God's Children

I think this is a really good documentary. It showed that many people were in poverty and that for some people, garbage was their main source of income. Without the garbage, they will not be able to buy rice and they will starve. I think from now onwards, I should just be happy to have a good lunch, and not complain even if the lunch is really bad, because I still get something to eat. Also the cat scene was pretty hardcore, because it showed the cat suffering as it was being eaten by maggots, and the mother cat was there but could not do anything. That is also really cruel, because the cat would have died by now. But, the movie also showed me how important education is, because the people who were tuck in the garbage dump place were all uneducated, and so they could not find other jobs. This movie really opened my eyes and taught me some really important lessons.

Poverty Article

1. At least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day. More than 80 percent of the world’s population lives in countries where income differentials are widening.The poorest 40 percent of the world’s population accounts for 5 percent of global income. The richest 20 percent accounts for three-quarters of world income. According to UNICEF, 25,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they “die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death. ”Around 27-28 percent of all children in developing countries are estimated to be underweight or stunted. The two regions that account for the bulk of the deficit are South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. 1 billion children live in poverty (1 in 2 children in the world). 640 million live without adequate shelter, 400 million have no access to safe water, 270 million have no access to health services. 10.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5 (or roughly 29,000 children per day).
   So as the statistics show, the numbers are very drastic, and many people are dying.

A day in my life without electricity

A day in my life without electricity. I'd probably cry. Firstly, I would not be able to use my computer, because, my computer would not be able to work without electricity. Then, I would not be able to watch television, because that uses, electricity too. I would also be very cold in the winter, and very hot in the summer because the heater and air conditioners would not work without electricity. It would also be incredibly dark during nighttime, because as you guessed it, lights need electricity to work. Then, I would also not be able to use the microwave, as it requires electricity. But, at least I will be able to play soccer. So there is a bright side to this. 

Morries Aphorism Blog

Learn how to die, and you learn how to live.

This is possibly one of the best sayings in the book. It captures the entire book in one phrase. It is true, because if you learned how to die, and you accept the fact that you will have to die one day, then you will realize, that you will be able to live life to the fullest.In the book, Morrie knows that his days are numbered, and that he will die in several months. However, in that several months, he did things, that most people don't do their entire lives. He talked to old friends, and slowed down life, to understand what life truly means and what was the purpose of life. He also did something that very few people have done. He said good-bye, and he showed that he loved everyone. Before he died, he imparted as much knowledge as possible to Mitch, like a teacher teaching the class before the class ended.

Aphorism blog

Don't assume it is too late to be involved in something...

I think this is a great aphorism. This is because this aphorism is so useful. Just this week, I have proved this aphorism right. I learned that it is never too late to ask for help, and that its better late then never. I think that this aphorism would have been so helpful in my life so far. Once, when I was in grade 5, I did not do one of my homework, and the teacher told me that I could still do it, and that I could learn something. I gave him the lame excuse, that it was too late, and that there was no point in doing it. On week later, one of the questions in the final test, was from the homework. My friends got the question right, but I got it wrong. As it turned out, the two points from that question, was the difference between a B and a A. Many other times, I gave the excuse, that it is too late to do something, just because it is too late. But when I look back, I realized, that it is never too late.

Morrie Aphorism Blog 5

Be hopeful, but not foolishly hopeful. I think that this is a good aphorism, because if you are hopeful, then life feels much better, because you also feel more optimistic, and more happier. However, if you are too hopeful, then you will expect things that are nearly impossible, and then when you don't get it, you become miserable. I myself, have witnessed and experienced this before. Sometimes, I set the expectations so high, that when they do not happen, I become hopelessly miserable. I also tend to be sad for several days after that. But when I set the expectations to a possible amount, I am satisfied with what I get.  This shows that when you do not hope for too much, then we will not be too greedy. I think that this is important.

How do electrolytes work in our body?

Electrolytes are like electrical nerves in our body. They transmit messages from the brain to all the other parts of the body. That is why when we flush all the electrolytes out of our body, we will get very sick, and possibly, we may die. Electrolytes are very important because they are like our nerves. They are the communication path between the brain and our nerves. Without them, our brain would not be able to send any messages to our nerves. If this stops, then we will not be able to breathe, or move our body parts. An electrolyte is any substance containing free ions that behaves as an electrically conductive medium. Because they generally consist of ions in solution, electrolytes are also known asionic solutions, but molten electrolytes and solid electrolytes are also possible. They also use many different nerves, so the electrolytes, are like the messengers between my brain, and its nerves.

Blog: What is lightning? Why does wearing rubber shoes help you during a storm?

Lightning. It is one of the most powerful natural phenomenon, and the heat produced by the lightning strike, is as hot as the surface as the sun. As long as you study the field of electricity, then you must have studied lightning. Lightnings usually occur during storms, but they can also occur during violent volcanic eruptions when tonnes of ash is spewed, resulting in ash clouds. However, they may also occur during dust storms. Lightning is usually succeeded by thunder, and the particle at the tip of the bolt, may reach speeds of up to 60000 m/s and can reach temperatures of 30000 degrees celsius. Lightning storms occur up to 16 million times a year, and they are more likely to occur in tropical zones, where warm weather fronts collide with cold weather fronts on a daily basis. Singapore, has one of the highest frequencies with lightning strikes in the world. Studies have shown, that islands that are near the equator, have the most amount of lightning activity in the world. Why does wearing rubber shoes help people during a storm. Firstly, rubber is a material that is not very smooth. So, if you were to walk in the rain during a storm through huge puddles of water, then you would be less likely to slip and fall. However, the main reason why experts advise using rubber shoes during storms is because rubber is an insulator of electricity. Storms, are classified as huge thunderstorms, where it rains heavily and steadily and also has many lightning strikes. Lightning strikes only hurt or injure people, when there is a way for it to pass from the position on the human body that it hit, to the ground. If the electric charge can find its way back into the ground, then the person who got hit by the lightning would have an electric shock. However, if the person was wearing rubber shoes, then the electric charge would not be able to reach the ground. This means that the person would not suffer a shock, and that the person would be relatively unharmed. However, the rubber shoes is not a full proof method of escaping an electric shock. If, the person still had something that was touching him, and was connected to the ground, or vice versa, then he would still suffer an electric shock. However, I shall go one step further, and see if the presence of rain has any effects on the flow of electric charges. Water, is not a very good conductor of electricity. However, when it has salt or a chemical in it, it becomes a surprisingly good conductor of electricity. It can transfer electricity through it without losing most of the electric charges power. So if the lightning hit the water on the ground, there is a good possibility that you might get injured. However, if you were wearing rubber shoes, then you could escape.

Aphorism blog

Learn to forgive yourself and to forgive others.
I think this is one of the best aphorisms that Morrie has ever said. This phrase reveals one of the deepest flaws of humans, their inability to forgive others. I think that if we were to listen to this then many of us would lead happy and peaceful lives. I am not very good at forgiving myself, but can forgive others pretty well. I think that if I can just forgive myself more often, then I will be more happier, because I will stop feeling so miserable, and I will start looking at life with a more positive outlook then I currently see life. I think that many people make one mistake, and then sulk for one mistake. I think that people should not cry over spilt milk.

Morries Aphorism Blog

When you are utterly frustrated or angry express these feelings you don't have to be nice all the time, just most of the time.

This aphorism means that when you need help, you should get as much help as possible. If not, you may regret it later on when the problem gets bigger or you cannot handle the problem by yourself. This advice is simple, but if you follow the advice, problems can be solved very easily. I myself, have witnessed this advice first-hand, after that I realize that the only reason that the problem was solved, was that  the person who had bolted their feelings up for so long, become sad and depressed. When they finally, release their feelings, it is like a volcano, and it is much more worse then when they would have normally release their feelings.

Earth Day Blog

Earth Day is the day that we are all supposed to recycle reuse and reduce. I think that we should watch less TV, don't use elevators as much, we should turn off the lights and the Ac, but we should also take shorter showers, and don't use too much hair spray. We should also stop using too many electrical devices. We should also carpool as many people in one car as possible. We should alsotry to conserve electricity and use less elctricity. This way, we can not use so much electricity, and save the earth. I think that we should also not use as many plastic bags, and use paper bags, because then the paper, can always be recycled, while the plastic will take a long time, to recycle. 

LA 8

How would you change if you had a lot of money?

I would be very happy and would take  more risks than usual. This is because  I know that I can back up my risks financially and I would not have to worry if the risk fails. I don't care about morales because I have no morales. So this question my answer would be yes  I would change a lot.

Would your personality be different?

Yes I would not care about others and I would only think about my self. I would hire people to kill anyone who pisses me off.  I would also pay people to do my homework for me.

Would you ever take a risk to reach your goal.

Yes I would not care because I could always just pay myself out of trouble.

Would you ever  hurt members of your family just so you can be excepted by friends.

No I never did it but I would surely do it because friendship is more important.

Manchester United get lucky twice.

Manchester United aren't winning. Liverpool are, as it stands, top of the league. A goal is required. Sir Alex Ferguson has turned to an utterly untried striker. And he has delivered: once with his last touch, once with his first. Both have transformed one point into three. Both have thwarted Rafael Benitez and Liverpool as much as the side who have had to retrieve the ball from their net. Federico "Kiko" Macheda has done it again. Once was remarkable enough. Twice verges on the incredible.

  

GettyImages

Manchester United can thank the seventeen-year-old for their status as leaders of the title race.

Villa could count themselves unfortunate to be defeated by a glorious goal. Sunderland were still unluckier, beaten by a strike that contained an element of fortune. Some 46 seconds after his introduction, Macheda positioned himself in the penalty area when Michael Carrick took aim. The ball ended up, via Macheda, in the Sunderland net. The deflection may have contained more luck than judgment, but the result was the sameWhat he knows about it is immaterial," said an admirably phlegmatic Ricky Sbragia. "Everything he touches seems to turn to gold." He was almost right: everything he touches seems to turn to goals."He has got something special about him, the boy," said Ferguson. "He is quick thinking. Goalscorers have that. He's got the instinct. He isn't fazed by anything, I have had a chat with his family this week and he will be ok. He will keep his feet on the ground."That might not be easy. Players can go through an entire career without enjoying a week like Macheda's. Whereas Carlos Tevez had chugged around energetically and Dimitar Berbatov strolled around languidly without either suggesting they would score, Macheda managed it in a matter of seconds. It is now four points that can be attributed solely to the substitute. It is the difference between first and third place. It is scarcely credible.

When Cristiano Ronaldo had been left among the replacements, it appeared he was Ferguson's insurance policy. Events proved Macheda was. If his manager is grateful to the 17-year-old Italian, his team-mates ought to be. For the second successive match, their failings have been obscured by his finishing.Defensively, once again, United were fragile. There were reasons to rest, or omit, the out-of-form Patrice Evra. Nevertheless, Wednesday's Champions League tie at Porto appeared to have been prioritised with the left-back, alongside Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs and Edwin van der Sar on the bench. It meant Ben Foster was given his first Premier League start of the season and the goalkeeper appeared fallible when failing to claim Teemu Tainio's cross, allowing Kenwyne Jones to equalise at the second attempt. Later after coming of the bench, he scores the winner after Michael Carrick shot the ball and he kicked it at the other side.

Taiwan Culture

This is my reflection on the bizzarre food video in Taiwan Culture class.  The bizarre food video was hosted by an American man who had never tasted taiwanese food before. The first stop he makes is at the night market to taste the stinky tofu. At first he is hesitant as the food smells 'stinky'. However after he eats it he realizes that it is actually very tasty and he says that he thinks every tofu tastes good. However later he goes to a shop called tofu delights which specializes in cooking dishes that are made from stinky tofu. He orders the two favorites, tofu with one thousand year old eggs and the tofu burger. He first tries the burger, and he realizes that as soon as he takes a bite,  the smell fills his entire nose and mouth. However still feeling adventurous, he eats the one thousand year old eggs. After that he almost pukes in the shop as he thought that the egg and the spinach would blend the taste of the tofu. On the contrary, the eggs and spinach enhanced the taste and made it feel even worse then it actually was. His final stop in his food journey was at a shop that made every thing out of tea leaves. He ate rice and many other dishes that were made out of tea. In the end, he drank a cup of soup to top it off.

Champions League

As the UEFA champions league draws closer, I take a look at the teams and their chances. The ties are Arsenal vs Villareal, Manchester United vs Fc Porto, Liverpool vs Chelsea and Bayern Munich vs Barcelona. First lets look at Arsenal's chances of getting through to the semi-finals. Villareal are a solid team, with ex Arsenal midefielder, Robert Pires and their captain Marcos Senna and Joan Capedelva are both Spanish internationals. Arsenal have been recently in good form although many of their first team members are injured. They will need Samir Nasri Arshavin and Denilson to play at their best if they want to win the game.

Next we look at the united against Porto game. If united does not make any slip ups and play to their usual standard this will be an easy game, with Ronaldo, Rooney and Berbatov. With Ronaldo's speed and diving, Rooney's finishing and fouling players and getting away with it, it should be an easy game for United to win, though I don't expect them to play fairly.

Next we look at the two england teams playing. Well so far liverpool have been doing pretty well thrashing United's butt and then winning Aston Villa. If Torres and Gerard play with their teamwork, the chelsea defence will have some problems. However, Frank Lampard would orchastrate the midfield playing passes to the wings and still scoring. However their captain terry who is pro at missing open goals will be the piece in Chelsea which may cause them to fail. Let's hope he gets injured.

Now the final game of the round. In what I think will be the only good game, where players wont be falling down like Ronaldos or missing open goals like some England Captain, then we can all safely watch the game without feeling like we want to take a picture of them and burn it. I expect that Barcelona's strike force with Eto, Henry and Messi would give many problems to the the Bayern defence. Hopefully, Phillip Lahm will not let people run past him and score easy goals thus making himself seem like a short clown. The bayern attack will be led by Miroslav Klose who is good at scoring goals. However he scores when Bayern dont need to score, but when they need he is MIA( Missing In Action).

So hopefully the champions league will be fun and maybe some players(Ronaldo and Rooney) will get injured.

Blood Red Horse

The blood red horse book is about life in england for a knight during the crusade. The book showed the 'glamour' of warfare and what were the hardships of living during that time period. The protagonist of the story is William Thomas who is going on his first crusade as a knight. He has a blood red horse called Hossana who is about the size of a courser, but it can easily out maneuver a bigger horse. At first, when he leaves, he thinks that the crusades is going to be enjoyable and easy. However, along the way he learns all of the hardships in war and loses some of his loved ones.  

The book shows that lords were respected in the land their owned as they were the most powerful in their kingdom as they controlled everything. It took about 2 generations of families, to build a castle and usually, the lord who started the building of a castle would not live to see it. Most of the time, it was his grandson who inherited the castle. Most of the time, the first born son was the one who inherited everything that his father owned. This means that the second born son got almost nothing and had to find an alternative way to get an income. Most of the time this was from the church.  In the story William was supposed to find a way to get income, but due to the crusade, he  was allowed to become a knight and fight.

England 4 Slovakia 0

In the build up to Saturday's friendly with Slovakia all the talk had been about David Beckham setting a new record number of caps for an England outfield player, so much so that manager Fabio Capello chastised the media for not asking a single question about today's opponents in his pre-match match press conference.

JamieMcDonald/GettyImages

Wayne Rooney fires in his second goal

And the only nod to history in Capello's starting eleven was the retro new Umbro kit the squad paraded for the first time as the anthems blared at Wembley. Bobby Moore, the man Beckham would surpass when he eventually took to the pitch for his 109th cap, would not have looked out of place in it.

Capello instead chose to look to the future as he rewarded 21-year-old Tottenham Hotspur winger Aaron Lennon for his improved form at White Hart Lane with a starting place on the right of England's midfield. The youngster's emergence at the 2006 World Cup was one of the reasons that Beckham was dropped by former England boss Steve McClaren but Lennon never met expectations and his demise lead to Beckham's recall.

But now the pacy winger is back in form, back in the England team and he was quickly back into the action here at Wembley as he provided an early cross that was cut out at the near post as Emile Heskey lurked.

There have been question marks about Lennon's decision making and delivery of the final ball and his next attempted cross was deflected into the path of Frank Lampard, whose shot forced a good save from Slovakia goalkeeper Stefan Senecky, rather than delivered to his colleague by design.

Still, Capello had turned to Lennon to provide his team with blistering pace in the absence of Arsenal's Theo Walcott and his speed helped him beat the offside trap on 10 minutes. Although he made the wrong decision to pull the ball back to the edge of the box rather than shoot his immediate impact was a pre-cursor to a lively half.

When England's opening goal did arrive it came down the opposite flank as the unlikely duo of Wayne Rooney and Steve Gerrard combined to provide Emile Heskey with a tap in after only seven minutes. Rooney later scored twice while Lampard added one.

Man beheads sister

A man on a rampage fatally stabbed his 17-year-old sister, decapitated his 5-year-old sister in front of a police officer and then headed toward his 9-year-old sister with a knife in his hand before officers shot him amid what the police chief described as 'a killing field'. There was no clear motive for the events that unfolded on Saturday in a tiny Boston suburb that also is home to Governor Deval Patrick. But there was no doubt at the carnage wrought by 23-year-old Kerby Revelus against his three sisters in the two-family home they shared with their parents and grandmother. It is said that the murders came 24 hours after Revelus had gotten into a fistfight with a neighbor.  It seems that Revelus's target was the older sister, aged 17. However the second youngest sister, aged 9 called police dispatcher and within minutes an officer had arrived. Enraged, Revelus beheads the youngest sister, aged 5 in front of the officer and goes for his sister who had called the police. The police officer however shoots him and kills him. He died clutching the knife to his heart. This means that even to the end, he was a bad person and his intentions were to kill all his family members. Revelus has gone to jail before a year ago, but no details were released by the news papers. He also had gotten trouble before for punching one of the women in his house.

Britain was so alarmed by UFO sightings 20 years ago that they breifed ministers

These shocking truths were released on Monday by the National Archives as part of seven files that were recorded from 1989 to 1993. "Such stories are not normally drawn to the attention of ministers," an official noted in a memo included in the file. "On this occasion, however, the MoD has been provided with six photographic negatives of an alleged UFO by the Scottish Daily Record and has been asked for comments almost certainly for inclusion in a forthcoming story." Among the other files released were details of an anonymous female dog walker who said she met an alien who claimed extraterrestrial life was behind crop circles. The woman, who telephoned the Royal Air Force to relay her experience, said the incident happened on November 20, 1989, while she was walking her dog on a sports field. She said she was approached by a man who spoke with a "Scandanavian-type accent" dressed in a brown garment that resembled a flying suit who told her that the purpose of the alien visit was friendly. Britain's ministry of defence was handed negatives of photographs - showing a large diamond-shaped object hanging in mid-air for around 10 minutes before ascending upwards at high speed - taken on August 4, 1990, by two members of the public.

Reading Response Journal

What did the Romans contribute to society?

After the fall of the Roman empire, it took a thousand years for Europe to start flourishing again. F0r 1000 years, there were almost no art and literature in Europe and Europe entered what was called the Middle Ages, or Dark Ages. The Roman empire provided a form of stability and protection for Europe. This meant that during the Roman empire, Europe understood what was the position of everyone and had stability. Everyone understood what their job was and what was expected of them. They knew that they had to give a certain amount of their crops to the Romans and that they had a set of laws that they had to follow or be punished. The Romans also provided protection for Europe. The romans also ensured that none of the barbaric tribes attacked any of the towns and cities that were under their control. The barbaric tribes knew that they would be massacred if they dared attack the cities. After the fall of the roman empire all of this changed. Towns and cities were no longer protected by the soldiers and were continuously pillaged by rogue knights and mercenaries. Europe also did not have any of form of stability and it was a free for all. It was impossible to travel through trading routes without being attacked by bandits. People could kill each other for no reason and get away with it. It took 400 years for Europe to finally get a form of stability back and stop people from being continuously robbed.

Nitrogen Passport Activity

Today we did a Nitrogen Passport Activity in science class. We had to go around to different stations and then start to try and see what cycle we would take. Well not everyone went in the same order because everyone started at different stations and rolled the dice with different numbers. This means that each person follows a different cycle and a different path. The station I started at was animals waste. When looking at the results of this experiment I can tell that cycles repeat itself. The cycle I went through repeated itself halfway, which shows that I took the same path again. This explains why cycles are called cycles. Like the wheels on a bicycle, a cycle always repeats itself as long as there is no interference from other sources.  I noticed however that the stations surface water and ocean were usually crowded. This means that most of the nitrogen passes through either the ocean or the surface water or both. This could  be due to the fact that rain usually has nitrogen particles trapped inside of it.  The nitrogen particles were most of the time transported by water or liquids. Since the ocean and surface water are the biggest sources of water and liquid around, I assume that most of the nitrogen ends up there. I think that the point of the activity was to understand the different ways nitrogen can be transported from one place to another. The nitrogen can be transported by many ways but mainly through water as that is the most abundant source on the planet with 70% of the planet being covered by water. Water also has its own cycle which means that the nitrogen can be transported over long distances in rain clouds. 

Medieval Simulation blogpost

I am Sir Gérard de Ridefort, Earl of Desmond. I am known as a Knight Templar's Leader or the Grand Master. My duties are to the King and my country. Knights during the Medieval ages were considered an elite group of soldiers who were important. Thus, they rode on horseback and held a lance and a sword. Knights were very important during a battle and they were usually the first to be attacked during a war. However, due to the fact that Knights rode on horses, they were able to where a lot of heavy armor to protect them. A Knight's inventory would include a lance, a double-edged sword, about 25 kg of armor and about three to five horses. Usually out of the five horses only two or three would be a warhorse. A knight also traveled with a squire and a groom. The squire was a like the Knights' servant and would clean the Knights armor and polish his weapons. Before a battle, the squire would also help to put on the Knight's armor. The groom was the man or boy, who would clean and take care of the horse. If the horse got any major injury, then the groom would look after a horse. Usually the quality and fitness of the horse depended on the groom. This gave the Knights a huge advantage over foot soldiers. The Knights could rest before a battle as the squire and groom would make sure that everything was ready for the Knight. The other advantage, was that because the Knights rode on horse back, they had more stamina and they could wear extra armor for added protection. This is why Knights were considered a major part of the military during the Medieval times. 

Bullfights

Are bullfights humane. Well this blog post will describe what happens in a bullfights and what are the dangers. Bullfights originated from the 700s when there was a celebration for the crowning of the new king of Spain. Ever since then it has become one of the most celebrated sports of the modern day Spain. Before a bullfight, the bull is starved for several days. This makes it extremely touchy and irritated. The bull is then released into the ring facing the bullfighter. Then the bullfighter does a faena around the bull dodging and then missing the bull while waving a red cape in front of it. However in bullfights things rarely go smoothly. There have been many cases of bullfighters dying or losing a limb because of an accident. Sometimes even the crowd is in danger as an angry bull can charge at them and attack them. However if you think that is bad, look at it from the bull's point of view. After the faena the bullfighter takes out a sword and kills the bull mercilessly. The crowd would then applause the matador for how fast he killed the bull. The faster the better. So now that I have given you my view on bullfighting it is up to you to decide whether bullfighting is a humane sport or not.

Humanities Medieval

This blog post is to describe two of the characters from the Blood Red Horse and explain what I have learned about the life of the Medieval people during the 1100s. The two characters that I will explain about are William and Gavin. Both of them are sons to Sir Thomas De Granville. Gavin was the oldest son, 4 years older than William. Gavin seems to be a bully and uses his power and wealth to make other people obey what he wanted them to do. Since he was also the eldest son of Sir Thomas De Granville, he inherited all of the wealth and fortunes that the De Granville family had. It also means that he gets to marry Ellie. However after Gavin comes back from the first crusade, he became a much more dark person. He did not care about any one but himself. He proves this by using Hosanna till she is almost dead. Will is the younger son of the De Granville family. He is kind and likable. However he is very strong willed and once he made up his mind to do something, he would not be stopped by anyone. He also has a special bond with Hosanna the horse that he had gotten as hiss first warhorse. At times they would seem to be together matching each other with exact thoughts.

The 1100s was the when the crusaders had lost Jerusalem back to the muslims and were launching a second crusade to take the country back into control. The Crusader army at that time consisted of the Holy Roman army, England, Germany, France. The Crusaders attacked Jerusalem several times after the first Crusade to regain the Holy City( Jerusalem ) back into the Christian hands. The Pope had also just claimed that the people who died fighting for the cause of the Christian Empire would be sent to heaven immediately. However they believed that animals had no souls so they would not go to heaven. 

LA 8

The Clock Of Life

"The clock of life is wound but once,
And no man has the power 
To tell just when the hands will stop
At late or early hour.

To lose one's wealth is sad indeed. 
Too lose one's health is more. 
To lose one's soul is such a loss 
That no man can restore."

Today, only is our own.
So live, love and toil with a will.
Place no faith in tommorrow,
For the clock may soon be still.                                                                                                                     By Robert H Smith

The meaning of this poem is a very deep one which explains the roots of life and what we should do with our lives. The sentence " The clock of life is wound but once," means that we only have one chance to live our life. We will not get another chance to live our lives. The next sentence" And no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop" means that no one knows when they will die. "At late or early hour" means that it you can die young or old. 

"To lose one's wealth is sad indeed, To lose one's health is much more" means that even though wealth is important, health is much more important. " To lose one's soul is such a loss that no man can restore" means that if you lose the will and health to survive then no one can help you. "Today is your own means that you only own today and must do whatever you want to finish today now.

Summarine Smash day reflection

Smash Day was really fun. We had to make a periscope to use so that we could see the items in a box that was on the table. The items that were given to us were 10 pieces of paper and 6 pieces of cardboard. 4 mirrors were also given. My advice to anyone who is trying to make a periscope is never cut anything. You should bend or twist but never bend. If you were to bend or twist you could still change it. But if you cut it you cannot change it. You should also go for the simplest easiest method. I saw a team who made it so complicated and in the end because of a small piece of miscalculation the entire periscope was useless. Duke, Me and Alex Wu used the simplest method where we did not reflect anything but just saw straight through the mirror. You should use the simple method and then make neccesssary changes to the periscope.

Blog #1

I think Duke is an effective communicator. Even though he is Korean, he can speak relatively well. However that is not what makes Duke such a good communicator. He is able to explain almost anything even if he doesn't know the word in english. He also uses hand signs to explain his actions.  He also has a way of making you be able his ideas even if they seem absurd at first. I think this is what makes Duke such an effective communicator. He can explain anything and will not give up till you understand what he is saying or explaining. He is determined to make sure that everyone understands what he is saying. He can also communicate in other ways. We can communicate through head nods and understand what the other person is saying. Through this way we can even pass jokes to each other. 

Effective communication

Effective communicator is the ability to convey messages to people wether verbally or by other forms of communication. Effective communicator is communicating to people properly and making them understand what you want or what your idea is. Effective communication is important in the future you will have to use it in future work or other stuff. In work, problems may come up. During this time your effective communication will be tested as you will need to explain the problem to others and then try and find a way to solve the problem. You will also need to talk to other people on the phone so then you will need to tell them anything you want to happen or anything you want done. 

Youngest Guantanamo prisoner is released.

The youngest prisoner to have ever gone to Guantanamo Bay has been ordered to be set free as the federal judges decided he was not a militant. He judge ruled Mohammad el-Gharani was not an enemy combatant and directed the military "to take all necessary and appropriate diplomatic steps to facilitate the release" of el-Gharani from the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Another Guantanamo detainee, Canadian Omar Khadr, was 14 or 15 when he was captured six years ago. Military prosecutors formally charged him in April 2007 with killing Sgt. Christopher James Speer, a U.S. soldier whose reconnaissance patrol was ambushed in Afghanistan in 2002. The American died nearly two weeks later. Khadr and el-Gharani remain among the youngest of Guantanamo's approximately 250 prisoners.

Day 18 of the Israeli war

The Israeli war enters its 18th day with 1000 casualties and there are at least 2000 injured and many more homeless. The Egyptians in Egypt believe that a truce will happen in 5 to 6 days so that barrack obama will enter office in a truce rather than in the middle of a war. The war has also been having a massive effect on both teams.But news reports on Thursday spoke of tank fire and fierce fighting in several parts of Gaza while the military said at least 10 rockets and mortars fired from Gaza hit southern Israel. Also on Wednesday, nine Israeli human rights groups called for an investigation into whether Israeli officials had committed war crimes in Gaza. The groups say that tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza have nowhere to flee, the Gaza health system has collapsed, many people are without electricity and running water, and some are beyond the reach of rescue teams. The Israeli human rights groups that called for an investigation said that while they believed that it was legitimate for Israel to bomb military installations, it was a violation of international law to hit civilian sites and government buildings that contained no weapons.

Ben Hur movie

The Ben Hur movie showed that not all the Jews trusted Jesus. Most of them went to listen to his preaches but never actually believed he was the son of god. The Ben Hur movie depicts the chariot racing in great detail. It seems that the chariot racing was very popular in ancient rome as there were at least a thousand people in the stands watching the chariot racing. The horses seemed to be very fit and trained. Ben Hur's horse was very well trained as it was able to jump over one of the wrecks and still continue running. The chariot racing was also a very dangerous sport as they were to chariot drivers who got injured in the race. One of them even died after being stampeded over. The winner of the chariot race was given a crown of olives, which symbolized, godliness and power. This was because the romans believed that the winner of the chariot races were very powerful and sacred. The race that Ben Hur raced in was very important as racers from many countries came to take part. This is like in the modern day football where the countries compete for fame. However I think that the race between Messalah and Ben Hur was much more than just for the countries honor. This is because Ben Hur blamed Messalah for imprisoning his mother and sister and believed that they had died in the prison. I also learned that leprosy in the ancient times was considered a unholy disease and people believed that if you had a leprosy and breathed into another person's face than that person would get leprosy. The people with leprosy would go to an underground cave and stay there away from all the other people.

Israel wonders whether to have a truce.

The Israeli war enters its 12 day of conflict as the death toll mounts. Several Israeli shells hit the United Nations school in Gaza killing many women and children. The world has been putting pressure onto Israel to stop the war and have a truce, but Israel is determined to put and end to the Hamas firing rockets into the civilian areas of Israel. Meanwhile, the Hamas continue to fire rockets into Israel. The rockets have reached further than before, one even reaching 20 miles from Tel Aviv. The military identified two Hamas operatives, Imad Abu Asker and Hassan Abu Asker, as having been killed. The Israeli war has left many dead or wounded and is one of the major issues for the week. The United Nations spokesman has said that an independent inquiry will be carried out and that the people who were found to have broken the humanitarian laws will be brought to justice.

Ben Hur movie

I learned that the slaves on the Battleships had to row in time with the drum beats and that they had many different speeds like battle speed and ramming speed. The ships also shot fire catapults at their enemies and they used sword and shields to fight in close range combat. They also used the front of their ship to ram into other ships and destroy them. The slaves who rowed the ship were also tied to it with metal chains. If the ship sank, then all the slaves on the ship would die and they would be whipped if they tried to escape from the ship. However I realized that most of the men on the ships were not very strong or muscular and that they were pushed to their limits. They were also whipped if they did not row the ship.

I also learned that in the ancient times Chariot racing was very popular, like soccer, and that if you were a good chariot racer then you would be very well known and very wealthy. Ben seems to be a very good chariot racer and is adopted by one of the Roman councils. He becomes very wealthy and is no longer looked down as a slave but people talk to him and treat him like their friends. I think this demonstrates how bad slavery is in Rome in the ancient days as the slaves are treated badly and left to die while the rich people have parties and go to the colosseum for entertainment. This shows that life in ancient rome is based solely on the class system the people were in. 

Israel war with Gazza

The Israeli war with Gaza has gone into it's 11th day with both sides having casualties. The war started when the Hamas started shooting missiles into Israel. The Israeli authorities waited for a few days but eventually gave up any peace talk and sent the military in. The Israeli military which is one of the strongest in the world has been capturing and killing many Hamas. The Hamas claim that they have killed at least 30 Israelis but the Israelis have claimed to have killed at least 130 Hamas.

There is also a rumor going around that the Israeli have sent a phone call to every phone in Gaza which says that they are going to wipe out the Hamas. This contradicts the Israeli prime ministers claims that they are only trying to stop the missiles that are being launched into Israel. The Israeli army has already proved to be one of the top armies in the world and even though they are surrounded by Muslim countries they are still the most feared country in that region. The Israeli army has been conducting bombings on the tunnels that the Hamas used to transport their missiles. 

Movie about ancient Rome

The Ben Hur movie shows that the ancient romans wore their armor according to their ranks. For example the high ranking officials have capes and they have head helmets to wear that have different signs on their helms. For example the soldiers wore helmets that had straight rows of red hair on the helms. The higher ranking Generals had helmets that had bushy manes on top of them which looked like horse's manes. They were also the only ones who were allowed to ride on horses so I think that the helmet shows who were the higher ranking people who could use the horses of the roman empire. The body armor also came with differences in as they varied in ranks. The soldiers had silver armor. The high ranking Generals had gold color armor. They also had emblems on their armor but I could not see it clearly so I think that it also had something to do with the ranks. The normal people like the Jews wore clothing that looked very thin and could be torn easily. The rich Jews were able to have slaves but looking at Ben Hur I think that they treated their slaves like their friends. I think that the Romans were not that kind to their slaves. The video also showed that the Romans gave some "condemned" man their lives if they worked on the battleships that Rome had. This was shown in the scene where the Roman soldier would say that the men were condemned to death and they were only given their lives if they were to work on the Roman battleship and row the battleship.

I discussed this post with Duke.