apartheid activist dies

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/06/04/south.africa.icon.dead/index.html

I have found an article on the CNN website, and wasn’t I shocked when I saw something about apartheid, especially because that is exactly what I am learning in these last few weeks of school.

            After learning about apartheid I feel strongly toward this subject, although I never learned about Albertina Sisulu I can tell that that person is a very important individual. For her to die and have South Africa declare her death as the day for all to mourn shows that the country of South Africa has come a long way from the apartheid era.

            One thing I found interesting about this article was that Albertina’s husband, Walter Sisulu, had been “imprisoned for decades with former South African President Nelson Mandela.” The reason I find this interesting is because I have watched two movies in the past week that were about Nelson Mandela, and he has gained a great respect from me, for conquering, against all odds, the intense racial barrier n South Africa.

            In the article it said that she was banned on several occasions for her political involvement, and that she is proud of everything that has happened to her. Hearing that gives me a great respect for her because I know that the world of apartheid is a cruel harsh one, and that being able to survive it and being able to make a difference in it is a big accomplishment. She deserves this honor one hundred percent, maybe even more. She was called “Mama Sisulu” because of her helping several leaders of the Democratic South Africa become educated. Which, to a country that has just got over apartheid is a big deal and without her South Africa could still be under apartheid ruled Government.

            This last blog goes out to Albertina Sisulu!

why i hate Projects!

In my world history class on Friday we talked about the Rapture for a little bit, and there were things said that I would like to comment on. One is that one of my classmates said that the man who predicted yesterdays rapture also predicted several previous raptures. I am not going to share my religious beliefs, but I do wish to say that I think the rapture will never happen, I just do not believe that judgment day will ever come. The same classmate who said Harold Camping had predicted the end of the world also stated that in the Bible it says that no man can predict judgment day, only God himself can. So after hearing that I was one hundred ten percent sure the world was not going to end.

Another thing we talked about in class was that a group of Atheists were setting up a plan for anyone who believed in the rapture. The Atheists charged people money; in return they would watch people who believed in the rapture’s pets. There were also NO refunds, so when they didn’t get raptured they would not get their money back. To me, although it is a little mean, that plan was genius, make people pay to watch their pets, and then when the rapture didn’t happen give them their pets back and keep the money. Whoever thought of that was a genius.

Now I have to talk about my feelings towards this man, Harold Camping. Although my teacher told me not to just go on a rant and trash him without reason, I think I have to. Not only were his last predictions wrong, but also so was this one, and after thinking about this I think that he is only doing this for attention. Although I have not read the bible it does say that no man can predict the end of the world, and this man has done it several time, all wrong by the way, and continues to back his claims 100%. I am sure this is all just for publicity. 

WE ARE ALL ALIVE!

In my world history class on Friday we talked about the Rapture for a little bit, and there were things said that I would like to comment on. One is that one of my classmates said that the man who predicted yesterdays rapture also predicted several previous raptures. I am not going to share my religious beliefs, but I do wish to say that I think the rapture will never happen, I just do not believe that judgment day will ever come. The same classmate who said Harold Camping had predicted the end of the world also stated that in the Bible it says that no man can predict judgment day, only God himself can. So after hearing that I was one hundred ten percent sure the world was not going to end.

Another thing we talked about in class was that a group of Atheists were setting up a plan for anyone who believed in the rapture. The Atheists charged people money; in return they would watch people who believed in the rapture’s pets. There were also NO refunds, so when they didn’t get raptured they would not get their money back. To me, although it is a little mean, that plan was genius, make people pay to watch their pets, and then when the rapture didn’t happen give them their pets back and keep the money. Whoever thought of that was a genius.

Now I have to talk about my feelings towards this man, Harold Camping. Although my teacher told me not to just go on a rant and trash him without reason, I think I have to. Not only were his last predictions wrong, but also so was this one, and after thinking about this I think that he is only doing this for attention. Although I have not read the bible it does say that no man can predict the end of the world, and this man has done it several time, all wrong by the way, and continues to back his claims 100%. I am sure this is all just for publicity. 

AFRICA in class

Recently I have been learning about Africa in my history class. So far we have only learned about two things, the triangle trade between Europe, the United States, and Africa. In this trade system, Africa was getting cheap goods in return for slaves, which eventually lead to the loss of many able bodied workers in Africa, all of which I already knew from learning about slavery in previous years of school. We also learned about the geography of Africa, such as the lay out of Africa, which includes the capitols and the countries in it. I also learned that AFRICA IS NOT A COUNTRY!

            Some other things that I already knew about Africa is that there are many languages spoken throughout the continent of Africa, and that there is a lot of corruption throughout the countries in Africa. An example of corruption in Africa is the diamond mining in places such as Sierra Leone, The Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola. I only learned about that because of my thesis on blood diamonds.  Other then that, I don’t know very much about Africa, but I am excited to learn about it.

            Some things I hope to learn about Africa are what made this continent so diverse and corrupt? Did slavery have anything to do with corruption, or was the corruption in Africa already there before slavery?

            In my opinion, even though I don’t know much about Africa yet, if they become industrialized and started obtaining better technology they would be able to solve some of their differences. I think this because it will allow them to have more access to each other and allow them to communicate and eventually to come to an agreement other then just attacking eachother.

Osama bin laden killed!

In recent news, Osama Bin Laden has been killed. He was found in the capitol of Pakistan, which is Islamabad, who is supposed to be our allies. However Pakistan was holding one of our greatest enemies right in the capitol. I think that Pakistan knew that Bin Laden was within its boarders and did not tell us, and in return Bin Laden offered Pakistan money or protection. But what do I know? This is just a theory with absolutely no proof other then what I have heard on CNN, which I find is a biased news station.

            Another even more recent update is that there was a diary found in the compound where they killed Osama Bin Laden, and that diary was Bin Laden’s. Although I am not quite sure what is in the diary, I am sure there are plenty of secrets that will give the United States a new edge against terrorists.

            Ever since I can remember I have wanted wars to stop, almost the entire time I have been alive the United States have been at war with someone, and even now I am hoping that because we killed Al Qaeda’s leader it will crumble and we will no longer have to keep troops in the Middle East.  That is what I hope, my actual response to Osama being killed is that it will do absolutely nothing to end the war on terror, it might even make it worse. Now that we have made another move, the terrorist groups will start their move, getting ready for the next 9/11. Eventually it will lead nowhere, just constant fighting in an eternal loop, unless something is done to halt the violence.

            Since my class discussed this topic I have had this question on my mind, it is, now that Bin Laden is dead, what will happen to America? Will it be attacked once again, or will Al Qaeda finally give up?

The Tiananmen Square Massacre

Recently in my history class we were learning about China. That includes ancient China, like in the 1400’s, the civil war between the Communists and the Nationalists, as well as Mao Zedong, and The Tiananmen Square Massacre. What I found most interesting was The Tiananmen Square Massacre, also known as The Tiananmen Square Incident, but I will be calling it The Tiananmen Square Massacre. Any way, I found it amazing how the one man stood up to a tank all by himself, and told it to leave China. I am also surprised that the tank did not just run the man over and continue on its way.

We also discussed in class how no one knew who the man was, what his name was, or anything about him. I think that several people do know who he was and decided not to give out his information to ensure his protection and the he does not get killed. It is probably the same reason why he has never spoken up and told the world it was he who walked in front of the tank in Tiananmen Square.

If it were I in his situation I would have done the same thing, I would have walked right in front of that tank and would even try to invite others, hoping to start a rebellion against the oppressive and communistic government. I would try to be the difference I wanted to see.

            One thing I found shocking while talking about The Tiananmen Square Massacre was that many children today have no idea what The Tiananmen Square Massacre was, they have also never seen the famous photo of the man standing up against the tanks. I think that is ridiculous, how is it possible to censor one of the most famous pictures in the world, just because it is a minor speed bump in the countries history. There is really no reason to censor that particular memory.

http://www.creativeroots.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/tiananmen-square-protesto-001.jpg

my reactions to Daoism/Taoism

Today in my world history class I learned about Daoism, which is also referred to as Taoism. Which also includes the Yin and Yang symbol. Which represents in a sense opposites, however I think it is supposed to mean that there are two sides and that one cannot live without the other. The reason I can’t say opposite is because it is not what Taoists believe it stands for. However, the actual symbol of the Yin and Yang stands for light and dark, earth and the heavens, male and female, and life and death.

            When I think about Taoism and what the Yin and Yang means I can’t help but think of opposites, because light and dark are opposites, as well as males and females. But I also think that seeing the two, as opposites, will prevent you from seeing them as anything else. It will hinder your ability to recognize that without one the other cannot exist and will only make you concentrate on the differences in the world. Which would cause you to become less accepting and more narrow minded.

            Another part of Taoism is the practice of Wu-Wei, which means without action, or action without action. However it dose not mean to sit around and do nothing, instead it means to go with the flow and not to exert unnecessary energy. Which is something I completely agree with, I have always believed to relax and go with the flow, in fact a few days ago I adopted the motto “If you don’t stop to look around once in a wile, you could miss it.” Which basically means to relax once in a wile and allow yourself to go with what nature wanted you to do instead of stressing yourself out by trying to go against “the flow.” 

Something in Libya?

For the past week or so there has been a dangerous event going on in Libya, I don’t really know what to call it. An uprising? Revolution? Either way I am still just as confused, I have no idea what is going on in Libya, the only thing I have understood so far is that a dictator that took over Libya in nineteen sixty nine, and his name is Gaddafi and that he was not going to step down even though his entire country hated him. I also saw that apparently Gaddafi’s son was killed while trying to look up the proper spelling of his name. This whole thing is going way too fast paced and is really confusing.

            Some of the things I have no idea what is going on about in Libya are for example, how did this uprising start? Did the rioting in Egypt start it? What happened with France? Who fired the missiles, was it France, America, or someone else? Obviously I know nothing about this current event and every article I try reading about this subject is extremely long and really hard to understand.

            After a little while of researching I found out that the Americans want to create a no fly zone over Libya with the help of the UN (United Nations) so that Gaddafi will be unable to use aircrafts to attack any soldiers of allied troops. But other then that, a half an hour of poor researching helped me understand nothing more. The only reason I am blogging about this because I would like someone, in the comments, to tell me what is going on. Only if you understand it though, because I cannot look at another confusing explanation about what is going on in Libya. What I want is a short brief explanation, like the plot.

            Thank you for listening to my free blog rant on the uprising in Libya.

Japan-Earthquake, tsunami, and fire oh my!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/12/world/asia/12japan.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

            Only a few days ago a serious earthquake with an eight point nine magnitude hit Japan, then if that weren’t bad enough a tsunami caused by the earthquake also hit Japan. During both the earthquake and tsunami thousands of homes and buildings were demolished, making all those people that have not died now homeless. If all this was enough then you should stop reading because besides the earthquake and the tsunami there is now a serious threat of a nuclear meltdown in four out of the six nuclear reactors. Which would devastate Japan for centuries to come. After further reading of the article I saw that the article said that the wave of the tsunami at its height was twelve feet high. And what I also found out was that there was also a fire in Kesennuma, a city with a population of over seventy thousand people.

            In my opinion what happened in Japan is like a perfect storm, the conditions were all just aligned so that Japan got the worst possible situation. I never knew about the fire from people talking but since I read the article I learned a few more bits of information that I had not learned from watching the news or hearing people talk. For example, that there were also waves that hit the west coast that sunk several ship and made seven foot waves in Hawaii. I had no idea anything happened to the west coast. I guess that shows how ignorant I am to world events, but with everything going on now in my life I have very little time to think about a country thousands of miles away from me. Although this article was very informative, I have to say I hated it. The only reason I say that is because I hate reading articles by force, if there is an interesting article by all means I will read it and blog about it, but that’s never the case, current events in my eyes are always boring!

IBM Watson

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/13/ibms-watson-supercomputer-destroys-all-humans-in-jeopardy-pract/

A while back I was forced to watch Jeopardy by my teacher, however this was no ordinary game of Jeopardy. This game had a super computer, whose name was IBM Watson, a computer that is loaded with over 90 servers and was designed to play Jeopardy. During the three day Jeopardy event Watson crushed his human competitors almost every single time. Watson uses all of his downloaded information to then select the right answer based on percentages.

 That is how IBM Watson runs, and when you think about it Watson has an unfair advantage against the other contestants, because he has access to the entire world ready the second he needs it, while human memory can be tricky and may not always be one hundred percent accurate. He also does not need to press the buzzer like other contestants, which is a slight advantage to Watson.

Although Watson was not the only one with an advantage, for example, the questions on jeopardy are supposed to be more indirect, which is harder for a computer to analyze, which gave the humans a leg up on that department.  However that was really the only advantage the humans had.

During the final Jeopardy one of the contestants, Ken Jennings, had put a particular comment on his answer that had won the laughs of many, Ken wrote, “I for one welcome our new robot overlords”(Jennings). Although I did laugh almost uncontrollably, I realized that this may be a joke now but who knows maybe in a few years from now robots will become so sophisticated and independent. I know it sounds farfetched now however, if you look back several years ago to today you can see that technology has improved exponentially, and if we continue the path that we are on now who knows what will be created in the future. 

The invincible Rasputin

A few days ago my World History class started the Russian Revolution and for weeks before my teacher had been telling us that the Russian Revolution was absolutely crazy, she said that the violence in the French Revolution is nothing like that of the Russian Revolution. So naturally me being in love with violence I was ecstatic when my class started learning about the Russian Revolution. So far I have heard of only three people dyeing and I can already say my teacher was one hundred percent right, the Russian Revolution is going to be crazy.

            To prove my teachers case I will explain the death of the man Rasputin. If you are unsure who Rasputin is then by all means go look him up because there is just too much to say about him in the amount of space I have left. Anyway, One day a few nobles invited him to dinner, at dinner they filled his wine with poison, but no matter how much Rasputin drank he still didn’t die. Eventually one of the nobles had had enough and would kill Rasputin the old fashion way, then one man shot him twice, still living, Rasputin ran away. He was then caught and drowned, a few minuets later Rasputin came crawling up from the water still alive, and finally the nobles pined him down and shot him in the head and finally killed him. But then just for good, crazy measure the nobles castrated Rasputin. And that is only one person, and it is still only the very beginning of the Revolution, hopefully there is more violence and craziness.

Personally I found it hilarious when Rasputin had come up from the water even after being under for several minuets, even after he was shot. However I REALLY did not need to know that he was castrated, but I guess it just helps prove that the Russian Revolution was crazy. 

a funny song about Rasputin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5-xd0M6tRQ

No Technology History Discussion

A couple of weeks back I was inhumanely given a homework assignment by my World History teacher. My “mission” was to go a whole two hours without using… electronics or any other high-tech devices! I know crazy right? I’m not Tom Cruise from mission impossible, you would think my assignments would be hard not impossible. Not only could I not watch TV, but I also could not use my IPod, Computer, phone, Xbox, or my electric guitar. At the beginning of my “mission” I truly thought it was impossible.

            During the first few minuets after starting my “mission” I felt or should I say heard my phone vibrate against my table I was utterly confused. I did not know whither to answer my phone and give up or just power through my “mission” and be able to go back into my World History class holding my head up high and be able to say I have gone two hours without technology. I know some kids in my History class would have easily completed this same assignment but unlike them I was not brought up on limited access to video games and TV. Whenever I felt like playing a game or watching TV I was able to. Although technology is considered the reason for the rapid deterioration of teenagers attention spans I feel it is a very little percentage of the reasons, for example I turned out to be fine (in my opinion) I am in all honors classes in school getting decent grades (as far as I know) and I have plenty of friends, even though I have spent a lot of my life being instantly gratified by the use of technology.

            Through out my “mission” I was only hesitant in continuing my assignment twice one at the beginning and the other when I heard my phone. However, I had finished my “mission” with little trouble, all I had to do was finish my homework, then for another hour after that read my new book, The Specialist. After I had finished my “mission” I took a sigh of relief and finished my chapter in the book and then went straight to my computer and logged onto Facebook to see who else had finished their “mission”. Apparently I didn’t learn a lesion, and I am completely fine with that.

Giving Attention to Wiki Leaks

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/28/world/europe/28wiki.html?ref=wikileaks

While looking around the New York Times website I found an article that I felt brought unnecessary attention to Julian Assange. Its not bad enough that he released hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the public but now he is getting his own book which will no doubt add more publicity towards his actions. Seeing this article also reminded me of what I said when I first heard about WikiLeaks, If there was no media to report on events like this then no one would care. If no one cared then this wouldn’t be such a big deal and no one would have gotten hurt.

            While reading this article I found that Julian Assange has said that he did not want to make the book, he is only doing it to keep WikiLeaks running. However the website WikiLeaks is already down and inaccessible, as for him not wanting to write the book I think that Assange is lying. Why wouldn’t he want everyone to know his life story and what he had done, its not like he is afraid of people knowing the truth, as everyone has figured out by now.

I chose this news article because it explains that he is arrested and some of his other crimes. Instead of all the regular news that just says Julian Assange is evil, a terrorist, and other unfair accusations. The article just talks about the behind the scenes action, like Julian Assange making a book to protect himself from certain legal charges.

            In my honest opinion I do not believe Julian Assange should be marked as a terrorist, he was only trying to provide the truth to the public just as a government should. Instead he should be a hero to the world outside of the government, he is liberating the public from the governments secrets. However if the governments did not want all the information to be taken seriously then they just should have denied everything and ignore it, eventually no one would have cared.

Moral: Don’t give something attention unless you want everyone to know about it.

North -VS- South

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/30/world/asia/30korea.html?_r=1&hp

My first thought to this article is thank god. Although I haven’t heard much about the recent North Korean threats it did have me worried. I didn’t want this to start another Korean War, and I especially didn’t want the United States of America to get involved, because everyone knows how well that worked out last time when we interfered.

            As I later read I saw that North Korea promised to become a “strong and prosperous country” but what I don’t get is why does a prosperous country always include a nuclear device or a uranium refining plant. I am pretty sure a country can be prosperous without the need for a nuclear weapon. Apparently neither north Korea or South Korea agree with me.

At the very end of the article there is a paragraph saying basically that there is no open conversation, which to me sounds like the worst idea possible, especially when the two countries are about to go to war. What the two countries need to do is meet each other one on one, and talk out their disagreements without the use of threats or name-calling. This way both presidents of North Korea and South Korea will not be pressured into a hasty and dangerous decision.

The reason I chose this article to write this blog is because it could become a global issue, which could start another a war, as well as introduce the US into another war that we don’t belong. I also chose this article because I felt extremely strong about this subject and I believed that I could write a decent article on this information.

After Reading this I went away with the knowledge that even the smallest arguments between Nabors can blow up into something dangerous such as the intervention of several other countries, and could eventually lead to war if enough people disagree with each other.