Juegan's Blog

Humorists

2011-03-11T19:59:00.000-08:00

Prompt:

In his 2004 book, Status Anxiety, Alain de Botton argues that the chief aim of humorists is not merely to entertain but “to convey with impunity messages that might be dangerous or impossible to state directly.” Because society allows humorists to say things that other people cannot or will not say, de-Botton sees humorists as serving a vital function in society.

Think about the implications of de Botton’s view of the role of humorists (cartoonists, stand-up comics, satirical writers, hosts of television programs, etc.).

Alain de Botton, the author of Status Anxiety, argues that the chief aim of humorists is to “convey with impunity messages that might be dangerous or impossible to state directly.” He proposes that humorists are allowed by society to say things that people do not want to hear or believe, ergo serving a vital role in society. However there is a major difference between humorist and their purposes that they are conveying these messages is the biggest factor that distinguishes them.

There are two kinds of satirist; one the entertainer and the other the enlightener. These two may give a speech the same topic, but each one is fundamentally different and their effects on society or the audience is polar opposites. The only aim of the entertainer is to make the audience laugh or be amused and in a large scale-- to earn money. However the aim for the enlightener is to force people to come to terms with society’s failings; and in the large scale try to bring about a change in society. They also present their arguments in very different ways since the entertainer will want the end result to be humor, while in the enlightener’s case, humor is usually a bi-product that is produced since the claims they propose are utterly ludicrous. Why is it then that humorists who aim to make people laugh are unable to get the message across to the people. The main reason for this is the stereotypes that exist among these comedians. In general society these people are viewed a light hearted individuals who make people laugh. Therefore anything that they may say will be viewed in such a manner and lose its importance. Take for example Russell Peter a famous comedian. In one skit he talks about how beating ones child, usually a tabooed topic in our modern society. However since it is Russell Peter everyone takes it a light hearted manner losing the seriousness of it and instead focusing more only on the actual jokes themselves. It is highly unlikely that any of the audience members that night went home thinking about child beating and its consequences, nor did they take any learning experiences away from that event. Why? It is simply because once the aim of the person conveying the message is to entertain the people, the humorist immediately loses the ability to send the messages to the people as they are only interested in the jokes.

However with satirist who have the main objective of conveying messages to people and trying to bring about change in society, they present the problems of society and then argue from a very immoral stand point that is laughable and therefore the humor is a bi-product of their argument. One very prominent example would be Jonathan Swifts A Modest Proposal where he argues that the best way to stem the rise of poverty in Ireland is to eat poor peoples babies as a food product domestically. He presents facts and many arguments to support his claim and as a result of this outright ridiculous idea people are usually humored by it. But since his aim is not merely to entertain the audience, his arguments also shed light on the Irish’s plight at that time and how the wealthy landowners were metaphorically “devouring” the Irish people. Although while keeping up his facade he clearly states the many problems with society and in his rebuttal he states his true ideas of how these can be changed. He forces society to come to terms with its problems not by exposing it directly, but rather by forcing his audience to come to the conclusion themselves.

Undoubtedly the latter kind of humorists serve a vital role in society, just as Alain de Botton states as they have the ability to use their facade to bring light tabooed problems with society that might otherwise be impossible to state directly. They are far more effective the humorists with the aim of entertaining people since humor is a bi-product of their arguments rather then the final result.

Freedom is an illusion of the mind

2011-02-10T22:21:00.001-08:00

Many people will claim that they have the freedom to do whatever they want whenever they want. This statement is probably one of the biggest lies that you will ever be told in your life, and most of the people who strongly believe this do not really understand just how little freedom they possess. Firstly what exactly is freedom. It is simply the act of acting, speaking or doing whatever you want without any hindrance or obstacle against it. However freedom is an illusion, an impossible goal to try and reach. Our freedom, the choices we make and the decisions we make are all affected by society, by laws, by peer pressure and countless other factors.

Society prohibits us from doing many things, not only by the laws that are created in society, but by the values and such that are in society. Say for example, you could not walk about around in public butt naked, because society frowns down upon such things and therefore doing such a thing is not allowed by society. If one were to do this society would shun you and you would probably end up in a jail or such for a charge against you. It is not the laws that stop many people from doing bad things or things that are looked down by society, but more of what other people think of them. This is the same reason that consumerism is so powerful, because society itself has caused people to give too much care about what others think of them. Another way in which people’s freedoms are curbed are by how little say they have on their life. If the government were to deicide tomorrow that all prices of eggs were going to go up by a dollar, then we would have very little say in it and most probably would not be able to do much to change it.

Freedom is an illusion of the mind, and our mind changes our freedom beliefs to fit with what society agrees with at that time. The only possibly true way to achieve freedom in a society would be to have an anarchist society, where there you could truly be free to whatever you wanted. However is too much freedom really a good thing. Probably not. Freedom is good up to a limit, up till they start to become too much of a nuisance to society. For example freedom should not be misused to spread lies in an attempt to overthrow the government, nor should it be used to create civil unrest in society. However the most important rule of freedom, and the one where upon breaking you would lose your own freedom, would be that your freedom should never curb someone else’s freedom. Everyone should have equal freedom and if someone were to ever take away someone else’s right to freedom then that person does not deserve to have freedom.

However as of now, freedom is merely used as an illusion so that corporation or governments can use it to pacify people when they make a unfavorable decision against the people. As I’ve said, freedom is an illusion.

Wikileaks?

2010-11-29T07:27:00.000-08:00

There has been a flurry of news updates claiming that Wikileaks, a site that is created to uncover and reveal confidential information has managed to get their hands on very important and confidential diplomatic cables. Exactly what impact theses leaks will have on future diplomatic ties and such is currently unknown and their true nature is still being speculated. However, my problem with this is that the government has made these documents confidential for a reason, so that secrets are not leaked outside and create unnecessary problems. These documents should be kept as such and only when the government deems it appropriate to be released should it be released. Therefore I do not agree that this site should be allowed to leak out these files which will surely cause some problems with the other countries and their diplomatic ties.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/29/world/29cables.html?_r=1&hp

Facebook claiming the word "face"

2010-11-29T06:55:00.000-08:00

The New York Times reports that Facebook is close to trademarking the word "face" to stop any other telemarketing corporation from using it. This is ridiculous. The word "face" is a common word that is used by everyday people and to trademark it due to the fact that Facebook are worried people will try to leech of their fame by adding the word "face" to their sites. Although it may be true that certain websites will try to use "face" to add some popularity to their site. However, this hardly will affect Facebook a giant social networking site and who have no connection to the other sites. In fact, as the article points out almost every business has a webpage linked to it and this ownership of the word "Face" online will create problems for these sites. How exactly the Patents and Trademarks office will allow this to past is a mystery to me. Perhaps, next the word "book" will be trademarked too.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/with-facebook-claiming-the-word-face-some-alternatives/

"Facebook Killer"

2010-11-29T06:46:00.000-08:00

Recently I stumbled upon and article that suggested that the website that topples facebook for the crown of social networking will not be a "Facebook with better features", but would rather be something entirely different. At the start of the article I was very skeptical about whether that would be the site that takes over Facebook, but at the end, I am inclined to accept that if history were to repeat itself as it so usually does, then the site that replaces Facebook will not be a site that tries to copy Facebook, but rather a site that comes up with a new innovation, that is entirely different, but renders Facebook redundant. The article provides examples of Digg.com, Myspace, Google and shows why the new social network Disapora is no threat at all to Facebook and will fail to overtake Facebook. As the article says one factor is frequently overlooked when trying to topple the web giants, the fact that the replacement must be radically different to the predecessor. People will not switch from one site to another just because the other site has one or two more better changes. They would rather stick to the same site and trust that eventually the site will update itself and make those changes. However, they wouldn't mind changing to another site which is radically different and offers a new approach to certain activities. Therefore I agree that when Facebook is toppled, it will be toppled by something entirely different from Facebook itself.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/social.media/11/26/cashmore.facebook.killer/index.html

Alcohol more harmful then drugs

2010-11-01T07:37:00.000-07:00

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11660210

A recent study done by the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs shows that alcohol is in fact more dangerous then most drugs, and that tobacco or smoking was also one of the highly dangerous substances. However I completely disagree with this study and its conclusions that it draws. Firstly it is impossible to ever possibly compare alcohol with drugs. The reason being that alcohol is so widely spread due to its legal status that it is far more used and therefore its effects are far more evident. However, drugs is illegal and therefore its use is far less obvious and evident. The second problem, is the situation in which each is used. Alcohol can be used in a normal family gathering, or in a party in small amounts where everyone uses it as a mode of relaxing. However drugs is hardly ever used in that manner and most of the time it is used by people who are either at a very low point in their life or a very high point. In that sense drugs are far more dangerous then alcohol.

Former Guerilla to president

2010-11-01T07:24:00.000-07:00

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/10/31/brazil.winner.profile/index.html?hpt=C2

Can people truly make comebacks from crime to do good? That remains to be seen in the case of Dilma Rousseff the first female president of Brazil. She was once a extremist left-wing Guerilla fighter who was tortured by the right wing party of Brazil. However, was it wise to elect a president who was a ex-guerilla warfare fighter and who had been tortured by the opposition side? Thinking about it carefully, there are many reasons as to why this could be a bad choice. Firstly, her past involvement will undoubtedly be criticized and harped upon by anyone who dislikes her. Secondly, being tortured by the opposition party would have left severe emotional tramau on her, possibly causing deep hatred towards the other side. Therefore would it be a good desicion to allow her to have a majority of the power? However, she also knows the needs of her people and she has shown that she is no afraid to get into business when it is needed, showing her mental and physical strength. Dilma Rousseff has a lot to prove to the world.

Women Rights

2010-11-01T07:10:00.000-07:00

http://insidethemiddleeast.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/01/why-is-sexual-harassment-in-egypt-so-rampant/?hpt=C1

Glancing across the headlines on CNN, I couldn't help but notice that there was an article about women's right and protesting going on in Egypt. Upon reading more I realized that the writer of the article was bringing to light how women were being treated in the middle east and just how dire the situation of women's right was. In fact, what makes women any lower then men. Women are just as capable as men and in certain situations they are in fact more useful then men. Studies in New Zealand show that males were 2.4 times more likely to exhibit antisocial behavior, with the United States Department Of Justice giving statistics to prove that men were 8 times more likely to commit homicide then women. Other statistics also prove that women are less physically violent then men, and usually approach arguments with a rational mind. Therefore, these ways of treating women as though they were lesser then men and only sex objects are in my opinion ridiculous.

14 massacred at football match

2010-10-30T19:36:00.000-07:00

Recently while scanning through the newspapers, I noticed an article titled "14 massacred at football match". The article states that in Honduras several hooded gunmen invaded and football pitch and shot the players, killing 10 instantly and 4 others en-route to the hospital. The police suspect that shootings were results of gang wars and criminals taking revenge on one another. These shootings fit together with Honduras amazing murder rate of 78.8 people out of every 100000, the highest murder rates in the world. However under no circumstances should crime be interwoven with sport. Sports is on a different level from the rest of society. It is a time for individuals to be free and enjoy themselves without prohibition. In sports, wealth, status, race, age, religion- none of it matters. It is the one time when everyone is based purely on their own abilities. Therefore, the murderous thugs who corrupt it by making people fear to play sports and such are not only killing 14 people, but affecting the whole society in that area. I believe that people like these should be hunted down and brutally and publicly executed.

Should soccer players be given privacy & how the media has affected soccer.

2010-09-27T02:39:00.000-07:00

Recently there has been a string of news reports that have surfaced, which present the private lives of famous professional soccer players for the whole world to view. Most of the time these reports mainly showcase the wrong doings and such of the soccer players. Many household names such as, Rooney, Crouch, Terry and Ronaldo have all been followed by the infamous paparazzi and have been caught having sex scandals, breaking the law, and even peeing in a dark alleyway. Now among the soccer world opinions are divided on whether these should be allowed to be published. However, before we look at this we need to first understand why this is so important. There are two vital reasons why these cases cause shock waves in the footballing world. The first reason is that these footballers are role models to hundreds of millions of people around the world, myself included. Now if one were to read reports about their idol breaking the law or doing morally and ethically wrong things, then one would subconsciously start lessening our moral standards to fit these into it. We would slowly start believing that it is all right to do such things. It is embarrassing for any soccer fan who has lived through at least 4 generations of soccer stars to witness such a thing. I cannot count myself as one of these people, but my grandfather who has watched the first world cup till now, the 20th world cup, can testify to this. During the 1970s to 1990s one would have to wait for years before they could see two events of soccer players breaking the law, such was their discipline. However now, it is a weekly event, where some soccer player is found to be taking drugs, having numerous affairs, running betting rings or connected to the mafias. This has in fact become so mundane that people hardly even care nowdays.

Recently a famous soccer player and also ex-coach, has given his view stating that having your life published by the media and having no privacy is the price to pay for international superstardom and the money that is received out of soccer. He gives some very good points and states how the paparazzi is a double edged sword. If one were able to have a clean image and play breath taking football then you could manipulate the paparazzi and spread your fame and influence wider. However having any secrets or problems and trying to hide them from the paparazzi is nearly impossible with nowdays modern technology.

I believe that the media is starting to take over football with it affecting the results of games. Rather then just the players playing the game and deciding, the media has now assumed total control over football. It has the ability to make a player shine or destroy his reputation. It may not seem like it, but one great example of how the media can affect someone is through the story of Wayne Rooney. He netted 34 goals last season a personal high for him, and made himself into one of the stars of the world. However after a ridiculously poor performance and several sex scandals, both of which were widely focused on by the press for weeks, he has had trouble scoring and has only managed one goal in the last 5 games. The media also has the ability to sway the minds of easy supporters who believe everything they read. Therefore in conclusion I think that the media is getting to much power over the footballing world and the real attention has been drawn away from the game, and more towards the drama.

Baby discovered in plane toilet bin

2010-09-13T20:00:00.000-07:00

Recently a baby was found abandoned on a flight toilet bin. The baby was found after the mother gave birth in the toilet of a Gulf Air Jet flight from Saudi Arabia to Philippines and dumped the baby in tissues in the toilet bin. The baby was discovered on landing, and although it suffered some horrible trauma it made it to the hospital where it received emergency treatment and is now stable. The mother is still unknown, but it won't be too hard to find out who the mother is, considering that the list is severely limited based on the passengers on the plane.

I despise people who do this kinds of acts. Simply, they are selfish and cruel people. Firstly if they are not ready for the baby, then they should not have had sex or should have at least used a condom. But, what is most shocking about it, is that after 9 months of carrying the baby around in their stomach, they have no problem with dumping the defenseless baby in some trash can or other worse ideas they can think of. Now, firstly no one has the right other then the baby to decide whether it should live or not. Neither the parents nor anyone else can say that the baby should die, or shouldn't be allowed to live. No one has the right to play God. Another reason that this should not be allowed to happen, is that even if the baby were to survive, most of the babies would end up living a miserable life, always having the weight over their heads, that their mother didn't care if they died. This would lead the baby down a dark path, increasing the risk that the baby would grow up to become a drug user or some other criminal.

The mothers also have a choice, if they were willing to leave the baby, then they should simply just give the baby to an orphanage or some other charitable place, where the baby will be able to grow up in a healthy environment.

Dumping a baby in a trash can, is never justifiable under any circumstances and in my personal opinion anyone who does this should be charged for attempted murder or murder.

Justin Bieber Escapes Arrest

2010-09-13T19:41:00.000-07:00

I was just surfing on the net reading the daily news on soccer, when this interesting headline popped up at me. "Justin Bieber after hitting police with a water balloon". This grabbed my attention immediately because Justin Bieber has built his reputation by being a "clean and nice" guy. This was totally unexpected by someone like this, so I clicked on the article and continued to read on it.

Apparently Justin Bieber was "horsing" around with members of his staff before a concert and threw water balloons and two police officers who were there for crowd control. One hit a police officer in his gun holster, while the other hit the police officer in his chest, but did not burst. After this he ran back to his trailer and hide there letting his body guard convince the police officers not to arrest him. The police issued a statement, which says that although the behavior was inappropriate, no further action would be taken, and a report was not even written about the incident.

I am disgusted by this for two reasons. My first reason is that Justin Bieber ran away and hid in his trailer after throwing the balloons at the officers and let his bodyguard do the talking for him. This just proves that he has no guts and that celebrities now days are getting more and more pampered and egotistical. The number of celebrities, who are nice in real life is dwindling down to a very small number now. Does being a celebrity and being famous make them any better then us? I think everyone has their own opinion on that matter, but in my personal opinion celebrities should not be given any special treatment, in fact that should be treated more harshly then the rest of the people, because they are role-models and idols to millions of people around the world. What Justin Bieber is doing, is giving a very bad impression on what is right and wrong to all of Justin Bieber's fans, especially since they tend to be very young.

The second reason that this article infuriates me is due to how the police handled the situation. If this incident has occurred but instead of being Justin Bieber, it was instead some young kid who was unknown to the world I doubt he would be let of so easily. I think now days with the celebrity status, many celebrities belief themselves invincible and able to do whatever they want. They do not think of the consequences of their actions, but rather just do whatever they feel like.

I think the police force should have been a little more harsher with Justin Bieber, although it was only a water balloon, it gives a bad idea of what is right and wrong to Justin Bieber's fans.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/7999255/Justin-Bieber-escapes-arrest-after-hitting-police-with-water-balloon.html

God's Children

2009-06-15T20:16:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-11T20:11:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-26T04:37:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-26T04:25:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-26T04:17:00.001-07:00

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

2009-05-25T19:23:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-05-22T19:50:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-05-15T21:20:00.001-07:00

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

2009-05-11T19:26:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-06T19:30:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-23T20:17:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-14T20:01:00.001-07:00

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.

2009-04-12T18:16:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-31T04:17:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-30T05:19:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-30T03:46:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-30T03:36:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-30T03:07:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-23T03:58:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-19T19:59:00.001-07:00

What did the Romans contribute to society?

2009-03-11T04:24:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-04T18:34:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-02-19T23:17:00.000-08:00

Medieval Simulation blogpost

2009-02-18T02:35:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-17T02:04:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-16T02:03:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-13T02:06:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-11T17:26:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-02T19:08:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-22T17:57:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-01-15T02:44:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-15T02:15:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-08T21:17:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-01-07T02:25:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-07T02:10:00.001-08:00

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

2009-01-05T21:27:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-05T20:43:00.000-08:00

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.

Barcelona best team in the world

2008-12-25T21:16:00.000-08:00

At the heart of the plot is Coach Josep Guardiola i Sala, who is often called Pep and whose only experience guiding a team was one season with Barcelona’s third division squad. When he was chosen to replace the Dutchman Frank Rijkaard, making him the Spanish Primera Liga’s youngest head coach at 37, many were hard pressed to see the rationale.

The question gained urgency after the team scored only one goal in Guardiola’s first two games in charge — a loss and a tie. But then, his cure for the team’s ailments seemed to kick in: Barcelona won 15 of its next 16 league games (the other was a tie), scoring 48 goals. With a little more than half the season to play, it is on pace to surpass the season-high 107 goals set by Real Madrid in 1989-90. The team enters the winter break with 41 points, its most ever at this stage, leaving second-place Sevilla 10 points behind and rival Madrid, last season’s champion, 12 points back, a lead no team has overcome to win the title.

“This team has the possibility of being one of the best in Barca history, ranking with the best of Cruyff, if it can sustain it,” said Carles Rexach, a retired coach and a former assistant to Johan Cruyff.

Cruyff led Barcelona from 1988 to 1996, when along with four league titles, it won its first European Cup (now the Champions League) and erased Barcelona’s stigma as second fiddle to Real Madrid.

2008-12-25T21:15:00.000-08:00

The problem, he said, was not that Americans spend too much, but that foreigners save too much. The Chinese have piled up so much excess savings that they lend money to the United States at low rates, underwriting American consumption.

This colossal credit cycle could not last forever, he said. But in a global economy, the transfer of Chinese money to America was a market phenomenon that would take years, even a decade, to work itself out. For now, he said, “we probably have little choice except to be patient.”

Today, the dependence of the United States on Chinese money looks less benign. And the economist who proposed the theory, is dealing with the consequences, having been promoted to chairman of the Fed in 2006, as these cross-border money flows were reaching stratospheric levels.

In the past decade, China has invested upward of $1 trillion, mostly earnings from manufacturing exports, into American government bonds and government-backed mortgage debt. That has lowered interest rates and helped fuel a historic consumption binge and housing bubble in the United States.

China, some economists say, lulled American consumers, and their leaders, into complacency about their spendthrift ways.

4yrs after Asian tsunami

2008-12-25T21:08:00.000-08:00

The whole world watched in horror 4 years ago as the worst natural disaster in the history of the earth as the tsunami hit almost seven countries killing 220 000 people and also destroyed many houses.Sri Lanka was one of the worst affected countries, with nearly 40,000 deaths. Nearly one million people in coastal areas were rendered homeless.

The Nation struggled to come to terms with the enormity of the tragedy for a number of days, but the massive outpouring of grief translated into an unprecedented relief effort with local and international support. The rehabilitation process in terms of rebuilding damaged structures including houses, schools, places of worship, hospitals is mostly complete, but the healing of mental scars will perhaps never be.

Four years on, the bitter memories of the tsunami still remain. There is one crucial difference, though. In 2004, only a handful knew even the meaning of the word tsunami (Japanese for massive tidal wave), leave alone seen one. With the tsunami behind us, there is almost 100 per cent awareness of the magnitude of the destruction that could be caused by a tsunami. People are now willing to evacuate their coastal dwellings at the merest warning or earthquake alert. This is a positive development, to say the least.

Singapore flyer is expected to be out of action for until the New Year

2008-12-25T19:30:00.000-08:00

The Singapore flyer, which is the world's biggest observation wheel is currently undergoing repairs after some unknown faulty equipment caused the flyer to shut down for six hours. The Singapore flyer's control panel on the third floor caught on fire jamming the flyer. The authorities finally managed to get everyone safely down by winching them down ropes from the flyer. Many have questioned why the safety procedures that the flyer had were so inadequate. They felt that if the london eye had broke down due to electrical failure then the authorities would be able to turn the heel manually so that the people who were stuck up there could be brought down easily. However the Singapore flyer seemed to have none of this procedures in place and the only way the some of the people were brought down was after being winched down ropes after a six hour wait. The way the management handed the situation was also criticized as many who were stuck felt that no information was forth coming as to what was happening on the ground. People who were stuck included pregnant woman, young children and elderly one as old as 75 years old. Many questioned as what would have happened if a medical emergency arise. After some hours of wait pressing needs such as hunger, thirst and the need to relive oneself become a primary concern. This episode highlighted the need for the authorities to have a better safety procedure and backup plan.

Pirates outwit the Navy

2008-12-16T03:13:00.000-08:00

In the past two months alone, the pirates have attacked more than 30 vessels, eluding the naval patrols, going farther out to sea and seeking bigger, more lucrative game, including an American cruise ship and a 1,000-foot Saudi oil tanker. The pirates seem to have been able to escape the military of at least nine nations to capture some of the biggest ships in the shipping industry. This rebellious pirate activities threatens to bring the entire shipping industry to a stand still.The pirates are recalibrating their tactics, attacking ships in beelike swarms of 20 to 30 skiffs, and threatening to choke off one of the busiest shipping arteries in the world, at the mouth of the Red Sea.The pirates are totally outgunned. They continue to cruise around in fiberglass skiffs with assault rifles and at best a few rocket-propelled grenades. One Italian officer said that going after them in a 485-foot-long destroyer, bristling with surface-to-air missiles and torpedoes, was like “going after someone on a bicycle with a truck.”

However the pirates are not the least bit worried about this and true to their motto they whiz around in their modified speed boats and evade the soldiers radar, which is supposed to be one of the best in the world. Despite tough talk, the guards are unarmed (because most countries do not allow them to bring weapons into port), so they are often forced to confront machine-gun-toting pirates with fire hoses.

Israeli person throws shoes at George Bush.

2008-12-16T02:51:00.000-08:00

An Israeli journalist has embarrassed George Bush by hurling two shoes at the President and called him a "dog" for bringing death and sorrow to the country for six miserable years. President Bush was at the conference with the Israeli prime minister to sign a agreement that stated that all American forces would be withdrawn from Israel by the year 2011. However, this occasion is now being overshadowed over the fact that a "Green Zone Area", the area with the tightest security could let such a thing happen. The journalist, Muntader al-Zaidi, got up during the meeting and said that he was going to give Bush a present from his country and the present was from all the orphans and people who died from the American campaign. He then proceeded to throw his shoes at the American President. The first shoe caught everyone by surprise and Bush had to be quick on his feet to miss it. As the guards and other journalists watched in horror, the israeli journalist proceeded to throw his second shoe which would had hit Bush in the face if the Israeli Prime Minister had not stretched out his arm to block it.

Other Iraqi journalists who witnessed the incident apologized to Mr. Bush for the man's behavior. Mr Bush, who was uninjured, tried to brush off the incident by making a joke. “All I can report is it is a size 10,” he said, continuing to take questions and noting the apologies. He also called the incident a sign of democracy, saying, “That’s what people do in a free society, draw attention to themselves,” as the man’s screaming could be heard outside.

Obama has started to create jobs.

2008-12-08T19:22:00.000-08:00

Barack Obama has now started to put together a plan to make sure that people have jobs when he goes into parliament coming January. He promises that there will be such a wide scale project that will bet put in place that will match the size of the Inter State high way that took place a decade ago. The project is said to be able to provide at least a thousand people jobs for at least five years. Obama is certainly living up to his promises he made during his presidential campaign. He is bringing new possibilities and hope that Bush did not not give to the American people. The American people will be very happy when they see Obama become president coming January. The current economic crisis has caused many people in the United States Of America to lose money and jobs. The new scheme provides a light at the end of a dark tunnel to those people.

I think that Obama has done a excellent job so far and he is truly trying his best to make this world a better place as he promised. He has now stated that he is thinking about removing the US soldiers in Iraq and has also proposed this new system where he creates more jobs for people so as to help them with their economic crisis.

Police kill two terrorists.

2008-11-28T03:01:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-20T19:18:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-11-18T03:23:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-11-18T03:03:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-11-18T02:30:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-16T02:22:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-16T02:20:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-11-13T03:41:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-13T02:38:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-12T01:59:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-11T04:02:00.000-08:00

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?

2008-11-11T02:36:00.001-08:00

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.

2008-11-07T01:50:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-11-06T02:00:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-06T01:44:00.000-08:00

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.

Taliban kill foreign aids worker.

2008-10-20T05:22:00.000-07:00

The worker was killed by gunmen who were riding on a motorbike after she preached about christianity in Afghanistan. This comes only weeks after Taliban tried to negotiate with the king of Afghanistan for peace. The Taliban have claimed full responsibility for the attacks. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the death, saying on its Web site that it killed the "foreign woman" for preaching Christianity in the country.

I think that the murder of the helper was a tragic event as she was trying to help the country prosper and because she preached about christianity. It is also sad because the Taliban were on the edge of negotiations when this murder happened which may cause an uproar.

Lawsuit

2008-10-16T03:09:00.000-07:00

A judge has thrown out a Nebraska state legislator's lawsuit against God, saying the Almighty wasn't properly served because of his unlisted home address.

State Sen. Ernie Chambers filed the lawsuit last year seeking a permanent injunction against God. He said God has made terroristic threats against the senator and his constituents in Omaha, inspired fear and caused "widespread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth's inhabitants."

I think these kind of people are mad and they are attention-seeking people.

Singapore law suit

2008-10-15T03:12:00.000-07:00

Singapore's High Court on Tuesday ordered a prominent government critic, Chee Soon Juan, his sister and his political party to pay $416,000 in defamation damages to the prime minister and his father. Mr. Chee, his sister, Chee Siok Chin, and the Singapore Democratic Party had been convicted for implying that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his father, the former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, had been involved in corruption. On its Web site, Mr. Chee’s party said the ruling might bankrupt it. Mr. Chee was forced into bankruptcy in 2006 by a separate $300,000 fine for defaming the elder Mr. Lee and another former prime minister, Goh Chok Tong. Singapore’s leaders often use defamation lawsuits against critics; opposition leaders say they are a political weapon used to silence them.

The same fate had been suffered by many other political leaders who were gaining popularity.

Christian Bussineesman killed in Iraq

2008-10-13T17:00:00.000-07:00

A christian businessmen was shot dead in Iraq after the conflict in Iraq between the two religions continues. The businessman was shot as the tension between the muslims and christians continue to rise. Some fear that the killing may cause and all out war.

Is a stack of 5 1nt coins more dense or a stack of 20 1 nt.

2008-10-09T03:14:00.000-07:00

The stack of 20 1 nt coins is more dense than the stack of 5 1nt coins because the density will change as long as the volume or the mass of the object is different than the mass of the object will. The volume is more and the mass is more for the 20 stack so the 20 stack is more dense.

Taliban are seeking peace

2008-10-06T04:32:00.000-07:00

Taliban are seeking peace and holding talks with the government of Afghanistan and are seeking to sever ties with the al queda terrorist association. The al queda had been supplied a major amount of weaponary recently and they were looking to attack the united states of america. The taliban were responsible for the twin tower bombings and had been listed as a terrorist organization until recently.

The talks are being hosted by the king of Afghanistan. According to sources taliban leader Mohammed Mullar Omar high on the us most wanted list was not present but his representatives were keen to stress that it would be good if they worked together.

Suicide bombers kill 20 people

2008-10-02T04:05:00.000-07:00

As Muslims celebrated the close of the fasting month a group of suicide bombers killed at least 20 people in attacks on two mosques during early morning prayers in different areas of Baghdad early Thursday, the authorities have said.

The attacks were the second wave this week during a lengthy public holiday. In the middle class district, an area of southeast Baghdad with a mixture of people of different religions, a car bomber rammed a taxi into an armored vehicle guarding the entrance to a compound, killing eight people, including two Iraqi soldiers. The attack took place in neighborhood whose population is heavily religious. This is the second attack this week and the authorities fear that the bombings may continue and has urged the terrorists behind the bombings to stop.

Searchers believe that they have found the body of a missing man.

2008-10-02T03:42:00.000-07:00

Searchers think that they have found the wreckage of missing millionaire Steve Fosset who has been missing since last year . These reports have come after a rescue team located a plane wreckage in a forest. The search team were dispatched after the credit cards of the missing man was found by a hiker on 23 september. The sheriff of the county has revealed that the credit cards belong to the missing man and that a team had been dispatched to comb the wreckage.

Fosset had said that he was going for a pleasure ride and that he was to come back for lunch after several hours at a hotel owned by a hotel magnate. When Fosset failed to return a search including thousands of volunteers a hundred officials and about a dozen planes was carried out. The search was officially suspended on October 7 2006. Fosset was famous for flying around the world in a balloon and in a plane without refueling. He became rich from financial investments and financial service industry.

Why did we spend three days studing mass and volume.

2008-10-02T03:31:00.000-07:00

The relationship between mass and volume have with matter is that mass and volume define what is matter. For example, if the object has mass and volume than the object is a matter. Some things like air have indefinite volume and can be compressed to a certain limit. These objects are still matter because they have a volume and mass. Examples of objects that are not matter are light, shadow, dream and ideas. That is why I conclude that I think we learned mass and volume for three days is because it is the key points that identify matter.

Stampede kills 100 people in India.

2008-09-30T03:18:00.000-07:00

A stampede kills a hundred people in India. Reports state that there were more than two thousand five hundred people trying to get up to the hilltop temple when the stampede broke out. The pilgrims were going to the temple to pray because it was the first day of a religious festival in India. The temple stampedes are not unusual because a month ago a hundred and thirty people were killed because they were trying to flee the same temple after false rumors were passed that there was a landslide. In January last year two hundred and fifty people were killed in a pilgrimage in Maharashtra.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/09/29/india.stampede/index.html

Copter crash

2008-09-29T20:44:00.000-07:00

In UK a copter crashed in Maryland and killed for of the five people on board. This is the latest disaster in aviation. Experts have said that planes were more safer because at least they could glide but a copter would gostraight down. The accident was technical problems.

Is air a matter?

2008-09-24T18:03:00.001-07:00

A matter is a object that takes up space and has mass. If you were to weigh a empty balloon and a balloon with air, the balloon with air will be heavier. This proves air has mass. To prove that air takes up space you can a syringe with a rubber stopper and the end and try pushing it in. No matter how hard you try the syringe will never go all the way in.

My culture

2008-09-22T19:56:00.000-07:00

Singapore is a migrant country. Citizens of Singapore came from India, China, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. My grandfather and grandmother came from a Indian state called Kerala, in the 1930s. They speak a language called malayalam and are known as Singaporean Malayalese. My family follows the Hindu traditions. We pray to hindu gods at home everyday and go to temple once a week. We celebrate many important Hindu festivals like Deepavali, festivals of the lights and the Tamil New Year. On certain auspicious days in the indian calendar we refrain form eating meat. For married woman, they have to wear a thali around their necks and a red dot on their fore heads to show they are married.On auspicious days, the grandchildren fall at grandparents legs and seek their blessings for a good future and health. My grandparents still expect us to follow old indian traditions like not cutting our fingernail and hair on Fridays and not sweeping the floor with a broom on certain auspicious days as they believe it will sweep away our good luck.

Surviors of hurricane Ike shocked by the storm's power.

2008-09-15T06:16:00.000-07:00

Hurricane force winds were felt as far as Kentucky as survivors are shocked by the storms ferocity. The 115 mph winds were blamed for the deaths of at least 15 people and brought heavy rain in which caused low lying areas such as Chicago to flood and in the gulf of mexico rescuers are still looking for and estimated 20000 people who dismissed the storm evacuation order and decided to brave out the storm. A strong gust of wind ripped of the roof of the hangar of an airlines at the Northern Kentucky airport. Another death blamed on the hurricane winds was that of a man who was killed after a strong gust of wind caused a nearby tree to collapse on his trailer and kill him. Much of the Texas-Louisiana was declared a major disaster area.

Typhoon Sinalaku slams into Taiwan as China waits for their turn

2008-09-15T03:40:00.000-07:00

Typhoon Sinalaku hit the llan county with heavy rain and strong winds. Taipei was affected badly and some parts of Hsinchu was flooded. Many low lying areas were flooded and China is now waiting to be hit within a few days. The storm was said to be a category 4 storm although some parts of Taiwan escaped.

Wind slams as Ike nears a Category 3 hurricane

2008-09-13T00:26:00.000-07:00

Hurricane Ike hits the island of Gavelston as it nears power and become a category 3 hurricane.The wind could be felt at the national airport 50 mile away from the storm.The storm has caused 1.3 million customers to lose electricity and fires have broken out across the island. The wind is much stronger than expected and authorities fear that high-rise apartments may be hit harder than predicted. They have announced that it is no longer save to evacuate as it is too late

Why students should blog?

2008-09-09T03:15:00.000-07:00

Students should blog because it allows them to express themselves, freely and also read what other people feel about certain issues. I like blogging because I can write freely without worrying whether my answers are right or wrong.I also like reading other people blogs because I can read what they think

Ike weakens but forecasters warn of war drama ahead

2008-09-08T04:32:00.000-07:00

With winds around 105mph Hurricane Ike, the Category 3 storm is expected to devastate the gulf of Miami waves as high as fifty feet crashed down and killed seventy-three people.

French Hostages Freed

2008-09-05T21:01:00.000-07:00

Two French citizens who had been kidnapped in Nigeria have been released reported the French foreign ministry.They are expected to be in France over the next few days. The two had been seized over an oil industry hub.

North Korea nuclear deal faces setback

2008-09-05T20:34:00.000-07:00

An international effort to denuclearize the N. Korea ran into another major setback after it emerged that N. Korea had started reassembling it's main nuclear reactor. North Korea began disabling the reactor at Yongbyon last year in return for economic aid, and its removal for a US list of countries that sponsor terrorism. Allegedly, North Korea had started to rebuild the nuclear reactor because it was not removed from the US list. The White House has demanded N. Korea inspectors to be allowed to come into the suspected facilities without warning.