Friday, April 16, 2010

Nuclear Taliban - SIMUN Situation

If the Taliban were to take control over Pakistan, I believe that Denmarks reaction would be an opposing stance against the terrorist actions. I also believe that Denmark would not take any major or violent action against the Taliban's moves. I base this on their neutral, non-combative stance on most other actions in their history. Denmark, which is predominantly Chrstian, would be particularly threatened by the extremist's actions because of the radical Islamic belief of "Jihad" and their alleged plot to destroy Christians, Jews, and other "non-believers".

Though Taliban forces would most likely target their biggest enemies, such as the United States, Israel, or the United Kingdom, Denmark would be a probable threat because of their Christian religious majority. The United States and Denmark are considered as allies in their position against terrorism, and Denmark is known for being strongly opposed to nucleur weapons and nucleur warfare in general.

I believe that Denmark, a non-combative country, would not take any action against a terrorist invasion in Pakistan, but would most likely be opposed to it along with their anti-Taliban allies with nations such as United States and the United Kingdom. Denmark does not have a standing army and would not enter a war or conflict because of their neutrality and their history of not taking physical action against a country posing a threat to them.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Never Mind the Bollocks...Heres my English Paper

Rebellion causes innovation, and punk rock is the poster child of rebellion. Bands like the Sex Pistols, The Clash, and The Ramones organized the genre; their anti-society attitudes and straight forward approach to music inspired thousands of bands from their time to this day. The Sex Pistols, quintessentially punk, were the most influential band I have ever experienced.
'Never Mind the Bollocks...Heres the Sex Pistols' is one of the most eye-opening albums I have had the pleasure of hearing. The twelve songs on the album drip with attitude and chaos. John Lydon(also known as Johnny Rotten), whose personality is almost as sarcastic and acidic as his vocals, spat out lyrics that would frighten the old and captivate the new. Steve Jones's fat, chuggy guitar tone inspired thousands of garageband guitarists of the future, including Kurt Cobain -who would later completely change music again. Sid Vicious, who could barely play his intrument, was the image of punk. Paul Cook, the drummer, wrote the book on punk drumming with his simplistic style.
When I bought their first and only album, 'Never Mind the Bollocks...Here's the Sex Pistols', I had never heard anything like it before. I listen to it as often as I can, with it growing on me every time I hear a song from. Created in a time of social and economic unrest in London, the Pistols were the result from the accumulation of all the anger and rage that was felt during those times.
Shouting and screaming, fighting and cursing establishment, the band was targetted by the British and American media as a laughingstock. Their frontman , Johnny Rotten, often caused trouble in interviews by stating his strong opinions explicitly on television. One occasion of this was when John was being interviewed on the Bill Grundy show (the British equivalent to 'The Today Show') and ended up cussing out Bill Grundy on national, live television. The Sex Pistols only gained infamy in these interviews, and created a punk scene in London that still exists today.
The song "God Save the Queen", banned on English radio even today, has lyrics that criticize Great Britain's monarchy and was strategically released on the date of the Queen's 30th anniversary as queen. One of their more popular songs, 'Anarchy in the U.K.' also caused controversy with it's lyrics.
Musically, the songs, written by guitarist Steve Jones and early bassist Glen Matlock are raw, and contain influences from Chuck Berry but sound like him on steroids.
I decided to post this mainly because The Sex Pistols are one of my favorite bands, but also because teenagers my age all listen to pop. I hope that they will read this and open their minds to the world of punk rock, which is more fulfilling and unique than pop.

Friday, February 19, 2010

week back at school after mid-winter break.

This week, which was only three days long, seemed to be longer than normal. On Tuesday night, I stayed up until about 1 o'clock and surprisingly didn't feel that tired the next morning. I got ready for school, skipped breakfast, got on the bus and listened to my iPod as I fell asleep as usual. At some point during the ride, I woke up from my sleep and waited until we got to school as I listened to 'Come As You Are' by Nirvana. I went to my locker and went to the cafeteria to meet my friends.
I don't really care about sports, so I didn't pay attention to my friends' constant discussion about Olympics. I just listened to my iPod, finished the homework I was too lazy to do the night before, and waited for the bell to ring. I went to biology and listened to Mr. Sherburne be cool and weird simulateneously for an hour, left, went to my next class, did nothing, went to German, got bored, and went to lunch. After having a relatively uneventful lunch, I went on to math to learn about trapezoids and isoceles trapezoids. Fun. The rest of the day was very boring, except for Mr. Fielders class, which was excessively exciting and action packed. After Mrs. Bergeski, I got on the bus, and went home. When I got home, I ate dinner and went to a guitar lesson, practiced my solo after, and pretty much went to bed at ten.

The next two days had just about the same level of action as Wednesday, essentially nothing. the only thing that happened that was worthy of writing about was I saw a sweet picture of an octopus while I was doing my homework. I put that as my background for my computer at home. It looks sweet. Today, which is Friday, February 19th, 2010, is the same as any other school day. I went to Biology where we had a substitute teacher, who was pretty clueless. After that I went to woods, where I worked on a project called a "Widget" that has no function. After I went to German where we watched music videos of German bands like "Tokyo Hotel", and they are freaks with no musical talent. After I went to lunch, hung out with my friends and ate, and waited for math. Math was boring because we just filled out notes and did homework. After, I went to English and I'm currently working on my blog, which hopefully has four hundred words by now. Maybe the rest of my week will be more fun.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Big Fish Story

This summer I had aboslutely nothing to do . I decided I wanted to buy a Playstation 3 or a guitar or something cool to waste time with . Unfortunately, I had no money. So I did what any respectable teenager short on cash would do; get a job as a caddy.
I had applied at the Western Golf Course in Redford and was quickly accepted. The first day I showed up I had to do a training for golf. I knew nothing about the sport so I had to attend this seminar with all the new caddies. I paid very little attention, catching just about nothing from the training. Afterwards, I had to go do some caddying, my first time. The first guy I caddied for was about 65 years old. He had graying hair, was about six foot tall, and was smoking a fat cigar. I carried his clubs around and gave him the ones he asked for. I was confused about which ones were which, he would say "Nine iron" andI'd be like "What you callin' me?", other times he'd say something about his boat or whatever and I wouldn't hear, or I just wasn't listening. When we got to the 17th hole, I was getting sick of golf, and just wanted to get my money and take a napp, but I couldn't. The man was terrible at golfing, even though I knew nothing about the sport. He seemed to swing his club at the ball fifteen times before he'd hit it, and he'd sware excessively with every failed attempt to hit the ball. By the time he'd finished I was awake fully, and ready to do a little more work.
The man gave me a twenty dollar tip for my service, which was pretty generous because I didn't do much. After, I got to take another man's clubs, who said his name was Dreier. He was about two feet tall and had a high pitched voice. He handed me his golf clubs, which were sized in proportion to his diminutive body, and in a miniature case that looked like something from a Barbie doll's garage. I set all my rude judgements aside and assisted him with his clubs as he hit the balls across the course. He was a great golfer. He would hit the ball right near where the hole was, and then he'd put it in in about two puts. Watching him play was interesting enough and the game seemed to be over in a hurry. The jolly little man gave me a tip, I thanked him, and both he and I left the course. It was an honor to meet Dreier, he was an amazing golfer.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Blog Post 2/12/10

The F.B.I. should continue interrogating Umar Farouk Abdulmutalleb for information.
The FBI needs Umar’s information to increase homeland security. After bringing his family to interrogations, he is convinced that the law will be less harsh on him if he tells everything he knows of terrorist plots. Getting as much information from the suspect will be beneficial to the U.S. because he is releasing facts such as upcoming terrorist plans, technology, and possibly strategic Al Qaeda plans. Lately, America has been subject to a lot of failed terrorist plots. Getting ahead of their attack plans and strategies is very important to America's security.
The more facts from Umar that we can get, the better. He is a great source because he is desperate and informed. If he can leak as much knowledge about terror, than we will be more prepared for attacks and know where to focus our national security efforts for the future. Although terror attacks are something that is bound to happen, this knowledge can show us the Al Qaedas priorities and plans for attacksa. The United States has lately been a major target for the terrorist plots, and the more knowledge we have the better for our national security.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Winter break blogging

The film Power of One is a very interesting movie in comparison to the other movies we’ve watched in Global Ed. So far because it is a story of the main characters life rather than just a struggle in a part of their life. The film began with P.K. as a child and progressed until he was in his early twenties. It was interesting to see how the spread of Nazism came and went somewhat quickly but it’s effects stayed in South Africa, such as the racism displayed by the police force in P.K.’s adulthood. The most disturbing part of the movie occurred when the prison guard made Geel Pete eat the waste from the bucket. Another disturbing moment is when Geel Pete is killed. In general though, the movie was not very depressing at all, and managed to be somewhat upbeat how it showed P.K. overcome the problems he encountered.
P.K. was a remarkable character because he was very honest and respectable as a child and an adult. When he was a child he was scorned because of his British culture at an Afrikaner school. Jaapie Botha constantly assaulted him by spitting on him, urinating on him, and killing his chicken, which was his only friend at the school. When P.K. grew up he didn’t have any hate for Afrikaners, because he fell in love with Maria. He knew that one’s race didn’t determine what kind of person they are. The Power of One was a film not only about South African racism, but also about the concept that race does not say that a person is friendly or and enemy.






Every holiday season families celebrate traditions with friends and family. All people celebrate differently; some observe Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa. Every year my family and I commemorate Christmas and New Year’s Day. Like every year, during the week before Christmas we go to a party for my mom’s side of the family at one of my uncles’ or aunts’ houses. At the party, I usually hang out with my cousin Bradley and play video games, all the adults chat and drink wine, and my other cousin’s usually end up beating me in game of pool by the end of the day. After a dinner of ham or turkey we exchange silly gifts called “White Elephant” where each family brings an used, usually strange household item and swaps it with another family member. On Christmas Eve me my parents, sister and I usually watch A Christmas Story and other assorted Christmas movie until night when we go to eat Chinese food. Afterwards, we go to midnight mass at Saint Aiden’s in Livonia. I usually fall asleep unintentionally a couple times during the service, but I am not the only person in the crowd dozing off. After the mass, we go back home and go to bed as it is about Three A.M. when we returm
Each year we usually invite my Uncle Paul and grandmother over for dinner and gifts on Christmas Day. They stay for dinner and leave around nightfall. The next few days are pretty lame, because of no holidays, but on New Year’s Eve, me and family stay up and watch the ball drop in New York every year. On New Year’s Day, I just sleep in and hang out with friends. The Next day, January Second is my birthday so I have to eat dinner with my family at the restaurant of my choice. Every holiday season my family and I spend a lot of time together, sometimes too much, but we always have a good time.






2009 was a year that I cannot forget. I went from being an immature eighth grader to a more responsible high school student. A year ago today I was probably watching TV shows I’d today call shows for kids, listening to lame music that I’ve outgrown, and wasting my money on things like video games that for the most part aren’t used anymore. 2009 also brought a lot of good things, I began to take school and work more seriously since this summer, which has proven beneficial already. I have become a much more focused person this past year and plan to keep it that way, but I also plan to keep having fun and enjoying my life.
As I sat on the cough falling asleep waiting for the New Year to officially begin, I briefly thought about what 2010 should symbolize for me. I couldn’t come up with one resolution. After considering it for a while, I still couldn’t come up with anything serious. Later, I determined that a good resolution for this year is to continue taking school seriously, and to think before I talk more often, because that usually gets me in trouble. In 2010 my other goals are to clean my room more often, to keep my mind open, to get a job, to learn to drive, learn to save money more effectively, and learn to play harmonica. I think if I follow these rules I have set for myself, that I will gradually become a better person.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

What I am Thankful for

1) Life; People tend to get caught up in the little things that cause them problems. We need to focus on the big picture. Life is about doing what you want in this great world of possibilities and adventures. The only thing stopping you from living is yourself.
2) Family; I hear kids say all the time that they hate their parents. I understand that they can be angry with them, I know that they don’t mean they hate their parents. Your family provides for you – they give you meals, clothes, and love. It’s important to respect your elders because they know a lot about life.
3) A home; Can you imagine life without your home? I can’t. There are people who line up to sleep in the homeless shelters in Detroit. My house is warm, friendly, and comfortable. We tend to look beyond our home as a blessing, like it is something that everyone has, but it isn’t, and everyone should recognize that with thanks.
4) Food; Of course, the main event of Thanksgiving is eating food. We can’t forget to give thanks for the food. We also should give thanks that we get food every other day, because our parents go to work to provide for their family.
5) Health; If you were to go through a hospital, you’d see some people that would make your jaw drop. They could be missing their legs, or have cancer, and they are fighting it out to the end, they are living their life to the fullest. Healthy people like us look at this like it is uncommon to have a terminal disease or have cancer. We should all be happy and grateful that we are in good health.
6) Friends; Everybody has friends, and hopefully they are good people. Many kids fall into the wrong crowd and get caught up in misbehavior like drugs, or gang activity and it will affect them their whole lives. I am glad I have friends that look out for me the same way I look out for them.
7) My iPod; I need to listen to music at least every day. My iPod is the main provider of “the jams”, and I am glad I have this fine machine. From Metallica and Lamb of God to B.B. King and Eric Clapton, my iPod is providing me with happiness one song at a time.
8) My dog ; AJ is not only the cutest corgi in this world, but also the strangest. He is very oddly proportioned. My dog’s specifications are six inch legs, four inch ears, and three a foot long body. We got AJ when I was in third grade, and ever since he has always been the coolest dog to have around.
9) School; We all get sick of school sometimes, because it’s seven hours of hard work and then usually preceded by an hour or two of homework. It is important to get an education because if we want a successful future, chances are, school is the only way to achieve it. In Detroit for an example kids get terrible education in a violent, impoverished environment. In Livonia we get a much better environment that is always safe from violence.
10) Being an American; America is far from perfect, but it is most likely the closest any country will get ever get to it. We aren’t at war within our borders, we aren’t enslaved to anyone, and we don’t have non-stop anarchical riots. I think America is a great country to live in, and if you don’t, you’ve never been to another nation.