* What did you think of SIMUN?
To be honest, I thought SIMUN was a waste of time. Though it was cool meeting other people, and practicing being delegates, I thought it was unnecessary because all of the topics we discussed could have simply been discussed with our classmates and dressing up made, in my opinion, no difference in the way SIMUN was dealt with.
*How did you do?
I believe that I did a good job associating my country with the topics the were discussed. The part that I thought was challenging was find solutions for the problems that were at hand. for example, the group was discussing how to solve a violence issue that was occuring in Zimbabwe and I found it hard to not only associate my country with the topic but also with solving the struggle. Though It was hard, I was still able to write one resolution and help write two others.
*How did you prepare
For SIMUN, besides doing the assigned work by Mrs. Bergeski to learn about my country and topics, I did very little. I can't say I regret doing little research because I knew just about everything I needed to for the discussions. Besides not being one hundred percent sure that Denmark was part of the European Union (which they are, by the way, so I was right) knew everything relating to the topics and my country that was necessary. It would be cool to know more historically about Denmark, because I know that before 1940, when they weren't policatically neutral and socialist, they did participate in battles with other countries like England and France. I understand that this may be irrelevant for a discussion about a modern society, but since preparation and execution for SIMUN took over world history class for over 5 weeks, it would only make sense.
*What will you do differently next for SIMUN to prepare?
Well, next year I am not going to be in Global Ed, so thus question doesn't really apply to me. I suppose if I were going to be in Global Education, I'd try to get a little more involved with writing resolutions and speaking more. I recommend that for improving SIMUN it could have topics that are difficult and having countries in it that are not directly impacted with the issue so it would more challenging for the students involved.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
The Kite Runner - culture
In 1970's Afghanistan, tradition and religion play a major role in their society day to day. For example, 7 times a day the Muslim population bows down and prays to Allah, which is a common Islamic tradition and is mentioned in the Qur'an. This tradition also has its effect to the story - when Amir is rushing out to find Hassan, he skips the prayer and feels like a sinner as he canvasses the area to find his friend. Later on in his life, in 1980's Fremont, California, his marriage and his father's funeral take place in a Muslim mosque.
In Islamic and Afghan culture, the Hazaras, historically a servant ethnic group, are working for Amir's wealthy father Baba. Baba treats his Hazara servants as family, and his Hazara servant Rahim Khan, is regarded as his brother. Discrimination to this group is present in every day Afghan society ; teachers at school tell students that Hazaras are less than human, Hazaras are the butt of jokes and ridicule, and are cursed to serve for Afghans forever.
Baba is the respectable, wise, and wealthy father of Amir, the main character. Baba is a rebel to society. He tells his son to ignore the bigoted lies that his teachers tell him about the Hazara people, doesn't believe in Allah (God), and doesn't abuse his servants. He is knowledgable of politics in Afghanistan and hates Russia, who later invaded his home country. Later in the story, Baba develops lung cancer and stubbornly refuses to be treated by Chemotherapy. Baba grew weak and anemic and within his last days, arranged a Afghan style wedding for his son and his lover. On his deathbed, he retained his stubbornness and refused to take his medicine for the night. Baba represented to renegades in society, the ones who judge rightness based on morals and not on the governemt.
In Islamic and Afghan culture, the Hazaras, historically a servant ethnic group, are working for Amir's wealthy father Baba. Baba treats his Hazara servants as family, and his Hazara servant Rahim Khan, is regarded as his brother. Discrimination to this group is present in every day Afghan society ; teachers at school tell students that Hazaras are less than human, Hazaras are the butt of jokes and ridicule, and are cursed to serve for Afghans forever.
Baba is the respectable, wise, and wealthy father of Amir, the main character. Baba is a rebel to society. He tells his son to ignore the bigoted lies that his teachers tell him about the Hazara people, doesn't believe in Allah (God), and doesn't abuse his servants. He is knowledgable of politics in Afghanistan and hates Russia, who later invaded his home country. Later in the story, Baba develops lung cancer and stubbornly refuses to be treated by Chemotherapy. Baba grew weak and anemic and within his last days, arranged a Afghan style wedding for his son and his lover. On his deathbed, he retained his stubbornness and refused to take his medicine for the night. Baba represented to renegades in society, the ones who judge rightness based on morals and not on the governemt.
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.
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.
'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.
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.
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.
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.
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