Community service

The community service I accomplished was an assortment of things, from helping at a school and passing out clothes and food to digging a trench for a low income mobile home park in cottonwood. The more lengthy of the two was passing out clothes and turkeys for thanksgiving, along with running around town getting donations from the various establishments for the school I was helping.


The trench was one of the most fun things I helped with, I had a few friends helping with the digging process. There were a few complications from broken pipes and other things underground that hampered our progress. The trench was for a electrical line. One of the tenants tried to drill a post hole of some sort and he ended up pulling the electrical line out of the ground. So we had to dig a trench to be able to lay down new line for the electrical system. Along the way there was some other lines and a few railway ties buried that we had to go either under or over if they were low enough. But in the end we accomplished it in two days had fun digging it even though the last day it rained so the dirt was heavier than the day before so that slowed us down.


The school hours I worked at Sycamore School with my Grandmother Rina Ford. I used her pick-up to gather the donations such as the turkeys for thanksgiving and other things such as donations form places such as Target, Wal-mart and Costco. The donations were things such as Clothes, shoes, and other necessities that the needy children needed at her school. The one thing that sticks in my mind was when I was at Sycamore School passing out turkeys to the families who wouldn't have anything for thanksgiving otherwise. I was amazed how many turkeys we had, all donated from Costco. Within a few hours we only had a couple left and those were soon snapped up by families with a whole heartily grin and a thank you. Some of the families my grandmother knew personally which made me smile as she introduced me to them, most of them already knew of me, which made it all worth while.

One reason I chose the things I did was because I knew what I would be doing, I wasn't jumping in without knowing what I was going to do. The trench I did because I was helping the parks tenants and it was an excuse to hang out with my friends, and to get my mind off of a few things. The Sycamore School gave me a reason to meet some of the families my grandmother helps out so much. Most of the families that I met already knew about me. I met a few employers that would of liked to hire me because of who my grandmother was, which made me smile. I've helped my grandmother with things before but nothing like passing out turkeys that thanksgiving.

With the work I did at the trench and the school I learned that helping others can actually make you feel better about your self. I see now why my grandma helps all those people, and why shes almost always in a good mood. I learned that my life isn't quite as rushed as I thought it was. I can take time to help others, but now with a job that takes up ninety percent of my time I have been unable to help my grandmother out again.

schools

If you were in Pakistan right now boys wouldmostlikely be in a religious school as described and girls would be illiterate. How might this lack of schooling affect not just them, but the rest of the world?

If i was in Pakistan I would most likely be in a madrasas. The madrasas are a religious school that teachs mainly the Koran. The poorest familys in Pakistan use the school as a place to send their children to feed them and give them a roof over their heads. The schools teach the koran and creates a widening pool of student minds that are sympathetic to militancy. "In an analysis of the profiles of suicide bombers who have struck in Punjab, the Punjab police said more than two-thirds had attended madrasas."

A Tragedy That Won’t Fade Away

I think that the family should win there legal battle, but it also has to be some form of freedom of speech. If the officers who leaked the photos really did send them to people they wanted to protect then they should of known the consequences. If this had been one of my family members I would be trying the same thing trying to make it were the part of my family who hasn't seen the photos never sees the photos. I would be fighting for the cause to prevent others from seeing the photos. I believe the Internet needs to remain unfiltered but monitored better. I feel bad for the Catsouras family, generations who come after with the same name will have to bear the weight of the photos thought the weight will be less because they personally didn't know Nikki. With the news agencies, the photos are not "news" But the Internet is a form of entertainment and a work place for some and should be treated as such. People are the ones who started it so the people to go after isn't the companies who grant access to the Internet but the people who posted the photos. the Internet can be a dangerous place...

EARTH DAY!!

I knew sometime during April was the famous "earth day" but I didn't know when exactly. I think that the author is somewhat right, we do need to realize that a special day once a year isn't enough to turn back the clock for the years past. Back when earth day first started in the 1970s it had a luster which made people listen. but now that same alarm that we have been hearing has grown to a repetitive common sound we all hear. Its hard to wake up because the alarm is going off when you've been hitting the snooze button for the past 40 years. Some people have gone and went green as technology grew and more people realize whats happening. The same luster that brought people to the first earth day has now tarnished with age and is in need of a polish, the environment is always changing and one broad fix will not be able to fix it. its like trying to open a can when the can opener hasn't been invented and all you have to open the can is a hammer and chisel and you only hack away at the can one day out of the year. one thing my family and I do to help is we recycle, cans and bottles among other things.

Learning.

In the article the things not to learn in school, the past years of school has taught some of the facts not to be learned. Such as you only need to get a seventy, the saying D is for diploma isn't true. You do a seventy percent at your job you will be let go. The school system is flawed in that aspect as it will let you slide by with just doing seventy percent of the work. In any other place it will get you flunked or fired. I can do better in school its just actually doing the work. my schedule is go to school then to work then home and then sleep and repeat. So i am preoccupied with other things other than doing a good job in school. I do the work but flipping through the pages looking for every answer is not possible time wise. I need my "me" time. The other lessons not to learn i didn't learn because i never noticed them. Ive said that they cant flunk all of us, but i used it as saying for something else, not school.

storytelling

The people of today are begining to really feel the meltdown of the economic situation. They are cutting back on buying things they want and just buying the things they need to get by. People are losing their homes and having to rent while going through this time in history. Our family is cutting back on everything. From water to going to place where we normally go. Times are tough, but they cant last forever. People are resiliant. A few of the things we have changed is the amount of water we use, to the trips to town to buy food. We make a trip or two into town to purchase food but other than that it is to home and work and the doctors so we dont miss work. So we have quit basicly all activities that are not nessacary. Its quite depressing, when you get done paying the things you have to have and you have very little to spend on things you want or short of need like new boots.

Piracy law cuts internet traffic

Sweden's new policy - the Local IPRED law - allows copyright holders to force Internet service providers (ISP) to reveal details of users sharing files. " The intellectual property of people can be sent and received using things such as BitTorrent sharing sites. Along with things such as music and video. Sweden's new law is designed to stop file sharing. It is the same as stealing. An xmen movie has been leaked on the Internet before the movie has been completely finished. So that's is millions in profit sales down. If the US enforces a law that is like this it will affect many people. limewire is very popular, the people who are charged with illegal file sharing will be many.

http://www.guncite.com/

work cited

WORK CITED

LaPierre, Wayne, Mr. "Barack Obama's 10 Point Plan to 'Change' the Second Amendment." National Rifle Assossiation 28 June 2008. 5 Mar. 2009 http://www.nrapvf.org/News/ Article.aspx?ID=308.


LaPierre, Wayne, Mr. "Change...For the Worse." National Rifle Assossiation 20 Nov. 2008. 5 Mar. 2009 .

LaPierre, Wayne, Mr. "Standing Guard: Ever Vigilant." National Rifle Assossiation 19 Feb. 2009. 5 Mar. 2009 .



Cox, Chris W., Mr. "Has Their Time Come?" National Rifle Assocition 26 Jan. 2009. 5 Mar. 2009 .

Barnes, Robert, Mr. "Justices Uphold Ban on Guns for Abusers." The Washington Post. 25 Feb. 2009. 5 Mar. 2009 http://www.washingtompst.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009.02/24/ AR2009022403423.html.


"Sarah Palin and Joe Biden: Worlds Apart." NRA-ILA. 29 Aug. 2008. 5 Mar. 2009 .

Playing again....allowed?

I think that if someone is convicted of a crime that is in professional sports. Such as Michael vice with the NFL. that they should be banned from returning to professional athleticism. If you or me commit a crime such as dog fighting on that scale we wouldn't be able to return to our original job, and we would have a hard time finding a job that will be willing to hire us.
Vick is nearing the end of his 23 month sentence in prison on dog fighting charges. after that he will move to home confinement by may then by July 20 he will be able to join the NFL again. Though it is unknown weather or not Rodger Goodell will allow his return to the NFL.

The possible return of Vick to the professional world is bound to raze some protest from PETA and other animal rights activist groups, along with some unhappy fans.
The players of the profesinal world are role models to kids, vick has set a bad example to kids. The fact that they are somewhat famous makes somepeople think that they can get away with almost anything. They cant.

PETA is looking for more that an apology from Michael Vick; the organization wants him to submit to a brain scan to see if he has psychopathic tendencies. If Vick denies the test he may not be allowed to join the Leauge again.
The one thing that Vick might find true is that the anmails he treated so badly are the most willing to accept him.

Education and Assimilation

I think that what they did through the 1980s, the schools generally pulled immigrates out of the mainstream classes for at least an hour or two each day for “English as a Second Language” courses that were largely focused on basic English and vocational training would help a lot. The high school American student knows more about America than a immigrate knows, the American student has had a jump start of common sense that the immigrate hasn't had. which turns out to be around 15 years of knowledge. The classes that students take, such as history, will ask questions such as what did the Bolshevik revolution cause in the US? The red scare. The American student knows more about foreign history than a immigrant knows about American history. Which they are a part of.

I think that one thing we can do to help an immigrant assimilate is to give him time to adjust to English classes. Such as have him that a remedial English course such as a lower grade than the high school level. once he becomes familiar with English in that level start advancing him until he has a basic idea of whats going on and then start moving him to the high school level. Another thing we could do is have a set time for them to get out of the mainstream of high school and take a class they are comfortable with to help them grow and feel more comfortable in high school.

one of the things i think that's holding people back from assimilating is that people are somewhat raciest, when asked why the immigrates didnt have friends with the mainstream high schoolers they say "people who cursed at them while they were working at McDonald’s, or an employer who cheated their father of his wages, or a student who told them to stop speaking Spanish on the school bus." when asked why the mainstream dont assosicat with the immigrants they mention "a worker who did not finish a job their parents had paid for, or a line of pregnant women at the clinic where their mother works, or a gang member who stole a friend’s books."

Stem cell research

The Individual states shouldn't be able to go against the Federal governments rulings. The Stem cell research that goes on can and probably will grant a cure for major disorders. "no ones right for a cure supersedes someone else right to life", said Dan Becker. If people think that stem cell research is snuffing out the spark of life at its earliest time, then what have we been doing to chickens all this time? isn't a chickens egg basically the same as a human egg, minus the shell of course.
some people think that the senate bill will be a blow to the states thrivings research universities, as well as fertility clinics that perfor thousands of in-vitro treatments every year.
"we have the president of the United States saying he is going to put science ahead of politics and unfortunately in Georgia we are moving in the opposite directions," said state Sen. Dacid Adelman, a democrat.
one thing that ive noticed is that democrats are for saving every life while republicans are for sustaning the quality of life when it comes to stem cell research. Free thinking is part of the first amendment, so saying that we cant do the research is going against the amendment.

newspapaer

the newspaper publisher McClatchy cuts 1600 jobs because of price cuts clipped the newspaper work force down to two-thirds of what it was. i believe that the newspaper will slowly but steadily wither the work force down until the newspapers are all either automated or down to bare bones work force. I think that the want for a paper in the morning with a hot cup of coffee and a donut will not disappear. If the paper does end up getting the boot, i think that people will reminisce the early days of getting the paper. I personally will miss the paper, the availability of the news locally is faster than waiting for the guy on the TV to tell you what you want to hear and if you miss what you wanted to hear...then your wasting your time. the Internet is another valuable source of the news and that is constantly being updated and changed, so the news your are getting is always current. I get my news from the newspaper, Internet and the TV. but mostly from the radio on my way to work. The radio is portable, is easy to access and cheap.

topic

by Wayne LaPierre
Barack Obama's 10 Point Plan to "Change" The Second Amendment
NRA
Monday, July 28, 2008
Thursday, March 5, 2009
http://www.nrapvf.org/News/Article.aspx?ID=308
Tells about how Obama plans to change The Second Amendment. The gun owners of America will be under a siege like never before, the president and the vice president are both against firearms.

by Wayne LaPierre
Change . . . For The Worse
NRA
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Thursday, March 5, 2009
http://www.nrapvf.org/News/Article.aspx?ID=336
Tells about how obama will change things for the worse, his past actions and his words show that he is going to be tough on gun ownership and purchasing firearms, including bans and rations.


by Wayne LaPierre
Standing Guard: Ever Vigilant
NRA
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
http://www.nrapvf.org/News/Article.aspx?ID=345
"The message politicians should now understand is that the NRA is very much alive and well, and we will fight any gun control on the national and international stage." That the politicians should know that people against gun bans are alive and well...and will challenge the law.

by Chris W. Cox
Has Their Time Come?
NRA
Monday, January 26, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
http://www.nrapvf.org/News/Article.aspx?ID=343
"Never in our nation`s history have we had an incoming President and Vice President more supportive of strong gun laws. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence strongly endorsed the Obama-Biden ticket, and for good reason."--Brady Campaign. The new president and vice president said that "we are the ones we`ve been waiting for," anti-gun groups must have thought he was talking to them. The fact that President Obama and Vice-President Biden appose firearms.

By Robert Barnes
Justices Uphold Ban On Guns for Abusers
The Wasington Post
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/24/AR2009022403423.html
tells about how the justice system is holding the ban against people who are mentally unstable or felons from purchasing a firearm.

Author Uknown
Sarah Palin and Joe Biden: Worlds Apart
NRA-ILA
Friday, August 29, 2008
Thursday, March 10, 2009
http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Federal/Read.aspx?id=4156
The differences between McCain and Obama is worlds apart. McCain Signed a "friend of the court" which urged the Supreme Court to rule in favor of the Second Amendment and against D.C.'s handgun ban. While Obama refused to sign the Heller brief, and is supporting the reinstition of the Clinton gun and magazine ban.







http://gunowners.org/op0641.htm
gun laws and lobbying
http://www.bradycampaign.org/
http://www.gunlawsuits.org/
The 7-2 ruling in United States v. Hayes was a blow to gun lobby groups that had urged the Court to severely narrow the federal Lautenberg Amendment that bars gun possession by abusers convicted of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence. So that when a person is convicted of a misdemeanor of domestic violence they will find it harder to purchase a firearm, in turn possibly keeping the world a Little safer.
http://www.bradycampaign.org/issues/constitution/
On June 26, 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 5-4 opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller.
Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess handguns for use in self-defense in a person’s home. However, he stressed that this right “is not unlimited.” For people like felons and the mentaly unstable will be unable to purchase a firearm.

http://www.stategunlaws.org/
It has the state gun laws for all 50 states.
http://nra.com/
massive articals about gun laws and other links....
http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Federal/Read.aspx?id=4509
http://www.gunbanobama.com/

topics

Torture
The use of torture is both good and bad. People need to see that it is a useful tool but it can also be a unnecessary handicap. I think this topic would be good because i would find it enjoyable but also eye opening. If i remember correctly in Iraq or another middle eastern country the interrogation used on the captured Taliban leaders was infective at releasing information.

Gun laws and lobbying
Gun laws intrest me beacuse I deal with guns and would like to know more about the process of laws and what makes them work.

Prison reform
The prison system is slowly failing because of over crouding and the lack of law enforcment. I think it would be interesting beacuse i like that kind of stuff and would find it greatly informative.

Cloning
The process of cloning can make people freak a little bit beacuse of the process of having someone exactly like you walking around. i think that if a person had a genetic copy of him stored(not a copy of him but like his DNA in a folder) so if he gets into a wreak and loses an arm they can clone the arm from his genetic records and replace his arm. I dont mean make a living clone of him and chop off its arm.

In Budget Deal, California Shuts $41 Billion Gap

The budget deal, with the deal shuting down and the $143 billion budget closes at $41 billion deficit through 2010 with tax increase with large borrowing and cuts in service. The deal has $14.8 billion in cuts, including transit, health care, schools and courts; $12.5 billion in tax increases, $5.4 billion in new borrowing and the forming of a $1 billion reserve fund.Abel Maldonado of Santa Maria was the one republican who was a hold out for the deal, he wanted state constitutional amendments banning legislative pay increasess during deficit years and wanted it to form more competitive elections by establishing open primaries. The personal income tax rate will rise by one-quarter of a percent. the state sales tax will clime by one percent, to six percent. each country will have a differnet rate but the average will be eight point nine percent. the DMV will double the states vehicle license fee to nearly one point fifteen of the value of the vehicle. the gas taxes was left on the deabating table with a twelve cent increase, law makeres filled the gap insead with sixhundred million in cuts and a infusion of federal stimulus money. The gas taxes were left on the debating table with twleve cent increase, lawmakers filled the hole with six hundred million in cuts and a infusion of federal stimulus money.

illegal organ sales

Nancy Schrper-Hughes has spent over 10 years pursuing the black market sales of human organs. The organs being sold are harvested in the slums of lower third class communities around the world. The money paid by the person in need of the organ is high, the person who sold the organ gets little of the money. The broker keeps most of the money.

The places you can get the organs is growing, from Nicaragua to Nigeria from Russia to the Philippines. You can get the organs transplanted by the leading surgeons in the world such as in New York, Los Angeles, and other cites in the United States. Two surgeons in Philadelphia are named repeatedly to have transplanted brokered organs.

I think that people should be able to sell their organs for profit but as long as it is controlled by some neutral party. The party should regulate how and when the organ is harvested and how much is paid. The need for transplants are growing dramatically. The average wait list for a new kidney in the U.S. is guessed to be 10 years in 2010. Most people on dialysis patients die in 5 years. So the fact that the black market is flourishing isn't surprising, the desperate don't play by the rules.

A new era.

President Obama's inaugural address said this is a "a new era of responsibility", and "difficult times" is a show and proving of character. The new era of responsibility is saying that we as a nation need to show more restraint in purchasing things and saving for the future.

Locally we need to help the economy and the rest of the things we need not just the stuff we want. National it shows that we need to become more responsible and have more restraint. Personally i need to save more and to help myself more, such as not spending my money on things but on things i need for the future, such as saving for college. The difficult times is saying watch were you step and in the difficult times things maybe lost. When things go bad, see who is still standing by your side.

The Difficult times are now on us. we must be a nation of one. United we stand, divided we fall. The defining of character will be sharpened and honed during the times of difficulty. We will learn to watch what we do, how we do it and when we do it. We will go back to enjoying the simple things in life when the times are over, such as family friends and the outdoors, instead of sitting in front of the television when mom calls for dinner or going in to a different room to watch and eat something else.

The "real" world.

The comparison of school and the real world not being one and the same. With plagiarism in school is the same as stealing a pair of shoes as said by Douglas Soccio. When you have a job and you take someones ideas and pass it off as your own it will most likely get you fired. "I have come to the conclusion that it's a mistake to make sharp distensions between school and so-called real life."(said by Douglas Soccio) When in school you learn to show up everyday and perform at your best and do it to a certain expectation no matter what is going on in you home life.

The graduation from school is a chance to have people evaluate how well they have been prepared for the life after school. the things they have learned such as what rules are and how they govern what you do, and what kind of friends do you want in life. do you want a friend that tells you you look nice when they are actually laughing at you because you look ridiculous.

"When we don't think of school as real life, we nurture a fragmented world view that makes it easier to tolerate mediocrity and dishonesty in the pursuit of grades and honors. when we don't think of school as real life, we trivialize disrespect for expertise and necessary order, cheating on tests cutting classes, rudeness, and all sorts of undesirable practices that do not remain confined to the classroom."said by Douglas Soccio.

Hamlet

Is Hamlet incapable of action? when he is confronted with a problem he doesn't do anything, for instance when his father the king dies the kings brother takes the throne from hamlet because he is away for college. Hamlet doesn't try to take the throne back until he plans to kill his uncle. In the book he acts like he is in the grip of insanity when around others but is he really insane or just acting. When he returns home he finds his father dead, his uncle now king, and his right to rule gone. So he plots his revenge against his mother and uncle, because his mother is now his uncles wife. One night while walking among the battlements of the castle he encounters his fathers ghost and it tells hamlet that he must kill the king/Hamlets uncle. In the end Hamlet ends up dead.