take place) and its inhabitants,  you should also read The Silmarillion.

For more information on the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, click here.


Yellow = Personification
Blue = Metaphor
Red = Alliteration

CC#3: Boy Scout Leaders Put Off Vote On Gay Membership

In a recent article by Casey Wian and Michael Pearson titled "Boy Scout Leaders Put Off Vote On Gay Membership," the authors inform readers that the vote on lifting the Boy Scouts' ban on openly gay scouts and troop leaders will be postponed until their annual meeting in May.

The article states, "The decision disappointed critics who had hoped to see the organization end its ban despite a 2000 Supreme Court ruling saying it had the right to keep it." In 2000, the Supreme Court ruled that private organizations, such as the Boy Scouts of America, have the right to exclude a person from membership when "the presence of that person affects in a significant way the group's ability to advocate public or private viewpoints." Banning openly gay boy scouts and troop leaders is discrimination, plain and simple, and that's wrong.  Homosexuals are human beings, just like heterosexuals are. Everyone should be treated equally, no matter what their race, religion, or sexual preference is.

The article also states, "The Boy Scouts announced last month that the organization would consider changing the policy, a sharp reversal of its previous support for excluding openly gay members and scout leaders." The organization should change this policy; gay children are discriminated against enough as it is. Straight children shouldn't be raised to hate homosexuals, and homosexuals shouldn't have to worry about not being accepted.

The article states, "Brandy Pryde, a troop leader who participated in a prayer vigil outside the Boy Scouts headquarters Wednesday, said her church would pull support from scouting if the change goes through." The Bible does state "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination," which is probably why she said that her church would pull support from scouting. But the Bible also says "love your neighbor as yourself." They should accept everyone with loving arms instead of being quick to judge them.

This article connects to the world. Gay people, among others, are discriminated against every day because others are uncomfortable with their differences. Some people discriminate against others because they want to feel better about themselves. But discrimination against anyone is wrong, whatever the excuse may be.

The Boy Scouts' executive Board will not vote on Wednesday on a proposal to let local groups set their own policies, as had been planned. It will instead be voted on at the organization's annual board meeting in May, because it needs more time to get comment on the issue from its members.