A Long Way Gone Part 3

Now that I have read the whole story, I can reallt reflect on the book. This book has taught me the true effects of war. The effects on children of all ages. How it ruins innocent families, and messes with everyone's head. The point on the book that I realized this was when Ismahel was in Rehab. He said that when he turned on the water, he saw blood coming out of the Tap. He was halucinating, and it was because of what he had seen in war. Can you imagine getting caught up in war at the age of twelve? Starting off running away from war, but in the end becoming part of it? This is something that nobody should have to go through especially a twelbe year old. By the age of sixteen he was a soldier who had to kill innocent people and take peoples food and supplies. This has been the saddest book I have ever seen, and as I have said before, everytime you think it cant get any worst... it does. Some of the imagery in this book are things I have only seen or heard about in movies. There where points in the book when I seriously considered not readong anymore because it was emotionally hard to read. I will never forget this book, and I am thinking about reading it again. i usually don't find a book that I like enough to read a second time, but I think I will with this book. I would reccomend thisbook to anyone, and I think it is something everyone should read. I will probably give my book to ASTI just because I feel like this s something the next year freshmen should read as a class. It is definatley not easy readin because it makes you think and sends your emotions off the chain, but none the less it is wonderful and movnig book.

A Long Way Gone (Post 2)

This part of the book brobably tops off the last section of the book by far. I would say that the reason why this part is the worst so far is because Ishmael gets caught and recruited by the rebels. Some of the things that he has to do in the rebels is horrifying. He constantly sees dead bodies, and has to deal with these images in his mind for the rest of his life. Can you imagine not knowing what happened to your family? Are they dead? Are they alive? Where my brothers also caught by the rebels? Did they escape this horrablle torture? There have been moments while reading this book, when I wanted to stop reading because it was so intense. In my opinion, I thought that the Kite Runner was very intense until I read this book. Some of the things that Ishmael has to go through in this book are so horrifying that nobody should every have to go through stuff like this. He is constantly having to see dead bodies, and even is forced to kill someone at the age of twelve. I think that one of the things that gets me the most about this book is one simple question. What is the Rebels point in killing all of these innocent people? What did they ever do to them? All thy where doing was trying to live their life and support their families. Who has the right to take that away from anybody? This subject gets me a little upset just thinking about it. I want to read more even though I don't at the same time. I am going to read more anyway!

Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a boy Soldier (First Post)

This book has been by far the most sickening, disturbing, and horrifying book I have ever read. Some of the things that have been talked about in this book I have only seen in movies.  For example babies being shot, women and children being set on fire, and little kids as young as the age of ten being recruited into the rebel forces and made to kill random  people. Can you even begin to imagine watching your friends and family being shot around you, and having to dodge your way around dead bodies just to try and survive? Can you imagine being separated from your loved ones and never knowing what happened to them? Always wondering did they get captured and recruited by the rebels?

Where they shot and killed? You never know. The most depressing thing about this to me, is the fact that this is a true story. Ishmael somehow escapes the horror of Sierra Leone which I will read later in the book. Ishmael says somewhere in the seventh chapter, “Even a 12 year old cannot be trusted anymore.” After that, he explained how children as young as the age of ten are recruited into the rebels. Because of this,  people don’t know if young children are rebel spies, or there to kill random people for no reason at all. It has been very sad and depressing to read the horrible things that where done to people in Sierra Leone. I have no doubt that the things I read from this point on will only get worst, but I cant’s stop reading the book. I definitely feel like our discussions that happened  today in class was a success and I look forward to more of them!

Kite Runner Final Essay

“I ran because I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he would do to me. I was afraid of getting hurt. That’s what I told myself as I turned my back to the alley, to Hassan.” (Amir, P.77). This is what Amir said and did when he saw Hassan being raped BY Assef and his little friends. This simply shows how good of a friend Amir was too Hassan. The entire rape situation did not make that much sense to me as far as the way Amir acted to the situation.

Hassan made it very clear to Amir that he would do anything for Amir, and he proved it when he went through the rape for the kite. All Amir did was stand there. That proves what kind of friend he was to Hassan. Another thing that reflects what kind of person Amir was when he kicked Hassan out of the house. After all the things that Hassan did for Amir during there childhood, you would think that Amir would have some kind of heart as an adult. At the same time, Amir was not responsible for Hassan’s death, so lets just get that out of the way before I continue. . My feeling about all of this, is that Amir did not physically make Hassan leave the house. However, Amir did say some things that may have made Hassan upset and caused him to leave. None the less, the way Hassan reacted to what Amir said was entirely up to Hassan, and had nothing to do with Amir. Even if Amir did somehow force Hassan out of the house (which he didn’t), Amir cannot be blamed for the Taliban. Obviously the Taliban has been and is currently an ongoing problem in that part of the world, and Amir was not a part of the Taliban. It would be obscured to say that Amir wanted Hassan to be killed by the Taliban. Sometimes people are just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The example that I used in class to prove my point was this. Let’s say that I am hosting a party, and someone gets super drunk. Around 1:00am I say the party is over, and that everyone has to leave my house. That same drunk person decides to drive home. He ends up hitting another car, and killing the driver. It is not my fault that the other driver was killed. Just because I said the party was over and people had to go home, is not the cause of that person’s death. Now that all of this is out of the way and cleared up, I will continue. I think that Amir in a way owed Hassan because Hassan did so much for Amir as a child. Once again the rape. All Hassan had to do was give Assef the kite and he would not have gotten raped, but he took the rape just so that he could still give the kite to Amir. Since Hasssan went through all of this during their childhood, the fact that Amir kicked him out of his house when he returned to Kabul as an adult.

Questions that where brought up when I was reading the book where these. First of all, why did Hassan and his father leave Amir and Baba’s house? Did Hassan tell his father what had happened with the rape, and therefore the father wanted to flee town to get away from Assef? Or did Hassan tell his father all of the stuff that he lied about in order to keep Hassan out of trouble?  To me, it just not make too much sense why they just all of a sudden left. The second question I have, is what made Amir let Hassan stay at his house as an adult in the first place? Obviously after the rape, Amir just stayed away from Hassan and their friendship was pretty much over. So because of this, why would he let Hassan stay over? My final question is why did Amir go back to Kabul in the first place? You could tell this when he went got the phone call in San Francisco. Overall, I thin that Amir did some really messed up things to Hassan especially after all the things that Hassan did for him.

Kite Runner Part Three

Today in class, we got into a pretty heated discussion (yelling & throwing chairs) and I want to let my point be known.  We started talking about the part when Hassan left Amir’s house. Some people in our debate felt like it was Amir’s fault that Hassan died, so I asked why? Their idea was that Amir made Hassan leave the house and then he was killed by the Taliban. My first response to this, was that even though Hassan did leave the house for whatever reason, Amir had nothing to do with the Taliban. Immediately, the  opposing side said that if Hassan had never left the house, than all of that wouldn’t have happened. My feeling about all of this, is that Amir did not physically make Hassan leave the house. However, Amir did say some things that may have made Hassan upset and caused him to leave. None the less, the way Hassan reacted to what Amir said was entirely up to Hassan, and had nothing to do with Amir. Even if Amir did somehow force Hassan out of the house (which he didn’t), Amir cannot be blamed for the Taliban. Obviously the Taliban has been and is currently an ongoing problem in that part of the world, and Amir was not a part of the Taliban. It would be obscured to say that Amir wanted Hassan to be killed by the Taliban. Sometimes people are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The example that I used in class to prove my point was this. Let’s say that I am hosting a party, and someone gets super drunk. Around 1:00am I say the party is over, and that everyone has to leave my house. That same drunk person decides to drive home. He ends up hitting another car, and killing the driver. It is not my fault that the other driver was killed. Just because I said the party was over and people had to go home, is not the cause of that persons death. That is my metaphor for the whole situation, and aside from that whole debate, I loved the book. It was one of the few books that I have been forced to read as an assignment and liked. I liked it, and am seriously considering reading it a second time. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in reading it!

Post About Whatever

I am just posting about whatever since I don’t have a specific topic I want to post about today. I guess I will post about the new video game I got. It is called Call Of Duty Black Ops. It is by far the best game I have ever played. The graphics are amazing too the point where you almost feel like you are watching areal movie as you play it. And the story is so deep, it leaves you not wanting to put away the controller. It is a little bit like a good book. For example the Kite Runner. Every time you think it can’t get better… it does. Plus there is an online multiplayer mode that kicks a**. It is so much fun, because you earn money to buy and customize your weapons and equipment. I recommend this game to anyone who likes first person shooters, and if you don’t believe how good this game is, go buy it and see for yourself.

Kite Runner Part Two

I am posting this a little late because I was very sick when it was due and did not get a chance to do this then. Part two of the kite runner has been very interesting so far. The part that is striking me the most, is when Baba gives Amir the car. There is really nothing special about this part, accept for when Baba says that he wished Hassan was there at the time. As I read through this section of the book, I could tell that this made Amir upset. I get the feeling that all along Amir has seen Hassan as a threat too Baba’s love. In other words, I think that Amir saw the situation as a competition for Baba’s love even though Hassan did not. I think when Baba and Amir moved to California, Amir was probably somewhat happy because he finally had Baba all too himself. But when Baba mentioned how much he missed Hassan and how he wished that he could be with them in California, I think that made Amir Fell many emotions all at the same time. Jealous, sad, angry, unsecure. Those are the feelings that I think Amir was feeling during that whole seen. Over all from what I have read in the book, Amir has had quite the hard life. Hard in some ways. Yes he lived with a rich father in a nice big house and a mustang, but the things he went through growing up as a child. For example, the rape. Now for the rest of his life, he has to live with the guilt for not helping his friend. He also lives with the thought that his own father does not love him as much as he loves his friend. Whether or not this is true is irrelevant, because Amir does not know the truth. Overall, I come to the conclusion that Amir’s life does not get any easier as I read on.

Being Sick

Being sick absolutely sucks. I caught whatever I have from my mom, who caught it from my sister. Just like the Kite Runner, just when I though this couldn't get any worse... it did. It all started on Monday. I first noticed that I was getting sick with a sore throat.  I did not think much of it, since I had had little cold before. I had no idea that this would turn into a full out flu. Now I feel about ten times worst. I still have a sore throat, but wait it gets better. I have a extremely bad headache, and I can feel my head throbbing with every heartbeat. I can not breath through my nose, which is simply a pain. To top all of that off, I have a fever of 101 degrees. There is absolutely no way I am coming to school tomorrow.

First 120 pages: Kite Runner

The first thing that Mr. Sutherland said to us before we got the book, is "Every time you think the book can't get anymore serious, it does!" As I have read the first 120 pages, I have found this to be true. The most intense thing that I have read so far, is the part when Hassan gets raped. I was just caught in shock because I had no idea that the book would go that far. I want to stay on the topic of the rape. I do not understand things that happen during that whole situation. First of all, why didn't Amir do ANYTHING at all to try and help his friend who was being raped? All he was stood there and watched the whole thing. On the other hand, I do understand there is a possibility that he was in complete shock about the whole situation, but who knows? In class today we had a discussion about this topic (which for the record did not go so well), and some ideas of why he did not do anything to help his buddy. One of them is simply complete shock as I mentioned before. The thing that made sense to me possibly he was afraid that he may get his butt kicked because it was three 15 years old, so that part is understandable. but in that case, why didn't he try and go get some help? That goes back to maybe the idea of absolute shock, or my opinion of being embarrassed because he could not help his friend himself. Those are my ideas about the whole situation, and I may never know the truth!

Reflective Essay

          I want to talk about how this year has opened new writing styles, habits, and ideas, and skills for me during the first quater of my freshman year. This year at ASTI having two writing classes (English and Wrting 1) has helped me a lot even though we have only gone through one quarter. In the following paragraphs, I will explain the different ways that I have progressed as a writer here at ASTI.  

I think that this years writing for me has been much different than any other year in the past. The major change for me has been the blogging process. I have found that the blogging process has opened up new ways of writing. I like blogging for a couple of different reasons. I like it because first, it keeps me interested because it is online. I like because I do everything on the computer and having all of my writing be centralized on the computer works really well for me. The other thing that makes the blogging process much easier than just regular writing, is the feedback we get. Since everyone in the class can see each others work, the feedback is not only from the teacher. To take that even further, being able to see every one's work triggers ideas for new writing. The response posts that we have to do every week makes us look at our classmates work and triggers the idea and writing process.

The open writing we do on our blogs has helped me as a writer, and simply as a person in a couple different ways. I feel like the blog is just a way for me to vent about what I need to talk about. Even though I have not really used the blog for anything personal, you can tell that even in my response post to Stan Andersons blog about missing assignments I used the blog to explain how strongly I felt about it. The other thing that I have found myself usung the blog for is simmply to write when I am bored and have nothing better to do. For example, the post I did about my Xbox. I was simply playing my Xbox all day and I felt like I should do soemthing and so I posted. That is just one more way that blogging has helped me as a writer.I think that open ended writing on the blogs are much different than structured writing assignments. With structured assignments, you are being forced to just write about a specific topic. From my personal experience being forced to write about a specific thing is the number one cause of writers block. When we are able to just write whenever and whatever we want on our blogs, I almost never find myself in writers block because I am ususally writing for plesure. When I write about what I want to, I actually find myself enjoying writing.

           

I think that ASTI’s writing and english program has done good things for me. English class has taught me how to do many things other than just reading and comprehending things we read. I have learned to read between the lines and pput th puzzle together of what we are reading at the time. The last thing that I have learned in english class is how to catch and fix redundancy in my writing. Even though I probably have some redundancy in this essay, I am working on it. Writing one has helped me a lot as well. The writing class here has been different than any onther writing class that I have had before. In her class we have explored different types of writing, and how to write it. We have gone through grammer, descriptive writing,and now we are in the narrative section. Too be ohnest, I did not do to well in the decripive essay unit. All this shows is that I need to work on it, and because of the unit I know what exactly I need too do. Now we are on the narrative unit, and I am actually enjoying it. I have always been fairly good at writing stories, so this unit seems exciting too me. I think I will do much better on this essay than the last descriptive essay simply because I actually get to tell astory. The problem with the descriptive essay is that we had to decrobe something that happened with out telling a story. That was really hard for me, and I received a pretty low grade on it.

Overall I feel like this school, aswell as the english and writing teachers I have are helping me become the best writer that I can be. I am definatley thankful, because I know that as I go onto college classes, the expectations for my writing will go up. I am planing to take a college class nest semester freshman year, so these writing skills that I am in the process of learning will help me tremendously. I definatley feel like coming to ASTI was a good decision, and I look forward to becoming a better writer.

Of Mice & Men

This book had many sub-conflicts, which in my opinion all originated from one main conflict. To me the main conflict is very complicated, and it takes a bit of understanding about the character named Lennie. Lennie has a mental defect, which causes him to act very childish and slow. He has done things before that caused him and George to have to leave the city of weed in search of a new job. I thin that the conflict is Character (Lennie) vs. Himself because of his fate. His fate being his mental defect that he can not control because he was born with it.

            First, the conflict between Lennie and the lady with the red dress in Weed. All Lenny wanted to do was to touch the lady’s red dress. Because of Lennie’s disease, he did not know that just going and touching the dress was not ok. Plus, he did not let go of her dress because he absolutely had to touch it, so he did not let go when the girl tried to pull away. This caused George and Lennie to be run out of town and try to find a new job. Yes the conflict of this event was Lennie vs. the lady, but it was a result of Lennie vs. himself because of his disease.

            The second sub-conflict I want to address, I the conflict between George and Lennie. Because of Lennie’s defect, George has to watch after Lennie, and make sure that he is ok. As a result of George having to watch after Lennie, George keeps losing his jobs because Lennie screws things up for him by doing something completely ridiculous like the accident in Weed. Once again, it is not directly Lennie’s fault because he could not control his defect, but no one else is to blame. This proves again that it is character vs. self because of Lennie’s defect.

            The last sub-conflict I am going to address is huge accident where Lennie accidently killed Curly’s wife. All Lennie was trying to do was touch her hair, but instead he accidently snapped her neck (because of his defect). This resulted in George just ending Lennie’s life by shooting him in the back of the head. Personally I think that George did the right thing, because Lennie would have been killed by other people in the end anyway, so George just ended it. This all happened once again because of Lennie’s defect which leads to character vs. self. All of these examples simply prove my point about how the main conflict is character vs. self because of Lennie’s fate of his disease.

             

I Can't Wait For This Summer

This summer is going to be a lot of fun for me. The main thing that I am looking forward to is the driving. Literally a week after school gets out I will be fifteen and a half, and able to get my drivers permit. Even though I Will still have to drive with a licensed adult it will still be a lot of fun, and one step closer to my licence. I have been waiting to be able to drive for a long time, and it only seems like time is going slower as i get closer to being able to drive. My parents and grandma let me drive around the old navy base here in Alameda sometimes, and my grandma lets me drive around her neighborhood. There are a couple of things wrong with that. First its not legal, and second i can't really drive anywhere. I simply can't wait to be able to drive.

The second thing that I can not wait for this summer, is being able to actually work. I have been lifeguarding as a volunteer the past couple of summers here in Alameda, but I am sick of not being paid. This summer I will be able to get a work permit and actually get a real job as a lifeguard. My cousin used to be a lifeguard when I was a child, and I have always wanted to follow her foot steps when it comes to lifeguarding. Now that I am fifteen, i am able to finally do that and lifeguard.

This summer is going to be filled with new and excited things that i am looking forward too. I like the fact that I am finally growing up and able to do more things that I have been waiting for for a couple of years. Driving, lifeguarding, and what ever else plays out this summer!

Video Games... Good or Bad?

I am a nerd when it comes to video games, and I probably play way too much than I should. I am a huge Halo fan, and I recently got the new one called Halo Reach. Everyday after school, I have been  rushing home and getting homework out the way so I can hurry up and turn on the Xbox. Some scientists say that video games are not healthy for the brain, and that people should not play them. As you read on, I will give my opinion of why I think video games do not have a negative effect.

Personally as a video game addict, I think that these types of games do nothing but good things for you. First, they help you practice your hand eye coordination because you have to control your person in the game and make him/her do things to complete the game. Second, it practices multitasking. Many times in a game, you will have to try and complete many different objectives at once. This makes you think and really try to focus on what you have to do to complete the game. Last but not least they are simply fun to play, and they help keep you from being bored.

Yes I can admit that i probably play way more video games than I should, but lets just face it. As a teenage boy I am addicted!

Mom.... it's just 1 missing assignment

I found this quote from Stan Anderson's Blog and I found that I completely agree with what he is saying.

"It is not the end of the world if i have one missing assignment....."

I agree when stan says that parents freak out about little things such as one little missing assignment. I do find Schoolloop a very useful tool to help us stay in top of our grades, but when it comes to parents.... Schoolloop is a curse. Sometimes when you know you are not doing so well in a class, you don't want your parents to find out, and to just have a little bit if time to figure out how to pull the grade up. But apparently thats not how Schoolloop works. I found that every night your parents actually get the emails form Schoolloop before us students. This is just perfect because now when we have a bad grade, your parents know about it first and you come home and get in trouble.

I love the fact that my parents are there for me when it comes to school, and in anything that I do, but sometimes it seems like parents only look at the bad things. They will see your grades with all A's and maybe one C, and the C is all they pay attention too. I understand that they want us to do well in school, but sometimes that constant nagging about our grades doesn't help, but wait it gets better. When you have a bad grade, and they know because of Schoolloop, they use it to their advantage. When you ask for something, the fist  thing that comes out of their mouths is "have you seen or grades on Schoolloop?". It has been better this year, because my grades have been much better at ASTI than in middle school, but still is a little bit of space when it comes to grades too much to ask for?

A Difference in Life & School

All of a sudden, life just became much complicated. I have school, music lessons, after school clubs, and a little sister that I have to watch sometimes. Middle school was all gravy. To me it felt like I was sailing through it with out any obstacles in my way. All of a sudden, I am realizing that life is not so simple. As I am getting older, I am realizing the responsibilities I have are way more serious. No one is here to tell me to do my homework, or to make sure that I study for my tests. Of course my parents are there for me if I need help, but they expect me to do what i need to do with out being told. School especially is getting a little bit harder as we get further into the school year. I want to focus on my experience at ASTI so far.

I have some classes that are easy, and some that are hard. Some classes have a test every week, and some classes never have tests. At first, I felt like ASTI was a walk in the park. The first month of school was easy because we were still getting into the habit of things. Now things are kicking into gear and finally getting interesting. For example, yesterday we had three tests. Math, HIstory, and Writing. The stress level is going up, but I think I can handle it. As long as I manage my time, and stay organized i should do fine.

Im doing good with school, and I look forward to getting freshman year over with. I think that the next three years at ASTI are going to be easier since I will be used to the system. I do plan to try and start taking a college class or two next semester, and over the summer, but I have to wait and see how things are going first.

Q Essay

In this essay, I will simply be talking about certain qualities about Q that were made very clear in both of the stories we read. To me, Q seems like a confused guy who doesn’t really know what he is doing in life, but at the same time he has some good qualities that help him get through his hard times in life. In the following paragraphs I will be using quotes to prove what kind of person Q is.

Q and Lll though that they were meant to be and get married bu as it turns out maybe they were wrong. During the story, Q meets a women named Lll whome he falls in love with and they plan to get married. Later on there was evidence that maybe the engagement is not a good idea ad maybe they are not meant to be together. This quite proves that maybe they are not meant for each other after all. "But every time an opportunity occurred, I postponed it, out of embarrassment..." (p. 75). To m this qoute shows that Lll and Q should have have been so eager to get married because if Q was embarrassed to let Lll meet his family and vice versa, than obviousley they are not comfortable with her and they don't know enough about each other. As it turns out I was right, because in the end Lll ends up leaving Q for his uncle who stole his women. This shows that Q was the type of person who didn't care about details and just wanted to hurry up and get married.

In the aquatic uncle, Q had some bad things done to him. The main thing that was done to him was that his uncle took Lll from Q and ran away with her. In other words, his uncle snatched and ran away. Later in the story Q says “And yet I wouldn’t have traded places with any of them.”  This stood out at me and really shows what kind of person Q is in one major way. The thing I took from this is that even though he had his girl taken from him, and other people had better lives then him, he didn’t want to trade places with any of them. This shows a lot because it shows that he is happy with himself. This is an important quality for anyone to have, and it is good that he had this quality because of all the things he went through.

This time I am going to refer to the Dinosaurs. In this story, he is the only dinosaur left and he is trying to survive. He finds a group of weird animals that take him in and let him be a part of there family, even though at the end he runs away from the family. In the beginning of the story he says “I would never have imagined it possible to talk like that with non-dinosaurs…” This is a problem that many people experience to this day. I have noticed that very often people tend to only group with people of the same race. Some people are afraid to make friends with people of different races (or in this story different species), and because of this they do not meet very many new people. Now a days, this happens less and less but it does still happen. This shows a very big quality about Q. He was not afraid to meet new people. I mean yes at first he was a little scared but he opened up and made friends with “the new ones”. This quality of being open to new people and things is very important for anyone to have especially in Q’s case because he was the only one of his kind left.

Response to Aleah's post on "Is the N-word ok for White People?"

I found this quote on Aleah's Blog and we are starting a debate about it. I have a a strong feeling about this topic of the N-word and what I feel about certain people saying the word.

Today during P.E. my classmates and I were having a very serious/jokey debate on who can say the N-word. Another African-American students was on my debate side and two Caucasian students were together a female, and male. Keep in my this student was a sophomore. So the N-word came up. Usually it can be said just out of fun when African American's Sais it but it sounded really discriminatory, when this particular Caucasian student said it. Me and my debate partner stopped our football game and said “you can’t say that, your not black”, and then the other student said “Why not? If black people call themselves that than why can’t I” That’s when the debating started.

Me and my partner didn’t care about the fact that Black people use that term everyday to call themselves that, its very racist to say that, not coming from and African-Americans mouth. The other sides debate was “If I’m dating the N-Word ending in -ger- that’s a different word ending in -ga-“, They kept repeating “We can say if you can say it” Then our reaction came “we can’t stop you from saying the N-Word, but if you say it that’s a death wish” The majority of black people I know wouldn’t fight  over anything, so I’m not guaranteeing that they would get thrown off the bridge, I am just saying that using a very Controversial word like if offense if you are non African-American and say it.

I have to somewhat disagree with what Aleah is saying about White people saying the N-word. Before I go no about how i feel about this, I want to point out that I am mixed with Black and White so some of my points will be supporting both sides of the debates. First I want to make very clear where the the N-word originated. The N-word originated during the time of slavery in the U.S. which referred to a slave being lower or not as good as the white slave master.

My first point, is simply this. If it is not acceptable for a White person to say the N-word because it is disrespectful and prejudice, then why would Black people want to call each other this word if it is these things. All I am saying about this is keeping in mind what the word really mean, why would it be ok for anyone to use the word to refer to a Black person including Black people. personally form my Black side and my White side speaking, I am not comfortable for anyone to say the word.

I do undestand that yes the term can be taken disrespectful coming from a White person, but if the White person is saying it to a freind and means it in a freindly or brotherly way, than why is it unacceptable? Yes it is absoloutly unacceptable for a White person or any person from another race to call a RANDOM Black person the N-word, but if you are freonds and you mean it in a RESPECTFUL AND BROTHERLY WAY, than why is it bnot acceptable?

I do beleive that if a Black person in not confortable with a White person calling him/her the N-word, than they need to respect that and not use the word around them. I would keep going on about this, but I want to have some metirial for later debate rounds and topics. If you have a response to my post and this debate please feel free to post and jump in on your post.

Need to get off of the Xbox

I have finished all of my homework for the night, and all I have done fore the past four hours is play my Xbox. I figured since I have the two blog post due on Friday, I should stop wasting time and actually do something. I thought since I have nothing else to do, I’ll write about what I want to do after I graduate college.

 I want to join the Air Force and become a pilot flying big cargo planes across the world. More specifically, I want to fly large cargo medical evacuation planes that transport injured soldiers to different places. Both my parents are in the medical field, and they have always urged me to do the same, but my dream for a while has been to fly. If I become a pilot flying medivac planes, I will be able to do both. Yes I have to admit that the idea of flying fast fighter jets does sound a little bit cool, but the risk is too hight for me and I really don’t want to be in combat. Here is a picture of the plane I want to fly, and what a medivac plane looks like on the inside. 

To some people, the idea of flying sounds a little far fetched. To me the idea of flying widens my eyes, and makes me very anxious to graduate college and follow my dream. My parents back me up 100% on my decision to join the Air Force and become a pilot, and I look forward to some day finally being able to say that I am a pilot. The cool part about it, is if I join the Air Force while I am in college they will pay for my schooling, give me money to live on each month, and I will get the full benefits as if I was in active duty. They promise this stuff as long as you go straight to the Air Force after school and go to the pilots academy, which is what I want to do. At that point, I will go in as an officer because I will have my degree, and I will be on my way to become a pilot (which takes a year at the pilot academy).

Response to Tony Lin's Opening Statement for his Debate On Social Networking

I found this qoute from Tony Lin's Opening Statement for his debate on why social networking is a good thing. "

" Social networking allows people to talk over long distances. If your mom or one of your relatives live oversees and you wanted to see or talk to them you could go on gmail or Facebook and video chat, talk, or message them. Instead of paying for a phone, social networking allows people to voice chat, or on some sites call people for free."

This quote jumped out at me because of a personal experience that I had last April. In April over spring break, I took a trip to Europe with a friend and his parents. my parents were not with me, and i could not use my cell phone overseas. We visited Scotland, England, and France, and I needed a way to keep in touch with my family. Since a numerous amount of people in my family have a Facebook, it was a very easy way to send messages to my friends and family, as well as posting pictures of all the places we visited.

The trip was only supposed to last a total of two weeks but for those of you who don't know, there was a huge volcano eruption in Europe that grounded all air traffic. Scientists said that it was unsafe for the planes to fly in the volcanic ash, and so all flights were grounded and cancelled. Because we just so happened to be there during this time, our flight was cancelled too. Since we had no idea when they were going to start letting flights back out, we were pretty nervous. My parents were nervous as well, because they had no idea when I was going to be able to come home. Facebook played a HUGE part in this trip, because it was the way that my family and I stayed in contact. This quote absolutely applied to me when I was stranded there in Europe, and my story is absolute proof that what Tony was saying about social networking sites is true!

Two Random Paragraphs

Well these two paragraphs that you will read bellow are a couple of assignments that we had to do for Mrs. Corbally's class. Since I was a little bit absent minded about what to write for my first blog post, I chose to include these two assignments. The first one is called "The Best Food Ever", and the second one is called "The Best Age Ever". Please feel free to comment about these two paragraphs, because the I am very interested in hearing what other people think!

The Best Food Ever

            People say that there is nothing like your grandmothers cooking, and that’s absolutely true. The best food ever always comes from my Grandmothers kitchen, where there is never anything I don’t like. My favorite dish she makes is her Pot Roast. She cooks it with carrots, potatoes, and of course the mouth watering Gravy. Every time she tells us we are having it for dinner, no one objects. What she does is she cooks the meat halfway to speed up the cooking process in the slow cooker a little bit, but at the same time, she collects all the meat drippings from the pan. She uses all the meat drippings to make the gravy, which she then puts in the slow cooker along with the meat and veggies. When you take a single bite, your mind wanders off into heaven, and you always go back for more even though you are stuffed from all the times you went back before. Once you finally decide that you shouldn’t have anymore or else your stomach will explode, you are already half way into a food coma. Once the full food coma finally hits you, all you can do is lay in bed and try your best not to fall asleep. My Grandma’s Roast is so good that you could eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (if it hasn’t been eaten all up by the entire family the previous night). It is impossible to imagine the mouth watering taste just buy putting it in to words, but I know that if you had a single taste, you would feel the same way!

The Best Age Ever

            Hanging out with friends, getting in to trouble, and actually enjoying school even though you complain to your parents otherwise. This is the definition of being fourteen. I am fourteen, and I never though it would be so much fun. 14 is the age when your parents actually start to trust you a little bit more, and give you more freedom. Now is the age where I can hang out with friends with out having to call home every 30 minuets, or getting in trouble when I get home for not answering my phone. As well as finally be able to go shopping by myself with out my mom telling me to not waist my money, but being fourteen isn’t all fun and games. As I get older, I have more and more responsibilities. For example babysitting, and fixing dinner (only on Tuesdays). As well as making sure I stay on top of my school work with my parents nagging me to get my homework done (don’t get me wrong, they help me if I need it). In some ways I like the responsibility, because it shows that I am growing up and becoming more mature. On the other hand, sometimes it can get a little bit overwhelming. Overall being fourteen is a wonderful experience that I will never forget.

Prostitution Rebuttal: Cameron & Stan

The cons made some very good points, how ever we still have to respectfully disagree. The first point we have to disagree with, is this quote found on the cons opening statement. They said "The first reason why prostitution is bad is because it can cause women to have an abortion and it affects their health.". We find that when a woman has an abortion yes it does sometimes affect the women's health, but none the less it is the womens'  choice to be a prostitute as well as the women's choice to not have the child and have an abortion. I don't want to go in to the whole abortion topic because we can g on about this all day, but our main point is simply that 9 out of 10 times the overall decision to be in the prostitution business is the prostitutes choice. Lets just say that the women does become pregnant and birth control fails, simply think about whose fault it is.

Secondly, the cons stated this. "The reason why prostitution is bad is because it can cause women to have HIV/AIDS and other STD’s but also men can receive it too from the prostitute.". Once again, we have to go back to what we said before. All the risks that are affiliated with prostitution are risks that are taken by the prostitute and the buyer. Plus on the other hand if prostitution was made legal, prostitutes would need prostitution licenses so that they could be kept track of. All of the known prostitutes would have to have regular health screenings, and if they did not show up for them their licenses would be take away. If they where caught selling with out a license,, then they would be put in jail for a while. This would solve the problem of unknown and illegal prostitutes, as well as the problem of prostitutes not having health screenings.

The last point that the con side mentioned is that if prostitution was made legal, it would leed to human trafficking. This is a good point but still the idea of making all prostitutes have licenses, would solve it. If a women was caught selling herself with out a license, they would be put in jail. Once someone is put into jail they check to make sure that they are citizens, and if they are not citizens, then they would be deported and sent home. This would solve two things. First, it would help the illegal prostitution problem, as well as the illegal immigrant problem (to some extent).

First classmate-response blog assignment: Cameron Leahy

I found this quote from Justice Toailoa's blog, and I though it is a perfect example of a girl who is not using the skills from the ASTI Constitution. Specifically number 10.

The aggression of girls can out reach any mans anger. Girls can do much more than just yell and hit. They make you feel alone and deserted. The anger of a girl doesn't just go away it will always remain there deep down inside of there minds. Waiting for the right time to strike....

I think that the reason why this is a perfect example of how number ten from the ASTI Constitution is being broken. Just to refresh you memory, number ten is Resolve Conflicts Peacefully. This quote is pretty much saying that in this case when the girls get angry, they hold a grudge as they say and wait for the perfect time to unleash their anger. Number ten of this Constitution is saying that when we have a problem, we need to handle it and a mature and peaceful way. For example, if we get in to and argument with someone about something stupid, try to talk it out nicely. If that issue is to big for you to handle it by yourselves, then don't be afraid to go to someone for help. Overall this is the general idea of the ASTI Constitution. I think the Constitution is telling us to treat every one fairly and basically that same way we want to be treated. We had something like this at my old school, by they where called life skills. They pretty much say the same thing. They are pretty much just guidelines on how to treat our pears, and how to be respectful and understanding to everyone.

Just Kidding and Ganging up

The only time I think I have been in a group that has made someone feel bad, was in sixth grade. I was new to the school, and I just wanted to fit in. in order to try and fit in, I joined up with a group of people where considered popular to try and fit in. They would go around trying to make people feel bad, and this made me feel bad about the kind of people I was hanging out with. I realized that even though I wasn’t making people feel bad with them, I was just as bad as them because I hung out with them. I very quickly realized that these are not the type of people that I wanted to hang out with. Once I realized this, I stopped hanging out with those people, and made new friends. I am very happy that I made this decision, because now I am still friends with those people, two of which are joining me at ASTI as we become freshman.

    Being in that kind of situation did not make me feel good at all. I felt like I was becoming the type of person no one wanted to be friends with, and that just wasn’t me. I think people bully others sometimes to make themselves feel better. Sometimes it can be connected to stress, and other personal problems that have nothing to do with the person being bullied. I don’t think that they really want to hurt their peers, but simply they have a lot of stress and anger all bottled up inside, and get it out through bullying other people. Of course there are better ways of handling this stress, but sometimes bullies don’t know how. A lot of the time people don’t want to help these bullies because they are mean to everyone. In a way, it is just a vicious cycle that never stops. Bullies bully people because they need help, but people don’t want to help them because they are bullies.