IRB Intro #3

For this marking period I have decided to read Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer. Apart from the title and the cover page catching my eye, this book demonstrates gruesome and entertaining anecdotes that only have me wishing I could climb Mt. Everest. I look forward to reading this book also because of the setting; on the cold and dangerous Mt. Everest, something very few people can imagine climbing.

Tow #16 Into Thin Air

If you think this blizzard made you feel cold and isolated, you have yet to read Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. Not only does this book put you into the horrifying, breath gasping, and exciting experiences of the climbers climbing Mount Everest, it enables you to be in the mind of Jon Krakauer at the same time, hearing what he heard and being able to think what he thought as each step brought him closer to reaching the peak of the mountain. Something about this book that intrigued me, besides the cover image, was the background and definitions that were given within the first couple pages. It allowed me to expand my knowledge of the mountain along with understanding how this adventurous idea was a goal for many. By including the natives perspectives and how the mountains name came about, it had made me want to climb the mountain myself! Even as numerous anecdotes of people going missing and their bodies being found 1-2 years later, it made me realize the drive that Jon Krakauer had to climb this mountain. As an adventurer myself, I noticed and shared the same curiosity and excitement for this idea. All excitement comes to a halt when the clouds suddenly decide to shift and the world closes on Jon quickly. Apart from the background and first-person view that is given, this book presents details and jaw dropping stories that only have you gripping the pages, vigorously reading, and never wanting the depth details to stop. Many people advised Jon to wait a couple years until he wrote about this event, so he could look back on it with a clear mind. Jon knew waiting was something many authors did, but the gruesome, breathtaking, and heart clenching event only urged him to write down every single detail until the story was forgotten in his mind. Which is why I think you should read this book, because the event will never be forgotten in your mind.

Tow #15: The definite origin of dogs has now been found?

Something that immediately pulled me into this article, was the hook- ”Before humans milked cows, herded goats or raised hogs, before they invented agriculture, or written language, before they had permanent homes, and most certainly before they had cats, they had dogs.” This article by James Gorman, and his work in this article is truly intriguing to me. With the occasional hypophora and tests that back up the evidence, it seems as though the final and true answer as to where and when the dog originated from will finally be answered. It has come to the attention of the University of Oxford and University of Hampshire that dogs could actually have invented themselves. Now how could that be? There’s nothing to prove that... Upon further nation and basic research, ¼ of dogs around the world are actually pets. Most run rogue, attacking strangers, and passing along their rabies to humans. Yes, because dogs were ¼ pets, it had not proved much to myself or other scientists. That is until research of the animal’s bones came into view. Scientists had continued to go back years and years, examining the bones and structure of dogs compared to wolves. They were hoping to find evidence that could help settle the dispute of whether dogs had invented themselves. Soon enough they found that canines teeth, although similar, were NOT exact to wolves. Now the next step is to question, when and from whom they did come from? By taking two bigger steps, Dr. Wayne from University of California in Los Angeles, identified a skull about 32,000 years old from a Belgian cave in Goyet as an early dog. The evidence was clear now, as the wolves oldest bones were far different from the structure of this dog, what else was left to interpretation than factually based? As scientist are trying to find out more information based on how dogs lived and more in depth research about their ancestors, the answers only bring up new questions. James Gordan’s article has truly made me believe that dogs were never actually tamed wolves to begin with.

Tow #14 An Uncertain New Chapter in El Chapo's home state (Current Event)

On January 8th, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, a drug lord, was finally captured in Mexico by military forces. The article, An Uncertain New Chapter in Sinaloa, El Chapo’s Home State, is written by Paulina Villegas and Alberto Arce, and was published in the New York Times. It has two different views; one is how the government considered Joaquin Guzman Loera’s organization as a network of criminals who flout the law and corrupt its institutions, and the other view from locals who believed that Loera’s organization actually kept order. This order often more efficiently than the government, and is even more adept at helping deliver basic services. This article first opens up by presenting the locals perspective on the situation and how it will affect the community. To the military forces surprise, the locals described Loera as good, intelligent, and a respectable man. Many people on the news considered Loera as a criminal, not even close to how the locals felt towards him. Locals all said, “We were perfectly comfortable when El Chapo was here..now we are worried someone else is going to come here and try to fill his spot.” With the locals view now presented, we have to wonder, how do the military, government, and the maximum security prison feel about this topic? The military, now having successfully captured and imprisoned Loera, couldn’t be any happy. They are seen often, ‘patting each other on the back’..that was until they were questioned about the death of five of their own when there was no physical evidence of shooting from Loera’s men. The government on the other hand is concerned with this action since Loera’s organization, besides the illegal narcotics, were actually the one preventing the crimes and allowing order to be present in Sinaloa. Since Loera was able to escape the maximum security prison, the guards and whole facility has their heads down as they had let Loera escape, again. Due to the quotes, statistics, and sources provided by the authors, I was convinced that capturing the of drug lord, Loera, was actually an unnecessary action.