8 Is a Difficult Age

Young 8 year old boy awaiting his court hearing to face two counts of premeditated murder in the shooting death of his father, Vincent Romero, 29, and a co-worker, Timothy Romans, 39. There is currently no known motive for the shootings. No problems at school or any reports of abuse. The police are hoping the boy will be tried as an adult. The killings took place in a small town of about 4,000 people located roughly 170 miles northeast of Phoenix.
The significance of this article is that an 8 year old boy, for no reason, picked up a .22 and killed two men. The article contains only pure facts about what occurred.

SMASH Day

Our group built a tower that was awesome but not working properly. I was not using my teamwork skills, because my teammates would not listen to my ideas. That is why I started my own group with my personal paper and only 10 cm of tape, while everyone else had a meter of tape. I should have stuck with my group. Tape makes all the difference.

Liquid Column

The column had multiple liquids in it all of different colors. The liquids were separated because of their densities. The denser the liquid the closer to the bottom it will go. The formula to find density is volume over mass. When we dropped solid objects into the column some floated on top, some sank to the bottom, and some floated in the middle. The object only sunk to where the were denser than the liquid. For example, a small piece of wood floats on the very tap, and a marble sinks to the bottom. The objects in the middle floated in the middle because they were denser than the liquids above them but less dense than the liquids below them. For example, Hot glue gun glue stick floated in the middle. After we tested this out we mixed up the liquids in the column and made them one color. My guess is that they will be separated again by next class on Monday, October 12th.

Is Air Matter?

Yes, Air is matter. Matter is the substance or material of which all things are made. Matter has mass. Matter has volume. Air weighs very little, but takes up a lot of space. Air is still matter. If you put a balloon in an empty bottle and try to blow it up you cannot. This is because the air in the bottle has nowhere to go. But, when you poke a hole in the side of the bottle the balloon can be blown up, because it pushes the air out through the hole. This means that air is matter.

Hope..?

I’m sitting here on my own,
Wishing someone would approach,
And ask me how I am,
I sit and wait,
But no one comes,
I feel more alone as time goes on,
I know nobody’s coming,
But what does it matter?
Sometimes hope is all it takes,
To make a dream come true,
I keep hoping someone will come,
That someone will care,
But it’s no use,
I’m sitting here on this edge,
But nobody cares,
I’m bound to jump one of these days,
Or maybe I’ll be pushed…

Benevolent Dictators- Persuasive Essay

Jordan Willis
Benevolent Dictators
Humanities
6/10/08

Some people may say that having a dictatorship is never the right choice. Although, Some people would argue that in certain cases a country may need to be led by just one man/woman to help better the nation. I think that usually dictatorships are not good, but, also that there are some times that a benevolent dictator is the best/only choice for the country.

Some people would say that any type of dictator is wrong. Just look at all of the terrible things that Hitler did. Hitler was pure evil, and once he received the power he started to abuse it. He became power hungry and started killing people for no good reason. He killed and destroyed so many people and families. Having one leader/dictator, like Hitler, is never okay. All people, if receiving too much power, will abuse their power. Never is having any type of dictator all right. Power changes people, usually for the worst. If you give a single man/woman power they will almost always use it to better their own lives and not care about their country. A country should not accept dictatorships of any kind.

Some people do believe that having a benevolent dictatorship is acceptable. One of the things a benevolent dictator can do to help his/her country is to help the economy and better the living quality of for the people. A democracy can do the same thing but a dictator does not need the approval of others to progress in his decisions. A dictator could make choices on their own to better the economy and living standards of the people. Yes, Hitler did kill a lot of people and become extremely power hungry, although he did a lot to help his nation as well. When Hitler first came to power Germany’s economy was very poor after the end of World War I which Germany had lost, leaving them in great debts. While in power Hitler found ways to help Germany become more economically strong. He assisted the whole country by getting them out of an economic hole left after World War I and back on their feet. Hitler made the peoples lives much easier while in power. He may have done a lot of bad things, however, he did help improve Germany.

There are some circumstances that a country will need just one leader to make the best decisions for the country, for the people.

Sometimes having one man/woman leading the country in a time of need is what has to be done, because one person can make quick, easy decisions . A benevolent dictator will be a great help to the nation. He/She will not let the power go to their heads, although, you cannot tell how power will effect different people. Some may have enough self control but others may let the power go to their heads. You can never tell until it happens. They will do what they can to not become power hungry. Benevolent dictators do what they can to help out their country not themselves. If the USA entered another Depression I believe that a benevolent dictator would be the best choice to help them, even if he/she is only in power until the Depression came to an end. For example, the US of A's previous depression. During this time the Us had a democratic government. The depression grew worse and lasted for a long time. A benevolent dictator could make decisions that best benefit the people.

Sometimes having one man/woman leading the country in a time of need is what has to be done. An example of when a benevolent dictator was needed is Saddam Hussein. Though he was not a dictator he was still a powerful figure who was able to keep the peace throughout his nation. He was the dictator in Iraq. Iraq is separated into three groups, the Kurds to the North, Sunni to the West, and the Shia in the East. All three groups hate each other, but with Saddam as dictator they got along better or at least did not fight. He may not have kept everybody getting long, but he kept them separated so no conflict would occur. Saddam was able to keep his people under control so Civil War did not break out. Even if Saddam used fear to keep everyone together he still kept everyone in order. Now, with Saddam gone Iraq has broken out into a massive Civil War. Saddam is what was holding Iraq together, and with him gone Iraq is falling apart.

So, some believe that, under certain circumstances, having a benevolent dictator is the only choice a country has. A benevolent dictator can help your countries economy grow, they can keep peace in the society to make sure there are no civil wars. People may say that any form of dictatorship is wrong, well, I would have to disagree.

Its Funny...

Its funny how hello is always accompanied with good-bye
Its funny how remembering good memories can make you cry
Its funny how forever never seems to really last
Its funny how much you'd lose, if you forgot your past
Its funny how friends, can just leave you when you're down
Its funny how when you need someone they're never around
Its funny how people can change and think they're so much better
Its funny how many lies can be packed into one love letter
Its funny how people can forgive even though they can't forget
Its funny how one night can contain so much regret
Its funny how crazy and ironic life turns out to be
but the funniest part of all, is that none of this seems funny to me


I did not write this

Burma Cyclone Bringing Change?

I recently read an article about the recent cyclone that ripped through Burma. Natural disaster themselves do not usually cause change to occur, but here it may. After the cyclone many died, 22,000 and rising. "The higher the death toll climbs -- and the less effective the government's relief efforts prove -- the bigger the potential for undermining the military's mandate to rule." The cyclone occurred just a week before the May 10 referendum on a proposed constitution that the military had hoped would go smoothly in their favor. However, with what's happening with the cyclone and the people noticing how little their governments relief efforts are working this could be a time of change in Burma. There is a group in Burma the is pushing for democracy and not a military ruled government. This vote will give people the rare and relatively safe way to express their discontent with the countries junta. This could be a very big time in history for Burma, a time of change.
I feel that with the way things are going that people will take this opportunity to better their country, better their lives, and better their futures.

Is it right to eat meat?

There is no correct answer to this question, only opinions. My opinion is no, I do not think that eating meat is right. Animals deserve all the same joy and happiness that people do. There are different ways of getting the meat though.

The first way, and in my opinion the worst, is large farming corporations. The way the animals in these farms get treated is non forgivable. They lock the animals up in cages where they can barely turn around. These giant farms feed the dead animals to the living ones. Also, the animals are given a very large number of medications to make them grow bigger and faster than ever. These pills are very dangerous to the animals,
especially with the amounts they receive.

Another kind of farming which is better but still not the best is small family farming. On these farms the animals are given more space to move about. They are fed actual food and not given any medications. All Natural. These farms are much kinder to the animals and give them better lives than the big corporation farming.

In my opinion, hunting is the best way to get your meat. The animals have lived a happy life, free in the world. Animals in the wild eat what they want, do what they want when they want. People have been hunting for their food since way before the farms appeared. Hunting is the most natural and honest way to get your meat.

In conclusion, I believe that eating any kind of animal is wrong(I do eat it though..) But, to prove my point I am becoming a vegetarian until dinner time tonight.

And remember folks, I do believe that happy meat is good meat..

China's Quake

I did not read an article about the quake in china that devastated so many. Instead I talked about it with my mother. Th quake was a 7.8 on the quake scale. That is the most powerful quake in China in three decades. The number of people killed is, as of now, unknown. But one thing is for sure; the total number of deaths is very high. My mother told me some of the things she heard at work. She told me one story of two grandparents carrying their dead grandson for two days without putting him down, because they did not want to put him on the rubble, debris. Another of how a live baby was found under his dead mother and father because they had covered, protected, him from all of it. His parents had blocked him from being hit by everything that falling around them. These are two true stories from this incredibly destructive quake. I feel that this quake has done much damage to China and China's people. It is amazing to think that so many people have died and yet, I don't feel any different and I didn't even know there was a quake. There are some things that you just cannot control, you wish you could, but you can't. You don't feel any different, but you know something major that effected so many has occured. This and this is one of those things...

Stalin/ Soviet Propaganda

After watching the Stalin/ Soviet Propaganda video I thought that Stalin would make a good leader. The video used the background music to should power and leadership. The pictures of Stalin were all nice pictures and kind of made you like him. I would have definitely voted for Stalin after seeing the video if I didn't know anything about him that I do now. I would see him as a person with good leadership skills and someone who was loved enough to make such a good video. I think that the video was made very well, which I have already proven by saying that I would have voted for him. The video uses pictures of Stalin with children, shaking other mens hands, smiling, surrounded by people, or just on his own making him look more appealing as a new leader. This is definitely a Propaganda.

Buddhist Monks Protest

Burma's dictatorship is facing its largest protests ever. The protests are being led by the young Buddhist monks who say that they should be given more political freedoms. The monks are protesting on the streets to fight for their right to more political freedoms. There are,like, 400,000-500,000 Buddhist monks that are protesting against the dictator. A lot of the monks are younger and know that they, in fact, do deserve more political freedoms, and that is why they are protesting in Burma. I feel that they have good reason to be protesting. The Buddhist monks do deserve more of the political freedoms they are fighting for. If I lived in Burma and I were a Buddhist monk, I too would be protesting.

Defector says he's fed up with North Korean dictatorship

I have recently read an article about a highly ranked North Korean Man who defected from North Korea and is seeking asylum at the South Korean Embassy located in Beijing. The mans name is Hwang Jang Yop, age 72. He defected because he was fed up with his countries leadership. North Korea paid no attention to that and claim that if he is in the hands of South Korea that he must have been kidnapped. This reaction from North Korea is not unusual. South Korea reacted to the kidnapping accusation with "Preposterous". North Korea promised that if that turns out to be the case that their would be unspecified retaliation. South Korea then placed their 650,000-member military on high alert. South Korea's Foreign Minister will leave for Singapore on thursday for talks with his Chinese counterpart to try to resolve the crisis.

Levels of Learning

1. Remembering Retrieving, recognizing, and recalling relevant knowledge from long-term memory, eg. find out, learn terms, facts, methods, procedures, concepts

2. Understanding Constructing meaning from oral, written, and graphic messages through interpreting, exemplifying, classifying, summarizing, inferring, comparing, and explaining. Understand uses and implications of terms, facts, methods, procedures, concepts

3. Applying Carrying out or using a procedure through executing, or implementing. Make use of, apply practice theory, solve problems, use information in new situations

4. Analyzing Breaking material into constituent parts, determining how the parts relate to one another and to an overall structure or purpose through differentiating, organizing, and attributing. Take concepts apart, break them down, analyze structure, recognize assumptions and poor logic, evaluate relevancy

5. Evaluating Making judgments based on criteria and standards through checking and critiquing. Set standards, judge using standards, evidence, rubrics, accept or reject on basis of criteria

6. Creating Putting elements together to form a coherent or functional whole; reorganizing elements into a new pattern or structure through generating, planning, or producing. Put things togther; bring together various parts; write theme, present speech, plan experiment, put information together in a new & creative way

WWII Video Reaction

In class we watched a video about WWII. WWII is a very interesting topic to study and learn about. When I was watching the video I wondered why the Axis power would have lost the war. I mean, they had a very strong army with many soldiers in it. Also, during the war the Axis power conquered much land, why after the war did they not keep that land? Why did they not keep some of it at least? Seeing the scene where the huge groups of people were gathered and listening to their leader, that was amazing to me. That many people listening to one person talk. It's unbelievable. The guy in power that they were listening to and cheering for was the same guy who wanted to kill all Jews and he was a dictator. Why, i thought, why would anybody want to listen to him speak? If anyone went against Hitler or dictatorship they would most likely be killed. Hitler had this group, the Secret Police, who would report back everything bad, anything at all, and the person who said it. So, that may be why people went along with Hitler and dictatorship. They were afraid that if they disagreed they would have been killed. There was nothing they could do about it. If people did not show patriotism they would either be killed or prosecuted.

Animal Rights

In our class, Animal Anatomy, we are determining what rights are, and which animals deserve rights. We have to answer two questions. 1) What is a right? 2) What animals would we have the right to disect(why) and which animals do we not have the right to disect(why). We are writing our blogs on this topic. I hope you enjoy.

A right is something that everybody has and deserves. Rights depend on you maturity. So, you receive more rights with age and responsibility. Through life you become more mature and deserve more rights and freedoms. “With rights comes great responsibility”. Not every right can be measured by how responsible you are. For example, you cannot figure out for everyone if they are responsible enough to drive a car. In this case the right is based on your age. When people think that you should be responsible enough to so something. When you are 18 you can drive, you can drink, and you can party. Rights may be equally deserved by everyone, but can also be taken away from anyone. For example, if you murder somebody else you lose your right to freedom and are sent away to jail. Rights are something we all get to have, but can also lose. Rights are something you deserve from maturing and aging.

We as humans more evolved than animals may think we have the right to kill and dissect animals of nature, but we really don’t. Animals have the right to live, which means we do not have the right to kill. However, say we did have the right to kill and cut open other species, which would we have the most right to kill and dissect? We would be able to dissect anything from a shrimp to a rat. That would include the small things. Creatures like mice, small lizards, small birds, and insects. Those are a few of the small creatures we would be able to kill and cut. I, myself, do not believe in killing or cutting animals except for food. I am one to support animal rights.

I believe that we should not be able to kill or dissect any creature. I do not feel that cutting any animal open should be aloud. We as humans have no right to injure or kill any creatures of this great earth. Primates are something we should not be aloud to do anything to, yet you can find videos online of people doing practice surgeries on baby chimps. Where is the moral, the ethics? What makes we people so much better then them? Are we, are we really? We are just the same, and they deserve just the same.

Why do some people think it is okay to dissect animals like rats, but not okay to dissect pandas? We determine this by respect. If we respect an animal, we respect their rights. All animals have the same rights. We just do not respect all of them. Cockroaches, for example, we have no respect for. So, we feel it is okay to kill them. Dogs (mans best friend), we respect, so we treat them different and respect their rights as well. We humans have no right to treat different animals differently. All animals big or small, important or not, maintain the right to have their rights. We cannot take them away from the animals. One way we determine how useful an animal is is by how useful they are to us. If an animal is useful we show them respect. If not, they receive nothing. A dog is a useful animal. Dogs do a lot of stuff for people. We show them respet, and let them keep their rights. Mosquitos, on the other hand, are useless to us. They do nothing to benefit the human race. So, we show them no respect, give them no rights, and smack when we see them.

All animals deserve their rights. We have no right to take the rights from another animal. We should not be able to determine whether an animal deserves more or less rights. We need to show respect to all animals. We shouldn’t care how useful an animal is. We should let them live in peace, respected.

MY 100% Democratic Family

If my family in the future were 100% democratic it would not be difficult to explain how things would work in the household. Everyone would have equal power and responsibilities. The positives of this would be that the children would not be punished, and the parents would have less responsibility and stress. The negatives to a 100% democratic family would be that the children would be invincible to punishment, and the school would constantly be complaining about the children. Some of the troubles that might occur are majority rules (if you have 3+ kids). I will not have a 100% Democratic family.

Active Learning with Greece

Through my Greek project I am displaying myself as an active learner. I am able to go out and do research, find pictures, and make a video on my own. I am finding more information than I need to use, but learning the information. I enjoy researching ancient Greece. It is a very interesting topic.

Ancient Greece Project

I am currently working on a project on ancient Greece and feel it is going very well. I have chosen the topic of Gods. I thought of a few questions /that I wanted to answer in my presentation. Those questions are, “Why did the ancient Greeks have Gods?” and, “Who are the main Gods, and what do hey do?”. I have been able to answer these questions pretty easily and am now working on my video. I have picked three Gods to really tell about; Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon. I am feeling good about this project and cannot wait to present.