Blog 8

JUST BECAUSE...

Just because I am a very happy person, does not mean I never get mad,

doesn´t mean I never have problems,

doesn´t mean everything goes my way all the time,

doesn´t mean I´m perfect,

doesn´t mean I love everybody,

Just because I am a very happy person.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just because I like sports, doesn´t mean I am the best at them,

doesn´t mean I play them all,

doesn´t mean I know every single detail within the mayor leagues,

doesn´t mean I like them all,

Just because I like sports. 

Blog 7

     In the small country of Floritance, there was a man who was adored and worshiped. His name was Charles. He had become president of Floritance a few years ago and as you might guess, he succeeded in this task. But his journey towards becoming president and being president was filled with failure and a bit of perseverance.

     Charles had a vision of turning Floritance from a dangerous, corrupt and miserable place into a secure, honest and mirthful place to live. What led to his success was not the simple fact of having this vision, but also gaining knowledge on how politics worked and critizing what he thought led to failure within government. All of his thoughts he shared with his grandfather, who also was responsible for almost everything Charles knew about politics and governing. When Charles ´grandfather passed away, Charles was twenty-two years old and had gained all the knowledge he thought he needed. He did not assist to a College or University, but he met people who did and with them he would discuss various situations and debated about them as well. Doing this, he gained even more knowledge. When Charles turned thirty-seven, he decided he could finally run for president. He lost in the elections, and was crushed about this. One of his friend´s saw how he became almost depressed, and told him that within politics, failure is very common and good politicians are supposed to deal with this and they do almost daily. To this his friend added that perseverance was the virtue that was going to lead him out of this problem. After failing numerous times, Charles finally became President at the age of forty-five. All of the knowledge he had gained throughout the years he put into practice.

         Charles knew that he had to find a way to lead the nine million people who composed society into the right path. He knew that they needed education, due to the fact that almost forty five percent of its people were ignorant, illiterate, inexperienced, etc. He also knew that they were tired of voting for presidents who promised change but did none. The scarceness positive change is what led to poverty and extreme poverty eventually led to security problems nationwide. He had to find a way to eliminate all the discrimination going on, on behalf of the affluent people. After thinking of the type of society he had in front of him and overall its conflicts, he started to brainstorm problems. He demonstrated his fellowship by uniting his most trustworthy friends and asking them their opinions on his possible solutions. After discussing and deliberating a few days he finally came up with the idea of saving about a twenty five percent of the taxes for the construction of schools. The size of the school would be determined by the amount of members that forms each one of the twelve cities. Another twenty five percent of the money went to building maquila industries, which granted more jobs to women and also provided some of the governments land in order to provide more agricultural jobs for men.
      He proposed this solution and evidently the richest class objected. They argued that they had to have a contract that would assure them that their money was in fact being utilized adequately and as assented. Charles took responsibility and that same day he, himself wrote the contract and read it out loud to the people. Then each one of the rich signed the contract and this contract was put in place. Then another failure came on his way. He noticed that he was not gaining sufficient money to construct schools nationwide within his four years of presidency, and that if he did not comply with his main goal, he would not be elected once more to complete his task. He decided to unite all of the individuals forming the governing body and asked them for money in order to build schools. They agreed after he passed a contract that all of the governors had to sign. He then constructed eight schools, and hired teachers that were in full disposition and agreed to the wage they would receive. This plan was successful and after three years of presidency, he had noticed that the amount of uneducated, uncultured people in Floritance decreased from a forty-five percent to a fifteen percent. He also provided government land to families that lived in poverty, and this helped solve their economic issues. Although he accomplished these goals, he was not fully satisfied. He felt that he had failed women in his society, because as you might have noticed, he did not build the maquila industries. This made him feel like a total failure due to the fact that he told himself.  “How is it possible that I was given four years to govern and I am not even capable of complying with three goals/tasks?”  He felt horrible and could not even imagine how women felt once they knew that his four years where coming to an end. When his four years expired, he had paid the government the money from taxes he collected to pay the schools he made and also gave men land for agricultural work. He then remembered what his friend told him about politics being filled with failure and he decided to persevere and wait four years, so that he could have the chance to elect himself once more. Once he was elected he did not only achieve one goal of giving women maquila industries to work on. He also improved schools and improved public hospitals. He also decreased descrimination by making it ilegal and also as more jobs were provided, less poverty there was within Floitance´s citizens. Charles did so much. He gave people hope and made them believe that good governments exist indeed. Failure raised him up, and perseverance made him better. :) 

        BIBLIOGRAPHY:
http://msupress.msu.edu/bookTemplate.php?bookID=264

http://www.freakingnews.com/Racist-Pictures-31240.asp

COPYRIGHT... GABY :)

Blog 6

BISHOP´S PERSPECTIVE:

     It was another normal day at the house, accompanied by Madamme Magloire and Mademoiselle Baptistine. At night, I had overheard Madamme Magloire talk about "...fastening the front door" (Hugo 14). I believe that this time Madamme Magloire had been talking about this topic with Mademoiselle Baptistine because of the rumored news on a fugitive, vagrant going around town. As we were talking about this topic which seemed to be common within our home, someone knocked on our door and giving this anonimous person authorization to come in, he opened the door. I was not surprised to see Madamme Magloire so frightened when she saw who it was. 

     I was not afraid at all of this individual even though I had no idea who he was, because he is my brother and son of God. He had come to our home due to the fact that he did not have a place to stay and asked if he could stay or at least have something to eat. He even offered all of the money he had with him. I told him without any hesitation or without thinking it twice that he could come in and join us for supper. Once I told him this, for some reason I am not concious of, he seemed to be amused. This amusement led him to start explaining to all of us in the house who he was and where he came from. He told us he was a convict , that he had passed 19 years in the galley and demonstrated to all of us his yellow passport,  he also told us that his name was Jean Valjean. Besides this he let us know that he had been walking since Toulon and that this day he had walked twelve days. To conclude, he told us a variety of things about him and to finalize all that information he had given us he told us that a woman had advised him to knock on our door and ask for help. Poor brother, too much time in the galleys led him to under estimate himself. I could not help feeling sorry for this individual, Jean Valjean. 

     After we finished supper, we offered him a room. I truly felt that it was within my responsibilities to help him, Jean Valjean, feel at home and also to make him feel like a normal person instead of a convict everyone should hate, avoid and despise.We are all sons of God, which means that we are all equal. No one is inferior or shoddier compared to everyone in this society. Unluckily this yellow passport Jean had shown me previously makes all of those convicts that feel sorry, ashamed and regret what they have done, no matter what it was, be denominated as less important not only by the rest of society but by themselves. Thank God, this woman advised him to come here. I really hope that he can become an honest man in society and somehow become a better person that will help everyone around him leaving the despising on behalf of that man at the inn and those who neglected him aside. 

CLASSICAL PARALLELS (Abigail Adams to John Adams)

SUMMARY:

     In this letter from Abigail Adams to her husband John Adams, Abigail mentions that she misses her husband and that makes the days passing seem longer. Her anxiety is also becoming unpleasant. Afterwards she brings up her thoughts on peace being more wanted when found or obtain through justice and honor rather than getting it through " bad measures, and purchased at the price of liberty." (Adams 676) Mrs. Warren sent a letter to them wishing John the best of luck and telling him her hopes related to John not destabilizing the noble order of American Amphyctions by choosing King Philip as their leader because it was him (King Philip) who destroyed their happiness. She finally finishes of wishing all blessing to him especially now that he has been chosen to form part of the Continental Congress as part of the 5 Massachusets delegates.

RHETORICAL DEVICES:
- "...you will beware that no future Annals may say you chose an ambitious Philip for your Leader, who subverted the noble order of the American Amphyctions..." (Adams 676)
     Appeal to Emotion
     This quote is important to the letter, because this describes what a part of his job is and what is expected from the citizens. It is important to this letter because of another reason as well, this is, that when you read this quote, the reader than realizes what John´s goal is and how much load he has on him. It is also important because in the following letters, there are occations were he has agreed to some things the British have done and this might make him wonder if being a govenor for so long is affecting him and it worries him when he agrees to some ideas.

-" I wish you every Publick as well, as private blessing, and that wisdom which is profitable both for instruction and edification to conduct you in this difficult day." (Adams 677)
     Appeal to Emotion
     This quote is important to this letter in particular, because it adds to all the previous statements and helps Abigail conclude with what was the main point of her letter, which is to mention the fact that she truly misses John, that she loves him and supports him.It is also important, because as you can see, she wishes her blessing on everything he does, and everything he does might determine whether people become satisfied or not. This connects to the section of the letter where Abigail mentions the letter from Mrs. Warren and her desires.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
http://www.free2pray.info/John-Adams.jpg

Blog 4

     It is of great satisfaction to see how various colonists have shown the greatest amount of patriotism I believe possible. As you can see, this has led many to speak up and express what they feel about the situation between the British and colonists as it goes on. This being said, there has been one person who has fully expressed clearly what he feels what should be done about the awful situation going on; this is Patrick Henry. Patrick Henry expresses the fact that based on what the British have done in the past years, it is fair to say that the colonists cannot take more of this and that we are ready for war. But, expressing what he feels has not been enough. What is enough is for him to express what he feels, but before that, analize what he expresses, due to the fact that if he does not do this, he blames it all on the British instead of admitting that we have partial fault and also lets his ambition towards going to war lead all his thoughts. 

     I would like to begin, mentioning Sir Patrick Henry´s thought about all of the colonists petitions leading the English to prepare for war and this leading to his question that says the following, "Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation?" (Henry). Many might not see the problem with this statement and question, but if you analize it, you will eventually notice that what has led the English to make warlike preparations instead of reconciling in an amiable manner, is the fact that various colonists have made revolts against the English soldiers for desitions made by the English rulers, and this might lead the English to think if you could do something possibly worse the next time, and like any other they want to protect themselves from any hazards. What might solve this problem, is for the colonists to send a letter to someone important expressing their thoughts, and that important person should preferably be one that can communicate this to the authorities and ruling family and make sure they receive the notice. To make sure the authorities do something about the problem, you should send some kind of threat you know will lead the ruling people to pay attention and this will eventually make them respect you and the colonists.

    The second thought that is of great importance for all of the colonists to have addressed to them is Patrick Henry´s ambition to war. He expresses the fact that they are ready for war because they have the ambition, because they can use what they have around them in their favor and because he believes that three million people armed might help us succeed. I would like to express the fact that ambition is one thing that might help you succeed, but if the ambition of the opponent is bigger, you might loose and that ambition might focus many of our soldiers on the outcome if they win the war, instead of consentrating on what is going on and how to get the wanted outcome. Another thing, is the fact that he thinks that using our territory to our benfit might help, but if you look back, we have had British soldiers in our territory for an extensive amount of time so many know our territory and use this to their advantage as well. Lastly, his idea on having three million men armed is not enough, because the British might surprise us with more, the British army will possibly be composed of experienced soldiers instead of any colonist and also, the British have more war experience. If we want to have a war, we should not let the idea of the English taking all of what we have freak us out, instead we should focus on pretending like we are in complete agreement of what they tell us to do so that we can avoid them taking our belonging besides our money. This will let a secret group of people get more guns, gather more people like the Native Americans left and on our side, analyzing moves that can be preformed to our benefit at war and coming up with effective ways to win the war without having an army fully formed of experienced soldiers. This will take time, but it will help us win the war that will let us win our independence. After we become independent, we will have more years being free than the time we were practically under slavery. 

    To conclude, we should accept that we have had fault in the situation between the British and colonists and to not let thoughts lead us to out of the blue want to preform things we have never done before and win. We should take one step at a time and this will help us come up with effective ways that will assure us a great outcome. This will help colonists be better people moraly and finally, will make your upcoming days at least a little bit less miserable than they are now.

Blog 3

     If I were to create something similar to what Alexander Hamilton and James Madison did, this is what I would propose be done. To begin with, I truly believe that there should be state representatives or in Honduras´ case, department representatives just like Alexander Hamilton proposed, which will inform the main body, what is going on with their state, etc. For example, any problems they are going through or achievements. They can also share ideas on how to solve problems the country is going through if it was. 

     To mantain all the ruling powers informed, and to avoid problems involving economic issues, agricultural issues, exportation and importation issues, etc. I propose including people specialized and FULLY informed on these topics to be part of the senate and government. This will help a country avoid and solve more problems eficiently. For example, the "senator" or representative in charge of the economical area, can say the economy is lowering, and in a certain amount of time the situation can become uncontrolable, then the government conformed of the state representatives and ruling powers can start solving the problem at its early stages. If a problem were to be presented, it is of great importance that each state and each representative conforming the senate to give ideas that could potencially solve the problem being presented, and the person who informed everyone about the problem, must give two solutions minimum if possible, due to the fact that this person knew about the problem before anyone and had more time to analyze and come up with ideas. As you can see, we need bright and fast thinkers. I would also enforce security in those places with extreme violence, like Honduras.For this, we can first stabilize the economy so that employing people will not be a problem. Another thing that could help is to have a yearly charity day, so that in this day each person, group of people or company can propose ways to help solve problems and as the year goes by, they have to reach that proposal. For example, a architect can propose making an apartment building to give the homeless a place to stay, and some bed company owner can donate beds, etc.  

    The proposals I just gave, are for all the people living in the countries following these ideas. It is also for the government. If any of these people play by these ideas and decide to commit something incorrect and offensive against this, should be sent to court and if they are honest about their offense they will still be punished but less than the person who lies about their situation. Not will these people only go to jail, they will also have to do their food, do charity work 24/7 and finally, their tax payments will increase each time they commit fraud. The amount that is going to be increased to what they formally pay depends on how severe the offense was. 

WORK CITED:
http://www.google.com/imgresimgurl=http://justquraan.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/shutterstock_11256511.jpg&imgrefurl=http://qwickstep.com/search/giving-to-a-charity.html&usg=__-f0SkAUDdNsWOstvHLgPzAVRzKo=&h=1000&w=1000&sz=665&hl=en&start=16&sig2=_dD9YnpJotxz4aJ1oK0DTA&zoom=1&tbnid=IiRTjvcfObG-BM:&tbnh=149&tbnw=149&ei=cDaETKawMIWBlAfg0_iHDg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgiving%2Bto%2Bcharity%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D671%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.gotrojan.com/images/giving-to-charity.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.gotrojan.com/CharitableFunds.htm&usg=__gtQblohDe0Z1Me3g2t_EPvLiFxE=&h=221&w=251&sz=47&hl=en&start=6&sig2=2R8W2OqaPO7VDV4xqwnVcg&zoom=1&tbnid=M6TRHZRTb5oYcM:&tbnh=98&tbnw=111&ei=hTaETPmgMcKblgf1gMG1Dg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgiving%2Bto%2Bcharity%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D671%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.zunal.com/myaccount/uploads/webquestorganic-food-g.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.zunal.com/index-latest-published.php%3Ft%3D3%26page%3D235&usg=__gS32WnD-Q52Pg2Z9_U6Dn7Ea09Y=&h=424&w=283&sz=47&hl=en&start=1&sig2=sRKEXdZ7OVVbQH9Xm34TBg&zoom=1&tbnid=aMVviqcH_LNd-M:&tbnh=126&tbnw=84&ei=uTaETN-RBIWclgfz8M2wDg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dagriculture%2Band%2Bfood%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D671%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.crdindia.com/gradfirst/images/problem-solving.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.crdindia.com/CRD-Training/effective-problem-solving-techniques.html&usg=__lEwGRJ-QuYdX0edeHNPwdmateO0=&h=390&w=570&sz=61&hl=en&start=7&sig2=mHae24WJqRtQ7IGLBHBFVQ&zoom=1&tbnid=sf-mbfsiDzviiM:&tbnh=92&tbnw=134&ei=1DaETMWFDMP6lweW4cG8Dg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dproblem%2Bsolving%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D671%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://jaydedapper.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/money1-300x297.jpg&imgrefurl=http://jaydedapper.com/2009/01/25/another-spineless-sunday-the-economics-of-tax-cut-v-spend/&usg=__2q4oFlmyTpNAs8R9CmV5Ei-FiEI=&h=297&w=300&sz=28&hl=en&start=1&sig2=8ov1ZK4jP-FJkfvizfLy5A&zoom=1&tbnid=gadgY7yxjnDSBM:&tbnh=115&tbnw=116&ei=EzeETJGbFsOAlAehu6SnDg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dtax%2Bmoney%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D671%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1

Blog 2

Here I am, in the last place I thought I would be. This is, at a foster care agency. Apparently some family is planning on adopting me. I have no idea who they are, but based on what I´ve been told, they are real nice and I´ve got nothing to worry about. This lady at the foster care agency just told me that I would be meeting them this afternoon, for lunch I guess, so I have to put on something nice. Thing is, I have nothing nice to wear, hasn´t she heard were I came from and why I´m here? Well, I tried my best and chose a shirt that was clean and some real dark blue jeans.

                It was finally time to meet my family; they took me to a fine place. The lady, who told me her name was Wendy, was really friendly just like her daughter Rebecca. The guy who would be my father couldn´t meet us due to, too much office work.  Then there was this dude, Joshua, he must have been seven years or so, and he wouldn’t stop talking to me. Well, I guess there is not much to complain about, at least he is nice. Back where I come from, you get mocked if you act like that.  They started asking me where I was from, and embarrassed I confessed that I came from a poor neighborhood where you can find numerous gangs. They also asked me where I studied, and also embarrassed I told them that my mom could only afford paying for school after I finished the fifth grade. A numerous questions came after these ones, except for the reason I was in foster care. I am quite sure that the lady back in the foster care agency told them how my mother was killed by the gang I used to hang out with when I didn´t go to school. Fortunately they didn´t ask this because I would´ve probably burst into tears and ran away.

                A few weeks later, I got the news that this family wanted to adopt me, this made me really happy, now I would finally have people that love me, that will take care of me and that accept me for who I am. I mean, many families probably wouldn´t want me in their families if they knew I lived around gangs and was even a part of one. Two days later, Wendy came to pick me up. For some reason I felt so comfortable around her, as if I had known her for years! Her house was so awesome; I even had my own bedroom and bathroom! Everything was going great. I went to my new school, Joshua treated me just like a big brother, Rebecca was the prettiest and nicest sister anyone could ask for and my adoptive father, Tim was a real nice dude. He even taught me how to play baseball and American football. I have to admit, there were many moments were I didn´t care about anything this new family had given me and felt awfully sad remembering my mom and felt undeserved of all these things Wendy and her family gave

                After a year of living with them, something awful happened.  Joshua got kidnapped! Wendy would cry like I´ve never seen anyone cry and Jim was so depressed. Rebecca was at her worst point, and me. Well I was awfully depressed, he was the one I hang out with the most and now he is gone. All this pain I had became worse, when I discovered that my gang, The Elites, was the responsible ones for the kidnapping. This pain that grew within me when I found about it grew even bigger, when Jim suddenly was the grumpiest dude alive when he would come around me, Rebecca would barely talk to me, and Wendy would treat me as if everything was perfect when it obviously was not. I decided to take action, this month and a half felt like a thousand. I decided to take action and ran away, I went to confront them.

                My legs trembled when I stood in front of them; it was the worst thing ever. Not because these were the stupid guys who killed my mom, but because they had my brother! I knew what they were capable of if I did something wrong.  Before we negociated, they took me to see Joshua, he was blindfolded and his hands were tied up. I knew he was sad because he put his head down and would not talk. We negotiated and they gave Joshua back. Luckily they did not beat Joshua, gave him a bed to sleep, and did not says awful things about the family. He told me that the kidnapper would just sit at a table and watch all day.He also told me that they kidnapped him  because of me, something I knew, and said that they wanted to make me  miserable because after I left the gang, they thought I had betrayed them and killed my mom, after they knew I had a better life and wanted to take it away from me.  

     I knew this was not the end. When I came back home with Joshua, everyone jumped of joy and gave me numerous thanks. I noticed that Joshua enjoyed life more, because he knew as a smart kid that these people could have killed him. He also started being more careful on who was around when he would go out, but this only lasted a week after his liberation. After seven months, the thing I said about this not being the end of it was right. The Elites stopped in front of us, as Joshua and I were going back home from school. I told him to run, and he did. They took me to my old neighborhood and started punching me, kicking me and saying things about my mom and my family. Finally, when I could not resist, and thought this could not get worse, they put a gun to my head, whispered ugly things. Just before I thought the trigger would be pulled the police team came and got them. Little did I know that my adoptive father was a detective and Joshua told him what happened, and Jim immediately called the cops.

                I thought that they would give me away back to the foster care, after all the trouble, but these people are incredibly nice. They decided to maintain me as part of their family and luckily Jim got offered to work in Boston. So we moved and I´ve got to say, this definitely marked the first out of many glorious days in front of us.  

Blog 1

     This article is about an Israeli soldier, identified as Eden Aberjil and some Palestinian prisioners. In this article, Diaa Hadid writes about an Israeli soldier who took pictures with some Palestinian prisioners that have caused negative impressions. In these pictures, the Israeli soldier is posing with legs crossed next to a blindfolded Palestinian prisioner and in another one, she is smiling next to two Palestinian prisioners who where supposedly arrested because they were going to flee. Based on the author, "The incident was a reminder of the fraught relations between Israeli soldiers and the West Bank Palestinians under their control."

     These pictures have not only angered the Palestinians, but the Israelis as well, due to the fact that these pictures have created adverse interpretations of the Israelis morals. In fact, an Israeli military debuty, says the following in relation to the photos. "These are disgraceful photos... Aside from matters of information security, we are talking about a serious violation of our morals and ethical code and should this soldier be serving in active duty today, I would imagine that no doubt she would be court-martialed immediately,". A small problem may be taking place, due to the fact that some say that it is not assured that this soldier will be sent to jail because she has finished her compulsory military service.

     This article describes perfectly the situation, without leaving any details behind, and due to this, I strongly believe that there is no problem with this article. Another thing, is that the the author, Diaa H., was not biased in this article, because they write about the Israeli force´s thoughts and the Palestinian authority spokesman´s opinion on the situation. This article also shows the comments posted by the Israeli soldier and her friends on facebook relating to these pictures. And this article is written in an informative manner, without demonstrating the writter´s opinion.

     I personally feel like this article was well written, not just because of the previous statements, but because it was written without hurting the Israeli´s reputation, which could have been easily done. They also supported their facts utilizing quotes from people who are actually involved in the situation.
     Finally, I would like to end up mentioning that the argument I support within this article is the one the Palestinian authority and the Israeli military spokesman argument about these actions resulting disgraceful and an improper way to humiliate Palestinian etc. I do believe there was a lack of morality on behalf of the Israeli soldier. 

CITATION:
Hadid, Diaa. "On Facebook: Israeli soldier posed with bound Arab". Yahoo News. Associated Press, 16/08/2010. Web. 22/08/2010. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100816/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians_facebook