Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine Born: January 29, 1737

Known contacts: whoever Paine associated him with soon became filled with embarrassment. This was after he wrote “Common Sense” friends and an object of ridicule in the very country. In common sense Paine is convincing the American colonies to enter into armed rebellion against Great Britain.
Personality type: Very outgoing, and not shy. Paine at his best could generate a unique sense of identification between himself and his audience.
Height/Weight/Hair color/ECT: White hair,
Financial statements: He made his money from the books that he made and the speeches that made him infamous.
Favorite Foods: his favorite food was caviar on rare occasions and when he is not so rich he enjoys bananas
Favorite drink: Kelis’ milkshake.
Jewelry Preference: he doesn’t really wear jewelry besides from hairclips
Embarrassing moments: one time he farted when he was giving a speech in New York.
Naughty Facts: Although he married a white women, many witnessed him sexually interacting with slave women.
Secret conversations: He wasn’t a secretive person.

MOPA

MOPA reflection
Public Privacy: Wendy Richmond's Surreptitous Cellphone:
This was by far the best piece of art ever. I believe that this might change art forever though, I mean technology has definitely gotten into everything. I do not know if this is a good thing but I do believe it to be pretty beneficial. I mean art- I never knew it could be as limitless as this. I thought the way the videos were portrayed were perfect. I never knew that arranging videos upon a screen could be similar to displaying paint upon a canvas. I really liked this art peace and the museum in general.

Chbosky, Stephen. 1999. The Perks of Being a Wallflower. New York: Pocket Books.
As much as people say it, this really got to be one of my favorite books of all time. MTV promoted it, so it got a lot of press, so many people shun it and say it is overrated. I disagree completely with that factor. Chapter by chapter the reader follows the main character, Charlie, through his early high school career. He goes through a lot being such a young kid with high expectations to live up to. I selected this book (to read AGAIN) because it is simply my favorite teen-based book that I have ever had the pleasure of indulging in. Although the novel never says the exact time period it was in, I would assume that it is placed around the early 80’s. Back when kid’s still went to football games every Friday and went to places called the “Big Boy” to “grab a burger”. I am also guessing that this all took place in the mid-western United States. It never specifies these details because of the fact that Charlie is writing letters to a stranger- which I believe gave this book quite a bit of edge over most. This book- it’s not here to make you understand you life. However, I believe it makes you understand how to live.
Charlie has doubts about high school and a lot of personal issues in which he does not know how to deal with. However, as he makes friends and forms real relationships with two people at school, Patrick and Sam, and a compassionate teacher, Bill, who takes an interest in Charlie by giving him books (mostly classics) which they read and discuss. Charlie actually goes over to Bills house a couple of times. he learns about the world and about himself. Charlie, during high school has a lot of significant things that happen in his life. The first time he smokes pot, the first time he makes some true life long friends. Heartbreak and fighting and a whole bunch of other things. However, the most significant was when his aunt Helen died. This was the most significant event and through his writings he slowly gets over this. Through all of these events and shortcomings he soon learns a lot about life. This culminates in his uncovering of a secret past he has forgotten about and finally Charlie is able to understand who he is and who he wants to become.
Charlie is the wallflower of the novel. He is an unconventional thinker, when the story begins he is shy and knew very few people. He is a high school freshman and this book is basically set around his transformation. He considers himself emotional, and he is. Bill, his English teacher says he needs to “participate more”. He starts going to school dances and such. Before he knows it he was grown as an individual. He stops writing these letters.
I really love this novel. I have read it numerous times since the first time that my friend referred it to me my sophomore year. The book was really interesting and definitely entertained me. I didn’t really take a lot about life from this novel- but one lessen that I really remember was when Charlie said something along the lines of “when my kids are sad I’m never going to tell them about the starving children, or other things like that. Because that won’t change the way they feel and I wouldn’t want them to think that there feelings are insignificant because there are dying children out there.” I actually found this very inspirational. It made me think that even thought other people are out there- that shouldn’t justify the way you feel.
In comparison to real life I think this novel definitely connects to some key, controversial teen issue. Kind of like the whole “sex, drugs, and rock and roll” phase that they seventies kids went through. This novel has even more controversial topics than that. Like homosexual references among other things. I think everyone really needs to read this novel.
I think Charlie is a very intelligent person and I believe that he made the best decisions possible considering the circumstances he was under when he mad them. Off course, being the reader I can pick out key points when Charlie should have done something else. Overall, I was really impressed though. I think the book had a bad ending-but perfect at the same time. Any more information would have been overkill. However, it doesn’t really have an ending, its just a kid living his life one day at a time dealing with all the different things that people face.
Perks of being a wallflower is Stephen Chbokskys’ most famous book. It got nominated for many awards and was MTV famous. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find if he wrote any other books. However, I really think he did a fantastic job with this one. I loved this book and it is definitely a classic.

In ocean beach I took two amazing pictures that would evoke oppression into your mind.



The first one being a photograph of a young girl sitting in front of a no smoking sign, while smoking a cigarette. This resembles oppression because of the fact that oppression stands for an unjust rule. This is an unjust rule because this entire girl wanted to do was smoke a cigarette while staring at the ocean. Is that truly such a crime? Tobacco is seriously oppressed.


The second and best picture I took was a bum sitting up against a no uttering sign. This picture was not staged what so ever. The bum asked us for a dollar though, we didn’t have it :( lame!

Michael, as usual, has no idea what he is talking about; Marijuana is not hazardous to your health or anything.



the end.

Michael J. Arenson-
Many people hold extreme views regarding drugs, especially illegal drugs. Anti-drug people often present a view of all illegal drugs as horrible and without any redeeming qualities. Often they use the word “abuse” rather than “use,” which is sometimes a sneaky way to indicate disapproval and condemn those who do not conform to their wishes.

The topic of marijuana legalization has been a topic of debate for many years. There are different sides to almost any issue. It is very confusing to determine who is telling the truth in today’s society. One source is saying that marijuana is not any worse than alcohol, but at the same time others say that it can be detrimental to one’s state of physical wellness. Personal discretion is a major factor that must be considered when dealing with this issue. I mean, one has to consider what is right for the individual. There are many positive aspects which have been proven to result from the use of marijuana, and it is less dangerous to the human body than many things that are legal in this country. As a result, I believe that there is no harm in the legalization of marijuana based on social and scientific factors.

Marijuana has had a lot of bad press over the last 70 years. One of its effects is to heighten the user’s awareness of bullshit, so it's little wonder that the people trying to oppress it are so frequently the very same people who are trying to manipulate, exploit, and poison people’s minds.
I am taking this position because I think that marijuana is not comparable with hard core drugs such as cocaine and morphine, therefore, the underlying assumption that this is a paper that says the use of all drugs are okay must be dismissed. It is possible to overdose on cocaine and morphine, however, it is a proven fact that there has never been a proven case of a death due to a person taking too much marijuana into his system. Moreover, cocaine and morphine change the regulation of dopamine in the brain, which makes the person feel like these drugs are a necessity. Marijuana does not due this and this does not classify it as a drug that can be abused. These facts show that marijuana can be legalized without serious repercussions.

It has been proposed that the use of marijuana can be tied to serious health problems. What about brain damage, damage to the reproductive system, and the negative effects on the immune system? There was a study done in the 1970s by Dr. Robert Heath which “claims to show brain damage in the rhesus monkey”, but this study was reliable because of “insufficient sample size (only four monkeys)” and the “misidentification of normal monkey brain structure as ‘damaged’”. Also, in 1977 the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) said that people who used marijuana a great deal did not experience trauma of the brain. In 1977, the American Medical Association (AMA) said marijuana use should not be a criminal offense. The findings that marijuana damaged the reproductive system and the immune system were dealing with situations in which the experimental animal was given “near-lethal amounts of cannabinoids (i.e. the intoxicating part of marijuana).” (The intoxicating part of marijuana would include the carbon monoxide inhaled by pipe and bong users; This could easily be avoided using a vaporizer. In fact, studies in 1978 and 1988 demonstrated that it might have positive effects on the immune system. These health problems can be disregarded by the inaccurate and manipulated results such as the ones described and statements by JAMA and the AMA.

The argument that marijuana is bad because it will “hook” or cause people to become addicted is foolish. “Marijuana is less addictive than caffeine” and the issue of such addiction is pale in comparison to that of smoked tobacco, “with a 90% addiction rate”. I think the issue of addiction has been disproved.

Some say that statistics are worth a million words. Such statistics were provided in Exhibit A. There are an average of 340,000 to 425,000 deaths by tobacco users, 150,000 attributed to alcohol consumption, 1,000 to 10,000 to caffeine, and 3,800 to 5,200 to unlawful drugs, but no deaths resulting from the use of marijuana. These numbers overwhelmingly support my point that marijuana is less dangerous than legal things, such as tobacco, alcohol, and caffeine. Should it be legal to drink a Coke and illegal to smoke a joint when there are less deaths resulting from marijuana use? Correct, one would probably have to drink a metric ton of Coke to die. This gigantic proportion of consumption leading to death is also true of marijuana. It has been shown that, in order to die, one must take in “40,000 times as much marijuana” as one needs “to get stoned”. This is literally impossible, and the idea that a person could perform this amazing task is absurd. Why then should marijuana be treated so harshly?

References to the cultivation of the Earth’s flora can be found in the Bible. Genesis chapter 1, verse 29 reads as follows: And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth.” This verse says that it is okay to cultivate all plants, which I believe, also includes marijuana. Why then would it be wrong to harvest marijuana and put it to medical use? Is it wrong to heal? This statement also implies that the plants of the Earth should be utilized by man. If this was not true, then why would God have given man the seeds to plant? Therefore, the use of these plants to fulfill the needs of man is not wrong.

However, something that must be stressed is that just because I believe that marijuana should be legalized doesn’t mean that it is the right answer for everyone. This is where individual discretion enters into the formula. After all, we are talking about the “issue of legalization” not whether the use of marijuana is right for every person. I think the facts are undeniable: marijuana should be legalized in the United States of America.

There is one reason why marijuana is oppressed. Every person who uses it believes this is the only reason that it is oppressed. That reason being is that the only reason it is illegal is because of the fact that the government can’t tax it. The government couldn’t tax it because you could grow it in your own home in whatever abundance that you would like. Therefore the government wouldn’t want anything that they can’t tax. Let’s look at the synthetic alternative to marijuana- Marinol. It gives you the exact same effects but you just don’t smoke it. Marinol is legal. However it is also pricier because it is supported by the government. Marinol is available to your local pharmacy- however it is not an over the counter drug. Being a “behind the counter” drug you would presume that it would be hard to get. Just go to your doctor and say that all the headache medicine in the world couldn’t help your headaches. More than likely- you can easily get Marinol.
Anheuser-Busch, brewers of Budweiser, hair-test employees to be sure that they are not using any drugs less dangerous than the one they make. Alcohol, being legal, is responsible for 80,000 deaths per year- more than all the illegal drugs combined.

Interview with person actually using medical cannabis: http://www.marijuana-uses.com/essays/061.html

http://www.frot.co.nz/wheels/hemp.htm


best website ever.

7Dec07 Current event

Study: Same kids, straight or stoned
by: A swiss person!
A national pro-pot group that backs a Bay State campaign to decriminalize marijuana is shopping around a new Swiss study showing that teens who smoke grass are just as likely to get good grades as kids who abstain.
The study, which is being promoted by the Marijuana Policy Project, found teens who smoked pot were also more likely to have strong relationships with friends and were not any more likely to be depressed than their substance-free counterparts.
Mirken said kids should not be smoking pot, but “that rather than panicking parents about the straight-A student caught smoking pot with their friends, perhaps we should be focusing on the kids using multiple drugs who are in real trouble and clearly in need of help.”
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view.bg?articleid=1048885

Salvia: a legal but dangerous high

This article is from Texas but is definitely applicable to a lot of the states. People believe that the law should be For some stricter. The man who didn't want to be identified says, "It shouldn't be legal. What happened to me, I don't want it to happen to anyone else.” No one really knows that happens to him and I do not believe that it is valid reasoning. In a lot of Texas it is really hard to actually find a store that sells it.
http://www.kcbd.com/Global/story.asp?S=7334685&nav=menu69_3_9

Thomson’s Violin

Preface:
One day, you wake up in hospital. In the nearby bed lies a world famous violinist who is connected to you with various tubes and machines.
To your horror, you discover that you have been kidnapped by the Music Appreciation Society. Aware of the maestro’s impending death, they hooked you up to the violinist.
If you stay in the hospital bed, connected to the violinist, he will be totally cured in nine months. You are unlikely to suffer harm. No one else can save him. Do you have an obligation to stay connected?
If I were hooked up to the Violinist I would probably remain. However there would probably be a few factors that would be considered: is he a good person? How did I get there-I mean the story line did say that I was kidnapped… and the most important- will I be released promptly in nine months and return to normal? I regard human life the way people now in days regard animal life- very negatively. I really don’t see what humans have done for the world except for trash it with advances that have only distanced us from the real meaning of life which is still unclear. However, if I was hooked up to the violinist I would probably stay because of the fact that I am saving a human life and it is morally wrong to kill someone else. I mean nine months of my life to save somebody else’s forever. Seems worth it.

Barder and the flying turban- creative writting

“Here you go Barder”, says Check as he hastily shoves the spoon of peanut butters into Barders big, dry mouth. The dog gracefully accepts it. Graceful is definitely not a term in Chuck’s vocabulary. “Billy!” Chuck calls, as a young boy, about 4 appears sporting a blue shirt and ripped jeans “What have you been up to?” ignoring the question Billy precedes to the kitchen petting Barder. He tells Chuck that he is going to take Barder on a walk. All of a sudden Barder disappears outside before Billy gets the opportunity to tie the lease or collar to Bader. Quickly he runs outside after Barder; he jumps down the stairs and lands on Barders back. The dog all of a sudden hides under a bright orange table cover that later Billy uses for headgear because it gets stuck. Barder, attracted to the bright orange ball-like thing in the sky tries to jump for it. Billy says to Barder that it is just the sun. Barder doesn’t comprehend that. The dog continues to jump. Until finally he ascends into flight. Billy, being so excited decides to take off the bright orange head gear, as it couldn’t really see wit hit on. When he does this the boy and the dog both descend back into reality. Barder is sad; story of his life- reaching for something he can never have.

Vocab week 13

Disinterested: not interested; indifferent.

This is a picture of a student not being interesting, "Disinterested", in the task that they are completing.

Aggravate: to annoy; irritate; exasperate

This is an example of where my personal aggravation comes from. When you see me do this, and you shake on it, you have to have your shoulders touch the floor unless you intercept it by raising your hand into a monicle type but this cannot be done if you have already looked me in the eye. you get punched in the stomach if you don't go down. the sophomores claim to have made this game up, those kids aggravate me.



Blantant: offensively noisy or loud;

This is a picture of me and my two really good friends. we are very blantant both when were not together and when we are.



Zealous: Overly enthuastic

This is a picture of my co-worker Larry, Sometimes he appears zealous about his job as the sports chalet bike man. He got me a flower and I plan on keeping it forever. I was a little zealous myself upon recieveing my flower. If I was a 40 year old single women I would marry larry.

Current Event 3Dec07

Salvia: The legal Marijuana?
Experts are warning parents about a common houseplant that has been outlawed in several states due to its dangerous and potentially debilitating qualities. Salvia, a legal hallucinogen, is known to yield an intense high. The substance has been used by the Mazatec Indians in Mexico for centuries, but several states recently banned the plant after a child in Delaware wrote about how salvia changed his life then later committed suicide. Despite the remaining mystery behind the potential dangers, salvia remains legal. The real big problem is We really don't know the consequences of them. With botanicals you really don't know what the concentration is and, depending on how it's prepared, you don't really know necessarily what you're getting. There are just a bunch of unknowns

http://www.komotv.com/news/11336136.html

Reaction to: Smoke out

Thanks to Mike Aguirre, looks like its back to toking weed from apples and aluminum cans-

I truly thought that this is the most ridiculous thing that I have ever heardIn the days just before Thanksgiving, Aguirre, via the Drug Abatement Response Team (DART), sent out 200 letters to 52 smoke shops citywide, informing them that they must, by Nov. 30, stop selling anything that is considered drug paraphernalia by California law. Specifically, that means all the glass pipes, all the water pipes, all the little baggies, all the scales—all that stuff must go. Disobedience can be punished with a year in jail or a $1,000 fine per type of illegal equipment on display, which for some shop owners could work out to tens of thousands of dollars and an unpalatable chunk of jail time. obviously, he does not see that there is also an economic reason behind selling glasswork and other materials. This art work ranges from anywhere from twenty dollars to two thousound. Its glass work, not just a bong to smoke tobacco out of.

I'll just end with this- “What is the motive and intention here?” asked Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, the head of the local office of the Drug Policy Alliance. “Has it really been a long-neglected community problem, or is this an easy way to pretend to be doing something significant about drug use?”

http://www.sdcitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/?id=6415

Current event 16nov2007

This article was about how if you consistently drink throughout a pregnancy it can seriously harm an unborn child, however a single incident of binge drinking while pregnant probably will not harm the developing fetus. I found this extremly ironic becuase of the fact that I thought all alchol consumption was horrible for a developing fetus. There is not enough evidence linking binge drinking, a behavior that is becoming increasingly common among pregnant women, to pregnancy complications. Warning: The study does not, however, give women permission to go on drinking binges, defined as five or more drinks, during their pregnancy.

Fiore, Marrecca. "Study: Single Binge Drinking Incident During Pregnancy May Not Hurt Fetus." Fox News. 14 Nov. 2007. 14 Nov. 2007 .

Vocab 3

Metamorphosis-any complete change in appearance, character, circumstances, etc
I chose this picture for metamorphosis because of the fact that butterflies go through metamorphosis.

Apathy-Absence of passion
I chose this picture because emo kids don’t have passion

Fatuous-Foolish or insane
I chose this picture because Ronald Mcdonald is OBVIOUSLY insane.

Vocab 2

Empathy- Feeling what somebody else feels
I chose this picture to represent empathy because it seems like everyone knows how everyone else is feeling. The picture was taken in New York and the tourists are only crying because of what happened there in prior times. They have empathy for the victims of 9/11.


Deduct-To take away
I chose this pictue because for each bite of a burger- with the salt, and all the other bad things in it for you, it deducts one day off your life.


Plagiarize-To take ideas from somebody elses work and copy it without giving credit.
I used this picture for the word plagiarized because of the fact that books are very often plagiarized.

Essential question: Is Twain speaking through Jim, or is Jim's point of view different from Twain's? Explain.

There are many different reasons to believe that Mark twain is speaking through Jim. Three of the most important include the people, the dialect, and the conditions. These all play crucial roles in Mark Twains novel “The adventures of Huckleberry Finn”. These, and many other reasons permit me grounds to say that Jim is definitely one of the most important characters in the book because Mark Twain is expressing his viewpoint through him.

There are many different reasons to believe why Mark Twain would speak through Jim. The first and foremost important aspect to consider is the conditions the slaves were forced to endure. This is probably the most crucial aspect when considering why Mark twain wrote this book. I believe, in this aspect at least, that twain is speaking through Jim because an author can usually make a point; that people will actually hear, versus a slave whose views will never be heard. However, in book format you can definitely hear what Jim has to say. This is problem why Mark Twain’s book wasn’t so popular, and probably is the reason behind why it got banned from schools. We do not want the kids of the following generations to know how the slaves were treated, that is how inhumane they were treated.

Another reason to consider when wondering if Mark Twain is speaking through Jim is that Twain wants everyone to see the dialect that everyone used back then. This is an important reason because as time goes on language and dialect both change, and that is a factor to consider when thinking about the future. This text is much more a history book than an actual novel. It’s like a dialogue of people in the 1800s. This is an important aspect of the book because of the fact that now we know how they talked. Although to an extent we make fun of this dialect, this is a very important element of the novel.

An additional reason to consider that Mark Twain is speaking through Jim is because of the fact that he wants to show how people lived back then. This is an important reason because it is accurate. It is accurate because it is coming first hand from a person who is living through. It is different from a history book because I history book can be altered. This is a very important aspect when considering if Mark Twain’s viewpoint is the same as Jims.

Concluding, I believe there are many different things that scream out the fact that Mark Twain has taken Jim and made him similar to himself viewpoint wise. The three, stated above, include the people, the dialect, and the conditions, are reasons why Mark Twain choose Jim to represent his specific viewpoint.

Vocaburlary Week 8

flourish- To Flourish is to thrive
This picture describes thriving in my opinion, which translates into flourishing. This is due to the fact that flourishing/thriving people are very orginal and inspired. They have alot of integrity.


Tranquility-Tranquility is the quality or state of being calm.
This picture describes tranquility becuase it is very calm, and when you look at it you can't help but fall into a pieceful mindset.


Stereotype- a Stereotype is a set form; a convention
This picture represents a sterotype becauase emo kids usaully take angle pictures.

Writting In Reverse

Inspired by: "Bill Sullivan’s Turnstile Photography Project"

Running all the time, but he isn’t going anywhere. It's a new page in the same book. It's a new game with the same rules. Slowly dissipating into the oblivion. Lost in his thoughts as he stumbles to regain his balance. Life-or something like it? “There’s got to be more to this life”, he exclaimed in a flashy manor; as if to impress everyone. Words get in the way, sentences strung along with muddled up hope. All the hope spills from deep inside of his stomach. This world equals oblivion. You can’t remember everything, he won’t. I am the narrator of his life, because I know him best. Technically it’s my world; he’s just living in it.

Lets call him Jack, because Jack seems like an ordinary name, that any other ordinary person could have. Despite his name, Jack Collins was an unconventional person. In kindergarten his teachers gave him an assignment- they told him to write down what he wanted to be when he grew up. He wrote down happy. They told him that he didn't understand the assignment; he told them they didn't understand life. He’s that one kid in elementary school that you guys all picked on; that one guy in middle school that you spread rumors about; just wanting a good laugh. In high school he was the outcast.

When most kids were getting their drivers license, going to parties, and smoking their cigarettes; Jack had different priorities. Jacks not to proud with parts of his life. Like that one time when he got addicted to Speed, those were the days he was desperate to escape reality.

Jack Collins-he was never to good in school, definitely not getting a scholarship to an Ivy League college; he’ll probably get into some community college at best. He noticed this a bit to soon, and he had no need for boosting his performance. He lost interest with school-completely. He wanted the days to fly by.

The first time he smoked weed was in tenth grade. This is when he heard Nirvana for the first time. Soon enough he found a better band, one that better described him, Tool, and a better drug too- Speed. Weed, soon enough his body had grown a tolerance for that. Off course he believes that he can stop whenever he wants. Not so much denial, but deceit towards other people, whom he hates the mire thought of sharing a species with. He felt no use to live another day sober.

In a regular biography, this is probably the part where all the problems start, but in his mind this is when all his problems end.

To make a long story short Jack Collins never went to rehab. The life he led drowned him with vein. He was the kid that you always made fun of. You know, that one loser in your second period always showing up late. You remember-the one loser who never was going to amount to anything. All those comments made up a life unlived.As he was getting off the train on that late Saturday night, he took a last look around. He admired the meaninglessness that has taken vacancy in everything he looks at. He won’t be around for much longer. Nothing sustains his life- his passion for everything’s dead. He doesn’t care. He really, never did. He wanted happiness, he got distress.