mandatory extra credit :)

Have you ever noticed how biased history class is? You sit there for an hour and are taught from a book. Which isnt even a reliable source, its known as a "secondary source." Your only shown one side of the story, you can either view the person as a hero or a villan. The United States isnt always honest about their history.

Back in elementary school we were taught to view Christopher Colombus as a hero, when we never really knew about what he really did. We were taught that Colombus "discovered" America, but how could he have done that if people were only living here? Colombus killed many by clearing out the people living here and bringing diseases, such as smallpox. More recently the U.S. can be blamed for things such as the abuse at Guantanomo Bay detention camp.

Guantanamo Bay is a prison run by the United Sates located in Cuba. One of the larger allegations of abuse at Guantanamo Bay has to do with the religion of the detainees. Of course the United States claims that they respect all religious and cultural ethnicities, but prisoners that have been released can say otherwise. One stated that the soldiers in charge had taken the "Quar'an"or Islams holiest book and have been found to flush it down the toilet, rip papers out, or write rude comments on it.

Some would argue that the United States dpesnt hide or cover up their history and that they are honest about what has happened in the past, but if that was the case more people would be educated on what really happened in the history of the U.S. as opposed too what you would find in one of your history books.



"Odysseus a hero?" hah nice joke. I chuckled to myself as the teacher rambled on and on about the Odyssey; Oh yeah, a man who cheats on his wife with almost every woman he comes in contact with. He kills almost all of his crew members, just to save his own life. Oh yeah.. What a hero.. For every good deed of feat or strength that Odysseus has accomplished there are several acts of selfishness to follow up with it. Odysseus is not a hero.

Odysseus was unfaithful to his wife by cheating on her with Calypso and Circe when arriving to Calypso's Isle. In Homers, The Odyssey "though I have been detained long by Calypso, lovliest among goddesses, who held me in her smooth caves, to be her hearts delight, as Circe if Aeaea, the enchantress, desired me, and detained me in her hall. But in my heart I never gave consent." A good leader is always known to put others first, but not Odysseus.

Odysseus risked the lives ofhis crewmen several times, which most of the time resulted in death. When spotting the Cyclops's land, Odysseus had the idea to stop and check it out. After Odysseus disrespected the Cyclops, he responded by killing two of his crewmen. Stated in he Odyssey "in one stride he clutched at my companions and caught two in his hands like squirming puppies to beat their brains out, spattering the floor."

Recent Malawi Court Case Contreversy

I disagree with the recent charges against the two Malawian men because of their sexuality.

In Malawi two men were given a 14 year prison sentence for trying to marry each other. The Judge that had charged them claimed that he wished to protect the public from “people like you,” Newser.com states that “The judge gave the maximum sentence possible for unnatural acts and gross indecency.” The two were arrested after holding an engagement ceremony in December. After being charged a crowd awaited them outside of the courtroom where people were shouting, “You got what you deserve!” and “Fourteen years is not enough, they should get 50!” I believe that everyone should be treated fairly and have equal rights no matter what their race, religion or their sexual status is.

Myrtle Beach! :)

In 20 days, my friend Katelyn and I will be landing in Myrtle Beach! Every year my family and I and usually one of my friends go on vacation to summer warm before the school year ends. We usually go to Florida but this year my mom wanted to do something different, my family has never been to Myrtle Beach so we’re really excited!

We are leaving on Thursday May 27th and staying until Monday May 31st. We are flying on Spirit airlines and leaving very early in the morning. Our plane leaves around 7:00am which means we will probably be getting to the airport around 5am, but I know it will all be worth it! We are staying in a condo on the beach, I’m excited because I’m obsessed with sunsets especially on the beach and we will have a perfect view of them!

I haven’t flown anywhere since the recent “bomb threat” on Christmas Day and as a result security is even tighter... In my opinion I hate security, taking off your jackets and shoes and walking through a metal detector very early in the morning is not what I have in mind of fun. I realize that it’s for the safety of everyone in the airport, but I’ve been wondering how it’s changed since the last time I’ve flown back in March. I think once you get through security you can always rest easier, and I personally grow more excited for the trip I am about to take!

I love airports, not only because you’re flying somewhere out of the state! Also because of the people watching, you get all kinds of people, with all different kinds of styles of clothing, hairstyles, etc. And another one of the best parts is that they have a store for everything you could ever ask for! Clothing, candy, souvenirs, and of course food courts – taco bell, Mc Donald’s, even sometimes restaurants like TGI Fridays, Big Boys, etc.

We are flying back late at night on Memorial Day, around 8 or 9. We won’t land until a little after 10 and of course we have school the next day… Although we will be gone 5 days, I am only missing 2 days of school, Thursday and Friday! I am hoping that I won’t have too much homework and hopefully we will have good weather down there.

SIMUN

I thought SIMUN was a great experience. I thought I did okay; I honestly could’ve done better. The first day I thought it was a good idea to just watch and have an overview of what it was all about. My country was only directly involved in one scenario through a newsflash. The scenario was about the Mexican drug wars, and the killings of Americans and innocent Mexican citizens and police officers committed by the drug cartels. The newsflash said something along the lines of 50 people were killed on a spring break trip, those spring breakers were from the European countries of Italy, Germany and France.

When it came time for a caucus I would talk with Germany, France, and Denmark. We would all share opinions and once we returned back to our seats we would raise our placards and would asked to be put on the speakers list so we could share our opinions with everyone else.

I prepared myself for SIMUN by researching my allies, and background information on my country. We also were assigned topic papers in Mrs. Bergeski’s class, giving us scenarios on certain issues going on throughout the world today. We had to research different sources and write a response answering the questions that were given to us. These papers helped a lot with the SIMUN scenarios because they related to the issues we had to solve during SIMUN. The research we did gave us background information on these issues.

I thought it was a good experience because it was brand new to me and probably most of the freshmen in Global Ed now. I think it helped us not only make friends with the other delegates in our groups but grow as speakers and help with our problem solving skills, instead of taking the easy way out and resulting in violence, I learned there are many different tasks that can lead to a more peaceful outcome.

Next year for SIMUN I will better prepare myself by, knowing a little more background information on my allies and my country as well. I think next year it’ll be much easier to get more involved because you have a better idea on what to speak about, and what to ask questions on. I will also try to get as involved as possible, like get on the speakers list more, and ask questions more, write recommendations, and even give my opinion to my allies.

SIMUN blog

Responding as a delegate from Italy:

I agree that the United States should take control of the situation in Pakistan. If nuclear weapons get into the wrong hands, like the Taliban or Al Qaida it would result in un-necessary violence. Italy believes that it is necessary for someone to step in and help Pakistan gain the control of their government back, with the extra support it would decrease the chances of the terrorist groups taking over.

According to www.npr.org's article “Unsecured Nuclear Material Poses Risks” One of the United States biggest problem is Pakistan “ An unstable government, enough material for 60 to 100 weapons, strong Islamic influences in the military and intelligence.” Al Qaida is not located too far from a nuclear base in Pakistan, the nuclear base is secure, but their government is not, making it much easier for them too have access.

This isnt only a problem for Pakistan but other countries all over the world as well. Other terrorist groups may get ideas and try to do the same to their countries. Also if these nuclear weapons get into the hands of Al Qaida or the Taliban we could be looking at one of the worst wars possible. Pakistan would obviously fire nukes at their enemies, as well as getting the idea that if they can take over Pakistan, they can take over any country.

If Pakistans nuclear weapons get into the hands of the Taliban or Al Qaida, countries all around the world will have to come together and try and fight back. Yes, it may not be the best solution to the problem, but if we dont apply force they wont take us seriously. If something breaks out suddenly I will have an army prepared and ready to go.

Free Write: Memoirs of a Geisha

The women’s role in Memoirs of a Geisha differs very much from women’s roles here in America because, a Geisha is known as very successful in Japan and young girls look up to them. Geishas visit from teahouse to teahouse where there are a couple of men in attendance along with the director. When the Geishas arrive they tell stories, perform dances, and pour tea and sake for the men. Geishas are known as beautiful, wearing long kimonos, and their makeup starts with a lead based white pant covering their face and neck, so that the main things that stand out to men are their bright red lips and in Chiyo’s case her unusual pale blue-gray eyes.

Geishas training are known to be cruel and very long, they attend a school at their young ages which teach them how to pour tea or sake correctly, they learn how to play the shamsien, learn the beats to music so that they can dance along and follow the pattern of rhythm. After completing their schooling Geishas usually look to find a “big sister” or a successful geisha who has a lot of experience. That will take them in and teach them all the basics, like how to put on their makeup, how to correctly wear their kimonos, how to flaunt themselves and show themselves off towards men. When the big sister decides that the time is right, and her little sister is ready, she will take her along to teahouses and while be named an “apprentice geisha” or known as a “novice geisha”.

If we had this in America, citizens would frown upon it. We value children much higher than other countries do; Parents wouldn’t put their children through grueling school hours to teach them how to dance and pour tea when they are higher paying and more respectable jobs in America.

3.27.10 :)

The lights had finally dimmed. The adrenaline rush of the audience had risen to an all time high. Talking grew into screams. The moment I had been waiting for was finally here. The curtain rose, and there she was Taylor Swift! I could not believe I was at her concert. A smile had grown on my face; while the rush of excitement had finally come over me. I grabbed my purse while my fingers were trembling, scraping the bottom, trying to grab my camera quick! I couldn't let myself miss a second.

The opening song to kick off the fearless tour was her hit song You Belong With Me, I managed to sing along and take lots of pictures all throughout the concert, capturing her many costume changes, backup dancers, and lots of hair whipping!

The concert had also included one of countries newest band Gloriana along with Kellie Pickler, a good friend of Taylor's. Each song that was performed was almost setup like a mini movie, or a music video. When it was time for a quick change, videos would be playing on the giant screens hung from the ceiling, mostly showing Taylor's interviews, or what inspires her too write her music.

The stage and setup of the concert was amazing, I can only imagine how long it must have taken them to put up everything and take it all down.

Taylor's song Hey Stephen had begun playing and I looked on stage and there was no sign of her, until I heard loud shrieks and saw the spotlight make a drastic turn, she had shown up in the middle of the audience to perform, after getting about midway through the song, Taylor took time out of her concert to hug everyone in that section and make her way down to another small stage to play a couple of songs, and after that was over, she made her way through the main floor hugging and shaking hands with more fans.

I thought it showed a lot of generosity that she would take the time out of her concert and show her fans how much it meant to her that we were there singing along to all of her songs and cheering her on. Overall it was definitely the best concert I have attended, I'm so glad I went and cant wait to go back again! :)

A wasted snow day!

Yesterday we had an uncalled for snow day! All weekend I had been sick with a bad sinus infection, this had drained me from sleeping at all. Of course it didn't help that on Friday I spent the night at St. Edith with Bridget and Ally for the youth group lock in, We were awaken countless numbers of times by all upperclassmen, leaving us with only 2 or 3 hours of sleep at the most. Once I had gotten home I went off to bed sleeping until 1pm. Saturday I stayed home and rested,Sunday I was out running errands with my mom and her friend, I was back by early evening leaving just enough time to finish my homework, study a little, shower, and watch my favorite show Desperate Housewives! Laying in bed trying my hardest to breathe was a struggle, seconds turned into minutes and minutes into hours I lied there knowing I was not about to get any sleep and that come the next day I would have a hard time functioning in school.

I had finally fallen asleep around 3 am, That next morning I awoke to the famous AT&T ring tone, I looked at my clock and thought who could be calling me at 5am? Of course it was my father to tell my brothers and I that we had a snow day! I of course sent out a mass text alerting all of my friends that school was canceled. After doing so I returned back to sleeping, only to awake a few hours later of course I spent another day laying around the house, trying to rid my cold. Too bad that hadn't happened, I awoke Today debating on weather I should go to school or not, of course I had had a few tests that day so I got myself up and got ready in 20 minutes and was on my way out the door, all day I had been sitting in my classes wondering to myself why I had come and not just stayed home and slept? Now that I am at home this blog is the only thing that is stopping me from being in bed and sleeping, so once I reach 400 words I am on my way upstairs!

Big Fish!

Back over winter break my friend Lauren and I had won tickets to the Justin Bieber concert at the Royal Oak Music Theatre. Ever since we had won them we had been counting down the days! Once the day had finally arrived, she picked me up early in the afternoon and we spent our whole day primping and getting ready! The amount of time it took us to get ready you would've thought that we would have been going to a grand ball with thousands of celebrities on the guest list.

The concert was general admission, meaning there are no reserved seats, well in this case the only seats in the theater were for the people who had “VIP passes”. So to make sure we had good seats Lauren and I had arrived hours before the concert ready to battle the freezing rain, snowflakes, and chilly air. All was well once we had arrived. We had made friends with the people in line around us, and started to jump around to keep warm, many of the other girls in line started to sing Justin Bieber's hit single “one time”. The shrieks and screams of young teenage girls had made everyone a bit nervous, we all had thought Justin himself was outside with us.

One girl had the genius idea to scream “JUSTIN!” at the top of her lungs, and as a result the line we had been in had soon become a stampede of girls. Whatever security they had hired was a complete joke, of course the people that had been there early, were in the front and the people that gotten there last were in the back. But soon that wouldn't matter anymore, the security guards had been telling everyone to scoot back because of the recent stampede of girls that flew through, pushing little ones down on the ground and sending 7-10 girls to be hospitalized.

As stubborn as most girls are they did not follow their directions, and soon the security guards had begun grabbing girls arms and pulling them back to the end of the line with them, and of course with my luck one of those girls ended up being me. My friend Lauren and I were dragged from the theatre all the way back by the bus station and close to the railroad.

We had begun so close to getting in and getting a good spot, to now close to the very end of the line. The security guard had thousands of people wrapped around the city of Royal Oak. The weather had started to get worse, the snowflakes started to pickup along with the weather starting to drop. We were miserable at the very end of the line. My toes were going numb. Never before had I been so cold I was convinced that once I had taken off my shoes, my toes would be purple and black and soon fall off.

I would continue to check the time on my phone as if an hour went by when really I was lucky if a minute did. The doors had opened a half an hour to an hour later then planned, once we had gotten past the doors it was time to go and try and find a spot. Never before had I wanted to grow and be 7 feet tall as bad as I did at this moment! It was almost impossible to find a spot where you could stand and actually see over the person in front of you. Once everything had begun to settle down, the DJ started to play music and remixed them with other hit songs. The opening act was Iyaz, followed by the best part of the evening, Justin Bieber. Overall the night was fun and it definitely paid off in the end, but I don't think I will ever volunteer myself to attend another general admission concert in the middle of the winter.

further sanctions to be put on Iran?

The UN needs to place further sanctions on Iran.

The three rounds of sanctions that have already been put on Iran hasn't been affecting them enough to cause them to re-negotiate with the UN and their nuclear power industry. The United States is circulating a paper on placing further sanctions on Iran. These measures include expanding travel bans, and placing asset freezes on the people connected with the nuclear industry. According to the article “West pushing for new UN sanctions against Iran” from the BBC, “These sanctions will target senior members of the IRGC (Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps).” Their job is too oversee Iran's nuclear power program and their strategic weapons.

According to the BBC “The United States and its allies fear Iran is attempting to develop nuclear weapons. Iran insists its nuclear program is entirely peaceful.” Iran needs to be pressured into getting rid of their nuclear program and if not ridding the whole thing, coming to an agreement by renegotiating with the UN. The more severe the rounds of sanctions are the more pressure Iran will be under.

Some would argue that we do not need to be placing further sanctions on Iran or be placing any sanctions at all. They see that it will not have a good outcome, that putting further sanctions on Iran will make them upset, but that is the point, to upset and forcing them into what we want, the end of the nuclear program.

reflecting back on the first semester! :)

When starting global education I wasn’t so sure of what I signed myself up for and how well it would go over but I’ve learned many things and some of these happen to include, are how to take Q.C.V.I.’s (questions, connections/comments, vocab, and interesting/important parts of the story). Never before had I done this or even heard of it, after reading a story or an article you take note of these, vocab you don’t understand, connections and or comments to similar situations, questions you may have about the piece of writing, and interesting or important parts to help you understand.

Blogging was also a new experience for me. Weekly we are given a certain topic to write about, and after finishing your writing, you post it onto your blog with a picture, and it allows your fellow peers to comment and give you feedback on your posts.

Group discussions, never before have I participated in one until this year. I’ve always thought of a group discussion as people getting together discussing one topic but then when one starts to disagree with another that yelling and arguing would break out. In the ones we have done someone starts out by commenting on what we were previously learning about, then the students who want to join will raise their hand and wait to be called on to say their comment.

Debating I’ve always been interested about but never had the chance to participate in one, I never chose to because I’m one of those people who hates getting up in front of the class and giving a speech or presenting something, so I knew this wouldn’t be the best idea for me. Once we had all gathered around in a circle with our nametags on our desks it was time to start the “Rwandan” debate, placing blame on groups and countries for the tragic Rwandan genocide. Before this took place we had been assigned a group and been researching their job or title and how they affected the genocide. Debating isn’t arguing back and forth, yelling over the top of someone else’s voice so that you could state your opinion. Once a group had the floor they would say what they had to say and call on a different group to either comment back or bring up a new topic.

Paragraph responses, in one or two paragraphs we are expected to descriptively explain about what we felt or took from the task assigned. Using ethos and pathos which helps the reader build character and feel for your situation. From this first semester of freshmen year I will take many things with me that I didn’t know how to do before.

When researching, I learned the skill on how to find a credible source. If you type something in on google you can get a million different websites all claiming they have the answer to your question, but really there's only a few who have the right information. Credible sources are those well known like the New York Times, the BBC, the Washington post and websites along those lines.

Current events, I’ve never been as informed as to what’s going on in the world until I became a globie back in the fall. Every night we watch the news and the next day in class we talk about the national and international headlines. At the end of the week we are quizzed on what we have discussed. Current events has made me look at the way I watch the news much differently.

Cultural Events were also very new to me when I first started, every other month or so we are expected to go somewhere like to a museum, festival, plays and performances that represent another ethnicity or culture. After visiting you have the option of presenting a speech, writing a paper, or making a creative display. All have to be used once by each student for the whole semester, twice total for the whole year. My first choice was a written report which I did well on, I wrote about the invisible children film I had stayed after to watch in the auditorium. My next was the creative display for which I had visited the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, I had chosen to use a cork board and hung pictures of the pieces of artworks and paintings, with a description on the back telling how I felt about my visit there. And last I presented a speech. When presenting a speech you are expected to dress professionally and have an outline of what you will be presenting. I had gone to the Stevenson Pantomime Show earlier that month and spoke on that.

An Australian Native. (:

If I had the choice, I would choose to be a native to Australia during the early colonial period. When the British first settled in Australia they came because of the convict colony not intending to do any harm to the Aborigines. This seems like the better option to me because the natives in the other countries were treated worse.

The Native Americans were treated very badly they were used as slaves on plantations for cheap labor. After the early colonization of South Africa, gold and diamonds were found; bringing overcrowding populations the natives were left with no land, and could not buy out of a certain region. The Rwandans weren’t treated nearly as badly but their country was very segregated. Even after the tragedy of disease spreading, I still would choose being an Australian native.