What is Power?

As usual, as for any of my definition related blog posts, I went over to dictionary.com to look for a meaning for, Power. Frankly, to copy and paste down all the 20 definitions would take up way too much space. Ill attempt to give you an insight into what is power, through examples from what we have learned in humanities this year, and what has been on the news recently.

I think we can safely conclude, that true power, whether it be in the ages of imperialism, or somewhere in the distant future, will more than often be related with money. The people with money, the bosses, the business owners, bankers, presidents, leaders etc., all feel that they have power. And, not to defy them, they do! Money can get you almost anything these days, and this includes respect and obtaining cooperation from others, a sign of power. Yet I believe that power is still a very broad and controversial topic. What is all numbs itself down into is, the people who have power, how they use it, for what, and how their power is enforced. These reasons may be plentiful but they are all closely related. Every leader, is different.

Take Hitler as a bad example. He had power. Alot of it.
He managed to turn a whole region of the world into believing his cause, and revolt against...well, the world literally. How did he enforce this power? Fear. The same can be said for Stalin. Even modern day shows fear. Whether you may agree or not, Osama bin Ladin holds alot of power today. Not only religious power over his disciples, but he rules a number of daily people's lives with fear (the middle east). Another presumably negative example of power would be the Imperialism of Africa.

Europe, bieng tremendously wealthy, had power. This gave them the assumption that they could bend the lives of people with less power, in this case the Africans, to their will. What im really trying to say is, the majourity of people with power, misuse it greatly. The money they accuire, is not in reality always used for "the greater good", but for the greed of the power bearing leaders. Yet, POWER, is a necessity. Without it, there would be chaos. As the world has seen countless times before, and unstable government or ruling power, can cause civil war, starvation, etc.

Power, is almost like a drug. Addictive, attractive, yet very oftern misused. Power needs to be controlled and possessed by the correct individuals who can make the right decisions. This makes me think about democracy. Its supposed to allow us, the citizens, to have power. Yet the only real decision making capability we have is to elect one individual to accuire all the power and rule. While this isn't always bad, it's up to us to make the right choice and elect the correct individual.

Now, as i'm looking at those ol' dictionary.com defenitions, I think it would be nice of me to at least copy and paste the most reasonable one...ability to do or act; capability of doing or accomplishing something. What is bieng accomplished? How? Who is accomplishing it, Why? Who really has power? You may not agree with me, yet ask yourself these questions. In todays society, nomatter what you might say, money and greed, prevails.

The Net Effect of Globalization

Honestly, at this very moment, I cant say I have a definate answer for this question. The more and more I find out about Globalization, the more harder it gets. I even had a conversation with my mom about the issue. Well, might as well mention what she thought.
She took Globalization as mainly a negative thing. The idea of making everybody virtually "the same", is not only ubsurd, but near impossible. She doesn't agree in a single universal culture. I'd have to agree with her. Culture, language, food, clothes...it all makes us unique. Uniqueness in a way is what makes us humans in a world. I asked her "What about trade?". Isn't that vital for our nations to strive? She agreed, but never called it globalization. She believes, that this world does not need globalization, but cooperation. A part of globalization, yet not the whole thing. I can safely say, that I agree with what she says.
In summary, the ultimate goal of Globalizing the World, I don't agree with, but some steps in fullfiling it prove to me more than useful in our struggle to survive, and keep our economies healthy.

Population Project Feedback

Questions have been commonly asked like, "Does UBD (PoP) actually help you in anyway?" Many students have come to a conclusion that PoP was created by teachers to torture us kids for the pure fun of it, and many older kids still believe thats the case. But I believe that it really does help us, just maybe not so directly. Maybe the material we covered that had to do with population isn't that critical to our education to understand so fully as we do now, but the format of the project is what helps us. Most of PoP was about time management. The separate projects themselves maybe werent individually long, but there were majour projects that we all had to work on and have them turned in at approximately the same time. You had to make time for each one seperately, making sure that you dont get behind on any of the others. But, because this was our very first majour assignment of our schooling careers, its safe to say that many people may have made a few mistakes here and there. I for one spent too much time on my Data Analysis. Even though it may not be a bad thing, I had less time to work on my other two parts, mainly bieng my Extension Option.

In conclusion, I think that overall PoP may have prepared us for what is to come in the next several years in terms of long assignments. The specific material may not be too important, but you never know, you may end up working with global issues of overpopulation, diseases, and social issues like Poverty in the future aswell.

Feedback 13-17

http://mrcoyle.edublogs.org/files/2008/03/blog-cartoon1.jpg

1.What are the main visual elements?

There is a family of 3 sitting at the dinner table. A father, mother, and a son.

2.What issue is this cartoon about?

The issue if Social Networking, also know as Blogging. Whether its a good thing, or a bad thing.

3. What is the cartoonist’s opinion on this issue?

I think the artist is moving towards this a bit on the negative side. It's hard to say 100%, but through analyzing the quote, I feel this is my best choice. It's showing how we post so many things up on Facebook, Myspace, etc., that we are putting out a little too much information for people to easily find, hence the father asking if he should just visit his blog to see how his son's day was.

4. What evidence in the cartoon supports your opinion on how the cartoonist feels?

As I said before, the whole tonal quality of the quote makes it sound that way. Also, the son's expression is a bit like "What?". How both of his parents are looking at him may also be a slight giveaway.

5. Why is this cartoon ironic?

Well usually, the dinner table is classically the place to talk about how your day was at work, school, etc. Yet, the father is asking whether is necessary to talk about it when he can just visit his son's blog.

6. How does this cartoon relate to our study of technology and the future?

Social Networks are becoming part of our lives more and more. More information is going aroung in SN's. Maybe in the future, they will be even more important. Also, what we put up on blogs can effect us in the future in many ways.

7. What other techniques could the cartoonist have used to make this cartoon more persuasive?

Maybe he could have made each person's facial expression more elaborate, to see what each character was really feeling.

Monday--------------------------------
Today I plan to work on getting most of my notecards together to be able to start my outline

Tuesday--------------------------------
Finish my notecards and then write my outline

Wendesday----------------------------
Revise and finish everything to do with my outline and maybe get started on first draft, depending on what else I need to do for PoP

Thursday------------------------------
Finish my first draft. And revise (whenever we actually do it in class)

Friday----------------------------------
Revise my first draft and make it into a second draft

PoP Time Organization

Feedback 16-20

What is technology?
The good ol' dictionary.com defenition for technology is: "the branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, society, and the environment, drawing upon such subjects as industrial arts, engineering, applied science, and pure science."-In more simpler user friendly terms, technology is the...

What are the 5 most and 5 least important technologies used today?
The most important would probably be most of the transportation technologies we have today, like planes, cars, boats etc. Some others would be communications, like mobile phones, email - even computers themselves are a very important technology. Others include other computer related objects like ipods and USB drives. What is some un-useful technology out there? Well, I cant answer this, but there is something to consider. Technology, more specifically NEW technology, is made to be beneficial for us and make our lives easier.

How do you feel about the amount of and use of technology at AES?
I feel that technology is used well in AES. In this advanced technological age, it is important that me learn as much as we can about technology. It is slowly starting to be part of our everyday lives more and more. One thing that i feel should be done would be providing more mandatory technology related courses for students. Throughout high school and middle school, we have the choice of choosing computer studies/ video production, and other classes. A large amount of people dont choose these classes. I think we should make there at least ONE mandatory computer related class for students at AES.

Vonnegut and Technology

“Do you know what a Luddite is? That’s a person who doesn’t like newfangled contraptions. Contraptions like nuclear submarines armed with Poseidon missiles that have H-bombs in their warheads, and like computers that cheat you out of becoming. Bill Gates says, “Wait till you can see what your computer can become.” But it’s you who should be doing the becoming. What you can become is the miracle you were born to work—not the damn fool computer.”

Do I agree with this quote? Or do I disagree?
Well, in a way, I agree, and then again I don't. I believe that technology is very important. Its a new age that we are in, and pretty much everything we do has to do with technology. Advertising, School, Banking, Economy, Music, Sports, etc. If we decide to completely eradicate technology...well...Life itself wouldnt be possible. We rely so much on computers these days. But, I also think that what Kurt Vonnegut says is true! The human race cannot allow itself to get to the point that computers will take over our lives completely. The extremes depicted in Harrison Bergeron are very unpleasant to me, and I hate for society to turn up that way. Also, the Euphio Question depicts a sound, becoming a sort of addictive drug. Even if we found something like that, releasing it into the public is deadly.
To summarize this post, I believe that the human race can't go overboard with technology and let it rule us. We must rule it. But, not all technology right now is necessarily bad, and I think its a must for humans to have it.

The Massacre

The Peaceful Plate of Spaghetti
Steaming with goodness
Meatballs fortify their positions
Patrol the surrounding perimeter

The meatball elite guards
Patriotic fighters
Armed with Tactical Assault Scope rifles
Were forces to be reckoned with

The allied forces of Petrness
Valiant, and determined
Ambushed the plate
Maiming all in their path

Commanders Knife and Fork
The tyrants of revolution
Were merciless
Pillaging homes, besieging forts

Plate: Liberated

Quarter 3 reflection

This quarter went by so quickly! I dont even realize that we only have a few more months of school before were finally HIGHSCHOOLERS!
I feel that I did quite a good job in accomplishing my goals f0r 2nd quarter. I studied for quizzes, which clearly showed on my quiz grades this quarter. I managed to get maximun points for AR aswell, which obvoisly helped me with my grade. Sadly, I was in ISTA when we did our socratic seminar, so I wasn't able to accomplish my goal in anyway. I managed to work hard an my assignments too. On the Cold War Digital story, I fell behind quite far, but i managed to work hard on the project and got a 96%!!!

My new goals for Quarter 4 are:
1.

Feedback March 2-6

This blogpost is a good topic to look into, but I find it a pretty hard question to answer.

Critique of Animal Farm Movie.

I apologize for my "istaness" monsoir Coyle.

Feedback: World War 3?

This is an interesting question. Do you think there is possibility of a WW3 in my life time? First of, Ill start by looking at the stats.

There was a "chain of events" that lead to both previous world wars. First off, alliances were made, and broken. Land was unrightfully taken or conquered, and high ranking figures were assassinated. Look at whats happening today! 9/11, Saddam Hussiens Reign, US occupation of Iraq, The Conflict between Gorgia and Russia etc. There is already much unrest in the world, the perfect conditions for a war (not to mention Civil War in African Countries, and the Diamond Crisis, and jihad seeking factions in the middle east). But, in reality, I actually feel there is more chance still, of there NOT bieng a World War 3. The world has already seen 2 devastating world wars, and they've always been between two main powers. The World as it is today, i feel does not have two majour super powers that could be strong enough to engulf the land into chaos. Then again, a new kind of war can start. Instead of 2 huge allied powers against another, there could be multiple. This in my opinion could be much worse. But, again contradicting what i said, anything can happen in a lifetime. See where technology has gotten in a mere 20 years. There is nuclear power, weapons of mass destruction, etc. God knows what crazy new warmachine could spawn...

I think that if im wrong, and that there actually will be a WWIII, that it'll be another Cold War...only more voilent. I think that the majour cause of conflict these days is a clash of ideologies. Were seeing it now in the middle east, and africa. Another possible cause may be oil...when it gets super super super uber uber scarce.

Feedback 9-13

In The New York Times the writer Anna Quindlen asked, “Would our understanding of the Holocaust be quite the same if Anne Frank had not taken a small plaid diary into hiding with her?” Respond to this question and explain your answer.

I think that there is some truth in this theory. This diary has alot of her own personal thoughts about her family issues and relationships she has to other people. It doesn't exactly relate directly to any events that took place during the holocaust. The only things I picked up that were closely holocaust related were, the fact that they went into hiding in the first place, and when they got taken away to the concentration camp. Reading the section that we were told to read, all I got from it was, "Oh how I wish my parents loved me more, I miss Peter, but that other Peter is cool too. My aunt is wierd. I have matured over the past few months, and i will start acting more grown up...etc." You could argue that these complicated thoughts were a result of the isolation Anne's family were faced with under the Nazi regime, but I think not.

A Letter From the BattleFront

Dear Auntie, June 24, 1944 France

I understand that you have been worried about me these past months, and I apologize for not writing earlier. But as Uncle always said, "Duty Calls". I arrived at the Naval Docks just fine, and they let us get some shut-eye before the long day that followed. Just like we were told, I was assigned with the 29th Infantry Division. I made a few pals here and there, one bieng a medic we call "Pepp". That kids got a heart of gold Auntie, and a great sense of humour too. When we get back from the war, it'd be nice if you could meet him. Maybe you could make him those lovely pancakes of yours, I'm sure he would love 'em. The war itself has really been starting to take it's toll on us. It seems that whoever goes in, comes out changed, or doesn't come out at all. Our supply of food is fine. As little as it may seem, we dont tend to have plentiful appetites these days, so it works. You are going to explode when I tell you how many days I've gone now without a proper bath. I'm sure the first thing YOU would do if you were a general would be to implant tubs in our tanks and boats. Wouldn't that be a sight! Our Commanders are tough...and demanding, but in the end, they really end up bieng that ones that decide our fate. Our Company for the Omaha Landings a couple of weeks ago was lead by Captain Richard Price, and I wouldn't ask for anyone else. That man is truly one of the best out there at what he does. Sometimes I doubt the fact that im still alive of bieng "lucky". That man really knew what he was doing, and thats how we were one of the first to complete our Company given objectives that day. Auntie...I cannot even begin to describe Omaha Beach to you. Just the boatride there was a whole nother battle in itself. I remember when the driver would yell out, "30 Seconds 'till the gate opens!" and as soon he yelled it, Pepp went over and threw up on my boots. I can't blame the kid really. This was his first actual "battle", rather then a small skirmish, and the waves were getting pretty big near shore. He is still young, and has much to learn, but my does that kid have guts. As soon as the boat stopped, we all stood in silence, guns at the ready, when all of a sudden the gate to hell opens. All four men infront of us instantly collapsed. One man behind us got pegged in the shoulder, but we dove foreward off the boat and into the water below. Me and Pepp managed to stay submerged for almost the whole way to shore, until we had to get up and start moving. We got quite far until a close shot almost hit Pepp in the left foot. From shock we hid behind one of the big metal boat-barriers scattered across the beach. We seemed to have sat there for hours, yet it was only probably two or three minutes. We saw Captain Price a few meters away, and he was screaming his lungs out for our company to start charging for the safe dunes up ahead. He said "it was the right time". Well, we ran. And ran and ran. And we made it. Insane, or not insane, Captian Price is a smart man. Auntie we took care of those germies real good. By the end of the day we had the shores and the bluffs to ourselves, and then the tanks finally arrived. Thats when the tide really started to turn in our favour. Now, we are much deeper into France, and things are doing better for us. I'm still alive, and your still alive, and thats the most important thing. Father would be proud of me, if only he were here. I'll hoping to see you by the end of next month, after such a long time. I won't be able to write another message, so for now Auntie; So long, Goodbye.

Yours,

Peter Stillwater Jr.

"Pete"

Recipe #31 Chef Ramsus Petr LeBeurre

*Note* My last attempt in making my famous dish of European Freedom Stew failed, so ive tweaked my recipe a bit.

Start with 2 bowls of Allies, and Axis
Into the Axis bowl, throw in one whole piece of Poland, and another piece of Rhineland
Take some Czechoslovakia, and put it in too (but into thin bits before so)
Now, stir gently until there is no chunks left
Next, throw in about 1/4 of a cup of China
Leave to boil for 7 minutes
*Moving on to the allies bowl*
Before even putting anything in, make sure that everything is 100% stirred and mixed
Now, throw in a Pearl Harbour, a failed Treaty of Versailles, a Marco Polo Bridge Incident, and one Operation Barbarossa
Stir for 2 minutes
Finally, in a separate bowl, mix both Allied and Axis solutions and boil for 10 minutes
At about 5 minutes, toss in a slice of D-Day, a liter of Iwo Jima, a Operation Market Garden, and 2 American Imported Atomic Bombs
and VOILA

With which character in Animal Farm to you most closely identify?

I have spent a very long time thinking about this. In Animal Farm, I feel that there is no character that 100% describes me, but just bits and pieces of my personality. Therefor, I have chosen Benjamin, the old donkey, but one thing is for sure, i am NOT an old donkey. Banjamin's character is very quiet and grumpy on the outside, and he seems to hide his emotions alot. I feel that that kind of "hiding your emotions and true talent", is a kind of thing i do alot. Though I dont get very grumpy often, and im exactly too introverted. Also, he understands whats happening around him, and even though he may disagree with others, or know something isnt safe, he still wont tell anybody about it. This also happens to me alot

Feedback, January 27, 2009

In your own words define, tyranny, injustice and self-determination and then using examples from Animal Farm explain how they all relate to the overthrow of Farmer Jones.



Tyranny, is the rule of a tyrant, or an absolute ruler. Usually unjust, severe, and oppressive. In my opinion, the best example of a tyrant in this book would be Mr. Jones. You can look at it from multiple point of views. On an average scale, hes not a tyrant, but a farmer who owns many animals, but from the animals point of view, he really fits the discription of "tyrant". He doesnt feed them enough, takes their milk, kills them for his own food, etc. This leads to our next word, injustice. Injustice is pretty much what the animals on the farm feel during Mr. Jones's "rule". It pretty much means, bieng unfair. Now self determination, is what the animals seek. It means bieng able to command yourself according to your needs. To be able to "determine" things on your own. I feel that these 3 key ideas intersect greatly. A tyrant, would take up leadership in self-determination, yet his actions might be filled with injustice. The reason he may have taken up rule, might have been because the previous leader could have been unjust before...etc.

Condemned

So restless
These walls drain my thoughts
I can't find my way off
The trail of the tormented

Drenched in fear
Condemned to live in this black hole
Now there is no escape
The only way is foreward

Not used to murder's mind
Hear my distant cry
Break the cycle that I'm in
I'm not a killer

Still, I pace death's trail
Crawling through knives
Hoping for a future
Not the end of time

My clothes stained in red
Is this the road to salvation?
We march like men
We die like flies

images:

http://updatecenter.britannica.com/eb/image?binaryId=91541&rendTypeId=4

http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/images/trenchPA_468x607.jpg

http://uh.edu/engines/trench2.jpg

http://www.old-picture.com/civil-war/pictures/Warfare-Trench.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/

Is the military my future?

I believe, that bieng in the military is not the only way to "serve your country". In the Czech Republic, there used to be a drafting system, where after graduating you MUST serve in the military. Recently, that has been changed, and now you do not need to serve if you dont choose to. I'm happy about that, because I would NEVER want to work for the military. I believe that war and fighting is not the only way to solve a conflict. The "enemies" you would be trying to kill are also people with other lives and other families. You dont even know them, and now you are sent out to destroy them. Another reason I dont want to be in the military, is fear for my own life, and for my family and friends. There is so much more to live for, so why die at the age of 24?

Alliances Cartoon Feedback

This cartoon is trying to describe the factions and how they had alliances in WW1, which related closely to the Great Powers game we played in class. Each figure in this cartoon symbolises a country, and the countries are actively trading among eachother. There is seem to be 2 main powers in the picture, which are the two center figuers. Germany, and The Austro-Hungarian Empire. Most of the other other nations are trading with them, or more rarely to other less powerful nations. It looks like there is 2 sides bieng taken in this political cartoon, with the 2 center powers bieng the leaders. All the lesser (write more later)

Looking back at the Conquest Game

1. Which country were you? How did it feel to build your empire? Which countries had the advantage at the start of the game? Why? How did you empire compare to other empires?
Me and Nandini were the Austro-Hungarian Empire! At the start of the game, I felt ok about it. I knew that by far, we werent the strongest empire out there, but we definately were not the weakest. The paper that we got which described our empire, its allies, and enemies, also seemed pretty equalled out. I think the countries with the biggest advantages were USA, or the UK. They started with more of everything than other groups. But, I think what your started with didnt have much of an effect on who wins or loses the game. It was the people that could make good decisions at the correct moments who would succeed.

2. In the long run was it more important to buy armies, navies, industries or colonies? Why?
I think industries. With industries, you could just pull up a massive army from pretty much thin air in one round's time. Then again, if the opposition is smart, they would attack you when your high on industries and low on military. If I didnt have to choose just one, I would still say that there should a generally equal number of industries and armies, the 2nd least navies, and the least of colonies. Colonies indeed do help your buying power, but there is a limited amount of them, and navies, are always a good backup in a close war.
3. What did you do well? What would you have done differently?
I think we did well in keeping things equally distributed, although, i think that that wasnt necessary in this particular game...People just kept buying industries and would never go to way and just build up untill the end. I think that that build up of industries makes them vulnurable to attack, but nobody in our class made that move.
4. How successful were your alliances? Did they help or hurt you? Could they be trusted?
Not particularly for our group, but allainces cannot be trusted! Backstabbing was common among high ranking nations, and it payed off very nicely to the victors. Even if your so called "alliances" help you a bit, you OR them can still earn much more by just defeating them in a war.
5. What are three specific things you learned about conflict from this simulation?
1. Alliances, like rules, are made to be broken.
2. The more power you have, the more people are going to want to join you
3. The Less power your have, the more people will want to conquer you.

End of Quarter 2 Goal Feedback

My goals for the second quarter were, first, to consistently keep up with daily assignments and homework, second, to earn a good AR Reading grade, and third, to imrove my public speaking ability. I feel I almost accomplished all goals. I got full points for my AR by carefully reading through the book I was studying for, not just skimming it to get it over with. I also think that my public speaking level is pretty good now too. When preparing for my oration, I practiced my piece over and over until I felt I was very comfortable in my role. But, with some success, I still think I could have been more responsible when it comes to homework. And by homework, it may not mean just worksheets, but studying for quizzes and things like that. I feel i could have done much better on my Research Paper.

My goals for quarter 3 are...

1. Have a good Socratic Seminar grade

2. Study for quizzes

3. Keep up with homework