Police kill two terrorists.

Police have rescued about 30 hostages and killed two of the terrorists who have brought about the death of 125 people. The terrorists had been seizing the Taj Mahal Hotel for 40 hours after they took about 30 people as hostages and killed many others. The chief police inspector claimed that the gunmen had to be trained as they were able to use AK weapons with ease and throw grenades with precision. The current death toll is 146 with several foreigners and police men killed and a 327 people injured. The terrorists still have another hotel captive and they threathen to kill anyone who stand in their way. The the new terror network claim to have ties with the tamil tigers but the police cannot confirm this. The Tamil tigers are a Ceylonese terror network that are trying to reclaim Pakistan and they are arch enemies to Indian Government.

Soccer Poem

I love the following poem because it expresses the true passion of the greatest sport on Earth, Soccer.
Soccer.
A large number had gathered,
Lots more had crowded;
They came with a common view,
And wore a particular hue;
From the beginning of the game,
They looked the same;
But time would tell-
If everything went well,
There should be a winner,
Before we took our dinner;
We were sharing our passions,
In front of our televisions.

The poet shows a deep understanding of the soccer game.
At first the poet says that many people have come to watch the soccer match and explains that many people have sat down in front of their televisions to watch the match. He says that they came to see many goals being scored and that they supported a particular team. The poet also says that the supporters have come to see many goals being scored. The supporters looked the same always hopeful. When the poet says only time will tell he is referring to the fact that only after 90 minutes the winner will be decided. The poet also says that the winner should be decided before dinner. And the last thing the poet says is the most important, that no matter what happens they will share passion.

Midfielder caims that Gunners are goal shy.

Cesc Frabregas, one of the most inspirational players in Arsenal claims that the Gunners are being goal shy and that they have controlled the game but not have the quality to finish. The Gunners have seen a host of chances gone wide even though they controlled the game at the Emirates. Arsenal had many chances to win the game but could noy find the magic moment to end the game. The Gunners have had a bit of a stumble in recent games, drawing with Tottenham and then losing to Stoke and Aston Villa. The Arsenal players seem to lack confidence, They have proved this multuiple times this season and have shown it on the pitch to. During the game against Manchester United they played one of the best attacking displays while they kept a solid defence. However in their next game against Aston Villa they played horribly and lost 2-0. During that game their passing was horrible and had even scored an own goal.

Super Oil tanker captured.

Super tanker Sirius star which has been carrying two million barrels of oil has benn hijacked by Smalian pirates. This is by far their riskiest move yet as they captured the ship in highly guarded areas and could have been easily found. However somehow they eluded capture and they seized the ship back to their port. The pirates have been becoming increasingly more active and have hijacked many more ships in the past mont. The also had captured a military aircraft carrier which had thirty tanks and many other sophisticated weaponary. The pirates have not been encountered yet although their base location is known. This is because they have many hostages not to mention highly sophisticated weaponary like rocket launchers and submachine guns. This has raised awarness of the area and many ships are staying out of it. The few that go have suffered the same fate as the Sirius Star.

Cleaner killed by white tigers.

Visitors to the Singapore Zoo on Monday were given a massive shock when they saw a man being killed by endangered white tigers. Several eye witnesses have given accounts that they saw the man throwing and flinging objects and brooms at the walls before he entered the enclosure. The crowd witnessed the incident when the man jumped into the moat that surrounded the enclosure. The crowd who had witnessed this thought it was part of an act. However, later he climbed over the wall that surrounded the enclosure and started to agitate the tigers by waving the brooms at them and making loud sounds with the pail. When the tigers approached him, he pulled the pail over his head and crouched in a foetal postion. The white tigers with claw the size of baseballs gloves gave him a few swipes which promptly started to make him scream in pain. Minutes after the cries about twenty zoo keepers arrived with pails and brooms and tried to ward off the tigers. There were two keepers who had live ammunition but did not use it. The man died of severe head trauma at the scene. Several of the zoo keepers have said that the man told them before he went to the enclosure that they were not going to see him anymore. However they did not take him seriously and just laughed. The authorities have called this suicide.

Elements of Poetry

What are the elements of poetry? Well when we think of poetry we think of rhyming stances and literature. However poetry is not just rhyming stances or good phrases. It could also be the way that people express their feelings and what the people think about a certain topic. Thus I think poetry is the people's emotion.

Humanities Question

There are many various ways that people could make a living. However the most popular way in Ancient Greece was to be a soldier. A person could also be a farmer which would mean that the person earns how much he harvests. Farmers either worked alone or with slaves to harvest the crops that the whole family planted. Farmers grew wheat, barley, grapevines( to make vine) and reared pigs,sheep and goat. Olive oil, wool, cotton. However if you are a soldier you will get paid a hefty some of money depending on your rank. If the soldiers survived till 60 years old then they were allowed to retire and they would get their own piece of land. Another popular job was being a trader. The popular items of trade were olive oil, cotton, wool and their artistic pottery. They would trade with other Greek city-states or with other asian or european countriesThere were three different classes in Greece. The three classes are the top class, middle class, and lower class. The top class were so rich that they could still live a luxurious live for about ten years without working. The middle class could last for about one month without a job if they spent their money wisely. However the lower class did not have such a thing as no work. Either they worked or they were killed. The methods of killing a slave was to feed them to hungry lions, throw them in a pool of eel. The crimes that could earn a slave these punishments were dropping glass, talking ill about their masters, trying to escape their masters, stealing from their masters or even making bad foodTheir social systems was broken up into three ranks. The best rank was the one that the top where only kings or wealthy people could be classified under. The rest of the Greeks were under the middle class which meant that they were normal people. The lowest class was the one that the slaves and prisoners were classisfied under. They had burnt marks on their face to show who they belonged to. The slaves could be owned by anyone as long as the proper amount of money was paid to the government. The slaves had no wages and days off and lived only to serve their masters. Sometimes if their masters did not have enough money they would sell the slave's limbs.

Taiwan ex-president arrested.

 A judge ordered the former president of Taiwan detained Wednesday on corruption charges, just hours after he was taken to a hospital after he accused police of pushing and rough-handling him before he appeared in court in Taipei.Chen Shui-bian, who according to Taiwan's Central News Agency is accused of embezzling 600 million Taiwan New Dollars, was led away in handcuffs after six hours of questioning by prosecutors.The ex-president, whose presidential term ended in May, held his cuffed hands up for journalists to see and shouted "Political persecution! Long live Taiwan!"Taiwan's Central News Agency said anti-corruption prosecutors were investigating the ex-president in a money-laundering case.Chen denies any wrongdoing.On Monday, Chen told reporters he believed he would be detained, saying authorities could "lock up my body, not my heart," the agency said. He has also insisted that the move was a political one.Chen's political party favors independence for Taiwan while the administration of current President Ma Ying-jeou favors closer ties with China Nine other people have been arrested in the case, including Chen's former treasurer, and they have agreed to testify against him. 

Effective communicator

Effective communicator. What does it mean to be an effective communicator? Well most people will think that it means that the person can converse well in their spoken language, mostly English. However, I think that being an effective communicator means that you can communicate to people in a manner that they are able to understand. For example if you can speak excellent english but cannot get people to understand what you want then you are not being a effective communicator. But however if you can speak the minimal english but is able to get the message across whether by using sign language or by pointing to what you want then you are exemplifying the characteristics of being an effective communicator.

Now this may not be the only way you can be an effective communicator. A person who uses strong words that is easy to understand but say a lot is also being an effective communicator. Being an effective communicator is one of the most important things that you will learn. For example, if you lived in a country where you could not speak the language that everyone uses, but you still manage to make every one understand what you are trying to say and use words like "Please", "Thank you" people would understand that you are being polite and they would be more than pleased to help. 

I would also like to thank rose and wincent for their comments. 

Five Fat Questions

What is the difference between the political system of Athens and Sparta? Why did they have this difference?

Why was the first gladiator created and why?

The Spartans were said to have powerful military and they were said to be able to fight armies ten times their size and still defeat them?

Why did the Greeks pray to the Gods in whom they believed in? Why did they believe in the Gods?

What caused the downfall of the Greeks?

What happened to the people of Greece after the downfall of Greece?

ESPRAT + G

Primarily Singapore’s focus is on financial and banking system. First, generally people in Singapore are well educated. Thus, they are skewed towards working white collar jobs rather than blue collar jobs. White collar jobs pay well thus most of the people could sustain the increasing cost of living and enjoy reasonable living conditions. 

Furthermore, the scarcity of land (about 600 sqm), the high land costs and labour costs are not attractive for other types of industries to nestle in Singapore. In particular, manufacturing industries are not in favor of setting up plants in Singapore. However, they are willing to establish their regional office or their research centre in Singapore due to the well educated and qualified people available.

The social system is based on multi-ethnic tolerance to each other’s race and religions. There are generally 3 main ethnic groups, namely: Chinese (75%), Malay (14%) and Indians (7%). The remaining 4% comprises of others. The different ethnic groups live in harmony and provide a diversity of culture. This diversity of these cultures emanate numerous delicious dishes from these ethnic groups. Its small wonder that many people label Singapore as a food paradise.  

The controlling party, People’s Action Party (PAP), has been in power since 1959. Mr Lee Kuan Yew was the Prime Minister at the “tender” age of 35 in 1959, till he stepped down in 1989 to become the Senior Minister. Mr Lee had ensured political stability for many years and had set out a solid foundation for stability and transition of political changes within the PAP, to ensure continuity of the PAP members to lead Singapore to greater heights. 

Though, a handful of opposition candidates had won seats in the parliament over 5 decades, none of the opposition parties have really posed a challenge to the one and only ruling party, the PAP. The present Prime Minister of Singapore is Mr Lee Hsien Loong, the son of the elder Mr Lee. 

Singapore is basically not rich in Arts, although the government is pushing hard to inculcate the Arts activities into the people, initiating schemes through the school system. The Art scene in Singapore generally follows the 3 ethnic backgrounds’ cultural festivals.

The 3 main cultural festivals are Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Puasa (celebrated by the Muslims) and Deepavali (celebrated by the Indians). Due to excessive western influence, Christmas is “celebrated” by all Singaporeans, more as a public holiday to have leisure and entertainment.

Singapore’s National Day falling on 9 Aug each year is also grandly celebrated by all Singaporeans and is the pride and joy of the PAP government to showcase their achievements and effort in developing Singapore to where it is now. 

Technologically, Singapore is very advance in many aspects. Whether its computer programs or mobile phones or research & biotechnology. With high purchasing power, Singaporeans could easily afford technologically advanced products. The government had spent billions on R&D, and will spend many more billions on such high-tech industries as people are the only valuable resource in Singapore. 

Geographically, Singapore is well positioned for transshipment of vessels within the S.E.Asia region. Also, the Singapore airport sits in an ideally suitable location to not only serve the lesser developed S.E.Asia countries, but also the Oceanic region comprising of Australia and New Zealand. The sea port and airport is a gateway for Singapore’s thriving economy.

The ideal location of the ports serve Singapore well in terms of economic advantages. The well developed infrastructure such as the ports, the financial & banking system and political stability provides the almost perfect ammunition for Singapore to be economically strong even in bad times.  A good portion of Singapore’s GDP is contributed from the revenues obtained from these ports’ operations and the finance sector. Singapore has reserves of approximately USD 300 billion, which many of her neighbors cannot boast about.  

The Arts scene is developing in Singapore. Historically, Thailand and Malaysia has greater depth in History and Arts. Singapore’s Arts is sometimes influenced by the Western society. Originality lacks in the Arts scene as some of the Arts activities are copies from other parts of the world. This has also to do with the multi-cultural and multi-religious society that Singapore has been coined traditionally.   

As we are all Asians and proud of our Asian cultures and show deep respect for each other’s culture, the social environment within the region is sound and stable. There are no major social problems that could have a forceful effect on Singapore, though emotional sentiments evolve from time to time within the neighboring countries.  

The government is in good stead when negotiating deals with the neighboring countries because of the ideal geographical position of Singapore. Politically, this will be an advantage. The political stability of the neighboring countries does have an impact on the political situation in Singapore.  However, the political strength of the incumbent party (PAP) has continuously ensured political stability regardless of political turmoils in the neighboring countries.

Singapore is surrounded by Muslim countries namely Indonesia, West Malaysia and East Malaysia. To a certain extent, Singapore is in a similar situation as Israel in the Middle East, but not in the same league in terms of conflicts and attacks.

Technologically, Singapore is way ahead of her geographical neighbors. Singapore usually has the latest 21st Century cutting edge technologies. The neighbors tend to take the cue from Singapore in many technological aspects.

What do governments do?

I think governments are like the heart of the country as it is the thing that controls the country preventing riots and represent the people. Even if there are kings in the nation, there will always be some kind of government present. The government controls where people can live and who has to join the army. It also collects the taxes paid by people and spreads it out to help the people. There two different kind of governments. Firstly there the kind of government that consists of only a few high ranking officials close to the King. The officials would consult the king on every matter. The advantages of this kind of government is that the King always knows what is happening in every part of his country. The disadvantage is that the government is not efficient as it takes a long time to pass laws or collect taxes. The second kind of government is the kind of government where there are many people in the government. The simple tasks of collecting taxes would be left to the government and the king would only be consulted in very important tasks.

Suspected US missile strike in Pakistan kills nine.

A suspected US attack has left many people injured and nine dead in Northwestern Pakistan. A anonymous Pakistani source has confirmed that it looked like a US missile strike. This is the forth suspected US attack which Pakistani's believe is being launched by unmanned drones. The Pakistanis have said that this unnecessary attacks have caused many innocent lives to be lost. The Pakistani government have already launched several complains to the US but no action has been taken. 

The US government has not said anything about this comments but there are a few theories which claim that Bush ordered the attacks so that Obama would have a hard time in office and not win the next election.

Display the five student outcomes.

The five student outcomes of HIS are community contributor, person of high character, active learner, effective communicator. I think a community contributor means that the person helps other people or contributes to the community. I contributed to the community by doing community service at Tzuchi where we have to pick up garbage and put it in the proper bin for recycling. I think a person of high character is  person who respects other people. I was a person of high character when we were doing rock climbing because I always supported my teammates, even how badly they were doing. I think an active learner, is a person who listens in class and does their homework on time. I was an active learner this past week because I have been handing in all my homework and listening in class. I think effective communicator does not mean a person who can speak good english. I think it can go more than that. I think and effective communicator is a person who can convey their ideas in an easy manner where other people can understand easily. I was a person of high character when I helped my team complete our humanities project.

Barrack Obama wins election

Barrack Obama, the first African American to become a president has a lot of hope and expectations on him from all corners of the world. French President Nicholas Sarkozy wrote, "Your election raises in France, in Europe, and beyond throughout the world, immense hope."

The thing that made Obama the most exciting was that he was not Bush. He promised to tie relationships with other countries and to help the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and to bring the United States of America back to the list of one of the most powerful countries in the world.

I think that Obama can bring the change needed by the world and can become one of the greatest presidents of the USA.