Baseball is America's favorite past time and if you are a teen who doesn't enjoy baseball then you have some problems. The earliest reference to baseball came in 1744, but the first real thing happened in 1838 when Dr. Adam Ford had a contemporary description of the game. The first semiprofessional baseball club was the Cincinnati Red Stockings who assembled in 1869. Baseball has come a very long way since then and there are now 30 teams in the major leagues. Some kids, including me, would be lost without baseball, and I couldn't imagine how much spare time I would have if baseball was never invented.

Well I was just surfing the web and I stumbled upon something that, to tell you the truth, freaked me out. The Jetsons, a tv show from the early 60s, used flying cars for transportation. It will never actually happen right? Wrong! The first flying car has already been made. Now are people gonna get killed by drunk flyers? Or is a teen gonna take their dad's flying car and go for a joy fly? To me it sounds unreal. But only rich actors or athletes will be able to buy them right? Wrong again! The starting cost is $1 million but once they are mass produced the price might come all the way down to $60, 000! They fly up to 50 feet high and travel at 200- 400 MPH. There are actually people who think the see flying cars in the world now! People claim to have seen flying cars in New York, San Francisco, Florida, and Los Angeles. If you ask me I'd say that these people are complete whackos. But hey everyone is entitled to their own opinion no matter how crazy it might sound. If they do make a flying car and it looks anything like this, I am making a promise to myself to never buy one. I think I'll stick to the ground before being caught dead in one of these.

Kobe Bryant based his game off of Michael Jordan's, the all time great. But the real question is, who is the better player? Well let's compare. Both players are 6'6" and their weight is very similar. Both Kobe and Michael could nail the jump shots that most viewed as impossible. But there is one large barrier that in my mind, just might separate the two. January 22, 2006 was a night that Lakers' fans, like me, will probably never forget. He started the night average for him, 26 points, and finished with a total of more than I even hope to score this whole year in basketball, 81. This is the second highest points scored ever in one game , behind Wilt Chamberlain and his 100 point phenomenon. Wilt Chamberlain is said to be the greatest player to ever play the game and on March 2, 1962 he showed why many people thought this. So in my opinion Kobe Bryant might be a hair better than Michael Jordan, but neither even compare to Wilt, the all time great.

The First Crusade was the only crusade that reached it's objective of recover the Holy Sepulcher. The movie we have been watching stated that "The First Crusade was better known as the cannibilism crusade". Pope Urban II made one crucial mistake, offering his men Papal Indulgences and telling them that no matter what they did that they would go directly to Heaven. The Crusaders had their own battle cry, "Deus lo volt", which means God wills it. This is what they would scream in battle. The First Crusade led to the capturing of Jerusalem. Though this power only lasted for less than a couple hundred years, the First Crusade was still a major turning point in the growth of Western power. The largest positive outcome of the First Crusade was it's success in establishing the Crusader states of Edessa, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Tripoli.

The Third Crusade, which was also known as the Kings' Crusade, was mainly trying to capture the Holy Land from Saladin. Gregory VIII, the new pope, did not try to have the church lead the crusade. Instead he had Archbishop Joscius of Tyre go directly to France to appeal to the kings. Saladin knew that Richard's objective was to capture Jerusalem so Saladin followed Richard very closely. The final treaty was signed on September 2, 1192 and Jerusalem was to stay in Muslim hands.

A Privilege Granted by Pope Eugenius III
"Moreover, by the authority vested by God in us, we who with paternal care provide for your safety and the needs of the church, have promised and granted to those who from a spirit of devotion have decided to enter upon and accomplish such a holy and necessary undertaking and task, that remission of sins which our predecessor Pope Urban instituted. We have also commanded that their wives and children, their property and possessions, shall be under the protection of the holy church, of ourselves, of the archbishops, bishops and other prelates of the church of God. Moreover, we ordain by our apostolic authority that until their return or death is fully proven, no law suit shall be instituted hereafter in regard to any property of which they were in peaceful possession when they took the cross.
Those who with pure hearts enter upon such a sacred journey and who are in debt shall pay no interest. And if they or others for them are bound by oath or promise to pay interest, we free them by our apostolic authority. And after they have sought aid of their relatives or lords of whom they hold their fiefs, and the latter are unable or unwilling to advance them money, we allow them freely to mortgage their lands and other possessions to churches, ecclesiastics or other Christians, and their lords shall have no redress.
Following the institution of our predecessor, and through the authority of omnipotent God and of St. Peter, prince of the Apostles - which is vested in us by God - we grant absolution and remission of sins, so that those who devoutly undertake and accomplish such a holy journey, or who die by the way, shall obtain absolution for all their sins which they confess with humble and contrite heart, and shall receive from the Remunerator of all the reward of eternal life."

Source:Dana C. Munro, "Urban and the Crusaders", Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History, Vol 1:2, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1895), 12

The Second Crusade began when the Muslims recaptured Edessa. The Second Crusade was announced by Pope Eugenius III in 1145. Four key participants in the Second Crusade were King Louis VII, Conrad III, and Bernard of Clairvaux. Conrad's poorly disciplined troops created tension in Constantinople, where they arrived in September . The downfall of the Second Crusade had many reasons. One being poor strategic planning. The Second Crusade ended in July of 1148 .

Due to St. Bernard's popularity they had him write a letter promoting it. In it he says "God hath commanded me. Slay them not, lest my people forget."
He also says that when he gets enough troops "all Israel shall be saved".

http://www.crusades-encyclopedia.com/psbernardcallforcrusade.html